I.

A hand slammed against the wall next to Taekwoons head and the high school student flinched back. The upperclassman stared down at him.

"Aren't you going to say something?" He sneered. "You sure are mute, just like everyone says."

Taekwoon only stared back up at the other, hoping to look intimidating and not afraid. One of the guys friends started laughing. "Look at him, he looks like an angry cat. Maybe if you pet him, he'll be happy."

"Nah, if you touch him, you'll only catch a disease. You'll be mute too!" Another joked. The students started laughing. Nevertheless the upperclassman grabbed his hair.

"Well at least he has a pretty face, right guys?" He said. He got closer. "If you speak up, your face will be ruined." He whispered into Taekwoons ear. He shuddered, but tried to keep eye contact. The student leaned in and his face.

Taekwoon whimpered and opened his mouth to say something, but someone was faster than him.

"Hey, leave him alone and pick on someone out of your own year!" A voice shouted. "Or should I tell a teacher?"

The upperclassmen turned around and Taekwoon tried to catch a glance of the person who came to his aid. He reconized the boy immediately. Cha Hakyeon. He was in his class and the class president. Some said he had good chances to be the school council president the next year. Taekwoon never talked to him, but admired his compassion from afar. He was far to shy. Now Hakyeon stood there, his hands at his hips and an angry look in his eyes.

"We were about to leave." The upperclassman said with a sweet voice, before turning back to Taekwoon. "Freak!" He spat at him and walked away, his friends trailing behind him. Taekwoon looked after them, still trembling a bit.

"Are you okay?" Hakyeon asked immediately. "They didn't hit you, right?"

Taekwoon quickly scanned Hakyeon over. The boy looked seriously worried about him and he felt relieved because of it. It only took him a second, to acknowledge him being the perfect size for hugging and latched onto him, winding his arms around his chest.

Hakyeon just stood there and let him hug him. He rubbed small circles onto the larger boys back. "It's okay, Taekwoon-ah. They're gone." He mumbled into his ear.

"Thank you, Hakyeon-hyung." Taekwoon mumbled back, shyly, pulling him even closer. Hakyeon smelled like strawberries.

"Hey, so you can talk." Hakyeon exclaimed. "You should do so more often, you have a nice voice." He beamed at him and Taekwoon was sure that his heart skipped a beat. The other looked really pretty.

"But, you know, lunch break is almost over, you can let me go now."

~

II.

Taekwoon loved the company of Hakyeon. He was his best and only friend, or how Hakyeon liked to say it, his soulmate. They were inseperable.

"I think I'm going to audition at a label." Hakyeon said suddenly, in the lunch break. Taekwoons head snapped up. Hakyeon laughed at his antics. "What's wrong, Woonie?"

"What am I supposed to do then?" He asked, slightly anxious.

"You could try to audition as a singer." Hakyeon suggested. "You have a very nice singing voice and you love to sing."

Taekwoon was in almost full blown panic now. He didn't want to sing on stage in front of people. He just couldn't. So he did the next best thing and enveloped Hakyeon in a bear hug, burying his face in his shoulder.

"Aw, Taekwoon, no need to be shy, it's going to be okay." Hakyeon cooed and hugged the other back.

"What if they accept you, but not me? Or if they accept me, but not you? We would never have the time to see each other again." Taekwoon rambled. "I'm not able to do something like that without you. And what if I mess up at the audition?"

"Woonie, calm down." Hakyeon giggled. "I know you, you can be very serious if you want to be. And if they invite me and not you, I won't accept. I want to stay with you too."

Taekwoon blushed and hugged him tighter.

~

III.

It was late at night. The group got into a new dorm after the end of the MyDol shooting. Now they were officially a band. Taekwoon sighed and hugged his pillow. He got a room with Hakyeon, but the other was already asleep and he didn't want to wake him for cuddling, so instead he just stared at him.

The other suddenly turned towards him and giggled. "Can't sleep, Taekwoon?"

Taekwoon nodded. Without asking for confirmation, he walked to the others bed and wrapped his arms around Hakyeon. He breathed in Hakyeons smell, to calm himself down. "We made it." He whispered into his ear. Hakyeon nodded. Taekwoon only hugged him tighter.

"I.. I was really afraid that you wouldn't make it." He confessed. "I don't want you to leave me alone."

"Me too." Hakyeon replied. "But we're here right now." He smiled at the younger. Taekwoons heart skipped a beat again. "Yeah." He mumbled.

Hakyeon shuffled around a bit. "You're not going to go back, right?" He whispered. "Let's cuddle some more." Taekwoon didn't say anything. Hakyeon looked up at his face to realise, that he was already asleep. He sighed and settled against his chest.

When their manager was coming to wake them in the morning, they were still cuddling. He took a picture of them, before waking them up.

~

IV.

All the members were tiptoeing around Taekwoon and Hakyeon. They had a huge fight the previous evening about Hakyeons eating habits which had escalated. Hakyeon had sought asyl in Wonshik and Hongbins room for the night, because Taekwoon locked himself in their room. He had cried a while, Wonshik comforting him. After that he declared, that he would ignore Taekwoon from now on. The others were a bit worried, what that would mean for the group, but they had a few days off and hoped that the problem could be cleared in those days. But the next morning, Taekwoon was already gone and Hakyeon was his usual bubbly self.

Taekwoon came back in the evening and the happy atmosphere turned bleak. Sanhyuk and Hongbin excused themselves to play Mario Kart and Jaewhan and Wonshik disappeared into their rooms too.

Hakyeon sat on the couch, continuing to read his book. Taekwoon went to take a shower. When he came out, Hakyeon was still sitting on the couch. He sighed.

"Hey, Yeonie, I'm sorry." He apologised wholeheartly. Hakyeon flinched slightly, but ignored him elsewise. He turned the page.

Taekwoon sat down next to him, their knees almost touching. "I'm serious." He added, carefully. Hakyeon shrugged.

"I shouldn't have judged-" Taekwoon cut himself off and just hugged Hakyeon from the side. The older was warm. Taekwoon thought he was going to cry. "I'm sorry hyung." He said, using honorifics."I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. I was wrong." He sniffed, holding back his tears. "I was a terrible soulmate."

"Stop." Hakyeon said. "I'll start crying again." For the first time he turned to Taekwoon, tear in his eyes too. "I should have been better too. You.. you just told me what was best for me and I was childish."

Taekwoon hugged him properly now. "Does that mean you forgive me?" He whispered.

"Of course. I can't stay angry at you for too long." Hakyeon whispered back. The younger let out a relieved sigh.

Hongbin opened the door in that moment. "Ew, mom, dad do that somewhere else." He said and went to the kitchen.

"So you guys made up? Yay!" Jaewhan squealed and ran into the living room.

Hakyeon rolled his eyes and held onto Taekwoons hand.

~

V.

Taekwoon latched onto Hakyeon immediately after the show ended. It was their very first win and he couldn't help but to cry. Hakyeon was also in tears, but different of the last time they hugged while crying, these were happy tears. And different from other times was also, that it began as a solo hug, but then There were Jaewhans comforting hands on his back and Sanhyuks arms were wrapped around the two of them, Hongbin had a hand on one of their shoulders each and Wonshik was hugging the leader from behind. They all found the leader huggable. Hakyeon laughed and just let them pile on him.

~

+ I.

Hakyeon stormed into the dorm, shutting the door loudly behind himself. Jaewhan looked up from his video game to notice that he was crying.

"Hyung, what's wrong?" He asked, alarmed. Taekwoon looked out of the kitchen to see his soulmate shaking his head and disappearng into their shared room, shutting the door as loudly as before. Frowning he followed him, Jaewhan behind him.

"You stay here, watch over dinner." He said to the younger. The man pouted, but did as he was told.

Taekwoon knocked softly on the door. "Yeonie, it's Taekwoon. Can I come in?" There was no answer. He opened the door carefully. 

Hakyeon was lying on Taekwoons bed. When he saw Taekwoon standing in the door he jumped up and hugged the taller man tightly. Taekwoon almost stumbled back. Instead, he closed the door and hugged his friend back.

"Hey, what's wrong, Yeonie?" He asked him.

"They said I needed to lose weight, that I was getting fat." Hakyeon whispered. "But I already feel terrible when I dance. If I lose weight, I can't keep up anymore. We barely finish for deadlines already."

"It's alright." Taekwoon comforted him, putting a hand on his hair. "It's going to be alright. You don't have to be perfect all the time. Dissappointing the company once, isn't going to get us disbanded."

Hakyeon now sobbed openly, tears soaking Taekwoons shirt. The younger walked to the bed, lying sideways onto it. He pressed a kiss to his forehead. "I'll stay with you, no matter what happens." He whispered and rubbed small circles on his back.

"Thanks, Woonie." Hakyeon whispered. "I love you."

Taekwoon hesitated first, but then he answered. "I love you too, Yeonie."