"Hey hyung, are you okay?" 

Jaemin jolts as he feels a hand on his shoulder. He lifts his head up to meet Jisung's worried eyes. "What?"

Jisung sighs as he hands over a cup to the other. "I asked if you're alright."

"What is this?" Jaemin was about to smell the liquid when he hears the younger laugh. 

"It's apple juice. Do you think Doyoung hyung would even let us a foot near an alocohol bottle?" Jisung shakes his head as he settles on the couch beside the other. "What's up with you?"

Jaemin shrugs as he take a sip of the juice. "Meh. This party is boring."

Jisung gives him a look "Really?". When he nods his head, Jisung gives him a punch on the shoulder. "Hyung, you were the one who planned this. Everyone is having fun!" He motioned to the other side of the room where Mark and Donghyuck are playing a  twisted version of beer pong. "See? Jeno hyung looks  happy!" They looked at the birthday boy laughing his heart out as Mark downs a cup with the label 'VINEGAR' on it. 

Jaemin feels his heart swell  with affection. Jeno's laughter always makes him feel better instantly. 

"Tell me the the truth hyung." Jisung's tone serious cuts through his good vibes. "You've been glaring holes on the floor since we got here." 

Jaemin sighs as he downs his drink in one go. Better tell Jisung than anyone else. He places the now empty cup on the table and faces his friend. "I've been worrying about that thing." Jisung frowns in response. "You know the thing on our hands that show up on our 18th birthday???" 

"OH" Jisung's eyes widen at the realization that his hyung is talking about the red string of fate. ". This is some serious stuff. Are you sure you want to talk to me about this?"

Jaemin nods "I can't really talk to Doyoung hyung because we all know how he feels about this soulmate stuff." 

"I see. Well, i haven't really thought about this soulmate thing yet." 

"Exactly. You're not biased." Jaemin grabs his backpack on the table and fishes out a book. "So, you know Jeno's turning 18 on Monday, right? I can't bear the thought of going to school and finding out his string is not attached to mine. So I talked to Jeno and asked him if we could do this." He holds up a book with an onoxious looking heart on the cover. "We'll find out together."

"What the heck is that?"

"It's a book of love spells. It includes a spell to make our red strings appear."

Jisung grabs the book and inspects it "This looks so suspicious."

Jaemin snatches it back and hugs it "What about it? Lucas hyung said it works".

"Lucas? As in Xuxi? Hyung, he's a crackhead."

"We are all crackheads, Jisung-ah."

"Speak for yourself hyung."

"Anyway," Jaemin opens the book to a certain page and shoves it to the other's face. "We are going to do this together. We have planned out everything. That's why i'm sleeping over tonight. We're forcing ours to come out. I can't wait for a few more months to find out if he's connected to me or not."

Jisung scans the page- it mostly consists of text explaining that the pursuit of a soulmate is a serious deal as you are aiming to know this person you will be bonding with for life. Jisung closes the book and hands it over to the older. "Good luck, hyung. If this doesn't-" He stops midsentence as he notices the other's eyes fill with hurt. "Just- just contact me if anything happens. I won't sleep until i hear from you."
------
Jaemin reads the page for the nth time that night. He needs to make sure that they do everything right.

Now, he's just waiting for Jeno to finish cleaning up. As per the book, it is advisable to take a bath before doing the spell, to rid the body of any stress. They must do this with a fresh mind and body.

"Hey Jaem." He looks over his shoulder and sees Jeno drying his hair. "You've read that a thousand times already. Stop stressing over it." Jeno walks over, takes the book from him and places it on the bed. "You're barely 18 and you're aleady getting wri