It was like déjà vu of a few weeks ago when they were last sitting in this office and she was told she had a deadline to have her first kiss. To Anna that felt like a lifetime ago, and so much had happened since then. The closeness she had developed with her soulmates in such a small amount of time was almost unimaginable.
"On behalf of the Soulmate Registration Office we congratulate you on completing your bond."
"So, Anna can stay now?"
"Yes. Here is her soulmate visa which allows her to live in Korea with you. If you need anything else, please don't hesitate to let us know."
"Thank you."
"Thank you for your help."
"Goodbye."
As they left the office Anna was practically beaming. Everything was finally falling into place and she had never felt happier. Her chest felt light as if a weight she hadn't noticed she had was gone. For once her thoughts were free of any negative influence and instead were focused purely on the joy and reassurance her completed soulmate bond had brought her.
"Anna! You're back!"
"Hi Tom. Sorry I haven't contacted you about my lessons."
"Don't worry about it. I can imagine things can get pretty hectic when your soulmates are idols."
"Ha ha, yeah, but I can resume my lessons this week."
"Actually, Anna won't be able to come to her lessons this week, we're taking her away. It's a surprise."
"That's okay, just let me know when she's available again."
"Although, she could do virtual lessons. We won't be travelling around this week."
"That works for me."
"Great. Starting tomorrow at the usual time then. Thanks Tom."
"No problem Namjoon. Bye Anna!"
"Huh? Bye?"
Anna was a little confused as she was dragged away by her soulmates.
The boys felt like spies as they worked to keep their plans a surprise for Anna. While the older members kept her distracted, the younger ones had fun sneaking around. After packing for Anna as well, they had put everyone's luggage into their cars, so Anna wouldn't notice the suitcases lying around the dorm.
Somehow, she had missed the suitcases in the back of the car on the way to the SRO and hadn't questioned why they took three cars. Anna could be so oblivious sometimes.
She was led to the front passenger seat of one of their cars, while Namjoon got in the back and Jungkook took the driver's seat.
"Anna, you can be our DJ for the drive."
Namjoon's words made Anna very happy. She loved to be in control of the music on car journeys.
"As long as you don't mind singing along the whole time."
Jungkook got excited and bounced in his seat.
"Sing? Yes! Sing!"
"I think you are forgetting who you are in the car with Anna."
"Ha, true. I just know it annoys some people."
"No way! Who would be annoyed by singing?"
Anna stayed silent. She wished she hadn't mentioned it at all.
"Anna? Who?"
"My parents."
Anna reluctantly whispered the answer. There was a pause as the boys pondered on her reply.
"You don't mention your parents often."
"No, I don't."
The car was filled with an uncertain silence for a few minutes. Anna flicked through her phone putting together a playlist for the journey.
"So, are you going to tell me where we're going?"
"No, we surprise you."
Music flowed through the speakers, but Anna didn't start singing along straight away. However, after a few songs, she quietly began to sing and then 'We are Bulletproof: the Eternal' started playing. Anna remembered the first time she heard this song. Even before she became an ARMY it brought tears to her eyes. So now she couldn't stop herself from singing along.
Jungkook kept stealing glances at his singing soulmate as he drove. There hadn't been many chances for him to hear her sing like this. He knew she loved to sing, but she was also shy about singing in front of them, especially their own songs.
He knew it was because she struggled with the Korean and he understood how she felt. He loved singing English songs, but he remembered how frustrated he would get when he found something hard to pronounce. Sometimes he still did.
Despite the flaws in her Korean, he was impressed. Jungkook was especially known for adding in lots of ad-libs and harmonies, but Anna had him beat. It showed her proficiency in music and singing that she could listen to the music, go with the flow, and just sing from the heart. He hoped she would sing with him one day.
Although Namjoon had heard Anna sing before when he walked in on one of her singing sessions, they had only been English songs. Sometimes he forgot how hard it was to speak another language. In the past, he had gotten frustrated at how little progress the other members had made with their English studies, but he knew how hard they tried. Having Anna here had shown exactly how much they had all improved.
All of them were always been so impressed when they heard international fans singing their songs in Korean. However, after seeing Anna struggle with learning Korean he realised just how impressive it was and he felt even more love and pride for their fans.
"Your voice is beautiful Anna."
Anna wasn't sure how Namjoon could say that when Jungkook, their main vocalist, was sitting beside her, but she decided not to comment on it.
"Thanks."
"Anna's singing is amazing!"
"Thank you Kookie!"
Looking out of the window, she noticed that they had driven out of the city and Anna could see mountains in the distance. Huh, so this is what Korea looks like. She wondered where they were going. It had only been a few weeks but living with idols had Anna feeling as though she never knew what was going on. Each member's schedule was jam-packed. Sometimes they were all together, and sometimes they were working on things individually. They worked odd hours and most of the time Anna had no clue whether they were coming or going.
Wait! Didn't Namjoon mention they were getting some time off after they finished their tour? But we can't be going away somewhere, I haven't packed anything. So where are we going?
For the rest of the drive, Anna wondered where they were going as she carried on singing along to her playlist. Jungkook and Namjoon joined in singing along to the songs they knew, and Anna giggled when Namjoon did his over-the-top, purposely bad, singing voice.
Eventually, they started driving up into the mountains and Anna curiously focused her attention outside the window as Jungkook navigated the winding road.
"It's a little different to Seoul, isn't it?"
"Yeah. I mean I've seen glimpses on your shows, but to be honest I had no idea what Korea really looked like before I got here."
"Are you a city or countryside kind of girl?"
"Realistically I would have to say city because shopping, but I do love the countryside. My favourite place to go on holiday in England was the Lake District: mountains and lakes."
"I understand. I love nature, but you can't really do my line of work outside of the city."
"Namjoon Hyung, we're nearly there."
"We are nearing our destination."
Anna leaned forward in her seat looking out for any clues of where exactly their destination was. A stretch of water had appeared on their left, but Anna wasn't sure if it was a lake or a river. A few minutes later she saw something that looked familiar. Where have I seen this before? As they got closer, something was definitely familiar to Anna.
"Oh my god! No way! Is that?"
"A space we are in together."