Work Text:
00:00:59:24
taehyung checks his wrist for the fourth time in the past few minutes. just under an hour to go. i wonder what they’re like, he thinks dreamily. some of his friends had already met their soulmates, and they say it was the best moment of their lives. hoseok almost never shuts up about what it felt like when he saw yoongi for the first time. taehyung found it annoying at first, but then came to find it endearing, especially because of the way yoongi fixes hoseok with the fondest gaze, a small smile playing on his lips whenever hoseok goes off on one of his rambles.
00:00:48:52
the sun is a lovely warmth on his face as he wanders through the park. cherry blossom trees line the path and their flowers seem more vibrant than usual. somehow the grass looks greener too. taehyung has read about this sort of thing happening. everything looks and feels so much more alive right before you meet your soulmate. that’s one of the main reasons why he chose this park – it would be a beautiful place to meet your other half and have the cherry blossom petals fall around you like in all the dramas he adores. jimin always teases him about that, about how real life isn’t like ‘those sappy romcoms’. taehyung has remained adamant that sometimes reality can be as wonderful as fantasy, especially when it comes to soulmates.
00:00:38:16
he’s nervous. there’s still about 40 minutes to go, but he can’t help the anxious feeling that lurks in the back of his mind. a bench comes into view a little way up the path. taehyung decides to sit on it for a little while to help clear his head and relax. he had been dreaming of this day since he was old enough to know what the timer on his wrist meant. what it promised. when he was little, his mother used to tell him the story of how she met his father, every night before he went to sleep. it’s been his favourite story for as long as he can remember, and he is determined to make his own just as perfect, his very own ‘happy ever after’. just like his parents.
00:00:25:24
he thinks back to earlier in the morning when jimin and had made him promise to bring his soulmate back to their apartment for dinner. seokjin would be cooking, and taehyung never missed out on that. he hoped his soulmate would get on well with his friends. as taehyung starts walking again, he deliberately slows his steps, kidding himself that this will slow down time too. his eyes are glued to the countdown on his wrist now, watching the numbers tick down. twenty minutes to go.
00:00:17:46
suddenly he’s hit by the realisation that this is it. this is the day he meets the supposed ‘love of his life’. oh god; what if they hate him? what if he hates them? frantic questions swirl around his head and taehyung starts to feel sick. he stops walking as he tries to keep breathing evenly and calm his racing mind. think happy thoughts. think about hoseok and yoongi. the latter had said that when he first laid eyes on hoseok, his brain had shut down and all he could do was stare. all the overthinking he’d been doing was forgotten, and he lost himself in the moment, in the joy of meeting his love. hoseok had giggled then, swatting at yoongi for being so cheesy while yoongi simply grinned and pulled hoseok closer. taehyung manages a small smile. everything will be fine. he just has to relax.
00:00:09:02
nope. he was wrong. this is all too much. maybe he could just leave?
00:00:03:31
he doesn’t leave. instead, he moves away from the path and into the sunlight that bathes the grassy field of the park. taehyung closes his eyes and finally starts to relax as he walks slowly, enjoying the sun.
00:00:01:17
tuned out from the world around him, he momentarily forgets the pressure of the numbers ticking down on his wrist. eyes still closed, he completely misses the small ditch ahead of him. taehyung loses his footing and stumbles, falling spectacularly into a heap.
00:00:00:06
groaning softly, he opens his eyes. faintly, he can hear someone laughing. it’s pretty, genuine and warm. realising what had just happened he feels a blush creep up his cheeks as he struggles to stand. a hand reaches out and taehyung takes it without a second thought. once he’s on his feet again, he finally looks up into the eyes of the person who’d helped him, and who’s laughter he’d heard.
time stops. the world around them stills, and taehyung swears the earth stops spinning. everything else falls away, and it’s just the two of them.
00:00:00:00
the stranger is beautiful. he has round doe eyes that taehyung thinks he could get lost in forever. his nose is scrunched up cutely as he struggles to stifle his laughter with his other hand, and his adorable bunny teeth are on display. his soft brown hair falls messily over his forehead, curling slightly at the ends. taehyung feels as if the air has been knocked out of his lungs, and belatedly he realises that he’s still holding the boy’s hand. although his grip is loose, it feels so right, and in that split second, he doesn’t even have to check his wrist to know.
the breathtaking boy before him is his soulmate.
the boy seems to realise this too, and his soft laughter turns to a look of wonder as his shining eyes become impossibly larger. all at once taehyung is snapped out of his reverie, remembering what’d happened a few minutes ago. his cheeks are stained pink and he looks down, embarrassed. the boy removes his hand quickly from taehyung’s, and he instantly assumes the worst, but is pleasantly surprised when he feels large hands cupping his cheeks and delicately lifting his face up. thumbs swipe under his eyes to wipe away tears he didn’t know had fallen, and he finds himself lost in the galaxy of the boy’s eyes again. “don’t cry,” he says softly.
taehyung blushes even deeper, but before he can answer the boy speaks again. “i’m jeon jeongguk.”
taehyung smiles weakly in reply before introducing himself. “kim taehyung,”
there’s a beat of silence. then, “you’re my soulmate,” he blurts, and cringes internally. nice going, dumbass. way to state the obvious.
jeongguk chuckles, and it’s his turn to blush. “that I am.”
his eyes flit to taehyung’s lips, and taehyung finds himself already leaning in. jeongguk does too, and their lips meet in sweet, chaste kiss. taehyung feels fireworks exploding in his heart, and a warm tingly feeling spreads down to his toes, his earlier mishaps forgotten. one of jeongguk’s hands moves to cup taehyung’s jaw, and the other curls around his waist. jeongguk’s lips are soft, and taehyung wishes he could kiss them forever. eventually they break apart, both giggling stupidly as jeongguk moves his other arm to rest at taehyung’s lower back. taehyung drapes his arms over jeongguk’s shoulders, and they stay like that for a while, just basking in each other’s presence and trading kisses. the sun shines pleasantly down on them, and some stray cherry blossom petals float around the couple like in the dramas taehyung adores.
***
“wait, why were you laughing earlier?”
“because you fell.”
“hey!”
“if it makes you feel any better, i did exactly the same thing like five minutes before you.”
“wow, we really are soulmates.”