Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Katseye had one day off after months of nonstop rehearsals and preparations for their comeback. Naturally, they decided to celebrate by dragging each other out to a tiny magic shop Manon found through a sketchy TikTok ad.

"It's real, I swear," Manon had said with that innocent smile that usually meant someone was about to die or, at minimum, end up bald.

Megan bounced inside first, nearly tripping over the threshold. "Whoa! It smells like...mystery."

"It smells like mold," Lara corrected, wrinkling her nose. "And bankruptcy."

Yoonchae silently pointed to a cobweb in the corner, unimpressed.

Sophia clapped her hands like an overenthusiastic tour guide. "Alright, kids, stay together! Don't touch anything unless you want to wake up as a goat."

"You can't turn into a goat from spells," Daniela said, rolling her eyes, her dark brown curls bouncing with the motion. She was so pretty when she got all stubborn, Megan thought distantly.

Still, just in case, Megan grabbed Daniela's hand.

It was a totally normal thing. Best friends did that all the time, especially when they were definitely not thinking about how soft the other's skin felt or how her fingers fit perfectly between hers.

Totally normal. Totally fine.

Meanwhile, Manon had wandered over to a rack labeled "DIY SPELL KITS - 75% OFF."

"Ohhh, we should get something," she said thoughtfully. "Like...a luck spell. Or maybe one for protection!"

Sophia squinted at a neon pink packet. "'Love spell for chaotic soulmates.'" She snorted. "Sounds like Megan."

"HEY."

"I mean, she's not wrong," Daniela said, grinning, and Megan's heart did a stupid little flip.

Then Lara chimed in: "Megan and Dani could both use one. God knows they're hopeless."

"Excuse me?" Megan turned around so fast she knocked over a display of fake crystal balls. "I am perfectly capable of love! I am—!"

She stopped.

Because right there, sitting in the middle of the toppled stand, was a weird, glittering jar labeled: SOULBOND: JUST ADD DUMBASS.

Everyone stared at it.

Sophia wheezed. "Well. If that's not a sign."

"I dare you two to do it," Lara said immediately, because of course she did. "C'mon. What's the worst that could happen?"

Megan looked at Daniela. Daniela looked at Megan.

And because they were both idiots—and because neither of them could handle losing a dare—they both said:
"Fine."

⸻

The instructions were simple.

Shake the jar.

Say the spell.

Think about your "desired soulmate."

Done.

Except Megan and Daniela, being Megan and Daniela, managed to mess up the very first step.

"You're shaking it too hard!" Daniela scolded, trying to grab the jar from Megan.

"I'm not, you're just weak!" Megan argued, yanking it back.

The jar slipped.

Cracked open.

And glittery, pink mist exploded into the air, coating both of them from head to toe.

"Uh..." Sophia said eloquently.

The mist crackled. A weird humming filled the room.

Megan blinked.

Daniela blinked.

And then—

ZAP!

A pink string, thin but glowing like a neon sign, suddenly shot out of Megan's chest, winding through the air—and hit Daniela squarely in the sternum.

They were connected.

By a literal love string.

In front of their entire group.

Dead silence.

Then Lara broke into hysterical laughter. "I CAN'T! THEY'RE LITERALLY TIED TOGETHER. THIS IS BETTER THAN TV!"

Manon wiped tears from her eyes. "You're not just dumbasses. You're magical dumbasses."

"Oh this is gonna be so good." Sophia marveled with glee.

Yoonchae just said: "Tragic."

⸻

Twenty minutes later, Megan and Daniela sat cross-legged in their shared dorm room, a full-on emergency meeting happening around them.

The pink string between them glowed faintly, like it enjoyed their suffering.

"I'm googling it!" Sophia announced, typing furiously on her phone. "How to break a love spell. First hit says we need holy water and a live chicken."

"No," Manon said immediately.

"Yoonchae, can you buy a chicken?" Sophia asked sweetly.

Yoonchae, without missing a beat, answered, "No chicken. Only suffering."

Daniela groaned and buried her face in her hands. "This can't be happening. I have schedules, rehearsals, plans!"

Megan, meanwhile, was trying really hard not to stare at the way Dani's curls tumbled over her hands or how her shoulders shook slightly with stress. Instead, she focused on the string.
Focused very hard.

Nothing happened.

"Maybe if we, like...run in opposite directions?" Megan suggested, trying to lighten the mood. "Like, test how far the string goes?"

Lara perked up. "Yeah, yeah! You can be like two cows on a leash!"

Sophia wheezed again.

Megan got up and started walking backwards toward the bathroom, while Daniela shuffled toward the balcony door.

At about three meters apart, the string yanked them both forward like rubber bands.

Megan stumbled—and landed squarely on top of Daniela, her face buried against her neck.

Soft.

Warm.

Daniela smelled like lavender.

And Megan? Megan almost died.

"GET OFF ME," Daniela squeaked, cheeks redder than a tomato.

"I'M TRYING!" Megan squeaked back, but the string pulled her even closer.

Manon, ever helpful, took a photo. "For memories," she said serenely.

⸻

That night, Megan was in her bed and Daniela lay in Lara's, the string stretched between them like some kind of cosmic joke.

The string wouldn't allow them to sleep in their respected rooms. They found this out when Daniela was about the flop onto her own bed but the string yanked her back and started dragging her towards Megan.

So Dani was forced to resort to Lara's bed.

Now both girls were staring at the ceiling.

And both very, very awake.

"You okay?" Daniela whispered.

"Yeah," Megan said. She hesitated. "Are you?"

A pause.

Then: "Not really."

Megan turned her head slightly to look at her. Daniela was already staring at her, wide-eyed and vulnerable.

"You're not, like...grossed out by this?" Daniela asked quietly. "By...me?"

Megan's heart cracked a little.

"Grossed out?" she repeated. "Dani. No. Never."

Dani smiled, small and real, and Megan wanted to kiss it off her face so badly.

Instead, she said: "We'll figure it out tomorrow. Break the spell. Go back to normal."

"Right," Daniela said. "Normal."

Neither of them sounded convincing.

And neither of them could deny that, under all the chaos and disaster and glitter, something about this—this pull, this bond—felt way too right to be fake.

Way too real to be a mistake.

⸻

Meanwhile, across the hallway, Sophia, Lara, Manon, and Yoonchae were gathered in a secret emergency meeting of their own.

"We have got to make sure they don't break it," Sophia whispered fiercely. "They're perfect for each other!"

Lara nodded. "Yeah. And also, this is way funnier."

Yoonchae looked up from her phone. "Megan heart Dani. Obvious."

Manon sipped her tea, smiling like a cat with a canary. "It's going to be a long week."

"And a romantic one," Sophia added with a giggle.

Lara cracked her knuckles. "Let's help fate a little, shall we?"

Yoonchae smirked. "Operation 'Lovebirds'?"

"Operation 'Lovebirds'," they all agreed.

Plans were made.

Disaster loomed.

And in the dorm room next door, Megan and Daniela drifted to sleep with a glowing pink thread still humming softly between them.

Chapter Text

The next morning, Megan woke up to the deeply unsettling feeling of being watched.

She cracked one eye open—and immediately flinched back.

Daniela was this close to her face, staring at her like she was trying to solve a math problem using sheer willpower.

"GAH!" Megan yelped, jerking backward. Which, of course, only made the pink string tighten and yoink them even closer.

Their foreheads bumped together with an audible thunk.

"Ow!" they both whined.

Daniela sat back, rubbing her head. "Sorry! I was trying to see if the string got any thinner while we slept!"

"It didn't!" Megan snapped, face burning. "It's still very much THERE. Thanks for the traumatic wake-up call!"

Daniela huffed. "Well, excuse me for trying to solve our life-ruining crisis!"

They glared at each other.

The string between them pulsed slightly.

And Megan had the terrible, horrible, no-good thought:
Wow, she's really cute when she's mad.

She shook her head violently. No. Focus. BREAK THE SPELL FIRST. THEN fall apart over how pretty she is.

⸻

After a hasty breakfast (during which Megan and Daniela had to sit ridiculously close because the string would NOT allow otherwise), the full Katseye Disaster Squad assembled in the living room.

Sophia clapped her hands, looking far too excited. "Okay! Welcome to Operation Breakup!"

"Don't call it that," Megan grumbled.

Manon pulled out a whiteboard she had somehow acquired.

"We have three options:"
- Cut the string.
- Cast a counter-spell.
- Go to the original magic shop and beg for mercy.

"Plan A!" Lara said brightly. "Scissors!"

"NO," Daniela and Megan shouted together, horrified.

"What if it cuts...like...our souls?" Megan whispered dramatically.

Lara shrugged. "Eh. Worth the risk."

"NO!"

Sophia, who was suddenly wearing safety goggles, brandished a pair of kitchen scissors. "Hold still, children."

"NO!!!" Daniela screamed, shielding Megan with her body.

"Romantic," Manon commented.

Even Yoonchae looked mildly entertained, which for her was basically a standing ovation.

Sophia relented with a sigh. "Fine. Plan B. Counter-spell."

They all turned to Yoonchae expectantly.

"Why me?" Yoonchae asked flatly.

"You're the mysterious one!" Sophia said. "You have cool vibes! You probably know secret spells!"

Yoonchae thought for a moment, then pulled out her phone. "I will Google."

"...Fair."

After several minutes of intense research (and by "intense" Megan meant Sophia shouting random keywords like "love disaster fix help!"), they landed on a counter-spell.

It required:
- Candles (easy)
- Salt (also easy)
- Chanting in unison (problematic)

And, crucially:

The subjects must "renounce their feelings of love."

Megan and Daniela froze.

"Oh," Daniela said faintly. "That's..."

"...Fine!" Megan said way too loudly. "Easy! No feelings here! Totally renouncing!"

Daniela nodded furiously. "Yeah! No feelings at all! I definitely don't..." She trailed off, flushing.

Everyone noticed.

Especially Lara, who whispered to Sophia, "They're so bad at lying it's almost cute."

Sophia wiped a fake tear away. "My dumb children."

⸻

The setup was dramatic as hell.

Candles everywhere. Salt circles. Lara chanting ominously.

Megan and Daniela stood awkwardly in the middle, still tied together by the stubborn pink thread.

"Okay!" Sophia said, reading from the phone. "Now you have to look into each other's eyes and say: 'I release you from all affection.'"

Daniela's eyes widened in horror.
Megan swallowed hard.

They turned to face each other.

The room blurred away.

For a moment, it was just them.

Megan's heart pounded. Daniela looked so nervous, biting her lip, her hands twitching slightly at her sides. Megan's hands twitched too, because every instinct was screaming to hold her instead of release her.

"Okay," Megan said weakly. "Here goes."

She looked straight into Daniela's eyes—and forgot every single word.

"You gonna say it or propose marriage?" Lara called.

Megan flushed. "SHUT UP!"

Daniela squeezed her eyes shut. "Okay. I'll go first!"

She opened her mouth—and squeaked, "I—I r-release you from all...affection?"

It came out like a question.

The string glowed brighter.

Nothing happened.

Megan tried. She really, really tried.

"I release you from..." she started, staring at Dani's soft, trembling smile.
Her beautiful, perfect smile.
"...From...uh. Affection."

The string sparkled.

Everyone held their breath.

And then—

BZZT!

The pink string pulsed once—and then yanked them forward AGAIN.

CRASH.

Megan landed on top of Daniela for the second time in twenty-four hours.

Daniela squealed.

Megan's nose bumped against Daniela's.

They froze.

Both of them breathing hard, noses brushing, lips dangerously close.

From somewhere behind them, Sophia shrieked, "KISS! KISS! KISS!"

Megan scrambled off, mortified, cheeks on fire.

Daniela scrambled the opposite way, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like "oh my god, kill me now."

Manon, observing serenely, said, "Interesting. The spell resisted the renunciation."

Yoonchae nodded wisely. "They like each other too much."

Megan and Daniela stared at each other, wide-eyed and stunned.

Neither of them dared say anything.

But the truth buzzed between them, louder than the string itself.

⸻

By the end of the day, after many, many more failed attempts (including one that involved Manon sprinkling salt on them like seasoning and Lara accidentally setting the carpet on fire), it became clear:

The spell wasn't going anywhere.

And maybe...

Maybe they didn't want it to.

⸻

Later, as the others slept, Megan lay in bed again, staring at the faint pink glow between her and Daniela.

Daniela whispered, so soft Megan almost missed it: "Meg?"

"Yeah?"

Daniela hesitated. Then, in a small voice: "Do you...regret it?"

Megan's heart ached.

Slowly, she whispered back, "No."

A long silence.

Then Daniela said, "Me neither."

The string pulsed once, warmly, like it was alive.

And Megan smiled in the darkness.

Chapter Text

The next morning, Megan woke up to suspicious whispering.

She sat up blearily, rubbing her eyes—and immediately caught Sophia, Lara, Manon, and Yoonchae huddled together in the corner like a gang of tiny criminal masterminds.

She blinked. "Uh. What's happening?"

"Nothing!" Sophia chirped way too fast.

Megan squinted at them. Daniela groaned into her pillow without even looking up. "If they say 'nothing,' it's something."

Correct.

Because the rest of Katseye—bless their evil, meddling hearts—had decided that since Megan and Daniela couldn't admit their obvious mutual pining, it was time for "Operation Forced Confessions."

It was time...
for schemes.

⸻

Step One: Fake Quest.

"Good news!" Sophia announced at breakfast. "We found a way to break the spell!"

Megan nearly dropped her cereal bowl. "Seriously?!"

Daniela perked up instantly. "What is it? What do we have to do?"

Manon smiled sweetly. "A series of trials."

Megan and Dani exchanged a glance.

"...Trials?" Megan repeated slowly.

"Yep!" Lara said, tossing a grape in her mouth. "Classic magic stuff. Super legit."

Yoonchae, deadpan: "Very professional. Very real."

Megan frowned. "What kind of trials?"

Sophia whipped out a handwritten scroll (on the back of a pizza menu) and unrolled it with dramatic flair. "BEHOLD! The Trials of Soul Unbinding!"

Daniela muttered, "Why does that sound like a bad theme park ride?"

Megan, being Megan, was already too excited to back out. "Let's do it!"

Daniela sighed but smiled in that soft, fond way that made Megan's chest hurt. "Fine. Let's get this over with."

⸻

Trial 1: The Trust Walk.

Blindfolded.

Still connected by the string.

One had to lead the other through a course the others had definitely not rigged to be pure evil.

"This is fine," Megan said bravely, tying a scarf around Daniela's eyes.

"This is NOT fine," Daniela said, wobbling already.

"You just have to trust me!"

"That's the problem!" Daniela squeaked.

They started walking.

Almost immediately, Megan tripped over a strategically placed pillow and faceplanted into Daniela's back.

"OW."

"SORRY."

Lara cackled from the sidelines. "This is going better than I hoped."

"LEFT!" Sophia yelled.

"NO, RIGHT!" Manon added, giggling.

"STRAIGHT TO HELL," Yoonchae deadpanned.

Megan, panicking, pulled Dani left. Daniela, trusting her for some insane reason, stumbled after her—and they both crashed into the couch.

Daniela landed sprawled on top of Megan, faces inches apart, the pink string wrapped around them like a bow.

Silence.

Megan could barely breathe.

Daniela's blindfold had slipped down around her neck, and now she was just staring at Megan, cheeks flaming.

"Uh," Megan croaked. "Hi."

Daniela's lips twitched. "Hi."

Behind them, Sophia whispered way too loudly, "IF THEY DON'T KISS, I WILL THROW A CHAIR."

Manon calmly took Sophia's chair away just in case.

Megan scrambled up, heart racing. "O-okay! Trial 1 complete!"

"Trial 1 complete," Manon agreed, smiling like she knew everything.

Daniela's hand brushed Megan's as they untangled themselves, and neither of them pulled away fast enough.

⸻

Trial 2: The Dance of Destiny.

"Okay," Sophia said, clapping her hands. "You have to dance. Together."

"Why?" Megan asked suspiciously.

"It's symbolic," Lara said, totally making it up.

Manon nodded. "Deeply symbolic."

Yoonchae: "Necessary."

Megan narrowed her eyes but shrugged. "Fine."

Daniela swallowed nervously. "What kind of dance?"

Lara grinned evilly. "Slow dance."

Megan felt her soul leave her body.

Daniela squeaked, "What?!"

But Sophia was already playing a sappy love ballad from her phone, and everyone was staring expectantly.

Resigned to their fates, Megan and Daniela shuffled awkwardly closer.

Megan placed her hands carefully on Dani's waist.
Daniela's hands rested lightly on Megan's shoulders.

The pink string shimmered between them.

They started swaying and found each other through the rhythm.

Their bodies moved closer.
Their breathing synced.

Megan looked down at Daniela, her heart hammering.
Daniela looked up at her, all soft eyes and pink cheeks.

"You're really bad at this," Daniela whispered.

"You're worse," Megan whispered back.

They grinned.

And for a moment—for a long, terrifying, wonderful moment—it felt like they were the only two people in the world.

The others watched, silently screaming internally.

Manon nudged Sophia. "Should we...leave them alone?"

Sophia sniffled dramatically. "No. I want to witness true love."

⸻

Trial 3: The Confession Challenge.

This one was pure evil.

They had to say something they'd always wanted to tell each other—with total honesty.

Megan felt like she was going to throw up.

Daniela looked like she wanted to crawl under the couch and die.

They sat facing each other, cross-legged, the pink thread glowing brighter than ever.

"Okay," Daniela said, voice shaking. "Um. I'll go first."

Megan nodded, clutching her own knees.

Daniela swallowed.

And then blurted, "I think you're the funniest, most beautiful, most talented person and dancer I've ever met and sometimes when you laugh I forget how to function."

Dead silence.

Daniela slapped a hand over her mouth in horror, scared how easy that came out.

Megan's mouth fell open.

And then she smiled.

Like sunshine breaking through clouds.

"My turn," Megan said, voice trembling.

Daniela braced herself.

"I've had a crush on you since the first day we met back at Dream Academy," Megan said in a rush. "And I thought you'd never feel the same so I pretended I didn't care but I do, and I'm sorry, and I—I really, really like you, Dani."

Daniela blinked.

Megan blinked.

The string between them shimmered—and then POPPED into a shower of pink sparkles.

They were free.

Technically.

But neither of them moved.

Slowly, Megan reached out, heart in her throat.

Daniela met her halfway.

And when their hands touched, it wasn't magic forcing them together anymore.

It was just them.

"Hi," Megan whispered again, grinning helplessly.

"Hi," Daniela whispered back, laughing breathlessly.

And then—finally—Megan leaned in and kissed her.

It was clumsy, and sweet, and perfect.

Behind them, Sophia screamed into a pillow.

Lara whooped. "I KNEW IT!"

Manon smiled serenely like she had foreseen all of this from the start.

Yoonchae simply nodded and said, "Finally."

⸻

Later that night, Megan and Daniela lay tangled up together in bed, this time without any magic pulling them closer—just wanting to be close.

"You realize," Daniela mumbled sleepily, head on Megan's shoulder, "they totally scammed us, right?"

"Totally," Megan agreed, grinning.

"I'm not even mad," Dani said, smiling against her skin.

Megan kissed the top of her head.

"Me neither."

Because some mistakes?
Some chaos?
Some disasters?

Were exactly what they needed all along.

They didn't even need a love spell in the first place. They had already fallen and will keep falling.