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“I hate you! You can’t be my soulmate!”
I know I’m not. Khun works as much sincerity as he can into his voice. “I’m really, really, so—”
A click. His “girlfriend” hung up. Khun grins to himself, deleting her number from his contacts and mentally counting up all the money he made from her. She should’ve known better than to trust the first person that came up to her and said he was her soulmate. It wasn’t his fault she was so gullible.
Khun’s not even sure if he believes the entire soulmate thing in the first place. Seriously, knowing who your soulmate was just by touching them? And only one half of the couple getting the signal and having to convince the other? What kind of stupid logic was that? Everyone he met who claimed they had gotten their soulmate alert just said the feeling “clicked”. That had to be the worst description Khun’s had ever heard.
But on the bright side, it lets him manipulate a lot of people to his whims. He knows he’s on the prettier side of men, so if someone was shallow enough to believe him just because of his looks, then why shouldn’t he take advantage of the situation? He’s always sure to erase all traces of himself after taking everything away from his partner, so despite the fact that police suspect the “soulmate swindler” is one person, they have no idea who it is. Khun’s been doing this for years now, and he’s never failed.
He slips his phone back into his pocket after checking his bank account and heads out of the grocery store he’s currently in, a bag of vegetables and milk in his hand. He can afford more expensive foods, sure, but his childhood was full of rich foods like that, and he doesn’t think he can eat that now without throwing it back up. Sometimes, it was nice to appreciate the simple things.
Now, was he in the mood to seduce someone else today? Or should he call it a day and head home? The grocery store isn’t too far from his house, so he usually walks to get his groceries. He scans people as he walks home, keeping an eye out for potential targets. After years of being a con artist, he’s mastered reading people.
That girl looks rich, but she seems like the naturally suspicious type. That woman already has a ring, that guy would be good except he looks straight… His eyes narrow in on a brunet that’s walking down the street. His clothes would look plain to anyone else, but growing up in a highly political family, Khun recognizes the design on his shirt instantly. It’s one of the Thirteen Month insignias. A genuine one, too, not the common rip-offs he’s seen in stores.
Those shirts cost thousands of dollars! Why is this guy wearing one out in the open like this? Not to mention, I’ve never seen anyone so innocent-looking. He’s practically asking for trouble.
And his trouble is going to be me. Khun smirks to himself wickedly. He’s found a target.
Now, how should he go about doing this? He’s done all sorts of “accidental bumps” before—running into someone, simply brushing shoulders, even once hitting someone in the face. Khun glances down at the shopping bag in his hand. That’ll do.
He aligns himself just perfectly so that his bag will catch the man’s hand. If he’s angled it right, his bag will be knocked out of his hand onto the ground, and their hands will touch. Course set, Khun looks towards the side, acting distracted.
What he doesn’t expect is for the man to attempt dodging. Gold eyes widen when he realizes he won’t be able to avoid the bag, which was what Khun had intended for in the first place. However, the man twists to the side, so he knocks against the side of the bag instead, missing Khun’s hand. Khun mentally curses, but the bag still does fall to the ground, groceries spilling out, and he internally sighs in relief. I can still save this attempt.
“I’m so sorry!” the man apologizes profusely. “I wasn’t paying attention to where I was walking.”
Hm, good target indeed. “It’s no problem,” Khun replies smoothly, the response perfectly casual. He bends down to pick up the fallen goods, and just as he predicts, the man follows immediately. Khun watches his movements while slowly picking up a carrot. The man seems too engrossed in helping him to care. Khun almost feels bad. Almost. Now if he was right, and he always was, the man should be heading for that potato next, and if he moved now, their hands would brush. Khun reaches out slowly, the words already at the tip of his tongue…
Their hands touch, and suddenly, Khun’s hit with a torrent of thoughts, this is your soulmate, this is your soulmate, this is your soulmate, don’t let go.
He’s practiced saying the words over and over again, he’s practiced working his face into one of shock, but this time, he doesn’t need it. This time, every reaction is completely genuine. “You…you’re my soulmate?”
The man blinks up at him, and suddenly Khun’s struck with a pair of beautiful golden irises staring at him—he knew they were gold, but his first glimpse of them was when the man crashed into his bag. Having the attention of them now, he can almost see twinkling stars in the man’s eyes.
Then he realizes the man is saying something, “Um…sorry, sir? I think you’re mistaken. I have a soulmate already.”
What?
His mouth catches up to his mind a second later. “What?”
“Yeah!” The man brightens. “Her name’s Rachel. She’s been with me since I was a kid. She takes care of me.”
“Oh.”
Huh? Khun turns back to his thoughts. He couldn’t have mistaken that feeling, right? Their hands brush again as the remaining vegetables are put back in the bag, and there’s no sudden realization this time, not that Khun was expecting one. But the initial touch…
Khun doesn’t know where this certainty is coming from, but he has no doubt that that feeling was the soulmate confirmation. But then…
Stop. he demands himself. This is none of your business. You don’t even care about soulmates, anyways, isn’t that why you trick so many people? Just accept that this guy already loves someone and move on.
Just accept that your soulmate doesn’t love you.
But if this guy was his soulmate, then…doesn’t that mean “Rachel” lied to him?
The man is standing back up again. “Sorry again for knocking into you. Can I make it up to you somehow?”
Khun opens his mouth to decline, to say he doesn’t need recompensation for vegetables of all things, dammit, but the words come out of his mouth before he has a chance to think about them. “Your name?”
“My…name?” the man pauses, but goes along with it anyways. “Bam. What’s yours?”
No last name? Interesting. Khun starts to speak, intending to go with his usual “Khun” (it was his family name, his family was huge and they all looked the same, no one could ever track him down with just his last name) but what comes out instead is “Aguero.”
Stupid! Why did you just give him your real name?
“Aguero?” Bam speaks it softly. Khun hasn’t heard anyone say his first name in a long time. “That’s a nice name.”
“So is yours,” Khun replies automatically. “Have a nice day, Bam.”
“You too!” Bam waves cheerfully as he leaves. Khun smiles and waits for Bam to turn away before his mouth drops into a frown. He shakes his head.
Just forget about it, Khun. You probably won’t see him again, anyways.
Bam hums pleasantly as he walks back to his apartment, where he and Rachel live. It’s not big nor fancy—in fact, it’s rather small and dingy, but it’s home. Rachel’s sitting on the couch when he enters, her eyes focused on her phone. “Hi, Bam. You’re back early today.”
“Hi! What are you doing?” Bam inquires curiously. He usually doesn’t see Rachel so immersed in technology like that.
“Ah, nothing much. Just chatting with a friend,” Rachel responds. Bam’s tempted to ask about her friends, but Rachel never really says much about them, just that they lived far away and so they could only talk through text and calls. Besides, Rachel continues speaking before he can ask any further. “How was work?”
“It was the usual. I met someone interesting today on the way home, though.”
Rachel looks up from her phone. “Really? Who?”
“His name was Aguero. For some reason, he said he was my soulmate? That was kind of weird. But you’re my soulmate,” he smiles at Rachel, who has an unreadable expression on her face.
“Bam…you should be careful of people that tell you they’re your soulmate.”
“Huh? Why?” Aguero seemed like a really nice person! And he was pretty, too. Not that Bam would ever ditch Rachel because of something as shallow as looks, but still.
“There are some people that abuse the soulmate selection,” Rachel says carefully. “They trick you into pretending they’re your soulmate, and then steal everything from under your nose.”
“But…that’s horrible!” Aguero couldn’t be like that, could he? He seemed legitimately shocked when he called Bam his soulmate. “Why would people do that?”
“Some people are just like that, Bam,” Rachel says softly. “But next time, if someone says that to you, just say you have a soulmate, alright?”
“Yeah, that’s what I did,” Bam nods.
Rachel smiles, walking over to him to pat his head. “Good. Now, do you want to make dinner?”
“Sure!” Bam runs off into the kitchen.
The next day, Khun runs into Bam again. Or, more specifically, he finds Bam sitting on a bench in the same place they crashed yesterday, and Bam seems to be looking for someone. Khun walks up to him anyways. “Looking for your soulmate?” he teases, plopping down next to him.
Bam frowns. “Are you someone…that lies about the soulmate thing?”
Khun jolts. How did Bam know about that? “No? Why?”
“I told my soulmate about you, and she warned me that people sometimes fake the soulmate realization to steal from others,” Bam shuffles his feet nervously. “I wanted to know if that’s what you were trying to do yesterday.”
“…” Khun wants to lie. He really, really does. But something about Bam’s earnest gaze is piercing, and the full lie dies on his tongue. He settles for, “I really thought I felt something when our hands brushed. I…probably mistaked it for the soulmate realization.”
He knows it wasn’t a mistake. After he went home last night, he thought about it over and over while lying in bed, and he couldn’t think of any logical explanation for it. He even texted Isu at one point, who was of absolutely no help. It was almost as if some god bent down, whispered he’s your soulmate in his ear, and left. Those golden eyes remained in his memory for the entire night.
Bam looks a bit hesitant, but he speaks, “Oh. Okay. Sorry, then…for accusing you of something so horrible. I just feel really bad for all the people that get tricked just because they’re desperate to find their soulmate.”
“Y-Yeah,” Khun mumbles. Why does he feel so guilty? He’s lied countless times in his life and left with no guilt, why does it bother him now? Bam’s being his soulmate shouldn’t mean anything to him; he’s lived his entire life making money off that concept.
Bam must have misread his silence as annoyance, though, because his face drops. “Oh my god, I just made your day worse again, didn’t I? I’m so sorry.”
“You apologize a lot, don’t you?” Khun glances over at him. “Don’t worry about it. It takes more than accusations to offend me.”
“Still…I feel bad…let me treat you to coffee, please?” Bam looks up at him imploringly.
“If it makes you feel better.” Khun shrugs, standing up.
Is this a date? His brain whispers.
No, it’s my soulmate being an innocent child, Khun retorts.
You called him your soulmate.
Yeah, because, by definition, he is. Just because he doesn’t believe it doesn’t mean it’s not true.
If you’re the only smart one in a group of fools, you’re the fool.
That’s not—
“Aguero?” Bam waves a hand in front of him. “Are you okay? You look kind of spaced out.”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Khun nods. “There’s a good coffee shop down the street. Unless you have somewhere else in mind?”
“Nope! I was thinking of that one too,” Bam smiles, and Khun can’t help but smile back.
After they get their coffee and sit down (Bam insists on paying, and he practically throws the money over the counter before Khun can react), they fall into conversation pretty easily. Khun tries to keep as much of his life vague, and Bam doesn’t seem to notice. He mostly talks about Rachel, and Khun just nods along, ignoring the way his heart twists in his chest. He shouldn’t care so much. He shouldn’t .
But he learns that Bam likes to cook, he likes Korean food, and “Bam” is actually a nickname. “My actual name is Viole,” Bam says. “But Rachel called me Bam, so I’ve come to prefer that name.”
Ah yes, and Bam was obsessed with Rachel. Khun would never say it to his face, of course, but Bam’s conversation pretty much looped back to her every three sentences. It’s a bit annoying, but Bam seems so ecstatic to have someone to talk to that Khun wonders if he ever had a chance to relax over coffee with someone.
Suddenly, a hand rests on his shoulder, and Khun whirls around, hand closing into a fist reflexively.
“Whoa, wait! It’s just me,” Isu stands behind him, moving his hand away. He’s one of the few people that knows about
Khun gives him a deadpan look. “You know better than to sneak up on me like that.”
“Well, maybe—” Isu cuts off, staring at Bam. “Is that…”
“Just a friend.” But Khun nods subtly; Bam doesn’t notice. “We—why are you crying?”
“You made a friend! This cold-hearted bastard made a friend!” Isu hugs him tightly.
“Get off!” Khun squirms out of his grip.
Bam just laughs from behind them. “Hi…Isu, was it? I’m Bam.”
Isu waves, “Khun was talking about you last night.”
“Isu!” Khun smacks him on the arm.
“Khun?” Bam echoes, confused.
“Oh, that’s my last name,” Khun says quickly. “Most people—”
“He let you call him Aguero ?!” Isu shouts, gaining a few dirty looks from the people around him.
“Yes?”
Isu whips around to gawk at Khun. “You use Khun for every introduction!” he exclaims. “And especially with your targets—” He breaks off, staring past Khun at Bam.
Their table falls silent. Bam’s face is no longer cheerful; instead, it’s stony and dark. “I thought so,” he says finally, quietly.
“Bam, I—”
“You think I didn’t notice you lying earlier?” Bam’s voice is soft, but it carries an definite undercurrent of anger. “I know I’m innocent-looking, but anyone could tell you were lying with all your mumbling. And you jumped when I accused you. I just wanted to see…if I could figure out why you do it. I guess not.” He stands up and stalks away.
“Bam, wait—”
“If all you do is lie about your soulmates, I hope you never find your own,” Bam snaps, shutting the cafe door.
“Khun?” Isu speaks quietly, as Khun just stands still, staring at the door. “I’m sor—”
“Doesn’t matter. I guess he already knew from the start, anyways,” Khun stands up with a sigh, followed by a bitter laugh. “Isn’t it funny? He told me he hopes I never find my soulmate.”
“Khun, he doesn’t—”
“Understand? Maybe he doesn’t, but hey, looks like my family was right about soulmates being a hindrance, weren’t they?” He pushes Isu aside and leaves the coffee shop.
Bam storms back to his apartment. He’s angry, but also slightly confused. He knew Aguero was lying from the start—honestly, it’s amazing he can trick people with his terrible lying skills—but Bam leaves with no reason as to why Aguero does it. He refuses to believe people do such cruel things without a good reason. He even skipped work today to try and figure out why! Only to come up with nothing.
At least he still has Rachel. She’s not— Bam pauses at the door. He swears he just heard someone else’s voice. But Rachel always told him not to invite anyone over. Did someone break into their apartment? What if Rachel is in trouble?
With that thought, he unlocks the door quickly and bursts in, stopping at the sight.
Rachel’s with another girl.
They’re kissing .
“R-Rachel…?”
The blonde whips around, eyes wide. “Bam! Doesn’t your work end later?!”
She’s not even denying it… “Were you…lying to me too?”
Rachel is silent. The girl next to her shifts awkwardly. She has blue hair, but in a much different shade from Aguero’s. It’s darker and more cerulean, compared to Khun’s pale sky blue.
Bam runs out of the apartment before they can say anything else, slamming the door behind him. Everyone around him was a liar. He thought he could at least trust Rachel , if no one else.
He hears the other girl ask, “What are you going to do about him?”
Rachel’s voice sounds nothing like Bam remembers. “Forget about him. He doesn’t matter.”
Bam sinks down on the ground, burying his face in his knees. All this time…
He thinks back to Khun’s, those wide blue eyes when he breathed out, “You’re my soulmate?” That, Bam remembered, certainly looked genuine. Could Aguero have actually been telling the truth?
Bam exits his apartment with a determined stride in his step. For now, Rachel is shoved into the back of his mind.
He needs to find Aguero.