4: Jisung, my soulmate.

"Jisung,"

"Huh?" Felix asked, looking at the dazed Minho with quizzical eyes. "What did you say?" The elder glanced at Felix, blinking his eyes.

" Han Jisung is my soulmate." That was enough for Felix to spit his juice straight into Hyunjin's face.

"What the hell!" Hyunjin exclaimed in a disgusted voice as he started wiping the juice from his face, making everyone laugh.

They were all inside Minho's residence because the said person was dead drunk yesterday. When they reached the residence, they were welcomed by an excited Minho, who started reciting about the incidents that happened yesterday.

After making juice for all of them, they sat around the table and started listening to their friend's story.

The other trio was unamused by their friend's outburst, but it all started fading away when the other started giving details.

Sometimes while explaining, he looked distant and miserable; other times, he would break into a small smile, almost creeping them out.

Minho narrated everything except the fact about the latter's name and him saying he doesn't want this bond to make sure that his friends don't judge his soulmate, but he knows they won't.

Felix, being the curious human, asked whether he got to see the latter's face or at least his name, and now here they are. The three men looked at him closely, making him feel like he was watching some wide-eyed, curious kittens.

" Han Jisung is your soulmate."

"As in the model Han Jisung?"

"You weren't dreaming, right?"

Questions after questions started throwing up at him, making him groan in distress.

"Guys, stop it! Yes, the famous ex-model Han Jisung is my soulmate!"

The word 'ex' finally made sense in the alert.

"Wait, didn't he meet with an accident?"

"I know," Minho exclaimed, cutting Hyunjin mid-sentence and making the latter shut up with an evident pout.

"I was just asking," Hyunjin mumbled.

Felix turned his head towards Minho and said, "As far as I came to know about him, he is kind, humble, loving, and handsome. He is the best suit for you, Minho!" Felix yelled in utter excitement, but slowly his actions came to a halt, and he looked at the elder, frowning.

"But I heard he resigned because his face was,"

"For fucks sake, I know everything, and I saw it with my own fucking eyes yesterday." They all flinched at Minho's sudden uproar.

"Minho, why are you getting too emotional? Did he do something more than what you said?" Minho gulped, glancing away.

"There isn't anything much to say anyway." He mumbled, ignoring his friend's curious glance.

"Anything much? But why does it feel like you are hiding something from us?" Changbin asked who had been quiet for a while.

Minho glanced at Changbin, then shook his head, muttering nothing.

Changbin sighed. Minho, you do know you can count on us, right?" The latter nodded slowly and said, "Then why are you keeping things from us? We won't judge you." Minho shook his head quickly.

"It's not like that; it's just that he doesn't want me as his soulmate because..." He looked at his friends and sighed, "Because he loathes this bond."

"What!"

Minho sighed. "A part of me wants to let him go as he desires, but other parts of me don't want to let him go. Am I being selfish here?" Felix shook his head.

"There's no selfishness when it comes to love, Minho. People kill themselves to keep their loved ones safe, and you are ready to let go of him because he doesn't want to be in this bond, even if it hurts you." Felix pause reading Minho's reaction.

"It's absurd in my opinion. You are cowering away instead of fighting for the person who is your soulmate."

"But Felix..."

"Shush hyung, you finally found your soulmate. You spent all these years trying to find him; now it's your time to bring him beside you. Be confident. It's time for you to take a step." Felix said, patting Minho's shoulder.

"Wow, for the first time, you sound reasonable!" Hyunjin exclaimed, laughing. Felix, forcibly smiled.

"Oh really?" He asked, then suddenly slapped the latter's head, making Hyunjin groan.

"You!" Hyunjin exclaimed, smacking his boyfriend back, and the duo started smacking each other's heads like it was some sort of game.

Changbin looked at the duo, sipping his juice, while Minho shook his head, disappointed.

The twin looked at his best friend and broke into a smile. " Do you know where he lives?" He asked, slightly smirking after seeing the fighting duo become completely still and look at him, grinning. Minho looked at each one of them and then shook his head in denial.

"I didn't even get time to talk with him."

Felix's grin widened. " Changbin hyung's best friend and his boyfriend are living with your soulmate!" Minho's eyes widened at the unexpected exclamation.

"What! You all know him?" The trio laughed at Minho's shocked face.

"No,we don't know him personally, but we do know him from Changbin's friend." Changbin nodded, taking out his phone.

"What are you doing?" Minho asked, watching the smaller male dial something on the phone. Changbin glanced up, placed his phone near his ear, and winked.

"It's time for some chasing, big baby. Oh! Hello Chan hyung."
___________

The night changed, and the day came. Minho, along with his friends, visited Chan's place, as the latter said it was the perfect time to meet.

"So you are his soulmate?" Minho blinked his eyes, looking at the male who was watching his every move with an eye smile. "Don't worry, I was just asking."

Minho nodded slowly, then looked away, feeling a bit nervous. When he heard the name Chan, he assumed the male to look cute, but the male in front of him asserted dominance like he was some sort of an Alpha.

He was still cute, though.

Chan grinned, watching the taller male fidget with his fingers and looking at his friends. He knew he looked intimidating.

Win nudged his soulmate: "Stop making him nervous, will you?" Chab pouted, rubbing his side while nodding. Seungmin giggled and started patting the place he nudged a few moments ago.

The two started giggling, completely ignoring the mere existence of the people around them. Minho smiled, watching the two people giggling in their silly puppy-love world.

He looked down with a sad smile. When will he get to enjoy this kind of love with Jisung?

Changbin cleared his throat, snapping the soulmates from their world. "By the way, we didn't get to see Jisung here. Where is he?"

The young soulmates looked at each other and then glanced back at them with an apologetic look. "He left for his hometown a few hours ago."

"What!" Minho exclaimed, feeling his heartbreak again, "He left?" He uttered, feeling tears shadowing his eyes.

Seungmin nodded sadly. " We are sorry to say this, Hyung, but it was too much for him to handle what was happening around him, so he chose to stay away from everything, even from us." He uttered sadly, feeling sad for his older friend.

"He was a born orphan, and all the things that are surrounding him—this wealth and everything he made through hard work— He earned this through hardships. He didn't have anyone to be with him and guide him to good. The people around the orphan weren't that good. They used to bully him physically. In school, he had to face it; even worse, he got bullied mentally." Seungmin took a deep breath, calming his erratic breath.

"Everyone told him that there wouldn't be anyone to love him, no one to befriend him. They said that he would be a nobody until his death."

"These bastards." Felix hissed furiously, slapping Hyunjin's thigh, who hissed in pain, but he didn't comment.

Seungmin smiled. "That didn't stop him from chasing after his dreams. He liked fashion design, but fortunately, our company took him on as a model. When one starts getting the things they lost, they will start becoming selfish. Who won't? At least they will think highly of themselves if they get a huge fan base, but Jisung became a more down-to-earth person than he was." He frowned.

"However as a celebrity, he started getting even more hate, and people only took him as the celebrity Han Jisung, not as a human. Everyone needs him to be perfect. If he gets tired, people will start asking what he does. If he falls asleep, they will blame him for being lazy. He started stressing so much because he was desperate. He was hopeless for the care and love they showed, even though he knew it was fake."

"When he turned twenty, he found us. We all got close. I can still remember the excited face when he found out that I and Chan are soulmates." Seungmin glanced at Chan fondly, who returned the same expression with a chuckle.

The four friends smiled, especially Minho, who imagined his soulmate's excited face with a chuckle.

Win sighed, making everyone glance at him. "We always tried to tag him with us whenever and wherever we went. We always strived not to make him feel like a third-wheeler. That's the only thing we can do as friends, but he wanted something magical, something called love."

Minho's eyes widened at the comment," Doesn't he hate to love? I mean, he said to me yesterday that he hates the concept of love and bonds," Minho mumbled, looking down while Felix patted his shoulder in reassurance.

"He doesn't hate it, hyung; he was more desperate to earn it. He was so desperate for someone to love him, care for him, and have someone in his life, his one and only soulmate." Butterflies started feeling inside Minho's stomach, making him feel all giddy, like a boy who got his favourite flower. His soulmate was not against the bond! He was more than relieved to know this.

"Then why did he say that to Minho?" Changbin asked, making the duo look at them with a sad smile.

"His burnt half face." Everyone's eyes started widening in realisation.

"What! Did he leave Minho because of that? Why would he do that? We aren't even people to judge." Felix exclaimed quickly, making everyone shake their heads at his poor, unexplainable exclamation.

"He doesn't know us personally, and the people he encountered except these two are either judging or demanding. So he could have thought that we were like them."

"But... We aren't like that; what happened to him was unfortunate, but why should we judge him? He has an amazing personality." Felix reasoned it out, still not thinking about what Hyungjin was trying to say.

"Felix, what he said was that we always stay alert with new people, and his accident and the scar that left him were permanent fuel to his burning insecurities," Chan said, making it a bit more answerable to Felix's confusion.

"He was more than excited to meet his soulmate, but after the accident, his insecurities started becoming more and more intense, making him feel scared to be left alone." Chan patted Seungmin's shoulder, seeing him struggling to say the heartbreaking moments.

Chan sighed, then glanced at them with a sad smile. He then stares at Minho, who was silently glancing at them in a daze. "Minho,"

Minho blinked his eyes, snapping out of his daze, and looked at Chan, who was showing him an eye smile. "I'm really happy that Jisung got you as his soulmate. Even though I don't know you personally, I'm sure you will take care of him and mend his broken heart. I'm sure you will heal him."

Minho sighed while Changbin tapped Minho's shoulder to show his happiness: " I'm happy to get Jisung as my soulmate." Everyone stood up as Chan walked toward them. He stood in front of Minho's figure and patted his chest.

"You both are truly strong from here. I have never seen someone who values others' feelings. When everyone seems to worry about their future, you are here chasing after the person who will give you comfort in your lonely life." Minho's eyes widened at that.

"How did you..." Chan smiled then glanced back at Seungmin, who seemed to have started a conversation with Felix.

"After all, I was in the same boat as yours once." He said this, looking fondly at the laughing Seungmin, then he looked at Minho.

"I don't know when he will open up to you, so before it happens, I want you to be around him if it's okay for you." Chan quickly added when he saw Minho looking at him blankly.

Minho didn't utter anything for a few moments, but when he stared down at Chan, he could see the fire of determination sparkling in the older man's eyes.

"I'm always ready to be with him until my death, but for now I want you to tell me his address," Minho exclaimed, determined.
_______

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