Chapter Text
In his 30 years of living, Seungyoun did not think that the day would finally show up. As he stared at his forearm and slowly squinted at his inner wrist, he shook his head in disbelief. He had just rolled out of bed late in the afternoon on one of his rare days off and dragged himself to the bathroom. He rubbed at his arm, scratched at his skin, wondered how much he drank last night and if he was drunk enough last night for someone to scribble random numbers on his arm as some kind of practical joke. But as the numbers ticked and changed, Seungyoun quickly realised that this wasn’t some sort of prank.
22:00:05
It would be 22 hours till Seungyoun would finally meet his one true soulmate.
He stared at his own reflection in the mirror as a goofy smile crept onto his lips. He was ready – or at least thought he was. Everyone in his friend group, and even in his friend’s friend group, had found their soulmates. Some had met on the commute on the way to work while others accidentally bumped into each other in the most random of places. He chuckled to himself, wondering where fate would align their two beckoning souls. He hoped it would be somewhere romantic, at a park during sunset or at a little small town carnival on a ferris wheel ride. But in the end, he wouldn’t have minded. Seungyoun could meet this girl – or guy – next to a dumpster for all he cared, he was just glad he wouldn’t be alone anymore.
He’d grown so used to being alone because he has been alone for so long. Dating, or sleeping around for that matter, was considered a big taboo in society. Everyone was taught at a young age that one day they would meet their soulmates, so they were programmed to abstain against everything you would normally see in Hollywood movies. Heck, Seungyoun himself only had his first kiss at the age of 22, at an alcohol-induced college party. He only had one girlfriend in the span of his lifetime, and even that didn’t last more than 3 months when her time mark suddenly appeared. They broke it off amicably, but it still broke Seungyoun to pieces when it happened. And he never wanted to be put in that situation again, ever. So he waited, and waited, and waited. Eventually, Seungyoun just gave up and settled on the fact that he didn’t have a soulmate.
Seungyoun cranked up the heater to his shower. He needed a nice longand hot shower, not just to rejuvenate his body after his late night antics but also to clear his mind. The last time he checked, which was when he rolled out of bed, it was 2.30 in the afternoon. He took another furtive glance at his arm, more specifically at the timer flashing 21 remaining hours in bright red. As he calculated in his mind over and over again, he eventually reached the conclusion that he would meet his life partner between 12pm to 1pm the next day.
Life Partner.
Seungyoun wanted to laugh at himself. He barely knew this person and he was already so confident he was going to spend the rest of his life with this stranger. There have never been stories of soulmates not ending up together. In fact, Seungyoun has never even heard about soulmates disliking each other after they meet. And for goodness sake, taking into consideration his horrible luck in life, Seungyoun did not want to be the first case.
That’s precisely when the anxiety started creeping in.
Seungyoun quickly pushed aside all his expectations of what his ‘perfect’ partner would be. He didn’t need for this person to have beautiful, silky brunette hair or dark, sultry brown eyes. The longer he stood in that shower, the more questions popped up. More questions meant that Seungyoun was envisioning more and more worst case scenarios. Whatever happy thoughts of wedding bells and cute, cuddly children was completely thrown out the window at that point.
'What if he wasn’t attractive to his soulmate at all? What if they didn’t have anything in common or held completely different life principles? Or what if his soulmate just simply didn’t like him?'
Staying in the shower wasn’t helping at all, Seungyoun decided. He quickly climbed out of the bath and grabbed his towel. His heart was absolutely pounding against his chest as he scrambled out of the bathroom. Everything just felt small and confined. The four walls of his room seemed to be caving in as he felt panic overtake him. Did he actually think he was ready to meet his soulmate, because fuck it, he isn’t.
Immediately, he reached for his phone on the bedside table and dialled the first number on speed dial.
“Seungyoun, you little dipshit, I know you’re on leave today but that doesn’t mean you can call me anytime you like,” Lee Hangyul’s voice echoed on the line, annoyance etched in his tone.
When Seungyoun didn’t instantly respond, Hangyul sounded a little bit more concerned.
“Hello? Seungyoun? Are you in some sort of trouble?”
“It’s here. It finally fucking came,” Seungyoun eventually managed to spit out. He rhythmically inhaled deep and exhaled, repeating this over and over again – trying, and failing, mind you,to steady his fast-beating heart.
“What? Your long awaited One Direction merch?” Hangyul chuckled at his own joke. Or maybe Hangyul secretly wanted that signed Harry Styles poster.
“The time mark”
There was a long pause on the line.
Hangyul had been Seungyoun’s friend since they were assigned the same room together in college up until now where they both work together in the same auditing firm. They share many things in common: a deep love for sports – football and basketball in particular, since they actively played when they were younger, similar tastes in music and TV shows, and not to forget, a fine appreciation for good tattoos. Seungyoun had always felt they had great chemistry and were often, if not always, on the same wavelength. “Seungyul”, their friends would call the pair.
All in all, Hangyul was everything Seungyoun was looking for in a partner. Not only did they connect with similar interests, they also did on an emotional levelandHangyul was physicallyall that Seungyoun could ask for. Hangyul was athletically built, had sleek, neat brunette hair, soft yet alluring brown eyes and was just about an inch shorter than Seungyoun.
But, in the end, life just doesn’t give you what you want.
Let’s just say that Seungyoun was far from jumping out of his seat when Hangyul’s time-mark appeared and Seungyoun’s didn’t.
Seungyoun could hear a loud, brisk shuffling noise in the background and maybe, just maybe, he heard Hangyul scream ‘Emergency!’ to the whole office.
“I’ll be there in fifteen,”.
Lo and behold, Hangyul didn’t arrive in 15 minutes.
In fact, he probably arrived an hour later than promised. As soon as Seungyoun unlocked his front door and threw it open for Hangyul to enter, Hangyul was already blabbering away about his stupid excuse and why he was late. Seungyoun could barely catch what Hangyul was saying though. All he could process was traffic jam, no money for bus and shitty office emergency procedure.
Hangyul finally stopped talking when he realised that his complaints fell on deaf ears. He turned to look at Seungyoun who was hunched over the kitchen counter, looking pale as a ghost. Seungyoun’s shoulders were slumped, as though he was supporting the weight and troubles of the whole damn world. He definitely didn’t look like a guy who was going to meet the love of his life in less than 24 hours. Hangyul’s eyes wandered further down his friend’s figure and finally stopped at the blinking set of numbers on Seungyoun’s wrist and he couldn’t help but smile a little.
‘It was happening. Late, very late. But, better than never,’ Hangyul thought to himself with a little sigh.
“Youn, I would’ve expected you to feel at least a little bit more excited than this.” the brunette said. “I mean, you’re going to meet someone you’re going to spend the rest of your life with in -- 20 hours and 50 minutes.” Hangyul added as he approached his friend, squinting slightly as he tried to accurately read the numbers on Seungyoun’s wrist.
“That’s the damn thing,” Seungyoun sighed deeply. “What if this person didn’t want to spend their life with me?”. This question elicited a hearty laugh from his companion, annoying and worrying Seungyoun even more. For god’s sake, Seungyoun was en route to having a panic attack right here, if he wasn’t having one already. “Is this funny to you, huh?” Seungyoun annoyedly questioned.
Hangyul’s laughter immediately died down, “That’s not what a soulmate is then, bro” he said as a matter-of-factly.
Seungyoun lifted his head from the counter and shot him this look. To the average person, it would just seem like Seungyoun was very confused. But since they have been friends for so long, Hangyul immediately understood the look. It was kind of a half what-the-fuck, half intrigued look. More specifically, it was the look that said ‘O Wise Hangyul, please tell me more and share with me your wisdom’. Or… at least that’s how Hangyul had always interpreted it.
“Soulmates are two people who were meantfor each other. Like, fate brought these two individuals together specifically, out of the 7 billion other people in the world. Soulmates aren’t just a coincidence, you know. Your soulmate, Youn, will be someone you were made for and likewise,” Hangyul elaborated fondly, his mind thinking of his own very soulmate.
As Seungyoun processed what his friend just said, he felt himself calm down slightly. Hangyul was right, even though he rarely was. He allowed his mind to wander to all the possibilities of meeting someone created just for him, what that would mean in the future and how it would change so many things in his life.
To be completely frank, Seungyoun had already 79.666% accepted that he wasn’t going to find his soulmate in this life. In fact, even his parents weren’t ‘actual’ soulmates. Neither his mom or dad had their time marks appear. But that didn’t change the fact that they loved each other very much, nor did it stop them from creating a beautiful, loving family either.
By his 29th birthday, Seungyoun was done waiting and hoping.
Although he never really put himself out on the market – or even tried very hard to be exact, all he wanted at this point in his life was a stable relationship with a nice girl that also didn’t have a time mark. He was okay with not being able to find his soulmate and he was fine with marrying someone who wasn’t his supposed soulmate because hey, it couldn’t be all that bad. Besides, his parents had worked out great.
Hangyul’s deep voice snapped him out of his thoughts. “So, tell me, how can your soulmate not want to spend his entire life with you if they literally exist for you?” his best friend asked.
Seungyoun sighed for the 100thtime that day as he ran a hand through his hair. He finally looked up to meet Hangyul’s eyes for the first time since Hangyul barged through the front door like it was his own house. Seungyoun tried to read his friend’s facial expression, to try and see if Hangyul really meant what he was saying. He examined Hangyul’s face and tried to find some look of doubt or any sense of apprehension, but all he found was fondness and a small smile of content on Hangyul’s lips.
“I guess… for the first time ever, you’re right” Seungyoun finally spoke, a smile breaking out on his face. “Thank you, Gyul” he added as he approached his best friend, opening his arms wide. Hangyul gladly accepted the hug as he buried his face in the crook of Seungyoun’s neck, “I’m so happy for you, Youn”.
And for the first time that day, Seungyoun also felt genuinely happy.