Baekhyun wasn’t home when she returned and for once, she was glad. She wasn’t sure how she would react to his presence, not with Taeyeon’s words echoing inside her head.

You guys are soulmates…

It wasn’t that the notion didn’t make sense. In fact, it was the opposite – it made perfect, absolute sense. Who else could be her soulmate but Baekhyun? The guy she’d known her entire life, who knew her inside out, who could tell how she felt without her having to say a single word, who knew exactly how to comfort her and…

But what about Kyungsoo? her mind objected.

Kyungsoo was the perfect guy for her. He loved taking care of people and she loved being taken care of. And he was genuinely into her, paid attention to her likes and dislikes; heck, he even cooked for her. He could totally be her soulmate too.

And besides, hadn’t all the signs pointed at Kyungsoo anyway? All the stupid rituals she’d done…

Her mind flashed to the night when she’d sat down and prayed to be shown a sign and just then, her phone had rung.

And it had been Baekhyun on the other end of the line, not Kyungsoo.

And her initials had ended up on his skin, even though she’d dismissed it as an accident.

‘Ugh!’ she groaned, throwing her bag aside and slumping on the bed. Why? Why did Taeyeon have to show up out of nowhere and mess her head up? ‘Ugh!’ she groaned again, turning over and staring blankly at the wall.

Why did life have to be so confusing? She’d been perfectly happy thinking Kyungsoo was her soulmate…

Her heart rejected that statement vehemently, a jolting ache going through her. She closed her eyes, Kyungsoo’s resigned face coming into view, a sad smile on his face. Do you know, Mei?

Did she?

She sighed, opening her eyes and glancing down at her wrist.

She’d deliberately avoided looking at the name that was just an ink doodle but felt like it was engraved in her skin, permanently tattooed. Baekhyun.

She didn’t know anything. She was Jon Snow. Heck, even Jon Snow knew more than she did at this point.

Her stomach grumbled loudly, reminding her that she needed to eat but she simply rolled over, curling in on herself. Hunger could wait until she had her answers.

Thinking, disturbed, she drifted off.

……………………………………………

Baekhyun made sure to return home super late. He didn’t want to come face to face with Mei because he had no idea how he’d react, now that he knew she was his soulmate. Knowing himself, he’d probably throw himself at her and confess everything.

And he couldn’t do that. For one, Kyungsoo was his friend and had made his interest in Mei plenty clear.

Mostly, he was just afraid he was wrong, and Mei would reject him.

After all, they’d been together all their life and knew each other inside out. He knew all about her silly crushes on his older brother and his friends, just like she knew about his crush on her cousin who visited them on weekends and that the reason he’d started working out was to impress Taeyeon.

With how close they were, wouldn’t they have been together already if they were indeed soulmates? He was afraid he was projecting his fear of losing Mei and twisting things to suit himself.

Besides, no girl in her right mind would pick him over Kyungsoo, soulmate or not. Taeyeon had it right when she said he was too much to handle. He knew it to be true, knew that he let his vulnerabilities get the best of him, got too clingy and needy. And while he could – and had – survived Taeyeon dumping him, he wouldn’t survive if Mei rejected him. Just the thought made his chest hurt, made his lungs constrict as if there was no air.

And who knew, maybe Mei had been too lazy to take out a paper while talking to him after her date and doodled on him instead. It had happened before. He knew she’d talked to him, vaguely remembered hearing her voice wash over him soothingly before he’d dropped into that nightmare.

The nightmare where he couldn’t find Mei; he’d been chasing after her figure, but it kept disappearing in a mist until he could see nothing, hear nothing except his own hoarse cries of her name. See? He was this clingy, even in his dreams.

Mei could do so much better than him.

The thought brought a bitter taste to his throat, but he swallowed it. Mei seemed to have gone to sleep already and he was glad for it. Quietly, he went to his own room and fell into a disturbed sleep.

………………………………………

Mei had another dream.

Baekhyun was peering up at her, his face ragged, eyes red-rimmed, and tears still creating tracks on his face. An all too familiar sight, unfortunately. This was Baekhyun right after Taeyeon had dumped him, insecure, afraid of losing her, of opening up lest he got hurt again.

Her heart clenched in pain at the sight and instinctively, she moved to hold him.

The moment her fingers touched his face though, he flinched, curling in one himself.

‘Don’t…’ he muttered hoarsely, sounding broken. ‘Don’t make promises you can’t keep…’ He heaved with each word he said, sounding close to breaking down.

‘I’m not.’ She sounded just as broken, as hoarse, and tears filled her eyes. The fact that he was questioning her loyalty was enough to tell her just how badly he’d been hurt. A surge of hate went through her, hatred for Taeyeon for breaking him like this, for making him think he was somehow responsible for making people leave, that it was he who made them abandon him.

He shook his vehemently. ‘You’re lying,’ he accused, not looking at her. ‘You’re going to leave too, you’re going to leave with Kyungsoo and I’ll be alone again-’ His voice cracked at that and he started sobbing in earnest.

‘Baekhyun, no!’ she exclaimed, ignoring the way he tried to push her away and wrapping her arms around him. ‘I will never leave you, ever! How can you even think that?’

He muttered something unintelligible but Mei felt her heart unclench just a little when he eased into her hug, his own hands coming to rest around her waist. She made a questioning noise. ‘Hm?’

He shook his head, arms tightening, pulling her in so they were meshed together. Still he kept curling her in as if trying to get even closer. If it were anyone else, she’d protest but with Baekhyun, she merely tightened her own arms in response. It felt right. It felt like home.

‘This…’ he spoke right next to her ear, his breath making her shiver, ‘…is right; this is where you belong.’ His words echoed her thoughts. ‘Right here, with me.’

Maybe it was the dream. Maybe Taeyeon’s words were still clinging to her.  But she could feel that it was true, could feel just how badly she wanted it to be true. Instead of saying anything, she turned her head, nestling into his neck. Her arms were still wrapped around him and in that moment, she felt more at peace than she’d ever felt before.

‘We belong together,’ she murmured, feeling him squirm as her breath hit his neck. He didn’t pull away, just tilted his head back to meet her eyes. She smiled; he smiled back, eyes clearing and the sadness leaving his face. The tear tracks were still there and his eyes were still shining but he was smiling and to Mei, that felt like the biggest accomplishment.

‘We do,’ he affirmed. There was a momentary lapse, then he leaned down. She could see the intent on his face, knew she could pull back if she wanted to. But she stayed put, waiting until she felt his warm breath hit her lips and then, her eyes closed.

Her lips were tingling when she woke up, heart thudding with the intensity of her dream. As usual, it was slipping away faster than she could recall but her heart felt strangely at peace.

…………………………………

She didn’t go outside to get a drink, knowing she’d find Baekhyun there, knowing she couldn’t face him just yet. Instead she stayed in her bed, staring at her ceiling, thinking.

If Taeyeon was indeed right and Baekhyun was her soulmate…

Maybe the girl was just trying to make up for being cruel to Baekhyun, maybe she felt bad for having been jealous of Mei. Or maybe she was just trying to pull a mean prank by raising her hopes.

Mae knew that their friendship was something that could cause confusions. That was why she’d started keeping her distance when Baekhyun started dating Taeyeon. It had still lead to their separation and Baekhyun, bless his soul, had tried to save her the hurt by claiming it had nothing to do with her.

She wondered if the same thing would happen with Kyungsoo. Did he get jealous of her relation with Baekhyun too? Would he ask her to leave him? She believed in making adjustments for one’s significant other but there were things they’d have to get used to and in her case, that something was Baekhyun.

Abruptly, she recalled her dream. Kyungsoo standing at the end of the bridge, waiting for her to abandon Baekhyun and join her. Smiling sadly when she refused. Asking her, do you know?

Maybe she did.

………………………