HaJung Soulmate
Soulmate DesireJEONGHWA'S SOULMATE DREAM
Jeonghwa opened her eyes only to be met with the ground. A hand reached out and lifted her chin, wanting her to make eye contact. She responded by shutting her eyes tightly, but not before her eyes had caught sight of a figure clad in a suit.
"W-What is it?” She asked softly as she could sense her partner closing in for a kiss. Her breath hitched and her body tensed up. Her heart was pounding in her chest, so loudly that it was the only thing she could hear. Was she scared? What was she scared of? She didn't know. But her soulmate froze as well, and backed away.
JEONGHWA'S SOULMATE DREAM
Jeonghwa shot up in bed, and just like every single time, her heart pounded as she caught her breath, finally remembering how to breathe. The darkness of her room was all she could see as her breathing calmed down, her soulmate dream replaying in her mind.
“My soulmate…”
“Take a break!” The 5 girls instantly let out groans as they went on break. Jeonghwa heaved a sigh of relief as she looked around at what the members were doing. Hyelin was laying down on the floor in the middle of the room, limbs spread out. LE and Solji were sitting down near their bags, sharing a bottle of water as they leaned against each other. Watching them, Jeonghwa couldn’t help but smile. Ever since the two older girls finding out that their soulmate was each other, they’ve been more open and daring with their affectionate gestures to each other. The 3 younger girls sometimes take great joy in teasing them about it, which results in them being chased or simply being ignored by the 2 older girls when they are too far gone in their own world to bother with the troublemakers. Hm? Where’s Hani unnie? Looking around, she soon noticed Hani sitting in the corner of the room, staring off solemnly into space. Raising an eyebrow in curiosity, she walked over to Hani.
“Why the serious look? Hani unnie?” Hani just sighed before looking to her.
“Nothing. I’m just wondering… What if your soulmate isn’t someone you want to be with?” The question caught the attention of the other girls in the room as they all crowded over, intrigued.
“That’s actually quite an interesting thought.” Solji started. “I mean, if LE wasn’t my soulmate…” She looked to LE, her grip on LE’s hand tightening, and frowned. “…I’d hate it. I would never want to meet him.” LE just smiled.
“Me neither, unnie. I’d choose to be with you even if you weren’t my soulmate.” Hani looked to her in surprise.
“Would you? Really?” She asked, as LE nodded.
“Of course. If I had realised I loved Solji unnie earlier back then, I would’ve gone straight to her, my soulmate be damned!” Solji smiled adoringly to her.
“Good thing I’m your soulmate then.” Hani watched the two older unnies with a small nod.
“I see…” Jeonghwa observed her, before it clicked.
“Hani unnie, have you already dreamt of your soulmate?” All eyes fell on Hani as she nodded solemnly.
“Yeah. But I don’t think I want him to be my soulmate.” Hyelin tilted her head in confusion.
“You don’t even know him, what makes you say that?” Hani sighed.
“Well…”
HANI’S SOULMATE DREAM
Her soulmate’s mouth moved to speak, but no sound came out. Yet, she reacted to it by shaking her head.
“I’m sorry, it’s nothing. I hope you find someone better.” She could feel a smile coming onto her face. She knew it was forced. She knew her words were all a lie. Still, she did nothing as her soulmate nodded to her, turning away from her.
HANI’S SOULMATE DREAM
“I’d wake up with only one thought clear in my mind.” Hani recounted as she looked to them. “My soulmate wasn't the one I wanted to kiss. Whatever the reason in my soulmate dream, I was clearly rejecting my soulmate.”
“I see…” Jeonghwa frowned. “That’s a little similar to mine.” She recounted her soulmate dream to the unnies. “I’m not sure why I reacted that way though.”
“Maybe it’s because you girls have someone else you like?” Solji suggested.
“I can’t think of anyone though. What about you, Hani unnie?” Jeonghwa asked. Hani pursed her lips, staring at her for a long while, before finally shaking her head.
“No, nobody comes to mind either.” She said softly. Sensing that Hani didn’t want to continue on the topic, the girls quickly changed the topic.
“Are you really ok about it, Hani unnie?” Jeonghwa asked as she slipped away from the other girls’ conversations to Hani’s side. Hani just smiled to her.
“Don’t worry about it, Jjong! I’m fine!” Hani smiled reassuringly to her, Jeonghwa giving her a small smile in return.
“Alright. Just let me know if you ever want to talk, ok? You know I’ll always be here for you.” Hani nodded.
“I know that. Thanks, Jjong.” Smiling, the two joined in with the other 3 girls’ conversation.
Practice was finally over, and the girls had quickly cleared out of the room, leaving only Hani and Jeonghwa, who were still catching their breaths from the tiring practice.
“Jjong.” Hani called out as Jeonghwa took a gulp from her bottle.
“Hm?” She answered, putting down her bottle as Hani came over to her.
“You know…about the soulmate thing…”
“Yeah?” Jeonghwa raised an eyebrow curiously as Hani shuffled her feet nervously.
“Can I…” Hani trailed off, looking elsewhere anxiously.
“Unnie?” She took a deep breath before stepping forward, standing even closer to Jeonghwa. “U-Unnie?” Jeonghwa squeaked out timidly. Hani bit her lip.
“Jjong, can I…?” Jeonghwa looked down as Hani brought her face closer to her. A hand lifted her chin, and she shut her eyes tightly.
“W-What is it?” Her voice was wavering. She felt like she was frozen, immobile. It suddenly felt hard to breathe and she could hear her heart pounding loudly in her chest. As if sensing her nervousness, Hani stopped, and stepped back. Jeonghwa cracked open an eye to see Hani looking guilty. “H-Hani unnie?” Hani just shook her head.
“I’m sorry, it’s nothing.” She forced a smile to Jeonghwa. "I hope you find someone good to you.” Jeonghwa gave a weak nod.
“Thanks, unnie.” She mumbled before turning away, hurrying out of the room with a red face, unseen to Hani, who only looked down at the ground. She gave a sigh as she smacked herself in the head, squatting down in the middle of the empty room.
“I’m an idiot.”
Jeonghwa frowned. Ever since that day, she could no longer remember what her soulmate was wearing after waking up from the dream. All she could remember was that her soulmate no longer wore a suit. She wanted to ask Hani about it at first, wondering if Hani might be going through the same thing, but Hani had been avoiding her like the plague. It was starting to get on her nerves. She suddenly started to avoid her touches on stage and looked away whenever she looked to her. As if on cue, the instant she met Hani’s eyes, Hani turned away quickly and hurried away, which only made Jeonghwa’s frown deepen. It hurt. She hated this. Why was Hani doing this to her?
“Jjong? Are you ok?” Solji asked worriedly as they gathered in the company for a meeting.
“I’m fine.” Jeonghwa said, but there was a scowl on her face and black thunderclouds looming overhead.
“You look like you’re about to murder someone.” LE commented, sitting down next to Solji.
“Well, I just might, if that certain someone keeps their behaviour up.” She growled.
“You mean Heeyeon?” LE’s words made Jeonghwa look to her.
“How did you know who I was talking about?” LE just shrugged.
“Not hard to notice.”
“Heeyeon’s been avoiding you for weeks. Did you two have a fight or something?” Solji asked as Jeonghwa sighed.
“Something like that.” She looked to the two unnies. “Unnie, remember what you said about wanting to be with each other even if you weren’t each other’s soulmate?”
“Yeah, what about it?” Solji asked. “You want Heeyeon to be your soulmate even though she isn’t, is that it?”
“…Am I that obvious?”
“100%.” LE replied without missing a beat.
“Without a doubt.” Hyelin added as she walked up to them.
“Gah, Hyelin unnie too?!”
“No surprise there, you two really are a little too obvious for comfort. Heeyeon can barely keep her eyes off you. She’s already doing well to keep her hands off you in the very least.” Solji said nonchalantly.
“Solji unnie, you’re supposed to be on my side!” Jeonghwa whined before her words registered in her mind. “Wait, what’s that about Hani unnie?”
“You’ve got to be joking me. You mean you haven’t realised that Heeyeon likes you too?” LE asked in exasperation.
“She…likes me too?”
“Really? Wow, you two must be the joke of the year.” Hyelin rolled her eyes.
“B-But- But she said she was rejecting her soulmate in her dream!” She just shrugged in response.
“Maybe her soulmate dream was wrong. I mean, technically, putting our soulmates aside, we’re still free to love whoever we like. It’s not like there’s a rule that says we must be with our soulmate.”
“But…But…it doesn’t make any sense! If we have soulmates, but end up falling for someone else who isn’t our soulmates, then why do we even have soulmates in the first place? What’s the point of having soulmate dreams then?” Jeonghwa complained in frustration. “Isn’t it all just redundant? Why can’t we just love only our soulmate? Why must we still fall in love with someone else? I-!”
“Jjong, calm down first.” LE cut her off, giving her a firm stare. “If you like someone else, someone who isn’t your soulmate, that’s fine. We’re not restricted to loving just our soulmate. What’s important is what you really want. And if what you want isn’t what your soulmate dream is showing, then just ignore it.” Solji nodded in agreement.
“There’s no need for you to follow it so strictly. You can change, do something different from everyone else. It’s fine.” Their words kept Jeonghwa from saying anything more as she looked down.
“Change…” She murmured. “What I…really want…”
“Hani unnie, we need to talk.” Jeonghwa said, having managed to block Hani from rushing away right after the meeting, catching the attention of the 3 other girls as they watched the scene. Hani just shook her head as she tried to squeeze past Jeonghwa, but Jeonghwa was defending the doorway too well. “Stop avoiding me! I hate it!”
“W-What?”
“You've been avoiding me for the past few weeks! And don’t try to tell me otherwise!” She warned.
“Alright.” Hani relented with a sigh. “What do you want to talk about?”
“Why have you been avoiding me?”
“It’s nothing, Jjong.” She averted her eyes.
“Clearly it’s not.” Jeonghwa snapped, her pent-up frustration showing. “I’m sick and tired of the way you’ve been acting around me for the past few weeks! I want us to go back to how we were before, when we were so comfortable around one another. So tell me the real reason why you’re avoiding me. Tell me how to fix ‘us’.”
"Why do you care so much about 'us', Jjong?" Hani retorted.
"Because I love you, Hani unnie." Jeonghwa's reply made Hani freeze.
"You...what? B-But...But you have a soulmate." She stammered.
“Yeah, but you’re the one I love, Hani unnie. I don't know who my soulmate is and I honestly don't really care.” Jeonghwa replied steadily.
“No, we can’t do this, Jjong.”
“Yes, we can.”
“No, Jjong, listen. We can’t do this. Your soulmat-“
“Just forget about the soulmate thing for a while!” Jeonghwa shouted, stomping her feet in frustration. “I don’t care that I have a soulmate somewhere out there! I don’t care about my soulmate, or your soulmate, or whatever! Screw whoever I’m destined to be with, or whoever you’re destined to be with! I don’t care about any of that!” Hani cowered slightly. Jeonghwa was always the bubbly cheerful one among them. She rarely got this angry.
“J-Jjong…” She flinched when Jeonghwa looked to her, angry tears pricking at the corner of her eyes.
“The unnies told me earlier that what’s important is what I really want, and this.” She said, gesturing between the two of them. “This is what I want. I don’t care about what my soulmate dream decides. I will decide that for myself, and I just want to be with you, because I like you!” She announced. “So shut up about our soulmates for a change, and tell me what you really want too!”
“I…I love you too, Jjong! I have been in love with you for a very long time, and I want to be with you too! I don’t want what my soulmate dream decides, I want you to be my soulmate!” Hani couldn’t hold back her tears as she confessed, and Jeonghwa let out a small smile.
“Then let me be your soulmate. I’m your soulmate, unnie.”
“You’re my soulmate, Jjong.” Hani repeated with a nod, drying her tears and cupping Jeonghwa’s face as she leaned in for a kiss. And this time, Jeonghwa doesn’t freeze, instead melting comfortably into the kiss.
“Don’t you think our soulmate dreams don’t decide who our soulmate is, but actually help us realise our feelings for the one we love?” Solji said suddenly one day as they were all lazing around together.
“What makes you say that, unnie?” Hyelin asked.
“She has a point.” LE said thoughtfully, placing a hand to her chin. “I’ve always watched Solji unnie and enjoyed all our subtle touches and gazes, but the thought that I love her didn’t even cross my mind until the day we talked about our soulmate dreams.”
“That’s true. I mean, you two said your soulmate dream changed after your almost kiss, and the new scene fit with the scene of your almost kiss.” Hyelin said.
“Jeonghwa’s soulmate wasn’t wearing a suit anymore, and Hani said ‘I hope you find someone good to you.’ instead of ‘I hope you find someone better.’ Isn’t that when you both first realised that you might have feelings for one another?” Solji pointed out. “Doesn’t that mean that your soulmate dreams still came true in the end?” Hani and Jeonghwa looked to one another, before realising that Solji was right, and chuckled.
“Yeah. They did.” They smiled, their grips on each other’s hand tightening lovingly.
BONUS: Daddy, Mommy and Baby while the Teens fought
“Just forget about the soulmate thing for a while!” Hyelin looked impressed as she watched Jeonghwa shout at Hani.
“Wow, who knew Jjong could explode like that?”
“Just be quiet and enjoy the drama, Linnie.” LE said, standing next to Solji as they watched the ‘show’, effectively shutting Hyelin up as she turned her attention back to the quarrelling duo.
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