Another week passed, and Jongin felt the bond between them loosen, like strings on a guitar that had become rusty with time. Slowly, one by one, they were breaking off with a soft twang, and he would be crazy to say that he was grateful for it. Heartbreak was one of the major things that can tear apart werewolves, and Jongin didn’t want to end up like one of them.

But he didn’t have the heart to face Sarang.

Seeing her made him realize that just maybe, J-Hope was a better man. He felt useless, stupid and idiotic.

As the bonds binding them together loosened, their connection wasn’t as strong as before. Sarang’s soft soprano was always present at the back of his head, calming and comforting him in times of need. But now, he couldn’t hear her even if she cried for help. Maybe he hated it but it was the only way to move on.

Jongin knew of course, the risk of it all; his death.

But what was he supposed to do? He couldn’t force his love on Sarang if she didn’t have that kind of love for him. Soulmates were supposed to find each other so maybe this time just wasn’t the right moment. Jongin kept chiding himself and making excuses but deep down, he knew exactly that for him, it was over. He was going to go down in history as the rejected mate, the one that couldn’t win over the heart of his other half, the one that has been rejected helplessly countless times in favour of a damn human.

Every time she would come and try coaxing some response out of him, he would either ignore her and walk away or reply curtly with a cold tone that made her skin crawl with goosebumps. He avoided her eyes; for fear that his every resolve would break down right then and there in front of her if he did so.

Was this the end of his fate? Why was it playing with him so much? Did he really deserve this?

He sat in the forest where they first met, playing with the blades of grass that skimmed his fingers, grabbing a bunch of them and twisting it with his hand as his thoughts flew back to the good moments they had together. All the laughter, the playfulness, the kisses he gave her was pure heaven. She tasted like nothing he had ever tasted before and was addictive to his lips, like a magnet.

“Jongin”

His head whipped up to see Baekhyun standing there with his hands buried in his pockets. Groaning, the younger wolf bowed his head back down and preferred playing witht eh grass instead of listening to one more morale given by his hyungs. He was sick of it.

“Why are you doing this to yourself?”

Jongin snorted, “She doesn’t want anything to do with me, hyung. What do you expect me to do?”

“Catch her heart, make her fall in love with you, fight for her” the older male emphasized, “Not lay there like a dead corpse”

“Why do you even bother?” Kai asked sharply.

Baekhyun didn’t even wince “Because I care”

“Just,” Kai took a deep breath and exhaled loudly through his nose “Just leave me alone”

I can’t take it anymore; Kai’s silence is killing me.

I was never a patient girl, always curious and wanting to know this and that. That was one of my flaws, and let’s say this was something that kept me going.

As to now, I wanted to know why he was avoiding me like the plague. For god’s sake, I didn’t have any incurable disease that he could catch, so what exactly was the problem? My guilt slowly turned to annoyance and desperation, and on this particular sunny Thursday morning, after debating whether to follow him or not when seeing his figure disappear once again out of the door –like he had been doing these past few days-I followed my intuition and scraped my chair back loudly before using all the energy left in my legs to run after him, calling out his name all along.

I watched his body move more suavely down the road, and I kept crying desperately “Kai! Jongin! Wait!”

He was doing a very great job at ignoring me. Either that or he really was deaf.

“Jongin!”

I watched his figure disappearing in the twilight night, the stars twinkling maliciously in the shadows of darkness, as if mocking me for my foolishness. My palms were sticky with sweat and my ribcage felt constricted with pain and pure sorrow. I felt like he didn’t want anything to do with me anymore, and the worst part was…that I may have fallen for him.

Incredible how the miracle of this bond works.

A hand suddenly clamped down on my arm, and shrieking, I whipped around to come face to face with Luhan and instantly regretted my action. Out of all people I wanted to see, he wasn’t even on my list. Without any hesitation, I flung his arm away as far a possible from mine.

“ off, Luhan” I hissed with my eyes narrowed into a glare and my face twisted in a scowl.

“You’re not the only one who’s affected by all this” He spat “Just because he’s your soulmate doesn’t make this any easier for any of us”

“Well why don’t you do something about it then? You’re his brother aren’t you?!” I made a grab for him, the desperation that has weighed upon my heart suddenly spilling out of my encased box of feelings that I had tried so hard to hide. But with Luhan here, I felt as if my entire being was shaken up by him, and with a cry, I launched myself at him and kept hitting his chest over and over again, sobs echoing out of my mouth like desperate cries of a child. I couldn’t help it anymore, the pain Kai’s making me go through is too much for me, I felt the bond disappearing every second of the day, strings snapping off one by one so that his scent was no more than a dream to me. I’ve longed to hold him in my arms for so long, and the fact that he didn’t want anything more to do with me broke me down.

“Bring him back! I’m sorry Kai, I’m sorry! Come back please” I begged to no one in particular as Luhan grabbed hold of my hands and pinned them down at my side, suddenly pulling me forward so that I fell against his chest, my cries muffled by his shirt and wetting the material with my tears. I must look a sight, for Luhan’s face had softened visibly. Either that or my sight was still blurry with tears as I looked up to beg him again and again. I didn’t care about my pride anymore, the only one I wanted to hug me was Jongin, and he was nowhere to be found.

“Shh, yah stop crying. You look even more pitiful” Luhan’s voice wavered, unsure of how to deal with me. He probably thought that I was going crazy.

“Why?” I asked, my voice coming out more like a squeak “Why is this happening?”

“Look here, Sarang” I felt Luhan’s warm hands cup my cheeks and looked up to meet his deerlike gaze; soft and filled with worry “I know how it feels to be rejected by your mate, trust me I do. What Kai is feelings isn’t any easier than yours”

“You…” I leaned away to wipe my cheeks with the back of my hand, my voice coming out clogged up because of my nose “You had a mate too?”

He nodded.

“But …she rejected you?”

He nodded again, and looked away when I attempted to meet his gaze. So Luhan knew, Luhan had felt this kind of pain before; the kind where you’re wrenched away from your heart and try in vain to stick the pieces back together when they were all floating away like foam transported by the ocean.

Then it clicked. That’s why he had been so mean all this time, that’s why he hadn’t done anything to stop Kai, that’s why he was so cold and abrupt with everybody and tried not showing his feelings. It all made sense now…how he had acquired this blank pokerfaced mask. Did that mean that he would never have a mate then? What would happen to him? Will he be staying unhappy throughout his whole life? I couldn’t resist by feel pity for the small cherub like boy, and now understood exactly the meaning of his actions. Inside, he was just like Kai was feeling right now; bitter, broken and abashed.

“She was different though. She didn’t want anything to do with me” Luhan sniggered darkly, eyes as hard as stone “She was a ”

“But you loved her, didn’t you?” I whispered hesitantly.

“Yeah, yeah I did” He shut his eyes and somehow, I found his forehead pressed against my shoulder, hiding his features away from me as he leaned onto me just for this small moment. And just once, I let him. Because I knew he needed it at the most right now. What he was feeling was no joke, and it wasn’t fair how he seemed so affected and crushed by the pain that he beared whereas the other couples would kiss and laugh tenderly while exchanging secretive glances I was sure Luhan hadn’t failed to ignore. He must have been coping with it pretty well for his face didn’t give anything away when Sehun and Haerim would kiss, or when Kris would wind an arm around Mihye.

A warmth of security spread through my chest. No, I didn’t feel secure with Luhan, I felt secure and protective of him. His attitude made me think back to the times I would cry into my dad’s shoulder when nothing went right, and the nostalgic memory pinched one part of my heart. With a newfound, sibling-like feeling for this man, I wound my arms around him and hugged him like no one had ever did, softly lulling his senses with the soft-spoken words of comfort. He let me for once, showing the fragile side of him that he had closed off from everybody in this world. For once, I felt that Luhan was human, a small boy hiding behind this curtain so that everything that’s going on around him wouldn’t touch him.

For once, we understood each other.

And I liked that.

The weeks that followed weren’t easy for either of them, and summer slowly transformed into winter. As Kai and Sarang drifted even further apart, the latter had found comfort in Luhan’s company. The two heartbroken souls said nothing most of the time, but with each other, they found the strength to live and help each other stand up again. They had the courage to face each day with a strained smile on their faces. Luhan was there when Kai wasn’t, but Sarang didn’t love Luhan. Luhan didn’t either. The affection that had blossomed between those two was platonic, with nothing intimate behind it. Luhan was the big brother she had always yearned for, and Sarang the little sister he took care of in her time of need. Kai was nowhere to be found; either he was shut inside his room, or he was out probably doing something stupid in order to take his mind of things and his mate. Sarang had never been witness to his bad, rebel-like behavior, but having heard of his door slamming and blunt but cold voice, she doesn’t know what to make of it anymore. Her resolution to make amends with him seemed to waver incessantly since she cannot catch sight of him anymore.

On a misty morning, she woke up and soundlessly left the house, her foosteps leaving faint traces across the snow as she padded down the pavement. There was a soft drizzle present and icy crystals kept falling onto her face and decorating the landscape, and Sarang can’t help but feel as if this moment was as magical as it could be. It had been a while since she has had some alone time, and right now seemed the perfect moment to bask in her thoughts and her feelings alone.

Soft chirps echoed through her ears and the wind caressed her cheeks that were red from the biting cold. The trees had turned bare during those weeks, and Sarang was stupid enough not to have noticed it. She had gone to school like everything had been normal, but she was sure about the fact that Namjoo was aware of the situation. Instead of pestering her with fathomless questions, she knew for once, to keep shut and let Sarang drown in her own thoughts for once, knowing that when the latter was ready to talk, she would pour out everything that was on her mind.

Funny how Sarang had never noticed how quickly the environment had changed around her, although she walked to school practically every day.

Her feet led her to a park where a river swindled in and out of it’s territory. The girl didn’t hesitate in climbing up the railings and pressing her weight onto the metal bars that stopped her from falling face first into the gushing water. Unlike the han river’s peaceful calmness, this river was violent and aggressive, almost representing the inner turmoil that was fighting within her own heart.

Her hands felt clammy with the cold. “ What can I do to win you back?” she asked herself absentmindedly.

“I miss you” She gazed at the water and wondered how it hadn’t frozen into ice yet. Probably since winter just came by, she thought as another breeze bit at the skin underneath her clothes.

Wanting to feel more of that freshening wave of wind trailing through her brown locks, she leaned even more over the railing as her foot stepped up onto the railing so that nearly three quarters of her body could topple over at any moment, not that she minded, it wasn’t the most important thing on her mind at the moment.

It hadn’t even crossed her thoughts about falling, until someone else cried out.

“YAH! ARE YOU CRAZY?!’
 

And before she knew it, warm arms secured themselves around her waist and she shrieked in shock.

i knowww its such a short chapter.... BUT I WANTED TO LEAVE IT AT THAT WITH A CLIFF HANGERRRRR AND I GUESS IT WORKED RIGHT?!?!?! :D HAHAHAHHA I'M SO EVIL~ 

I was really surprised when i woke up to 16 comments for this story, I'm so happy guys! You can't imagine the squeal that burst out of my mouth, my mother thought i was a dying puppy literally xD I'm really thankful taht you guys appreciate this story enough to leave such deep and interesting comments, and mind you, i read them all :) <3 To reply to one subbie's question: NOPE IT IS NOT TAO :3 Let's make that clear it is definitely not Tao :P hehehe~ 

Luhan's past is revealed omo T.T I'm so sorry baby for making you go through all of this rejection xD 

Hope you enjoy this one! THE NEXT CHAPPIE IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION BUT I'LL PROBABLY POST IT TOMORROW SINCE I'M SO EXCITED ABOUT WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT OMGGG *.*