down and her part of the world sound asleep.
Amber bit her lips, scrapping the foamy mixture into the pan, bracing for impact. It sizzled, popped and bubbled a little and she grimaced, praying that it wouldn't burnt. She wasn't that good of a cook as compared to her soulmates but she was relatively decent at following instructions. That was until she didn't have enough ingredients in the kitchen. It was times like that when she would switch salt out for soy sauce and sugar for honey. Amber set the cover down after sprinkling another decent handful of cheese and chopped parsley, and then sighed, tapping her fingers against the cool marble.
Wang JieMi.
Amber had once been clouded by her own pain and grief. She'd been lost in her anger, so much so that she couldn't see the sorrow in his eyes. It was always so much more difficult to sense someone else's pain when you're already struggling with your own. But now that she was surrounded in the love of her six and brimming with happiness, his pain became more pronounced to her eyes. There was always something off about Wang JieMi, she knew that.
But it was getting worse, whatever it was.
And her soulmates were not helping. Amber sighed, running her fingers through her hair. She'd called for a family meeting that night, gave them each a heavy stare and asked—no—demanded that they tell her what was up with them and JieMi. Sieon had been the most vocal of the lot with an angry pout on his lips, and his eyes as dark as coal.
"He hurts you! He hurts you all the time and I can't stand it! I hate it so much!"
She'd told them that it wasn't right to let her get between them and their relationship with JieMi.
"We longed for you, we wanted you, we cried when we couldn't have you. He basically fucked with our chances of having a soulmate, he knowingly tried to get you out of our lives." Ezra had growled, crossing his arms with an irritated scoff.
"Still, he was confused, lost—" MinJae had said, trying to ease the rising tension in the room.
"But he knew for sure that she was his. He knew about Amber. And compared to the rest of us with our elusive soul bonds that could have just been hallucinations. JieMi's soul bond was obvious as fuck, he knew it was her. He betrayed us when he said no to her questions that day. He didn't give a fuck about us or her." Ezra pointed out and Amber had felt chills run down her spine at his words, her mind flashing with the memory of how she had felt when JieMi had told her to 'fuck off'.
It was difficult to forget.
"He was just—"
"I'm fucking sorry for saying this, but MinJae you wanted to report Amber to the police. JieMi was going to let you do it. We all know what happens to our obsessive fans, and we all know what happens to people who lie about soul bonds. And JieMi didn't give a fuck." Ezra had snapped at that point, his eyes flashing with fire. "When she was bleeding to death on the floor. He continued with his fucking lies!"
MinJae's mouth snapped shut at his words, his lips pressed into a grim, trembling line. Ezra's words seemed to dig at a sore spot, salt to a healing wound.
"The bigger problem is that he's not speaking to us. He doesn't want to talk about it, trust me I've tried." Hikaru had said with a soft sigh. "It takes two hands to clap and we can only help the people who are looking for help. If he isn't willing to talk, then I can't help him. I really can't."
She'd told them that she wanted them to give him a chance because she didn't want to be the reason, the obstacle in their friendship. She didn't want their dreams and goals destroyed; their work ruined because of her. Her men had softened at her words, understanding filling their eyes. Oliver had pulled her into his arms to hold her close as Sieon stroked her hair.
"You don't have to worry, we know how to separate work and life. And we've known him for years. He'll come around, will eventually set things right." Oliver had told her, giving her a bright smile that melted her concerns away. "JieMi's stubborn and he keeps things to himself because he likes dealing with his problems on his own."
"He's like a snail, if you poke at him, he'll hide in his shell for hours. You have to be patient with him." MinJae had giggled at that analogy, then his expression had fallen. "But our issues were never this big, so this is different. I'm not sure what to do too."
"And we don't ignore him all the time, we're not enemies or anything." Sieon had explained rapidly. "We goof around, we laugh, we try to include him in shit. Sometimes, we let him pretend that everything is okay at work. The problem is he knows it's not okay. That's what makes it awkward for us and him. We've forgiven him as his brothers, but as your soulmates, we haven't forgiven him. Does that make sense?"
"He hasn't even said a fucking 'sorry' to you even after everything." Ezra growled and the room went quiet at that. "I don't care if he said sorry to me. And he did say it to us, it's the only reason why I still talk to him at work. But because he hasn't apologised to you properly in person, he doesn't deserve any forgiveness." There was a hush silence that Amber knew was boiling with their irritation and anger at JieMi for her.
Fair enough. She understood where they were coming from, she really did. They had longed for a soulmate for years, and there was no doubt that JieMi knew that. They thought they knew him as a brother, they thought he could be trusted, but they had not expected that final move from him. An act of rebellion and absolute betrayal.
They were shaken and angry, plagued by her near-death. In their books, their own brother had tried to kill their destined lover. It was difficult for them to forgive him, and Amber had no right to dictate how they could and should feel about it.
"He has one big problem as a person." Casper's voice had rumbled from his spot at her bed, his eyes a mess of emotions. "He runs from his problems, hides them inside of himself and buries it instead of facing them head-on. He pretends things are okay when he isn't okay. It's what he learnt from the industry, the mask. It's how he survived. But because of that, he doesn't know how else he's supposed to do things."
"Don't worry," MinJae soothed. "We're working on it and we will. He'll be fine. We'll be fine. I promise." But it was impossible not to worry, not with how JieMi's eyes plagued her dreams. Those Bambi, doe-shaped eyes were always wide and trembling. His reaction to her words at the exhibition had confirmed her suspicions that he was trapped in something.
Trapped with someone.
"Tell me about Ha-Eun," she'd said after that and her words had drawn gasps of surprise.
"They've known each other way before we became a team, have always been 'together'. Became official a year after her 22nd, just after his 21st."
"We've always hated her. He's had to spend tons of his money on gifts for her when we had just started. Things that she only uses once but in exchange, he had to go hungry for." Hikaru shook his head. "I would make him lunch for school because of this."
"And his time." Sieon made a face. "He's always up early in the morning just to prepare breakfast for her. Like 5 AM?"
"It's better now with delivery, but he goes to her place because she doesn't want him anywhere else except at work or her place with her."
"Her attitude sickens me. She doesn't treat him well, but he loves her and he says she loves him even when we push it. Said she'd helped him out once before he met us and we didn't understand how it was like at first. How it was like alone in the media industry. That's his reason all the time."
"And her soulmate?" she'd asked and they had been quiet.
"Probably no soul bond, like us." Ezra had shrugged then, sighing. "I think it's our fault that he doesn't believe in soulmates. The people he's surrounded by are people who had to wait. And he didn't want to experience our pain so he jumped into his version of love."
"Give him time," Oliver responded with a sharp nod. "He'll come around."
Time, but did she have time? Did he have time?
Amber plated the omelette, covering it with herbs and slices of avocado. She didn't want to stand at the side lines, waiting for her soulmates to solve the problem. She was just as involved as they were. No matter what JieMi said, he was her soulmate, someone who held a part of her in his chest. And any disturbance in their soul bond would result in issues for her family. Issues like the Gen Z Soulmate Phenomenon; issues like soul tear; issues like broken soul bonds and unhappy soulmates.
Issues that could danger them all.