"So, mind telling us where you were last night?"
Mark jumped as he turned around. Originally he was going to just hope that the boys were still asleep and then sneak in.
Obviously that didn't work.
"Uhhhh." Mark dragged out as he saw all of the boys sitting on the couch. It was as if he had snuck out to go to a party and just got caught by his parents.
Haechan and Renjun were sitting at the table, while Jeno, Jisung and Chenle were on the floor with video game controllers in their hands. Jaemin was sitting on the couch behind them, his phone in his hand.
"Well....I.... I went out early for a walk." He stuttered as he looked at them. Jaemin raised an eyebrow.
"You went for a walk in the morning? Mark you can barely wake up before 8 and you went for a walk this morning?!" Jaemin exclaimed, knowing that there was something wrong with his answer.
"Weren't you supposed to come back after dropping Jieun off?" Haechan asked. Renjun perked up.
"Oh yeah, you wanted to walk her home last night!" He said as he remembered.
"Hyung, nothing happened. Right?" Jisung asked slowly. Chenle also narrowed his eyes at Mark, "You didn't do anything, right?" He asked, using the same time as Jisung.
"There's no way you came home last night! We were up until 1 waiting for you!" Jeno said as he looked at Mark in confusion.
Mark threw his hands up in defeat. "Fine! You got me! I spent the night at Jieun's!" He said.
The boys looked at him in shock.
"YOU WHAT?!" They shouted at the same time.
"We thought you dropped her off and then went to spend the night at Soojin's!" Jeno exclaimed.
"You didn't do anything to her, did you?" Jisung asked suspiciously.
"What?! No! Why would you even think that?!" Mark said incredulously.
"Wait, hold on. So does that mean that you accept her as our soulmate?" Chenle asked hopefully.
Mark smiled at the younger boy's hopeful look. " Yes, I have. Honestly, the only people who haven't accepted her are Jaemin and Haechan." He answered.
"Wait! Renjun hyung likes her?!" Jisung said in surprise. Renjun nodded.
Haechan got up, "I have to go." He said before putting on a pair of shoes and leaving.
Mark sighed as he looked at the door. He hoped that Haechan would learn to like Jieun as much as he did. The girl was close to her breaking point.
The painkillers and sleeping pills that he found only made him worry more.
.........................................................................
Haechan sighed as he walked down the narrow street.
He knew Soojin wasn't their soulmate. He knew that and yet, there was something holding him back.
He knew that she wasn't the same girl that he fell in love with, that they all fell in love with.
Somewhere along their relationship she had changed into a girl who would ask for money and then go shopping with her friends.
So what was holding him back?
Holding him back from seeing the same girl that his friends see in their soulmate. The girl that they love to talk about, the girl that they always want to be with.
He knew that he was the only one who still couldn't see it.
Although Jaemin hadn't said anything it was obvious that ever since that night he and Jeno brought her home, she was the only girl he could think about.
They all saw it, so what was missing for him?
Haechan stopped as he stared in front of him. There, stood the girl that had been on his mind for the past 10 minutes.
Jieun stood at the side of the road, she was wearing a black pleated skirt with a huge green sweater that was practically engulfing her. She looked as if she was waiting for someone.
Haechan stopped for a minute and stared at her. He tilted his head when he saw her look around. She froze when she made eye contact with him.
Haechan's eyes widened. Not because he had been caught staring at her, but because he had finally figured it out.
He was afraid.
Soojin had been the his first love, the first girl that he ever fell in love with.
He knew that it was over. He knew that they were no longer in a relationship, she was just using them.
He was afraid that Jieun would turn out the same way. He was afraid that they would fall in love with her only to have her break their hearts just like Soojin had been doing to them.
He watched with wide eyes as Jieun came closer to him. The girl had become a little worried because he had been standing in the middle of the road and staring at her for 5 minutes.
"Haechan? Are you okay-"
"Are you going to leave us?" He asked, cutting her off. Jieun looked at him in surprise.
"What?" She whispered, a little confused.
"Are you going to break our hearts and leave us?" He asked her brokenly.
Jieun's heart broke watching the boy in front of her.
The boy who was always smiling and radiating happy energy, the boy who would always tease and annoy his friends.
That same boy was now standing in front of her with glazed eyes asking her if she was going to leave him.
"No." She whispered seriously. "I would never leave you, any of you!" She said adamantly.
"I love all of you." She whispered sadly as she continued to keep eye contact with him.
Haechan took a shaky breath in before stepping closer to her. She could feel his breath as as he came closer to her, his cologne hitting her causing Jieun to close her eyes.
She opened her eyes in surprise when she felt him wrap his arms around her. "Promise me. Promise me that you'll always love us and never leave." He whispered into her skin.
His head was nestled in her neck, past her hoodie, causing her to shiver when his hot breath hit her neck.
The girl wrapped her arms around him. The boy tensed, but relaxed after she said, "I promise, I will always love everyone on of you and I will never ever leave you. I swear." She hugged him tighter when she felt his tears in her neck.
"I love you Haechan, I'll never leave. I promise." She whispered to him.
The boy finally broke. He clutched onto the girl and cried into her shoulder. Jieun's heart clenched as she heard his broken sobs. He held onto her as if he would lose her at any moment.
He cried for quite a while before Jieun pulled away. She was still in his arms as she raised her hands and brought them to his face.
She carefully cupped his cheeks as her thumbs softly wiped away his tears. Haechan sniffled as he watched her face scrunch up while she made sure to get every tear.
A small smile bloomed on his face as he watched the girl gently wipe away his tears.
Jieun had been so focused that she hadn't noticed that he had stopped crying until she saw his lips curved up.
She looked up to see him smiling down at her, but his smile fell when he said, "I'm so sorry."
Jieun huffed and squished Haechan's face causing him to pout. He looked at the girl confusedly.
"Will you guys stop apologizing already! I'm sick of hearing you say that you're sorry! You have nothing to be sorry about." She said slightly annoyed.
"But-"
"But nothing! I accept you all and I don't care what you guys might have done before! I love all of you and I always will! No matter what." She said adamantly.
Haechan stared at the girl in front of him with wide eyes before a smile took over his face. Jieun also beamed at him seeing that the boy had finally came around.
Haechan was about to ask her something when a small voice interrupted him.
"Unnie!"
Jieun turned around and crouched down just in time to catch the little girl running towards her in her arms.
"Aera! Hi Mrs. Kang!" Jieun adresses the older lady behind the girl.
Mrs.Kang smiled as she saw Aera already in Jieun's arms. "Jieun, I know I said it was your break and everything but Aera just really wanted to go to the park with you and-"
"Oh Mrs.Kang it's no problem at all. I had nothing to do today and I promised Aera that I would take her to the park anyway." Jieun said.
However as the Jieun and her mother were talking to each other Aera stared at Haechan, who was looking at her.
She tilted her head, causing him to do the same. This made her smile as she turned around.
Mrs.Kang smiled knowing that Aera was in good hands. "Well I should get going now. Hopefully Mr.Kang hasn't burned down the cafe." She said as she waved them goodbye.
Jieun turned around to face Haechan after Mrs.Kang had left. She put a Aera down, after the little girl had asked her too.
"Are you unnie's boyfriend yet?" Aera asked before Jieun could say anything. Jieun looked at her in surprise.
But was even more surprised when she felt Haechan wrap his hand around hers. The boy smiled at the little girl before nodding.
"Yup! I'm your unnie's boyfriend. Is it okay if I come with you to the park?" He asked, looking down at her.
Aera thoughtfully put a finger to her chin, before smiling and saying, "You can come, but only if unnie says yes." The youger girl looked at Jieun with sparkling eyes.
Jieun turned to look at Haechan, who only looked at her with the same sparkly eyes. Jieun sighed, "Well okay then, let's go to the park." She said with a smile when they both cheered.
She shook her head and laughed as they both started to pull her in the direction of the park.
Awwwww, Haechan, Jieun, and a little bit of Aera fluff!!!!! update! hope you guys liked the chapter!!! and......
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR #1 IN nct!!!!!!!!! like wtf!! I love you guys soooo much!!!!!!!!!
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AND
10k!!!!!!!!! I swear to god you guys are just THE best!!!!!
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anyways I wish you all a Happy New Year!!! This year has been hard for everyone but I hope that you all have a great new year and all your wishes come true!!! Please stay safe and healthy!!
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Now i'm going to mentally prepare myself for SMTOWN!!!!!
~sunnyhyuck 💚