Chapter Text
Fifteen days.
Fifteen days.
Fifteen days.
If Gyuvin starts counting on the day he had last checked his soulmate clock, which was on sunday, until the day he found out it has already hit zero mark, which was on tuesday, he would have sixteen days. Which means, he had probably met his soulmate on the day before he had noticed the change on his soulmate timer.
"Hao hyung, you're a genius—" Hanbin had gushed over Hao earlier, staring at the latter with heart eyes like a stupid and whipped love sick man he is. Hao, who was busy explaining the easy math to Gyuvin, sighed in defeat.
"—It's basic math, Bin—" he deadpanned.
"— Smart. Very intelligent. So lucky to have you as my soulmate, woah." Hanbin continued with a wide (stupid, if Gyuvin might add) whiskered grin, ignoring Gunwook and Gyuvin judgemental stares.
Thank god, it's just one day apart. Gyuvin doesn't know what would he do if it was four or five days. He shudders at the mere thought. Nightmare. It would be nothing but nightmare.
But the problem is that Gyuvin doesn't remember much what he did on that day. Like, come on now, his brain has been so used up these past two weeks to the point he forgot where he put his phone charger, only to find out it was with Gunwook after he let the younger take it from him the night before. Everytime he closes his eyes, he swears he can still see words, paragraphs and numbers from his papers. At this point, it would be easier trying to remember his papers than his activities and the places he had been on that day.
But he does remember visiting a coffee shop after his classes ended though, to get three cups of Iced americano to help him stay awake during the night.
"Uhh, I guess the best thing you got right now is the coffee shop. You could go there again and..." Hao trails, "..wait?" he continues (more like questions).
Gyuvin raises an eyebrow at the suggestion, "Why the coffee shop? I mean, I could've met them in the streets or something. Who knows. " He finishes it off carelessly with a shrug.
"That's not how soulmates work, Gyu." Hanbin immediately retorts back, always ready to defend his soulmate, because he's that whipped.
Gyuvin wonders if he will be like that too, someday. What if he is much worse when it comes to his soulmate? Sure, meeting his soulmates is not his top priority, but deep down, he is still a hopeless romantic person. A lover boy who does everything and anything, too much. His mother had once told him that Gyuvin gives out love so easily and freely because he has too much love in his heart, always ready to drop everything to help people, putting other people’s feelings and needs first.
Just like how easy it is for Gyuvin to love people, it is also easy for him to get hurt by the same people he used to call friends. He gives, gives and gives, but he never receives the same thing. And that’s where the problem lies.
He’s too much, they said.
Too caring, they said.
Too clingy, they said.
Gunwook called him an idiot for letting people take advantage of him, to use him as they please, while Gyuvin thought it was a normal thing to do.
He then realized he deserve so much better.
It took Gyuvin long enough to realize that they were just taking advantage of his kindness. He realized that putting so much love and efforts into the wrong people can be so draining and tiring, especially if you’re not getting it back. If he gives and gives, then who will take care of him? Who will be there for him? Does he really have a lot of love in his heart like what his mother told him? If so, then why does it feel like he’s been losing it?
If friendships can break him so easily, what’s more can relationship with his soulmate do to him?
And maybe, just maybe, that’s why Gyuvin is not ready to meet his soulmate just yet.
Because when one loves too much, the other will take steps back until the distance between them eventually becomes permanent, or they will just straight out say “I don’t wanna do this anymore”.
Either way, it will hurt the same. And Gyuvin doesn’t know if he can handle such thing.
"You really know nothing about all this soulmate thing." Gunwook snorts, pulling Gyuvin back to the present.
Gyuvin glances at him, noting that the younger is already watching him with a stern glare, his eyes are screaming “whatever you’re thinking right now, stop it right this instant!” and ofcourse, Gyuvin gets it immediately.
As much as they bicker and have fights here and there, Gyuvin knows that he won’t be able to live without Gunwook. After all, the younger man is the first one to hold his hand, pulling him up everytime he hits the rock bottom. Gunwook always calls him an idiot, but he’s also the one losing his precious sleep just to comfort Gyuvin, not wanting to leave the taller man alone with his thoughts.
If there’s one thing he would never trade for the world, it would be his friendship with Gunwook.
"Just go there tomorrow. Maybe your soulmate will be there, waiting for you. Let's just hope your soulmate remembers your stupid, handsome for nothing face."
Before Gyuvin retreats to his room, he picks up a pillow and tosses it at Gunwook, hitting him square in the face.
"GYUVIN. WHAT'S WITH YOU AND HITTING MY FACE WITH A DAMN PILLOW. I'M KICKING YOUR ASS OUT—"
Gyuvin shuts the door to his room with a smug smile playing on his lips.
——
The next day, Gyuvin finds himself standing outside the coffee shop— which is called Youth in the Shade (huh, it’s a pretty long name for a pretty small coffee shop. Gyuvin mentally cackles). He steps forward and tries to peek in through the big picture window. There are not many people inside; there's a couple sitting at the farthest table, seemingly like they're on a date with all the shy grins and stolen glances; a grandma who has a cup of coffee and a plate of fruit tart sitting on top of the table, looking like she's enjoying her alone time. There's also a bunch of young girls— high school students? Gyuvin’s pretty sure they are high school students— chatting and giggling to themselves while staring at something—or rather, someone?—with.. heart eyes? What?
Gyuvin moves his gaze to where the girls are secretly pointing at (in which it's not a secret at this point), and then his eyes land on a guy (oh, it is someone), who is hunching over his laptop with a serious expression on his face, his eyes focused on the screen as he chews on his bottom lip while his fingers are busy typing furiously on the keyboard.
Gyuvin tilts his head and takes another look before he grins devilishly. He knows him. He could never forget the cute guy with a bossy attitude who had approached him and told him to move to another table.
________
"Name?"
"Gyuvin." He answered.
The barista nodded her head. "That would be fifteen thousand won."
Fuck I'm broke, Gyuvin tearfully thought to himself as he watched the worker take his credit card and swipe it, before handing it back to him.
(“You literally have enough money to buy a whole ass branded store somewhere in Apgujeong with just your allowance money that you receive from your parents every month. If that is your definition of being broke, then what the hell does that make me?” Seok Matthew, Gyuvin’s senior slash one of the hyungs from his friend group, grumbled. Kim Taerae nodded his head seriously, “Our Gyuvin is so out of touch with reality. It’s so sickening.”)
"You can take a sit first. It'll take some time since we have a lot of orders right now." She gave him an apologetic smile. Gyuvin nodded his head politely, pocketing his credit card, groaning inwardly, before stepping away from the counter and looked around.
Frowning, he stalked over to an empty table and sat on the chair. It wasn't too far from the counter, and the coffee shop was not that huge anyway, so Gyuvin could still hear his name being called.
It was five in the afternoon, the coffee shop was kind of packed; mostly with students. And there were only two workers— Gyuvin slumped on his seat. Yep, his coffee would definitely take some time. He sighed, he should've went to another cafe. Gyuvin wasn't going to come to this place because he'd seen how packed it was, but it seemed like his feet has its own mind. Because the next thing he knew, he was already inside. Gyuvin had considered walking out and visit the small, homely cafe he'd just passed by earlier. But, he had already paid for his coffee. Gyuvin wasn't going to waste his damn money. His mother raised him better than that.
"Gyuvin, you idiot." He muttered to himself, fixing his round shaped thin framed glasses ("Been telling you since forever," a voice, that suspiciously sounded like Gunwook, cackled in his head). He was too busy smacking his tall bulky best friend in his head to notice that there was someone standing near his table.
"Excuse me, but can you sit at another table?"
Gyuvin looked up to see a guy— not just a damn guy, he interrupted himself.
This guy had to be the most attractive person he's ever seen (aside from his senior slash his close friend because, oh come on, everyone thinks Kim Jiwoong is attractive okay, including him. But no homo though). The first thing that caught his eyes was his fiery red hair; his bangs were styled perfectly, showing off his forehead and dark eyebrows. He looked like he was a couple of inches shorter than him, which Gyuvin kind of expected, because everyone is shorter than him. He had an angelic face with cat-like features, porcelain skin with red plump lips. And oh God, his eyes. For a moment, Gyuvin was glad he decided to wear his eyeglasses today, because he could clearly see his dark eyes framed by thick, long eyelashes and perfect winged eyeliner. His eyes were as big as a five hundred won coin. If someone asks Gyuvin who owns the most prettiest eyes, he would not hesitate to answer with a 'the pretty-looking guy I encountered in a random coffee shop'.
Gyuvin sucked in a deep breath. Why are his eyes so damn beautiful? Why do they still look so fucking beautiful even when he's glaring at me— Wait what?
"What?" Gyuvin dumbly repeated out loud. The Cute Guy huffed (cutely, if you asked Gyuvin). "I've said this for the past two minutes. But it seems like you didn't hear me since you were too busy staring at my face. I said, move," said the red haired male, his voice dripping in annoyance. Gyuvin raised an eyebrow. Eh? This cute guy is also bossy huh.
Adorable. Gyuvin decided.
"And why should I move?" Gyuvin teased (because if Gunwook took the first spot in Certified Little Shit, then Gyuvin would happily take #2), tilting his head up as he stared up at him with a hint of smile in his eyes. The Cute Guy narrowed his eyes (Beautiful, beautiful! Damn it. Gyuvin cursed himself).
"Because I need to finish my assignment that is due in less than thirty minutes but my laptop is dying and I need to charge it. If you don't move your ass right now, I will get a big fat zero. And it would be your fault!" He grumbled, subtly stomping his foot. That was when Gyuvin finally noticed the laptop that he hugged protectively to his chest.
"And what if I said no?" he challenged, his eyes glinted teasingly. Gyuvin knew all too well that chasing deadlines could be a bitch—after all, he himself was also doing the same thing— but hey, it wouldn't hurt to mess around for a bit, right?
"Then I don't care!" The Cute Guy declared before moving to sit across Gyuvin, "I don't care how attractive you are. I'm still gonna sit here because I need the damn plug. There's only one that's available at the moment and you're not using it!"
"Attractive, huh?" Gyuvin pointed out as he grinned from ear to ear, suddenly feeling energized because hell yeah, this pretty guy thought he was attractive, too. Ten point to Gyuvin.
The red haired male froze for a second, before clearing his throat. "I-I don't know what you're talking about." He spluttered, quickly plugging in his laptop.
Gyuvin stared in his direction with a teasing smirk tugging at his lips, "It's okay, cutie. I know I'm attractive, I've been told."
Almost on cue, Gyuvin heard his name being called. He quickly stood up, threw a playful "Hope to see you again, cute guy." over his shoulder, went to the counter to pick his coffee up and walked out of the cafe. But not before stealing a last glance at the red haired male who was staring—more like glaring— at him with rosy cheeks.
Cute.
________
With a hot chocolate in his hand that he had just ordered, Gyuvin makes a bee line towards the table where the Cute Guy is currently sitting peacefully. He puts his drink down, pulling a chair before sitting down, causing the other guy to jump.
"Never thought I'd see you sooner." Gyuvin says casually, at the same time the red haired male shoots him a "Warn a guy, jesus christ."
Cute Guy scowls, "Well it's nice to see you again, I guess."
The corners of Gyuvin’s lips lift upward to form a mischievous smile. "You sound really happy," he snickers, "it's nice to see you too, kitty."
He fixed his eyes back on his laptop screen, but Gyuvin can tell he isn't really focusing on it. His pink-tinted cheeks give it away. "What- don’t call me that! Last time it was Cute Guy and now Kitty?"
"Hmm.”
"And stop bothering me— why are you sitting here anyway?" the Cute Guy asks, narrowing his eyes at Gyuvin, who is calmly sipping on his drink.
"I can sit wherever I want." Gyuvin says, leaning his back on his chair as he flashes the other a lazy smile, causing the latter to scoff. "It's free real estate."
"You're so annoying," the Cute Guy huffs, giving his attention back to his laptop, his fingers start to move again, smashing on the keyboard furiously. "Don't bother me. I need to finish my writing before my idea completely disappears."
Gyuvin’s ears perk up, intrigued. "You're a writer?"
"Something like that." He says without looking up at Gyuvin.
"I thought you were a student." Gyuvin admits, blinking owlishly "I mean, you said something about needing to finish an assignment the other day." he adds.
"Yeah, I am a student, majoring in Visual Arts and Creative Writing."
"Damn, how do you even manage your time? That's cool of you. And Visual Arts?" Gyuvin whistles, "Turns out you're not just cute huh, you're talented as well." The red haired male blushes, causing Gyuvin to chuckle.
"I just do." the Cute Guy waves him off.
"So," Gyuvin starts again after a few minutes of silence, hoping to start another small talk. He doesn't like the fact that he's wasting his time. Sue him for wanting to get to know the Cute Guy more. "What are you writing?"
At the mention of his book, the Cute Guy instantly brightens up and starts to chatter. It's pretty cute seeing him explaining everything animatedly. He even closed his laptop, muttering something that sounded like "i guess i need to take a break" under his breath before giving Gyuvin his full attention.
Though, it seems like he won't stop talking anytime soon, Gyuvin finds that he doesn't really mind. In fact, he likes it. A lot, actually. He likes seeing the numerous expressions on the other's face when he talks about specific topics about his writing. He likes hearing his infectious laugh and the giggles he occasionally emits in between, showing off his perfect small teeth (fuck so cute, Gyuvin moans in despair in his head). And his smile. Gyuvin likes his smile a lot. It strangely reminds him of spring, when all the flowers bloom prettily under the warm sunlight, or the feeling you get when you walk inside your favourite cafe after a long day and is welcomed by the smell of fresh baked chocolate muffins and cookies.
And lastly, his eyes.
He's got a pair of endearing eyes. Whenever Gyuvin looks at him in the eye, he gets a familiar, comfortable feeling blooning in his chest that it’s almost hard to describe. And whenever the other looks at him with all the stars in his perfect five hundred won coin eyes, Gyuvin feels as if he's bathed in a warm sunshine, almost feel like he's back in the backyard of his parents' house, playing tag you’re it with his younger siblings that would always fill with gleeful giggles and laughter.
In other words, his eyes feel like home. He concludes.
Oh no, Gyuvin’s throat dries up. Oh no, I think I like him.
—
And before Gyuvin knew it, hours have passed and the sky outside turned dark. They've been sitting at the table, talking for hours. Gyuvin didn't even realize it was already eight in the evening until he checked the digital clock on his phone. Now they're outside, standing beside each other, basking in the cool night air, unwilling to leave. Gyuvin steals a glance at the other male—hours of talking, and he still hasn't asked for his name yet? He groans inwardly, stupid Gyuvin. but whatever, he can ask for it now, along with his number— that's it if Gyuvin decides to stop being a coward.
"So uh, thanks for today. I had fun." Gyuvin starts, scratching the back of his neck shyly, feeling awkward all of a sudden, causing the other to giggle. He turns to look at Gyuvin and beams at him. Six-year-old Gyuvin would have thought he was befriending a human sized cat. Christ, stop looking at me like that, Gyuvin yells in his head.
"Yeah, it was unplanned but I still had fun hanging out with you." The Cute Guy looks down shyly, letting out a quiet and soft giggle— hold the fuck up, that was an even shyer giggle. Gyuvin doesn't even care about the fact that he'd just used a word that doesn't even exist in the dictionary he was once forced to read back in highschool, because what the fuck, he swears he can feel his heart turning soft and mush.
Seriously, he never asked for this. But he's not complaining though. He loves it. A lot. His heart does.
Okay, this is it, Gyuvin encourages himself, this is your last chance. Ask for his number, and his damn name, you idiot. He quietly nods to himself as he mentally pats himself on the back, preparing for a mission impossible. But just when he is about to open his mouth, he suddenly remembers something.
Soulmate.
He was supposed to look for his soulmate today. Not to hang out with some guy he just met the other day, and definitely, not to catch feelings with the said guy. How could he forgot about that? and fuck—
What if he has a soulmate? or worse, has already found them? or even worse, is already living with them— Gyuvin, you dumb fuck, he wails inwardly.
"..I do have a soulmate." The red haired male says quietly, catching Gyuvin off guard. Gyuvin can feel his cheeks starting to heat up, feeling embarrassed due to the fact that he'd just unknowingly said it out loud.
"And yeah, I have met them," he continues, carefully, and Gyuvin’s stupid heart sinks. "But uh, I don't know who they are...?"
Gyuvin blinks, turning his body towards him so that they're facing each other, "what?"
The Cute Guy blushes, suddenly feeling small. "I met them recently. like, yesterday. But i missed them. So uh yeah." he finishes it off with a small pout.
“What?”
Gyuvin’s heart skips a beat, a lot of thoughts and possibilities pop into his head. What if— wait no, there's no way— but—
"Wait— uh— what's your name?" Gyuvin stutters as he let out a force laugh, fidgeting with the hem of his black hoodie. "I mean, I just realized that i haven't asked for your name—Which is kinda stupid, because we've been talking for hours and hours. And I know some of your friends' names, even your neighbour's dog's, and yet I still don't know yours, which is unacceptable in this economy—"
The other bursts out laughing, "Hey hey you're rambling. And in this economy? Really?" the laugh soon turns into soft giggles, "Quanrui. My name is Quanrui— Shen Quanrui. But everyone calls me Ricky. Easier like that." He shrugs before holding his hand out for a handshake, smiling up at him, his eyes are shining with delight.
Gyuvin’s heart stutters.
Quanrui.
Quanrui.
Quanrui.
Quanrui.
Gyuvin looks down at the Cute Guy's hand, his eyes are frantically searching for his soulmate clock.
Shen Quanrui.
Shen Quanrui.
Shen Quan–
And when his eyes land upon it, the first thing that catches his eye is the initials— written in bold, but this time, in white, instead of black like the one Gyuvin has on his wrist.
K.G.V
Oh.
Gyuvin’s heart starts to speed up as his stomach makes another flip. And suddenly, everything makes sense. He holds back a huge grin that threatens to break free, as his heart tingles with warmth. He knew it, he fucking knew it—
Gyuvin takes the Cute Guy's hand and gives it a gentle squeeze, hiding his own soulmate clock. But instead of telling him his name, he lets out a confident "Wanna go out tomorrow? It's a date." with a mischievous smile tugs at his lips.
"W-what," the Cute Guy—Ricky stutters, clearly not expecting the outcome, as he frantically avoids eye contact. "Don’t you have a soulmate— they wouldn't like it if they knew you were asking a stranger out!" he exclaims with red cheeks, making Gyuvin laugh fondly. Oh god, his soulmate is so fucking adorable, it pains him.
"No, they would. He would," Gyuvin assures, smiling gently at him as he caresses the back of his hand softly with his thumb. "I mean, I'm asking my soulmate out. Why wouldn't he like it?"
A pause.
"Your what ?" Ricky quickly snaps his head up at Gyuvin, staring at him in shock.
Instead of answering, he just grabs Ricky’s wrist with his other hand and twist it up, urging the latter to look down at his timer. Gyuvin then put his own wrist on top of his.
And then, there's a spark.
A warm feeling spreads as soon as the two clocks touched. A wave of new emotions comes crashing into his chest, gently tugging at his heartstrings. Gyuvin knows it comes from his soulmate. It feels so so good, and oddly enough, it feels so familiar yet unfamiliar at the same time, but Gyuvin decides he loves this feeling.
He puts his wrist beside Ricky’s, showing him his own soulmate clock for the first time. Instead of six zeros on both clocks, there are now seven zeros along with a number one. And not long after that, it changes to number two.
Then three.
Four.
Five.
And it keeps going (until forever, Gyuvin hopes).
And just like that, their soulmate clocks started to tick once again at the same time.
But this time, it's a countdown of how long the pair of soulmates have been together.
Ricky watches everything in amazement, before he looks up at Gyuvin and beams at him, his eyes shining with happiness. Gyuvin looks back at him in the eye with a gentle smile carved across his face. He swears he can see the whole universe in Ricky’s eyes. Beautiful.
Gyuvin snakes his hand around Ricky’s (!! small !!) waist, and pulls him close to his chest before dropping a sweet gentle kiss on top of his forehead. His heart makes another flip when Ricky nuzzles his nose happily against his cheek, emitting happy noises.
"So a date? I'll meet you here at 12, okay?" Gyuvin murmurs before giving a gentle peck on the tip of Ricky’s perfect nose, "I will see you tomorrow, Ricky.”
And just like that, Gyuvin goes home with a silly grin plastered on his lips and a full heart. He can't wait for tomorrow. He can't wait to meet him again.
Ricky.
Ricky.
Ricky.
Ricky.
Ricky
Shen Quanrui, the cute guy who turns out to be his soulmate.
Gyuvin thinks back when he looked into Ricky’s eyes, and then to Hanbin’s drunken and slurred "Hao Hyung eyes" and "It's home" after a month of meeting Hao.
00 : 00 : 09 : 45
00 : 00 : 09 : 46
00 : 00 : 09 : 47
Gyuvin smiles. No wonder Ricky’s eyes felt like home.
He is home.
___________
("Oh my god GYUVIN! I can’t fucking breathe— this is HILARIOUS. OH MY GOD I CAN'T STAND THIS STUPIDITY. I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE YOU FORGOT TO ASK FOR HIS DAMN NUMBER—"
"Gunwook, I will pull your hair if you continue—"
"—YOU DIDN'T EVEN TAKE HIM HOME—"
"DO YOU EVER SHUT THE HELL UP! YOU DIDN'T EVEN TELL ME HE IS HAO HYUNG’S COUSIN—"
"WHAT’S THAT GOTTA DO WITH ME YOU SHITHEAD—"
“THE POINT IS YOU KNOW RICKY AND YOU NEVER INTRODUCED US-“
“I DIDN’T KNOW HE’S YOUR SOULMATE—“)