Work Text:
If Minho wasn't as professional as he is, he would have punched a few of these guys in the face.
The general air around them makes them insufferable. Their words are long but meaningless, spoken with a type of confidence that borders on arrogance. When they look him in the eyes and shake his hand, Minho gets the impression that they are the employers, not the people looking for a job.
There are currently eleven people here for a meeting about the job they’re applying for, and since Minho is the CEO of this company, he will be the one speaking to them. Everyone is currently getting seated around the table while Minho sets up his computer in front of them. He can already tell that this meeting will not be among the more pleasant ones, from first impressions alone.
A few people actually left good impressions on him, simply due to their respectful greetings, but there are way too many cocky ones here. Minho hopes the respectful people are the ones with the most talent, because he does not want to hire any of those other snobs. If that's the case, he might not end up hiring anyone at all.
Minho clears his throat to get their attention once his laptop is set up. The last few applicants take their seats, and then he gets started.
It takes forty minutes, if even that. There's a surprisingly small number of interruptions, and most of them are relevant questions. The only time it's not a relevant question is when one of the most annoying dudes asks if they really need to go through this part, since it's so obvious already, and Minho gives him a cold smile while explaining that it might not be obvious to everyone, considering everyone doesn't have the same previous experience.
The annoying guy agrees, but misinterprets Minho's answer.
"Yeah, some people are definitely less fit for these jobs."
Minho ignores him, but also crosses him off the list of potential new employees, because there's no way he's going to work with this person, not even if he turns out to be the most musically talented out of all the candidates. His vibes are simply repulsive.
When the meeting is finally over and everyone has left the room, Minho lets out a long sigh, feeling ready to go to sleep here and now. He can't do that. Now, he has to go through all of their applications and decide who's getting hired. Instead of laying down on the floor and falling asleep like he wants to, he sits down at the end of the table again, opening his laptop.
Half of them are looking to be producers, and the other half songwriters, as well as one person that has applied for both both. Minho decides to save that application for last.
Everyone has included a music sample with their applications, either of something they've produced or something they've written. There's a total of eleven songs, and Minho has to listen to them all in the most judgmental way he can.
Halfway through the task, he feels himself growing impatient with the unoriginal beats and repetitive chords. So far, no one has caught his interest, and he doesn't want to hire people if they're only going to produce the same bland stuff over and over again. In that case, Minho might as well just have his artists release the same songs over and over again.
Minho shrugs his jacket off, turning around in his chair to hang his jacket over the back of it, but freezes before he has the chance to do that. His eyes land on his arm, and it’s not the same depressing sight that he’s grown used to. Tally marks, looking like they've been tattooed there with a red pen, so many that they seem endless. One for every year that he hasn’t met his soulmate.
Except, the previously red tally marks have turned black. Every single line, all 99 of them, they're no longer red. He's no longer counting years.
After waiting for nearly a century, the pure shock of it makes Minho unable to move for several minutes afterwards.
His birthday is next month. In a few weeks, he was supposed to get his hundredth line, to mark his hundredth year of not aging, his hundredth year of not having met his soulmate.
Change of plans.
It takes some time before the new recruits actually start their jobs. During those weeks, Minho spends a lot of time looking into every single person he had met during that meeting, knowing that one of them has to be his soulmate. The person he's waited a hundred years to meet.
Out of the eleven people there, he only accepted three of them into the company, and that makes him even more anxious because the odds truly aren't in his favor. Statistically, it's very likely that he's already rejected his soulmate.
He hopes that his soulmate makes interesting music, because those are the people who he saw potential in, the ones who have been offered to work in the studios at his company. Imagine being soulmates with a bad musician. What a nightmare.
Minho taps his foot impatiently as he waits in the empty hallway. It's been two weeks since his tally marks turned black, two weeks since he met his soulmate. He wonders what his soulmate is thinking about this. After all, that person must also have noticed that his marks have also turned black. Unless he's younger than nineteen, in which case he won't have any marks yet.
After studying all the applications for what feels like a million times, Minho knows that the youngest person he hired is eighteen, but everyone else is old enough to have at least a few tally marks on their arms, unless they've already met their soulmates.
Minho also knows that the youngest person's birthday is tomorrow. September 14th. He memorized it, because there's a small chance that guy is Minho's soulmate, and he needs to look out for any marks on his arm.
Minho is currently waiting for the three new recruits to arrive so he can show them around. They don't officially start working until tomorrow, but he thought they might appreciate it if they were allowed to get familiar with the building before then.
A second later, he spots three figures coming up the stairs, all of them looking around the place with curious eyes. There's no doubt that these are the ones he's been waiting for. Minho would have been able to tell even if he hadn't spent the past week staring at their faces, hoping that he'd somehow be able to tell which one was the person that had turned his marks black; his soulmate. It's not exactly a surprise that he was unable to figure it out just from staring at a screen.
One of the three new recruits is wearing long sleeves, but the other two have their arms exposed. That’s helpful.
Minho recognizes the youngest one, not only because his arms are clear from any marks, but also because of his face. He has round cheeks and eyes that remind Minho of a doe, in the cutest way possible. He gets sweater paws from the pastel blue sweater he's currently wearing, and it's adorable.
The other one has red lines on his arm, meaning that he can't be Minho's soulmate.
Minho smiles and greets them politely, all three of them reciprocating the gesture. He's so glad to have gotten rid of the cocky ones. To be honest, he doesn't think he would have lasted long if they actually got jobs here and he was forced to see them every single day. They would have made his life too miserable.
While he guides them through the building, it's mostly Minho that talks, but the others make some small talk as well. One of them is going to be a songwriter, the other a producer, and the last will do both. His name is Han Jisung, if Minho remembers correctly, which he's sure he does. He's the one with the cheeks and the sweater paws.
Jisung seems like a sweet person. Anytime he smiles, Minho feels his heart do a little tumble inside his chest and he finds himself secretly hoping that Jisung won't show up with a new tally mark on his arm after he turns 19. If he does get one, that would mean he hasn't met his soulmate yet, and Minho will have to look somewhere else to find his own.
They finish the tour a while later, and two of them are relatively quick to say their goodbyes and get out of there. Minho doesn't even notice it, but before he has time to really think about it, he finds himself standing alone with Jisung in the hallway where the producing studios are.
Minho smiles at Jisung, wondering if there's something he wants to ask.
"So, uh, I know I technically don't start working here until tomorrow, but would it be okay if I spent some time in the studio you showed us earlier? It's just, I had an idea when we were walking and I kinda want to see if it could work."
Minho's smile brightens. Music is one of the few things he's never lost passion for in his 118 years of being alive, so the fact that Jisung seems to be genuinely passionate about it makes him feel like they could be a great match for each other. He hopes the universe feels the same way.
"Of course."
They look at each other for a few more moments before Jisung turns around with a last smile at Minho, and disappears through the door into the studio.
It's past midnight, and Minho is closing the building. He hadn't been planning to stay this late but some of the dancers were still practicing in the dance studio when he checked in on them earlier, so he figured that he might as well stay with them. Now, with his heavy eyelids and slow movements, he kind of wishes he had left just a little bit earlier.
The fact remains that he didn't, so there's no reason to think about how much he wishes he had done so.
It's quiet as Minho makes his way through the building, checking all the rooms to make sure they're empty and that all the lights are turned off. He's not going to walk through the entire building, because that would take way too long, but he checks the floor he's currently on. It's the only floor where he knows people stay longer than the usual working hours. Not that many of them stick to their working schedule. They're art people, after all.
Most of them are here because they have a passion for music, or dancing, or something similarly creative, and they often stay later than they're supposed to when they're in the middle of a creative process.
Minho reaches a corridor with three doors lined after one another on the left wall, doors that lead to the producing studios. Two of the new recruits work here, as well as one of the older producers.
He remembers showing Han Jisung to one of these rooms earlier, and decides that he should probably make sure the younger locked the door after himself.
With a sour feeling in his stomach, Minho realizes that it's past midnight, meaning that it's officially September 14th and his fate has been decided. Either Jisung has a red tally mark on his arm, making it impossible for Minho to be his soulmate, or he doesn't, which only means that the possibility is still a possibility. Jisung could have met his soulmate somewhere else, so it doesn't have to mean that he's Minho's soulmate.
If it's not Jisung, Minho still has nine other possible soulmates from that meeting about a month ago. He wonders if he'll ever figure out who it is.
When Minho reaches the door, he's surprised to find that it's unlocked. After pressing down the handle and pushing it open the slightest bit, he also sees light from inside the room, which is how he realizes that Jisung must still be in there.
There's a person sitting on the small couch inside the room and Minho is about to start apologizing, but the lack of reaction from Jisung makes Minho stop and actually take the scene in. Aside from the rise and fall of his chest as he breathes, Jisung is completely still. Minho steps inside with a small smile on his face, heading for the computer that's still on. He saves the current project and shuts it off before turning to look at Jisung.
When he turns, he almost jumps at seeing the pair of eyes looking at him. Somehow, Jisung managed to wake up despite how quiet Minho was being.
"Sorry if I woke you up, I was just turning off the computer", Minho says, not sure whether the other is upset or not. His face doesn't look annoyed, but you never know.
"Oh, it's fine", Jisung replies. He moves a little to stretch his back out, and Minho spots his arms, completely void of any red lines. "I should leave now, anyway."
Minho doesn't realize that he's staring until Jisung is already standing up, getting ready to leave, and that's when he finally manages to stop looking at those fucking arms. He wonders if Jisung has noticed that it's past midnight, wonders if he knows that he must have met his soulmate already.
"Do you need a ride?"
Jisung turns back around to look at him. Minho hadn't planned to ask that, but the question has already been asked and he can't say that he regrets it.
After looking at him for several long moments, Jisung grins.
"I barely know you. For all I know, you could be a serial killer, or a member of a crazy cult that's planning to steal my teeth for some fucked-up ritual."
Minho raises his eyebrows, trying his best not to burst out laughing. Jisung doesn't stop grinning, but he continues apologetically.
"Sorry, my sleep-deprived brain doesn't really have a filter."
"No, it's okay", Minho says. "Funny, actually. So, uh, is that a no to the ride, then?"
"Oh no, it's a yes."
Jisung never stops grinning, and Minho can't seem to stop staring at him. That smile is a bit too captivating. He hopes he doesn't come off as creepy with the way he keeps looking at Jisung.
They leave the building together a few minutes later. Despite the fact that they don't know each other, just like Jisung stated earlier, there's no awkward silence between them. Jisung makes a brief comment about how his song idea is coming along, and after that, conversation flows smoothly.
They talk about what type of music they like, leading them to the topic of favorite artists, which then turns into a conversation about where they find their own inspiration to create.
Minho is surprised by how easy it is between them. He entirely forgets about his unofficial mission to figure out what Jisung knows about his soulmate, getting too caught up in their conversation to focus on anything else.
Two weeks later, and Minho driving Jisung home seems to have become a routine.
Minho still hasn't asked him about the soulmate thing. It's all under the pretense that there has never been a good opportunity for it, or that they're not close enough for him to ask yet, but really, he just doesn't want to know. Either Jisung knows who is soulmate is, or he doesn't. Minho isn't sure which would be the better option.
To his surprise, Jisung is the one who brings it up one night after Minho shows up in his studio to check how his latest song is going and ask if he's ready to leave yet.
"Minho", he starts, catching Minho's attention. "I have a question. If you don't wanna answer, that's fine, but I'm gonna ask it anyway." It's such a typical Jisung thing to say, making him come across as both unapologetic and very understanding at the same time. Honestly, it's a sort of talent. "Have you found your soulmate? I mean, I can tell that your marks are black, but do you know who it is?"
Minho feels like half his brain shuts down upon hearing the question, so he answers purely on instinct.
"No. I mean, yeah, I have met them, as you can see, but I don't actually know who they are."
Jisung hums.
"I don't know if this sounds weird, but I noticed that your marks were red under your sleeve at the start of the meeting. You know, the meeting with all the others, when you were giving us that introduction to the company."
Minho stays silent, because it seems like Jisung has more to say.
"I also noticed that they turned black when I shook your hand."
Now, Minho is pretty sure that he's entitled to stare at Jisung as much as he wants, because this was not what he had expected to hear.
He won't have to search for his soulmate any longer. And, despite how much pain all the lines on his arm have put him through, he's at peace with this fact. He likes Jisung, and to be honest, he would have been a little disappointed if it had been someone else, with how close they've been getting recently.
Minho looks at Jisung and tries to keep any emotion out of his voice as he speaks next.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” he asks. Not because he’s upset with him for not mentioning it earlier, but because he’s genuinely wondering.
Jisung seems to be trying to hold back a smile, and he fails miserably.
“I’m saying it now. And besides, I thought you already knew.”
Minho raises his eyebrows.
“Oh? When did you realize that I didn’t?”
“A few moments ago, when you said so.”
Of course. That’s why Jisung brought it up in the first place, since he knew they were soulmates and wanted to know if Minho knew. At least he does now.
Since Jisung hasn’t run away yet, that has to mean he’s not entirely against the idea. Some people hate the whole concept, and Minho used to be one of those people, but he's come to peace with it. If Jisung hates it, he'll accept that, but he hopes they can still be friends.
Jisung stands up from where he’s been sitting in front of the computer, taking a step closer to Minho. He draws a deep breath.
“So… Do you hate this? Am I about to get fired? Cause I’m actually pretty proud of the track I’m working on and would like to finish it, at least.”
Jisung is clearly joking, but there’s a hint of uncertainty in his voice that Minho only barely picks up on. He reaches out to put a hand on Jisung's arm, rubbing circles on it until Jisung looks up at him again.
“No.” Minho smirks at the expression on the other's face. “I was about to ask you out.”
Jisung’s brain short-circuits, while Minho continues to smirk.
“I-… Uh, cool. Yeah, I’d like to go out with you.”
Minho looks down at his right arm with a small smile, and for once, the sight of all the tally marks isn’t depressing to him. The countdown is finished. He doesn't have to wait any longer.