#mulanthewriter

[music-es-vida]

SOULMATE AU - LUCAS/DOYOUNG

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

A few weeks had gone by, and it was finally time for you to get your cast off. 

Doyoung had offered to come with you again so your mom wouldn’t have to, but he was also planning to show you that he was your soulmate this way— instead of just telling you.

His plan was to put his wrist up next to yours right after you were freed from the cast, to surprise you. 

…

“Alright, you’re good to go.” The doctor smiled, and you grinned, excited to see your soumark again for the first time in a while. “Thanks,” you reply, and she nods.

“Wait— what? It changed!!” you yell with wide eyes. 

Doyoung, who had been rehearsing in his mind how he was gonna tell you, immediately got up from the chair in the corner and came over to see what you were talking about.

“Oh no, This can’t be happening--” He thought to himself, panicking.

“Woah~ you’re right. Wasn’t it neon green before?” The doctor asks in shock. 

She was the same doctor who thought it’d be funny to give you the matching cast, but even she hadn’t seen anything like this before— since changing soulmarks was so rare. 

“Yeah.. it’s a red heart now..” You say, breathing unevenly, trying to process what you were seeing. 

“But that means..” 

Doyoung’s heart shattered when he saw your new soulmark, quickly pulling up his sleeve to see if his was still there. 

“It’s gone.” 

Suddenly, you got up and ran out the room. 

“Y/n, where are you going? Wait—” Doyoung asked, running after you. 

“I have to find Lucas! He really was the one after all this time— I knew it,” you say, tearfully, with a happy smile. You just had to find him. 

After hearing that, Doyoung just froze where he stood, letting you go.

Deep down he knew Lucas would win in the end. He wasn’t surprised.

“But what if I can make it change back?” He briefly thought, searching for an excuse to follow after you, but he was too late.

Once he got outside, he saw you in Lucas’ arms. “No-”

As Lucas leaned down to kiss you, Doyoung had to look away. 

It wasn’t fair.

…

“Huh? You’re up at this time again? Was it another nightmare?” Mark, who had been watching tv, asks from the couch. Doyoung ignores him, slamming the door to the bathroom behind him. “Yeesh,” Mark said, scrunching his eyebrows up.

…

You didn’t see Doyoung in class this morning, and it made you worry something was wrong— since he never missed classes. (He slept through them, but never missed any). 

During lunch, Ms. Thompson came by to remind you to pick up your things from the dance committee room at the end of the day— since you’d been temporarily suspended, and you nodded. 

“This is stupid, I wasn’t the only one drinking at that party..” You thought to yourself in annoyance.

At the end of the day, you did as you were told, and walked down to the room the dance committee used to meet and plan things, with Aisha. “At least there’s next year, Y/n,” Aisha says, trying to cheer you up about it and you nod. 

When you got to the room, you saw Yuta and Taeyong horse-playing. “Guys! Stop messing around, we still have to figure out what we’re gonna do about the decorations, and catering before Ms. Thompson gets here,” Aisha says with an annoyed expression. 

Ms. Thompson had agreed to help with sound equipment, but literally everything else was on y’all-- well, not on you anymore. They still had a lot of work to do and the dance was coming up soon. Yuta, who had Taeyong in a headlock, releases him, but not before you saw his neon green soulmark.

Your eyes immediately went wide. 

“Yuta.. your soulmark—” “What? Does it match yours?” He laughs, holding it out for you to see, and you get a better look at it, realizing it was different from yours. “You wish.. Is it the same color as Taeyong’s?” You ask, noticing Taeyong’s was also neon green. This was so strange. “Yeah- me and all the other guys have this neon green color, it’s kinda crazy,” he chuckles. 

“Moonbin and all his friends are like that too— different soulmarks, but the same color,” Aisha adds.

“Wow.. it’s like we were all meant to be friends or something,” Taeyong says. “Yeah— except Doyoung,” Yuta laughs. 

“What—”

“Right, we’re more like frenemies.” “Hold up, hold up,” you interrupt, having a mixture of a confused and shocked look on your face. “What did you mean by that? —Isn’t Doyoung’s soulmark purple?” You ask, shaking your head, and the two return the confused look, like they had no idea what you were talking about. 

“I remember seeing it— it was a devil!” You say, fully convinced that that was what you saw.

Taeyong and Yuta exchange confused looks, before finally remembering the prank they had played on Doyoung that day. “Ohh-- you thought that was real?!” Yuta busts out laughing, confusing you even more. It was even funnier to them now that they knew it actually looked believable. 

“It wasn’t real?” “No, we drew that on him when he was sleeping in class,” Yuta answers in between giggles. “You actually thought that was his soulmark? This is hilarious.” “Right. I think his actual soulmark was like— ..three music notes or something like that,” Taeyong laughs.

...

Before you knew it, your legs were carrying you out the door. “Y/n— where are you going? You left all your stuff!” Aisha called after you, but you had already sprinted down the hall. You had to tell Doyoung. 

As you ran, your mind flashed back to all the times you’d run into him. Everything was clicking now.

The day soulmarks came in, when he bumped into you in class.

The day after soulmarks came in, when you both fell in the grass.

(It was a blurry memory that had returned, but--) that day at the party when you’d bumped into him while you were drunk, and he caught you. 

When you had bumped into each other as kids..

You were running into him for a reason.

As you ran down the many steps, exiting the building, you ran right past Lucas, who called after you. He was waiting for you to come out, so he could tell you something important.

“Y/n-- wait up,” he called after you, and you stopped in your tracks. “Lucas.. I just found out something crazy,” you say, trying to catch your breath. “Me too.. You go first,” he says, taking a seat on a step. 

You sit down next to him, gathering your thoughts, before saying, “Doyoung is my soulmate.”

Lucas’ bright expression fades. He doesn’t have much of a reaction, so you lift an eyebrow at him. You’d expected at least an *eyebrows raise* or something— but he had no reaction. 

“..You knew, didn’t you?” You ask, scrunching your eyebrows together. 

Again, he doesn’t answer, and you stand up, pissed. “Wow. I can’t believe this,” you say, walking down the rest of the stairs, but he gets up to stop you. 

“Y/n wait, I can explain—” “Explain what? How you’re allowed to have your soulmate, and i’m not?” You roll your eyes, trying to walk away again, but he steps in front of you. 

You were tired of him being so possessive over you for (seemingly) no reason. 

“Can you get out of my way? I don’t wanna speak to you,” you say, walking around him. 

“Y/n wait— ..I didn’t tell you because I like you.” He blurts out, and you freeze in your tracks. “I mean.. I think I love you,” he corrects himself.

“How many surprises am I gonna get today?” 

You wonder to yourself in shock. 

“I wanted you all to myself, so I didn’t tell you he was your soulmate..” Lucas admits, and you turn back around to face him. “Why? Why now,” You ask, shaking your head with a bitter smile. 

Why did he wait until *after* you got over your crush on him to tell you this?

”I didn’t know I liked you until another guy came into the picture,” he says, shrugging his shoulders. “What about Isabella?” “I’m done with her.. I found out she was the one who posted that video of you,” he says, and your eyes go wide, but you really weren’t surprised. 

“Of course..” 

“But I’m serious, Y/n, I ended things with her. I told her I like you,” he says, walking closer towards you. You were completely speechless. 

All of this seemed to have come from out of nowhere. What happened to him thinking of you as nothing more than his best friend? You looked up at him with an unsure expression, when suddenly his lips landed on yours. 

“I can’t—” you say, pushing him away. 

Never in a million years did you think *you’d* be the one pushing him away, but things had obviously changed.

“..I think I like Doyoung,” you admit out loud for the first time, and Lucas glances down towards the ground, looking disappointed, but nods. 

After that, there’s an awkward silence that comes over you two. “See you around,” you say before running off to find Doyoung. 

Lucas nods, but decides that he won’t give up.

One thing he admired about you was your persistence with him-- you never gave up on him after all those years, even after he rejected you multiple times. So he was ready to get rejected a million times too. He just knew you’d change your mind eventually, and he wasn’t about to give up any time soon.

He just hated that he was too late.

…

 You were sitting under the tree, waiting to see if Doyoung would show up. You’d texted him earlier today, but got no response. “I hope he’s okay..” you think to yourself, looking around with a worried expression. The whole campus was pretty empty. 

You considered walking over to his dorm, but you figured that he’d contact you when he was available. Your dad had gotten your car fixed again, and left it for you at your house this morning— leaving a note on the hood (which you crumbled up), as a goodbye/apology gift. 

You were still angry with him, but you still accepted the gift. “Guess I should go..” you sigh, getting up, but when you turned around, you bumped into someone. 

...

You stopped to check for your soulmark, but it still wasn’t there. Suddenly, someone behind bumped into you. “Hey, watch where—” you turned around to see that it was that quiet guy, Doyoung. “You made me drop all my stuff.” He glared at you. “Well maybe watch where you’re going next time.” You glared back.

“I don’t need your help.” He pushes your arm away, and in the process, you catch a glance at his left wrist. It was blank too. “Hmm.. that’s interesting.” You said, thinking out loud. “What?” He asked, straightening back up. “..I thought I was the only one who was still blank.” 

You say with a bitter smile, pointing at his wrist.

…

“Should I find you? ..Or am I really just better off alone?” You ask your soulmark, 

but your thoughts were interrupted when you accidentally ran into somebody.

Whoever it was, had been foolishly walking while reading a book, not looking where he was going, and you crashed into him. Thankfully you both landed on the grass. Well, you landed on top of him, and he landed on the grass. 

“Wh— You again?” You say, leaning up to see it was Doyoung. 

This was the second time you two had run into each other, and it was starting to get annoying. “Get off of me,” he says, shoving you onto the grass. “Wow, what a gentleman.” you say sarcastically, peeling yourself off of the ground. 

…

As you were walking through the hallways of your new middle school, after being denied entry into the nurse’ office to see Lucas, you turned a corner and bumped into this kid who was reading a book.

After regaining your composure, you scowled at him, saying, “Watch where you’re going, bookworm!” You recognized him from your homeroom— he was always reading some book. 

To your surprise, he scowls back at you and blows a raspberry in your face. “Ew— Doyoung, you’re so gross!” You complained, running off to the bathroom to go wipe your face off. 

Doyoung rolled his eyes and went back to reading his book.

...

You stumbled your way back over to the kitchen to search for Lucas, but you ended up running straight into somebody else.

“Y/n?” The familiar voice said, and you looked up in a daze and smiled once you saw it was Doyoung. “We just can’t stop running into each other!” you giggle, shaking your head. 

...

“Ow— ..Doyoung?” You asked, gazing up at him as if he were the most important person in the world to you. He had his hands on your arms to support you so you wouldn’t fall. 

“Why do you sound so surprised? I think whenever we bump into somebody from now on, we should just assume it’s each other,” he laughs, and you slowly nod. 

It was like ever since you found out he was your soulmate, you were starting to see him differently. You couldn’t stop staring.

He had been in his dorm all day, thinking about that nightmare— wondering if it would become a reality. Thankfully, Mark talked him down and convinced him that he *had* to tell you— even if the soulmarks do change, you still deserved to know.

You both had big news to share with each other, but the only thing you could seem to do was gaze into each other's eyes. 

Eventually the silence broke, “..I have to tell you something-” you both said at the same time. 

“Oh, you go first,” “No you--” you both continue interrupting each other. “Ok fine—” You both just end up laughing because you couldn’t stop speaking simultaneously.

Then you both decided to blurt it out.

“We’re soulmates—” “What? You knew?!” You both exclaimed. “I just found out today, Yuta and Taeyong kinda told me..” You reply, and Doyoung makes a face. “Wow.. I wanted to be the one to tell you,” “Wait- is that what you were gonna tell me at the skating rink the other day? How long did you know? When did you find out?” 

“..Don’t be mad,” he says, looking nervous, and you give him a skeptical look. “..I found out the day you got your cast fixed,” “What— seriously? Why didn’t you say anything?!” “I thought you liked Lucas! So what was the point?” He says, and everything starts making sense now. 

All those times he’d mentioned not wanting to tell his soulmate because she liked her best friend.. He was talking about you. 

Suddenly you began to feel guilty, remembering how you’d said you’d definitely pick Lucas over your soulmate. It wasn’t your fault— it was true at the time, and you had no idea you were actually speaking to your soulmate, but now you just felt bad for saying that to him. 

“No wonder I always see him and Lucas giving each other dirty looks..”

You briefly think back to Lucas kissing you- deciding not to mention that.

“My head hurts..”

Doyoung watches as your expression changes from hurt to sad, trying to figure out what you’re thinking about.

“Can I see it?” You ask all of a sudden, and he nods, holding out his wrist. He pulls down the sleeve, revealing the neon green music notes. 

Your eyes go wide, even though you already knew he was your soulmate. It was just crazy actually seeing it— the exact same one you had, only on his wrist. 

“So I really did see it that day..” you mumble to yourself in shock, as tears start forming in your eyes. You weren’t sad-- you were just grateful you’d finally found him. 

You take his hand in yours and light brush your thumb over the music notes. 

Even though you were teary-eyed, a bright smile came across your face. You’d finally found him, when you thought you never would. 

You had been waiting for this moment your entire life— ever since you found out what soulmarks were.

You looked up at him, still holding onto his hand, and he had the same expression of happiness and almost relief on his face. He was grateful you didn’t react in the way he thought you would. 

He kept thinking back to that day you’d told him the soulmark you got wasn’t the one you wanted, but now it seemed like it actually *was*. 

“It was you this whole time, huh?” You say, breaking the silence. He nods, and you let go of his hand, watching his expression change.

“What?” “..I’m scared,” he admits nervously, and you let out a small laugh. “I thought you said you don’t get scared?” “This is different! We’re *soulmates*,” he says defensively, but he smiles too. “Yeah.. I’m scared too,” you admit as well.

This was new territory for you two.

You’d never even had a boyfriend before this. 

(Besides Lucas, in your mind.)

“Let’s just promise not to hurt each other.. Okay?” You say, holding your pinky out. Doyoung raises an eyebrow, skeptically, and you roll your eyes. “Just do it.” “Alright, alright,” he says, wrapping his pinky around yours. “I promise.”

...

You knew it was getting late and that you should probably start heading back home before you were late for dinner, but you just could take your eyes off of Doyoung for some reason. 

It was the same for him, so you two were just gazing into each other's eyes for what seemed like forever— until you both started leaning in closer.

You closed your eyes and felt his nose lightly brush against yours, but suddenly he moved back. He couldn’t get the image of you with Lucas out of his head. “Y/n.. you don’t still like Lucas, do you?” He asks, with a sad, yet worried expression on his face. 

You open your eyes back up, looking surprised he asked that all of a sudden.

You hesitate to answer, looking down at the ground. Lucas had stirred up some old feelings by confessing to you earlier, but you didn’t know how to tell him that.

“I can’t tell him what happened..” You shake your head, saying, “No.. I think my crush is gone.” Doyoung furrows his eyebrows, like he’s thinking, making you wonder if you sounded believable enough. “I really wanna believe you,” he says quietly. 

“..But you don’t?” 

“I dunno..” He answers honestly.

…

After that conversation you went home, and on his way back to his dorm, Doyoung ran into Lucas (not literally). He was just going to ignore him and continue on his way, but Lucas called out to him. “Hey— you know Y/n knows your secret now, right?” He says, but Doyoung keeps walking. “Yup. She told me.”

“Oh really? Well did she tell you that we kissed too, or did she leave that part out?” Lucas says, and Doyoung freezes in his tracks. 

His fears were already coming true. 

“Look man, I know she’s your soulmate, but she’s liked me for longer, so you might as well just give up. You know I’ll win in the end.” Lucas says, trying to sound intimidating, but Doyoung decides to just keep on walking. 

Continuing this conversation would just be pointless. 

In the end— it was *your* decision who you wanted to be with, not Lucas’, so he just kept moving and didn’t let what Lucas said bother him.

He wasn’t mad at you, but he was definitely gonna confront you about this later.

[music-es-vida]

SOULMATE AU - LUCAS/DOYOUNG

CHAPTER FOUR

You decided to avoid Doyoung now, (because that’s how you handled every problem- avoiding it), even though you weren’t positive he was actually your soulmate. 

Just in case what you thought you saw was really what you thought you saw, the safest option would just be to avoid him altogether. It’s not even like you two were close anyways- you’d only had like one good conversation together, and then that duet thing at the restaurant.. Besides that, nothing else had happened between you two.

“But what if that explains why we kept running into each other?” You wonder, but quickly erase the thought from your mind. There was no way Doyoung was your soulmate, he wasn’t even your type. Lucas was your type. “Pfft- I bet the soulmark doesn’t care about tYpE when it’s choosing..” 

“Y/n, go get your car from the dealership, they should be open by now.” Your mom says from down the hall. “Okay!” You say back, hopping out of bed and running out to grab your bike and head down to the dealership. 

Once you're there, you park your bike on the grass and go in. The lady at the desk says to wait outside and that someone will bring your keys. This place wasn’t too far away from your home, but the area looked completely different. Shiny cars were all over the place. It was like a sea of them. A man eventually comes out of the building to hand you your keys, and as you look up to thank him, you notice he looks vaguely familiar. 

You knew him.

“Wait a minute-”

“Dad?” You asked.

He looked confused for a split second, but then his eyes widened in realization. “Y/n?” “Yeah, that's me..” “How did you..? You’re so grown! How did you find me?” “..I wasn't looking.. I guess this is all just a coincidence,” you shrug, staring at him. 

It was so strange to see him in real life and not just in a picture. You weren't mad at him, but you just couldn't understand him. 

You couldn't understand how someone could leave their wife and young child.

“Can we talk?” You ask him after a minute of silence. “Yes-- of course.” He says, placing a hand on your back to guide you inside, and you shivered.

It felt weird.. Him touching you. 

He led you into his office and you sat down in the chair on the opposite side of his desk, and he sat down in the other chair.

“How have you and your mother been?” He asks, not knowing where else to start. He leaned onto the desk on his elbows, looking at you with raised eyebrows. He was so shocked to see you after all this time.

“We’ve been doing fine. I actually just got my soulmark a week ago..” You say, deciding to humor him with light conversation. You wanted to get straight to the heavy stuff and ask why he left, but you waited. “No way, that means you're already turning-” “18, yeah… You’ve been gone for that long.” You say with an unreadable expression. You were hurt, but still wanted answers.

Nothing he could say would take the pain away, but you felt like if you heard the reason why he left coming from his own mouth that it would give you some kind of closure.

“Dad, I know we just met, but I really just wanna get straight to the point.” You say, unable to wait for answers any longer. You just stare at him. This stranger. 

For some reason, though, you didn't have a problem calling him ‘dad’.

“Okay...” He leans back off of his desk. “..Why did you leave mom for someone who wasn't even your soulmate? How could you do that to her? What kind of betrayal-” “Is that what she told you about me? That I left her for someone who wasn't my soulmate?” His eyebrows furrowed strongly. “Yeah- of course that’s what she told me! That's what you did!” You blew up, scrunching up your eyebrows as well.

You couldn’t believe he was deflecting the fault onto your mother.

“No, Y/n. That's not the full story..” 

You squint your eyes at him in confusion, crossing your arms. “Alright. Let me hear your side of the story then.”

“Y/n, it’s kind of hard to explain, but.. your mother and I were soulmates-” “What do you mean were?” “We used to be- as in past tense. But then my soulmark started to change..” “You’re full of crap. Do you really expect me to believe that your mark changed?! How dumb do you think I am?” You get up. “Y/n-” “I’m leaving, I should've just acted like I didn't recognize you. That's what you would've done if I hadn't said anything, right?” You say, walking towards the door.

“Y/n wait- I have proof! Please don't go. I have proof that my soulmark did change.” You took a breath before turning back around to face him. You didn’t sit back down though. 

The anger you had pent up inside of you against this man for abandoning you and your mother was starting to come out now. You didn’t even realize how angry you actually were. Initially, you really wanted to be friendly to him- you had imagined how this conversation would go in your head many times, but you knew that whatever he said- you’d never be okay with what he did.

He took out a wedding picture of him and your mother. They both had a single pink rose on their left wrist. You saw that clearly. “Now look at my wrist.” He says, holding it out for you to see. You give him a skeptical look before gazing down at his soulmark. The rose was red now. In the picture- it was clearly pink, but the one he had today was bright red. His really did change..

You couldn't believe what you were seeing. 

“How could mom leave out this crucial detail? ..Did she want me to hate him as much as she did?” 

“There's more. When I was in high school- years before I had met your mother, I was dating my best friend. But when our soulmarks came and we weren't a match, we ended up breaking up and finding our soulmates.

One day, she called me up and told me her mark had changed, and I had been hiding mine from your mother for months too- I didn't know what was happening, or why it was changing, but I just knew I belonged with Melody the whole time, and not your—”

You slapped him.

You didn't know what came over you. His story made sense- of course he was meant to be with his high school sweetheart. You just didn't want to hear him say it.. That he didn't belong with your mom, when at one point he truly believed that he did. It was a lot to take in. You didn't respond for a while. The room was completely still in silence.

“Melody's former soulmate.. did his soulmark disappear? Like after hers changed? Did his soulmark disappear?” You finally ask, not looking up from your hands that were gripping the edge of the long brown desk.

“Yes, actually.. She told me his did disappear. And that's how she knew she wasn't supposed to be with him anymore.. Did your mother..” 

“She lost hers too. She never told me why it disappeared, but I just figured it was because you left her.” 

He was silent.

“I’m sorry for slapping you, dad. It's just a lot to process.” You shake your head. “I understand. I should be the one apologizing for not being around for you at least. Even though me and your mother didn't work out, I should've still tried to be a part of your life.. I just thought that I’d already caused your mother enough pain- leaving her, and I thought she'd be better off without me in the picture at all.”

“But dad, what about me? Didn't you consider how your choices would affect me?”

Again, he doesn't answer.. Because he doesn't have an answer. There was no excuse for what he did- even if his soulmate was someone else, he still had the obligation to help raise you- which he failed to do.

After that, you turn to leave. Your dad gave you his number in case you want to talk to him again some time. You were hesitant to take it. 

He told you he really wanted to make up for not being around, and that he really wanted to get to know you. You didn't know if you believed him or not, but you did know that he told you more of the truth than your mother had. 

You weren't angry at her either, but you didn't like that she only told you half of the story about what happened. Especially since you two normally told each other everything, it hurt that she kept this huge thing from you.

Your dad helped you load your bike into the trunk of your newly repaired car, and watched as you drove off, a bit somber.

He really hadn't expected to see you today.

As you drove home, you thought about everything he said and how crazy the whole ‘changing soulmark’ thing was. You didn’t even know it was possible.

As soon as you got home, you cracked open your laptop and googled if it was possible for your soulmark to change, just to get further confirmation, and a whole bunch of articles came up.

You ended up reading every single one you could find. You wanted to make sure this thing you dad claimed to experience was actually a real thing- even though you saw the evidence. Research was just one of the ways you processed things. After all of your research, you concluded that he was telling the truth.

It's just really unfortunate that this kind of thing happens to some couples. Your family was happy before his soulmark had to change everything. Now he probably had a whole other family. 

“I probably have a bunch of siblings I don't even know about.” You realize with a sigh.

There was suddenly a knock at your door, and you quickly shut your laptop. “Mom?” “No, it's Lucas.” “Oh, hey! Come in.” 

“Everything alright?” He asks as he walks in and sits on your bean bag chair you had laid up the floor. The one time you actually wanted your mom to walk through the door, was the one time she was nowhere to be found. “No i’m not actually.. I met my dad.” 

Lucas’ eyes widen. “You did? What was he like?” “He seemed genuine.. I may not agree with what he did, but he seemed genuine.” You respond, thinking back to your conversation with him. You had seen the desperation he had in his eyes, trying to get you to believe him. If he didn’t actually care about you, he wouldn’t have tried so hard.

“Oh? That's good.. Does your mom know?” “I haven't told her yet.” You reply with a small smile. For some reason, you decided to leave out the part where your dad told you the real reason why he left. You wanted to talk about it with your mom first before anyone else.

A few hours of hanging out passed by, and eventually Lucas got up to head out. It was kind of nice just talking to him for a while. You missed that.

After he was gone, you hesitantly gathered up the courage to walk into your mom’s room to speak with her about your dad.

“Hey Y/n, everything all right?” She smiled at you, knowing this meant you were ready to talk. You nodded. “Mom.. I met dad today at the car dealership. He works there.” 

Her smile drops.

“Y/n, come sit down.” She says, patting next to her on her bed. You walk in and take a seat next to her on the creaky mattress. “What happened? Did he say he was doing well? Did he recognize you?” “He actually asked how we were doing, and yeah, he did recognize me..” “Oh.. that's good.” 

You watch her reaction closely, trying to figure out if she was worrying about if your dad told you the real reason he left or not. Her expression was concerned.

“..He told me he left us because his soulmark changed.” You say, and your mom shuts her eyes as if she was experiencing the pain of abandonment all over again with what you just said. You place a hand over hers, full of pity. You weren't happy with her, but she didn't deserve to go through what she went through. Raising you all alone. It was obviously still affecting her to this day. 

“He told you about Melody's soulmark changing to match his, too, didn't he?” Your mom eventually asks, eyes still closed. “Yeah. Why didn't you tell me the truth? Maybe I would've hated dad less if I didn't think he abandoned us for no reason.” “Because it still wasn't right! When you marry someone, you're supposed to stick with them—” your mom starts yelling, but stops herself. Obviously, she also had a lot of pent up frustration about this whole thing too. It was understandable because she never talked about it until now.

“Why did you let him go then? I’m sure he would've stayed if you told him you still loved him!” “I let him go because I love him.” “Nah, mom, that's tacky- people don't actually do that, do they?” “It's what I did. Mainly because I didn't want to be cheated on.. so I just let him go and wished them both happiness.” Your mom shrugs with a sigh. You could see tears forming in her eyes, but she was too stubborn to let them fall. You two were alike in that way.. You got your stubbornness from her.

“I just wish you had told me what really happened from the beginning, mom.” “I couldn't! I couldn’t break your heart,” She shakes her head, finally looking at you. Her face looked so pained. “Could you imagine having to tell a little girl who still believes in fairy tales that her own father left his soulmate because it turned out he had another one? That’d ruin your dreams- you wouldn't have turned out to be the sweet, optimistic girl you are today.” She says, laying her hand on your cheek. 

“So, it was better for me to just believe he left us for no reason? It doesn’t make sense, mom.” “If I had told you life is random and full of crazy possibilities- that soulmarks don’t guarantee a life of happiness, you would’ve become a cold person. You would’ve become bitter, like I was at that time.. It took me years to find happiness again, yet even now, I still feel a wave of pain come over me when I think about your father.. I didn’t want that for you.” 

You saw her point, but you still didn't agree with what she did. “Well, you obviously don't know me as well as you think you do.” You say under your breath. “Maybe I used to be that way- naive and optimistic, but now I understand how the real world is. Life isn't fair.” You say bitterly, and your mom’s frown deepens. 

She couldn't protect you from the harshness of the world. She really tried her best, but she still failed. It wasn’t her fault.

“Nope, it's not.” She agrees, pulling you in for a hug. You start sniffling. “Mom, what if my soulmates mark changes? Or what if mine does? I don't wanna hurt anybody.” “Don't worry about that right now- you just focus on finding him.” “I said I don't want to find him.” You remind her, pulling away from the hug.

“Oh right.. you're scared of being abandoned like I was..” She nods, remembering your words from the day before. You still felt a bit guilty for wording things that way, but it was true. “I’m scared that if I find him and we end up together.. what if one day he just decides he actually doesn't love me, and just leaves? I wouldn't handle things as well as you did-” “Y/n, what happened with me and your dad is very rare.” She says, and you nod, just listening.

“You might regret never finding your person.. Even though he caused me so much pain, and caused you pain as well- I still don't regret meeting your father.” She admits with a shrug. “That's because you got me.” You smile, and she finally laughs.

“The point is, you have to take a chance with your heart sometimes. But i’m not gonna force you to find this guy. If you don't want to, that's completely fine with me- I just want you to make the right decision for yourself.” She says reassuringly. You nod, and get up to leave her room. 

“Maybe she's right.. I’ll never know unless I take a risk. And if I do end up getting hurt, I’ll just run back to the one who never abandoned me- her.”

[music-es-vida]

SOULMATE AU - LUCAS/DOYOUNG

CHAPTER EIGHT

“Lucas, please- I can carry my phone by myself!” You complained, trying to snatch it back. He was holding it up out of your reach, and there was no way you’d be able to get it- jumping didn’t even help.

He was taking this ‘caretaker’ role too far.

“You’re already holding my books, why do you need to hold my phone too?” You yell, watching as a sly smile comes across his face all of a sudden.

He was joking.

“Here. Let’s go,” he says, handing you your phone back, before walking out of the apartment. You smiled and rolled your eyes. 

“Jerk.”

At school, before Lucas left after dropping your things off on your desk, Doyoung offered to carry your things for you, so he wouldn’t have to. 

“..That could work- most of your classes are closer to mine than his anyway,” you nod at Doyoung, but Lucas shakes his head. “Nah, I’ve got it.” He says, and you furrow your eyebrows at him. “Just let me carry them- it’s an inconvenience to you anyways.” Doyoung shrugs. “It’s not an inconvenience.. I don’t mind doing it.” Lucas says, crossing his arms.

“Or~ you could just let me carry my own things- since I still have this hand,” you interject, waving your right hand around. “No.” They both told you at the same time, giving each other weird looks afterwards. 

You rolled your eyes. 

You really didn’t see why they were making such a big fuss about this- you’d be totally fine without them, but they were acting like you were cripple or something. 

Eventually you convinced Lucas to let Doyoung carry your things for you to your afternoon classes, and he’d still carry them to your morning classes. He didn’t want to agree to it, but he was about to be late for his class and had to go, so he couldn’t argue about it any longer.

...

During lunch, you considered sitting with Doyoung, but he was nowhere to be found. “He must eat lunch outside, under that tree,” You figured.

“What are you thinking about?” Lucas asks, making you look up from the blank space on the table you’d been staring at. “Hmm? -You.” You answer. “I should’ve known you were gonna say that,” he shakes his head with a grin. 

“So how’d your date with Doyoung go the other day?” He asks, making you choke on your food. You’d forgotten you even told him about that. He laughed, reaching across the table to pat you on the back until you stopped choking. 

Sometimes your own jokes backfired.

“It was great- he even met my mom.” “Really?” He asked, and you nodded. “He never asked me out for a second date though, so maybe he doesn’t like me,” you shrug, playing along. “Was it more fun than when you used to go out with me?” He asks, and you just stare at your plate. 

“Enough about that- how’s the search for your soulmate going?” You quickly change the subject. “It’s been pretty crazy, actually.” He says, taking out his phone to show you something.

“As soon as I posted my soulmark, I got a bunch of DM’s from people that also have hearts for their soulmark, but none of them had the right color..” He says, scrolling through a ton of messages he’d gotten from a bunch of random girls.

You’d forgotten how popular he was, and that he was constantly being hit on. Of course people would jump at the chance to become his soulmate. It felt like he’d scrolled through a million messages from people sending him their soulmarks, before finally stopping at the top.

“I looked through every since one, but no one had the same shade of red as me- until the next day, when I checked my messages in the morning..” Lucas trails off.

“I found her.” He clicks on the top chat, showing you this girl named Isabella, who’d sent him a picture of her soulmark. 

You took the phone from his hands to get a closer look at the picture.

You zoomed in on it, zoomed back out, flipped the phone upside-down. 

No matter how you looked at it, it was clear that this girl was Lucas’ soulmate. 

They had the same exact shade of bright red, and the same big heart. Their soulmarks were a perfect match.

Lucas watched as you studied the photo, trying to figure out what you were thinking.

You plastered a fake smile onto your face, handing the phone back to him, saying, “Wow. You actually found her.. That was quick.” He nods, with his eyebrows raised. You were happy for him, but it was bittersweet because you knew this meant you’d start seeing him less once those two got together.

“I know.. I’ll have to thank Ms. Thompson for the advice,” he says. “I don’t think that method would’ve worked for me.. I’m not as popular as you are,” you laugh bitterly, and Lucas pressed his lips into a thin line.

“So, when are you gonna meet her?” You ask, assuming they’d already planned that out. “This Saturday..” He answers. “Wow.. this is all happening so fast.” You think to yourself, nodding. “That’s nice..”

...

After lunch, you went to the bathroom, and Lucas told you he’d give your things to Doyoung, like he promised.

Lucas still wanted to carry your things himself, but he just went along with this since you insisted on it. “Here.” He said, handing your stuff over to Doyoung once he came in from outside. “Thanks-” He said, kind of struggling to hold your things along with his own textbooks and stuff.

As Lucas watched him struggle, he noticed that there was neon green on his wrist, under his sleeve. That same neon green color he’d seen on your wrist. 

“What?!” 

His eyes widened as he realized what he was seeing.

“Hey man, can I see your soulmark for a second?” Lucas asks, wanting to make sure he was seeing it right. Doyoung made a confused face before pulling down his sleeve for Lucas to see.

“Three neon green music notes! Just like Y/n’s… No way..”

“What? Have you seen my soulmate or something?” Doyoung asked jokingly, noticing the expression on Lucas’ face.

“..No.” Lucas hesitated to answer. 

He wasn’t sure why he didn’t just tell the truth.

Maybe he just wasn’t ready to let you go yet. If he lied, maybe he’d have more time..

“It’s just.. That color.” Lucas makes a face. “Oh, I know right.. I don’t like it either, but it is what it is,” Doyoung shrugs, walking off to drop your things off at your next class.

Lucas watched as he walked away with a deep frown on his face. He really couldn’t believe Doyoung was actually your soulmate- especially when you had been so adamant about telling him that he wasn’t.

“Maybe she doesn’t even know..” Lucas mutters to himself, definitely not planning on telling you. “..If she did know, she would’ve told me,” he concludes.

This whole soulmark thing was making him realize that maybe he did have feelings for you. Why else would he care so much?

…

“I’m going back to the hospital to get my cast tightened.” You answered. 

Lucas was asking what you were doing later today, wanting to ask if you wanted to see a movie or something. He wished things would go back to the way they were before you knew you two weren’t soulmates. 

Especially after what he saw today after lunch.

It just bothered him that you were supposed to be with another guy.

“Sounds fun,” He says jokingly, and you roll your eyes. “Can I come?” He asks, stepping up onto the curb and walking alongside you as you walked on the sidewalk. “Actually, Doyoung’s taking me.” You replied, and Lucas stopped in his tracks. The image of Doyoung’s soulmark flashed back into his mind again.

“Oh.” “Yeah.. And he’s also driving me home today, since my appointment is in a few hours, so you don’t have to take me, okay?” “..Alright.” He said, and you turned to look up at him, noticing the change in his voice. 

“You okay?” You ask him, when all of a sudden, Doyoung comes walking towards you guys. 

“Hey Y/n, my car’s this way,” he said, pointing across the parking lot, and you nodded. Lucas begrudgingly handed your things over to Doyoung before leaving you with him to head to his own truck. 

As you followed Doyoung to his car, you looked back at Lucas, wondering why he seemed down all of a sudden. “He was fine earlier today..”

Lucas was excited that he’d found his soulmate- he really wanted to believe what you said about change being a good thing, but he couldn’t stop thinking that- what if you were supposed to be the one. 

What if the soulmarks got it wrong?

He just felt like he was being replaced all of a sudden, and he hated it.

…

In the car, Doyoung asked what kind of music you listen to, and you said that you listen to everything. “Well- everything except country music.. Can’t stand that.” “Ugh, me neither,” he shudders, deciding to put on some R&B.

You didn't really listen to this genre that much, but it was nice.

“So, that thing you told me the other day- about your dad’s soulmark changing.. How is that even possible?” He asks curiously. This was the first time he’d ever shown any interest in something having to do with soulmarks and soulmates. 

You frowned, realizing that when you’d told him about this the other day- that you hadn’t given an actual explanation of what happened. 

“Well.. before my dad got his soulmark, he was dating this girl- Melody, and they’d been best friends for a while, so of course they were expecting to be each other's soulmates. But once the marks came in, and they’d matched up with different people, they broke up to be with their soulmates.” You say, and Doyoung nods, just listening. 

Already, this story was reminding him of how you and Lucas seemed to be.

He noticed how close you two were, but figured it was just a friendship.

“A few years had passed, and my parents got married and had me.. Soon after that, my dad said his soulmark had started to change. It started off as a red rose, but was changing into a pink one.. He later got a call from Melody, who’d said the same thing happened to her- that her mark had changed.. They matched each other now, like they probably should’ve from the beginning..” you trailed off, leaning onto your elbow as you stared blankly out of the window.

“What happened with your mom’s soulmark? Did she match up with Melody’s old soulmate- or?” “...No. Her’s disappeared.” You said in a somber tone, with a sigh. 

Doyoung’s eyebrows raised in shock. He had never heard of this happening before. It sounded crazy.

“That’s crazy..” “Yup. But it’s my life.. We deal with it,” you shrug, turning the music up- to indicate that you didn’t want to talk about this anymore. 

Doyoung took the hint and didn’t ask anymore questions about it.

Once you were home, he left your books and things in your room for you, and your mom offered to pay him gas money for taking you to your appointment. “I can’t accept that,” he shakes his head with a small smile. “Why not? I insist.” Your mom said, trying one more time to hand the money to him, but he refused to take it.

“Mom, he’s just doing what boyfriends ought to do, you don’t need to pay him,” you say with a sly smile. As expected, Doyoung blushed, rolling his eyes at you. “Alright, but I’ll find a different way to repay you,” she promises, thinking of inviting him back for dinner sometime or something like that. Doyoung nods, catching a glimpse of her left wrist as she moved her hair out of her eyes.

It really was blank. As if the soulmark were never there.

“How tragic..”

“Come on- we’ll be late if we don’t leave now!” You say, hurrying to the door, and you both head out to the appointment.

…

“Should I wait outside until this is done, or?” Doyoung asks, but the nurse responds with a shake of her head. “No, you can stay in here if you want. This won’t take too long.” He nods, walking across the room to sit in the chair that was in the corner.

“You brought that book?” You say, knitting your eyebrows together as he started reading. “Of course,” he replies, not even looking up from it. You smirk, before looking around the room at anything else- trying to get your mind off of the pain. 

At least your shoulder had stopped hurting.

You squirmed around in pain as the nurses worked on your cast. They ended up taking it off of you, and leaving to get a new one. 

“You okay over there?” Doyoung asks, noticing you seemed to be in pain. “Oh yeah- I feel great,” you say sarcastically, with a strained voice. He walks over, not sure how to comfort you. He’d never broken a bone in his life, so he had no idea how much pain you were in. Your wrist still looked pretty discolored from all the bruising. 

“Ew- that’s disgusting.” He says, catching a glimpse of it, and you give him an annoyed look. “Sorry,” he laughs. 

“My soulmark looks all discolored now!” You complain, seeing it for the first time in days. You couldn’t bring yourself to look at your wrist ever since it broke, because you thought the pain would amplify if you actually saw how bad it looked.

Doyoung nodded, taking a closer look at it.

“Wait.. are those-?”

“Okay Y/n, we have a new cast for you.. We got neon green to match your soulmark,” One of the nurses says with a smile as they walked back in. “Oh, how funny,” you said dryly at their sense of humor.

You didn’t notice how Doyoung’s mouth gaped open when he heard that. 

“Y/n and I are soulmates?!”

He realized, making the connection that that was why Lucas had that look of familiarity on his face when he saw his soulmark earlier today. 

“So he *did* recognize it.. Why didn’t he tell me?” He wondered to himself, before looking down at you. You smiled back up at him, not sure why he was staring.

He figured that you must not know about the soulmarks either. 

Before telling you, he decided that he wanted to speak to Lucas about something he’d been wondering about for a long time. 

“Does he like her? Is that why he didn’t say anything about it..?”

“All done!” The nurse said, and you could finally breathe again. It was so painful, but now it was over at least. “Let’s go,” you smiled up at Doyoung, and he slowly nodded- still deep in thought.

…

When you got back home, the sun was starting to set.

“So when is our next date?” You ask before getting out of the car. Now that he knew you two actually were soulmates, the jokes weren’t even funny to him. “..Uh- I don’t know, I’ll text you..” he says, sounding spaced out. You made a face, but then got out and left. “I wonder what’s up with him all of a sudden,” you shrug, walking up the steps to your apartment.

“Oh my- that was nice of them to give you a cast to match your soulmark.” Your mom says with raised eyebrows once she sees you walk in, and you roll your eyes. “They were trying to be funny,” you reply, “Who even knew casts come in this color.” You laugh.

“So, how was your day?” “..Normal, besides the fact that Lucas told me that he found his soulmate today.” Your mom’s eyebrows raise. “He did?” “Yup.” “Wow, that’s great.. So when do you plan on finding yours?” “Sometime after I get this cast off,” you say, waving it around. It annoyed you so much, but you decided to just be patient and wait for your wrist to heal before worrying about all the soulmate stuff again.

It was kind of nice not having to worry about it anyways.

…

In your room, you were mindlessly scrolling on instagram, when you’d come across Lucas’ post of his soulmark. You hesitated, but then pressed on the ‘likes’, and sure enough, that girl- Isabella had liked the photo. 

“Should I insta-stalk her…? ..I probably shouldn’t..” You say to yourself, eventually clicking on her name anyways.

Her account was private, but you saw that Lucas followed her.

“..Dang, she’s pretty too..” You realize, just from seeing her profile picture.

So far, you counted that she had two advantages over you- she was probably a model, and she was his soulmate.

You still had one advantage over her, though- you’d known Lucas longer and already had some sort of relationship with him. Even if you two were just friends..

You shut off your phone and sat it beside you on your bed, with a sigh, staring up at the ceiling. Suddenly, there’s a knock at your door, and you hear your mother’s voice asking if she can come in.

“Yeah, you can come in..” “I was thinking.. And I probably was too harsh on your dad the other day at the hospital..” She trails off, taking a seat next to you, at the end of your bed. “I probably should’ve let him see you.. I was just hurt that day.. Hurt that he’d shown up to see you, but not one day over the past 17 years has he come to see me..” she mumbles.

“I’m sorry, that seems selfish of me to say, but-” “No, I get it. He really messed up.. He clearly wants to make up for it, though, because he texted me last week, asking to pay for my medical bill, and for the damages to the car..” “He did what?” “Mom, ..I think we should let him—” “No way! I don’t want him to think we owe him anything- and if we let him help pay, that’s exactly what he’ll think!” Your mom yells. “Does he really think he can just pay all our problems away? Does he think money will make up for all that he’s done to us?!” She continues ranting on, and you decide not to press any further about this. 

You knew she’d react this way, but you had to bring it up at some point.

“The car situation is being handled, our insurance covered everything. Tell him not to worry about it..” She says in a calmer tone. And with that, she leaves your room.

You sigh, picking up your phone again, to text your dad.

He replies rather quickly, asking if you were sure that you didn’t want his help paying, and you said you were. Then he said ‘ok’, and asked when the next time you could come visit him again would be.

You told him you weren’t sure yet, but you’d check with your mom to see if this Saturday would be okay.

“Speaking of your mom.. Is she okay?” He texts back, and you frown. He must’ve been thinking about that night at the hospital. “She’s fine.” You reply back without giving any more details. 

Eventually you told him ‘goodnight’, and drifted off to sleep.

Everything this year seemed to be changing… 

You weren’t sure if you liked it.

[music-es-vida]

SOULMATE AU - LUCAS/DOYOUNG

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Seven Years Ago…

It was the first week of middle school for you, and you had just changed school districts, so you had no friends. There was this one kid, though- Lucas, who helped you find your way around the school. He was at an advantage because he had an older sister that showed him where everything in the school was, weeks before- on back to school night.

You thought he was the cutest boy ever, and just the fact that he was so helpful made you develop a crush on him, so obviously- you told him that.

Little did he know, you’d end up becoming his best friend.

…

When recess came along, you ate and then followed Lucas outside. Compared to elementary school, recess was pretty dry. 

There was only a basketball court and hopscotch marks on the ground. Everyone else was just walking around with their friends, so you decided you wanted to walk around with Lucas.

When you found him, he was busy though.

“Hey,” “Hey, Y/n.. I’m kind of in the middle of-- playing a basketball game right now,” Lucas tried explaining to you as he passed the ball to someone else.

“I know, sorry- I just wanted to thank you for how helpful you’ve been to me all week. I really appreciate that,” “Oh yeah, no problem. You looked lost, so I had to help you,” he laughs a bit, not taking his eyes off the basketball.

“..I like you.”

Lucas freezes when he hears that, and turns to face you with wide-eyes.

“You what-?” He asked, right before getting hit square in the face with the basketball.

..He had to go to the nurse’ office after that.

…

You felt like it was your fault he’d gotten hit in the face- because you’d distracted him, but at least he didn’t reject you (which he would eventually do the next time you told him).

As you were walking through the hallways after being denied entry into the nurse’ office, you turned a corner and bumped into this kid who was reading a book.

After regaining your composure, you scowled at him, saying, “Watch where you’re going, bookworm!” You recognized him from your homeroom- he was always reading some book. 

To your surprise, he scowls back at you and blows a raspberry in your face. “Ew- Doyoung, you’re so gross!” You complained, running off to the bathroom to go wipe your face off. 

Doyoung rolled his eyes and went back to reading his book.

…

Finally, after what seemed like forever, classes ended. 

For some reason, the days at school just seemed longer now.

Since you lived right down the street from the school, your mom picked you up everyday instead of having you take the bus. 

As you were walking out of the building, Bruce, who had just happened to come across this same school to enroll Isabella in, was walking up, but quickly hid himself and his daughter around the corner of the building as soon as he saw you. “Y/n goes here?” He panics to himself, watching as you walked through the sea of students to get to your mom’s car. “Sandra…” He muttered to himself. Part of him wanted to go over there and speak to her before she drove off, but he knew he couldn’t.

“Daddy? Why are we hiding?” Isabella asks, wondering why her dad was holding her against the wall like some monster was on the other side. “Oh, um.. No reason.” He answers, letting go of her. “You’re acting weird..” “ I know, I just... I just saw somebody I used to know,” he says with a distant look in his eyes.

“Come on Bella, let’s go back to the car. I changed my mind on this school. We’ll find a better one,” Bruce says, and she stares at him in confusion for a moment, but then shrugs before following him back into the parking lot. 

Bruce figured since he was making more money now- sending Isabella to a private school wouldn’t be such a big deal. They could afford it, so why not? 

Anything to avoid an encounter with his past...

…

“You have a lot of explaining to do,” Isabella crossed her arms. She was sitting next to her mom on the other couch, across the room from her dad and you.

She had no idea what any of this was about- neither did her brother, Will, who was standing in the corner with Yangyang, Melody’s other son.

“I don’t even know where to start..” Bruce trailed off. “How about with what happened before we got together,” Melody suggests, and he nods.

You still hadn’t looked up from the ground. It was like you were there in the room, but your mind was somewhere else.

“Was I a mistake?”

“Okay, so.. kids— I know I should’ve told you both this long before we got to this point, but.. I wasn’t always with your mother,” Bruce says nervously, obviously to Will and Isabella. 

“What?” They both say simultaneously, and Yangyang already knows where this is going since he’d already experienced this himself.

“But daddy, you said you and mom were high school sweethearts, and then also turned out to be soulmates,” Isabella says in confusion. “Seems like everyone’s heard a different version of this story,” you realize, bitterly.

“Yes, that is true- but I left out that me and your mother weren’t always soulmates..” Bruce says carefully, but it confuses Isabella even more.

Bruce pulls out his phone to show them the same picture he’d shown you that day at the car dealership. 

“This is Sandra, Y/n’s mom… my first soulmate—” 

“Your what?!” “Did you two get married?” The 5-year old asks, noticing the outfits. “Yes we did, Will.. you see our soulmarks?” “Red roses! But yours is pink now..” Will says, making the connection before Isabella did. She was still hung up on the fact that her father hadn’t always been with her mom. She was hurt that he never told them about this important part of his life- even if he did consider it his past.

Melody was silent, but looked at the picture as well. It was making her think back to her ex-husband, and how they used to have matching soulmarks too. 

“Daddy, what happened? How did you end up with mom then?” Isabella asks, looking shocked and hurt. “Well, I had been dating your mom when soulmarks came in, but ours didn’t match, so we broke up..”

Bruce continued talking, but you just drowned his voice out since you’d already heard this part. 

The part you were waiting for him to get to was the one where he explained how you and Isabella were basically the same age. You knew it involved cheating, but needed to hear him confirm it. “Mom probably doesn’t even know.”

“And Sandra and I ended up getting married..”

…

Two years after Bruce and Sandra got married, he got a call from Melody- to his surprise. He hadn’t spoken to her since they parted ways, all those years ago.

Melody told him that her soulmark changed. 

She wasn’t certain of it, but she just had a feeling that Bruce’ had changed too. She knew they were meant to be together from the beginning. As soon as Melody told him, he got up and walked out of the apartment to continue the call. He didn’t want Sandra to overhear anything. Afterall, he’d been hiding his own changed soulmark from her for weeks.

After he told Melody his changed too, she started crying tears of joy, but also of sadness. She didn’t want to leave her family. She already had a young son.

They ended up talking about this for a while, and soon it had gotten late. 

Melody suggested they see each other in person to make sure they really matched, and Bruce agreed to it, telling Sandra he was just going to a last minute work conference, and she foolishly believed him.

…

Bruce made a mistake that night.

Maybe it was because they were emotional after seeing each other for the first time in years, - maybe it was because they had one too many drinks. 

Maybe it was because their soulmarks matched now, and they thought it would be okay. 

They both made a selfish decision without thinking about anybody else but themselves.

Bruce didn’t go home that night.

…

The next morning, when he returned, he was welcomed home by a smiling, yet teary-eyed Sandra, who was holding up a pregnancy test. 

As soon as Bruce realized what was going on, he became teary-eyed as well, but not for the same reason. He regretted cheating with Melody. He knew it was a mistake, but couldn’t gather up the courage to tell Sandra what happened. 

Instead he just decided to act like it never happened. He tried cutting Melody off, not replying back to any of her texts, just trying to focus on his family- Sandra, and the baby. He didn’t want Melody to think he hated her, but he just didn’t know how else to handle the situation. She eventually gave up and stopped trying to contact him.

…

About a month later, he got another call from Melody- which he ignored, but she was persistent and kept calling him, so he eventually answered.

“What do you want? I told you to stop contacting me- what we did was a mistake! Who cares if the soulmarks changed? We already chose who we’d be with--”

“Bruce, i’m pregnant… It’s yours.” Was all she said, and he dropped to his knees.

Of course this would happen to him. He had to pay for his mistakes.

…

Instead of telling Sandra the full truth, he decided to use the ‘soulmarks changing’ thing as an excuse to leave her. Bruce knew that if Sandra found out the whole story, she'd be so hurt- maybe even sick.. He didn’t want anything to happen to the baby, so he just told her half of the story, finally revealing his changed soulmark to her.

She was in complete shock when she found out. She’d never heard of something like this happening before. 

They ended up fighting about it, which led to her kicking Bruce out.

She didn’t really expect him to leave, but she just felt betrayed. He didn’t want to leave either, but knew he had to- if he was going to keep this ‘changing soulmark’ charade up. It was just easier for him to leave her, than to admit to being unfaithful.

…

After he left, Sandra went into a depression.

She hadn’t seen Bruce again until the day you were born— which was the last time she’d see him for years. She told him she didn’t want him around her baby— again, not expecting him to actually leave. She was just saying things because she was hurt.

...

Thankfully, you brought the light back to her life, and she was eventually able to get through the hardships of being a single-mother.

...

After hearing the whole story, you ran out the front door. You couldn’t take anymore of this.

The tears were blurring your vision, and you tripped over your own feet, landing on your knees in the grass. You couldn’t even pick yourself back up, you felt so weak.

“Y/n..” A voice you didn’t recognize said, above you.

It was Yangyang.

He’d told everyone else to stay inside while he talked to you. He explained that he was the only one that truly knew how you felt- but even he couldn’t completely relate- since his mother never abandoned him.

Yangyang knelt down beside you, just patting you on the back softly as you sobbed.

Eventually you looked up at him. 

He looked nothing like Melody.

“..Why do I feel like I was a mistake that shouldn’t have happened? Like the soulmarks... What if my dad and Melody were meant to be together all along, and he should’ve never been with my mom?” You ask him. Your lips trembled as you spoke with a shaky voice. Yangyang just shook his head. 

He’d had those same thoughts once too, but his parents assured him that he definitely was not a mistake.

Melody was with Bruce now, but she made sure Yangyang knew that she loved his father once, and that she didn’t regret a thing. She didn’t regret having him for a son. It was what he needed to hear— and it was what you needed to hear now, as well.

“Soulmarks don’t make mistakes. Maybe at some point, your mom and Bruce really were meant to be together. And then they had you. Maybe that was the reason they were soulmates.. So you could be brought into this world,” he tells you.

“But i’m not even that special,” “Don’t say that.. I thought the same thing- but my dad told me I was the one who pulled him out of his depression after mom left him. I’m sure you had the same effect on your mother.” He says, and you nod, sniffling a bit.

“Maybe he’s right..”

…

Meanwhile, inside the house, Isabella had run up to her room and slammed the door. Her whole life had been a lie. She thought her parents were the best people in the world, only to find out they’d caused so much trouble. 

Isabella already had a strained relationship with her mom before— for what she did to Yangyang and her ex, (After hearing it from her half-brother’s point of view, she began to despise her mom for what she did) but they had recently worked it out, and were starting to get along again. That’s why she considered herself a ‘daddy’s girl’— in her eyes, he never did anything wrong— never messed up. But now, she knew the truth.

She actually felt bad for you. For what happened to you and your mom— getting abandoned like that. “I was a mistake..” she says to herself, plopping down onto her bed. 

Her thoughts echoed your own.

She thought she was the mistake, since her parents cheated on their original soulmates. 

“What if the soulmarks were never supposed to change?”

She realized that her parents' marks changing had ruined two families.

It wasn’t fair.

…

Eventually you got up and left to go home.

You were still sad, but thanks to Yangyang, you felt a little less broken now.

“So, how’d it go?” Your mom asks, with a hopeful tone in her voice once you got back home.

As soon as she asked that, you broke down into tears again. You didn’t know how you were gonna tell her about your dad's whole other family— about how she was cheated on and never knew about it. 

“Maybe I shouldn’t tell her…”

“I probably should because what if she finds out herself, someday, and is angry with me for not telling her..”

“Honey, what’s wrong?” She asks you, looking concerned.

“You were right.. I shouldn’t have trusted him,” you said through your tears. A somber, but knowing look came across her face. She wanted to say ‘i told you so,’ but refrained because she was worried about what happened. 

A part of her really wanted this thing to work out. She was sorry that you’d never had a real relationship with your dad, but she just didn’t trust him.

…

After you told her everything, she could feel her blood boiling. Her anger towards Bruce grew- but not even because he cheated and lied about it, but because he’d hurt you so much. “I don’t want you going back to see that man ever again, you hear me, Y/n?” She says in a serious tone with a deep scowl on her face.

You were both cuddled up on the couch, and you looked up at her and nodded.

“You know.. he said he did want me to meet my little brother and sister eventually, but that he wanted to ease into that instead of just telling me upfront.” “Bull.” “I know.. But it’s crazy because he even lied to them— they didn’t even know I existed.” “I’m not even surprised. Once a compulsive liar, always a compulsive liar. He can’t own up to his mistakes unless he’s forced to,” your mom rolls her eyes.

You sighed, getting up for a glass of water.

“Are you okay?” “..I don’t know if I ever will be, mom,” you shrug with a bitter smile. “My own sister is my best friend’s soulmate, and not me,” you said bitterly. It felt weird, saying that you had a sister. “Why?! Why does she get Lucas— and dad? It’s not fair,” you yelled all of a sudden, wondering if you were only brought into this world to suffer, but then Yangyang’s words returned to your memory. 

“Soulmarks don’t make mistakes.”

...

After all this drama, you’d forgotten about the party tonight.

Both you and Isabella didn’t even feel like going anymore, but when you’d gotten a text from Aisha saying, “y/n, the party started an hour ago! are you still coming?” you’d decided, “Why not? I need to get my mind off of things anyway..”

Eventually you’d realize this was a mistake, and that you should’ve just stayed home.