Haeun’s brain was on overdrive trying to process everything.

She vaguely remembered telling Jeonghan to go meet up with Eunji, Dongwoo, and Chanyeol in the waiting room of the hospital and that she’d be there soon. She just needed to go see Baekhyun. He nodded in understanding and left, leaving her to wander over to his room.

Once Haeun walked into Baekhyun’s hospital room, her breath caught in . Baekhyun was lying on the bed, covered by a bed sheet up to his chest. One arm was resting at his side while the other rested on his stomach as he wore what looked like a pajama set — a full sleeves blue striped button up shirt with what she assumed would be matching pants. There were various wires around him, a few that were connected to his body and a few going into him through needles and patches. They all connected to machines near him. He had lost his usual tan skin tone, and instead, his skin was tinted by a pale hue. She walked over to him and gingerly touched his hand as though he would break. 

She knew he was simply asleep but seeing him lying there scared her.

It scared her to think that he would never wake up. 

It scared her that she didn’t know what she would do if he had died. 

It scared her to realize that she was in love with him.

Her brain kept replaying the moment that Baekhyun had been pushed down by Junmyeon, and Haeun couldn’t believe how terrified she had been in the moment. She thought the run in with Taehyung on her birthday was bad, but this was a hundred times worse.

Baekhyun’s breathing was slow and deep, indicating that he was probably just asleep, and Haeun felt grateful for the small mercy that he wasn’t wearing a cannula.

Letting out a shaky breath of her own, Haeun moved closer to him. There were flowers placed in a vase on the bedside table, and she put her purse down next to it as she sat down in the chair next to the bed. 

Once settled in, Haeun had the need to look where the knife wound was. She had to know. A short, thin bruise had formed on her lower abdomen towards the left. She had to know if Baekhyun's injury was in the same area. 

Haeun scoffed to herself. She basically knew at this point, but she still needed confirmation. She really couldn’t turn the lawyer in her off for the night. 

She would’ve checked for the bruise on his arm to see if it matched her wound, but she had this innate need to check on his wound, to see if he was actually going to be okay.

She slowly pulled the sheet away from his body, and then moved to pull his shirt away from his body. She had barely begun to lift the shirt when a hand grabbed her wrist. Haeun jumped slightly, and she looked up to see Baekhyun's chocolate brown eyes looking at her. 

“What are you doing?” he rasped out. It sounded like it was painful for him to even speak, so she reached over for the glass of water that had been filled and covered and moved to help him drink. He tried to sit up, but Haeun stood up and gently helped him move just enough that his head was raised. Her heart hurt seeing him in so much pain.

“You shouldn’t get up. Here,” she spoke as she offered the glass of water. He looked at her with cloudy eyes as he drank the water.

Once he was settled back in bed, he spoke, “You didn’t answer my question, Haeun.” She looked into his eyes looking for any hint of emotion, but they were just staring right back into her eyes as if he were hiding a secret.

“I need to know.” Faster than Baekhyun could react, she had already lifted his shirt and stared at the knife wound that was covered with a bandage. It was slightly red because of the blood that was slowly seeping out through his stitches. She couldn’t see the exact shape, but it was in the exact same place. She put her hand on the wound and pressed ever so slightly, just enough so that she’d feel the pain.

Baekhyun winced, and so did she.

“You knew,” she spoke. She didn’t mean to sound accusing, but it came out in her tone, and from Baekhyun’s face, he recognized that.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, ducking his head down slightly.

“I can't believe it. You knew. You didn’t think to tell me?” she asked, desperation in her voice along with anger. She clenched her fist, but she didn't know if it was from anger or pain. Haeun figured that knowing she had fallen in love with Baekhyun would make things so much easier considering he was her soulmate, but the fact that he knew already complicated things so much.

Baekhyun grimaced. He looked away from her, his eyes instead focusing on her busy hands as Haeun pushed his shirt back down and covered him up with the sheet. 

“I did. I wanted to tell you so many times. I just didn’t think you’d care...you’d think that I was only acting like that towards you because of the bond.” His voice was weak, and it tugged on Haeun’s heart. Tears lined her eyes, and her voice cracked.

“Acting like what? Like you hate me? Like you care about me? Like it was okay for you to mess with my heart? I was falling for you, Baekhyun. I did fall for you.” Haeun was trying so hard to stay in control of her emotions, but she couldn't. The tears were nearly spilling out of her eyes, and her chest was heaving from her heart beating like crazy in her chest. She sat back down in the chair, and when Baekhyun didn’t reply, she covered her face with her hands. She couldn’t deal with the emotions in her, not if Baekhyun didn’t reciprocate them. Why else would he not tell her? Obviously because he didn’t want her with him, and he was only dealing with her because of the bond.

In the back of her mind, she knew that she was being unreasonable. She knew that it wasn’t like that, that maybe she should hear him out, but all she could think of was that he had lied to her.

“You know what, nevermind,” Haeun muttered as she stood up and grabbed her purse. She hung it over her shoulder and headed for the door when Baekhyun spoke.

The pain in her forearm was nothing compared to the pain in her chest as her heart was cleaved in two.

“Acting like I’m an idiot for falling in love with you, Haeun. I heard all your stories about your parents, and you wanted to fall in love rather than be dependent on the bond. I wanted you to fall in love with me for me,” he spoke, a pain in his voice that she could identify simply because it was the same pain she was feeling only up till a moment ago.

Baekhyun had confessed to her before giving her the necklace, and here he was again, basically telling her that he loved her. 

However, Haeun didn’t move. She wanted to listen to him without seeing his face. She was sure that the tears would come spilling out without her permission if she saw Baekhyun’s face. She was sure she would break if looked as broken as he sounded.

“It was a poor plan, though,” he continued. “I suspected it at the party when we first met. I watched you get hurt, and I felt the pain in that moment. Over the years, I noticed that you had cuts and scratches that I would have. You would complain about pain that came from me. But from the start, we hated each other. I couldn’t understand how we could ever fall in love, and that maybe even though I was destined for you, my heart wouldn’t agree. What was the point in telling you, then?” 

Haeun wanted to laugh. How was she so blind? How was she so oblivious to not notice? Slowly, it all came to her. The time she hurt her ankle gong after Taehyung, and he had been limping slightly as well. The talk at the Christmas dinner. So many little things that she just ignored because she was never in a rush to find her soulmate. 

Instead he’d been right in front of her for so many years. 

Baekhyun stopped speaking, and he called out for her softly. Her heart melted, and she turned around to look at him. He had managed to sit up slightly, and the tears eventually did start dripping down her cheeks.

She came closer to him and sat back down, holding his hand in her own. She expected his hand to feel slightly cold, but it was so unbelievably warm. 

“It’s been a minute since your confession, and you already made me cry,” Haeun tried to joke, not knowing what else to say. Her default to uncomfortable or nerve wracking situations was to just joke around. Baekhyun let go of Haeun’s hand to wipe a tear from her face. 

“Let’s be real, I think you already knew I was in love with you for a while.” Haeun glared at him. The truth was, she had suspected that he might’ve liked her more than he let on, but how was she to know for sure?

“I’m sorry, but seriously,” he laughed — or at least, he tried to. Instead it came out more like a rasping cough that sent Haeun into a minor panic before he waved her off. “Only a man in love would give a piece of jewelry when confessing. Why are you crying?”

“I thought my earlier outburst was enough reason for that,” Haeun muttered, wiping the rest of tears with her hands. Her cheeks were burning, and she was feeling embarrassed over everything she said earlier. Her heart was beating out of her chest again, but this time for a completely different reason.

“I know, but I want to hear it in proper words.” Haeun looked up to see Baekhyun grinning with the mischievous glint in his eyes that she missed so much.

“I hate you, you know that?” Baekhyun tugged on Haeun’s hand and pulled her closer to him.

“See, that’s the thing. I don’t think you do.”

“You’re very chatty for someone who was just stabbed.”

"Said the girl who also got stabbed by said knife."

"I got scratched, that's different."

"Yeah and it looks like you got stitches for one of them," he answered, jerking his chin towards her bandaged arm. "What about your collarbone?"

"Just a scratch. It's not like any of my internal organs had been pierced."

“And now you’re just deflecting.”

“I’m a lawyer, it’s my job.”

“And I’m a detective. It’s my job to get the truth.” 

And just like that, they fell into their usual rhythm. It was like nothing had changed. Baekhyun tilted his head slightly, looking right at her as though he was staring right into her soul. It was such a strange thing that she had someone who was made specifically for her. There was a person out there whose soul fit with hers as though a key made for a lock. They were perfectly in sync to balance each other out with their quips and jabs towards each other. Considering the population of the Earth, it was amazing that she had found the one who was meant for her, and she realized that although she would have dealt with not being with her soulmate, ther