Chapter Text
You're cute.
-LMH
Jisung scoffed at the pink sticky note and shook his head. Hyunjin was never annoyed by the constant barrage of affection he received, but it always rubbed Jisung the wrong way. He figured it was fine and even natural to date outside the soulmate you've been assigned, but Hyunjin had a first words tattoo. Hyunjin would know who his soulmate was. He didn't have to wonder if he'd already met them, if he ever would, or if he had one at all. Maybe Jisung was jealous. He just wished people would stop hitting on his roommate. It was really annoying. Whoever this 'LMH’ was needed to swerve back into his own lane.
Jisung shoved the note into his back pocket and opened the door to his room. Hyunjin wasn't in - he took most of his classes at weird hours - so Jisung felt free to collapse onto his bed and scream into the pillow for as long as he felt he needed to before he sat up. He had work to do.
Jisung was a second year music production major, hardly two weeks into his stressful first semester. He honestly thought it was amazing that he made it so far, especially given that everything he had ever turned in had been last-minute. Despite Chris's endless chants to stop procrastinating, Jisung thought it was more important to go for more spontaneity. Plus, this way, he got to sleep, and had plenty of time to hang out with his friends. Of course, it was getting more stressful by the minute.
Chris had always had Woojin. Jisung was never bothered by their soulmate bond, because it felt so natural, and they had known each other for longer than Jisung knew them. Their soulmate bond was seeing each other in their dreams, and only being able to sleep at the same time. Given Chris's sleeping schedule, this presented a rather massive problem for them, which only worsened when he got to his first year of university. Jisung remembered when Chris lovingly recounted the story of how Woojin yelled at him in his dreams to just go to bed , and Chris recognized him rubbing sleep from his eyes on his way to class the next day.
The problem was that Changbin had found his soulmate the first day of the semester. He had touched some cute, freckle-faced, Australian freshman, and saw color for the first time in his entire life. Jisung knew it was adorable, and he loved having Felix around. Still, he felt alone. Sometimes he joked that anything was better than the text plastered on Hyunjin's bicep that just read “You're an idiot”, but he didn't mean it. He rather have a mean soulmate than none at all.
Jisung tried not to think about not having a soulmate. For one thing, he didn't even know if it was true. He could just have a strange soulmate bond. Maybe his soulmate was dead. That would be worse than not having one, though. Jisung just didn't want to be alone for the rest of his life, and soulmates were undoubtedly important to him. His soulmate was important to him. Not like he knew who it was, but still.
Jisung didn't bother to tell Hyunjin about the note. Partially, it was because he thought Hyunjin wouldn't care, but also, Jisung forgot. In fact he forgot completely about the note until he got to his music history class the next morning.
Jisung finished off the coffee in his cup with a wince. He had burnt his tongue when the cute barista had winked at him before he darted out of the cafe. He cursed his own jumpy nature. He sat down at his desk - in the second row from the back, next to the wall - and noticed a pink sticky note on the surface.
Are you a squirrel? Because you've climbed your way into my heart~
-LMH
Jisung was dense - almost incredibly so, to the point that he wouldn't notice things spelled right in front of his nose. However, he pieced together that this LMH was into him, not his beautiful roommate, and Jisung had no clue who he was. It was going to drive him insane. It proceeded to do just that for the rest of the class, which he spent staring at the back of people's heads and knowing it was someone in that class. It bothered him. He was glad that music history was boring enough he never paid attention anyway. Beethoven didn't really describe Jisung's musical aspirations.
“So, you're telling me this dude is leaving you notes?” Hyunjin asked, sprawled out on his mattress with his head dangling upside down off of it.
“Yes!”
“When was he born, the sixteenth century?”
“Yah!” Jisung exclaimed, throwing a pillow at Hyunjin and missing terribly. “I don't know! I've never seen him before,” he pouted.
“I guess it's sweet,” Hyunjin said, doing some kind of weird forward roll that caused him to land on the floor. Jisung laughed as their downstairs neighbor banged on their ceiling of the floor below in annoyance. “But,” Hyunjin continued. “What if he's not your soulmate?”
“Maybe our bond is that he's invisible to only me,” Jisung countered.
“Unfortunate,” Hyunjin said sarcastically. Jisung had no more pillows to throw at him, so he settled for sticking his tongue out at him. “Hey, if you wanted valuable advice, you should have asked Chan.”
“Maybe I will,” Jisung said, standing up and throwing his pillow back onto his bed. He tugged his shoes on and Hyunjin yelled out a “good luck!” as he closed the door.
Jisung marched the whole extremely small distance - only a few doors - to Chan and Changbin's shared dorm room. He knocked out of courtesy for the fact that both occupants had found their soulmates, and possibly got up to things Jisung didn't really want to think about. “Come in!”
Jisung opened the door to find Chan hunched over his laptop. “Yo,” he greeted as Jisung walked in.
“Yo.”
“What's up?” Chan asked, still not looking away from his screen.
“Hyunjin was being annoying.”
“Hyunjin’s never annoying for no reason,” Chan said, spinning around in his office chair. “So what's up?”
Jisung procures the two notes from his pockets.
Chan clicked his tongue thoughtfully. “So, your dilemma is that you don't know who this is?”
Jisung nodded enthusiastically. “What if he's really creepy! Or worse, he's actually pretty.”
“How do you know it's a he?” Chan asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Wishful thinking?”
He laughed. “Well, I think this mystery admirer will reveal himself in due time, yeah?”
“I can't wait that long,” Jisung complained.
“Patience, young squirrel.”
Jisung puffed his cheeks up, making Chan laugh, and sprawled himself dramatically across the floor. He didn't move until Changbin came back and kicked him on his way to his bed, causing Jisung to pout as he returned to his room. Hyunjin wasn't home. Jisung took the opportunity to go to sleep.
Jisung got up the next morning when his alarm went off, mostly because Hyunjin was complaining about it. He shut it off and dragged himself out of bed to go meet Felix. Felix's first class was in the same building as Jisung's every other day, so they often walked together to get coffee and then go to class. Jisung hardly paid attention to what he was wearing. He didn't even notice whether or not he changed. He just grabbed his bag and left the dorm, finding Felix outside.
Felix had a lot of freshman enthusiasm. Jisung could tell by the fact that he still wore jeans to class and made an effort to look okay, but Felix was too pretty to ever look bad, anyway. “Sleep well?” Felix teased.
Jisung ran a hand through his inevitably messy hair and laughed. “Not really.”
“Same,” Felix answered. “So, any plans about what to do about 'LMH’?”
“Who told you?”
“Hyunjin,” he said cheerily.
Jisung shook his head in disappointment. “Remind me never to tell Hyunjin anything.”
Felix shrugged. “You didn't answer my question, though.”
“No, there are no plans,” Jisung huffed. “Chan said to just wait. So I guess I'm going to wait.”
“But you're terrible at waiting.”
“I know . Which is the main problem. And what if this LMH person doesn't want to tell me who they are? What if it's a prank or something?”
“That'd be mean,” Felix said. “I'm sure they will, Sungie.”
“Let's hope,” Jisung grumbled. “Or I'm going to tear my hair out in frustration or something.”
They quickly arrived at the campus coffee shop, and Jisung groaned when he saw a certain beautiful barista behind the counter. “Hmm? What's up?” Felix asked.
“That guy. He winked at me yesterday. And it made me flinch and I burnt my tongue on my coffee.”
“Oh, that's Minho,” Felix said. “He's a TA for my dance class.”
“Woah,” Jisung mused. “Of course he dances.”
“He's amazing,” Felix said, not acknowledging any of Jisung's very apparent gay panic.
“Hello, what can I get you today?” the hot barista - Minho - asked them, eyes darting between Felix and Jisung. Jisung waved for Felix to go first. Jisung noticed how Minho winked at him. What a weird guy.
“And what can I get you today?” Minho repeated, his script evidently wearing him down.
Jisung ordered his overly sugary coffee concoction and handed Minho his card.
“And the name for that is… Jisung?”
Jisung was taken aback by his memory, but nodded. He waited for Minho to wink, so he was prepared when it came, but it still made his heart buzz.
Felix smiled at him widely, knowingly, when he walked to wait with him for his coffee. “So?”
“Don't look at me like that,” Jisung said, crossing his arms.
Felix laughed.
“Yongbok?”
Felix grabbed his drink and Jisung snickered. “It's easier for them to say!” Felix pointed out.
“Jisung?”
The mysterious second barista had disappeared, and Minho was back, drink in hand and small smile on his face. Jisung approached to take it from him.
“Have a nice day!” Minho said, customer service smile widening.
“You too!”
Jisung took his drink and noticed only when he returned to Felix that, attached to the cup, was a pink sticky note.
You must be exhausted from running through my mind all day! Get some rest~
-LMH
“Oh… my… God,” Felix said as they hurriedly exited the cafe. “LMH! Lee Minho! It's him.”
Jisung's face was warm. “Does he do that with everyone?”
“Put notes on their desk? And the door to their dorm room? That would be creepy.”
“Fair point. But there's just no way…”
“You have to write him a note back!” Felix enthused. “This is so cute. Maybe you're soulmates!”
Immediately, Jisung felt his face fall. Soulmate talk wasn't easy for him. But maybe Felix was right. Maybe Minho could be his soulmate, his real soulmate, his wholehearted, destined-by-the-universe, singular soulmate. Jisung didn't know how it was possible, but he wanted so badly for it to be true. Maybe just wanting it would make it true, but probably not.
Probably not.
Still, Jisung wrote a note on a bright green sticky note (he didn't have any pink ones) and felt it weighing down his whole body as he stood alone in line at the cafe the next day. All it had on it was a small heart and his phone number. He had been too nervous to try to write something else on it, because maybe he had misinterpreted everything. “Hello, what can I get for you today?”
Jisung swallowed hard and gave his order. He tried not to look at Minho's adorable smile as he spoke, and just paid and moved to wait for his drink as quickly as possible. He took the note from his pocket. He sighed. He figured if this didn't work, he always had the option of hiding in his dorm room and never seeing the light of day again, so how bad could it be?
“Jisungie?”
Minho's smile grew as Jisung approached and smiled back. Minho had been holding the cup in both hands, so Jisung took it with one, pressing the folded note into Minho's hand with the other.
He had never ran so fast out of a building in his life. He did, however, watch through the windows to see Minho open the note, laugh lightly, and put it in his pocket with a wide smile. Jisung smiled, too.
Two can play at that game, ‘LMH’.
~~~
[???:
Hey there, Sungie!
Me:
Minho?
???:
The one and only ;)
Me:
Technically speaking, there's a whole bunch of Minhos.
LMH♥️:
I'm the only one that matters
Me:
I'll keep that in mind hahaha :)
LMH♥️:
Just like you'll think about me?]
Jisung didn't know whether to swoon because Minho was pretty and into him or groan because he was so cheesy. He settled for a strange mix of the two, causing Hyunjin to turn to look at him.
“What's up with you?” Hyunjin asked.
“I'm texting someone.”
“Who?”
“You wouldn't know him…”
“Bet. Tell me,” Hyunjin drawled.
Jisung sighed. “His name is Minho.”
“Surname?”
“Lee.”
“That isn't very specific,” Hyunjin complained.
“He's absolutely gorgeous? A dance TA?”
Hyunjin's face lit up. “Really? Why are you texting Lee Minho ?”
“Why should I tell you?” Jisung said suspiciously, pulling his phone closer to his chest.
“I'll just ask Felix if you don't,” he replied plainly.
“He was the one leaving me notes.”
Hyunjin's eyes widened in amusement. “Seriously?”
“Is it that hard to believe that he likes me?” Jisung pouted.
Hyunjin shook his head with a laugh. “I'm just surprised, but also not at all. Is he, like, your soulmate, though?”
Jisung was silent for a little bit. “I don't know, Hyunjin.”
Hyunjin cleared his throat. “Either way, I'm happy for you!”
The rest of Jisung's friends had heard about Minho in the next half an hour, and some of Hyunjin's that Jisung hardly knew. It was the nature of all things in his life.
[LMH♥️:
Can't believe you didn't reply, Sungie. And I thought you liked me :(
Me:
No! I do
Me:
Wait
LMH♥️:
Heheheh
Me:
BRB regretting all my life decisions
LMH♥️:
I'm honored to be one of them
Me:
Not what I meant
LMH♥️:
;)
Me:
You're so confusing
Me:
I'm going to bed
LMH♥️:
Sleep well~ though I'm sure you'd sleep better if I were there heh]
Jisung turned his phone off hastily and buried himself under his comforter. He felt good about this. About Minho. His heart was warm and nervous but he knew something was happening, deep in his bones, and he wanted to know what it was.
~~~
Minho wasn't behind the counter when Jisung walked in the cafe with Felix. Jisung's face fell immediately.
“Boo!”
Jisung jumped, turning to see a laughing Minho with a tray of drinks in hand.
“I hate you,” Jisung muttered, regaining his bearings. Minho shrugged and handed him a coffee cup. Jisung drank it slowly - his usual order.
Felix greeted Minho and took his drink gratefully. They started towards the music building.
“Oh, look, it's… Woojin!” Felix said, pointing off in the distance. “I'm gonna go walk with him!”
“Where?” Jisung asked, looking where he had pointed. There was no one. Felix left.
Minho giggled. “You and Felix are… close?”
“He's my friend's soulmate. We just clicked and now we're best friends. But he's still a traitor.”
Minho didn't say anything.
“Anyway. I heard you're a dance major?”
Minho nodded. “I am. And you?”
“Music production,” Jisung answered. “How do you not know this already?”
“I didn't really ask around about you,” Minho admitted. “I don't know much.”
“Well. My name's Han Jisung-”
“Got that.”
“My friends call me Squirrel, or Sungie if they're annoying like Hyunjin.”
“You're friends with Hyunjin?” Minho asked, amused.
“That's a stretch,” Jisung said. “He's my roommate.”
Minho nodded thoughtfully.
“Actually,” Jisung continued, “when you left that first note on the door to my dorm, I thought it was for Hyunjin. Because Hyunjin gets a lot of attention like that.”
Minho shook his head with a laugh. “Hyunjin's not my type. And doesn't he already have a soulmate?”
“He's got a first words tattoo,” Jisung said. “I'm kind of jealous.”
“Why would you be?” Minho asked softly. Jisung noticed how soulmates affected him. Jisung loved to talk about soulmates, even though he knew he might not have one or ever find his. Minho didn't seem to want to talk about it.
“I don't know what my bond is,” he said simply.
“Oh,” Minho replied lightly. “I don't know mine, either.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
Jisung grinned. There was a chance that Minho was his soulmate. It could be true. And even if it wasn't, Jisung had found another person like him. If fate thought they shouldn't be together, it could tell him, and it hadn't told him anything thus far.
They stayed in comfortable silence until they got to class. Minho moved to sit next to him by the wall, which Jisung found more distracting than the notes. It was so much nicer to look at the sharp slope of Minho's nose, his long eyelashes, and his sharp cheekbones than it was to take notes. Jisung did his best not to let Minho catch him staring.
~~~
“You stare a lot,” Minho observed.
It was the second time Minho had said that to him. The first time had been after music history that day those couple of weeks before. And, now, Jisung was sitting next to Minho on a bench outside a small bakery hardly outside campus. He couldn't blame himself for staring. It's the first time he'd been out with Minho in the evening, and the setting sun was lighting his face delicately in a way Jisung was having a hard time ignoring. He took another bite of his cupcake, wiping frosting off his nose and turning away defensively. Jisung knew better to inflate Minho's ego, so he just mumbled something vague.
“You're really pretty, Jisung,” Minho said.
His voice had a bit of softness Jisung wasn't used to. Minho was snarky, sassy, and confident. Every time he said things with that air of honesty and gentleness, Jisung felt himself melt. He smiled. “You’re prettier,” he said quietly.
“Agree to disagree?” Minho said, carefully pulling off a piece of his cupcake before placing it in his mouth.
“You really mean that?” Jisung asked, looking down at his combat boot clad feet.
“Mean what? That you’re pretty?”
“Yeah.”
Jisung looked up to see Minho smiling, leaning his head back, and the sun caught his hair just right. Jisung felt breathless.
“Of course I mean it,” Minho said. “Why wouldn't I?”
“You've just never said it before,” Jisung struggled out through his heart palpitations. He took another stressed bite of his cupcake.
“I haven't?”
“No,” Jisung responded. “You always say I'm cute. A lot of people say that, so I guess it makes sense, but I just-”
“Jisung.”
No Sungie . Jisung was surprised. He looked up to see Minho with a slight smile on his face. “You're adorable,” he started, touching his finger to Jisung's frosting dotted nose. “But more than that, you're absolutely beautiful. You're possibly the prettiest person I've ever seen.”
Jisung could see the sun behind Minho, his face close to Jisung's, his whole being glowing. Jisung wondered if he'd ever seen a mirror. He just stared into Minho's large eyes, a look of surprise inevitably on his face.
Jisung didn't know what came over him, but he leaned forward, closing the distance between them and pressing his lips against Minho's softly. He had to separate to breathe before long, and was met with a wide, gummy smile.
Minho laughed breathily, and Jisung joined him. Minho kissed Jisung's nose softly and backed away. Jisung covered his warm face with his hands quickly, much to Minho's amusement.
“I really like you, Sungie,” Minho said.
“I… really like you, too,” Jisung admitted, shoving the rest of his cupcake in his cheeks.
Minho held his hand as they walked back to the dorms. They didn't talk as much, but it was comfortable. Minho glowed under the monotone streetlights enough to make it seem like they were spotlights, focused on him with glowing intensity. But he smiled and the lights fell on Jisung, too, warming him to the very core. Even if Jisung forgot his lines, got stage fright, or tripped and landed on his face, he would laugh it off just to feel Minho's presence again. Even if Minho did the same, Jisung would give him a standing ovation every time.
~~~
“You look amazing,” Minho said, mouth open as he looked him up and down.
Hyunjin pouted as he crossed his arms over his red, horrendously patterned, sequined Christmas sweater, and ripped off his antler headband. “No need to mock me, Minho. He's in there,” Hyunjin said, stepping out of the doorway.
Jisung adjusted his green elf hat and the white puffballs hanging from his ears. He was wearing a green turtleneck and loose white jeans, cuffed to show off his tree-patterned socks. He smiled widely when Minho entered the room. Minho had a Santa had loosely placed on his head, white sweater and red jeans making him look like a much hotter Old Saint Nick. Young Not-So-Holy Minho. It didn't really roll off the tongue.
“Hey, Sungie,” Minho said, kissing his forehead gently. “You look so cute!”
“Not as cute as you,” he replied with a subtle wink. The more time Jisung spent around Minho, the more he became like him. And now that it was nearing three months of them… hanging out, Jisung had picked up his flirty confidence in a way. Minho found it very entertaining.
“You're all gross,” Hyunjin whined. “Let's go.”
Jisung grabbed Minho's hand before walking out of the dorm.
The hallway was decorated with lights and ornaments, and many people were out of their rooms. It was Christmas Eve, but going home for Christmas proved much too difficult for many students, despite most of them being from Seoul. In a way, Jisung was going home. To Felix's home. His parents were on a trip to Australia, leaving him with an empty house, which meant that they were going to have a Christmas party with more festive spirit and alcohol than necessary.
Hyunjin's antlers fell off his head as they got to the stairs, causing them to bounce down nearly a whole flight. An unfamiliar boy with red dyed hair and an admittedly adorable appearance scoffed, watching Hyunjin struggle from by what Jisung presumed to be his own dorm room. He was someone Jisung vaguely recognized as a freshman. “Hey, what's so funny?” Hyunjin asked, half-joking, but a pout definitely on his face.
Something shifted dramatically in the red haired boy's face, and in the face of his friend. “You're an idiot,” he said, quietly, almost dreamily.
Hyunjin's face was slack, and tears began to gather in his eyes. The redhead laughed wetly and held out his hand for a handshake, which Hyunjin accepted. “Kim Seungmin,” he said.
“Hwang Hyunjin. I've been waiting for you,” he said, rolling up his sweater awkwardly to show his tattoo. Seungmin displayed a space near his collarbone.
“Wait, are you seriously…?” Jisung wondered aloud.
“Soulmates,” Seungmin finished.
The friend who had been with Seungmin groaned loudly. “God! Now you're never going to hang out with me.”
“Innie, it's not going to be like that,” Seungmin said.
The boy still looked unsatisfied. He was cute, Jisung decided. In order to prevent whatever growing jealousy he had for Hyunjin and his soulmate, he dragged Minho over to him. “It's okay, kid. I've adopted you,” he said confidently.
“Who even are you?” the kid asked.
“I'm Jisung, and this is Minho.”
“You're friends with Woojin!” the kid said, eyes going wide. “I'm Yang Jeongin.”
Jisung remembered Woojin mentioning a freshman with that name, and something about how everyone thought he was adorable. Jisung was no exception.
Seungmin and Hyunjin had disappeared down the stairs when Jisung turned to look. Minho sighed. “He does know I'm his ride, right?”
Jeongin tagged along when they got in Minho's car and started towards Felix's house. Jisung sat in the front, with the other three in the back. He messed with Minho's hand as it sat on his knee. “You okay?” Minho whispered over the din of the other three's arguing.
“Yeah,” Jisung answered, shooting him a small smile.
But Jisung was jealous of Hyunjin. He always had been because of the words scrawled on his arm, but now it was real. Seungmin was Hyunjin's soulmate. Jisung had Minho, so he didn't really want to complain that he probably hadn't found his soulmate if he even had one, but he still felt jealous of his destiny.
“It's gonna be okay, Sungie,” Minho said, looking over at him briefly. “It's gonna be a fun party, right? It's Christmas.”
Jisung did love Christmas. He grinned. “For sure. Even though I have to hang out with you.”
Minho laughed.
Felix's house was large. It seemed to be glowing, decorations wrapped around it and white exterior reflecting the lights. Jisung sometimes forgot that Felix was rich. Jisung didn't knock before throwing open the door to the massive entrance hall. “Felix!”
Felix emerged from the kitchen, red and white striped apron on and flour all over his face. “I'm making cookies!” he announced.
Jisung entered the kitchen as the others settled themselves in the living room. The living room was cavernous, showing the second floor, a giant Christmas tree decorated with an abundance of colorful ornaments at the far wall. “Who's the redhead?” Changbin asked, appearing from behind Felix.
“Kim Seungmin, if I remember correctly,” Felix said.
“But why is he here?” Changbin asked quietly.
Jisung sighed. “He's kind of Hyunjin's soulmate-”
“Hyunjin! You found your soulmate?” Felix yelled, hopping over the marble counter dramatically to hug Hyunjin.
“Yeah, Felix, this is-”
“Seungmin! You live in the room next door!”
Seungmin raised an eyebrow. “And you are…?”
“Felix. This is my house.”
Seungmin smiled. “Oh! Well, sorry for intruding.”
Jisung thought his extremely polarizing personality was a little bit strange, but it matched Hyunjin well. They really did seem like soulmates.
Felix put his cookies in the oven and Jisung returned to Minho. There was room on the couch - especially given Jisung's size - but Minho insisted there wasn't a pulled him into his lap. Minho and Jisung were between Chris, who had Woojin sitting in front of him on the floor, and Seungmin, who was talking to Hyunjin on his other side.
“So,” Seungmin said, turning towards Jisung. “Are you two…?”
“Together,” Minho finished. “Mhm.”
“Really? What's your bond? You two seem very close,” Seungmin said.
Jisung stirred uncomfortably. “We're, uh. Kind of not soulmates but I really like him so we're pretending,” he said quickly.
Seungmin laughed. “Well, good for you two!”
Jisung was glad Seungmin didn't freak out about it. He was always worried people would. Felix re entered the room - he kept running around everywhere - with a plateful of cookies in one hand and a bottle of rum and eggnog in the other. Changbin quickly helped him place them down on the coffee table so he wouldn't drop them.
Felix ran back to grab glasses and poured himself a drink. He downed it much too quickly, causing Changbin and Chris to both hold their heads in their hands. “Felix, you are going to be way too drunk-” Chris said.
“Says you,” Felix said. “It's a party, yeah?”
Jisung laughed, making grabby hands for the coffee table since he didn't want to get up. Felix poured him a drink and handed it to him.
Jisung had hardly taken a sip with Minho stole it and drank the rest.
“This is thievery,” he pouted.
Minho shrugged. “What are you gonna do, arrest me?”
“I'll leave,” Jisung threatened.
“Nope,” Minho argued, rapping his arms around Jisung's torso. Jisung struggled, but Minho was strong, and he was small. Eventually, he gave up and rested the back of his head on Minho's shoulder softly.
Minho had a lot more eggnog. Jisung had cookies. Felix was crying about how it was his first Christmas where he could see the colors, and Changbin was fruitlessly attempting to calm him down. Hyunjin and Seungmin kept “accidentally” crossing under the mistletoe and making out. Chris and Woojin seemed too tired to parent anymore and just retrieved more snacks from the kitchen.
“Hey, Sungie,” Minho said. They had since separated and now Minho was lying on the floor in front of the couch, and Jisung was sat cross-legged at his feet.
“What is it?” Jisung answered.
“Sungie, Sungie, Sungie,” Minho continued softly. “I love you.”
Jisung spluttered and coughed. “Sorry, you've just… never said that before.”
Minho sat up and frowned. “No, do you remember when you fell asleep at my apartment on Halloween?”
“Yeah?”
“I took off your squirrel makeup and then you fell asleep and then I told you I loved you.”
“...you did?”
“And then again the next week. I don't think you heard me, though.”
Jisung could remember those events, vaguely, and the idea that Minho had said he loves him before… it was weird. It felt nice.
“I love you too, Minho,” Jisung said, watching as Minho's drunken expression lit up. He was illuminated by the fairy lights and Jisung thought he was beautiful.
“Will you be my boyfriend?”
“Your what?”
“My boyfriend,” Minho repeated.
Jisung's brain struggled with the phrase. “Like… a friend? Minho, I'm confused, I thought-”
“Have you… do you not know what a boyfriend is? A girlfriend?” Minho asked, eyebrows furrowing up in confusion.
Jisung shook his head slowly.
“What do you call two people who're in an exclusive relationship but aren't married?” Minho asked.
“Soulmates,” Jisung said quickly.
Minho sighed and faced away from him. “Sungie, I… are soulmates important to you?”
“Yeah,” Jisung admitted. “But I really meant what I said to Seungmin earlier.”
“What did you say?” Minho asked.
“I said that… I really like you. Even though we kind of aren't soulmates. You can be my soulmate if you like,” Jisung said.
Minho smiled. “We don't have to do that, Sungie. You can be my boyfriend. And I'll be yours. Okay?”
Jisung sighed. “I still don't know what it means .”
Minho looked around the room. “Woojin!” he called.
“What is it?” Woojin asked, approaching the two of them.
“How would you describe a boyfriend to someone who doesn't know what it is?”
“Is it Jisung?”
“Hey!” Jisung interjected. “It doesn't matter who doesn't know.”
Well,” Woojin started. “A boyfriend is someone you're romantically involved with, and you're in an exclusive relationship usually. It's a commitment. A title.”
“Thank you,” Minho drawled, turning back to Jisung. “So?”
“Boy...friend.”
“Yes,” Minho affirmed. “Will you be my boyfriend? And can I be yours?”
“Yes,” Jisung decided. “That makes this a lot less confusing.”
Drunk Minho didn't question the sentiment. He cheered quietly and wrapped his arms around Jisung's shoulders, pressing a messy kiss on his lips. He mostly missed, but Jisung appreciated the sentiment. “Are you going to remember this tomorrow?” Jisung asked with a laugh.
“I could never forget anything about you, Sungie.”
Drunk Minho was very cute. Jisung kind of missed the sober one. Minho poked his puffball earring and laughed. “I got the best Christmas present ever,” he giggled.
“Hmm?” Jisung asked, watching Minho's lidded eyes as his gaze darted around Jisung's face.
“You, duh,” Minho said, leaning forward even farther until Jisung had no option to fall over on his back. Minho kissed him lazily and then cuddled into his chest. Minho was too heavy for it to be comfortable, but Jisung just carded a hand through Minho's hair.
“Merry Christmas,” Jisung said quietly.
Minho had a terrible hangover the next morning, and Jisung had aches from sleeping on the floor. The other seven of them weren't much better. But in that moment, Jisung was confused and fuzzy on the inside, and he loved Minho so much. It was the best Christmas Eve ever.
~~~
Jisung excelled at his exams at the end of the first semester. He blamed his heightened motivation on being around Minho so much.
Minho kissed Jisung on New Year's Day.
They bought each other stuffed animals, flowers, and candy on Valentine's Day.
Hyunjin spent a lot of time at Seungmin's dorm, effectively kicking Jeongin out to live with Felix since Changbin was always busy. That left Jisung's dorm empty to be able to accommodate Minho's constant presence there. Most times Minho slept there, Jisung in his arms, and Jisung slept better - that is, when he could stop staring at Minho's features as they shone in the light filtering in from the street. Minho was beautiful.
Minho did things Jisung never expected.
The notes with the cheesy pick-up lines didn't stop just because they were together. “Boyfriends”, as Minho had taught Jisung to call it. Minho baked him cookies, though Jisung wasn't sure with what kitchen, since Minho lived in the dorms too.
Jisung also learned that Minho worked harder than he thought. Jisung never thought he was lazy, but the amount of vigor he put into dance was enviable. He stayed out late and returned covered in sweat, and then got up before Jisung did to get to work at the cafe or practice more. Jisung worried about him, so he did his best to make sure Minho took care of himself. To be honest, Jisung wasn't really the poster child of self-care, either, so they both got help from Woojin. Woojin had practically graduated already, so he was usually free, leaving him able to pester the others about getting enough sleep.
In short, Jisung was happy. He had few worries and few problems, and the most beautiful person he had ever seen to come to at the end of all of his classes. Minho smelled like coffee and hope. Jisung figured that this is what it was like to have a soulmate.
“Jisung,” Minho whispered into the darkness of the room.
“Yeah?” Jisung answered, turning to face him. Minho was staring at the ceiling, expression unreadable. He breathed in deeply before he spoke again.
“Are soulmates important to you?”
Jisung couldn't find it in him to be anything but honest with Minho. He never could. “Yes. Growing up, I always wanted to know who my soulmate was. I wanted so badly to find them. And I've always been so jealous of people who had theirs.”
Minho sighed.
Jisung just continued. “Even now, I still think about it, obviously. About my soulmate.”
“Do you think they're out there?”
“I think… I think they exist.”
Jisung knew in his heart Minho was his soulmate. In the past several months, he had become so sure that fate had meant for them to be together. However, there was no definite sign. Jisung was never sure of anything.
“I always assumed no one would ever love me,” Minho said quietly.
“Why?” Jisung asked, putting an arm over Minho's chest and hugging him.
“I figured I didn't have a soulmate. And that no one would ever think I was worth it.”
“I love you, Minho.”
“I know you do, Sungie. Thank you so much for that.”
“I couldn't stop loving you if I wanted to.”
Minho was silent for a little before speaking again, breaking the heavy silence. “Do you want to be with your soulmate someday?”
“Of course,” Jisung answered, burrowing himself farther into Minho's chest.
They fell asleep like that, Minho holding Jisung tighter than he could ever remember. Jisung felt secure. He knew he loved Minho more than anything, maybe even more than whoever his soulmate is. As Jisung nodded off, he couldn't help but think that he didn't want his soulmate if it wasn't Minho. He didn't want anything but Minho.
~~~
Jisung woke up to the sound of his alarm much louder than he felt necessary. He felt around his bed for his phone, swiping away the alarm, and noticing the lack of Minho's warmth beside him. It wasn't out of the ordinary, but Jisung would be lying if he said it wasn't disappointing. Minho had classes and things to do, though, so Jisung had no one to hate but the universe. He was no stranger to that.
He rolled out of bed slowly, landing on the ground. Hyunjin wasn't in the room, either, and it felt strangely empty. Jisung had a class in an hour and a half, so he pulled on a pair of sweatpants and an emerald green hoodie he knew to be the one Minho wore the day before. It smelled like coffee and Febreze. Jisung smiled.
Jisung looked around the room to see a pink sticky note on his mirror and grinned.
Goodbye.
-LMH
Jisung sighed.