"There. Isn't this relaxing?" asked Ava.

Rai looked about them as they sat at the restaurant, picking at a basket of fries on the table in front of them. This was their first stop on their day of fun. They always enjoyed sharing fries and having a milkshake on their girl's day. The restaurant just happened to be super crowded today when they came to visit. As Rai plucked a fry from the basket on the table between them, a young boy of about three squealed as he ran past the table. A winded mother was running after him, trying to get him to stop. Rai dipped her fry in the salted ketchup, taking a bite as she chuckled.

"Yes. Very," said Rai sarcastically with a grin, "I have to say that this reminds me so much of work though."

"GET OFF THE TABLE JEFFERY!"

Rai swiveled in her seat to see that the boy who had just raced past their table was now standing on top of a table near the back of the restaurant. The boy had both his arms up in the air as if he were the king of the world while the woman was trying to grab him to pull him back down to earth.

"Well, you love these french fries so I'm sure the chaos is worth it," said Ava, causing Rai to turn back around and face her. "Besides, this is just a part of our day of relaxation."

Rai nodded, absentmindedly eating the rest of the fry in her hand.

"JEFFERY, PUT THE KETCHUP BOTTLE DOWN!"

"But is this really the kind of thing you deal with at work?" asked Ava with a chuckle.

"Yep. Every day. There's never a dull moment."

- - -

When Rai and Ava left the chaotic restaurant after enjoying their fries, they went to the mall for some retail therapy. When they entered the clothing store, Rai automatically went towards the discount clothing rack. That was her go to place. It wasn't that she wanted to be cheap, but she still felt there was a way to dress cute on the salary she received. She felt she didn't need to blow her entire paycheck on one outfit. Ava stood nearby as she watched Rai flick through the clothing for a moment before pulling a black t-shirt and a white jean jacket with purple and pink tie-dyed splotches on it off the rack.

"I never noticed before..."

"Noticed what?" asked Rai as she draped it over her arm, moving to continue flicking through the clothes before drawing off a maroon dress shirt that billowed on the arms.

"You and Jungkook dress similar," said Ava.

"We do?"

"You do," said Ava with a chuckle. "I wonder if soulmates dress similar..."

"You're going on a whole soulmate route with this?"

"Well, you two are," said Ava. "It's a fascinating concept to explore..."

"You'll have to write about it sometime," said Rai with a grin. "I can picture you writing an amazing story around that idea."

Rai kept her discount clothes on her arm before snatching up a yellow and red plaid number last minute. Ava chuckled, grabbing up a few shirts for herself before walking towards the register. As they waited in the checkout line, Rai's eyes gravitated towards the magazine rack nearby. Displayed on the cover of one of the magazines was BTS; the title above it focused on their upcoming comeback and all the rumors associated with it. Rai's eyes narrowed in on Jungkook's grinning face. Her heart flipped in her chest. Even though it was just a picture, it felt like he was looking right into the depths of her soul.

How did they meet? If Seol hadn't come around, they would have met at some point and fallen in love. Had it been through going to a concert? A chance meeting out and about? Rai was only brought out of her thoughts when Ava moved out of line to grab the magazine off the rack, handing it to Rai.

"You are staring holes into the cover with your gaze," said Ava. "Buy it and then you won't have to stop staring."

"I don't get it," said Rai softly as she looked at the magazine now in her possession. Rai said it so softly that Ava almost didn't catch it.

"Don't get what?"

"Why he would choose me," mumbled Rai as she moved to put her clothing and magazine on the counter, detaching the hangers from her clothes to help out the cashier.

"You did not just..."

Rai ignored Ava as she got lost in her thoughts again. Rai had bad self esteem growing up. She loved the arts in all compacities. Rai loved writing and singing. She even loved dancing for a spell. However, she always got put down. She always got told such things like her acne was out of control, her legs were too hairy, or she was too fat. She got told she could sing, but that someone else was better. She got told her writing wasn't original enough, or her ideas were too out there. Those kind of comments made her revert back into herself, only showing her true self to a select few in her close circle. It was also what caused her nerves to heighten, leading to a shaky voice and knees during any sort of public speaking event.

This kind of mindset spiraled into her romantic relationship. It seemed that no one valued the person that she was on the inside or the outside. The one guy that she did end up dating for a while had dated her because she was easy and nothing else. She was gullible and fell for him easily because of it. Rai had hidden herself away behind a computer after that relationship ended when she had eventually woken up, typing out her fantasy relationships in fanfictions with a pen name attached and all. She felt that maybe then she would become a person that someone could love because they couldn't see her, or that maybe even that that was how her relationship would always be. Nothing more than a fantasy. 

Rai dug out her debit card, paying for the clothes before leaving the store. She lingered outside waiting for Ava to pay for her purchases. Ava was quick to join her with her own bagged purchases. Before Ava could even say anything, Rai turned to start walking towards a different part of the mall; Ava quickly following after her.

"Stop walking so fast, dang it!"

Ava reached out a hand to grab Rai by the arm, pulling her to a stop. Unshed tears glistened in Rai's eyes. The trip down memory lane in her mind left the whispers of negativity circling throughout her.

"Oh Rai..."

Ava moved to hug Rai then as a few tears tripped down her cheeks.

"I know you've been hurt in the past, but..."

"But..." said Rai, "But I fall for Jungkook only for him to leave me in the end...I wasn't enough, so why would I hurt myself to begin with?"

"Rai...you are enough. I don't know why you and Jungkook end up getting a divorce in the future, but you two were in love. You had Seol, and Seol...Seol wants to fix whatever happened. Let your remarkable son do this for you..."

"What if I..."

"Stop," said Ava, pulling back just enough to wipe the tears off Rai's cheeks. "Today is supposed to be a good day. It's a girl's day. Put those negative voices away."

"Okay. I'm sorry."

"And stop apologizing. You do that too much."

"Sorry..." said Rai with a small grin which got Ava chuckling.

"Come on. Pack those tears away. We're going karaoke singing."

"Where?"

Ava cast her eyes about the shopping mall before grabbing one of Rai's hands and leading her towards a karaoke machine display outside an electronic store nearby. There was a young teenager that was just finishing, leaving the machine open.

"Select a song, Rai."

"This is ridiculous."

"Do it Rai. I'll even do it with you."

Rai knew that Ava wouldn't back down. Sighing, she put down her shopping bag by Ava's feet as she went over to the screen to select a song. She ended up selecting the song "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun". While waiting for the song to start playing, Rai grabbed up the two microphones, handing one to Ava and keeping one for herself. Rai was nervous at first when the song started to play, but by the time it got to the bridge on the way to the chorus, she had completely thrown herself into the song.

Ava was right. Today was supposed to be a good day with her and her bestie enjoying life to the fullest. Whatever relationship Rai was destined to fall into, she would deal with it when it came. Smiling over at Ava as she sang, Rai enjoyed what was shaping up to be the best girl's day ever.

- - -

AN: The discussion of soulmates in the story was also a shoutout to my bestie's ( lexxandbts ) amazing fanfic, Lifetime. I highly recommend that you check it and all of her other works out! She is a very talented writer, and an amazing best friend!

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