Chapter Text
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CHAPTER 05
Jinhyuk finds himself waking up alone.
He’s in his bed somehow, nothing in his memory telling him why or how he made it there, but the fact that he grips bed sheets instead of a person-- despite the fact that the chances are so slim that Wooseok would sleep in the same bed as him-- causing him to jolt out of bed. He’s a hair away from tripping out of bed and falling face first into the carpet, just barely catching himself on the wall before he tumbles into his living room.
His chest is rising and falling rapidly, taking long strides towards the door as he grabs his jacket off of the coat hanger, rushing to throw his shoes on. He doesn’t even know where he’s going or god where to look first but--
“Jinhyuk?”
He finally pauses, takes a breath for possibly the first time since he’s woken up. His jacket isn’t even completely on his shoulders yet, shoes yet to be tied, but the voice nearly unravels all of it. He walks without much thought other than to find him, stepping out of his shoes and letting his jacket fall off his shoulders. It’s only then that he looks down at his hand, red string so obviously leading towards the kitchen that he almost laughs at his own obliviousness, walking into the kitchen because even then he wants to see it to make sure.
Wookseok’s at the stove top, cooking something that his body shields from Jinhyuk’s eyes. He doesn’t look over his shoulder as Jinhyuk walks in almost as if this is a familiar scene between them.
“It’s already eleven, I thought you wanted to make eggs.” Wooseok hums, still tending to what he’s cooking, but his voice couldn’t hide the smile that spread across his face. There was the soft sizzle of the pan, the smell of breakfast seeping into the room.
He wouldn’t be able to tell you what compelled him to walk over without saying a word, wrapping his arms around Wooseok’s waist as he hugs him from behind and buries his head in the crook of his neck. All of his panic from the morning immediately melts away the second he glues himself to his back, letting his body really take in that Wooseok is right there, and in his arms nonetheless.
“I was worried you left.” Jinhyuk mumbles against his t-shirt, his voice just soft enough to hint that he’s almost scared for Wooseok to hear his anxieties about it, but he feels a hand card through his bedhead with a small knowing hum. Wooseok turns his head to press into the side of Jinhyuk’s whispering a small apology into his hair.
“Here, I’m almost done.” Wooseok says quietly, pulling away only slightly. It’s as if he’s giving Jinhyuk a second to decide if he’s gonna stay glued to his back or sit. “Ill look forward to your eggs next time.” He adds, resting a hand over Jinhyuk’s the hold onto him around his torso and giving them a squeeze, which coaxes Jinhyuk to let go and sit on the small kitchen table.
It doesn’t take long for Wooseok to walk over, placing a bowl of fried rice, sitting just across from him with his own bowl. “I hope you don’t mind me going though your kitchen, I didn’t know you were so tired.”
It made Jinhyuk pause a bit, because he didn’t think he was tired until it started to set in that he had just been waiting and on edge for weeks now for a text or a call or even jus his sting to budge even the slightest bit.
But here, in the small space of his apartment, he watched it tangle and curl around their legs, around the mess on the kitchen table to race around their fingers. There was a relief there that he didn’t know he needed, could feel the gentle weight of it in his chest. Perhaps he was so obvious about it, because he could hear Wooseok cover a smile and laugh behind his hand.
“You’re doing it again.” Wooseok says, taking a small bite of his food.
“Doing what?”
“Wishing.”
Jinhyuk startles a little bit. Was he? He felt himself straighten up in his chair, rolling the thought around his head. He couldn’t pick his actions apart in his head so quickly, but his voice dropped a bit as he asked.
“Is that a bad thing?”
Wooseok doesn’t take as long as he does, his eyes falling closed and lips quirked up a bit at the corners. “No, not at all.”
It leaves Jinhyuk hopeful, still walking gentle on eggshells around who Kim Wooseok is, but he wants to press, wants to figure out what this switch does, what this lever will do.
“You seem so. . . . used to the strings.” He says slowly, as if he’s trying to walk on water, steps slow. He felt like he was treading on high waves, the crashing storm evident. He’s barely touched his food, but he stirs it around absent-mindedly. He’ll eat it when he feels like he can stomach it along with the information he’ll try to pull out of the man in front of him.
“I guess you could say that, it’s more like I’ve been around them for a long time.” Jinhyuk hums in agreement, finally taking a bite of his breakfast, the rice room temperature now. “What about you?” Wooseok trails off, his attention much more focused on Jinhyuk talking than himself.
“I think I’ve been about two dozen soulmates in my life time,” Jinhyuk gives him a small smile, a little strained at the edges. “You’re the first person who I guess I can call my first soulmate, it’s a little surreal.”
“You have a lot,” Wooseok comments, and Jinhyuk inches a bit closer for him to continue on. “I mean, you look like you’re used to it, like at the cafe.”
The day at the cafe comes rushing to him, the scene playing in his mind over and over again as he finally sits back and thinks about it, the surprised obvious on this face. “At the cafe--” Jinhyuk starts, but Wooseok cuts him off.
“Right, sorry about that, I didn’t. . Mean to.” He confesses, his shoulders still broad, not letting them fall at the slightest. He still couldn’t make any sense of it at all, didn’t want to pass it off as some mild possessiveness from the younger but couldn’t put anything else beside it.
“Wooseok, what happened?” he says slowly, trying to put enough warmth in his voice to coax the others words into the sunlight that spilled into the kitchen. They don’t speak for a while, but Jinhyuk watches as Wooseok seems to talk himself down from any high, the small smile that he always wore when he was tucking something away made its way onto his face, Jinhyuk feeling his fist clenches under the table to stop himself from overstepping.
“You won’t believe me.” He says finally, a small sigh under it. He sounds like he’s tired, like he doesn’t want to relive the very thing he’s living in now, and it makes a bitter taste stick to Jinhyuk’s tongue.
“You won’t even let me try?” He asks, voice straining just a bit, throat dry, heart breaking. The face that Wooseok makes when he glances down at Jinhyuk’s hand makes his chest tighten with how many speeches run over his brown eyes. “It’s your string connected to me, isn’t it?”
The insinuation makes something rot inside of him, makes Jinhyuk lean back against the backrest of the chair and almost go slack. If anything, Wooseok’s right, seeing his string connected to Wooseok meant that till the end, Wooseok was supposed to help him. It. . . Wasn’t the other way around, and Wooseok was building his gates right in front of him to make sure of it. Jinhyuk bites the inside of his cheek, cutting off all the questions that bubble in his throat and threaten to spill out of his mouth.
“I,”
Knock knock knock.
The gentle knocks on the door cut off Jinhyuk off, both of them not backing down as they stare at one another. Minutes pass as they continue to stare at each other, waiting for someone to break and for someone to say something, but another stressed knock against the apartment door pulls Jinhyuk away, the chair scratching against the tile as he pushes himself out of it.
Jinhyuk has to wipe away all the doubt that’s present on his face before he opens the door, face immediately pulling upwards in surprise.
“Jinhyuk-hyung!”
Jinwoo smiles up at him, a present bag slung onto his arm and wrapped up so the cold winds couldn’t touch him. It takes Jinhyuk a couple seconds to register that Jinwoo was right here at his door, a paper bag slung over his arm and smile bright on his face.
“Jinwoo-?” Jinhyuk says, a little dumbfounded, but the younger just seems to laugh, expecting the reaction. He pulls off his hat and Jinhyuk watches as snowflakes that cling to the wool fall a bit to the floor slowly, echoing the snowfall outside. “You’re surprised, aren’t you? Seungwoo-hyung told me you would be.”
Seungwoo?
He feels like his tongue isn’t able to form words anymore, trying to piece a couple things together on his own with his sleep filled brain, and he was a little relieved that Jinwoo knew him well enough, his laughter filtering into the room.
“Seungwoo-Hyung told Dongpyo who told me that you were gonna be alone for the winter break, so he asked me to come over and take you outside instead of you being stuck in your apartment.” Jinwoo supplies, then pushing the bag that he carried in. “And this,” He says, voice gentle, “is for you.”
Jinhyuk slowly takes the gift, heart swelling as he peeks into it and feeling like a child on Christmas eve. He tilts his head to meet Jinwoo’s eyes, feels like he seconds away from just crying with a mix of happiness and uncertainty.
“You’ve done a whole lot for me since I’ve met you, since we’ve been connected, hyung. I want to say thank you and,” He takes a deep breath, something passing over his face that Jinhyuk recognizes as him recalling that he had scripted and it makes something warm bubble in his chest. “You gotta remember! I’m here for you too!”
All the strength that he had that was holding back his tears snaps at that, and Jinhyuk feels a handful of tears run down his cheeks, Jinwoo giving him the warmest smile in return. Without another word, the two of them immediately pull themselves together into a hug, Jinhyuk feeling the cold breeze that clings to Jinwoo’s jacket. He quietly mumbles almost a hundred thank you’s onto the top of his head.
“Jinhyuk-ah?”
Jinhyuk pulls away slightly, still keeping Jinwoo close as the younger peeks to look into the house, Wooseok peaking from the kitchen. “Oh! You weren’t alone, I thought. . .” Jinwoo mumbles, slipping out of Jinhyuk grasp to bow a little properly. “Hello! I’m Lee Jinwoo, it’s nice to meet you.” He says happily, and Wooseok immediately echos his smile. “Hyung’s my string buddy.”
“I know,” Wooseok quietly walks over, footsteps almost non-existent as he takes his place at Jinhyuk’s side, the Wooseok that was building a castle in his very kitchen nowhere in sight. He catches himself a bit, smile gentle. “I mean, I can tell, you two seem close.”
“Kim Wooseok, I’m his soulmate. Jinhyuk-ah told me a little bit about you. I heard that you once chased a duck into a pond. . .” Wooseok says off-handedly, but his eyes crinkle at the edges mischievously. There’s a bit of pride that seems to seep into his words the more he introduces himself as his soulmate, and Jinhyuk feels something beg to burst in his chest at the very same time.
“Hyuung-!” Jinwoo whines, turning to face Jinhyuk and missing the way that Wooseok’s face bursts into a smile. Jinhyuk’s left to try to calm the youngers embarrassment, Wooseok pulling on his jacket and hat that he left around the apartment while they made their home just last night. He doesn’t register that Wooseok had grabbed his own things as well before theres a jacket draped over his shoulders, a hat pushing his hair down and a scarf wrapped gently around his neck. He has to push the hat up to get the hair out of his face so he can see, and when he does his vision is just filled with Wooseok, the others fingers still clinging to the edges of the dark blue scarf.
Wooseok looks up at him and gives him a small smile, and Jinhyuk relaxes when he sees it reach his eyes completely, mimicking the look.
“Let’s go outside, maybe we can walk around downtown, it’d be better than staying cooped up in here, right?” Wooseok asks, turning his head to look at Jinwoo who instantly beams and nods along.
Jinwoo reaches out and takes on of Jinhyuk’s hands, does the same to Woosoek albeit a little more hesitant, but the man reaches out and takes it, watching as Jinwoo instantly takes it as an invitation to learn as much as he can from him.
Jinhyuk lets himself drown out the sounds of the busy Christmas street life. Despite it still being quite early and only with a brief scan through the sea of people in front of him, Jinhyuk can at least see pairs decorating the sidewalks, hand in hand. It makes Jinhyuk’s body feel warm, seeing him settle right into the crowd. Even if Jinwoo stood in between them, he felt like the younger was the glue keeping them beside each other for the most part, the lingers of their previous conversation leaving something bitter to sit on his end.
He doesn’t get a lot of time to think it over or even ask more questions as the day goes on, Jinwoo half leading them through the streets of Seoul thats decorated in lights and painted white. It almost seems blinding, but it pales in comparison to the way that Jinwoo seems to coax Wooseok into bright smiles.
It’s been a while since Jinhyuk can remember the last time he’s been out like this, the past years all framed with Seungwoo or his other classmates in the picture. It makes this outing feel a thousands times more special, Jinhyuk swinging his arms and hoping that Wooseok can feel the joy that seeps out of him and through Jinwoo. He knows that he’ll have to call Seungwoo when he gets a chance, a ‘merry christmas’ and a ‘thank you’ piecing itself into a 2 minute call with how busy Seungwoo’s family tends to pack their holidays.
Jinhyuk startles a bit as he picks two people out of the crowd, mouth instantly opening wide to scream their names above the crowd.
“Yuvin-! Kookheon!!” He yells, tone piercing and catching the attention of the people around them. He can briefly see Wooseok dip his head a bit at the attention, but the smile on his face is evident.
They could see one head of brown hair nearly teeter forward as he was suddenly called, Yuvin catching Kookheon before he slipped in the snow with how aggressively he turned around to find the source of the voice. There’s still lingers of surprise in the corners of Kookheon’s face, but it gets pushed away by surprise when he catches their eyes. He throws a hand in the air to wave, walking over with Yuvin trailing behind, a fond look on his face.
“Jinhyuk-hyung, merry christmas.” Kookheon says warmly, smile echoing the feeling. There’s dusts of red over his face, which Jinhyuk could either tie to the weather or the way that Yuvin looks at him. He hears Yuvin echo the same thing, gluing himself to Kookheon’s side. He feels the burning gaze before he looks up, catching the way Yuvin glances over his company before staring right at Jinhyuk.
“Hyung, I didn’t know you had a whole family outing planned.” Yuvin says, surprise mixing with the way the words leaving teasingly. Jinhyuk nearly howls in laughter, Jinwoo’s own laughter following his while Wooseok rolls his eyes, contrasting the smile on his face.
“Forgive me, let me introduce you to the family.” Jinhyuk jests, playing along as he bows his head slightly, turning to the other two. “My son, Jinwoo,” He starts, watching as Jinwoo fails to hold back his laughter before he waves to the couple. “And my beautiful husband.” He says with such grandeur, painting Wooseok in a spotlight. He lets himself be playful, allowing himself to hide his compliments under his teasing. Even if he never says it, he’s fairly sure that Wooseok knows that he thinks he’s pretty.
“How are the kids?” He tacks on, driving the conversation back to Yuvin and Kookheon to save himself a bit.
“Oh you know, as non-existent as always.” Kookheon supplies, putting a hand on Yuvin’s upper arm. They all shake their heads in laughter, bits of conversation filling in the cold air between them before Yuvin ushers them away, a reservation calling their name.
“Did you not get us a reservation as well, honey? ” Wooseok teases, leading them back onto their path. Jinhyuk hopes that he was red before due to the cold nipping at his skin, hopes that Wooseok won’t comment on the way he definitely gets a couple shades darker. He shakes his head, voice dropping a bit as he mutters a ‘next time’ over Jinwoo’s head.
Jinwoo shakes their hands a bit, slipping out of their grip. They both watch as Jinwoo races towards the Christmas tree, his shouts of joy mixed with the bursts of people around him. Wooseok finally settles into place beside him, taking his hand and running his thumb over Jinhyuk’s knuckles, and it feels like it’s the first time in ages that he’s felt Wooseoks touch since the night before.
He watches Wooseok from the corner of his eyes, his main focus on keeping the small tuff of gold hair in his sights out of caution, but he sees that Wooseok doesn’t look up at him-- eyes entirely glued to their connected hands.
“You know,” Wooseok starts, and everything else around them drones out. The footsteps, the chatter, all of it turns into white noise as he turns his head slightly to listen closer, the others voice pulling him in.
“My first strings been connected since I was ten years old.” He says almost off-handedly, like he isn’t telling the biggest secret that’s ever been heard.
Jinhyuk knows that there are so many cases in the world, the numbers of people always rising every second of the day. There had to be billions of scenarios, different ways that the strings of fate connected and tied and curled around, but nothing could have prepared him for the way that Wooseok barely looks at him until he does, tipping his head back and looking Jinhyuk dead in the eye. It’s the first time of many that Jinhyuk can’t describe what he reads in Wooseok’s eyes, the brunette dipping his head so the older couldn’t even try to read into it more.
“I hasn’t been cut since.”