The Way to Their Hearts – Jo1 – Kawashiri Ren
Tag List: @pansexual-and-eating-pancakes @lelestarmy
Divider by: @animatedglittergraphics-n-more (Picked this one because kawa means river)
The Way to Their Hearts Master List
If anyone had asked you what your soulmate would be like when your Link started you would have said someone tall and well built, someone that you could make you feel protected just by looking at them. Someone who would save you from all the bullies who thought it was okay to pick on you and make fun of you just because you were a bigger girl. The one you hated the most was “it should bounce right off you with all that fat” but the last person who said that to you learned that just because you were a bigger girl, didn’t mean you were soft. No, what a lot of people didn’t know was that you did some kickboxing and were even an instructor. Your school bully, Don, who was a gym rat and hyped up on steroids, got a taste of it the day your cousin had talked you into going to the gym with him, when it was busy.
“Well, well, look who it is, hey Pilsbury.” Don laughed when you cringed a little at his nickname for you, “You trying to find someone who could pick you up without breaking their back?”
“Why don’t you just shut up.” Ever the gentleman your cousin got between you and the bully.
“Who do you think you are talking to me like that?”
“Someone who doesn’t have shit for brains.” Your cousin turned when he heard you groan, but was shoved into you a moment later, “You got a problem?”
“Yeah, no one wants her here, we don’t want to see the fat giggle.” The bully puffed his stomach out and moved his shirt around trying to imitate what it would look like when you did something like jumping jacks, making his friend who had gathered around laugh.
“The only thing that’s gonna giggle around here is your man-boobs.”
“Come on,” you grabbed your cousin’s hand and got in front of him so you could whisper, “he isn’t worth it.”
“You her boyfriend? You blind or dumb?”
Your cousin felt you tense up and quickly put his hands up and backed away from you, “Dude, you might want to run.”
“From fatty? Seriously?” You saw the look of fear in his eyes for a split second when you turned around, “What? You gonna hit me?”
“Sure, but in the ring.” You nodded your head at the boxing ring at the back of the gym.
“Fine, let's go, you’ll learn why you don’t belong here.”
The gym owner, who had been watching the entire thing, stepped up with a clipboard in hand. “Okay, the insurance company is on me about having people sign off before they spar, so both of you read it and sign it.”
You took the clipboard from him and quickly scanned the page; it was normal stuff saying that if you’re injured you won't hold your opponent, the gym or the owner liable, so you took the pen he was holding out and signed it. “Here, unless you’re chicken.”
“Ha! Scared of you? Never!” Don took the pen and signed it without even reading it, which just made you smile.
You sat you bag down and noticed Don getting a loaner pair of gloves, “Here Y/N, I’ll help you put your gloves on.” You turned to your cousin and held your hands out, “No one at school knows do they?”
“Nope, and that’s the way it's going to stay.”
“So, you’re going to go easy on him?”
“Not exactly.” You smirked, which just made your cousin laugh.
As your cousin finished putting your gloves on you and gave you your mouthguard, he smiled “Don’t hurt him too bad.”
“I guarantee nothing.”
Two minutes later Don was on the floor of the ring knocked out cold, and you hadn’t even broken a sweat. The owner and your cousin just smirked, then the owner looked over at Don’s lackies, “Get him out of my ring, then all of you get out of my gym. Your memberships are canceled.”
“What?!”
The owner just pointed to the wall where the gym rules were hung, “Rule number one, be polite and courteous to other members and staff. None of you were polite or courteous to Y/N, so you’re not welcome here. Y/N’s been a member here for years.”
“Years!?”
“Yes, now leave, your memberships are revoked.”
“Sir!”
“No, Y/N, my word is final on this.”
“Yes sir.” You watched as Don’s little lackies waved the smelling salts under his nose and helped him up, as they took off the gloves that Don had borrowed, they also got the location of a clinic to make sure Don didn’t have a concussion.
The next day you had a check-up with your doctor, and you were not looking forward to it. It was the same thing every time, lose weight, watch what you eat, blah, blah, blah. Except this time, it was a new doctor. She was new to the clinic and had taken the first couple minutes of your appointment looking over your blood work from the last few visits. It was starting to worry you.
“Y/N, your thyroid might be overactive. Your numbers are consistently on the high side of normal, this could explain your weight problems.”
“What? My thyroid?”
“Yeah, it’s not uncommon to cause weight problems considering it produces the hormones that controls your metabolism.”
“So, what do I need to do?”
“We’ll start with a low dose thyroid blocker, and some diet changes. The biggest one is little to no seafood and cut back on the seaweed.” She nodded towards your bag where the open package of nori peaked out from the small pocket.
“That’s it?”
“It’s a start.”
You watched as the doctor tapped away on the computer wondering if the answer was that simple. A pill and a small diet change was all you needed, really? You just mentally shrugged your shoulders and figured what could it hurt to see if this would work.
On the other side of the world Kawashiri Ren and the rest of Jo1 were at a winter camp filming for their anniversary and was woken up when he tasted a salad, specifically a chicken salad. “The hell.”
“What? What is it?” Shion who was sleeping above Ren in the bunk bed leaned over with his eyes half open.
“Nothing, go back to sleep Shion.” Ren watched the younger man disappear back to the top bunk, and tried to go to sleep, but couldn’t. He grabbed his phone and downloaded a meal tracking app. There were so many he wasn’t sure which one to pick, so he just went with the one that had the best reviews for their international plans. There was no way she was in Japan if he was tasting a salad at two in the morning.
That morning, Ren was dragging. He had tried a couple times but couldn’t get back to sleep. Sho noticed it when Ren almost dropped his tray at breakfast. Sho caught it, and waited for Ren to get it balanced, “You, okay?”
“Woke up earlier and couldn’t go back to sleep.”
Sho recognized the blank, far-off look, “Your Link started, didn’t it?”
“Yeah.”
“WHAT?! That’s why you woke up this morning? Your Link started?!” And now everyone in Jo1 was gathered around Ren, “What were they eating?”
“A salad.” Ren replied and watched the excited look on the other members’ faces slowly fall.
“And?”
“A chicken salad, and a water.”
“Okay, what else?” Mame was practically vibrating with anticipation.
“That’s it.” Ren looked at his members and tilted his head in confusion, what was so hard to understand about she was eating a salad?
“Oh! Maybe she’s an idol too!” Shion offered excitedly.
“But which of the girl groups would be in America right now?” Takumi asked.
“None that I know of.” Ren said as his shoulders dropped.
They all pulled their phones out and started searching up winter tour dates for the female K-pop groups. All of them came up with the same thing, only XG was in America and unless they posted something in the next couple of days, none of their links had started.
The guys were a little more cautious around Ren during the next few days of the winter camp, and when they got back to work after the New Year. Ren became like a bear with a sore paw. Or well, in his case a dog with sore paw since his Jochum plush is a dog named Rain. He went through the same thing that a lot of people did whose soulmate is not only in a different time zone, but on a different continent. The apps even started to do free weekends for full access to all the features to help those people find each other. Ren was just like the rest, he was excited, mad, and often frustrated, especially with him having to be up in the early hours of the morning to record his soulmate’s meals. It was rough doing that. Sho had gone through the same thing for a while until he found his soulmate by chance on a trip to Los Angelous. Ren’s luck it seemed, wasn’t as good as Sho’s, or so he thought.
As time went on and you had finally gotten your thyroid under control, the weight seemed to literally shed off you, but now you had a new problem. As you had been overweight most of your life, your skin had lost a lot of its elasticity and was now just hanging on you. The way the skin hung and folded made it hard to keep it clean and dry, especially in the summer and you started to have problems with heat rashes to the point where you got diagnosed with a staph infection. This is what got your insurance company to approve your doctor’s request for plastic surgery to remove the excess skin. And the day had finally come. You were so nervous. It was the day you were finally going to get the look you had always wanted.
“Okay, Y/N, it’s time.” Your doctor came in and offered you a comforting smile, “You ready?”
“Is it okay if I make a post really quick?” You turned your phone towards your doctor and showed her your meal tracking app, and she smiled and nodded her head.
‘To my soulmate, my diet is going to change for a few days, don’t worry I’m fine, just shedding some skin.’
You closed the app and locked your phone, handing it to your mom, then looking at your doctor, “Ready.”
“Let’s go.”
“Hey Ren, your phone just went off, it says you have a match.” Shosei picked up Ren’s phone and showed it to him as he was working with Takumi and Ruki on one of the moves for what would be their newest single Happy Unbirthday.
“A match?” Ren asked as he walked over and read his notifications taking his phone from Shosei.
“Is that your tracking app?”
“Yeah, I signed up for a multi app package yesterday and I guess I got a hit.” The guys all gathered around as Ren unlocked his phone and pulled up the app. They were all excited, even Mame who was the only other member of the group whose Link had kicked in, and like Ren hadn’t met his soulmate yet. Shosei was the only one lucky enough to have found his soulmate on Soul Search last month. Ren and everyone were shocked when Sho told them that he had seen Shosei kiss his soulmate on the lips when she had started to ramble and speak her fears of them starting a family, especially with her being blind. Just goes to show that when you find your missing piece, you’re able to push past so many walls for them.
“Oh, look at her eyes!” Ruki said as soon as your profile picture came up.
“Nah, her smile.” Junki replied and that just sent everyone into a debate on what was your best feature.
Ren just tuned them out and stared at you. He didn’t understand how you could be so beautiful. Your eyes were beautiful, and he knew he could get lost in them. Your smile made him want to smile; it was contagious. Your hair looked so soft and smooth, and he just wanted to run his fingers through it and watch it fall back down, to do it all over again. It took a Herculean effort, but he eventually tore his eyes away from your picture and read your bio.
Name: Y/N L/N Birthday: July 1, 1997 Birthplace: South Dakota, USA Education: Associates Degree – Accounting Hobbies: Kickboxing, Cooking, Going to the movies with friends, Listening to all kinds of music.
“Kickboxing?” Ren tilted his head as he looked at his phone, “Sho, Sukai, isn’t kickboxing like a mixed martial art?”
“Yeah, why?” Sukai asked as he gave his senior his attention.
“She listed it as one of her hobbies.”
Sukai tried to control his laughter, he really did, but this was just too good. “Your soulmate can probably use you as a weight!”
“What?”
“Guys, Ren’s soulmate does kickboxing!”
“Kickboxing, as in,” Mame asked then got Junki’s attention and they started to play fight, pretending to punch and kick each other, then stopped just as quickly, “that kickboxing.”
“Yeah, oh I can’t wait for the new tour in America.”
“And why is that?” Ren just glared at the younger man.
“Because I hope to GOD that you meet her, and she can pick you up and toss you around.”
Ren just clicked his tongue and locked his phone back down, resuming practice, but he hadn't missed your most recent message about your diet changing for a few days, and you ‘sheading some skin’ he just hoped it was something good and you were okay. He did not want to lose you as soon as he found you.
When you were in the hospital starting your recovery, you finally got in your meal tracking app, “Holy shit!” Excited about your match you forgot you had just undergone surgery and tried to sit up, wincing as you did, “Ow, that hurt.” Your first, yes, first surgery was removing the skin around your legs, and buttock, so sitting up was painful. It also didn’t help that you had some drain tubes in a few places, but this was the start of the final steps of losing weight. Who would have thought that one stupid little pill and a small change in your diet could fix your weight problem, but it did, and you had lost over half your body weight and had maintained the one hundred and fifty-three pounds, and your doctor had estimated they would remove approximately five to seven pounds of skin, dropping you down into the one fourties. God, you hadn’t seen that number on a scale since you were twelve years old.
“Y/N, are you okay?” Your mom asked as she stirred from the sofa in your room.
“Yeah, just moved too fast.” You slowly lifted your phone, “I have a match.”
The little gasp that your mom let out as she looked at your phone was cute, “Oh Y/N, I am so happy for you.” She leaned down and hugged you, “I know you’re going to be so happy.” When she broke the hug, she dragged a chair closer to your bed, “So, is he cute and does he have a good job?”
You just smiled as you pulled up the profile that you have a ninety-eight percent match with and were awestruck. Looking back at you was a man from Japan who had died purple hair. You were quickly mesmerized by his eyes, completely forgetting about everything else. The shape perfectly framed and accentuated the rich, deep brown. You always had preferred brown eyes, and now you were lost in the most exquisite set of eyes you had ever seen.
Your mom giggling at you snapped you out of your daydream, “What?”
With a mischievous grin on her face, your mom asked, “How mad would you be with me if I played Chuck Berry’s song Brown Eyed Handsom Man when you two meet for the first time?”
“I would disown you.”
Slowly you and Ren started to communicate through the app, getting to know each other and learning things that you would never find out from the bios. You were shocked when you found out that when Ren had listed his occupation as Idol, that he was a member of a group that a lot of people described as a mix between J-pop and K-pop, quickly falling in love with the music, even finding a site where you could watch Produce 101 Japan. You couldn’t help but smile every time you saw a notification from him, having eventually exchanged your contact info and started following each other on your private social media accounts. Discord ended up being the easiest way to stay connected.
The first time you two did a video call, Shion, Syoya and Junki just happened to be in the neighborhood and crashed the call. You hadn’t laughed so hard in your life! The three of them were telling you story after story of Ren’s most embarrassing moments, but Ren didn’t mind, if he got to hear your melodic laugh, he was okay blushing so hard he looked like a lobster. But as he revealed during an interview, in one video call you had fallen asleep, and he had spent a good ten to twenty minutes just watching you sleep. He was just so glad that he had found you and couldn’t wait to meet you in person.
Which brings us to your first in person meeting with Ren. You were in New York at LaGuardia Airport waiting for Ren and the rest of Jo1 to finish going through customs. You were standing with one of the staff members who had come ahead of the guys to get everything set up for their concert and promotions; nervously bouncing from one foot to the other when you heard one of the guys call Ren’s name.
“Hey Ren, your biggest fan is here.”
Your head snapped around and your nerves evaporated as you locked eyes with Ren, who was quickly working his way through the other members and staff. Your feet started to move of their own accord, and the next thing you knew Ren was pulling you into a hug. You inhaled his sent, thanks to him sending you Rain, his Jochum plush, and a bottle of his favorite cologne it felt like you had come home. You clung onto him and didn’t want to let go, and he was the same way. When he had sent you Rain, you sent him -favorite animal- plush and a bottle of your favorite perfume. He had sprayed it not only on the plush but on what he hoped would become your side of the bed one day, causing him to scour Tokyo for another bottle.
“You two gonna let go of each other long enough for us to say high?”
“No, go away.” Ren said as he continued to hold you close.
“Ren, come on, we have an open schedule today, so you can spend it all with Y/N.” Sho couldn’t help but smile at his friend, happy that he finally got to be with his soulmate.
“Get a room.”
You weren’t sure who said it, but you were now embarrassed, “Can I kick whoever said that?”
“No, we have performances coming up.” Ren finally stepped away from you, taking his carryon from Mame who had picked it up where he had dropped it in his rush to get to you. And you were finally meeting the ten people your soulmate spent most of his time with, and who you had slowly gotten to know during your video calls with Ren.
Once all the hellos were done you all made your way out to the waiting vans that took you to the hotel. Your room and Ren’s were the only joining rooms, which was nice. You weren’t ready to go that far in your relationship just yet, but it was nice to know that it was literally a door separating you. The rest of the day, the two of you just chilled and talked, not wanting to let go of each other. To the point that you fell asleep in Ren’s arms. He didn’t want to wake you, and eventually he fell asleep too. Only to be woken up by Ruki when he called asking if you guys were going to join them for dinner. It wouldn’t be the last time that the guys would wake the two of you up.
Day of the Halloween Dance Video Shoot
You had done a run through with everyone before lunch, and while you were waiting for everyone to finish eating, you and Ren had found a sofa and had laid down, not really intending on going to sleep, but it happened, again. The number of times the guys had found the two of you asleep together was astounding. While it wasn’t uncommon for the guys to take naps on days that were booked solid with promotional appearances, concerts and fan meetings, you and Ren had made an art form of cat naps. It was to the point that the guys would do a weekly photo dump on the group’s IG account of your nap times. Jam loved it. More often than not it was met with ‘They are so cute’, ‘kawaii’, ‘I can’t wait to find my soulmate’ type of stuff. Then Don reared his ugly head and posted a picture of you before your thyroid got regulated and your skin removal surgery. Fortunately, it happened on a day the guys were doing a video shoot and the behind-the-scenes footage caught Ren’s reaction. Which you loved.
The cameraman saw Ren and Shosei standing together, Shosei with a look of shock on his face, and Ren looking like he was going to kill someone. As the cameraman got closer and could pick up the sound he froze. Ren had called you and he was only hearing Ren’s half of the conversation. “Y/N, who is Don and what is he to you? - Wait, what? Your school bully? - He said what?! And he’s still alive?! - Totally unrelated, what’s his address? - No, we’re going to be in Japan for a little bit. - No, I don’t know any yakuza. - Yes, unfortunately there is a camera around, and they have probably recorded this entire conversation. - I do want to know one thing. - Do you still have any of your old hoodies from before? I want one. - Before you got your thyroid regulated. - Because it would be like a warm hug from you when you’re not around. - Please, I could make the cute hoodie paws and everything! (Yes, he was whining at this point.) - Please Y/N. - Yes! I love you!” Ren hits the red button on his phone ending the call and smiles at the camera, “Y/N is gonna send me one of her old hoodies.”
Shosei just starts laughing, and playfully nudges Ren “You are so down bad.”
“Have you met Y/N? How could I not be down bad?”
It was shortly after that that you moved to Japan and went to work at Lapone as security, specifically for Jo1. You may have lost the body mass, but you didn’t lose your muscle, which you demonstrated when you picked up the president of Lapone during your interview because he was worried if you’d be able to get the guys out of bad situations. Which they didn’t have to worry about because you were seen picking Ren up and spinning him around while waiting for the elevator when they offered you the job.
But back to the Halloween dance video.
Shion and Takumi’s soulmate found you and Ren curled up on one of sofa’s tucked away in one of the rooms next to where the video was being filmed. “No, don’t you dare!” Takumi’s soulmate put her hand over Shion’s mouth and shoved him out of the room before he could say or do anything. As she watched Shion’s soulmate drag him off, she quietly made her way over to the sofa. “Y/N, Ren, they want to start shooting,” she said as she gently rubbed your hand that was around Ren’s waist, “come on you two.”
“Oh, hey, we’ll be there as soon as I get Ren up and moving.”
“Okay.”
You watched as she left, leaving the door open a crack. “Ren, sweetheart, time to get up.”
Ren just hugged you tighter and mumbled, “Five more minutes.”
You smiled and lightly kissed his jaw, then slowly, so not to wake Ren, you were able to crawl over him and off the sofa. You stood over him for a second and smiled wondering how you got so lucky. Quietly you walked over to the door and opened it the rest of the way, then went back to the sofa and scooped Ren up bridal style. You would think that Ren would be the one carrying you around, but it was usually the other way around. The guys had gotten used to it though, and didn’t bat an eye when you walked into the studio carrying him.
“How is he going to carry you over the threshold when y'all get married?” Sho’s soulmate who is also American asked.
“I asked him that one time and it’s not a custom they do here in Japan.” You smiled as you watched her turn around and confirm it with Sho slightly shaking your head at the two who were scheduled to be married next month. “Ren, times up love.”
Ren slowly opened his eyes as his feet hit the floor. He usually woke up when you picked him up, but never let on because he liked being as close to you for as long as possible. “Y/N, do you want me to carry you across the threshold when we get married?”
“It’s a custom that a lot of people in America do, it’s mostly superstition about family demons not being able to follow the bride into her new home if she is carried over the threshold or that for a marriage to last, she has to enter first, by the main entrance and not trip.”
“Okay, but that doesn’t answer the question. Do you, Y/N, the woman I’m going to marry in six months, want me to carry you over the threshold?”
You were looking down and fidgeting with the hem of your shirt, “I mean, it would be nice, but I don’t… REN!”
Ren didn’t even let you finish the sentence. He picked you up like you weighed nothing. You were about the same weight now, but you had a hard time realizing that. “Like this, right?” Ren started walking towards the guys with a huge smile on his face.
You were a blushing mess hiding your face in his neck as the guys cheered and cat called at the two of you. But on your wedding day, when Ren picked you up and carried you over the threshold, you were looking at him with a soft smile wondering how you had gotten so lucky. Fate certainly had smiled down on you, and you were glad that you were going to be spending the rest of your life with Ren, and one day starting a family with him. Life couldn’t be better.