Amber scoffed to herself, shaking her head at her stupidity. They probably already had their own soulmates hidden away from the public eye. Perhaps, even a kid or two to hold when they got home. Even though there had been (surprisingly) no accidental slip-ups for the media to catch hold of, Amber was pretty sure at least one of them had a soulmate. After all, they were all past the age of 20 and should have a soul bond. That was unless they were one of the Lonely, people without a soulmate.
A burn of disappointment twisted in her chest much to her chagrin and she slapped a palm to her cheek. Amber shook her head, irritated at her own heart. It didn't matter. Stupid wet dreams didn't matter. All that mattered was her soulmate. Her reality.
She wanted a nice soulmate. Someone who would encourage her love for the arts, not shoot it down. Someone who could understand her and would accept her for who she was. Even the part of her that loved a group of seven male idols.
Next week, one second after the time of her birth, she would get her soul bond. Sealing her fate forever in a twisted world of arranged marriages and destined love. And that was it.
"Are you still up for a one night stand?" Miri pressed. "We could try again tomorrow."
Amber's breath caught in her throat at her words and she sat up, remembering her real reason for losing her virginity. She had presumed that her infatuation for IDOL and the wet dreams that haunted her sleep was due to a lack of sexual activity.
The one night stand had initially been her solution to the problem. She had wanted it to blow her mind and take her thoughts away from IDOL so that she could meet her soulmate fairly and love him without the thoughts of a boy band clouding her stupid head.
But that didn't seem to be working with one bad date after another.
"No, it's fine," Amber replied after a moment. "I guess I'm not meant to lose my virginity before meeting my soulmate." She shrugged, huffing a long sigh. "This infatuation will eventually go away once I meet my soulmate. I'll just have to deal with it on my own."
"With the sex toy I got you, huh?" Miri teased and Amber's face reddened at her words. Did she have to bring that up? "I guess us girls have got to find other ways to satisfy our needs."
"God. Miri!"
"Did you bring it with you?"
Amber swallowed, nervously glancing at her purse, her eyes darting over the familiar black velvet pouch peeking out from the bag. Then she sighed in defeat.
"I did."
"Good, you can deal with your urges tonight then." Miri cleared her throat, simmering into a solemn tone. "About your birthday..." There was a moment of silence as Miri pondered quietly to herself, unable to complete her sentence.
"Just spit it out!"
"Check your messages," her best friend ordered and Amber grumbled, reaching for her phone.
She swiped through her device, flipping open their chat group. Miri had sent a photograph and it was still loading due to the shitty hotel Wi-Fi. Amber switched to data and clicked on the downloaded picture.
"Have you seen it?" Miri asked impatiently. Amber blinked, her eyes moving over the mess of words and letters that were written in Korean. It took her a few seconds to switch her mind from the English that she was using to converse with her best friend, to the required Korean.
"The Olympic Stadium? You know that I hate sports, don't you? Football isn't my thing—" Amber paused as she squinted at the image. The familiar name stared back at her in bold printed letters.
I.D.O.L.
Listen to Me. World Tour. Category One.
Then the date of her birthday, January 19th, and a time, 7:30 PM.
What the fuck? Amber reread the words to double-check. Was she hallucinating? She blinked, rubbing her eyes and reading it again. She stared at the e-ticket unable to think, simply rereading the words over and over again. Her mind blanked as the cogs in her brain stuttered and froze.
Amber loved IDOL.
That was a fact.
It was not just simply because she was sexually attracted to them. Her love was more than just a lust for beautiful men even if her dreams did paint a different picture of how she saw them.
It was always their music. The lyrics that resounded so strongly with her emotions. The music that they sang with so much passion that she could feel it, even though their songs had gone through thousands and thousands of rounds of editing.
Most of all, she loved them because of how hard they had worked to get to where they are today. They never gave up in pursuit of their dreams and their successes which was what pulled Amber through so many cruel deadlines and harsh realities over the years.
Because if IDOL could do everything and even more. So could she.
"Hello? Did I just break you?" Miri called through the phone and Amber's vision went blurry with tears. The familiar sting at the back of her throat was a tell-tale sign of the incoming waterworks. Damn it. She didn't want to cry. Amber tried desperately to suck the tears back in, blinking rapidly as she sniffled.
"You didn't have to. You shouldn't have." Amber whispered. She was overwhelmed and her head was pounding from all the feelings that thrashed in her frame. Her heart was racing faster and faster in her chest, pumping adrenaline through her system.
"Of course I did." Miri laughed. "You're my best friend and you've helped me so much over the years. I just wanted to do something for you. So I asked Deok-Su to get me two tickets directly from IDOL's company, AirSound Entertainment."
Miri snorted, continuing with her boast. "As one of their music producers, he's got a leg up to these kinds of things. He just said he wanted to watch IDOL's concert with his wife and they handed him the tickets with a word of thanks."
"They're Deok-Su's tickets? I shouldn't—"
"Calm your tits, my girl." Miri giggled. "Deok-Su's got a business meeting in Australia on that date. He said it's your birthday present from him. A thank-you-for-taking-care-of-my-wife ticket."
"God." Amber's voice crackled, wet with her tears and she sniffed as her nose began to clog. She could feel them warm, wet and sticky crawling down her face. "You're too good to me."
"Don't cry." Amber could hear the smile in Miri's voice. "I thought I would finally hear you scream." She teased. "I didn't expect waterworks. You're such a cutie, Ambs."
"I don't scream, you know that," Amber replied, shaking her head. "I'm in a hotel. How could I scream knowing that the occupants in the other rooms might be sleeping?"
"Polite queen." Miri giggled, sweet peals of laughter escaping her lips and echoing across the room. "Although, I'm sorry that it's on your birthday and I'm sorry that I didn't consider your problems. I planned this way before those dreams began." She sighed, sounding nervous as she spoke. "I didn't know how to break it to you. I was hoping to tell you after your one night stand."
"It's fine," Amber automatically replied. A natural reflex that she had as to the word 'sorry', but she stiffened, tension flickering through her body. It was true that going to the concert might worsen her condition. After all, it might be better if she completely avoided her muses.
But that would be impossible for her, knowing full and well how much IDOL meant to her as her inspiration. She would continue listening to their music in the future and there would be no stopping her.