I stayed on the phone with my grandma for over two hours. Once I heard her voice the floodgates opened up and I couldn't stop talking. I told her everything.

"" I sighed wiping my face with the wad of tissue I held

"" her voice sounded like home, and I had no idea how much I really missed her until then. ""

""

""

"" I asked

"" I understood that. In her own way she was protecting me.

""

""

"."

""

""

""

""

""

"" When we hung up, I felt much better, she was my true source of comfort and I'm thankful to have her still with me. I left Yoongi's room to use the restroom, passing two bedrooms along the way. I heard a muffled voice from the one with the closed door. One sounded like Namjoon, maybe he was talking to Jin.

I did my business and washed my hands then made sure my face looked presentable considering I had shed a copious number of tears while talking with my grandmother. I had sent a text to Minji before the call just to give them an update on me and check on them as well. Apparently, Mi-kyung wanted to see me before I left for the US, but I knew I was not ready to see her again, not yet. I would need more than a few days to get over the fact that her selfishness and stubborn behavior was the reason my mother ended her own life.

I stepped out of the bathroom and made my way downstairs to see Yoongi and Hoseok cuddled together on the sofa watching a show I couldn't identify. "Am I interrupting?" I asked

"No not at all, come sit" Yoongi patted the space next to him. I felt a look from Hoseok and decided to sit on the smaller piece of furniture adjacent to the one they were sitting on.

"Here is fine. Where is everyone?"

"Namjoon and Jin are somewhere talking, Jungkook said he was going to take a nap, Jimin is working and I'm not sure where Taehyung is or what he's doing" he replied with a shrug. The room fell quiet except for the television when I heard my phone chime, seeing it was from my sister I responded quickly.

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah, Minji and I were just checking in with each other, everything is good on their end and under control"

"That's good," Hoseok commented. The two of them carried on a quiet conversation as I looked at the tv screen not really following what was happening. About twenty minutes into the program Jimin comes in the room with a frown on his face and plops down next to me.

"Are you okay?" I asked

"Yes, I'm fine, are you?"

"Yeah"

"Then why were you crying?" he asked looking at me

"Oh, I was talking to my grandmother and got emotional, I'm sorry"

"No, it's okay I thought something was wrong" Jimin sighed in relief. He grabbed my hand and laced our fingers together; I could feel his relief within myself. All of this would take some getting used to, I'm awkward about touch and physical intimacy but I would soon have to get used to it,

"I didn't mean to worry you Jimin, it's been a long while since I spoke to her and everything just kind of spilled out of me"

"Do you feel better now that you have talked to her?"

"I do, actually"

"Good" his pink lips spread into a sweet smile after they left a quick kiss on my hand. He continued to hold my hand as the four of us watched television together making small talk every now and then.

***

I walked through my empty apartment, suddenly it felt huge without all my furniture and knickknacks crowding the walls and corners. I was able to sell a lot of my stuff and what I didn't have time to sell I just gave away to my family.

"Looks like everything is gone" My grandmother said, her voice echoing off the tall walls

"Yep, just making sure though" I had spent the morning cleaning up the place and was waiting on the property manager to come for the keys.

"Can't believe my baby is going to live on the other side of the word, again"

"Me either, I really thought I'd never have any reason to ever step foot on the peninsula of South Korea ever again and now I have seven, lucky me" I said sarcastically

"Your cousins still can't believe you have soulmates"

"I can't either. Most days I feel like I'm in a dream, or a nightmare, that I can't wake up from"

"Well, I can assure you this is not a dream or a nightmare, this is all very real and even though I never met them based of what you have told me and showed me they all seem like good boys, even the little stubborn ones"

"I hope so and I promise I will get you out there soon, I just need to get settled first" a knock on the door paused our conversation. I already knew who it was, so I didn't even bother checking the peephole "Hi Jill"

"Hello Ma-ri, wow it smells great in here" she chuckled. I was always taught to leave a place cleaner than you found it "Hi" he greeted my grandma who gave the business casually dressed woman a polite smile and wave

"Thanks, here are the keys"

"Thank you, so you're moving all the way to Korea huh? For work?" she inquired. It wasn't like I was keeping the fact that I have soulmates a secret just who they are, for now. Soon the whole world would be aware

"You won't believe me but when I went for my father's funeral, I found my soulmates" Jill's jaw was on the floor, figuratively of course. The disbelief was all over her face I couldn't help but laugh

"Seriously?" was all she could muster up

"Seriously, I still can't believe it"

"Well, congratulations... Wow people still have soulmates after all these years, that's really sweet actually"

"Thanks"

"We'll let me do a quick walk-through so you can go even though I know everything is perfect still gotta take some pictures"

"Do what you must" Jill spent a quick twenty minutes inspecting each room, taking pictures and checking the functionality of switches, knobs, faucets, locks, etc.

"Alright, this place looks as good as it can, it's move-in ready right now. Thank you Ma-ri and good luck with everything"

"Thank you Jill, take care" With my keys and wristlet on we walked first with Jill a minute behind us.

I drove to my grandma's house because I stayed with her once I packed up my apartment and shipped off everything I wanted in Korea. She wanted to have a big family dinner before I left, which I didn't want to suffer through, but she's a determined old lady and didn't really care what I wanted. In a few hours a lot of family members I barely know or see would be crowding the house. She assigned everyone a specific dish or task for the meal so all she had to cook was one of my personal favorites, kimchi fried rice, and macaroni and cheese.

My grandmother was great in so many ways. One of my favorites is her unconditional acceptance of me being a mixed-race child. She learned to cook Korean dishes and learned about Korean culture to make me feel comfortable and accepted at home. She never once told me I had to choose between being black or Korean, which is essential for mixed race children to learn as early as possible. The world will always try to separate us from ourselves and even though I definitely encountered that type of ignorance in school, my social life and work, my grandmother's voice was always there telling me not to give in to the pressures. I could never thank her enough for raising me to be proud of being a beautiful blend of two amazing races and cultures.

Her house smelled wonderful, I was hungry and would have been satisfied with just the mac and cheese and rice, but she kicked me out the kitchen for nibbling, stating I was going to get full before the rest of the food got there. She wasn't wrong. The doorbell sounded so I went to answer it to see my aunt Lena and uncle Garrett, Lena was my mom's sister, along with their three kids.

"Hey aunt Lena, Uncle Garrett, granny said y'all late"

"We the first one's here mama!" Lena yelled

"Y'all still late, I said 5:30 and its 5:49" my aunt rolled her eyes and gave me a short hug "Bring me those ribs, I need to make sure Garrett ain't burn 'em"

"Now mama you know I ain't never burnt a rib in my life" he laughed walking into the kitchen with two tinfoil covers aluminum pans

"Ma-ri look, I lost a tooth" Cierra said showing me the empty space on her gum line.

"Whoa, when did that fall out?"

"Yesterday, mommy and daddy gave me a dollar for it!" she pulled out her money to show me

"You rich girl, better put back in your pocket before you lose it" she looked scared and shoved it deep down then patted the outside making me laugh. Cierra was an "uh-oh baby" so she's only seven which makes her 12 and 14 years young than her older siblings, Gavin and Tamika.

It was 6:30 when everyone finally got there, granny was not happy about that, but she let it go. The kitchen counters were full of food, even though it was wintertime we had a lot of barbecue meats to choose from. We put the extension in the dining room table and set up granny's card tables for extra seating. Once everyone was seated with their plates and drinks, my uncle Tim, my mom and Lena's younger brother, said a prayer and we dug in.

"Mmm grandma this mac and cheese is bangin, as usual" one of my cousins, Nate, commented while picked at it aggressively with his fork

"Ma-ri what's that weird stuff you got" Nate's sister, Erica, asked

"Kimchi fried rice, it's a Korean side dish" I answered chewing a spoonful

"Is it good?" she asked with a skeptical look

"I like it" I shrugged "if you like fried rice and spicy cabbage you might think so, granny made enough if you wanna try some"

"Mm maybe later"

Surprisingly the dinner was nice. Everyone was cool and got along well, not that the family argued all the time but sometimes my cousin Daphne talked too much, and things could get heated. This time was relaxed, and I actually enjoyed being around them, to be fair I wasn't really open to much of my family before, so I guess it could've been like this sooner but no point in crying over spilled milk. After everyone ate their fill and caught the itis everyone separated into different areas of the house, most of my cousins went to the basement so I followed them. Gavin brought his Nintendo Switch, so he set it up and everyone was taking turns playing Mario Kart. I sat down on one of the old couches my granny had put down here when she got a new set a few years ago and my cousin Precious sat next to me

"So, you really moving back to Korea?" she asked

"Yep. I fly out tomorrow"

"And you really got soulmates too? Like it's been like a hundred years" she sounded like she didn't believe me, but I didn't really care

"I know, but I met them, and everything lined up so that's the only thing that made sense" I replied, I wasn't going to try convincing her.

"Is it true you have a brother and sister over there?" Erica asked passing the controller to someone else

"Yeah, it's true"

"That's crazy" And that was the end of the conversation. Everyone became occupied with their own things leaving me alone which I wasn't complaining about. After such a long day with an early start I was tired and ready to go to bed. My phone chimed letting me know I have a text, two actually.

Hey, are you set for tomorrow?

Yep. I'll let you know when I land

Ok! Good night

Night 😴

The second message was in the group chat I have with the guys from Jimin

Hey Ma-ri, just checking on you to make sure everything is good

Thanks, Jimin. Everything is good.

Awesome. Have safe flights

Thank you, guys. I'll see you soon

An hour later granny was sending everyone home so I could rest. With the house cleaned up and empty except up she came into my old room where I would be spending my last night

"How are you feeling Ma-ri?"

"I'm okay but I'm also anxious. This isn't just a new chapter it's a whole new book"

"I can't imagine everything you are going to have to endure but I know you will overcome it all with the help of your soulmates. I wish I had more advice for you but I never had a soulmate so I don't understand that type of relationship, but I will say this, don't continue doing everything on your own baby. Let those men help you, let them in and let them love you. You're not alone in life, you honestly never were but especially now; you have seven men that will cherish you so let them"

"Yes granny" I smiled and hugged her fluffy body. Her cheek rested against mine when we embraced, she turned slightly to kiss it before letting me go "I love you"

"I love you too, try to get some rest" we said goodnight to each other then she left to go to her own room.

Hard to believe that two weeks ago I was living my normal life. Living thinking I would spend the rest of my life alone, thinking I was an only child, and thinking I'd hate my father forever. Everything that transpired in that time frame was so unexpected but for the first time, since before I got off that plane in Korea, I felt peaceful? I don't know if that's the right word, but I certainly felt different and like I finally believed everything would truly be alright.