"Everyone up!!" Chan yelled through the quiet sleeping apartment. Alarms could then be heard going off in different rooms.
Minho groaned as he pulled Bada closer to him as he woke up.
"The sun isn't even up yet." Bada said, muffled by the duvet that was pulled up over their heads. Minho chuckled as he kissed her shoulder and turned his alarm off on his phone.
"Schedules for the first time in three months. This'll be fun." Minho said stretching. He pulled himself out of bed and stretched again.
"I don't think I'm gonna like being away from you all day." Bada said. The bond between them caused them to also feel certain emotions from the other when they were apart.
"Me either, but we'll make it work." He smiled at her as he went to his bathroom and turned on the shower.
Bada let herself get swallowed back up by the blankets as Minho got ready to go. They had to learn to not always be with each other. This was the next step. If they were never apart, if their souls were always together, it would be insanely difficult for them to be separated. So now they had their time, now it was time to learn to be alone.
Bada felt sick, just anticipating the separation was making her feel physically sick. Her stomach was upset, tears already starting to fill her eyes. She took a deep breath and let it out, desperately trying not to cry.
Minho came out of the bathroom and changed for his day, he felt off. He already felt a little pain in his chest. Reminiscent of the pain he felt before he found out she was his mate.
He heard a small sniffle from the mound of blankets on his bed and walked over to her. He sat of the edge of the bed and she poked her head out to see him. "It's going to be fine." He said wiping the tear off of her cheek.
"I know." She answered as she sniffed again, "I just feel like crap."
"I know. I don't like it either, but we have to." He said as she sat up and wrapped her arms around his waist and put her head in his lap. "Don't leave me." She begged, more tears falling down her cheeks.
"I have to, baby. You know that." He said rubbing her back as she cried. Just then, Chan knocked on the door and stuck his head in.
"We gotta go in about five minutes." He said quietly, knowing today was going to be hard for them. "What's wrong, Bada?" He said coming further into the room.
"She doesn't want me to leave." Minho said. Chan sat down on the opposite side of the bed.
"I don't want anyone to leave! I don't wanna be alone today!" She said sitting up and crying harder.
"We have to learn to do this. You know that." Minho said leaning over and wiping more tears off her face. He pulled her in for a hug and Chan leaned in and ruffled her hair.
"It'll be ok. We'll all keep an eye on Minho and make sure he's ok. I promise." Chan swore.
"I'll call you whenever I get a break today. I have Music Core later, I'll call you before we start filming." He said pushing a stray bit of hair behind her ear.
"We'll take care of her, Minho." Chan said reassuring him. The taping of Music Core was going to run late and the others would be home a few hours before him.
Once Bada calmed down slightly, the boys took their bags and left for the day. Bada sat on the couch in the empty dorm for the first time. The eerie silence was heavy. It made her feel even more uneasy. She could feel Minho's apprehension through their bond, and it wasn't making her feel any better.
She drank her mug of warm blood, sitting at the kitchen island, alone. Scrolling on her phone through her brand new social medias. Minho had bought her a phone so he could call her and talk to her while he was away. Hoping to make the separation more bearable.
The emptiness wasn't just the dorm itself, she felt empty too. She really wished she was being dramatic, but she wasn't. She had spent the most amazing month with him. Especially the last week where they finally got time to be alone. Just enjoying being near each other.
She put her mug in the sink and went back to Minho's room. She snuggled back down under the blankets and laid on her back. She looked around the room from her place in bed before grabbing her phone again and scrolling more on TikTok. Watching funny videos of them all, especially Minho, hoping it would fill the void just the tiniest bit.
***
"How ya doin?" Changbin asked clapping his hand onto Minho's back.
"I'm ok" he mumbled taking a long drink of water and walking away. He was far from okay. His chest hurt, the burning pain wasn't getting better. Even the mark on his right arm was burning. Their souls were NOT liking this, not one bit.
He walked back to the front of the practice room as they started the routine again. He kept an eye on them all as they progressed through the choreography. "Seungmin!" He yelled taking off his cap and running his fingers through his hair before putting it back on.
"What! You said left hand first!" Seungmin threw back.
"He said right hand first, Seungmin." Hyunjin clarified.
"Oh" he said as they all went back to their places and started again.
Minho's patience was wearing thin. Feeling that Bada was crying made him want to collapse. He wanted to fall to the floor and give up. He wanted to go home and hold her and make her feel better. After they finished the song, with a mediocre grasp of the choreography, he walked away from them all and left the room.
He slid down the wall just outside the practice room and hung his head against his knees. This was so much harder than he thought it was going to be. It had only been a few hours and he was ready to give up. He was doing kind of ok...until she started crying. That's what was making him want to give up.
"You ok?" Jisung asked coming out and sitting down next to him.
"No" Minho answered not looking up. "Far from ok."
"Is she ok?" Jisung asked quietly.
"She's crying and it's making me wanna punch someone." Minho mumbled. It was, he wanted to just act out and punch whoever made her cry, except that it was him. Him not being there is what is making her cry, and he can't really punch himself.
"It'll get easier, hyung" Jisung said rubbing Minho's back. He knew Jisung was right, but god, it didn't feel like that right now.
***
After letting herself try to cry it out, Bada had fallen asleep for a couple hours. She felt that Minho was struggling. So she decided she'd try to leave the dorm and head to a convenience store for snacks to cheer herself up. Maybe it would cheer Minho up a bit too.
She pulled on her new favorite jeans with ripped holes in the knees and one of Minho's shirts. She didn't wanna wash her hair, so she threw on a hat.
The store was just down the street so she arrived not even five minutes later. She strolled slowly through the aisles and picked up a couple bags of chips, some ramen, a strawberry chocolate cake in a can, some peppero, a tea, and a bottle of synthetic blood. She went to the register only to have the employee look at her like she was crazy.
"Bad breakup?" The employee asked popping the gum in her mouth.
"Oh yeah, super bad" Bada replied. She definitely wasn't going to tell her the incredibly complicated truth.
