Minho couldn’t get over it.

When he woke up the next day, he still thought of Taemin and his oblivious way of touching him inappropriately. The memory appeared so often before his eyes that Minho might think that it was mocking him for falling under Taemin’s spell so easily. Not his fault that the latter was so endearing when he got mad.

Still, there was no exact way of elucidating things that the younger man made him feel—besides anger, which was pretty darn obvious for both parties at this rate—but one thing for sure: Minho didn’t hate the entirety of it. If anything, he found that the unique stubbornness only lured him closer and deeper, as though there was this mythical power that compelled him to get attracted to Taemin.

Believe it or not, Minho was never big on science, hence his unyielding passion to pursue business and make the best out of it for the rest of his life. It was, and will never be the centre of his interests - he could never see and appreciate the atomic reasonings for every little thing that happened in this world, leave alone to learn and accept the existing forces and their applications in real life. But now, with the brightness of his iPad lowered, he sat straight on the high-backed leather chair and scrolled down the website in silence. 

The headline said: Signs of having chemistry with someone: that magnetic force and ual impulse which can lead to longer-term connections.

“This is nonsense…” Minho muttered while pushing his glasses higher on the bridge of his nose. He didn’t stop reading. The page talked in great length about things such as soul connection, soul mates, love at the first sight, two flames, past life connection and some chemistry-based laws that they deemed universal, but nothing made sense to Minho. Or, at least, he forced himself not to believe in the descriptions. They were not made to be applicable for everyone, right?

Like, in his case, Minho first saw Taemin when he came to the reception desk on one beautiful Saturday, asking for his key card to check-in. Admittedly, he was gorgeous. He was so gorgeous that Minho had to stop walking and hide behind the closest wall to look at him without getting caught, but that was it. The next day, the same gorgeous man came but this time, he was not only pretty but also y in his most vulnerable piece of swimming shorts. Minho couldn’t breathe that time, yet he played it cool. Then they fought in the lobby—in which Minho would consider himself as the bigger cat while Taemin was being a ruthless, endlessly screaming wet kitten—before he stepped on his foot and left. Everything that happened after that was just a roller coaster ride of emotions. They were always at each other’s throats, so really… no chemistry was in sight. At all.

The author said, ‘Soul mates find themselves drawn to each other without a valid explanation for the same. They experience a compulsion to get to know each other, spend time together, feel comfortable in each other’s presence and share more than usual.’ And Minho snorted. Definitely not them, but he continued reading anyway. ‘The twin flame theory is a deep connection of two people at the soul level. Also known as a ‘mirror soul’, a twin flame is considered to be one’s other half in the spiritual sense. When a soul splits into two and exists in two separate bodies, it is natural for them to display a tendency to rejoin. This is what twin flames are all about.’

There were some bursts of hope that one of these signs could be true, Minho knew that. In fact, he was wishing for it to click no matter how hard he tried to deny the possible mutual attraction that they felt. Science might not explain it all. Nothing could, except for the emotions of living humans since those are the strongest form of assurances ever. Dedicated this time, he braced himself to take in more and learnt how to recognise the magnetic pulls between two people. It was not because he wanted to convince himself that there was one, but maybe. Just maybe.

Urge to maintain constant eye contact - Yeah, no.

Urge to talk and reveal more - No.

Déjà Vu - Nope.

Desire to be with each other - Maybe.

Robs your attention - Absolutely.

Body language says it all - On the fence.

Flirting without fearing consequences - ?

Minho bl