It isn't long before the Melon Music Awards comes rolling in. Everything passes by in a quick blur until Jeongguk finds himself in the dressing room of the hall the award committee chose for the night, getting his hair styled. He merely scrolls through his phone, reading the texts he missed the night before.

Jusr a few minutes later, he hears Taehyung's boisterous laughter echoing through the walls mixed in with another female laughter.

He looks at his stylist in question, but she only mouths Jisoo before putting another layer of hair gel on his head.

Ah, Jisoo. Of course. Taehyung's other best friend. Probably the only tolerable one in Queen of Disaster, if he is to be honest.

Out of the blue, Manager Sejin enters the room with a straight face. He observes the stylists first, then the other members who were already finished, and nods to himself.

"Alright, everyone," he says in his usually loud voice. "The red carpet is about to start in a little while, so I suggest you all should be ready in three. I just have to settle a few things and I'll come back to you."

As soon as he says this, his stylist starts to rush his hair. Jeongguk only rolls his eyes and starts to vocalize on his own, humming quietly as his stylist finishes with her work.

"There," she says after spraying another round of suffocating hair spray. "You're done. Go and charm guys and girls with your devilish looks, Gguk," she adds with a wink.

Jeongguk snorts and stands up. "Yeah, as if I'll be able to do that tonight." She only chuckles and pats his back, cleaning her station right after. "See you later, noona."

"Mhm."

The youngest immediately goes to the couch where his members were sitting down, all dressed in designer from head to toe. Jimin lets out a low whistle once he sees his outfit and Jeongguk only retaliates by snorting.

"What time will we go out?" He asks as he adjusts the cufflinks on his wrists.

Namjoon checks the time on the wall clock above the couch. "Uh, in a minute or two. Manager Sejin told me we'll be right behind Queen of Disaster so--"

"Why is it always them..." He mutters under his breath. Another thing that he hates about these kind of events: the thick, irritating tension between him and QOD's bassist Lalisa. It has to be some kind of joke.

It's just, every time they meet at any public events, they just tend to meet each others' gazes and somehow, Jeongguk can't just look away. Every damn time. Every. Single. Award. Show. It's gotten to the point where Lalisa would just smirk at him and one time, she even shot him a teasing wink.

Talk about a fucking weirdo.

"Okay, let's go!"

The booming clap of his manager takes him out of his whirlwind of thoughts. He instantly fixes his out appearance--smoothing out imaginary creases in his suit, combing his hair, checking his face for any wayward eyeshadow. So far, there's none.

He catches up with his members and heads towards the red carpet area. Even from a distance, the flashes and the noise could still be seen and heard. He quickly pops a piece of mint into his mouth and put on a small smile before he finally follows his members to the red carpet.

It's an indoor red carpet event, therefore there's no need for car entrances and fans. Jeongguk feels incredibly lighter, practically skipping towards the center when he sees her. Her.

Queen of Disaster stood at the other side of the carpet in their usual regalia, faces morphed into a cool expression and eyes unblinking against the camera flashes. Jeongguk's nose momentarily flared in annoyance, and then, as if by some sick joke of the universe, Lalisa turns her head to meet his eyes.

For the love of--

Then she winks at him. A wink!

Literally shameless, he thinks as he clenched his fists and follows Seokjin to the carpet. Queen of Disaster leaves just in time but before they do, Lalisa gives him another smirk and disappears behind the door.

Goddammit.

Jeongguk's only advice for attending award shows is: remain expressionless and unmoving during the performances to avoid scandals and rumors. Once you have this mastered, you are now eligible to be a Kpop group member. Oh, also, bow if necessary.

That's honestly it. He isn't always like this, see, ever since he was caught reacting to a girl group during their rookie days, he's been in a constant wind up of scandals and rumors. The articles usually say that he's a play boy, that he has secret relationships with other idols, bullshit like that. When in reality, he's single, not interested, and is happily contented with his current friends with benefits arrangement.

So when Queen of Disaster takes the center stage in their customized instruments, he puts on his poker face and watches as impassively as he can.

When the first note of Lovesick Girls plays, the award hall turns into a screaming mess of fans and non-fans alike. Even Taehyung is screeching right next to him, to which he tries to ignore.

"We are the lovesick girls," they all sing simultaneously, jumping and dancing around the stage. Though he attempts to remain stoic, he can't help it when his eyes land on a particular raven haired girl with her baby pink bass guitar.

Lisa's clearly enjoying herself on stage. Hyping up the crowd while playing the bass seems like a hard task, but for her she makes it all look so easy. At the moment, she isn't that cheeky rockstar that sends Jeongguk winks and grins, she's just an idol that everyone knows and loves. It's kind of refreshing to witness this other side of her. Kind of.

It's a little too late when he finds himself nodding to the beat of their songs, and it's also a little too late when he starts mouthing the lyrics. It's Jimin who notices this, and proceeds to make fun of him after. He's not a fan, please, he just... he knows how to appreciate good music when he hears it (not that he's ever going to tell his members that, anyway).

Fast forward, Piece of Peace's performance takes place right after The Velvets, and Jeongguk can't remember any particular memory from their own performance except for the fact that he almost dropped his mic. Other than that, none.

(Also, Lisa was also ogling at him throughout the entirety of the second song, but that isn't important.)

At the last portion of the show, he gives the audience one last full bow before going back stage. It's usually hell at this point because the idols are all trying to get through the cramped space. Jeongguk tries to hold in his breath because damn, the smell of sweat and make up isn't good for his sensitive nose.

He sighs and scratches the side of his waist when his elbows hit something soft.

"You fucking dickwad!" An airy, slightly high pitched voice exclaims from right beside him. Jeongguk instantly turns his head to apologize and also because what she said was so familiar that he suddenly felt warm--

Warm.

His insides feel mushy...

And his chest feels a little bit tighter and--

You fucking dickwad...

Holy shit.

His heart beat starts going erratic--

You fucking dickwad!

With widened eyes, he turns around to face the one and only Lalisa Manoban cradling her boob (which he supposes he hit), looking at him with an angry glare. The other idols ignore them and just went on their way, leaving them stranded in the corridor.

His hands shake at the sudden realization, but he manages to exclaim, "So it's you who did this! What the hell? Do you know how many times I had to cover this stupid soul mark with another tattoo? Fifteen! You hear that? Fifteen! Every time I add another tattoo on top of it, it disappears after six months! I had to endure agonizing pain on the same spot for three years just because of this embarrassing soul mark of yours!"

His chest is heaving, breath coming out in short puffs. He glares at Lalisa, at the person who quite literally made his life a living hell, only to find her angry expression gone and now replaced by a bored look on her face.

"You done?" She asks with a raise of her brow. Jeongguk tries to ignore how she's squeezing her boob right now.

Instead, he scoffs. "How are you so calm about this?"

"Why are you freaking out about this?"

Jeongguk straightens. He still has a reputation to maintain, after all, and screaming at one of South Korea's top celebrity (that is currently playing with her boob, mind you!) isn't helping to keep that up. "I think I've said my three years worth of frustration, so that's it."

"Good." Lalisa nods. "Anyway, I don't really care about your sad story or whatever it is that you just said but you hit my boob--"

"Don't care? You ruined--"

"I just don't--"

"You have to--"

"My boob hurts--

"You're so shallow--"

"Now I'm shallow? Listen here you premature fetus, I literally have an entire paragraph tattooed on my body so forgive me if I don't care much about your first world problem."

He fumes. "What paragraph are you--wait, what?"

The rockstar grits her teeth and comes even closer, still cradling her boob--Jesus fucking Christ! "That little speech you gave just now? Yeah, that whole thing is tattooed on my fucking leg, so I'm sorry if I can't find it in me to care about your dickwad tattoo."

"Okay, I'm--can you please stop fondling your boob like that?" He looks at anywhere but her chest area. "It's kinda, uh. Yeah. Stop."

Lalisa squints her eyes at him and finally, FINALLY lets to of her boob. "There. Now, your apology?"

His mouth drops open. The nerve of this spoiled woman, I swear. "What apology? You were the one who was behind me. You should be the one apologizing."

"It was your elbow that hit my boob!"

Jeongguk pretends to frown. He's not gonna lie, seeing her getting riled up makes him want to tease her even more. "What boob?"

She lets out an annoyed sound that had the passing staff members look at them in curiosity. Lalisa clenches her jaw and asks, "Is this your indirect way of saying that I'm flat chested? Because if it is then--"

"If the shoe fits, wear it."

"I swear--"

"Gguk?" A voice asks from behind him. Both Lalisa and Jeongguk turn to the said person and Jeongguk sees Seokjin walking up to them with a confused look on his face. "We were looking for you."

Jeongguk blinks. "Oh, yeah, I'm sorry, I just got caught up with a situation here."

"Manager Sejin says we have to go now... unless you have something important that you need to do?" He subtly refers at the rockstar with his eyes. "I can tell him about it."

"No, no, it's fine, hyung! I was just about to leave anyway," he says with a smile. Jeongguk turns back around to look at the fuming Lalisa and gives her a wink, one that she has given him too many times to mention.

Ha, he thinks as he walks away. Karma.

Somehow he feels oddly satisfied in their exchange. He was able to tease her back, the same way she's been teasing her all these years. She now feels what he's been feeling whenever she winks at him.

Thank Zeus for that soul mark, because if it weren't the they wouldn't have--

Wait, soul mark?

Soul mark... what the fuck.

Her first words to him is tattooed on his wrist, his first words to her is tattooed on her leg...

Lalisa is his soulmate.

The thought fully dawns on Jeongguk as soon as he steps inside their designated van, and instantly a searing pain takes over his chest.

It's starting, he thinks as he clutches his chest. Lalisa is his soulmate. Holy shit.

Soulmate.

♡ when you talk to your for the first

time, your body immediately senses

your soul bond. this will result to

a feeling of warmness surging

through you, your chest will

tighten because it remembers

how the both of you used to be

in one body, and your heart will

beat frantically because it longs

for its other half. ah, the power of

love!