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Donghyuck can’t see a damn thing.
The blindfold is tight against his eyes, completely obscuring his sight with darkness. He’s tried to loosen it once, only for his hands to get slapped away by Jungwoo himself.
It really would not be a problem though, if the booth isn’t fucking hot.
Beads of sweat have formed around Donghyuck’s temple, and the way his t-shirt sticks to his skin makes Donghyuck squirm in revulsion.
“Stop moving!” He hears Jungwoo say to his right, smacking his arm. Donghyuck hisses in pain. “Just stand straight, Hyuck, you’ll be fine.”
Even though the blindfold is still on, Donghyuck rolls his eyes. “When is this going to start?”
“Are you excited?” Donghyuck shakes his head profusely, but Jungwoo pays no attention to it as he proceeds to say, “Donghyuck is gonna get his kiss from prince charming!”
“Hyung!” Donghyuck feels his cheeks go hot as Jungwoo pinches them with a coo.
Donghyuck is really, really going to kill Renjun. If it weren’t for him, maybe Donghyuck would not be here, standing and sweating inside a booth with his heart about to leap out of his chest. Maybe he’d be with Chenle and Jisung right now, jumping from one booth to another—except for this one—and enjoying the rest of the day without worrying about what could happen to him in a few minutes.
But then again, he’s here now and there is no point in turning back.
There is an exchange of whispers, presumably Jungwoo, Yangyang, and Hendery who are manning the booth. Donghyuck tries to make out something from their conversation but they’re too quiet, which is something so unlikely of them, so he gives up.
“Oh, he’s here!” Yangyang announces.
Who is he?
Donghyuck feels Jungwoo approach him, the older boy’s hands coming to rest on his shoulders. Jungwoo squeezes them in comfort before saying, “Relax, Hyuck, you’re so tense.”
Donghyuck does not and will not relax. Jungwoo only laughs at him.
The urge to run away doubles when Donghyuck hears the slow footsteps to his front.
“You only have two minutes to kiss, gentlemen,” Hendery states. There is a click, then: “And your two minutes starts now.”
Contrary to Donghyuck’s expectations, the kiss does not happen immediately. The stranger doesn’t step closer either, as if they’re waiting for something else. Donghyuck squirms from where he is standing as countless thoughts evade his mind. Perhaps they don’t want to kiss him? He feels his heart drop in disappointment.
“Uh, so when are we going to kiss?” Donghyuck whispers, fiddling with his fingers. He’s met entirely with silence, and his heart drops even further.
He waits, and waits but nothing. Their time is probably running out now, and to be honest it wouldn’t be a problem for Donghyuck not to be kissed—but it’s the shame and disappointment that would bug his mind for weeks that he hates. He came here for fun but then a buzzkill of a person ruins it for him?
Fuck kissing booths and boys honestly. Fuck Renjun for forcing him here. Fuck this stranger for being so, so annoying.
He takes a step back to walk away, but then he feels fingers around his wrist, pulling him close. Donghyuck misses a step at the sudden action and almost faceplants onto the floor if it weren’t for the hands on his waist that steady him.
He scoffs. “I don’t know about you, man, but if you’re only going to waste my time we might as well just end this shit already.”
All he gets is an intake of breath. Then, the hands on his waist tighten and pull him even closer if possible.
Donghyuck squeaks in surprise, his hands coming to rest on the stranger’s chest.
Now with this proximity, the strong smell of baby powder mixed with a gentle scent of soap fills his nostrils. Donghyuck also catches a whiff of a fruit scented perfume which almost has him reeling by its familiarity and homeness. It reminds him so much of something else but he shakes the thought off immediately.
The hands on his waist skims across his sweater, and Donghyuck’s breath hitches. He clasps his hands together, gulping in anticipation. But still, nothing.
He rolls his eyes and opens his mouth to retort something, but he doesn’t get the chance to let the words out when he feels the press of gentle yet firm lips against his own.
Donghyuck swears he forgets how to breathe.
He’s caught off guard, his eyes wide open underneath his blindfold. His hands clutch the soft fabric of the other person’s shirt as the lips against his move delicately. Donghyuck’s heart races so loud against his ears, stumbling and skipping beats in nervousness—but then the hands on his waist run up and down, as if to calm him down. And it really does the magic when Donghyuck melts completely to the kiss.
It feels like seeing the colors burst against his eyelids, burning and bright. This time, the other person’s lips touch all the expanse of Donghyuck’s lips, moving with more ease. Donghyuck feels the chapstick that he has applied on his lips minutes ago run off, and normally he would be annoyed but right now he doesn’t mind—not when he is being kissed like this, strong yet soft, and careful yet with no hesitation as if the other knows how to perfectly kiss him.
Donghyuck can’t help but release a soft sigh, his arms coming to snake around the stranger’s neck, trying to tug them close.
He feels the other person smile against his lips, and Donghyuck’s heart stutters when their lips slot together even more perfectly this time.
But before Donghyuck could tilt his head to the side to let the other person deepen the kiss, he feels an unfamiliar burn clawing in his skin.
“Time is up, gentlemen!”
Donghyuck gasps as he leaps in surprise. He takes a step back with his blindfold still on, his other hand rubbing against his right wrist where the skin burns.
There is no fucking way.
“Hyuck?” He hears Jungwoo call him from the side. “Are you okay?”
Donghyuck ignores it, chest heaving as he tries to catch his breath. He feels so dizzy, and his head reels from the burn and from the thought of having a fucking soulmate.
With shaking fingers, Donghyuck takes off the blindfold and his eyes widen in shock as he recognizes who it is.
“Mark?” Donghyuck manages to choke out, his eyes blinking blearily.
Mark already has his own blindfold taken off, looking at Donghyuck with his familiar round eyes. His lips look swollen from the kiss, and he also has his other hand on his wrist where Donghyuck thinks his burn is located.
“Hyuck,” Mark says softly with a small smile. He steps closer to Donghyuck, his arms reaching out towards him, but Donghyuck takes a step back immediately with his eyes burning with tears. Mark drops his arms as he says, “Hyuck, please…” He sounds quiet and strangled, like he’s begging for Donghyuck to listen.
Donghyuck could, but not right now.
He shakes his head, keeping it down to avoid Mark’s eyes—and to save his heart from breaking even further.
He ignores the presence of other people in the booth who are probably so confused, and takes another step back. This time, he plucks up the courage to look at Mark.
He looks so defeated and, judging by how he clenches his fist to his sides, Donghyuck can tell that he’s restraining himself from moving.
Donghyuck gives him a last long look before he throws the blindfold to the floor and runs.
He doesn’t listen to the calls behind him, and he doesn’t see Renjun’s grin fall once he’s out. Donghyuck just runs.
He has never run this fast ever in his life, except when he was being chased down by a dog with Mark when they were ten.
It’s almost the same situation—with his heart leaping against his chest, and his breath coming in ragged pants—however, this time years later, Donghyuck is running away from Mark.
The world around him fades away and he doesn’t even know how he makes it to his dorm with his vision blurry and his mind clouded.
He dives into his bed, and cries to his pillows. His wrist fucking burns, but he ignores it—it’s an ugly reminder from the universe of something so foolish. Donghyuck hates it; he wishes he could rub it away—but he can’t.
Soulmates are forever.
Donghyuck thinks it's bullshit.
Donghyuck is ten when Mark tells him about soulmates. Itʼs the first time he has heard of it: lovers with the same imprints on their skins, bonded by the universe, and born to find their way to each other. Theyʼre apparently rare, and their stories about love are akin to the fairy tales Donghyuck has read in books.
He thinks itʼs impossible—to look for one soul that fits the margins of yours amongst thousands in a world as wide as this. But Mark, ever the romantic, tells him that the universe will do everything just for soulmates to meet.
“It is like theyʼre tied to each other, you know. Connected by a string of fate,” Mark says. “No matter where they are, they will always feel a certain pull.”
Donghyuck only rolls his eyes. For him, the idea of soulmates is and will always be silly.
“Do you think weʼre soulmates?” he whispers over the dusty pages of newspapers that they have acquired with the help of the old librarian.
He doesn’t think Mark would hear it but the older boy hums as he turns a page and says, “Only the universe could tell, Hyuck.”
Donghyuck smiles to himself, tucking the words close to his heart.
Donghyuck wakes up to a pounding headache at midnight.
His hand clambers against the bedsheets, seeking for his phone. The moment he finds and turns it on, he gets bombarded by almost a hundred of missed calls from his friends—particularly Mark and Renjun. There are also a couple of messages from Jungwoo, Hendery, and Yangyang but he ignores them all and throws his phone back to the sheets.
“So you’re really just going to ignore us, huh?”
Donghyuck’s heart almost leaps out of his chest in fright as he whips his head to the other side of the room. Renjun stands there with his hands on his hips, his gaze sharp.
Of course he would be here.
Donghyuck sighs. “I’m not really in the mood, Renjun.” He hears him approach the bed and sits on the space beside him, the mattress dipping in the process. “Go away.”
“You can tell me everything—you know that, right?” Donghyuck doesn’t say anything. “No matter how small it is, Iʼm always willing to listen, Hyuck.”
“They didn’t tell you anything?”
“They were all too shocked to say something, especially Mark,” Renjun responds. Now he’s looking at Donghyuck in curiosity. “Did something happen?”
Donghyuck almost laughs. Not because it’s funny, but because of how silly everything is—from kissing Mark to becoming soulmates in a span of two minutes.
“We kissed,” Donghyuck says. A small laugh escapes out of his mouth when he sees Renjun’s eyes widen. “And that’s not only it—we’re fucking soulmates too.”
Now, Renjun’s mouth is wide open, a couple of incoherent words stumbling out of it. In the end, he doesn’t say anything but his warm hands come up to squeeze Donghyuck’s cold ones.
“The universe is insane, man,” Donghyuck whispers, clutching Renjun’s fingers tightly as he tries to keep his breathing steady. “I think it hates me. Of all people, why Mark Lee?”
Renjun is still quiet but his hands on Donghyuck do not loosen.
“Mark would end up hating me—I just know it,” Donghyuck mumbles, his eyes droopy and his voice weak.
“Hmm.”
“The universe is shit; I’m just gonna sleep,” Donghyuck laughs as he closes his eyes. “Hopefully tomorrow, Iʼll wake up from this nightmare.”
He hears Renjunʼs heavy sigh but he’s too tired to question it.
“Goodnight, Junnie.”
Mark is in love.
He doesnʼt tell Donghyuck this directly, but he feels it anyway. Theyʼre not best friends for nothing.
However Donghyuck doesnʼt know who. He bugs Mark about it but he won’t budge—but Donghyuck is also kind of thankful for not knowing. He likes to think of it as a blessing in disguise.
“What if theyʼre your soulmate?” Donghyuck voices out once.
The smile that appears instantly on Mark’s lips is soft and enamoured. Donghyuck has to look away.
“Only the universe knows but I wish.”
Donghyuck nods.
“Youʼll tell me who it is, right?” he whispers. “When youʼre ready, and sure of them?”
Mark smiles at him. Donghyuck feels his heart break even further.
“Of course.”
When Donghyuck wakes up for the second time, he feels warm.
Not because of the morning light that streams through the windows, but because of the body beside him. He blearily blinks his eyes, and notices the arm around his waist and the puffs of breath against his neck. He wonders if it’s Renjun, but then he briefly catches a trace of the familiar scent of baby powder and gentle soap—then the mark on his wrist warms.
“Hey, Hyuck.”
Donghyuck freezes, his mind going haywire. Mark lets out a chuckle at that, low and quiet.
As much as Donghyuck would love to forget about what happened yesterday, he can’t. Not when they’re both going to live with the same imprints on their wrists, not when Mark is his best friend, and certainly not when he’s in love with him.
Slowly, Donghyuck turns over and sees Mark staring at him with a small smile. “Hi,” he whispers, looking anywhere but Mark’s eyes.
He hears Mark chuckle again before pulling him to his chest with practiced ease—like what they always do whenever they sleep together.
“Should we talk about it?”
Donghyuck tucks himself to Mark’s neck, inhaling his familiar scent. “Do you want to talk about it?”
There’s a light squeeze on his waist. “Of course, Hyuck, that’s why I’m here.”
Donghyuck tightens his arm around Mark’s waist and sighs. “Then we should talk about it.”
Without a beat of hesitation, Mark says, “Why did you run, Hyuck?”
Donghyuck’s breath hitches as his heart races in irregular beats against his chest. He’s sure Mark feels it, judging by the way he runs his other hand on Donghyuck’s arm around him.
Maybe it’s time for him to be honest.
“I was scared of how you would react,” Donghyuck whispers sheepishly. “I thought you’d be angry or something.”
“Well I’m not angry, Hyuck.”
“I know, it’s just—” Donghyuck’s voice comes out strangled. “You’re my best friend, and I don’t want a damn soulmate mark and a fucking kiss to ruin our years of friendship.”
“Hyuck—”
“And you’re in love with someone else, and I—I don’t want to ruin anything for you, Mark. I just want you to be happy.”
Mark removes his hand around Donghyuck as he sits up. It’s suddenly cold and Donghyuck thinks this is it—the end of everything.
He sits up too, hugging himself, and places a space between them. He feels Mark looking at him but he ignores it.
“And I’m sorry, you know? That you’re stuck in this whole mess with me forever and that you can’t be with the person whom you’re in love with. I’m so sorry.” By the time Donghyuck finishes it, he’s crying. His vision blurs and his heart sinks to the lowest regions of his chest.
But Mark—
Mark fucking laughs.
“Who says I can’t be with them? Do you know who they are, Hyuck?”
Donghyuck shakes his head, closing his eyes. “No, but I do know that you’ll never want to be with me. I’m sorry, okay? I think the universe just hates me.”
Mark laughs and Donghyuck feels him scoot closer to him. Then there are fingers against his tear-stained cheeks, and a thumb rubbing against the skin softly.
“Who says I can’t be with you, baby?” Mark whispers. “Who says I don’t want to be with you?”
He whips his head up with a gasp to see Mark staring at him with so much fondness that his heart almost bursts. Donghyuck feels the soulmate mark tingle.
“What?”
Mark chuckles softly at his surprise. “In case it wasn’t that obvious, I’m in love with you, Hyuck—I have been since I was twelve when you sneaked out of your house at night just to visit me when I was sick,” he says. “And the kiss in the booth yesterday wasn’t a coincidence—I was actually going to confess to you, but then—”
“It turns out that we’re soulmates,” Donghyuck finishes with a breath, “and I ran away.”
“Yeah.” Mark smiles as he presses their foreheads against each other. “I love you, Hyuck.”
The soulmate mark on Donghyuck’s wrist glows.
“Say it again.”
“I love you Lee Donghyuck.”
Donghyuck lets out a shaky laugh, his vision becoming blurry with tears, then he whispers, “I love you too, Mark Lee.”
(“You know, I heard that soulmates need to kiss for the second time to fully seal the bond.”
“Youʼre just making shit up, Mark Lee.”
“And, what if I am?”
“You can just say you want to kiss me.”
“Yeah, I really want to kiss you.”
“Please, do.”
And if the kiss tastes like the universe exploding against Donghyuck’s lips, feels like constellations aligning in the night sky, and makes their soulmate marks warm—he doesn’t say anything.
Soulmates are forever.
Donghyuck thinks they really might be.)