"YOU WANTED TO LEAVE ME! YOU WANTED TO GO! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO STAY BY MY SIDE FOREVER!" Ha-Eun shook her head, rubbing at her eyes. "That's why…That's why I spiked your food with suppressants. I didn't want you finding your soulmate. I didn't want you gone. You had to stay with me forever. Please JieMi, please."
"YOU DRUGGED ME?" Amber gasped, mouth wide. "You…You're the reason why it took so long for everyone. You-You're the reason why they waited so long…" Horror, cold and hot, flooded her system, swirling thick in her chest, a hundred needles, a thousand knives. Her words filled in the gaps in their story, the waiting of the eldest, the numbness of JieMi. The immediate rejection instead of love.
"A SOULMATE IS POINTLESS! THEY ONLY BRING YOU GREATER SADNESS! THEY ONLY BRING YOU GREATER PAIN!" Ha-Eun cried out, clawing at her feet. "THEY SHOULDN'T EXIST! I'D RATHER CHOOSE MY PARTNER THAN LIVE WITH MY SOULMATE, AND YOU'LL UNDERSTAND TOO! IF YOU—"
The sirens that echoed from behind her startled them both. Amber turned, squinting at the bright lights of cars in the distance and her heart lifted at the sight. Her soulmates. She turned to look at Ha-Eun watching her scramble about in panic.
"W-what?" She stumbled, stepping backwards and towards the vehicle. "Let's go, get in the car JieMi. Come on." She tugged at her wrist, pulling her close. "Come on." Amber struggled out of her grasp, pulling away sharply.
"I…" Amber started to say, then sighed, licking her lips. There was no point continuing the lie now that everything was out of the way. "I'm not JieMi."
"What?"
The car spun to a stop right behind them and the door was flung open with a sharp bang. Amber didn't have to turn to know who they were. It was moments later when a smaller frame wrapped itself around her body, holding her close in a tight hug. And she turned, eyes locked with that of a smaller female with pixie like ears. Her body.
JieMi.
"Are you hurt? Are you hurt? I'm sorry Amber, I'm sorry," JieMi whimpered, blubbering softly against her skin. And Amber swallowed thickly, hoping that they wouldn't see the blood on her lips. She wiped it up nonchalantly, but a hand stopped her and Ezra peered at it. He snarled when he caught side of the flash of crimson, anger buzzing tight over his skin.
"Fuck, you're bleeding." He growled and she waved him off, shaking her head.
"It's just a mouth wound. I'm more worried about his body, didn't block all her punches. Did you get everything?"
"Yeah, Casper recorded the call. We got here as fast as we could."
"W-what is this? Amber? What the fuck!" Ha-Eun screeched, her eyes darting about frantically looking like a cornered animal. "WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS? YOU SET ME UP? YOU! HOW DARE YOU!" Ha-Eun gaped at them, her eyes locking with Amber's. "JIEMI!"
"I told you I'm not JieMi," Amber glanced at JieMi and he sighed, biting his lips.
"Amber," JieMi whispered out. "Amber is my soulmate." He glanced at Ha-Eun, lips pressed into a thin line. "This…This is body exchange." The silence was stark, loud despite the ring of sirens in the distance heading their way. It took another second for Ha-Eun to wrap her head around the situation.
"You cheated on me." Ha-Eun laughed incredulously, and her voice grew stronger as understanding filled her frame. "YOU CHEATED ON ME!"
"She was always meant to be mine, you just tried to stop it." Tears started to form in his eyes as he clung onto Amber for support. "I really did love you. I really did. But you changed, and then you didn't care about me. You only cared about yourself."
"YOU LIED TO ME!"
"NO! You did! Y-you did!" JieMi sobbed out. "I really thought those kids were mine! You broke my heart so many times! Our relationship was based on so many lies and so much pain! When were you going to tell me? When would you have come clean about the drugs? Your soulmate? The truth? What would you have done if he was born and didn't look a bit like me?"
"I WOULDN'T HAVE COME CLEAN YOU IDIOT!" Ha-Eun snapped, then shrugged. "I would have fucking aborted him before you knew."
JieMi paled at her words, shaking as he held Amber close. He closed his eyes, inhaling deeply and Amber rubbed his back gently. He shook his head then, eyes growing cold and steely with anger. "I-I should have known that you were like this. I should have never trusted you from the beginning."
"JieMi…" Ha-Eun seemed to break then, eyes going wild as she snapped and snarled, spittle flying from her mouth. "DAMN YOU AMBER! DAMN YOU! I WISH YOU FUCKING DIED! I WISH YOU WEREN'T ALIVE! FUCK YOU!"
"You did this to yourself Ha-Eun," Amber sighed, rubbing her bruises. "You did this to yourself. You've got nowhere to go. The evidence has been captured. JieMi's wounds are enough to show the world that whatever you say is false. And the police are already here. Give up. Give up already."
"Y-you're lying, aren't you? You're just acting?" Ha-Eun stuttered her eyes moving over JieMi. "You're just playing a prank on me. You're supposed to be alone. You and your entire group! And Amber has a rose tattoo. She has a soulmate print, she's not yours! She's—"
"She's my brothers' soulmate too!" JieMi snapped back, brows knotted into a deep glare. "We're not alone! We're family! They're not like you! NOTHING LIKE YOU!"
"W-what…"
"We're in a soulmate bond of seven," JieMi snarled. "And unlike you they make me the happiest man in the world! They make me so damn happy! They tell me it's okay to cry. They tell me it's okay to feel sad. They listen to me! They never put me down! They never yell at me! They never tell me I'm useless or that I'm worthless! THEY'RE NOT LIKE YOU!"
"JieMi…"
"THEY'RE NOT LIKE YOU BECAUSE THEY LOVE ME! THEY ACTUALLY LOVE ME! AND MY SOULMATE WILL NEVER EVER BEAT ME! MY SOULMATE LOVES ME! SO FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU HA-EUN! AND GET OUT OF MY DAMN FUCKING LIFE!"
Ha-Eun laughed then, her voice eery. She laughed and laughed even when the police pulled to a stop and officers stepped out, ready to arrest her and take her away. She continued cackling even when they told her to raise her hands, and she did so willingly with a malicious grin on her disgusting face, lips stretched so wide that it revealed all her teeth.
And Amber was chilled to the bone at the scene that would possibly haunt her for the rest of her life.
"Thank you for cooperating with me, you fuckers." She opened her hand revealing the familiar recording screen on what should be a dark phone. She dropped the phone and it clattered on the ground, revealing the stream of comments that flowed through. "If I'm going down, you're going down with me."
A live-stream.
"Oh fuck," Ezra gasped, and Amber's lungs constricted with fear.
Oh fuck, indeed.