"Mom." Amber groaned, and the tears were gone, evaporating with her embarrassment.
"Not really good…She hasn't pooped in ages—" Ezra commented out loud and Amber blushed, shooting him daggers with her eyes. He simply gave her a lazy side glance, and a raised brow as if to say, it's the truth. Then his eyes narrowed. And you have not been shitting lately, don't tell me you have the ability to absorb all your shit. You can't lie to me—
"I pooped today okay? So shhh!" She gave them all a look. God dang it. Why were they being like this?
"During your time alone?" Casper's lips parted; his brows knotted together with worry. "I told you we didn't mind if you needed to use the toilet while we were tied to you. We wouldn't have teased you about it."
"Can we not talk about that now please?" Amber begged then turned to her parents, rapidly changing the topic. "What about work?"
"We took some days off," her father replied. "Used one or two to visit you in the hospital. We're sorry for taking so long, your mom and I had to return for a few days of work before rushing over again." Her father explained, rubbing her cheeks.
"We wouldn't have been able to get tickets so quickly if not for your soulmates. They booked seats for us in first class! They really didn't have to," Her mother explained, smile stretching over her lips. Dang, she must have enjoyed that flight a little too much. Amber glanced at her soulmates noting the smug smiles, they seemed awfully pleased with themselves. "They're all such sweet men!" Oh, they were definitely on her good side. Her father however, remained strangely stoic staring quietly at them.
"You've met them all?"
"More or less. Mostly MinJae," her mother said. "There was a language barrier, so we didn't understand a thing he said but it was so heart breaking watching him cry for you! Where is he? Is he happier now?" Said soulmate waved at her shyly, bowing politely to her and greeting her parents with simple English.
They moved to take a seat at the long table, not before each of her soulmates greeted her parents personally. Sieon messed up a little, calling them 'Mom' and 'Dad' first before realising his mistake. He'd turned red, scratching the back of his neck and spluttering apologies. But her parents didn't seem to mind, in fact they looked pleased. And when dinner was served by a trembling Hikaru, the compliments that spilled from her mother's lips only increased.
"Your home is beautiful, and I'm glad you boys know how to cook," her mother practically swooned, nibbling on a grilled corn. "I baby my daughter a little too much so I didn't quite get the chance to teach her, afraid that she would burn herself on the fire. It's good that she'll be fed well. This dinner is good!"
"We had to learn ourselves as seven men living alone. Eventually, some of us picked up the skill to cut cost," Casper answered quickly in English. With the soul band tying Casper and Amber together, Oliver and Sieon had taken it upon themselves to slice up their food into easy bite size pieces. Amber thanked Sieon as he slipped her plate over after neatly slicing out barbecued meat from the grilled ribs.
The grilled meat was divine, soft and richly seasoned with sweet and sour sauce, and a touch of zest from the tomatoes and lemons. And the pasta was delicious, with cheese that was toasted at the edges and creamy at the centre, and thick slices of salty, smoked ham. The crispy bits of breadcrumbs to add to the texture was nothing short of perfect. It was completed with a nuts and peach salad. Shit. She was going to live a long and happy life. She hummed happily at the food, bouncing on her seat as she chomped away and then looked up at the sight of her soulmates staring at her.
"That just means she likes the food," Miri waved her hand dismissively. "You'll get used to it eventually." Aw fuck. Did she moan? Amber groaned, slapping her palm to her forehead.
"Sorry, my bad. I forget sometimes."
"Keep at it sweetheart," Ezra snorted, tongue at his cheek. "This is why I got her in my studio for that recording in the first place," he said gruffly to the rest, curling his fork over the pasta. "She sounds so damn fucking good."
"And how I met her at the buffet," Hikaru explained, his voice a hushed whisper. "It's scarily sensual isn't it? I know she doesn't mean it at all, but I can't help but get…" He didn't finish his sentence going back to his meal, but they knew exactly what he wanted to say. Aroused.
"I think it's cute!" MinJae grinned. "She eats well, and it makes the food look so good. It makes me want to eat more."
"Can you still eat?" Sieon whined softly. "My dick is hard already." Amber bit her lips, her cheeks turning redder at his words and she squirmed when he gave her a cheeky wink. "I'm always ready for you." His smile was adorable despite his words, a smile that showed his teeth and made stars sparkle in his eyes.
"I didn't know you couldn't eat when you're in the mood," MinJae commented, biting into his salad. "What if you're eating something off her?"
"Bro, that's different. I can eat anything that's on her—"
"Spare me the sex talk brothers," Miri interjected with a sigh. "I don't want to know what you're going to eat off my best friend's skin when I'm eating. But…" She waggled her brows. "I did include some whip cream and strawberries in that get-well-soon basket! And plenty of condoms—"
"Let's just eat okay?" Amber interjected quickly, blushing hotly at their words. She thanked God that her parents knew plenty of languages, but their arsenal did not include the Korean language.
Dinner went off fine after that, with Casper and Oliver conversing easily with her parents as the two most fluent English speakers in the group. They chatted and laughed, her soulmates were grilled about their job and personal life. And she told them about her health and her time at school, carefully changing the topic when they asked about her previous part time job. They wrapped up the meal with a bowl of melon and ice cream in orbs of creamy white and orange.
"Can I just have Amber to myself for a quick minute?" Miri asked, pulling the chair to stand. "Need to talk to her, you still have time right?" Amber checked the soul band and nodded, untying herself from Casper's wrist. "Alright then," Miri grinned. "See you boys in a bit!"
"What are you going to talk about?" Sieon asked curiously.
"Girl stuff," Miri answered snappishly. "Going to just rate your dicks with my pal at the bush right there, no I'm just kidding—" Amber stared at her looking scandalized. Did she have to say that? "I don't want to know your dick size. Maybe I'm just asking her for a menstrual pad, you know? Totally soaked your chair in the blood of my womb—" And this time it was Sieon who looked horrified, his eyes shifting to her chair. "I'm joking, just trying to scare you away."
"Come on," Amber tugged her sleeve. And Miri followed along obediently, they turned the corner approaching a quieter area. Amber could hear her soulmates chatting with her parents in the distant, they were no doubt being interrogated by her father now that she was gone.
"Seriously, your men are loaded, I guess this is what you get when you're a family of seven working adults." Miri sighed, flopping down onto the bench. "And that food? Who cooked it? I didn't know IDOL could cook." IDOL. Her soulmates' group name. The word sent a rush of emotions through her and Amber sat down beside her best friend shakily.
"It's so weird how months ago I was just a fan, a fan with one too many wet dreams of the IDOL members and now…I'm their only lover."
"I told you it was the Soul Yearning crap."
"I genuinely believed I was a lunatic."
"If you were a lunatic, I would have told you. I would have sent you to a psychiatrist. I'll have to be honest with you, I did consider it."
"I wouldn't have minded."
"You wouldn't and that was why I didn't send you to a psychiatrist," Miri turned to her then her eyes a brilliant blue in the moonlight. "Your obsession wasn't healthy, but you never took it too far. You had restraint, you had control, even if your body didn't." She sighed, one that was filled with her relief and satisfaction. "I'm glad all that is over. The tears, the confusion, everything."
"I am too," Amber whispered. And she was, she was happy with how everything had turned out. "I love them all so much, and they love me too. I could never ask for anything more, this is my happy ending."
"And there's only one piece of the puzzle left behind," Miri turned to her then, stroking the flower in her hair. And Amber's heart prickled and squeezed, knowing exactly who Miri was talking about. JieMi. "He'll come around; the only issue is when?" Her best friend shook her head, shrugging as she looked at the sky. "How long can he take it before he comes back to you?"
"He doesn't have to come back to me, I don't care." Amber bit out viciously, her heart thumping wildly in her chest.
"Is that what you tell yourself really? Those lies?" Miri raised a brow. "Now, don't give me that look Ambs. There's no use denying your heart and if we have two stubborn soulmates in your story. How will they ever get together again?"
"He already told me he didn't want me!" Amber snapped, clenching her fist. "I saw him at the hospital only because his mom barged in and he told me the only reason he was there was because of goddamn homework!"
She hated him for saying that. Her heart had raced at the sight of him and she had genuinely believed that maybe he was here to visit. That maybe he didn't hate her as much as she thought he did. That maybe the kind, sweet JieMi, the JieMi that had protected her from her bullies was the real JieMi. Not the one that had been the reason for her near death experience.
"Homework? That's the lousiest excuse I've ever heard!" Miri chortled, rubbing her eyes. "He's lying. You don't have to have me to tell you that to know it." She glanced back up at the moon. "There's probably more than just love in his relationship with Ha-Eun. Something is wrong with her, or him. Something that is holding him back."
"Bullshit—"
"Just listen to me Ambs." Her best friend turned to look at her straight in the eyes, her expression solemn and grim. "I was in the upper part of Korea that day, so by the time I reached it was way past midnight. Everyone was gone. Frankly speaking, I shouldn't have been allowed to enter but MinJae, that sweet boy, he put me down as family," Miri snorted. "I went to visit, talked to MinJae for a good hour or so, then exited to take a quick piss. When I came back, tip toeing my way across the hall, there was JieMi." Amber's breath caught in her throat at her words.
"He was there on the first day?"