"Did you find them honey?" Is the first thing that comes out of your mother's mouth when you arrive home. You are startled by the question, quickly shaking your head no.
Sitting down for dinner, you try your best to avoid your parents' gazes. You hope they don't ask to see your wrist, or else you're screwed.
You still find it hard to believe that your soulmate is...Daoming Si? He's the only person you have come in contact with since your timer ran out. And he seemed very surprised to see you as well.
Honestly, he's probably the worst option for a soulmate you ever could have thought of. How could you end up with someone as rude and cold as him? It just doesn't make sense. You have no idea how you will make this work. For now, you just plan to stay away from him, no matter the consequences.
____
Weak. That's how you feel when you wake up the next morning. Your body feels heavy and you have almost no energy. And as much as you don't want to admit it, it's probably because you had next to no physical contact with your soulmate since you've met them. And you don't plan to.
So you drag yourself out of bed as usual, this morning being a bit more difficult than the others. You're more quiet during breakfast and your mother seems to notice. She probably thinks it's because you're running out of time to find your soulmate. She looks very worried, but you can't bring yourself to tell her the truth.
With a sigh, you head off to school. You feel terrible, your brain is cloudy and your head is pounding. But you don't want to see Daoming Si and you doubt he wants to see you either.
Luckily, you don't have the stress of getting to school late today. You try to greet Li Zhen and Chen Qinghe with as much enthusiasm as possible but they can tell that something is off.
"Did you find your soulmate, Y/n?" Qinghe asks and you shake your head in mock disappoinment. "Don't worry, you'll find them soon." He reassures you and you nod.
Class today is even more torturous. Your tiredness only gets worse and you feel like your head is going to explode. You're sweating now too. You want nothing more than to go home and rest.
"Are you okay?" Qinghe whispers, tapping your shoulder from behind you. He gasps as you turn around to face him. "You look pale, you should go to the nurse."
"No, I'm fine, I-"
"Excuse me, Miss." You hear the deep voice of the professor as he pauses his lecture. You quickly face forward to see that he is looking straight at you.
"Yes, Mr. Lee?"
"Since you think it is okay to talk during my class, would you mind explaining what I was just talking about?"
"I uhh..." You stand up hesitantly, trying to think of what to tell the professor. You definitely weren't paying attention enough to repeat it back to him. This anxiety paired with your already bad condition makes black spots appear in your vision.
"I'm waiting."
"I'm sorry professor, I-" Suddenly your legs feel like jelly. It's hard to breathe and the floor feels unsteady beneath you. Before you know it, you can't hold yourself up anymore and collapse to the floor. All you hear are gasps and murmurs of worry erupting from around you before your whole world goes black.
____
When you come to, your eyes are strained by the sight of white walls. You still feel the pressure on your head, but it's not excruciating pain like before. Sitting takes a lot of effort, but you want to know exactly where you are. Looking around a little bit, you see a cabinet of supplies, some informational posters, and a desk of some sort. You're in the infirmary.
You go to rub your temples when you find that your left hand is...occupied. By something warm.
You turn your head slowly, only to find another hand resting on top of it. And it belongs to...Daoming Si?
He's sleeping peacefully, the expression on his face being the closest you've ever seen to a smile. His chest slowly heaves up and down, as if he's having the best nap of his life. Why the hell is he here?
You jerk your hand away from his grip. When your head begins to pound once again and your lethargic feeling comes back, you quickly find out that was a bad idea.
On top of that, Daoming Si begins to stir in his sleep with a groan. You can't let him wake up, you have no idea what you would even say! Panicking, you hurriedly place your hand on top of his.
Immediately, the pain in your body begins to subside. But the damage has already been done. You watch as Daoming Si scrunches his eyebrows together, eyes slowly opening.
You wince as he grumbles, sitting up slightly before realizing your presence next to him. "What the hell.." He says loudly, quickly pulling away from you. His eyes are wide, staring into yours with confusion and slight anger. Then you can see when the pain kicks in, because it hits you at the exact same time.
He grabs his temples, probably because of the excruciating pain in his head. You feel it too. You take a deep breath before reaching over to put your hand on top of his. "What are you-" He begins to argue but bites his tongue when he realizes how much better he feels.
This is so awkward. The two of your divert your eyes from each other as you keep just enough physical contact to fulfill your needs.
He must hate you. How would a popular guy like him look with an ordinary girl like you? Knowing him, he probably thinks that you will taint his reputation. You let out a little huff in annoyance. Out of the corner of your eye, you can see him look at you for a brief second before looking away.
"How are you guys feeling?" You are startled by the sudden, cheery voice. It makes you tear away your hand from Daoming Si as a reflex but you quickly place it back as the pain immediately starts up again.
You turn around to see one of the nurses who work here in the university. The way she smiles at the both of you lifts your spirits just a little bit. She seems nice enough.
"Good." You mumble, since Daoming Si doesn't seem like he wants to answer.
"That's good to hear! The both of you fainted within the same time frame and were both rushed here. Because of the similar cases, I had a feeling that the two of you might be soulmates. It seems that I was right." She looks pointedly at your connected hands with a wide grin.
You look down when you hear that word. Soulmate. Hearing someone say it out loud makes it so much more real. Daoming Si is actually your soulmate.
"Anyways, the two of you were very weak when you arrived. And although you may feel a bit better now, I advise that you stay with each other throughout the rest of the day. Maybe even take the day off if you would like. As the days pass, separation will be easier. But for now, you two really need each other."
You nod in understanding. You would rather do anything else but you don't have a choice, do you? You just hope Daoming Si is just as cooperative, because you know he's in as much pain as you are.
All of a sudden he gets up, an unreadable expression on his face as he rips his hand out of your grip. He is about to storm out of the room when suddenly, you see his legs wobble slightly. He holds on to the wall to catch his balance. "Careful there." The nurse teases, a sparkle in her eyes. You're not sure why she finds this so amusing.
You hear Daoming Si let out a grunt as he turns back, grabbing ahold of your hand. You let out a shriek as he pulls you off of the bed and out of the room. The faint sound of the nurse giggling can be heard as the door closes behind you.
He pulls you aside right outside the door of the clinic, his hand still gripping onto yours tightly. "What are we gonna do?" His brown orbs are wide as they pierce yours, looking almost desperate.
You're surprised that he's talking to you, let alone asking you this question. "I-I don't know..." You sigh, leaning against the wall. "Unless you want to die, I would just do what she says."
Daoming Si rolls his eyes before pursing his lips. "Fine." That's all he says before he starts walking, dragging you along with him.
You try to protest but classes are still going on and you don't want to be disruptive. He seems to know where he's going as he leads you down the hallways, towards the exit, and out the school building. You don't even bother to ask him where he's taking you as the two of you leave campus.
You walk on the street for a while, his hand still in yours. Then you reach a small, cozy looking coffee shop. He pulls you inside and sits you down across from him. You're about to protest when he lets go of your hand but his knees touching yours under the table provide enough comfort.
Then he turns his attention to you, the way his eyes bore into yours making you slightly uncomfortable. "What do you want?" He asks roughly as you look down at the table.
At those words, you look up at him as your eyebrows furrow. "W-what?" You ask, a bit stunned.
Then he sighs with a roll of his eyes. "You're going to learn that I don't like repeating myself. I asked you what you would like to order."
You're feeling conflicted. On one hand, it's very considerate of him to ask you what you want to order. But you don't like the way that he orders you around and talks to you like a child. But what did you expect? He's Daoming Si. You're just surprised he hasn't said something rude or hurtful to you yet.
You take a deep breath. You don't want to fight with him already. The both of you are tired and would rather be anywhere else than with each other. So you suck it up and just let it slide. "A Jasmine Milk Tea, please."
He seems pleased at the fact that you answered him without argument or attitude. Knowing him, he's probably used to people obeying his every order.
He gets up from the table, walking up to the short line to go order. You're surprised that you feel almost fine at first after the loss of contact, just a bit lethargic. As if you could fall asleep on the spot. But then the headache kicks in once again. Looking at Si waiting in line, you curse the other people for being here. He could've ordered the drinks and been back already.
He looks back at you, probably because he feels the same pain you're feeling. Neither of you have fully recovered yet, so you're really not supposed to be apart. Maybe you shouldn't have even left the infirmary.
But there's no way you're going up there to him. You're too stubborn and too...embarrassed. You'd rather bear the pain and wait for him to get back than seem needy by going to him and clutching on like a koala.
"Come here." You here a loud voice call, almost loud enough for the entire coffee shop to hear. Looking up from your lap, you see Daoming Si staring right at you.
A passerby wouldn't notice anything wrong with the boy. But looking closely, you can see the drops of sweat forming on his forehead and the way his hands shake slightly at his sides.
"I said come here." He gives you a hard glare as he repeats himself, which apparently he doesn't like to do. You tell yourself you're only doing this for your benefit when you get up, a little unsteady as you walk to him, lightly pressing your arm against his.
The both of you quickly find that you like this option better. It's a lot less...intimate. But relief immediately flows through your body and you're assuming that he feels the same, based on the sigh that leaves his mouth.
It's definitely awkward, the both of you standing pressed against each other and not saying a word. But you don't see any other option at this point.
After a few more minutes, you finally reach the front of the line. Si orders the both of your drinks and the two of you head back to your table.
"What's your name?" He asks suddenly and you almost choke on the milk tea that you were sipping.
"Umm...Y/n. My name is Y/n." You say with a gulp.
"Interesting. You probably already know who I am." He says arrogantly with a smirk.
You roll your eyes at his response. Of course you know who he is. You also can't help but be annoyed at how good he looks when he smirks, unlike other people who can't pull it off.
"Nope, no idea." You smile sweetly at him, your voice laced with sarcasm.
"Very funny." He says bluntly, taking a sip of his black coffee. It's probably bitter as hell. Hmm, it definitely suits him.
"Anyways, you better tell your parents you're not coming home tonight." He says nonchalantly.
You freeze, your eyes widening. "What?"
He smirks once again. "You're coming with me."