Make Me STAY

Hellevator

Rose was a little overwhelmed by the sound coming from the crowd. She was on holiday in Korea and had managed to get a ticket to a K-pop concert which was on while she was there. Although she didn't know the group that well, she had heard some of their music and was obsessed with their song Hellevator.

The show was dynamic and powerful and Rose watched it with amazement. It was impressive, how talented these boys were. From what little she knew about them, she knew that it had only been less than two years since their debut, but it was obvious to her that this was only the beginning for them. There was no doubt in her mind that big things were going to happen for them.

It wasn't until near the end of the concert that Rose started to feel a bit odd. A funny feeling suddenly came over her, as if it wasn't her own. On stage the Idols were walking around the outskirts of the stage, trying to get as close to their fans as possible. She wasn't that close to the stage, but now that the boys were so close that she could almost make out their faces.

Rose tried to focus. She wanted to get the most out of this experience and she hoped she would be able to remember it all clearly tomorrow. As she looked at the member who was on the bit of the stage closest to her. The strange feeling that had come over her got stronger. Now she could recognise what it was, hope.

A gasp had her covering her mouth with her hand and Rose was grateful that the fans were too focused on the stage to notice her. She stared at the boy on the stage unbelievingly, but there was no mistaking what was happening. She had found her soulmate, and he was an Idol.

Rose had always had a bit of an obsession with finding her soulmate when she was a teenager. Once she reached her 20's she realised that the reality wouldn't quite be the fairy tale she had been dreaming of. However, she never thought things would turn out like this. Not only was her soulmate an Idol, but he was younger than her. This came as a surprise to Rose as she had always preferred more mature men.

Her eyes didn't leave her newly found soulmate until he left the stage after the group said their final goodbyes. If she hadn't been so confident in her discovery, Rose might have worried that she was wrong. Obviously, he had not felt her presence. Although, she wasn't too surprised as she was in a crowd of people and his emotions would have been high whilst performing.

As the fans began to leave, Rose was at a loss of what to do. Usually, a person could approach their soulmate and they would feel the bond too, but her soulmate was an Idol. An Idol surrounded by bodyguards, managers, and group members. How would she ever get close enough for him to feel their bond too?

Trying to think logically, she knew that the performers usually left through the back entrance, and it wants usual for fans to wait there hoping to see them. Hoping she would find someone she could talk to, Rose decided this was the best course of action. However, when she got there, she found she wasn't the only one with the same plan.

"Hyunjin is my soulmate! You need to let me in!"

"Let me see Felix! I felt our bond during the concert. I know it!"

"Bitch, who are you? Hyunjin is mine!"

"If you don't leave, I'm calling the police and having you all forcibly removed. Now."

Rose watched the interaction in horror, and then it hit her like a bucket of cold water.

They must have fans telling them every day that one of the Idols is their soulmate. No one will believe me.

After a few more big security men came out, the crazy fangirls finally left. When one of the men looked her way, Rose quickly walked away. Clearly, this plan wasn't going to work. She just needed to think of something else, a different way.

By the time she got back to her hotel, it all felt like a dream and Rose broke into tears.

Two days later Rose's holiday ended, and she was due to travel back home. She had come to Korea, not only because it was somewhere she had always wanted to visit, but because she had been offered a job there. The holiday was to help her decide whether she could see herself living in the country. Being close to her soulmate sealed the deal.

Thus, Rose came up with a plan. She accepted the job, moved to Korea, and waited for her chance. However, things rarely go to plan. As the months passed, she watched her soulmate from afar and got to know him and his group mates as a fan. But the more she learnt about them and what they had gone through to get to where they were, the more she doubted herself.

The life of an Idol was hard. Late nights. Early mornings. Sweat and tears were shed every day to reach their dream. How could Rose interrupt that? Wouldn't she just be a distraction? She would never be able to live with herself if she somehow stopped her soulmate from fulfilling his dreams.

She could see how fast their popularity was growing. They were steadily climbing their way up to the top. It was a critical time for her soulmate and his group and Rose couldn't, wouldn't, disturb that.

So, she continued to watch her soulmate from afar. She celebrated the group's successes, cried at their hardships, and smiled sadly as she watched their life through a screen instead of being there beside her soulmate.

And then the world panicked.

When things opened up again it was with the knowledge that not finding your soulmate by the time you were thirty put you at risk of getting ill and possibly dying.

While her soulmate had at least five years before he needed to worry, Rose had less. If they didn't meet in the next few years and she got sick, then her soulmate would be at risk as well. She had to find a way to get close enough to him that he would be able to feel the bond.

It took longer than she had hoped for an opportunity to present itself. While she was waiting and planning, the world had been rocked by the news that BTS had found their final soulmate and the eight of them were a soul-group. Soul-groups were rare, but Rose wasn't surprised that BTS were one and she was happy for them. As an ARMY she knew how much they deserved to be happy.

Learning how BTS had searched for their final soulmate using their world tour, Rose wondered if her soulmate had ever thought of searching for her. She knew it was unlikely. The oldest members of BTS were a couple of years older than her. Finding his soulmate probably hadn't even crossed her young soulmate's mind yet.

This led her to think whether her soulmate would be happy when they finally met. Over the past couple of years, she had learnt a lot about him. Saying he was hardworking was an understatement, but he was also kind. So kind, that Rose often found herself tearing up during his weekly chats with the fans.

Bang Chan was an amazing person and Rose could only hope that she would be worthy of him.