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What’s a soulmate?
The question rang through Gyuvin’s mind ever since he was young.
“A soulmate is the person you are destined to love,” his mother would tell him. “You simply have to follow this red string—” She would tug at the string on his pinky, despite not being able to see it herself. “—on the other end, you will find your one true pairing.”
Gyuvin eyed the red string attached to his finger with distaste.
The string glowed against his skin. It was beautiful, really, but the way it twisted around the digit was suffocating. Gyuvin felt as if the tip of his finger would turn purple if it had to be attached to him any longer.
He wanted to rip it off his body—cut it off to no longer be able to see where it led. To whom it led.
Hanbin stood on the other side of the practice room, laughing with Hao like he always was. Gyuvin watched as his member placed a gentle hand onto Hao’s arm as he laughed into his body. It couldn’t have been that funny. It couldn’t have been that special.
“Ah, hyung,” he whined as Hao teased him over something.
Gyuvin grimaced and turned away.
There were many things he admired about Hao, but the more he thought about it, the more he began to loath the older man. His exceptional vocals that seemed effortless. His unwavering passion. The red string attached to his finger connected to the one on Hanbin’s.
Gyuvin couldn’t see it, but he knew it was there. It was obvious from the moment that he had met the two men.
He joined Boys Planet with no intention of finding his soulmate.
But he saw the way the string on his finger lit up when he walked onto set. He watched as it thinned and glowed as it met with someone else’s hand.
The man introduced himself as Sung Hanbin during his audition, and Gyuvin was in awe at his performance.
He waited patiently for the first round of filming to be over, trembling in his seat as he watched Hanbin return to his after his audition was over. Gyuvin could barely pay any attention to the others that passed after him because his eyes were glued to the back of Hanbin’s head, his gaze darting back and forth from his hand to Hanbin’s.
Finally, finally, the directors called for an intermission. Gyuvin didn’t miss his chance.
“Hi,” he said nervously upon walking up to the older. He bit his lip, rocking on his heels as he looked at his soulmate with wide eyes. “I’m Gyuvin.”
Hanbin smiled at him. It was polite, nothing revolutionary, as if he wasn’t aware of the connection he shared with Gyuvin. “Nice to meet you,” he said simply before looking down to his hand.
This is it, Gyuvin told himself. This was going to be the moment Hanbin realized they were soulmates.
But that moment never came because Hanbin, wide eyed and smiling, looked just past Gyuvin’s shoulder. He placed his hand on Gyuvin’s arm, carefully nudging it to the side to get a better look at something behind him. “I’m sorry, I have to—”
Hanbin didn’t even bother finishing his sentence before rushing away. Gyuvin turned, confused, to find him running up the steps to the G group’s side. He walked up to someone—Zhang Hao as he had introduced himself during his audition. From the distance, Gyuvin couldn’t hear exactly what they were saying, but he could clearly see an expression of recognition in their eyes when they met.
From that moment forward, Hanbin and Hao were inseparable. Gyuvin hated every second of it, but he couldn’t say anything without causing trouble, so he stayed quiet.
He purposefully slacked off during practice, hoped for low scores on stage, but for some reason, the people loved him either way. Making the final lineup was the one thing he was avoiding—because he knew he wouldn’t be able to handle being in a group with Hao and Hanbin.
And yet here they were, months later, in the practice room for their upcoming comeback. Gyuvin having to watch Hao and Hanbin clinging to each other and giving heart eyes to one another as if no one else were in the room.
He felt sick.
Impulsively, he marched to the back of the room, snatching a pair of scissors from the material they were using for the latest ZBTV episode they had just filmed, then headed for the door.
“Hyung, where are you going?” Gunwook had called out, notifying the others who all turned to him curiously.
With all eyes on him, Gyuvin made sure to strategically slide the scissors into his sleeve to avoid suspicion. “Washroom,” he said simply before turning away and leaving the practice room. He ignored the members’ questions and concerns, just swiftly shut the door behind him.
When he was alone in the washroom, he locked himself into a stall. His breath was heavy, eyes tearing up as he looked down at his hand. He was angry. He was upset. He was terrified.
With shaking hands, he lifted the scissors to the string.
If his soulmate chose someone else, then he was destined to have no one.
He had accepted his fate a long time ago.