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

chapter twenty three

"I care about him too, so much. I think that's what's scaring me the most." I take a deep shaky breath. "I-I think I'm in love with him, Joon." I speak the words out loud for the first time.

"Why is that scary?" He asks, that sincerity still wrapped in his tone.

"Because love, in any way, always ends up in pain." I sit on my bed, laying back. Fresh tears painting my face. "I just don't want this love to hurt. I don't want to have to lose him. It seems too soon to be in love with him, right? Like that's so crazy."

"How will you know if it'll end up better if you never try? And no, I don't think it's too soon. When has there ever been a time cap on how long you have to know someone to fall in love with them?" Joon says softly.

"I ...." I trail off, not really having an answer to that.

"How long is your Christmas break?" He asks suddenly after realizing I had nothing left to say.

"Like two weeks?" I say around a question.

"Send me your passport." Namjoon speaks, shuffling coming from his side of the phone.

"Uh o-okay, hold on" I scramble to get my passport out of my bag. Blindly following his instructions because well, it's Namjoon. Why would I question him?

I snap a picture of my passport and send it to him. I can hear his fingers clicking on a keyboard, but before I can even ask him what he's doing he sighs into the phone. A breathy one, like he's smiling.

"You have a flight to Korea tomorrow morning at 6am. I'll have a driver waiting to pick you up from the airport when you arrive." He says, so easily. As if he didn't just buy me a plane ticket.

"W-what?" My brain stalls, the phone almost following out of my hand.

"Try, Taylor. You'll never know if you don't try." He says softly. "If it ends up in pain, I will help you out immediately and buy you another ticket back home. But I think you'll learn a few things about him, about yourself while you're here."

I blink back my tears, so tired of fucking crying. "I'm trusting you." I say, a small hiccup of a sob coming through.

"Thank you for that, I won't let you down." Namjoon says, softly. Breathy. Comforting.

"Thank you for picking up." I sigh, closing my eyes.

"I said to call me whenever you needed me. That'll never change." He says, with so much love written in his voice. A feeling that I can only relate to how I would've spoken to my siblings if we were still talking. It warms a spot in my heart, heals a little part of me.

"Thanks" I whisper, "So I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow." I can feel his bright smile through the phone. "I'll send the ticket over right now. Do you want me to tell Jungkook?"

"Maybe not." I chew on the skin inside my cheek. "Let's just... we can surprise him."

"Got it. See you soon, Taylor." Namjoon says, voice a lot calmer than it was when we first started this call.

"Bye Joonie" I say back, my voice matching his calmness.

Now to tell Malia. I get up from the bed, trudging my way over to Malia's room door. Raising a hand to knock, I hear a quick shuffle and the door swings open not even a second later.

"Can you take me to the airport tomorrow morning?" I blurt out before she can even say anything. Words on the tip of her tongue getting swallowed once she digests my question.