#three seconds;

Work was easy to you. There was nothing to stress about, nothing to trigger a mood swing or anything of the sort, and no loud bosses either. Since it was only punching in numbers, answering phones, presenting information and a bit of persuasion here and there, it was easy work. And of course, you liked easy work.

The people you worked with only added to the nice environment and made it a better workspace. First there was Bobby, your desk mate. He had the desk across from you which is why you coined the term ‘deskmate’. He was a goofball and only sometimes did his overly happy work mentality overwhelm you.

Next was Chanwoo. He was more on the serious side, although he still had a huge and intricate personality. He found a lot of things that were ironic to be funny, and so did you which made it really nice to be around him since you could share a laugh. He worked two desks away from Bobby.

Junhoe was someone that you wouldn’t exactly say you were close with, but he would say you to were the best of friends. He would always somehow find you as you were in the break room or just at your desk trying to work and he would distract you either by flirting or just... being weird. He was cool, but you tried to keep your distance. Thankfully, he worked across the office.

Yunhyeong was another one of the people you enjoyed being around. He was a good worker, had a good sense of humor, and he was.. kind of cute. Of course, you’d never admit your small crush, but you enjoyed glancing at him from across the office.

Jinhwan had never really been someone you were close with either, but unlike Junhoe, he would agree. You both never had a reason to talk except for when the printer wasn’t working or if you were in the same elevator. Of course, you’ve had some conversations but you didn’t talk often. He was one of the more ‘chill’ people at the office in your eyes.

Donghyuk was probably your favorite person at work. He was always cheerful but it never was too much. He knew when you were in a bad mood and when it was alright to play around with you. He sat in the desk next to yours so it was no wonder you both were practically best friends.

Lastly, Hanbin. You and Hanbin had worked together for years but you never got close enough to really know how he was. You heard about him though. He was practically the best worker at the office so the CEO would always pick him to present new ideas to the public. You hadn’t had many opportunities to talk to him though. Because of that, you couldn’t really figure out his character.

You figured that you wouldn’t ever get to actually talk to him anyways because you never crossed paths. This day wouldn’t be any different though, you were sure.

It started off as a normal day, nothing throwing you off. You arrived at the office and set your things down at your desk, getting settled to prepare for the day ahead of you. Almost immediately though, Junhoe, Chanwoo and Donghyuk were around your desk with gossip.

“Y/N, did you hear?” Junhoe started off, crouching next to your desk.

You raised an eyebrow at his hushed tone, looking around to the other two men around you, “No... I just got here. Is it something important?”

“Of course! We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t,” Donghyuk said matter-of-factly as he lightly shoved your shoulder.

You took in his words, turning towards your desk but jumping a bit when you felt Junhoe’s breath on the side of your face. “It’s about Bobby,” he whispered, slowly backing away from you.

You let out an awkward laugh, “Okay guys, this is kind of weird. Why are you all acting like this?”

Chanwoo spoke up for the group, “Bobby found his soulmate.”

Ah yes, soulmates. The one thing that almost everyone had in the world. There were some people who didn’t have them, of course, but the majority of the world was destined to be with someone.

You and the idea of soulmates was a rollercoaster ride. When you were growing up, you had always thought that finding your soulmate would be a magical experience. You were looking forward to it with every ounce of your small heart.

And then you turned 15 and got your first and last boyfriend. You adored him, and you thought he adored you too. And he did adore you... until he found his soulmate. For him, it was the words on his wrist. You could say them as often as possible but it wasn’t the same as when she said them to him, and his reaction to her words. You could play pretend but the fact of the matter was that your wrist was blank and his had his fateful sentence on it.

When he told you the news, you swore that you would never put your heart through that ever again. So, ever since then, you hadn’t been in a relationship. That was 6 years ago and you still swore off dating. At least until you found the one you were fated to be with.

So with your history with the concept of soulmates, you didn’t exactly know how to feel about being presented with this information. Sure, you were super happy for him. He found the one he was supposed to be with, of course you were happy, but you weren’t really one for office gossip like this so you really had no idea why they were telling you.

“That’s great,” you smiled, genuinely meaning your words, “It was going to happen eventually.”

“But do you know who it was though?” Junhoe questioned, finally pulling up a chair and leaning closer to you.

You leaned back a little in response, “No... who is it?”

“The CEO’s daughter,” he whispered. That got you to raise your eyebrow. Although it was his life and you had no business sticking your nose or any amount of interest into it, it did have a sort of entertaining side to it. Bobby was fated to be with the CEO’s daughter. That didn’t happen every day.

As a result, the rest of the day was filled with your coworkers teasing Bobby about his soulmate and her position in the company. You didn't join in but it was a nice distraction to hear him stammer over his words because of his love life.

"Hey, Y/N," Yunhyeong tapped your desk, gaining your attention, "Can you take this to the CEO? It's just the monthly sales numbers."

"Oh, sure," you smiled, taking the folder and getting up from your desk.

Yunhyeong flashed one of his sweet smiles at you, making your heart almost fly out of your throat. "Thank you Y/N! You're the best."

Sometimes you wondered how it would be if you were soulmates with Yunhyeong. You knew it wouldn't happen because he had a mark on his wrist and you didn't. But only once in a while would you indulge in the fantasy of having him as a soulmate.

You would share secret glances, hold hands in the elevator, and leave work together. Maybe even a few secret kisses in the break room too. You let out an audible sigh as you continued your journey to your boss's office. It kind of hurt you to know that you wouldn't be his soulmate because you let yourself create such a vivid fantasy of being with him. You could imagine going home together, making him dinner, going out to restaurants together, but it wouldn't happen. He had a different soul-mark than you.

Every time you saw Yunhyeong in a short sleeved shirt, it would remind you that you could never be his.

Running along his left arm was a single black line meant to be his soul-mark. You didn’t have a physical one though, or at least not that you knew of. Of course when you were a kid, you searched everywhere for a physical mark but you could never find it.

Since people typically had the same type of connection that their parents had, it would explain why yours wasn’t physical. Your parents bumped into each other for their first meeting. Once they touched, a shock went through their body that felt as strong as a thunderbolt but didn't hurt. As soon as they felt the sensation, they both knew they were destined to be together. Yours wouldn't be exactly the same as theirs but from their history, you were positive it wouldn't be physical.

After thinking of your soul-mark, you decided to come back to reality, deeming it pointless to keep dreaming about a future with Yunhyeong when it wouldn't happen.

And at that exact moment, the universe decided to really... mess with you.

As you started to look up, you felt a force hit you, sending you to the ground. You tried to put your hands out behind you to break your fall, and they did... but they also twisted in a way that you knew wasn't good. They didn’t feel broken though, thank goodness. 

You let out a cry of pain and the person responsible for your fall crawled towards you.

"Y/N, are you okay?" A familiar voice asked, leaving you to forget about the pain for a bit.

Hanbin?

You pressed your palms to the floor to try and lift yourself up to get a good look but the pain shot through your arm and you yelped, falling back down.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry!" Hanbin spoke out, crawling closer until his face was in view. He wasn't looking at you though— or rather he was but only at your hands at your sides, "Are they okay?"

"I think so," you said with uncertainty running through your voice as you slowly tried to move them.

As gently as he could, Hanbin pulled one of your hands towards him. You felt something stir in your stomach from the way he looked at them, as if they were fragile.

But then, when your right hand was fully encased in his, you felt it. 

You were sure you both felt it too because there was no way only you felt the shock run through your hand where he touched it. And it wasn't just a small shock either. It was a shock that ran from your hands all the way up to your head and mimicked a brain freeze.

You squeezed your eyes shut to try to get rid of the feeling but almost immediately after it came, it left. And that left you to the realization that you had definitely met your soulmate. 

But you just touched Hanbin. That couldn’t be right… right?

You opened your eyes and was met with Hanbin’s wide ones staring back at you. “Did you feel that?” He asked, a bit panicked.

You could only nod in response as he fell back into a sitting position, still holding your hand. This was weird. This was really weird. You both had been coworkers for a few years now. How had you not figured out you were soulmates until now? Shouldn’t you have bumped into each other before?

After a few moments, you obtained your ability to speak again but the only thing that came out was, “I have to get this folder to the CEO.” 

And in a rush to not lose your job, you quickly got up and scurried away from a confused Hanbin.

You had gotten the folder back to the CEO and once you got back to your desk, you didn’t have any pending assignments you had to take care of so technically you had free time. The problem wasn’t with having time to talk to Hanbin though, it was what you were supposed to talk about. I mean, you had never really talked to Hanbin before you both bumped into each other so just going up to him and having a casual conversation was out of the picture since you wouldn’t know what casual was with him.

So, during the rest of the work day, you ignored the throbbing in your wrist and stayed at your desk, your eyes glued to the screen in front of you so that you weren’t tempted to look over at the man that you shared a fateful connection with.

“If you don’t take a break from the computer, your eyes can get messed up,” you heard someone say beside you. The sudden voice made you jump, which made them chuckle as you looked over your shoulder to see the culprit... which was Hanbin.

“Seriously, I don’t think you’ve looked up even once all day,” he frowned as you tried to find something to say to him.

The only thing you came up with was “I had a lot of work to do.” 

“So much that you hadn’t even looked at the clock yet?” He asked with the ghost of a smirk on his face. Your brows furrowed as you turned back to your screen to look at the time. 

6:07 PM. You should’ve gotten off work seven minutes ago. 

“I’ll walk you to the elevator,” he offered and although you were not trying to be in an enclosed space with Hanbin for more than one minute, you couldn’t bring yourself to say ‘no thanks’.

The walk to the elevator was quiet, but you didn’t expect it to be amazing or filled with conversation. You both were just walking to the elevator after finding out you were soulmates. Not awkward at all.

As you boarded the elevator with Hanbin, you thought about all the other random strangers who found their soulmates. They would bump into each other or say the fateful words or happen to see the same soul-mark on a complete stranger and tackle them into a hug. Why couldn’t you do that with Hanbin?

Every other girl in the office would’ve jumped at the opportunity to be Hanbin’s soulmate but you were his actual soulmate yet you couldn’t even form one sentence to say to him.

... Ah. Maybe it’s because you’ve worked together for years now and never had an actual conversation.

“Y/N,” Hanbin called out, gaining your attention for probably the third time today, “Let’s go. The elevator stopped—”

“Y/N! Hanbin!” You heard Junhoe call out, momentarily making you want to roll your eyes as hard as you could. But, alas, you refrained, “We’re having a little party to congratulate Bobby and his soulmate. Everyone has to go since the CEO is going too, so come on!”

Reluctantly, you trudged behind Hanbin and made your way to your coworkers who were gathered by the door of the building waiting for you both. Once you had made it to the group, they all started to file out of the door and onto the sidewalks to the grilling restaurant up the street. The one they always went to for company dinners. 

But you didn’t mind. The food was good there.

The first half of the ‘party’— ‘dinner’?— was nice. You ate, you got to talk to a few of your coworkers, had some really nice conversations and got to know the people around you better. You even spoke to Hanbin a bit, although it was mostly to ask to pass certain seasonings and side dishes. But still! It counts! You went out of your way to talk to him even though he was sitting a little ways away from you!

But the second half... started to go downhill after Bobby directed a question towards you when Yunhyeong went to the restroom.

“So, Y/N, how are you dealing with your crush?” he asked in between bites as if it was the most casual thing he could ask in front of all of your coworkers.

Your heart practically stopped beating, wanting to look over at Hanbin but having to force yourself not to as if you were going against nature, “What? What crush?”

“Your crush on Yunhyeong,” he really— “We all know you like him, so you can’t deny it either.” Bobby continued to act nonchalant as though this was a normal thing to talk about. But you were freaking out.

“I don’t—” you swallowed thickly, feeling many curious eyes on you, “I don’t like him. I don’t know where you got that from but I do not like him.” The only thing you could try to do was deny the statement as much as you could. But if you thought about it— about him— you really didn’t have any feelings for him anymore. You could try to think up a few scenarios in your head where you were married or whatever but they didn’t hold the same kind of feeling that they did earlier today. Before you met your soulmate.

Bobby only sighed, finally putting down his food, “I’ve seen the way you ogle at him on your break. You totally like him!”

Bobby was bearable most of the time, but right now he wasn’t. 

“I do not like him. We aren’t fated together so I can’t like him,” you responded, looking him dead in the eyes to try to get him off the subject. But he didn’t budge.

“But you haven’t found your soulmates yet. Who says you can’t have a little fun before then?” He shrugged with a smirk. At that moment, while rolling your eyes, they stopped on Hanbin, who was looking down at his food with a blank facial expression. He wasn’t eating, he was just sitting there, staring at it as though it was a void that sucked him in and he couldn’t look away.

The thing that brought him back was your next statement.

“I already found my soulmate.”

As if he was trying to break a world record of fastest head turn... or his neck, Hanbin quickly turned to look at you with wide eyes and an ‘o’ shaped mouth. You had... actually acknowledged it.

Hanbin swore he was going to have to spend a little time trying to make you warm up to him but you had acknowledged it by yourself. The situation was less than ideal but still... it made his heart skip a beat. 

But you saying this made the whole table gasp. And apparently you said it right when Yunhyeong came back.

“Y/N found her soulmate? Who is it?” He asked as he pulled out his chair to sit down. You heard a few mumbles of agreement, people wanting to know who you were fated with, and you considered telling them. But you stopped.

Were you really going to reveal that Hanbin was your soulmate in front of everyone? How would they treat you both at the office? It was as if time stood still as everyone awaited your response. But just the fact that you were considering telling them was enough for him.

“Hey now,” Hanbin started, stealing the spotlight from you and practically saving your life, “She doesn’t have to tell us who she’s fated with. That’s personal.”

Junhoe groaned, “Way to ruin the fun.” 

You didn’t miss the small smile Hanbin shot your way when everyone went back to their regular conversations.

After the company celebration, you all slowly made your way out of the restaurant. Everyone was still buzzing from the event so they were all deep in conversation. You though? You were still thinking about the way Hanbin helped you out back at the table.

There were a few more times where he intervened when you were asked something you obviously didn’t want to answer and there were times where he asked you small questions here and there to try to get you engaged in the surrounding conversations, but you were focused on that one time. Even thinking about it still made something erupt in your heart.

You wish your little ‘crush’ wasn’t revealed but it was and you had to deal with that. But rather than ignoring you or being mad that you liked someone directly before knowing about him, he helped you out.

And he even smiled at you!

And you didn’t know if it was because you were soulmates or because you had never really paid attention to Hanbin before now but his smile really did things to your heart. One too many times had your heart fluttered during the dinner and sometimes when you caught Hanbin looking over at you, you thought that you would love to have that gaze framed and displayed on your wall. But, of course, you pushed that thought away.

Before you realized it, everyone from the celebration had made it out of the restaurant and onto the street. People were getting their rides figured out and carpooling with others, and some were even too drunk to walk straight so they had to be carried and have a taxi called for them. Meanwhile you were just looking for a clearing so you could make it to the bus.

As you looked around the sidewalk, you noticed that Hanbin was weaving through the crowd. ‘It would be nice if he was trying to get to me,’ you thought but then shook those thoughts away when you saw that Hanbin was, indeed, making his way to you.

“Y/N, you ride the bus right?” He asked when he got to you. You could only nod as he smiled, “Let’s go then. The bus should be arriving soon.”

You said your goodbyes to the rest of your team and hurriedly made your way to the bus. Sitting down at the bus stop, you shifted a little, feeling a bit awkward sitting so close to Hanbin when all you could think about was his smile and how his hands would feel linked with yours. But he didn’t seem to notice.

“Hey, Hanbin?” You called out, wanting to break the silence and also just curious. He looked over at you with raised eyebrows, motioning for you to continue, “How’d you know I rode this bus?”

“Oh, I ride this bus too. You probably didn’t notice though since I sit in the back,” he chuckled softly while you let out a small ‘oh’.

Once the bus finally came, Hanbin led the both of you onto it and into a seat towards the back. The bus started to roll ahead toward your destinations but you hadn’t found anything to talk about. It wasn’t awkward silence that engulfed you both, it was still comfortable but you just didn’t want it to be there. You wanted to talk to him. 

And Hanbin wanted to talk to you too.

Truthfully, he had wanted to talk to you about a lot of things but he thought it would be weird to you. He wanted to talk to you before today too. But now that today’s events had happened, he decided that there was no better time to talk to you than now. Especially after you both had warmed up to each other as much as you had in such a short time.

“You know,” he started out, “It kind of made me sad to know that you liked Yunhyeong before.”

Your heart stopped for a second or two before you turned to face him, “Hey, I didn’t—”

“I know,” he interrupted with a laugh, “It’s in the past now anyways. But it still makes me a bit sad.” He let out a sigh, looking towards the window, “You know, I had a crush on someone before I found out too.”

“Really?” you frowned, “Then why were you sad about me having a crush?”

He took this time to turn towards you, and you noticed you both were a lot closer than you thought you were.

“Because you were my crush.”

You felt coldness rush over your face as you processed his words. While you were busy staring at Yunhyeong, Hanbin was busy staring at you. Oh my god.

Hanbin could only laugh at your reaction, continuing his ‘speech’, “I’m really glad I bumped into you today though. Out of the many people I could’ve been fated with, it just happened to be you. That makes me really happy.”

The smile on his face as he looked at you made it hard not to smile back.

“You being happy makes me really happy,” you managed to say to him, making his smile even wider.

A few moments passed as you both looked away from each other and towards the road in front of you. And after those moments passed and a mellow mood surrounded both of you, Hanbin reached for your hand slowly, locking your fingers together as you rode off into the metaphorical sunset together. When you didn’t move to unlink them, Hanbin smiled softly, looking down at where your hands met.

After a few moments of silence as you held hands, Hanbin spoke up, his voice barely in a whisper that you wouldn’t have caught if you weren’t paying attention, “I really like you.”

Maybe being soulmates with Hanbin wouldn’t be awkward at all.

When your stop came up, you started to get off the bus with Hanbin following you, not once letting go of your hand. When you were officially off the bus, you faced Hanbin with a frown, “This isn’t your stop.”

“I know,” he replied with a soft smile, “I’m walking you home.”

It felt as though your heart was a cord and Hanbin was tangling it up as if it wasn’t such an important thing. Hanbin’s gentle gaze on you made butterflies suddenly appear in your stomach and flutter around as though they had enough space to do so. You felt a smile inch its way onto your face but you tried to mask it with a frown.

“You don’t have to.”

Almost immediately after those words left your lips, Hanbin responded with, “I want to,” and suddenly you couldn’t mask your smile anymore as you turned to start walking to your apartment. Hanbin followed suit with an even wider smile than he had before because he caught the smile you were trying to hide.

As you neared your apartment, your steps started to slow down. You stopped in front of your building, turning to face him. “This is where I get off,” you sighed.

“Well then, I guess this is goodbye,” Hanbin said, adding ‘soulmate’ at the end with a teasing tone and a light smirk. 

You laughed, “See you tomorrow, soulmate.”

He smiled in response, “See you tomorrow.”

And as you entered your building, the memory of your hand in Hanbin’s still fresh in your mind, a blissful smile plastered itself onto your face as you thought back onto today’s events. This day was certainly not a normal day, but you were more than okay with that.

The one thing you were certain of was that you were definitely looking forward to what tomorrow would have in store.

masterlist.