Vacation is over and the largest group of soulmates in the world is back in Seoul and back to work-this time publicly. They just want to be happy and make music but nothing in life is that simple. Find out how they cope with the stress, the public...
Luna cleared her throat while JK adjusted the position of her phone on her food tray. Today was the day she was getting out of the hospital and she wanted to do a brief Vlive to warn the fans outside about the security detail that would be arriving shortly.
Her mother, who had come earlier sat in the chair to her left, putting away the styling items she'd used to braid Luna's hair into two French braids so she'd be presentable on camera. She decided against makeup, seeing no need for it. They were headed straight home after this and a face full of makeup only to sit in the house would undoubtedly irritate her.
"Hey Galaxy, hey ARMY I'm going to wait until we get more people before I make this announcement," she says with a smile after JK hit the record button.
The commentors seem to be surprised that she was in a hospital bed, which was expected. They still thought they were here because of JK.
"Okay, I have an announcement to make; but first and foremost, JK is fine," she says, motioning for him to show himself.
He ducks into camera view and gives them a smile and a wave before ducking back out.
"I'm okay too, going home today actually. I had surgery on my hand and the anesthesia knocked me out for a couple of days. I woke up yesterday and I've been stable ever since so I'm doing just fine. What I want to do right now is address the fans outside the hospital. Since we're leaving today, a large security detail has been hired. Before we come down, they're going to clear the area and I don't want any of you to get hurt in the process. Thank you so much for your time and dedication regardless of why you're here and who you're here for—we deeply appreciate it, but I'm kindly asking you to vacate the premises. Thank you all. I love you all and I'll talk to you soon," she waves with her right hand , her eyes watering as JK turns it off.
The sweet gesture brought her to tears but what made her want to keep crying was the pain. Her left hand felt like it was literally on fire, the nerve pain she was experiencing a solid 12 on a scale of 1 to 10. She was trying to hold off on it until she got home because she didn't want to be sleeping when she got discharged.
"You should take something Kitana. I can see the pain in your face," Linda tsks, not liking how stubborn her daughter was being, but overall used to it.
Luna had never liked anything that related to going to the doctor when she was growing up and she'd always insisted she could tough out the pain. This, however, was no scuffed elbow or scrape on the knee.
"I want to wait until I get home. Being taken out of here unconscious is a hard no for me," she insists.
It was another hour or so of flipping past themselves on every single channel on the TV before finally just deciding to turn it off. As expected, the media was having a field day with this story. The video, along with all Chae-Yeong's creepy websites was out for all to see and had spread like wildfire. The majority showed their outrage with the negligence that caused this situation, calling out Bighit as well as the whole entertainment industry for the vast mistreatment in which their idols had to suffer by the hands of negligent staff, nepotism, and sasaengs.
With the good came the bad of course. Whereas some outlets were painting her as a hero, others were painting her out to be a villain—using her words and Chae-Yeong's injuries as a way to make her look violent and unstable. Nevermind this girl documenting the process of literally hacking into the boys' scheduling software to schedule JK with her when no one else would be around, drugging him, and attempting to murder him—all while filming it. Apparently, that was worth overlooking.
Luna didn't see herself as either. She was not a hero for doing what any spouse that cares about their partner would do; and she most certainly was not a villain for defending her partner either. This is where media departs with reality. Not one outlet would say it for what it was. They always had to add the theatrics that would keep their audiences engaged. None of them really gave a fuck.
The soulmates were exhausted, both physically and emotionally. They just wanted to go home and shut the outside world out for a while. The situation had been traumatic for every single one of them and they had yet to process it after because of Luna's health scare. There was a sense of doom looming over all of them with the thought of having to address this.
Where would they go from here? They were supposed to be leaving for tour just three days from now. JK, who hadn't gone a full 24 hours without having an anxiety attack since the incident was definitely not mentally ready to face fans again—not to mention Luna was badly injured and would most likely have to go through months of physiotherapy to regain full function of her hand.
They didn't know that the future held nor what the company would say about it and that was nerve wrecking within itself, but they would fight to do what was right for all of them if they had to. It was about time they started putting themselves first for a change. They'd promised that they would, but got swept away in work like they'd always done. Not again.
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The soulmates had been home for a few hours now and after eating the dinner that Linda had been kind enough to make, they all headed up to bed. JK had opted to sleep alone, worrying the rest of his soulmates in the process—but he assured them that he would come find someone if he needed them.
He hadn't eaten much for dinner, not having much of an appetite with Luna in so much pain. He, along with everyone else, was beyond relieved when she'd finally taken her pain medication and went to lay down—Jimin and Tae on her heels.
He peeks into her room to check on her only to find her still sleeping comfortably and makes his way downstairs to warm up some leftovers. The light was already on downstairs, letting him know that someone was down there already.
"Jangmonim? What are you doing up? I'll do this for you," he says, about to take the tea kettle from her, but she shoos him away.
"I'm still on US time love. No, you take a seat. I've got this. Hungry?" Linda asks and he nods obediently, running his hands through his disheveled hair to look more presentable.
"I figured you would be. You didn't eat much earlier. How are you feeling?" she asks as she pulls out some leftovers to warm for him.
"I'm okay," he replies quickly, a reflex more than the actual truth.
"Okay, and now the truth," she says, making him look up from his hands in surprise.
"You've trained yourself to appear fine even when you aren't. Kitana does the same and so do the rest of you. I'm asking as your family, not your fan. How are you son?" she asks and he can't stop the tears that well up in his eyes.
"I-I guess I don't really know. One minute I'm okay and the next..." he says, his voice cracking.
"It's okay, let it out," Linda soothes, wiping her hands on a towel before coming around the counter to hug him.
He's incredibly thankful for her in this moment, providing the comfort that only a mother could. It seems he needed all that he could get.
"It's okay to not be okay. What you've been through could break the strongest of people," she assures, rubbing his back in soothing circles.
This was true. The blanket of security he felt at the company had been yanked right from underneath him; and if he couldn't feel safe at the company—a building crawling with security—where could he? He felt incredibly exposed and paranoid, especially when he wasn't near his soulmates and he was still dealing with the guilt of Luna being hurt. He knew it wasn't his fault, but the intrusive thoughts said otherwise. His feelings were overwhelming and his own mind had become a nightmare. He was sinking and he didn't know how to stop it.
