I made a promise. I told Rebecca that she would be the first one to hear about my soulmate mark. Unfortunately, it's been a couple days, and she has still been out tending to her sick son. So, that's why Candace is still nagging me about it. I'm exceptionally glad that my marks can be covered by both of my work uniforms. I don't want to keep them a secret per se, but having seven would definitely get me a lot of attention I don't necessarily want.
"It's been two days! Two days! How can you keep a secret like this for so long? You were so excited about getting the procedure done. It was practically the only thing you would talk about since I first met you." Candace and Rebecca are probably the two closest people to me in the world. I don't spend a lot of time with them outside of work, but I definitely enjoy their company whenever I am around them.
"I told you. I promised I would tell Rebecca first. It's not like she planned on Joshua getting sick." Candace frowns at that thought. I wasn't trying to make her feel guilty, but her tireless questioning was beginning to get on my nerves. "I'm telling her later today. So, I can tell you tomorrow."
She shakes her head at me, and I find myself momentarily amused to watch her honey colored ponytail flicking back and forth with the movement. "Nope. Not good enough. What time do you get off work tonight?"
I arch an eyebrow at her, wondering where she is going with this. "Eight o'clock. Why?"
"I'm sleeping over. I'll be at your house at nine. That should give you plenty of time to get home." I wrinkle my nose in distaste at her rudeness. I know it wasn't her intent to be impolite. She just has a bluntness about her that most times I happen to envy.
"I guess I can live with that. You know my apartment is dinky though, right?" She nods. "Okay, then I only have one stipulation. You bring pizza with you."
"Only if you let go of your bad carb vibe. I am not getting a cauliflower crust pizza tonight. We are splurging!"
I sigh but nod in agreement. That's two times this week I will be cheating on my pseudo diet. It's not that I completely eliminate carbs I just try to stay away from semolina flour, all purpose flour, and potatoes. I also try to only eat whole grains and whole wheat. If it simply says 'wheat' I don't often consume/buy it since the package is not elaborating on what kind of wheat it is.
"I'm feeling bbq chicken pizza. How does that sound?" Candace asks.
I nod. I only have one stipulation. "No pineapple this time though. I am not feeling it today for some reason." I shrug my shoulders to indicate the fact that I don't quite know why I feel this way I just do. I honestly do like pineapple on pizza but I generally prefer pineapple raw and chilled.
"What if I get in on half?" She offers.
It's not a bad compromise so I nod. There's always the possibility that I will change my mind between now and nine pm anyways. If I do, I am sure I can swipe one of the pineapple pieces out from under her nose.
The hours in the diner are exceptionally hectic. We have been crazy busy since I got here at two pm. Luckily, there are four of us and Rebecca and I already asked Lucy and Troy if they would mind if we took our lunch break together. Their only stipulation is if they are too busy, we won't be able to make that work. I am worried we will never get a proper break at this rate. It's almost five, and we are sure to get a suppertime rush.
I don't question my life when traffic finally manages to die down fifteen minutes later. Both Troy and Lucy nod at me, letting me know they can manage for a half an hour on their own. I grab one of the pre-packed salads from the fridge on the counter and head over to a booth toward the back. Typically I would probably ask George, the cook in back, to make me something, but since I am going to have pizza in a couple hours I really only need something to tie me over.
"So, tell me!" Rebecca slides in across from me.
I unbutton my cuff and push up the sleeve of my shirt; wordlessly showing her my 'Serendipity' soulmark. I give her a few seconds to ooh and aah over it before I stand up and pull up my pant leg to show her the one that says 'Just Dance.' "You have two soulmates!" She exclaims in an excited whisper.
I shake my head. "No, the others I would have to rearrange clothing in a certain way that would look indecent, strange, or risk being some health code violation here. I assure you that I don't have just two though." I sigh. I am slightly nervous about her reaction. "I have seven."
"Seven?" She only breathes the word. I'm thankful she didn't shout it out to the whole diner. Perhaps, it's a good thing after all that I am going to be sharing this with Candace in my apartment and not the cafe. She gets easily overexcited and loud.
She pulls out her phone. I arch an eyebrow at her. "What are you doing?"
"Googling the highest number of soulmates documented. I'm thinking you must have set a world record or something." I'm kind of thankful that her search turns up that a woman in Sweden ended up with ten soulmates. I still find myself frowning though when she relays to me that seven is still quite uncommon.
I get sent home early because for some reason that lull in business continued on for the rest of the night. I end up walking through the door at 7:45 so I decide to take a shower to remove the sweat and grime from my body. I change into an oversized tee, hoodie, and lounge pants. The heat in my apartment is mediocre at best otherwise I probably would have forgone the extra layer. I've just finished blow drying my hair when I hear the buzzer announce that Candace is downstairs waiting. I ring her up and wait for her near the door by my 'kitchen.'
"Wow, how are you already dressed for bed?" She asked as she waltzes through the door, balancing the pizza on one hand.
I shrug and grab napkins and paper plates. This isn't necessarily my typical sleepwear, but I don't argue that point. This can be my sleepwear for the night. "I got out a little early. The diner was dead."
We talk about nonsensical stuff while we eat the pizza. Unlike, Rebecca's reaction to my news I know Candace will not be able to hold back her enthusiasm so I am thankful for this calm before the storm. After I have four slices, including one with pineapple, I find myself feeling bloated. I am definitely thankful that I chose to change into pants with an elastic waistband before devouring those four slices.
"Okay, it's show and tell time." She claps her hands excitedly, slightly bouncing up and down in her seat.
The action has me smirking at her briefly before I introduce her to same first mark that I did Rebecca. She smiles softly as she traces the curves and lines for a moment. "I've always like that word. It's fitting too." I smirk at her again before pulling off my sock and showing her 'Epiphany.' "You have two soulmates." My smirk only widens when I lift up my pant leg and show her 'Just Dance.' "Okay, so...is show and tell continuing?"
"The others are a little bit harder to get to. I can remove my top, and I purposely put on a sports bra in case you asked..." I bite my lip waiting on her reaction.
"You stalled? Whip off your shirt already I want to see!" I do as she asks and let her walk around me to see the other four.
Her eyes widen. "Holy shit!" Her mouth keeps opening and closing. The action somehow reminds me of a puffer fish expanding and contracting. She seems at a loss for words which is making me a mixture of worried and confused. She has never been at a loss for words the entire length of time that I have known her.
"Candace! Holy shit what?"
"Daisy," she pauses and looks me directly in the eye. "Those are song titles."
"Okay...and?"
I don't know why but she whips out her phone and starts clicking rapidly at the screen. "They are seven titles from the same group. The same group that has seven members."
My eyes widen as I begin to see where she is going with this. I can't think of any celebrities in a group with that many people though. Luckily, she isn't done explaining. She finds what she must have been searching for and hands me her phone.
I recognize immediately that it's a news article of some sort exclaiming how a member of the Kpop band, BTS, shocked fans when his soulmate mark appeared on his face while on stage. At the top of the article is a picture of Park Jimin flirtatiously smiling at the camera holding his fingers in a pinched together motion I don't really understand. I feel a pull to him immediately and somehow I don't think it's based strictly on his visual characteristics, although he is quite gorgeous.
At the bottom of the article is a picture taken by a fan. In this one Park Jimin is looking out at the audience with a concerned expression on his face. But it's not the concern that draws my attention. This picture must have been taken just after his soulmate mark appeared because I see it staring back at me from his plushy sweet cheeks. I find myself flabbergasted to see that it's a daisy. I hand her phone back to her, and she doesn't hesitate to begin typing away all over again.
"Each song title decorating your body is a solo song by each member. 'Serendipity' was the song that Jimin had just performed before he received his own mark."
I subconsciously trace over the word decorating my arm. This one belongs to Jimin. I find happy tears filling my eyes. "I don't know anything about BTS. I don't know anything about my soulmates!" I cry out in astonishment. Holy shit my soulmates are celebrities!
"I guess it's time to learn. Also, if you don't have a passport you are probably going to want to start the procedure of obtaining one." I nod. Suddenly I want to be with them so bad. I want to not just meet them for the first time. I want to breathe them in. I want to hold them close. I don't care that I don't know them. I already know that I want them; that I want to be with them. In that moment I knew that I would be willing to give my heart quite easily to them all.
"It looks like since the appearance of his soulmate mark they have added to their traditional meet and greets that occur before each of their concerts. There have been Army members, that's their fans by the way, that have claimed to be Jimin's soulmate." That frustrates me. It doesn't exactly make me angry though. A part of me understands why they would want to allude to being his soulmate, even when they aren't. "Anyway because those fans have been reaching out they have added an additional meet and greet badge purchase. This one to meet with the entire group after the concert, and those claiming to be his soulmate must provide proof of the mark and also explain to Jimin why they are claiming to be his soulmate."
"It reminds me of Cinderella and the glass slipper." I rationalize aloud.
"That's probably exactly why they are holding 'interviews' this way." She does finger quotations around the word interviews.
"So, how am I going to get into one of these special meet and greet interviews?" I have to be in one of those special interviews. It has to happen.
Candace scrolls some more. "They have a couple concerts back to back here in two months." She continues scrolling, biting her lip. "Both are already sold out."
"Well, that's helpful." I groan in annoyance.
"I might have a way to make this work. Don't get your hopes up. I will probably have to do some schmoozing, but I think I might be able to get you into that concert."
***All picture credits go to those that actually took the pictures. I did edit the second simply to reflect Daisy's mark on Jimin's cheek.