Hybrid - NCT dream ( HRJ; LDH)

snow

2018

Seol... her name already pretty much describes what she is like. Graceful and fragile like a falling snowflake, pure and easily tainted by the world around her. Cold yet protective, colourless but shining bright under the sun.

But was she really like that?

If you'd ask her best friends, they'd confirm most of it, except that last one, since she likes to hide in Renjun's shadow to avoid Haechan's brightness.

But what they don't know is, that she couldn't shine bright even if she wanted.

It was as if a protective layer was stopping her from reflecting the rays, and absorbing them instead. She could make the sun shine brighter, but in reality she's just been taking away it's power, weakening it slowly.

Seol felt bad for her mate when her nineteenth birthday arrived, and she knew that she was intentionally shielding herself from them. She often wondered if it would be a guy or a girl, as she never really payed attention to other people.

Would they be already old enough to bond, or wer they younger than her? Will that stranger immediately feel like someone she's known since forever, or do they have to go through the awkward phase of getting to know eachother?

Every now and then a new question would pop up in her head, making the guilt slowly build inside her.

Seol lived as a human. In her friends' eyes she WAS a human. It was as if her animal side was forcefully put to sleep, having no interest in mating or at least bonding.

If it wasn't for the smartly tailored school uniforms and tops hiding away her scales, or the so called 'skin patches', everyone would know about her real identity though.

Humans used those patches to hide tattoos, blemishes, bruises, while hybrids hid their scales. The evolution of those patches into water resistant ones allowed even hybrids to freely wear the swimsuits they liked, without covering up their whole upper bodies.

The more time has passed since her coming of age, the more torn Seol felt. Seeing her best friend mingle and date, looking for the love of his life, got her thinking. What if her soulmate was waiting for her?

What if they were desperately searching for her?

What if something happens to them by the time they can bond?

She would stay up the whole night after these thoughts started torturing her, unable to close her mind and relax.

She was tempted to stop taking her pill, several times had she found herself standing in front of her trashcan ready to throw the box away, but she couldn't. She remembered the pain and helplessness she felt, she remembered how scared she was and how the symptoms had gotten worse with time.

But that was more than seven years ago. How bad would they be now? That one question was enough for her to stop every time. To say that she was terrified would not be an exaggeration.

The rational and happy looking girl, that seemed to have no problems in her life, wasn't that carefree at all. It was something she hasn't been able to tell anyone, thus had to deal with everything on her own.

So, what would happen when she met her soulmate after all these years?