Chapter Seventeen:

~Jongin’s POV~

Jongin chuckled fondly at the girl’s actions, his previous negative feelings disappearing completely now for good as he listened to her still too loud, flustered thoughts in amusement. He found her absolutely adorable. Yoomi was innocent and childlike, but also playful and charming at the same time, and Jongin’s feelings for her were definitely more than just an attraction now.

He was supposed to practice his dance routine with Yixing and Sehun later, but the boy figured that since Yoomi wasn’t there to entertain him anymore he would go grab something to fill his stomach from the kitchen instead. Jongin was pleasantly surprised to find Sehun and the rest of his hyungs lounging around the kitchen area when he got there. It was quite normal for everyone to be gathered together because they were such a tight-knit group, but ever since Yoomi came into S-class and their lives, more and more of his friends have been revolving around the girl instead of around each other. He was guilty of doing the same thing though, he had to admit. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing in the first place either, just different. Either way, he was glad that they were all together right now. Even Junmyeon had come down from his study not long after Jongin had stolen Yoomi from him and was sitting at the dining table with the others as well.

“Your snack is all cold now, you dumb prick. Don’t waste the food I made.” Jongin beamed happily at their residential cook, Kyungsoo— completely ignoring the older’s harsh words— and took the plate of strawberry pie from his hands.

“You’re the best, hyung!”

“Tch, as if you meant half of that,” Kyungsoo grumbled lowly under his breath, all the while wiping crumbs off of the side of the younger’s mouth with a napkin.

“Where’s my mate?” Junmyeon questioned when he finally spotted the tanned boy who earlier had stolen Yoomi from his grasp.

“Oh, so now you call her your mate, huh? Are you trying to rub it in my face that you got her first?” Jongin couldn’t help his attitude towards their leader, even though he knew it wasn’t Junmyeon’s fault that he bonded to Yoomi first. Deep down he was still a child— though he himself would never admit to it— and the child in him didn’t like his candy being taken away from right under his nose. “And I don’t know where your mate is, hyung. Aren’t you supposed to have an awareness of your own mate’s whereabouts?”

“Jongin!-”

“How does that work anyway?” Tao suddenly piped up— effectively cutting Yifan off, who was just about to scold the second youngest on how to speak to his elders. “Having a mate? Bonding?”

Jongin didn’t deem Tao to be someone interested in these things since all the Chinese boy seemed to ever do was act cool or manhandle the other guys. Tao must’ve noticed the incredulous look Jongin sent his way because he hastily tried to defend himself the next moment.

“Oh come on, how often do you see people find their destined soulmate? It sounds pretty damn cool, okay?”

“It’s… hard to put into words,” Junmyeon mumbled. By then, everyone’s attention was on the leader, interested in what he had to say. “The bonding was magical. It was like nothing I’d ever felt before. The feeling was inexplicable, you wouldn’t understand it’s depth unless you experienced it yourself. The best way I can put it as is that it’s like you feel complete as if there was a part of you that you didn’t even realize was asleep until it awoke and you’re not just you anymore— you’re her as well. Suddenly, breathing isn’t just breathing anymore— it feels like so much more and everything is just different— better. You feel whole and the world looks a little brighter and doesn’t seem as lonely anymore.”

Everyone blinked, their eyes opened slightly wider in wonder. They all knew that their leader was smart and had a way with words, but they had never heard him speak so poetically or look as dazed and dreamy as he did now. Junmyeon chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck as he realized how he must have sounded to them all, and then forced himself back on track to answer their questions.

“As to having a mate now, I can vaguely sense her emotions and state of mind. And yes, Jongin, I am hyper-aware of her presence, though it’s very hazy and only works when she’s very close.”

“Do you love her?” Jongdae asked curiously, eyes lacking their usual mischievous sparkle as he was genuinely interested in his hyung’s answer at the moment.

“Of course, I love Yoomi,” Junmyeon’s answer came automatically, no hesitation at all. “But that’s because I was already in love with her long before I knew we were mates— you guys know we were childhood friends, right. Bonding isn’t a magic love potion, but it creates a love that runs so deep you don’t even realize it. For me, it’s as natural to love Yoomi as it is to breathe, but then again, I have been in love with her for a long time already. If it were you guys, then you’d probably experience it like normally falling in love. Though I can tell you, it’s quite hard to keep your hands to yourself when she’s around.”

“If it were… us?” Baekhyun repeated, tilting his head to the side like a confused little puppy. “What do you mean?”

“He means,” Jongin started with a little smirk playing on his lips, “that the rest of us are most likely Yoomi’s mates as well. At least I’m certain I am.” Jongin felt a little smug that he knew this before anyone else. He liked to see it as a head start in his mission to bond with Yoomi.

“Eh?! Jongin is Yoomi’s mate too?” Chanyeol exclaimed, shock clear on his face and his eyes wide.

“No fair!” Baekhyun whined loudly, pouting childishly.

“You’re missing the point, guys,” Jongdae laughed with a wide grin, throwing his arms over both of his friend’s shoulders, “Jongin just said we could be her mates as well! Isn’t that exciting?!”

“Actually,” Yixing piped up from somewhere around the back in his usual calm demeanor, “I think I might be mates with Yoomi, too.”

“You, too?! How do you guys even know this?!” Chanyeol pointed an accusing finger at his hyung, having way too much energy as his long limbs awkwardly flailed around.

“I’m not sure myself. I just feel like we connect so well, and she makes me want to take care of her. Also, when we first met, her eyes changed color, as well. I’m pretty sure it’s her vaeli eye color. It has pretty pink and purple swirls, and looks like a galaxy.”

“Then you’ve got it right, my hyung,” Jongin nodded at Yixing’s reasoning. He himself felt the same way about Yoomi, and the notes he and Yoomi found for their project on vaeli mates only confirmed his feelings. “Upon first eye contact between two mates, once they are of age, their vaeli eye color will flash and from that point onwards mates will feel undeniably drawn to one another for no reason.”

“Wait… I remember that! Yoomi’s eyes turned that color, too, when I was watching her at the beach and our eyes met!” Chanyeol burst out excitedly, nearly hitting Baekhyun accidentally.

“What the hell, hyung, you were watching her at the beach?” Tao said, voice coated in judgement for his friend's stalker-like behavior.

“You were stalking on my mate?” Junmyeon sounded extremely disappointed and incredulous, maybe more so than they had ever heard him before.

“Oh my gosh, Chanyeol, you creep!” Jongdae squealed and hit Chanyeol on the chest, though he also looked like he was trying not to laugh at how everyone was ganging up on the giant and how his face was turning incredibly red in his embarrassment as he tried to sputter and defend himself.

“You were looking at her in her bikini weren’t you, hyung? I’ve got to agree with you, she looks great in that bikini.” As Jongin playfully wolf whistled, he was completely oblivious to Junmyeon’s killer glares directed at the back of his head.

"She actually wore a different one at the beach, but I have to say, she looks good in everything," Chanyeol grinned.

“erts,” Luhan muttered disinterestedly, once again proving that his favorite time to finally speak up seemed to be when he could insult his fellow S-class friends. He did have a point though, and some of the others probably couldn’t help but mentally agree with his statement as they shook their heads at Chanyeol and Jongin.

“Tch, as if that girl has anything worth looking at,” Sehun grumbled to himself lowly under his breath, though Jongin knew he didn’t actually think that. He had caught their maknae donning red cheeks on multiple occasions when Yoomi would wear short shorts that revealed more of her milky legs than usual or when she wore a low-cut shirt that showed off her delicate collar bones.

“I can’t even deal with any of you. Shouldn’t we have taught you better than this?” Yifan sighed heavily, looking thoroughly done with all of their and exhausted in a way that only a parent with difficult children really could. Jongin always found it funny when he made that expression, though his sometimes harsh scolding was as far from “fun” as it could get, so he was glad that his hyung didn’t seem to be in the mood to do so now.

“Come on, hyung, we’re twelve guys with raging hormones living alone in a house with one girl who— might I remind you— is likely to be bonded to all of us sooner or later. Don’t lie to me that you’ve never thought about this stuff.” Jongin reasoned, trying to convince his hyung that their more than indecent thoughts were justified.

“We’ve gone way too off track, kids.” Yifan, ever one of the more responsible ones, as well as the second leader, ignored what Jongin said and was the one to get them to refocus, though he still looked put out by the conversation. “So what you’re saying, is that any one of us who remembers seeing Yoomi’s eyes change color like that could be her mates as well? But how could there be more than one mate for a single girl?”

“Well, you all know S-ranks are already very scarce in number, and female S-ranks all the more. So it is a common occurrence for a single female S-rank to have more than one mate,” Jongin explained, quickly recalling the information he and Yoomi had researched.

“That makes enough sense...but why us?”

“Oh,” Jongin uttured, “I haven’t really thought about that.”

“It’s because we’re circle mates,” Junmyeon answered instead. “I searched this up further last night after bonding to Yoomi. It has been recorded that since it is common for a single female S-rank to have more than one male mate, the female S-rank usually bonds to some, if not all, of the males in her circle instead of just any male S-rank out there.”

Junmyeon smiled softly to himself as he inspected each of his friend’s reactions. Luhan and Tao were characteristically quiet but looked to be deep in thought. Jongin looked smug as if what he just heard satisfied him. Yifan and Kyungsoo had bright red ears and subtly uncomfortable expressions that they tried to hide with their usual stoicism, though it was clear to the others that knew them well that they were flustered. The loud, overdramatic trio were still excitedly hitting each other and chattering about the very real possibility of Yoomi being their mate, while Junmyeon and Yixing just watched them with fond, but exasperated smiles.

“Me and Latte girl? Pshh, what a bunch of crap,” Sehun snorted out, his words filled with disgust as his face scrunched up unattractively.

“I’ll pass too,” Minseok scoffed, tone similar to Sehun’s but somehow even more harsh. Out of all of them, he seemed to be the one with the biggest problem with Yoomi, since they all knew that the maknae was just being stubborn about his dislike for the girl. “I’d rather not have someone like her for a mate. I’ll leave that to the rest of you.”

Jongin sighed at his eldest hyung’s attitude, knowing exactly the reason that he thought that way and that he could surprisingly be the most difficult out of all twelve of them sometimes despite his age and usual maturity. The conversation was done since Minseok had pretty much effectively ended it with that comment and Jongin decided that he was tired of just talking about Yoomi and wanted to talk to the girl again instead; she had run away from him so quickly before, after all. Therefore, since she had cut off their time together, it was only fair that she make it up to him now, right?

***

~Yoomi’s POV~

“Yoomi-ah~” a voice sang from the bottom of the stairs leading to Yoomi’s room. She immediately identified it as Jongin’s voice and groaned into her pillow. Why was he back so soon? She still wasn’t finished with sorting all her thoughts out since their last little chat.

There was just this one little thing left that she couldn’t understand, something that bothered her a lot. Yoomi wondered why her bonding mark— the one branded onto Junmyeon’s wrist— had color while the one on her wrist that she got from Junmyeon was just plain black like a normal ink job. Was there a reason for that? As far as she had researched, a vaeli’s unique symbol that is only revealed as a bonding mark was supposed to be plain black. Plus, each vaeli’s symbol was supposed to be special to that vaeli and was usually some kind of representation of their power. Hers was a tree. What could that mean? Maybe her power was somehow related to plants? But Yoomi hadn’t ever felt any kind of special connection to any plant. Something else that bothered her about the symbol, was that it looked eerily similar to the charm on her bracelet that she had received from her real, vaeli parents. They must have known about her power- the answers had to be somewhere in her lost memories, right?

It frustrated her how everything seemed to come back to her power (or so far, her lack thereof) and her missing past. She really wished that she’d be able to figure everything out soon. She didn’t express it often, but missing a whole chunk of memories of your life from your brain wasn’t easy to deal with, and it especially bothered her the most when she couldn’t relate to the stories people told of their own childhoods.

“Ugh, Jonginnnnn,” she whined aloud when his head finally surfaced through the hole in her floor, clearly not ready to meet his face again after only so soon. “What do you want from me?”

Jongin, now with half of his body above the hole, grinned at her and reached out a hand. “I promise you’re gonna like it, kitten. Come on, take my hand.”

Yoomi didn’t trust the devilish smile he had on his face but took his hand anyway when he started tapping his foot repeatedly with his hand still outstretched at her. The moment her hand was held firmly in his larger ones, the world seemed to warp all around her.

Barely a second later she blinked to see a room with one wall completely covered in mirrors. She blinked at her reflection and then glanced around at her new surroundings, still feeling a little lightheaded from teleporting again. Against one wall was a giant, black stereo and there were speakers hung up around the room as well for a surround-sound effect. The floor beneath her feet was shiny and wooden; it wasn’t hard for her to figure out that this must be the boys’ dance studio.

“Yoomi?”

“What is she doing here?”

The confused girl turned in the direction of the voices and noticed Yixing and Sehun standing next to the mirrored wall. Yixing was smiling at her brightly, his adorable dimples present as they always were. Sehun, on the other hand, had a scowl on his face, which caused her to frown. She had thought that after she had given him his new shirt and talked things out that he would put more effort into keeping his brattiness under control, but apparently not if he was still glaring at her like he wished she would just kneel over or spontaneously combust. Thankfully though, fire was Chanyeol’s power, not his.

“I wanted Yoomi to watch us practice,” explained Jongin, revealing the reason that she was there and why he came to find her again so soon after their last talk. Not that she entirely minded, since she was quite excited at the opportunity of getting to watch them dance. She had been interested in all of the boy’s specific hobbies and talents after she had heard about the various rooms in this house dedicated to them and learned of all the different clubs they participated in. She still felt a little awkward being around the other boys after her latest discovery and Jongin’s confession, but she pushed those feelings off and tried to keep her excitement to see them dance alive, distracting herself from her uneasiness.

Sehun scoffed, muttering something under his breath about not wanting the girl there, about her probably having better things to do with her mate. Yoomi scowled back at him at the way he said that word, like he hated it. Then a realization hit her and she felt a little bad. He had already said before that he didn’t want things to change, that he was worried she was stealing his hyungs away from him— “seducing them,” he had said. He probably thought that her bonding with Junmyeon was exactly that. Even worse, after he had just started opening up to her, he most likely saw this as a form of betrayal. That didn’t mean that she still wasn’t upset with him for turning bitter towards her again, even if she did believe that she knew the reasoning behind it. However, even so, he seemed even more angry with her than before.

Yixing scolded the maknae lightly and then offered Yoomi a seat in front of the mirrors where she would be out of their way but directly facing them. She sat down, thanking him, as Jongin went over to the stereo and began setting everything up, taking off his jacket to reveal a sleeveless shirt and really nice, toned arms. Now that she looked at them more closely, Sehun and Yixing were dressed in similar outfits, all of the boys wearing loose sleeveless shirts and sweatpants to comfortably dance in. Although she had been seeing the S-class boys in both the neat school uniforms and comfortable clothes they wore at home for almost a week already, she still couldn’t choose which look she liked on them better. In their uniforms they looked suave and elegant, and in casual clothing they looked more down-to-earth and approachable— you could even call it the boyfriend look. The boys in their pajamas was a whole different story, though.

The sound system in the room was impressive, with a large black stereo by the mirrors in the corner opposite of where she was sitting and speakers mounted around the room on the walls. The walls were a clean white color and blank. One wall, the one she was leaning against, consisted purely of floor-to-ceiling mirrors so that they could watch and critique themselves to better improve their dancing. The floor underneath them was a light colored wood, smooth and shiny just like any other dance studio floor. As she finished reassessing her surroundings in a more in-depth search, Jongin pressed play and the boys got into their positions as the song began.

The moment they began moving, they had all of Yoomi’s attention. Their movements flowed gracefully as they moved along to the slow, jazz-like beat, and she was captivated by their dance and the expressions they had on their faces while they moved around each other. It looked like a choreographed routine, their movements smooth and synchronized but relaxed at the same time. The song sounded a little sensual, somehow, and Yoomi had to shyly look away whenever they did body rolls, occasionally raising her hand to hide her flustered expression in hopes they wouldn’t notice her reaction.

Among the three of them, she really couldn’t decide who to look at, her eyes seeming to constantly flicker between them without lingering on anyone for an extended period of time. They were just all so good and so breathtaking.

Jongin would constantly look her way and send her little winks here and there, followed by a smug smirk whenever she pinked from the obvious flirting. His moves were the most graceful out of the three of them, and Yoomi found every move of his limbs beautiful. Yixing, who she had gathered from first impressions was this shy, introverted guy, turned out to be practically oozing with charisma and confidence while dancing— he had surprised her again, just like he had with his confidence and grace on the battlefield. Sehun, who had only ever shown the girl his lazy and bratty side, now looked more grown up than ever. With his smooth, languid moves and broad shoulders, Yoomi couldn’t help but think of how y he looked. There was just something about his almost blank, confident expression that made him seem relaxed and mysterious, instead of cold and sometimes mean like it usually did, and it was very attractive. And Yoomi did have to admit, she thought he looked the coolest out of the trio. In fact, she thought all of them had suddenly become ten times more attractive once they started dancing; and that’s saying something, considering how good looking they already were, to begin with.

Yoomi shot up from the ground the moment their first song ended, clapping her hands together excitedly in praise. She couldn’t help but be impressed and want to eagerly let them know it. “Wahhh! I never knew you guys could dance like that! You were all so cool!” She beamed at each of them, sincerely complimenting them on their dancing skills.

“Who do you think dances best, kitten?” Jongin inquired, all the while running a hand through his slightly wet, tousled hair, with beads of sweat running down his sharp jawline. Yoomi became momentarily distracted, watching the way the little droplets glistened against his skin and then roll down his neck. She was staring at them more intently than she probably should have been, and she cleared awkwardly when she realized this, forcing herself to refocus.

“Huh? What did you say?”

“I said, who do you think dances best out of us three?” That was a very difficult question to answer, and she had to take a while to survey each of them and think about it. In the end, Yoomi got her answer, and she told them with no hesitation, her usual confidence returning now that they were no longer assaulting her with their hypnotic dancing.

“Sehun!”

It seemed the girl’s answer shocked them, because for a moment nobody said anything and just looked at her wide-eyed with their jaws dropped. Sehun’s ears had turned red and he appeared embarrassed. He immediately looked away when she glanced at him, whipping his head to the side almost violently in his haste to avoid her gaze. Jongin opened his mouth to say something, but she stopped him before he could protest and start a potential argument.

“Dance more, guys! I wanna see more.” Yoomi grinned at them brightly, seriously wanting to see more of their amazing talent and charisma.

After half an hour of watching them dance to countless songs in countless genres, Yoomi’s stomach started to let out a low growl. She looked around to see if any of the guys had heard the monstrous noise, but they all seemed to be too engrossed in their dancing to notice. Not wanting to disturb them when they all seemed so focused, she quietly stood up and slipped out of the room in search of the kitchen.

Unsurprisingly, when she stumbled into the kitchen, she found Kyungsoo there. He seemed to always be in the kitchen, and the image always made Yoomi chuckle to herself, because Kyungsoo, who the other boys liked to call ‘Satansoo’, and was literally the textbook embodiment of a tsundere, liked both cooking and gardening. And he had flaming red hair. Weren’t tsunderes supposed to like...less domestic hobbies?

His back was to Yoomi as he stood chopping vegetables on the counter, but once he heard her footsteps, he turned around with an annoyed huff. “I already told you, Chanyeol. You are not allowed in here when—” he abruptly cut himself off when he saw that it was their newest and only female resident instead of Chanyeol, his frown melting into a look of surprise. The boy would have to work on getting used to seeing her around the house. “Yoomi.”

Quickly, he spun back around and continued chopping as if nothing happened. However, she could see that his shoulders were a little tenser than they were before, his movements stiffer, and when he spoke again his voice sounded almost shy. “W-what are you doing here?” Yoomi couldn’t help but inwardly giggle a little at his attitude change.

“I got hungry, so I thought I’d come to the kitchen and make myself a snack,” she answered, smiling at him even though he wasn’t looking at her to see it.

“That’s because you missed the afternoon snack,” she heard him mumble to himself underneath his breath. Choosing to ignore this, Yoomi pushed on.

“I can help you prepare dinner too though if that’s what you’re doing,” she offered eagerly. Yoomi enjoyed cooking, and spending time with Kyungsoo would allow her to get to know him better, so she didn’t mind it. She had loved cooking with him last time, despite the fact that she had hurt herself and completely destroyed any image of being a decent cook that she made for herself.

“I didn’t ask you to.” The girl saw Kyungsoo scowling at her lightly from the corner of her eye. She was about ready to open and say ‘But I want to’ when he continued. “I’m not even entirely sure you’re capable in the kitchen after what happened last time. Just wait here while I reheat your snack. Idiot,” he threw in for good measure. Yoomi’s mouth dropped open and she instantly began sputtering excuses and protests, slightly offended.

“I’m a great cook!” she exclaimed indignantly. “Everyone makes mistakes from time to time. I’ll prove it to you for real this time!” And with that, she gently bumped him to the side and picked up the knife he had discarded on the counter and began cutting the ingredients right where he left off with determination. She could hear Kyungsoo scoff at her, but he didn’t say anything or try to shoo her away, instead choosing to watch her work with crossed arms and criticizing eyes. Yoomi turned to him with a proud smile after she finished chopping the entire bowl’s contents and was surprised to find him looking down at her with a much softer expression than before, a tiny smile already on his face as well. His wide, expressive eyes widened further when she caught him staring at her, and he jerked his face away, his cheeks staining a light pink color.

“You’re better than Chanyeol,” he muttered lowly underneath his breath. Yoomi snickered to herself quietly, figuring that was his way of complimenting her or giving his approval of her cooking skills.

“Hey! I’m not that bad!” a loud, familiar voice called from the hallway. Yoomi chuckled quietly at Chanyeol’s pouting, while Kyungsoo scowled at the giant that was now standing in the kitchen’s doorway. Suddenly, Kyungsoo turned back to her and then roughly pushed a plate of the reheated strawberry pie into her hands with the small blush still on his face.

“Here’s your food,” he mumbled. “Come back in an hour if you want to help with dinner so much. Now shoo.”

“But—”

“My turn with Yoomi then!” Chanyeol cheered, a goofy grin on his face. He reached out with his long arms and snatched the girl up before she could even process what was going on or protest. Yoomi blinked at the new, higher up perspective, and it took her a minute to realize that she was hovering far above it, the gentle giant holding her bridal style in his arms.

“Uh, Chanyeol oppa?” she questioned hesitantly.

“Yes, Yoomi-ah?” he hummed in reply, the wide grin clear in his voice. He even snuggled the top of her head a little as he replied, causing the girl to become flustered. She cleared , a little thankful that he couldn’t see her flushed face.

“What are you doing?”

“Taking you to play,” he answered simply as if it was the most obvious and normal thing to do in the world.

“Okay,” Yoomi dragged out the word a little hesitantly and half-sarcastically, “but why are you carrying me?”

“I don’t know. It just seemed more fun this way.” He laughed, but when he spoke again he had a clear pout in his voice. “Why? Does it bother you?”

“Ermm, okay, then what are we playing?” Yoomi rushed to change topics, not wanting to admit she was slightly uncomfortable with the show of affection and not wanting to upset him either. The giant just seemed to be having so much fun she didn’t want to spoil it.

“You’ll see. You’re gonna like it.” With that, Chanyeol continued on his way, walking even faster now. It was an embarrassing position to be in, but Chanyeol sounded so excited about taking her to play that Yoomi didn’t have the heart to tell him to let her down. Besides, it wasn’t too bad. At the very least, she was taller now, and a part of her felt the urge to start being overdramatic again and shout about “all the little people that looked like ants down there”— however, she refrained from doing so. Chanyeol finally put her down in one of the chairs on the front porch after stepping outside, and Yoom