The day finally arrived. The funeral was about to begin and I thank god Mi-kying did not do a traditional Korean funeral that lasted too many days for my comfort levels, they creeped me out, fortunately modern funerals and western customs are becoming more normal.

I was wearing a navy dress with simple black pumps and my hair in a sleek bun. Even as I sat with the casket right in front of me I still didn't feel the need to cry over him. Everyone around me was emotional, some I think were laying it on pretty thick in my opinion, but who was I to really say? I only knew my father for eleven years of my life so maybe their reactions were appropriate. I sat at the end of the row, Minji was to my left, Mi-kyung to hers and Minsu to hers. All the cousins, aunts and uncles I met yesterday were there along with a plethora of extended family, friends, neighbors and acquaintances. Too many people in one place.

The service was nice. I had to resist rolling my eyes and scoffing several times but that's on me. I kept it together and respectful. While I agreed to let go and start healing we all knew it wouldn't happen over night.

"Are you okay?" Minji whispered grabbing my wrist

"Yeah. You?" She had tears in her eyes that had yet to fall

"Mmhm"

Lots of people spoke about my father including my siblings and their mother and surprisingly they didn't say overly-nice things, not that they were disrespectful or rude, but kept it truthful. They tried to get me to say a few words but I knew that wasn't a good idea so naturally I declined. I wasn't in the proper emotional or mental state to say anything appropriate. After the service was over we drove out to the cemetery for the burial then went to a banquet hall to accept family and friends. After making rounds to the few family members I could remember I set out to find Yeeun.

"Hey Min-su oppa, have you seen Yeeun? Is she here?" I asked after scanning the crowd

"I saw her heading for the lobby a few minutes ago but I don't know where she is exactly," he replied. I nodded and went to the lobby to see her sitting on a bench with her phone clutched in both hands and her earbuds again. This girl is addicted to her phone. I sat down next to her and popped one out

"What is so important that you are ditching family to see?"

"Umm two of the members of bangtan are live right now" She answered "They came on to tell ARMY they are okay and aren't sick or anything. I was so worried about them"

"What's army?"

"That's their fandom name" I nodded to show I understood. Like how Beyonce has the Beyhive, got it. She scooted over closer to me to allow me to see and popped out an earbud for me to listen as well.

It was Suga and Jungkook on the screen assuring their fans that they were both perfectly fine and not to worry. I scanned the comments seeing well-wishes and lots of purple heart emojis flood the screen. Suga is the one I see in my dreams. My heart rate increased as I watched them, both men seemed to be reacting to something that couldn't be seen on camera

"Unnie, are you alright?" The trance I was in dissipated at the sound of her concerned voice

"Ye-yeah, I'm fine" I felt hot suddenly "Excuse me" I gave her her earbud back and found the nearest bathroom. I burst through the door and saw that one stall was occupied, I turned on the cold water letting it pool in my hands then patted it on my face to cool off. The stalls opened and out came Mi-kyung.

"Are you okay?" She asked looking at through the mirror as she thoroughly washed her hands

"Yes"

"No you're not" she scoffed "Ma-ri I heard you all talking yesterday and it's very possible and likely you have soulmates"

"What makes you say that?" I asked snatching a few paper towel to dry my face

"Because of these " she stood behind me then turned us both to the side. She lifted the sleeve of my dress to display a series of moles, on my left arm, that always seemed random but unsuspecting to me.

"They're just moles"

"No, they are not. These moles mean you have soulmates and-"

"Why are you saying soulmates? With an S" I asked with furrowed eyebrows. She sighed and touched my arm, rubbing over the moles

"Ma-ri look closely, they form a number and that number is how many soul mates you have. It wasn't abnormal for people to have two or three soulmates back in the day" I stared at my arm in disbelief

I kept staring but my eyes couldn't make out what I was supposed to be seeing. Noticing my frustration, Mi-kyung helped me out by tracing over them in order until I saw the number. 7.

"SEVEN?!" I shouted pulling away from her "You people are crazy! Soulmates don't exist anymore, even if they did I wouldn't have seven of them. That's-that's crazy! Absolutely preposterous!" I fussed. My head pounded in my chest, it felt like I was running even though my legs weren't moving.

"Soulmates are still very real. I know it sounds crazy but it's the truth, you are a soulmate to seven people"

"I have to get out of here" I ran out of the bathroom then the building in just what I had on

"Ma-ri!" I heard my name being called but I kept running without looking back. It was bitterly cold outside but I couldn't care at that moment. My heels clacked on the pavement and my lungs felt like ice with the amount of freezing air I was taking in.

My legs extended over and over again in front of me, carrying my body away from their lies. I ran for what felt like hours but were only minutes until I found myself on a busy street flooded with people, it was a late Saturday afternoon. With tears frozen to my face I began to hyperventilate but I was alone and had to try calming myself down

"Hey, hey are you alright?" A male voice say approaching me cautiously

"I'm-I'm-I'm-I'm-" no other words could come out. I was losing it and fast

"I'm calling an ambulance," he says. I fall to my knees and he catches me before my face met the ground

"I'm-I'm-I-I'm-I'm-" I continued to repeat. My body violently shook, making me feel something I hadn't felt in years, fear. I was truly scared.

"What's wrong with her?" Another stranger asked. My hands clutched the man's jacket trying to stop him from calling the emergency line

"I don't know, she just appeared her like this" he answered "Miss please try to call down, breathe, breathe" he says to me but I can focus on him

"Where is her coat? It's freezing out here" the second voice spoke again. It was a woman and she was on the phone giving our location.

Not long after I heard the sirens and saw the flashing lights. EMS jumped out to attend to me, they asked the small crowd that surrounded me what happened. The man explained what happened as they loaded me into the back of the van on a gurney. The warmth of the blanket slowed down my shaking and the oxygen mask over my face allowed me to breathe easier, the tears falling from my eyes warmed my face as I closed my eyes and left consciousness.

The next time I woke up was in a hospital bed surrounded by bright lights and white walls. The smell of sterilization fills my nostrils as I blink to adjust to the blinding brightness. I struggle to sit up feeling tubes and tape on my arms, I find the remote to page a nurse

a man of average height walks in

"Choi Ma-ri, I'm Korean and fluent"

"Okay, whatever you're comfortable with" he smiled then checked the monitors and wrote down some notes "Can I?" He asked holding up a stethoscope

I nodded yes. He continued to check my vitals and ask me trivial things to fill in the blanks of my chart.

"Ms. Choi, can you tell me what happened? Why were outside in those temperatures without the proper attire?"

"I ran away from my father's funeral"

"Oh! Okay, do you feel any pain or discomfort anywhere"

"Not really, my feet are a little sore. I need to call my sister and brother"

"There is a phone on the table, do you know their numbers by heart? You didn't have a phone on you"

"Shit" I cursed "Sorry, no I don't. Would you get in trouble if I asked you to look up their names so I could get a phone number" He looked at me suspiciously.

"Definitely. What are their names though, I'll see what I can do"

"Choi Min-ji and Choi Min-su" I answer and he snaps his head in my direction

"Choi Min-su? Wait, you're his sister from America?"

"I take it you know my brother then, yes I am. Can you please call him for me? Can I go? I'm sure you found nothing wrong"

"Uh yeah, yeah. Here you can use my cell" he pulls it from his pocket and taps Min-su's contact, putting the call on speaker phone

"Dong-woo-ssi, hey what's going on?"

"Hey bro, I'm cool but I have someone that needs to talk to you"

"Huh, who?"

"Min-su oppa its Ma-ri, can you pick me up from the hospital?"

"Ma-ri! What the hell!" He screamed "We've been worried sick about you! Why'd you run away?"

"I know you're upset but please stop screaming at me, come pick me up and we can talk"

"Fine, I'll be there in a little bit. Thanks Dong-woo"

"No problem man" the call ended and he slipped it back into his pocket "I guess we should get you discharged"

Forty-five minutes later I was sitting in the back seat of Minji's car headed back to the banquet hall. Minsu was fuming mad and Minji looked tired. I felt genuinely terrible for making that kind of a scene at that time, despite my feeling for our father that it was just plain disrespectful and I knew an apology was due. My mind was a mess. If what Mi-kyung said is true... I couldn't fathom it being true, what exactly was I supposed to do? If I really have seven soulmates, who knows where the hell they could be. I don't have time to seek out seven different people in an entire country!

The ride was silent and I was exhausted. I should have never come here but I was overjoyed that I would be gone the next day never having come back again. South Korea brings me nothing but pain and exhaustion, I don't belong here. The car came to a full stop so I looked out the window to see that we had made it back but no one moved right away

"You owe everyone an apology" my brother said without looking at me, his hands still gripping the steering wheel with white knuckles.

"I know," I replied quietly, not looking up from my lap. I felt like a child being reprimanded by their parents.

"Why would you run away like that?" Minji asked

"I don't want to talk about it. I will say sorry to everybody then go back to the hotel to pack so I can be bright and early for my flight tomorrow"

"Ma-ri I don't give a damn whether you want to talk about it or not. I know you didn't like dad but YOU came here. Nobody forced you. It was YOU who made the decision to get on the plane so stop acting like a stubborn child. Just because you're the baby between us doesn't mean you get to act like a literal baby by throwing tantrums and running away. Me and Minji want you in our lives but if you're planning to keep pushing us away and acting selfish then go back to America and forget about us" his eyes met mine in the rear view mirror "You still have a lot of growing up to do."

With that said he got out of the car leaving his sisters behind in silence. Neither of us said anything for a couple minutes.

"Let's go inside, it's cold out here" Minji said, getting out first.

"I knew coming here was a bad idea" I mumbled also getting out of the car

"Listen, he's just pissed off right now and I am too, if we're being honest, give him some time to calm down then we can talk before you leave"

"Maybe he is right. I should just go back home and we all just forget about each other and move on with our lives" she looked hurt by the suggestion

With a heavy, almost defeated sounding sigh she said "If that's what you really want" then walked inside the building without me.

"Thanks for making me feel even shittier" I said sarcastically to myself. When I got inside everyone's eyes landed on me, I never wanted to be invisible more than at that moment. "Um, I just wanted to offer my sincerest apologies for my behavior today. This was not about me and I am very sorry for acting like a selfish child" I got down on my knees offering a full bow to show I was serious. I got up with help from my brother then felt him wrap me up in a hug so I hugged him back.

I excused myself from the crowd to collect my things so I could leave but Mi-kyung and Minji approached me before I could leave.

"Sorry I was such an ass to you I am actually glad I met you"

"It's okay. I hope you consider what I said Ma-ri, it wouldn't be so bad to find and connect with your soulmates." Mi-kyung said rubbing my arm

"Where do I start? I would have to find seven peo-"

"Seven!" Minji shouted in a whisper "How-how do you have seven soulmates at once?"

"I am still trying to wrap my mind around it, but your mom says these," I say lifting my sleeve "mean I have seven soulmates. Who could stay sane after hearing something like that?"

"Mom, how do you know?"

"Because your father and I had them" Minji and I looked at each other then at her needing an explanation. "We can talk later"

I decided to stay for the rest of the reception, I needed to hear what their mom had to say. Yeeun found me and stuck to me for the rest of the day.

"Ma-ri I might know who your soulmates are?" She says out the blue

"Okay Detective, how on earth would you know who they might be?" I asked amusedly

"Every time you have a panic attack the members of bangtan act strange too... what if they are who you're trying to connect with" a few seconds of silence lingered between us before I fell over laughing. I couldn't help it, the idea of me having seven of the biggest stars to ever exist as my soulmates made me laugh hysterically.

Yeeun smacked my arm trying to get me to focus on what she was saying but I just kept laughing. At some point no sound even came from me, my head was thrown back and my mouth wide open but my shoulder bounced

"I'm serious!"

I say wiping the tears from my eyes

she frowns. I try to calm down to listen but I can't stop giggling.

"I know you think it's crazy but they have been acting really strange ever since you came here. They have never passed out on stage and earlier today during their broadcast Jungkook kept rubbing and grabbing at his chest as if he was in pain. It's-it's like whatever happens to you happens to them, how else would you explain that?"

Well that's the million dollar question ain't it?

"Yeeun, I'm sure it is just a coincidence-"

"You don't even believe that" she cut me off "It's fate!"

hypothetically, let's say I do have soulmates and they are the members of the biggest band in the world, who would believe me? How do I get to them? Based on what I've seen so far they are like royalty here and are probably better guarded than the president"

"Min-ji works for their company! She works at the Hybe building"

"WHAT!" both of us take off running to find my sister

This is insane! Am I actually considering trying to meet these guys and confirming my cousin's crazy suspicions? Before I could answer my own questions I ran into Minji. Yeeun and I both started talking at her, over-talking each other trying to explain what her theory

I can't understand what either of you are saying right now" Yeeun takes a deep breath and proceeds to start from the beginning elaborating on everything she's concluded. Min-su came over to listen as well.

By the time she was done explaining everyone was speechless. Yep, it sounds just as mentally unstable as you might imagine.

"I knew it! I mean I didn't know it would be them but I knew you had soulmates!" Minsu clapped

"Wow" Min-ji was still trying to process what she'd heard and honestly so was I. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

I was not sure at all but if at the very least I could have an explanation for everything I should take the risk right? "I-I don't know"