𝓢𝓮𝓻𝓮𝓷𝓭𝓲𝓹𝓲𝓽𝔂 (Book 1 Soulmate Series) *Ongoing*

STIGMA

The light was unpleasant and made me shift and curl in a ball. I didn't wanna wake up, I was comfy and warm in my little spot. The light stayed on only making me annoyed. "Turn off the stupid light." I grumbled in my half asleep groggy voice. I clutched onto the silky soft sheets that had blanketed me.

"I can't turn off the light, I'm practicing. I need to get this down before we leave Korea for the tour. We leave in two weeks." Jimin said in a frustrated grunt. I shifted in his bed and turned to watch him. His hair ruffled, bottom lip slightly swollen from him biting onto it out of concentration. He was sweating, small beads forming on his forehead while he religiously practiced his choreography. It seemed like a normal day to me but, something was off.

'I've seen this before..but that's not possible.'

Jimin pushed his right hand down while kind of skip/balancing on one foot and then switching to the other hand and foot. He rolled his body and sharply turned his body to the left. His footing wan't in the right spot and he puffed out some air in agitation.

I smiled to myself and shyly started to sing the chorus of Lie which was the choreography he was working on. "Caught in a liiiiee Sungyeolhaessdeon nal chajajwo I geojit soge heeonal su eopseo Nae useumeul dollyeonwajwo.." He ended his choreo still messing up his footing.

I got out of bed and ignoring my sudden head rush and temporary dizziness stood next to him. "Okay I know you're a professional but maybe try this.." I started just before his messed up footing and bent my right knee inward, slightly lifting my right heel off the ground to give it more mobility. "Nae.. useumeul.. dolly..eonwajwo.." I turned to him and smiled shyly up towards his shocked face.

'Oh.. right he hasn't seen me dance before..'

He ran his fingers through his hair and wiped some beads of sweat off his forehead. "Okay i think i got it now. Uh thank you." I smirked and walked over to the door. I grabbed my towel and some clothes that I've accumulated over my stay with the boys.

"I'm going to take a shower." When i turn the handle of the door and take a step.

"Wait.." I look over my shoulder at his exhausted looking state. His shoulders slumped forward and his breathing uneven. He kept his head hanging low while he walked towards me. "Can i join you?" My heart stopped beating and i'm pretty sure i was no longer breathing. I froze completely, not knowing how to respond or act. My face was definitely showing signs of panic. I couldn't think like my brain was empty.

"Yes." He smirked down at me. My heart..My heart was beating faster than i remember.

'Remember? This didn't happen..did it?'

The grey surroundings of Jimin's room faded like someone put a blurry filter over. We were no longer in the apartment. The beautiful landscape of the meadow was surrounding us. The warm breeze tossing Jimin's hair up in a swirl. He wasn't moving, he was still, his breathing even and calm.

I was at peace and i wanted to frolic in the flowers. "Are you gonna make me forget? Are you gonna untether from me?"

"What? Make you forget? How? That doesn't make sense Jimin." His features falling with every word. His smirk replaced with a dreary look.

"You didn't answer my question. You have the power to leave..to make me go back to normal. To the person I was before you. You can untether from me. So you don't have to suffer the pain of feeling my every emotion. So will you?" I hesitated not knowing exactly what he meant.

He turned away from me then and I reached for him. I froze involuntarily in place. Like I was made of stone. I couldn't yell or move. I tried with all of my effort and energy to shake from this trance. I started getting pulled back..away from him. Down a familiar path that I once took to get here. The color bursting into my vision as I got pulled backwards past the threshold of the red door.

Jimin stayed where he was in the meadow, his loose shirt waving in the breeze. The birds chirping and the nearby creek lazily moving along. I regained my voice, "Jimin!! Jimin I would never leave you! I Love you!"

He doesn't move he just keeps staring off in the direction of the setting sun.

'It is too late now my love. You hesitated and THAT was enough answer for me.'

I tried to shake out of my frozen statue state but I couldn't. I mentally shook at his answer. "No! Jiminie! I didn't understand what you were saying! I still don't understand!"

'You'll understand.. in time. For now, I'll make the decision for you. Goodbye Byeol, I love you. Always have.'

"No!" Tears racing down my cheeks as I stared at the man I loved. In some way understanding what he said. I longed for him, my heart needed to be with him. I love him. He walked away from me, at first slow and then at full stride. His shirt waving behind him and his soft fluffy hair struggling to stay in place. "Jim-in! No-o I-I love you." I yelled in between broken cries. He got smaller and smaller as the sun seemed to of swallowed him up.

I finally break out of my trance and lurch forward, "NO!" I'm sweating, the beads rolling down the side of my face before falling off my jaw. I look around as my vision adjusts and focuses. I'm sitting up in a very uncomfortable bed. The fluorescent lights making my eyes hurt. Bleak white walls box me in as I glance down at my arms, riddled with needles hooked up to machines. The constant steady beep of the heart monitor being the only sound in the room. I look around some more as my mind finally comprehends what happened in the last 24 hours.

In a very cramped and uncomfortable looking plastic covered couch lay Jungkook sprawled out like a starfish. Jin occupying the single seat chair next to him, mouth open and softly snoring. Around my bed were various blankets and pillows in the ground where Yoongi and Jhope had curled up to rest. Namjoon was nowhere to be seen. Taehyung had knocked out at my feet holding a cute little origami swan in his delicate fingers.

'Jimin..'

I frantically looked to see if I had missed him on the floor. He wasn't there. Namjoon opens the door as quietly as he could but, the door still creaked with every movement he made. He cursed lowly to himself. He turned around after finally closing the loud door. Namjoon had his hands full with snacks, canned sodas practically falling out of every available pocket. A chip bag gripped tightly between his teeth. He tiptoed his way to the little table in the corner and not-so-quietly dropped the snacks off.

"You're up. That's good. How are you feeling?" He looked at me concerned. I couldn't sense his emotions. That was a first.

"Groggy..head kind of hurts but I don't remember how I got here." Namjoon turns his head to the couch with a peacefully sleeping Kookie.

"Well Kookie carried you to the van and pretty much all the way through the hospital. He's refused to leave your side. He hasn't eaten since before the concert. He's worried about you yknow." He sighed heavily as he pulled up a stool. "This is the first he's slept too now that I think of it." He looks down at Taehyung who was now slightly drooling on the blanket.  "Taehyung over here has made so many swans out of pure anxiety. He also hasn't left your side."

I furrow my eyebrows in confusion. "What about Jimin?" He stalls for a moment as he tries to compose his expression. He swallowed for a moment and opened and closed his mouth a couple times.

"Jimin is in the ICU.. apparently what you guys were going through simultaneously was called an Emotional Tether. It's known to do harm to one or both of the individuals. They haven't discovered what causes it or if it's avoidable. In this case, Jimin got the worst of it. I was with him.." He runs his fingers through his hair shakily. "He's in bad shape Byeol. Doctors don't know if he'll make it. They won't even let us see him.. that's why we are all in here."

My heart sinks into the very bottom of my stomach, my mouth drying up, tears building up in my vision.

'This is all my fault. It's cause of my power. My emotional mind reading. My body is used to it.. but, Jimin's is not. He got hurt cause of me.'

"Oh no..." I raise my shaky hand up to my mouth, as I let all the emotions of the last day out in broken sobs. "What have I done?"

XX

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