Work Text:
Ever since Tomoya joined JYP that fateful afternoon in December 2019, Yuhi’s world exploded into colour. Well, not literally. That was only supposed to happen when he met his soulmate. Or if they’d already met, then when they hit their 18th birthdays. That was when he’d expect his sight to explode with the vibrant rainbows people talk about in romance novels. No, his vision was still as dull and drab as he remembered, but Tomoya brought colour to his trainee life in a different way. A much better way.
When Tomoya and Yuhi, or Hyui as he now went by, debuted together as NEXZ after an arduous training phase, they each grew close to their five new members in their different ways. Even if they no longer spent every waking hour together, there was still something special between them that could only come with years of struggling as trainees together. Tomoya was like a beacon in a foggy night for Hyui, a source of inspiration and comfort he could turn to. Similarly, Hyui could make Tomoya burst out laughing in a way no one else could, and smile with a fondness that was reserved for him only. Those moments made his heart flutter in his chest, and a flush rise unbidden to his cheeks. Of course, the members noticed. But it was expected, given how much longer the duo had known each other for. It was just something special that Hyui shared with Tomoya.
Tomoya’s 18th birthday was upon them in the blink of an eye. There was an air of anticipation and purposeful nonchalance that had settled across the dorm. Yu’s 18th was an affair that all 7 of them had eagerly anticipated, but without result. Yu swore there were no changes in his vision and they dejectedly concluded that his soulmate must be younger than him, or someone he hadn’t yet met. Because of this, Tomoya had been brushing off the soulmate matter, as if he didn’t really care.
But Hyui knew Tomoya. The elder was hiding his anticipation to avoid disappointment. Years ago, when one of their older trainee friends was nearing their 18th, they had shared romantic stories of heartbreak and love between soulmates. Tomoya had always been particularly animated on the topic — his parents were soulmates, and their success inspired him and his sisters that they could find their own too. But Hyui’s parents never had such a fairytale love story. They simply fell in love without the sparks and rainbows. So he was more cynical about the whole matter. Out of all the millions of people in the world who could be your soulmate, what were the odds that you had already met them before you turned 18? Or before they turned 18? But Tomoya had seemed so excited to know his future soulmate that Hyui couldn’t bear to burst his bubble. Hyui could deal with Tomoya’s anger, his frustration. But a sad, disappointed Tomoya would kill him.
And perhaps, a tiny part of him was also dreading the moment that Tomoya would find his soulmate. And forget about him. Tomoya wasn’t that kind of person, but Hyui still worried. That he wasn’t enough to mean anything more than just a teammate to someone he considered his favourite person. That he would just disappear with someone else and leave him behind. The thought tasted like ash in his mouth. He was torn between wanting to see Tomoya happy and…whatever this feeling was.
So Hyui stayed silent as they went about their preparations for Tomoya’s birthday celebration in their practice room. A silent anxiety filled him as the clock ticked closer to 5pm, and Tomoya wrapped up his birthday live with NEX2Y. He watched from the side as they surprised their team leader with cake and delighted cheers of “Happy Birthday”, his eyes drinking in every reaction. Their leader said nothing out of the ordinary — kept a cheery grin on his face as he jumped up and down with his members in excitement. But Hyui had always been able to read Tomoya better than anyone else. Amidst every one of those smiles that he cherished and the bright infectious laughter that warmed his chest, Hyui could see a flicker of sadness.
Ah…Hyui understood.
Tomoya’s birth time had passed, and nothing had changed.
The realisation hit Hyui slowly, and perhaps more strongly than it did with Yu. Tomoya’s soulmate could be younger than him. (Or someone completely unrelated to NEXZ, a traitorous voice whispered in his mind. Hyui forcefully squashed that thought down.) The anxiety fizzled out into a subtler buzzing in his ears and a tight feeling in his chest. It was so, so selfish of him, to feel relieved at Tomoya’s disappointment. But this meant there was hope .
Hope?
Hyui frowned. What exactly was he hoping for? He didn’t know. ( Or rather, his mind whispered traitorously, he pretended not to know.)
He quickly waved the thought away, distracted by the casual drape of an arm around his shoulders as they gathered together for a group picture. He would unpack all of that later. For now, he should help make the rest of Tomoya’s day better.
Then Haru’s 18th birthday came, and Hyui’s world came crashing down.
At exactly 8.06 pm, Haru leapt to his feet in the middle of dance practice. He had just been slumped against the mirror after an exhausting run of 5 concurrent songs that left all of them drained. In an instant, all the fatigue disappeared into thin air. Haru stared excitedly at the mirror, then at his clothes, tugging at them in excitement.
“I didn’t know my shirt was this red!” Haru exclaimed, his eyes wide.
His excitement startled awake a dozing Yu, who blinked sleepily at Haru.
“Oh, yeah. It really is so red. I’ve never seen a red this bright before.”
At Yu’s words, everyone froze.
Hyui, who’d always been the quickest to read the situation and react, leapt to his feet with a bark of laughter.
“YuHaru is real!” He cheered, dragging a gaping Yu to stand beside the birthday boy. Finally, his members seemed to process the information and joined them with resounding cheers. Hyui would never let either of his older members forget the flush on their faces as they looked at each other for the first time. As soulmates . Maybe romance was not dead after all.
As they crowded around Yu and Haru, their excitement overlapping into noise filling the practice room, Hyui couldn’t help but notice. Tomoya’s smile was bright, but there was a certain forcefulness behind it that Hyui only saw when he was exhausted and putting up a front. Suddenly, a flash of pain twisted Tomoya’s expression into a faint grimace as he watched Yu and Haru, before a brighter grin took over his face. The moment was so fast, Hyui could’ve sworn he imagined it.
He paused, stunned. His heart hammered away in his chest, the torn look on Tomoya’s face burning itself into his memory. A sour emotion rapidly filled his chest.
Tomoya was…hurt?
Oh…
Did he…did he hope for Yu or Haru…to be his soulmate?
Oh.
The thought plagued him throughout practice and distracted him. Normally, Tomoya would have called him out after he was uncharacteristically late to a count. But this time, Tomoya was right there with him, fumbling through moves that should’ve already been muscle memory for them. And that sent warning bells ringing not just for Hyui, but for their dance teacher as well.
“Alright, I think we’ve had too much excitement for the day.” Their dance teacher had sighed with a wave of his hand. “Go home and sort yourselves out. Let’s pick this up again tomorrow.”
“I’ll stay a little longer. I have some work to get done.” Tomoya announced as they were packing up, purposefully avoiding eye contact with everyone else in the room. Hyui stared, his brow furrowed in concern. Across the room, his gaze met Haru’s, whose frown mirrored his. But his gaze dropped to where his fingers were intertwined with Yu’s.
Go . Hyui mouthed, jerking his chin in Yu’s direction with a teasing grin at Haru’s hesitance. I’ll take care of it.
“I’ll stay too.” Hyui announced, out loud this time. “I messed up too much on Miracle. Need to get it fixed before tomorrow or Haru will kick my ass.”
Haru’s answering smile was all teeth, but his eyes glimmered in unsaid thanks. Haru was often the one Tomoya turned to when he had concerns. Ones that he didn’t feel comfortable coming to Hyui for. And Hyui understood. He was younger, less experienced and had more things to work on. He was glad Tomoya had Haru and Yu to rely on. But selfishly, Hyui wanted to be someone Tomoya could turn to, too. And if Tomoya had hoped for a soulmate in Haru or Yu, perhaps it would be best if someone else talked him through it instead.
An outsider. That’s what Tomoya needed. And that’s what Hyui was.
The realization hurt. Hyui laid on the floor, gasping as the ending notes to Miracle echoed around him. He hadn’t lied — he truly needed the practice. But Miracle was the piece that Tomoya had worked the hardest for in Niziu Project 2. The one that showed his true hardworking self and sacrificial nature as the leader of the team. And perhaps, that was also when Hyui quietly and truly fell for the earnest Tomoya. Tomoya had always meant something special to Hyui, from the moment they met at ages 12 and 13. But that look of steely determination in Tomoya’s eyes during their final preparations on the show rivalled the sleepless nights he spent re-choreographing their stage on his own so that the younger ones didn’t have to shoulder the burden. And the way he wore his heart openly on his sleeve, with the kindness he showered everyone he met — Hyui quietly burned with the desire to care for and protect this stubborn, self-sacrificing leader of his. Ached to tuck the elder into his arms and hold him until he got the rest and comfort he needed.
For the first time, Hyui finally understood the warmth in his cheeks and the fluttering in his chest whenever Tomoya teased him or looked at him so fondly , like he was a precious thing to treasure. He was jealous — that Tomoya chose Haru or Yu instead of him . And he hated that Tomoya was hurting because of what fate had decided. Hated that he couldn’t decide between feeling happy for his members and heartbroken for Tomoya (and himself). It felt like his heart had shrivelled into a ball at the bottom of his chest.
Miracle started over again, as Hyui sprawled against the cool floorboards. Seita’s warm voice echoed around the room, the lyrics sending a pointed dagger into his chest.
You are my destiny. I feel more and more of these crazy feelings. You’re like the air that I breathe.
Hyui buried his head into his hands and let out a silent scream.
When Hyui finally pried himself out of his self-induced misery, he found his feet taking him to the rooftop of their company building. He and Tomoya used to go up there a lot when they were younger — it was a peaceful respite from the hectic trainee life they led. It was also a good place to cry without being seen (and pitied ) by anyone. And the stars were always so beautiful.
At the rooftop, a lonesome figure awaited Hyui, his slumped shoulders barely visible in the glow of the city lights. Feeling the breath catch in his throat, Hyui swallowed down the wave of emotion rising within him. With a deep breath to steady himself, he walked towards Tomoya, his footsteps loud enough to indicate his presence, but gentle enough not to break the atmosphere on the rooftop. Wordlessly, he settled beside Tomoya and stared out into the night sky. The silence hung over them, not awkward, but filled with a certain tension so thick Hyui wanted to slice through it with a butter knife.
“Our first NEXZ miracle.” Hyui mused, fighting to keep his voice calm. “And they seem so happy. I wonder what it’s like.”
“You’re still young, Yuhi.” Came the teasing answer right away, as though the boy beside him was not just one year older. A warm hand reached up to ruffle his hair gently. Yuhi. Tomoya took a while to get used to his stage name. And even then, he still stuck to calling Hyui his real name when they were alone, away from the cameras. Just as he always had. The tenderness from Tomoya’s voice that wrapped around his name always felt…different. Special. Like Tomoya was calling him his sun instead of just by his name. “Maybe it’s better not knowing yet. Where’s the fun in life if you unravel its mysteries too quickly?”
“You’re young too.” Hyui arched an eyebrow, turning to look at Tomoya. The elder wore a weary expression, his walls down now that there were no cameras and no staff members around to judge him. No expectations to put up a cheery front for his members as the leader. Because it was just Hyui with him, and Hyui had seen almost every part of his emotions over the years. He knew exactly what Tomoya felt about soulmates. And there was no need to pretend with Hyui. Still, the corners of his lips quirked up slightly in the semblance of his usual grin.
“Well, they’re lucky they found each other.” Tomoya turned to stare out into the stars again, his gaze distant and reaching. Hyui suddenly felt like there was something being unsaid, hanging in the air between them like a ticking time bomb. “What if I have long since set my heart on someone else instead of my soulmate? What a tragedy that would be to find that out.”
“You…have set your heart on someone?” Time screeched to a halt, blood roaring in his ears.
Tomoya hesitated, an unreadable emotion flickering in his eyes. Then, it felt as though a shutter pulled over them, and for the first time, Hyui drew a blank trying to decipher his usually expressive leader. “Don’t conjure something out of nothing. Let’s just say my sister has also told me one too many tragic soulmate stories about her friends.”
Silence fell over them once again. Partly because Hyui was trying to decipher what exactly Tomoya meant by that. He abandoned his attempts quickly — whatever Tomoya meant wasn’t really important now. Instead, Hyui pressed closer to Tomoya’s side until they were shoulder to shoulder. He didn’t say anything, and he didn’t need to. Tomoya knew him well enough to read his silent support. His heart hurt for his oldest friend. The irony of pining over a ‘What If’ when that very person was going through the same heartbreak was not lost on him. But Hyui knew there was nothing else he could do if Tomoya wasn’t willing to share this with him. They were both similar when it came to matters of the heart, and equally stubborn.
After that night, Tomoya seemed to return to his usual cheerful self, pushing the team through practices and leading the way through schedules with practised ease. It was as though the turmoil Hyui witnessed had never happened. But still, Hyui had borne witness to Tomoya’s raw emotions. So, he worried.
But their schedules were filled to the brim with release after release, filming after filming for quality content for their fans. Time flew by before they could even blink. And amidst the craziness that was their packed preparations for their next Korean comeback, Hyui’s 18th was suddenly upon them. They had been running on fumes for weeks on end, pushing through practice after practice and filming after filming. Hyui had barely even spared a second thought for his fateful celebration, far too anxious about giving their best in their upcoming comeback.
To his utter delight and panic, the label had managed to get him on a solo schedule with his role model from Stray Kids, Han. Hyui was a nervous wreck throughout the filming, stumbling over his usually smooth Korean and forgetting how to make the same ramen he prepared to perfection weekly. It was his first solo shoot, much less with a literal world star and his idol. He was starstruck by the sheer fact that the multitalented Han from Stray Kids was breathing the same cold night air as he was. Despite Hyui’s stupor, Han carried the filming smoothly, cracking expertly-timed jokes and leading the flow of conversation easily, allowing Hyui’s poor heart to ease.
“Hey, you’re almost 18, right? How’s that going?” Han’s eyes were warm, crinkled into kind crescents. They were taking a break after filming the duet segments as the filming crew organised the footage they had for the next shoot.
Hyui knew his senior had probably meant well – 18th birthdays were usually a topic of excitement for most and a topic they both could converse about. But it didn’t stop the tension stiffening his spine at the mere reminder that the fateful day was barely a week away.
“Ah. Sorry. Forget I ever mentioned it.”
“No, no! It’s okay.” Hyui chewed on his bottom lip nervously. “I think some advice might help.”
Han gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder and nodded.
“I’m just worried that…the person my heart wants…” Hyui sucked in a ragged breath. “What if I’m not their soulmate?”
There’s a moment of silence between them, Hyui’s own breathing stuttering to a stop as the echo of his words and the meaning behind them rang in the air.
Han sighed, his shoulders sagging like all the air had been sapped from his body. His eyes were unfocused, as if fixed a million miles into the distance. An expression that tugged at Hyui’s heart flickered across his face. Perhaps even world stars had their own share of soulmate problems. The realisation seemed to make Hyui’s already bleeding heart crack even further.
“Fight for the one you love,” Han began, his words halting and slow, deliberately careful with the precious information he was divulging. “And don’t abandon the one fate has given you.”
“You are soulmates for a reason, even if that reason is not clear yet.” Hyui stared at his fingers wordlessly as the words sank in.
“But,” Han suddenly continued, the barest hint of a smile tugging at his lips. “Life has a funny way of working out. It might feel like the end of the world when you’re drowning, but don’t overthink it. The anxiety sucks, but things will turn out alright after a while.”
Han said those words with such conviction that it felt like Hyui had to believe him.
“I hope so,” Hyui whispered, squeezing his eyes shut. “Thank you, sunbaenim.”
“Since we’ve basically spilt our deepest secrets to each other, don’t you think you should just call me ‘Hyung’?” Han grinned, and the moment of tension was broken just like that. The elder let out an amused coo as he poked at Hyui’s reddening cheeks. Hyui was torn between running away in embarrassment and just indulging his senior’s teasing. Fortunately, the director finished their discussion, and the shoot resumed.
Hyui still was riddled with anxiety for his birthday – he hadn’t told anyone in the team about his birth time, but he never had been good at hiding his emotions from the others. Fortunately or unfortunately, he’s immediately swept away by the constant practice, recording, filming and schedules on his return. With barely enough time to catch forty winks and the comeback looming threateningly over his head, he could barely spare a second thought for anything apart from his lyrics and dance moves.
Their comeback arrived in a whirlwind of activity, and suddenly, Hyui’s birthday was upon them.
At midnight, the members wished him with a noisy chorus, a flurry of excitement and a hand-baked cake (courtesy of Yu) thrust into his hands. The colours were still dull, but the happiness he felt was vivid as he languished in the attention bestowed on him. They had a fully packed schedule on his birthday, but the thought of meeting NEX2Ys managed to ease whatever concerns he had for the day. The perks of working his dream job, even if it was exhausting at times.
The Inkigayo stage flew by, and Hyui rode on the adrenaline rush from their fan meeting to get him through their final dance practice for the day. All of them were almost relying purely on sheer muscle memory to get through their choreography. The hecticness and the weariness from the day’s activities clouded his mind, and Hyui almost forgot about his birthday.
Almost.
11.19pm, and his world burst into colour.
Midway through Ride The Vibe, Hyui staggered to his knees. The vibrance before his eyes threw his focus completely off. It almost made his head hurt from how much there is to see.
The music was cut off immediately, Seita’s concerned expression swimming into view.
“Hyui, are you alright?” The sound seemed fuzzy to his ears. He could see so much colour. Even their simple practice outfits were so beautiful. And…he had a soulmate.
“Yeah,” Hyui moistened his lips, trying his hardest not to stare at the chestnut brown that coloured Seita’s hair. He had never known brown could look so warm and inviting. “Just a sudden headache. I think I’m dehydrated.”
Seita nodded, worry etched into the creases of his forehead as he placed a steadying palm on Hyui’s shoulder. Yuki seemed to conjure a water bottle from out of nowhere and thrust it hurriedly into Hyui’s arms. He accepted with a mumbled thanks, even as the ringing resumed in his head.
Hyui had a soulmate. And he’d already met them.
“Tomo, shall we take a break?”
Their usually perceptive leader didn’t respond. Hyui held his breath.
He had a soulmate. And he’d already met them.
Mustering all his courage, Hyui turned and looked.
Tomoya was standing stock-still, stuck in his formation without moving. His eyes were wide as dinner plates as he stared blankly at the mirror.
“Tomo…are you alright?” So Geon asked as he slowly approached their leader, his body rigid with tension. Slowly, he stuck out a finger and poked Tomoya in the side. That seemed to break the elder from his reverie, as he let out a yelp and leapt away from the offending protrusion.
“Guys.” Tomoya whisper-yelled, his trembling fingers raised in front of him.
“I…I- I can see colour !” There was a child-like wonder filling his voice as he swivelled to face his members, meeting each one eye-to-eye as he drank in the different sights before him.
Then, his gaze met Hyui’s, who had been clutching his water bottle in a white-knuckled grip, face pale and frozen, waiting with bated breath for whatever impending realisation to hit them both.
Hyui had a soulmate. And he’d already met them.
And at 11.19pm, the exact minute Hyui had been born 18 years ago, Tomoya could see colour.
Hyui had a soulmate. And it was the person he’d always hoped for.
But he’d seen the way Tomoya looked at Yu and Haru. And that night at the rooftop, he said he’d set his heart on someone. One of them. Was avoiding a tragedy like his sisters had told him.
Would…would he be able to prevent a tragic end to Tomoya’s flicker of hope if he’d just lied and pretended that they weren’t soulmates? That Tomoya just needed to find someone else who was born on the same day as Hyui was, at exactly 11.19pm?
Tomoya’s dark brown eyes were wide and searching as he met Hyui’s gaze, molten chocolate oozing into the crevices of Hyui’s bleeding heart as he fought a losing battle with himself on which decision to make. Hope was such a dangerous thing to gamble with.
“Hyui,” Haru’s voice snapped them both out of their staring contest. They’d fallen silent for a moment while locking eyes, Hyui realised. Clearly, his internal battle had been as long as it had felt in his mind. “Do you…see anything different from before?”
“I-” Hyui licked his lips, his heart wavering in his chest as Tomoya fixed his questioning stare onto him again.
“No. Unless you count the world swimming around me as different.” Hyui forced out a laugh, the sound hollow and dry even to his own ears.
“What time was your birth?” Seita suddenly piped up from beside him, the fingers on his shoulder tightening ever so slightly.
He could feel his heart rate picking up ever so slightly, the breaths becoming harder to suck in as the weight of his members’ gazes bore down on him. “Around 3am-”
“STOP LYING!”
Hyui’s mouth snapped shut, the fuzzy feeling in his ears disappearing immediately as his eyes snapped up to meet the piercing glare of an enraged Tomoya.
“I know you’ve never told us, and I respect your decision for that. But you’ve always been a horrible liar.” Tomoya fumed, stomping towards and dropping to his knees before Hyui. “And you’re showing that weird pained expression you always have when you’re making some stupid self-sacrificial decision that you know will make you unhappy for the sake of someone else!”
“I do not!” Hyui snapped, his anger rising as a familiar and natural defence to hide his moment of weakness. “And you think far too highly of me if you assume I’d willingly sacrifice myself for any random person!”
“But you do…for me.” There was an odd glint of wetness reflected in Tomoya’s eyes. The anger slipped through the cracks in his expression, leaving behind only the raw disappointment and confusion that pierced through Hyui’s defences. “You always thought I never noticed, but I do! And I’m not just some random person, aren’t I…?”
“And that’s our cue to leave.” Haru announced, patting the teary leader nonchalantly on the back as he headed towards the door with the rest of the members in tow. “Good luck, you two. Come back alive.”
As the members quickly filed out, Seita gave Hyui a final, encouraging smile before shutting the practice room door behind him, leaving them alone with the bright lights on the cold hardwood floor.
Hyui stared at his fingers, an icy-cold feeling spreading towards his core as the reality of this situation finally crashed down on him. From the moment Yu and Haru found out they were soulmates, it had become an official matter concerning the entire team. And because this was Tomoya. Their reliable and talented leader, who anchored the entire team in so many ways beyond just their performances. If they weren’t careful about this, Hyui could so easily ruin the slow but steady progress they had been making throughout the past year since their debut and-
“Hey, Yuhi, look at me.” His name fell so easily from Tomoya’s lips, the tenderness in its tone sending a spark of warmth throughout his chest. “I can see you thinking yourself into a hole from here. Don’t give up on us just yet.”
Us.
Did Tomoya…want this? Him as a soulmate?
Hyui blinked, the molten chocolate filling his vision again. A mop of sweat-damp, baby pink hair caught his attention.
“I had no idea what Haru meant when he said your pink hair looked really good on you.” Hyui blurted out, his fingers stretching out before he could stop himself. He twirled the loose strands experimentally between his fingers, taking a moment to admire the colour before tucking it aside. “But now I think I understand.”
Tomoya shuddered as his fingers grazed past a reddening ear, a warm flush colouring his cheeks. The splash of colour made the elder’s skin almost glow, even under the sterile white lights of their practice room. That realisation snapped Hyui back to his senses, and he snatched his hand back as though burned by the thought.
A silence fell upon them once more, both red-faced and refusing to look at each other in the eye after that…moment. Things truly had never been this agonisingly awkward. Hyui seriously contemplated immigrating back to the countryside to end this awful, never-ending experience.
“Just to be clear, you can see the colours now, right?” Tomoya asked suddenly with a frown. “And my pink hair actually looks good?”
Hyui snorted incredulously, even as an undeniable fondness filled his chest. “Yes. I was born at 11.19pm. May 11th, 2007.”
“That means we’re soulmates, right?” Tomoya shot him his signature smile, his eyes curved into tiny crescents. Hyui could feel his lips tug into an answering grin at the elder’s joy. "And...you want this? Us?"
“I’m honestly not sure how this soulmate thing is supposed to work.” Hyui admitted quietly, helplessly leaning towards Tomoya’s warmth like a sunflower chasing the sun’s light rays. “Just minutes ago, I thought you were still sad over not having Yu or Haru as your soulmate.”
Then, in a moment of self-doubt and riddled with a sudden anxiety prickling at his mind, he added with a wide-eyed gaze. “Are you?”
Tomoya let out a startled laugh at the confession, his palm sliding forward to grasp Hyui’s hand. “Where did you get that idea from? Was it because of what happened on Haru’s birthday? What I said on the rooftop?”
Hyui nodded, biting his lip uncertainly. Tomoya let out a sigh, the air rushing out of him like a deflating balloon.
“I didn’t know how you felt about this whole fated pairing thing. You never shared many of your opinions on it, so I always assumed it was a sensitive topic. That day, my thoughts were a mess. I was so worried about how we were going to navigate having a soulmate pair in the team, but at the same time…selfishly…I was even more worried that your soulmate… wasn't me. I just kept wishing that it were you and me living our happy moment.” Tomoya let out a self-depreciating chortle, his fingers intertwining with Hyui’s. “I guess that I was trying so hard to drop a hint to you that I made things too complicated instead.”
Hyui’s fingers tightened imperceptibly around Tomoya’s. That meant…that Tomoya wanted him as a soulmate. Yearned for it possibly just as much as he did. And Hyui had worried himself into a corner for nothing.
Hyui’s soulmate was Tomoya. And Tomoya said he had set his heart on him long ago.
“You idiot!” Hyui groaned, half-heartedly smacking Tomoya on the shoulder. “I even asked Han hyung for advice because I was so scared you weren’t going to be my soulmate! Or even worse, that you wanted someone else instead-”
The weight of all his worries for the past year came crashing down rapidly around him. But nothing could beat the immense relief that flooded through him. A familiar sourness filled his chest, rapidly rising to his nose, and Hyui was mortified to feel wetness pooling from the corners of his eyes. “Ah, this is so embarrassing, damn it…”
Tomoya made an upset noise from beside him, before strong arms reached for his shoulders and tugged him against a warm chest. There, hidden from the rest of the world (the empty practice room), Hyui allowed his tears to soak into the soft fabric. A muted sniffle came from above him as the elder rested his chin gently against Hyui’s head.
“Okay, that really is so embarrassing for you. Your role model knows about your soulmate problems? Hah.” The words were teasing, but Tomoya’s voice was suspiciously wet. Hyui simply opted to let out an agonised groan at the thought. Then, in a softer, quieter voice, Tomoya continued.
“I don’t know how this soulmate thing is supposed to work either. But I’ve always wanted you by my side, even way before Niziu. And I knew that would remain the same, even if fate didn’t tie you to me as my soulmate. If our feelings haven’t changed, I don’t think we have to either.” Tomoya murmured into his hair. “We’re just dumb, inexperienced 18- and 19-year-olds trying to figure things out. S’not gonna be the end of the world.”
At those words, Hyui let out an amused chuckle. “Whoever decided on 18 as the age probably thought they were dealing with people who communicated better.”
“And people who didn’t conjure the worst-case scenario all the time.” Tomoya added with a sly wink.
Hyui made a face at the slight jab. “I take it all back. I lied about my birth time. Go find another soulmate.”
“Noooooo, Yuhi! Come back!” Hyui had barely attempted to reluctantly leave the warm embrace he was in, before he was tugged right back. “We’ll figure this out together.”
Looking up at Tomoya’s earnest gaze and warm smile, eyes curved into adorable crescents, Hyui felt like his heart was about to explode with emotion. He sucked in a deep breath and responded with an answering grin of his own.
Tomoya was his soulmate.
“Yes,” He agreed, an uncharacteristic softness filling his tone. “I think we will be okay.”
The soft tunes of Miracle played in his mind, the lyrics a fascinating echo of his newfound reality.
After everything, I'll tell you I love you.