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Waking up, all tangled into his own red string of fate wasn’t anything new for Hoseok. Truth be told, it happened pretty often. He really couldn’t stay in one place while sleeping; always turning and tossing around countless times, to the point he would wake up completely upside down.
Said boy sighed and sat upon the edge of his bed, proceeding to untangle himself from the knotted, twisted string wrapped all around him.
He tried his best to sort the strand out as gently as possible. Hoseok could already imagine how annoyed the person on the other side must be. If there was even anyone waiting for him there...
The person on the other end of Hope’s red string of fate, Taehyung, currently sat in his morning class, trying to take notes.
“Why is your hand shaking so much, Tae? Don’t tell me you’re really on your 10th coffee,” Jimin chuckled, trying to lighten up his visibly pissed friend. You see, Tae’s ‘shaky hand issue’ was nothing other than his soulmate doing ‘something’.
“Oh god, what is that?” Park laughed out loud, pointing at the mess his best friend shakily scribbled down in his notebook.
“Fuck,” Tae muttered as he used his ‘normal’ hand to hold onto the other one where his red string is, and stop it from shaking so much. “Can’t you see? Notes,” he grumbled. Taking a deep breath to calm himself down, he carried on taking notes. It can’t just shake like that forever... right?
Wrong.
It was a busy day at the small, campus cafe Hoseok worked in.
All the students came out right after their classes just to get a spot in this cramped, overloaded place.
He kept running around, from one table to another, silently praying he would not trip over his red string and spill the drinks he was serving, all that while flashing his bright smile left and right.
To say Taehyung felt bored out of his mind would be an understatement.
Jimin dragged him to the nearby cafe to drool over a certain barista working there, and not seem like a total creep for doing so.
“Once again, why am I even friends with you?” Tae sighed while resting his head on his hand. Watching Jimin doing whatever he was doing, wasn’t any better.
“Shhh, he’s looking at us,” Jimin shushed his best friend quickly, as he made sure to flash his prettiest smile when a particular tattooed cafe worker looked over at him.
“You seriously get tired of me shooting my shot but not your soulmate giving you Parkinson's?” Park snarled, putting his chin on his hand. He was smiling evilly. Oh, he had a damn great idea!
“Whatever it is, I’m not doing that. Forget it.” The other rolled his eyes and waved his hand dismissively. He knew what that face of Jimin’s meant— something definitely stupid (and lots of trouble).
“Oh come on,” Jimin whined. “Try tugging at it!” he said, his grin becoming bigger and bigger. “Then you guys will be even. Besides, it’s not like only they can do that and annoy the hell out of you, right?”
Tae stared at his friend with his eyes wide. All the boredom left his body at the shockingly smart idea coming from the older. “Sometimes you’re really smart, you know?” he said, looking at his red string intensively.
His hand moved on its own, gripping the thread tightly. Taehyung gave it a light, experimental tug.
Nothing happened. Taehyung shrugged and tried tugging again. This time harder. He used his full force to yank at the red thread, as hard as he physically could.
That is when he heard a loud thump.
Someone fell down?
Hoseok did a beeline between the tables overflowed with people, carrying a full tray of all sorts of coffees and sweet drinks, and of course, a big, bright smile on his face.
Until...
Hobi felt a tiny, gentle tug on his wrist. One he ignored, since it was a normal thing to happen to his clumsy self. Nothing new.
However, he did not see another tug at his red string coming.
It happened fast, too fast. Another tug at his string of fate was nothing like the previous one. Hoseok realised— it wasn’t his clumsiness but a certain someone tugging on the thread on purpose. That could not be classified as tugging. The person behind all that surely used their full force.
The “tug” turned out to be strong enough to throw the tray right out of his hands, making the drinks land on the floor, with Hoseok joining the party.
This whole situation didn’t go unnoticed by Jimin, who sat there, observing the whole cafe closely. He sat, looking around their table, specifically examining people’s hands.
Then, he saw a waiter with a full tray of drinks pretty close to them. The next thing he saw was the same bright boy sprawled across the wet, dirty floor, just like that!
Park kicked his friend under the table to get Taehyung's attention.
But Tae didn't pay any attention to Jimin and whatever he tried to do now. His eyes stayed completely focused on the cute boy, watching him with a dreamy smile on his face.
Taehyung finally found his soulmate.
He had to be the most beautiful person Tae ever laid his eyes on. Big doe eyes, looking around in confusion; hazelnut brown hair that greatly complimented his glowing, honey skin; adorable cheeks (Taehyung could bet they were soft to touch), making said boy look like an adorable squirrel, and god—those dimples. On top of all that, a big, bright smile, shaped like a heart, and a warm, sunshine-like aura. His soulmate was bright like a thousand suns all together.
“Hey! Are you even listening to me?!” Park yelled with a frown on his face. At that, Tae shook his head, making the thoughts about a certain cute boy go away.
“What?”
Hoseok sat up and looked around himself. God, what a mess!
His co-worker ran to him and helped him get up. “Oh my— are you okay? Go take over the register, you clumsy ass. I got this” The older patted his friend’s shoulder and smiled softly.
Taehyung couldn’t stand his soulmate smiling at someone who wasn't him. It didn’t feel right. He needed to make a move.
Said boy stood in the line to place his order. It didn’t matter that it would be his 11th one this day. He had a good feeling in his gut. It will be absolutely worth it.
And he wasn’t mistaken.
“Hi, what can I get for you?” the boy behind the cash register beamed brightly with his dimples on full display.
“One caramel americano, please.” Tae made sure to flash his best smile and looked down at the red string connecting his wrist and... “Hoseok, right?” he asked as he read the cute boy’s name tag. A grin never leaving his face. He tugged at the red thread.
“That’s right and you—” Hoseok swore he felt it again. That gentle pull on his wrist, right where his string of fate was. Where did it come from? Wait a minute!
He looked down, where the red, thin line started around his wrist, until it stopped. On the wrist of the person right in front of him!
It all clicked now.
Hobi blushed madly and ran to get the cup for his soulmate’s order. He couldn’t waste that chance!
Taehyung noticed Hoseok looking down curiously then blushing prettily. A sight too cute to be true. He chuckled, watching the boy running behind the counter as he took his time, writing something on the paper cup holder.
Hoseok found himself looking up at the person on the other end of his red string, just to see him already looking in his direction with that damn smile which made butterflies in his stomach go absolutely crazy.
The first thing Tae did after getting his order was checking the cup holder. He couldn't stop smiling silly at the cup, re-reading a small message there:
“Hi!
I'm so, so sorry for always tugging on our string! :<
It must have been annoying for you ://
I promise I wasn't doing it on purpose!!
Let’s go grab a coffee together!
See you soon?
XXX-XXX-XXX
~ Your soulmate, Hoseok ♡ “