After overthinking everything, she’d dozed off sometime near dawn. And Baekhyun was gone when she finally emerged from her room. She’d heard him bustling around quickly and she doubted he’d even stopped to grab breakfast.

Mei poured herself cereal half-heartedly.

She wanted to see Baekhyun but it felt like something would shatter if she did.  

With her elusive yet strangely intimate dreams, her own confused feelings about Baekhyun and now Taeyeon’s strange declarations, she felt like she was walking on eggshells in her own life and it was making her nervous.

Rubbing her face, she made up her mind. She would talk with Kyungsoo. Clarify his stance on her friendship with Baekhyun. She was sure he would understand because Kyungsoo was a very sensible guy. And maybe she could talk about Taeyeon’s preposterous suggestion with him. He was a great listener. 

Decided, she finished the rest of her breakfast and left.

……………………………………

Baekhyun had deliberately left early, so he wouldn’t have to face Mei.

After the revelation yesterday, he’d thought it over again and again and he was still nowhere near getting any answers.

Mei was his soulmate. Mei was also dating Kyungsoo, who was his friend and someone he would rather keep in his life. So, basically there was nothing he could do about it.

And what was he supposed to do with the information anyway? He couldn’t ask her to stop dating, considering they’d just started.

And who knew? Maybe it hadn’t been a sign at all but just his wishful thinking.

This was why he stayed away from this kind of stuff. Too many questions with too few answers and too much emotions.

He was insecure enough that he’d started having nightmares about losing her, even before she’d gone on that date with Kyungsoo. Why would anyone put up with him? He’d cling to her just like he’d clung to Taeyeon and drive her away with his neediness.

Not liking that thought at all, he swallowed the juice he’d been playing around with, not tasting anything.

‘Hello?’ Chanyeol waved a hand in front of his eyes, which were staring sightlessly in a distance. ‘Earth to Baekhyun? Anyone in there?’

Baekhyun blinked. ‘Hm?’

‘Dude, you okay?’ Chanyeol slipped in beside him. ‘You’ve been acting weird since yesterday.’

‘I’m always weird.’ Baekhyun offered weakly. Chanyeol pursed his lips. ‘Stop hiding stuff from me, you know you at keeping secrets.’

Baekhyun shook his head, knowing Chanyeol was right. ‘I’m not hiding anything.’

‘Come on…’ Chanyeol coaxed, running a soothing hand over his back. ‘Tell Uncle Yeol all your troubles.’

Baekhyun made a face. ‘Stop.’

‘Tell me,’ Chanyeol insisted, ‘You know you want to.’

Baekhyun narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth to say something but the words were lost because entering the cafe was the one person he did not want to see.

‘What?’ Chanyeol yelped when Baekhyun suddenly ducked under the table, trying to make himself invisible. He was not ready to face Mei just yet. Who knew what he’d end up doing?

‘Hey Chanyeol!’ Mei’s distinct voice sounded. Chanyeol made a grunting noise of acknowledgement, squirming under Baekhyun’s death grip on his pants. ‘Where’s Kyungsoo?’

His tongue suddenly felt bitter with the taste of jealousy. She hadn’t even asked about him! They hadn’t seen each other for an entire day which had to be a record in their history. And yet, here she was, asking about Kyungsoo.

‘Um,’ Chanyeol was speaking. ‘He’s still in class. Everything okay?’

‘Yeah, yeah… just, if you see him, could you ask him to meet me at the coffee shop? I really need to speak with him.’

‘Sure, sure, no problem!’ Chanyeol gave her a thumbs-up and soon as Mei had disappeared, Chanyeol dragged Baekhyun out from under the table. ‘Dude, what the ?’

Baekhyun glared at him but it wasn’t too effective with the way Chanyeol was still holding him. ‘What?’

‘Why’re you avoiding Mei?’

‘Avoid- Mei? Me? Pfft, what are you talking about?’ Baekhyun tried to laugh it off. ‘I’m not avoiding anyone.’

Chanyeol narrowed his eyes. ‘You’re lying.’

Baekhyun forced another laugh. ‘No, I’m not.’

‘Yes, you are. Your nostrils flare when you do.’ Baekhyun instinctively put his hand up to his nose. Chanyeol let out a triumphant noise. ‘Ha, they don’t but this just confirmed it! You were lying!’

‘I was not!’

‘Was too!’

Baekhyun rolled his eyes, trying to get away but Chanyeol pulled him back. ‘So…’ He wiggled his eyebrows. ‘You’re avoiding Mei and you’ve been acting weird all since yesterday, when we were talking about Lu- oh! Oh oh oh!’

Chanyeol started dancing in his seat, pointing his finger at Baekhyun’s face accusingly. ‘You’ve found your soulmate!’

Baekhyun literally had no idea how Chanyeol made that connection or if it was even possible to make that inference from what he’d said. But his surprise must’ve been evident because Chanyeol’s next gasp was even more dramatic. ‘She’s your soulmate!?’

Baekhyun choked on his spit, glancing around fervently for fear of being overheard. ‘Shh! Not so loud!’

He was ignored as Chanyeol started rambling about all the signs that were apparently there and how he had always known they would end up together or some nonsense. Baekhyun shushed him again. He’d barely come to terms with it, he didn’t need his friend’s nosiness.

‘But why’re you avoiding her?’ In typical Chanyeol fashion, he’d shifted from disbelief to acceptance with an unhealthy amount of curiosity. ‘I’m sure she’d be happy about it.’

Baekhyun gave him a judgmental look. ‘She’s dating Kyungsoo.’

‘And?’

Baekhyun stared at his friend as if he’d lost his mind. ‘And? I can’t stick my sorry between them!’

‘That’d be a new one.’ The new voice scared the bejesus out of him since it belonged to Kyungsoo. Just how long had he been there? ‘You not sticking your where it doesn’t belong.’

He smiled to show he was joking, putting his tray next to Chanyeol’s. ‘What’re we talking about anyway? Where’s Baekhyun not sticking his sorry ?’

Baekhyun glared at Chanyeol, daring him to say something. Chanyeol winked to show he understood, then turned to Kyungsoo. ‘Between Mei and Luhan.’

Baekhyun felt as surprised as Kyungsoo looked. ‘Come again?’

‘Remember yesterday when I was asking him if he liked Luhan?’

‘I thought you liked Luhan?’

Chanyeol waved his hand dismissively. ‘I do but that’s beside the point. Baekhyun’s worried he might come between Mei and Luhan if he finds his soulmate because…’ Here, he leaned forward conspirationally. ‘He thinks Luhan is his soulmate.’

If Baekhyun had had anything in his hands, he would’ve dropped it. Kyungsoo, to his credit, tried to look sympathetic instead of judgmental, though he was failing miserably.

‘… I see.’ That was all he said. Baekhyun wanted to bury himself. Or better yet, bury Chanyeol.  

‘Well,’ Kyungsoo spoke after a moment of silence. ‘I’m sure Mei would support him, if that were indeed true.’ His tone conveyed his disbelief.

Baekhyun forced out a laugh. ‘I know, I was just… being emotional, I guess.’

He glanced at Chanyeol, conveying all that emotion to him. Chanyeol patted his back soothingly. ‘That’s what I told him. Anyway, Mei was looking for you. She wants to meet at the coffee shop.’

Kyungsoo, who’d been about to put food in his mouth, put his fork down. ‘Oh… when was that?’

‘Five, maybe ten minutes ago? I said I’d let you know.’

Kyungsoo took out his phone immediately, tapping a message, and getting up. Chanyeol stalled him. ‘You’re leaving? You didn’t even finish lunch!’

‘I’ll catch it with Mei.’ Kyungsoo smiled, pocketing his phone. ‘See you later.’

He was off with a wave over his shoulder. Baekhyun watched him go wistfully. He should be the one catching lunch with Mei.

Chanyeol watched him for a moment. ‘You need to tell her, you know?’

Baekhyun nodded. ‘I do.’

…………………………

Mei had been trying to gather the courage to bring up the topic of her and Baekhyun’s friendship for the past ten minutes. But each time, she’d glance at Kyungsoo, see his handsome face and lose her nerve.

She didn’t even know why she was feeling so nervous. But her stomach felt weirdly squirmy and anxious.

‘Mei?’

Kyungsoo’s voice, a rich timbre that was always pleasant to hear, made her heart jump to . ‘Y-yes?’ she stuttered.

‘Is everything okay?’ He was looking at her with those wide, brown eyes, concern evident in them and Mei couldn’t help but get drawn in.

‘I’m… confused.’ she confessed.

He leaned forward, tilting his head. ‘About?’

She glanced at him, then fixed her gaze on her lap, fingers twisting together nervously. ‘It’s stupid,’ she tried to dismiss it.

Kyungsoo tutted. ‘Hardly, if it’s bothering you this much.’ Mei opened to object but Kyungsoo spoke over her. ‘I hope you feel comfortable enough to confide in me, Mei.’

‘I do!’ Mei reassured him, ‘I mean it, I really do. It’s just… it’s something silly and I know I’m being stupid, getting so torn up over something like this. But Taeyeon said something and it’s been bothering me and I just want to get it out of the way before… well, you know.’

Kyungsoo blinked. ‘Tae…yeon? Wasn’t that… the girl Baekhyun…?’ He looked at her for confirmation. She nodded. ‘He dated, yes. They broke up-’

‘-two years ago, I remember. Baek was pretty upset about it.’ Mei nodded.

‘What did she say? And when did you two meet, anyway?’

‘I just ran into her yesterday. She’d come to collect her degree or something.’ This was it. Mei took a bracing breath. ‘She said she’d found her soulmate.’

‘I see.’

She wasn’t sure what to make of that noncommittal statement but she continued. ‘Yeah, she seemed pretty happy about it. Even apologized for hurting Baekhyun.’

Kyungsoo narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. ‘Shouldn’t she have told that to Baekhyun?’

‘Well, she knows we’re close…’ She eyed Kyungsoo closely. His expression didn’t change; instead, he nodded in agreement. ‘You are close.’

‘That doesn’t bother you, does it?’ she asked in a small voice.

Kyungsoo looked surprised. ‘Why would it?’

Mei blushed. ‘W-well, now that we’re… you know. Dating.’ The last word was a barely there whisper.

Kyungsoo smiled, a cute scrunching of his cheeks, lips curling into a delightful heart shape. ‘We are?’ he teased, making her blush even more. He laughed lightly. ‘Sorry, couldn’t resist.’

He waited until she met his eyes. ‘I figured you and Baekhyun were a kind of a one-one thing. Can’t get one without the other.’

Which was true but Mei hadn’t expected him to be so… nonchalant about it, especially after Taeyeon.

‘So, you don’t mind how close we are?’

Kyungsoo tilted his head thoughtfully. ‘I won’t say I don’t mind because there are times when I do… but I also understand that he’s an important part of your life and who you are, so… I’ve made peace with the fact that he’ll probably be around forever.’  

Mei swallowed. This was pretty much what Taeyeon had said, how she’d reassured Baekhyun. And look where it had lead.

Kyungsoo saw the distress on her face and spoke up. ‘I’m sorry, I should’ve just said it doesn’t bother me. I just…’ He leaned forward earnestly, sincere. ‘I just don’t believe in keeping things from each other. If we want to make this work, we have to be comfortable speaking about things that bother us.’

‘No, you’re right…’ Of course he was right. That was why she’d sought him out in the first place. She just… had hoped he wouldn’t say what he did.

‘To be honest,’ Kyungsoo continued, oblivious to her distressed thoughts. ‘I always kept my distance because I thought you two were… well, soulmates. I was quite surprised when Baekhyun let on that you might be interested…’

Mei couldn’t find it in herself to react to Baekhyun outing her, mind reeling from Kyungsoo’s words.

‘You thought we were soulmates…?’ Mei murmured dazedly.

‘I’m afraid I’m too much of a cynic to actually believe in them but if there were two people most likely to be soulmates, I’d definitely pick you two.’

Mei frowned. She’d hoped talking with Kyungsoo would make things clearer, would knock sense into her and she would laugh with him at Taeyeon’s preposterous suggestion. Instead, here he was, saying pretty much the same things.

‘But we… are not…?’ She sounded confused to her own ears. She stared in front of her unseeingly. Were they soulmates?

Kyungsoo kept silent, observing her think things through. And she did, trying to separate herself from Baekhyun, to imagine a life without him.

It was impossible.

Her realization must’ve shown on her face. Kyungsoo smiled when she met his eyes, a little sad, a little regretful. ‘It is him.’ It wasn’t a question. Mei couldn’t say anything, overwhelmed.

He let out a sigh. ‘What now?’ he asked after a long pause.

Mei blinked, still dazed. ‘I don’t know.’ She knew nothing. She really was Jon Snow.

‘Do you want to continue dating?’ he asked, abruptly matter-of-fact. ‘Because I really like you, Mei. And I would like it if we could.’

Mei stared at him dumbly before opening to answer.

……………………………..

Somehow, Chanyeol had managed to get him to spill everything. Which wasn’t all that hard because Baekhyun would’ve burst if he hadn’t talked.

He wished he could say talking had helped clear his mind. It hadn’t.

All Chanyeol had said in response to his concerns and fears about not being sure if Mei was his soulmate was, ‘I ship it.’

He’d hit his friend for his lack of insight but Chanyeol’s words rang in his head. ‘I don’t see why you’re worrying so much. If there’s anyone who can put up with you, has, in fact done it, it’s Mei. And you’re just letting your insecurities stop you from going after what you really want.’

Baekhyun had shut up because his friend was right. Of course he was.

‘Of course I am,’ Chanyeol had reiterated. ‘Taeyeon was just one person and you can’t let it influence your other relationships. And let’s be honest, you hurt her too.’

Baekhyun knew he had. Things between him and Taeyeon had been going bad for a while. All that anger, the hurt, had been simmering for a long time and that night, it’d just boiled over.

He’d known she’d react badly to his visiting Mei. She’d been very clear about it.

He’d been adamant though. He could change himself for Taeyeon. Heck, he had changed himself, so much so that he’d barely recognized himself. And it still hadn’t been enough. She’d still been stuck on him ending things with Mei.

Now that he was out of it, after the temporal distance and his own emotional growth, he understood that Taeyeon had been just as insecure and needy as she’d accused Baekhyun of being.

She’d been dealing, badly, with her own insecurity, and had projected it onto him. And he, being too immature to understand what she was feeling, had reacted ersely. Instead of communicating, they’d just let their ill feeling fester until it’d infected their relationship, turning it toxic.

It was the darkest phase of his life and there had been only this single ray of hope, the one constant in his life that was keeping him sane. Mei.

He would cut his own limbs off before he gave her up.

That’s exactly what he’d told Taeyeon, leading to a fight of epic proportions. She’d thrown accusations at him, he’d responded in kind and they’d both hurt each other badly.

He would apologize to her now, if he could. She had been right, after all.

‘Talk to her.’ Chanyeol had advised sagely. ‘Tell her the truth. Let the things take their natural course.’

‘But what if she-‘

‘What if she does?’ Chanyeol had asked, interrupting his repetitive question. ‘She’s still not going to stop being your friend. So, what’s really bothering you?’

Baekhyun had shut up at that. He wasn’t afraid of rejection. He was afraid of taking the chance; of opening himself again to the world of hurt and pain, of blindly trusting her to not use his vulnerabilities against him.

‘Stop. Generalizing.’ Chanyeol had hit his head and sent him home.

‘Don’t show your face until you’ve confessed,’ he’d hollered after Baekhyun, who’d ducked his head, pretending not to hear the idiot.

Baekhyun was a nervous wreck by the time he got home, going over how he’d breach the topic in his head over and over, until everything blurred into a panicked mess. He was sure he’d end up squeaking rather than talking, and then run away.

It had happened before. He didn’t like to talk about it.

It was hours before he settled down, having drank so much water in his nervousness that his bladder was full to bursting. And still, there was no hair or hide of Mei.

And then he remembered that she had asked Kyungsoo out.

All the panic, the nervous excitement built inside him, went out, leaving irritation and jealousy in its wake. It was evening now, she’d been out for hours. Just what was she doing with Kyungsoo?

He had the sudden, horrid image of Kyungsoo leaning in to kiss Mei. His insides burned with a sudden desire to pummel something.

No, no, no. Mei wouldn’t do that. She was too pure for this…

She’s on a date, idiot, his mind decided to speak up. What else would she do?

His stomach clenched. He did not want anyone to kiss her, be that Kyungsoo or Luhan or anyone else she liked. No one. No one but him.

It was simultaneously freeing and terrifying to acknowledge that he wanted to kiss Mei, hold her, hug her, and tell her he loved her.

Because he did. Always had, always would. It had just taken his sorry this long to realize it.

Ultimately, he found himself seated in front of the dining table, that stupid book opened in front of him.

It had told him who his soulmate was. Maybe it’d help him confess too.

…………………………

A/N

Hey everyone... how're you guys liking this story so far? Don't hesitate to ask questions or leave comments, I love hearing from you guys. Sorry for the delay updating, my laptop was being repaired. Anyway, enjoy this chapter and support Lay when he walks to Grammy's red carpet tomorrow <3

Laters, bye!