Mei opened her eyes, feeling inordinately happy and it didn’t take her any time at all to remember why. Baekhyun… Baekhyun was her soulmate. Her bestfriend was her soulmate. She turned over and squealed into her pillow, giddiness flooding her.

There had been times in her life when she’d wondered if Baekhyun was ‘The One’, times when she’s been too vulnerable and easily manipulated into developing a crush on her bestfriend by others’ teasing. And it had been even easier because she liked Baekhyun. Of course she liked him, they wouldn’t have been friends if she hadn’t adored him. But it had also broken her heart when he’d confessed to liking her cousin.

This was kind of what had led to her putting the BFF code in place, in order to keep her head from straying too much into the clouds. No matter how much anyone , she needed to remember that they were bestfriends and nothing more.

Things had fallen back into place, mostly through her own initiative, and she’d vowed never to go down that lane again. She’d pretended to ignore the twinge in her heart when Baekhyun had fallen for Taeyeon, ignored it again when she’d seen him moping and going through his depression. Instead, she’d put on her BFF façade and kept it firmly in place.

But now, there was no need to pretend because fate had decided for her. She laughed at her own idiocy. When the fortune-teller had said she’d already met her soulmate, she’d been referring to Baekhyun. And when she’d done her first ritual, who’d been the one to call? Baekhyun. And she’d even ended up with his initials on her hand. Their fricking heartlines matched! What more evidence did she need? Truly, she was an idiot.

A happy one, thankfully, because her heart felt content in a way it hadn’t felt for a long time. Just the knowledge that he was it, was enough to keep her happy.

It was with this happiness that she floated out of bed, feeling extra cozy and buzzing with joy. It was a little dampened when she didn’t find Baekhyun in the living room, especially considering it was a weekend.

But her mood lifted considerably when she found the post-it note stuck on the fridge when she went into the kitchen, telling her Baekhyun was with Chanyeol for some term project. She looked at the handwriting a bit longer, noting how Baekhyun had signed his name in the familiar scratchy writing.

Writing that had appeared on her own wrist in place of Luhan’s name… could… it be? That Baekhyun had been writing to her? Or looking for his soulmate too?

Wait, now that she thought about it, she had no idea what Baekhyun’s stance on this was! As far as he was concerned, the entire soulmate business was a big no-no. He’d told her again and again, in no uncertain terms that he wanted nothing to do with soulmates, wouldn’t bother finding his even if he knew how and would probably run in the opposite direction if they did show up. Far as he was concerned, soulmates big time. Actually, everything related to love , according to Baekhyun.

Instead of pouring herself cereal, Mei slumped into the chair, staring ahead dejectedly. Going by that line of reasoning, this would be a nightmare for Baek!

‘Ugh!’ she wailed, slumping face first into the table. ‘Noooo!’

Why? Why didn’t she think of this before?

She’d been so happy, thinking Baekhyun had somehow read her confession on her face when she’d returned home last night, when she’d crashed into his arms and held him until she fell asleep. Of course, he’d just been doing his part as her bestfriend! Stupid, stupid! She was so darn stupid! Ugh, why?

She was dragged out of her slump by the phone ringing. She stared at the cellphone apprehensively, not sure if she was happy at seeing Baekhyun’s name on it, or sad. Finally deciding she could be miserable later, she grabbed it and brought it closer, sliding to answer.

‘Hello?’

Ugh, when did he start sounding so y? she wailed internally, feeling butterflies erupt in her tummy for no goddam reason. Actually, she knew exactly when it had happened – when he’d hit puberty and suddenly grown taller, looming over her by several inches and his non-existent Adam’s apple had started affecting his voice. Ugh, she was such a loser.

‘Mei?’

She was also an idiot because she’d been so lost in her thoughts, she hadn’t answered. ‘Yeah?’ she replied, cringing at how rude she sounded. Her mother would be disappointed in her.

‘You’re up?’ he asked, sounding cheery. ‘I didn’t wake you before leaving because you looked quite pr- peaceful sleeping.’

‘Mmmmh…’ she mumbled, trying to control extreme reactions to his very non-romantic, definitely-not-a-compliment statement. But her limbs still wanted to flail around in despair because he’d called her peaceful. Who looked peaceful when they slept? She was supposed to look gorgeous or pretty or at least, soft! Why was life so difficult?

‘Anyway, thought I’d check in. Did you have breakfast?’

Why was he so sweet? She shook her head, then mumbled a sound she hoped would convey her answer. ‘Well, eat something. I might be a little late coming home but don’t worry, I’ll bring pizza.’

‘You’re the best!’ she cheered, excited, before remembering she was being an emotional mess.

‘Thanks, I know!’ he responded cheekily, then made a kissy sound into the phone that pierced right through her heart.

It was nothing unusual. Actually, it was pretty standard. They either blew each other raspberries or made kissy sounds to annoy each other all the time. It wasn’t supposed to affect her like this. Stupid, out of control heart. She made a gurgling sound in response, before hanging up, cheeks blushing and heart racing.

‘What the hell?’ she demanded from no one. ‘What the hell is this?’

Finding your soulmate was supposed to make things easy, like puzzle pieces falling into place. It wasn’t supposed to mess with you like this, especially when your soulmate was also your bestfriend. It wasn’t fair!

She whined all through breakfast before going to the sofa and rolling herself into a blanket. She was going to binge watch everything and then think about what she was going to do with her soulmate situation.

…………………………

Baekhyun was almost sweating by the time he hung up. Hearing her sleep-husky voice had made his heart race because she sounded so intimate. It took his brain in wilder directions. He didn’t know how he’d kept the normal act up with her but he couldn’t hide out all day.

Sure he’d made the excuse that he was working on a project with Chanyeol but with Kyungsoo showing up in that mood of his, it wasn’t wise to go back there. Besides, Chanyeol was only going to bug him more with further Disney references.  

Maybe he could use his day productively and actually get something done. But that thought went away as quickly as it came, because with his mind in such a mess, he wasn’t going to be able to concentrate.

Although… who said he couldn’t still be productive? He could use this time to plan how he was going to act around Mei from now on. Sure, he knew she was his soulmate but she obviously wasn’t recognizing that. And a part of him wanted him to stick to the comfort of familiarity and not cause any ripples. But a larger part of him was absolutely elated at the idea of their status changing from that of friends to lovers (hopefully).

And maybe Chanyeol had been onto something with his theory about Beast… ugh, he really was desperate if he thought Chanyeol was giving him good advice when his friend referenced to Disney. Ugh, how the mighty had fallen. If this worked, he vowed, he’d treat Chanyeol to some great food.

Decided, he took to the library where he’d have access to the internet and after surreptitiously glancing around to make sure no one was looking at him, typed in ‘how to seduce your bestfriend’. A slew of pages showed up.

Seemed like he wasn’t the only one looking for ways to change his status with his friend, although few pages suggested this change because the bestfriend happened to be your soulmate. No, mostly it was just about guys wanting to bang their female friends. It made him feel a little dirty but he lugged on, determinedly browsing through the advice dispensed.

‘Lose the ‘nice guy’ act and release your inner player!’ one page proclaimed. Huh. Seemed like Chanyeol was right after all. He read through the paragraph slowly, mind churning out different ways to let out the Beast.

‘Express attraction through light touching,’ another article advised. ‘Remember that the basics of seduction always work! A confident man is not desperate, it just shows that you’re interested and that you’re ready to do what it takes to develop that much-sought-after .’

Baekhyun blinked. Really, Chanyeol was beginning to sound more and more right. He leaned forward to read some more, mouthing out the words as he went.

‘A romantic relationship doesn’t come out of friendship. Passion is born of mystery, discovery, and the excitement of the unknown…what a woman looks for in a lover, she does not want from a friend, and vice versa… your advantage is that you know this girl. So, you know exactly what she wants in a man.’

Baekhyun leaned back thoughtfully. This was really good point. He did know Mei inside and out, knew what she liked and disliked… heck, he even knew what she looked for in a man. He’d watched her flail and gush over cheesy romantic movies, conveying what she loved about that scene. She was er for cliché anime stuff and always drooled over pictures of Luhan in white button ups or when he looked like a ‘hot corporate CEO’. Hmm…

‘Leave her wanting more…get together for short things that allow you two to have fun together for a set period of time… make sure to tell her that you’re attracted to her for reasons other than her appearance…’

So basically, he needed to up his game, dress better to make her notice him, be more confident and bold about his advances, with light touches and leave her wanting more so she would look forward to seeing him again. And use his knowledge about her to his advantage.

He blinked, rubbing his eyes and looked at the time after closing the last article. His eyes widened. Good lord, he’d been at it for almost an hour. Gosh, he was supposed to take pizza back for Mei and…

Wait a second. If he wanted her to notice him as a potential partner, he needed to stop acting like her best friend. That’s what all these articles had been talking about. He needed to show her that he was interested in her. Like he’d shown Taeyeon…

No, that wasn’t a good example. He’d literally squeaked at her instead of speaking and his voice had cracked when he’d tried singing a song for her.

He closed his eyes, thinking before his mind clicked into gear. He wasn’t entirely sure about what happened last night but Kyungsoo didn’t look like someone who’d been confessed to and Mei had been disheveled and emotional she’d come home… maybe he’d been wrong about them making out. Maybe… maybe they’d broken up. And he was a horrible person for feeling happy about it but… it meant he didn’t have to hate his friend anymore. And he could use it as an excuse to take her out, to cheer her up. He could also use this opportunity to find out about the details and her stance on future relationships.

……………………………

A/N

Hello everyone. I'm sorry for not updating earlier, life was too busy and hectic and I completely lost track of time. Anyway, to make up for it, enjoy this double update <3 Don't forget to leave your comments and share your thoughts. See you :*