Work Text:
“Oh my God,” Youngjae suddenly said, stopping in the middle of the hallway. He, along with his friends, were walking to their school’s canteen after finishing classes to have a very deserving lunch break after their unnecessarily long and boring math class.
“What is it?” Younghoon stopped as well, raising an eyebrow.
“I just realised our chemistry exam is in two days and I haven’t finished revising. Actually, now that I’m thinking about it, I haven’t even done half. I’m in deep shit.”
“Well,” Chanhee snorted, “good luck. You’ll need it.”
“This is not something to laugh about!” Youngjae whined in response.
“Well, we told you to get working a week in advance, didn’t we? You should take responsibility,” Changmin shrugged.
“Nobody would be willing to study chemistry on a weekend!” Youngjae argued. “There are so many more fun things to do.”
“True, except for one,” Younghoon said, throwing a look at Chanhee before averting his eyes. That didn’t go unnoticed by Chanhee, though.
“Listen,” Chanhee said, raising his hands up in surrender, “I’m just trying to maintain my good grades. Besides, Youngjae’s got a point. I only do that when we’ve got an upcoming exam. I know better than to study chemistry on a weekend for no reason, guys.”
“You’re already at the top of almost every one of your classes!”
Chanhee shrugged. He couldn’t deny that nor could he say something to justify his excessive studying. He was just a perfectionist who needed academic validation, more so because of his parents’ constant pressure to be at the top of his classes. At first it was quite hard to meet his parents’ expectations, obviously because he couldn’t be perfect at everything. He was human too, after all; there had to be something he lacked in, and that was fine with him.
Until he entered middle school.
That was when his parents became even more strict and demanding, much to Chanhee’s dismay. He’d always thought that things couldn’t get any worse, until they actually did. Everyday after classes he would get bombarded with questions about school and how well he had done at his classes and sometimes he’d had to come up with lies just to satisfy his parents enough as the only way to make them shut up. It was too overwhelming, to the point Chanhee contemplated rebelling against his parents as a way to show how fed up he was with their behavior, however he quickly wiped that thought away when he came to the conclusion that he would get nothing good out of it and would just make things worse for himself.
Now that he’s in high school, things remained the same; his parents continued to be demanding and strict and the only thing that had changed was Chanhee’s way of coping with his parents' constant pressure. If before he couldn’t stand it, now he’d learned to deal with it. It had also become his way of living (unfortunately his parents had convinced him that the only way he could prove his worth was by doing well at school) and while it was exhausting and challenging at most times, as well as quite limiting in the sense that Chanhee wasn’t given the chance to let himself loose and have a fun time with his friends, he couldn’t do anything about it.
His friends were fortunately aware of his situation, so after Younghoon said that, nobody pushed the topic further.
“Anyway, Youngjae,” Chanhee finally decided to break the tension that had settled, “you should get yourself a tutor. I’m certain that if you discuss it with your teacher, he’ll agree and help you.”
“Mmh, that isn’t a bad idea, however I’m sure nobody is willing to tutor someone like me. I’m way too dumb to understand chemistry, I swear. I mean, even Juyeon didn’t take long before he gave up on me That says a lot.”
Before the others could react to his words, they spotted a very enthusiastic Kevin running towards their direction, and while that wasn’t a rare occurrence, it did take them by surprise because this time he seemed overly enthusiastic. Whatever caused him to be this excited must’ve been a huge thing, yet it wouldn’t take long for them to eventually find out from their friend.
“You guys won’t believe what just happened to me!” He finally managed to say as soon as he was close enough, panting while resting his palms on his knees.
“Woah, woah, easy there. Whatever you’ll tell us, let’s go to the canteen first. We’re still in the middle of the hallway.”
The others wordlessly agreed and started walking towards the same direction, all while throwing the overly enthusiastic Kevin looks. He was so expressive and so happy that it made all of them wonder what the hell had happened for him to be in such a state.
“Alright,” Changmin finally said after they’d sat down, “tell us. I can see you can no longer keep it to yourself.”
“You bet I can’t!” Kevin exclaimed. “I met my fucking soulmate!”
“You what ?!”
Chanhee froze in his place. A soulmate?
“Hold up, hold up,” Youngjae said, “your soulmate, as in the one person you're destined to and will spend your whole life with?! Soulmate as in, soulmate soulmate ?"
Chanhee pinched the bridge of his nose. “Youngjae, is there any other definition of the word soulmate? If there is, please let me know.”
“I just wanted to make sure!”
“Yes, Youngjae, soulmate as in the soulmate.”
“That’s amazing, Kev!” Younghoon exclaimed. “Come on, tell us! How did you two meet?”
Out of the five of them, Kevin was the first to meet his soulmate, so obviously everyone would make a fuss about it. Everyone knew what a soulmate was and the vast majority of people had one; they just had to wait for the right time to meet them. Meeting your soulmate and realising that they were your soulmate were two different things, as you could meet your soulmate anytime and anywhere and not be aware that they were the one, unless one felt a spark when interacting with them. Being in the same room, touching, talking, seeing or hearing them; these were all different ways that helped people find out who their soulmate was.
It was different for everyone. Someone may meet their soulmate by being in the same room and oddly feeling a strange pull towards someone specifically, another one may meet their soulmate by bumping into them and feeling a spark on the spot they’d touched, and the list goes on. There had been cases in which two sworn enemies had ended up being soulmates, too; it was all up to fate.
While Kevin was busy answering Youngjae’s questions regarding him and his soulmate (their meeting had apparently been something like this: a classmate had asked Kevin about his opinion on her friend’s painting, who had joined an art competition, and as Kevin was about to say, quote , unquote , “That’s the ugliest painting I’ve ever seen in my life” in the nicest way possible, upon seeing the person who’d made the unique painting which leaned more on the uglier side, the adjective ‘ugliest’ had somehow changed to the ‘prettiest’. The artist’s name was Jacob Bae and Kevin’s soulmate as well and according to Kevin, he was an angel .), Chanhee had his eyes glued on his friend.
His friend was literally glowing . It was the ‘I’m so in love I could quite literally grow wings and fly’ type of glow, and while Chanhee would’ve simply rolled his eyes and moved on with his day if someone like that had appeared in front of him, this time he couldn’t take his eyes away from Kevin. Maybe it was because it was his first time seeing such type of glow up close since Kevin was so far his only friend who’d found his soulmate, but Chanhee couldn’t deny the fact that such glow suited Kevin perfectly.
If he’d been some sort of cupid he would’ve definitely seen a bright pink aura surrounding Kevin’s entire being, and in that moment, Chanhee almost felt jealous of the cupids up there seeing this happening (if they actually existed, of course.)
Chanhee didn’t know what to think of soulmates, really. It was an uninteresting topic to him and while he was usually opinionated, he never really bothered to form an opinion on the entire soulmate thing. According to him, he had other things to worry about which were far more important than him meeting his soulmate someday.
There were times he saw meeting his soulmate on a negative note. On those days, if it were up to Chanhee, he’d choose to never meet his soulmate as he just considered the whole thing a distraction — meaningless and unimportant. Like he’d said, he had more important things to focus on and meeting his soulmate would only make him lose focus from his main priority, which was academic success. He was almost positive he couldn’t balance his love life and his ambition to achieve even higher so he chose to stay as far as possible from the word ‘soulmate’.
There were times, however, where he allowed his heart to take control over him and considered accepting his soulmate. There was no doubt he’d meet his soulmate one day, as those who had one always met them in a way or another and Chanhee would certainly be one of them, surely if fate had been kind enough to not make him die alone. There were times Chanhee didn’t have bad feelings towards the concept of having a soulmate and rather anticipated the day he’d meet his soulmate, but then the anticipation soon died down when he realised that in order to meet his soulmate, making an effort was required and that included having to step out of his comfort zone to talk to new people.
Chanhee wasn’t shy; he was just uninterested in meeting new people and possibly making new friends. Being the school’s best student, he knew a lot of people and a lot of people knew him, however that wasn’t the same as having friends. Chanhee was content with his current friends: Younghoon, Changmin, Youngjae, Juyeon, Kevin and a few other students from math club were enough, but Chanhee was positive none of them were his soulmate much to his dismay, because that meant he couldn’t be saved from having to talk to people.
To sum it up, it was complicated. Chanhee’s relationship with the concept of having a soulmate was complicated. Just like many things, having a soulmate had its own positives and negatives and Chanhee wasn’t sure which one outweighed the other.
Seeing Kevin quite literally glowing in happiness made Chanhee slightly envious of him. He wanted to feel that, too. He wanted to take a break from the pressure weighing down his shoulders and allow himself to feel . He wanted to be free from the many high expectations people had of him and meet someone who didn’t and accepted him the way he was. He wished to meet someone whose presence felt comfortable enough to be the imperfect Chanhee in front of. He wanted what Kevin had and in that moment, he was second-guessing his hatred towards the idea of having a soulmate.
“Chanhee?”
Chanhee stilled, repeatedly blinked his eyes and then focused his eyes on Younghoon.
“Yes?”
“You haven’t said anything the entire time, you okay?”
“Yes, yes, sorry. I’ve been listening, though,” Chanhee quickly reassured him.
“Guys, maybe he has a crush on Jacob, that’s why he doesn’t seem so happy,” Youngjae wondered out loud.
“No! I don’t,” Chanhee quickly denied, glaring at Youngjae. “Really, I don’t. I promise. I’m so sorry for my lack of reaction, Kevin. I’m very, very happy for you. I mean it. I was just—lost in my thoughts, that’s it.”
Kevin smiled softly. “I could see that. It’s fine, Chanhee. You should allow that little head of yours to take a break sometimes, though.”
Chanhee sighed. “Easier said than done.”
“So you don’t have a crush on Jacob?”
“No I don’t, Youngjae,” Chanhee said, annoyance laced in his words. “I don’t have a crush on anyone. But why am I suddenly the topic? Focus on Kevin, he literally just found his soulmate.”
“From what I’m hearing Jacob sounds like a really cool dude. Maybe he’ll pass the vibe check,” Changmin wondered out loud.
“Oh he definitely will,” Chanhee chuckled. “He’s the choir club leader and I’ve had to work with him a few times. He’s very sweet and friendly; I’m glad he ended up being Kevin’s soulmate.”
“There’s no doubt we’ll approve of him if Chanhee likes him,” Younghoon said, nodding to himself.
“Hey! What does that even mean? I do like people.”
“Whatever you say, Choi,” Youngjae laughed before turning to Kevin and asking him a few other questions, always having been the most curious one out of all of them.
Youngjae’s words, although light and definitely not meant to hurt him, did linger in his mind longer than what Chanhee would’ve liked. Even when school was over and he parted ways with his friends to head to his own house, Youngjae’s words kept repeating in his mind, causing a sudden wave of doubt and uneasiness to wash over him. It was so sudden and so unexpected that Chanhee was unable to prevent it; swallowing him whole and making him feel like he was underwater, unable to swim to the surface and allow his lungs to breathe in oxygen. Three simple words had managed to make Chanhee lose control of his emotions and worry over how people perceived him.
It was so stupid, really; especially because Chanhee knew Youngjae had meant absolutely no harm when saying those words. He was just like that: a little carried away, but he never meant harm to anybody. Chanhee was positive that if Youngjae were to be told how he’d made Chanhee feel by saying those words, he’d immediately apologise to him and feel bad for at least two days. That alone made Chanhee scoff at himself and feel guilty for overreacting, but while he was busy scolding himself for taking his friend’s words so seriously, thoughts about how others probably viewed him as a cold-hearted person who didn’t like people crossed his mind.
“I mean, if Youngjae, my friend , thinks like that, then what do other people who don’t even know me think of me,” Chanhee murmured to himself, looking down at his hands while his homework lay abandoned on his desk.
Chanhee suddenly had the urge to message every person he talked to and ask them to send him a very detailed description of what they thought of him, but he quickly stopped himself before his fingers acted on his nonsensical urge. That would undoubtedly make them view him as a strange person, if not even more strange if they already thought that of him, and he didn’t want to risk it. How would he even explain it to them, anyway?
Chanhee only sighed to himself before he plugged his earbuds in his phone and played his most favorite playlist, deciding to drown himself in music and work. There was no time for feelings and stupid decisions; he had other things to worry about.
—
Youngjae’s least favorite day finally arrived: it was the day he and Chanhee, as well as the other students, were taking their final Chemistry exam for that year. Ever since that day, Chanhee had not talked to Youngjae and not because he was upset at the younger for saying such words, but because he wouldn’t be able to look Youngjae in the eye without feeling guilty for overreacting like that, although unknown to Youngjae. He was positive things would go back to normal the moment he walked out of that classroom, though, because Youngjae would soon cling to his arm and complain about how difficult the exam was. It had always been like that.
Unfortunately for Chanhee, he was running a little late that day so he barely had time to properly meet his friends before he rushed to find his seat and prepare himself for the exam. Their teacher was still nowhere to be seen, fortunately, so he allowed himself to calm down and do a quick revision of everything he’d studied.
Much to Chanhee’s frustration, his attempts to recall what he’d studied were fruitless because he couldn’t remember a single thing, however he tried to reassure himself by reminding himself that this always happened before almost every exam, so there was no need to worry this much.
Before Chanhee could dwell in his thoughts further, he felt a sudden tingling on his wrist.
The boy furrowed his eyebrows and shook his wrist absentmindedly, thinking that it was just due to his anxiety. That soon proved to be far from the truth, though, when Chanhee felt the exact same tingling sensation again, but this time on the inside of his wrist.
What the hell.
Chanhee froze in his place and looked ahead, not even daring to turn his wrist and look at what could’ve caused the tingling. His heart began thrumming against his chest and his palms became clammy; the result of him being aware of what was happening. Nothing other than the fact that his soulmate happened to be in the same classroom as him could explain the sudden tingling sensation. Having heard many stories of people feeling their skin tingling when their soulmate’s presence was close made him aware of what was going on.
Chanhee wasn’t so sure he wanted to know at that moment, though. Ignorance was bliss in this case, but too bad Chanhee was anything but ignorant.
Finally taking in a deep, shaky breath, Chanhee tried to think logically of the situation he was in. If he was suddenly feeling a tingling sensation on his wrist—something he’d never felt before—surely his soulmate must be doing something with their wrist for Chanhee to be able to feel that. His knowledge about soulmates allowed him to go only that far, and instead of pulling up his sleeve to check what was hidden under it, Chanhee slowly turned around and quickly looked at every student in the classroom. Nobody seemed to be doing anything suspicious; the majority of them were revising what they’d studied as a way to pass the remaining time, and if they weren’t revising, they were conversing with their friends.
Chanhee was aware that he’d said he would choose not to find out who his soulmate was if he were given the chance, but that was when he was convinced something like that was still far away from happening. Now, though, he couldn’t resist the temptation to turn around and try to find out who the person was.
To Chanhee’s dismay, he had to stop his search once the door opened, indicating that the teacher had entered. Once he was the first to be given the test since he happened to sit at the front, Chanhee reluctantly turned around. He needed to focus on his test and give his best, but how could he when his soulmate was sitting only a couple of seats away from him? Chanhee had no idea who it was, but he just knew they were sitting close to him. He could feel it and he had no idea how to explain it.
This was what Chanhee meant when he said he couldn’t balance his love life and studies; he was thinking of his soulmate in the middle of taking a test, completely having lost his focus and determination to do well. Great. Just great.
The words seemed to blur together as Chanhee tried to read the question over and over again, trying to understand what it was asking and what Chanhee was supposed to do, but it was impossible. The thought of having his soulmate so close to him had a huge impact on him; his fingers were so shaky he could barely hold his pen and staying still was out of the question. Had anyone seen him like that, they would most likely think the cause of his anxiety was the test. They would never think that it was simply because Chanhee knew his soulmate was in the same classroom as him.
Having always been someone to find feelings so complicated he couldn’t bother to figure out what he was feeling, instead always choosing to push them aside and distract himself, Chanhee was extremely confused. Was the anxiety a sign of excitement? Could it be considered positive? Or was it just him dreading the moment he would have to meet his soulmate, accidentally or not?
Right when Chanhee felt like he was going underwater again, he felt the tingling sensation on his wrist again, pulling him to the surface. Just then Chanhee came back to reality: the reality where he was in the middle of taking a test and his soulmate was still sitting behind him a couple of rows away. This time, instead of turning around to face the other students, Chanhee decided to pull up his sleeve and look at his wrist. Screw the test; he was unable to do anything.
The facial expression that took place on his face the moment he looked at his wrist was priceless. Chanhee wasn’t certain about what he was expecting to see on the inside of his wrist. He had no idea, really, but he was definitely not expecting to see some messily scribbled words that seemed to be the answers to the test — or more so the attempted answers. His soulmate was cheating on the test and the answers weren’t even correct. That made a snort leave his mouth, before he quickly took a hold of himself and straightened his back.
He no longer felt like he was going underwater. He found himself at the shore, instead. The suffocating wave of anxiety seemed to falter and it was now replaced by amusement, and a little bit of confusion because who the hell decided to cheat on a test and wrote down the wrong answers?
Feeling oddly generous and kind that day, Chanhee decided to help his soulmate out. If his soulmate had gone as far as cheating on an exam by writing the answers on their wrist, it was obvious they were desperate and most likely trying to get a good grade. He grabbed his eraser and erased some of the wrong answers, replacing them with the correct ones. Once he did that, a loud gasp was heard behind him, confirming that his soulmate had seen that.
Fighting the urge to turn around and check who had let out that sound, Chanhee balled his hands into fists and chewed on his lip anxiously, waiting for anything to happen. Then, his wrist began tingling again.
tf ???
oh wait
r u my soulmate omg
Chanhee bit back a smile.
I guess I am?
it's so weird how we are communicating on each others’ wrists
More like arms haha
yeah true
can u help me out pls?!? i'm rlly bad at chemistry
I can see that
Yeah I guess I can
omg you’re an angel
Suddenly feeling out of breath, Chanhee grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled it away to feel like he had some space to breathe. This time for an entirely different reason, though. He didn’t have time to think about the sudden compliment, however; he was running out of time and he still had to help his soulmate and complete his own exam which, for the first time ever, lay blank on his desk.
Right when he was in the middle of erasing some of the wrong answers on his wrist, his name was called out.
“Choi Chanhee! What do you think you’re doing?”
Chanhee’s heart dropped.
Upon hearing Chanhee’s name, everyone paused their actions and fixed their eyes on Chanhee. It was in human nature to stop whatever they were doing and focus on something that piqued their interest, be it good or bad.
Writhing on his chair, Chanhee slowly pulled down his sleeve and covered his wrist, looking down at his lap. He didn’t dare to look anywhere else, afraid that he’d catch somebody laughing at him for cheating on the exam, although that was far from the truth. How could he explain it to others that he was simply giving the right answers to his soulmate? It wasn’t like that was the right thing to do, either.
“Please show me your wrist,” his teacher demanded once he was in front of him.
As if he were intentionally looking for ways to make the situation even worse, Chanhee shook his head without thinking. The expression his teacher wore after that only made Chanhee shrink in his seat and shut his eyes tight, wishing to disappear. He just wanted to go home, curl into a ball and never show his face ever again.
“No?” His teacher raised an eyebrow. “Well then, I’ll just assume you’re cheating on the test, Mr. Choi. To say that I’m disappointed in you would definitely be an understatement. I truly didn’t expect this from you, seeing as you’ve never done this before.”
The class was dead silent as nobody dared to make a sound. A lump formed in Chanhee’s throat as he tried to swallow it down, fearing that he’d break down in tears in front of everyone and that the only audible sound in the class would be his pathetic sobs, but the lump in his throat refused to go and soon enough his vision began to blur.
No, no, no, no, no, please not now.
“I’ll have to take this exam away from you, Chanhee,” his teacher continued. “You know I do not tolerate cheating—”
“No, wait! Don’t do that!”
Everybody simultaneously turned their head to the source of the voice, growing even more curious. There stood Kim Sunwoo, the school team’s football captain and, at the same time, the boy of everyone’s dreams. He may not be the smartest, but his visuals and athletic skills made up for it. Sunwoo had soft, curly brown hair that fell onto his round, doe eyes and the part of his face that outstanded the most were his full, pretty lips. His doe eyes made Sunwoo look timid and innocent, but everyone who knew Sunwoo well (and that was the whole school due to Sunwoo having quite a reputation) knew that timid and innocent was anything but him. On the contrary, the boy was pretty confident and smug, as well as quite flirtatious at times, but those were all qualities that suited a boy like him.
Considering Sunwoo and Chanhee didn’t have anything in common as far as people knew and had never been seen together, everyone present was wondering why Sunwoo was suddenly standing up for Chanhee. The answer to their question was soon revealed.
“It isn’t his fault, really,” Sunwoo finally said after approaching both his teacher and Chanhee, throwing the boy a concerned look. “I’m actually the one cheating on the test.”
“Oh really?” asked his teacher, obviously disbelieving. “And how does that justify Chanhee?”
“Because it’s not him who’s cheating. It’s me ,” Sunwoo insisted. “I have the answers written on my wrist. See? The answers just happened to appear on his wrist too. I think you can put two and two together.”
As soon as he said that, everyone audibly gasped, except for Chanhee whose desire to curl into a ball and never show his face ever again only seemed to increase after Sunwoo had indirectly said that they were soulmates. He would’ve preferred meeting Sunwoo, his soulmate, in a less crowded place, preferably in a secluded place where nobody could see them, and not in front of almost thirty people who happened to be there and learn that Sunwoo was Chanhee’s soulmate from Sunwoo himself against his will.
A long moment of silence passed, before their teacher sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I can’t believe this,” he muttered. “What do I even do with you, Sunwoo? This is not the first time you do this.”
“I know!” Sunwoo rushed to say, sounding oddly enthusiastic for someone who would most likely fail his exam. “Which is why I’m asking you to give Chanhee another chance because he’s not the one at fault here. Come on, he’s the top student of every class, how could you even think he’d cheat? It’s very unlikely.”
Sunwoo’s words brought an unexplainable warmth to Chanhee’s heart, who could only sit in silence and smile at the boy’s cute attempts to convince their teacher. The situation he was in was nothing to smile about: he could fail his exam in a matter of seconds if his teacher decided not to give him another chance, every student in this class was aware that both boys were soulmates and Chanhee was positive it wouldn’t take long before the whole school knew about it and he was still on the verge of breaking down in tears, but Sunwoo’s determination to make things a bit better for Chanhee was endearing and he really appreciated that.
“Fine. Give me your paper and leave,” the man sighed, shaking his head. “As for you, Chanhee, I’m giving you another chance. Do you wish to take the test now during the remaining minutes or tomorrow?”
“I..” Chanhee finally spoke, surprised at how hoarse his voice sounded. He cleared his throat. “I’ll do it now.”
“As you wish.”
Sunwoo quickly crouched down and leaned closer to Chanhee. “I’ll wait for you outside,” he whispered before he grabbed his school bag and left the classroom.
The shut of the door was the only thing heard as Sunwoo left behind a bunch of students staring at a flustered Chanhee with their mouth agape.
—
“Literally what the fuck was that.” Youngjae deadpanned as soon as he stood right in front of Chanhee.
“I don’t know. I really don’t,” Chanhee managed to say in a daze. “Just — don’t say anything.”
“Not say anything?” Youngjae asked in disbelief, helping Chanhee pack up since the boy was obviously out of it. “I literally just saw Kim Sunwoo, a guy you’ve never spoken to your entire life, basically say that he’s your soulmate in front of everyone to save your ass and you don’t want me to say anything? Funny joke, Chanhee.”
Chanhee furrowed his eyebrows. “What do you mean to ‘save my ass’? He literally told the truth.”
Youngjae froze. “Wait. Your soulmate is actually Kim Sunwoo?!”
Chanhee could only sigh and shake his head. “Well duh? Sunwoo and I don’t know each other. He wouldn’t do that for no reason.”
“This is crazy,” Youngjae muttered to himself as he followed Chanhee to the exit. “First Kevin, now you. God, I’ve seen what you’ve done for others. When will it be my turn?”
“The day you stop being so annoying.”
Youngjae was about to protest, before he spotted Sunwoo leaning against the wall while keeping himself busy with his phone, seemingly waiting for someone. It was obvious who that someone was.
“Look, your lover boy is waiting for you.” Youngjae pointed at Sunwoo with his head.
Chanhee only seemed confused first, before realization dawned on him. “Right.. He did say he was going to wait for me.”
“Well then,” Youngjae patted his shoulder with a grin, “I’m leaving you both alone.”
Before Chanhee could react and go after Youngjae, Sunwoo looked up and met Chanhee’s eyes. Once he noticed the older was already looking at him, Sunwoo smirked and approached Chanhee. That simple smirk made Chanhee want to run away and never face Sunwoo ever again, but also stay frozen in his place and look at the view in front of him for the rest of his life. Did it make any sense? Chanhee was certain nothing was making any sense right now, including his brain’s odd way of thinking.
“Hey there,” Sunwoo began.
“Hi.”
“Things unexpectedly took a turn for the worse but first of all, I wanna thank you for helping me back there, although I most likely still failed my test,” Sunwoo sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m sorry you almost took the blame, though.”
“It’s fine, you couldn’t have known,” Chanhee muttered, clutching the straps of his bag. Were they both avoiding the elephant in the room or was Sunwoo waiting for the right time?
“Oh for sure,” Sunwoo said, now smirking, and Chanhee came to the conclusion that the answer to his question was the latter option. “How does it feel to have a soulmate as amazing as me?”
Chanhee rolled his eyes. “Actually, I can’t believe fate paired me up with someone who can’t even cheat on a test the right way. How come you copied the wrong answers?”
Sunwoo seemed rather offended at that. “Hey! In my defense, I had to be quick because there wasn’t much time left. Also, I think I must have not paid attention in class because my notes weren’t correct.”
Chanhee could only shake his head. “Whatever. Just don’t write the answers on your wrist again. I don’t want to explain to my teachers that my smartass soulmate can’t cheat to save his life.”
“Sorry to say this, angel, but I’ll be writing the answers on my wrist starting from today. That way you can correct them.” Sunwoo winked.
“I’ll just replace them with worse answers, then,” Chanhee scoffed, ignoring the blush painting his cheeks.
Although Chanhee sounded quite serious, Sunwoo only chuckled in amusement and reached forward to ruffle Chanhee’s hair, eliciting a whine from the latter. “You’re really cute. I like you.”
Chanhee cleared his throat and took a step back, looking down with red cheeks. Fortunately, Sunwoo didn’t seem to think too much of it and simply thought of it as a thing Chanhee did when he was flustered, which wasn’t exactly a lie but not the truth either.
“I’d love to stay and talk to you more, but I actually need to have a talk with my coach,” Sunwoo frowned. “I told him I would meet him after my chemistry class. I hope you don’t mind.”
“No no, I don’t,” Chanhee waved his hand dismissively, partially relieved that now that Sunwoo was leaving he could have some time for himself and wrap his head around whatever had just happened. “We have other classes, too. We can’t just skip them, anyway.”
“That’s what you think,” Sunwoo said, chuckling at Chanhee’s judging eyes. “Anyway, I’ll be at the library at 5. I expect you to come.”
Chanhee raised an eyebrow. “And what makes you think I’ll come?”
“I just know you will. Even if you don’t, I’ll find you,” Sunwoo shrugged, picking up his school bag from the ground and slinging it over his shoulder. “You can’t escape from me, Choi.”
With a final wink, Sunwoo eventually took his leave and walked further away from Chanhee, leaving behind a very flustered and frustrated Chanhee in the middle of the hall. He was both flustered and frustrated at Sunwoo’s constant and shameless flirting, but more so frustrated at the fact that all it took for him to behave so unlike himself was a short conversation with Sunwoo. Either Chanhee wasn’t used to being the flirting target or it was just the stupid soulmate thing casting a spell over him, causing him to be more responsive towards Sunwoo’s flirting — which in this case was his uncontrollable blushing. Chanhee had never known himself as someone who was this easily flustered, making him grow embarrassed of his behavior and slap his hands over his cheeks as a way to gain control of himself, although futile. His cheeks persisted on keeping the pretty blush on top of them and his hands never stopped being clammy even now that Sunwoo was gone, a sign of the impact Sunwoo had on him.
Feeling a sudden tingling on his wrist, Chanhee was pulled out of his trance and he took his hands off his cheeks to cautiously pull up his sleeve and check what was hidden under it. On the right of the inside of his wrist, the words ‘5 pm’ were written on top, once again reminding Chanhee of Sunwoo’s determination to meet him and talk to him.
Chanhee could only sigh and get his feet moving to his next class, deciding to think about the mess he was in later.
English class unfortunately seemed to take forever to end — either because literature had never been Chanhee’s forte or because it was the last class before lunch break. Anyway, when it finally did end, Chanhee slung his already packed bag over his shoulder and rushed to the exit, looking forward to meeting his friends, particularly Kevin, and sharing his messy thoughts with them. He’d been thinking about Sunwoo and everything else the entire class and the only way he could ease out his worries was by talking to his friends.
The moment he entered the canteen, everyone immediately stopped talking and turned their heads towards him, now choosing to whisper among themselves. If there had ever been a moment where Chanhee had so desperately wanted to hide away from everybody’s eyes, it was now. He absolutely hated how he and Sunwoo were the hot topic in school right now, and would probably be for the next two weeks.
With rushed steps, Chanhee walked closer to his friends after spotting them at their usual table. The closer he got to them, the more he could notice the smirks sitting on their faces, as well as their eyes filled with amusement, but once they all seemed to notice Chanhee’s distressed face, they stopped altogether.
“Hey Chanhee,” Changmin was the first to speak. “How are you feeling?”
“I don’t know,” Chanhee whispered. “I really don’t. My head is all a mess and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about what has happened at all.”
“Hey, hey, take a deep breath,” Kevin rushed to say. “Calm down. Don’t mind the others, pretend it’s only the six of us here.”
At the mention of six, Chanhee mentally calculated how many they usually were and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion when he got the number five. Looking up, he was met with Juyeon silently sitting beside Youngjae, who was already looking at him.
“Oh, Juyeon, hi. I didn’t notice you at all, sorry.”
“It’s fine, Chanhee,” Juyeon laughed. “Don’t worry about it.”
“I hate how the news spread around so fast here,” Younghoon grumbled. “Everywhere I go I hear the words ‘Chanhee and Sunwoo’.”
“Well, both Sunwoo and Chanhee are quite popular,” Juyeon shrugged. “It’s inevitable.”
“Not to mention the way Sunwoo stood up for Chanhee, too,” Youngjae sighed dreamily. “I’d one hundred percent fall in love immediately if someone did that for me.”
Changmin huffed. “I’m so upset I missed it. I know I said ‘sucks for you’ when you guys mentioned you had a chemistry exam, but I wish I was there, too.”
“Where’s Sunwoo by the way?” Younghoon asked. “Did you two talk?”
“He had to talk to his coach,” Chanhee shrugged. “We did talk a little after chemistry class, but we couldn’t talk much, anyway. He said he’d be at the library at 5 pm, though. He’s expecting me to go there.”
“That’s cool! That way you can talk to him.”
“But what do we even talk about?!” Chanhee whined. “You guys don’t understand. I’m not exactly happy about the fact that I found my soulmate. I don’t hate it, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t know how to feel about this. Like, it feels so new and unknown it excites and scares me at the same time. I mean, what’s going to happen now?”
“Hate to say this to you, Chanhee, but nobody knows what’s going to happen now,” Kevin said. “I know you don’t like it when your routine unexpectedly changes, however you shouldn’t view it as a negative thing in this case. Think of it as a new, pleasant experience. What’s better than sitting down and having a conversation with your soulmate, anyway. You guys don’t have to talk about whatever’s going on right now, you can just have a casual conversation about your interests or whatever. Hell, you can even stay silent the entire time and listen to Sunwoo talk. It’s better than not showing up. You’ll have to face Sunwoo sooner or later, anyway.”
“I know that,” Chanhee muttered.
“You also know platonic soulmates exist, right,” Juyeon added. “It doesn’t have to necessarily be a romantic relationship between you guys.”
“I doubt Sunwoo’s feelings for me are platonic,” Chanhee responded, rather awkwardly. “I mean, you guys weren’t there when we talked.”
“Understandable.”
Everybody looked at Younghoon.
“What?” Younghoon held his hands up. “I thought you guys knew I had a crush on Chanhee at some point.”
Changmin raised an eyebrow. “I think you should change had to have .”
“Nope, it’s had, but I’m still gay for Chanhee.”
“Anyway,” Kevin butted in, “I suggest you take things easy and let things go with the flow. Show up at the library today and see how things go. Also, talk to Sunwoo. I’m sure he’d appreciate it if you were honest with him.”
Chanhee sighed and nodded his head. “Will do. Thanks, Kevin.”
“Can you please show me your wrist, Chanhee?” Youngae asked, looking up at him expectantly.
“No.”
“Oh come on!”
“It’s embarrassing. Not for me. For Sunwoo,” Chanhee clarified.
“Oh?” Changmin smirked. “Already not wanting to ruin your future boyfriend’s reputation, I see.”
“Shut up!”
—
4:57 pm.
Sunwoo sighed. He’d been sitting on the same spot for almost twenty minutes now, not so patiently waiting for Chanhee’s—possible—arrival. Once he’d finished his talk with his coach, he cancelled his team’s practice as the captain later in the afternoon and immediately headed for the library. His teammates seemed aware of Sunwoo’s newly found soulmate (how could they not, after all. The news had spread like wildfire) and could only guess what Sunwoo was up to, which was why they had either patted him on the shoulder or told him words of encouragement.
Sunwoo appreciated it all, but what he’d appreciate the most was Chanhee showing up with his pretty face to meet him. Hell, the boy could just sit there and do absolutely nothing; Sunwoo would still appreciate him for showing up at the right time.
4:58 pm.
Sunwoo was feeling beyond giddy and excited now that he’d found his soulmate. Nobody really knew this, aside from Haknyeon and Hyunjae, his closest friends, but he was a hopeless romantic who secretly hoped for his soulmate to show up as soon as possible. He’d certainly not expected his soulmate to appear at the worst time ever—his most embarrassing moment, to be exact—looking on the verge of tears, as well, but it was what it was. He could not change the past, but he could try to change the future.
The future in which Chanhee would hopefully be present.
4:59 pm.
Sunwoo’s leg kept shaking as he tried to busy himself with his phone, however he was bored out of his mind. He scrolled through Twitter five times, he reached a new high score on Subway Surfers, he talked to his friends as a way to soothe his nerves but all they did was make fun of him so he eventually had to mute them, he spent some time on TikTok but gave it up after hearing the same sound on eight different videos and now he finished liking every new post on Instagram. Twenty minutes earlier he’d felt much calmer and confident, but now that it was extremely close to being 5 pm, Sunwoo could slowly feel his confidence betraying him. He prided himself in rarely ever losing his cool and always coming across as determined and unperturbed, however this was an entirely different case. It was his soulmate we’re talking about; it wasn’t just anyone.
5:00 pm.
Sunwoo expectantly looked up at the entrance, looking for a certain pink-haired boy making his way towards the library with his usual stoic look on his face, however there was nothing. Nonetheless, he didn’t let that discourage him; not everybody liked to arrive twenty minutes later, or right on time.
Sunwoo had purposefully chosen the library as their hang-out place, thinking that Chanhee would prefer a rather quiet and comfortable place to talk. He frankly preferred a place with such qualities, too; which was also why he'd chosen a secluded area in the library, hidden away from the eyes of people. He felt like that way they could talk to each other comfortably, as well as have Chanhee all to himself.
At the thought of that, a smile tugged at Sunwoo’s lips.
5:01 pm.
Sunwoo let out a shuddering breath, biting his lips anxiously. Had he been wrong? Had he been sitting for the past twenty minutes for nothing? Was Chanhee not interested in him? Had he gotten himself worked up for nothing?
Before his upsetting thoughts could swallow him whole, a chime was heard, making him look up. Right in front of him stood Chanhee, smiling at the librarian and then looking around in hopes of spotting Sunwoo. As if on cue, Sunwoo clumsily sat up and rushed to raise his hand to wave at the boy. His attempt to catch his attention was successful, because soon enough Chanhee headed towards him.
“Hey,” Chanhee said after sitting down in front of Sunwoo. “Sorry for being late.”
“It’s fine,” Sunwoo waved his hand dismissively. “You’re only one minute late, anyway.”
Chanhee raised an eyebrow at the accuracy, but said nothing about it.
“See, I knew you’d come.”
“I only came because I knew you’d never stop bugging me if I didn’t,” Chanhee rolled his eyes, though there was no annoyance laced in his words.
“Right, ok,” Sunwoo playfully mimicked Chanhee, earning a slap on his arm. “Damn, already violent.”
“Well, you have to deal with it if you want to stick to me.”
“Trust me, I do,” Sunwoo said, receiving a blush in response. “You know what, I never thought I’d have the smart cutie of the school as my soulmate.”
“Neither did I think I’d have the school’s football captain who can’t cheat properly as my soulmate.”
“Hey! Stop talking about that,” Sunwoo whined, eliciting a giggle from Chanhee. “That was one time. Pretend it never happened.”
Chanhee raised an eyebrow. “Easier said than done. What are we going to tell people about how we met, then?”
Sunwoo’s heart jumped at the thought of telling people about him and Chanhee. “Well,” he hummed, “we can tell them that you were facing many difficulties during the test and then I stepped in, helping you pass the test and get a good grade like the knight in shining armor I am.”
Chanhee’s eyes bored into Sunwoo. “More like the knight with a dirty jersey who can’t do chemistry for shit.”
Sunwoo gasped, offended. “Is your goal in life to bully the hell out of me?”
Chanhee only giggled while covering his hand with his mouth, and Sunwoo couldn’t help but notice how his tiny pinky seemed to separate from his other fingers.
“I chose this place because I thought you’d feel more at ease here. Because, you know, it’s more isolated and nobody can really bother us here..”
Chanhee smiled. “I see. Thank you, Sunwoo. It’s a nice break from all the fuss going on in school.”
“Right, about that,” Sunwoo frowned. “I don’t mind it, but if you do then I could just tell them to stop.”
“I don’t want to underestimate your reputation, however I don’t think they’d stop even if you told them to stop, no?”
“Probably, but it’s worth a shot,” Sunwoo shrugged. “Sorry for basically telling thirty people that you’re my soulmate, by the way. I didn’t know what to do at that moment.”
“Stop apologising, it’s over now,” Chanhee said nonchalantly. “People would eventually find out, anyway, and I don’t think there was much you could do. It happened; it’s all in the past now, let’s move on. I didn’t come here to hear you sounding guilty over doing something which could not be avoided.”
Sunwoo grinned. “You’re right. I’ll stop. Now, tell me Chanhee, how do you like your eggs in the morning?”
Chanhee only raised an eyebrow before he burst out in laughter, providing free music to Sunwoo’s ears.
Around two hours passed, but both boys didn’t even seem to notice. The sun soon set, leaving the dusk to take place instead. Many students entered and exited the library, the librarian kept moving around to place the books on their right place and the cramped place soon seemed to empty itself, however all that went unnoticed by both Sunwoo and Chanhee. The latter had expected things to be kind of awkward and perhaps unpleasant to a certain degree, yet he was proven wrong when he found himself sitting with his warm cheeks slightly sore from having smiled the entire time. Sunwoo, although seeming quite annoying and a show-off at first sight, basically the opposite of Chanhee’s type, was quite fun to be around and never ran out of ideas to entertain Chanhee. He was indeed annoying at times, but that surprisingly didn’t seem to bother Chanhee; on the contrary, it only made him want to continue the playful bickering they never seemed to get tired of.
Their conversations consisted of very random stories (mostly Sunwoo’s stories with his teammates), which were obviously spontaneous—thought of right on the spot—as well as some random facts about each other. Their conversation was very casual and chaotic as they jumped from one topic to another topic, however its imperfection was exactly what Chanhee liked about it because for the first time in what felt like forever he felt relaxed in somebody’s presence other than his friends’. This conversation with Sunwoo made Chanhee realize how stiff he usually was when he talked to people and the sudden realization made his appreciation for Sunwoo grow even more for how he’d managed to make him comfortable in just a couple of hours.
As hours passed, Chanhee seemed to grow fond of Sunwoo and Sunwoo only seemed to fall harder for him.
“Damn, it’s eight thirty,” Sunwoo finally said after a comfortable silence had settled between them.
“Eight thirty?” Chanhee’s eyes grew wide in surprise.
“Apparently.” Sunwoo shrugged, before he smirked. “You like me so much you didn’t even notice how much time had passed.”
“Shut up,” Chanhee muttered, yet he didn’t even make an attempt to protest. It was the truth; both him and Sunwoo knew very well.
“I talked too much about myself, didn't I," Sunwoo wondered out loud. "I hope you remember at least two things about me."
Chanhee snorted. “Actually, the only thing I remember is that you stick your face masks on the fucking wall.”
Sunwoo sighed. "You'll forever pester me about this, won't you."
“You bet I will. It's so disturbing!” Chanhee seemed to get worked up again. “How do you even— Why do you even do that? What’s the logical reason you do that? Like, please Sunwoo, there has to be a reason you do that.”
As Chanhee expressed his frustration with various hand movements and facial expressions, Sunwoo could only rest his chin on his hand and stare at the boy in front of him with a dumb smile on his face. Oh how pretty he was. No matter the situation; be it him smiling, frowning or scowling, he remained pretty.
The prettiest boy Sunwoo had ever seen.
“Stop looking at me like that,” Chanhee muttered, flustered, once he noticed Sunwoo’s lack of response. “I’m still waiting for an answer, by the way.”
Sunwoo raised an eyebrow. “I’m afraid there’s no logical reason as to why I throw my face masks on the wall.”
Chanhee could only sigh in distress and pinch the bridge of his nose, eliciting a laugh from Sunwoo who seemed entertained by his reaction.
“Anyway, I need to get going now..” Chanhee trailed off, hesitantly looking at the entrance and then at Sunwoo.
Sunwoo frowned but nodded his head. It was dark, late, and they still had school tomorrow; neither of them could do anything about it. They had plenty of days to meet each other and have a pleasant conversation just like today’s conversation. They could learn new things about each other, as well as share other entertaining things reserved only for the two of them. That was what Sunwoo kept telling himself, as a way to reassure himself while he watched Chanhee pack up and get ready to leave.
Suddenly, an idea popped in his mind.
“I have an idea!”
Chanhee turned to him. “I wonder what that little brain of yours is up to now. It can’t be anything good for sure.”
“Could you tutor me in chemistry?” Sunwoo asked with a tiny glint of hope in his eyes, hoping his pleading look could make Chanhee give in.
“I was right.”
“Oh, come on!” Sunwoo whined, standing up and grabbing Chanhee by the arm. “I really need to pass chemistry. Like, really.”
“It was our final exam,” Chanhee pointed out. “I don’t think you need my tutoring now.”
“Mr. Park will give me another chance,” Sunwoo said confidently. “I know him. He always does that. He can’t let me, the Kim Sunwoo, fail the chemistry exam.”
Chanhee stared at him for a couple of seconds, before he shook his head and pulled his arm away from Sunwoo’s grip. “You’re insufferable. I hope you know that.”
“I’ve been told.” Sunwoo grinned. “So? Do you agree?”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Chanhee rolled his eyes, before quickly adding, “but I’m not the best tutor out there. I’m quite impatient and strict, and if you can’t handle that, then I suggest you back out now.”
“Oh come on, how bad can it be.”
—
Chanhee turned out to be true to his word because it hadn’t even been fifteen minutes and he was already running out of patience after Sunwoo kept teasing him about something quite embarrassing, hence he’d punished him with a considerable amount of exercises Sunwoo had to do.
They were once again in the library, at 5 pm, sitting at the place they had sat yesterday. The only difference was that Chanhee had taken the role of the tutor and Sunwoo the role of the annoying student who wouldn’t stop playing around with their teacher. Today the library seemed a bit more packed than yesterday, for some reason neither Chanhee nor Sunwoo could understand because it was literally Friday, however that didn’t stop Chanhee from scolding Sunwoo and the latter from continuously whining at how harsh he was being.
“So, when magnesium reacts with sulphuric acid it forms magnesium sulphate and releases—” Chanhee stopped mid-sentence, looking up and catching Sunwoo’s dazed eyes. “Sunwoo.”
Sunwoo blinked. “Yes?”
“Repeat what I just said.”
“Uhh,” Sunwoo stuttered, “Sunwoo is the most handsome soulmate I could ever ask for?”
Chanhee placed his pencil down with a loud thud and leaned back on his chair. “That’s it. I’m done.”
“I’m sorry! I was just thinking about how you getting a tattoo will make me have a tattoo on my wrist, too.”
Chanhee furrowed his eyebrows. “What do you mean?”
“Well, when we write on our wrists it shows up on each other’s wrists, right,” Sunwoo elaborated. “Well, if you, or I, ever get a tattoo, it’ll show up on the other’s wrist, too. That means one of us won’t have to get one. It’s so cool if you think about it.”
Chanhee seemed to think about it before he smiled. “Right. It’s cute.”
“Maybe one day I can get a small sun tattoo for both of us.”
“Why a sun?”
“Because the first three letters of my name are ‘sun’. That way you’ll never miss me,” Sunwoo winked at him.
“Sap,” Chanhee rolled his eyes, yet a smile tugged at his lips. “What about me, then?”
“Hmm,” Sunwoo hummed, examining Chanhee’s face thoroughly. Then, his eyes lit up. “A penguin!”
“A penguin?” Chanhee repeated, confused.
“Yes,” Sunwoo said, satisfied. “Penguins are cute and they kind of waddle. So do you. And you’re also cute.”
“That isn’t fair!” Chanhee protested, yet his flushed cheeks seemed to disagree with him.
“What do you want to be then?”
“Hello Kitty,” Chanhee murmured, voice so low Sunwoo was unable to understand what he’d said.
“What did you say?”
“I said Hello Kitty.” Chanhee repeated, louder than the last time. His response seemed to bring a wide smile to Sunwoo’s lips as he practically melted at the boy’s endearing behavior. Chanhee liked Hello Kitty, he had the tendency to put his hand in front of his mouth whenever he laughed, his pinky seemed to have a mind of its own and he had the sweetest scent Sunwoo had ever been faced with. Sunwoo was so enamored.
“Alright my Hello Kitty,” Sunwoo said. “I’ll get a Hello Kitty tattoo and you’ll get a sun tattoo. One day. How does that sound?”
Chanhee beamed. “Lovely.”
Once the short-lived conversation ended Chanhee went back to explaining all the basics to Sunwoo since the boy had little to no knowledge about chemistry, including almost all the basics. However Sunwoo proved himself to have a very short attention span because every once in a while he’d stop Chanhee mid-sentence and tell him whatever crossed his mind, seemingly more concerned with thinking about whatever he wished than paying attention to Chanhee. Sunwoo’s unwillingness to pay attention and lack of interest eventually made Chanhee grow tired of him, causing him to stop the tutoring session and call it a day, although it had barely been a full hour since they had started.
“Seriously, I don’t get why you asked me to tutor you when you’re barely paying attention,” Chanhee sighed. “How do you expect to pass your exam when you don’t even know the basics and won’t bother to learn them?”
“Today is just not my day,” Sunwoo justified himself. “How can I pay attention when it’s such a good day and I could be hanging outside and eating ice cream instead of having to sit here and listen to all these boring things?”
Chanhee raised an eyebrow.
“You’re not boring, alright,” Sunwoo rushed to add. “Chemistry is the problem.”
“Well, boring or not, I’m your only hope if you actually want to pass the exam.”
Sunwoo continued looking out the window, seemingly in deep thought, before he turned to Chanhee with a smirk. “I have a better idea.”
“Please, not you and your ideas again,” Chanhee shook his head in disapproval. “Whatever it is, save it.”
“Hear me out! It’s a good day, the sun is shining, the birds are chirping, the—” Sunwoo stopped mid-sentence as soon as he caught Chanhee’s glare. He scratched his throat. “What I mean is, let’s go out and have some fun.”
“And your definition of fun is?”
“The carnival.”
Chanhee seemed to think about it for a moment before he pursed his lips. “I have mixed feelings about the carnival.”
Sunwoo squinted his eyes. “And why is that?”
“Long story, but I basically got off a ride with melted ice cream on the top of my head. A kid’s ice cream flew during the ride and it just had to end up on my head,” Chanhee sighed.
Sunwoo huffed out a laugh at the image of little Chanhee walking home with ice cream on his head and a grumpy look on his face, but soon stopped when Chanhee sent him a dirty look. “Well then, allow me to show you how fun carnivals can be? I promise this time it won’t end with you having ice cream on your head.”
“Fine. But if I have to walk home with ice cream anywhere on me I swear your head won’t be the only part of you that will receive the cold punishment of the ice cream,” Chanhee said, stood up and then grabbed his things. Then, he walked further away to approach the entrance, leaving a rushing Sunwoo behind.
“Wait for me!”
Indeed it was a beautiful afternoon. The sun had slowly begun to set, painting the sky in vivid and summery colors and it continued to be warm outside despite the sun setting; a telltale of how hot that day had actually been. Maybe a little hotter than usual seeing as it was only May, but a beautiful day nevertheless.
The moment Chanhee felt Sunwoo’s presence beside him he began to head to the carnival, but not before Sunwoo’s bold nature decided to hold Chanhee’s hand in his. Chanhee turned his head to look at Sunwoo with an amused smile, yet the latter didn’t dare to look back at him and continued to look straight ahead with a slight blush in his cheeks, both surprising and pleasing Chanhee for having proved that even he, no matter his boosting confidence and shameless flirting, still became flustered.
The carnival was luckily only ten minutes away, so it didn’t take long before Chanhee and Sunwoo got there.
The moment they got there they were met by a very familiar sight to both of them. Regardless of it being a Friday and late in the afternoon, many people had chosen to spend their free time at the carnival and have fun despite the carnival being a cramped place with overpriced stuff and lots of kids unnecessarily screaming at the top of their lungs.
Once he was met with the unpleasant sight Chanhee rolled his eyes, but decided not to say anything about it after seeing how excited Sunwoo actually was.
Sunwoo turned to him. “Where do you wanna go first?”
Chanhee shrugged. “You choose first.”
“Let’s begin with the bumper cars, then,” Sunwoo said, dragging Chanhee to the bumper cars. “It’s common knowledge that they’re superior.”
Chanhee soon found out that the sole reason Sunwoo suggested the bumper cars was to see Chanhee miserably fail at avoiding Sunwoo’s merciless attacks, as he spent the whole time on the ride trying to ram into his car and laughing at the many facial expressions Chanhee pulled every time Sunwoo was yet again successful in his attempt. Although annoyed by Sunwoo’s competitiveness and undying wish to play around with him, he couldn’t deny the fact that Sunwoo looked effortlessly attractive while steering the bumper car with one hand on the wheel and the strong wind ruffling his hair. Chanhee was however pulled out of his trance whenever his body lunged forward due to being hit by Sunwoo’s car, once again being reminded of the menace Sunwoo was.
“I totally beat your ass over there,” Sunwoo said once he got out of the car, approaching Chanhee.
“Shut up,” Chanhee grumbled. “You only wanted to ride the bumper cars to show off your skills.”
“Aw, don’t be sad, angel,” Sunwoo cooed, slinging an arm over Chanhee’s shoulder and bringing him closer to himself. “Maybe one day you’ll become as good as me and beat my ass, too.”
Chanhee shoved him away as a smile tugged at his lips. “You bet I will. This is not over, Kim Sunwoo.”
Sunwoo’s eyes crinkled in delight as he nodded his head and then held Chanhee’s hand, dragging him somewhere else. In the midst of walking around and looking at the rides, Chanhee’s eye caught a lone tent placed between a bunch of trees. He squeezed Sunwoo’s hand to gain his attention and pointed at the tent.
“Look. It says ‘fortune telling’. Let’s go.”
“You want to get your fortune read? Seriously?”
“Why not?” Chanhee shrugged. “It’ll be so funny, come on. You decided for the bumper cars, this time it’s my turn.”
“Fine.” Sunwoo huffed.
As soon as they entered the lone tent, they were both enveloped by darkness. Chanhee strained his eyes as he peered into the gloom, making out a small lamp in the center of the room as the only source of light in that tent, as well as a rug beneath their feet and various cheap-looking ornaments to make the tent resemble that of a true fortune teller. Although far from actually being one, it was enough to excite Chanhee.
The fortune telling tent turned out to be quite a fun experience after the self-proclaimed fortune teller ended up telling Sunwoo that she saw financial problems in his life, which Sunwoo flatly responded with ‘Thanks. I’ll be a college student in less than a year.’ She was not over with her prediction, however Sunwoo didn’t bother to pay attention to her made-up-on-the-spot words about his future as he was too busy sulking over Chanhee laughing at his face. Although he happened to be in an embarrassing situation, that still didn’t stop him from admiring Chanhee’s giggles which sounded like those of a fairy’s. Financial problems were nothing to laugh about, according to Sunwoo, but if Chanhee wanted to laugh then so be it.
“This is so embarrassing, truly,” Sunwoo said after coming out of the tent. “Financial problems, really?”
“Hey, that’s not the only thing she said about your future,” Chanhee giggled. “She also said you’d have your own apartment in the future, but you’d step in dog shit while moving in.”
“Thanks. That made me feel much better, really.”
Chanhee only laughed and hugged Sunwoo’s arm in response.
“I know what will make you feel better.”
Chanhee dragged Sunwoo to the popcorn stall and paid for his and Sunwoo’s popcorn, immediately bringing a wide smile to Sunwoo’s face.
“How come you’re always right,” Sunwoo shook his head fondly before popping some popcorn in his mouth.
“I just am,” Chanhee shrugged.
After walking around aimlessly for some time, Sunwoo abruptly stopped. “You look like you’re in need of a stuffed animal and I somehow happen to be good at knocking down pins.”
Chanhee raised an eyebrow challengingly. “Oh really?”
“Yes, really. Watch and learn.”
Chanhee let himself be pulled by Sunwoo towards one of the game stands. Soon enough, they stood in front of the game stand as well as a huge display of both huge and small stuffed toys. One of the big stuffed toys happened to be a Hello Kitty one and Sunwoo couldn’t miss the way Chanhee’s eyes sparkled at the sight of it.
“The rules are simple,” someone suddenly spoke up and both Chanhee and Sunwoo focused on the girl standing behind the stall. “In order to get one of these big stuffed toys you need to knock down three pins. If you knock down two you get one of these,” she gestured towards the small stuffed toys. “If you knock down only one or none you go home with no stuffed toy. As simple as that.”
Sunwoo turned to Chanhee. “If I manage to knock down three, promise me you’ll give me a kiss on the cheek.”
“What do you mean ‘manage’? You said you were good at it, though?” Chanhee asked, confused.
“Just promise me.”
Chanhee rolled his eyes. “Fine.”
Satisfied, Sunwoo rolled his shoulders and sent Chanhee a wink before he stared straight ahead and focused on the pins.
Just like Sunwoo had previously said, he was good at such games, hence he faced no difficulties when knocking down the pins. He successfully knocked down three pins one after another, making it seem way too easy. He probably spent a lot of time at the carnival when he was young, or maybe even now.
“Congratulations,” the girl smiled. “Which one do you want?”
With no hint of hesitation, Chanhee picked out the giant Hello Kitty that had undoubtedly caught his eyes since the beginning and hugged it close to his chest. Sunwoo only giggled at his cuteness and patted the stuffed toy’s head.
“Well? Where’s my thank you?”
Chanhee seemed to hesitate for a moment, looking up at Sunwoo with his bottom lip caught between his teeth, before he walked closer and planted a light kiss on Sunwoo’s cheek. The touch was brief and as light as a feather, yet it was enough to satisfy Sunwoo and make a huge smile appear on his face. Chanhee was simply adorable.
“You’re welcome,” Sunwoo teased.
Chanhee and Sunwoo spent exactly two hours at the carnival, beating each other in different games and having fun. Sunwoo undoubtedly beat Chanhee in fast-paced and strength games, whereas Chanhee beat him in games that required patience, such as claw machines. Sunwoo had accused them of being a scam and had told Chanhee not to waste his time and money with them, but he’d been soon proven wrong when Chanhee managed to win a raccoon stuffed toy after only two tries. He gave the raccoon stuffed toy to Sunwoo after proudly telling him that they resembled each other. Sunwoo’s protests fell in deaf ears as Chanhee insisted on him keeping it and taking care of it and he couldn’t do anything but give in.
“Look, it’s dark,” Sunwoo pointed at the sky while munching on a corn dog. “We have once again lost track of time.”
“Oh, you’re right,” Chanhee said, clutching onto the Hello Kitty toy. He had not once let go of it since he’d been given it, except the few times he’d had to play games.
“I’m kind of glad we don’t, though,” Sunwoo said after a while. “It just shows how much we enjoy each other’s presence, right?” He then turned to Chanhee, wishing to hear the response he was hoping for.
Chanhee turned his head to Sunwoo and looked him in the eyes, smiling fondly. “Yes, Sunwoo. It does.”
Sunwoo only smiled and wrapped an arm around Chanhee’s frame, side-hugging him. The latter tensed at first, caught off guard, before he slowly allowed himself to relax and snuggle closer to Sunwoo, relishing the peaceful, warm moment they had surrounded themselves with.
The moment Chanhee entered his room after his hang-out with Sunwoo, he threw himself in his bed and buried his face in his pillow, letting out a not-so-quiet scream that could thankfully not be heard. He had little to no idea about what was happening to him; the only thing he knew was that Sunwoo was the reason behind it.
Truth to be told, Chanhee was a bit confused with his feelings. He wasn’t so sure that he had caught romantic feelings for Sunwoo, but his feelings couldn’t be entirely platonic, either. That he was sure of it. It was true that he had never been in love with anyone before and that he’d always struggled with telling the difference between platonic and romantic feelings, but the people around him had always told him not to fret about it because he would be able to tell when the right person would come. Back then he hadn’t been able to understand, but now he did.
When he caught the sight of the Hello Kitty stuffed toy laid beside him, Chanhee smiled softly and began tracing the toy’s face.
Needless to say, Sunwoo kept his promise. Chanhee didn’t end up with ice cream on his head.
—
Days passed and Chanhee and Sunwoo seemed to grow closer than ever. If before Chanhee felt visibly uncomfortable at being the center of attention, he had now grown used to it and didn’t seem to be bothered by it that much. The only person that was worth his attention was Sunwoo and not the people around him who seemed to have too much free time to focus on something else other than Chanhee and Sunwoo.
Chanhee introduced Sunwoo to his friends and Sunwoo did the same with his friends, and now they were more often than not seen hanging out together. Neither of them hesitated to be affectionate in front of their friends, however that was mostly Sunwoo’s thing. Chanhee had been slightly surprised to see how much of a clingy person Sunwoo was, but he couldn’t say that he hated it. Sure, he pretended he didn’t like it at first, but it didn’t take long for him to break out of his character. Again, a reminder of how much of a menace Sunwoo was.
It was another hot May day, except that Sunwoo had to take the chemistry exam he had undoubtedly failed. He had been right about Mr. Park giving him a chance to retake his exam and had spent most of his time at the library with Chanhee actually tutoring him. After their carnival date Chanhee had not given him another chance to distract him and take him out on another date, promising him that they could go out on dates as much as they liked only after the exam. That oddly seemed to motivate Sunwoo who had actually put effort in studying as best as he could, while also giving Chanhee the devilish thought of playing the ‘you can only have something if you do this’ card to make Sunwoo give in whenever he was being stubborn.
It was exam day, except that the person who was supposed to take the exam in question was nowhere to be seen.
“Where the hell is he?” Chanhee muttered to himself after he hung up, placing his phone on the table. It was lunch break and Sunwoo had yet to make an appearance.
“He’ll come, Chanhee, don’t worry,” Younghoon said while munching on his fries. “I don’t think he’d ever miss the exam after actually studying. It’s Sunwoo we’re talking about.”
“Yeah, I know, but that still doesn’t explain why he isn’t coming.”
“You know what,” Changmin spoke up, “I’m kinda starting to miss the times when you didn’t give a fuck about anybody. You’re sort of annoying right now.”
“Shut up,” Chanhee grumbled, throwing his napkin at his best friend. “ You are annoying.”
“And I take pride in that,” Changmin beamed.
Before Chanhee could open his mouth, Youngjae beat him to it. “Oh look who finally decided to get his ass up and show himself today.”
Upon hearing that, Chanhee turned his head and spotted a very sluggish Sunwoo heading towards their table. The boy didn’t take long before he plopped down on the seat next to Chanhee with a groan and leaned on his shoulder.
“Are you okay?” Chanhee immediately asked, bringing the boy closer to himself.
When Sunwoo didn’t respond, Chanhee grew even more worried.
“Sunwoo?”
“I’m fine, angel,” Sunwoo managed to say, wrapping his arms around his waist and snuggling closer to him. “I stayed up late last night studying for my exam and I missed my alarm.”
Chanhee sighed out in relief and shook his head, gently hitting Sunwoo at the back of his head. Sunwoo only whined.
“You idiot. I was worried sick.”
“I can confirm that,” Changmin said.
“Aw, that’s cute,” Sunwoo said, however his voice was muffled due to him burying his face in Chanhee’s shoulder. Chanhee only wrapped his arm around him and began stroking his hair in response.
“Stop doing that or I’ll fall asleep and miss my exam,” Sunwoo mumbled, yet he leaned into his touch.
“You guys are so cute it’s gross,” Hyunjae said, but soon groaned in pain when Sunwoo kicked him under the table.
“Take a nap,” Chanhee whispered. “I’ll wake you up when it’s time.”
As if on cue, Chanhee felt Sunwoo visibly relax against him and take slow breaths.
“I find it cute how Sunwoo made you change opinions about soulmates,” Kevin said after seeing Chanhee and Sunwoo’s interaction. “You used not to be so keen on ever finding your soulmate, but look at you now.”
Chanhee smiled shyly and looked down at Sunwoo who seemed to fall in and out of his slumber. “Well, what can I say. He’s adorable.”
Sooner than Chanhee would’ve liked the time for the exam came and it took everything in Chanhee not to let Sunwoo continue his peaceful nap. Had it been up to him he would’ve let the boy sleep as much as he liked while looking as peaceful as ever, however it would be wrong of him to do so.
“Sunwoo, wake up,” Chanhee gently shook the boy. “It’s time.”
The confused sound that Sunwoo let out made Chanhee drown in guilt and his heart melt at his cuteness. He would willingly take the exam instead of Sunwoo, but too bad it didn’t work like that.
Sunwoo blinked slowly, looking straight ahead like someone who didn’t know his own name, before he sluggishly straightened his back and stretched his limbs.
“That was the best nap I've ever taken in my life,” Sunwoo said, winking at Chanhee.
Chanhee only rolled his eyes and stood up, pulling Sunwoo up. “Shut up, you have an exam to worry about.”
Sunwoo groaned. “Right.”
“Come on,” Chanhee patted his shoulder, “I know you’ll do well. Have some faith in yourself.”
“I’ll only do well if you give me a kiss here,” Sunwoo said while tapping on his puckered lips.
“God, even when you’re sleepy you’re insufferable,” Chanhee grumbled, though he couldn’t hold back a smile. He then began pushing Sunwoo to his chemistry class, ignoring his friends’ groans and Sunwoo’s complaints.
“You’re so mean!”
“Aw, don’t be sad, angel,” Chanhee mimicked Sunwoo, stifling a laugh while doing so. “I’ll only give you a kiss if you do well, which I know you will.”
That seemed to work quite well because soon enough, the frown disappeared from Sunwoo’s lips and he no longer looked sleepy.
“Watch and learn, Choi Chanhee,” Sunwoo said, pointing a finger to him while Chanhee only raised an eyebrow amused.
The boy then disappeared inside his class, which left Chanhee to turn back and head to his own class. Chanhee had barely even stepped inside his physics class, when his wrist unexpectedly tingled.
wtf is a catalyst???
Chanhee could only laugh behind his palm and shake his head at his boyfriend’s silliness.
“Oh I’m definitely watching and learning,” he muttered to himself with a fond smile on his face before picking up his pen and writing the answer to Sunwoo.
Oh Chanhee would so annoy Sunwoo about this later.