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→ description: Two people connected by the red string of fate are destined to be lovers regardless of circumstance. What happens when the red cord malfunctions and miraculously appears between two strangers?
→ a/n: This is based on an ancient Chinese folktale told by my grandma (credits to this amazing woman in my life), but instead of the string being tied to the ankles, I’m tying it to the wrists for convenience.
↳ #happyhyunjinday → "what about us?"
“Can you please watch where you’re going?” I hissed as someone bumped into me harshly, causing me to drop my groceries all over the sidewalk.
The guy huffed and began to pick up the apples I dropped, “Sorry, you could have at least made some room for passersby instead of hogging the entire street.”
“Excuse me?”
“I said you could have made room for people who were passing by. You don’t own the entire sidewalk,” he explained, putting the apples back into my brown paper bag.
I pursed my lips, dumbfounded, “I wasn’t blocking the way for anyone. I was walking to my car. Either way, you should have watched where you were going instead of texting.”
He sighed and held his hands up in defense, “Look I don’t have time for this. I have a meeting to attend right now, and I’m already late.”
“No one’s stopping you from going. I’m merely telling you to watch out because the next person you bump into may not be as nice as me.”
He nodded absentmindedly and turned the opposite direction, walking towards the building across the street. Suddenly, a force pulled me towards him, and he too fell backwards towards my direction. Once again, my groceries were scattered across the sidewalk as I face planted the ground, falling onto my stomach. The guy who bumped into me earlier fell backwards, landing on his butt. I scratched my head in confusion, wondering what in world had just happened. I felt something on my right wrist, something which resembled a bracelet.
There was a red string connecting my wrist to the strangers wrist, tied in some sort of intricate knot.
“What’s wrong with you dude?” he grumbled, rubbing the sore spot on his butt.
I gasped in disbelief, “Me? ME? Why is there miraculously a string tied around my wrist, and why is it connect to yours? What kind of sorcery is this?”
The boy got up and walked towards me; he was trying to untie the string by tugging and pulling on it. However, his efforts were wasted.
“My name is Hyunjin, and can you please get this off of me? I’m late for my meeting,” he asked me as politely as he could, extending his arm towards me.
I rolled my eyes in annoyance, “Hold still, Hyunjin.” I looped my fingers around the string, trying to break it by snapping it into two. To my dismay, that didn’t work. Next attempt: I held his wrist in place as I picked at the knot with my fingertips, trying to undo the tight knot, and that didn’t work either. Confused, I reached in for my keys and flipped open my pocket knife hanging from the lanyard.
Hyunjin’s eyes widened, “Why do you carry a knife on your key chain? If you accidentally cut me, I will sue you.”
“Chill. I’m trying to saw the string, and you never know when robbers are going to come at you.”
I skillfully ran the blade along the thread, and it just fell right through, as if it didn’t even exist in the first place.
“W-what? Why won’t it break? What’s going on?” he gaped, mouth hanging wide open.
I tried cutting it again, and nothing happened. The thread just fell through the blade.
I sheathed the knife and sighed, “It’s not working. We’re gonna have to ask someone else to do it.”
“Jesus Christ, my meeting,” he grumbled as he ran his fingers through his brown locks.
~
“Miss, I’m not sure what you’re talking about. I don’t see a red string around your wrists,” the convenience store owner said, giving me a weird side glance.
I slammed my hands on the cashier, “What do you mean? Do you not see this?” I held on the string and tugged it, causing Hyunjin’s arm to jerk forward unannounced.
She looked unimpressed, “Look Miss, whatever scheme you guys are planning isn’t gonna work. I don’t see a string, and I am not leaving this desk in case the two of you try to rob me.” She snapped her fingers at us sassily.
“For God’s sake, do you-,” Hyunjin cut me off, grabbing my hands from the desk.
He smiled apologetically, “I’m sorry, she’s had one too many drinks. Have a nice day, ma’am.”
He turned me around, pushing me out the door of the store. When we were outside, I swung his hand off mine.
“She already said she couldn’t see the string. Why are you pressuring her? You know she could have called the police on us, and do you know how much trouble that can cause?” he scolded me.
I lifted my arm up and glared at him, “Okay. Tell me what we’re gonna do about this.” The string connecting our wrists was no more than ten feet long, and it couldn’t stretch beyond that.
“First of all, I don’t even know how the string even appeared. Second, I called in sick and cancelled my meeting. Third, can we go somewhere so we’re not wandering the streets? And fourth, I really need to use the restroom,” Hyunjin pleaded, frowning like a child.
I let out a deep breath, “C’mon, my car’s this way.”
“Wait, how do we get in?”
Oh right. I can’t loop the string over the car.
I smiled over at him evilly, “Go in through the driver’s seat.”
He scoffed, “Why can’t you go in through the passenger’s seat?”
I stood next to my car and checked my nails, “I’m not the one who needs to pee. We can stay here all day if you want.”
Hyunjin gave me his best death glare and opened the door to the driver’s seat, yanking it roughly and bending over to crawl in.
~
“So this is your apartment,” he said, staring around my living space. Hyunjin glanced around the organized mess of folded clothes that laid on the sofa, the cup of cold tea on the coffee table, and the pile of magazines I had on the carpet.
“The restroom is on your left, so just walk through the bedroom after you take off your shoes. I just vacuumed the place,” I instructed, placing down my groceries on the kitchen counter.
Hyunjin took off his shoes and stood there, “You have to come with me.”
I squinted my eyes at him skeptically, and suddenly I remembered that the string only stretched ten feet, “Oh right.”
“Hurry up. This is the first time I’ve let a stranger in my house. If you do anything weird I’m calling the police.”
He rolled his eyes at me, “And you’re going to jail with me.” Hyunjin held up his left wrist.
“Oh shut up and go pee.”
I crossed my arms and stood outside the door awkwardly.
~
Hyunjin and I sat on the couch, facing each other seriously. So many questions were running through our heads. How did the string come to existence, and why was it tied between the two of us specifically? Why is the string only visible to the two of us and invisible towards outsiders? How long was the string going to stay tied?
“What are we going to do at night? I can’t stay here all the time,” Hyunjin asked me a very serious question.
I spaced out and stared at the floor.
He’s right. How are we going to get this living situation sorted out? I can’t possibly live at his house. What about work? I’m going insane right now.
He waved his hands in front of me, “Hello? Earth to Y/n.”
“Huh, yeah. Um, do you want to just stay here? It’s kinda close to your work place, and I have an air mattress you could sleep on,” I suggested meekly, not knowing what to do. Hyunjin didn’t seem like a bad or creepy person, so a few days probably wouldn’t hurt.
He thought for a bit, but knowing that there wasn’t another way to settle this situation, he sighed, “Can you give me a ride home? I need to pack some things.”
“Of course. I don’t even know how long until we figure out how to get this thing untied,” I leaned back on my couch, tossing a throw pillow over my head.
He leaned back as well, “I’m getting a headache.”
The sun was setting, and a ray of orange light shined through my window, casting a shadow on Hyunjin. I admired his features from beside him. He had mesmerizing eyes, a tall defined nose, and a sharp jaw. Frankly, he was quite good looking.
At least I wasn’t tied to a balding dude in his fifties, because that would be creepy.
“Hey, what do you do for a living?” I asked, leaning my head on the side of the couch as I turned to face him.
“My friend and I are entrepreneurs, and we sell gadgets. What do you do for a living?” he cocked his head, “You look like an artist or something.”
“Yes and no. Artist in a way where I produce my own stuff, but I’m a wedding photographer. I capture one of the most important days in peoples’ lives for them to cherish forever,” I smiled.
Hyunjin laughed, “Like those annoying people who stick their cameras in between the bride and groom right as they’re about to kiss?”
I smacked his arm lightly in response, “No. I’m not that annoying. I capture natural moments. Like when the bride’s dad hands her over to the groom, or when the groom catches his first glance at the bride walking down the aisle. I like taking pictures of people’s emotions because I want people to remember the exact way they felt during their wedding.”
“That’s deep. Maybe when I get married, I’ll consider hiring you,” he joked as the played with the red cord entwining our wrists.
I chuckled, tugging the cord out of his hands, “You ain’t getting a bae anytime soon if you’re tied to me like this. I’ll be cock-blocking within ten feet.”
Hyunjin pouted, “I’m cursed.” He threw his hands up dramatically.
“Hey, at least you’re not tied with someone creepy,” I pointed out, smiling cheekily.
He scooted at least a foot away from me and hugged his arms over his chest, “You’re creepy.”
I pursed my lips, “You can walk back home then if I’m so scary.”
“Did I say creepy? I meant freakishly beautiful and kind hearted,” Hyunjin salvaged, scooting back to his original position.
Leaning forward, I grabbed the car keys on the coffee table in front of the couch, “Sounds about right.”
~
“According to Google, there’s this ancient Chinese folktale where the gods tie a invisible red cord around the wrists of those who are destined to meet each other,” I scrolled down the web page to look for more information.
Hyunjin walked out of the shower with his pajamas on, and I sat on the carpet outside the door waiting for him. His hair was still wet, with little droplets hanging from the ends of his strands. I hated to admit, but he looked good. And apparently, the red cord couldn’t get wet either.
“Are you saying that we’re soulmates?” he said in disbelief, running a towel through his hair.
My eyes widened in disgust, “This website is saying it, not me. Also, the string is supposed to be invisible even towards us, and it’s supposed to stretch unconditionally and not only ten feet.”
Hyunjin squatted next to me, and I accidentally took a waft of my body wash, “You used my body wash?”
“What’d you expect me to use?”
“Never mind. Remember, after this all ends, you owe me a bottle of orange pomegranate body wash,” I noted out loud as I researched more on my laptop.
I heard him mumble, “Stingy.”
I ignored him and continued typing, “So apparently, it says here that the cord will disintegrate when the next full moon occurs if it malfunctions, which it did.”
“That’s next week. A whole week from now,” he calculated by looking on the calendar on his phone.
I looked up from the screen, making eye contact with Hyunjin, “And then everything will be normal again.”
“We’ll go our separate ways?” he answered in a question form, locking eyes with me.
“Yeah. We’re not soulmates,” I laughed off the awkwardness between us, “The cord malfunctioned. How else would we be able to see it?”
Hyunjin rubbed the back of his neck, “Right.”
~
I laid in bed as I stared up at my ceiling, counting the number of bumps on it. I tossed and turned, but I couldn’t find a comfortable position to sleep in. All my friends complained about my rock-hard bed, but I found it relaxing, not to mention it was good for your back. Even then, I couldn’t fall asleep.
“Can’t sleep?” a guy’s voice asked.
I freaked out for a split second, then I remembered Hyunjin was on the air mattress to my right, “Yeah, I’m just thinking too much right now.”
Hyunjin sat up and leaned his back against the side of my bed, “About what? This?” He held his left wrist up.
“Partially. I mean it’s kinda weird being tied to a stranger. That’s not the point. I’m just thinking about ‘why us’. Out of everyone on the streets I could have been tied to, why was I specifically tied to you?” I debated, scooting closer to Hyunjin.
He turned his head towards me as I lay on my side to face him, “Maybe just to test us. The string malfunctioned right? So maybe your soulmate is similar to me, and fate wanted to see how well you’ll cope with a person like me and vice versa.”
I pursed my lips and thought for a while, “That’s a good theory. You’re such an Einstein. Wait, but why can’t you fall asleep?”
“Y/n. If you were put into some random room and sleeping on some random bed, would you be able to fall asleep?” he challenged.
“You’re right. I’m being stupid right now. It’s way past my bedtime,” I yawned and tugged the covers closer to my body.
“By the way, what are you gonna do about work? I’m not scheduled for another shoot until after we get untied.”
Hyunjin propped his chin on my bed and faced me, “I called my partner and told him I was gonna be out because of a family emergency.”
I scoffed, “Family emergency? I swear, you’re so lame.”
I paused for a second, “Is your partner cute?”
He chuckled and leaned his head back, “Jisung is mine, back off.”
“Jeez okay lover boy,” I raised my palms up in defense.
I scrunched my nose and rubbed my legs together under the blanket like a cricket, getting comfortable with the bed, “You know, for a stranger, I’m oddly comfortable with you.”
Hyunjin blinked tiredly, “I’m not gonna do anything to you knowing that you have a knife in your purse. Yikes.”
I snickered softly, “Yeah.” It was getting harder and harder to open my eyes.
The moonlight shone through the translucent white curtains of the small window near the top of the wall, creating little, water-like shadows on the opposite wall next to Hyunjin’s air mattress. I stared at the dancing shadows as my eyes started drooping slowly.
“Good night Y/n,” Hyunjin smiled at my sleepy figure, and that was the last thing I saw before I drifted off into dreamland.
~
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
“Ugh fuck. Stupid alarm,” I mumbled as I fumbled around my bed, reaching for my phone charger to locate my phone. When I finally grabbed it, I pressed the home button to stop the beeping.
Drowsily, I stood up, swinging my legs off the bed with my eyes still tightly shut. Slipping into my slippers, I stood up and walked towards the bathroom.
However, I tripped over something big and fell face flat towards a mattress.
Hyunjin groaned, and my eyes widened.
Shit, I completely forgot that there was another human being in my room.
“Why you gotta attack me like this first thing in the morning?” he hissed, poking at my body that was messily flung across his torso.
I grunted and hauled myself up, “I forgot you were sleeping here, and I tripped over your mattress.”
Hyunjin smirked with his bed hair, “I know I’m attractive but damn, I didn’t know you were that desperate.”
“Why do I even bother? You’re gross.” I stood up and straightened my strawberry pajamas. Carefully, I stepped over the mattress to the restroom. The thread on my wrist tugged my skin.
I deadpanned, “Hyunjin get up. The cord doesn’t reach all the way to the bathroom. Boy, get up.” I kicked the side of the mattress.
“No, I’m tired,” Hyunjin fell back onto his bed and draped an arm across his eyes to block out the sunlight. He grabbed the comforters from my bed and wrapped himself like a kimbap roll.
I closed my eyes in annoyance, “Don’t test me. I have a family gathering to go to today, and if I don’t get ready, my aunt is gonna give me shit for it.”
He peeked his head out, “What’s it for?”
“My cousin’s getting married,” I tugged on the cord to annoy him.
Hyunjin sat up and ruffled his hair messily, “Does this mean I have to go?”
“Sadly, yes.”
~
Hyunjin crawled in from the driver’s seat, and I followed after, careful not to mess up the flowy grey dress I put on. I closed the door shut and turned to face him seriously.
“Okay if anyone asks, you’re my date. We met at work when I was doing a shoot for one of your close friends who recently got married. Just please don’t screw this up,” I pleaded.
Hyunjin turned the rear view mirror towards himself, fixing the collar of his black dress shirt, “I won’t screw up, trust me.” Skillfully, he fixed the loose strands of his hair.
As if he needed to.
The guy looked like he walked straight out of a Vogue magazine shot in Milan. I secretly smirked, anticipating the envious look on my cousin’s face.
“You look scary,” Hyunjin pointed out, buckling his seat belt nervously.
“Why do you think that?” I responded innocently, starting the car.
~
I led Hyunjin straight to the family gathering for my cousin’s wedding. The venue was booked in a garden, under a dome adorned with pink flowers and vines. I had recommended the place to my aunt, since I had prior knowledge after doing so many photo shoots.
I saw my aunt and immediately waved. Grabbing Hyunjin’s hand, I walked over to her with a smile on my face.
“Auntie, how are you? I haven’t seen you in months,” I exclaimed, pulling her into a tight hug.
My aunt held onto my waist and patted my cheek with her warm hand, “Look at you, all grown up and beautiful. Who’s this handsome man?”
Hyunjin smiled and offered her his hand, “Hi Auntie, I’m Hyunjin, Y/n’s boyfriend. Nice to meet you.”
She let go of me and accepted Hyunin’s hand, shaking it with both hands. I bit my lip to prevent myself from laughing out loud; my aunt was smitten.
“How come you never told me you had such a handsome boyfriend?”
I glanced around playfully, “Surprise? I wanted to surprise you Auntie, so when I’m away he can take care of you.”
She squished my cheek with her fingers, “So cheeky. Well, go say hi to your cousin. I have to go greet the other guests.” She pranced away curtly as I dragged Hyunjin’s hand over to my cousin.
“She’s a low-key bitch so just play along, I beg,” I tiptoed and whispered in his ear. He nodded obediently.
My cousin walked over with a glass of champagne, “Y/n dear, you made it, and who do we have here?” She admired Hyunjin, scanning him up and down, devouring him with her eyes.
I swallowed uncomfortably as Hyunjin’s grip on my hand tightened, “Hey Lin, congrats on getting married! This is Hyunjin, uhhhh my b-boyfriend.”
She eyed me in disbelief and envy, “Why do you sound so unsure Y/n? It’s a shocker that you managed to snatch such a hunk.” Her annoying voice chirped in my ear as I mentally rolled my eyes at her.
“I think you might have said that wrong. Let me reword for you. The question is: how did I manage to snatch such a wonderful lady like Y/n? Like wow, she’s a blessing in my life. You know it’s real when you admire the little things in someone. For example, I love the little pocket knife she keeps in her purse. I love me someone who knows how to kick ass when she needs to,” Hyunjin smirked triumphantly.
Did he just stick up for me?
My eyes widened, and I felt a blush growing on my cheeks.
Lin scoffed, “I think you could do so much better than her.” She twirled a finger around the strand of her hair; I was going to hurl any second if she kept on batting her fake eyelashes at Hyunjin.
“I think we’ll be happy together. Right Y/n?” he wrapped and arm around my waist, pulling me closer to face him.
My cheeks burned, and I managed to mumble, “Right, we will be happy.”
My cousin rolled her eyes in annoyance, “Well, my fiance is calling for me. I’m gonna go now. Enjoy.” Lin smiled fakely and twirled around, stomping over to my cousin-in-law.
I shook my head, “I feel so sad for that dude. He has to deal with ‘that’ for eternity.” I motioned towards my cousin.
Hyunjin chuckled, “There’s alway divorce. It’s so common nowadays.”
“Yeah, I get sad when I see the people I did photo shoots for sign divorce papers. It’s like that day was forgotten. They only remember the bad and forget about the good. This is why I don’t believe in the whole ‘soulmates’ crap,” I replied sadly.
“There has to be something right? Even if we’re not each other’s soulmates, we know that the red string of fate exists,” he held up our intertwined hands with the red cord tightly bound to our wrists.
I laughed and leaned closer to him, “You’re such a cheeseball.”
~
A week has passed by since that day, and I can honestly say that I have grown fond of Hyunjin. Living together in a short span of a week really brought us together. I basically learned his entire day and night routine, and he learned mine. The both of us would wake up with me complaining about my alarm clock every morning. Then I would physically have to drag his ass out of bed while luring him with breakfast spontaneously; the entire process took approximately two hours. Around noon, we would have three to four hours of individual work. Hyunjin would go on his laptop and do some designing on the balcony of my apartment, while I sat on the floor, planning my shoot and reorganizing my portfolio. For dinner, we’d either order take out, or when I’m feeling fancy, I’ll maybe cook for the both of us. Finally, at night, we’d either watch movies or have long boring conversations about life.
If my soulmate was anything like Hyunjin, I’d gladly accept.
People always complained to me about how tedious it was to live with another person, much less a stranger. They hated sharing things, devoting time, and exercising effort towards the other person. However, with Hyunjin, it had felt almost effortless.
I sat on my carpet in front of the coffee table as Hyunjin lounged his body on my couch, with his feet sticking out the ends of it.
“I can’t believe it’s been a week already. I’m surprised I haven’t driven you insane,” I chimed, leaning my back on the side of the couch.
Hyunjin was playing a game on his phone but he responded, “Except those mornings. I hate waking up to you tugging my hair off my head.”
“How can I pee when you’re in bed? The cord doesn’t reach that far, you genius.”
“Maybe if you didn’t down a glass of water every night, you wouldn’t need to pee as badly in the mornings,” he refuted sassily as he pursed his lips.
I turned around and propped my chin on the side of the couch, “Well after today, you’ll get to sleep in and wake up whenever you want. Because I won’t be there to nag you anymore.”
Hyunjin stopped his game and put his phone down. He sighed and closed his eyes.
My heart felt heavy, and I wondered if Hyunjin had felt the same way.
~
“When we wake up, this will all be over. You’ll be at a wedding doing your photo shoots again, and I’ll be with Jisung,” Hyunjin mumbled to my right.
I smiled softly, “You missed Jisung that much, Cheeseball?”
Hyunjin pouted, “Yeah, I haven’t seen him in a week.”
“Oh boohoo a week,” I placed a pillow pet under my head, “You know, this week wasn’t as bad as I imagined. It could have been a whole lot more awkward between the two of us.”
Hyunjin scoffed lightly, “I’m the one tolerating your antics. Like who the hell drinks more than a gallon of water a day. Do you know how many times I had to walk you to the restroom?”
I threw a teddy bear at him, “It calms me down. HEY IT’S BETTER THAN STRESS EATING, MR. I’M GAINING WEIGHT.”
“In my defense, you didn’t want to go to the gym.”
“I don’t like the gym. It’s icky, and people rub their sweat all over the machines. I feel disgusted touching them,” I shivered, pulling the blankets closer to my body.
He let out a breath of air, tossing on the mattress, “I’m gonna miss this bed. It’s actually quite comfortable.”
I mumbled softly, “Well it’s here whenever you need it.”
Crap, why did I say that?
The room grew quiet, and my ears were soon filled with Hyunjin’s soft breathing. He had fallen asleep.
I held onto the cord one last time.
When I wake up tomorrow, you’re gonna be gone. But thank you for letting me meet such a wonderful person, even if he isn’t my soulmate.
~
My eyes shot open even before my alarm clock rang. I quickly turned over to shut it off. Glancing down at my wrist, the red cord indeed had disappeared. Rejoiced, I turned over to wake Hyunjin up.
My heart dropped at the sight of his neatly folded blankets on the air mattress.
He never makes the bed.
I immediately sprang out of bed, running around the apartment, barefoot. I searched the restroom, the walk in closet, and even the balcony. Hyunjin wasn’t there.
“Looking for me?” he yelled from the kitchen, placing a pair of sausage links onto my plate.
I placed a hand over my chest and sighed a breath of relief, “Thank God, I thought you just left or something. You scared the shit out of me.”
Hyunjin poured me a glass of orange juice, “I thought it’d be nice to make you breakfast, since you always made me breakfast. I may have accidentally burned the egg a bit too much, so if it’s that bad, don’t eat it.”
I pulled a chair out and sat by the dining table. It was the first time anyone had made me breakfast. It was also Hyujin’s first time cooking; he had mentioned he never even once entered a kitchen. I’m surprised he knew how to turn on the stove.
“Nonsense, I bet it’s amazing,” I grabbed a fork and took a bite of his eggs. Despite the fact that my mouth was filled with bits of egg shells, it wasn’t bad. At least he remembered the salt.
Hyunjin looked over at me with twinkling eyes.
“It’s perfect. What could be less perfect that this? I love it.”
He immediately frowned, “I know that tone. It’s bad isn’t it.”
I managed to swallow the egg shells, “No no. I swear it’s good. For a first timer, it’s really, really good.”
I grabbed the glass of orange juice to flush down the eggs, “So you’re going soon right? For work I mean?”
He nodded sadly, “I told Jisung I was coming back today. When’s your shoot?”
“Later on in the afternoon. It’s at the beach this time, and the couple said they wanted a sunset shoot before the wedding two days after.”
Hyunjin looked down at his wrist, rubbing the spot where the cord once was, “So is this goodbye?”
I stared down at my plate, rolling the sausage with the tip of my fork, “There isn’t a reason for us to see each other anymore.”
“Y-you’re right,” he stuttered and paused, “Can you still walk me out?”
“Of course.”
~
“This is it,” he said as he stood outside my apartment with a duffel bag in his hands. I stared at the spot where the red cord once was. It was really gone, and I didn’t want to believe it.
I smiled sadly, tears brimming the edges of my eyes, “Y-yeah, I guess so.”
Hyunjin placed his bag down and opened his arms. Wiping my eyes messily, I ran into his embrace, hugging his torso while leaning my head on his chest. He smelled like my body wash.
“You’re such a cry baby,” he whispered as he patted my hair with his hand.
“Shut up, Cheeseball,” I mumbled in his chest.
I hated this. I didn’t want to let him go, but he belonged with his soulmate. I wasn’t his soulmate, so we wouldn’t last anyways.
I closed my eyes and held him close, for it was the first and last time I’d be hugging him.
I like you, Cheeseball. Be happy.
~
“A little to the left please. Yes, perfect,” I instructed the groom who was holding onto the bride.
“Felix, can you adjust the bride’s dress so it rests on top of the water as the waves hit the shore?” I asked my assistant.
Felix placed his clipboard down, “I’m on it.”
“Mrs. Kim, can you twist a bit so I can capture you right where the horizon is?” I squatted down on the sand. The wind was blowing, and my thin leather jacket was no match for the strong wind.
I adjusted the settings of my camera as Felix managed my shots from the tent.
Checking the time, I yelled, “Okay last frame before the sun sets! You guys look amazing!”
I focused the lens on the couple, and right when the sun was about to set, I snapped the picture, capturing their kiss just as the sun kissed the waters.
“IT’S A WRAP!”
~
“Felix, I like this one. What do you think?” I asked my friend, “Will we be able to get the edits out by Friday? They scheduled it late, but I want it in time for their wedding.”
Felix nodded, “No problem love. I got this. With Felix in the house, no worries.”
“Tsk, lame,” I rolled my eyes at him.
“I’m gonna take a short walk by the pier, just to snap some pictures.”
Felix looked up from the laptop screen and gave me a thumbs up, “I’ll be at the restaurant. Remember, the team reserved the reservation at eight. Don’t be late or else I’m not gonna fight for your lobster against Chan. That man’s a beast.” He was referring to my co-worker.
I laughed, “I gotchu.”
~
I placed my camera down on one of the benches on the pier. Taking a deep breath, I leaned over the side of the pier, letting go of my bun as the sea breeze tousled my hair messily.
It wasn’t easy getting back on the grind after so many things had happened in the span of a week. I closed my eyes calmly and took a waft of the salty sea breeze, swaying gently as the sky turned into a dark purple. I was in a tranquil state, but my mind was constantly flashing with images of Hyunjin.
I heard light footsteps behind me, but I brushed it off, thinking that it was just another passerby. However, the footsteps grew louder, and they stopped right next to where I was standing, by the edge of the pier.
I opened my eyes slowly and looked over to my left. My eyes widened.
“W-what are you doing here? How did you even find me?” the corners of my mouth lifted slowly.
He stared at his shoes sheepishly, “I saw your crew packing up and asked them. They said you were on the pier, so I kinda ran here.”
I scanned his outfit. He looked like he had just got off work. He wore a black bomber jacket over his white dress shirt; it was effortless, yet it looked very put together. There was a grocery bag in his hands.
I pointed at the bag in his hands, “What’s that?”
“You said there wasn’t a reason for us to see each other again, but there is a reason,” he lifted the bag up and took out a bottle of body wash, “Orange pomegranate, your favorite.”
I chuckled and swung my arms around his neck, causing him to stagger back a bit. Laughing, he held onto my waist to regain his balance.
“Missed me that much huh? It’s only been eight hours,” he cooed, resting his chin on my shoulder.
I buried my face in his neck and mumbled, “Hush, Cheeseball. Don’t remind me.”
Hyunjin pulled away, with his hands still on my waist, “You know the soulmate thing? Something’s not right. You told me that it malfunctioned, so that’s why we were able to see it. Now that it’s fixed, it’s invisible again. So how would we know if we’re not soulmates since the cord is now invisible to the human eye? How would you know that there’s not an invisible cord on our wrists right now, this instant?”
My jaw dropped subtly, “That makes sense, woah. How could someone as dumb as me get with someone like you? I don’t deserve it.”
He scoffed, rolling his eyes playfully, “At times, I wonder too.”
“I don’t care about the whole soulmate thing anymore. I just know that I like you, and I don’t want to kick you out of my life just yet,” I confessed.
Hyunjin cocked his brow, “Just yet?”
“I’ll kick you out of my life with my pocket knife if you cheat on me, lie to me, talk behind my back, and-”
Hyunjin grabbed my waist and pressed his lips against mine. I gasped into his mouth as my heart sprang up to my throat. Slowly, I closed my eyes, choosing to kiss him back, and the both of us melted into the kiss. His thumb brushed the apples of my cheeks, while his other hand reached behind to cup my neck. I laced my fingers through his soft locks, tugging them softly and smiling into the kiss.
He pulled away gently, and I stared into his brown eyes shyly, attempting to maintain eye contact.
“When you get married, are you still gonna hire me as your photographer?” I smiled.
Hyunjin smirked, “I mean if you wanna take selfies, then go for it.”
WARNING: Don’t read if you can’t handle or are uncomfortable with mentions of suicide/depression and anything related to gore/blood.
If you’re the type of person to like song requests at the beginning of fanfics, I suggest listening to All the King’s Horses by Karmina and/or Island by SVRCINA.
DO NOT ASK FOR ME A PART 2. THANK YOU.
“Oh my fucking Jesus Christ, holy guacamole, holy AAH!” My sister yelled this as she hit my arm, making me flinch in pain at the contact.
“What? What?!” I yelled at her, yanking her hands away from my arm. She squealed again and tried to shush me, despite making a loud ruckus in the library herself.
“My timer! It stopped!” She shoved her wrist in my face, making me fall back onto my chair.
I gasped as I saw the numbers all hit 0.
“Kyungmi, how did this happen?” I asked my older sister. She shrugged and had a knowing look on her face.
“Ok, well, look, to your left, no your other left, yes, in the corner, do you see that boy?” I looked in the direction she told me and low and behold, there sat a boy who was just like my sister’s type; tall, styled black hair, but perfectly messy, and was the epitome of a pretty boy.
I smiled.
“Yup?” She smiled and scooted closer to me.
“It totally stopped once he walked into the room, I’m- I’m pretty sure he’s my soulmate!” She blushed, clutching her wrist that held the countdown to who we were destined to spend our entire lives with.
“Well, what are you doing still talking to your baby sister? Go talk to him!” I nudged her, making her fall out of her chair. She glared at me, but she was hiding her face with a blush.
“Ok, ok, fine, how do I look?” I raised a brow.
“When do you ever need someone else to tell you how pretty you look?” I mocked.
Me and my sister are polar opposites. She was always the pretty one, the beautiful one, while I was dull in comparison.
She was the president of our leadership club, on the honor roll for her four years of high school, and was friends with about every student in the school. People naturally gravitated to her bubbly and fun aura, even I admit she was my best friend.
She was the life of the party, yes, she had multiple boyfriends and flings along the way, but she was the type of girl to sit and just dream about her prince charming coming to sweep her off her feet.
And well, me? I was the girl you wouldn’t glance twice at if you saw me walking down the hallways or even if I fell face flat into the floor, that’s how boring I was.
“Ha, you’re cute. Ok, I’m going, wish me luck!”
“Luck.” I whispered. I watched her flip her long, curled hair over her shoulder and strut her way over to the mystery boy.
I looked down to my wrist.
398 20 16 30. I took a deep breath and sighed.
Well, that’s a long time to wait.
Honestly, I wasn’t the girl to sit around and dream about her prince charming, I was more of the girl who accepted her fate that no one like her and she would be alone forever.
Despite the whole soulmate/destiny thing, there have been numerous accounts on where people never met their soulmate or their soulmate chose someone else.
How devastating would that be.
I watched my sister walk up to the table and shyly say hi to the boy. He glanced up and locked eyes with her, showing off his eye smile.
They both looked like awkward pretty people for a second, then she sat down and they continued to talk.
I smiled slyly at the couple, happy my sister finally met the boy of her dreams.
I waited an hour for my sister before she got up and grabbed her stuff from our table.
“We’re going on a date, don’t wait up for me, ok?” She whispered, giving me a harsh look which meant ‘don’t tell mom and dad’. I nodded and glanced over to the lucky boy.
He had dark brown hair and was even more handsome up close. He towered over my sister who was a short height of 4′11 while I was an average 5′5.
“Hi, I’m Hyunjin.” He extended his hand. I tightly gripped his hand, shaking it firmly as a dad would do to his daughter’s boyfriend.
“Y/n. Nice to meet you.” I pulled my hand away to cross my arms over my chest.
“Ok son, don’t have her out too late, I want her home by 9pm sharp ok?” The boy barked out laughter, his eyes crinkling into tiny crescents. I laughed at his outburst, but immediately retracted it once I saw my sister glaring daggers at me.
She gave me ‘the look’ and I covered my laugh up with a cough.
‘It’s a joke’ I mouthed at her. She gave no response and I shook my head at her stubborn self.
“I’m joking, just sneak her through the window when you’re done with her. Later.” I gave him a small smirk before walking away and I knew my sister would yell at me later, but I was certain he would stay with her.
I mean, they are soulmates.
And she’s the most perfect girl a guy could want, how could he leave her?
For the next few weeks, I felt as if I lost my best friend.
“Hey, do you wanna grab some pho later? I’m really craving something brothy.” I asked Kyungmi during our 4th period. She gave me a guilty smile, something she always gave before she was going to give an excuse she wasn’t really guilty about.
I rolled my eyes and sighed.
“What? Hanging out with Hyunjin again?” I tried not to act too upset about it as she was much happier with him around, I just had to understand my sister had her own life to live.
She frowned and fixed her hair to lay over her shoulder.
“Y/n, please, he’s my soulmate. And it’s super weird! Like he’s the first guy I can’t tell who’s into me, and he hasn’t even showed me his timer yet! Like isn’t that the first thing you show someone you’re interested in? To prove you’re not wasting your time?”
I scoffed at her remark.
“Why haven’t you showed him your timer then? Show him you’re soulmates. Maybe he’s worried you aren’t his or something.” At these words, her eyes brightened up.
“You’re right, I’ll show him once I actually start to get to know him better and know 100 percent he likes me back so he wouldn’t feel compelled to like me.” I scoffed again.
“You mean who wouldn’t want to date the most popular girl in school?” I teased. She shoved me slightly which barely moved me an inch.
“Shut up, you know how much I hate when you say that.” I smiled jokingly.
“You mean how much you love it?” She hit my shoulder again, making me laugh and having us get shushed by our teacher, which returned things to normal, but only for a little bit.
I was sitting in my room, doodling in my journal until I heard the doorbell ring. I sighed, pulling on a hoodie to answer the door.
Who could possibly be coming at 1pm on a Saturday?
“Y/N! That’s Hyunjin! Can you please, please stall him while I get ready?? I totally forgot we were hanging out this afternoon and I still haven’t done my hair and makeup!” I sighed but did as she told anyways.
“Fine, but you owe me!” She laughed.
I opened the door softly and there stood Hyunjin with a black t-shirt and dark skinny jeans, an outfit I knew my sister would drool over.
“Hey, Hyunjin.” I greeted awkwardly, I wasn’t the best at talking to people. He smiled awkwardly, matching mine perfectly.
“Hi y/n.” We both stood awkwardly at the door for a bit until I realized I was supposed to talk next.
“Oh yeah, um, Kyungmi’s still getting ready, but uh, you can come in?” I honestly had no idea how to ask a boy into the house, but he complied anyways.
“Thanks, so, how’s it going?” He asked. He took off his shoes and I led him inside.
“Uh, pretty good, how about you?” I asked. He smiled tightly.
“Pretty good.” Silence again. Suddenly, his gaze danced over to something behind me.
“Woah, is this I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga?” He gently plucked the book off the book shelf. I chuckled softly and nodded.
“Yup, one of my favorites.” He looked up from the book in amazement.
“No way, it’s one of mine too! It’s seriously so underrated though, like one of the most thrilling and fast paced mysteries I’ve read, I don’t know why it isn’t more popular.” He sighed in disbelief. I let myself relax and smile.
“That’s exactly how I feel. I-I mean, I really like how Jasper didn’t end up with the girl in the end, I mean, he was too broken and damaged for that. It hinted there was something still there, but I agree with Lyga that Jasper needed more time.” Hyunjin locked his eyes on mine, making my eyes waver from his.
“Wow, everyone I met who read that book has ever agreed with me on that.” He spoke.
Somehow, when he locked eyes with me, I felt as if I was the center of his universe.
Like he was focused on me, and only me.
I quickly shook my gaze away and chuckled.
“Yeah, I mean, yeah.” I added lamely. He then reached over me again, getting a little too close for comfort.
“Slammed by Colleen Hoover. A guilty pleasure of mine.” He smiled. I snorted and leaned back on one leg.
“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with a boy reading a beautiful and romantic novel written by a lady, nothing wrong at all. In fact, I encourage it.” I voiced.
I felt bad for boys who felt the need to hide the fact they read books with “girly” themes and written in a girl’s point of view, though no one said anything if a girl read a book with a male point of view. Double standards really suck.
He blushed and ruffled his hair slightly. Suddenly, the mole under his eye became noticeable and it made his face look ten times cuter.
“Yeah, I mean, there’s something really poetic about this novel, and not just because it’s about poetry.” I laughed at his lame joke, but it fit my sense of humor.
“I mean, there’s something almost compelling to read about a forbidden love that wasn’t even supposed to be forbidden at all. Ah, I guess enticing is a better word.” He gave me a subtle grin, making me blush at his words.
“Y/n, what are you doing, showing Hyunjin your nerdy books again, ugh. Don’t scare him away.” My sister plucked the book from my hands and threw them into the shelves.
She tidied up her hair and stared at the boy who looked equally as uncomfortable as me.
“Ok, come on, Hyunjin. Let’s go catch that movie.” She took his hand and pulled him away, breaking the eye contact Hyunjin and I tried not to have but had anyways.
I ignored the pounding in my heart that felt as if the world had crumbled below me and threw a soft smile to the couple. I leaned against the wall casually and waved.
“See ya, don’t stay out too late.” I winked at the boy, making him blush and laugh. My sister turned red for a whole other reason and glared at me, but said nothing.
I heard the door slam shut and I fled to my room to isolate myself from the pain in my heart that even I wasn’t understanding.
I tried to ignore the subtle way my palms sweat when Hyunjin came into our house or the way my heart skipped a beat when he laughed at one of my jokes.
I tried to ignore the way I melted when he said something beautiful about a piece of my poetry and when he spoke about one of our favorite books.
I tried to ignore the way my heart broke as he looked into my sister’s eyes.
And most importantly, I tried to ignore the way he looked into mine.
“No, but seriously, I was just walking down the hall with Kyungmi right? And suddenly a guy comes out of nowhere and he’s obviously a lot older than us and asks ‘hey do you have a boyfriend?’ and she says ‘uh, no’ and he fucking asks, wait for it. He asks ‘oh so are you taking applications then’” I rolled over in laughter at the story that got me on my ass every single time.
I felt tears trickle out of my eyes and saw Hyunjin tip over and his eyes disappeared under the crinkles and smile.
“Oh my God, do guys actually say that? There’s no way!” He yelled while sobbing. I nodded, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.
“Yes way! And-”
“Ok, y/n, we get it! Can you like, go up to your room or something? Hyunjin and I are doing something.” I stopped laughing immediately and retracted my statements. I felt stunned at her sudden outburst and was unable to do anything at first.
Then, I sat up slowly from the couch and felt red burn my cheeks.
“Hey, it’s-” I heard Hyunjin start, but I cut him off. I avoided his gaze as I felt his pitying stare on me.
I almost forgot how I was a year younger than the both of them.
I forgot how my sister was the pretty one and I was the ugly one.
I forgot how he was her soulmate and not mine.
“No it’s fine, seriously. I’ll leave you two alone.” I quickly got up and made my way upstairs, pretending I didn’t feel their stares pierce my back.
And I pretended how tears didn’t pierce my eyes.
I slowly shut my door and let out the tears I had that were instilled in my eyes. I softly brushed away the tears from my soft cheeks that were used to the wet tears and fell slowly to the ground.
He doesn’t like you, I told myself. I glanced down at my wrist and checked the time.
319 23 13 08. I sighed in relief, yet I unfortunately had a small bit of disappointment.
My soulmate isn’t Hyunjin.
This is just a weird bump in the road.
This means nothing.
As the next couple of days went by, I tried to forget everything.
I tried to forget the way Hyunjin brushed his hair out of his face when he was bored, the way he looked me in the eyes when he talked to me, the way his eyes lit up when he talked about a book with me, and the way he looked at me as if I was better than my sister.
But this all changed on Friday night.
I sat in my room, watching TV while my sister was out with her other friends and I was left to hold down the fort as our parents were always away on business trips.
Suddenly, I heard a soft knock on the door. I flinched at the sound, almost dropping the bowl of popcorn on my lap. I furrowed my brows and set the bowl to the side while lowering the volume of the TV.
I threw on a hoodie once again and made my way down the stairs.
Who could this possibly be?
I slowly opened the door, afraid someone would jump out and attack me, but felt even more nervous at who I saw instead.
“H-hyunjin?” I stuttered out. He gave me a gentle smile and gave me his signature awkward wave. The boy was wearing his usual attire, yet a denim jacket was slung over his shirt.
“Hey y/n.” He greeted. I felt my hands shaking at the anxiety I felt around him, but I opened the door wider to hide my fear.
“Um, Kyungmi isn’t here right now, she’s, um-” He chuckled, making my heart pound faster and faster at his smile.
“Yeah, I know, I came to see you.”
I felt as if my world stopped and my bones and limbs shook at the aspect of being alone with the boy who made my heart jump and my guilt swallow me silly.
“Oh, ok, well, come in.” I knew I probably shouldn’t let my sister’s boyfriend-crush-in while she wasn’t home, but I had a hard time saying no to people.
“So, how have you been? I haven’t seen much of you lately.” He started. I scoffed at his words, shutting the door behind him.
“Oh wow, I wonder why.” I joked. We both knew my sister hated me being around him. He sighed and ruffled his hair.
“Well, I like seeing you, I like being around you.” He spoke slowly. I shook my head, the walls seemingly closing in as he kept speaking.
“Hyunjin.” My breath shook and I took a step back from him. “Kyungmi doesn’t-”
“I don’t care what your sister wants! This isn’t about her, this is about you and me!” He raised his voice. I shut my eyes, trying to take deep breaths.
“Hyunjin, you know, you know.” He took a sharp turn away from me, facing toward the door once again.
“Yes, I know I’m her soulmate.” He said these words no emotions, which terrified me.
“No, you both are soulmates, you’re meant to be.” I noted softly. He shook his head and took off his jacket.
“You’re wrong. Look at my wrist.” I gripped his wrist as it came flying at me.
00 09 14 08
I gasped and dropped his wrist immediately.
“No! No, no.” I gasped out. I took shaky breaths and tried to lean against something, but Hyunjin caught me instead.
“Y/n, she isn’t my soulmate. I don’t know if she got the person wrong-”
“No, we were one of the only people in that library and it turned to 0 once you came in. It has to be you, there’s no other way.” I choked out. I brushed my hair out of my face though it still stuck to the sweat that thinly coated it.
Our fight came to a standstill and I could only hear his deep breaths and my heart pounding.
“Y/n, I-I’m sorry. But I don’t feel that way about your sister. I can’t when I’m in love with her-”
“Don’t say it! You can’t say it, Hyunjin, please.” I cried. I covered my ears and blocked out the sound.
He gently set my hands down despite my wimpy protests. He gazed gently into my eyes, but I refused to meet his.
“Y/n, I like you and there’s nothing you can do about it, ok?” I felt my heart start to pound at his fierce words.
“You’re wrong! You can’t like me, I’m pathetic, boring, ugly, dull and stupid! She’s our school’s president for God’s sake and every boy’s dream! You’re wrong! I’m, I’m-” Hyunjin bent down to my level and cupped my chin and faced me towards him.
“Listen to me, you’re none of those words, you are strong, you are beautiful, you are smart, and you are the most amazing girl I’ve ever spent time with. You’re-” I pushed away from him as our former position was too intimate, too loving.
“Stop, Hyunjin! I’m nothing compared to her, just admit it! My sister has had tons of boyfriends, tons of lovers, and she has tons of friends, while me on the other hand, I’ve never even had a boy look at me for more than 5 seconds!” I screamed.
I need to get away form here. I need to get away from here.
“And you! You’re the most perfect boy I’ve laid eyes on, you’re smart, funny, beautiful, inside and out. And you deserve a girl like her.” I whimpered childishly. He shook his head. I could see his face turning red in pure anger, but I didn’t care what he thought at this point.
Maybe if I made him angrier, he would understand that he’s making the wrong choice.
“Don’t tell me what I deserve or what I don’t deserve! Let’s talk about what you deserve, ok? You deserve the whole fucking universe to fall at your feet because you’re the most unselfish person I’ve ever met, you’re so kind to your sister and to everyone around you. You’re funny, smart, and everything you say makes me smile. You make goddamn butterflies fly around in my stomach like I’m 12 years old or something.
“I don’t care that your sister is president of our school or that she’s had way more experience than you in relationships because I love you for you, and you’re beautiful alright? I wish you could see yourself the way I see you because you light up like stars when you walk into my line of vision and you make my day a million times better.”
I didn’t realize I was crying until I felt his fingers brush against my cheek. Thankfully, I snapped out of it and slapped his fingers away.
“You can’t choose her over me, you can’t do that. No one does that-”
“I’m not choosing her over you because you’ve been my only choice, got it?” Before I could answer, I felt him crash my lips into mine.
The kiss was rough at first, but then turned soft as he got timid at his bold action. I didn’t know what I was doing but suddenly my hands were in his hair and his arms were around my waist.
Suddenly, I felt a jolt around my wrist, making me jump back from him.
“Did you-” I quickly pulled up my sleeve and stared at the numbers that seemed to trivial before.
00 00 00 00.
I didn’t see Hyunjin for another week after that incident. I tried to pretend it ever happened. I tried to forget how beautiful he made me feel and how alive he made me feel.
Like I wasn’t trapped behind my sister’s shadow.
Like I wasn’t a drone living through my days.
Like I had something living for.
“Thanks for helping me move boxes into the art room, Mr. Oh would have my head if I didn’t get this done by today.” I wiped the sweat from my forehead.
“It’s fine. I wouldn’t want you to be stuck here doing it yourself anyways.” I handed her a big box and saw my sleeve droop slightly lower.
“Thanks, and hey!” She dropped the box and pulled up my sleeve, ignoring the paintbrushes that were scattered on the ground.
I tried to pull my arm back, but she was too fast.
“Your timer!!” She yelled, holding her hand to her mouth.
“When? Who? With...” Her face changed from surprise to pure anger as she threw down my wrist.
“Kyungmi, it’s not-”
“It’s Hyunjin, isn’t it?” Her tone left a bitter taste in my mouth as she glared at me with the most hatred I’ve seen.
“Kyungmin, I didn’t know. We didn’t even know-”
“Oh, so this has been a secret from me? For how long!? When were you going to tell me!?” She yelled. I shut my eyes, not knowing how to respond. Were we ever going to tell her? What was the right thing to do in this situation?
“You know what? This isn’t like you. You used to tell me everything, used to never keep secrets from me and now look! Now you’re stealing my boyfriend!”
“He wasn’t even your boyfriend in the first place!” I spat, wanting to take back those words as soon as they left my mouth. I shut my eyes and groaned internally. “Ok, I meant-”
“Save it. You’ve always been jealous of me anyways."
She turned around, but quickly whipped back around at me to make one final point.
“If you even cared for me enough, you’d let me have him.”
I thought everything would get better after a couple of days, but it didn’t. Kyungmi ignored me.
I ignored Hyunjin.
Hyunjin ignored Kyungmi.
This was a vicious cycle I didn’t know if I could handle.
I sat in my bedroom, slowly letting out the tears from my eyes, thinking of the pain I’ve caused everyone.
How did this happen to me? How did I get caught in the most toxic love of all?
With my soulmate and my sister?
"If you even cared for me enough, you’d let me have him.”
I let these thoughts consume me as I mustered up my courage and went into the kitchen, grabbing one of the sharpest blades we had.
It’s ok, your sister will be happier with him. Everyone will be happier with them together. Even Hyunjin. This is for the best.
The voice in my head told me.
“You have no friends, no future, while she has it all.”
I shook my head, throwing the blade away, accidentally cutting myself in the process. I saw the blood trickle down my arm, making my head spin and my heart pound dangerously.
Stop.
Stop.
Stop.
You can’t do this.
You can’t do this.
You can do this.
I knew the one way to reverse soulmates, to reverse the love.
You had to stop the time and break the clock.
I closed my eyes, and grabbed the blade once more.
I stared at the small device, that stared back with the large number 00 00 00 00.
I closed my eyes once more, thinking of the happier life Kyungmi would have, Hyunjin would have, and I would have once this ended.
"If you even cared for me enough, you’d let me have him.”
These words jolted me into reality; I thought of the beautiful life she could live while I had no future ahead of me.
I sharply threw the knife up and down onto the clock, cringing at the sound of skin breaking and wires buzzing in my skin.
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my second to last soulmate au!! this has been a blast to do and i think jeongin’s is one of my favorite tbh (which is why i got impatient and am publishing it before seungmin's)
to read the others, they’re on my masterlist, and i hope you enjoy this installment of my sk soulmate aus for my wonderful incredible bias yang jeongin!!
word count: 1722
warnings: mentions of injury and death (nobody explicitly dies or anything even remotely serious like that)
author: mel
extra info: soulmate au where each person gets a magical ability/power when they're born, and its the opposite of their soulmate's (ex: one person can summon fire while the other can summon water)
♡
jeongin is littered with miscellaneous scars across his body from when his friends would scrape their knees as children, or his mother would accidentally cut her finger open while chopping vegetables, or from his hyungs whenever they would try to cook and burn themselves. he never wanted the people around him to be in pain. his hyungs had been trying to get him to stop doing this for every minor bump or cut they got, but he still would.
you on the other hand are clear-skinned, and also worried for the safety of the people around you. so you stay away from them. when you were younger you had anger management problems, giving your family, friends, teachers, enemies, or random strangers that would accidentally bump into you in the streets cuts or bruises or even a broken arm one time. but you were trying to get better, carrying things to heal any wounds you might inflict.
Soulmates.
You'd almost forgotten that you even had one, too wrapped up in your power.
Which was apparently the thing that tied you to them, their power was opposite to yours.
But it more of a nuisance to you than something you were excited about.
Your ability was to inflict injury on someone without even touching them. The only catch was that you had to feel half their pain, but there was no injury on your own body.
But you were trying to get better, you really were.
5:00 am, your alarm goes off. Another great day of school.
You repeated that to yourself, trying to lessen the sarcasm with each one. Positivity. That was one way to keep it under control.
5:10 am, you sit on your bed, breathing deeply. In and out.
You repeated that to yourself, for the next five minutes. Another way to keep it under control.
5:30 am, you finally started getting ready for the school day.
6:20 am, you stepped out of the shower, fervently trying to dry your hair.
6:30 am, you say a goodbye to your parents before starting your normal walk to school.
It was chillier than you had anticipated, and you cursed not drying your hair more thoroughly before you left. You threw the hood on your jacket up to try to shelter your wet locks from the wind.
It's going to be a great day. You said to yourself, despite the lousy start you were already having.
"Woah!" A voice suddenly yelled out from behind you, and before you could even turn around, something collided with you. It was a painful mixture of flesh and metal that knocked you to the ground.
It was a boy, both him and his bike on top of you now.
Any composure you had left you, "What the hell?"
"I'm so- ow!" He was cut off halfway through his apology, and you immediately realized why; you could feel a small sting on your own face, right where a gash was forming across his cheek.
"Oh no!" You were angry at yourself now, trying to wrench yourself out from under him as he desperately scrambled to do the same as well get his bike off you. Scrambling around in your backpack, you finally secured the box of bandaids you always carried around, in case you did this again.
Except the boy seemed more concerned over you than his cheek, studying your legs and arms intently. "Don't worry, I've got this!"
With his words, you watched the scrapes and cuts close up and fade away from your body. You were so in shock you could barely stumble out a thank you.
"Ah, it's not problem. I'm sorry again, for running into you." He said, prompting you to look back up at him.
It was then that you actually saw his face. A wide, braced smile was spread across his lips, eyes sheepishly crinkled. As you looked closer, you saw that his skin was littered with scars across his body, seemingly random. Some were small and barely there, while others were an angry dark shade and raised up prominently. They were all along his arms too, concentrated most on the elbows and fingers, and a couple were even on what you could see of his neck and chest.
You were sure you that had replied back with something socially acceptable, but you were still transfixed on this scar-riddled boy. As your eyes trailed back up to his face, you suddenly remembered your goal. Resecuring your bandaid box in your hands that he had just healed, you reached in to grab a couple. The wound you caused wasn't too wide, just deeper than you would have liked. You'd gotten carried away again.
"Here, hold still." You mumbled, unwrapping one bandage.
He did as you requested, watching you curiously. "Oh? Did I get injured too?"
"Yeah, I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize, I ran into you!"
"But I did this to you." You admitted, pressing it firmly to his cheek before grabbing a second one.
"Is it your power?" He queried, watching your face with interest as you applied the final bandage.
"Uh, yeah. I've been getting better about it, I'm really sorry."
"That's okay... soulmate."
You froze.
You hadn't even been thinking about that, the fact that he apparently had a healing power, a stark contrast to your own.
But he had.
"Oh. Wow. Do you really think we are?" Standing up, you then offered the boy a hand up as well.
As he fell into step beside you, walking his bike on his other side, he replied with earnest, "Well, what's your power exactly? Mine is healing others, while getting half of their scar on my body. But no pain, so it's not that bad. And I can't heal myself."
"Oh. I can harm others without touching them, and have to feel half their pain. But no scar, at least. And also I’m pretty sure that I can't harm myself that way, not that I've really tested it out, though."
You really did have the complete opposite of this boy's power. He had to be your soulmate.
"What's your name, by the way?"
"Y/L/N Y/N."
"I'm Yang Jeongin."
Despite hearing your horrifying and harmful power, Jeongin seemed unfazed, and just as bright as ever.
After a minute or so of silence, you spoke up again, finding it hard to look away from the white marks all along his body. Each one told a story, a story of his kindness. They were truly intriguing to you. "You've healed a lot of people, haven't you?"
"Yeah. I just... don't like seeing the people around me in pain. This one," He pointed to a scar that spanned three of his knuckles. "Was from when my mom cut herself chopping vegetables."
"How old were you?"
"Six, I think?"
You were amazed at how nonchalant he seemed about it, willingly scarring his own body to help those around him. And ever since such a young age. "What about that one?" You questioned, gesturing to a large and asymmetrically rough one across his forearm.
"My younger brother tripped and gashed his arm open on a stone wall a couple years ago."
The two of you continued on like that, you pointing out a scar and Jeongin would proudly tell the story of where it came from and who he had healed. You couldn't believe that you were soulmates with such a kind, truly caring boy. And all you could do was hurt people.
You entered the school grounds, and waited as Jeongin chained up his bicycle. He followed you towards your locker, where you continued your conversation.
In a lull while you spun the combination in, Jeongin suddenly asked, "So have you ever... killed someone?"
You were initially caught off-guard, but the casual way he had asked and the fact that he didn't seem afraid of you at all just attentively curious about you incited you to answer, "No."
"Do you think you could? You know, if you ever wanted to."
"Probably." You'd never really tested the limits of your power, having no reason or want to.
"Oh."
You decided to turn the question back on him, "Have you ever saved someone’s life?"
"No." He admitted, a thoughtful frown on his face as he waited for you to switch out your binders and books.
"Well, do you think you could?"
"Probably?"
Closing your locker, you then leaned back against it to observe Jeongin for a moment. "Aren't you in my lunch?"
"Yeah, I think so."
"Class is starting in a few minutes, we should meet up then." You proposed, and he nodded enthusiastically.
"Okay, uh your lunch table or mine?"
"Considering that I sit alone, mine would have more privacy."
"Why do you sit alone?"
"Nobody wants to sit with someone who they think could snap their neck with just a look."
This deepened the frown across your soulmate's face, "But you said you're working on it! That's really rude of them to judge you like that."
His sympathetic distraught at your situation brought a smile to your face, "Thanks Jeongin. But you can't blame them, I did break a girl's arm back in elementary school."
"So? That was what— a decade ago? That's not fair. Starting tomorrow, you can sit at my lunch table!"
The bell rang, and with a groan, you had to give Jeongin a hasty goodbye. "I'll see you later, Jeongin!"
"Bye, Y/N!"
You both ran in opposite directions, not wanting to be any later to your class than you already were. Flopping into your seat, you couldn't wipe the excited grin from your face.
Yang Jeongin: the bright, caring, boy with a scar-riddled body that held every story of his kindness, was your soulmate. And he didn't seem to care that your power was dangerous; if anything, he seemed truly interested in it, and not in a morbid way like people had been before, but in the same way you'd want to know about someone's family. It was just a part of you, a part that he liked, purely because it was you. And you hadn't felt that accepted all your life.
