ink bound (JJK, Book 1 of the Soulmate Series)

chapter eleven

The boys got up from their seats to take a short break while we watched some videos they put together for us. My wrist was in extreme pain. It felt like something was being carved onto my skin with a hot knife. Tears pricked my eyes as I held onto my wrist to hopefully lessen the pain. The tears were now streaming down my face.

"Are you okay?" Malia asks from beside me as she puts an arm around my shoulder. "Do you wanna leave?"

I shake my head. "No I'm okay! I don't wanna ruin this for us. I'll be fine."

Malia sighed and shook her head at me knowing full well that I would literally pass out before I took this away from her and myself. It wouldn't be too long now. I wipe my face and give Malia a small smile before turning back to the screen.

——

The meet and greet was over. The boys said their goodbyes and it finally started to set in that this is probably the last time I'm gonna see them in person for a while. Surprisingly, my mark hurt less when they came back. I'm so thankful that they were a huge distraction because I seriously thought I would pass out from the pain. I kept scanning the room to see if anyone was reacting the way that I was so that when the meet and greet was over, I could go up to them and see if my tattoo starts burning more. The room was almost empty and I took that as my cue to start looking for this soulmate of mine. Malia and I were just about to get up and leave when I saw a man in all black heading towards us. Nudging Malia, I told her that we need to hurry up. We must've been in here too long and they need us to clear out.

Once the man is right in front of us, he looks between Malia and I. Just before he says something, I bow slightly "Sorry, we'll be leaving now" I grab Malia's arm and pull her forward with me.

"I'm looking for Miss Taylor"

I stop immediately, not expecting him to know my name.

"Yes, that's me" I turn around to face him still holding onto Malia's arm.

"Hi Miss Taylor, can I just see your ticket and ID to confirm?"

"Uh yeah sure" I turn and scrunch my eyebrows at Malia.

I hand him the pass around my neck with my ticket and ID in it. He takes a look at it then back at me and nods.

"I was asked to bring you backstage. Manager Sejin would like to speak with you."

"Oh, uhmm" I look to Malia for help but she's just as confused as I am. "Okay"

"If you could follow me"

I nod and pull Malia with me. The man stops us.

"I'm sorry, Miss Taylor was the only one requested"

"I'm not going anywhere without her"
"She's not going anywhere alone"

Malia and I speak at the same time. Both looking towards each other with a firm stance. We don't know who this person is and he could be lying for all we know. That wouldn't explain him knowing my name but without even a word we came to an understanding that it's both of us or none of us.

The man speaks low into his earpiece and I can't really pick up what he's saying. He finally looks at us.

"Okay right this way please"

With a final nod, he starts walking and Malia and I follow suit.

We're lead behind a curtain that leads to several rooms in the stadium. As we're walking further into the back area, I see a man that I've seen many many times in pictures. He approaches us and Malia's grip on my hand tightens. I know what she's thinking because I'm thinking the same thing. Manager Sejin really did wanna talk to us. This wasn't some joke.