a/n: inspired from this: http://www.faena.com/aleph/articles/the-legend-of-the-red-string-of-japan/

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she walks around, looks at the ground filled with strings that lay slack, unmoving on the floor, as well as strings that tense and are pulled taut as if two entities are pulling the string while walking in opposite directions. she remembers herself as a child, stealthily stepping over these strings beneath her, hopping between them or doing a limbo with her short stature as some of the strings were pulled so tight they were raised above her height. she remembers asking her mother why the ground was littered with so many of these threads, and all of them a blood-red, and her mother tucking her into bed as she tells mina the legend of the red string of fate (only that it wasn’t a legend, it was real, and manifested in her reality). her mother explained how this was how she found mina’s father, and how mina, too, in future would find someone through this string, this string entwined intricately on and into mina’s pinky finger as if it was part of the arteries laying beneath the pale skin of the pads of her fingers. mina remembers her mother lifting her finger up, the string slack and long against it, as her eyes traced the string down to the floor as it spread out of her room. mina wonders where the string would end, whose finger the string ended up on and in, wonders if she’ll ever meet the person with a string so loose against her finger.

she continues walking on the earth, a scarlet tapestry, tapping her pinky finger impatiently against her thighs and feels the string loosely grazing her skin.

—

“aren’t you curious, though?”

“of?"

“where the end of your string is?”

“would you like me to start having panic attacks now, dahyun? would you like to see me fall off my chair and roll around in desperate curiosity while my heart palpitates as i wonder who holds the end of my string? because such a scene would most definitely answer my question, right dahyun-ssi?”

chaeyoung rolls her eyes as she finishes her sentence, dahyun lifting her two hands up in mock surrender. chaeyoung glimpses the way the string around dahyun’s pinky finger is a lot less loose than hers, giving dahyun the mock rights to question the whereabouts (or lack thereof) of chaeyoung’s other half. they continue to sip their warm coffee as they watch the snowflakes find their way to the ground. chaeyoung tries not to be bothered at the very loose string against her finger. snow takes three seasons to arrive, and snowflakes take their time to fall to the ground. they seem lost to observers, but the graceful way they fall makes chaeyoung realise that perhaps they’re not so lost after all, that this grace must come with being confident they’ll land safely, on that spot on the ground that was meant to be all along. chaeyoung sighs, tries to convince herself, again.

“the way you’re waiting right now, i’m pretty sure your other half is not in korea,” dahyun chimes in suddenly, “probably high up in the mountains meditating or something,” and finishes with a chortle.

chaeyoung’s teaspoon clatters loudly against her saucer as she drags dahyun by the ear out of the cafe into the cold outside, and a dying whimper is heard as chaeyoung begins burying her dear friend in the snow.

—

it’s a little awkward, mina thinks, as she fidgets standing at the side of the room. there are nine of them now, and there’s just no real way to begin this. so this is it. in a couple of months, she glances around, she will be on their debut stage with these people, her members, under the harsh glare of stage lights and under the harsher glare of the kpop community and its critics. goosebumps appear on her skin, the weight of everything slowly materialising in her veins. more weight to lose, more blemishes to cover up, more time to miss home when she hears the vague murmurings of korean in their rehearsal room. there’re momo and sana to make her feel less homesick (oh god what about tzuyu) but sometimes she still misses the way her mother told her stories before bed and the way she could speak her mind in a language she’s grown up with rather than a language she’s forced to be proficient at in a short span of time. it’s a good start still, though, at least she didn’t fail, and she’s here, a step closer to making her dream come true. years later and she’s here, ready to shine with her members. the anticipation overwhelms her, and she doesn’t notice the slight tightening of the string on her pinky finger.

chaeyoung walks past mina, smiles a small smile as she passes her to get to her close friend dahyun. she’s heard vaguely of how mina has said that chaeyoung is her ideal type and feels embarrassed about it, especially when mina is the black swan, and she’s the one who runs amok with the other crazier members in a bid to lighten up the training atmosphere. the disjuncture in their personalities shakes her up a little, wonders how she can be in the same group as her. she becomes more sensitive to when she thinks she annoys mina, who is so calm and collected against her chaotic self. she ends her sheepish smile with a small bow as she heads to the corner behind mina instead.

the floor of their rehearsal room is nonetheless filled with endless red strings winding round each other, but the members pay little attention to it. after all, with news of the three-year dating ban for the members, finding out where the ends of their string are is definitely the last thing on their minds, except dahyun who knows for a fact that nothing can get too tough for her in the rough journey as a new idol group, if she is debuting with someone she’s destined to be with. she thinks this as her string floats slightly above the rest of the members’ strings slack on the ground, tighter and most surely connecting with someone else in the same room.

—

mina thinks chaeyoung is distancing herself from her because of what she said during an interview about her. but being shy herself, she doesn’t quite know how to approach this with chaeyoung and spends most of their practices, performances and fan signs gazing at her, wondering if they’ll ever be closer than just a twice-member-relationship.

there are occasions when they are side-by-side, during photoshoots or recording something for the broadcast companies. the floor is still a mess of strings from the members and the staff of these affairs, and both of them hardly notices the way the strings on their fingers form a ‘u’ shape as they stand beside each other, chaeyoung’s pinky connected to mina’s.

chaeyoung is still shy, stands awkwardly rigid beside mina as she smells a whiff of her lavender perfume and freezes up even more. her mind flashes to the way dahyun teases her for being so different around mina, so shy and unlike the face-palming mood-maker she usually is in the whole group with dahyun, nayeon and jeongyeon. she gets annoyed, but her mind can’t forget how dahyun dares her to initiate a conversation with mina, “preferably with something cheesy”.

chaeyoung shifts her eyes nervously to her side, sees the side view of mina’s flawless face and that distinct but pretty mole on the bridge of her nose. she releases a deep exhale, leans slowly over to mina’s ear, smells the perfume more strongly and feels her heart beat harder. a few seconds later and she manages to breathe out “mina-unnie, you’re so pretty today” before hurrying back to her previous position.

mina’s pupils dilate as she turns (not too abruptly, she hopes) to face chaeyoung. chaeyoung forces a shy smile before looking front and mina is stupefied. her pinky trembles and she tries not to be affected, she dismisses the tingle on her pinky that sends slight shockwaves to her heart as the after-effects of performing in front of a huge audience, mistakes it for the excitement from being able to do what she loves and receiving love from her fans (her mother told her that it was possible to feel such sensations not just from your lover, but also anyone else who crossed paths with you). it can’t be chaeyoung, right?

—

“hey it’s time for school”

they try to get more acquainted with each other and it hasn’t been a road race to victory but mina believes in baby steps. she makes an effort by taking over to wake chaeyoung up for school today. she sits on chaeyoung’s bed and and awaits the resurrection of her junior. mina hears chaeyoung grunt against her pillow and resists chuckling too loudly. she shakes chaeyoung a little more, “hey, you should get up now”.

“5 more…”

“5 more and i have to fly you there by plane.” she pulls chaeyoung a little more and chaeyoung sits up, pouts at mina. mina smiles at the sight in front of her and tugs chaeyoung’s hand more, but chaeyoung resists and mina falls over the bed instead. chaeyoung gasps, “unnie! i’m so sorry!” but as she attempts to reach over and help her, she feels the tension in her pinky and realises she has never felt this sensation before. it’s pulled taut, the way the fishing line is before one reels back and finds a fish on the hook of the rod. she stares at her finger, the string a glowing scarlet and her heart thoroughly alive and beating until her ears can’t deny it either. she tugs her pinky back lightly, sees the string tighten somemore and glances over the bed to see mina equally startled by the burning thread between them. this is the closest they’ve ever been and somehow they feel like they can only get closer from now.

chaeyoung pulls mina up and intertwine their hands together. the force of the pinkies meeting takes them by surprise as they both watch their hands tremble. chaeyoung hopes she isn’t the only one who feels her heart surging and the escalating need to pull mina’s face closer. she blushes, wondering how such thoughts can surface so quickly after this revelation and returns to notice their pinkies turning red too, as if performing a magic trick on their own. the string entwines itself around their pinkies in the same pattern, so that each couple has a unique tapestry on their fingers (no other person can replicate this design other than the two who are destined to be together). as the string concludes the final touches of its design on mina’s and chaeyoung’s fingers, mina finds herself rubbing chaeyoung’s thumb soothingly. chaeyoung glances back up at her, bites her lip and asks mina abashedly, “looks like me being your ideal type wasn’t wrong after all, huh?” mina returns a shy smile and her unique giggle. she hugs chaeyoung briefly, before pulling her up and as she stands on her feet, she realises she feels a lot more complete than before, wonders what kind of changes this means for the both of them.

chaeyoung remembers how her teacher had quoted shakespeare before that “journeys end in lovers meeting”, but thinks it is otherwise. she finally understands dahyun, who with finding someone who completes you can make all arduous journeys seem so much easier. journeys don’t end in lovers meeting, chaeyoung realises, the journey is only just beginning.