love you later | yeonbin ✓

025

Soobin takes in a sharp breath, his heart stopping in his chest for a split second before it takes up speed, accelerating to a pace so fast it almost makes. him lightheaded.

Wooyoung holds up his hand, a strained smile on his face. "His magic is fickle at best right now, though. It's not a very secure science in the first place as you probably already know. He hasn't been with me for very long, and he still has a lot to learn." He pauses for a second. "I wouldn't put too much hope into the thought of you and Yeonjun in being soulmates."

Too late, Soobin almost wants to say. Because if he's being honest with himself, the thoughts have been there before, growing inside of him like flowers. It was one thing having to tell himself he was wrong, that surely this was just the hopeless romantic in him, the thing that always seemed to doom him one way or another. It hurt, but it was fine to have to snap off the budding flowers on his own. Now, though, having someone else utter the words he was too afraid to even think about too much, he's helpless. The buds break open, the tiniest hint of delicate petals unfolding before he can do anything about it.

"Did he lose his soulmate?"

"Soobin, I really can't talk to you about this. You're gonna have to talk to Yeonjun yourself. If he's ready, he'll tell you."

Soobin sighs but nods. He knows Wooyoung is right, and he doesn't really want to betray Yeonjun's trust anyway. He's itching to go talk to him immediately, wants to check on him even if just to make sure he's okay. But he knows Yeonjun enough by now to recognize when he wants to be left alone. So as Wooyoung gets up from the table and vanishes inside Yeonjun's study to do some research about what went wrong with their ritual, Soobin goes about his day as usual.

He hadn't realized before, but somehow he has developed some kind of routine. He loves checking on the flowers, spending time outside by the pond whenever Yeonjun doesn't need his help. He's even taken a liking to reading again, something he never really had the time for while living in the city. Life got too busy, the city too loud, and sometimes his brain was too full to ingest any more words. So he goes through the motions, finally settles down in the alcove on the first floor to call his parents and friends to fill them in on what happened.

It's draining having to explain what happened in the past few days when he doesn't fully understand himself. His mom is worried, asking if he's okay, if Yeonjun is okay a hundred times. Taehyun and Beomgyu are calmer, though not by much. Soobin almost feels bad telling them he won't be back for a while after all, can hear the disappointment in their voices. In the end, they understand though. They let him go when Wooyoung is calling from downstairs that lunch is ready and even though they weren't exactly pleasant conversations, he is glad he got to hear familiar voices again. He hadn't noticed how much he needed the comfort, how much the last couple of days had worn him out.

Before he goes down the stairs, he knocks on Yeonjun's bedroom door.

"Yeonjun?"

No answer. He knocks again.

"Yeonjun, lunch is ready."

It's too quiet, not even a shuffle on the other side of the door. Soobin tries to twist the doorknob, but it won't budge. It's locked. Soobin sighs.

"Come downstairs, yeah? You need to eat something."

He stays for one more moment, hoping he'll hear the tell-tale sound of the door unlocking, but it never comes. There's a heaviness in his chest that doesn't have anything to do with the thought of could-be soulmates but everything to do with Yeonjun's absence. It's a miserable feeling, sucking the joy out of everything, so even though Wooyoung had made one of Soobin's favorites, his japchae tastes like nothing.