Chapter Text
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CHAPTER 01.
Lee Jinhyuk knows about the string of fate well, at least, all the ones tied to him.
He remembers the day he heard about it in class back in kindergarten, starry-eyed about the fact that there were countless strings between people, crossing and tangling but in the end, only one person out of the two could see it.
Only one person could see the string, tied to someone so damning and impactful in their life in one way or another. It wasn’t always about a lifelong romance, but the recurring instances of just listening to someone speak or guiding them until the string cut on its own became what made Jinhyuk appreciate it more.
It wasn’t uncommon for someone to have multiple threads clinging to them, nor was it unusual for Jinhyuk to meet someone’s dazzling eyes as he hears ‘ my strings connected to you ’ over and over again.
There’s a handful of instances laced in-between threads that he can still remember, all well ingrained in his memory.
He hears it first hidden in a whisper from a girl in his first-grade class, eyes sparkling as if he’s meant to be her prince when in the end he’d stop her from crossing the red light until they never spoke again.
There was a boy in middle school with a smile that never quite reached his eyes that always linked his pinky with Jinhyuk’s whenever they would wait in line. Whenever he felt the ghost-like touch, he would smile at him until he was no longer there when he looked.
Throughout the years, Jinhyuk’s kept count of every supposed thread tied to him, some long aided and some still their brilliant red that he can’t see.
In all the twenty so years he’s been alive, Lee Jinhyuk has yet to see a string around his pinky finger. What he does know well is the echo of what it sounds like when a scissor cuts a string, a loud reminder that someone’s string connected to him had been cut off.
Jinhyuk watches as Seungwoo absentmindedly twirls his finger in the air of their dorm, presumably playing with the string that’s tied them together in their years of friendship. He can’t see the string itself, but Seungwoo runs his fingers over nothing in such a gentle way that he can only believe its there.
A part of him is surprised that their string hasn’t been cut over time, surprised that Jinhyuk’s been Seungwoo’s shoulder for all of these years, but there isn’t anything he can think of that he would trade it for.
He’s long disregarded his paper, the sheets laying on his chest as he scrolls through his phone, barely registering the faces he scrolls past and the blur of words. He can feel the sun set as it peeks through the blinds, painting the room a warm golden colour. He relishes in the fact that the weekend is what’s going to greet him the next morning instead of his first day of class and it's equally welcome 8 am lecture, and he feels himself sink into the couch despite the growl his stomach lets out in retaliation.
He doesn’t have to catch Seungwoo’s eyes to know that he’s rolling them, hearing the older man stands up from his spot and beeline into the kitchen. He half expects a bag of crackers to be thrown his way until he hears the click of metal, letting his eyes close and relax to the sound.
It doesn’t take long for the smell of kimchi stew to fill up their two-bedroom apartment and he feels the couch practically swallow his form.
“Come on, eat up.” Jinhyuk hears after a while, a hand messing up his hair and pulling him out of his half-asleep state. His hand lifts up to swat Seungwoo’s hand away, but he mostly hits air, hearing an airy laugh get pushed around.
"I thought I was supposed to be the one taking care of you." Jinhyuk jests, pulling himself off of the couch to at least take the bowl given to him, a string meeting when he takes it. He knows the look that Seungwoo gives him-- a mix of disapproval spilling into something unsaid. He doesn't need to hear anything before he ducks his head to look at his food, his once hungry stomach seconds away from denying it but he takes a bite anyways.
They've had this conversation before, Seungwoo squeezing his hand thoughtfully on nights on their balcony.
“You’ve had a lot of strings connected to you, and you’ve helped every single one of them to the best of your ability. But just because you haven’t seen one of your own strings yet doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to seek comfort and help, Jinhyuk.”
Jinhyuk lifts his head to give Seungwoo a smile, one dripping in thanks as he leans over to just give the older’s knee a squeeze silently, and he’s glad that Seungwoo takes it as the end of the conversation.
“Are you still helping Jinwoo tomorrow?”
Ah , guess he really isn’t dropping it.
He recalls Jinwoo’s tear stained face when he comes to Jinhyuk one afternoon, the stress of starting the new school year in a brand new school after moving weighing on his shoulders. There were so many people he was leaving behind, the younger much too attached to the people around him, especially Jinhyuk.
After all, their string had yet to cut too.
Jinwoo was at least relaxed at the idea that his new highschool was fairly close to Jinhyuk’s university, so to comfort the other, he proposed that he would visit on the younger’s first day to help.
“Come with me then if you’re so worried, it’d be better than staying in here, right?” Jinhyuk offers, nudging Seungwoo’s leg with his socked foot. “It’s just around noon.”
He gets a hum from Seungwoo from around the spoon in his mouth and it only took the first 2 years since they’ve known each other for Jinhyuk to know that it’s the others way of accepting.
He smiles to himself, taking another bite before the conversation branches out elsewhere.
Jinhyuk gets up early the next day, blanket nowhere near the surface of his bed. It takes him a minute to actually sit up and pull himself out, tossing the blanket back onto it before he slides out to the living room.
The apartments always quiet despite him being up fairly early-- the clock saying thats its just a quarter past 10-- but Seungwoo’s always up earlier than him, either running or elsewhere.
They don’t need to be anywhere until noon, so Jinhyuk relishes in the quiet, leaning against the kitchen counter until it presses into his back and he scans the room over a glass of water.
He’s roomed with Seungwoo for three years now since they’ve known each other in highschool, brightly smiling as they entered the same university, the room pouring with memories as people entered and left their lives, all on the whims of fate.
He gently sets the glass of water down on the counter, eyes instinctively looking to his hands as it feels like time takes a breath with him.
In the quiet of his apartment, Jinhyuk holds his left hand tenderly to his forehead, pressing it against his fingers while his eyes squeeze tightly.
And there, Lee Jinhyuk prays once again to see a red string of fate.
Seeing Jinwoo’s school throws Jinhyuk all the way back to middle and highschool, the schedules and the rush of figuring out what to do feels like a hand on his shoulder to this day, maybe only less prominently in the front of his mind.
He and Seungwoo visit during the school lunch break, nearly stumbling at the near tide of memories that meet him. Everyone’s so small that he feels like he might bump into people, steps calculated.
Well, maybe he didn’t stumble at the sight, but there was a distinct snip that makes Jinhyuk slow down, turning to look behind him to see that Seungwoo has stopped a couple steps behind him, his face pale as his eyes trail to the ground as if he’s very much watching the string cut and sink in the wind.
“Ah,” Jinhyuk says, suddenly feeling as if every other word would fail them. There’s a silence that falls between them that both of them can’t seem to break. He watches as Seungwoo’s face falls further, working his bottom lip between his teeth and he instantly closes the few steps between them, his hands taking Seungwoo’s left hand in his two and he squeezes.
His own face hardens, teeth clenched behind his lips that form a straight line as he stares at Seungwoo, the others right hand moving to cover his mouth.
“Seungwoo, I’m still here.” Jinhyuk says gently, but the words are straightforward, voice never faltering as he reminds him. “The string snapping doesn’t mean I won’t be.”
He hears Seungwoo’s sharp intake until his body relaxes. There’s a mix of relieved laughter and a choked sob that turns into one sound that leaves one of them, but Jinhyuk holds his words high and true, and he instead moves to wrap his arms around Seungwoo, his thumb rubbing circles into his back.
He feels Seungwoo wrap his arms around his shoulders, giving him a squeeze. His voice is uncharacteristically quiet when he pulls away, eyes glued to his hand, clenching and unclenching it.
“It’s already tied to someone new.” Seungwoo mumbles, swinging his hand from side to side as if he’s watching it move. He grows quiet again to the point where his hand stills, and Jinhyuk watches as his entire body tenses as if the next couple words are difficult to swallow.
“It seems they’re nearby, too.”
Jinhyuk closes his eyes for a bit while he slowly takes in a breath, opening them again when he’s able to give Seungwoo a genuine smile.
“Well, lets not keep them waiting.”
The school’s not big enough for Jinhyuk to get lost after a quick text from Jinwoo explaining how to get there. There’s benches and picnic tables just a step outside of the school where Jinhyuk easily spots Jinwoo, but he isn’t as alone as the former had worried about just days before.
There’s a small group around the boy, about two new faces with smiles that make Jinhyuk brighten up. He knows that Seungwoo’s trailing behind him, but he knows that he would be just as distracted if he had a string and there were mere seconds before that string meant another person.
He seems to beam when Jinwoo lifts his head and waves them over, his steps picking up as he reaches the table, all the kids’ lunches cleared and pushed to the side.
“Jinwoo,” Jinhyuk greets, toothy grin plastered on his face as he ruffles the boys hair, hearing a couple muffled laughs. “How’s the company?”
“Really good, hyung.” Jinwoo smiles up at him, giving a quiet wave to Seungwoo who gives him a quieter smile.
“This is Song Hyeongjun and Nam Dohyon. They’re in my class and helped me find my way around.” Jinwoo says, and Jinhyuk sees that he seems much more relaxed now, his own smile growing. He gets waves and smiles, his and Seungwoo’s introductions taken care of.
“Oh, is Dongpyo still with Ms. Bae?” Jinwoo frowns a bit as he looks to the other two, Jinhyuk taking the free space beside him while Seungwoo leans against the table.
“He texted me saying he finished a bit ago, he’s picking up a drink from the cafeteria.” Hyeongjun barely holds onto the top of his phone as he waves it around as if he needs concrete evidence. Jinhyuk can feel his own body tense in worry for if the phone falls.
“Another friend?” Jinhyuk asks, and his voice is so obviously fond as he says it, but he can’t help the feeling as it bubbles in his chest. He doesn’t bother to stop the laugh that leaves him.
“Mhm!” Jinwoo smiles at him, and he knows that he is just as happy to have found people so easily. There wasn’t a bone in Jinhyuk’s body that worried that he wouldn’t have. Jinwoo’s too cute, he wouldn’t have trouble in a new school, let alone when it came to finding friends.
“Ah! Dongpyo!” Dohyun calls loudly, Jinhyuk blinking at how suddenly the boy shouts and how it was much louder than he was expecting. The brunette waves a hand in the air as if to guide him, and it doesn’t pass Jinhyuk when he sees Seungwoo pause, disregarding whatever he was looking at on his phone as his eyes darted up from his hand to the field and back again.
Jinhyuk holds in a breath at the insinuation, head looking over his shoulder from where he sat, arm wrapped around Jinwoo’s side as he watches another boy walk over.
He turns his head to look at Seungwoo, and he knows enough to tell that it must be Dongpyo that’s now connected to him. He gently lifts a hand to squeeze the man’s upper arm and he finally looks down to give Jinhyuk a warm smile.
“Ah, Jinwoo, they had the drink you were telling me about.” Dongpyo says, placing the carton of milk on the table with a smile, bowing his head a bit as he says his greetings to the visitors.
They fall into an easy conversation, Seungwoo finally taking a seat at the table directly across from Dongpyo, and Jinhyuk watches as they easily hit it off and Jinhyuk watches enraptured as fate does what it does best. By the time lunch break ends, Dongpyo is already calling Seungwoo ‘hyung’ and their hands naturally find one another.
The distress that Seungwoo wore just half and hour lifts a bit, and Jinhyuk swears they’ve already exchanged numbers.
Jinwoo and Dongpyo walk them back inside and to the entrance of the school, Jinwoo falling right into step with Jinhyuk while the other two trail behind.
“I’m glad that Dongpyo-ah got along with Seungwoo-hyung.” Jinwoo says softly, swinging his hand with Jinhyuk’s as they walked.
“Don’t tell anyone,” Jinhyuk says, leaning down a bit as making a show of hiding his mouth behind a hand while he whispers. “Seungwoo-hyung’s string connected to his today.”
He watches as Jinwoo’s eyes naturally sparkle as it sinks it, but he doesn’t miss the way that Jinwoo’s hand squeezes his own.
He’s thankful for the smile he gets from him, and soon the two of them wave back before they hop into Seungwoo’s car and head back to their campus.
The semester hits everyone like a train.
Jinhyuk’s apart of the many people who get run over in the rush of school as it starts, the man not immune to the spill of work that follows his early classes.
He almost always sleeps well, has a decent sleep schedule to accommodate his health and the world around him, but he finds himself falling into a quiet routine before things really settle.
“You good?”
Jinhyuk looks up from his food, the countless holes in his food where he had been poking it with his fork make it evident that maybe he wasn’t as good.
He makes eye contact with Kookheon who pulls out the chair across from him, Yuvin just a step behind him before following suit.
He can’t help but smile a little bit when he sees the two, watches as the two push their chairs together so their shoulders brush when the turn to talk, voices hushed as they talk about what Jinhyuk can only assume be something from the minutes before they walked over.
“Just thinking about how much I love university.” Jinhyuk gives them a toothy grin, watching as Yuvin smiles at that knowingly, Kookheon rolling his eyes but smiles anyways, the concern slowly leaving his face.
“Where’s Seungwoo-hyung?” Yuvin asks, finding his place as he presses a bit into Kookheon’s side. Jinhyuk doesn’t need to ask to know that their hands are clasped together under the table.
He always feels a subtle sense of relief when he sees them so close and so in love since he’s known them despite them only getting together last year. It’s rare for him to see people together despite their strings leading elsewhere, Jinhyuk very aware of the underlying discontent he’s watched from the outside from the passersby in his life.
“He’s made a friend.” he supplies unhelpfully, taking a sip from his water bottle as he sees Kookheon give him a look that speaks every single question he wants to ask into a single glance, and Jinhyuk can’t help but open his mouth again to elaborate.
“His string to me was cut last week,” he says slowly, his lips flattening into a straight line, catching the wince from the both of them. “So he’s getting to know him, a very good guy from what I know.”
There isn’t anything sour in his tone at all. He knows Dongpyo, knows Jinwoo and knows Seungwoo, and he trusts enough to know that Dongpyo will be just as important to Seungwoo as he has been to him.
Yuvin softens. Jinhyuk’s never asked, but he can infer for a bit that his strings connected to Seungwoo himself just from first glance.
He isn’t sure if its still tied to Seungwoo or if its been cut, but Yuvin relies on Seungwoo all the same, thread or not, and that’s what comforts Jinhyuk properly, his own words finally sinking in as Yuvin reaches across the table to give his free hand a squeeze.
He’s thankful for the way that Yuvin brings up one of his classes, Kookheon stilling for a second before he catches on and soon Jinhyuk is pulled into their flow, his smile easily returning to his face as Kookheon mentions Yuvin and his recurring classmate Choi Suhwan, watching as Yuvin covers his face with his hands as Kookheon relays everything.
He visits Jinwoo’s school with Seungwoo at least once a week.
By the time it’s settled properly into his schedule so that they drop by every friday at noon, Seungwoo’s sitting at Dongpyo’s side, arms snaked around his waist and head settled in the space beside the boys head. There was definitely a push and pull in the first couple visits that JInhyuk isn’t surprised to see has melted over time. He can't bring himself to ask if Seungwoo has told Dongpyo that they’re strung together, but he feels like it doesn't matter either way.
A part of him misses how he used to be in that spot, but it’s not something he has to miss for long since Seungwoo’s been hyper aware of the fact that he needs to almost make up for the string by casually giving Jinhyuk’s hand a squeeze or giving him a morning kiss on the head.
He appreciates it surely, and he can feel it slowly returning to their daily life as if it isn’t strained. He doesn’t let himself dwell on it too much as he rests his head on Jinwoo’s shoulder, feeling the other gently runs his hand through his hair comfortingly.
A part of him feels like despite him not seeing it, surely there has to be even the thinnest thread that connects him to Jinwoo. He doesn’t know what loopholes or rules that fate has, but he knows for a fact there’s something, he doesn’t need his eyes to confirm it.
He lets his eyes close, half awake as he listens to Jinwoo talk to his friends, their conversations going through one ear and out the next.
“Ahh, I already don’t like this night class.”
Seungwoo sways a bit, lightly bumping into Jinhyuk’s side as he walks him to his class. Jinhyuk avoided night classes to the best of his ability, giving Seungwoo a comforting smile as he rubs his lower back. He didn’t have trouble getting up in the morning for him to worry about morning classes like most people, but night classes made his days feel long and drawn out.
“Good thing it’s only a tutorial and not a lecture.” He comments, slowing down as Seungwoo’s classroom comes into view and he turns on his heel to face him, a smile on his face to try to pull the exaggerated frown on the others face.
“I can pick up some snacks on my way back for when you get home if you want.” He offers, nudging him a bit.
He watches as Seungwoo silently takes both of his hands in his own, lightly squeezing his fingers as a small smile finally makes its way onto his face.
“Thank you, Jinhyukkie,”
He hears something quiet.
Jinhyuk smiles at him, eyes falling to his hands to reciprocate the action before he pauses, chest tightening.
“Seungwoo--” He says quickly, voice sounding dry as if his voice has been ripped out of him.
He doesn’t mean anything when he pulls his left hand out of Seungwoo’s hold as he clenches his hand, breath quick as he pulls his hand close to his face, lip trembling as if it’s unsure if it wants to smile or cry as he looks at his fingers.
Tied neatly on his pinky with a little bow is a vibrant red string of fate.
He doesn’t entirely make out what Seungwoo says before he’s light on his feet, ushering Seungwoo towards his classroom door.
“I’ll tell you later all about them-!” He says instantly, already darting out towards the building exit as he bolts to follow it, watching as the string almost shortens in front of his eyes.
He’s never seen a string before, doesn’t know the physics of it as it tangles and flows in the wind and he follows it as if he needs it more than anything.
He’s never been a runner, never had the best stamina for sports, and he feels his lungs cry out painfully as he pushes them. He crosses campus in record time into another building he’s never stepped into-- the art department-- as he runs down the halls, thankful it’s late enough that no one questions him running. Or maybe they know exactly why he is.
He turns a corner and almost slides, nearly bending down to catch his balance as he can see where his string leads him, two people walking down the hallway and nearing another exit.
“Excuse me-!” He finds himself calling before he can really think about it, thankful they aren’t moving any farther away for Jinhyuk to catch up, feeling his legs nearly buckle underneath him.
He has to catch his breath, his body folding as he feels his legs shake, putting his hands on his knees as he takes gulps of air.
He offhandedly thinks that he really needs to never run like that again.
Jinhyuk doesn’t know what comes over him, but the second he straightens he reaches for the strangers hands, feeling all the worry thats worked its way into his shoulders melt away as he genuinely sees the string on the other man’s hand, the string in a bow that’s just as neat as his.
“Sorry I--” He starts and suddenly everything slows down-- the rise of his chest, his racing brain and his train of thought. He watches as the boy turns his head to his company that Jinhyuk finally registers is there before he leaves, his eyes making out the strangers side profile as he takes everything in.
Surely he wouldn’t have been this lucky, the man’s features look picture perfect, as if every angle would turn out to be some kind of framed portrait. The others eyes finally look up to meet his and his words feel trapped in his throat.
They're a gentle brown, maybe a hint of the ugly school lighting making them seem brighter and suddenly Jinhyuk doesn’t think the schools light fixtures are as bad.
His skin looks impossibly smooth, and his hands already gripping onto something that he probably shouldn’t feel as comforting as it does are now are itching to gently caress his face in between them.
He knows time isn’t nice enough to really pause, knowing he’s been staring for who knows how long at someone in the middle of a hallway.
“Lee Jinhyuk.” He almost spits out, feeling like he needs to say it now. He doesn’t know the etiquette for this despite being on the other end of these interactions. Surely there wasn’t a real way that matches any books about how you’re supposed to tell him, tell a complete stranger that they here and they mean something .
“My first strings. . . connected to you.”