*
It was sweltering hot.
Despite the temperature being cool enough to warrant the use of a jacket, the masses of bodies clamped together, generated a bubble of collective body heat that burned the air.
When seated, she felt almost claustrophobic just looking at the sea of legs surrounding her like a jail cell. There were way too many people around them. And the closeness of their pressed bodies created a stuffy, stale warmth that made Amber gag a little.
There was just no fresh air coming in from any direction. She was plastered to the railings, once again, close to the stage due to her low numbered ticket. They were not next to the main stage as they had been before.
They were now close to the large diamond-shaped platform at the very centre of the stadium. From online videos, Amber knew that this would be where the IDOL members would perform for the second half of their show.
Amber took another sip from her bottled water. Honestly, she should have rationed it seeing that it was a few minutes before the start of their three-hour show and she was down to the last mouth full.
Beside her, the older woman gave her a small smile, cooling herself down with a pretty Japanese fan. Miri was furiously texting Deok-Su glancing at Amber every now and then with weirdly overexcited expressions. She looked like a fangirl with her flared nostrils, reddening cheeks, and a grin that spread across her face,
Amber scoffed, shaking her head slightly.
She was very sure that Miri was updating Deok-Su on her meetings with the IDOL members, possibly coming up with theories of her future with them. Oh, that reminded her...Amber tapped on Miri's hand and the girl glanced up at her.
"If I get a body exchange, please do not scare off my soulmate." Amber looked at her pointedly.
"Yeah, of course." Miri nodded, putting down her phone to give Amber a serious look. "I'm more concerned with communication. What if our pal doesn't speak English? What do I say then?"
"Wave? Speak in every language you know?" Amber shrugged. 70% of communication was non-verbal, and she was sure that Miri would do just fine.
"With your multilingual status, maybe fate will play a joke on you." Miri teased, shoving her lightly. "She might give you a soulmate who does not speak any one of the languages that you know. Like Thai?"
"Twenty percent of the world's population speaks English." Amber told her with a snort. "I'm counting on that."
"Sounds like a plan." Miri acknowledged with a grin. "I think I'm ready." Miri placed her fists on her hips and gave her a superman pose which elicited a giggle from Amber's lips.
"I trust you, BFF."
Miri sniffed, rubbing her nose and she smiled. "Just don't panic if you find yourself in a weird situation. But honestly, the tame and normal ones are the scariest."
"What do you mean?"
Miri flourished her hands. "Imagine, appearing in his body while he is peeing."
"Holy fuc—"
"Exactly my point. Appearing in his body while he's shitting is actually way better than when he's peeing because at least it feels the same."
"In that case, what if he's jerking off—" Amber stopped herself before she continued, her cheeks reddening at the thought. That would be wild. She swallowed thickly, feeling afraid for what was yet to come.
"If that happens, count yourself lucky," Miri waggled her brows. "Not many get to experience the pleasures of both human bodies. I've always wanted to know what it felt like having a penis." She hummed, tapping her chin. "Do you think it feels weird if you swing it about like a helicopter—"
"God, no. Please."
Miri threw back her head and laughed. "Enjoy it while it lasts. It might just be a tame little first-word tattoo. That'd be nice."
It would be nice. Amber had to agree with her best friend that tattoo soulmate bonds were the cutest. That was unless one's first-words were something nobody wanted tattooed to their skin forever. Like, you have a fat ass, or, I love penis. She'd heard of both horror stories from her friends.
Their conversation was interrupted by screams that erupted from the fans and Amber craned her neck for a look only to be highly disappointed. She sighed, shaking her head.
They were currently playing all of IDOL's music videos on the screens before the concert began. The fans would scream whenever they saw their idols and it piqued her interest each time. She would turn her head over, hoping to see her real-life idols on stage, only to be disappointed.
Not that she hated listening to the music videos via the amazing sound system.
Amber softly hummed to the tunes as she swiped through her messages. Her parents had texted her. Her father had sent her an entire document on what to do if stranded in a foreign country, and her mother had emailed her the entire list of soul bonds from A-Z.
Amber was pretty sure that she knew them all by heart. It was a perk of being the daughter of a soul bond researcher after all. And reading them now sent a jolt of fear through her heart which did not pair well with the exhilaration she felt for the concert.
The soul bond was spontaneous and unpredictable. She was afraid of what was yet to come and the thought of being placed in a situation outside of her comfort zone made her chest burn with anxiety and her stomach churn with her nerves.
"I couldn't help overhearing your conversation." She glanced up to look at the older lady who had scooted over to speak. "Your friend said it is your birthday?"
"Oh yeah!" Amber nodded. "It is! At about," she furrowed her brows, tilting her head, "10:30 PM?" Give or take. She wasn't that sure of her exact time of birth.
"Happy birthday dear." The lady clapped her hands together cheerily. "How exciting! It's directly after the concert!"
"Thank you." Amber smiled, although the grin that spread across her cheeks was forced. She didn't want to think about her birthday or her soulmate. It was the next chapter in her new life. And for now? She just wanted to live in the present.
"How are you feeling?"
Amber sighed.
"Horrible." Like shit.
"Don't worry, fate will work things out for you." The lady smiled warmly. "My husband and I had a dream meeting soul bond. We first met in our sleep on the night of his birthday."
"Your husband is younger than you?"
"Yes, he's younger than me by about six years." The older lady sighed softly, drumming her fingers on her thighs. Her eyes were far away in the past, and she was deep in thought. "I had to wait for a while, I was quite convinced that I would live the rest of my years alone."
"Oh," Amber gave her a pained smile. Waiting six years for one's soulmate was very rare. Six years was pretty much unheard of. The world statistics for that would be like one in ten million people. "What about your son?" Amber asked, attempting to change the subject to a happier one.