It wasn’t until Chanyeol pointed it out at lunch the next day that Baekhyun noticed the name tattooed on his arm. He’d completely forgotten about the failure of a ritual he’d done. Writing a message for his soulmate, indeed.

‘It’s nothing, was just messing around.’ He gestured dismissively. Chanyeol arched his brows.

‘Didn’t know you liked Luhan that much…’ he stated, out of nowhere, waggling his brows. ‘Something I need to know about you, eh?’

Baekhyun gave him the most unimpressed look he could manage with a mouthful of rice. ‘Make sense or shut up.’

Chanyeol grinned widely. ‘No need to get defensive. Luhan’s a fine man.’

Baekhyun almost gave himself a squint, he rolled his eyes so hard. ‘Why do you keep bringing up Luhan?’ The only reason Baekhyun even knew about him was because of Mei’s incessant fangirling. He had no idea why Chanyeol would be interested in him, unless…

‘I didn’t know you swung that way.’ He eyed his friend with frank curiosity, mildly disgusted when he sprayed his juice all over the table, choking and sputtering.

‘What?’ Chanyeol coughed.

‘Isn’t that why you keep mentioning Luhan? Because you like him?’

‘Who does Chanyeol like?’ Kyungsoo asked, slipping beside them with his tray.

‘No one!’

‘Luhan!’

Baekhyun and Chanyeol spoke up simultaneously, then started throwing chips at each other. Kyungsoo ignored them, focusing on his food. ‘Isn’t Luhan… the idol Mei likes?’ he asked after a moment.

Both friends forgot their tussle at the comment. Baekhyun broke out of the shock first. ‘You know who Mei likes?’

Kyungsoo shrugged noncommittally but Baekhyun noticed his ears turning red. ‘Well, she speaks about him a lot. It’s hard to miss.’

Getting a rare moment to tease Kyungsoo, Baekhyun pounced. ‘Uh huh. And I suppose you know my and Chanyeol’s favorite idols too? Since we talk about them all the time.’

Kyungsoo’s blush spread to his cheeks but he met Baekhyun’s eyes solidly. ‘I’m not interested in you, Byun.’

Chanyeol gasped dramatically, clutching at his heart. ‘Ooh, that was so manly!’ he declared.

Baekhyun laughed obligingly but it felt forced. Something about Kyungsoo’s straightforward statement hit him in the gut, the same way it had last night – that he may very well lose Mei to someone else; he couldn’t keep her to himself forever because that wasn’t his place. He wasn’t her soulmate.

‘Why were you guys talking about Luhan?’ Kyungsoo asked but Baekhyun’s ignored him, mind reeling with the sudden realization.

He didn’t want Mei to find anyone else; he wanted to be her soulmate. Did that mean...?

‘Baek?’ Chanyeol and Kyungsoo were looking at in concern. ‘You okay, man?’

‘Huh?’ He blinked, disoriented. ‘What?’

‘Never mind,’ Chanyeol patted his shoulder. ‘It’s probably Mei’s doing anyway.’

Hearing her name made his heart jump, made his throat dry. He swallowed. ‘What is?’

‘That.’ Kyungsoo nodded at his wrist. Baekhyun glanced down and felt his stomach drop.

Where he’d so painstakingly printed his own name, as a message for his soulmate, sat another familiar name in equally familiar writing.

Luhan. Perfectly shaded in bold letters. An exceedingly familiar doodle he’d often seen on Mei’s own wrist.

Mei.

Mei was his soulmate.

‘.’ He buried his head in his hands.

…………………………

Mei was exhausted.

Well, it was to be expected, seeing how late she’d stayed up, talking with Baekhyun. That did not make going to class any easier.

She was yawning in her palm five minutes into class and spent most of the time staring unseeingly at the board. Usually she was decently active in class discussions but today, she just wanted to put her head down and sleep. She was so tired, she wasn’t even doodling, too exhausted to even bother picking a pen. Maybe she’d ask someone for notes later.

Decided, she closed her eyes and promptly dozed off. Her mind was a jumble of confused thoughts, mingled with the drone of her professor’s voice and different noises coming inside and outside the class.

She didn’t know what made her look down, but she opened one eye to glance at her hand for some reason. And then, blinked, opening both eyes and staring at the words inscribed on her wrist.

Baekhyun. Written in Baekhyun’s own scratchy handwriting that she would recognize anywhere.

She stared at it uncomprehendingly. Last thing she remembered writing on it was Luhan’s name. Had Baekhyun, for some inexplicable reason, written his name on her wrist?

She tilted her head, something niggling in the back of her head. Was this revenge for that one time she’d written her name on his neck and it had led to some confusions with his then-girlfriend, Taeyeon?

She’d already apologized for that! She’d felt so guilty, thinking that Baekhyun and Taeyeon had fought so badly because of her, even though he’d assured her it wasn’t the case.

How utterly preposterous!

She was so irritated, she stood up, intent on marching up to him and demanding an explanation.

The sudden silence around her registered the same moment she realized she was in class.

‘Yes, Mei?’ her professor asked politely, looking mildly confused.

Mei blushed. ‘Nothing, I, uh, wanted to go… to the toilet.’

He nodded, resuming his lecture and Mei threw her head down, quickly grabbing her things and walking out. It wasn’t like she’d been doing anything useful in class anyway.

The outside air and sunlight seemed to freshen her up a bit and she reconsidered her idea of marching into Baekhyun’s class to demand answers. There had to be some reasonable explanation for it, right?

It wouldn’t be the first time either of them had doodled on some part of the other – call it a bad habit but when she had a pen in her hand, she tended to target the person next to her, to draw something or the other. And Baekhyun was pretty much the same with her. So maybe he’d felt like doodling and picked her arm as his canvas… that wasn’t outside the realm of possibility.

It didn’t feel quite right but she couldn’t think this much on an empty stomach and a sleepy head. Instead, she trudged, trusting her feet to take her to the café.

She wasn’t looking where she was going so it wasn’t surprising that she bumped into someone. That someone turning out to be Taeyeon, Baekhyun’s ex and their senior, most definitely was.

‘Sorry!’ Mei exclaimed the same time Taeyeon recognized her.

‘Mei, right? Baekhyun’s best friend?’ she asked, smiling and putting her hand out, presumably for Mei to shake. She obliged, holding the hand gingerly, not sure what to say or how to react.

She was supposed to hate Taeyeon on principle – since the woman was responsible for the insecurity and vulnerability Baekhyun now carried around with him, along with the high walls he’d built around himself, letting no one in – not even Mei, for a small, horrible amount of time.

On the other hand, she’d always liked Taeyeon, who was nice and actually kind of cool to hang out with and she’d never done anything to make Mei hate or dislike her as a person.

Taeyeon didn’t seem to find talking to her awkward at all.

‘How have you been? How’s Baekhyun?’ she asked, smiling prettily. Mei felt an irrational bolt of jealousy – it was the smile Baekhyun had fallen for.

‘Good, thanks. Baek’s been good too,’ she stated, not sure where her stiff defensiveness was coming from. She changed the subject away from herself. ‘What are you doing here?’

Taeyeon had graduated. Baekhyun had stopped having his one-man pity parties and come out of his self-imposed social exile. Mei had done her best to be a supportive best friend, but she wasn’t sure how he would react if Taeyeon showed up in his life again.

‘Oh, just collecting my degree. I couldn’t attend the convocation because of my job but I was in the area, so I thought I should get it done. It’s already been two years, haha…’

Mei laughed along obligingly.

‘So, what about you?’

Taeyeon fell in step with her naturally, lightly chatting about different things and they headed to the cafeteria together, Mei offering to buy her some lunch. Taeyeon declined. ‘My boyfriend’s coming to pick me up soon, so…’

‘Oh…’ Mei tried not to show her curiosity, but it must’ve shown on her face because Taeyeon answered.

‘We met last year… he’s…’ She smiled again, a little shy. ‘Actually, he’s also my soulmate.’

Mei squealed, clapping her hands. Soulmates were a big deal, no matter how cynical the world had turned about them. ‘Wow, that’s just amazing! How did you guys meet?’

‘Um…’ Taeyeon looked a little uncomfortable for the first time since running into her. ‘I was pretty torn up after Baekhyun, so…’

‘Wait, you were torn up?’ Mei let out a disbelieving laugh. ‘You were the one who dumped him.’

Taeyeon gave her a pained smile. ‘Because it wasn’t going to work out, no matter how much I wanted it to.’

‘How can you say that? Baekhyun’s never been so dedicated to anyone in his life!’

Now she looked sad. ‘I know… I know it hurt him a lot, but I couldn’t pretend it didn’t bother me any longer and he… he’d rather have died than give you up.’

Mei gaped. ‘What?’

Taeyeon frowned. ‘You know, I did not come here to relive that particular period of my life. I’m not proud of how I behaved and…

‘You’re not making any sense…’ Mei was still stuck on her previous words. ‘You… guys broke up because of me?’ Baekhyun had sworn she had nothing to do with it.

Taeyeon sighed. ‘I like to think it was because we weren’t soulmates and it would’ve ended anyway. But yeah, pretty much. You came between us.’

Mei’s face must’ve reflected her regret because she laughed, leaning forward to pat her arm.

‘Hey, I don’t blame you, not anymore. It’s just… you two were so close and I was so jealous because I wanted to be as close to him, to know him as instinctively as you two seemed to know each other.’

She looked away, chewing her lip thoughtfully. ‘But… that was before I’d found my own soulmate. It’s hard to explain to anyone else but I think you’d get it.’

Mei spoke, through her dry throat. ‘Get it?’

‘What having a soulmate actually feels like.’ She smiled serenely, not noticing Mei’s gawking. ‘They make it into such a big deal in the movies… or make it seem like something so impossible or magical but in reality, it’s just so… comfortable and easy… like breathing.’ She sighed, starting when her phone beeped. ‘Oh, he’s here.’

She turned to Mei. ‘So, listen. It’s been actually nice to get it all off my chest. I always wanted to tell you – vengefully, if I’m being honest – that you broke us apart. But well, it all worked out for the best.’

‘And I know I hurt Baekhyun a lot, but I truly wish you guys the best. What you two have is precious.’ She nodded. ‘I should get going now. Say hi to him from me, will you?’

‘Wait!’ Mei finally unglued her tongue. ‘What… what do you mean? About me and Baekhyun?’

Taeyeon’s eyes expanded. ‘Oh, you aren’t together? I’m sorry, I thought…’

‘We’re just… we’re not…’ Mei’s words trailed off, the thought fading. Were they soulmates?

Taeyeon eyed her, understanding. ‘Don’t push it; things will fall into place when they’re meant to. But you guys are soulmates. Take it from the person who tried to come between them.’

She was gone before Mei could come up with any reply, though what she would say, she had no idea.

Nothing Taeyeon said made any sense… and yet, in her heart of hearts, it felt right.

It couldn’t be though, right? Baekhyun couldn’t be her soulmate, right? That was Kyungsoo…

The words felt wrong on her tongue and Mei shut up.

She was far too sleep-deprived and hungry, and she obviously wasn’t thinking straight. And Taeyeon was probably a hallucination. Or maybe the girl had lost it after meeting her soulmate.

Determinedly, she stuffed her face without tasting anything and ignored the name that was suddenly burning on her wrist.

………………………………………

A/N

The plot thickens...