Someone Like You

chapter eighteen.

🌅

Mark and Lucas were at the park. Jeno and Jaemin were talking to Renjun. Doyoung found himself walking back to the place that he first talked to his soulmate. Doyoung had asked Taeil out on a date but Taeil said that he wasn't ready. Doyoung then asked a week later but Taeil made an excuse to get out of it. He asked again in the second week but Taeil once again told him that he wasn't ready.

Doyoung began to grow unsure of the situation and he began to doubt Taeil's reasons. He was beginning to wonder if Taeil didn't want to be his soulmate. He began second guessing himself and had complained to his friends countless times about his insecurity. He was afraid that Taeil didn't like him and would never love him.

Doyoung wasn't very good with words or expressing how he felt. Taeil had already learned this through the thousands of messages they had sent each other so he wasn't worried of how awkward he would sound. He was just worried about Taeil's response.

He stopped in front of the bookstore and Taeil had already spotted him outside. Instead of Doyoung walking into the bookstore, Taeil walked over to the door and opened it for him which made Doyoung smile. He wasn't mentally prepared to have this conversation but looking at Taeil's face gave him some courage. He wanted to live a happy life with Taeil so he wanted to know where Taeil stood in their relationship.

"Hey, why are you here?" Taeil beamed.

"I just came by to say hi." Doyoung paused and hated himself for not being able to get the words out but he took a deep breath and spat them out. "Also, I have to talk to you about something."

Taeil visibly stiffened and his smile was replaced with a confused and worried frown. He wasn't sure what Doyoung wanted to talk about but something about his tone made him think it was something really serious.

"I wanted to talk to you about us." Doyoung hesitated.

Taeil grew extremely nervous, he had no idea what Doyoung meant by that but he was about to find out. They walked towards one of the empty tables and Taeil remained silent the entire time, he was too scared to speak. He waited for Doyoung to start.

"I want to know where you stand in our relationship." Doyoung asked.

"What do you mean?" Taeil questioned.

"You haven't agreed to go on a date with me. You say it's because you're not ready and I understand that but is there another reason why?" Doyoung implied.

Taeil looked at him with a confused expression.

"What other reason would I have?" Taeil asked innocently.

Taeil's response made Doyoung smile but he still wanted confirmation and clarification on what was going on between them.

"What are we?" Doyoung asked a completely different question, confusing Taeil in the process.

"Soulmates." Taeil answered.

"I know but- I mean are.. When are we? I just want to know if- You know, if.." Doyoung stammered.

"Doyoung." Taeil called out and Doyoung stopped talking.

"We are soulmates. I like you and I didn't want to go out with you so suddenly because I didn't want you to think you were a rebound. I need time but I think I've waited long enough. You are my soulmate and I would love to go on a date with you." Taeil smiled.

Doyoung's face became redder by the minute but his smile was the only thing that Taeil was focused on. Taeil was happy about finally being able to go on a date with the person he's meant to be with and Doyoung was ecstatic to hear Taeil say that he liked him.

"I'm so happy you said yes. You don't know how worried I was to have this conversation. My friends were so annoyed by all my complaining." Doyoung laughed.

"My friends were mad at me for not saying yes to you the first time you asked me out." Taeil laughed along with Doyoung.

"Your friends are Johnny and those terrible three, right?" Doyoung asked. It had been a while since they had spoken in person and it felt really refreshing. It was way better than texting.

"Terrible three?!!" Taeil burst into fits of laughter.

"Yes! That's what I call them. Renjun, Haechan and Chenle." Doyoung shivered.

"Yes, they're my friends, along with Jungwoo and Taeyong but they don't attend the university." Taeil smiled.

"I've never heard of them." Doyoung pondered.

"Well yeah, they don't attend the university." Taeil chuckled.

"I'm sure Johnny would have mentioned them if you guys are all friends." Doyoung wondered.

"I doubt Johnny would have talked about us." Taeil chimed in.

"Actually, now that I think about it. Johnny has never mentioned any of you, he's never mentioned knowing the terrible three either." Doyoung was puzzled.

"It's a long story." Taeil smiled weakly, Doyoung noticed this and dropped the topic.

"How come I've never seen you at the university?" Doyoung questioned.

"I attended a different college and got a bachelor's degree in business management. Thanks to my caretakers, I was able to open my own bookstore." Doyoung noticed that Taeil said caretakers instead of parents but he had a feeling that it involved the previous topic, about Johnny, so he dropped it.

"Why did you open a bookstore?" Doyoung asked.

"Well, one of my friends became a writer and I fell in love with his first book. He's the one that got me hooked on books of all kinds and I wanted to help sell his books so I opened a bookstore. I actually put some of his books on the shelves and one day, a publisher was really interested in them and that's how I helped Jungwoo become a famous author." Taeil giggled.

Doyoung watched Taeil's face light up at the brief story he told, recalling a happy memory. He loved Taeil's smile, something about his smile was contagious. He remembered the feeling very well, it is the same feeling he gets when he sees Johnny or the terrible three smile. Something about all of their smiles was contagious.

"Everytime I see one of you smile, I can't help but smile along with you." Doyoung muttered out unknowingly.

"One of you?" Taeil asked.

"Yeah, Johnny, Renjun, Chenle, Haechan and you. You all have such happy smiles, it's almost impossible to not smile along with you guys but your smile is the best one by far." Doyoung explained.

Taeil's face flushed red with embarrassment but he chuckled at Doyoung's compliment.

"You should see Jungwoo's smile. Haechan may be a ball of sunshine but Jungwoo's smile is like seeing a rainbow, those two have quite a powerful presence. You wouldn't survive with both of them in one room." Taeil smiled.