· 。ﾟ☆: *.☽
▎C R Y     F O R     M E   ▎

· 。ﾟ୧ ⋆. 𝗙𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗦 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗖𝗢𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗚𝗘. ₊˚.༄
ACT ONE  ━━━  CHAPTER THREE,
❝ soulmates exist in this world. you've
already found yours so don't lose them ❞

━━━━   ＰＲＥＳＥＮＴ  ＤＡＹ， ２０２３.
◤ ＳＥＯＵＬ， ＳＯＵＴＨ  ＫＯＲＥＡ.

          𝓟artying in the club with her three closest friends definitely got her mind off the Deviant and everything else that was going wrong.

Solar danced with Taehyung, with him behind her, his hands on her waist as they both swayed their hips to the loud music.

"Are you having fun?" She heard Taehyung's husky voice whisper into her ear from behind and she nodded, eyes closed as she enjoyed the moment.

Solar opened her eyes and turned around to face Taehyung, still with his hands on her waist. She rested her hands on his shoulders and leaned closer before whispering into his ear. "I need to drink something, be right back!"

She departed from Taehyung when he nodded his head, going over to the bar and calling over the bartender. "A glass of Soju, please," She told the bartender, who nodded and began to make her drinks.

The bartender went back to her with her glass of alcohol, Solar handed him the money but he just said, "No need. That guy over there paid for your drink."

Solar frowned in confusion at who would pay for her drink and she looked around the room. She spotted Jimin at the other side of the bar, holding his own glass as he smirked at her. Solar smiled when he winked at her once she caught his eye, shaking her head and taking a sip of the drink.

She stayed in her seat when she saw Jimin standing up from his seat and heading towards her. He sat on the empty space beside her and placed his hand on her knee.

"Thank you for the drink, Jiminie."

"Huh? What drink?" Jimin's face scrunched up in confusion and so did Solar's.

"What do you mean what drink? The one I'm drinking right now," She told him.

Jimin only shook his head, "I didn't pay for your drink, So-na. But it's nice to know that you think I did," He smirked and his hand went up her thigh.

Solar moved her head away from him and she stared at the drink with confusion written all over her face. If Jimin didn't buy the drink then who the hell did?!

"So-na, you okay?" He asked once he noticed she was zoning out.

The girl ignored him and lifted her head up, looking around the room again. It wasn't until when her eyes landed on a very familiar face that she felt her heart completely drop.

Am I hallucinating? There's no way what I'm seeing is real. It's the alcohol messing with your mind, Solar, snap out of it!

She blinked and when she looked back at where the figure was, her face dropped when the figure wasn't there anymore.

Was she really imagining it? Did she really imagine Druig in the same room as her? Did she really miss him that much that she's beginning to hallucinate about him?

No. There's no way.

He hasn't even bothered to come back to her in five centuries, why would he come to see her only now?

"So-na! Earth to So-na! Helloooo?"

"I need to get some air," was all she said before bolting out of the club and outside where she ran, scolding herself quietly as she walked in the direction of the same lake she fought the Deviant at.

While she was running, she didn't notice the tears escaping her eyes. Why am I crying? She quietly wiped them off and began to slow down when she reached the lake.

She didn't go to the bridge this time, instead, she stood at the edge of the lake. Solar crouched down on the rocky ground and sat there silently, staring at the water with an unreadable look on her face.

Solar slowly looked at the rocks on the ground and took one of them in her hands, playing with it for a while before she harshly threw it at the water, frustrated with herself.

"It's been five hundred years, let him go, Solar! He left you and never came back, why are you still waiting for him to come back, you stupid, idiotic girl..."

And so she sat there, scolding herself for what seemed like forever.

She couldn't take it anymore so she did what she wanted to do the whole day, scream her lungs out. Seeing as there was no one around, she took a deep breath and that's when a loud ear-killing scream was heard from the spot at the lake where this unstable girl is letting her emotions out.

Due to the insane amount of emotions she felt during her little screaming session, it seemed to be too much for her since she began to float a bit and the stars in the sky turned brighter if that were even possible but it looked as if they were about to blow up.

Tears kept going down her cheeks as she began to cry her heart out, landing back on the rocky ground on her knees and her hands on the ground to hold her up as her tears landed on the solid rocks.

Solar flinched when she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?" She recognized that voice. She turned around and wrapped her arms around the person, startling the person a bit but he eventually hugged her back and rubbed her back as she cried on his shoulder.

"Shh, it's okay," He whispered into her ear lovingly. "Stop crying, So-na baby. Everything's going to be fine, okay?"

She didn't respond and only clutched onto him tighter.

After a good five minutes of her letting out what she's been keeping for over 500 years and him quietly comforting her, Solar sniffled and pulled away.

Taehyung's heart broke to see her swollen red face, looking so tired from crying so much. "Oh, my baby! It's going to be okay." He reached for her face and wiped her tears off her cheeks slowly.

"Come on, let's go home," He wrapped his arm around her back and the other under her knees, picking her up bridal style and speed walking towards his dorm building while she only hid her face in his chest, sometimes sniffling and licking her lips.

It didn't take long for the two to reach his dorm, Taehyung opened the front door and went towards his room but not before closing the door. He opened his bedroom door, turning on the lights and carefully placing her on his bed.

Solar watched as Taehyung took his phone and sent a text to Jimin that he and Solar left early and that he brought her to their dorm.

After he was done, he placed his phone on his nightstand and went to his closet, he took one of his shirts and a pair of newly washed boxers and gave them to Solar. "Here. Change into these, I'll be back."

He left the room and Solar began to change into his way too oversized shirt on her and the boxers, neatly placing her clothes on the edge of the bed.

She lifted her head up when she heard the door open and Taehyung came in with a glass of water. He went over to her and told her to drink, and she obeyed, drinking the water until it was half-finished.

She didn't want to drink more, scared she might throw up from the over-consumption of liquids.

Taehyung took care of her that night, making sure to give her whatever she needed. He even slept beside her on the bed so she would have company and so she won't feel alone.

Seeing that it was the wrong time to ask her about what happened and what exactly he saw, he decided that he would ask her about it in the morning when she's back to normal.

━━━━━━━━━

          𝓢olar woke up with a pounding head and a slightly swollen face. She groaned and turned away from the bright light of the sun, cursing at the sun in her head. She shoved her face into the pillow when she smelled the scent of the pillow.

That definitely wasn't what her pillow smelled like.

But the scent was oddly familiar... What happened last night?

Slowly, the memories of the events of last night came back to her and she lifted her head up and looked to her left, and there he was. Kim Taehyung, sleeping like a baby beside her with his hair messy and a little bit of drool going down his chin.

Cute.

Wait! What the hell am I saying?

Solar rolled her eyes at herself and slowly sat up, careful not to wake Taehyung up. She quietly opened the bedroom door and went out, tiptoeing out. She closed the door very slowly, the anxiety filling her up.

She did it. She successfully escaped Taehyung's room without any noise.

A big smile graced her lips and she confidently turned around. Big mistake. A loud scream escaped Solar's lips when she was met with a tall male with his arms crossed over his chest, standing fairly close to her as he stared down at her terrified figure.

"Oh my fucking God! You can't just scare me like that, Ikaris!" She rubbed her forehead, her heart still beating rapidly from the scare. And then it hit her.

"IKARIS?!" She did a double-check and she swears she almost fainted.

Solar dramatically began to 'lose' balance and her body started to drop but Ikaris quickly caught her before she fell down and walked over to the living room, placing her on the couch where she magically regained her consciousness.

"Oh God, I'm hallucinating again," She whispered, staring at Ikaris who was literally sitting on the couch beside her.

A figure came into her view, "Oh hey, So-na. You're awake!"

"Hi, Jin..." She looked at him weirdly. Does he not see the random man sitting on his couch or is he blind? Is the old age finally getting to him?

"By the way, I let your friend in," He referred to Ikaris, who didn't understand a word Jin was saying since he had never bothered to learn Korean. "He said he was your friend from college so I let him in. Hope you don't mind. Anyways, I gotta go, bye!"

Solar's mouth hung open at Jin's words but he didn't notice since he had already left.

"Please tell me what he just said," Ikaris spoke up.

She hasn't heard his voice in five centuries, the last time they talked, it led to Solar threatening him to never contact her again and if she even saw him, she would end his life in a heartbeat.

Suddenly remembering their last encounter, she sat up and scowled angrily at him. "And why should I? You know it was a mistake to come here, right? Remember what I told you five centuries ago, I would ki-"

"Kill me when you see me, yeah, I remember," Ikaris cut her off and she rolled her eyes. "How many times have I told you that I was just protecting you. I really am sorry about what happened to you, Solar."

His apology seemed... genuine?

No, it's an illusion.

Speaking of illusion, did she actually see Druig last night in the club? Or...

"Hello, Solar." Another voice made the girl jump and place her hand on her heart, looking at Sprite and Sersi with wide eyes. Were they there the whole time?!

Sersi smiled at her, "Long time no see."

"Yeah..." Solar licked her dry lips and gulped, wondering why these three were here. "Why are you all here?"

Suddenly, all of their faces dropped and their expressions turned into sad ones. Oh, sad news.

"I'm sorry, Sol..." Ikaris spoke slowly. "Ajak's dead."

Ajak's dead. Ajak's dead. Ajak's dead.

Ajak is dead... dead.

Ajak, their leader, her leader, the woman who acted as her mother, the woman who helped her get together with the love of her life, is no longer living.

Solar rested her elbows on her thighs as she played with her fingers, staring at the coffee table infront of her blankly.

The other three glanced at eachother before looking back at the girl grieving her friend in her own way. Sersi placed her hand on Solar's shoulder, telling her that she was there if Solar ever needed help.

Solar zoned out again, going back into her fantasy world of memories from the past she desperately wanted to forget.

━━━━   ＦＬＡＳＨＢＡＣＫ.
◤ ４５００  ＢＣ， ＧＲＥＥＣＥ.

          "𝓨ou need to open up to them more, Solar," Ajak told the girl softly and sat beside her on her bed. "One day you're going to regret not getting to know any of us. It's better if you do something about it now before it's too late."

"But I don't like any of them, Ajak. No offense," Solar responded, biting her lip as she began to think about what Ajak said.

Ajak only chuckled and placed her hand on Solar's back in a motherly manner. "Are you sure about that?"

Solar looked up and saw Ajak with an eyebrow raised and a certain expression that Solar didn't particularly like. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, come on, Solar! You think we don't notice your little moments with Druig?"

The girl groaned at the mention of Druig. Everyone was talking to her about her 'thing' with Druig the whole week and she was tired of it.

"There you go again with the Druig thing!" She complained. "For the last time, I don't like him! He... he's really annoying and sometimes I just really want to murder him like how I do with the Deviants!" She ranted, randomly getting frustrated while talking about Druig.

Ajak pressed her lips together and gave Solar that look. "Yeah... it definitely doesn't sound like you're in love with him."

"I am not!"

"It's bad to lie, Solar," Ajak told her teasingly. "It's even worse to lie to yourself."

Solar gave Ajak a desperate look, finally giving in.

"I don't know what to do, Ajak... I mean, I don't think I hate him but at the same time, I don't love him," Solar explained and Ajak listened to her every word, keeping an eye on the way she talked and her actions. "It's just so bothering how everyone, especially Ikaris, keeps teasing me about it. And what's even worse is that Druig plays along with it. Please help me, I don't know what to do."

Ajak stared at Solar for a moment before she took the girl's hands in hers, giving them a squeeze.

"I can only give you one piece of advice, Solar. Listen to your heart, not your head or Ikaris. Because the more you deny it, the more it's harder to resist."

Does she like Druig?

Does Druig even like her back?

So many thoughts were flooding her brain and it was beginning to make her sick.

"How do I even know that he likes me back?" Solar asked lowly, almost as if she was embarrassed to ask such question.

"Oh, he definitely likes you back."

"How do you know?"

"Have you seen the way he looks at you?" Solar shook her head, making Ajak widen her eyes in surprise. "Solar, I'm even convinced that he's in love with you! I mean, who wouldn't fall for an amazing and beautiful girl like you?"

Solar became shy at Ajak's statement, she didn't favor hearing compliments from people, it made her nervous because she didn't know how to respond to them.

Was she supposed to say thank you? Was she supposed to compliment them back? So stressful.

"You're so blind when it comes to love, Solar. Actually, the two of you are."

Solar's head snapped up in interest when Ajak mentioned that Druig was blind when it came to love. "What do you mean?"

"Every time we ask Druig about his feelings about you, he either just ignores us or denies it. All the time," Ajak laughed and Solar frowned slightly.

That doesn't really help when she already has doubts that he might not like her back.

Ajak caught up on her frown and squeezed her hands again, making Solar snap her attention back to her. The woman who acted as a mother to Solar gave her a soft look as she rubbed Solar's hand with her thumb.

"We were sent on this planet with a mission, but it doesn't mean that you aren't allowed to fall in love along the way. You may not know this but in your previous life, you and Druig might've also been lovers. Did you know that couples that deny their feelings for eachother are most likely to get together?"

Solar nodded slowly before something struck her in the chest when she thought of the man she might be falling for.

Was she actually in love with Druig?

"...Did you make up the couple who deny their feelings are most likely to get together thing just now?"

"I might've."

Solar giggled and Ajak smiled softly at the sound of her laugh. They had been together for 500 years now and it was rare if you heard Solar laugh. It was mostly Kingo and Phastos that made her laugh, but knowing that she was the reason Solar let out a laugh, Ajak was overjoyed.

Ajak removed her hands from Solar's and wrapped her arms around the girl in a hug. She kissed the side of Solar's head and left the room but not before whispering one last thing to her.

"Soulmates exist in this world. You've already found yours so don't lose them."

ＥＮＤ  ＯＦ  ＦＬＡＳＨＢＡＣＫ ━━━━

          "𝓗ow did she die?" Solar's voice startled all of them since she hasn't spoken a word in a whole three minutes.

"It was a Deviant," Ikaris answered her. "They're-"

"Back? Yeah, I know."

Sersi looked at her questionably, "Have you fought one?"

"Last night," She nodded.

"You fought what last night?!"

All of their heads snapped to the entrance of the room where Taehyung was leaning against the wall with wide eyes.

Solar stood up and faced him, "How much of that did you hear?"

"Everything," Taehyung replied, making Solar sigh. "I also saw something last night by the lake," He confessed, making the girl raise her eyebrows.

"Spill, Tae."

Taehyung hesitated but ended up blurting out everything he's been keeping since last night, "When I ran after you to check up on your last night, I saw you floating and when you screamed, I noticed the stars looked like they were about to burst. And then now, I think you said that you fought something last night. Also, what the hell is a Deviant? Is it a type of animal or something?"

By the end of his confession, Solar was already trying to come up with ways to somehow wipe Taehyung's memory, but she knew she couldn't because she didn't have that power. Sadly.

Sersi stood up and stood beside Solar, looking at Taehyung who was nervously scratching the back of his neck.

"Who's this?"

Taehyung only now passed his attention to the other three people in the room and he narrowed his eyes at them in suspicion. "Who are you?"

The three gave Solar the same look and she translated for them, "He's asking who you are. Tae, these are my friends... from college."

"College?" Taehyung repeated in confusion.

He knew his friend was older than him but now to think of it, he's never asked her about her past but he believed what she said and gave her 'friends from college' a polite smile.

"Hi! I'm Sersi, it's nice to meet you," The female Eternal smiled back at Taehyung, not seeing the three shocked looks from her friends as they didn't know that she could speak Korean.

"You know Korean?!" Ikaris, Solar, and Sprite asked her at the same time, making Sersi chuckle.

"Of course, I do," She said and then pointed at Solar. "Solar used to teach me back then, remember?"

All three of them nodded in sync while spluttering out sounds of remembrance, awe, and surprise.

"Who's Solar?" Taehyung asked, looking at Sersi in confusion.

Solar and Sersi shared a glance and the Eternal of the Stars and Planets walked over to the K-pop Idol. "Tae, we need to talk."

Solar dragged Taehyung to his room and sat him down on the bed, and then she explained everything to him. How they arrived on Earth in 5000 BC to protect humankind from the Deviants, how she's been alive for seven thousand years, how she's an Eternal and that she actually has powers, how her real name is Solar and not Park So-na, everything.

"That's the truth," Solar clapped her hands together and connected them infront of her, scared of what Taehyung's reaction would be. Right now, his expression doesn't really say anything clearly.

Is he mad that she didn't tell him? Is he sad? Is he confused? Is he going to tell everyone her secret? Does he even believe her?

"That..." Taehyung started excruciatingly slow, making it harder for Solar to calm down. She was surprised to witness Taehyung put on a grin as he finished his sentence, "is so fucking cool, So-na! Oh wait, Solar— wait, what do you want to be called?"

"It's whatever you want to call me," She laughed, relieved of his positive reaction.

"You know, I actually like Solar better," He admitted and Solar nodded, agreeing with him.

Taehyung stood up excitedly and began to bomb her with questions.

"So you've been around for seven thousand years, did you invent Korean? Were you the founder of Korea? Oh my God, don't tell me you also started the whole K-pop thing, I know you're a great singer. Oh! And are those people in the living room also Eternals? If I'm being honest, the girl who talked to me in Korean was kinda pretty..."

"Don't even try, Sersi's taken."

"Aww," Taehyung pouted in disappointment.

Then the door suddenly opened and Sprite stood at the other side of the door, "Come on, are you done? We don't have all day, we still need to fly to Mumbai to meet up with Kingo."

Taehyung furrowed his eyebrows as he caught up on one word Sprite said, Kingo. He recognized that name but he just didn't know where.

Solar nodded at Sprite and turned to Taehyung, grabbing his shoulders. "I need to leave, Tae. If the others ask where I am, tell them I went on a trip with my college friends."

"I've got your back, Noona!"

The girl hugged him one last time before the two of them exited his bedroom and met up with the other three Eternals.

Ikaris, Sersi, and Sprite already began to walk towards the front door while Solar was busy handling Taehyung who suddenly kept clinging to her.

"Tae, please let go of me. I need to leave."

"But I don't want you to!" He whined, earning a groan from the Eternal. "Can't I leave with you? I'm sure my hyungs would be okay with it if they knew why."

"Absolutely not."

It took a while but Solar was finally able to convince Taehyung to leave her alone.

She exited the dorm and saw Ikaris leaning against the wall, waiting for her. Once he noticed that she was there, he stood up straight and stepped towards her. "Finally got your Korean boy to let you go?"

"He's just a friend, Ikaris."

"Either way, I'm sure he wouldn't like your new boy, whatever his name is."

Solar glared at him, "His name is Taehyung and why should I care what he thinks? It's not like he's my boyfriend or anything."

"No, but you two were madly in love," Ikaris reminded, making Solar's blood boil. "Or did you also try to forget about that like how you forgot about all of us?"

"I didn't forget about you," She defended, pointing a finger at Ikaris.

Ikaris put her hand down, "Then why didn't you visit any of us in five centuries, then?"

"Maybe I wanted to start a new life, Ikaris! It's not easy to keep on living when the love of your life literally walked out on you, and the fact that I'm standing over here so calm while the person who was the reason why I was abandoned is standing right infront of me! So don't you dare say that it was wrong of me to finally put myself first!"

Without another word, she walked past him and stormed out of the building, leaving Ikaris to take in her outburst.

◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤
word count: 4138

© -𝙶𝙾𝙳𝙳𝙴𝚂𝚂𝙾𝙵𝙻𝙾𝚅𝙴, 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟸