it was a warm thursday morning, the sun bleeding through the thick grey curtains of your room. becoming aware of your surroundings, you realised that you had fallen asleep yesterday while on the phone; the boys had added you to their groupchat and were relentless in spamming memes and conversing about random topics.
checking the time, you'd realised that you had woken up before your alarm had started screaming for you to get up, so you decided to make a proper breakfast before school.
the kitchen was cold and empty as hyemi was still in the comfort of her own bed, mouth ajar allowing loud snores to rip through the apartment.
you whipped up an english breakfast with the remaining ingredients you found in the fridge, opting for a can of coke to wake you up instead of coffee.
"caffeine is caffeine." you whispered to yourself.
"mornin'" hyemi trudged in after managing to drag herself out of her bed, scowling at the fact that she didn't get to sleep in a bit longer.
"tired?" you inquired, sipping on your drink as you watched hyemi snatch a piece of bacon off your plate. you didn't mind as she looked cute with her puffy eyes and swollen lips that where pulled into a little pout.
she hummed in response before moving to make herself a cup of coffee, her actions sluggish. falling into a comfortable silence, you tucked into your food, paying attention to your friend as she wheezed about, moving through the small area clumsily.
"eat breakfast, you're losing weight." you didn't have to look at the taller girl to know that she was shooting daggers at you, her deadly stare boring holes into the side of your head.
hyemi wasn't stupid. she knew you were right. but that was the problem. you were right.
"shut up, weirdo," the brown haired girl huffed, "worry about your own problems."
"what problems?" you asked, half joking, half bewildered.
"shit, you don't know... i forgot you didn't have classes yesterday." she bit her lip, eyes avoiding yours as they shot all over the room.
"hyemi," you spoke in a stern mothering tone, slightly alarmed, enticing her to spill the words she had been keeping hidden, "tell me. what's going on?"
"well, it seems like some jealous fan had been spreading rumours about you..." you nodded your head at her, encouraging her to carry on, "everyone knows about you hanging out at svtea with wonwoo and his soulmates."
"is that it? that's not bad. you had me scared for a second." you chuckled turning away from your friend.
"actually, it is that bad. people are calling you a whore, a homewrecker. fuck, there are different versions of the rumour. some are saying that you're cheating on your boyfriend with wonwoo to get good grades, some said that you're some type of prostitute looking for an orgy. some said that you were chasing after them because you were so desperate despite having three soulmates."
you scoffed, ripping your eyes of hyemi's anxious frame, tongue poking your cheek.
"fuck. the story is completely fucking twisted. it's ok, it's ok. it can't be that bad, right?"
♤ ♧ ♢ ♡
you felt like you were burning.
throughout the morning you had deathly stares on you, making you feel vulnerable as they scanned you, often making sounds of disapproval or grunts of disgust.
many students didn't know of situation, or of you in fact, but after hearing the sorely contorted ideas, they began to dislike you. it seemed like everyone and their mum's had joined your hate club.
your anger levels rose the further you walked into school, scaring your friends as they knew how you were when you teetered over the edge, almost losing your sanity.
counting in your head as hyemi had once taught you while stuffing textbooks in your locker, you let out steady elongated breath, trying to be in control of your emotions as much as possible.
you made your way to your second class of the day, already dreading the next hour and a half. you slumped down in a random seat at the back of the room, picking at the chipping paint on the wall that had doubled in size since your last lesson, exposing the red brick.
you didn't know how much time had passed before a few students entered, some disregarding you as they had zero interest, other immature students shunning you, muttering words that you swore were only said to spite you.
you scoffed audibly in irritation, humming a song under your breath to help rationalise your thoughts. you felt the irregular vibration of an object in you pocket, pulling out your phone to see the group chat active once again.
you skimmed through the chat, giggling here and there at the odd comment before you saw your name pop up.
'the others can't wait to meet you, you're still coming today?'
your eyes widened at that, heat rising to your face as you typed out a reply of agreement, shoving your mobile device into your pocket when your teacher came in.
you zoned out the monotonous voice of your lovely chemistry teacher once she started, leaving you confused when others started moving around, grabbing equipment of shelves and in creaking cupboards.
you shrugged on your lab coat in a hurry, eyes darting around the room trying to gather what was going on.
"titrations. don't worry, i got our stuff."
you whipped around, almost falling over due to the speed, your eyes widened and mouth agape.
the man had platinum blonde hair, styled into a mullet, the bangs reaching past his brows, yet somehow it worked. he had sharp eyes that looked almost empty, the pools of black seeming endless.
he scratched his nose with a painted nail, drawing your attention to his tattooed hand.
you nodded, pulling your lips into a thin smile that stretched across your face. he handed you some goggles and you began to work, only exchanging a 'thank you' and 'here' whenever compulsory.
you never found it as easy as hyemi to make new friends, being more self conscious and awkward. yet you weren't any better than the man that sat beside you, stirring a bright pink liquid while picking at his black nail polish.
"so... what's your name?" you asked plucking up any courage you had within you.
"jinyoung. call me ash." he locked eyes with you for two seconds, then broke the eye contact abruptly.
you almost forgot to tell him your name if not for the side glances he repeatedly sent you.
he looked like he was thinking, or fighting himself mentally whilst stirring the now pale pink mixture. you found it rather amusing watching him bite the inside of his cheek and slightly shake his head.
"is it true?"
you cocked your brow at the question, being somewhat confused, before you realised what he meant.
"yes and no?" you shrugged your shoulders when he gave you an odd look that you couldn't describe, "yes, we were in svtea. no, i'm not fucking wonwoo for good grades."
the blonde haired man laughed quietly, a sliver of his pearly whites visible. you smiled in response.
"we're actually soulmates, as much as certain individuals refuse to believe," your expression turned sour when the bitchy face of a spiteful student appeared in your mind, "some just want drama. some are just downright bitter."
ash hummed in either understanding or agreement; you weren't sure which but you were glad that someone knew the truth.
"what about you, ash? any soulmates?"
"had one. he died. the other? she's a bitch and i refuse to acknowledge her."
"oh i'm so sorry. i shouldn't've asked."
"no, it's okay. it happened years ago. plus, i don't think anyone would want to be with minsoo."
you blinked once. you blinked twice.
"you mean minsoo, as in thee minsoo?" you inquired in disbelief.
he nodded slowly, almost in disappointment, black eyes reading your face, searching for something. he was surprised and half scared when you burst out into laughter, apologising to your teacher and fellow students.
"such an attention whore."
you jerked your head round to who spoke, staring them down with a stale expression. they quickly shut up, making use of their legs and exiting the situation.
♤ ♧ ♢ ♡
the rest of the lesson went quite smoothly, you and your acquaintance making odd jokes here and there, resulting in you cackling like hyenas. at one point your lenient teacher threatened to separate you in the future.
students scattered at the shrill ring of the bell, leaving you and ash to stroll out the classroom comfortably.
"you wanna grab lunch together?," when you saw the hesitant look in his eyes, you had the urge to reassure him, "they're good people, just a bit loud... a lot loud."
he gave you a tight smile accompanied with a firm nod. excited, you grabbed his arm, marching towards the canteen, stringing the flushed tattooed man along.
on your way to the bench, you came across the loud back corner table you were now partially familiar with, sending a quick wave before returning to your brisk pace.
once you'd both grabbed your questionably edible food, you scoured for your bench, eyes latching onto your most vocal best friend.
"they're over there, come on-", you were abruptly cut off when you went to take a step forward, bumping into a slightly shorter woman, "oh my bad, i'm sorry."
the woman scoffed, leaving you to breathe out a long sigh once you had recognised who she was.
"you again, i can't believe how much of a slut you are. first mingyu, now my soulmate?" her voice was like nails to a chalkboard; shrill and utterly disturbing.
"minsoo, please-"
"i don't wanna hear it. it's kinda pathetic."
"what's pathetic is that you're a murderer and destitute. how are you paying the loan back? whoring yourself out i guess?" you whipped your head round to a now seething ash, black eyes fixated on his soulmate. the scene was rather appealing, causing you to let out a quiet laugh at the insults hurled.
before you knew it, your head snapped to the left, a tingling sensation remaining on the surface of your skin. the shock that had travelled through your body cased the release of the tray in your hands, sending food flying at your feet.
you laughed manically after a few seconds of acknowledgment. the lethal amount of rage you had accumulated throughout the day, accompanied by the extreme amounts of adrenaline in your system led you to act instinctively.
you reeled back, drawing your right arm backwards, then pummelled your fist into minsoo's confused face, all in a matter of a split second.
the force of the blow sent her staggering backwards, making for her head to smack off the mashed potato clad floors.
at this point the canteen was mainly silent, the only noise being made was by the cries off the bloody nosed girl and her groupie.
you crouched down, grabbing a fist full of her hair and yanking her to eye level, "any more bullshit you wanna spew?" you cocked your brow in question.
"you psycho piece of fuck. let go!"
"say, pretty please." you uttered, mocking the red faced girl. you then released her from your grip as the adrenaline started to wear off, the sting in your cheek and the pain off your knuckles becoming more prominent.
you and ash walked over to the bench with your awestruck friends, slumping down in your seat completely exhausted.
"holy shit," kibum spoke first, "that shit was awesome. are you okay? why is she such a bitch? i never thought she'd go that far."
you completely drowned him and his worrying mantra out, more focused on stealing food from hyemi's plate beside you, with ash frantically wiping down your bloody knuckles.
"blue, can i borrow you for a second?"
you turned to see a worried face, brows sewn together and wide puppy eyes.
you nodded while chewing down on a chip, following the gigantic male out the hall. the second the doors where closed, he immediately cupped your face, thumb stroking the impacted cheek.
"are you okay? that looked like a hard slap. does it hurt bad? fuck, i bet it does. are you sure-"
"mingyu. look," you flashed him your set of teeth, "i'm fine, honestly... where you worried about me?"
"of course i was! we all were!"
"that's so sweet of you guys. such a gentle giant."
with that comment he released his hands from your face, clearing his throat and fixing his clothes. you both stood there awkwardly for what felt like hours, only the chime of your phones breaking the silence.
opening the group chat, it seemed like the others where alerted to the situation that unfolded less than ten minutes ago, a video of the altercation also being uploaded.
soon your phone was ringing, seeing seokmin's name appear on screen.
"hel-"
"blue! are you okay? where are you? do you need to go to the hospital? i can pick you up!" the man screamed down the phone frantically, obviously distressed.
"i'm fine! seokmin, i'm fine. don't worry."
"okay, if you're sure.."
"i'm sure, seokmin."
"um, cheollie hyung said for you to take pain killers and stay with someone at all times. he also said call him if something happens before you get here. i've sent you his number, make sure you save it!"
your body stiffened at the sound of his name.
the notorious seungcheol.
the boys had told you how scary he was when serious, and the legacy of mr choi of westbrook wasn't really helping either.
"o-okay... bye seokmin."
after a few minutes of chit chat, you waved mingyu bye and trudged back to your table, dragging your limbs behind you.
"holy fuck."
♤ ♧ ♢ ♡
"choi seungcheol? as in, thee seungcheol?" hyemi questioned in disbelief, mouth agape once you nodded, "as in, the guy that beat logan stave to a pulp for looking at him funny?"
"uh huh."
"and he's your soulmate?"
"uh huh."
"the dude that knocked out minhee from economics with one punch for harassing tian yi?"
"uh huh."
"shit."
"shit indeed."
"if that dude's your soulmate, i feel bad for you."
"why?" this time you cocked your head in confusion, stopping in the middle of the street.
"i have a theory."
"care to enlighten me?"
"not yet, i need some evidence."
it went silent between the two of you for a moment as you continued walking.
"when you guys fuck, can you get a picture of his dick for me? you know, it's for my theory."
"lee hyemi!" you cackled and pushed her gently, causing her to fold over with laughter.
♤ ♧ ♢ ♡