We pulled up in front of his parent's house in a taxi and got out with our overnight duffel bags. I cannot explain why, it was sudden, but once we were actually at the door, waiting for someone to come to let us in I felt uncomfortable. The feeling turning my former smile into sour frown, something wasn't right.

"Princess what's wrong? Why are you frowning?" Namjoon asked, adjusting his bag on his shoulder

"I don't know, I just have a weird feeling"

"From one of the guys?" I shook my head no

"Namjoon-ah!" A handsome older man opened the door and snatched him in for a hug. "I'm glad to see you son" he said kissing his forehead which made Joon frown

"Hey dad, good to see you too" he said, hugging his father back. The two men broke apart and Joon grabbed my hand to pull me to his side "Dad meet Ma-ri, our final soulmate"

"Hi Mr. Kim, it's very nice to meet you. I've heard so much about you"

"Hi darling, and likewise. Joon talks about you all the time so I feel like I know you already so just call me dad, if you want" he responded with a warm smile. So far so good, maybe the discomfort is just me being tired or something.

"I'm sure my grandmother could say the same about him" I giggled. He let us put down our bags and remove our shoes before embracing me in a hug and welcoming me to the family.

"Where's mom and Geong-min?"

"Your mother made a quick trip to the store; said she ran out of sesame oil and your sister hasn't arrived yet. I thought you were her"

"Okay. Well, I'm going to show Ma-ri around after we put our bags away"

Namjoon had given me a tour of the tour which was very nice, it didn't feel as cozy as some of the others but it still felt like a home filled with love. Afterwards his dad pulled out a photo album for me to browse through. Watching Namjoon and his sister grow up through the numerous pictures was fun. You can tell they had a good childhood.

As I flipped through the book while sitting on the couch, I heard voices outside the front door and the discomfort settled back in. I closed the album and placed it on the coffee table in front of the sofa and looked towards the area when the door opened. Joon and his dad approached the door, exchanging greeting with the people coming through it

"Mom! I missed you"

"Hey dad" I heard softer feminine voice speak

"Mom, Geong-min, there is someone really special you need to meet" Joon spoke, I could hear the smile in his voice

"Let me get these bags down first" His mother replied then I heard shuffling away from the door

"Take me my sister-in-law now Joonie-oppa" I heard a thud then footsteps

"You're so bossy. She's in here" I stood up with my hands folded in front of me. A beautiful, tall slim woman with long brown hair turned the corner, smiling right at me

"Oh my god, hiiii!" she sang while throwing her arms around me and rocking me from side to side "I'm happy to finally meet you"

"Me too, thank you" I wrapped my arms around her for a moment before pulling away "I'm Ma-ri and you're really pretty"

"Psshh me? Look at you, you are absolutely stunning." she countered, making me blush "I'm Geong-min, may I call you unnie?"

"Yeah, that's fine with me" I replied as she pulled me in for another hug with partnered with an excited squeal

"Okay, okay, you're going to hug her to death," Joon said, prying his sister off of me which made me chuckle. He gave me a quick peck on the lips

"I'm so glad you two picked this weekend specifically to come into town, I have a surprise of my own"

"Oh? What kind of surprise?" their mom asked while entering the room. She briefly glanced my way but before I could speak, she turned her attention to her daughter. I tried not to read into it, after all she had just asked her a question.

"If I tell you, it wouldn't be much of a surprise, would it?" Geong-min quipped

"Mom," Namjoon called "This is Ma-ri" He introduced us with a big grin

"I'm really happy to finally meet you Mrs. Kim, or should I say mom" I giggled, extending my hand to her

"Mrs. Kim is good, nice to meet you too young lady" she said with a polite smile although I felt anything but respected. She looked down at my hand then at her son, completely rejecting my gesture "Geong-min, come help me with dinner"

"O...kay" her daughter responded with a puzzled look

"What's up with mom?" Joon asked in a whisper when she left the room, equally as confused as his sister. Geong-min shrugged then proceeded to follow their mom. I turned to him with an awkward smile not knowing what to say.

"Uh sorry about that, she takes a while to warm up to new people" he said, scratching the back of his neck. I just nodded and flopped onto the couch, he took the seat to my right and put his arm over my shoulder.

We sat there in silence while the rest of his family was in the kitchen preparing a meal. The reason I felt strange was confirmed, his mother didn't like me but the question is why. My mind began to race as I thought about why she didn't like me, especially since she only just met me. My watch vibrated which pulled me from my thoughts, it was a text from Jin

Babe, what's the matter? Your mind is racing right now

- Is everything ok?

- I'm not sure...

- What's happening? Where is Namjoon?

- He's here. Right next to me.

- I'll call later

- OK

"

I replied. Joon took my right hand in both of his

"

"

"

"I explained, not understanding how he couldn't see what I saw

"He countered

"If you say so" I murmured and rolled my eyes "Can you get me some water please?"

Namjoon said yes and left me alone in the room to retrieve my water. I scoffed and folded my arms over my chest, replaying the scene in my mind which made me madder by the second. Since he was taking too long to bring me my beverage, I decided to go get it myself and that's when I heard the last thing, I hoped to ever hear from one of my soulmate's family.

"I can't believe you're linked to the black girl!" Mrs. Kim exclaimed in a hushed tone

"Whoa, what the hell are you saying?" Joon asked

"Mom!" Geong-min screeched

"What? I'm not the only one who feels like this, Jimin's parents don't like that she's black either"

"First of all, she is HALF black and HALF Korean, and two, you're being incredibly racist. So, what if she's biracial?" her growled

"Honey... you aren't serious, are you?" Mr. Kim asked, the disbelief obvious in his tone

"I don't like her kind" She spat "She is not good enough for you and I will not condone you being with that-that-"

"I can't believe what I'm hearing, what you're saying, right now. You're a fucking racist!" Namjoon hollered "How-how-how-" he was losing it and I was livid. How the fuck can she be a damn racist when the whole reason her son is successful in music because of black people and their influence?

Before I could make my raging entrance to tell her off, there was a hard knock on the door that silenced the whole silence. For a moment no one moved which prompted the visitor to knock again. Mr. Kim rounded the corner jumping a little as I stood there fuming, he gave me sad eyes and proceeded to the door

"This timing is just perfect," Geong-min scoffed. Her father opened the door to reveal a tall, broad man with skin like black silk.

"Uh, hello, my-my name is, uh, Koshi" He spoke broken Korean with a heavy African accent.

"Hi babe" Geong-min said. Needless to say, her father and I were stunned to see her jump into the stranger's arms and kiss his lips. He groaned and spun her around then step her back on the ground "I'm afraid this was not a good idea"

"Why not good idea?" he asked

"Turns out my mom is a racist" she laughed without humor. He frowned and looked at her father who was still standing speechless "This is my dad, dad this is Koshi-my soulmate"

I choked on nothing. Her words were clear as crystal but I couldn't believe what I had just heard, he was her soulmate and he was as black as midnight. Her mother was sure to have a heart attack the moment she laid eyes on him and learned who he was. Koshi looked at her expectantly, as if he was waiting for her to hit him with a punchline but her glossy eyes told him this was no joke.

"Umm come in, please" Mr. Kim said, finally finding his voice. His daughter pulled him in and told him to stay there and he nodded. He looked around awkwardly before his gaze fell to me

"Hi" I waved with slight bow "I'm Ma-ri, her brother's soulmate"

"Ahh, yes! I saw you on television"He exclaimed, extending his hand for me to shake so I did.

"Excuse me," Mr. Kim said before going back into the kitchen. Namjoon came out one second later

"We're leaving" he said grabbing my arm and pulling me with him towards the back of the house

"Okay but-"

"Now" he seethed. I knew he was fighting back tears and the tightness in my chest told me he was angry with and hurt by his mother. I gave Koshi an apologetic smile and returned it

As we were gathering our things, we heard yelling rise from where we just were, Geong-min and her mother were screaming at each other while her father tried to calm them both down. Two minutes later I was following him to the front door, he stopped when she saw his mother on the floor, sobbing as his sister slipped on her shoes.

"Koshi has a hotel room nearby, you two can come with us while you figure something out" She sniffed, snatching her purse from the little table by the door.

"Fine by me. Dad, I'll talk to you later" Namjoon said, ignoring his mother's theatrics.

"I'm so sorry kids" was all he could say

"By daddy," his daughter sighed. She yanked the door open and stormed out with her mate right on her heels. We slipped on our shoes and followed them without looking back. We all loaded into Geong-min's car, she didn't start it up right away instead she broke down crying. Her fists pounded the steering wheel as she cried violently hard causing her body to shake

"Baby," Koshi said in a soothing voice and reached over to hug her. I could not help the tears that spilled from my eyes. I pulled Namjoon into my embrace as well, he broke down at that moment; my heart ached for him, his sister and myself.

What was supposed to be a nice family gathering turned into a nightmare. Even though I wanted to break down too, I had to be strong for Joonie, he was always being brave for others and deserved the same courtesy from me at the moment. He pulled me into his lap and buried his face into my jacket, I felt him exhale shaky breaths as she cried into the fabric. I caressed his face and kiss his head

"I'm sorry my love, I'm sorry" he whispered, squeezing me tight. We sat in the car a few minutes longer, Koshi and I giving out wounded soulmates some time to release their emotions.

"I can drive if you're not up to it" I offered.

"Please, thank you unnie" her voice was scratchy. We switched places, Geong-min climbed into the backseat with her brother and I took over the driver's seat. With the location of the hotel locked into the navigation system I took us there; the ride was mostly silent until we arrived at the luxury building "Thanks again for driving"

"Don't mention it" The valet came around and I passed him the keys while another young man unloaded our bags from the trunk

"We have the bags, get inside" Namjoon said as he and Koshi grabbed but we still waited and walked in together. We followed Koshi to the elevators where he allowed the three of us to load first then got on and pushed the button for the 19th floor.

The ride up was quiet. We got to his room, which turned out to be a two-bedroom suite with a kitchenette, dining area and a living room. He showed us to the spare bedroom, told us to help ourselves to anything we wanted, then left us alone while he went to check on his mate. Joon sat on the bed with his elbows resting on his thighs and his head dropped. I sat beside him and rubbed his back; I had a million things I wanted to say but the moment wasn't right.

"I-" he started but the sentence was left incomplete

"Let's lay down for a little bit, try to rest your mind" I say quietly

"Okay" he agreed with a defeated tone. I unbuttoned his coat and pulled it off his body then tossed it on the desk chair along with mine. We both kicked off our shoes then got under the plush blanket not caring that we were in our outside clothes.

We faced each other; eyes locked in an intense gaze when we both started crying. We embraced each other and cried together until we fell asleep.

_______________________________________________________________________

: So... That just happened.