Night's Love

Chapter 4

This morning, there is no alarm to violently wake you and your roommate up. Neither of you have a morning class, but you do have an afternoon class. Your art class to be specific.

You decide to wake up slowly because your sleep was so peaceful. Well, you would have woken up slowly, but for some reason you were itchy. You sigh in annoyance, realizing your tranquility is already over. After you itch one spot, another appears. You huff in disapproval. Instead of violently scratching, you decide to just get clothes for the day. You head to the bathroom with a dark brown dress with a belt. You'll probably wear tall boots with this. You're dressing comfy today. As you enter the bathroom, you lightly scratch your forearm.

You head straight for the toilet because you woke up having to pee. After you're done, you head over to the sink to wash your hands. Upon looking down, your heart stops. 'Shit. Today is the day.'

You see a name on your inner forearm, in black text. Your heart pounds nervously. You don't get why you're nervous, honestly. You don't even know this person. The first name reads: Taehyung. You think it is a wonderful name. 'Woah. I never thought that. It's a name just like any other.'

Yuqi knocks on the door. You look up, suddenly afraid. You wrap your towel around your upper body, trying to hide your now tainted skin. Slowly, you open the door to see her worried eyes. She knew this whole time that you would have a bad reaction, so she wrapped you in a meaningful hug. You just weren't ready for the universe to throw someone at you. Someone you were supposed to love unconditionally without even knowing them.

You cry lightly on her shoulder, now embarrassed. 'Why are you crying? That's so weak.' You roll your eyes at yourself. She rubs your back as you cry and slowly removes the towel from your not naked torso. You go to put it back on but she puts her hand up to stop you. She places her hand on the name lovingly, trying to make you feel better. Somehow, it does. You stare into her eyes, looking for her voice of reason, and you see it.

She says, "You have nothing to worry about. You aren't being thrown into anything you don't want. You don't have to meet them soon. Do you know anyone by this name?" And the truth is, you didn't. So you shake your head no. She smiles and says, "See? Nothing to worry about. And if the day comes where you do meet, set your boundaries. I know you're good at it." She winks, trying to get you to smile. Of course, you do.

You turn to head back into the bathroom when she gasps. You spin around quickly at the sound. "What?" You say, nervously. She twirls her finger in a circle, telling you to turn around. She slowly steps towards you and places her hand in between your shoulder blades. You furrow your brows and repeat the question.

"You have two names..." She says, trailing off. Your heart beats faster. She can definitely feel it, considering her hand is on your back, because she starts rubbing back and forth. She tries calming you down as your mind races. She clears her throat and says, "Yoongi."

"Pardon?" You say, confused. "Yoongi is the name." You sigh shakily at the sound of the name. This is not what you had expected at all. What a terrible start to your day. "Oh.." you say finally.

However, she isn't finished yet. She is now determined to search you up and down to find any other possible names. She pulls you back into the room and asks, "Can I?" You nod, not willing to find anymore yourself. You knew she was going to ask that because she wants to make sure that you are totally clear. She knows you wouldn't have the heart to finish looking.

She sits you on her bed and takes your socks off to start. She tells you to put your earbuds in to relax, but you choose to leave them out. Nothing could soothe you at this point. She nods and when she sees nothing on your feet, she moves on to your calves. She places her palm onto the side of your left calf and says, "Jungkook." You don't think your heart could handle three names. Please don't let there be any more. She views your right calf: Nothing.

She moves up to your thigh and pats you twice, checking to see that you're okay with it. You nod, not even looking at her. The top of your thighs are clear and you sigh in relief. She asks you to roll so she could see the back of your thighs. On the back of your right thigh is the name "Namjoon." You shiver. 'Four? Really?'

She returns you to your original position and continues the search. At the waistband of your pants, another name peaks out. At your right hip is the name, "Jimin." You begin to cry. There was no way you have five soulmates. It was just about unheard of.

Still looking, she moves to your stomach. Just above your belly button reads, "Hoseok." Nearby, on your right half of the ribcage reads, "Seokjin." The only two things that you are thankful for is that a majority aren't visible and none are on your face.

She climbs up onto the bed with you and holds you in her arms. You cry and shake while she just holds you, rubbing your back and arm. You are sideways in her embrace, head in lap. She lightly drags her fingers through your hair, avoiding all possible knots. No flute practice could heal you. No throw session could return you to normal. No painting could erase the seven names. 'Seven? Really? It's been hundreds of years since seven has been seen!' You feel desperate.

Yuqi feels your anxiousness and feels terrible. There is nothing she can say to console you, so she just holds you. It doesn't feel like enough to her, but it's all you could tolerate right now. It's all that could help you.

After hours of sitting, Yuqi brings up class. You sit up slowly, all of a sudden feeling terrible for taking up so much of her time. She knows you are about to apologize so she says, "Don't you even say sorry. You know I would do it again in a heart beat. I'll stay by your side if you don't want to go to class today." You look at her and sigh, wiping your face.

"No I have to go to class. I can't miss this lecture. I need a distraction." She looks at you carefully and decides that you won't take no for an answer. She sighs and nods at you, accepting your decision to go to class. Honestly, Yuqi is nervous that you will meet one, or more, of your soulmates in class. You wouldn't be able to handle it.

You make your way to class, zoning out the whole way there. You walk into the room and place your stuff down in the far back corner. You must look like garbage. A red face, baggy eyes, and barely able to keep your head up. You wore an outfit that would cover all of the names. You don't need anyone asking questions, not that they would. The outfit was more for you than it was for anyone else. Seven names would bring too much attention, but it's not the attention that you would mind. It would be the names in general.

Like a zombie, you make your way out of the lecture and back to your dorm. You skip dinner and head straight for your bed.

You have a dreamless sleep tonight.