Kyungsoo wakes up the next morning with a feeling of bone-deep contentedness. The previous night playing in his head as he thinks of his new soulmate. 

 

The thought kind of makes him want to scream, but he thinks his parents probably wouldn't appreciate that.

 

Smiling to himself, he slowly drags himself out of bed, grabbing his phone off his nightstand. Blinking the final bits of sleep from his eyes, he sees he has a few texts from Jongin, timestamped from a few minutes ago. 

 

Unlocking his phone, he reads the messages, feeling himself smiling even wider.

 

 

Jongin: hey soo, good morning !!! hope you slept well

 

Jongin: did you dream about me? ;) 

 

Jongin: wait jk thats a little bit creepy….sorry ?

 

Jongin: anywho, wanna walk to school today? we’ve still got to make our battle plan ;) ;)

 

Jongin: lol I should stop with the winky faces oops

Sent 6:45 AM

 

 

Jongin: sooooooo!

 

Jongin: oh wait its early you're probably not up yet OTL

Sent 6:55 AM

 

 

Kyungsoo laughs to himself at Jongin’s odd version of a good morning text, quickly typing out a reply. 

 

 

 

Kyungsoo: Good Morning, I did sleep well, thanks for asking :)

 

Kyungsoo: Should we meet by the end of the street at 7:30?

Sent 7:01 AM

 

Jongin’s reply comes so quickly Kyungsoo wonders if he was holding his phone waiting for Kyungsoo’s reply the whole time.

 

 

Jongin: yeah !! ill see you then….soulmate ;)

Sent 7:02 AM

 

 

 

Kyungsoo feels giddy as he reads the word ‘soulmate’, the change in his and Jongin’s relationship not quite hitting him just yet. 

 

Placing his phone back down on his nightstand, he goes to take a shower and get ready for school, feeling excitement settle in him. 

 

He has a feeling it’s gonna be an interesting day.

 

_________

 

 

After gathering his things, and foregoing breakfast because of his desire to see Jongin, he says a quick good-bye to his parents and walks out the door and down the street. 

 

He’s soon near the end of the street, walking up to his and Jongin’s standard meeting place near the beginning of the street they take to reach their school.

 

As soon as he gets close enough, he sees Jongin’s tall form standing there, his back to Kyungsoo as he bobs his head slightly to whatever music he is playing out of his headphones, tapping his red converse clad feet to the beat.

 

It hits Kyungsoo how similar this picture of Jongin is to how he looked when he and Kyungsoo first met in the hallway by the principles office. He smiles to himself at the thought, walking the rest of the distance to Jongin, trying to keep out of his view so he can surprise him.

 

Coming up from behind him, Kyungsoo closes the distance and wraps his arms around Jongin’s middle, back-hugging him tightly, his excitement at seeing Jongin fueling him to be a little more confident than he usually is.

 

Jongin jolts in surprise, turning around in Kyungsoo’s arms. As soon as he sees that it’s only Kyungsoo he relaxes, a soft smile on his face, and pulls Kyungsoo tight against him, hugging his tightly and pressing a small kiss to his hair.

 

“Hey” Kyungsoo says softly, unable to keep his happiness out of his voice and failing to stop a dumb smile.

 

“Hey to you too” Jongin replies just as softly, grinning down at Kyungsoo who has his arms still wrapped around Jongin’s middle.

 

Kyungsoo tilts his head up, glancing into Jongin’s eyes and feels such strong fondness curl in him at the sight of Jongin’s softly smiling face glancing back down at him. The time since the confessions has felt like a rose tinted dream that Kyungsoo can’t seem to wake up from, and seeing Jongin’s smiling face makes him never want to wake up. 

 

So, Kyungsoo simply stares for a few seconds before finally averting his eyes, feeling a slight blush rise to his cheeks.

 

Jongin seems to notice his staring and lets out a light chuckle, pulling Kyungsoo tighter against him, effectively trapping him in his arms, and Kyungsoo couldn’t find it in himself to complain even if he tried. 

 

After a few seconds of almost-awkward hugging, Jongin pulls away a bit more, snaking his hand down to grasp Kyungsoo’s, tugging him forward.

 

Kyungsoo lets him lead them down the street, not much being said between them for a few seconds as they just enjoy each other’s presence. 

 

Eventually Jongin squeezes Kyungsoo’s hand, getting his attention.

 

“So, any ideas for how we can play this out?” he says, pulling their connected hands up between them to show what he means.

 

Kyungsoo lets out a small huff. “Nothing beyond blurting it out and watching them flip; do you have any ideas?”

 

Jongin turns his head to look at Kyungsoo with a smirk. 

 

“I was just gonna suggest the same, cause why make a huge deal out it, right? Plus the looks on Baekhyun’s and Chanyeol’s faces would be priceless as they see their status as the one and only couple in our group be pulled right out from under them”.

 

Kyungsoo laughs, slightly thrown by Jongin’s enthusiasm, but he thinks a good plan, simple, but effective for a take-over none the less. “Definitely… so is that our plan?”

 

“Yeah, lets do this. They’re going down.” Jongin says, pulling his left hand up into a dramatic fist pump. 

 

“Good. I swear if they make lunchtime weird one more time with their flirting I will lose my mind” Kyungsoo deadpans, meeting Jongin’s eyes.. 

 

Jongin chuckles “Oh I feel you, it’s the worst. And it’s not just the flirting. It’s just them. And you know what I heard them say a few days ago?”

 

“Oh god, what?”

 

“Do you really wanna know?”

 

“…I don’t know, do I?”

 

“Well, I'm gonna tell you anyway. I was in the hallway by my locker, waiting for Yixing to finish something in the office, when those two walk down the hallway past me, not even noticing me, while talking to each other, very loudly, about something called a ‘blue waffle’ ”. Jongin finishes, his tone mildly horrified.

 

Kyungsoo barks out a laugh in shock, his hand flying to his mouth to stifle the rest of the laughter threatening to bubble up. He can’t laugh, not with Jongin looking so horrified.

 

“Do you know what that is Soo?” Jongin asks looking vaguely shellshocked.

 

“Unfortunately, I do” he replies, cringing in sympathy.

 

“Well I didn’t. Imagine my surprise when I decided to innocently look that up online. I saw things I really shouldn't have–” he pauses for what seems like a dramatic effect. Kyungsoo resists rolling his eyes.

 

“–And… now I think of that every time I see them.” he finishes after a moment.

 

Kyungsoo manages to hold back his laughter and bumps his shoulder into Jongin’s lightly.

 

“All the more reason to get revenge then, right?”

 

Jongin just nods vigorously, still looking horrified at the memory, as they walk the rest of the way to school. 

 

 

_________

 

 

The first two periods of the day pass without much fanfare, and since Kyungsoo has almost none of his classes with Jongin, he feels himself missing the tan boy even after a few hours. 

 

Lunch time soon arrives, and with getting to see Jongin again, and the announcement that they planned to make, Kyungsoo feels a bit nervous. 

 

Walking into the lunch room, Kyungsoo looks around and quickly spots a few of their group sitting at their usual table, boisterous already even though it only been minutes since the bell rang. With a glance over the people at the table, he sees Jongin sitting facing his direction. Just seeing him Kyungsoo feels giddy and overwhelmingly happy.

 

He quickly makes his way around other people in the lunch room to reach the table, walking around and sliding into the empty space on Jongin’s right. Jongin greets him with a bright smile as soon as he sits.

 

He hasn't been sitting for more than 3 seconds before he hears Chanyeol pipe up from in front of him. 

 

“Loverboy! How’s our favorite munchkin doing?” he says obnoxiously, a wide disarming smile on his face as he leans his head on his hand, looking over at Kyungsoo. 

 

Kyungsoo is silent for a moment as he stares Chanyeol down. Not even a minute and Chanyeol is already being obnoxious.

 

“Did you call me short?” Kyungsoo asks simply, staring at Chanyeol, keeping the guise of nonchalance as he internally screams. If there is one thing Kyungsoo hates, its being called short, especially by Chanyeol, who is a literal giant. He can hear Jongin stifle a laugh to his right, and Baekhyun just sighs from his spot on Chanyeol’s left.

 

“Yeah, I mean you are, Soo. It’s cute!” Chanyeol says obliviously, still smiling as if he didn't say something that would get him murdered.

 

Kyungsoo just puts his best glare on, staring Chanyeol in the eye as he slowly reaches over the table to grab the fork sitting next to Jongin’s lunch. 

 

Chanyeol looks away briefly, finally understanding the situation, and his eyes go wide. 

 

“Woah, Soo, put that down! You wouldn't be just killing me, you’d be killing Baek too!” Chanyeol gets out, wrapping one of his stupidly long limbs around Baekhyun and pulling him up against his side, putting on an over-exaggerated sad face.

 

Kyungsoo just rolls his eyes and puts the fork down, waving them off. He’s not going anywhere near that. He hears Chanyeol laugh stupidly, and sees him kiss Baekhyun on the cheek chastely.

 

From his right Jongin makes an over-exaggerated gagging noise, making the other people at the table laugh, especially getting a reaction out of Jongdae and Lu Han who are just walking up to the table to sit.

 

Chanyeol and Baekhyun just look affronted, turning to glare at them.

 

“Hey, as the only soulmate couple here, we’ve got soulmate privilege, ers, you can’t say or I’ll sue your ” Baekhyun bites out, looking around the table at the others.

 

“Sure, sure, Baekhyun, you’re all talk. The only you’re suing is Chanyeol’s” Jongdae yells out, winking at Baekhyun suggestively.

 

“Nah, Dae, Chanyeol is definitely the one doing the ‘suing’ “ Lu Han adds, high-fiving Jongdae with a laugh. 

 

They erupt into laughter as Chanyeol turns beet red across Kyungsoo. Baekhyun just flips them off, standing up on his knees on his chair and wrapping his arms around Chanyeol’s shoulders.

 

“You’re just jealous” Baekhyun sneers at them, gesturing flippantly at the table. Some of the others are quickly joining them at the table, looking on questioningly at the situation at their end. 

 

Kyungsoo soon sees Kris, Tao, Lay, Minseok, and Sehun come over to the table, Joonmyeon following a little further back. They all approach the table, but don't sit immediately, and instead grab some chairs from other tables and place them around another slightly larger round table. Kyungsoo looks on questioningly, and soon sees Kris gesture to them to come over to the new table. 

 

“Why’re we moving?” Baekhyun asks as he untangles himself from Chanyeol. 

 

Kris just fixes them with a strong glare. “We’re having a coming to Jesus meeting, so get over here” he deadpans, his thick eyebrows making him look intimidating.

 

Baekhyun just looks back at Kyungsoo and Jongin, raising an eyebrow in question. Kyungsoo just shrugs and gets up, grabbing his bag from the floor next to him.

 

They all silently settle around the new table, all twelve of them, and it’s cramped with everyones knees touching. Kyungsoo wonders what this is about, and when they can leave.

 

“So, –“ Kris begins, looking around the table from his place a few people down the right from Kyungsoo “we have some very important things to discuss as a group”.

He is about to continue when Sehun raises his hand from across the table. 

 

Kris sighs, but gestures for him to speak.

 

“Are we in trouble, dad?” Sehun asks smarmily.

 

Kris just glares at him for a second before sighing again and pinching the bridge of his nose. “Sehun, for s sake, I’m not your dad, so no you're not in ‘trouble’. I just need to address something, new, in this group.” he says tactfully, playing his elbows on the table, his hands steepled in thought.

 

Before Kris can continue, Jongdae cuts in.

 

“Is it about those twin-soul idiots?” he asks, pointing at Baekhyun and Chanyeol who are sitting to the left of Kyungsoo and Jongin.

 

The table is quiet for a few seconds. 

 

“Yes, so as the only soulmate couple, and couple for that matter, I and a few others feel there should be some…boundaries” Kris finishes, looking pained.

 

Kyungsoo wonders if there is more that those two are doing that he hasn’t been victim too, because for Kris to be this affected, something had to have happened. 

 

Kyungsoo is watching Baekhyun and Chanyeol’s affronted spluttering when Jongin suddenly pulls Kyungsoo’s hand into his own. Kyungsoo turns his head to look at Jongin and sees that he has a serious look on his face, and Kyungsoo furrows his brow in confusion.

 

Jongin just squeezes his hand and turns away and back to the table, still holding their hands together under the table. Kyungsoo thinks that’s the end of it, but Jongin doesn't stay quiet. 

 

He turns to Kris and blurts out “They’re not the only couple”.

 

Kyungsoo turns to him in shock. They had a simple plan, but Jongin is going way off.

 

“What do you mean?” Kris asks, looking confusedly at Jongin.

 

Jongin doesn't reply and instead just pulls his hand, which is still being held in Kyungsoo own, and shows the table. 

 

The others don't understand immediately, but after a few seconds Sehun, of all people, finally gets it.

 

“Oh my go-th” he gasps out, his lisp particularly strong in his surprise.

 

The others catch on immediately after, shouting in outrage. He sees Baekhyun stand up from his chair and point at them dramatically, wordlessly glaring, while Kris and Tao look on in awe, and everyone else is looking on in happiness.

 

“You s! Since when?” Baekhyun demands.

 

“Yesterday” Jongin says simply, turning to Kyungsoo and giving him a soft smile that has him relaxing in his chair, not worried about the reactions of their friends.

 

“We’re happy for you guys, really. Even if you aren't soulmates, I'm happy you found each other.”  Joonmyeon adds, smiling on at them fondly.

Kyungsoo’s smile falls for a second, looking at Joonmyeon. “What do you mean? We are soulmates” he says, and Jongin laughs on his right. 

 

The whole table turns to look at them, shock returning to their gazes. 

 

Joonmyeon looks like he is about to reply when Jongdae stands up, pointing down at Luhan.

 

“You owe me so much cash” he says happily, putting his arm around Luhan’s shoulders as Luhan’s smile falls and he lets out a groan. The rest of the table looks surprised, but happy for them, and Kyungsoo feels contentedness settle in him, even if some of his friends did bet on him. He’ll talk to them about that later.

 

“You’re no longer the special ones, guys, I hope you enjoyed your time” Jongin says to Baekhyun and Chanyeol, smiling widely.

 

They both splutter and look over to Kris for guidance, who is just sitting there smiling slightly and looking between them. He doesn't say anything, just shakes his head, placing hand on Jongin’s shoulder. 

 

“Ignore them, they're just being petty. I’m happy for you guys” he says, looking between them.

 

“Yeah, we all are, but what're the chances of two soulmate couples?” Yixing says from Kyungsoo’s far left, smiling at them. Kyungsoo returns the smile just the same, happy for his friends’ support.

 

“Yeah and what're the chances of Soo getting together with his crush?” Minseok says, smirking at raising an eyebrow at Kyungsoo. 

 

Kyungsoo feels his cheeks grow hot, and he averts his gaze. 

 

“Oh my god, so Jongin was your crush this whole time? Oh so, that’s why you were so weird about telling me!” Chanyeol laughs out, glancing between Baekhyun and Kyungsoo. Jongin just looks on with a funny expression on his face.

 

The rest of lunch passes as expected, with Kris finally wrangling the attention of everyone to place a ban on excessive PDA and ‘kink-talk’, as he words it, much to Baekhyun and Chanyeol’s chagrin. Kyungsoo and Jongin make a plan to go to the park, the one they went to yesterday, to talk more about the day. Content with everything all at once the rest of the day passes, still a rose-tinted dream,. He knows it won’t last forever, but he is content simply enjoy this time as the puzzle pieces finally slide into place.

 

_________

 

 

Kyungsoo and Jongin end up meeting at the park as they said they would, getting a snack and sitting on a secluded bench under a few tress, watching the sky turn orange before their eyes. 

 

Jongin lets out a small sigh, and Kyungsoo looks over at him curiously. Jongin meets his gaze, and sees his curious gaze. He lets out a soft giggle, scooting closer to Kyungsoo on the bench and grabbing his hand. 

 

There’re a few moments of comfortable silence as they breathe the cool air and watch the sun set over the trees in the park.

 

“We’re kind of a living cliché” Jongin says eventually, turning his head and smiling softly at Kyungsoo.

 

That makes him laugh, snorting slightly as it registers that, yes, they really are a cliché. A typical high school romance. He thinks about it a bit, but he doesn't mind, finding that their situation worked out in the end, and even if it is still a bit rose-tinted, things will be better now. He found his other half, one he didn't know how much he was missing until he had him, and he couldn't ask for anything else.

 

He doesn't voice this to Jongin, but he feels like he understands. After all, they’re tied to each other.

 

Instead he just holds his hand, enjoying his presence, and allows himself to wonder about the future. That too won’t be easy, but they have time to figure that all out. 

 

Right now, he's just enjoying this happy moment, one of undoubtedly many more to come. 

 

 

 

 

 

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I want to thank everyone for reading! I seriously appreciate that you took the time to read this mess of a story. I know that it is not perfect, as most things seldom are, but this was written over a year and so I'm now in a completely different headspace as I finish this than when I was when I began writing it. 

Thank you those who stuck with this, even when it was bad and when I hadn't updated in months. I appreciate you so much!

Much love, and thank you for helping me finish my first fanfic ever <3

- demaan

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