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“I’ve got a plan, Jimin.”
Jimin looks up briefly from his plate with kimchi fried rice and open textbook, free hand still writing even as he looks away from his notebook. His eyebrows furrow, most likely trying to figure out what Taehyung is talking about or if he’d zoned out and missed half a conversation again.
It’s been known to happen.
“A plan?” he repeats, tone unsure as he tilts his head slightly. “For what, exactly?”
Taehyung smiles, lifting his sweater sleeve to show off his soulmate tattoo on his arm. The words ‘you dropped your umbrella’ are scrawled across Taehyung’s golden skin, words that he’s pouted over and longed to hear for years now.
Or at least, directly from his soulmate — the one who is supposed to say these as his first words to Taehyung.
“To find your soulmate?” Jimin asks, dropping his pen to take a large bite of his food, cheeks bulging.
Taehyung nods in response, letting his sleeve fall back down over his arm. “Bingo!” he says with a snap of his fingers for emphasis, boxy grin wide on his face. “A foolproof plan to find my soulmate.”
“Uh huh,” Jimin answers. “And what is this foolproof plan you speak of?”
“Glad you asked!” Taehyung replies cheerily, reaching over his chair for his bag to pull out a purple umbrella. It’s not even raining out today — in fact, the weather forecast is supposed to be sunny all week. “It’s so easy, I can’t believe I didn’t think of it sooner. I’m going to drop my umbrella in front of random guys until my soulmate picks it up for me and returns it.”
Jimin stares at him for a moment, eyebrows quirking as his lips tug up at the corners into an amused smile. “And when are you planning to start this plan of yours?”
“Tomorrow,” Taehyung tells him with a shrug, reaching across their table to steal a bite of his food, making a face as the spicy food hits his tongue, making Jimin laugh. “‘Operation: Find Taehyung’s Soulmate’ starts tomorrow.”
Jimin laughs, shaking his head, turning back to his books. “How do you even know they’re around here? Or on campus?”
Taehyung pouts. “Hey, I gotta start somewhere, don’t I?”
“That’s true.”
Instead of using the rest of their time at the cafe to study for upcoming exams like he’s supposed to, Taehyung starts writing out a list of places to try dropping his umbrella in front of. Like a gym full of super hot guys, or maybe somewhere by the music building.
And while Jimin gets back to studying, Taehyung finds himself too preoccupied with daydreaming about his soulmate.
What they’re like, what they look like, what their hobbies are.
Taehyung likes to imagine that they’re someone kind, maybe they will make him laugh a lot. Someone that will have hands that fit perfectly with his, and a body that will feel perfect when Taehyung wraps his arms around it.
He sighs dreamily, staring out the window at the sunny, late spring weather, idly drawing circles in his notebook as he wonders what his soulmate is doing right at this moment.
Wondering if his soulmate is wondering about him, too.
“‘Operation FTS’ is a go.”
“What?”
“It’s better not to ask, babe,” Jimin tells Namjoon with a laugh, patting his thigh under the table. Namjoon pouts, looking confused as he watches Taehyung get up from the table holding an umbrella despite the fact that there’s not a single cloud in sight. “Trust me.”
“Okay…” Namjoon says, eyebrows furrowed as he reaches up to adjust his glasses.
As their conversation flows back to their classes and upcoming exams, Taehyung drowns it out as he walks toward the bathroom, his eyes set on a table full of attractive guys that definitely go to the same college as he does. He’s seen one or two of them on campus in passing, but doesn’t know any of their names.
He does know that they’re all very cute, though, and Taehyung certainly wouldn’t mind if any of them were his soulmate.
So as he casually strolls by on his way to the bathroom — not really worried about someone wondering why he’s going to the restroom with an umbrella — he makes sure to drop it and keep going as if he didn’t notice.
He swears he can hear Jimin snort from across the restaurant.
“Uh, hey, dude?” one guy pipes up and Taehyung’s smile falls immediately. “Dropped your umbrella.”
“Is it supposed to rain today?” Taehyung hears another guy at the table ask, which makes his cheeks flush as he takes the umbrella back from the guy.
“Thanks,” Taehyung says before ducking his head and rushing into the bathroom.
He frowns, but reminds himself not to be too discouraged. Of course he wouldn’t find his soulmate the first time — that was naive of him to think and hope.
On the way back to his table, where Jimin is feeding Namjoon some of his food, Taehyung drops his umbrella in front of another cute guy — but alas, it seems that Taehyung’s soulmate isn’t in this diner today.
(Unbeknownst to Taehyung, his soulmate was in the diner, seated several tables away, face hidden behind a menu as he tried to figure out what to order while waiting for his hyung to arrive.)
Taehyung doesn’t let it discourage him, not even when he gets some weird looks and questions for carrying an umbrella around on perfectly sunny days without even a cloud in sight. He goes to crowded areas all over Seoul, and the area around campus, dropping his umbrella in front of every attractive man he sees.
And while some do say the magic words tattooed on his arm, the tattoo never changes color to signify that he’s found his soulmate.
“Okay, I totally get a soulmate-y vibe from that guy,” Taehyung says, nodding his head as he stirs his drink around before taking a small sip and making a face. “He looks like he could hike me over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes and I’m into it.”
Seokjin cackles, throwing his head back, before he looks over at the guy Taehyung has been ogling from across the bar for the last fifteen minutes. “So inside the bar, you’re just gonna drop your umbrella.” Seokjin laughs, shaking his head. “Alright, go. I wanna see you meet your soulmate, Tae.”
Taehyung downs the last of his drink and makes a face as the alcohol burns his throat, which only makes Seokjin laugh at him again. Getting up from the barstool, he squares his shoulders confidently and grabs his umbrella from his bag before walking toward the attractive stranger.
The guy looks up briefly from the conversation he’s having with one of his friends, eyebrows furrowing at the determined look on Taehyung’s face before looking away.
Taehyung drops his umbrella and keeps walking, holding his breath, waiting.
Please be my soulmate, he thinks with a silent prayer.
The guy doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t even pick up Taehyung’s umbrella.
Seokjin is full on dying when Taehyung circles back around and snatches his umbrella up off the ground, giving a dirty look to the guy that he thought would be his soulmate before making his way back to his seat.
“Oh my god,” Seokjin wheezes, wiping tears from his eyes. “That was so fucking funny—“
“Shut up,” Taehyung grumbles sulkily, ordering another drink.
“Don't worry, Tae,” he says, still giggling as he reaches over to pat his shoulder comfortingly. It makes Taehyung glare at him. “You’ll find them.”
“Something weird happened when I was at the bar with my brother.”
Jeongguk looks up from the book he’s reading, stretched out across the couch, his textbooks and laptop on the coffee table long forgotten about during his ‘five minute break’ that has stretched into two hours.
And well, now it’s just too late to study, so Jeongguk thinks he’ll just do the rest tomorrow.
It’s future Jeongguk’s problem.
“What?” he asks, watching as Yoongi slips off his shoes and jacket and heads over to plop down on the other side of their couch.
“Some dude walked by and dropped an umbrella next to us and walked away,” Yoongi says, scratching his head. “And then came back for it and glared at hyung.”
Jeongguk furrows his brows. “That is weird,” he agrees. “Is it some kind of pick up line or…?”
“That’s what we weren’t sure about.” Yoongi laughs, settling back against the pillow behind him. “But we didn’t know which of us he was targeting in the first place. And secondly, I’m with Hobi, so I’m not interested in other people.”
Jeongguk smiles at the mention of their other friend, Yoongi’s soulmate. They were some of the lucky ones — they found each other in elementary school and grew up falling in love slowly.
He would never admit it out loud, but Jeongguk is a little bit jealous.
So he’s a hopeless romantic, big deal.
“Weird,” Jeongguk agrees again as he opens his book back up to keep reading. “I ordered dinner. There’s some in the kitchen for you, if you’re hungry.”
“Thanks, Guk,” Yoongi says, ruffling his hair as he gets up, earning a playful snap of Jeongguk’s jaw as he almost bites his hand. “I’m gonna eat and head to bed, don’t stay up too late, okay?”
“Mhm,” he hums noncommittally, turning the page in his book.
And an hour later, he finds himself tucked in bed, looking out the window at the nighttime sky, wondering if his soulmate is wondering about him, too.
It’s been over a month and Taehyung has had zero luck in the soulmate department. Not to mention, he’s lost at least seven perfectly good umbrellas to the cause. He doesn’t mean to sound like a pessimist, but he’s starting to give up hope.
And he’s also running out of money to buy umbrellas when his get stolen instead of returned.
Sometimes, hot guys are assholes and this is something Taehyung has truly had to come to terms with over the last month.
“I just don’t get what I’m doing wrong,” he whines, flopping dramatically over onto Jimin and Namjoon, who were trying to peacefully cuddle while watching a movie.
Usually Taehyung has the decency to let them enjoy their date nights by leaving and going out with Seokjin, but today he’s just feeling sorry for himself.
Jimin pats his hair gently while Namjoon continues watching the movie, used to Taehyung encounters like this after all these years.
“Maybe you shouldn’t be looking so hard,” Jimin offers gently, a sympathetic look in his eyes. “Soulmates find each other. You don’t really have to look.”
Taehyung huffs, kicking his legs like a petulant child, making Namjoon whine as he holds his legs down to make him stop.
“But I’m impatient!”
“You are,” Namjoon agrees, laughing when he gets a kick from Taehyung. “What? I thought you were wanting me to agree.”
“I just… I’m tired of not knowing them.” Taehyung sighs sadly. “I want to meet them and feel the whole tingly love thing, like you guys did. I’m the only one without a soulmate in most of my classes now.”
“Sometimes it takes time,” Jimin says.
“But if I stop looking, what if he’s also not looking?” Taehyung asks, lower lip pouting out. “He could be waiting for me to find him! I don’t want to meet when we’re old because we gave up…”
“I’m sure it won’t be that long,” Namjoon tells him, patting his leg gently. It’s not that comforting, though, considering he’s still invested and watching the movie as he does it.
“At least maybe wait until you actually need your umbrella to do it,” Jimin suggests, wrapping his arms around him for a tight hug. “People will stop thinking you're the campus weirdo that way, too.”
“What?”
“Nothing—“
Taehyung pushes at Jimin, making him laugh as the two struggle and kick around, which eventually makes Namjoon just move to sit on the floor instead.
But Taehyung does think Jimin is right.
Maybe he’ll just try to find his soulmate on rainy days, instead.
As typhoon season approaches Korea, Taehyung becomes optimistic he’ll find his soulmate again. After several months of no luck, he’s really been down in the dumps about it.
But with rain in the forecast every day this week, Taehyung has got a good feeling about it.
He goes out to class and to cafes, scoping out any cute guys to drop his umbrella in front of. But Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday prove to be fails.
Thursday ends up sunny and hot instead of rainy, and it makes Taehyung grumpy.
“Stupid sun,” he grumbles as he carries his umbrella, anyway. “Stupid soulmate. Why can’t I find him?”
“What if he’s like, in a different country?” Seokjin asks and Jimin smacks his arm when Taehyung’s frown only deepens. “Ow! What? It’s a possibility!”
“Then when would I meet him?” he whines, kicking at a rock. “This is so unfair!”
“I haven’t met my soulmate either,” Seokjin says with a shrug. “It’ll happen when it happens. Stop trying to force it, Tae.”
Taehyung pouts even harder, unaware that his soulmate is only a few steps away, tossing some rubbish into the trash by a bench he’s been sitting on drawing for the last hour.
They pass each other. Taehyung, too busy complaining to Seokjin and Jimin, Jeongguk, his head ducked down, texting Yoongi and Hoseok about dinner plans, their shoulders ever so slightly brushing.
Unaware.
“This is getting ridiculous, Tae,” Namjoon is saying on the phone as Taehyung balances it with his shoulder, both arms wrapped around at least ten umbrellas at a local CU. “You didn’t have money for ramen because you bought too many umbrellas last month.”
“Hyung,” Taehyung whines as he almost drops one umbrella, just barely catching it as he waits in line behind a group of high school students. “You don’t understand.”
“I understand, I just think you’re taking it a bit too far.” Namjoon sighs.
“Easy for you to say,” Taehyung sulks. “You already found your soulmate, hyung. And he’s a catch! Jimin is the best of the best!”
Namjoon laughs. “I know he is, he’s my soulmate. And I used to wonder about him, too. But I never did something like this to find him. It happens naturally.”
Taehyung knows he probably should quit while he’s… well, he’s not ahead anymore. He’s spent a lot of money on umbrellas, shamelessly.
But the idea of giving up on finding his soulmate as soon as possible just doesn’t sit right with him. He’s close — Taehyung can feel it.
“Hyung, I gotta go,” Taehyung starts as the students finish up in front of him.
“Hello,” the guy behind the counter greets him, a sunshine bright smile. His name tag says Hoseok. “Wow, that’s a lot of umbrellas—”
“Tae, seriously?” Namjoon shouts as Taehyung ends the call with an embarrassed grin.
“Hi,” Taehyung greets back as he sets all of the umbrellas down on the counter, his arms aching.
Hoseok starts ringing him up and glances at him. “So… is there a story here or…?”
“Oh! I’m trying to find my soulmate,” Taehyung explains with a giggle, showing off the words on his arm. “Figure if I drop umbrellas in front of enough cute guys, he’ll show up.”
Hoseok laughs as he finishes ringing him up. “Your total is ₩23,450.”
Taehyung hands over his card, his bottom lip worrying between his teeth. There goes his lunch money for the next week…
“I hope you find your soulmate soon,” Hoseok tells him as he helps him put the umbrellas into his backpack. “Wouldn’t it be so sad if you find him like, right now? And you only needed one umbrella?”
“Oh my god, don’t even joke ,” Taehyung whines, making Hoseok laugh. “Thank you.”
“Have a good one!” Hoseok calls with a wave as Taehyung pushes the door open. “Good luck!”
Despite Taehyung’s persistence in trying to find his soulmate (and losing four more umbrellas in the process, stupid hot guy thieves), it really is serendipity that brings them together at last.
“Oh, hey, I know that guy,” Hoseok says, nodding toward the familiar umbrella guy from CU just a few days ago. “He came into my work and bought like ten umbrellas.”
Yoongi and Jeongguk both furrow their brows, turning to look at the guy that Hoseok is talking about.
He’s gorgeous, is Jeongguk’s first thought. With soft, fluffy dark hair and a box-shaped smile and honey golden skin — he looks radiant, a stark contrast to the gloomy rain they’ve been experiencing for the last few weeks.
He’s sitting with another guy that’s beautiful, tall with wide shoulders, and they both seem to be laughing about something.
“He looks familiar,” Yoongi says after a minute. “Oh! Wait, I’ve seen him before, too. He dropped an umbrella at the bar when I went with my hyung.”
Hoseok laughs, leaning over to kiss Yoongi’s cheek. “He’s been trying to find his soulmate,” he explains. “Too bad for him, you’re already mine.”
Yoongi’s cheeks flush as he smiles and Jeongguk can’t help but smile, too.
His eyes peek down at his own arm, the words tattooed there since he was born. The ones he longs to hear.
He wonders what his soulmate is like, what their voice will sound like.
Will they really think he’s cute?
As they eat lunch, Jeongguk tunes out Hoseok and Yoongi’s conversation, thinking about his soulmate instead. It’s typical to find your soulmate in your twenties, but Jeongguk feels like he’s never going to find his.
He doesn’t even know where to start, to be honest; but judging from the words on his arm, it seems more like his soulmate should be searching for him.
He hopes that his soulmate is searching for him.
While they’re still eating their lunch, the guy and his friend head out together, talking as they exit the restaurant.
It’s not raining right this second, but there is more on the way, another typhoon coming in an hour or two. And Jeongguk can’t help but notice that the cute guy’s umbrella fell out of his bag as he left the restaurant.
“Be right back,” Jeongguk says as he gets up and grabs for the umbrella before rushing out the door.
He catches sight of the cute guy walking by himself, hands in his pocket as he looks up at the sky, not paying attention. Jeongguk has to wait for the crosswalk light to turn green for him to cross the street, chasing after him.
And as he does, the rain starts pouring, a loud crack of thunder making the ground feel like it’s shaking.
He opens the umbrella as he runs after the guy, watching him in the distance as he takes cover under a building alcove, digging around in his bag — most likely looking for his umbrella.
“Hey!” Jeongguk shouts, finally catching up to the guy. “You dropped your umbrella!”
He holds it up over both of their heads, slightly out of breath from having to chase after him, and he opens his mouth to speak but the other beats him to it.
“Wow,” he says, voice breathless as a wide, boxy smile stretches over his face, his eyes sparkling with happiness. “My soulmate is cute .”
Jeongguk’s eyes widen as he feels his arm start to tingle, his lips parting in surprise as he watches the words tattooed on his arm turn from black to gold.
“What—“
“I knew I would find you,” his soulmate says, voice still in awe. “What’s your name?”
Jeongguk is still overwhelmed, his cheeks flushing all the way to the tips of his ears as another loud clap of thunder roars behind them.
“Jeongguk,” he answers, eyes dropping down to look at his soulmate’s arm. “You’re — you’re really my soulmate?”
The laugh that fills Jeongguk’s ears is like music — beautiful and cute and it sends a warmth through him that he’s never felt before.
“I am,” he answers, head tilting to the side as a fond look crosses his features. A hand wraps around Jeongguk’s, holding the umbrella over them, fingers pretty and manicured and long. “I’m Taehyung. It’s nice to finally meet you.”
Getting to know your soulmate helps Taehyung understand what all those love songs are written about. From the day that they met, they spend all their free time together, texting or calling when they can’t meet up physically.
Taehyung learns that their hands do fit perfectly together, that Jeongguk’s are soft to the touch but calloused on his fingers from learning to play the guitar. He learns that his soulmate is a bit shy at first, but that his laugh lights up a room and his smile can make people fall in love.
Jeongguk, Taehyung thinks, tastes like happiness and looks like love.
As the weather grows colder and the leaves change colors on the trees outside, Taehyung finds himself slipping under the covers of Jeongguk’s bed after returning to his place after his final class for the week. It’s warm as Jeongguk, sleepy and half awake from a nap while studying, slowly wraps an arm around him to draw him closer, nose wrinkling when he feels Taehyung press his cold toes to his bare leg.
“Tae,” he whines, eyes still closed, lips puckered into a pout. “Cold.”
“Sorry baby,” Taehyung giggles, though he makes no move to move them away. He wriggles closer, if anything, his own arms wrapping around Jeongguk’s waist and squeezing him gently.
The perfect fit.
“Sleepy?” Taehyung whispers, cold nose poking into Jeongguk’s cheek.
“Mhm,” he hums, face tilting upward blindly, like he’s searching for Taehyung’s lips.
And he finds them, Jeongguk’s lips catching his in a soft, tender kiss that tastes an awful lot like the happily ever after Taehyung dreamed of as a kid.