* so you're one of the lucky ones who didn't have an obvious soul bond

* until a few weeks ago a small tattoo appeared on the nape of your neck

* it was shaped something like a small white lily and traced with gold

* and you immediately googled that of course

* apparently it meant you would be finding your soulmate very soon indeed

* so you kinda chilled and didn't panic

* when he comes, he'll come, if you're meant to find each other

* one night you went to bed feeling wobbly and weird all over

* and you woke up in the top bunk of an unfamiliar room with a very tall Asian boy poking your nose repeatedly

* "Myungho," he whispered, and then proceeded to tell you something in a language you didn't understand

* you blinked at him in confusion, lifting a hand to rub your eyes

* "huh?" you groaned, and the voice that came out was not your own

* and if you were not mistaken you were staring at Kim Mingyu of Seventeen

* "Mingyu?" you asked, squinting

* he sighed, repeating himself more insistently and adding a long string of incomprehensible words at the end

* the door crashed open and another boy entered, glaringly devoid of any clothes other than underpants

* he swung himself into your bed, tickling your sides and nuzzling you affectionately

* yelling the whole time in something that sounded distinctly like Chinese and revealing himself to be none other than Jun

* you shrieked right back, trying to wrestle him off

* Mingyu started yelling at Jun, pointing at the door

* the Chinese boy grabbed you around the waist and shook his head, whining in Korean with an exaggerated pout

* it took some coaxing but he left eventually, leaving you with Mingyu

* who said something exasperatedly and then directed another statement at you before peeling his pyjama shirt off and digging in a drawer for a proper shirt

* from what you  could gather it was time to get up

* so you did and almost screamed again

* Mingyu looked over at you with a concerned expression but you waved him off and made a quick break for it

* luckily you found a bathroom within seconds and managed to lock yourself in there

* you staggered to the mirror and stared

* a long, light tan face with a long and wide nose, full lips, and dark almond-shaped eyes stared back at you, topped with soft brown hair cut in a mullet

* you lifted a hand to touch your face, and the mirror person lifted a long hand with slim, beautiful fingers

* you fiddled with the earrings piercing various spots on the almost elflike ears, and toyed with your hair in curiosity

* you were in the body of Xu Minghao of Seventeen

* your long-time bias

* someone banged on the door, hollering in Korean, and you jumped

* a good bit higher than you intended to, actually, and landed lightly despite your shock

* you eased the door open and dodged the person waiting on the other side, scampering down the hall and hoping against hope you could find one of the members who spoke English

* you skidded into what looked like a living room of sorts and found five of the other boys in various positions

* Joshua and Wonwoo eating ramen on the couch, Jihoon slumped over a mug of coffee, and Seungcheol and Soonyoung leaning against each other, clearly trying not to fall asleep

* Seungcheol looked at you with concerned, huge droopy eyes and asked something

* you shook your head wordlessly, not understanding

* "Myungho?" Joshua asked, sitting straighter, and observed you for a few seconds before speaking again

* and you could have cried with relief at his question

* "are you all right?" he asked quietly in english

* you broke down, tears streaming down your face as you half screamed

* "I woke up in the freaking Seventeen dorm, this isn't my body, I can't speak your language at all, and — oh no, this is my soul bond, I've switched bodies and I'm on my period oh crap oh crap —"

* "slow down," Joshua soothed, coming over to rub your back. "What's your name?"

* you choked it out, and Joshua nodded

* "all right, calm down," he murmured, rubbing your back. "We'll get you through this, okay? Just trust us."

* meanwhile back at your house

* U T T E R  P A N I C

* Minghao did not know how to deal with the fact that his soulmate is on her period

* why does it hurt so much? is this normal? is this what girls go through every month? girls are terrifying! they do this every month and no one knows!

* this has been a brief look into Xu Minghao's mind

* he eventually calmed down enough to go hunting for stuff to deal with it in your bathroom and figure out how to use it

* he came staggering out of the bathroom, clumsy in your body and in pain

* he managed to process your mom's questions despite the language barrier, and soon found himself on the couch with a heating pad tucked against his stomach and a large mug of tea in his hands

* as she left he cleared his throat for your mom's attention

* "I..." he stammered, "I'm not... your daughter... I'm her soulmate, we switched bodies."

* your mom nodded thoughtfully

* "I figured," she said with a small  laugh. "One of my friends had that exact same soul bond in high school — don't worry, it'll work out somehow."

* you two clumsily made your way through the day as each other

* the members trying to teach you some Korean

* and your mom making sure Minghao was okay lol

* and when you two woke up you were in your own bodies and all was well

* except not

* you found that you would switch bodies at more or less random points

* and for random lengths of time

* one time you were stuck in Minghao's body for a solid week

* and another you were only there for about ten minutes

* Minghao got pretty close with your family

* and you got to know the members fairly well too

* since he was so busy it fell to you to get yourself to him

* in the meantime, however, you found yourself leaving video logs of your time in his body so he could start to get to know you

* you filmed them with his phone and when you switched back he could end the video and watch as you goofed off

* he didn't do anything like that, but he started exercising in your body — reteaching himself how to breakdance, running, dancing, all sorts of crazy things

* he also filled your body with as much healthy food as he could stand to balance out the sudden new exercise habits

* it was three weeks before you made it to Korea

* one of which was spent in his body so that pushed it back considerably

* but you finally made it onto your plane and into the air

* Minghao and you had swapped recently and he'd gotten curious about the suitcases on your bedroom floor, but no one would tell him why they were there

* you didn't swap on the plane or in the airport

* but as you were making your way to their practice room after dropping your bags at your hotel and verifying your tattoo with the staff, you suddenly switched

* you found yourself spectating a very intense game of hacky sack

* but you had to laugh when your cry of surprise made Soonyoung stumble on one foot and fall on his butt

* Minghao was standing out in the middle of the hallway feeling absolutely befuddled until he recognised where he was and broke into a sprint toward the practice room

* he banged the door open and you two switched back into your proper bodies

* Minghao stumbled from the sudden switch, but despite his dizziness decided to plow Jun aside as he ran to you and caught you around the waist

* he brushed your hair aside, eyes searching your whole body, learning what it was like when he wasn't seeing from your perspective

* you stared up at him, out of breath, and not from the run he'd forced you into

* you had been a Carat for a long time, and of course you knew how gorgeous Minghao was, but seeing him in person was a whole new experience

* he smiled so lovingly and ran the back of his fingers down your cheek

* "hello, soulmate," he murmured, quiet enough that only you could hear, his sweet accent making you melt

* "hey there," you replied, smiling back

* suddenly you were seeing everything he had experienced — his childhood, teen years, training and debut, the first time he switched with you, everything

* you could speak his languages because you'd learned them with him, you knew everything about him

*and you knew how much you loved him already

* Minghao turned to the members, holding your hand like the most natural thing in the world

* and for him it was, because he'd seen your life too

* "guys... this is y/n, my soulmate," he declared, looking at you admiringly

* cue the Screams of Celebration and Seventeen swarming you both

* "that's over half of us!" Seungcheol cheered, pounding Minghao's back in congratulation

* Jun squeezed between you two to sling his arms around your shoulders, grinning

* he murmured something you couldn't hear to Minghao and petted your head with a smile

* Minghao blushed, slamming his elbow into Jun's gut and slipping his arm around your waist

* "get ready to deal with this for the rest of your life," he murmured

* you smiled, putting your arm around his waist as well. "I'm already used to it."

_________________

at last, the long-awaited xD I had so much fun writing this — particularly the first scene with Jun haha,,, also like,, I just love Minghao so much, so this was a real treat to write.

how was it? did it meet your expectations?

thank you so much — his book hit 50k reads recently, and well over 2k votes. Thank you so, so much!!!