love you later | yeonbin

024

Once they're done eating, Soobin volunteers to clean up, listening as Yeonjun fills the others in on what happened during the ritual. He doesn't understand much about the preparations of it all, had let Yeonjun do his own thing, and followed instructions when asked. Magic was something he had only come across a couple of times in his life and if there's one thing he has learned over time, it is that it's best not to mess with it if you didn't have a single magical bone in your body. By the time Yeonjun gets to the actual ritual, Soobin is done with the dishes, dries his hands on a towel, and walks back to his seat.

"Everything was going according to plan. Soobin took the potion, the pentagram was strong and secure. I could feel the energy pulsing and conjuring the string took some effort but it worked as it should have. You saw it too, right?"

"Yeah," Soobin nods. "It was flickering a little, but it was there. I could feel a slight tug on it, too."

"And then what?"

"I don't know," Yeonjun shrugs helplessly. "That's the thing. I took the scissors as I always do. They have been cleaned at least three times before we got started. But the second the scissors touched the string, there was this... huge flash of light, a sharp pain, and then-"

"Then?"

"Nothing. I blacked out."

Wooyoung hums. "What did it feel like exactly? Was it just an ache all-over or was it targeted somehow?"

Yeonjun frowns, bites his lip as he tries to recall the events of the previous day. "More... targeted, I guess? I felt it mostly on my pinky." He looks down to where his hands are resting on the table, twists the ring on his little finger. "I didn't take off the ring. Do you think that's it?"

"Maybe," Wooyoung says, but he doesn't look like he believes it.

Yeonjun's hands are fidgeting on the table, and without really thinking it through, Soobin reaches out to steady him. He's learned to pick up on Yeonjun's nerves by now, knows they manifest in restless hands and bitten lips, and it's almost second nature to try and calm him down somehow. The second their skin touches, Yeonjun stills, lets Soobin cradle his hand between his own. It's expected by now, something that happens naturally. What's not expected is San's reaction.

"Oh." It's nothing more than a surprised gasp, but it draws everyone's attention towards him.

"What?" Wooyoung asks.

"Um," he says, his eyes wide and flickering between Soobin, Yeonjun, and their intertwined hands. Soobin doesn't know why but something about it makes him nervous, like a bow strung tight, waiting to be let go. "I think..."

He takes a deep breath, shakes his head before the words fall over his lips. "I think the reason Yeonjun wasn't able to cut the string is that he wasn't meant to."

"What do you mean?" Yeonjun's voice is hoarse, cracks a little, and if he hadn't sounded lively just a minute ago, Soobin would be able to brush it off to remnants of sleep still clinging to him.

"What if you can't cut your own string?"

The room goes silent instantly.

"What?"

It's not Yeonjun but Wooyoung who asks, but all Soobin can focus on is the look on Yeonjun's face. It's impossible to miss the small frown of confusion, the tiniest sparkle of hope in his eyes. It's almost enough to plant a seed of hope in Soobin's chest, that's how vibrant it is. But it's short-lived because it shatters as soon as San starts to explain.

"Okay, hear me out," he shuffles on his chair, sits up straight, "what if that's where Yeonjun's power stops? Cutting his own string? I mean, it would make sense, right?"

"No," Yeonjun says before anyone else can say anything. His voice is chilling, and Soobin would have felt cold regardless, but the way Yeonjun withdraws his hand from Soobin's grasp stings worse than frostbite. "It wouldn't make sense."

"Listen, I know I'm not very far into my education, but," San gestures between them, "there is something there. I think you are soulmates."

With each shake of Yeonjun's head, Soobin's lungs seem to fold in further on themselves. Yeonjun's nostrils are flaring, his eyes squinting and the hands that had been so soft on Soobin's own are now clenched into tight fists.

"No," he spits out, "you're wrong."

"But Yeonju-"

"I don't have a fucking soulmate," Yeonjun yells and jumps up from his chair, making it screech across the floor.

"Yeonjun..." Soobin tries to reach out and grasp his hand, but it closes around air. Yeonjun is already storming out of the room, thundering up the stairs. He's being noisy on purpose, wants them to feel his anger, and it all ends with him slamming his bedroom door so fiercely that it reverberates through the entire house. It leaves nothing but pain.

"What the hell just happened?" Soobin asks.

Wooyoung sighs, lets his face drop into his hands.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset anyone," San says, his voice wobbly. It's enough to make Wooyoung sit back up again, a small but sad smile on his lips.

"It's gonna be okay, San. You meant well."

San nods, but he clearly struggles to keep his feelings in check, bites the inside of his cheek so hard Soobin is afraid he might draw blood. He averts his gaze when Wooyoung reaches out to run his fingers over the taut skin, moving in to leave a small kiss on San's cheek.

"Why don't you get some rest, hm? You've been up for so long."

San sniffles once more, but nods and gets up from the table. "Okay. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help?"

"Of course," Wooyoung says quietly, trailing San's steps until they hear the sound of the front door closing. It's a lot more gentle than the slam coming from upstairs, but it feels significant in its own way.

A million questions are running through Soobin's mind, a race and not one of them actually reaching the finish line. He twists around in his seat, tries to get some control over the whirlwind of emotions inside of him. Wooyoung might be able to give him some answers to the questions he doesn't know how to ask.

"So?" Soobin says when the silence gets too stifling.

It only serves to make Wooyoung let out another deep sigh. "It's not really my place to tell you about Yeonjun's history but... well, he has a difficult past." Soobin nods. It's not entirely new to him, and even though it had been a while since he'd last seen Yeonjun lose his composure like that, he had seen the tension in Yeonjun's posture whenever the topic of soulmates was brought up. "You're gonna have to ask him yourself about that. But San... he can sense soulmates."