It's crazy to think that two simple words could determine the course of Jeongguk and Lalisa's relationship in the next three weeks.

High Jeongguk must have made a good decision, because in those three weeks, Jeongguk has not felt any ounce of negative feelings towards his soulmate--unlike the previous times where he'd associate her behaviour with the rumors he'd heard about her when in reality she's really just the Sun personified, only a hundred times irritating and a hundred less hot.

(But don't tell her that, because she might think that Jeongguk thinks she's hot. Which he doesn't, because he has like, high standards.)

And so the inevitable happens. Jeongguk knows soulmates are supposed to become closer, their souls gravitating towards each other like magnets and somehow, he lets it. Lisa isn't that bad anyway. She's cool; she's not that clingy, not that sweet (never), and not insisting. She's his soulmate, yet she knows her boundaries and Jeongguk couldn't be more thankful.

Anyway. Enough about that.

It's one of the rare times where his schedule is free and he has time to do whatever he pleases. Of course, Jeongguk makes use of his rest day to visit none other than Lalisa, whom he last saw almost a week ago due to their constricting schedules. He's too exhausted to do anything else right now--going to gym sounds tiring, walking around the city seems unsafe, and meeting with Hwayoung will surely break all the bones in his body (that, including his friend down there).

Plus, opting to visit Lisa is timely, too, because just yesterday, he experienced the shittiest migraine in all of migraines after his heart heard her voice through a phone call.

(Honestly, if there was a way where he could force his heart to calm down, he'd buy it in a heartbeat. It just doesn't know how to chill sometimes.)

Now they're seated in her living room, as per usual. He has never invited the other to his own place because he's aware that if he brought Lisa to his dorm then his hyungs would tease him nonstop, and he's already had enough of teasing through her. Whereas in her dorm, he can have his own peace, even just for a little while. If he ignores the constant meowing of cats, that is.

Irregardless, cats or no cats, if Jeongguk is going to be honest, this is actually his favourite setting yet, what with the way he's holding a huge bowl of assorted candies (courtesy of Lisa) and with how his feet are sitting prettily on top of the coffee table like he owns the place.

Lisa sits across from him in all her cat hair-covered sweats and a box of glazed doughnuts in her hands. They aren't supposed to be eating all these because duh, carbs? And the fact that they're supposed to be on a sweet-less diet, but Lisa said she couldn't bear not eating sweets anymore so she "rebelled" and bought a bunch of shit that can put them at risk for diabetes.

Jeongguk doesn't mind anyway. He continues to scroll through his phone, searching for Disturbing questions you can ask somebody on Google while snacking on a Reese's cup. They've been at this game for the past five minutes now since Zootopia has long ended and they didn't know what else to do. It's very cliché, especially for a budding relationship like theirs, but whatever.

Maybe he'll actually find out if his soulmate is a psycho through this game.

And then Lisa kicks his foot a little too harshly. "Jesus, Jeon, how long are you gonna take finding that damn question?" She complains, and Leo meows his agreement. That damn feline. "It's been forever, just pick a question and go!"

"I don't want to be all corny and shit and ask about your favourite color or your favourite food, idiot. I want my question to be interesting and actually contain important information," he says back with an angry glare. "And it's only been 30 seconds. You're overreacting."

"When you said you wanted a truce I thought you'd be a whole lot nicer than this," she grumbles under her breath. Somehow, Jeongguk hears her.

"I am nice."

"Yeah, when you're high."

"And when I'm sober!"

"Only when you're high," she repeats in a louder voice.

"Think what you want to think then."

"Just find a question and get this over with!" With a dramatic sigh, she leans backwards until her back hits the armrest. "It took you a minute to answer when I asked you about the worst thing you've ever done in your life, and it only ended up to be you accidentally seeing a foot fetish orgy. Are you really this slow?"

He ignores her and skims through a random website. When he finds a good question, he claps his hands so loud that Leo hisses and jumps off the couch. Good. "Okay, next!" Lisa snorts at his enthusiasm. "If there was someone you could pick to hide a dead body with, who would it be and why?"

Lisa furrows her brows for a second, slowly munching on a donut. "Uh, Jisoo, I guess?"

"Nope. Anyone besides your members," he clarifies and leans back on his palms, a winning grin on his face. "That's cheating."

"How the hell is it cheating? She's literally my friend." She sports an annoyed look but sighs in defeat anyway. "Fine! Let me think..."

"Come on."

"My mom?"

"Dude. Are you for real?" Because who the hell would hide a dead body with their mom? Jeongguk would rather surrender himself then let his own mom know. "Do you not have, like, any other friends? Besides your members?"

Lisa groans and leans forward. "I have this friend in Thailand. I choose him."

"Hmmm." That was a good answer, but he isn't satisfied. "But what it the dead body is in Korea and your friend is all the way in Thailand, what would you do?"

She rolls her eyes, pointing at herself. "I am an independent woman, Jeon Jeongguk. I don't need anyone to hide a dead body with because I can do it myself, the end." She does a big gesture with her finger that looks like a period, indicating the end of it. "So say, when I murder you, no one will know because I did everything myself."

At the jab, he doesn't hesitate to grab the TV remote and fling it onto her direction, enough to hit her arm but not her face. "That would never happen."

"Anyway! It's my turn," she interrupts and licks off the sugar on her fingers. "Now I actually have my question prepared because I'm not a slow ass like you. The question is: would you spend a full night in an actual haunted house if someone paid you?"

Jeongguk thinks about it. Would he? The money would be useful, but the shit he would experience would probably cause him nightmares and paranoia. He looks at Lisa, ready to answer, but an idea comes to his mind and then-- "I mean, I'm already spending the day with you. Why haven't I gotten my payment yet?"

She stares at him. He thinks she's probably trying to register the joke, but Lisa remains still. "Is that the best comeback you can say? That my apartment is a haunted house when you're there sitting with a bowl of candies that I bought myself?"

"Eh, it was a good try."

"You're so lame." She gives him a disgusted look and takes another huge bite out of a doughnut.

"Not you speaking when you chose to hide a dead body with your mom," he bites back. But then a thought comes to him, "Speaking of, don't you have friends within Korea though?"

Lisa shrugs. "I do. I just don't trust them enough."

Understandable. She's a foreigner after all. "Do you have friends within the industry too? Like, you know, real friends that you talk to."

"I wouldn't call them friends. Acquaintances, maybe? Anyway, you're the only friend that I've talked to for more than a minute. You should be grateful because I chose you out of all people."

"More like the universe forced us together, you mean."

Her face scrunches together. "You say that as if it's a bad thing."

"It isn't," he replies in a heartbeat, not thinking his words through. When Jeongguk registers what he said, his eyes widen for a short second before turning to look at Lisa, who seems just as flustered as he is.

Ah, shit.

"Um, cool. Next question!" She chortles too loudly. Jeongguk clears his throat and attempts to look as calm as he was before. "Before you die, what would be you last meal and why?"

The answer comes in an instant. "Pussy."

"Oh my god."

And as Lisa pretends to gag at his answer, a plan starts to formulate inside Jeongguk's head.

no one asked

but im still awake

im watching all these crime

documentaries and theyre

scary as fuck

now im thinking

if i were to hide a dead

body with someone

that someone would be you

2:48AM

:

that's a totally weird way of

saying you trust me

but ok

thanks ig

if i were to hide a

dead body with someone

id hide it with yoongi hyung

he knows a lot of things

7:12AM

and here i thought you'd

say it would be me

9:29AM

:

keep dreaming

10:00AM

It's Tuesday. Fuck o'clock in the morning, and Jeongguk is in a random coffee-pub-bar-whatever-the-fuck-is-this-place after his late night rehearsals. It's squished in between all the other establishments in Itaewon, which is sus, but there's dogs and seolleongtang, so.

It's fine.

The clock at the corner shows that it's nearly 4AM, but he finds that he doesn't mind at all considering how they were being surrounded by several dogs, all looking so fucking adorable in their Santa hats and Christmas-themed collars that he can't help but coo. He's weak for cute things, sue him.

"Is this a dog café?" Jeongguk asks as he slurps on his own soup, his other hand absentmindedly playing with Dal's head--one of the several dogs in the place.

IU's voice lilts like velvet from the speaker, singing something about a celebrity and almost immediately all the customers in the coffee shop slash pub slash bar sings along. He moves even further inside the small booth he's in in fear that he might be recognized.

Lisa swallows a mouthful of meat and gives a small piece to Jiho, another dog. "Nope. It's basically just a place for them to take refuge in since it's winter and all. Stray dogs in Itaewon don't really have any place to go to and the owner makes them wear reindeer costumes because the dogs like it so much."

He internally melts inside. "Aww. That's so nice. I mean, look at them." His eyes drop down to all seven dogs outside their booth, looking up at them with wide, curious gazes. "These are better than reindeers."

She doesn't reply, but Jeongguk could feel her staring at him. And then, in a soft voice, "You seem like a dog lover kind of guy. You own one?"

The first thing that comes into his mind is Gureum, his Maltese that's all the way back in Busan. Fondness fills his heart at the memory and he sighs in content. "Mhm. His name is Gureum. I adopted him in an animal shelter back then. Couldn't help it, he was just so small and adorable and I felt like my heart was about to burst if I couldn't bring him home." God, he misses him so much.

"You're cute when you look like that." Lisa interrupts him out of his daydreaming. He raises his brows in question.

"Like what?"

"Happy," she responds with a smile and takes another spoonful of the soup. "You shouldn't act all broody all the time. Smiling suits you. Try it more often."

Although the compliment makes something inside of him feel fuzzy, he just couldn't help himself. "Hey, I smile all the time. Just when you're not around."

"Why not? I'm not going to eat you if you do." She frowns, but then her mouth turns into a smirk. "Unless...?"

"Okay, that's enough for tonight."

A bubble of laughter escapes Lisa's lips. "Oh my god, you're red all over. Is this a soulmate thing or do you really get shy whenever people compliment you?"

"Soulmate instincts." At this point, he's used this soulmate instinct excuse a hundred times now that he doesn't even know what the fuck it means. "Don't flatter yourself too much, Noobs."

"Mmm. Whatever you say, Jeon," she hums teasingly, but she doesn't comment anymore.

The song changes into Let It Snow as Jeongguk hands Dal another small piece of meat. The opening instrumental makes him feel nostalgic out of a sudden, reminding him of the fact that Christmas is in a few days and he won't be going home for the third time in a row.

"Are you going home for Christmas?" Jeongguk opens the topic, finishing his seolleongtang.

He looks up to find her leaning back against the leather seat. "Nope," Lisa replies, popping the P. Her hands were preoccupied playing with the remains of her own bowl. "I have a photoshoot on the 27th. My company won't let me travel back home because apparently it would be a hassle. You?"

"Unfortunately not," he mumbles. It would be another year of video calls and virtual greetings of Happy Holidays. Jeongguk just honestly wants to go home and spend a few hours with his family, but idol life is too demanding that he can't even do such things.

"What are your plans then?"

"Attend Gayo Daejun, duh." Like he has a choice. "Do performances and all that stuff."

Lisa chuckles at that. "Wow, you sound so thrilled."

"Very much."

It's quiet between them. Jeongguk finishes the remains of his bowl and snacks on the side dishes.

Then, the rock star clears her throat.

"Well, if you want to celebrate it with someone, you know, spend Christmas with someone else," she trails off, and under the faint Christmas lights from the streets, Jeongguk could see a bit of scarlet painting her cheeks, "you can always tell me. My apartment is open for everyone, anyway."

Wait.

He stops.

Is she inviting him over for...

Ah. Well.

He doesn't know what to say.

"That's cool," Jeongguk manages to utter. Cool. Yeah, it's cool. "I'll text you if ever."

"Cool," she repeats back with an awkward nod.

Yup. It's cool.

:

hey

you're thai right

8:08PM

no im reptilian

man

we've been friends for years

why are you asking me that

8:13PM

:

just making sure

you know lisa

8:15PM

:

lisa the japanese singer or

rock star lisa?

8:16PM

:

rock star

8:16PM

:

i do but not personally

i heard she's kinda ehhh

8:17PM

:

nah she's actually really nice

for real

8:18PM

:

oh? how so

8:18PM

:

ill tell you later through call

but right now

do you think it would be ok

if we'll have dinner together

one of these days?

8:20PM

:

wdym we? you and lisa and me?

8:21PM

:

yeah

would it be ok if you invite

all your other thai friends too?

8:22PM

:

ohhhh i get what you mean

it's like a thai reunion thing huh

sure

ill contact them

8:24PM

:

thanks man

ill call you later for

the other details

8:25PM

:

of course!

8:26PM

ME:

we'll see u at the dinner

after new years

hopefully lol

8:27PM

In the end, Jeongguk doesn't get to visit Lisa for Christmas, but he does manage to send a package to her apartment.

The package containing an ugly Christmas sweater with the words MERRY CAT-MAS TO THE WORST CAT MOM IN THE WORLD! stitched in the front, along with a customized snow globe that contained small figurines of all her five cats in the middle.

It's not that much, but Lisa seems to think so otherwise because as soon as she received the gift, she recorded a minute long voice recording with her playing We Wish You A Merry Christmas on an electric guitar as thanks.

Let's just say Jeongguk is more than pleased.

!

♡ everything will come into

place naturally. the universe

does not force things, it always

has a plan.

SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE HHHHHH i literally just blinked and suddenly 6 days just passed by wtf. anyway, thank u to shifa for beta reading as always

also i have to go rn HOSEOK IS LIVE