Chapter Text
Jumin has always hated his birthdays. They were blown out of proportion and made to seem like some big deal when they weren’t. The earth had just revolves around the sun another time since he was born, that’s all.
Today was no exception to the grand festivities, in fact, it was even worse than all the years before. It was October fifth, his twentieth birthday. The day he was supposed to meet his soulmate.
His father had arranged a giant gala in his honor, along with inviting tons and tons of girls, much to his displeasure.
“Whether you do that or not, I’ll find my soulmate regardless.” He has told his father, who had merely waved him off with his hand. “Nonsense, I’m just making it easier.”
He didn’t see the big deal, and even now, he didn’t see it as he was being driven to the biggest gala of the decade. The town was bare as he was driven, most of them inside to watch the grand event on screen or at his party. Jumin hadn't known who his soulmate was was such a hot topic. This was aside from the teen delinquents littering the streets.
Some were smoking, some were chasing around each other laughing. They looked happy, the exact opposite how he had felt this entire day. They were always grateful when his company did something that kept normal civilians off the streets so they could do whatever they wanted. Maybe not the best thing.
He saw his reflection in the window, and he watched his breath cloud up the glass. Jumin didn’t understand, soulmates ages could range from being twenty years below or above your own age, so any infant being born in the hospital on this day could be his soulmate, or even some lady who just turned forty. Why had biology made them like this? What god decided who matched with who?
Jumin would be lying if he said he wasn’t looking forward to at least seeing what his soul mate looked like, no matter what the age or if he had had any interest in them anyways.
They reached a red light, despite there being no other cars around, and he sighed, his eyes wandering to the group of delinquents on the corner playing cards. It was fall now, and it was beginning to get cold.
The group in particular didn’t catch his eye, but rather the pair of albino siblings sitting beside each other. There was a larger high school aged boy sitting to the right of a middle school girl, who seemed to be wrapped in the former's jacket.
She didn’t seem to have any interest in the game, so he watched her look about herself, and when she spotted the car, she leaned up to look through the window curiously.
Her eyes were large and glassy as if she had seen the many wonders of the world, but she was still a child, and she was rather tiny.
Though the windows were tinted and there was no way she could see him, she waved, grinning and showing off a toothy smile. That’s when he felt it.
The string in his heart that claimed to snap when you met your soulmate.
So it was her.
This delinquent kid on the corner who waved to him, only to be scolded by her brother who tugged her towards him, plopping her into his lap. Jumin watched the two bicker for a moment, the girl's eyebrows furrowed as she talked back, before giggling.
“Young Master, is there something wrong?” His driver had asked. The light had since turned green but he watched Jumin through the rear view mirror, watching his eyes grow wide as he came to the realization.
“No..please keep going.” His eyes were fixed on her, as they drove away, missing the glare her brother shot the car.
“If I may speak, you just saw your soulmate, didn’t you?” Driver Kim asked, chuckling slightly when Jumin snapped out of it. It was the first time he had seen him so fixated on something.
Jumin nodded stiffly, “Yes but, she’s a child, and please, do not mention anything to my father, I'd rather him know I’ve met mine at the end of the night and that’s it, not that she’s a child who waved at me on the way to my absurd gala.”
“As you wish.”
The rest of the ride to the entertainment hall was quiet, and he was thinking of what to say to his best friend, Jihyun, when he saw him.
He’d see the girl again when she was an adult, that’s all the mattered. Until then, he wasn’t going to worry about how she was doing or let her affect any of his decisions going forward.
The gala was stuffy and warm, which normally would’ve been a welcome relief from the cool air, but Jihyun hadn’t arrived yet, and he had already been swarmed twice.
His thoughts kept drifting back to how cold it must be outside for her. He didn’t even know her name and now she was all she could think about. It bothered him. How something so out of his control could enamor him so much.
It wasn’t romantic, it was just a bit of worry from the cold, but he assumed her brother would take care of her, or whatever gang she was in would make sure she was fed and warm.
“Jumin.” The raven haired male turned toward the voice of his friend who walked towards him. Jihyun’s mint hair was hard to miss as he jogged towards him.
Jihyun was wearing a pale grey suit, his hair was styled as usual, and his smile was wide.
“Did you meet your soulmate yet- okay.” Jumin grabbed his wrist mid-sentence, pulling him out of the hall and to somewhere more private, which happened to be a
balcony and he closed the door.
“I’m taking that as a yes?” Jihyun chuckled, pushing his hair from his eyes. Jumin pressed his lips together in a thin line, “I did, but it wasn’t anything like I had expected.”
The other male nodded, turning towards the skyline of the city, “So, how'd you meet them? It probably wasn’t here, was it? I assume she'd be glued to you after."
“It’s a girl. She is probably thirteen or fourteen, and she and her brother are a part of a motorcycle gang that I encountered on the way here.” He fixed his cufflinks, and Jihyun whistled.
“You’re right, that is unexpected, does she know?” Jumin shook his head, “Probably not, the windows to the limo were tinted, yet she still waved at me despite not being able to see me.”
The other nodded, and turned to look at him, grinning, “I guess my next question should be if you’re going to tell your father?” He spoke with a chuckle and Jumin glared at him a bit playfully, his jaw clenching in mock annoyance.
“Absolutely not, he will know I’ve met her by the end of the night, but I do not plan on disclosing who or where she is. I know he’ll send a search party and have her made up to be some rich snob.”
Jihyun nodded in agreement, “That’s for certain.” Jumin sighed, leaning on the stone rail, “Did Rika come?” Jihyun’s eyes light up at the mention of his soulmate. “She’s supposed to, thank you for inviting her."
The plan had been for Rika to come, and help him warm up to his soulmate if he had met her at the party, but that plan was completely thrown out the window, so he guessed it would just be a nice night to hang out with his friends.
“It’s kind of sad that your soulmate is so much younger then you, it would’ve been nice if she was cool and met you here, and we could all hang out for the night.” Jihyun voices his thoughts and Jumin shrugged.
“There’s not much I can do, besides, this gives me a chance to live the next few years of my life peacefully until she turns twenty.” Jumin said with certainty, “I’ll keep my mouth shut to keep her from being harassed, and I'll see her when I see her.”
“Sounds like a good idea, now, let’s go celebrate your birthday, okay? I saw your cake and god does it look good."