Serendipity: The Amazing Journey Of A Soulmate

8. Doubts

"Hello?" I answer the phone with a sleepy voice, trying to keep my eyes open.
"Inna! Where the hell were you last night? I sent you like 20 messages. I thought you died or something!" my friend Mi-Rae yells at me through the phone.
"Mmm, Mirae-ya, what's up?" I ask, still not completely awake.
"Yah! Open the door, I'm in front of your apartment."
"W-wait!" I say and go to the front door stumbling. I tap the access code and the door unlocks with a small sound.
I see my friend letting herself in, while I head to the kitchen to make some tea. She wears a pair of jeans and a white oversized shirt with a grey long coat on top, hair reddish brown, her face pretty like always. If I think about it, Mirae looks so much like her brother, both of them attractive people. As soon as she enters, she starts talking, but I can't focus too well on her words because my head hurts.
"Do you want some tea?" I ask her as I'm turning to face her. "No, I already got cof-" she starts, but stops mid sentence. "Whoa, you look like you were hit by a train. What happened to your clothes?" I look at myself and notice I am still wearing the clothes from the previous night, all wrinkled now and the blouse has a huge red stain on the chest. All the events from yesterday unfold in my head and I realize how little I slept. I look at my phone and see it is only 8am and I relax. At least I'm not late for work. It's friday so it's going to be a short day, too. Oh, thank god!
"It's a long story" I reply. "Well, we have plenty of time. I'll give you a ride, by the way, so don't order a taxi" she assures me.
I nod and start telling her everything from the start: the car crash, the meeting, getting drunk and embarrassing myself in front of BTS. I can't describe the shock on her face when she heard that the male who shook my world is Kim Namjoon. "Kim Namjoon? THE Kim Namjoon? RM?" she asked, not believing my words.

Stepping out of the shower, I return to my bedroom with a towel around my body and hair put in a messy bun and open the dresser looking for something to wear. My feet hurt from last night so I'll have to wear more comfortable shoes today. I choose a pair of black flare jeans and a pale pink shirt, styling my hair in a low ponytail, at the base of my neck.
"So what are you going to do now?" Mirae asks, sipping from her coffee.
"I'll just go to work" I reply, looking for my earrings. "No, dumbass, what are you going to do about Namjoon?" she says rolling her eyes.
"The answer is the same: I'll go to work."
"Aren't you going to call him or send him a text? I mean he didn't get the chance to say goodbye to you last night" my friend insists. "Mirae, I don't think it's a good idea to let him in my life. I like him, he is smart,  caring and ridiculously handsome, but..." I say, looking at the floor. "But what?" my friend asks scolding me. I shrug and start applying some make-up, trying to hide the black circles under my eyes. "You're not sleeping very well. Do you still have nightmares?"
"Mhm" I say tapping the area above my lips with a small makeup sponge. Mirae sighs and says "Inna, you cannot live like this forever. What Jonathan and the ones before him did to you is low, cruel and you're right to guard your heart. But you'll have to let someone in eventually, be it Namjoon or someone else."
I put the sponge on the table and choose a nude lipstick from the drawer which I apply with slow movements. "Look, I'm sure he likes you, for real. He made a lot of efforts to meet you and get close to you, so it's clear you have caught his eye. Give him a chance. He is an idol, for a long time he was denied the right to love freely and... what I'm trying to say is that you're both damaged in some way and maybe you'll get to heal each other. Give him a chance, Inna. Or, give someone else a chance, if not him. But don't deny yourself the chance to be happy. Don't let your past steal that away from you." Mirae says softly. I honestly don't know how to respond to this because I know she is right, but I am still afraid.
I grab my black coat from the dresser and head towards the living room, running my hands through my ponytail, smoothing it. Mirae follows me and I start talking about something else, desperately wanting to close this topic.
"How's Jiwoo?" I ask. "Does the preparation for the fashion show thing go well?"
"You know him, he's working like a mad man to make this happen. It's his own project and he has a great opportunity to become known", my friend replies. "Did they find a date for the event yet?" I ask as I grab a pair of black boots and sit on my couch to put them on."
"You haven't checked your messages at all? Not even after you left Namjoon's house?" she asks rather furious. "In my defence, I was too tired and drunk to think about that last night. She just makes a face at me waving me off. Then she continues "It's next friday. Jiwoo sent you some texts too last night, informing you about this." Oh, I didn't get to read any of my texts. Shit. I grab the phone from the coffee table and look through the messages. 3 messages from Jiwoo, 9 from Mirae and the rest from work. None from Namjoon. I read what Jiwoo wrote "Inna, I finally have the date for the fashion show. It's next friday so get ready. You are invited and I don't accept a refusal from your side." The next one said "I actually have a favor to ask you. Umm...I'll tell you in person. Just give me a sign when you can talk and I'll tell you everything about it." I wonder what that might be about. "Take care" was the third message.
"Do you know what he wants to talk about?" I ask my friend, now getting up from the couch and head towards the door. Mirae shrugs and only says "I have no idea. He said a similar thing to me." We exit my apartment and walk towards the parking lot. "Let's all meet tonight, after work and have some BBQ and bear and we can talk to him" she says.
"Sounds good, I say as I get inside the car.