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Eunbee wakes up at the sound of the television. 

She squints her eyes open to see Taehyung sitting at the edge of the bed and the television lit in front of him. Maybe he sensed her stirring because he looks over his shoulder. Eunbee immediately closes her eyes, pretending to sleep.

I'm sorry, I will try to be quiet. His voice is heard.

She opens one eye to see him scrolling the television, with mute volume.

Life has been monotonous for her. She wakes up when Taehyung slightly shakes her every morning before walking to the bathroom to brush his teeth. She meanwhile chooses a pair of clothes for the day from the cupboard and waits for him to finish his morning routine.

She brushes her teeth and bathes meanwhile Taehyung is scrolling through his phone or news just outside the bathroom. They try to be not very far away because of the string. They have breakfast together, but not a word is exchanged between them. Eunbee tries to drown herself in work as much as possible so that there's no scope of initiating a conversation either.

It hurts Taehyung a lot too.

Maybe if there were no strings, the distance between us wouldn't have mattered, living together would have been better...there's no way to know.

. . .

Taehyung clutches his pouch to his chest and walks outside. The teacher clearly said that no one would be allowed to share any stationery and he has misplaced his eraser while playing. So he needs to buy it or at least borrow from someone before the teacher arrives.

He runs out of his class, towards the canteen and is greeted with an empty one. He hisses and groans, feeling irritated about having no one to help him. Did no one try to bunk their class today?  He walks out, defeated and ready to be scolded when he bumps into a girl.

He fairly recognises her from the different gatherings he has been with his mom. 'Was her name Beebee...or something?' he thinks.

He is about to apologise when he spots something in her hands. "Are those erasers?" he asks. The girl looks at him, confused. "Can you give one to me? I really need one for my test!"

The girl seems to think before she takes one out, "It's a special kind though. It even smells sweet."

Taehyung sniffs, agreeeing. "So?"

"So you'll have to pay me."

Taehyung rolls his eyes and says,"How much does one eraser cost?" he points at the erasers in her hand. The girl smirks and whispers the cost in his ear. His knees grow weak when he hears it. 

"Why is it so costly? It's like half of my pocket money..." He whines. Before the girl could say anything, three boys along with the canteen chief shot, "Where did the marshmallows go!?" 

Eunbee awkwardly glances before hiding the pouch inside her jacket. "Shit, see you later."

"That girl, she has them!" one of the boys points towards BeeBee who's looking at Taehyung with pleading eyes. He tilts his head as if to ask 'Why should I help you?' 

In the end, Taehyung dragged her into one of the empty classrooms, giggling slightly as she struggled under his hold.

That was the start of a friendship. A sweet, one.  Marshmallow-like.

. . .

"Why are we here?" Arin whines as Jimin grunts, picking a bag up and keeping it on Eunbee's dining table. Eunbee looks confused and slightly irritated with their presence but Taehyung seems happy. 

"Here's the Kimchi Seojun sent you," Jimin ignore Arin and tells Taehyung. He winks, "We kept ourselves just two boxes."

Taehyung nods, laughing and then Jimin throws him another handbag, "Your clothes." Another nod in appreciation. 

Jimin then turns to walk out of the house, "I will be going then."

"What about me?" Arin asks, looking at Jimin with wide eyes. "What about you?" Jimin mimics Arin's tone, "You're obviously coming with me."

Arin shakes her head and plops herself onto the sofa, "I am going to stay here."

"No, why?" Eunbee immediately says. Arin raises an eyebrow and points at Jimin, "He's going to bully me into staying at home and honestly, it's boring to stay inside—"

"You're sick, that's why." Jimin reasons and Taehyung wriggles his eyebrows, teasing. "Stay at the dorm then."

Arin shakes his head, "No, I would rather stay here and look at Taehyung sleeping," and then she looks up dreamily, with half hooded eyes, "He looks like an angel."

Eunbee feels something claw in her heart and Jimin rolls his eyes. They didn't like that at all.

"It's okay Jimin," Taehyung says, "She can stay."

"No!" Both Eunbee and Jimin say simultaneously, startling Taehyung. Jimin looks at Eunbee who awkwardly glances away. Arin sighs, making herself comfortable on the couch. Jimin seems to contemplate for a moment before he walks out of the house, saying nothing.

"Sorry about him. He's been moody lately," Arin says, shaking her head in disappointment. Eunbee goes back to working on her laptop without sparing another glance at Taehyung or Arin. Taehyung sits beside Arin, feeling the silence grow uncomfortable.

"Are you hungry?" Taehyung softly asks. Arin sighs and shakes her head. Her eyes are now fixed on the glowing red string between the soulmates. Taehyung licks his lips, darting around his brain for another question, "Are you in school?" Taehyung asks, sitting back on the couch. 

Eunbee plugs in her airpods. Arin stands up, walking towards the area where Eunbee was sitting—and takes a seat on the chair across hers, "I am a freshman, Psychology,"

Eunbee snaps her head towards Arin but immediately looks away when she sees Arin already looking at her. This kid is majoring in psychology? 

Arin grins when she realises that Eunbee is listening. 

"That's interesting," Taehyung says. Minutes pass by in silence. Arin's eyes dart around the whole house while Taehyung decides to give up on the impromptu interview and scrolls through his phone, typing a few words and then glances at the girls. Arin assumes he's probably chatting with Jimin.

Arin exhales a deep breath before standing up and walking back to Taehyung on the couch. Eunbee looks at her and raises an eyebrow. What is she doing?

"You guys have one kind of a bond, don't you?" Arin says. Taehyung just hums but Eunbee can't look away from Arin. She has this feeling that the kid is upto no good.

Arin out of curiosity leans closer to the string. Beautiful things mesmerise her. Especially ones that sparkle, glimmer or glow. Jimin? Yes, him too.

Eunbee out of instinct tugs it away to prevent Arin from touching it and that catches Taehyung's attention. Arin chuckles and leans back, "Don't worry, I won't touch it."

Taehyung looks at Eunbee with curiosity, while Eunbee is almost glaring at the younger. He just does not get the reason why she is being so hostile towards Arin. The kid is sweet, fun and like a little goofball which Taehyung would otherwise annoy the hell out of. 

"The string glows very brightly. Do all new strings have such a fresh glow or do you guys love each other that much?" 

Taehyung would ask her to shut her mouth because Eunbee doesn't seem to appreciate that statement but something in the statement caught his attention. "A new string?"

Arin nods. 

Taehyung doesn't understand it but he leans forward, "Do you mean to say this string of fate is new?"

Eunbee looks expectantly towards Taehyung to continue. He's trying to make sense of Arin but she's not sure if Arin is really reliable with any sort of information. "How do you know that string is new?"

Arin shrugs and stands up again to sit on the small bean bag in front of the TV. Taehyung starts tapping his foot on the floor, eyes following her figure. Why does it feel like the kid knows something?

He shakes the thought away, knowing it could be just gibberish and gets back to doing something else.

It's not until the house becomes completely silent for a long time, does he peek at her and finds her sleeping, body half slump on the bean bag. He shakes his head before taking the jacket that was hanging on the chair and lays it over her. 

 At the same time, the doorbell rings and Eunbee immediately answers it. Taehyung is still adjusting the jacket around Arin when Jimin comes inside, and gasps. "What are you doing?"

Jimin doesn't understand what comes over him when he pushes Taehyung's crouched figure away from Arin. The latter groans, feeling his string tug Eunbee slightly to make her glare at them. "What the hell Park Jimin?"

"I-I am sorry, I didn't realise..." Jimin rubs the back of his neck, helping his friend up.

"I was just checking up on her since she fell asleep," Taehyung explains and Jimin nods, with an apologetic smile.

Jimin sighs, staring at Arin. "Did Jungkook tell you about his soulmate?"

Taehyung nods, "Saw the group chat, what a coincidence, right?"

"Well, soulmates always are...a coincidence." Jimin shrugs, eyes not looking away from Arin. She's such a baby. "Some people just call it fate."

Taehyung sighs, sadly smiling at that. "Is Jungkook okay?"

Jimin nods, looking at Taehyung, "He's more than okay, too happy. I am glad it got sorted, at least one of us has to be happy."

Eunbee tries to ignore them but ends up overhearing them anyway. "Hey, Jimin, all of us will be happy. We just need to give it time." Taehyung nudges Jimin who laughs, agreeing. "Tell me more about Jungkook's bond though, I didn't understand how it works..."

"From what Jungkook told me, whenever either of their skins gets a bruise or something— the other gets a tattoo," Jimin shrugs. Taehyung winces, "That sounds painful."

"He said that it isn't."

"That's because her scars are old." They jump in their seat when Arin speaks out of nowhere. "The new ones will pain, the old ones don't."

Taehyung looks at Jimin, confused. Jimin scoffs. Arin continues, "But the tattoos from bruises fade if it doesn't scar."

Jimin and Taehyung throw questioning glances at each other.

How does she know so much?

How do I know, she is your soulmate?

I think she is still sick.

What she says can make sense though.

Jimin shakes his head, "Let's go Arin."

Arin bows at Taehyung, not before poking his cheek and squealing at how soft it was. Jimin scoffs and walks outside while Arin waves goodbye to Eunbee. This girl really has no fear.

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