An Indescribable Feeling

The First Lesson of Independence

Anna had tried not to think about it the whole weekend, but now she was at the Soulmate Registration Office for her first Korean lesson, and she was very nervous. Rationally she knew there was nothing to be nervous about. It was not as though her teacher would be expecting her to know everything. However, Anna thought of this as the beginning, the start of a journey where she would find out if she would eventually be able to speak Korean. It felt like a lot of pressure. Ideally, she had to learn, and she needed to do it as fast as possible.

At the moment, she wished for nothing more than having one of her soulmates with her, perhaps Hoseok's reassurance or Taehyung's powers of relaxation. I think I need Tae attached to my hip at all times. I'm such a stress head. Anna took some deep breaths to calm herself.

"Anna? I'm Tom."

She looked up to see a young man smiling at her. Anna nodded and followed him into an office where they sat down on either side of the desk.

"Hello, I will be your teacher. It is nice to meet you."

"Hello?"

"Don't worry. Don't look so panicked. That was just a little test. So, do you know what I said?"

"Umm, hello, I am your teacher?"

"Not bad. Hello. Hello. I will be your teacher. I will be your teacher. It is nice to meet you. It's nice to meet you. Okay, so you know a little Korean already?"

"Not really. I've been trying to teach myself, but with little success."

"Why did you start learning?"

"Oh, I'm a BTS fan, so I wanted to understand them without subtitles, but it wasn't essential and now..."

"Now you need to learn because your soulmate is Korean."

"Yep."

The rest of the lesson was spent with Tom assessing what Anna knew so that he could plan their future lessons. Although her teacher was nice, she came out of the lesson feeling overwhelmed, as though she had just sat an exam that she wasn't prepared for.

Since she was already out, Anna had decided that after her lesson would be a good time to venture out and go shopping. She had already done her research so she knew where she was going and how to get there. The Soulmate Registration Office also issued travel cards, which was convenient.

When she reached the shopping mall, Anna wandered around until she found the skincare section. The weeks on tour had left her almost out of all her skincare products, so this was an opportunity to change to Korean products. She was also rather excited. Anna had high expectations for Korean skincare. However, as she looked around the department she was overwhelmed. There was too much choice.

"Can I help you?"

A shop assistant had approached Anna; her need for help must have been obvious. Seeing that she was someone who worked there, Anna could assume that she had been asked if she needed help.

"Yes. Umm..."

Anna started to panic; her mind was blank of any possible words which would be helpful.

"English?"

"Yes!"

"I speak a little. I help?"

"I need... everything."

"All new products?"

"Yes."

"Okay."

Anna was sure she had never felt so grateful to someone before. The shop assistant asked her questions about her skin while leading her around and selecting products for her to try. As Anna paid for her new skincare collection, she thought about the conversation she had with Namjoon over the weekend about the mysterious money that was already on her new card.