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Yuta hates the start of senior year in high school. Not because his stardom is ending, but because almost everyone is bragging about meeting their soulmates over the holiday. Some would come to school holding hands, with hearts in their eyes, and Yuta does not like it.
Yuta hates it because he hasn’t met his, and his pinky is starting to itch. Being able to see the string but not knowing who's on the other end of his string stresses him out.
Yuta has made a mental list of his potential soulmate candidates, but so far, three of them have met theirs, and Yuta is starting to get desperate.
“You know, it’s okay to not meet your partner at this age. You still have a long way to go, Yuta,” Taeyong said.
“Easy for you to say, you met yours,” he muttered.
“Look, you’re very popular at school, maybe you have actually met them but it was too crowded for you to Tug?”
“Or maybe mine is too far to Tug, like, they’re back in Japan, or worse, i am Soulmate-less.”
Taeyong gave him a cheer-up-bro smile, earning a pout back from Yuta.
Sicheng tries to stay away from troubles, from the popular guys, crowds, and everything that could make him stand out. He blends, almost like trying to make himself invisible. The start of senior year doesn’t really help with that, and comes the question Sicheng avoids the most: Did you Tug over the holidays, Sicheng?
No, Sicheng did not Tug. No, he is not desperate for a Tug, sometimes he even thinks that it would be great if he is Soulmate-less, because then he can choose anyone to be his partner.
Sicheng doesn’t hate the concept, he just can’t wrap his head with the possibility of someone being tied to him by his pinky. Maybe it was his skepticism that made him unable to see his string, or maybe he's simply a Soulmate-less.
Sicheng was so busy blending into the stream of students heading to class that he doesn't feel the light tug on his right pinky when he brushed past people in the hall. He didn't catch a certain someone stopping, turning around looking for him.
Yuta frowned. He clearly felt the Tug, but between tens of people passing the hall, which one is his partner?
Yuta was on his way to the soccer practice when he bumped into Sicheng in the hall. This time, his pinky tugs harder, making him look up from the ball on the floor to the person before him. Sicheng is collecting his scattered paper, and Yuta crouched to help him. He didn't say anything before handing the paper to Sicheng, and just as the other boy was about to thank him, Yuta blurted whatever he could to make him stay. The Tug was clear, so why is his string still half invisible?
"You're my soulmate."
Sicheng narrows his eyes, looking at Yuta like he just said he was from outer space.
"What?"
Yuta's eyebrows are raised, confused at the response he got. Does his partner not feel the Tug?
"You don't feel the Tug? I clearly had it just now when we collided, and there's no one else around here," he said.
"I'm sorry, Tug ?" Sicheng asked back, more in disbelief that his soulmate is Nakamoto Yuta . Of all people in the world, Fate had decided that he'd end up with a very popular boy, the very category Sicheng avoids.
"...Yes?"
Sicheng stared at Yuta for a solid three seconds, from his eyes, to his right pinky, back to his eyes.
"If you'll excuse me," he says finally, turning on his heels to leave the confused boy.
Ever since the big statement dropped, Sicheng hasn't stopped thinking about the scenarios. The most frequent one that came to his mind is that Sicheng is Chinese and Yuta is Japanese . Surely the universe would have, like, thought about that? That they’re not going to work out once they go back to their home countries?
But then again, Sicheng had seen this before, when Kun met his soulmate in Thailand. He huffed a loud sigh, sounding almost like a chuckle, trying to accept the fact that the most popular guy in school is his soulmate. Okay, he thought. What now?
It took Sicheng two days before he finally decided to head up to the soccer field, and it took Yuta thirty seconds to run to the bleachers in the middle of their warm-ups.
"What are you doing here?" Yuta asked, genuinely curious. He wasn't able to catch the guy's name the other day, so when the boy comes to his turf, he has to seize him.
"I believe we haven't properly met,” Sicheng said calmly. It took him two days to finally come in terms of having a soulmate (goodbye, soulmate-less-ness), and he could use a new friend, for starters. Maybe he will try to believe the Fates, and see for himself whether it would work out or not.
“My name is Dong Sicheng, and I'm your soulmate.”
Sicheng sees the string, starting from his right pinky, a soft tangle between him and Yuta, and finally, tying its other end on Yuta’s right pinky. He didn’t miss the gasp elicited by the other boy, finally able to see his completed string instead of his usual half invisible ones.
It was when he saw the bright eyes full of excitement that Sicheng thought that, maybe, this wasn’t all bad.
Maybe he can find his true love in Yuta.