Sungyeol can't help but feel himself wavering under Sunggyu's hard gaze as the older teenager quietly inspected his wrist, barely making any noise as he did so, making Sungyeol feel even more antsy about what had happened to it. Especially since he could feel it stinging like a fresh wound, almost as if it was unhappy with him and was trying to get him back for his stupidity.

And with Sunggyu being as quiet as he was, Sungyeol couldn't help but feel a bit worse about things, especially since he was so used to the other being quite vocal and loud to those around him. Specifically him and Woohyun who were usually his prime targets for his nagging, the older boy always giving them 'You better watch it' looks whenever he had to scold the two. Especially when more often than not, they were usually always a bit too close to breaking the rules for Sunggyu's liking, the older boy wanting to make sure they didn't get in trouble to the point that he, Dongwoo, or any of the others wouldn't be able to bail them out. That and the fact that Sunggyu actually prided himself as someone who was able to uphold the rules, being the goody-two-shoes that he was.

Luckily, Woohyun and him haven't really done much more than the usual roughhousing and prank wars that started between the two whenever they were bored, but nonetheless, there still had been a few close calls where they had barely managed to avoid getting more than a few detentions in their lives. Anything worse would have had their parents gripping onto them so tight that they would be unable to move or do anything for weeks, especially Sungyeol's parents who may have loved him a bit too much, despite the two being rather busy with their jobs as he grew up, they were sticklers when it came to his grades, his tennis, and staying out of trouble for the most part. And with Woohyun's mom being rather scary when pissed off, neither of the two wanted to be on the recieving end of her glares and yells, because while the woman was Woohyun's mother, she still treated Sungyeol as if he was her son as well. 

So Woohyun and him had been rather lucky in the regard that teachers actually liked them enough to let many of their antics go without punishment, their skills set being quite an asset to the school when it came to sports and academics and one of the reasons why they didn't get in trouble as much as they could have been in if they were anyone else.

Sungyeol may have never liked to study much, but he had always been a person who aced tests without much prompting, while Woohyun had always been the type to make sure his image was always in good standing, even if he was known as one of the pranksters among school. While the rest of their group of friends were either on similar ground as them or better with Sunggyu being a prime candidate for being his class' valedictorian, as well as going to one of the best colleges in the nation, Dongwoo following him their with a dance scholarship of his own, while Hoya was already  being scouted by various colleges for his dancing, and Sungjong being the golden maknae of their group who had top notch grades, an outstanding image, and had already been made treasure for the school's student government association.

A position that usually wasn't given to first years, but with how smart and driven Sungjong was, wanting to be valedictorian of his class, as well as the student council president by his second year, Sungjong's accomplishments were quite the feat and one of the reasons why Sungyeol found himself getting to know him and becoming friends with him. 

The boy may have been Hoya's soulmate, but he was interesting and strong and intrigued Sungyeol in ways that most freshmen didn't, especially since he didn't look at him as if he was god like some of the underclassman that played tennis on his school team did.

Winning regionals his first year of high school had boosted his popularity fast and with him knowing and being friends with top students like Sunggyu and Dongwoo while being best friends with Woohyun who was just as popular as Sungyeol was, it was safe to say that his group of friends were almost in a separate class of their own. And while he wasn't the douchebag that Sunggyu could be when it came to certain people, Sungyeol wasn't the kindest person out there either. He didn't always have the best tolerance for idiots or freshmen who were overly impressionable and didn't seem to understand much when it came to life, that it wasn't often that Sungyeol associated himself with those type of people if he didn't have to. 

Dongwoo on the other hand was a legit saint, while the rest of the group only had shades of kindness in their hearts, most of that kindness and care being reserved for their friends and their friends alone. 

So letting Sunggyu continue his scrutiny of his wrist, gently poking and prodding every couple of seconds before murmuring something to Dongwoo whenever he thought that something was particularly interesting, Sungyeol almost let out a sigh of relief when the other finally let go of his wrist. 

Only to give him an almost unreadable look that made Sungyeol feel just as uneasy, if not more, than he had a few seconds ago, but once he noticed the wide smile on Dongwoo's face, things became a bit better, even though he had no clue to why Dongwoo was smiling like he was. It was almost as if Dongwoo had some great secret that would go on to solve all of the world's problems with how excited and happy he looked, that Sungyeol couldn't help but fall out of his seat a second later when Dongwoo cheerfully asked, "So who is it?" 

Knees and palms hitting the ground when he fell from his chair, shock and confusion running through his brain, he couldn't help but ask "What?" as he quickly scrambled to pick himself up so that he was sitting in his chair again, Woohyun chuckling at him while he did so. 

While Hoya looked just as confused as Sungyeol did, eyebrows furrowed a little bit, that Sungjong couldn't help but sigh at his boyfriend's reaction. 

It was almost as if Sungyeol nor Hoya had actually read anything about soulmates, their tattoos, and how their bonds eventually worked. 

So while the whole thing wasn't a surprise to Sungjong, he still couldn't help but want to facepalm at the two, wondering how they had gotten through life without knowing at least the basics of how soulmates worked. And while Hoya could get a bit of a free pass since Sungjong got his tattoo a year early because of him, neither of the two having to experience the slight pain that occurred when a pair of soulmates usually met, saying their first set of words to each other. Hoya didn't experience that knowledge first hand like various other soulmate pairs did.

And with the pain being somewhat similar to that of a bee sting that was triggered as soon as a person's soulmate had uttered the words that matched the scrawl along their skin, Sungyeol should have realized that something was off as soon as he had felt some pain and discomfort. The pain being something that should have easily told the other that it had something to do with meeting his soulmate rather than any of the other conclusions that he could come up with for why his tattoo looked and hurt the way it did.

But seeing how inflamed and red his tattoo was, it was obvious that he hadn't. 

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Sungjong could only sigh when Sunggyu decided that hitting Sungyeol was an effective method at reprimanding his stupidity before lauching himself into the history of how soulmates and their tattoos worked. 

Only for Sungyeol to pout as he rubbed his head, quickly wondering why Sunggyu always did that to him, even if the hit itself didn't hurt at all as it was more of a 'Wake up, you're an idiot' type slap than a slap meant to hurt.

But not wanting Sunggyu to scold him even more, he quickly decided to listen to what the other had to say, even if he didn't want the history lesson that he was going to get. 

While the rest of the table just listened, or as much as they could, before Woohyun was accidentally interrupting them as soon as he had subconsciously started to make googly eyes at Haena from across the room, too shy to even talk to her, even if he was prone to giving monologues about how beautiful she looked, most of the table couldn't help but sigh in response as their attention was easily diverted.

Because for someone so charsimatic and confident, the guy quickly turned into a lump of jelly when it came to the other girl, sometimes so much so that even Sunggyu had to say something on occasion, even if the oldest of the group could care less about Haena. And until Woohyun would get his act together, Sunggyu would proceed to care less about her, because despite how much he liked to nag Woohyun or grumpily allow him to join him and Dongwoo from time to time, usually to make the other feel better because he hadn't found his soulmate yet, Woohyun was still a bit of an idiot that needed a wake up call every so often. Only to keep him from becoming too much of an idiot who could possibly mess up his chances when it came to someone that he had liked, that Sunggyu rather nip his stupidity in the bud before he would make things worse.

"Hey! Woohyun, either stop drooling and let me finish what I have to say, or go over to Haena and ask her out you dolt." 

Looking at the older boy in surprise, just like he usually did when he and one of the others had this conversation, Woohyun could only say, "But it's Haena-ssi and I can't just go ask her out you know, it can't be that easy... It has to be special, you know? I can't just do what you and Dongwoo did, so unromantic!"

Snorting into his hand at the affronted look that crossed Sunggyu's face, Sungyeol could only give his friend a hearty slap in the shoulder, while Sunggyu's eyebrow started to twitch in annoyance, "Fine, but don't come crying to me when another guy asks her out and she says yes before you even get the courage to do so, you brat!"

Unable to stop himself from chuckling again, because he knew that Sunggyu wasn't actually telling the truth since the oldest didn't have the heart to do such a thing to Woohyun, or any of them for that matter, he couldn't help but cut in a second later, "Hyung, I'm sure it will be fine, our Woohyun-ah will eventually learn how to speak to her-"

Only to be abruptly interrupted with an annoyed glare from the oldest boy, "And you! You shouldn't be chuckling at all, especially since you actually met your soulmate today and you didn't even know it!"

Almost falling out of his seat for the second time that day, Sungyeol couldn't help but blanch, "What? What do you mean? I didn't-"

His answer easily causing Sunggyu and Sungjong to sigh, Dongwoo and Woohyun to chuckle, one in slight joy and the other a bit uneasily, while Hoya couldn't help but feel a bit clueless for a second before everything had suddenly started to dawn on him a short time later as he quickly thought back to what Sunggyu had been trying to tell them a few minutes earlier before they had all been interrupted by Woohyun's antics, that he couldn't help but softly ask to clarify a few things, "So you mean Sungyeol's tattoo is the way it is because he met his soulmate today-" 

"Yes, Hoya. He met his soulmate and he didn't even realize it and that's what Sunggyu had been trying to explain to the table before Woohyun had started acting like the supid idiot that he is-"

"Oye! Sungjong, I resent that! I'm not an idiot!" Woohyun quickly gave only for Sungjong to level him with a hard stare of his own as he continued, "You're an idiot and will continue to be an idiot until you can actually talk to your crush without chickening out like you always do," before he turned back to Hoya with a softer look on his face as he quietly addressed the table, "But as I was saying, Sunggyu-hyung is right and by what you had told us about his arm, he probably met his soulmate this morning before your class together."

Nodding a bit toward what his boyfriend was saying, feeling a bit like an idiot for not knowing something so simple and basic about how soulmates worked, he couldn't help but feel a bit better when Sungjong squeezed his hand, silently telling him not to feel that way because their case had been so different that he couldn't have possibly known that, despite the fact that he should have known that, he quickly turned to Sungyeol with the question that everyone was wanting an answer for, "So who did you talk to this morning?"

Feeling annoyed at suddenly being put on display like that, even if it was his fault to begin with since he hadn't paid attention to his classes or what his family had told him about how soulmates supposedly worked, he silently held up a hand to tell the group to wait as he quietly thought back to what he had been doing before he had been in class.

Nobody really coming to mind at first, especially since he had seen so many students that morning, he couldn't help but hope that it wasn't someone that he had almost ran over during the time Woohyun had been chasing after him, angry as hell for the prank he had done to him, he eventually found himself thinking of his time in the library. Hiding behind book shelves and using the space as a place to keep hidden from his angry best friend before he had felt safe enough to somewhat explore on his own and go back to class without Woohyun wanting to do something like punch him, he couldn't help but remember the freshman that had been trying to grab a book that was a bit too high for him to reach.

A freshman that had acted so stupid and almost as if he was entitled to ignore his kindness, hands forming nonsensical things in response to whatever he had to say, he couldn't help but frown, wondering if it was indeed that person. Especially since he was pretty sure that his arm had been fine before that meeting, it was probably safe to say that the student in the library was indeed his soulmate and if they were truly soulmates, then his tattoo would be feeling just as painful and looking just as red as his was looking right now. 

Quickly looking around the cafeteria to scan the rest of the student body, only to see a boy sitting by himself with a carton of milk and a half-eaten apple in front of him, hair shielding his face as he proceeded to stare at the table in front of him, his uniform was what quickly gave him away to end Sungyeol's search.

Royal blue tie signifying his freshman status, while his uniform was properly worn compared to the rest of the student body, sans a few of Sunggyu's and Sungjong's acquaintances, Sungyeol quickly went to point him out to the rest of the boys as he vocalized, "There. He's over there." 

The table looking to see where Sungyeol was pointing at before they had all honed in on the lonely-looking freshman about three tables away, Woohyun couldn't help but squint his eyes a bit as he couldn't help but exclaim "That's him? He looks nothing like your type." in confusion at the same time Dongwoo gave "Ah, he looks like a cutie," with a warm smile, Woohyun's words overpowering Dongwoo's nicer ones.

Accidentally alerting the rest of the lunch room to a somewhat private conversation, including Myungsoo who was sitting a few tables away, Sungyeol counted himself lucky when he was sure that no one other than his group would know what they were talking about. He and the rest of his friends didn't miss the way that Myungsoo's eyes had widened as soon as he  had looked up from the table to notice Sungyeol pointing him out while Woohyun was yelling something about Sungyeol's type.

Feeling the need to get out of there since it seemed as if the room was starting to close in on him and was making it hard to breathe, he could only throw away his half-eaten lunch as he quickly dashed away from Sungyeol's and his friends' prying eyes, ignoring the way they had felt on his back. His escape swiftly causing some of the boys to give Sungyeol a raised eyebrow in response, Sunggyu even going so far to softly glare at the tallest boy as he asked in slight concern towards Sungyeol's possible soulmate, "What the hell did you do to him? He looked frightened!"

Sungyeol gasping in confusion and in sudden annoyance towards what Sunggyu was accusing him of, arms moving everywhere as he tried to explain himself; Hoya was the only one that noticed Sungjong putting his face into his hands, looking a bit worse for wear. 

Seeing the other shiver, almost as if he was cold, despite the layers that he had on, Hoya quickly went to wrap an arm around the other to keep him warm, as well as comfort him from the sudden negative emotions that had suddenly consumed him. Hoya couldn't help but gaze at the other in worry, his stare holding more than a few questions about what was going on since it seemed like Sungjong was the only one at their table that actually knew something about Sungyeol's possible soulmate, that he was quite surprised to hear a name be muttered from the youngest's mouth,"That's Kim Myungsoo..." 

A name that seemed to hold not much meaning to him and the others just yet, but had some meaning to Sungjong, the table found themselves wondering what the boy would have to say next.  Hoya's boyfriend shuddering again before he was whispering just low and soft enough that only Hoya and the rest of their table could hear, "Only a few know of this, just his teachers and a few of the students that are part of the student government council, but that freshman... Well... He's uh, mute... And that's why he probably acted the way he did."

Sungyeol suddenly couldn't help but feel the need to shoot himself in the foot.

Not only had he been an idiot, but he had been an absolute to a boy, his possible soulmate too, that the other couldn't have said anything to him if he had wanted to. 

Turning to Woohyun, he could only mutter, "You can totally punch me in the face now."

[ A/N ] :  Sorry about such the long time between updates this time, but I was quite busy with a few things that kept me from updating last week, but hopefully the wait wasn't too bad and that this chapter was able to satisfy your cravings. :) But thank you for all the kind words and support so far and I hope you guys continue to enjoy this story. Comments, as always, are appreciated.