Soulmate Curse // minsung

04

The tension, the air, the atmosphere, everything was suffocating. The pressure around the dynamic duo was thick. Everyone tried to cut the tension but every time they did, the scissor broke before they could. No one knew what to do. They were lost, following a broken compass and hoping for the best. One refused to talk to the older, while the other knew it was best if he didn't speak at all.

Chan couldn't grasp the situation at hand. Nothing was clicking. He tried relentlessly to understand the conflict between the two but the pieces weren't snapping together. He knew they needed time- everyone did. Even so, enough time has passed and yet nothing was resolved. The group wasn't in harmony and the need to be in sync. Staff, managers, and other groups were talking about how tense the air was around the group. Everything was flying back to him like a boomerang. Minho witnessed how stressed the leader was. He heard the gossip going around the radio station and he couldn't help but feel guilty. The dancer apologized again and again for the trouble he had caused but he always got the same response in return.

"Minho, I know you're sorry, you can stop apologizing. But I just-" Chan sighed in frustration. "You need to talk to Jisung- no, I don't care who starts the conversation but someone needs to talk. This has gone long enough." He bit his tongue and apologized. "Sorry, I... I'm just tired. I didn't mean to pin this on you. But can you just talk to Jisung? You know how stubborn he is and you're the only one in the group that knows how to get through him."

Minho desperately wanted to explain. He wanted to apologize for not telling Jisung that he was his soulmate. But at the same time, ask him why he was offended when he didn't. He wanted to understand why the rapper hated the idea of having a soulmate so much. Moreover, he wanted to tell Jisung that he had fallen for the male since day one. But he couldn't. He wasn't allowed to.

He hated that he was part of the reason as to why the group was having a hard time. He despised the looks and gossip circling around the broadcasting station. He loathed the comments on their social media posts. He wanted to jump into a time machine and stop his past self from uttering anything. Or rather, stop his younger self from falling in love with his passion, dance. That way he would never be interested in auditioning and that way he could stop this painful feeling in his chest. If only I kept quiet, none of this would have happened. However none of that mattered.

With the end of the year rolling around the corner, there was no time to have a proper talk. Schedule after schedule, Minho barely knew what day it was, yet alone the time. He was going in and out of one outfit and into another, repeating the same process at another broadcasting station. His hands were full with comeback promotions, dance practices for award shows, and MCing.

"Lee Know, you're up in five!" A staff member called out.

Grabbing his script and mic, he rushed towards backstage while rehearsing his lines on the way. This is going to be another long day. He forced out a smile to mask his exhaustion as the director countdown. With the signal, the red taunting dot switched on.

—

"Show, show, show! Bye." Minho flashed a small smile before the red dot finally switched off.

He rushed towards his greenroom and quickly changed into his clothes. When he was done, he waited for the manager at the front door. A minute turned to an hour, until the broadcasting station was closed for the day. Minho frowned as he repeatedly called the manager but was directly sent to voicemail. It was three in the morning;no buses, trains, or taxis were running during this time. He had no other choice but to walk home. In the midst of walking, the sky was slowly getting darker and that's when it hit him. Tiny droplets were falling from the sky until it was heavily pouring.

It was pouring like cats and dogs but Minho continued to walk at a steady pace. He was in no rush to get out of the rain. He had no energy to run anyways. The streets were dull and lonely. There were no lights besides a couple of street lights on the sidewalk. Drenched from head to toe, he finally made it back to the dorms.

"Minho, I just cleaned the floors!" Seungmin groaned.

"Hyung, did you buy the cold medicine?" Felix urgently asked

This wasn't how Minho imagined he'd be greeted. No one seemed to be concerned as to why he was drenched. Rather, one was worried about the floors while another was worried about medicine that he wasn't aware he was supposed to get.

"Hyung?" Felix asked again.

Minho shook his head. "What are you talking about?"

"I texted you that we needed them three hours ago! Innie is burning up. You couldn't stop on your way back?!"

Minho frowned as he went to find his phone.

"You're cleaning the floors later, I'm tired." Seungmin shook his head before going back into his room.

The dancer stopped his actions and decided to change into a fresh pair of clothes before he does anything else. Yet, he was stopped again, this time by Felix.

"Jeongin is resting there. You can wear something of mine."

"Why? He has his own room."

"Jeongin was burning up and wasn't waking up so the managers took him to the hospital. He's okay, he just overworked himself and got a cold. The doctor said he can rest at home. When he tried to get up, he nearly collapsed because he barely had any strength. The manager decided to carry him back up here and we decided it was best to put him in your room since it's close to the doors. We saw how tired and late it was so we told the manager to rest in Jeongin's room."

That explains why the manager wasn't picking up my call. "If he was at the hospital, why didn't you guys grab the medicine there?"

"It was hectic so it slipped off our minds until we got home."

"And no one else could have done it when you realized?"

"3racha was busy producing and I didn't want to break their creative flow. Hyunjin was practicing with other idols for the end-of-the-year stage and Seungmin was with me when this happened. You were the only one who wasn't busy at the time."

Minho opened his mouth to say something but decided against it. He grabbed the folded clothes and changed into them. I guess I'll take the couch. He tried to get comfortable but it was no use. His body was shivering and he didn't have a blanket to cover up. This is going to be a long night.