PAPER CUTS .. ljn（✓）

→ twenty

"why are we doing this again?"

"because, dummy, how else are we gonna know for sure that he's your soulmate?"

hyerim rolled her eyes, making sure the trio didn't see. she hadn't quite gotten around to telling them about the whole soulmate-connection-with-jeno thing, and now the four were huddled behind one of the pillars in the gymnasium as they peeked sneakily at the hockey team.

the male horsemen were planning experiments to further test (more like play with) jeno, for their bestie. it was all out of love, of course.

"so, what's the pla—" being the amazing ex-bestie he was, felix cut the girl off by stomping on her foot. hyerim opened her mouth, ready to scold the australian, when the quartet heard a muffled swear from a certain blue-haired hockey captain.

the brunette was expecting it, and even if their bond was dulled, they could still feel each other's pain—especially if they hadn't been in contact for 24 hours. she shot a menacing glare at felix, who was trying desperately to hide his laughter-filled cheeks behind both hands. "okay, okay, but that could have been a coincidence—"

hyerim's lips naturally formed a pout as she gave the blond a gentle arm whack. "lix, i'm sensitive." she made sure to drag out the final word, slumping her shoulders as she did so, and felix's eyes softened. "aww rimmie, i'm sorry! okay, no more punching bestie."

"you said that too casually—"

on the bench ahead of the quartet was sungchan and his blue-haired captain. his australian spy buddy had texted him before class about the plan, and the boy took the foot stomp as his signal to drop hints and 'interrogate'.

clearly, neither jeno nor hyerim had told him about connecting.

daring a quick glance back, the young hockey player caught the blond's eyes and nodded when the latter flashed him a quick thumbs up. without an ounce of hesitation, sungchan twisted forward and slammed a fist against jeno's bicep.

"ow! sungchan, what the hell?!"

the younger stared at him with slightly widened eyes before shrugging, face full of innocence. "sorry cap, it's how i've been greeting people recently."

jeno rolled his eyes, clearly seeing through the obvious fibs, and sungchan looked over to see hyerim rubbing her arm. he felt a little bad after seeing the small wince cross her face, but admittedly, it was kinda funny.

when he noticed that the blue-haired boy didn't even look back at the brunette, sungchan decided to try a different approach.

he slyly faked a yawn, stretching his arms high as he did. the boy's irises flicked towards his elder, head staying straight. "dang, didn't that shin girl look pretty today?"

jeno's teeth unknowingly sank into the corner of his bottom lip, dark gaze falling on the commenter. "yeah. she did."

knowing he was getting dangerously close to the line, sungchan decided to back off, both figuratively and literally. scooting a little to the side, the boy clasped his hands in his lap and ducked his head.

"y-yeah... hyerim's really nice, though. she always helps me when i have a question in class and treats me like her friend even when we're practically strangers." as sungchan spoke, jeno gave him his undivided attention, never pulling his eyes from the boy's face.

when the younger faced him, he flashed a small, genuine smile. "you should be nice to her, too. i'm sure it'd mean a lot to her." the boy with blue hair could only stare, absorbing as much on his soulmate as he could. even though they were already aware and connected, it was somewhat sweet hearing their friends talk the other up to each other.

jeno's chin tipped down in a quaint nod, face slowly turning in her direction. he'd looked just in time to see hyerim break out in a fit of bubbly laughter and give the other boy with blue hair a hit on the arm. jeno's lips naturally lifted into a smile, causing the quiet observer beside him to grin widely.

got em.

── 🩹 ──

"are we seriously not gonna tell them?" jeno whined as he silently snuggled closer to the wavy-haired girl.

a once in a blue moon situation: hyerim drove to jeno's house to drop sejin off for a play date with gaon. it was always the other way around, meaning this was the first time the brunette had ever seen the boy's room.

she smiled and quietly leaned her head on his, which was pressed cutely on her shoulder. "i mean, why though? it's fun messing with them and they're just gonna tease us."

jeno pouted, imaginary scenes of the soulmates getting beat up blinking before his eyes. "weak." hyerim giggled and the sound brought a smile to the older's face. "fine, whatever. felix and sungchan know anyway, i don't know about the others."

the girl momentarily sucked in her lips, eyes trained on her fumbling fingers. "... they'll like me, right?" the question made jeno scoff. "remember when you visited me at lunch?"

"yeah?"

"you had them asking all these questions about who you are and stuff. they liked your confidence. they're gonna love you." hyerim felt her cheeks pink up and she groaned, clearly flustered with the lovely statement.

pulling her head from the boy's, hyerim pulled herself into a sitting position, twisting as she did so that she could easily face her soulmate.

"wanna listen to shinee songs as we think about how we're gonna break the news to them?"

"you had me at shinee."

filler while i think of things to do plot wise-