Work Text:
“you’re not wearing the bracelet again.”
beomgyu’s hand freezes where they are extended to grab some snacks from the refreshment table. his gaze falls onto his wrist, which is already exposed from how his sleeve had ridden up by the movement. sputtering for excuses, he withdraws his hand, hiding it behind his back.
“i’m wearing it,” he says quickly, an innocent smile drawn over his lips.
“he is totally not,” taehyun says as he passes behind him with his unwanted opinion. that traitor.
“fine, it’s in my bed!”
exasperated, he throws his hands in the air, giving up in trying to hide the fact that he had, indeed, forgot to put on the accessories this morning. for some reasons, soobin always spots it whenever the piece of bracelet is not wrapped around his wrist, but he never makes any comment otherwise.
“how many times do I have to tell you that you wear bracelet on your hand, not your bed?” soobin is making that irritated noise again, sucking his breath between his teeth. he even purposely snatches the honey butter chips that beomgyu was aiming for a minute ago, casually stuffing the snack into his mouth while he can only watch in despair.
“that’s mine…”
soobin moves the bag of chips away when he tries to reach for it. “should’ve worn the bracelet.”
“i told you i forgot! it has nothing to do with stealing my chips!”
pissed off at the passive aggressive treatment, he throws himself at the taller male. climbing onto the couch and wrestling the bag from soobin while the guy fights to shove him away. it’s a childish battle, and neither of them is willing to lose.
at some point, the pulling of the plastic bag of snack gets too intense that it explodes between them, pieces of thin crispy slices fly around them, scattered all over the couch and the floor.
the shock takes a few moments to settle. they stayed still in the initial position, with beomgyu kneeling over soobin, and their eyes on the flying particles of chips seasoning. it must be when the last particle hits the floor when beomgyu finally snaps, turning his eyes towards soobin and grabbing the collar of his shirt.
“look what you’ve done!” he yells.
“you were the one who tried to take it away from me!”
“you only took it because i didn’t wear the bracelet! you don’t even like that flavour!”
“so what? i can’t let you enjoy this when you can’t even appreciate a gift.”
the stupidity of this whole conversation baffles him, now that beomgyu has calmed down a little. he throws an incredulous look at the elder, who is acting like the kid between them. how this is the same choi soobin who got the unanimous vote as their leader because of his wise and mature head, he can’t comprehend it at this moment.
he roughly releases his hold on the crumpled shirt, still towering over the latter as he puts his hands on his hips. hopefully in an intimidating manner.
“you’re impossible, choi soobin! it’s a damn bracelet, not a wedding ring!” his voice rises again this time, but soobin does not relent. beomgyu thought he can be a little scary when he’s mad, yet this guy is always unfazed, ready with his comebacks that makes him want to choke the life out of him.
“it’s a birthday gift!”
“maybe you should give me a wedding ring next time then!”
it’s an impulsive answer, one that elicits a few gasps from some staffs that are standing idly in the room around them. it’s all because beomgyu does not have a brain-to-mouth filter. now he has to watch as the irritated look in soobin’s face dissipated, replaced by a smug look and a competitiveness that is lined with a dangerous edge.
“so you’re saying that you’d wear it every day if I gave you a ring?” he asks, taking beomgyu’s hand from his hip and turning it around in his hold.
“yeah? bring it on.”
he’s so annoyed that he wants to cry. thankfully the fight does not escalate from that.
at least for now.
he just did not think that soobin would actually execute what he said. he usually bluffs a lot, especially when it comes to winning something from beomgyu. it’s fun, at times, bickering like this. sometimes beomgyu wishes that his roommate would just shut up.
that’s how much they love each other, as dubbed by the other members of the group and the fans who have watched them interact on camera – all because neither of them can fake a purely wholesome friendship without their daily banter.
still, choi soobin really gets on his nerves more often than not.
especially at this moment, as the said guy suddenly drops on one knee in the middle of their practice room.
“choi beomgyu, marry me.”
if beomgyu is not too stunned to move a muscle, his jaws would have dropped already and he would have made a fool of himself. because not a second after, soobin breaks into laughter.
“what are you doing, idiot?” he asks warily, suspicious of his intention since he already forgot their argument from last time.
“you said you’d wear a wedding ring, so I’m giving you one,” the leaders says, opening his fist to show a ring sitting on top of his palm. it’s a simple ring, dirty gold in colour but still glossy. there is not much decoration on top of the flashy band, only a faint hint of ornate carving on the sides.
it’s almost beautiful, and beomgyu would be so elated to accept it, if only it’s not presented to him by his very annoying best friend who is sporting a punchable smirk on his face.
“i didn’t say to actually—“he starts to find an excuse to get out of this embarrassing situation, only to be tongue-tied when he sees the way soobin’s face morphs into a ‘thought so’ kind of mocking look. pissed off, he snatches the golden band from his hand, thrusting it over his ring finger. “there, satisfied?”
“let’s just see how long you’d keep it on. I’ll give it three days!”
“and if I keep it for longer than that, what will you—“he is once again interrupted, but this time it’s not because of soobin, or his own train of thoughts.
it’s because of the stinging sensation around his finger. as he lifts his hand, he watches how the band appear to shrinks around the girth of his digit. what feels like a loose metal piece at first now fits snugly around his ring finger.
it makes him shriek, spooked by the thought of it growing smaller and smaller, with the possibility to sink into his fingers and disappear into his blood. he waves his hand frantically as if that could help throwing away the accessory, only to stop when he spots soobin busy pulling on his own hand. upon a closer look, the guy is trying to pry off a same ring; but that one is around his own finger.
what the hell is happening?
“yah! what’s wrong with this ring?” he yells, thrusting his hand to soobin’s face.
the guy is frowning now, still tugging on his finger. “i don’t know what’s wrong with yours, but mine is super tight.”
“what do you mean yours??”
soobin lifts his hand, showing the golden band shining around the reddened area of his ring finger. “i told you it’s a wedding ring, of course it comes in pair?”
“soobin, you idiot, why would you get us real wedding rings?” beomgyu is catching the panic from soobin’s voice, fuelled even more by the cold metal band that’s biting into his skin.
“that’s soobin hyung for you!”
before they can get into a full panic mode or calm down enough to find a way out of the stupidity of the whole thing, there’s a loud clap coming from the corner of the dance studio. it’s their dance instructor, who apparently has been trying to get their attention.
the other three members are eyeing them with a bored look in their face, not even trying to come in between their daily bickering session anymore. but this is nothing like the usual.
“we’ll deal with this later,” beomgyu hisses at him. “use soap or something.”
“agreed.”
they forgot about the rings completely as they launch themselves into their daily eight hours dance practice.
only after they get back in the dorm late at night that they concern themselves about the matter anymore.
it takes place in the tiny bathroom, past midnight, once everyone else has hit the bed. beomgyu is sitting on top of the closed toilet lid, lathering slippery soap gel all over his fingers while soobin is already rinsing his hands.
they have been at this for almost an hour, to the point that the pads of their fingers have pruned, turning into ugly set of wrinkled skin. the so-called wedding bands are still snug around their fingers, glinting under the light of the bathroom and mocking their efforts.
“this is so stupid, where did you get them from anyway?” beomgyu grumbles, keeping his voice low despite the urge to constantly shout at this roommate.
“well, i got it for a pretty cheap price, from this one antique shop down the street.”
beomgyu’s jaws drop at the revelation. his hand stops working, hanging in the air as he throws a look at the latter, who returns his gaze with a confused one. “what?”
“don’t you know that most cursed things come from an antique shop? who even shops there?”
“stop watching horror movies, these are just cheap rings.”
“cheap rings that we can’t take off?” beomgyu snaps, shoving his soapy hands at soobin’s face just to show how the band still hasn’t budged from around his finger.
“okay maybe they are a little cursed? but we don’t see any ghosts here so—“
right as he says that, the soap bottle that beomgyu was using clatters onto the bathroom floor, making his voice goes a few octaves higher as he yelp, shooting up from the toilet seat to throw himself at soobin. he tries to scoot as far away from the source of noise. the action leaves soapy suds of bubbles on soobin’s shirt as he clutches onto the fabric and shoves his face right onto soobin’s neck.
“is it a ghost? poltergeist?
the taller male awkwardly tilts his head back, unable to inch away from him with the sink behind him. “dumbass. don’t imagine weird stuff—god, wash your hands!”
soobin leaves him once he managed to break free of the hold, making him hurrying up to rinse his slippery hands so he won’t be left alone in the room. if he has to live with a cursed ring around his finger, there is no way he is going anywhere alone.
soobin finds out more about the rings on the following day.
there’s barely any effort coming from the male, judging from how he is just reading the label printed on the lid of the box that came with the rings.
“these rings tie soulmates together. two people who wear them will be connected as long as time and will grant them.”
“we are not even soulmates, who are you kidding?” beomgyu scoffs, peeking down from the edge of the top bunk of the bed where he is sprawled on. his hand dangles off the edge. the fourth finger flushed in a red shade, irritated after the amount of rubbing he did all morning using some of his body lotion and hand cream.
meanwhile, soobin’s hand is stuck inside a bowl full of ice. a trick he learned from a youtube video.
“well, now we are,” the elder says pointedly. “the problem is just how to unsoulmate us.”
beomgyu scoffs, looking at his poor finger with a dejected pout gracing his lips. “it said as long as will grants them, so we can just say that we don’t want the rings anymore?”
“try it.”
“i don’t want this ring.”
a full agonizing minute passes as the two stare intently at beomgyu’s finger, not even breathing to keep the suspense. soobin is the first one who heaves a breath.
“this is dumb.”
“you are dumb. do you have a better idea?” beomgyu snaps at him, sulking now as his brilliant idea failed him. he rolls on his bed to lie down on his back, facing the ceiling, while his hand stays dangling off the edge of his bed.
“yeah, just let it be. it mentioned something about time so maybe there’s a time limit,” he says with a defeated sigh.
abandoning his ice, he walks back to the bed. there’s not much sounds of movement, until beomgyu feels an icy touch on his hand. the sensation traces along his irritated skin, bringing a soothing breeze along with it.
“besides, they look pretty.”
beomgyu has to agree with that.
if there is one thing about beomgyu that his friends noticed, it is that he is not one to give up on something.
no one else knows about the curse of their rings, so it just comes off as comical, when the members would walk in on them trying out some tricks they found on the internet to get the ring off. at some point, soobin has given up, wearing the ring proudly (and rather handsomely) on his finger.
beomgyu? there’s no way in hell he would give up.
“hyung, i don’t think you’re supposed to use dental floss on your finger,” kai mentions as he sits next to him, who is busy wrapping the thin thread around his finger, right atop the metal band.
“you can use this for your teeth once I’m done, then.”
“no, thanks,” kai shoots him a disgusted look. “why do you want it off so badly? it looks pretty.”
“it’s one thing to like something, but to have to like something? that’s torture.”
“i don’t get it. you like soobin hyung?”
beomgyu freezes at that, prying his gaze off his experiment for once to look at the maknae. “how did you come into that conclusion?”
“rephrasing your words, it’d be like it’s one thing to like soobin hyung, but to have to like him? so you don’t need the ring to like him?” kai trails off in the end, seemingly lost in his own thought. it’s a good thing that he’s confused at his own deduction, because that hits super close to home.
he has to ignore the kid after that to not accidentally spill more things.
when he unravels the floss, the ring is unfazed, sparkling in all his glory around his finger. it’s a beautiful little thing, yet it loses its value to him once it comes with a commitment.
after several days, there is still no sign that the ring is coming off on its own accord.
soobin has completely given up on trying to get his ring off, and it is pissing beomgyu off, now that he is the only one who is all bothered about rings. he has tried all methods the internet has to offer. excluding the ring cutter.
“there is no way I’m letting a metal cutter anywhere near my hand!” beomgyu has shrieked when yeonjun mentioned the idea.
“so you’d rather stuck with a single ring forever? what if you have to wear your own wedding ring later on?”
“I’ll keep this ring forever then. heck, i’ll marry choi soobin if that means i get to keep all my fingers.”
yeonjun stares at him quietly, lips turned down in disapproval, but his stare is mainly a bored one.
“what?”
“you’re so obvious.”
the final strike is when he tells taehyun to use his strength and pull on the ring as hard as he can. the younger stares at him doubtfully upon hearing the request, switching to look at the ring, and then back at him.
if there’s one thing beomgyu has learnt from being classmate and friends with the guy for years, is that taehyun can’t resist a challenge of competition. he might seem like he’s calm at the face of them, but inside, he must be boiling. so he does what he does the best: provocation.
“you got those buffed up arms, but can’t win over a single ring?” he sneers, waving his fingers in front of taehyun’s face.
the trick works.
it starts with a squint from taehyun, followed by an eerie crack coming from the joints of beomgyu’s fingers when taehyun tugs on it. and then it leaves beomgyu tearing up, curling at the corner of his room while nursing his pained hand.
when soobin enters their shared room, he is prepared to face some mocking laughter and teasing. he is proven wrong when soobin joins him to sit down on the floor, turning him around to face the leader, and taking his hand gently in his bigger palm.
“you’re an idiot,” he says simply.
beomgyu can’t even counter that. his finger still hurts whenever he moves it and he is still dejected over the failure of his very last solution on the list. he stares at the elder, lips pushed into a pout and eyes softened into a puppy eyes look. soobin might be the source of his ring problem, but he is also beomgyu’s safe place, and in autopilot, his heart always seeks for soobin whenever he needs a little consolation.
upon a single glance at him, soobin breaks into a smile, shaking his head.
“what, running out of things to try out already?”
“kind of, ouch?” he hisses, glaring at the elder who is now massaging his hand gently. it’s so different from how taehyun handled the hand. which is funny because taehyun sometimes complains about soobin’s gigantic ass and his uncontrollable power when he accidentally bumps into the shortie. “i actually came up with something else today.”
“what is it?”
“you wouldn’t like it.”
“we can give it a last try,” soobin urges him, more to feed his curiosity than anything.
the gentle squeezes on his finger feels really nice now, and it puts him in a better mood. the tears residing in his eyes are tucked back into the ducts, forgotten for the moment as beomgyu’s head is occupied by an entirely different matter.
“okay, you know how the main characters break their curses in fairy tales?” he finally spills the first hint.
“this is not a fairytale.”
thank you, choi soobin, for always stating the obvious.
beomgyu sucks a breath in annoyance. “same element of magic! now, use your brain. how do they break the curse?”
it takes a moment for the gears to click in soobin’s head, according to the light of realization that shines in the pair of clear eyes. the hands that are holding beomgyu’s hurting hand is idle now, forgetting the purpose of the intimate contact. it’s mostly a source of warmth, and when soobin realizes that too, beomgyu has already gripped his hand, preventing him from pulling away.
“you’re not saying…”
“i am saying it,” beomgyu says, lips curling into an impish smile. “what if we kissed?”
“i personally think this won’t work.”
he rolls his eyes. “screw your personal opinion. if there is something plausible that might help us break free from this, we are trying it out!”
it’s always these few seconds of silence that’s the most painful. he can hear soobin thinking loudly, knowing that he is estimating the pros and cons of doing this. but it’s just a single kiss, and it won’t hurt much, right? beomgyu doesn’t think it will have much consequences.
that’s why when their eyes met again, and he sees the softened look in soobin’s eyes that shows how he’s giving up on his thoughts, he takes the opportunity.
before any words can slip past soobin’s lips, he leans in to press his lips against them.
the contact is soft. chaste and sweet. much like how a first kiss should be. soobin’s lower lip always looks like a pillow, soft to the touch; he always wonders how it’d feel to touch the plushness, how bouncy it’d be to his touch. he knows that it feels way better now that he’s touching it with his own lips.
when he pulls away from the kiss, it is with a bite on soobin’s lower lip. they both flinch at that. beomgyu, because of the tug on his still-stuck ring, and soobin, because of the sting from the bite. the sweet contact ends in a less sweet tone, with both of them turning around to face anything but the other and hissing in pain.
the pain subsides after a few moments, but they stay like that. at least beomgyu does. he sucks his lower lip between his teeth, trying to get rid of the ghost of soobin’s lips on top of his own.
“well… it didn’t work,” he states the obvious.
“huh? oh right,” soobin coughs. “good luck figuring out other ways then, idiot.”
despite being called that, beomgyu can only smile to himself, staring at the golden band perched on his ring finger. it’s the first time over the past few days he thinks that the rings are not that bad, after all.
it only starts being a problem again when they have the opportunities to get under each other’s skins again. the comeback preparation is getting more stressful, with packed schedules and non-stop dance practice that leaves them boneless on the dance studio’s floor until late at night.
the rings have become a fixture. something that does not bother them anymore since they just sit there around their fingers. the fact that these accessories can’t be taken off almost slipped off beomgyu’s mind completely.
the kiss is also forgotten completely, or at least treated like it never happened. none of them ever mentions it anymore, since it did not work in undoing the ‘curse’. and it’s not like beomgyu would stare at soobin’s lips sometimes, reminding himself of how soft the pair of lips are, and as bouncy as he thought. sometimes he might stare too long at them, but that’s only because he is thinking of how nice it would be to sleep with the pillow that is soobin’s lips.
in short, everything is stagnant, in the most peaceful way possible.
that’s it, until they got the time for another bickering session, and suddenly everything comes to the light again.
“i said i’m sorry! it’s not like i broke it or anything,” beomgyu scowls, returning the set of in-ear he accidentally had mistaken for his own and put on himself while soobin went around looking for it for the past ten minutes. in his defense, he was on his phone the whole time, using the break time between practices wisefully.
“you could’ve checked it, yet you didn’t even listen to me.”
“how would i know when you were just looking around mumbling to yourself?”
soobin rolls his eyes. “yeah just keep up that attitude. you’re not even sorry that you made me eat bland soup again because you used my sauce.”
“and who ate my honey butter chips again? you know it’s my comfort food!”
at this point, he knows that they both are just being petty and one of them needs to stop before they start pulling on each other’s hair. today, it’s not beomgyu’s turn. he can hear the other members’ sighs and comments about them as they walk past, which he easily ignores.
(“are they going to be okay this time? shouldn’t we stop them?” kai sounds genuinely concerned, while taehyun just sounds genuinely fed up.
“just let them be. idiots.”
“if they stuck us into another team building training session because of them, you guys have to stop me from lashing out on them,” says yeonjun.)
they are not even arguing about the in-ears anymore, only throwing insults and snappy remarks that come to mind, until beomgyu finally screams in exasperation at a particular comment about his sleeptalking habit.
“you can’t handle that simple thing but i’m supposed to handle this?” he lifts his hand, showing the ring that’s still trapped around his finger. “don’t think i’ve forgotten! i’m sick of trying to get it off every day. maybe that’s why i’ve been sleeptalking more. it’s the stress, soobin. the stress!”
“didn’t know you hated it that much,” soobin scoffs, turning his gaze away.
“now you know. i hate it so much! especially because i’m tied to you now. who even give wedding rings as a gift? we are not even dating and i’m stuck with you.”
“they are just rings! why are you so bothered about it?”
“maybe because you’ve been bothering me for not wearing the bracelet, and now you’re giving me a ring that i can’t take off! you just want to feel good when i’m showing off things that you got for me.”
“what are you on about?” soobin looks more offended than anything else now, but there is something more hidden under his eyes. a hint of hurt.
beomgyu mildly wonders if he has gone too far, but he can’t stop like this without embarrassing himself.
“it’s your sick satisfaction of making me feel like i owe you something, isn’t it?” he says, even going so far as to step forward and jab his index finger onto soobin’s chest. “that’s why you don’t mind it that much when we can’t take them off. you’re enjoying this!”
“hey guys, let’s just…” yeonjun’s voice sounds alarmed as he walks towards them, but they are not listening.
soobin takes the hand from his chest, fingers wrapping tightly around beomgyu’s wrist so it can’t be pulled away. twisting the hand, he looks down at the golden band glinting under the light of the dance studio.
“you really hate being stuck with me that much?”
that’s really not how beomgyu phrased it, but he has already gone this far, and soobin’s eyes are boring down into his own, intimidating. he hisses as he tries to wrestle his hand out of the grip, only to fail miserably as soobin is not budging.
“yes, i do. i wish you’d never given me anything!” he snaps in the end.
“soobin, beomgyu, just drop it,” yeonjun’s voice grows firmer this time.
beomgyu wants the ground to just split open and swallow him whole as the reality crashed on him. he has gone too far, and their little argument has morphed into something more vile. he can see it from the way something broke in soobin’s eyes, before they harden up.
an apology is already hanging on the tip of his tongue, but the leader beats him to it.
“okay then. i don’t want these rings anymore,” he says. the cold tone from his words are stabbing beomgyu’s chest like a jagged ice piece. “throw it away or whatever, i don’t care.”
“how do i even throw it—“before he could finish the question, soobin drops his hand, and the sound of metal clinking down the floor makes his tongue go numb. he can’t feel any pressure of the cold band around his finger anymore, as the ring is now lying lifeless on the floor of their dance studio.
“it’s done. satisfied?” soobin spits, gathering his attention back from the short intermission of surprise.
“how—“
“don’t talk to me.”
now, that hurts.
soobin gets angry a lot at him, and it’s not just once or twice that they might throw curses or names during a fight. but it never goes as far as this. the ice stabbed into his chest is spreading throughout his system now, giving him chills as he watches soobin’s back walking away from him, and then his gaze drops to the ring again.
“you’ve gone too far this time,” yeonjun sighs, patting him on the shoulder. “apologize later, hm?”
he’s not sure if he could face soobin again after that. as yeonjun walks away from him, he takes the ring from the floor. there’s a mark on his ring finger right where the ring had been resting on, now growing cold.
he is finally free from the cursed ring, but why is he not happy?
when they are back at the dorm, beomgyu purposely hangs out in yeonjun’s room until late. only once the lights to his bedroom is turned off that he dares himself to step inside, tiptoeing so not to bother the lump in soobin’s bed.
there is a tiny box placed on their shared desk, and upon a closer look, beomgyu realizes that it’s the box that came with the rings. as he opens it, soobin’s ring is already tucked inside, with an empty spot next to it.
biting his lower lip, he puts his own ring on the empty spot.
as his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room, he can read the neat writing on the lid of the box. these rings tie soulmates together. two people who wear them will be connected as long as time and will grant them. apparently soobin has found a way to unsoulmate them like he said, and now they have run out of both time and wills.
it’s what beomgyu wished for. he has no right to feel the ache in his chest.
the next morning, soobin would wake up to an empty top bunk bed, and the antique ring box missing from his desk. it is currently residing inside beomgyu’s bag, as he sneaks out from their dorm early in the morning to make his way down the neighbourhood to the busier part of the city where the shopping street is.
they actually spotted the antique shop when they went out for food together last time, coming up with a discussion on how shady the place looked and how there was a big possibility of cursed items being sold there. ironically, it did not stop soobin from buying something from the place. must be great to not believe on ghosts and curses.
now that it has become less of his problem, beomgyu starts questioning why he didn’t visit the place sooner to figure out a way to break free from the rings. he comes up with an idea that he might have actually liked the ring, but he shakes his head quickly to get rid of such foolish idea.
the owner of the shop is thankfully not a stereotypical old man or old lady from magical stories. he’s more at ease now, as he puts the box on top of the desk and slides it over to the girl sitting behind the counter.
“we don’t accept refund,” she says, studying him from behind her specs.
“i’m not coming for a refund! just… trying to figure out what’s wrong with these rings.”
“the ring is not on your finger, so i don’t see why it’s much of a problem for you.”
“it was… and then it just fell off,” he says with a shrug, frowning when he sees understanding in her face, followed by a pitiful look. “what?”
“these are actually a pair of rings with useless magic, that’s why when that tall guy wanted to buy it, i charged him a cheap price. still expensive, though.”
beomgyu squints at her. did she just admit to the rings being cursed, or that she had swindled an unsuitable amount of money from his hyung?
“how useless is the magic?”
“i assume that you’re familiar with how the rings work. the magic?”
“it’s trapped on your finger.”
“and that happens only if both bearer of the rings are in love with each other.”
beomgyu chokes at that, wheezing for breath. it’s not helping that she is saying it so casually.
“what?”
“yeah, that’s why it’s a useless magic. you can’t use it to trap your crush to stay with you forever or something. it wouldn’t work.”
the rings are cursed for sure, but he did not expect this. the information load is too much for his befuddled brain that he only realizes the implication behind it a moment later, causing his cheeks to grow warm. the fact that the rings stuck on his and soobin’s fingers for so long only means one thing.
it makes his heart jump, and then falls a second later. because the ring is not on his finger anymore.
“so, if you can take off the ring, it means…” he trails off, dreading the next line as he knows just well what needs to happen to break off the curse.
it’s not the kiss. it’s the other way around.
how sick.
“it means that you two have fallen out of love,” the girl just confirms it, rather nonchalantly as she swivels around in her spinny chair, ignorant of what’s happening in beomgyu’s head.
soobin probably grew to hate him for the last argument they had; that’s the only plausible explanation. it’s just sad, that beomgyu only realized about his feelings now that it’s too late. and that he needs to be cursed by an antique ring to grasp the affection he had for his roommate.
“hey, don’t cry,” she says, acting like she actually cares. “the other option is when you give up on your significant other, though it’s just as sad as the first one. sorry, man.”
“what do you mean give up? i’m not crying!”
“like when one of you gives up on the relationships because you don’t see it going anywhere? it doesn’t mean that you’ve fallen out of love, just doing yourself a favour.”
it’s true that this option is not any better. beomgyu considers just storming out of the shop and leave the rings in this shop just so he won’t have to look at these cursed items. he did not get to decide on it, as the girl is suddenly becoming so talkative now. probably enjoying his devastated look.
“i already told all these to the other guy anyway. why don’t you two just discuss about it and leave me alone?”
“what?” beomgyu snaps out of his small trance, blinking up at the latter. “what do you mean the other guy?
“the one who bought these. he came here two weeks ago, asking how to take them off. i told him that it’s not possible unless those things happened and he…”
beomgyu is not listening to her chatter anymore. his brain is working for once, gears shifting inside his head to connect all the details. two weeks ago was when soobin gave up on their experiments to take off the rings. he found it weird that the elder just gave up like that, but now it all makes sense. it’s because soobin figured it out first.
and he gives up on them, because beomgyu expressed how much he hates this connection.
the box is tucked inside the pocket of beomgyu’s hoodie as he makes a run down the street. thankfully, this part of the neighbourhood is closer to their company building. he considers taking a little nap before having to confront soobin about it, but he almost drops his heart when he enters the longue, and sees the leader dozing off right there.
it’s an uncomfortable position. he’s sitting on the floor, with his head resting on top of his folded arms. beneath his arms are scattered papers of lyrics.
the room is silent aside from the sound of soobin’s soft breathing. beomgyu quietly sits across of him, resting his cheek on top of the table with his eyes directed at the elder. this way, he gets a better look of the hyung. his parted lips, soft cheek squeezed against his hand, his eyelashes casting shadow on his cheeks.
it hasn’t been 24 hours since they fought, but beomgyu misses him already.
sighing, his gaze falls to soobin’s hand on top of the table, right on the spot where the ring used to be. frankly, he loved it. he loved wearing a couple item more than he did with the bracelet since it’d just be him wearing it. if only he didn’t act so much like an asshole and just told soobin the truth…
“i’m sorry,” he mouths.
and then an idea hits him. he can suddenly feel the weight of the lump on his pocket, taking it out and opening the box to a pair of rings staring at him. he does not let himself contemplate on it, because that’s just how choi beomgyu is. he does not think.
before he knows it, the metal band is already looped around his finger again. it’s loose; an unfamiliar sensation to him now after wearing it for a while. he only has to bear it for a little more.
the initial touch is careful, just so he won’t shake soobin out of his slumber. he lifts the delicate fingers, slides the ring onto soobin’s ring finger, and squeezes his eyes shut tightly as he waits for the magic to work again.
except, nothing is happening. he is just there, sitting on the floor while holding soobin’s hand in his. his forehead rested on top of his forearm as he waits, and waits. still nothing.
soobin has given up on him, and it’s too late.
for someone who has just realized his crush a moment ago, it sure hurts a lot. it feels like he just swallowed a stone, which is now settled inside his chest, banging against his heart with every heartbeat.
it did not hurt when soobin yelled at him or called him names, or when he passive aggressively called him out for not wearing the bracelet. it never hurt because soobin was always so gentle with him, and he had taken it for granted. didn’t even apologize for it. it’s just a given that soobin would give up on him before anything could start.
as he is deep in his inner turmoil, he didn’t notice on how he is squeezing soobin’s hand harder than necessary. he also didn’t notice as the fingers move within his hold, followed by a movement from the male sitting across of him.
“beomgyu? hey, what’s wrong?” soobin sounds so concerned.
beomgyu thinks that he does not deserve this, especially after soobin said not to talk to him.
what breaks him down is the gentle pat on his hair. fingers caressing through the strands of his black hair. he inhales in a sob, eyes brimming with tears as he slowly lifts his gaze to look at soobin.
“please don’t give up on me.”
confusion is the first emotion that’s replacing the concern in soobin’s face, and then the realization is slowly dawn on him. he takes his hands away, only to cup beomgyu’s cheeks and catch the first tears that escaped from his eyes.
“idiot.”
beomgyu stares at him wide-eyed, blinking a few times to free his eyes from the stinging tears. he sniffles softly, letting soobin brush away all his tears until they dry off. the fact that soobin is not reacting much to his ‘request’ discourages him even more. maybe that’s why the soulmate rings won’t tie them up back together.
“you knew about the rings… and you never said anything. you just gave up on me.”
a sigh escapes soobin’s lips as he withdraws his hands, noticing the ring that’s slipped onto his finger earlier. he toys with the metal band, turning it around the digit. “you tried so hard to get rid of the ring, and i was just being an ass, refusing to tell you the only way to stop the magic. it’s just yesterday that i got reminded of how much you hated it. if you had seen yourself…”
“but you know that i didn’t mean it! you know that in order for the magic to work, i’d have to…” he trails off, shutting his lips at once to stop the words from pouring out. the warmth on his cheeks are back, replacing the trail of tears from his short crying session. “you know!”
“what, i don’t know,” soobin deadpans, but there’s no mistaking on how a corner of his lips twitch with the urge to smile.
“point is, it’s not working anymore! the rings won’t connect us anymore. is it because we have unsoulmated ourselves for real? or that you really think that we’re that hopeless?” beomgyu’s voice quietens down as he reaches this conclusion. he hates himself for being so weak. lips already pushed out into a pout and eyes ready to extract some more of the salty tears. “i mean, our signs are not compatible and we fight a lot. it’s easy to undo the—“
the sound of soobin clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth stops him from his rambling. he looks up at the hyung with a frown, watching as he removes both beomgyu and his rings, only to throw them across the room.
that baffles him for a moment, watching as the metal bands clatter onto the floor, before his gaze snaps back towards soobin.
“what the heck?”
“why are we letting cursed rings decide what we are?” soobin says. his fingers finding their way in between beomgyu’s, locking their hands together in a gentle hold that might have melted the stone from beomgyu’s chest. “i only gave up because we were in a fight, but you should know that i still like you a lot even when you’re pissing me off. and this means something since you do piss me off a lot.”
“if this is a confession, it’s really not…”he forgets what kind of comeback he came up with.
because soobin is lifting their locked hands, bringing them up just to press a kiss onto beomgyu’s ring finger right where the ring used to be. the softness of soobin’s lips caresses his skin in the most beautiful way, reminding him of the plushness pressing against his own lips.
“does the ring matter that much?” the lips move against his skin as soobin speaks.
beomgyu thinks that his brain might have short circuited for a split second.
“n-no.”
satisfied, soobin pulls away with a smirk. “so, about this crush you have on me…”
he got a point about still being able to like someone when they piss you off, because right now beomgyu is feeling it. as he stares at the irritating smile drawn over choi soobin’s lips. he can see their daily banters still going on even after this whole situation. not like he minds it much.
perhaps beomgyu will just purposely leave the bracelet on his bed more often than before.