Title: Unrequited pt.2
Genre: Soulmate AU
Pairing: ChaeKyul (Chaeyeon & Jieqiong)
Words: 1700+

It was undeniably love.

Jieqiong could never forget the day she first met Chaeyeon – the very same day Nayoung had been showing Eunwoo and her around their new high school. She could never blot out the horrified glance Nayoung and Eunwoo momentarily shared when they noticed her string; and she would remember forever exactly how she felt when she noticed how lifeless the string looked around Chaeyeon’s finger.

Afraid.

She wasn’t sure whether it was actually her feeling afraid that somehow someway she had screwed up her soulmate connection even before it was established, or if it was Chaeyeon’s emotions easing into her mind – but she knew regardless that the thought of being alone terrified her.

And yet at the same time, Jieqiong felt that every fiber of her being was meant to be with Chaeyeon. It felt as if her entire body, her entire mind – her soul – belonged to the other girl. No matter what the condition of the string was, Jieqiong knew that Chaeyeon was her soulmate.

She just wasn’t sure if she was Chaeyeon’s.

Fortunately for Jieqiong, it seemed that Chaeyeon (to some extent) felt the same way for Jieqiong, and the two surprisingly found it easy to get to know each other. In little to no time, Chaeyeon and Jieqiong became very close friends (but absolutely not best friends, Eunwoo notes) and the four girls established a friendship that was tightly knit.

The two girls did, however, discover a few strange things regarding their soulmate connection.

For one, Jieqiong was unable to tell a single lie to Chaeyeon; while Chaeyeon seemed to have complete control over what she was saying.

Whenever Chaeyeon would ask about Jieqiong’s day or ask her opinions on various things, Jieqiong couldn’t help but tell the other girl everything she was feeling.

That being said, Jieqiong didn’t really mind having to tell Chaeyeon the entire truth – after all, a stable relationship is built on a foundation of trust. Although it did prove quite embarrassing whenever Chaeyeon or trapped her into saying certain things when she was feeling playful.

Jieqiong still remembers how hard she blushed the first day she told Chaeyeon that she loved her.

“Hey!” Chaeyeon called out from afar. She had been standing by the main gate of the school, waiting for Jieqiong to finish off her last session of class. She waved her hand gently in the air, beckoning Jieqiong to hurry on over.

“Unnie!” Jieqiong yelled back as she ran over. It turned out that Chaeyeon was technically a year older than Jieqiong, despite being in the same grade as her (the pain of being born in December!). She immediately rushed to the gate, pouncing onto the older girl with a tight embrace; the string connecting them wavering in the air with the same amount of playfulness Jieqiong held in her voice. “Were you waiting long?”

“Nope,” Chaeyeon shook her head. “I was only out here for a few minutes.”

That was a lie, Jieqiong notices. She could sense Chaeyeon’s tension as the older girl was a terrible liar.

“How was your day? Tiring?” Chaeyeon asked, her brows tensed with worry. Jieqiong nodded in response as she wrapped her arms around Chaeyeon.

“I missed you,” Jieqiong responds. She rested her face against Chaeyeon’s embrace with a toothy grin when she felt Chaeyeon’s arms ease up on her sides.

“Something on your mind?” Chaeyeon said as she pulled Jieqiong in closer. She knew Jieqiong often got more touchy whenever she was feeling exhausted or stressed. She pecked Jieqiong’s cheeks with a chaste kiss and the younger girl blushed a rosy pink. “What’s up?”

“I love you,” Jieqiong suddenly blurts out before clamping shut. She closed her eyes shut, hoping that Chaeyeon didn’t just hear her sudden confession and prepared to feel some sort of disgust or revulsion from Chaeyeon’s emotions. But it never came.

“I love you too,” Chaeyeon murmured back, leaning closer to whisper in Jieqiong’s ear. “I really do.”

And Jieqiong felt immense love from her.

It was a peculiar thing – how Chaeyeon seemed to be unaffected by the string entirely, being able to lie and being unable to sense Jieqiong’s emotions. It sometimes troubled Jieqiong, giving her some feeling of doubt over their relation