I woke up to the sound of knocking on the bedroom door, it was soft but still loud enough to wake me up. At first, I was confused because I didn't recognize my surroundings but quickly remembered we were at a hotel. I eased out of bed as stealthily as I could so Namjoon wouldn't wake up, succeeding when I saw him still sound asleep in my absence. I opened the door to see Geong-min looking at me with apologetic eyes.

"What's up?" I whispered as I quietly closed the door behind me

"Sorry to wake you I just wanted to check on you guys I didn't realize y'all were still sleeping" she explained

"Still? What time is it? How long have we been out?"

"It's nighttime now, nearly ten"

"Oh wow. We probably would have slept through the night but it's fine. Let him rest" she nodded

"How was he?" his sister asked. Her eyes were sad, I felt so sorry for them-not knowing their mom is a racist and both having black soulmates has to be so upsetting for them.

"Not good, he cried himself to sleep, we both did. What about you, how do you feel?" I asked, following her as she began walking away from my room

"Probably the same as my brother. I feel pretty numb right now because I cried so much earlier, but I cannot wrap my mind around it. My mom doesn't like black people and both of her children have black soulmates, like it feels like a bad joke gone terribly wrong. I just..." Her sentence trailed off as we arrived in the kitchen

"I'm really sorry you have to go through this, I can't imagine how devastating this must be for you and Joon"

"I can't believe it, my entire life my mom has never said or did anything, at least in my presence, that would ever make me think she could be racist." Geong-min sniffled. Her eyes welled up with tears that she tried to blink away. I pulled her into a hug, rubbing her back as she cried again while squeezing me tightly. "And Koshi was so excited to meet my family, I feel like a fool unnie"

"This is not your fault sweetie; this is not on you and Koshi knows that. He doesn't blame you and I don't blame Namjoon, how can we? It's not like either of you knew she would act like that so please do not beat yourself up about it. You are your own person; you are not your parents" I tried to console her

"I know but I still feel like I should have known, somehow" she sobbed

I let her get it all out, holding onto her shaky body until she loosened her grip on me. The shoulder of my shirt housed a huge wet spot which she apologized for and tried to dry off by blowing it, making me laugh at her gesture. She cracked a smile under her swollen eyes and dried lips

"I'm going to make some tea for us, have a seat" I tell her, and she pulls out the chair closest to her reach at the small kitchen table. I give her some napkins I find at the coffee station so she can clean her face

"Thank you"

"Where is Koshi by the way?" I asked, filling the kettle up with water from the tap. I rinsed out the two mugs that were also sitting at the station and put a tea bag inside of each one.

"He's in virtual meeting right now"

"Oh, what does he do?"

"I can't explain it because he's a fucking super genius and it all sounds like a foreign language to me, but I know he works with computers and does coding or something like that" she giggled.

"Okay, guess I should ask him myself when I get a chance" She agreed. The kettle whistled loudly so I turned it off so it wouldn't disturb either man. I made both cups, sitting her right in front of her on the table "No honey so I used a few sugar packets"

"That's fine, thanks" Geong-min blew on the hot liquid to cool it off before taking a sip and I did the same. We drank our beverages in silence, I'm sure her mind was racing just like mine was so many thoughts trampled over each other that I had to physically shake my head to clear a space.

I monitored Geong-min for a moment. She was so distraught and upset, every few seconds she sighed heavily or tightened the grip on her cup as if she was trying to calm herself down. I wanted to take her mind off her mother, even if it was for just a minute

"So, when you did know you had a soulmate and how did you and Koshi meet?" I inquired. Not only did I want to distract her I was genuinely curious because for so long I believed soulmates were myths of old but including my experience, this is the third revelation I've heard of. Makes me wonder if people really stopped connecting or if they chose to do it privately.

"It was about four years ago when I felt the pull. Unlike my brother, who was born with his, my mark didn't show up until I was nearly grown on my way to university. After completing my first year I decided I wanted to study abroad but I did not want to go to America, everybody goes there so I decided to follow my instinct and go to Africa-now that I'm thinking back, my mom flipped out when I told her that but I assumed it was because she was worried about my safety, you know being a foreigner in land so different than my own but it could have very well been because of her ignorance. Anyways, I listened to my gut and found myself in Ghana of all places."

"Ghana!"

"I know," she snorted. "I don't know if Namjoon told you, but I was studying to be a teacher, so I enrolled in the University of Ghana and literally met Koshi on my first day there. He was one of the two campus guides that spoke fluent english-mind you, I only knew a little bit of it at the time because of Joonie- so I was in his group, and we connected almost instantly but neither of us realized it exactly when it happened. Any time I was more than 10 meters away from him it was harder to breathe, and my vision would get blurry, at first, I thought it was my body trying to adjust to the new place and time zone, so I didn't think much of it"

"Wow, that sounds similar to me except I had not even met the guys yet and my body was doing the most" I said, understanding how she felt

"Ooh, now that would have driven me insane for sure" she expressed after finishing off her tea

"Trust me, I was close. Plus, I was in denial about having a soulmate only to find out I have seven, did you believe in us at the time?"

"Yeah," she started, "You want another cup of tea?" I nodded in response and gave her my cup. "I did, I always thought the concept was cool and romantic, but I never expected to be one, like I said before my mark didn't appear until later in my life, so I never got my hopes up. When my brother told me he found his soulmates I was happy for him but also jealous because he didn't care if he ever found his soulmates while I wished I was in his shoes; not that I wanted six mates but because I wanted someone made for me"

"I get it. So is Koshi your only mate?"

"Yeah, we're it for each other. I don't know if I could handle being a part of a big soulmate group like you guys. Seems exhausting" Geong-min yawned as she sat back down, giving me a fresh cup of hot tea

"It can be, and I had that same fear when I found out, but I've only had some situations that were tiresome and energy draining. Now that we are a more cohesive unit, I feel good most of the time, it's all about balance between your partners, whether it's one, two, four or eight of you there has to be balance" I explained as she listened attentively "To be honest I'm still getting acclimated to being here again and being in a relationship, several relationships but it's gotten a lot better from when I first moved back"

"I bet, you're currently facing, and will face, a lot of challenges I won't have to worry about" She empathized. "Are you happy?"

As if the smile that spread across my face wasn't enough of an answer, I audibly replied "Yes, I really am. They take such good care of me in every way. Are you happy?"

"Absolutely. That man treats me like a queen" She grinned, raising her cup "To our kings" our mugs clinked, and we took simultaneous sips

"To our kings," I repeated. After a few minutes of quiet we heard movement and saw Namjoon round the corner "Hi baby" I spoke softly to him as she slumped his body over me, kissing my forehead

"Hi"

"Joonie-oppa do you want some tea?" His sister asked but he declined. He pulled out the chair adjacent to me and sat down

"What time is it?"

"Quarter after ten" I answered, he hummed and yawned again "How'd you sleep?"

"Surprisingly well, that's a nice mattress and I was mentally exhausted. My brain needed to shut down for a while" Namjoon rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he spoke. His hair was wild, matted in some places and erect in others, he looked like a crazy man but still handsome.

"How long have you been up?" He pointed at both of us

"I've been up an hour now and I accidentally woke unnie up about 40 minutes ago" Geong-min answered before taking a sip of her tea

"Hm. Where's Koshi?"

"He's in a meeting right now. He was supposed to be there in person earlier today but in light of recent events he didn't want to leave me alone so he's attending virtually" I looked between the siblings as they communicated verbally and non-verbally.

"Is he alright?"

"Yeah, he's fine, just worried about me"

"What kind of connection do you and he have?" I inquired curiously

"Mental and physical" She gushed.

"That's cool, with the exception of Jin I only have singular connections with everyone"

"Interesting, which connections do you have with Seokjin?

"All of them"

"A pure connection!" she shouted with enlarged eyes "Holy shit those are rare. How is it?" Geong-min's eyes sparkled as she waits for my reply

"It's odd in the beginning, I'm sure we'll both adjust with time, but I can actually feel him within me, ugh it's hard to put into words. Okay, so you know how with a mental connection you can see your mate's memories and dreams well it's a lot like that but amplify it by a hundred"

"Wow, that sounds intense and a little scary"

"It is, it's like we can trade bodies, he's seen through my eyes in real time before and it is such a freaky feeling, like you're being invaded against your will, but I'm also fascinated by the ability as well. It's only happened three times between us, twice before I ever met him and once a few weeks back" I saw Geong-min shake as if she was feeling what I described

"Ahh, that's so cool but weird at the same time" we both laughed "What kind of connection do you and Joon share?"

"Physical" He answered

"Oh... kinda wish I didn't ask" this time me and Namjoon laughed as she frowned a little. They started bickering and it was almost like this gloomy cloud that hovered above us was clearing away, almost.

Koshi came into the kitchen holding Geong-min's phone, it was ringing displaying a picture of the mother and daughter hugging each other and smiling at the camera. Their bickering ceased and her smile fell, she took the phone and laid it on the table

"Aren't you going to answer it?" he asked, rubbing her shoulders

"I can't talk to her right now"

"Okay" was his response. The phone rang and vibrated on the table as we all stared at it until the voicemail picked up. Koshi leaned down to kiss her cheek and whispered something that only she could hear that made her smile. Koshi acknowledged Namjoon and me.

"I'm starving, can we order room service Joonie?" I asked, grabbing his hand under the table

"" Namjoon told Koshi, but he waved it off

"" he asked his girlfriend

"" she replied. He retrieved the room service menu, putting it on the table for all of us to see.

With the order placed we made idle chat, which mostly consisted of the men getting to know each other a little better while me and Geong-min chimed in occasionally. In the bleakness of the day that moment was a comforting light the four of us needed. When the food arrived, we dug in, Namjoon and I enjoyed a mix of Korean and American dishes while his sister and her soulmate chowed on lobster and steak. After the delicious and much needed meal, we stayed gathered at the kitchen table talking and laughing, happily enjoying each other's company like we planned to do with their parents.

__________________________________________________________________

Kofi Siriboe is so FINE to me 😍. Finding out he was born in 94 shocked me though, I thought he was a little older.

So how are we feeling right now? Do you think they'll be able to reconcile with their mom?