celestial strings | h.js

three.

"What are you talking about?"

Chan watched as Minho's face gradually descended into a mixture of confusion and, increasingly so, pitiful despair. He shifted his gaze between you and him, unclear why Minho was having such a severe reaction. Following closely as Minho swiped two fingers across his neck, revealing a burning hieroglyphic mark once concealed, he moved his head about to keep his view from being blocked by Minho's back after the man grabbed your hand in his.

"What?" you tried to snatch your hand away, but Minho kept a firm grip. "Minho, I don't know who Jisung is. I met him for the first time today!"

He should have been more suspicious of what happened since he knew nothing. There were a million possibilities of how the councilman could have died, many of which did not involve you using magic that could hurt you, but also a lot where you would have to. He should have questioned how you could arrive unscathed; there was no injury on your body. You could have healed yourself, but that potential was eliminated when you told him you didn't know who Jisung was. The boy you almost fought him for, your soulmate, your lover—gone in a trace.

Chan raised his brows in realization when Minho discreetly pinched your pinky finger. The red string was gone. Your soulmate must have broken it. Judging by the event that preceded it and how Minho reacted to it, your soulmate had broken it unwillingly. Chan's shoulders slumped. He knew the implications of severing a soulmate string. But, seeing your clueless face, he was glad that the one suffering from its impact wasn't you but a boy he's never met before.

"Oh, [Name]..." Minho dropped your arm and sat beside Chan on the bed. He chuckled then, recalling the meek-looking boy pushing himself to your defense the first time they met. "Well, I'm not surprised he has the guts to do it."

"Oh? He's that kind of boy?" Chan muttered.

"I don't know. I didn't meet him for long." Minho shook his head before turning to smile at Chan. "But I know he overestimates his abilities to stand up for [Name]."

"Or he knows he's not qualified, he just doesn't care." Chan hummed with approval. "I like him either way."

You crossed your arms at their whispered conversation. You made a quick trip here to catch up with Chan and discuss what to do now that he has woken up. If he and Minho wanted to have alone time together, they should have arranged for you to show up later, and you could have stayed with your friends longer. But, despite your impatience, it was touching to see them happy.

"You know, I can't wait to have health insurance again," you pointed out as a joke. "Not that I cared for it when I did have it."

Chan laughed as he broke away from Minho, who rolled his eyes at the reminder of all the legal errands he would have to run with Chan after his full recovery. Scooting back on the bed, Chan beckoned you over to him and opened his arms as an invitation for a hug. You moved without another thought, but your face remained hesitant until you touched him with your hands. He patted your head twice for comfort you wouldn't know you needed.

"I'm sorry you've been alone all these years," he said.

"I met good people," you said as you shook your head to dismiss his apology. "I have friends who would fight for me."

Even though you haven't met them for long, the life they have given you thus far has somewhat overshadowed the terrifically lonely experience you've suffered prior. Time fast-forwarded in the mending of your heart; Hyunjin and his motherly instincts, Felix and his soft-hearted nature, Seungmin and his covert loyalty, and—your hands twitched when Jisung's face flashed over your eyes, specifically the way he had looked at you when you met him a while ago. You hummed, wondering how Seungmin has never introduced him to you before considering he has no other friends.

Or maybe he has, he just never told you.

"You should bring them over sometimes," Chan suggested as he pulled away. "It would be nice to give them a proper thanks."

You grimaced judgementally as you stared at him. You didn't think it was necessary. Besides, you have talked about Chan to your friends in such an urgent way (for good reasons) that you felt they would be disappointed seeing what Chan was actually like. Feeling subconscious, Chan returned the same expression but with more vigor. Not even a day had passed since he woke up from a coma, he was still delirious, but he held his mind to greet you anyway, and this was what you give him—teenage attitude. He rolled his eyes into a faint smile after. This was better than a pitch-black doom, at least.

"What do we do now?" you asked.

"You–" Minho touched your shoulder–"don't have to do anything. The legal things are up to him now. You just worry about catching up on your education."

The thought of school haunted you. It has been years since you last stepped foot in an educational setting to learn something new. You have been operating on some foundation of an adult—occupying yourself with jobs and earning money to fill your stomach—and you got trauma relating to being held down forcefully, so you weren't sure if you could adequately cope with being restricted by another systematic authority. Not to mention, people knew who you were! They knew your face and your family!

The only way for your school life to be peaceful is—

"I'm not going to school here."

—to go somewhere where nobody knows you.

"I thought you might say that," Minho pointed out as he slumped on the edge of the hospital bed. He shrugged, ready for a bargain. "You can attend the school your friends are attending–yeah, I know what you're thinking about." He squinted at you. "But unless you test into their current grade level, you won't be graduating at the same time as them."

"I'm being held back?" You would never hear the end of this from Hyunjin.

"No, you're starting alarmingly late," he said. "You can choose. We can give you some time to prepare for the grade assessment, or we can do what I initially planned–"

"I'm not going to school here."

"I was planning to get you homeschooled." Minho got up to flick your forehead. "You can work at your or the teacher's pace–I know someone who could help. That way, school won't keep you from seeing your friends."

Chan tilted his head. That sounded like a solid plan he had no part in concocting, but if Minho thought it was a viable idea, he wouldn't chime in and possibly make things worse. Looking at his soulmate, he gradually relaxed into the bed as he watched you chat with Minho about future plans. A soft sigh left his chest; he hoped Minho wouldn't overwork himself to accommodate your needs. You deserved a regular life from now on, but with the staining guilt that he hasn't been of any help in the past, Minho might overexert himself to make everything perfect from today on.

"Oh, can I get some strings to teleport back?"

Minho looked at the empty cardboard in your hand. He shrugged. "Sure, you can buy them at the store like everybody else," he said. "I know you have money."

"My family owns these strings," you sneered, then you pulled back in shock at the realization that the family business was still running.

"Your family, not you. There's a pharmacy downstairs. They should sell some," he retorted with a grin. "Remember, your friends are probably in school right now. It's the morning! Don't spawn in the middle of a hospital!"

Chan laughed when you bluffed a punching motion at Minho, who stood stoically on his spot. When you slammed the door behind you, Minho held back a scoff of disapproval and rolled his eyes. He turned around to give Chan a tight-lipped smile as he stumbled to the bed and, once again, plopped down on the edge. He could sit on it more comfortably now that you were gone, his back arched as he met eyes with Chan.

"You know I almost snapped our string to save you," Minho mentioned.

Chan raised his brows. "I'm surprised you didn't."

"[Name] talked me out of it," Minho replied softly.

There was a moment of silence. Minho thought about you promising him before that Chan would wake up and when you urged him not to break his soulmate string to save him. He felt he should have been there for you when yours had to meet a tragic fate. He stared at the ceiling light. For some reason, he wondered how Jisung was holding up.