Mark's morning could not have been going any worse. He woke up already sleep deprived; all of his honors class homework and volunteer work and stuff for the Christian Club keeping him up way too late. Yuta had accidentally overslept, so he picked Mark up for school too late to grab coffee on their way. His hair was refusing to stay into place, yet another pimple had popped onto his face, and of course, those damn freshman decided to park their asses next to Mark's locker. 

Mark knew their names well, despite despising them with a passion: Jaemin, Chenle, Jisung, and his least favorite out of his group of least favorites, Donghyuck. The most obnoxious, loud, and overactive one of them all, blabbering on and on about a 'double shantay,' whatever the that meant, taking up all of Mark's personal space without even noticing. Would he ever just shut up? And Mark wasn't calmed by the fact that he'd have to see stupid Donghyuck in english class later that day. 

Mark grabbed his books and physically slammed his locker shut, hoping at least that loud noise would get Donghyuck to back up at least a little bit. He was far too close to Mark for his liking; if he got any closer maybe Mark would catch some of that disease of obnoxiousness Donghyuck seemed to have. But Donghyuck was still completely and utterly oblivious, just laughing and laughing with his friends like no one else ing existed. 

In jest, Chenle pushed Donghyuck slightly after Donghyuck called Chenle 'the Jiggly Caliente of their friend group' (Mark thought it was ridiculous how they almost spoke in a kind of code), but the act only pushed Donghyuck in closer to Mark. Close enough, in fact, for Donghyuck's back to brush up against Mark's arm. 

Immediately after that initial contact Donghyuck whipped around to face Mark. For a half a second, Mark wondered why Donghyuck seemed to be so stunned, but then he felt it too. 

Mark grimaced and shook his head as the feeling of electricty started to flow from his arm out to the rest of his body. Jaemin had explained to him how it had felt when he touched Jeno, how he felt so tingly and how his heart had fluttered just thinking about Jeno. Sadly, Mark felt sort of the same way, hating how affection for Donghyuck began to bubble up inside of him. He couldn't deny it. Of course, of course, Lee Donghyuck was his soulmate. 

Mark had to lean on his locker to steady his balance. He felt so overwhelmed, almost to the point of a pounding headache, and Donghyuck's smirking, proud, expression immediately became one of concern. 

"Are you okay?" He asked genuinely, reaching out his arm to try to steady Mark. 

"Don't touch me," Mark grumbled under his breath, and Donghyuck immediately tore his hand away and put it behind his back. That nice, sweet attitude faded quickly though, replaced by Donghyuck's usual cocky smirk. 

"You're just so shocked it's me, the hottest freshman at our school," Donghyuck responded, giving Mark the greasiest of winks. 

Mark wretched and glared at Donghyuck as his friend's watched in surprise. 

"I literally hate you," Mark responded. 

Donghyuck didn't seem fazed by the comment and just shrugged. "You won't for long," Donghyuck responded. Just then, the bell rang, and Mark released a grateful sigh. 

"See you around," Donghyuck spoke, looking Mark over before heading off to class. 

~~~~~~~~~~

"Okay, thank god it's lunch now, because Jisung and I have stuff to tell you guys that's really important! We didn't have time this morning because of, uh, Donghyuck and Mark," Chenle spoke as he sat down at the lunch table with Jisung, Jaemin, and Donghyuck. 

"Go ahead," Jaemin responded. 

Chenle and Jisung shared an ecstatic look before turning to the others. "We met our soulmates!" They squealed in unison. Donghyuck and Jaemin looked at them in happy surprise. 

"When? How?" Donghyuck asked. 

"So last night we went to the fall showcase at the school of the arts, right? And after the show we met these two amazing actors," Chenle explained. 

"And we accidentally brushed arms with them, and....it happened!" Jisung squealed. 

"They're both juniors so they drove us all to Granite Run Diner for a double date, and we both got our first kisses!" Chenle cheered. Jisung and him shared another excited smile. 

"I'm so happy for you guys," Donghyuck sincerely spoke. 

"Me too," Jaemin softly added. 

"So how are things going with your matches?" Chenle asked. 

"Okay, Mark is the most adorable thing on this planet, and I was telling you guys that for ages but didn't listen. He's so smart; he's in like all honors classes. And I'm smart too, I mean, the school bumped me up to sophomore english class even though I'm a freshman. So I'd say things are going pretty well!" Donghyuck responded. 

"Have you guys talked since this morning?" Jisung asked. 

"No," Donghyuck responded with a little shrug. 

"I mean, he didn't seem all that excited..." Jaemin spoke. "It doesn't look like things are going well to me." 

"He's going to love me, I promise that. I mean, I already ing adore him. I miss him like crazy even though we just spoke this morning. Those soulmate chemicals really kick in fast, don't they? And he's got to be feeling the same way, even if he thinks he doesn't like me," Donghyuck mused. 

Jaemin simply stayed silent at Donghyuck's words. Donghyuck was right, those soulmate chemicals did kick in fast. Jaemin missed Jeno. They'd waved when they passed each other in the halls, but it wasn't nearly enough. Jaemin had only felt empty, feverish, and touch starved since a few days before when him and Jeno first realized. Jaemin wanted to respect Jeno's prior relationship, but god was it hard. At least Jeno had his boyfriend to comfort him, Jaemin didn't really have anyone. 

He wondered a lot how Jeno was getting on. Had Jeno told his boyfriend about him yet? Did his boyfriend meet his or her soulmate? What did Jeno's boyfriend look like? Was he better looking than Jaemin? Probably, Jaemin thought. Mostly, Jaemin was worried if Jeno was okay or not. Jaemin was definitely not okay, but that didn't really matter as long as Jeno felt okay. Jaemin was fairly sure that the chemicals would make them both feel the same way, but, again, Jeno had his boyfriend. At the very least, maybe his boyfriend would make him okay. 

Another presence at the table brought Jaemin out of his head. Nobody ever sat at their table with them. Looking up, Jaemin was surprised to see it was Mark, wearing his usual bitter old lady brigade grumpy expression, glaring hard at Donghyuck. Still, he sat next to him, even scooting in closer. 

Donghyuck wore a smug smile and looked over at Mark. "Well well well. I told you that you wouldn't hate me for long." 

"I still hate you," Mark grumbled. "But I figured that if we're stuck together, I might as well try to get to know you." 

"You couldn't resist me," Donghyuck cooed. 

"I could've, if it weren't for the damn chemicals," Mark responded with a glare. Chenle, Jisung, and Jaemin all shared a look, deciding it was best to go sit somewhere else and leave the two alone for a little while. 

As Donghyuck's friends left, Mark stared pointedly as his food as Donghyuck watched Mark curiously. 

"Why are you looking at me?" Mark whined. 

"You're attractive," Donghyuck simply responded, and Donghyuck grinned at the way Mark's cheeks flushed red. "I've thought so for a while," Donghyuck admitted in a slightly lower tone. 

Donghyuck chuckled and Mark finally looked up at him, his expression softening as soon as he saw Donghyuck's face. 

"What?" Mark asked. 

Donghyuck grinned at him. "You're a softie," he said. "You've been wanting to find your soulmate. You act all bitter and salty with the world, but deep down, you're a romantic. You're such a romantic that you don't even mind that it's me." 

Mark turned his head away again and stared at his lunch. Maybe Donghyuck was a little right. 

Just then, the bell rang for lunch, and Mark immediately stood up to go put away his food. Donghyuck stayed seated, watching Mark's frame pass by with a gentle smile. 

"I'm going to spice up your life!" Donghyuck shouted after Mark. Mark turned his head down and blushed, but he couldn't stop himself from smiling. 

Was he really blushing? Because of his least favorite person, Donghyuck? These soulmate chemicals were really powerful. Too powerful, in Mark's mind. 

"Dude, why are you blushing?" Yuta teased as Mark passed by him. "Didn't you go to sit with Donghyuck?" 

Mark turned even redder than he already was and cursed himself internally. Yuta slowly smirked. 

"He made you blush! Wow, I'm starting to think all that hatred for him you had was actually just a secret crush." 

"No way!" Mark cried. "I still hate him," he spoke, and stomped off. Yuta was definitely wrong, but maybe Donghyuck was right: he could make Mark not hate him. 

~~~~~~~~~~

"Look at him. What a ing show off," Doyoung whispered to Taeil. The pair were sitting in choir after school, watching as Jaehyun conversed and laughed with their choir instructor. 

"He's just...talking to her," Taeil responded. He was not in the mood to deal with Doyoung's completely unfounded hatred of Jaehyun that day; he missed Johnny way too much for his liking. Yes, he didn't want to think about Johnny any more, but he also didn't want to think about Doyoung's stupidity. 

"No, he's kissing her . He's probably trying to get himself yet another solo song, as if he doesn't already have enough," Doyoung complained. Taeil couldn't deny that Jaehyun did get a lot of solos, but they weren't understood. Sometimes, Taeil understood why his group of friends was called the bitter old lady brigade, only because of Doyoung's jealousy and competitiveness when it came to Jaehyun. 

"Doyoung, I'd like to speak with you after rehearsal," the choir teacher spoke, and Doyoung barely held back a groan. Doyoung nodded at her before turning to Taeil. 

"He took away one of my solos with his stupid charm, I just know it," Doyoung complained, and Taeil just rolled his eyes, ignoring the vibration of his phone. 

The advanced choir moved onto the next song, and Taeil was grateful. Doyoung's singing voice was beautiful, but his talking voice could get extremely annoying. Jaehyun kept looking over at them, and Doyoung kept giving Taeil side eye. Great. 

When the song was over Doyoung immediately turned back to Taeil, huffing angrily. 

"Why does he keep looking at me? He's trying to get into my head," Doyoung whispered. Taeil shook his head, and their choir instructor announced their practice was over for the evening. 

"I'll wait for you," Taeil said. As much as he didn't want to hear Doyoung blabber about how annoying Jaehyun was the whole way home, he didn't have another ride, and Taeil felt kind of bad. 

Doyoung and Jaehyun sat down in front of the choir teacher. 

"Doyoung, Jaehyun has brought up the brilliant idea of turning his solo song into a duet between the two of you for the competition in the spring. Do you want to do it?" She asked. 

Doyoung knew exactly what Jaehyun was trying to do. Obviously, Jaehyun was going to give Doyoung part of his song, then totally outshine him and humiliate him by being so much better on the day of the performace. No way! Doyoung would take the duet and outsing Jaehyun and ruin all of his little schemes!

"Of course I'd love to participate," Doyoung said sweetly, and the teacher clearly bought it. 

"Great! Jaehyun can give you some of his extra sheet music. See you on Thursday!" The teacher spoke before leaving the two of them alone. 

Jaehyun rushed over to his backpack, shuffling through his papers to find the music before handing the sheets to Doyoung with trembling hands.

"Here you go," Jaehyun said, his cheeks turning pink. He's afraid I'll figure out his scheme, Doyoung thought. That's why he's so nervous.

Doyoung quickly snatched the papers out of Jaehyun's hands, their fingers brushing up against each others. 

Jaehyun gasped just a moment later and Doyoung immediately dropped those papers onto the ground. 

Doyoung's fingertips had become fireworks and he knew, oh, he knew, this was it. Jaehyun was his soulmate now, the one meant for him. His skin flushed with heat and the buzz of electricity and he couldn't even think of moving from the spot he was in. Jaehyun, his rival, his frankly attractive rival (Doyoung was only noticing it just now), was now his perfect match. Doyoung couldn't even fathom it. 

When Doyoung finally gained the courage up at Jaehyun he was shocked. Instead of looking angry, he just looked...happy. Jaehyun looked so happy, he was grinning from ear to ear and looking at Doyoung like he was his entire world. 

From the sidelines, Doyoung could sort of make out the sound of Taeil laughing, but it quickly faded from Doyoung's mind. Instead, he was thinking about what kind of scheming Jaehyun was doing now. Pretending he's excited to be my soulmate now so he can me over later? I always knew Jaehyun was cruel, but not this cruel, Doyoung thought, turning his head back away from Jaehyun. 

"C-can I give you a ride home?" Jaehyun asked, and saw that Taeil was giving him a look. Taeil gave Doyoung an uncomfortable smile and immediately ran off, and Doyoung knew he would have to catch a ride with Jaehyun. 

"Sure," Doyoung responded as calmly as he could, grabbing his backpack and slipping it on. Jaehyun did the same and suddenly gripped Doyoung's hand, leading him into the parking lot. Jaehyun's hand was soft and warm and it sent more of those soulmate tingles shooting up his arm, and it was just too much. 

Hand and hand, with a very gleeful Jaehyun and a very confused Doyoung, the new pair walked into the parking lot and to Jaehyun's car. They stepped inside and Jaehyun shut the doors before turning towards Doyoung. 

"O-oh my god Doyoung, you don't know...you have no idea how much this means to me," Jaehyun spoke, looking at Doyoung with so much affection in his eyes that Doyoung just didn't know what to feel. "Before I start driving I just have to tell you this, I've had a crush on you since the day we met--"

"We met in preschool," Doyoung interrupted. 

"Of course! And I've had a crush on you since the day we met, and I've always been too scared to confess to you, and now it happened for me! And we can be together. I've gotten everything I wanted in life except for you, and now I have that too. This is the best day of my life!" Jaehyun cheered excitedly. 

"I-I'm excited too," Doyoung stuttered out, still incredibly confused, as Jaehyun began to drive the car. 

As they drove to Doyoung's house Jaehyun continued to blabber on, about all the different times he'd thought Doyoung was amazing or perfect and all the times he'd almost confessed but hadn't over the years that they'd known each other. Doyoung barely listened though; he had way too much to think about. 

Doyoung was, first and foremost, confused. Doyoung hadn't seen their relationship as the crusher and the crushee, he'd seen it as a fourteen year long rivalry between the two of them. Because of this, he couldn't help but think that everything Jaehyun was saying was all lies, lies he was making up to try and make Doyoung vulnerable and weak, and then stab him in the back. He would make Doyoung fall for him and then just turn around and break his heart, just to get ahead. But Jaehyun looked and sounded so sincere that Doyoung even had to doubt himself for a moment. 

Not only was Doyoung confused about Jaehyun, but he was confused about himself. Of course, he still despised Jaehyun: in Doyoung's mind they were rivals, and that was all. But part of him was starting to see Jaehyun's appeal that everyone in his grade seemed to see. He was handsome, although Doyoung had just been jealous of it before now he could really appreciate it. He was also saying really kind things to Doyoung, making his heart flutter and his cheeks blush despite himself. 

Had he been wrong all along? Was Jaehyun not this cruel guy who only cared about grades and beating out Doyoung, or was that Doyoung projecting his own self onto Jaehyun? 

No way. Doyoung was never wrong; he had to keep his guard up. Just because they were soulmates, didn't mean that Jaehyun wouldn't be willing to twist this into something horrible. 

But when they pulled into Doyoung's driveway he was pulled back into a state of debate. Jaehyun interlaced his fingers with Doyoung's and gave him the most soft and adoring of smiles, and Doyoung couldn't stop himself from smiling back. 

"Here's to the best relationship ever, just beginning. Are you ready?" Jaehyun softly asked Doyoung. 

No, he absolutely wasn't ready. "Y-yeah," Doyoung stuttered back, giving Jaehyun a grimace and tearing his hand away, some of the electricity dissipating. He reached down for his backpack and slipped it on, opening the car door. 

"Bye," Doyoung said simply. 

"Goodbye, my Doyoung," Jaehyun whistfully responded, watching Doyoung go. 

Doyoung slammed the door shut and walked over to his front door, searching for his keys in his bag. He pulled his keys out and jiggled them in the lock, turning to watch Jaehyun's car. Jaehyun locked eyes with him and made finger hearts, blowing him a kiss before pulling out of the driveway and heading him. Doyoung simply sighed, opening the front door. He was ready to stare up at the ceiling for a few hours and just think.