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Kim Sunwoo comes from a small town. And it isn’t always like it is in the movies. Sure, everybody knows everybody. Yeah, everybody knows your name and your business. But movies dramatize every little thing. Small towns are just towns that are small.
Sunwoo’s been with the same people since he started school. Every year, the same faces walk into the classroom on that first day of school. Every year, Sunwoo takes a seat at the back of the room, and his best friend Heo Hyunjoon takes a seat right next to him. Every year, Sunwoo is painfully reminded that Ju Haknyeon, his neighbor, still goes to this school. And every year, Sunwoo is forced to accept that he has to deal with this obnoxious, annoying, walking disaster both at home and at school.
But Sunwoo remains optimistic, since this is Haknyeon’s last year. And then he’ll be going off to university. And Sunwoo can officially remove the obnoxious, annoying, walking disaster from his life. For good.
It’s gotten easier over the years. Easier to deal with him. All thanks to the daily ‘good luck!’s on his arm. Or the ‘knock em dead!’s. All next to the adorable soulmate tattoo of a pig on Sunwoo’s wrist. A pig. How cute can your soulmate get? The second Sunwoo learned that the tattoo was an image of something your soulmate was passionate about he teared up. And the overwhelming love he had, for someone he didn’t even know, only grew further.
—good luck today! this is your year!
Sunwoo smiles, looking down at his wrist. The beautiful, flowing cursive of his soulmate’s handwriting produces the warmest feeling in his chest. This must be love.
He quickly scribbles out a “you too!” underneath the precious message, and, for good measure, he adds a little heart on the side. Despite only being the beginning, today was shaping up to be a pretty spectacular day. Sunwoo doesn’t think anything could bring his mood down.
But, of course, the universe works in mysterious ways. And, of course, something bad just has to happen now. But Sunwoo had no idea it could possibly be this bad.
“Asshole, 4 o’clock,” Hyunjoon whispers in his ear, tilting his head to the side. Sunwoo puts all of his focus into not looking. And yet, he does take a quick glance over. Surely enough, Ju Haknyeon had just walked in the room.
“Are you serious?” Sunwoo growls, head dropping onto his desk. “My perfect year, ruined, thanks to Ju Haknyeon. As always. He ruins everything.”
Hyunjoon sighs. “What is he even doing here? He’s a year above us he should not be in this class.”
“Well we’ve always known he was an idiot,” Sunwoo mutters, lifting his head up. “Probably failed this class last year and has to retake it. Dumbass.” The smallest smirk appears on Sunwoo’s face before quickly going away when Hyunjoon speaks again.
“Sunwoo, why is he walking towards us?” Hyunjoon asks. Sunwoo follows his friend’s gaze and sees Haknyeon getting closer to the pair.
“What the f—“
“Don’t get excited, loser,” Haknyeon says, interrupting Sunwoo. “I’m not here because I’m in this class. I’m here because you forgot your notebook at home. And your mom insisted that I bring it to you.” Haknyeon reaches into his bag and pulls out a green notebook. “Can’t imagine why it’s so important you have it since it’s the first day of school. But whatever.” He passed the book to Sunwoo.
“Thanks.”
“Yeah whatever,” Haknyeon shrugs. “Your mom is a very nice lady. I appreciate her. I just fail to understand where she went wrong with you.”
“Listen, you did what you needed to do so you can leave now.” Sunwoo glares at a grinning Haknyeon. “Goodbye.”
Haknyeon throws him an over exaggerated wave before strolling out of the classroom.
“I don’t think I’ve ever hated anybody more,” Sunwoo mumbles. And it’s probably true.
———
Sunwoo had made it a habit to stay late after school. Just so he could avoid walking with Haknyeon.
But it seems at this point Haknyeon has caught on. And, because he just adores tormenting Sunwoo, he decides to stay late and make sure they have to walk home together.
“You know, for someone who’s supposed to hate me, you’re kind of obsessed aren’t you?” Sunwoo asks, trying his hardest to not look at Haknyeon. Haknyeon who is just a few feet away, walking at the same pace.
“Who said I hated you?” Haknyeon questions. In a quick glance at the elder Sunwoo catches a glimpse of Haknyeon’s soulmate tattoo. It’s a little soccer ball on his shoulder. When they were younger, Sunwoo would always wish that it was for him. He was such a fool. (He still is.)
“You,” Sunwoo mutters. “Nearly everyday.”
“Oh yeah!” Haknyeon laughs, clapping his hands obnoxiously.
“Why are you doing this?” Sunwoo asks, his voice full of exasperation.
Haknyeon blinks. “Doing what?” He asks, feigning innocence. “I’m just walking home.”
“Yeah, with me,” Sunwoo explains. “This is my only time to myself, where you can’t torment me. But you’re here! Ruining my time!”
Haknyeon has the audacity to start cackling beside him. “Your time, huh? I am so sorry Prince Sunwoo.”
“Shut up,” Sunwoo growls. “I cannot stand you.”
“We used to be good friends Sunwoo.”
Sunwoo winces, and he hopes that Haknyeon doesn’t notice. It’s true. The two used to be best friends. When they were kids. Before Haknyeon changed and left Sunwoo to struggle through middle school, and then high school all on his own.
“And who’s fault do you think it is that we aren’t good friends anymore?” He finally looks at Haknyeon again. The elder’s eyes widen slightly but other than that Sunwoo receives no reaction. He nods, chuckling. “Right. Leave me alone, Haknyeon.”
———
Upon arriving home, Sunwoo grabs a pen and plops onto his bed. Pulling up his sleeve he writes a quick “ugh.” Deciding that was the only word that could accurately describe his current mood.
Within no time at all his soulmate responds.
—??
Sunwoo sighs.
—this one kid won’t leave me alone. i hate his guts. why can’t he just let me live my life?
—hey! don’t let him bring you down! remember you’re strong and wonderful!!
If it was possible to fall in love with someone’s handwriting, Sunwoo would be completely infatuated. If it was socially acceptable to propose to someone just for their handwriting, well, Sunwoo would be engaged.
—thank you :(( i needed to hear that. or well.....read that haha
—anytime!
———
Sunwoo is woken up suddenly by a crashing sound in his bedroom. He first thinks it’s a murderer, and he’s terrified. This is it. Kim Sunwoo, at seventeen years old, was going to die in his bedroom. At the hands of a cold blooded killer. A killer who came into people’s bedrooms in the middle of the night and just attacked them.
“Sunwoo, are you crying?”
It’s Haknyeon.
“No. What the actual fuck are you doing in my bedroom? Get out,” Sunwoo demands, seething. His voice wavers thanks to unshed tears. “Leave.”
“Oh my god, calm down babe,” Haknyeon teases.
“Don’t call me that.” Especially if you don’t mean it. The unspoken words hang heavily in the air between Sunwoo and Haknyeon. Realizing that Haknyeon wasn’t about to say anything else, Sunwoo speaks up. “How did you get in here?”
“You should really lock your window,” Haknyeon suggests. “What if someone who actually wants to hurt you comes in?”
“So you didn’t come here to hurt me?” Sunwoo questions, trying to slow his beating heart. Haknyeon obviously doesn’t mean anything by this statement.
“When have I ever—“
“You spent the last six years hurting me actually,” Sunwoo cuts him off. “So I hope you aren’t being serious right now.”
“You hurt me back.”
“Real mature, Hak,” Sunwoo scoffs. “Real mature. You sure you’re graduating high school this year? You act like you’re just starting third grade.”
“Ouch,” Haknyeon jokes. “You haven’t called me Hak since elementary school.”
Sunwoo’s face turns red upon realizing he used Haknyeon’s old nickname. At this point he’s thankful for the dark room. At least this way he couldn’t be seen.
“Shut up,” Sunwoo growls. “Why are you here?”
“For old time’s sake of course,” Haknyeon says, taking a seat in Sunwoo’s desk chair. “I used to come into your bedroom all the time.”
“When we were friends, yes,” Sunwoo replies, eyes narrowing. “We aren’t friends anymore. I hate you. Why are you actually here?”
Haknyeon takes a breath before answering. “I want to tell my soulmate I love them.”
Sunwoo gulps. Wonderful. “Just do it.”
“Great advice, Sunwoo, thanks,” Haknyeon says sarcastically. “I have what I came here for then. Bye, I’ll just jump out the window now.”
Sunwoo rolls his eyes. “Okay, stop. How do you wanna tell them?”
“Well, I wanted to tell them in person,” Haknyeon admits. “But I cant exactly do that, as I don’t know who they are.”
Sunwoo nods, thoughtful. “Write it on your leg then.” He gets up and pushes Haknyeon back towards the window. “Now you can get out. Go to bed.”
As soon as Haknyeon leaves, Sunwoo goes to bed thinking this had all been one strange dream. He wakes up the next morning to find “i love you” written on his thigh. He never locks the window.
———
“Have you met your soulmate yet?” Haknyeon asks, joining Sunwoo on his walk home once again.
“Does it look like I’ve met my soulmate yet?” Sunwoo retorts. He doesn’t even bother looking in Haknyeon’s direction, deciding he wasn’t worth the time.
“No, you still look tired and angry all the time.”
Sunwoo pretends that Haknyeon notices because he cares.
———
—ugh i got detention!
—oh really? i did too...
—got in a fight with someone
—wow! same here. that loser probably deserved it
—believe me, he definitely did.
———
“Why is the universe out to get me?” Sunwoo asks himself. Though, he asks loudly just so Haknyeon could hear from the other side of the room.
“Am I that bad?”
“Worse,” Sunwoo states, blunt. “You’re worse.”
“You started the fight,” Haknyeon argues. “You literally punched me. It hurt.”
“You started the fight when you kicked my shin, but okay,” Sunwoo quips back, getting angrier and angrier with each second.
“I cannot stand you,” Haknyeon groans.
“And I can’t stand you.”
“I don’t even want to look at you usually,” the elder announces.
Sunwoo snickers. “So why are you always looking then?”
“Because I know it gets on your nerves, dumbass,” Haknyeon responds, smirking.
Right. No other reason.
———
Sunwoo is having a horrible day. Seriously, this day definitely makes it onto Sunwoo’s ‘Top 10 Bad Days’ list. First of all, he managed to fail two tests and lose all of his homework for the day. On top of that: this morning he had spilled his coffee all over his brand new shirt. Was there any possible way today could get any worse?
—i’m having a horrible day :((
Sunwoo rushes through the halls of school, pen in hand. He should definitely be paying more attention to his surroundings. After all, he does happen to be walking through the busiest hall of the school. (Although considering the size of the school, which is small, it really isn’t that busy of a hallway.)
—oh no :( i wish i could help! just think of pigs with wings!! that should cheer you up. cheers me up!!
Sunwoo giggles, smiling wide, and looks up from his arm. His eyes immediately go to Haknyeon, who just happens to be standing in front of a set a lockers a few feet away. Sunwoo would never admit that his eyes were still drawn to Haknyeon even after all these years.
Haknyeon is looking down, and Sunwoo notices a pen in his hand. Interesting, he thinks. Maybe he’s talking to his soulmate too. Haknyeon brings the pen down to his skin and begins writing something. Sunwoo looks down at his own skin automatically.
—i hope the rest of your day is good :)
His heart stops. He looks back up at Haknyeon and notices that he’s stopped writing. This cannot be happening. With shaky hands, Sunwoo brings his pen underneath the former statement and begins writing.
—Haknyeon?
Sunwoo sees Haknyeon drop his pen in shock. And then he’s looking up. Directly into Sunwoo’s eyes. It feels like Haknyeon is looking straight though him; he feels hollow under Haknyeon’s gaze. And time is frozen. It feels like an eternity, but it can only be a few seconds, before Sunwoo is taking a careful step forward.
And Haknyeon is running away. Oh.
———
Sunwoo is in his bed, trying to keep his emotions in check, when he sees a sentence forming on his arm.
—i’m sorry.
He rubs at his eyes to try and prevent the tears from coming out, and he stands and walks to the bathroom. He scrubs furiously at the sentence on his arm trying to remove the once beautifully flowing cursive, that has never looked uglier in his eyes. It doesn’t come off.
———
Sunwoo looks down at his hand.
—can we talk?
He puts on gloves.
———
After showering and brushing his teeth, Sunwoo walks into his room. And he’s suddenly reminded of that one night. When Haknyeon had climbed into his bedroom from the window.
He walks over to the window, and he locks it. For the very first time in his life.
———
Sunwoo should’ve known. He should’ve known. It was so painfully obvious.
The pig on his wrist. Who other than Haknyeon was so passionate about the animal? Even when they were children, for years Haknyeon would have pig themed birthday parties. He should’ve known.
And the soccer ball on Haknyeon’s shoulder. From a young age Sunwoo had expressed his desire to become a world famous player. To make it onto the big, successful, popular teams.
He was always wishing, but never paying attention. He should’ve known.
And when he tells Hyunjoon this, he doesn’t get any response other than a giant hug. And a soft, “it’ll be okay.”
———
Over a few weeks, Sunwoo’s resolve had been slowly cracking. And it only takes Haknyeon one more try to get Sunwoo to finally talk to him.
—please talk to me
—fine.
Sunwoo sighs deeply. Would he regret this?
—come over?
—ok.
Sunwoo walks to Haknyeon’s house. And since they’re neighbors, it doesn’t take long at all. Yet for them, it felt like an eternity.
When Sunwoo arrives, Haknyeon opens the door for him. And the first thing he does is apologize. “Sunwoo, I’m so sorry. For everything. I’ve been such a terrible person, and you didn’t deserve that.”
Sunwoo just smiles sadly. “Why’d you run away?” He asks.
“Because, I was scared,” Haknyeon admits.
“So was I.”
“I shouldn’t have run.”
“You shouldn’t have.” Sunwoo shakes his head. “I hate you.”
“I’m so sorry,” Haknyeon says, voice cracking. “Please find it in yourself to forgive me.”
“I hate this. I hate everything.” Sunwoo groans. “I want to hate you so much. I want to despise you. But the universe wants other things.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Stop apologizing.” Sunwoo lets out a breath he’d been holding for awhile. “I think I’ve loved you for a really long time.” And it’s like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders when the words came out of his mouth. No more hiding. It was all out in the open now.
“Oh my god I’m so sorry.” Haknyeon just keeps apologizing.
“If you don’t stop apologizing I’m going to scream,” Sunwoo snaps. “I forgive you, okay?”
Haknyeon smiles at Sunwoo. He has a really pretty smile. It’s the same smile Sunwoo had loved since they were children. “You may not believe me, but I love you too.”
“I want to believe you.”
“Please,” Haknyeon begs. “I’ll never be able to apologize enough.”
“You already have,” Sunwoo assures. “And I believe you.”
Soulmates are weird. The universe is weird. Why, suddenly, are they in love after years of bad blood? Is it even worth questioning?
———
“Wow I can’t believe you just forgave him like that,” Hyunjoon says.
“Shut up!” Sunwoo exclaims. “I guess it’s just, love stuff. Stupid love. Stupid soulmates.” Sunwoo pauses. “I guess feelings are just simple this way. I love him because that’s what’s supposed to happen.”
“But you loved him even before you knew that,” Hyunjoon points out.
Sunwoo nods, agreeing. “I have reason to believe the universe played a role in that as well. But it’s complicated. What I know now is that I forgive him. And we’ve spoken and made up. That’s what matters.”
“I’m just glad you’re normal Sunwoo again,” Hyunjoon states, smiling.
Sunwoo smiles back, only looking away to scribble something on the palm of his hand quickly.
—i love you <3
Looking over Sunwoo’s shoulder, Hyunjoon makes fake gagging noises. “You’re disgusting,” he jokes.
Sunwoo throws the pen at him.
———
—i love you more <3