*
Life sucked.
"You don't want to search for Da-hee? Amber!" Miri's bewildered voice was so loud that Amber had to pull her phone away from her ear, wincing at the scratchy pitch.
"Miri..."
Amber sighed for the thousandth time that day. Her fingers rubbing her pinkie sadly. The red string had disappeared but at least the rose print remained. A symbol of her future with Sieon.
"JieMi doesn't want me. Even if we convinced his Mom, dude already said loud and fucking clear that he's going to marry Ha-Eun." The last bit came out of her lips, angry and sad. The thought sent a dull ache across her soul and a prickle of tears that stung her eyes. She'd cried enough after the whole fiasco with the authorities.
The staff of AirSound Entertainment had only released her after careful interrogation, a full scan through her phone and finally opting to report her to the police for trespassing. The questions they asked were degrading, the looks they gave her burned her skin.
Those looks were nothing compared to the looks MinJae had given her, which hurt more than anything and haunted her thoughts and dreams. It was stressful to not give in to their questions. The questions that expected her to admit that she was a stalker fan who had sneaked into IDOL's hotel room.
They pushed and pushed for her to admit to her wrongdoing. Wrongdoing that she was innocent of and it made her head hurt, and her chest ache. She only managed to get away with just a warning because of the support from the International Soulmate Facility who verified her sudden appearance in the country.
In other words, it had been a whole afternoon of trying to convince people who were almost sure she was an obsessive fan. The only thing she'd learnt from this was that, if she said her soulmate was one of the staff members, the authorities were more inclined to believe her. The moment she said one of the IDOL members was her soulmate, they clamped up and lumped her into the crazy fans section.
The section that deserved to go to jail.
Amber now understood the reason why some people who were innocent just ended up in jail, and were only released when authorities caught the true perpetrator.
"And he ate suppressants!" Amber snapped into the phone, tearing at her hair in her exasperation. "If that's not severing our ties, I don't know what is!"
"He's either not educated about the side effects of suppressants or he just doesn't give a damn." Miri groaned. "Seriously? The actress and model Park Ha-Eun? That bitch is the most plastic Korean woman I've ever seen, not that I have a thing against plastic surgery. But the way her face is done...I bet if he fucked her mouth a little too hard he would be sending her straight to the ER."
"Miri, you're evil."
"And you're too nice. Ambs, screw JieMi. If he's not into soulmates, then screw him! You've got six other hot fish to catch. It's his loss."
"I don't know..." She sighed, rubbing her temples.
"Let me tell you. You and I both know that I have dated many men before Deok-Su, because I was stupid," Miri said. Amber snorted at that, a wry smile on her lips. There was a point in time when Miri was on her rebellious streak and started partaking in men like they were free buffet meals.
"And God, they were nothing compared to him. It's like comparing pagpag, you know the left-over meat picked from garbage dumps that are rewashed and sold in Manila? Yeah that. Compare that with grade A wagyu." Miri gave out a dramatic groan.
Miri continued on. "Maybe that's not a good analogy. Pagpag can taste pretty good if well cooked...Um, It's like asking a baby to teach you how climate change works versus getting taught by a hot scientist from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The kid would be cute, but you'll get nothing you need, just crap talk with lots of spittle."
Miri coughed. "Okay, you get the point right?"
"Yeah, I do." Amber hummed in amusement. Those analogies were weird.
"I'm pretty sure if you get chummy with his buddies, our boy here will eventually get so fucking jealous he'll beg to fly back into your arms. He'll kneel before you, kiss your feet and worship the ground you walk on...ready to cry tears of joy at the thought of you sitting on his face."
A bubble of laughter burst from Amber's lips as she giggled at Miri's lewd words. "You sound so sure..."
"Because fate doesn't play stupid games," Miri's voice was raised and tinged with her irritation and anger.
As a firm believer in the soul bond and a recipient of one that had made her the happiest woman alive, Miri was downright pissed at anyone who dared to question its validity.
"Fate doesn't just give you a soul bond for no reason. He's shitting on one of the things that all of humanity treasures more than our lives. Watch him, he's going to regret this so bad."
Miri inhaled as she continued.
"And if he continues to live in denial then fuck him! You'll already have plenty of dick to satisfy you in bed. One less wouldn't hurt and in the future, when you're happy with your soulmates with five kids and a cute little munchkin cat. He'll be sobbing at home just thinking about everything he lost."
"Miri...." Amber giggled at her words. It did feel kind of good, just thinking about that asshole regretting his life decisions.
"Plus, I'm sure Da-hee will beat the living shit out of him for throwing you away if she knew." Miri cackled. "And MinJae? He sounds lovesick, chasing after your ghost. He'll turn around, we just need to get the idea that you're dead out of his head. It'll be easy."
"It's only easy if I have evidence that we have a soul bond."
"Well, with JieMi consuming suppressants like they're candy, I'm pretty sure the side effects like the Gen Z soul bond will be going haywire. You'll definitely see something, I'm sure of it." Miri hummed. "When it comes to soul bonds, don't even try to fight that shit. It just increases in intensity the more you try to avoid your soulmate, I learned that the hard way."
"I know," Amber sighed. "I still remember the time when you showed up at the CEO meeting in pyjamas."
"Right? I can't believe I hated my baby's guts at that time. I was so convinced he existed to ruin my life and my panties." Miri laughed. "You see Ambs? Don't worry, everything will turn out okay. You just need to keep fighting, okay?"
"I'm so tired Miri...It's hard." Amber groaned. "I wish it were easier. Couldn't I have gotten like a strawberry farmer or some shit?"
"Hey, life is weird and I doubt you'll be happy with strawberries all your life. Gotta have some variety." Miri teased. "But come on don't give up! We'll start slow okay? We'll work through this one step at a time and I'll help you the entire way."
Amber's eyes widened at her words.
"Wait for a second! Don't spend more money!"
Her best friend let out a hearty laugh. "Don't worry. I'm not funding your whole life sis. I'm just giving you a nudge in the right direction." She sniffed, wagging her brows. "This is an investment, you'll be indebted to me and thus my future children. Then you'll have no choice but to spoil them rotten."
'I would spoil them rotten regardless."
"You can pay me back when you're established. In any case, I totally have lots to spare. I've been investing in shares and doing e-commerce so it's not like I've been a gold digger wife."
"Smart."
"And...You still owe me Starbucks. Remember our bet? I told you your wet dreams were a sign. I told you!"
"Yeah, fine. Fine. I'll pay you back for everything one day. Just you wait!"
"Yes, so what's your plan?"
Amber sighed, blurting out her next reply without really thinking about it. "Go home and just be mentally prepared to be uprooted anytime?"
"WRONG!" Miri's squawk through the phone was deafening and the sound created static that hurt her eardrums. "Ambs! Have you not learned anything from your experience with me?"
"Uh..."
"Okay, you dummy! You're getting an apartment in South Korea that is close to their dormitory. And you're going to transfer to the nearest art school there under the soulmate school exchange."
"I am?"
"Yes, you are and you're going to occasionally hang out with Deok-Su who will sneak you into AirSound Entertainment whenever he gets the chance."
"WHAT?" She stared at her phone, her brows furrowing at her words.
"And while you're doing all that, we're going to up your self-confidence and destroy that mentality that you're not worthy of famous soulmates. Honestly those seven men are human and you deserve to be worshipped like a queen."
"Wow that sounds like a better plan than mine."
"Yes, I've thought about this well. Get up, the chauffeur is reaching in a minute."
Amber's lips quirked and she shook her head. "What would I ever do without you?"
"Probably, sit around like a duck and wait for life to give you everything instead of fighting for what you want."