Eyes | Stray Kids Minsung Soulmate AU

"I just want a chance."

Word Count: 1160
Third Person POV, Minho Focus:

The rest of the week dragged on for Minho. He was barely sleeping, unable to get his mind to stop racing, and he had lost his appetite. The night he found out Jisung was his soulmate, he had nearly been asleep when his phone buzzed. Deciding to check it in case one of his friends needed help, he picked up his phone and opened the new text message. It was from an unknown number and said:

Please don't let me be lonely. -Jisung

As soon as Minho registered what the text said, he felt a pang in his heart. He barely knew this boy, yet he was already feeling something he'd never felt before. He started thinking about what he'd said to Jisung earlier that day, beginning to regret being so harsh. He tried to rationalize his behavior, telling himself it was for the best so he didn't get hurt, but he couldn't help but frown every time he thought of the tears welling up in his soulmate's eyes.

It was now Saturday, and Minho was just laying in his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He'd been awake since 5 AM, having only gotten 3 hours of sleep, still thinking about the week's events. After he found his soulmate, he decided to avoid him at all costs, even skipping lunch every day after. Any time he'd see the smaller boy in the hallway, he'd speed up and avoid eye contact, pretending as if he didn't know him at all, ignoring the guilt weighing on his chest.

Suddenly, Minho's phone started ringing. Groaning at being called so early in the morning- it was now 9 AM- he picked up his phone and answered it grumpily. "What?"

"Chill, mate, it's just me." he heard Chan's voice say on the other end.

"Why are you calling me so early in the morning?" the younger asked, annoyed.

"We're all headed to the park. Me, the guys, Jeongin, and his friends. You should come." the Aussie explained. "At the very least, you owe Jisung an apology. I know you've been avoiding him all week, but every time someone mentions your name in front of him, his smile drops and you can practically see his heart break all over again."

Minho pursed his lips as he paused before speaking. "He needs to be heartbroken. It's the only way he'll leave me alone. I refuse to let myself be destroyed by love like my parents. Plus, I doubt he wants anything to do with me now after what I said to him..." he trailed off.

Chan sighed on the other end of the phone as Minho closed his eyes, trying to ignore the devastated squirrel-like face that kept popping into his mind. "Minho, I know you're scared. We all get scared of rejection, heartbreak, loss. But those things are a part of life, whether we want them to be or not. Just because your parents struggled doesn't mean you will, too. You're going to be miserable for the rest of your life if you keep pushing away the opportunity to love and be loved. You'll be alone, and you'll end up regretting it one day." There was a pause. "Please just give Jisung a chance. Get to know him and try opening up to him, even the slightest bit. I doubt you'll regret it."

The brunette took a deep breath before replying, "Fine. I'll come to the park today. I'll try to apologize, but no promises on opening up or having a proper conversation with him."

Chan smiled on the other end of the line, his dimple showing. "Thank you, that's all I ask. We're meeting at 11, so you should probably get up and get ready."

Minho complied, saying goodbye to his friend before getting out of bed to start the day.

—————

As Minho walked through the entrance of the park, he saw his friends sitting on various parts of the playground. Chan was pushing Jeongin on a swing while Changbin and Felix were sitting awkwardly on either side of the teeter-totter. Hyunjin was sitting at the top of the slide, scrolling through his phone as usual. The boy continued looking around, unconsciously searching for a certain someone. he eventually found the younger boy sitting alone on top of the monkey bars.

Walking over to the group, he greeted everyone. "What's up." He received responses from everyone except Jisung, who just looked up briefly before looking back down at his lap. Chan looked at Minho and nodded his head towards Jisung, indicating that he should go talk to him. Minho sighed, walking over and climbing atop the monkey bars to sit beside his soulmate, making sure to keep at least a foot of space between them.

Jisung visibly tensed, waiting for the older to say something harsh to him again. Instead, he said, "Hey... I just wanted to say I'm sorry for how I treated you the day we found out we're soulmates." He took a deep breath before continuing. "I never thought I'd find my soulmate, let alone that it would be someone so caring. When you came to check on me, my defenses kicked in and I thought it better to push you away than risk getting hurt. I haven't seen many successful soulmate relationships, so I'm weary of the whole concept." Jisung looked up at the older who was already looking at him. The two made eye contact as Minho continued in a whisper. "I didn't mean to hurt you... I'm just scared."

Jisung searched the older's eyes for any signs of insincerity, but he found none. All he saw was honesty and regret. Giving the latter a small smile, he said, "It's okay. I figured you had your reasons. I'm not going to lie, it really hurt to hear my soulmate say those awful things to me, but Jeongin told me not to give up, so I tried to stay as optimistic as I could." Hesitantly, Jisung reached out to lay his hand on top of Minho's . "If it's okay with you, I'd like to at least try and get to know each other. Though, I understand if you'd rather not."

Minho tensed under Jisung's touch before relaxing as he realized how natural it felt. Looking down at their hands, he thought for a minute. Every part of himself was screaming to yell at the younger, to push him away and run. But there was a tiny piece of him, in his heart, that whispered everything would be alright. Looking back up to meet the other boy's eyes, Minho replied, "I think I'd like that. Just please be patient with me."

Jisung smiled brightly at the boy in front of him. "Of course, I'll wait as long as you need me to. I just want a chance."

Minho cracked a small smile in return, and for once in his life, he felt like he had a shot at love.