He rose, striding over to take her hand easily. His hand was large, calloused at certain areas where he'd gripped the pencil too hard. Soft at others. His fingers were familiar and she found her chest warming at his touch. She gaped at him, no sound escaping her lips as he shook her hand. She barely registered the fact that he'd spoken in English instead of Korean.
"Amber," she murmured back after she had regained her mental footing. "Thank you for letting me sleep here?" She questioned, her voice small. Her mind reminded her again of yet another mystery to solve. The whereabouts of JieMi and what had happened to her and her luggage.
"It's alright. We don't mind, right Oliver?"
Casper grinned easily, his voice was just as velvety to her ears in Korean. Her other soulmate nodded, his expression cheery as he smiled kindly at her. The aura and atmosphere they exuded was warm, careful and almost calculated.
She was confused by the gentleness. The way Casper led her to her seat as if she were the most precious person in the world and the way Oliver smiled at her, his eyes glittering with his concern. They were being too careful, making her feel too special, too protected.
She was confused.
"Did JieMi bring me here?" She asked, unable to help her curiosity. She would confess later, when it was the right time.
"He did, as well as your luggage," Oliver nodded, gesturing to the corner.
Her eyes drifted to the battered old thing that was propped at the doorway. Sad and peeling. Her breath hitched at the memory of Ezra kicking it out of his apartment and pain erupted in her chest, strong and harsh like a firecracker.
"Your phone is here," Oliver slid her device across the table and she inhaled sharply. Oh fuck. She stammered out her thanks before turning on her device. Her breath hitched at the twenty calls, some from Hikaru, a couple from Sieon. One from Ezra.
Ezra?
There were also fifty messages. She squinted, biting her lips at the date. Holy shit. A day? She'd been asleep for a day? That was not cool, she winced. Her mind swam with all the things she had to do and her fingers trembled with her panic.
"I asked Deok-Su to call in sick for you at school," Oliver said easily, his voice soft as he spoke.
Her eyes widened as she stared at her soulmate. Did they talk to each other? What had Deok-Su said? She scrolled through her phone desperately to her best friend's profile but there was no news from her Miri.
Her mind fumbled, desperately trying to grasp the severity of her situation, her eyes darting about as her heart raced in the confines of her chest. Should she check her messages? Call her guys back? Call Ezra back?
"Don't panic. It's okay," Casper soothed and she glanced at him finally understanding why he was the leader of the team. There was something about his voice and mannerism that called for attention.
His voice was filled with authority, yet it had a gentle and calming lilt to it. His words seemed to settle in her mind, her heart falling back into a regular pace. "Don't worry we've settled some things on your end."
What did that mean?
"Yes, you need to eat first," Oliver smiled, dishing out rice.
He spooned a generous amount of ingredients into a plate, pushing it to her. The steam wafting from the thick stew, hot and savoury, but her stomach flipped at the smell. She thanked them quickly, incapable of rejecting their kindness, and tried to swallow a bite or two. She nibbled on her food, unable to taste anything.
Her mind was simply too distracted to register the taste and feeling of hunger. She was on the edge as she sat at her seat. She was confused, flustered, and it must have shown on her face because Casper slipped from his chair to stand.
"Is our presence making you panic?" He asked softly and her eyes darted to his face. "Would you like some time to yourself? We can go."
"No, no," she stammered, shaking her head. "It's just that—" Her eyes shifted to Oliver's face. The guilt nibbled at her heart, pushing her to speak. Now, Amber. Now. It said. It was now or never. Now or never. Say it and end your pain. You've waited too long for this day. She swallowed thickly. "The thing is...Liv," she exhaled. "Do you remember when we first met?"
Oliver nodded, his smile gentle and confused. The tick in his brow was obvious to her eyes. "Yes?"
And that was all she needed to speak.
"You—you had some speculations about souls and—and I—"
She was interrupted by the sound of the door. The ominous beep of an electrical lock as it snapped open. A sense of déjà vu filled her body as her mind linked her back to the dream. The click of the gate. The separation of her from the shadows that left into the garden of light.
The sound would haunt her for the rest of her life because the people who stepped into the room sent her heart racing faster than ever. She was cold. The blood draining from her face at the sight. Then she was hot, her skin flushed and burning.
Her nightmare began with Hikaru.
Her tall, broad soulmate stepped into the vicinity to peel off his shoes. His beautiful, symmetrical face was a picture of perfection as he nibbled on pretty lips. His brows furrowed in concentration.
Then, Ezra, growling about the weather with his hands loosely placed in his pockets. He scratched his neck, rubbing at an itchy spot, his expression dark and moody. It was followed by JieMi who inched in, darting forward as if he wanted to be anywhere but there. His body nervous as he shifted his weight from his left foot to his right foot again and again.
They were a noisy bunch, her soulmates and she was washed with that initial feeling when she'd first seen them together at that concert. The ambient sound disappeared, and it was as if she was dunked into a pool. Her senses dulled as her body focussed on her soulmates. She had been happy then, her soul flickering in response to them.
This time she was frozen in her seat, her muscles clamping up into her fight-or-flight mode. Terror spilt into her body, her heart pounding in her chest so fast that she felt almost nauseous. If she were smarter, she would have ran at that very moment, hidden right under the table. Anything really.
But she was stuck, frozen like the golden statue in her dream and even though she longed for an earthquake to occur and for the floor to collapse. Her soul screamed. It screamed at her for their touch, for their love. It was as if she were a dying, dehydrated man with a glass of water in sight.
Her soul burned with its emptiness, the pain pounding in her like the beat of a gong. Each pulse a reminder of what she lacked and why she was driven by her selfish demands for love. It reminded her of why she fought so hard for them, of why she didn't just run away when she could.
It was because her heart hurt without them. It was the worst pain she'd ever felt in her entire life. Her vision blurred for a moment and she blinked to the sight of the chiselled, beautiful face of Sieon.
He was at the back of the group, moving in slowly to take off his shoes. Her soulmate's expression was in his automatic brooding, bored look. He was always a little slow to read any situation so when his eyes darted towards hers. Her heart lurched painfully.
He smiled.
And God. She forgot. She forgot everything. He smiled so prettily, his grin so dazzling that she couldn't help but feel so much love for him. It made her forget herself momentarily and for a moment she was teleported to a different timeline.
A different world where multiple soulmates were more than just normal, where reverse harem was widely accepted, where she was their wife waiting for all her husbands to come home for dinner. Where she would welcome them with open arms, kiss all their cheeks as they talked about work. A world where they would all accept this relationship.
His eyes lit up, sparkling as his lips stretched into that adorable box-shaped grin as he smiled at the sight of her. "Oh my God!" He gasped, his baritone voice beautiful. "What are you doing here?"