Work Text:
FADE IN:
INT. SOUVENIR SHOP (TIMES SQUARE) - DAY
despite how the entire rest of the store is filled to the brim with all kinds of brightly colored novelty bits and baubles, when yoongi finally finds what he's been looking for, he almost can't believe his eyes: a single apple-shaped snow globe, sitting alone in the middle of an otherwise empty tower of shelves. thinking himself in unusual luck, yoongi rushes to snatch it up.
except that, when he does go to reach for it, his hand bumps into another, doing the same.
"oh, sorry."
"no no, it's my bad."
they both had snatched their hands back almost as soon as their fingers brushed, yoongi and this other man - tall and handsome, wearing a friendly expression when he'd apologized only a moment before. but the way they were staring at one another now felt like something even more intimate than that, than that brief physical touch. and yoongi knows he can't speak for this man, but it was almost as if... they might know each other from somewhere? that sort of immediate pang that went off in your chest when you saw someone you hadn't met with in years -- except, yoongi doesn't think he actually does know this man?
he's just about decided to ask him anyway, to make absolute sure, when an arm reaches between them and snatches the waiting snow globe right off the shelf they're standing in front of.
simultaneously, both yoongi and this strange (beautiful) man who makes his chest hurt, turn to go after the snow globe thief. but neither of them get very far.
because as soon as they try to step away from their close proximity, a small tug at yoongi's wrist stops him in his tracks; at first, yoongi thinks it's that other guy who has held him back, and looks over to give him a lecture about harassment. but when he turns his face up, yoongi sees that the guy is looking down at his own wrist, eyes wide. yoongi follows his gaze, and chokes on his words.
because there, stretched between yoongi's wrist and that of this complete stranger, shimmering almost defiantly in the flourescent light of this goddamn souvenir shop, is a red ribbon.
"well fuck me," yoongi sighs. and the breathy little laugh he gets in response sounds a lot like yeah, same.
CUT TO:
INT. SUSHI RESTAURANT - DAY
"so who was the snow globe for?"
yoongi really should at least look at his soulmate when speaking to him, but he can't seem to tear his eyes away from their ribbon. the way it was just resting there on the table between them, slithering around plates and bowls and utensils to reach from one wrist to the other, almost innocently. as if it hadn't just changed yoongi's entire life in an instant.
thankfully, yoongi's soulmate didn't seem to mind his blatant rudeness. maybe because yoongi had seen him eyeing it as well, hanging between them like a swing as they left times square to find some dinner.
"my mother," he responds, voice so soft that yoongi can just imagine the fond smile he must be wearing. "she loves tacky shit like that... something i've probably inherited from her, actually. but if there's one thing that woman likes more than tacky shit, it's tacky shit that she can drink booze out of. so she'll most likely end up appreciating the shot glass a lot more, honestly, than if i'd been able to buy that snow globe." leaning forward slightly in his seat, eyes sparkling with apparent curiosity, yoongi's soulmate asks, "what about you?"
yoongi finally looks up, and immediately leans back in his seat. he isn't trying to put distance between them, not really, he just. needs some breathing room.
"ahh, i promised my friend - a dongsaeng from back home who also happens to like tacky shit - that i'd bring him a souvenir. and it might not be the most original, but he'll accept his generic I ❤ NYC mug, and he'll like it. completely unironically." yoongi smirks, and enjoys how his soulmate's eyes watch his lips. "especially when he learns of the circumstances that led to him receiving it."
CUT TO:
EXT. SIDEWALK (42ND STREET) - DAY - TRACKING
"so... the circumstances."
"yeah, the circumstances. let's fucking talk about those."
CUT TO:
EXT. ICE SKATING RINK (BRYANT PARK) - DAY
"you won't tell me your name, but you want to know what my favorite movie is?"
yoongi's nameless soulmate hums, and then, seeing yoongi's unamused face, laughs.
"how about this, i'll go first. my favorite is princess mononoke."
"never seen it," yoongi mumbles, watching his feet.
he is, admittedly, not the best ice skater. and because he also isn't too keen on making a fool of himself in front of his brand new soulmate, yoongi's being... uncharacteristically careful, maybe. cautious.
not that it's of any real help in not making him look silly next to his soulmate, seeing as the guy seemed practically at home on the ice.
"what! how can you not have --" yoongi's soulmate comes to a ridiculously slick stop, much more graceful than yoongi could ever be. his face screws up while he thinks. "what about my neighbor totoro? everyone knows totoro! or, actually -- have you seen any studio ghibli films?"
yoongi has, in fact, seen all of the studio ghibli films - thank you, kim taehyung - but if his soulmate was insisting on being withholding, then so could yoongi. and besides, he was enjoying the look of indignation on his soulmate's face, the way he spins around in absolute shock when yoongi says, "nope."
his soulmate skates backwards a few paces, still staring at yoongi in disbelief. and yoongi is about to give in and come clean, when suddenly his soulmate skids and trips, falling onto the ice with a shriek.
"holy shit," yoongi gasps, trying not to laugh and probably failing. he skates over and helps his soulmate get back on his feet. "are you okay?"
"yeah," his soulmate chuckles softly, mostly to himself. "yeah, i think i'm --"
yoongi's soulmate doesn't get to finish his thought, though, because he and yoongi both notice the same thing at the same time: his soulmate's sleeve is slowly turning red with blood.
"well fuck me," his soulmate says. and this time, it's yoongi laughing.
CUT TO:
INT. "STARBUCKS" COFFEE SHOP - NIGHT
yoongi's soulmate is staring him down as he works, cleaning and bandaging what he can with the scant few supplies they've borrowed; of all the places they asked, immediately following his soulmate's fall, only starbucks had offered them their small first aid kit. so now here they were, an untouched black coffee between them, while yoongi tried to remember that he usually wasn't squeamish.
maybe his sudden weak constitution had something to do with how close the shallow cut on his soulmate's inner forearm was to his wrist, or how similar in color the crimson of his blood looked to the deep red ribbon tied around his opposite wrist. or maybe it was nerves, since his soulmate still hadn't looked away from him once, his beautiful face impassive.
and then, he actually speaks. "how long will you be in new york?"
"i... i leave tomorrow, actually," yoongi tells him. and it's almost as if he's only just now remembering, as if speaking the words only just made them real. he looks up and meets his soulmate's beautiful eyes. "i've been here all fucking month participating in a songwriting camp, and now i remember that i'm leaving tomorrow, when i've only just met you tonight, what the fu--"
"oooh!" his soulmate exclaims. "a songwriting camp, what's that? sounds exciting."
"it's a sort of --" yoongi stops abruptly, slapping his soulmate's freshly-bandaged wound a bit harder than he'd intended. his soulmate winces, but doesn't drop his wide grin. "hey wait, don't change the subject!"
yoongi's soulmate barrels on, of course, cleaning up the bits of trash left over from the bandages and disinfectant wipes. and completely ignoring yoongi's request.
"so is that what you do, then? write songs? are you a musician, or..?"
"among other things," yoongi replies, as vaguely as possible. he's given up on getting any straight answers at this point, which only fuels his compulsion to be petty as shit. "so what about you, huh? do you live in new york full time, were you even born in korea, when can i see you again?"
his soulmate's grin melts into a softer sort of smile, and just like that, yoongi feels (most of) his fight drain right out of him.
"i do live in new york full time, actually... for now. and yes, i was born in korea - gwacheon, to be exact."
he sighs a bit wistfully, and yoongi can sympathize. but before he can say as much, his soulmate moves on with a quickly pasted-on smile and wave of his hand.
"i'm only here to complete my masters, though, so i should be back home soon enough."
CUT TO:
EXT. SIDEWALK (42ND STREET) - NIGHT - TRACKING
yoongi pretends not to have noticed that his soulmate never answered his last question before insisting they hurry up and leave the coffee shop, so as not to overstay their welcome. moving quickly to keep up with his soulmate's long strides, made by his impossibly long legs, yoongi practically has to shout to be heard over the noise of city traffic.
"so just how soon is soon?"
"mm, well," his soulmate slows down a bit, humming thoughtfully. "i did two years of the program back in seoul and then came here for the final two more, which means --"
"hold on, two years? you're gonna be here for two whole years? that - that's just..." yoongi can't believe his fucking luck, is what it is. "how long has it been since you came to new york, then?"
his real question is how long do you have left? a rephrasing of when he'd asked when can i see you again? and his soulmate knows it. he smiles softly, mysteriously, opens his mouth to say something --
-- just as a great big gust of wind swoops past and sends his loose scarf flying. yoongi's soulmate is off down the street immediately to run after it, and yoongi reluctantly follows. when he finally catches up with his soulmate, yoongi finds him untangling his scarf from around a lamppost and staring across the street - at what, the bus stop? the subway station entrance? - with an almost manic grin on his face.
CUT TO:
CLOSE UP
a pair of lush pink lips, smiling mischievously.
"do you trust me?"
CLOSE UP
a pair of hands, habitually twisting a red ribbon between their fingers.
"as much as i can trust someone whose name i don't know, sure."
CUT TO:
INT. GRAND CENTRAL TERMINAL - MAIN CONCOURSE - NIGHT
"unbelieveable. i spend months in new york, somehow managing to avoid grand central at all costs, and you just... fuckin' drag me in here like it's nothing -- and speaking of! what are we doing here, exactly?"
yoongi's soulmate looks away from his awed observation of all the hustling people bustling through the terminal around them. his grin is absolutely, unashamedly delighted.
"where've you been living during your stay? like, in which direction?"
yoongi shrugs, "uh... downtown, i guess?"
"and i'm uptown!" his soulmate laughs, a very large action, throwing his head back and holding his stomach.
yoongi feels like he's missing something.
"i feel like i'm missing something," he pouts, kind of annoyed.
"don't you get it? we're living in completely different parts of the city. it's another kind of fate, this is perfect," he says, and yoongi doesn't see how the fuck that can be possible. his soulmate's only gaining momentum, however. "see, i'll get on my train going uptown, while you get on your train heading downtown, and then both of our trains will speed off to their destinations in opposite directions."
now yoongi is sure that he's missing something. he has to be.
"how... how the hell is that perfect? how does that make any sense, even?"
his soulmate's face drops the smallest bit, only for a fraction of a second, before he's back to smiling brightly once more. he lifts his arm between them, shaking at the ribbon tying their wrists together. "well! this thing seems to have a bit of give, you know? like, there wasn't really any resistance at all when i ran after my scarf just a moment ago. so i'm thinking... it maybe won't think to yank at us for moving so far away, so long as we're moving really fast. probably wouldn't even be able to, right? and yeah, i know, we can't say for sure -- but it at least sounds like it could work, don't you think?"
"okay, sure," yoongi concedes. "but why would we want it to?"
there it is, the real question.
but still, his soulmate looks confused. "because you've got work, and i've got school, and we already know that we're soulmates. so if it's really meant to be, like all the stories always say, then we'll find our way back to each other. when the time's not shit."
CUT TO:
INT. GRAND CENTRAL-42ND STREET STATION - SUBWAY PLATFORM - NIGHT
"i don't like this," yoongi grumbles, arms crossed over his chest.
he and his soulmate are standing close together, directly in the middle of the platform. but they're not close enough. so yoongi takes another step forward, into his soulmate's space.
his soulmate's grin reaches his eyes and makes them sparkle a bit, when he notices. it's ridiculous.
"you don't have to like it, you just have to trust it. trust me."
"fine... fine, just - tell me your name, at least, okay?" yoongi stares his soulmate down, gets up on his tip-toes, even, just so that they're more of a height. "for instance, hello, i'm min yoongi."
his soulmate giggles, very obviously thrilled by the admission. he reaches out and gently pushes yoongi back onto the flats of his feet, a large hand curled around each of yoongi's upper arms.
"goodbye, min yoongi," his soulmate whispers.
his voice is almost drowned out by the incoming whoosh of trains pulling into the station, one on either side of their center island. with a sudden gust of air swirling around them, yoongi's soulmate slides his palms up, around yoongi's shoulders and along the length of his neck, until he's holding yoongi's jaw in his long fingers. then he tilts yoongi's head just so, and reels him into a deep kiss.
"my name is seokjin," his soulmate breathes, pulling away from yoongi's lips and then stepping back toward the opened doors of the train car behind him. "i'll see you soon."
END