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“Hey, um, Ian-?”
He knew what Jeff was going to ask before he finished the sentence. He’d been crying for the better part of the past evening over someone he refused to name that he liked a lot, who didn’t like him back, apparently.
Okay, it was definitely PBG, there was no denying that. But, if he didn’t want to admit that, he didn’t have to admit that.
Still, the question was obvious, so Ian let out a sigh. “You want me to check your red string?”
A slight nod. “Well, I don’t do that for free, not even for friends,” Ian admitted. “It’s freaking tiring.”
Real reason: he was deathly scared to see his own and wanted to avoid it as long as possible. But, he had to keep his excuse up.
Jeff fished a 5000 yen note out of his wallet, but Ian shook his head. “No, not that kind of payment. Do my homework for me.”
“Fine, fine, I’ll do it,” Jeff agreed. “Just... can you see who mine is?”
A deep sigh, and Ian closed his eyes. Strings and strings and strings stretched out in front of him. All bright red, but each glowing with a different hue. He avoided looking too close at the purple-hued one and instead touched the one shining with a pale yellow, almost white.
His mind’s eye followed it until it started glowing a different color, a pure blinding white. That color felt familiar, but it wasn’t PBG’s, that was for sure. And it was close by, so another student. Male, probably, felt like the same dorms, and almost touching two other strings.
Well, he didn’t even have to check who that could be. “It’s Paul.”
Jeff’s eyes shot open in shock. “Paul? You’re kidding!”
“Nope, no one else rooms with two people,” he explained. “And, same aura. So, it has to be him.”
His roommate couldn’t stop gaping at him. “You’re positive?”
Ian nodded. “I wouldn’t be bullshitting you about something like this, swear.”
“A-alright!”, Jeff stuttered out. “Um, thanks! I’ll do your homework for a week, okay?”
More than his asking price, but he wasn’t complaining.
A week later, and Ian had never seen Jeff so happy. It’d taken him all of a day to work up the courage to ask Paul out, and a couple more for him to admit that Ian had seen the red string connecting them and marking them as soulmates. Shockingly Paul took the knowledge in stride and had begun proudly telling anyone who would listen Jeff was his “first lady”.
As much as Ian wanted to vomit, he was happy for them. Normally, people he told about their soulmate weren’t quite so happy with the outcome. It’d taken Luke a week to speak to him again after he’d told him who his soulmate was, and he wasn’t entirely certain Luke had actually spoken to said soulmate since learning of their “destiny”.
Still, he wasn’t really expecting Paul to have told anyone else about what he’d done for Jeff. Granted, it wasn’t like he told the entire school or put it in the newspaper, but he wasn’t really expecting Normal Boots to ask him to do it for them.
“Ian, please?”, PBG begged at lunch. “I wanna know who Hana’s soulmate is!”
He rolled his eyes. “That’s Hana’s business.”
“But, what if I’m her soulmate?”, PBG questioned. “Wouldn’t I-”
“Then ask me to find yours!”, Ian huffed. “And pay up, will you?”
PBG just walked away without another word, and Ian felt… unnerved. It wasn’t right for him to be prying into Hana’s heart. Besides, he knew PBG’s soulmate already, and it sure as hell wasn’t Hana, and it’d be better for him to learn that on his own.
Still, he wasn’t surprised at all when he found someone else come up to him. Slightly moreso that it was Jirard, but he supposed Jirard seemed a romantic enough.
A plate of cookies was set in front of him. All seemingly freshly baked, chocolate chips still melty. He looked up at Jirard, who sat down next to him.
“Jeff told me you needed payment for finding someone’s soulmate,” Jirard started with a warm smile. “Will a plate of cookies do?”
They looked amazing, if Ian was being honest. And, in the cafeteria was the easiest place to find a soulmate, if it was someone at the school- which was far more likely than it should have been, all things considered. The town was called Higanbana- the flowers that bloomed along the path of two never to meet again. Not a good omen for any couples that hooked up in the town.
But, the cookies looked good, so he grabbed one and took a bite.”You’ve got a deal,” he told Jirard, a crumb or two falling from his mouth.
Jirard gave a sad smile. “I- I think I’m ready. I want to know, if you can see them, who my soulmate is.”
Ian sighed and closed his eyes. But, as he looked, he found his eyes couldn’t pull away from the purple-tinged string of his own heart. In fact, it was wrapped all around him, linked closely with a much softer red one that could belong to no one but Jirard.
No… that couldn’t be right… Jirard? The nicest person on the damn planet, was his soulmate? Ian didn’t deserve that in the slightest! No, Jirard didn’t deserve that in the slightest.
His eyes shot open, and he let out a sigh. “I…”
What even would he say? “I’m your soulmate?” “We’re meant to fall in love?” “Fate says we’re supposed to be together forever?” No, he couldn’t just say that. Jirard would never believe him.
And besides, why would a wonderful person like Jirard want someone like him as a soulmate anyways? Jirard was warm and kind and made amazing cookies, he truly deserved better. So, the pang of panic in his heart led him to shake his head.
“Sorry, I couldn’t see it,” he apologized.
Face falling into a frown, Jirard nodded. “O-oh. Thanks anyways.”
Well, that had been the worst possible thing to do. Now wonderful Jirard probably didn’t think he had a soulmate.
“I’ll tell him later,” Ian muttered to himself, taking another cookie from the plate.