Hoseok absentmindedly rubs his left forearm, lost in thought. He scribbles lyrics down in his notebook, the words coming as easily to him as breathing. He can’t think of how it’ll be when he finally manages to meet this mysterious muse of his. They haven’t even crossed paths, but this mystery soulmate of his has managed to inspire a plethora of songs.

A knock at the door causes Hoseok to glance up from his desk. Minhyuk pokes his head into the room, smiling widely at the older.

“Hyung,” he says, “have you had dinner? Jooheonney and I were thinking of going out with the others. Care to join us?” Hoseok hums thoughtfully, glancing down at his work. It still needs a bit more tweaking before he feels comfortable enough to leave it.

“I think I’ll just have a ramyeon later,” Hoseok answers, smiling gratefully at his roommates invitation. “You all have fun, though.” Minhyuk pouts, squinting his eyes in a scrutinizing stare as he enters the room. He leans forward, resting his hands on Hoseok’s shoulders for support as he bends down close to read.

“I can live when I have you,” Minhyuk reads aloud. “Every day, every night, I can feel you…” He sighs, shaking his head at his friend. “I can’t wait ‘till you finally manage to meet this person, whoever she or he might be. You’re driving us crazy with all these love songs lately.”

“He’s close, Minhyukkie,” Hoseok murmurs, once again rubbing at his arm. “It’ll happen soon, I just know it.”

“What makes you so sure it’s a he?” Minhyuk asks curiously, sitting down on Hoseok’s bed. “I mean, you could be an in-the-closet hetero for all we know.” Hoseok chuckles at the comment, spinning around in his chair to make eye contact with the red head.

“Please,” Hoseok says, “have you ever met anyone gayer than me?”

“Yes,” Minhyuk answers easily, “me.” Hoseok laughs again, this time with more gusto. Minhyuk sighs, standing to hug Hoseok from behind. “I’ll try not to be late. Try not to have too much fun without me.” Hoseok hums in acknowledgment, waiting for his friend to close the door behind him before returning his attention to his work. He should actually be studying right now, but classes haven’t seemed that important to him the past few days.

Hoseok pulls up his sleeve slowly to stare at the single word scrawled across his forearm. It’s incredibly average, just a simple “Hello.” It’s written in an almost tired script, though it still manages to look incredibly elegant. Hoseok brushes his thumb over the word, a smile coming to him. It’s begun to tingle now, signifying that the speaker is close. Anticipation fills him at the thought of finally meeting his soulmate, but then he shakes his head to clear it.

He yanks his sleeve back down and continues to write, hoping to finish writing this song by the end of tonight.

“I think you’ll really like hyung,” Changkyun explains to his new friend. “He seems pretty tough, but he’s really just a cuddly bunny.” Chae Hyungwon nods, glancing over at the door to the bar anxiously.

He can’t figure out why he’s so nervous about this casual meet-up. He’s shared a class with Changkyun for the past semester, and has finally accepted the younger’s umpteenth invitation to hang out with him and his group. He’d already met Kihyun and Hyunwoo shortly after meeting Changkyun, since the three practically live together, but tonight’s the night he’ll be meeting the others. The tingling sensation behind his ear draws his attention away for a moment, making him look around questioningly.

His word has been acting up a lot recently, and he can’t help but feel it’s because of the impending meeting with his soulmate. Not that he knows who this soulmate is, of course. All he knows about this mystery person is that they’re a stutterer. The word scrawled in messy script behind his ear is only a single word, “H-H-Hi.” He used to have to look at a picture on his phone of the clue, taken by his mother when he was very young, but he’s had it memorized since middle school.

He instinctively goes to rub the troublesome spot, but shakes his head as he drops his hand. Touching it won’t help. It won’t stop until he finally meets this pesky human.

“Sorry we’re late!” a sunny voice suddenly says, startling Hyungwon from his thoughts. Changkyun stands from the booth immediately, beaming excitedly at a tall red-haired male and the shorter, slightly chubby, blonde young man seemingly latched onto the taller’s side. “I tried to get Hoseok-hyung to tag along, but he’s busy working on a project.” Changkyun hugs his two friends, and then turns to introduce them to the newcomer.

“Hyung,” he says, “this is my classmate Hyungwon. Hyungwon-hyung, this is Minhyuk-hyung and Jooheon-hyung.” Hyungwon bows respectfully, saying how nice it is to meet them.

“Changkyunnie talks about you a lot,” he says pleasantly as they all take seats in the booth. “It’s nice to finally put faces to all the stories.”

“You’re quite handsome, Hyungwon-ah,” Minhyuk says, folding his fingers together to rest his chin atop them. Hyungwon chuckles softly, his long fingers coming up to touch his lips as he smiles. “I wish Hoseok had come like I asked. He’d have definitely liked meeting you. Maybe you could’ve even distracted him from obsessing over his soulmate for a while…”

“So he’s been fortunate enough to meet his soulmate already?” Hyungwon asks, curious for some reason. He can’t tell why he cares about this random name meeting his soulmate yet, but figures it’s probably due to his own word acting up.

“No,” Minhyuk sighs, sitting back in his seat, “but everyone else has, pretty much. Aside from Changkyunnie, that is.”

“I’m in no rush, though,” Changkyun chimes in. “I want to have my life together before experiencing all of that. It seems too much to deal with right now, since we’re all just college students.” He then pauses, eyes widening as he notes Jooheon’s amused smile. “No offense, hyung! I’m happy for you both, and for Hyunwoo-hyung and Kihyun-hyung, for having found each other so easily. I just don’t think I’m ready yet.”

“I know what you meant, Changkyunnie,” Jooheon tells him with crescent-eyes, “don’t worry about it.” Changkyun puffs out a breath, clearly relieved.

“What about you, Hyungwon-ah?” Minhyuk asks, redirecting the conversation easily. “Have you met your special someone yet?”

“Not yet,” Hyungwon answers with a shrug. “But, like Changkyun-ah, I’m not really in any hurry to meet them. I’ll just accept it when the time comes.” Minhyuk hums in acknowledgment, his head whipping around at the ding of the bell hanging above the door. Kihyun and Hyunwoo enter the bar, the shorter looking around quickly for the others. He spots them easily and pulls Hyunwoo over to the table, scooting in on the other side of Changkyun while the older takes the end seat on the other side of the table.

“Sorry we’re late,” Kihyun says. “We were catching up on some homework and didn’t realize the time.” Minhyuk pouts, spotting Kihyun’s recently changed hairstyle.

“Eomma,” Minhyuk says, earning a cursory glance from the younger, “you changed your hair back to black. You looked so cute with pink hair!” Kihyun in a breath through his teeth, drumming his fingers against the table.

“I like it,” Hyunwoo comments softly, smiling a teddy-bear-like grin over at Kihyun. Kihyun chuckles, revealing his dimples.

“I got tired of having to re-dye it all the time,” Kihyun answers. “Besides, my hair could use a break from all the product.” He then frowns, glancing around. “Where’s Hoseok-ah?”

“Writing about his true love… again,” Minhyuk replies, shaking his head exasperatedly. “I swear, I just don’t know what I’m going to do with that boy.”

“Nothing, hyung,” Jooheon tells him gently. “Just let him obsess. It’ll stop eventually.” Minhyuk hums again, a thoughtful light filling his eyes as they glance over at Hyungwon. Hyungwon doesn’t know why, but the stare makes him feel awkward.

Luckily, the topic shifts to something everyone can discuss openly without any weird looks: what to order for dinner.