Jinyoung felt like a moth drawn to a flame. Though he knew the heat of the fire could kill him, it didn’t stop him from sneaking away from the others. The promise of pain didn’t stop him from fishing his phone out of his pocket and opening Instagram. As it had the last time he’d been brave enough to check, his heart promptly curled up as it burned to ash in his chest.

She was engaged now. Her soulmate proposed over dinner.

They hadn’t even been apart for a month.

Jinyoung couldn’t help but wonder if what they had really meant so little to her. If he really meant so little to her. He couldn’t wrap his mind around it all. He’d been ready to fight the world to defend their love, to prove that he didn’t need some bull cash grab to tell him who to love and spend the rest of his life with. It never occurred to him to make sure they were on the same page. He knew it was over when he saw her with the box tucked under her arm to hide it. Knew it was a lost cause when she put her SeoulMate on and it chirped, long before he’d even gotten his promotional device.

Two years gone in an instant.

Jinyoung shut his eyes tightly and swallowed hard as he tapped the screen and the phone went dark. Maybe he should have fought for her to stay. Tried harder to convince her to believe in their love. But it’d been much easier to let her go.

Footsteps in the darkness beyond the floodlight drew his attention and put him on edge. He’d been careless with his timing. There was no telling who’d found the side entrance. It could be a fan, a stalker, paparazzi, or—“Jackson?”

Jackson let out a squeal of terror and nearly fell. “Jinyoung? What the hell?!”

Jinyoung pocketed his phone and pushed away from the wall he’d been leaning on. “I thought you were in your room.”

Jackson shrugged. “Changed my mind. Fresh air is good for you, y’know.” His body language was all off. He was tense and wouldn’t look Jinyoung in the eyes. Jinyoung watched him closely, stopping him with a hand on his shoulder when he tried to pass by.

“Tell me you didn’t do what I think you did.”

Jackson pursed his lips and took a step back. “She deserved an apology.”

Jinyoung in air. “Why do you insist on being so reckless?” Jackson rolled his eyes and turned away, but Jinyoung stayed in his face. “Look, I get it. I really do. Being a celebrity is hard and lonely, but you knew that going in. Just like you knew the do’s and don’ts of this contract when you signed it. You’re legally obligated to follow the terms and conditions.”

Jackson nodded his head, but Jinyoung didn’t trust it. Sure enough, Jackson’s next words made Jinyoung’s fingers twitch with the desire to strangle him. “The contract’s wrong. We weren’t fully aware of the circumstances and possibilities we’d be walking into. On top of that, it’s illegal to have someone agree to commit fraud. And with the pressure put on us to sign or risk disbandment, I’d argue they coerced us.”

“So, you’re willing to face both companies in court?”

Jackson grinned. “And win.” Jackson patted Jinyoung’s shoulder. “Don’t stay out here too late. We have an early flight, remember?” With that, Jackson went inside.

Jinyoung stood there, slowly falling apart inside. Jackson may not have cared, but there wasn’t a guarantee they could win the lawsuit. Even then, did they really want the world to know what they’d agreed to do? If you, their “soulmate,” choose to go public with the whole situation, it could ruin them all. He hated to admit it, but Jackson was right.

Jinyoung pulled out his phone and scrolled through his contacts. With a few swipes across the cold screen, the line rang.

“Hello?” The voice was gruff, rough from sleep.

“Ah, Jeon, sir? It’s me, Jinyoung.”

»»————-　★　————-««

The knock on the heavy wooden door was loud but brief, with a mere two taps. J.Y. Park checked his watch. Two hours until lunch. “Come in.”

The door swung open and Taejoon Jeon, the company’s Legal Affairs Manager, walked in with a manilla folder tucked under his arm. “Good morning, Mr. Park.”

J.Y. nodded his head and gestured to one of the two chairs facing his desk. “What’s the matter?”

Taejoon ignored the invitation to sit and instead approached the desk and put the folder down. “There’s an issue we need to take care of regarding GOT7’s SeoulMate promotion.” He flipped it open and spread out the pages. “These are messages between Jackson and the user the group paired with.”

Taejoon didn’t need to say anything else. J.Y. was ready to pick up his phone and call Jackson himself.

“Jinyoung called me this morning and confirmed that Jackson met up with her without supervision.”

“Of course he did.” J.Y. groused with a hand over his face. “I can’t ever count on him to follow instructions.”

Taejoon smirked but didn’t comment. “I’ve prepared an NDA with a no-contact clause. I’ll have it faxed to them—”

“No.” J.Y. shook his head. He was well aware of how crafty the boys could get, especially Jackson. “I want you to hand-deliver it and get her signature. She needs to understand how serious this is and keep shut.”

“Sir, that’s a thirteen-hour flight.” Taejoon paused. “It’d be quicker to fax it and have one of the legal aids with them to serve her the paperwork.”

“I. Don’t. Care. I will not cut corners on this. Get on a plane and fix this.”

»»————-　★　————-««

By the time you got home, the sun had set. The windows in the house were illuminated, so you knew Aubrey was home and your parents were likely in separate rooms. You crossed your fingers and hoped that your dad was in the bedroom and Mama was in the living room. You pulled around back and went through the patio door only to find your dad lazing away on the couch watching an old sitcom from the 90s.

You had to cross in front of the tv to get to your room, so you had to speak to him. “Hey, dad. Excuse me.” You mumbled as you passed by and took off your hood.

“What is that?” He called out.

You stopped and turned to him reluctantly. “Sorry?”

He sat up and pointed to your wrist. “That. Where’d you get that fancy watch on your wrist?”

“Watch…?” You looked at your SeoulMate. Your sleeve had pulled back to expose it when you removed your hood. “It’s, it’s a gift. A soulmate detector?”

“You actually bought into that bull? How ing stupid. There’s no such thing as a soulmate.” He kept his eyes on it. “How much did that cost you? You ain’t even paid rent yet.”

“I said it was a gift. I didn’t buy this.” You pointed at your wrist. You wanted to tell him that Mama bought it. But what if he went after her? It felt like betrayal to throw her under the bus just to get him off your .

“Yeah, what-the--ever.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and began swiping furiously with his thumb. His eyes widened and his frown deepened and you just knew you were in for it.

“That cost 320 dollars!” He looked up at you. “You got money like that?”

“I. Didn’t. Buy. It.” You stressed each word with a clap, hoping it’d get through his impossibly thick skull. “It was a gift!”

“From who? You got a sugar daddy or some ? Who do you know got money to throw away on you?” He stood up, flexing his hands. “You out there yourself around?”

“I go to work and school, then come home every day! That’s it!”

“Who you yelling at like that?”

“I’m not trying to yell, but you’re making these crazy accusations when I didn’t do anything to deserve them! I didn’t buy this. It was a ing gift!” You looked around him and saw their bedroom door was open. Mama had just come from the bathroom and was coming around the corner.

You caught a blur of movement from him and just barely sidestepped his attempt to slap you.

“Who the you cussing at like that, huh?” The veins in his neck bulged as he puffed out his chest, trying to make himself look tougher. “This is my ing house and you will ing respect me!”

“Jermond!” Mama got in between you. “What the hell is your problem?”

“Get the out the way. You ain’t got to do with this,” he said, trying to push her aside, but she shoved him back.

“I gave it to her! You wanna be on somebody’s case, so bad. Now what?” For a whole minute, you were proud of her, but after what he just attempted to do to you, you knew it wasn’t the best idea.

"Mama, no—” You tugged on her sleeve.

“You want me to believe you spent that much money on a ing watch?” He scoffed, “Without discussing it with me? How the did you afford it? You ain’t go no money. You’re as broke and useless as she is.”

“Motherer, you don’t know what I got. You don’t pay attention to nobody but yourself.”

“Why the would you waste money on that?”

“Because she deserves better than being ing tormented by you day and night! You may not give two s about your own flesh and blood, but I do! I care about what the all this fighting does to her. All of your petty arguments and comments! I want her to get out of this hellhole. Nobody on earth deserves to be stuck with you!”

He took a step back as if she’d slapped him. “What about you? You chose to be with me.”

She deflated a bit and mumbled, “Yeah. I have my regrets.”

You could hear a pin drop.

“What?” He whispered. There was a brief look of shock and hurt before he in air and turned to you. “Get out. Pack your and get the out of my house!”

You blinked. ‘I—what?’

“Me?” you asked dumbly, trying to wrap your mind around his words. “B—but—what?”

“You heard me. Get your and get the out.” He turned to Mama. “There. Solves our problem, don’t it? She’s free to go do whatever the she wants. She’s not ‘stuck’ with me.”

hung open and you could almost see her brain rebooting. “You’re mad at me, so you’re kicking her out?”

“She’s a grown- woman. She don’t need a place to stay. Not here with me, I guess. Since I’m so bad. She can go find her own place to stay. Probably with some man and spread her ing legs.”

“Jermond!” she screamed, “Don’t talk about her like that!”

“ you,” he yelled back, giving her the middle finger. Their argument raged on while you struggled to shut down the well of tears that threatened to break free.

Homeless? You were…homeless?

Aubrey came around the corner and grabbed your hand, pulling you into a tight hug. He leaned back and his shirt was wet where your face had been. ‘What?’

“Don’t sweat it.” He muttered, wiping away your hot tears with his cool fingertips. “Come on.” He pulled you down the hall to your bedroom and gently pushed you in. “Kristen knows what’s going on. I texted her. You can stay with her while you figure stuff out. Anywhere is better than here.”

He was gone before you could say a word. Likely to oversee the newest verbal battle between your parents and assist Mama if needed.

Anywhere was better than here? True, you had Kristen, but for how long? You couldn’t stay with her forever. You pulled a suitcase out from under your bed and just tossed clothes into it. You weren’t thinking. You couldn’t think. You could barely function. It was happening so fast. Too fast. Leave? But this was home for you. It had your mom and brother. You could deal with him. You couldn’t deal with being out there, on your own, alone and—

“Hurry the up and get out!” Your dad yelled down the hallway, just barely drowning out Mama’s insults.

Your hands were shaking so hard as tears fell and dropped on the back of them. Aubrey handed you a small drawstring backpack. “Here’s your stuff from the bathroom. Didn’t want you to forget your favorite lotions and toothbrush.”

Your eyes met, and you gasped softly. His face was wet, too. You didn’t know what to say. Instead, your arms went around him and you buried your face in his shoulder. “Thank you.”

“Please don’t cry. He’s not worth the tears.” He whispered, patting the top of your head.

“Then why are you—”

“You. For you.” He gave your shoulders a little squeeze. “I knew you’d leave home, eventually. Just not like this. But it’s cool.” He shrugged. “You’re free.”

He let go and went around you into your room. He put more of your personal care items into the bag along with jewelry. For a minute, you could only stare at him. When had he become so mature?

You knew you couldn’t grab everything that you owned in one trip, so Aubrey promised to guard your room until you got back to get the rest. He helped you go through the garage to the driveway and load your stuff into your car. Your parents were still yelling at each other. Aubrey pulled you in for another hug, taking his time to let go.

“Please be safe, okay?” He whispered, voice thick with emotion.

You nodded, and somewhere in the house glass shattered. “What was—”

“Get out of here,” he said over his shoulder as he jogged back inside.

You wanted to argue. Wanted to go back inside and make sure Mama was okay. Instead, you got in your car and drove off into the night.