DANDELIONS.

No. 31

"We're soulmates."

"I know."

They couldn't avoid the awkward silence and the unwavering stares for any longer. There were the weird times that Mingyu would attempt to offer a half-hearted smile, but Jihoon was having none of it, instead opting to glare daggers into his soul.

"I don't know how long you're going to stare at me, but, yeah." Mingyu let out this sort of laugh that was half genuine and half nervous. He reached out to graze his fingers past the scratch on Jihoon's cheek, the one that mirrored the one on his own. "We're soulmates."

Jihoon's eyes softened suddenly, and he pressed his lips together tightly. He dropped his gaze down to his hands, which were laced together tightly in fear. His mind swirled with memories of Seungcheol — of course, Seungcheol was being a little bit of a hoe when he kissed Jisoo, but aside from that, he treated Jihoon with such love.

It made Jihoon wonder why he ever let him go.

"I don't know if this will work out," Mingyu admitted, releasing a deep sigh. He was sort of nervous. Jihoon was his soulmate, but Jihoon wasn't anything like Wonwoo. Mingyu had no idea how to act.

"No," Jihoon cut in suddenly, inhaling a shaky breath, "this... Whatever this is. This can work, we can work. We'll make it work."

Jihoon had already left Seungcheol because of Mingyu, anyhow — he might as well get something out of it.

And the both of them, somewhere locked away in the deepest parts of their minds, they knew that it wouldn't work out.

But they were soulmates, and if they were destined to be together, it would all work out in the end.

One would think that Jihoon would have realized that it was a lie after he and his (former) soulmate fell apart, but with Mingyu in front of him, smiling so brightly with such hope in his eyes, Jihoon believed.

—

Seungcheol eyed the two suspiciously, shooting them looks from his spot on the floor across the room. Now, Seungcheol knew that everything Jeonghan was doing with Jisoo was completely, utterly platonic — in fact, Jeonghan wasn't even interested in the whole concept of love. It wasn't that Seungcheol didn't trust Jeonghan, he really did, but he just didn't know when the two got so close.

Jeonghan was sort of clingy and Jisoo was the kind of person who preferred not to have extremely close skinship, but he was always so comfortable with everything Jeonghan did, whereas he would flinch if Seungcheol touched him in the slightest. This confused Seungcheol to no end, as Jeonghan was constantly giving Jisoo kisses (though not on the lips, but anywhere else he could, like on the boy's cheeks or his forehead) and endless hugs, yet Jisoo was so awkward around Seungcheol.

Jeonghan and Jisoo had currently been curled up on the couch, one of Jeonghan's arms wrapped around Jisoo's waist and the other used to scroll through his phone. Jisoo, on the other hand, had been sitting between Jeonghan's legs, leaning against the older's chest and reading a book while Jeonghan pressed kisses atop of his head.

Seungcheol just wanted to know the secret behind why Jeonghan's completely platonic relationship with Jisoo was more intimate than whatever he had with Jisoo.

Jisoo let out a small whine of complaint when Jeonghan suddenly took the book from his hands, huffing when Jeonghan followed with, "You look like you're about to pass out, go to sleep."

If there was anything Seungcheol knew about Jisoo, it was that he was the youngest out of a huge family household (which included his parents, his billions of step siblings, his trillions of cousins, and his several aunts and uncles), and that meant that he was used to being babied. Perhaps that was why he was so okay with Jeonghan treating him like a child, but that really wasn't Seungcheol's main concern.

Jisoo tried to glare, but he really was incredibly tired and found it hard to seem intimidating when he felt like he was about to pass out. Though he did want to continue with what he was previously doing, there was no point in trying to put up a fight with Jeonghan when he could barely keep his eyes open.

"You know what... Goodnight," Jisoo sighed and settled himself back into Jeonghan's arms, and then, casually, "Love you."

"Love you too," Jeonghan tilted Jisoo's head back to plant a kiss on his forehead.

When Seungcheol was entirely sure that Jisoo was asleep, he spoke for the first time. "How— How do you make him do that?"

"Do what?"

"He just said that he loved you!"

"Yeah, in the most platonic way possible," Jeonghan rolled his eyes at Seungcheol's overreacting, "and you can't train him to like you, Seungcheol. He's not a dog."

"But why would he like you?" Seungcheol complained, causing Jeonghan to raise an eyebrow. Seungcheol glanced at Jisoo once more, "I mean, you're an actual snake!"

"I don't know, he just likes me. Why don't you go ask Jisoo why?"

"No! That makes me seem desperate."

"But you are."

"Yeah, but he can't know that."

"You're so confusing," Jeonghan sighed, running his fingers through Jisoo's hair.

"Jisoo is confusing," Seungcheol groaned. "You do this thing where you're always hugging him and kissing him and he doesn't care, but when I, a loyal, loving person who actually likes Jisoo, even barely touch him, he backs up 10 miles."

"Maybe it has something to do with the fact that the first thing you did when you saw him after a billion years was kiss him," Jeonghan sighed at Seungcheol's confusion. "And then, literally two days after that, you and your boyfriend break up. Coincidence? I think not."

"But I told him that it wasn't his fault!"

"Well, he obviously thinks it is. Now shut up, let the boy sleep, and go get a blanket or something."

"I swear to God," Seungcheol grumbled under his breath, standing up to find a spare blanket. "I looked away for five seconds and you guys are basically married."

He heard Jeonghan laugh from several rooms away. "I thought we already concluded that Jisoo was too good for either of us."

"But that doesn't mean I don't want to date him!"