Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't do this in the beginning of the chapter, but this was the only way to ensure people would at least see this because I have a few things to clarify about the way soulmates work in this AU based on comments. A lot of people are thinking this like another normal soulmate AU, but it's not.

1. Soulmates do not feel internal wounds - only wounds that have physical exterior aspects/cause to them. Ex. Baekhyun and Chanyeol talking about feeling the eyebrow threading and waxing but not feeling periods. 
2. Soulmates DO NOT have to end up together. There are 7 billion people in the world, and to find your soulmate is a stoke of luck. Not to mention people whose soulmates have died before they could meet. People can have happy relationships without their soulmates. Ex. Haeun's parents and Jieun. This is also mentioned in this chapter.
3. On the other hand to point 2, when soulmates DO end up together, it's a very happy relationship in that it's fulfilling in a different way. There's no wondering about whether they'll ever meet their soulmate, and each person feels more secure in the relationship. Ex. Baekhyun's parents
4. Soulmates only feel a physical attraction to each other and a physical tug towards them. Emotional connection has to be built in order for a relationship to form, and as will be shown later in the story, it is the basis for the breaking of the bond. Ex. When Baek and Haeun first meet and it will be mentioned in this chapter
5. As mentioned by Baekhyun, he's afraid to tell Haeun about their bond because he's afraid of the rejection. He has no one left in his life besides his (kind of absent) aunt and Chanyeol. He doesn't want to let her in only for her to not care that they're soulmates and she leaves. Haeun knows that she doesn't need a soulmate to be happy, and she's never been actively looking for one either. It's something that the world gave her but isn't forcing on her. 

Hopefully this clears up a lot of what people have been asking/commenting about.

And now, enjoy this (kind of late) chapter brought to you by the Hamilton soundtrack and me realizing I was describing Olive Garden without actually describing it in the story until now :D

While Haeun and Taehyung waited outside for their table to be called, she suddenly had the urge to check her jeans in case there was any cat fur. She absolutely did not need a repeat of this morning, and she was just thankful that there wasn’t much lighting outside the restaurant in the darkness for Taehyung to see fur. 

But then again, her cat was orange. 

She rubbed her hands on her jeans, playing it off as the fact that her hands were cold and tried to see if any fur rubbed onto her hands. Looking at her palm in the dim light, she didn’t see any fur, and she breathed a sigh of relief. 

It was awkward for a moment after Baekhyun and Jieun had left to go inside, and Haeun honestly didn’t know what to talk to Taehyung about. He worked in a cafe, but she didn’t know anything about baking — she was a better cook than a baker. Thankfully, Taehyung spoke up first, saving Haeun from trying to come up with a random topic that would only cause more awkwardness.

“How was your day?” he asked, completely attentive towards her, and she felt somewhat shy under his gaze. It wasn’t like he was her first boyfriend or anything, but it was new that someone was staring at her like she was the only thing he could see. But then again, she was noticing that it was Taehyung’s attention to detail and his kindness that made him pay attention to the person he was speaking to. She’d noticed it at the police station a few times.

“Not bad,” she started. “Started out weirdly, but well, I’m here now,” she laughed. Taehyung cracked a smile but looked at her curiously. 

“Weird how?”

Well she walked right into that one.

“Well, uh, I own a cat,” she started, rubbing her hands on her jeans again. 

“Uh-huh,” he nodded, indicating for her to continue. 

“And he’s orange.” Taehyung just blinked at her, and she knew she was stalling, but she was absolutely embarrassed over the entire situation. She just groaned, and then leaned her head against the wall. “I went to work with black pants, and his fur was all over me. My boss had to tell me when I went to see him this morning,” she groaned, covering her face with her hands.

“Oh,” she heard him say. It sounded a bit choked, so she peeked through her hands and saw him trying to stifle his laughter. His lips were pressed together, but his eyes were crinkled upwards.

“Oh my god, I’m going to die.”

“No! It’s just really cute,” he laughed outright. 

“It’s embarrassing!” she replied, pretending she didn’t just hear him call her cute. 

“It happens, Haeun,” he spoke, using a hand to pull hers away from her face. “What’s his name?”

“Kai,” she replied. She’d found that Taehyung’s smile was strangely contagious, and she found herself mirroring his smile.

“How’d you come up with that name?” he asked, tilting his head slightly, and she remembered that she had once compared him to a puppy. That was still a valid comparison with his fluffy hair and puppy-dog eyes.

Before she responded, the waiter came out to call them in. They followed him in quietly, and she took in the restaurant. It was a fairly fancy place with dining tables and booths set up around them. There were vines and flowers hanging from the ceiling and wrapping around the walls. People were quietly chatting and dining, and there were waiters walking around serving and taking orders. Haeun didn’t go to these types of restaurants very often since so many of the typical Koraen restaurants were a lot more comfortable and friendlier, but she definitely appreciated trying out something new, and she was excited to try the food here. 

Soon enough, they were situated at their table, and Haeun ordered a soda, and Taehyung ordered a piña colada — none of them feeling like drinking alcohol. They looked through the menu for a moment before deciding that instead of ordering an appetizer and two entrees, they’d just order three entrees when they couldn’t decide on what to order for a bit.

Taehyung looked at her inquisitively for a moment while they waited before she remembered he had asked her about Kai’s name.

“Oh! Right, Kai. My dad gifted him to me a few months before I turned 16, and I wanted to have a super cool name for my pet. I’d always seen in those American shows that people would name their pets either really cool names or really cringe-worthy names, so I decided to do some searching for interesting names. I came across the name Kai, and I saw that it meant fire in Scottish. It fit quite well because Kai’s an orange tabby, and he’s quite feisty,” she laughed. She moved to get her phone out of her purse to scroll through her phone gallery before finding a picture of Kai as he was playing with a toy mouse. He was in a stance where he was getting ready to pounce, but he looked absolutely adorable so she took the picture. She leaned over the table to show it to Taehyung. He took her phone, and the waiter came by to drop off their drinks and breadsticks. While Taehyung zoomed into the picture to look more closely at the cat, she bit into the breadstick and moaned slightly at how fluffy and buttery it was. 

“That good?” he asked, passing her phone back to her.

“Mhmm,” she mumbled. She didn’t want to open because he’d see the mess that was in right now. He picked up one for himself, and she watched as he bit into it, looking for a reaction. He chewed slowly and nodded to himself. 

“It’s really good, yeah.” Haeun smiled, and she saw Taehyung’s own smile falter for a moment.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“You...it’s nothing,” he shook his head at her. That just made her feel worse, and she pressed further.

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Then what happened just now?”

“It’s just...your smile is really pretty.” 

Oh. He said it as if he were stating a fact, and Haeun suddenly didn’t know how to respond.

“Ah,” she replied, feeling her face heat up. No one had complimented her on her smile outright like that, and she ducked her head slightly, hoping that he couldn’t see her face turn red in the dim lighting. “Thanks.”

“You know,” he spoke, thankfully moving past what he just said, “I could probably make a less dense version of this.”

“Seriously? You can make this even better?” she asked.

He nodded. “It’d take more time and probably way more butter, but I could probably make it so there’s more air inside.”

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