A/N:  This chapter is about 3986 words. 

Directly after I say goodbye to everyone Yoongi practically drags me to his studio. I look around at the way he redecorated since the last time I was in here. He moved the couch so it was behind him and not in his peripheral vision. I am immediately able to comprehend the reason why that is, but I can't help but teasingly ask about it. I point at the couch's new location. "Were you having trouble getting work done, Bear?"

He gives me a warning glare. "Yes, and I am not further discussing it right now. We are going to be working today. So, Honey, please do get any ideas." He grins at me but the warning is still there written in his eyes so I simply nod in response.

"So, what are we going to be working on?" I ask curiously, confused.

When I ask that his face completely falls. "Crap. I have been so focused on the idea of it I totally forgot to ask you."

"Ask me what?" I spread out my hands as I ask the question. Both to placate him and to show him that I'm not mad only inquiring for my own knowledge.

He expels a big breath before continuing, obviously nervous about how I might reply, but instead of asking he simply states what he wants. "I'd like to record some samples of you singing. Mostly nonsense sounds like 'la la las' and 'oooh'. Stuff like that."

"Things you might be able to sample in the background track of music?" I am surprised I am still more inquisitive than nervous by this idea. "I think we sort of talked about the possibility, but not that we would actually be doing it."

"Yeah, well, without going into too much detail about it, I think your voice might add something to a project I am currently working on." Yoongi offers as his only explanation.

I can tell by the way he says it that he is hoping I don't pry further into it. So, I shrug my shoulders and decide to humor him. "I'll do this, but only if you set an alarm on your phone so we know when to stop and take a lunch break."

He grins at me. "Okay. Deal."

First, for about five minutes, he has me do some vocal warm ups. I honestly didn't know of some of the methods he introduces to warm up my voice, but I trust that these are actual proper techniques because he wouldn't troll me like that. Although I am sure a few of my other soulmates probably would.

Yoongi instructs me to first try to sing the notes he plays with the sound of 'la.' He first has me just hold out longer notes. Then he has me do a string of scale traveling 'la la las.'

"Okay, next I want you to do the same thing we just did with 'oh.'"

I learn really quickly the response Yoongi gives when he becomes satisfied that he might have what he was looking for. He will nod to himself and jot down a really quick note to himself. But, when he will proceed to another nonsensical sound sample I realize that he is taking the opportunity to get as many samples as possible. Just in case if something he likes doesn't fit he happens to have a backup.

When the alarm goes off we have gone through, la, oh, oooh, aah, doo, and he even got me to sing baby also. He moves to try to get me to do more and I put a hand on his shoulder. "Nope. You promised."

He chuckles. "You're right, Honey. I'm sorry."

We don't go to too much effort with lunch this time. I had some pre-cooked chicken in the fridge and we both quickly decided to reheat some soup that Dasom left behind and make a salad to go along with it. "Which soup should we have, Honey? It looks like she left behind Kimchi Kongnamul Guk and Samgyetang."

I give Yoongi a look filled with complete confusion. He forgets that I don't know the Korean name for most of their dishes yet. "Describe them for me please, Bear."

He pauses to think, which honestly I greatly appreciate because that means he will be giving me the best descriptions he can for them. "Kimchi Kongnamul Guk, I am sure you can tell by the name has Kimchi in it." I give him a 'duh' look which of course has him chuckling for a moment. "I can best describe it as a soybean sprout soup with kimchi.

Because of his love for kimchi I nod to let him know I am considering it. "The other one?"

"Samgyetang is a ginseng chicken garlic soup." He peers through the clear lid of the storage bowl. "Usually it has a whole stuffed hen in the pot, but it looks like she cut this one up after cooking it."

I sigh. It sounds like a wonderful meal for when I am feeling under the weather, but I am not sure I want it right now. Not to mention we do already have chicken in our salads. "I'm willing to try the kimchi soybean sprout soup." I'm hit or miss when it comes to sprouts in general. I know I love alfalfa, broccoli, and radish sprouts, but regarding the flavor of bean sprouts it generally depends upon my mood.

Luckily I am pleasantly surprised by the flavor of it, and I make sure to tell him so. Just in case he is keeping some kind of tally on the Korean foods that I am actually enjoying.

After lunch we go back downstairs. But, he tells me we are switching gears this time. He pulls out a bunch of random miscellaneous objects. "We are going to do a sound sampling ASMR like session."

I look into the box he pulled toward him. "I bet you have all these sounds already."

"Not all of them. I do have a lot of them, but I thought this would be something fun to do together." He offers up his irresistible gummy smile to me, and I can't help but nod in acquiescence.

Oh the things my soulmates have me do. I mentally roll my eyes.

Yoongi had snuck back into my room after working hours upon hours on either the project he was having me help with or another one altogether. I don't know for certain; I chose not to pry. I had been asleep when he first crept in, but the minute the blankets had shifted I became partially coherent. I remember him asking me something about staying, and I remember not even hesitating to agreeing to let him.

Of course now is the start of a new day, and despite how I am subconsciously pushing myself even further into his embrace I know I should be waking up instead. I huff out an annoyed grumble and immediately find Yoongi chuckling in my ear. "No worries, Honey. Not long from now I will have another day where I promise I will do more than shut us away in my studio and work. I'll make sure to make the next day all about us."

I struggle to get him to loosen the way his arms are wrapped around me. "It doesn't really matter what we do. I appreciate having this time together at all."

Yoongi gets distant for a moment, lost in his own thoughts. But, almost just as suddenly he is smiling again. "The time will go fast and soon enough we will be going on that trip we planned."

I mentally panic for a moment, because while it is a little over a month away I haven't prepared myself in any way for it. I have a slew of new clothes in my closet and dresser, but most of them are for the moderate spring temperatures. I will need to buy some things that I will be able to wear in the Mediterranean from mid to late June. I mentally calm myself before replying genuinely. "I honestly can't wait."

After that we encourage each other to get out of bed. Breakfast this morning is an easy enough arrangement. When Yoongi tucked himself away after supper I decided to try some of the premake breakfast recipes I found on the internet. I made some yogurt breakfast popsicles and asian pear, oatmeal, and cinnamon muffins. (The popsicles called for granola but something about freezing granola didn't sit right with me hence why I added oatmeal to the muffins.) The breakfast gets rave reviews and requests for a repeat menu sometime in the near future.

Hobi pulls me to him after I say goodbye to everyone. "Well, Petal, if you think today is going to be one of leisure and relaxation I must apologize but that is not going to be happening."

"What are we going back to your studio apartment to dance again?" I ask curiously.

His eyes darken as he obviously remembers our shared moment there together, but in the next moment I chuckle as I watch him literally shake away that visual. "No. No, Petal, today we have other plans." He glances down at my outfit. "But, first you need to get dressed."

I look up at him shuttering my eyelids partially closed in what I can hope conveys both a coy and flirtatious expression. "Do we have time for a shower?"

He groans and swats me playfully on the ass. "Petal, you are trouble." He scolds me. "You can go take a shower, but I will not be joining you. I'm doing my damndest to avoid temptation."

I stand on my tiptoes. Whisper on a breathy sigh the words, "too bad." When I walk away from him I make sure to add a little bit more sway to my hips than I would under normal circumstances. Unfortunately, Hobi is quite adamant about his decision and isn't remotely influenced differently by my actions.

An hour later we are strapped in the back of an SUV with Korain driving and Hye Rin riding in the passenger seat. "When are you going to tell me where we are going, Hobi?"

He shakes his head. "I'm not. You'll see when we get there."

I look up toward the front of the vehicle. "Can either of you tell me what he has planned?"

Korain of course just keeps driving. We haven't really talked much since the argument we had in Brazil, and while I have moved past it the same apparently can't be said for him. Hye Rin turns in her seat and gives me a brief grin. "Sorry. I've been sworn to secrecy." When she turns back in her seat her body goes rigid as she puts herself back in security mode, or at least that is what I am assuming the stiff posture is about.

Hobi makes a tsk-ing sound at me.

"Sorry, but I can't help my curiosity." I shrug my shoulders indifferently.

"Well, I'll give you a hint. You have been at our first stop a couple times before."

Huh? I've been there a couple times? I can't think of many places I have revisited since we got to Seoul. In fact, I can think of only one for certain. "We are going to Jiwoo's boutique?"

He nods. "While I like to shop for you a lot I thought you might want to pick some clothing out for yourself." He leans forward to whisper in my ear. "Especially for our trip coming up here in the near future."

I can't keep my jaw from literally dropping. Is this part of being soulmates? Does he just seem to know something I was only just considering this morning? Or is it possible I just tuned into his frequency as he thought about this very thing himself? It's uncanny really how we are undeniably on the same wavelength.

He reaches over and pushes my chin back up. "What's this look about, Petal?"

What do I do here? Do I admit to thinking of the same thing only a short time ago? I know I can't simply say nothing, my expression was simply too animated for him to be okay with letting it go. Once I get past my internal debation I simply tell him why I was left flabbergasted.

He chuckles. "Well, it's good to know you are coming to terms with spending our money at least."

I frown at him. "I wouldn't say that I've come to terms with it. I still don't like the idea of it much, but being your soulmate does kind of require me to look the part. That doesn't mean I will always be buying designer brand clothing though either."

He nods. "You've seen us go shopping on Bon Voyage trips. We don't always buy designer brands either." He jokes.

"Wait, isn't that because you are on a budget during the trip? Is that something the company will be enforcing again for this trip?" I'm not worried about it per se, but this is our first planned trip together. Sure, we agreed to be in front of the cameras while doing it, but I kind of don't want to have to be reserved by having to be frugal.

"Yes regarding your first question. No regarding your second." I open my mouth to ask him to elaborate, but he simply shakes his head at me. I know then that he isn't going to explain himself further. Makes me wonder what more he... No what more they might have in store regarding this trip and what exactly makes it different outside of me being with them. After all, if that was the only difference he wouldn't have kept me from asking about it.

Jiwoo makes a beeline for me the minute we walk into the boutique. Her expression becomes frantic when she sees Hobi just behind me. One of her soulmate marks is at the back of her neck and she wore her hair up today. So, my guess is she is nervous because she hasn't told her brother about the serum injection yet, and her three soulmates.

I'm proven right in the next moment. "Noona, what is that on your neck?" I watch as the panic becomes more pronounced in her eyes. "Did you get a tattoo?"

She frowns then sighs realizing there is no putting this off. "No, it's not a tattoo. It's one of my soulmate marks."

"You finally got the injection. Wait, you said one of?!?!? You have multiple soulmates?"

I poke Hobi in the back. "What is wrong with having multiple soulmates exactly?" He opens and closes his mouth like a fish out of water for a second. Then it is no longer Jiwoo that is panicking, it's him. I shake my head and decide to let him off the hook this time though. "Don't worry I know you reacted that way because she is your sister. I'll give you some time alone with her so she can explain. I am just going to start browsing."

"I already put some stuff back I thought you might like, Daisy. They are on a rack behind the sales counter." I smile at her and nod my thanks before going to investigate them for myself.

My eyes widen at the overfilled rack she was referring to. I turn back toward Hye Rin who followed me over. "I think she went a bit crazily overboard. There is no way I am going to wear this many different outfits for one trip. No matter how long it is." I panic for a second. Does Hye Rin know about the trip? Was she one of them they asked to go with us?

"I'm surprised. Jiwoo is known for her discerning eye. Yet, it doesn't look like she is able to edit herself where you are concerned." The expression on her face is an odd one. I can't make it out, but she definitely doesn't look happy. "Oh, sorry. I just could only dream of having a wardrobe like this. I think perhaps I got a little bit jealous."

I shake my head. "I've never exactly dreamed of having a wardrobe like this. I would have been content shopping off the rack for the rest of my life. Heck, I was content shopping at consignment stores. I would think this all was wholly unnecessary if it weren't the fact that I know I need to present a certain image to the public."

The expression on her face hasn't been erased. If anything it seems to be permanently etched there. I'm not sure what I can do to emotionally wipe it away though. I thought if I denied wanting it that might help, but that either didn't have any effect or it somehow made her feel even worse. I can't work out why that might be, and I know that if I continue trying to decipher it for myself that will get me nowhere.

It doesn't help that I feel like I don't really know Hye Rin. Due to the club incident happening they haven't been putting her on many posts with me. Since she is new they just don't completely trust her yet. Also, I haven't often left the house recently. When I have it has been on a date and there has been a mass number of security members. This is just a simple outing so obviously they deemed something like this would be okay.

A few minutes later Jiwoo is ushering me into the dressing room with a stack of the clothing she selected in hand. Once the door is shut behind me I ask her. "Did you get everything worked out with Hobi?"

She sighs. "Sort of. When I told him who they were it seemed to make him a little less panicky."

"Just give him some time. He will come around to the idea." I may not be able to see her, but I know her well enough that I can visualize her nodding to me in response.

"By the way, I know I don't really know her, but that security guard of yours seems to have a permanent 'resting bitch face.'"

I open the door a crack so I can look Jiwoo in the eye. "You think so? Maybe she is just focused on her job. She is able to smile. I've seen it at least once when we were introduced." I pause for a second. "Oh and she momentarily grinned at me in the SUV on the way over."

She shuts the door and tells me we can still talk, but I need to get busy and try on the clothing she selected. "She might be simply laser focused I suppose. But, I don't know. I don't really think I like her that much." She pauses for a second. "Hell, I think I like her less than even Korain, and that's saying something."

"You know about the thing with Korain?" I ask curiously.

"I know what Jk told everyone. I honestly think there might be more to the story though. I mean especially since he wasn't fired. I've tried to wipe away the prejudices caused by the moment to try to get to know him, and all in all he doesn't seem like a bad guy actually."

Well, that's interesting I suppose. I don't know if it means anything per se, but it definitely makes me even more curious what might have happened that night that tainted his reputation.

Once I am putting on the last outfit I realize something. "Jiwoo?"

"Hmm?"

"I just realized. I thought you might know I was coming today since you had all that clothing on the rack already. But, you completely panicked when you saw Hobi." I pause for a second as I realized I didn't formulate a question really.

What I say must be enough though because she chuckles. "That stack has been accumulating for a while. Any time we get a new shipment I put something back that I think might look good on you. You also happened to come in the day after a shipment day, so it's a bit larger than normal. I haven't had a chance to eliminate some of the garments I considered."

I'm pretty sure she actually ordered these specifically in my size since my measurements were quite a bit different than the average Korean woman. I don't ask her though. Just the idea of her putting this many clothes back for me to try is enough to boggle my mind.

"So, change of topic. Because I know who my soulmates are it got me wishful thinking about the possible ceremony we might have. I've considered designing my own dress, but I want to make sure that might be something they would be interested in doing. Having a ceremony I mean."

I frown. I know she isn't asking me about what my dream ceremony is. But, because it isn't something we have discussed I fear it won't happen. Before I know it though I am telling her exactly what I would probably want my ceremony dress to look like. The color, the style, and I even share with her the reason why I would want it to look the way I suggested.

Before going back out to Hobi I take a few moments to compose myself. I shouldn't have talked about a ceremony that probably won't happen. It just made me nostalgic for something that will never be. I don't let myself cry much even though there is a part of me that honestly wants to. Instead I remember that Hobi is out there waiting for me, and I think of his ecstatic excited face he will have as he helps me finish my shopping.

Hobi takes me to two more stores after that. One a lingerie store which I frown about. He puts up both of his hands with his palms facing outward as if I had a loaded gun in my hand, and he was surrendering to me. "Don't worry, Petal. I won't pick out anything you might wear especially for us." He pauses for a second. "But, that doesn't mean I won't pick out some bra and panty sets." He waggles his eyebrows at me.

In the end I appreciate this stop, because I do find a couple of garments to add to my collection. I do also let Hobi pick out a few bra and panty sets, although I do practically throw any thongs or g-strings he brings my way in his face. The only thing stopping me from actually doing so is public perception. Although the mental idea of Hobi with a candid shot of woman's underwear over his forehead almost has me cracking up.

The second store we stop in specializes in luggage. I frown at him. "Hobi, I bought a new set before meeting you all. I don't need a new one."

"Ah, but you don't have a garment bag and you are going to need it for the last night of the cruise."

I arch an eyebrow in confusion. "Why?"

"I can only say that you will need a gown for our final night."

His statement has me frowning. "Hobi, if I need a gown then shouldn't I be also shopping for that?!?!"

"No worries. Jiwoo has that completely covered."