Chapter Text
'Minhyung-ah'
'Do you want to go ring shopping?'
Minhyung almost spat his water out, reading the messages from Sanghyeok. His active imagination conjured up million different scenarios - did Sanghyeok have a partner? Was he so committed that he's going ring shopping? Okay, maybe it's just a promise ring of some kinds? Or...
Another alert from the phone snapped him out of his thought, and he looked down at the phone screen.
'Junsik is doing last minute shopping, so I wanted to accompany him since we can't be at his wedding. You want to join?'
Oh, well. That made sense. Minhyung smiled abashedly at his own thought, before replying an affirmative. It would be a good bonding experience, and he did feel slightly guilty that they would be in Europe during the wedding.
--
"Junsik, you have two weeks, stop panicking."
"Well, excuse you for panicking about the most important day of my life."
Minhyung trailed behind Junsik and Sanghyeok, who were bickering even before they reached the jewelry store. Minhyung quietly snickered to himself - these two are six years older than him, one of them getting married in two weeks, but they bickered like kids who are going to the toy store. It was great. If the fans saw this side of them, they would never be able to reconcile this image with the cool SKT T1 legends they knew and loved.
The store they were heading to weren't a fancy store in a big department store in the middle of Seoul. Instead, it was a standalone store at a corner of Seongbuk-dong, right at the foot of a hill. The structure's architecture was clearly traditional, and the staff at the entrance was wearing hanbok. She recognised Junsik and Sanghyeok by face, before bowing and leading them into the shop. Three different attendants bowed at them on the way as they pass through the outer courtyard and headed deeper into the property - this place must be huge. They finally stopped in front of the main house, where they would have to take off their shoes to enter.
While the attendant bring Junsik to the counter, Sanghyeok gestured to Minhyung and they stepped to one side. The atmosphere was quiet and somber, so Minhyung decided to first look around the store. (Could he even call this a store?)
On the walls, extravagant jewelries were displayed in wooden cabinets, framed by glasses and held up by intricately carved boxes and shelves. Minhyung couldn't see any prices. Some items behind the main counter took up a whole shelve by itself, sparkling under the warm display lights. This was different from the kind of fancy you see in big flashy department stores, but just as expensive.
He knew Junsik earned well, but not that well.
He whispered to Sanghyeok, who was looking at a cabinet displaying jade bracelets.
"Hey, how did Junsik find this place?"
"I did, actually. Junsik is here based on my recommendation." - Sanghyeok replied.
Minhyung was surprised by that, and he knocked his elbow to Sanghyeok, wiggling his eyebrows. By now, they had known each other for seven years running, so Sanghyeok grinned at Minhyung's childish way of asking for an explanation, but he indulged him anyway.
Apparently, Junsik was looking to do something special for Jeesun, he's not actually so bad at planning that he was buying the wedding band two weeks beforehand. Jeesun already had a ring, but Junsik wanted to gift her a jade ring to wear with her hanbok. In his words, "Because my soulmark turned green whenever I'm touching her, I want to remind her of that." And also in his words, "In American culture people have two rings, one for the engagement and one for the wedding, so my bride deserves two."
"That is very romantic of Junsik-hyung." - Minhyung replied, looking at Junsik hunched over the selection of rings. Minhyung did know about Junsik's and Jeesun's soulmarks - they were the type of couple who didn't shy away from sharing the details with friends and family. It always reminded him of his own.
Minhyung gave pause, before his eyes instinctively zoomed in on some white jade rings that was next to the cabinet Sanghyeok was looking at and oh my God those would look so good on his soulmate's fingers, did this cost more than Minhyung's monthly salary he can afford them he made quite a bit of money...
Minhyung mentally stopped himself. His hand stopped in mid-air, unconsciously halfway through reaching out to the cabinet. Sanghyeok snickered next to Minhyung, and Minhyung would have reacted had an attendant not approach them from behind the counter and spoke up.
"Would you like to look at these rings? Some of them have designs which incorporated silver and are thinner than normal jade rings, which are comfortable even when you work with keyboards often."
Not only his head, but his whole body stopped working at that single moment. His heart dropped to his stomach.
"Hyung? Did you...?" - he snapped his head towards Sanghyeok, tone strangely accusatory.
Sanghyeok put his hands up in defense.
"Before you come at me, think again. I'm not someone insensitive enough to go around divulging secrets I'm not supposed to know in the first place. These people are just very good at their jobs. They know my face, now they know yours."
Minhyung sighed in relief, before he fully digested Sanghyeok's reply, and then he froze again.
"Hyung, you knew?"
"Hey you two! Come help me choose!"
Before they could complete their conversation, Junsik called out. Sanghyeok whispered that they could talk later, before trotting over to Junsik, kneeling down in front of the central table for a closer look at three different jade rings. Minhyung came to help his hyung buy a ring, not for world-shattering revelations, so he shook his head and came over to them as well.
Sanghyeok had a lot to answer for.
--
Minhyung did enjoy dinner and teasing Junsik about his upcoming wedding, but his mind was only about ninety percent there throughout the evening. As soon as he sat down on the passenger seat next to Sanghyeok, the small ten percent took over his whole brain and all he could think about was
"How did you know?" - Minhyung asked, tapping at Sanghyeok right hand on the steering wheel.
Sanghyeok laughed, before slowly pulling off the curb.
"I would like to talk about this face to face, but since you're so impatient we can talk while I drive. Yes, I know who is your soulmate. As for how I came to know, I think I can share a secret of my own. Quid pro quo and all that."
"Oh... kay?" - Minhyung answered, uncertain.
"My soulmate is one of our team's ex-players."
Straight to the point. Minhyung was almost knocked over by how straightforward that fact was. Sanghyeok stated it as if he was saying the sky was blue, or water was wet. A matter of fact, spoken in Sanghyeok's steady and firm tone. As if it wasn't the scoop of the century, that Faker's soulmate actually existed, that they are male, and that they were a pro player who had had the pleasure of playing with Faker.
Minhyung sat back against his chair, savouring the secret that Sanghyeok had just shared. Minhyung took pride in the fact that out of all of Sanghyeok's teammates, he had managed to stay the longest, and if he was only afforded the privilege of knowing only now, that meant Sanghyeok kept this close to his heart.
"Thank you for sharing." - Minhyung spoke, making sure his voice carried the sincerity he wanted to convey, looking over at Sanghyeok.
"You're welcome." - Sanghyeok replied, a small smile playing on his lips. He knew and understood Minhyung perfectly.
"So, as you can tell, I know a thing or two about playing on the same team as my soulmate and keeping secrets. I made educated guesses, but you know what was the most damning evidence? The way you look at him. Be careful with those eyes on camera."
Sanghyeok said, and Minhyung would have gotten embarrassed with how obivous his pining was, but the bigger embarrassment win over - the one where he felt like a kid being discovered doing something idiotic by his dad. Minhyung buried his face in his hand, trying to ignore the laughter coming from Sanghyeok as he made a particular sharp corner and Minhyeong's big frames shook left and right.
Sanghyeok was embarrassing, Minhyung was embarrassing, this whole situation was so mortifying.
"To be fair, I think he avoids your eyes often enough that he won't notice. It's just me knowing what to look for."
"Stop embarrassing me, what kind of captain are you?"
They bickered all the way back to the dorm, but Minhyung's heart wasn't as heavy as it was a few hours ago.
It was actually, surprisingly light. Lighter than Minhyung expected.
Maybe Minhyung had been holding onto this secret for too long.
--
They said, getting to find out about another's soulmate was precious and an occasion of bonding. Minhyung felt that it definitely made him closer to Sanghyeok. Sometimes, when it was just the two of them, Minhyung got to ask him questions about soulmates. Such as
"How did you know your soulmark was about your soulmate?"
Or
"Do you find it irritating that same-sex soulmateship is stigmatised? We're favoured by God just as much as hetero couples."
Maybe because Minhyung had been holding onto his secret for four years, but once it came out to the world it was hard to Minhyung to stuff it back in. Sanghyeok seemed to understand it, as he was patient in answering some of Minhyung's questions, as well as willing to debate with Minhyung on soulmate topics. Judging by the easy smiles and grins Minhyung received in return though, he reckoned it was better for Sanghyeok to be able to talk about his soulmate more openly too. (Though Minhyung still hadn't figured out who Sanghyeok's soulmate was.)
So one fine day, when the late night snack trio had went out for their runs and it was just two of them in the dorm, Minhyung flopped down onto the sofa next to Sanghyeok. The elder had his feet up on the table, almost lying on the sofa with a book close to his face.
"You know, with better posture you can avoid future injuries."
"Stop calling me old." - Sanghyeok replied, eyes not leaving his book.
"And here I thought wanting to show you my soulmark was me considering you one of my best friends."
Sanghyeok finally let his eyes stray from the book, eyebrows raised at Minhyung. Minhyung smiled, but his expression must have betrayed his nervousness because Sanghyeok switched to 'serious captain' mode and his expressions straightened out, his eyes turning sharper. He sat up, abandoning his book.
"Minhyung, you don't have to."
"I want to. And I assume you don't mind?"
"It's an honour. Thank you for trusting me."
Minhyung scuffed at his nose, a bit of colour appearing on his cheek. He was good with his emotions, of course, but not everyday you get to have this kind of talk and bonding with Lee Sanghyeok, human extraordinaire.
Minhyung turned around, pulling the back of his t-shirt up. His back was exposed, the cold winter air making some goosebumps appear.
"Oh." - Sanghyeok exclaimed in a soft voice.
"It's a growing type of soulmark tattoo. The doctors still haven't confirmed the exact cause which made the mark grows, but we do have probable cause and a timeline. Achievements. When he makes an achievement, the main tattoo gets extended, or little small marks appear on my back somewhere. I heard that it's the top zero point one percent in breadth, my general doctor said he hasn't seen anything so big before." - Minhyung explained, his words enunciated. It felt so good to let that out. Only his family knew, but they didn't know the content. Sanghyeok should be the first one to truly understand it.
"This is fascinating. I don't think he had won anything significant with a Thresh yet, yet there is a scythe on here. And the Worlds trophy is huge." - Sanghyeok said, a bit of excitement leaking into his voice. Minhyung laughed before answering.
"Well, that's his best achievement so far."
"Ours, you mean."
Minhyung let go of his t-shirt, turning around to answer Sanghyeok's retort with a grin. Yes, theirs.
They continued talking about the tattoo, Minhyung showing Sanghyeok a photo and talking about possible meanings. When the other three returned to the dorm, two of them were still engaged in quiet conversation. Hyeonjun didn't care, stepping over to throw a bag of snack at Minhyung. Wooje rushed to his room to wash up and sleep.
And Minseok smiled at them, as if they weren't keeping a secret that could shake up his whole world.