The Wrong Soulmate (BTS OT7)

Chapter 1.2-Namjoon

I was in my studio when I received an automated notification from the soulmate registry that our soulmate had been located. I knew my other six soulmates must have received the text too, I could feel our bond shimmering with confusion and excitement. The seven of us had been together for several years now, our most recent soulmate joining us over five years ago. But we knew there was still one missing. Our soulmark had eight parts to it, and we were only seven.

We had all but given up on finding our last soulmate. By law everyone had their marks registered by the time they were 17. As some members of our soul group started moving into their late 20s, it felt like we might never find our last missing piece. We knew the individual was still alive, if they had passed away the corresponding part of our own mark would have faded and eventually disappeared. But the eight piece soulmark remained as strong as ever even as we remained one soulmate short.

It really was almost totally inexplicable how we could have missed our last companion. We'd checked with the soul registry more times than we could count but always received the same answer, there was no one else with the same registered mark and we would receive a notification when they were entered in the system.

Needless to say, after so much waiting it was a total shock to discover our missing person had finally been found.

I immediately opened the notification and saw the girl's name was Lee Yoona. The registry included a photo of the soulmark which had been scanned and automatically matched to our. Even with a quick glance I had no doubt it matched the rest of ours. I quickly skimmed the details of the notification, it seemed like she had just been registered in an emergency room somewhere a little south of Seoul.

I quickly texted the guys to see if they had seen the notice and was immediately bombarded with responses. A few felt skeptical having long lost hope we would find our final soulmate, while others were excited to learn more. As much as everyone wanted to see for themselves, the group quickly decided that it would be best if we didn't all descend on her at once. She must have discovered by now that she had seven soulmates waiting for her. Even under the best of circumstances that news was likely to be a bit overwhelming.

While everyone wanted to be the first to meet her, we pretty quickly narrowed down to Jimin and I representing our group. We were both at the company and available immediately. After multiple texted promises that we would be in touch as soon as we knew anything more, Jimin and I headed to the garage where a manager would drive us to meet this elusive girl.

Our soul group was a bit unique. In addition to being soulmates, the seven of us are all part of a band, BTS. Different soul groups worked differently, but we discovered we all had a similar passion for music so we decided we'd try to merge those passions together. The first years were hard. Very hard. There were no other soul groups who had ever tried to debut together. A lot of people were skeptical about whether we would ever see success. But after a lot of hard work and effort we began to be noticed, eventually starting to win awards, and slowly growing what would become a worldwide fan base.

All of that success was great, but it didn't make up for the fact that we always knew something was missing. Our soulbond was more important than any money, accolades, or fame. And having one frustratingly missing piece always seemed to cover all of our success with a somber gray cloud.

During the entire drive Jimin and I speculated about what Yoona would be like and tried to figure out how we could just be finding her now. The registry listed her birthday, and while she would be our youngest it was only by a few months. She should have been matched with us in the registry several years ago. Something seemed off.

By the time we got to the hospital we could hardly hold back how anxious we were to meet Yoona. The car was hardly stopped before Jimin and I jumped out, running into the emergency room doors while the manager went to park the car. I had hardly asked the receptionist where we could find Lee Yoona before Jimin was proudly telling the woman behind the desk that she was our soulmate. The receptionist pointed us to room 109 and with a brief nod returned to her work.

We tried to play it cool walking into the room, but I was immediately entranced by the beautiful girl sitting on the bed, knees pulled up while she chewed on her nails. She looked at us confused, waiting for us to introduce ourselves.

"Hi, are you Yoona?"

The girl offered a brief nod of confirmation. Then before anything else could be said I heard Jimin blurt out, "we're your soulmates. And we've finally found you."

Yoona looked at us, pausing for a moment before she shook her head no.

"Lee Yoona? We just got matched in the registry, maybe the doctor didn't tell you?" I tried again.

"Yes I'm Lee Yoona, but I think there is a mistake, I already have a soulmate. I don't know you and I don't know what registry you are talking about."

What did she mean she already had a soulmate? It certainly wasn't one of the seven of them. And how could she not know the registry? Everyone knew the registry. Not knowing about it was like not knowing they lived in Korea, or never hearing that bicycles are for riding.

Namjoon looked at Jimin who seemed equally perplexed. They both could see her soulmark plain as day on her lower arm. All of the soulmates had the same mark in the exact same spot. Jimin seemed to think it might make sense to start there. "Yoona, do you mind if we see your soulmark? From what I can see it is identical to ours."

"No. Again, I've already found my soulmate."

Jimin wasn't afraid to plead if necessary, he knew all of us were defenseless against his puppy dog eyes and he was using them to full effect now. "I understand, but it would help reassure us if we could just look, then we will be on our way."

I could see Yoona was reluctant to agree but she consented nonetheless. I sensed she was just trying to get us to leave, maybe she thought this was the easiest way. She adjusted her arm to better show us her mark, which upon closer inspection definitely was identical to ours. Jimin gently touched her arm for a closer look and Yoona suddenly recoiled.

Jimin immediately looked up. "Did you feel that?"

Yoona looked at him in shock. "What was that?"

"That, Yoona, is a soulmate bond."