Lifetime

Hope

It didn't take long for me to realize that my mom actually didn't know much that could help me. Every woman in our lineage always had one soulmate date, which led into that immensely strong bond, to babies and the whole happily ever after thing. After last night, it felt like that ending was impossible for me.

The way she described her connection with my dad sounded similar to the way I felt about both Hobi and Jimin. She was fascinated that I could have that strong of a love for each of them and rubbed my head when she realized how much hurt it was causing. We couldn't be sure, but with how I felt for Jimin, I couldn't imagine that I would have been able to stay away from him if Hobi and I had been together. He was right, though unintentionally, I would have hurt him.

She beckoned me to avoid obsessing over the five dates that were left so I could focus on school, but I was already imagining, almost fantasizing about the men I would feel those connections with, and praying that they didn't all end as badly as the first.

At school I avoided them as much as I could, leaving ten minutes later than usual so that I didn't have to see Jimin on the walk, secretly eating lunch in the garden that was kept in the science wing, and leaving school early, during my free period, to put in some extra time at my parent's restaurant.

Still, with one nextdoor and the other across the street I couldn't dodge them all together. I talked to Hobi first, after several days of him trying to get me to open my window for him two weeks after prom, when I found him sleeping on the grass outside of my room.

"Get up." I said as I stepped outside, having rehearsed the things I wanted to eventually say to him over and over, but feeling instantly stuck when he was actually in front of me.

He shot up from where he was laying, brushing off his hair and clothes. "Sel, I'm sorry. Please, I need you to forgive me. I shouldn't have kept the dates from you. They weren't mine to keep." He ranted, the words spilling out of him too fast, like he was worried I would shut him out again.

"I'm not mad at you, Hobe." I closed my eyes for a second, sitting down under my window. "I'm just mad at everything. I know you were trying to protect me and maybe you were right to. I understand why you feel the way you do, but that's the hard part." I sighed.

He sat next to me, sending over an apologetic grin as he took my hand. "And that was the only reason I ever did it, to protect you. You'll always be my best friend, Sel, over everything." He replied.

"You too." I sighed, wishing we could have so much more. I could feel myself getting emotional, deciding to change the subject. "I talked to my mom about it." I confessed, spiking his interest immediately as I recanted the witchy tale of my history and all that we were unsure of.

"I know it's real, but it doesn't make it sound any less nuts." Hobi commented after I was finished, running a hand through his hair.

I laughed. "My mom said it was supposed to be a blessing, but for some reason it's like a curse for me."

"Maybe you can figure out how to make it work for you, learn from how things went with me and Jimin so that you don't overthink it. If you can find a way to not get too attached–" He started searching for a solution, for a way to make it easier.

"Don't get attached to your soulmates, that's your advice?" I raised a brow at him.

He shook his head. "I don't know, I just don't want this to happen again. Seeing you cry like that after prom, I don't want you to go through that again, and I don't want to have to kick five more guy's asses." He chuckled. "Speaking of, have you talked to Jimin?"

"No, I don't really know what to say yet. I mean, he didn't have the best reaction to the whole soulmate thing, but with it all being real, it just makes his point even stronger that we're young and we probably wouldn't be together for the rest of our lives like I was thinking." I rambled without realizing that my words had the potential to hurt him.