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Take My Hands Now

Summary:

In an alternate universe where soulmates exist, by chance you discover that Jeon Jungkook is yours. But just because you're destined to be together, doesn't mean that anything will come easy.

Notes:

I was inspired by Fallencairns story Turbulence where your survival depends on your soulmate's touch. I tweaked it a bit to be centered around needing your soulmate's touch to preserve one of you senses and allow you to function optimally. I love their story so much and if you haven't read it, I HIGHLY recommend it! The writing is wonderful and the slow burn hurts so good!

In this story, anything typed in bold would be spoken in Korean, but since I'm no where near fluent, I'm not going to attempt it.

Also, the novel that is referenced here, Seoul Searching, is actually real! You can head over to her website to read it. It really is so good!

https://www.koreanfromcontext.com/seoul-searching/

Also, this is my first attempt at fan fiction. I will do my best to post regularly. I pretty much have the whole thing plotted out already, I just got to add some dialogue and a little bit more detail. I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter Text


“That concert was insane!,” you murmured to yourself as you scrolled through the pictures on your phone from the night before. Last night, you had floor seats with your two besties to see BTS. It was such an incredible show and you still hadn’t come down from that high. 

 

“Would you like something to drink, miss?” asked the stewardess as she came by with the drink cart. You shook your head no and returned to scrolling your gallery, snuggling back down into your first class seat. You had gotten a truly amazing video of Jungkook as he came to your side of the stage when they performed “Baepsae” and you just have to watch it again. You blushed as you started the video for the 8th time. 

 

Long haul flights had always seemed to take forever, but this flight from Los Angeles to Seoul didn’t seem to take any time at all. Probably because you had basically spent the entire time reliving every moment of the concert. It had been such an incredible experience and you were so happy you had been able to catch them in concert before you had to fly to Seoul on business. 

 

As an audiobook narrator, you didn’t get flown to record on location very often. You would make the occasional trip into downtown LA or to New York to record, but most often you worked from home in your tiny booth. 

 

So it had been a real treat when the audiobook publisher asked that you come to Seoul to complete the narration for your next book, and even sprang for first class tickets and a swanky hotel to boot. 

 

This particular book, Seoul Searching, was dear to your heart because A) It was your best friend’s book and B) Allowed you to make use of your Korean Language minor from college. The whole idea behind the book was that the reader would learn some Korean from context. It was such a unique concept and so well written that you had begged your friend to narrate it. She of course said yes, but that the publisher was based out of Korea and they might ask you to fly out to do the recording. You told her that you’d one hundred percent be ok with making that “sacrifice”.

 

You looked out the window as land was finally making an appearance underneath you in the cloudless sky. Should be landing soon you thought to yourself. You decided to get up to use the restroom one last time before they started the final descent into Seoul. Standing up, you grabbed your white suit jacket and slipped it on over your blush pink blouse.

 

The first class seats were basically tiny rooms inside the airplane, so you hadn’t really seen much of the other passengers in first class. As you stood up, however, you got an eyeful. And you could not believe your eyes. Standing up from his seat to stretch was none other than RM, Kim Namjoon of BTS, himself. Your jaw dropped, eyes bulging momentarily before trying, and falling, to look nonchalant. You definitely did NOT want to go all fan girl on him here. 

 

Your eyes scanned the rest of the seats around and you saw the heads and faces of the rest of the group scattered around the cabin. You couldn’t believe your luck!

 

You walked closer to him and murmured a quiet, “Excuse me,” to get to the lavatory at the front of the plane. He took notice of you and quickly stepped aside, knocking into Jungkook, who was standing up. Unfortunately for you, Jungkook had been holding a cup of coffee at the time. 

 

Almost as if it were in slow motion, you watched as the coffee cup tilted in your direction, spilling the dark brown liquid all over your cream colored business suit. 

 

When you bought the suit, you questioned the wisdom of buying a white suit. But it looked amazing on you and your friend Sammie told you your ass looked incredible in it. So you bought it. 

 

Most of the time you worked in sweats, holed up in your tiny cave of a recording booth, recording in the dark by the light of your computer screen. You often thought you were like the trolls that live under bridges in fairytales, only emerging for food or other bodily needs.

 

But, you would be attending multiple meetings with the publisher over the course of your trip and you didn’t want the jacket to get wrinkled in your suitcase. So you brought the suit to change into on the plane. You had changed from your typical work attire (sweats) into your suit after they had served breakfast.

 

You could see the coffee cup's trajectory and it was aimed squarely at you. Unable to avoid the spray, you braced for the inevitable splatter.

 

Namjoon’s face was a mask of regret. Jungkook’s face was frozen, eyes wide and mouth in the shape of a shocked O. The coffee spilled all down your front, covering not just your jacket and blouse, but your pants as well. Well, there goes that suit you thought to yourself.

 

Please forgive me !” blurts out Jungkook in Korean, who immediately bowed. Namjoon, likewise bows, but said in English, “I am so sorry! Here, let me help.”

 

You stammered out something about it being ok, but you couldn’t be certain exactly what came out of your mouth. It must’ve been a mix of English and Korean because the two men in front of you looked both confused and surprised.

 

Do you speak Korean? ” Jungkook asked, puzzled, as he looked into your face. Namjoon was frantically looking for something to wipe the mess up with while Jungkook seemed mesmerized, a complete deer in headlights. 

 

A stewardess appeared behind you, holding out a towel and napkins to clean the spill. This seemed to break Jungkook out of his trance and he reached for the extended towel at the exact same time as you. Your hands brushed against each other, and you both froze.

 

The sensation was thrilling. It was as if liquid fire was flowing through your veins from your hand to the rest of your body. It set tingles sparkling up and down your skin and a bone deep heaviness felt as if it’d been lifted from your body. You felt so light, you could’ve been floating. You're not one hundred percent certain that you weren’t. I t’s the rush of a soulmate connection , you thought and your eyes widened in surprise. 

 

You looked into Jungkook’s face, hoping to see a similar reaction on his face. But his face was blank. As if nothing life altering had just occurred to him. Your sadness was complete and immediate. You could have sworn you felt it. You felt the rush, the radiant energy… Or maybe it was your inner psycho fan girl showing you cursed inwardly. 

 

You’d read so many stories about other people’s soulmate connections, and had looked forward to experiencing it yourself. When soulmates found each other and made physical contact, they would feel a rush of sensations ranging from warmth, to a tingling sensation all over their bodies. Some people experienced a momentary overload of one of their senses, but all people would experience a feeling of connection and lightness that indicated the soulmate bond. Additionally, soulmates could experience an inexplicable tug or pull to move closer to their soulmate without realizing it, which scientists thought aided in the bringing soulmates together.

 

The connection was then followed by a settling period in which couples needed to be in close proximity and physical contact to ensure the bond would take hold properly, resulting in a shared mark that would show up in the same place somewhere on both partner’s bodies. In cases where soulmates weren’t able to reconnect (or in cases of a total rejection of the bond), they’d experience symptoms such as fatigue, dizziness, nausea, increased heart rate, jitteriness, or even fainting. 

 

If the bond wasn’t able to form completely, it would result in your soul mark shifting from a dark brownish black, like a freckle or birthmark, to white, like the skin had been frozen. And at the end, it resulted in the eventual loss of one of your senses, each couple being unique as to which sense they lost. You’d heard horror stories about people going blind, losing all sense of smell or similar other losses. You prayed it would never happen to you. But you reminded yourself that that was pretty uncommon. Plus, it would be your soulmate! Why wouldn’t they want to be around you?!

 

You pushed away your confusion and disappointment at his lack of reaction as you tried to wipe away the wetness of the coffee. And of course the one suit you had packed, and really needed , you thought, was completely ruined. 

 

Another man stood up in the aftermath of the incident and extended a business card to you. 

 

“Please allow us to replace your clothing,” said the man in heavily accented English. “My name is Sejin Park, and I am responsible for these boys.”

 

Oh, it’s ok! It was an accident. But, thank you! ” you replied, taking the proffered business card. Again the faces of the men in front of you were surprised at your response.

 

Your Korean is very good! ” replies Namjoon. “ My name is Kim Namjoon. It’s nice to meet you.

 

It’s very nice to meet you too. I am Y/N. I, uh, actually just caught your concert in LA. It was such a great show! You guys did an amazing job! ” you blurted out. You were a little mortified that you let your fan girl slip out. 

 

Namjoon and Sejin both looked pleased, and your admission seemed to break Jungkook from his trance. 

 

Oh, thank you. But I’m sorry we ruined your suit! We should definitely treat ARMY much better than this, ” Jungkook said, frowning.

 

No, it’s really ok! It was an accident! Please, don’t worry about it too much! ” you stammered. You really didn’t want him looking so sadly at you. Why did he look so sad?

 

You then heard the pilot make the announcement that they’re making the final descent into Seoul and that everyone should return to their seats. You shot back an, “ It was really nice meeting you !” as you headed back to your seat, still wiping the remnants of the coffee from your clothing.

 

As you settled back into your seat, you tried to wrap your head around the fact that you just met BTS! Well some of them anyway. You couldn’t wait to text Sammie and Bridgette about your brush with your favorite artists. But also that your only business suit was probably ruined.

 

But more importantly, your mind kept going over the brush with Jungkook and the immediate rush you felt. That had to be something, right? But he acted like nothing happened. A total blank. Had you been just imagining it? Or were you just so excited to have touched, albeit accidentally, one of your favorite idols that your brain and body went haywire? You couldn’t seem to reason it out. You definitely needed second and third opinions on this. You thought about the time difference between here and LA and decided it was worth potentially waking your friends up to share the news as soon as you get to the hotel.

 

As the plane taxied into the gate, you gathered your belongings and waited for your turn to exit the plane. By the time you stood up, hoping to catch one last glimpse of BTS before you went, you only saw Jungkook’s back as he turned and walked out of sight. You sighed in resignation and waited for your turn to leave.

 

Once in the airport, you quickly found a bathroom and changed into the nicest clothes you had in your carry on and headed out to pick up your luggage. Once you had them, you looked for the hotel shuttle. You only had about an hour to settle in before needing to head to your first meeting. You hoped that the publishers would be understanding about your lack of proper attire.

 

When you arrived at your hotel, you stopped by the concierge desk to ask about a dry cleaner in an attempt to save your (most likely ruined) suit. She happily takes the suit from you, insisting that she would send it out to the best cleaner in the neighborhood. She’d call your room as soon as she’d heard from them. You thank her and head up to the room to unpack and unwind.

 

You looked around your room and sighed to yourself. You wished you could stay the entire length of your trip in this room, it was so beautiful and comfortably furnished. But sadly after the first 4 nights, you’d be moving to a much less expensive place. The publisher had put you up in a very upscale hotel, but for the remainder of your two week visit, you would be staying on your own dime to do some sightseeing. You’d always wanted to visit Korea, but between the expense of getting there and lack of time in your packed schedule, you had never been able to get away. 

 

After unpacking your suitcase, you decided to give your friends a call. They both answered your video chat instantly. 

 

“So, how was the flight?” Sammie asked in a singsong voice.

 

“It was a mixed bag. But you are not going to believe this,” you replied. “BTS was on my flight!”

 

“You’re kidding!” Bridgette gasped. “What were they like? Did you get to talk to them? Did you get any selfies with them?!” Bridgette, the bigger BTS fan of your two best friends, immediately peppered you with a dozen more questions.

 

“Sadly, there was no time for photos. By the time I realized they were on my flight, and after I cleaned myself up, we were making our final approach and I had to sit down.” You said.

 

“What do you mean, ‘clean yourself up’,” Sammie inquired suspiciously. 

 

“Well the bad part was that RM knocked JK’s cup of coffee all over me and my suit.”

 

“Damn. Which suit? Not that beautiful white one. Please tell me it wasn’t the beautiful white one!” Sammie whined.

 

“Yep. The white one,” you lamented.

 

“Well, at least your ass looked good while you were getting covered in coffee,” she sighed.

 

“Oh my God, the god of destruction strikes again. What are you going to do with the suit?” said Bridgette.

 

“I left it with the concierge to get cleaned. I only hope it can be saved. My chances of finding something off the rack to fit me here are pretty slim,” you groaned. Your very western body shape was significantly curvier than the typical asian one and you knew you’d never be able to find something that fit you well.

 

“But that’s not the craziest part…I think…” you trailed off. “I think Jungkook may be my soulmate.” you admitted.

 

Silence.

 

And then pandemonium.

 

“WHAT?!” and, “Are you kidding?!” cried Bridgette and Sammie simultaneously.

 

“You think Jungkook is your soulmate and you led with the story about your suit?!” Sammie exclaimed disbelievingly. 

 

“Why do you think he’s your soulmate?! Tell me everything!” Bridgette shouted.

 

“Well,” you start, “We both reached for the same towel to clean up the spill and our hands kind of… touched, I guess? And I felt this rush of tingle-tingle sparkle-sparkles, and it was incredible!” you gushed. But then you paused.

 

“And?” Sammie said excitedly.

 

“And… Well, when I looked at JK, his face was just kinda… blank,” you admitted. “Like nothing had registered for him. You guys, what if I’m wrong!” you moaned.

 

“Hmm,” Bridgette said. “What exactly did you feel?”

 

“So, our hands brushed up against each other, and it was like warmth and tinglies rushing from that spot to the rest of my body. And then it was like this weight on my shoulders was just… gone. It felt so good! So happy! I thought for sure this was it! But what if I just imagined it? Or that my inner fangirl got carried away from actually touching Jeon freaking Jungkook?!” you wailed.

 

“It really does sound like a soulmate connection,” replied Sammie. “But it’s hard to know without confirming it with the other person.” She paused. “And he didn’t say anything at all?”

 

“No! But I do have the business card for their manager. He offered to replace my suit,” you added lamely.

 

“Well, at least there’s that. There’s a chance you might actually be able to see him again. I guess the only way to know for sure is whether or not you start to lose one of your senses. I mean, that’s what’s supposed to happen if you don’t settle the connection soon, right?” said Bridgette.

 

“I guess you’re right... But who wants to lose one of their senses to confirm that one of the biggest stars in the world is your soulmate?!” you yelled.

 

“True… true…” Bridgette intoned. 

 

“Ugh, I guess I’ll try calling Sejin tomorrow. At the very least, he should pay for my suit,” you grumbled.

 

“Damn, straight! That suit was a masterpiece!” Sammie said.

 

“Ok. Well, I need to get ready for my first meeting. I’ll talk to you later. Wish me luck!” you said.

 

“Will do. Good luck! Oh, and keep us updated on the JK situation, ok?!” Sammie replied.

 

“I will, I will. Love you guys! Talk to you later!” you said with forced optimism. 

 

You hung up the video call and started heading out to your meeting with the audiobook publisher. You quickly double checked the address when you ordered the cab. But you did a double take when you saw the address on the map.

 

“No. Freaking. Way,” you whispered.