celestial strings | h.js

one.

"Do you want to invite [Name] to hang out with us after school today?" Felix asked, motioning towards you.

"I don't care. Ask Hyunjin." Seungmin shrugged.

"Really? You stare a lot for someone who doesn't care," Felix responded.

Seungmin scoffed then. Whatever Felix was thinking about, which he could assume was something related to some dramatic romance, he was not feeling it. He just had a little frozen moment upon feeling disbelief in what he had always thought was true: the fact that soulmate didn't exist. He had always been so against the idea because of what he mentioned to Felix before: people desire it when they can never have it, and there is no point in chasing over a petty ideal.

Besides, people will never love each other so strongly like that. There was no way.

"Jisung feels different, don't you think?" Seungmin asked gently, his hands tightening on the strap of his school bag.

Felix raised a brow and looked over at his friend before he turned back to Seungmin, a shrug leaving his shoulders. "Not really."

Seungmin sighed. Perhaps it was just him and his tendency to detect changes because Jisung felt different to him. He was still as fulfilling and bright as he used to be, but it wasn't just him anymore. The blinding innocence in Jisung's eyes, the way he speaks, and his gestures and everything had started to be able to look softer, as if there were extra he could give but he was holding back for something.

Everything about him went from shining for himself to a light that learned to accommodate somebody else. Jisung used to feel like he has all the love for the entire world, now he felt like he had put space aside to love a special someone. And it was not a mystery who that special someone would be.

"Whatever then, forget I ever said anything." Seungmin shrugged before he marched forward to catch up with the rest, urging Felix to follow behind.

When the two finally approached you both, the first thing Felix did was strike up a conversation with you.

"We saw you with Jisung that one time and we have been meaning to introduce ourselves for a long time," he beamed. "We never got the chance, though. And Jisung is so against us meeting you for some reason."

"He thinks we are going to steal you from him," Hyunjin joked with a roll of his eyes.

Amused, you arched a brow at Jisung, who groaned with a faint blush on his face. He thought the teasing would end earlier but turned out, it has just begun. Starting with his mini crush on you when you two first met each other to the strong affection his feelings have gradually blossomed into now. He would not be getting out of his hellhole in a long time, he knew.

"You overestimate yourself," you muttered, turning your usual annoyed look—the signature dead eyes and the furrowed brows—at Hyunjin.

"Hah," Hyunjin mused with a growing smirk, completely unfazed by your lack of enthusiasm, causing your frown to deepen. Suppose optimism runs in the friend group, but in this case, it felt like a massive load of ego.

"Anyway, we were thinking maybe you'd want to tag along with us to shop after school!" Felix asked, then he turned to Jisung, the smile on his face dimming slightly. "I hope you didn't forget we planned to hang out today."

Jisung clicked his tongue in annoyance, finding it very disappointing that his friend had such little faith in him. "I remember," he replied before looking at you and whispering, "I was going to tell you about it but I guess they beat me to it."

"You don't have to tell me if you're gonna hang out with your friends, Jisung," you muttered.

"Well, I mean–since we always go home together, I figured you should know," Jisung grumbled, his mind short-circuiting as he tried to make up a reason why he felt the need to tell you everything he does that did not involve you. He did realize how much he had made it seem like he was reporting to a significant other about his whereabouts, and perhaps that was what got him all flustered about it.