Johnny was fine exactly how he was. Yuta would try to tell you otherwise, but Yuta was a damn liar, so you shouldn't listen to him.

 

Johnny loved his work, was healthy and surrounded by his friends.

 

He didn't care he hadn't met his soulmate yet. He was completely fine the way he was.

 

Everyone he knew already had a soulmate. Except for Taeil, but Taeil had always known he had no soulmate and he was fine with it, living happily and enjoying life to the fullest.

 

But Johnny knew he had a soulmate out there. He could feel it. He knew that somewhere in the world, there was someone out there that was made just for him to love. He knew he’d meet them someday.

 

But for the time being, he was completely fine dedicating all of his time to the entertainment company he had started with Kun, Yuta and Jaehyun. They were doing great, managing two groups that had had incredible success despite the fact they were coming from a small label, and Johnny spent most of his time in his office; Developing ideas and making sure the kids had all the opportunities they could possibly give them to shine and to become better people.

 

They owed it to those kids, not only to make them into great artists but to also help mould them into honest, great people. They had started the label for that, that was their purpose, and they were happy with the way things were going.

 

---

 

"This batch of new trainees will kill me." Ten said, plopping down next to Kun, who simply gave him a kiss on the cheek before patting his arm in comfort, the warm yellow colour of their soul bond painting the skin he had touched. "There’s too many of them with different levels- We need another trainer."

 

"Sicheng can help?" Taeil suggested, but Sicheng shook his head.

 

"I'm good with choreographing things, especially for the girl groups, and helping with stage development, but I'm not a dance instructor. I was trained in Chinese and contemporary dance, not hip hop. There's no way I can be a trainer."

 

"We should hire someone, then." Jaehyun offered, and both Ten and Sicheng nodded, turning to stare at Johnny, who had yet to say anything.

 

"Sure, why not, we could use a capable set of hands. Yuta, let's start looking for someone tomorrow."

 

"Sure. Taeil, Doyoung, what about the vocal training? Do you guys need help?"

 

"We're good for now, I think," Taeil said, and Doyoung nodded in agreement. "Most of the kids have had some vocal training in the past and we're doing great. We can manage just fine if the number doesn't increase significantly. And Red Velvet and Dream are doing great, they are incredibly capable, so there's nothing to worry about."

 

"Great. Then we'll start the hunt for a dance trainer and hope to get a good one."

 

---

 

"Have some time?" Yuta's head poked into the office, and Johnny smiled, nodding.

 

"Hi, Yuta! Yeah, sure,” Yuta threw the door open and made his way into the office. Kun nodded hello as he followed Yuta in, both sitting in front of Johnny as he tried to put the sponsorship deals from different companies into two neat piles, one for Red Velvet and one for Dream. “Hi, Kun”

 

"Okay, so we interviewed three prospective candidates. All three had stellar recommendations, and we got footage of all three, both dancing and teaching the kids the basics class. Yuta and I talked about it, and we like this one." He took out a file and gave it to Johnny.

 

Lee Taeyong. 26 years old.

 

"He used to be an SM trainee before he quit and went back to school. He graduated from KArts School of Dance at the top of his class. He's great, Johnny. He might be as good as Ten, and that's something coming from me." Johnny snorted but nodded in understanding. Yuta would never say that unless someone was really extremely good at dancing.

 

"If both of you like him, then let's go with him. Let me know when he starts so I can introduce myself."

 

"Sure Johnny. We'll go away now, I know dealing with Samsung will make you tired."

 

"Get out of here before I make you go to the meetings, Kun."

 

"BYE JOHNNY!" Yuta waved as Kun dragged him out by the arm in the rush to get as far away from the Samsung folder as he physically could.

 

Idiots, Johnny thought. As if he would dump the Samsung meetings onto Kun.

 

Last time he had to do a deal brokering meeting, he had almost cried. He wouldn't do that to Kun.

 

(He was not at all scared of Ten murdering him if he made his soulmate cry. Of course he wasn't.)

 

---

 

"Did you bag them?"

 

"The kids are now the official faces of the new Samsung release in the domestic market."

 

"YES! That's great!" Taeil gave Johnny a high-five, smiling widely. "Ok, let's go, we are all ready to go home and call it a day, but we were waiting for you to come back to introduce you to Taeyong. He's waiting with Jaehyun and Doyoung in studio 4."

 

"Great, you can go home, Hyung, I'll go up and then we'll all go home."

 

"Ok, I'll see you tomorrow, then."

 

---

 

"Hi, guys! Taeil Hyung told me you were waiting for me?" Everyone in the room looked up as he made his way in, and Johnny's breath got stuck in his throat as he saw the most beautiful person he had ever seen sitting in front of his two friends, a shock of pale pink hair falling softly over his forehead, nervous smile on his lips.

 

"Hi, John Hyung!! We remembered you said you wanted to meet Taeyong on his first day, so we decided to stay until you got here." Jaehyun said, patting his shoulder.

 

"Hyung, this is Lee Taeyong, our new dance trainer. Taeyong-ssi, this is Johnny Seo, CEO of NCT Entertainment."

 

"Pleasure to meet you." Johnny smiled, extending his hand to shake Taeyong's at the same time he prepared himself to bow.

 

"Likewise, Seo-ssi." Taeyong extended his hand to grasp his as he bowed as well.

 

Both of them gasped as their skin touched and electricity ran up their arms.

 

Johnny's eyes widened in fascination as a splash of colour grew where Taeyong's skin was touching his and gasped a ragged breath as Taeyong's skin turned a beautiful shade of pink, their skin looking beautiful against one another.

 

"It's you..." Taeyong whispered, eyes full of tears, and Johnny surged forward to embrace him, hugging him against his body tightly, arms wrapped around his shoulders as Taeyong's wrapped around his waist and fisted the fabric of his jacket, wrinkling it between his fingers.

 

"It's you... it's you... it's you..." Taeyong was sobbing against his chest, and Johnny shushed him, softly running his hand up and down his back.

 

He saw Jaehyun and Doyoung silently making their way out of the studio, smiling widely at him as they gave them privacy.

 

Taeyong was sobbing against him now, shoulders trembling and tears wetting the fabric of his shirt, but he simply held him, somehow knowing that was exactly what he needed at that moment.

 

Soulmate things were weird. He used to roll his eyes when Yuta would tell him he just knew what Sicheng needed without him saying a thing, or when Kun described how he loved Ten from the moment he lay eyes on him, but now he knew they were right.

 

Johnny had barely met Taeyong, but he already knew he wouldn't be able to live his life without the man he was holding in his arms.

 

Taeyong's tears ran out after a few minutes, and he took a few deep breaths before shuffling back a little and tilting his head back to stare at Johnny with soft eyes, a few tears still rolling down his cheeks.

 

Johnny raised his hands, cradling Taeyong's cheeks and wiping the tears away smiling softly at the pink that coloured every inch of skin he touched.

 

"How is it that I just met you and I'm already in love with you?" He asked Taeyong, who blushed prettily under his touch, cheeks growing hotter beneath his fingers, the pink of their soul bond deepening when combined to the pink of his blush.

 

"It's because I'm your soulmate. And you own half my soul. Just like I own half your soul. And you're finally here." Taeyong raised his hand to run a finger down Johnny's face, from his temple to his chin, before smiling widely at the pink that grew there from his touch.

 

"I can't wait to live the rest of my life next to you."

 

---

 

Johnny had been fine exactly how he was. Yuta would've tried to tell you otherwise, but Yuta was a damn liar, so you shouldn't have listened to him.

 

Johnny loved his work, was healthy and surrounded by his friends; But Johnny was missing half his soul. A soul that lived with a bright-eyed, pink-haired boy that loved to dance and the colour pink.

 

Johnny had met his soulmate. And now he knew that he had been fine how he was.

 

But now, he was even better.