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7 minutes .
Jaemin's timer on the inside of his wrist always shows the same number, seven minutes. Seven, seven, seven. Truthfully, Jaemin is already a bit tired of that number. He has been seeing it for far too long and he is very desperate to meet his soulmate.
What kind of soulmate keeps on having seven minutes countdown until they see each other? Jaemin does, unfortunately. He's already too envious of his friends' relationships with their soulmates. Mark and Donghyuck crashed into each other while watching a baseball game during the most thrilling moment of when the player from the team they were supporting was so close to home run. Donghyuck was busy searching for food until he reached Mark's aisle and the sudden countdown startled him so much that both of them forgot about the game, instantly finding themselves in each other's arms.
Chenle and Jisung was a special case of childhood sweethearts separated and meeting again later. They first met when they were 12 years old, their time countdown going to zero but as Chenle was only visiting the country, he had to go back to his home. After reaching 18 years old, Chenle moved and both of them started their relationship.
Renjun and Yukhei were a sweet case of soulmates liking each other before knowing they were indeed soulmates because both of them had crushes on each other at first from afar. Yukhei found Renjun's feisty yet soft demeanor cute and Renjun likes how Yukhei was a clumsy but confident person. Their time countdown turned zero when they turned out to be each other's blind dates–courtesy to their parents and they were celebrated quite extravagantly for the happy news.
This is where Jaemin, oh so lonely Jaemin with always seven minutes on his timer, comes with envy in his eyes and bitterness on the tip of his tongue as he sees all his friends finding their soulmates while he has not. Currently, Jaemin is lying down on his bed, head hanging off the edge and thoughts empty. He had just rejected another hangout with the rest of his friends in fear of being the odd one with no soulmate to be with.
Jaemin knows his friends would never let him feel out of place and leave him out but he doesn't think he can spend another minute with them being so in love and cute while he's alone and bored. So, he proceeds to lock himself inside his room and occasionally looking at his wrist.
Fate sucks.
Jaemin swears he's going to go crazy if he still sees the number seven on his wrist. Why won't the number change at all? He sighs dreadfully, dragging his head back on the bed because he felt lightheaded.
Jaemin has spent the last two hours on his phone, checking whatever social media he has and he still feels bored. He lies down on his bed like a starfish, feeling exhausted from doing absolutely nothing the whole day. His parents weren't even home and he has no one to talk with, other than his plushies.
"Buntaengie," he glances at the small pink fluffy plushie on his study table. "Where do you think he is?" he asks, expecting no answer whatsoever, so he turns to grab a round brown-orange plushie next then makes it face himself. "Ryan," he squishes the plushie. "Seven minutes isn't too far away is it?"
Jaemin thinks he's going to go even crazier at this rate, so he closes his eyes shut and heaved a deep sigh. "Thinking makes my head hurt," he mumbled, a yawn leaving his mouth. Slowly, Jaemin falls asleep to his dreamland while his right hand clutches onto his Ryan plushie without realizing the number on his wrist decreasing.
Jaemin is awakened when he feels something on his leg. He could feel it snuggling, his eyes fluttered open instantly and he looks down to his feet to see a creature looking back at him with big eyes. He almost screams but contains it, pulling himself up to sit down criss-crossed while his eyes remained on the small creature at the end of his bed.
"You surprised me there, little one." Jaemin says after he regained his consciousness. He pats his thighs and the cat purrs softly as it made its way to Jaemin's lap. Jaemin strokes the cat's head gently, "Where did you come from, hm?"
The cat ignores the question, snuggling in Jaemin's hold. Jaemin chuckles, amused by the cat's actions. "Alright, at least give me a name," he touches the cat, finding its collar and reads the name written.
"Oh, that's cute. Seol, is it?" he says and Seol perks her head as if responding to the name then snuggles back on Jaemin's lap. "Well, aren't you clingy?"
Jaemin decides he's very, very lazy and he doesn't want to move from his bed, so he thinks he'll find Seol's owner when he gains back his energy. Besides, having another presence in his empty home comforts his lonely heart.
While Jaemin keeps on playing with Seol's fur, he barely notices the timer on his wrist until Seol grabs on his arm, making him see his timer. A loud shocked gasp leaves his lips once he processes the number.
Three.
Three.
Three.
"Three minutes?!" Jaemin shrieks, making Seol purr loudly and jump down from his hold to the floor. Jaemin pays him no attention, blinking his eyes profusely and rubbing them in case he was seeing things. He closes them shut, counts to three and opens it again.
Another shriek leaves his lips and he jumps to his feet, taking his phone and his coat. He was about to leave his room but comes back to call for Seol. Seol, albeit being lazy, walks up to him and Jaemin beams excitedly.
"You see this, Seollie? This is the closest we have ever been, I'm going to find my soulmate by hook or by crook." Jaemin laughs, almost evilly as he gets out of his home to the hall. He glances at his wrist, eyes widening even more than before.
Two.
Jaemin's heart raced intensely he freezes for a second. He suddenly feels fear washing over him. He's barely two minutes away from meeting his soulmate. He should be happy, elated and jumping in joy but he only feels nervous and anxious. Seol taps him, making him snap out of his thoughts while she purrs, looking at him in a somewhat concerned gaze for a cat.
Jaemin chuckles, rubbing the Seol's cat while calming himself down. He takes slow hesitant steps to the elevator, eyes locked on his wrist as he watches his timer counting down to one minute.
One.
One more minute.
Jaemin takes the deepest breath and the elevator stops at his floor, making a 'ding!' sound the same time his timer decreased drastically. Jaemin's eyes shift down from the floor number on top of the elevator door to meet eyes with a pair of beautiful dark brown ones that he swears, shook his heartstrings.
Seol leaps out of Jaemin's arms to nuzzle on the leg of the person in front of Jaemin. The two don't pay attention to Seol though. The other boy gets off the elevator, the door closes behind him and they share an overwhelming staring contest.
Jaemin sees his timer blinking the number zero and so did the person in front of him. Suddenly, every single thing, every single thought Jaemin had to prepare himself when he meets his soulmate for the first time disappears from his head. He could only open and close his mouth like a fish, without uttering anything.
Seol purrs, gaining both of their attention and the owner (Jaemin guesses) crouches down to take her in his arms and cooes at her. "What are you doing outside, Seol?"
Jaemin's breath hitches once he hears his supposedly soulmate's voice. His soulmate's look already surprised him by how beautiful he is and now his soothing voice made his heart flutter.
Feeling the other's eyes on him again, Jaemin clears his throat nervously. "She was in my room, um, chilling."
His soulmate raises an eyebrow in confusion. "Chilling?"
"Y-yeah, like I was sleeping and then I woke up, finding her on my bed. I was surprised too," Jaemin doesn't know why defended himself but he did, his cheeks turning red at being stared at so intensely by his soulmate's sharp gaze.
"Oh!" His soulmate gasps, "I'm sorry about that." now it was his turn to blush. He glances at Seol as if giving her a threatening glare before shyly looking back at Jaemin.
"I...never saw you before." Jaemin blurts out and instantly bites down on his lip, regretting his choice of words.
"Yeah, it's my first time seeing you too." His soulmate replies, eyes smiling into crescents along with his lips. "I'm Jeno,"
"Jaemin,"
Jaemin offers a hand and Jeno takes it, shaking his hand. What passes through their touch sent them a bunch of feelings and sparks of electricity that made them stare at each other again then burst into laughter.
"Well, Jeno. I don't know about you but I'm a little hungry right now. Care to join me for a meal?" Jaemin asks, smiling confidently. Jeno's smile widens as he nods.
"Does convenience store ramyeon suit your taste?"
Jaemin jumps on the bed, landing right beside his soulmate who just laughs heartily and slings an arm around his waist.
"I'm back!" Jaemin beams happily, snuggling close to Jeno. Jeno smiles, pushing away strands of hair from Jaemin's eyes with his free hand.
"I can see, Nana." Jeno replies, pinching on Jaemin's cheek lightly. "Why are you happy today, love?"
Jaemin giggles, feeling tingles from the endearment. "It's our first month after finding out we were soulmates," he smiles, shaking Jeno slightly, making the latter laugh as he peppers Jaemin's face with kisses.
"Happy monthsary then, love."
"Happy monthsary, sweetheart. Anyways, I've been wanting to ask this for a long, looooong time ago–"
"You met me a month ago, Nana."
"Eh, who cares? Anyways, I've always wanted to ask how our timers were always seven minutes apart? But I found that out already since we're practically neighbours, which is still very weird to me that we never even met."
Jeno pats Jaemin's cheek softly. "I don't like going out and you have a tendency to look at your timer when you get home. So, it's just a coincidence that we were always seven minutes away from seeing each other."
Jaemin giggles, landing a wet kiss on Jeno's cheek. "My boyfriend is so smart. No wonder he's future valedictorian."
"We're soulmates but okay, love."
"I can't wait to tell this story to our grandchildren!" Jaemin beams excitedly, hugging Jeno tighter.
Jeno just laughs as he caresses Jaemin's hair lovingly. "We don't even have children yet but alright, Nana. I'll let you tell them everything,"
"Oh, right! You have to always thank Seol, okay?" Jaemin says, putting out his pinky finger in between them. "Without her, I think we'd end up together much later."
"I know, it's not like Seol can jump into someone else's house for no reason." Jeno mumbles, still caressing Jaemin's hair.
Jaemin hums in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"Let's just say Seol is just as smart as her owner, hm?" Jeno smiles, pressing their lips for a short kiss.
"What? Lee Jeno, what did you do?"
"I didn't do anything, love. It's fate ,"