Chapter Text
“Why are you making such a big deal about this?” His voice had risen but he had yet to shout back at you. You’d never admit that you wanted to see him get angry, to show some sign that he cared as much as you did. He’d been frustratingly placid the whole day, as if announcing that he was leaving should have been easy for everyone to accept, “do you just not want me to go?”
“Chan, of course I don’t want you to leave but you’re going to pursue your dream so it’s fine,” you sighed, turning away from him to get a glass of water from the kitchen. You’d been arguing for almost half an hour and your voice was starting to feel hoarse.
“Why can’t you just be supportive like everyone else?” he called after you.
“Because I’m not everyone else!” The glass was tightly gripped in your fingers as you filled it from the sink, “am I just supposed to accept that I don’t know when the next time I’ll see you is?”
“Your father did.”
You stared at him from the doorway into the living room, “This isn’t about him, this is about us.”
“What us?” His voice was dangerously steady and you wondered if the question had come easily from him.
“Us, our relationship!” You balked.
“I wouldn’t call sneaking around a relationship.”
“Oh, so the past two years have meant absolutely nothing to you? Is that why you’re so eager to leave?”
“(Y/N),” he sighed, throwing his head back against the couch, “if this is how our last conversation is going to go then maybe I can’t wait to get out of here!”
He was finally yelling but it wasn’t as satisfying as you once thought. The heavy silence between you sat undisturbed for a few minutes until it was broken with the slip of your hand. The glass shattered around your feet, splaying out on the wooden floor in tiny shards. The tears that had been threatening to fall all night were given release and you freely sobbed, not caring what Chan thought of you anymore. Bending to pick up the pieces, you carefully scooped up the remains of the cup.
“(Y/N), stop you’re going to hurt yourself,” Chan had gotten off the couch but you put your hand over the glass to prevent him from helping. You had done it without thinking, so consumed in not letting him help clean up the mess he caused that you didn’t realize you had set your hand too far down until the glass was grazing across your skin. Crying out, you clutched your hand to your chest and watched as the front of your shirt became stained with red.
“I’m leaving, move Chan.” You shoved him away with your free hand and quickly made your way over to the door, pretending not to notice the small drops of blood staining the carpet behind you. Getting on your coat was difficult with one hand flat against your shirt and tears blurring your vision but you managed.
He let you go and you thought that was the last time you’d see him. And you never stopped to wonder if he was just as afraid of not switching after your eighteenth birthday as you were.
-
It had been four years and yet the flashbacks were so vivid sometimes you wondered if you were traveling back in time. You blinked slowly, trying to refocus your thoughts. Voices coming from the main foyer drew your attention, and you realized what had triggered the sudden daydream. Not only could you hear your father, but Chan was with him.
They entered the front room and you averted your eyes to the floor, smoothing out the dress covering your legs before folding your hands in your lap. You could feel Chan’s stare burning through you but you refused to meet his gaze, knowing this meeting would be easier for the both of you if you didn’t interact with him. He sat on the couch across from you and your father took a seat next to you, and the meeting began.
“Chan, I brought you here to discuss your arrangements with (Y/N),” You heard Chan shift in his seat but he remained silent, “We believe it would be best if your soulmate bond was broken.”
If you hadn’t already been anticipating your father’s request, you knew your reaction would be similar to Chan’s. He sat forward in his seat, almost losing his composure before he seems to remember who he was sitting in front of.
“Sir, may I ask why?”
Your father sighed and sat forward to mirror Chan’s stance in an act of intimidation, “You understand my affliction with you already.”
“Yes, sir, I just thought-”
“I have the paperwork right here,” your father interrupted, placing the stack of documents in front of the boy, “your cooperation is appreciated.”
Chan swallowed and you saw him look towards you. Something in you shifted, making you look up to see him properly for the first time during the meeting. You had been expecting to see Chan as he was when you were teenagers but sitting in front of you instead was someone completely different. Someone who was more mature and albeit more handsome than you remembered. It was hard to believe that at just twenty years old someone could look so much like an adult. With each passing second that you stared at each other, it was becoming harder to look away.
“Father,” you finally spoke, “can I speak to Chan alone for a minute?”
He looked displeased for a moment before giving into your request, leaving you alone with Chan for the first time in four years. It was silent between you for a moment until Chan spoke, his voice hardly above a whisper.
“Broken?” He questioned.
You looked down at the papers sitting in front of him, “Father’s arranged for me to be married to one of his business partner’s sons. Something about keeping the family business in trustworthy hands.”
His response was unexpected, “Is that what you want?”
Your laugh was cynical but you allowed yourself to relax a little, “It doesn’t matter what I want. When it comes to this kind of thing, I have no say.”
To your surprise, he stood and came around the small table to sit next to you. Carefully he reached over to take your hand in his and while you thought about it, you didn’t want to pull away.
“You have a say here.” His voice was light and undemanding, and suddenly you were transported back to being fifteen again, sitting in the treehouse in his backyard under the stars. It was a time when things like arranged engagements and soulmates wouldn’t matter because you had each other.
The sudden nostalgia left you with an ache in your heart and you realized that all along you had missed this, you had always missed him, and no amount of time could have changed that. For years he was the one constant in your life and despite having argued before he left you still found yourself going to call him the next morning. Breaking the routine of seeing him every day had been difficult but you managed to hide the ache well enough that your father praised you for letting Chan go so quickly. And after a while, you convinced yourself of the same.
Chan’s fingers against your cheek snapped you out of another daydream, and you realized he was brushing away the tears starting to fall from your eyes. Your slight jerk had him pulling away like you were reacting negatively to the affectionate gesture, but you found yourself leaning back into his touch before he got too far. You knew your father was just outside the door and could come back in at any minute but you allowed yourself the one moment of peace.
“I never got to apologize,” he said, staring down at your hands, “for that argument. I was stupid for letting you believe none of it meant anything to me. Truthfully, I was scared, because you were my whole world and I lost that.”
“I was scared too,” you admitted, “I was afraid we’d gone too far and I didn’t want to be heartbroken if I switched and my soulmate wasn’t you.”
“But I was,” he squeezed your hand reassuringly and for the first time that day, you smiled. It was short lived though, as the reality set back in.
“So,” you sighed, leaning on his arm, “what are we going to do?”
His expression furrowed into contemplation before he looked over to you, “I’ll talk to your father, refuse the contract.”
“He’s not going to give up his company that easy, are you sure you want to do this?”
“I’m not fighting for his company, I’m fighting for you.”
Ducking your head in hopes that he wouldn’t see the blush that had surely turned your face bright red, you attempted to scoff at his cheesiness.
“(Y/N),” his tone had changed into something more serious. When you looked back up, he was already staring at you in adoration and your heart practically melted at the sight. He leaned forward and you helped close the gap between you, catching his lips against yours. The memories you’d pushed away resurfaced with him, summer in the treehouse and dancing in the rain and waking up next to him after a blizzard and wondering how you could be so warm when it was freezing outside. Kissing him goodnight before he scrambled out the window to avoid being caught by your father. Kissing him now under the same exhilarating circumstances.
A shuffle from the hallway broke you apart but no one entered the room, allowing both of you to relax and turn back towards each other. There was no hiding your smile now as he took both of your hands and intertwined them.
“I already lost you once and I’m not letting it happen again,” he promised. And this time, you truly believed him.