Prompt: soulmate!baeksoo where everyone is attached to a string.

Word Count: 5812

When Baekhyun came to, he finds himself surrounded by the familiar scent of Kyungsoo fabric softener and perfume. He blinks wearily and slowly darts his eyes around only to snap them awake when he finds himself inside Kyungsoo’s room.

It’s dark and warm despite the AC running. But he did find himself wrapped in a thick duvet and his clothes changed. His face feels swollen but it doesn’t hurt that much – okay, wait. It does hurt a lot. He tried opening his mouth but it feels sore probably from that guy’s punch. He furrows his brows. What was his name again?

“You’re awake.”

Baekhyun’s heart skips upon hearing the voice. Kyungsoo is standing there with his usual dead expression, holding a tray of food – a bowl that is steaming hot and a mug of something that smells of chocolate. He swallows thickly, feeling the sudden rush of memories of what happened before he out becoming too much for him. Even then, the younger doesn’t look like he’s even affected – of course – and places the tray down on the end table. Baekhyun can only follow him with his eyes, not trusting his voice to speak.

“You must be hungry.” He said. “You didn’t get to eat dinner last night.”

Last night? Baekhyun looks outside and sees it’s still dark out behind the curtains. As if reading his mind, Kyungsoo answers, “It’s 5 in the morning, Baekhyun.”

“Have…” It hurts to speak but he tries again. “H-Have you rested?”

Kyungsoo looks at him for a moment and Baekhyun is startled at the sudden meeting of their gazes. “I did.” He answers. And the thought of he and Kyungsoo sharing the bed once more made him feel satisfied. “But I couldn’t sleep so I went downstairs and watched a movie instead.” He takes the bowl of soup and gently hands it to him. It’s not that hot as it looks like. “Eat well.”

It’s chicken and corn soup, an odd combination but delicious. He doesn’t realize he’s this hungry not until he swallowed the spoonful. He pauses for a moment before he brings his lips for another and then another until he’s already halfway on finishing the soup. And throughout it all, Kyungsoo simply watches him as if watching him eat like a hungry dog is satisfying. Baekhyun, suddenly feeling conscious of his actions, offers him to take a sip with a slight gesture. Kyungsoo shakes his head.

“I’ve already eaten.” He said. “I made that soup for you. There’s more if you’d like me to get you some.”

Kyungsoo moves to leave but there’s something inside Baekhyun that snapped. His heart speeds up in an abnormal rate and his eyes turned wide and shaky. He wasn’t aware of what he was thinking not until he’s got Kyungsoo’s arm wrapped around his fingers. That made Kyungsoo stop and Baekhyun freeze. Time stood still.

“Don’t…leave.”

Kyungsoo stares at him and suddenly, Baekhyun feels small. As if burned, he withdraws his hand and looks down on his soup, suddenly feeling full. Kyungsoo probably thinks he’s pathetic. Acting so clingy all of the sudden even if –

“Okay.”

Baekhyun’s eyes went wide, snapping his head up look at him. Kyungsoo simply turns to take the mug of hot chocolate and gives it to him. “It’s not that hot anymore.” He said. “Finish it while it’s warm.”

With shaky hands, he accepts it, their fingers brushing as it does. But instead of his heart fluttering, all he feels in that moment is the painful clench on his chest. Despite the pain that Kyungsoo had been through because of him, he’s still here taking care of him. He doesn’t deserve this treatment not when he’s the sole reason why Kyungsoo is like this. He swallows thickly, hands trembling as he tries not to let the mug fall of his grip. And Kyungsoo, being the ing guy he is, has his hands underneath in case the mug did slip off his fingers.

“Baekhyun –“

“I’m sorry.”

Once a single tear fell, another followed and then another until Baekhyun finds himself staring at the mug with tears rolling down his cheeks. “I’m sorry.” He repeats and his hands are shaking terribly that Kyungsoo has to hold his hand in order for the chocolate drink not to fall. “I’m sorry.” He keeps on repeating and repeating. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry.”

And it hurts because he knows even if he says a thousand apologies to Kyungsoo, he still won’t return to normal.

Baekhyun didn’t get to report to work for two days because of his bruises. It’s a good thing that his supervisor at work is understanding and immediately approved of his absences. Minseok and Jongdae, however, isn’t okay with him not being with them during their weekend gathering just to hang out to break out from stress. The last thing he wanted was to talk about what happened that night with Kyungsoo and that friend of his.

Addressing the issue at hand is even hard for him. But sooner or later he has to open up the whole thing. He has to.

As Kyungsoo enters the dining room holding two bowls of rice for them, Baekhyun stood up on his seat and grabs his wrist after the younger places the dishes down. He looks at him with those same blank expression that he grew familiar with. “Kyungsoo.”

“What is it?”

“Can we…” He hesitates for a bit. “Can we talk about…us…being soulmates?”

Kyungsoo is quiet for a moment before he nods.

“We should eat first.” Kyungsoo gently takes off Baekhyun hand on his wrist gently. “After we eat, then we talk.” Baekhyun nods in response. When he looks up, he sees Kyungsoo’s retreating back and then he disappears as he enters the kitchen.

He’s afraid that this might be the image that might bore in his mind soon.

After eating, he helps Kyungsoo gather the plates and then joins him in cleaning the kitchen. As Kyungsoo takes care of the pans and cleaning the stove, Baekhyun diligently washes the dishes. The air is tight – tense or rather, Baekhyun is the only one feeling it. Because finally there’s going to be answers and now, he’s going to get them. Though there are a million of questions in his mind right now, he thinks that any kind of answer Kyungsoo will give him is all right.

For now.

“So about us… being soulmates.” Baekhyun trails. “Since when did you know?”

“Ever since I got the string.” Kyungsoo answers. He’s wiping the counters with the rag, making a circular motion at the marble top. “The other end was linked to you but since you haven’t seen yours yet, I kept quiet.”

“Then why didn’t you tell me?”

“The last thing I want is for you to be with me out of pity.” Kyungsoo moves on to the next counter, his other hand gripping the edge as he wipes the top. “I don’t want to tie you down when you have your whole life ahead of you.”

Baekhyun unconsciously curls his hands into a fist. “You should have told me.”

“Originally, I was supposed to tell you. But you went to Seongsan’s party instead of coming to meet me.” Baekhyun’s eyes went wide when the memory hits him like a freight train. It was three days before the break up and Kyungsoo asked Baekhyun to come and meet him up at their special place at the riverbank near the university. “It’s okay, Baekhyun. You weren’t obligated to, anyways.”

“I-I was…” He pauses when he finds the words shaky. “I was… a fool.”

There was a long silence save for the tap water that Kyungsoo turns to wash the rag that he’s been using to clean up the counters. “You weren’t the only one at fault, Baekhyun.” Kyungsoo said. “Things have changed. We both will grow up eventually, we both know that back then.” He hangs the rag. “We might not have worked but that doesn’t mean love is dead. You’ll find the one for you soon.”

But you were the one for me. Baekhyun wanted to voice out. Before he could, Kyungsoo was already gone and he’s left alone in the kitchen.

That night, he couldn’t sleep so he decided to watch some TV. What he didn’t expect is to see Kyungsoo at the balcony staring up at the night sky holding a glass of Bourbon. Baekhyun didn’t know what compelled him to approach the younger. Was it from the way he looks underneath the glowing full moon or is it what his heart wants him to do? Baekhyun will never know.

“Couldn’t sleep?”

Kyungsoo turns to look at him, finally noticing his presence. He shakes his head. “I supposed you couldn’t also.” Baekhyun half-smiles and leans against the railing, looking up. “What are you doing here, Baekhyun?”

“The moon looks beautiful.” He answers instead. The railings are cold but he still curled his fingers around it, looking up with a small smile on his face. “I wasn’t aware it’s a full moon tonight.” His eyes went wide when Kyungsoo gave him his glass after pouring a quarter of the brown liquor.  “Do you always do this?”

“Just when I find it hard to fall asleep at night.” The monotone voice is becoming familiar to Baekhyun. And though at first it got to him, he doesn’t mind it now. In fact, there’s something warm and inviting on how he accepts his presence. It was this time that he realized that yes, actions does speaks louder than words.

And so Baekhyun did show his love for Kyungsoo through his actions.

Kyungsoo snaps his head to look at him when he places his hand on top of his. “Cold.” He hears the younger murmur. He chuckles softly and locks their fingers together, feeling Kyungsoo’s soft hand against his. Kyungsoo didn’t protest nor did anything to pull away from the touch. Instead, he watches Baekhyun intently. Kyungsoo has beautiful eyes, the kind of where you easily get lost in so it wasn’t long before Baekhyun finds himself staring deep into it, letting himself get lost in those black orbs. 

“You were always good to me.” He whispers. “Even if I was the one who did you wrong.”

“You’re not the only one who’s a fool, Baekhyun.” Kyungsoo responds.

Baekhyun couldn’t help it anymore.

Slowly, he pressed himself against the younger, testing the waters and gently leans in to press his lips against the corner of his mouth. Kyungsoo doesn’t look shaken, but who was he kidding, he doesn’t even know if Kyungsoo still felt anything after that kiss. Dejected, an apology was already ready on his lips, but he stopped when he feels a squeeze on his wrist. Baekhyun froze.

One look was all it took for Baekhyun to shed all of his reserve and kisses Kyungsoo on the lips. And as he did so, he feels warm hands cradle his face, kissing him as hard as he was giving. It was like all pent up feelings came crashing in like waves hitting each other over and over until something breaks (but none of them breaks.)

Kyungsoo’s eyes are blank and emotionless but his actions speak a thousand words. Baekhyun shudders at the feeling of cold finger tips touching his hip, his heart jumping when Kyungsoo pulls him against his chest and kisses him deeper. The burst of emotions was too much for him to handle that he couldn’t breathe, He has to pull away to catch his breath, looking down on the ground as he lets Kyungsoo’s lips press against his temple.

But the fire was still burning inside them. It was too big to put out with just a simple kiss.

With a small smile on his face, Baekhyun pulls Kyungsoo back in another kiss, and to his delight, Kyungsoo obliged.

When he woke up, it was of Kyungsoo’s sleeping face.

The younger looks as calm and serene as he sleeps, his mouth parted slightly as light snores were heard. It was a rare occurrence before, Baekhyun remembers, back then when they were dating for him to wake up earlier than Kyungsoo. Whenever that happens, Baekhyun takes advantage of the moment and takes his time admiring his features, especially now that this is the only time he did get to see him close up after so many years apart. Kyungsoo looks so beautiful like this and it makes his heart pound in million ways than one.

Gently, he traces his face from his cheek down to his bare shoulder. Last night’s activity refreshed in his memory and it made him blush. He’s very much aware how hot Kyungsoo is but staring down at him with that serious expression was a different level.

Baekhyun bit his lower lip to contain his grin but the minute Kyungsoo opened his eyes, he knew he was a goner.

“Hi.” He whispers.

Kyungsoo stares at him for a few seconds before whispering back. “Hello.”

Baekhyun couldn’t help the smile to come out when he heard it. There’s a small “Come here.” From Kyungsoo and it made him smile extra hard – he’s not even aware that that’s possible – and scoots closer until his face is buried on Kyungsoo’s neck.

“You two are what?”

Baekhyun remains quiet as he pops a bunch of fries in his mouth. Minseok’s eyes are wide as saucers while Jongdae sips on his tea quietly. “I did not see this coming!” The older exclaims and looks at his soulmate. “Did you see this coming?” Jongdae takes another sip. “Or am I the only who who’s surprised at this?”

“He lived with an ex, who he hasn’t gotten over yet. It’s bound to happen sometime.” Jongdae speaks up.

“I –“ Baekhyun wanted to argue but as soon as it sinks in, apparently it was true. No matter how hard he tries to deny it, he wasn’t still over Kyungsoo. Maybe that’s the reason why he’s so ing bitter about it before. And there’s also the fact that Kyungsoo is so chill about living with him that he couldn’t take the thought of just being him not over with them. Long story short, Baekhyun was being petty.

“And now, you two are back together again.”

“Somewhat… yeah.” Baekhyun lowers his head and smiles, staring at his food on the table.

Minseok and Jongdae looked at each and grins, finally happy for