Soulmates?

~Jisung~

Noticing how nervous Minho is, I intertwine our fingers, letting him know that I’m there. He looks over at me, and I smile up at him as he smiles back. As he starts rapping, I can tell he’s a bit hesitant and very obviously nervous since it’s his first time doing this. I help him keep the beat with my hand, and Changbin backs him up.

Minho and I haven’t exactly known each other for long, but he’s part of the team. Stray Kids. He’s extremely handsome, like everyone else, but he stands out the most for some reason. I catch myself starring more times than I’d like to admit, which is embarrassing.

The CEO of JYP Entertainment has a lot of rumors going around that he is rude and little harsh. He told Minho to rap Hyunjin's part. He has never rapped before, and he doesn't even know the words, so he wasn't confident and it must have shown since he was eliminated along with Felix, my best friend, not long after. I tried comforting him even though it was breaking my heart to hear he was eliminated. I couldn’t believe it. Is this the end of our story? How could it be the end when it barely started?

We headed back to the dorms. Everyone except Minho, since he told us to leave without him and then he sort of just disappeared. The entire car ride, I was comforting Lix, but my mind was somewhere else. Minho. Where is he? Is he ok? When will he come back? I started silently crying for the millionth time since it happened, not letting anyone notice.

Part of me expected Minho to be there already, but as we walked into the dorm, it was completely silent like the rest of us had been the entire time. We all went into our rooms and started getting ready for bed, but my mind wouldn't stop thinking of him.

While everyone else went to bed, I was wide awake, still worrying about him. I tried everything to fall asleep and stop thinking about him, but to no avail. At some point I ended up getting a bit hungry, so I went in the kitchen to get some snacks and sit on the couch, waiting for him to get home.

Not long after, I heard the door open and close. Minho. I ran to the door to see a boy who looked miserable and heartbroken.

"Min," I said as I hugged him tightly.

"Jisung?" He replied, coming out of his daze, "Why are you still up?"

"I was worried and I couldn't sleep," I said, pulling away and looking down, feeling embarrassed.

Silence. I look up at the boy and see him crying again. Before I could realize what was happening, he pulled me into a hug, something he rarely did.

"I don't wanna leave you guys. I'm scared. What am I going to do now?" He said into my shoulder while crying.

"Min, you're not going anywhere. We will find a way, ok? I promise."

"Min? That's new." He looked up at me and smirked.

I immediately went red and tried covering my face, but he stopped me. "I'm sorry. It just slipped out." I heard a chuckle and looked up at him. "What?"

"Nothing, I just thought it was funny."

"I'm sorry, I won't say it again." I replied, with a bit of panic in my voice. Everyone knows to show respect to those who are older than you, and always speak formally, and Minho was no exception.

He chuckles again and says "I didn't hate it..." He trailed off a bit. Everyone thought he was mean because of how cold he normally is with people so it's weird to see him like this.

"So I can call you that?" I said perking up.

"Fine. As long as you promise not to call me that in front of the others, ok Ji?"

"J-Ji?" I said, blushing a bit.

"You get to call me Min, I get to call you Ji. But only when we are alone, got it?"

"G-Got it!" I smiled at him, "Hungry?" I said, holding up a bag of chips.

"A bit, but not for that." He walked away, towards the kitchen and started getting ingredients out.

"What are you making?"

"Actual food. Want some?"

"Sure, but what exactly are you making?"

"You'll see, just go sit and do something." He said as he turned around and started prepping some vegetables.

I went and sat down, watching him cook, without saying a word until I noticed he was a bit zoned out as he was cutting some onions, and accidentally cut himself.

"Ah! Shit." He said, looking down at the cut. I got up quickly and started to take care of it, and he zoned out again.

"Minho? Minho? MIN!" I yelled to get his attention, but not loud enough to wake the others.

"Huh?" He looked at me confused.

"Look, I know what you were thinking about and I'll say it again. We will not leave you behind. We will figure something out. I promise."

"It's not that..." He said, looking down at the floor.

"Then what is it? Talk to me."

"Nevermind. The food is ready. Except for the onions. Sorry." He said, about to tear up.

"I don't mind. As long as you are ok. That is all that matters."

He started crying again, and I walked over and turned off the stove and then walked back to Minho. I grabbed his uncut hand and pulled him over to the couch.

"What's really wrong? I know the elimination, but I've already said that we aren't debuting without you. Or Felix. So what is it?"

"It's nothing."

"If it was really nothing, you wouldn't be crying. So what's wrong?"

"I...I'm not worth it."

"Do you want me to hit you? How could you say that? Of course, you are. If you weren't, then you wouldn't have been chosen for this team." I said, still holding his hand in mine.

"I should've practiced more. I'm just not good enough"

"Ok, stop. You aren't a rapper. Did you know he was going to tell you to rap?"

"No, but still. I should've practiced. I should have expected it."

"None of us expected it. Does that make us not good enough?"

"No, because if you were asked, you could do it. I couldn't."

"Then all of us aren't good enough."

"What?" He said, finally looking at me.

“We are one. If one of us is gone, the rest of us aren’t good enough. We need all 8. And that includes you. Have you forgotten that Chan personally chose you? Are you doubting his judgment, because I’m not. I never will, because I know there’s a reason why he chose each of us. Each of us have strengths, but we also have weaknesses. We are human. We are allowed to have weaknesses. You don’t have to be perfect in everything. If you are lacking something, we back you up. If we are lacking something, you back us up. You may not be perfect, but together, as 8, we are.”

I sat there after I was done with my so called speech, staring at a shocked Minho. “What?” I said.

“You really think that?”

“Yes. I believe it wholeheartedly. I just wish you did.”

“Thanks Ji. I needed this.” He said, pulling me into another hug.

“Hey, I’m just glad I didn’t get killed for that,” I say, laughing.

“There’s still time, do you want to die?” He pulled away and looked at me, smirking.

“Not really. Come on, the food is getting cold.” I say as I pull the older towards the kitchen.