our delicate string | ???

12: soulmates.

"how did you meet her?" he whispered as he chewed. "does she go to our school?"

"she does. i met her a funny way, actually. she—"

"SHE??" Hyuka overheard and yelled loud enough to catch the other two's attention. Soobin, already having known about Beomgyu's possible crush darted his eyes around.

"he's talking about how his mother might be back in town soon." Soobin covered up, unsure if Beomgyu wanted his crush to be public right now. "right?"

"yeah, right." Beomgyu smiled at Soobin. then the realized struck him—why was he hiding something that he wanted his best friends to know about. "no, actually. i want to tell you guys something."

[ 🌃 ]

"this is going to sound crazy but i really just need you guys to trust me on this one." Beomgyu said as he paced around the room and bit his nails, the other four sitting on the sofas of their living room.

"Beomgyu, calm down." Hyuka said.

"yeah, Gyu, you're not getting interrogated." Yeonjun joked as Beomgyu finally stood still in one area.

"i've been talking to this.....girl lately."

Yeonjun jumped, recalling the group chat from a few weeks ago. "WE KNEW IT!"

"shut up and let him talk." Soobin said as Yeonjun pouted.

"she goes to our school and her name is Aera."

"oh yeah, she's in my music class!" Hyuka exclaimed. "but how did you guys meet, you don't have any classes together?"

"that's the crazy part. so one day, a random day with literally no importance at all, i woke up and felt like something was tugging at my finger and it was like a weird string. i tried to pull it off, cut it, rip it but nothing was working."

"what'd you do?"

"what any reasonable person would do—i tailed the string until i found the end. i kept following it and at that point, i just got exhausted." Beomgyu toyed with the red string on his finger as he told his story. "but i felt that it was becoming tighter and tighter, so i realized that the person on the other side was doing the same thing—chasing the string down. so once we reached the end, i realized that it was Aera and we've been connected ever since. i have no idea what the string means, i don't know how to get rid of it but now, i've known Aera for months and i really really like her."

"oh my God, Gyu!!" Taehyun exclaimed. "you found your invisible string!"

"my what?"

"the red string tale!" Soobin smiled. "you guys are soulmates, you're fated and were meant to be."

"but i had no idea who she was before i met her."

"that's the point, you were bound to find each other at some point. you guys are tied by fate. you guys were destined to meet each other in a certain time and place and it just happened to be a random day. it's destiny, Gyu."

"no, but i'm not in love with her. it's just a silly crush."

"Gyu, your love story is so romantic."

"even if i was, i can't be." he sighed, slumping into his chair. "she doesn't feel that way, at all."

the other four crowded around him. "well, you don't know that."

"she just broke up with her long time boyfriend."

"Gyu, this is different. she's your soulmate, nothing can change fate. you need to tell her how you feel! we'll hop on the next train right now if we have to!" Yeonjun exclaimed.

"you really think so?"

"when have i ever been wrong—don't answer that." he held his finger up at the four, laughing.

maybe Gyu should confess. maybe he should tell her how he feels. he doesn't have to be in love with her to know how he feels for her is so much more than a best friend.

"guys." he looked at them. "i really want to tell her how i feel."

"then, we'll go tell her right now."

"i don't want to have to make you guys leave Seoul hours earlier than you planned. i'll feel horrible if i do you guys should stay, i'll go alone."

"Beomgyu, you don't even know where the train station is." Taehyun joked. "plus we already went to all the places we wanted to and we aren't even paying to stay here, it's Soobin's parents' house."

"he's right. plus if we didn't want to come with you, we would've upright told you, you know we have no shame." Yeonjun said.

"everybody grab your things." Soobin said. "we're hopping on the next train."

"wait, so you guys believe me?" he turned at them. "everything with the invisible string? it all sounds so fake."

"well, you must really like a girl to make up a story like that." Yeonjun smiled. "it doesn't change your feelings for her even if it weren't true."

Beomgyu smiled as the five all began to pack. they didn't know what they were doing, but they knew they were doing it for love. somehow.