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"Hyung!" Yeo Hwanwoong calls out. He is following behind Lee Seoho as they make way to the dance studio from the convenience store.
Seoho turns. He tilts his chin, a gesture to ask what is up.
"Is that a soulmate mark?" Hwanwoong points at his arm. "I haven't seen that there before."
Oh no. Seoho's stomach drops. The weird thing about soulmate marks is, it does not appear on everyone. Some people live their lives without ever meeting their soulmate. Seoho has seen it affecting the people in his life. His best friend from back home, who married his high school sweetheart immediately after graduation. Who never fails to share his magical story about how the mark changes his view on people's relationships. His parents, happily married to each other for so long, but his father bears a mark on his shoulder. According to his father, his other half was not the one for him. It is a long story, a story he would never dare to tell in front of his wife even if it has been years that that has happened. Seoho decides then that maybe soulmate marks are not a big deal after all. It is an illogical concept anyway. While scientists have tried their best in proving that there are no correlation in the two people who shares the same 'soulmate marks', there are never a true conclusion that the concept of soulmates does not exist. And so the beliefs stays within the society.
He watches as Hwanwoong approaches him and grabs his left arm. He accidentally twists Seoho's arm while trying to examine the mark. Seoho winces and Hwanwoong apologizes. It is on the back of his left arm, just above his elbow. A part where Seoho would never ever look and it is usually covered by an oversized t-shirt. "It looks awfully familiar. Where have I seen this before?" He hears Hwanwoong mumbles.
Seoho shrugs. "I didn't even know I have one." He would be lying if he said he's still indifferent to the concept now that he bears a mark. He is curious about who his soulmate is now. Is this the romantic kind like his friend's? Or is it the platonic kind like his dad's? Is it familial, like Son Dongju, one of their friends from dance class who bears a star-shaped mark on his ankle, matching to his fraternal twin brother, Son Dongmyeong, keyboardist of one of the university's rock bands. Son Dongju who is approaching them at the moment. Hwanwoong calls out to him to ask him about where had they seen the mark before.
"It looks like a dandelion up close." Hwanwoong explains, taking a picture with his phone and showing it to Seoho. "Dongju, you're good at remembering things. My brain is really not co-operating with me right now."
Hwanwoong's remark earns him a smack on the arm from Dongju. "Are you making fun of me?"
Seoho chuckles. "He can't even remember your name that one time."
Hwanwoong widens his eyes and silently opens his mouth as he remembers that info. "I'm telling you, Professor Park's class really drains people, I'm having a full body experience of that."
Seoho dives and rolls onto the dance studio's floor immediately after the instructor yells "Dismiss." He turns his body so that he faces the ceiling and down comes Dongju, knocking the air out of Seoho's lungs, landing his entire body mercilessly on Seoho.
Hwanwoong approaches them with a laugh and adds more weight on the pile with just his hands before sitting next to them. "Good job, today. Especially you, Son Dongju." He ruffles Dongju's hair and grimaces when he realizes how sweaty they are. He then wipes his hand on Seoho's sleeves.
Seoho wants nothing more than to tackle Hwanwoong for that but he has 0 energy to even move his mouth to yell "hey!". He closes his eyes and hope to drift into a nap before they go back to the dorms.
"Hyung, I think I remembered where have I seen a soulmate mark that looks like yours." Hwanwoong says, between gulps of water.
Seoho continues to stay in power-saving mode, but his consciousness is intrigued. After he feels Dongju's weight has left him, he turns to Hwanwoong as a sign of interest, but his eyes are still closed.
"Geonhak-hyung."
His eyes are wide open now. Geonhak? The Kim Geonhak? "Of all people? Are you sure?" Dongju took the words out of his mouth.
"I'm not a 100% sure, but I've seen his. It's on his back close to the right rib. He can't see it himself, much like you with yours."
Kim Geonhak is not a bad guy. In fact, he's a dear friend to all of them. A big, shy guy with an irresisteble voice. Hwanwoong and Dongju loves him because he's strong and can handle their weight when they play roughhouse with him. But something in that guy ignites a fire in Seoho. Even when Hwanwoong first introduced his roommate to them, Seoho's instinct was to analyze him and see what does Geonhak had that's better than him and he wanted to challenge that. And Geonhak reciprocates his feeling and thus begin their friendly rivalry to this very day. If they are really soulmates, then that defeats the whole rivalry thing they had.
Maybe Hwanwoong is mistaken. It couldn't have been Geonhak. They really can't get along. They can hang out (they did, a few times) but it was never peaceful. Not the bad kind, but they couldn't stop comparing themselves and make everything a competition, which Seoho secretly admit, were fun. They're like oil and water so who or- whatever force on this earth pushes them together as soulmates?
Geonhak slows down his chewing and looks at everyone around the table. "What?"
"You're not going to say anything?" Kim Youngjo asks. He is sitting across Geonhak when they all meet for dinner. He has not touch his bowl of rice since Hwanwoong brought the topics of Seoho and Geonhak's soulmate mark. Lee Keonhee who is sitting next to him hesitantly picks up his bowl of rice and chopsticks but not doing anything.
"I'm really hungry." Geonhak continues to take a mouthful of rice. "Can we talk after?"
"It's no big deal, really." Seoho voices out. The silence from the table earlier dissolves into hushed voices, the sound of chewing, and the clinking of chopsticks on the bowls.
"I can't really see my mark." Geonhak starts, after finishing his rice and downing a glass of water. "I'm just going to trust you guys on this. So, even if it's a match to Seoho-hyung's mark, I'm not sure if anything is going to change. But saying that I don't feel anything would be a lie. I'm intrigued, I'm overwhelmed and now I'm scared if things would be awkward with you"
That hit a nail on the head. Seoho downs his soup. Geonhak is looking directly at him. Yes, Seoho can't stand the guy, he just have to comment on anything about Geonhak that bothers him and make fun of him. But that's because he enjoys seeing the younger's face flustered and angry. He likes the exercise that comes with escaping Geonhak's grasps. And he likes smack talking him in games because he loves how Geonhak thinks of a comeback. He likes the push and pull of their dynamic. Right now, everything is perfect. Perfect?
"Ah!" Seoho exclaims. Keonhee accidentally yells out in shock and slaps Seoho's thighs out of embarrassment. The rest of their friends and the whole diner turns to them. Seoho apologizes quietly for disturbing the other customers before continuing their conversation.
"Dude." Youngjo grumbles. "What is it that's worth rising poor old Keonhee's blood pressure?"
"Hey!"
"What if..." Seoho trails off. He watches his friends' eyes on him, ears almost perk up, it's amusing. He decides to pause on for longer. Then he feels a sharp pain on his side and yells. Dongju is pinching him for being annoying. "Why?"
"What if, the soulmate mark just meant, we're compatible rivals. Like, no matter how heated our arguments go, we'll never break up and will always be close? Almost like blood brothers, but not really."
"That's plausible." Hwanwoong says.
Xion leans back in his chairs, crossing his arms. "I don't buy it, but I have a similar relationship with Dongmyeong."
"Yeah, but it doesn't cross out that you could be compatible romantically." Youngjo adds.
"No!" Seoho and Geonhak interjects at the same time and Keonhee bursts out a laugh.
"I guess you're really are soulmates." Keonhee comments.
After dinner, the group walks back to their dorms. Seoho finds himself walking side by side with Geonhak, a distant away from the group who are minding their own business. Hwanwoong and Dongju is racing towards the park to play with the only working swing. Keonhee is being very aware as he walks, eyeing the skyline for unwelcomed pigeons which he thinks might dive in and attack him. Youngjo is carefully guiding Keonhee as they walk.
"So," Geonhak starts. "We're soulmates, huh?"
Seoho hums. "But Youngjo-hyung does have a point." Geonhak continues. Seoho turns to look at him to see he is already looking at Seoho.
"We're not gonna-" Seoho asks
"I don't know. I like how we are now. And, no offense, I don't think you're attractive."
Seoho's jaw drops and Geonhak flusters. "Not saying you're ugly or anything. You're good looking. But not attractive, to me. Ah, no! You know what I-"
"Kim Geonhak, you're digging a hole as you talk." Seoho understands what Geonhak means, but he really enjoys teasing the younger and so he pretends to be really offended.
"But it is still to early to say anything, don't you think?" Seoho drops the act and be serious for once. "If we were to-"
Seoho opens his eyes. He finds himself on a loveseat in an area that looks like a living room. A familiar scent of home hits his nose. His body suddenly becomes heavy, his joints aches. He tries to blink the blurry vision away, but couldn't. He pulls one hand close to examine it. Wrinkles. Now, he remembers.
He sighs. He had fallen asleep while waiting. Then he hears footsteps approaching him. The footsteps are light and fast. It is the family's old Dobermann. The dog stands beside where he is seated.
"Are they home yet?" Seoho asks. The dog lowers it's head, which it was trained to when the answer is no. Seoho reaches out to pat the dog on it's head.
They refers to his daughter who was in labour and his son-in-law who went out to the hospital a few hours ago to bring some supplies as well as to be on standby when his daughter is discharged. His first granddaughter will come home.
"I have the weirdest dream. It was about a soulmate mark?" He tells his dog. As he tries to continue, he realizes the memory of the dream is fading. He remembers the face of his soulmate. But the details starts to blur. "Oh... Oh..."
"There were so many handsome men." He tries to speak of every single detail he could remember but it gets harder and harder. As if a dandelion, the memory breaks off and drifts away. The dog approaches him and rests it's head on his knees. "My soulmate is... is... Geon-"
He pats the dog's head. He sighs. "It's just a simple dream. This old man can't even remember that. But the feeling of meeting my soulmate in the dream feels so familiar."
"It feels like 10 years ago, when we first met at the pound. I was unsure but already in love. The hesistation feels all too familiar. How far we've come." He smiles and the dog wags it's tail. "Ah, your treat."
Seoho tries to get up from the loveseat with whatever strength he has with his age. He feels the strain on his back, but he tries to push through.
"Let's get you your treat, Leedo."