I was terrified. It felt like my world had been turned upside down and the consistent day to day that I had grown accustomed to was now gone. I'd always been warned about how dangerous the world was, and suddenly I was in a strange house with strange men and who knew what they wanted with me.
I also knew that Hyunjin was likely to be furious by the time I returned. He could be violent, but nothing like this had ever happened in our lives. It was hard to even begin to imagine how he would respond.
My whole life had been built around two things: Hyunjin and strict structure and rules. Even though my social circle was small, mostly just Hyunjin and his parents, they still drilled into me the rules of society to make sure I knew how to represent Hyunjin and the family well no matter where I was. Those rules became a comfort to me. I knew if I followed them well the family would be proud of me. Hyunjin warned me that I didn't want to know what would happen if I broke the rules, so I embraced their structure.
I was made to recite the rules so many times they had become like a meditative mantra to me, so I used that now to calm myself.
Stay quiet, always obey, be invisible, avoid strangers, be thankful for discipline
Stay quiet, always obey, be invisible, avoid strangers, be thankful for discipline
Stay quiet, always obey, be invisible, avoid strangers, be thankful for discipline
Stay quiet, always obey, be invisible, avoid strangers, be thankful for discipline
I hadn't spent much time around people I didn't know without Hyunjin. I could probably count the number of times on one hand. Actually make that zero hands. I'd never been with anyone outside the estate or the company without Hyunjin, and I had no idea what I should do from here. I'd been taught from an early age to always respect and defer to your soulmate, so that is what I had done. Hyunjin always took care of everything as I politely stood at his side. He'd never allowed me to talk to someone I didn't know unless he was there and I had no reason to question it. But now I was surrounded by strangers without Hyunjin. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do. This was really a first.
By now I was pretty sure that at least Jimin was my soulmate. He was right, when I touched him I felt his emotions, something I had never experienced before. There really was no explanation for it. And we did have exactly matching soulmarks. But if that was true I knew I hadn't been told the whole truth by Hyunjin and his family. I really wasn't sure who I could trust anymore.
I had talked to that guy Jin for a bit, and he seemed nice enough. I wasn't intending to, but when he demanded I open the door it was like a reflex to obey. So I ended up letting him in. I knew that disobeying my soulmate could lead to a vicious beating or worse, and at least the guys I'd met looked much stronger than me.
But my most urgent issue at the moment was that my wrist was in incredible pain. I hadn't mentioned it to the doctor after the accident because I just wanted to get home and the family doctor would treat me. But I had hardly slept last night and it was becoming more swollen by the hour. I was in agony. Last night when Jin had encountered me I was trying to get some ice from the freezer, but after he found me I scurried on my way, afraid I would be in trouble for taking ice without permission.
The best I could do at this point was hope that it would get better on its own.
In the meantime I really needed to make a plan. I wasn't sure how to get back to Hyunjin, or if that was even the best idea. And I knew nothing about the people I was with now. The only thing that made sense was to try to get a better feel for the people I was staying with. It wasn't like I had much by way of other options. So I'd try to quietly join them at meals and hope I could learn enough to figure out what was next.
When I heard voices gathering I quietly tiptoed down the stairs and peeked into the dining room. Quickly counting I found seven men, all of them looked like they were in serious conversation. Without a word I silently slipped into the room, quietly pulling out the last unoccupied chair with my good hand and sitting down, hoping to be unnoticed.
"Yoona, it's good to see you this morning." Quickly glancing up I could see that it was Jin who had greeted me, still wearing a big smile. I gently inclined my head to him but returned to staring at my lap.
Stay quiet, always obey, be invisible, avoid strangers, be thankful for discipline
Stay quiet, always obey, be invisible, avoid strangers, be thankful for discipline
"Yoona, would you like something to eat?" The voice came from the man sitting next to me. We hadn't met yet, so I just politely shook my head no.
Stay quiet, always obey, be invisible, avoid strangers, be thankful for discipline
Stay quiet, always obey, be invisible, avoid strangers, be thankful for discipline
Even after my refusal, I saw a full plate set in front of me.
"Yoona, please eat something. I know you've had a stressful few days but it will be good for you to keep your health up."
Stay quiet, always obey... "Ok" I responded and went to pick up my chopsticks. The problem was that my right hand was the one in terrible pain and I wasn't very skilled with using my chopsticks with my left. After a few failed attempts I softly put the chopsticks down and moved to eating food that could be picked up with my fingers.
Stay quiet, always obey, be invisible, avoid strangers, be thankful for discipline
Stay quiet, always obey, be invisible, avoid strangers, be thankful for discipline
The table was silent until the man who was on my right leaned a bit closer.
"Yoona, is there something wrong with your wrist? It looks a bit swollen."
"No," I responded. "It's fine."
But the man was persistent. "It really doesn't look very good from here, may I see it?"
Stay quiet, always obey, be invisible, avoid strangers, be thankful for discipline
Stay quiet, always obey, be invisible, avoid strangers, be thankful for discipline
"Um..." But before I could hesitate further the man was reaching out and putting my hand into his own. Suddenly I was flooded with both new emotions and unbelievable pain as my wrist moved. I could feel both of us jerk back at the same time.
"Yoona, I can feel how much this hurts, you need to see the doctor. I will call right now to make an appointment for today and take you myself. This really needs treatment." The man stood up and left the table, presumably to make the call.
Stay quiet, always obey, be invisible, avoid strangers, be thankful for discipline
Stay quiet, always obey, be invisible, avoid strangers, be thankful for discipline
After he left, quiet fell over the table again. Eventually one of the men who had picked me up from the hospital yesterday broke the silence. "Yoona, let me introduce you to the rest of our soulmates. I heard you met Jin, he's the oldest. The next oldest is Yoongi who just stepped out to call the doctor. Then Hobi is sitting on your left. Of course we met yesterday and you also met Jimin yesterday. And the last two sitting at the far end over there are Taehyung, and our previous youngest, Jungkookie". As each was introduced they gave me a big smile and friendly wave. After a quick glance in their direction I inclined my head to them and then returned to looking at my plate.
Stay quiet, always obey, be invisible, avoid strangers, be thankful for discipline
Stay quiet, always obey, be invisible, avoid strangers, be thankful for discipline
Every once in a while I'd look up and see one of the men looking at me strangely. Finally after a few more minutes of awkward silence, I slowly pushed back my chair. "Thank you for breakfast, I'll excuse myself now." And with that I scurried out of the room to the safety of my bedroom. This was definitely going to be harder than I thought.
YOU ARE READING
The Wrong Soulmate (BTS OT7)
FanfictionCOMPLETE: Growing up everyone knew about soulmates. A mark would appear on your body on your 16th birthday and the person who shared your mark was your soulmate. There really wasn't much more to it. If you were soulmates the universe intended for...
