My Soulmates are IDOLS Books 2+3 | 18+ [SoulBond Series]

205:trapped

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JieMi was shaking as he stared up at her with his beautiful, beautiful eyes. Eyes that quivered and trembled, watery and bright with the tears that ran down his face, beads of gemstones in the light. They trickled and spilt, ever-flowing with his regret and anguish as he sobbed before her on his knees, his ears twitching as he mumbled out words of apology.

He'd been doing it for the past minute, his features twisting as his words came out from his lips in choked wet sobs.

And Amber's heart ached for him, for the pain and desperation that swam in his eyes. She hurt for the JieMi that seemed so small, and so weak. She didn't like to see him in pain. She didn't like him sad. She hated it when he was sad, it made her heart twist and clench. It made a bitter lump form in her throat.

It made her feel like shit.

"I'm sorry," he repeated in that voice. That small little voice that trembled in the wind like a tiny little sprout would in the storm. It quivered and shook, broke with fatigue and weakness. And he seemed so utterly distraught then by the situation, his eyes roaming over her features. "Sorry." She turned over, took a step back and his voice grew desperate, raising a notch with his horror. He believed she was leaving; believed she was making her move to go. "Please, Amber, please, please—"

"Relax, I'm just locking the door," Amber answered, carefully collecting her thoughts together as she bolted the door and tested the knob. She didn't want anyone seeing JieMi like that, or worse filming them in their state of undress.

She turned then, avoided his gaze as she picked up her clothes and pulled it on to shield her nudity. She plucked her phone from beneath his feet, quickly typing in a message to her soulmates for help with a short explanation of the situation. From the corner of her eye, she could see that JieMi was struggling to stand. But he collapsed a few times, stumbled and tripped as his knees shook.

Weak and vulnerable.

He was sick.

And God there was no fucking point getting mad at someone who was sick. He might be an asshole, might have done things that hurt her. But her heart couldn't bear to see him like this, couldn't bear to not help him when he was in this state.

She found herself moving, found herself reaching and then pulling JieMi up to his feet with steady hands. He stumbled and then he quivered, his rabbit ears jolting upwards as he moved to rub his nose over her skin, a gentle touch over her neck. The action was familiar and strangely comforting, and it made her heart skip a nervous beat. He froze then, horrified by his actions and he faltered, stumbling back with newfound energy.

"I shouldn't have done that—"

"It's okay, you can do what you want. Just not sex," she told him and he sat down on the bench with a heavy thump, blinking quietly at her. Mortification steadily creeping over his skin, the dismay stark in the quivering orbs. There was a daze in his eyes that told her that he wasn't mentally with her and his red cheeks only grew paler by the second. A faint hue of green blossoming within those pale cheeks. "Talk to me," she beseeched softly.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled again, eyes snapping up to hers, tear tracked face wet and shimmery in the light.

"I know."

"W-Will you forgive me?" He gulped then, desperately blinking back the tears that threatened to spill.

"You...Weren't exactly the kindest person, you know?" Amber teased lightly, dropping her phone into her pocket after a final text to her soulmates. "You rejected me days after I received my soul bond, continued seeing your girlfriend after we switched the second time, tried to get me deported back to my country." She snorted, shaking her head. "But you did save me in lecture and on the streets, I'll give you that." Her brows furrowed at the lack of a response, and she glanced up then surprised to see him with his head down, shoulders shaking as his rabbit ears drooped over his head. "JieMi?"