'you know what's your superpower?' suho glared at the man who opened the flat door.

'teleportation,' kai replied. chewing the dumplings, he seized the food bag suho brought with him. the ceo was just on time for dessert.

'no! it's testing my immaculate tolerance. can't I have one proper date?' the older hit the idol, closing the door behind him. it's the third time in the month, kai called an emergency, and he had to ditch his love life for his best-selling artist.

'can't you just wait around for the mark to appear?' kai asked, ripping the packets open. his boss is turning bitter day by day with the lack of romance.

'it won't work for me. my ennom genes must have faded,' suho told sitting back on the chair. his great grandfather married a human and their family has settled on earth for a century now. he has given up on the chance of his soulmate mark appearing. 'why did you call me?'

kai disappeared. his voice now echoing from upstairs. 'taemin! how long are you going to bathe?'

back to the kitchen, the host handed suho the dessert.

'which bloodline is he from again?' suho asked. he tends to forget the twelve superpower families of ennoms. his predecessors were known for their hydrokinesis. kai's family being distant cousins to his.

'lee. father is a knight and mother the enchantress for the royal family,' kai answered. suho's interests peaked at the mention of royalty. 

'did you meet the princess this time?'

'no'

'are you sure this soulmate bond is working?' suho commented. he pulled down jongin's loose tee to find the mark.

sensing the topic, the blond decides to interrupt. jongin's uncomfortable talking about the betrothal.

'pardon to keep you waiting.' taemin walked from the closet. his friend had an amazing collection but the pants were a little long for his height. 'you are junmyeon, I assume,' taemin tilted his head, earning a confirmation from kai.

suho let out a sigh. no, not with the real names again.

'you can call me suho. nice to meet you,' the guest got up to shake hands.

taemin's attention fell on the other's red hair. it amazed him. 'is that naturally yours?'

'no, I dyed it.'

'oh, it looks great. I should try it while I am here,' taemin smiled. he remembered the time jongin's mom chased him around the realm when he came home with green hair.

'in case you want to try being an idol too, remember we are friends,' suho grinned, handing his business card. he is still proud of pulling jongin into the industry.

if jongin's assumption was right, suho must be already mentally planning a subunit for the two supernaturals. kaitaem? taekai? it would be fun to have homely company on earth. whatever but taemin has to say yes first.

'appreciate the offer, I'll think about it.' taemin replied, going through the details on the card. kim suho, founder, sm entertainment.

'dude, come here, try this,' kai butted in, bringing a bowl of ice cream to taemin.

the blond looked at it, tasting a bit with his fingers. his eyes shone with surprise. 'does everything taste so magnificent here, I like it.'

'why did you never bring me this, jongin?'

'it'll melt by the time I reach'

'you always got those futile devices. what's it called again?'

'mobile. did you get it with you? nothing works here without it.'

suho chuckled at the conversation. he never had the chance to visit the realm because of the family being half-human, but whatever he knew about their ancestral world was through kai. in the starting even kai felt strange about earth and suho had to take him around teaching basic stuff.

'no, I felt it was a superfluous overload,' taemin stated, finishing the butterscotch scoop.

'it's handy to communicate,' kai complained. he carried taemin over and his friend thinks a tiny phone would be an extra burden. great.

'I'll send you a rune instead,' taemin told.

'those won't work here,' suho replied, 'you have magic, we have technology.'

〔*.☽ .*〕

after suho left, the idol made multiple attempts to have taemin move from the bed. it was his idea to utilize taemin's compulsion in an excellent way. the friends came out for a midnight snack to jongin's favorite fried chicken spot.

'I'll go order,' jongin said, putting on the mask. he can't get caught by his beloved fans. 'come through while paying, I'll fake cough.'

taemin looked around to find an empty table. his eyes fell on the one in a corner. he walked to have a seat but another man reached for the same spot.

he put his tray with a thud and the human sat down, unbothered to even notice the blond.

'you can sit with me,' someone said. taemin wasn't sure if it was directed to him but he turned around to check. the strangers brown eyes metting his confused ones.

a man waved, his face giving the other a kind smile. 'this table is free. I am here for takeaway.' the person informed.

taemin nodded, pulling the chair away from the table. he looked closely at the stranger observing him as the other went through his phone. white tshirt, rim glasses, pink hair.

holy knight everyone here is so obssessed with dying their hair. I should definetely try. taemin thought before he was questioned by the man in front.

'do you come here often?'

'no. its my first time on eart-, I am mean in seoul.'

'sensed it. city humans are a bit rude, but don't hold it against them, they're too busy for anything. you'll get used to it.'

taemin smiled. the man had clearly noticed his struggle to find an empty seat 'thanks I'll keep that in mind. you are nice.'

' years of angel experience doesn't wear down,' the man mummbled under his breath.

'pardon? I couldn't catch that,' taemin said leaning closer to the table.

'the food here is out of the world, try everything you can,' the man told. taemin relaxed back glancing at jongin. there's still a lot of queue. the two strangers chatted as the crowd around them increased.

'which gem is that?' taemin asked. his eyes were on a gift box since a while.

a tiny glass box lay on the table. its insides shining blue. a little dainty pendant wrapped by velvety cushion around.

'selene stone,' the pink haired man replied. he pushed the box towards the blond for a clear view.

its radiance bright like a sapphire but it looked like the rarest aquamarine. 'courting someone?' taemin beamed at the thought. dating mannerism is the same everywhere.

'oh no, married for what feels an eternity,' the man giggled. he showed off his left hand.its got a wedding band. ' its for our daughter.'

'sure she must be a pretty one,' taemin smiled. the man looked young to be a dad but he won't mention that. their conversation was cut short with jongin's loudly coughing to gain taemin's attention.

'you were a lovely company, mr...?' taemin waited to bid farewell. he liked the aura this stranger had.

'kim.'

'good night, mr.kim.'

'have a nice stay around.'

taemin went back to join jongin.

the man however left without picking up his order. tucking the jwellery safe inside his pockets. 'it was nice to meet you again, taemin.'

〔*.☽ .*〕

'they say firsts are memorable,' kai commented, admiring the bucket of fried chicken in front of him. it was the first thing he ate when he arrived on earth.

though he had it often, without company fussing about maintaining his weight, this was extra special because it was free. taemin used his mind power thingy to manipulate the owner into making the order on the house.

both sat on the swings in a nearby park, just like their childhood.

'isn't that you?' taemin asked, watching through the canopy - sparkly billboards on a building.

jongin nodded. 'ah! it's hot!' he juggled the piece in between as his lips burnt.

'I seriously doubt you even passed our crest year, child,' taemin said, taking the piece and blowing it for him.

'my human age is twenty-five. don't call me a child! we are just a year apart,' jongin argued as the other fed him small bites.

'but we don't age much after twenty-one.'

'that's the problem. humans will start doubting, I'll have to return home.'

'remember when you first vanished?' the blond started, moving his legs on the ground, giving the swing a push. 'I was so scared that something happened to you.'

'your mom said you cried,' jongin smiled, shifting on his swing.

'I did not cry, what nonsense,' taemin declared.

'really?'

'okay, I did. maybe, a little. but later I got used to it. you were my only friend.'

the idol got up watching the other feel nostalgic about the times. apart from family, the ennoms felt threatened by the thought of taemin using manipulation on them. since his parents were influential people, it spared him from being a research specimen.

'trust me, you are the only one who isn't nice to me because I'll someday rule the realm. no one even bothered before they found out I am princess miya's soulmate.'

'we both were a pair of outcasts.' taemin chuckled. jongin had got his superpower, much later than anyone else. apart from his mom, everyone thought he would be a disgrace to the family. 'will the future prince consort make me bow?'

' obviously!' jongin dramatically nodded earning a pinch on his shoulder.

' stop me if it makes you uncomfortable,' taemin started.

'why? are you going to kiss me?' the mullet boy laughed as the other pushed him back.

'can't you be serious jongin?'

'okay, what is it?'

'how did you know, she's the one?' taemin asked, the topic hinting to the princess situation. he has to know how everything happened. one royal ball and jongin came back betrothed.

'its crazy. you know the saying right?' kai asked settling down.

' the soul shall find its mate when the mark appears same as thou' both said in unison.

the ennoms believed their founders were beings from two extremes of the supernatural spectrum. one from the skies and the other from the underworld. so they built the realm with the desire to have a safe place.

once both partners have passed their crest age, if they truly belong to each other, the mark appears.

'it's different for everyone. no one thought same gender soulmates was possible but lord jeno and sire jaemin were exception. ever since that realm got exposed to all possibilities.'

'they call them nomin' taemin smiled, remember the nickname the couple got.

'then came the age factor, your dad was born much later than the enchantress. once he crossed the age, he found your mother. so age doesn't matter.'

'swear my mum looks younger than dad'

'enchantress man wol looks younger than you, taemin. you could pass as her older brother more than son,' jongin teased.

' thats true, it boasts her pride sometimes.'

'when suho told me about his great grandfather, it surprised me. he was the only ennom with a human soulmate, till date.'

' a cross realm connection, spectacular.'

'I never felt anything towards the princess, the way my mom describes it is supposed to be,' jongin continued, 'so I never understood. we both should be head over heels for each other, it just confuses the living fuck out of me'

his swearing is now influenced by the human slang. taemin did not understand what the f word meant but it seems to be something similar as bloody han river in their world.

'I got carried away'

taemin nodded. even though he never found his mate, he empathized with what jongin was going through. it was time to change the topic for good.

'you better make that thing before I leave. the one which you do, what's it called? '

'a comeback?'

'yes. a comeback. it should marvelous, spectacular and out of the world' taemin told as he patted the younger's cheek. it was like jongin's destiny to become kai. nothing else made him happier than being an idol.

' consider it done,' jongin winked, stuffing the snack into taemin's mouth.

'I missed you, brat.'

'I missed you too, pretty boy.'

──── 🥀 ────

say with me - p r e double t y pretty boy, that song is a bop. go listen, if you haven't already.

#I would love to watch soobin from txt or hyunjin from stray kids cover pretty boy. Just got a feeling they can pull of the concept with their style and aesthetics.

coming to the story, what do you think about the whole soulmate concept?