The deep sound was gorgeous. Low and rough with a scratchy growl that sent her heart flying in her chest. If she let it, she swore that her beating heart would head straight for him and proceed to press itself to his muscular chest.
He smirked at her with a brow raised, his hips cocked into a relaxed position. He exuded that very same charismatic sexuality she had seen on screen. And Amber would have died from being under the direct gaze of this handsome man if not for the current already nerve-wracking situation.
"Who...am I?"
The voice that escaped her throat was different. Very different. It rumbled out of her chest, deeper than what she was used to and Amber was reminded of an RPG game.
A game where one played as a different character. She used to laugh all the time at the voice acting. At the sounds that the character made during fights. Especially the sounds that the character made when he died. The strangled scream of the male voice actor was always a hilarious squeaky wail that made her laugh.
Now, it was not funny anymore and she did not want to send this body walking off a mountain, or the stage for that matter. She was very sure the fans would eat her alive. Hell, the crazy fans in the vicinity would rape this poor man.
The Amber inside her mind laughed and suggested moaning right now to see what she would sound like. Just for the fun and the fan service. Rational Amber slapped her.
The confusion that flickered across the shorter man's face was evident and his brows furrowed, red lips pressed together. He was puzzled by her words.
"What are you saying?" Alarm was dancing across his features.
"Help," Amber cleared her throat, swallowing thickly. "Please. I can't sing-I-I can't. Are there more lines?"
"What?" Ezra inhaled sharply. "JieMi. WHAT?" His voice peaked as he stared at her incredulously, his eyes widening into a comical expression of pure horror.
JieMi.
Amber gasped as her mind repeated his name. JieMi. JieMi was her soulmate. She swallowed glancing down at the outfit, the very same leather pants that she was just squealing over seconds ago, greeted her eyes. She tried not to think about that bulge between her legs or the feeling of it sticking to her thighs and her mind moved quickly.
Her mind moved, connecting the name to the man with the sexy smirks. The man with the wide doe-like eyes. The man who was so well-loved by thousands of fans worldwide. The man with the prettiest of smiles and the cutest of laughing crinkles at the corners of his eyes.
The man who Da-hee had said was convinced that he would remain alone forever.
JieMi.
Her heart? His heart? It raced under her flesh, fast and strong as a feeling of warmth enveloped her at the thought of him. Then, it was replaced by a stark burst of cold dread at the current situation. It was biting and painful, nauseating and cloying in her stomach. She exhaled, letting out a ragged breath.
This was clearly body exchange.
JieMi. Wang JieMi, youngest member of IDOL. Half Korean, half Chinese idol prodigy who was scouted by thousands of Korean and Chinese entertainment agencies. That man. She was in his body. Wait a second—her eyes widened and she choked.
He was in her body.
Her flabby, curvy body. That very same body that was extremely female with boobs. A guy was in her body. A very handsome, very famous guy who was supposed to continue singing at his own concert.
Oh my God.
Her mind seemed to snap awake, somehow gaining some semblance of rational and logical decision making. Amber glanced back towards the large LCD screens and she could feel the blood drain from her face as she listened to the song in the background.
There were plenty of lines left, lines that JieMi had to sing. How long did this last? How did one go back to their bodies? What did she have to do? Sleep? Hit herself on the head until her soul flew out of her body?
Masturbate?
She licked her lips, wincing at that suggestion. God. She could not screw this up for JieMi. He worked so hard for this. If he stopped and did not sing, this would hit the newspapers because it would be so fucking obvious that she was not him.
The beat sped up and she vaguely registered that Ezra was stepping up to her. Part of Amber's muddled mind notes that the guy was glowing slightly, his skin shimmered under the spotlight.
If she got a chance, Amber was going to steam some fish, put it under the God damn spot light and then plonk Ezra onto a seat right next to it. Then she was going to take a picture, use the eyedropper tool and compare the shades of white.
Yeah, that was if she didn't die. She raised the mic to her lips, praying to God that her voice didn't crack from her nerves. Her heart was pulsating at her temples.
"You—"
"Who cares, we only live once, there's no use worrying so much~"
The minute her part ended, she wrenched the mic away from her face and gave out a bark of hysterical laughter. She did it. She sounded a little shaky but it was okay, acceptable. Not a disastrous off-tuned screech. It was thankfully, one of the lines with a lower note and singing its tune was as simple as singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.
Somehow, JieMi's body knew exactly what to do with his diaphragm. The muscle memory paired with his warmed vocal cords made it easy to belt out that tune, and she was surprised by the clarity and strength of his voice. The next member took over and she exhaled in relief. Thank God. She blanched, swallowing thickly.
How much longer must she do this?
"Are you his soulmate?" Ezra asked, his face twisted into one of extreme concern.
He had stepped up to her, so close that his face was mere centimetres apart from hers. It was as if he were trying to figure out if she were lying and playing tricks on him. His eyes were searching her face, trying to read her expressions. The sudden closeness made that glow of his skin even more apparent and Amber was dazzled. She was bewitched by his features.
Everything was much 'uglier' in reality. That was the truth.
She was seeing the hints of pimples that the BB cream on his face was barely able to conceal. She was seeing tiny scars on his chin, the wrinkled dent of laughing lines that the makeup had sunk into. Beyond all that, she was seeing his eyes, his very beautiful, raw eyes.
Amber didn't know how to put into words what she was seeing...a comparison of harsh lines of the face and the dewy melt of wet, shimmery eyes.
His eyes were covered with contacts that had a dark green rim, streaked with gold and bits of silver. Despite that, she could see his pupils moving to focus as they travelled across her face.
There was something really beautiful about looking at someone's face up close.
Sure, the imperfections were all there, amplified and obvious. Regardless, there was something just so beautiful about looking at the way someone's eyes dilated as you looked at them. The way lashes parted across eyelids. The way lips glistened under the light, a mix of his own natural pink and the stain of makeup red. The way his nose curved over his skin.
Plus, he was glowing. It was not the shine of oily skin or the shimmer of wet sweat over flesh. It was a faint light that glistened from within his skin. She licked her lips, swallowing thickly. Oh God. She just licked a man's lips.