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The oracle was never wrong for several decades that she had lived and served as the town advisor. But mayhaps this was the only mistake that she ever made. Her wrinkly hands pulled the card out of the shocked boy's deadly grip, slowly drawing circles at the back of his hand to help calm the trembling younger in front of her, now that the newly found information had seeped inside his thick skull, slowly carving itself to his memory.
"You must be very funny when you were younger, Madam Yoo," the boy murmured. He just turned nineteen today. Everyone in the city who already came of their age always visited her place for their future reading, and she would always welcome them with a warm cup of black tea before the session began. The tradition had been going on since she got her first vision when she was only twelve years of age. Now that she had turned ninety two, she had seen and read the generations of family's future growing. Even generations of the mayor put their highest respect to her and honored her words.
"When I was young, Kim Jongin, there was a war. Even I was surprised how could I survive and still live until this day." She sighed. A faint smile bloomed upon her face. "I've read your grandfather's, your father's, your siblings' future, and I definitely still remember that none of them ever called me funny before."
Jongin gulped, "I apologise Madam Yoo if I'm being rude. I just…"
Madam Yoo patted his cheek softly, "No, you're not rude at all, my son. I know that you might be slightly surprised about that. I totally understand."
She was understated the bomb that she had just dropped on a moment ago. How could she not, she said Jongin's soul mate was none other than Do Kyungsoo. There was only one Do Kyungsoo who lived in their town and the boy happened to be Jongin's arch nemesis. No, she did not understand at all of the situation that she put Jongin in.
"But maybe," Jongin cleared his throat. "Maybe you are slightly mistook Do Kyungsoo with his best friend Byun Baekhyun or his boyfriend Kim Jongdae."
Bitterness started to spread from the back of Jongin's throat when he had to admit that Kim Jongdae; the man that he had been pining since ten years ago, and he had been attempting to steal was Kyungsoo's boyfriend after all. He would be beyond ecstatic if Madam Yoo said that Jongdae was his mate, his destined lover, so tomorrow morning when he gets to school he could shove Kyungsoo in front of his locker, threaten him to break up and stay away from his boyfriend. And maybe he could win something from him for the first time since he always lost against him.
"I don't mean to be rude," he added with a clipped voice. "But the three of them might look similar from afar, since they have the same old bowl cut hai—"
Madam Yoo's laughter resonated within the four walls of her private room. She laughed until her eyes water and her grip upon her stomach tightened into a fist. Jongin lowered his head, he should have never said that and he felt ashamed of his boldness.
"Jongin my son, the sight that I have doesn't work that way." She finally said when she had calmed down. "I just know that it was there. I could feel the strongest tug of your heart, I could see where it belonged, and believe me that you would find his happiness in him. If it isn't now, then you might soon." She patted his shoulder. "Now, go home. It's already late and you still have school tomorrow."
Jongin bowed his head towards Madam Yoo's way when he scrambled to his feet. He left the place as soon as his slender legs could take him. He had anticipated his reading day months before his actual birthday, only to be let down by a particular prophecy. The only problematic matter that smothered the rest of good things that are going to happen in his future.
Jongin really wanted to quickly hide himself in his room and cry. Knowing that he would never be with the one that he really loved was very painful. He still remembered the cute kittenish smile that greeted him on a sunny day when he was busy fixing his bucket hat.
"Hello! I'm Jongdae. My family just moved here. I hope we can be friends?"
The place where Jongin lived was just a small town on the outskirts of Seoul. Jongdae's father just got promoted to the branch office and it was quite far from where they were from, so his father decided to bring his family along. The days that Jongin spent with Jongdae were so precious. Despite being super loud, Jongdae was the most soft-hearted boy that Jongin ever met. He was about to confess his feelings one day but he saw Do Kyungsoo cornered his best friend, asking him out for a movie date. They officially dated a month after, and it broke Jongin's heart.
He passed Jongdae's house when he returned home. The younger boy was busy sorting the trash, and the sight itself was enough to make Jongin stop walking. What if he insisted to marry Jongdae in the future and go against Madam Yoo's prophecy? Nobody ever did that before, and he was not sure if his life would be better if he insisted to be with someone that he loved.
"Hey Jongin!" Jongdae waved when he saw him stand in front of his gate. "Where were you from? Oh, wait! Don't answer me. You just turned nineteen today." Jongdae opened his front gate and skipping steps until they were eye level. "Happy birthday Jongin hyung ! You know I like you the most, right? Oh, I really want to hug you now, but my hands are—"
Jongin pulled Jongdae into his hug and gripped his waists tightly. He went silent for a moment, not even returning his hug but it did not matter since all Jongin ever want was to have Jongdae in his arms at least for once.
"Thank you Dae." Jongin mumbled at Jongdae's shoulder before they parted.
"So, am I allowed to know what Madam Yoo told you about your future?" Jongdae teased him. He had lived in this place long enough to understand the townspeople's coming of age tradition. His older brother went to Madam Yoo's place when he turned nineteen five years ago. He could not wait for his chance to be read, just like Jongin less than an hour ago.
Jongin shook his head. Madam Yoo did not specifically tell him to keep his reading result as secret, but Jongin did not want to admit it yet. Not in front of his long-time crush. He was not ready, or perhaps never be ready.
"You're not going to tell me?" Jongdae frowned. His lips curled upwards, it made him look more like a cat. And who was Jongin to deny such a cute demand.
"Well…" Jongin cleared his throat. He reminisced about what Madam Yoo had told him.
"You will be a doctor, just like how you picture yourself in the future, although you might face a lot of obstacles to reach it. Patience is a virtue, my son, just hang on a little bit more whenever you feel like you're about to give up. You'll gain your own success when you're graduated." Madam Yoo chuckled when she read Jongin's card.
"Is there something funny, Madam Yoo?" Jongin asked curiously.
"Oh, not funny, it's just… your twin sons are very adorable and witty, just like your husband. He was expecting a girl, but your third child is also a boy."
"He?" Jongin's eyes widened in shock. Please let it be Jongd—
"Kyungsoo blamed your gene for giving him three sons. But your fourth kid will be a girl, that is if Kyungsoo still wanted to carry another one. He already had a little difficulty with his second pregnancy. Poor him, and you should help more with domestic work to support him."
Jongin could not help but laugh. Kyungsoo she said? Kyungsoo, his sworn nemesis? She must be kidding, right?
"I'm going to be a doctor."
Jongdae clapped his hand enthusiastically, "That's awesome! I know that you've been working hard to achieve the needed requirements for med school since we were in middle school."
"Yeah… I'm glad about that too." Jongin smiled bitterly.
"But why do you look sad? Is there any bad things that would happen to you? Madam Yoo only said all the good things about our future, though."
"You sure?"
Jongdae nodded. "Junmyeon hyung told me his result. Madam Yoo said he's going to marry a rich Chinese man named Wu… Yifan?" He shrugged his shoulders. "And he had been very eager to learn Chinese since then."
Junmyeon hyung was their neighbor who was a couple of years older than Jongin and he had moved out of their small city to pursue his education at Seoul University. But he always made sure to be home around Chuseok and school break, and that was the only time they could hang out together.
"I see… should I learn Chinese from this day on too?" Jongin rubbed his chin. Jongdae gasped when he mentioned that.
"No way… is that why you were upset? Because your soulmate is a Chinese too? Why did every good candidate for my future husband are going to married Chinese people?" He seemed upset, although the big pout looked cute in Jongin's eyes. He could not help but booped his nose.
"I'm just kidding," Jongin laughed. "Were you just saying a possible candidate for your husband? Don't you already have Kyungsoo?" The tip of his tongue felt bitter now that he mentioned his enemy's name. Jongdae shrugged nonchalantly.
"Yeah… We were fine though, but if Madam Yoo said that he's not my soulmate, then I will willingly break up with him."
"Why would you do that?" Jongin frowned. "Did you fight a lot with him?" Jongin could not help but feel curious about the younger's love life.
It was supposed to be a good opportunity to lied to Jongdae that he was his soulmate and he would break up with Kyungsoo instantly. But he was not, and once again Jongin felt bitter. He wished he was a good liar at this moment.
"Because Madame Yoo said so." Jongdae shrugged his shoulders like his relationship did not mean anything. "We all know how her prophecies were ninety nine point nine percent proven right. And, no, we never fought. Kyungsoo is a very nice boy. He treated me like I'm his most precious thing," Jongdae giggled. "Although he rarely said the three words—you know which one that I mean, but his actions tell a lot that he is indeed a lovely person."
"Then you should stick with him for a very long time," Jongin frowned, he knew he would regret what he was going to say, but he did it anyway. "What if he was your soulmate?"
Jongdae smiled widely, "Yeah. What if he doesn't? Jeongyeon noona said meeting your soulmate is different. Like, you could feel the static electricity that ran through your spine to the tips of your fingers and it went right into your heart. I didn't feel that way towards Kyungsoo, nor did he to me."
Jongin squinted his eyes, "Why did you have a talk with my eldest sister about soulmates when she never told me anything?"
Jongdae nudged his waist with his elbow. "Because she likes me better than her own brother." He laughed loudly when Jongin's frown deepened. He ran back to his own house after he waved goodnight to the older. He also reminded him that he still has school tomorrow morning and he needed to finish his Korean War essay. Jongin walked back home. The living room's light was turned off but he could see his older sister busily typing in front of her notebook at the dining table.
"Oh, Jongin! What took you so long?" Sejeong pulled off her spectacles to gently massaged the bridge of her nose.
"I… met Jongdae in front of his house and we talked a bit." He took off his shoes to sit beside his sister on the couch. "What are you doing?"
Jongin's second sibling owned a small cafe called Kamong and it was famous for its delicious sweets. Kyungsoo once took Jongdae on a date there, before he knew Jongin's sister own the place. Sejeong smiled, she turned her laptop screen towards Jongin so that he could see her work too.
"I'm working on a Valentine's day poster. Do you want to help? Maybe you could pick the right menu combination for a couple to dine in."
Jongin shook his head lightly, "Nope, I think I'm going to sleep earlier." He turned his back but Sejeong gripped his arm quicker.
"What happened? You don't look okay. You can tell what happened with Madam Yoo if you need someone to talk." She knew something was bothering him and the mere question was more than enough to break Jongin's defense. He slumped on the seat beside her and poured everything. She looked slightly stunned when it was over, but she offered a warm caress on Jongin's back, and it was more than enough to calm his nerves.
"When I turned nineteen almost six years ago," Sejeong giggled when she reminisced her reading session with Madam Yoo. "She said I might not be able to meet my soulmate until I could help you to get into med school. I thought it was very unfair, like how could my soulmate were decided by other people's fate? Your fate, to be honest. But I understand now, maybe her prophecy works that way."
"Not with Kyungsoo," Jongin grumbled. "I've had enough of him, for God's sake.
Sejeong grabbed Jongin's hand, rubbed it softly like how Madam Yoo did before. "People's lives are intertwined with each other, sometimes you need to cross paths with the wrong person, until you meet the right one. Now, please enlighten me. Do you even remember why you fought with Kyungsoo? Maybe it was just a silly banter and not a serious fight."
Jongin sighed. He wished he had forgotten why he loathe Kyungsoo, but the fact that he still remembered it clearly as if it happened yesterday instead of a couple years ago, made his heart ache.
***
The citrus scent at the dean's office that usually calmed Jongin, now made him nervous. It might just be a small room, but the walls were covered with trophies, medals and other framed certificates. It seemed crowded, but it was their school's pride, and Jongin had participated in gaining a few of them. Jongin was antsy, his mind wandered to the extent that the dean might give him a recommendation letter for his university application or else. But the quick announcement that followed why he was summoned in the middle of the PE class was the one who suffocated him.
"We apologise for this short notice, Jongin, but we might need to replace your place at the math olympiad team with someone else.” The older man sighed. “I know that last week’s announcement was supposed to be final. But something happens, and our school doesn't want to miss the chance to finally win the gold medal this year.”
Jongin’s face went pale. Cold sweats ran down on his back. He fisted his hands to prevent him from shaking. He might be dreaming, right? It must be one of his nightmares when he sleeps. Jongin stared at the dean’s face. There was no twitch of the facial muscles or rapid blinking. He must be pretty serious right now.
It was not a prank. Heck, why the dean would be kidding with him for something as important as this. This was real. He was officially removed from the olympiad team that he had been studying diligently for the past few weeks for it. He even lost his ability to speak and his lack of response made the dean think that he would accept it.
“So… starting today, you don’t need to stay after school to study with Krystal and Eunwoo, since the new member would be joining us today. If you don't have any questions, you're allowed to leave now.”
A flick of the dean’s wrist woke Jongin up from his state. His consciousness slowly returned as he quickly stood up and dragged his feet to leave the office. He did not rejoin the basketball play with his classmates where he left off, and decided to sit at the side of the field.
He needed time to process everything.
Jongin waited at the hall when the school was over to see who replaced him on the team. And when his eyes met a pair of doe ones behind the horn-rimmed spectacles, his anger resurfaced.
Of course, the new transfer student. His father could transfer him. in the middle of a semester—which was very rare that school would allow that to happen—he definitely could make his son join the team. Perhaps if their school won the gold medal, he might be the one who fabricated the results, Jongin swore to God.
Do Kyungsoo's father was a professor. Jongin did not know exactly what his subject was, but knowing that his brother was a surgeon, perhaps his father worked in some medical field too. They just moved to the city a few weeks ago, but words spread fast through the grapevine, especially if your family was so rich and you just bought a very big house near the main road. The city folks who passed in front of the house also never saw the lady of the house, and it triggered a nasty rumors of the Do family.
Jongin never cared off any bullshit like that, but he could not help when he got really angry, he would spit poisonous words at the clueless but not so innocent boy in front of him.
"I never thought that you would go that far with that dirty little hands of yours, Do." He grabbed his collar and shoved the smaller man to the nearest wall. "I thought transferring to our school in the middle of a term is the only thing that your father's power can do, but I was wrong. You are never satisfied with anything you had and now you wanted my place on the olympiad team so that your father could have something that he could be proud of at the dinner table, aren't you?"
Kyungsoo rolled his eyes, "What's your problem, peasant? You want some justice, go ask the headmaster. Or learn harder to get a perfect score for the trial just like me."
Kyungsoo gripped Jongin's wrist tightly and twisted it behind his back. He might be small, but he was a brown belt judo holder at his previous school. Jongin groaned when Kyungsoo released him and walked back to the preparation class to join Krystal and Eunwoo like nothing happened.
It was only the beginning of any unfortunate events that Jongin had with Kyungsoo. But nothing came as a harder blow to Jongin when Kyungsoo officially dated Jongdae. It hurt his pride and he swore he would do anything to make his revenge worthed.
***
"Welcome to Kamong! Can I help you?" Jongin greeted when he heard the bell chime. He was busy frosting the freshly baked cupcakes, he did not lift his head to see who was the newcomer client. They rarely have visitors this early, they just opened the shop less than half an hour ago, so it must be driven by a very important occasion. The person waited patiently for Jongin while looking at the rows of sweets in front of them. Jongin put aside the last batch of cupcake to display it later, and face a quite familiar face. He quickly bowed his head. No matter how he despised the brother, he respected Do Seungsoo. He was a nice person, so unlikely the younger Do sibling.
Seungsoo smiled tiredly, "Hi, Jongin. Yes, I really need some help here." He laughed nervously. "So… two—no, three days ago was Kyungsoo's birthday but I was in the middle of an important event in another city, so I couldn't celebrate it with him—not that he wanted to celebrate it at first…" Seungsoo was blabbering, but all Jongin could only focussed on was Kyungsoo's birthday. It was two days earlier than his own.
And he did not know what to do with this information.
"Uh… so you wanted my help to… pick the right cake for your brother?" Jongin guessed. Seungsoo flicked his fingers excitedly.
"Correct! You're his classmate, right?" Seungsoo rubbed his nape nervously. "So you must have known him better than me."
"Uh, actually we're not in the same class, but I think…" Jongin reminisced one of his conversations with Jongdae. He once mentioned how Kyungsoo preferred to have two shots of espresso in the morning while scrunching his cute button nose in disgust. "I think he likes… coffee? So you might want to take this…" Jongin picked a small cake decorated with light brown icing and topped with a chocolate flavored ganache that dripped down from the edges. "Mocha mascarpone cake with chocolate ganache."
Seungsoo's eyes glinted happily. "Great!I'll take that."
Jongin carefully picked the cake out of its display and prepared the box. He was about to put it inside before he remembers something.
"Uh… dr. Seungsoo, do you want to write something on top of the cake? Like a belated birthday wish?"
Seungsoo who was busy pulling out his wallet from his back pocket freezed.
"No, please leave it that way." He sighed, "Kyungsoo might not like when I celebrated his birthday any—" Seungsoo suddenly stopped talking, he eyed Jongin meticulously, it almost made him feel uncomfortable. "So, I heard that everyone who lives in this town visited an oracle when they turned nineteen. I wonder if the oracle would accept Kyungsoo? I mean, our family just moved here less than a year ago."
"I, uh… I'm not sure," he was slightly tremor, but he quickly hid his hands under the counter. So Kyungsoo never got his chance to be read, and it would only mean, he was the only one who knew about their fate. Jongin did not know whether he should feel dejected or delighted. "It never happened before, so... I have no idea. Maybe she would welcome everyone who come to her place."
Seungsoo waved his hand, "Aaah, it's okay. Don't worry, it's not like Kyungsoo would believe it anyway. I'm just... curious, that's all."
Jongin had just finished wrapping the cake, he accepted Seungsoo's card, tapped it to finish their transaction and returned it with a receipt. Seungsoo thanked him for his help and he bid him good luck with the university entrance submission.
Sejeong, who had just finished baking a whole tray of macarons, came out of the kitchen and saw her younger brother zoning out, but she did not ask anything.