Chapter Text
Soobin unconsciously fidgets with the ring on his right hand, staring into space as he’s patiently waiting for a message from someone.
“She said she’s on the second floor by the department’s office, should we just meet her there?” A classmate of his in one of his subjects approached him. He gets sent back into reality as he finally processed what his classmate had just said to him.
He checks his phone, a group chat with him, his classmate who is with him right now, and his other classmate — the one who’s by the office and the one that they were waiting to get a message from — instantly greets him. They were put into a group together, and not by their own will, to work on their prelim project. Thankfully though, they were able to get along well from the start and had no problems when it came to discussing the project. The only thing that slightly inconvenienced them was that their classmate, the one who’s by the office right now, is a transferee and wasn’t able to attend the first few classes and was only available for online meetings instead of meeting in person. But even with her situation, she was able to catch up pretty fast with the lessons and would always provide good input. And now they are about to finally meet her.
Soobin saw their groupmate’s message on the chat before typing a message that they’ll go to her there, putting his phone back in his pocket just after he hit send. “Yeah, let’s meet her there.”
The two left their room and went downstairs to get to their college department’s office. Just as they’re about to approach the door, someone opens it from the inside and right there leaving the room was a girl in a blue puff sleeve dress with beautiful wavy brown hair. Soobin recognizes the girl right away after already seeing a picture of her.
“It’s you guys!” The girl cheerily greets them after also recognizing who the two were. “It’s great to finally meet you and see you both in person.”
The girl smiles warmly and Soobin extends his hand out for a handshake. “It’s nice to finally meet you too, I’m Soobin, though you already know that.”
The girl giggles, taking Soobin’s hand and shaking it. “Ah yes, yes. Soobin, the lovely leader of our group.”
Soobin’s face flushes at the sudden compliment.
“Oh, well, that’s—” He chuckles shyly, not really knowing how to respond to what she just said. Instead, he turns the conversation to his other classmate. “And of course, you know this is…”
Soobin trails off after looking at the guy on his left. His group mate looks like he wasn't even listening to them as he was only staring at the girl, completely enamored by her. Soobin had to nudge him by his arm to get him to talk.
“Hmm? Yeah?” He looks at Soobin, confused. Soobin only nodded at the girl’s direction and that’s when he finally understood. He reaches out his hand to shake hands as well. “Right, it’s nice to finally meet you as well. I’m—”
He doesn’t even finish his sentence. As soon as their hands touch, a bright blue light seems to shine from the back of both their hands. A blue seashell is tattooed at the back of both their hands, they were each other’s soulmates.
Soobin became a witness to two souls who are destined together finally meeting each other. He could only watch the two of them as their eyes lit up at the realization and their lips formed into a big smile, still not letting go of each other’s hands.
How can two people who have never even met each other and don't know a single thing about each other except for a name look so happy, so in love just right after finding out that their souls are tied together?
Soobin can never seem to understand that, and he doesn’t think he might ever really.
But that was just the way that their world works, people fated to be with someone that they would call their soulmate and soulmates bound to find each other no matter what happens.
Soobin doesn’t exactly believe in soulmates though, or the soulmate system for that matter.
Well, Soobin doesn’t exactly have a soulmate either. That is what he believes— no, that is what he is sure of. That there is no one in this world fated for him, no other half to spend his lifetime with.
There are so many different ways someone could find their soulmate in this world. It was all very simple at first: people will have similar marks imprinted somewhere on their skin that will indicate that they are each other’s soulmates. Yet as time passed by, the soulmate system also kept changing along with the world. More ways of finding one’s soulmate have started appearing out of nowhere, and each new one that appears would become more and more complicated.
But even with all these ways, all these possibilities of finding one’s soulmate, Choi Soobin, unfortunately, became one of those unlucky people who aren’t given any visible or audible clues as to how they can find their soulmates, or if they even really have any in the first place. For a lot of people, this was a bit harder to accept as it only very rarely happens, and because everyone is quite sure that a person should be paired with someone else.
Unlike other people, Soobin doesn’t hear any music randomly playing in his head that would indicate that his soulmate is listening to some music, unlike his two friends who ended up finding out that they were actually soulmates. Soobin doesn’t see any words or doodles suddenly appear on his skin that his soulmate may have written on their own skin that would make it appear on his, nor even have any tattoos that would match with someone else. Hell, he doesn’t even get any dreams at all when for some people, having dreams as they sleep is another way for them to be able to find their soulmate as they meet each other in their dreams.
Soobin doesn’t and hasn’t experienced any of those. He had already tried everything, desperate for any kind of sign that he may have a soulmate after all. In the end, it only always resulted in nothing. It took him years to accept his situation, seeing as the soulmate system is very much ingrained in everyone’s lives and beliefs that no one can ever really escape it, they will always, always be reminded of it.
That was what led to him not believing in any soulmate related things but most especially the system. Because along with his acceptance was the realization of how the system is full of flaws. Because why would one let a system dictate one’s life and whoever it is that they should fall in love with?
Going back to what’s currently happening, the soulmates are currently happily conversing with each other as Soobin stays with them. They still have only a few things to talk about the project they were gonna do, but he decided to let the soulmates talk and ask each other whatever they wish to. Soobin may not have a soulmate of his own nor does he believe in it but he isn’t someone bitter who would get in the way of someone else’s.
Soobin just waits for them, deciding to scroll through his phone instead and ignoring whatever he hears, ignoring that ache he feels in his chest. He ignores it because he doesn’t need another reminder that it’s impossible for that to ever happen to him.
Once they were done, they all finally got to talk about the project which was what they were here for. It was just a few reminders and new information that their professor said to the leaders of the group, but they weren’t too many or that big. As soon as they were done, the soulmates decided to leave together and have lunch with each other.
“Congrats, by the way.” Soobin says to them.
“Thanks, Soobin.” They say with a smile right before leaving and Soobin’s left alone by the stairs. It looks like he would be surrounded by another couple of soulmates for quite some time.
“Soobin!!” And speaking of soulmates, a couple called his name and he turned around to see them.
Beomgyu and Kai, his two best friends who are each other’s soulmates. They found out that they were each other 's soulmates after realizing that they can hear the music the other plays in their head. It actually took them a lot of time before finding it out since they had pretty similar taste in music. That is until Kai began to hear Beomgyu’s singing voice in his head after Beomgyu just finished making one of his songs.
“Where do you wanna eat lunch today? The canteen? The mall? That new small coffee shop down the road? Or in my heart?” Beomgyu starts asking, placing his arm around Soobin’s shoulder but having to tiptoe a bit since Soobin’s taller. Meanwhile, Soobin physically cringes at what he just said.
“You’re so corny.” Kai tells Beomgyu, his face scrunched up like he’s cringing at him too.
“And you like it.” Beomgyu sticks his tongue out at him.
Kai laughs, “Of course, I do. You’re so cute~” He pinches his boyfriend’s cheek as the other pouts cutely, all this while they’re in front of Soobin and Beomgyu still has an arm around him.
Soobin rolls his eyes, “Can you stop flirting in front of me?” He tells them acting like he doesn’t get amused every time his friends act like this in front of him. “Also let’s just eat at the canteen, I have a class in an hour so…”
“Oh, right, almost forgot about that.” Beomgyu removes his arm around Soobin and goes to hold Kai’s hand instead.
“I just hope the line isn’t that long again.” Kai sighs, knowing their canteen might be full of people right now.
And he was right, they didn’t even have to step inside to see how long the line was already after looking by the windows.
“Well, what do we do now?” Beomgyu asks, sounding defeated after seeing the line. “Should we go out then?”
The trio ends up discussing their options in the middle of the canteen, but nothing seems to work. The line really is too long and Soobin has a class to go to after. The closest store from their uni is a 10 minute walk but to get there, they have to go to the opposite building from where the canteen is and their university is pretty big so by just getting out of their uni is already gonna take up a lot of time. Until someone came to save them from their dilemma.
“Soobin!” A voice calls out to them from the line. A brown haired boy waves at them, or at Soobin since the boy seems to be more fixated on him.
The trio walks up to the boy in line. “Taehyun, you’re here.” Soobin smiles at him, glad to see his friend.
“We decided to eat at the canteen today, are you guys eating here too?”
Soobin nods, “Yeah, but we might go somewhere else, the line’s too long and—”
“Then I can buy for you. Your friends too. Just tell me what you guys want.” Taehyun offers to help with a smile on his face.
“Really? Is it okay?”
“Of course, and you have a class in less than an hour, right? It’s better this way, you’ll be late in class if you went and bought lunch outside.”
Soobin feels very grateful for his friend that he reaches out for both his hands, his friend taken aback by his action. “Thank you, thank you so much Tyun. I’ll make it up for you another time.”
“It’s nothing, really. Anything for you.” Taehyun smiles at him, his cheeks pinker than it was.
They might’ve stayed that way for a minute longer, Soobin holding Taehyun’s hands if it wasn’t for someone coughing beside them. Only then did Soobin realize that he’s been holding his friend’s hands for a bit too long.
“Why can’t you buy for me too?” Taehyun’s friend, who’s in line as well just behind him, pretends to sulk and tries to pout cutely at him. But that doesn’t seem to affect Taehyun much.
“You’re already in line, Jun.”
Yeonjun sighs, “Oh, to be a tall, handsome gentleman so that my friend would like me and be nice to me and offer to buy me food too.” He places his two hands on his chest and heavily leans on Taehyun, while his friend’s face turns redder by the second. Meanwhile, Soobin’s friends started giggling and kept glancing at him.
“You’re so annoying.” Taehyun rolls his eyes like he’s annoyed but he knows his friend is only teasing him. He pushes his giggling friend lightly until he can stand up on his own, then faces Soobin and his friends. “Please don’t mind my friend here, he’s being more dramatic than usual.”
Yeonjun turns to the three friends as his giggles come to a stop. “I’m just messing around, don’t worry, we’ll help you guys get your food. So what do you guys want to eat?”
The three friends listed down the food they wanted to get and they also gave the two friends their money to pay for it. They thanked them again before finding a table where all of them could sit together. Luckily, a table just got cleaned after a group left so the trio hurried to sit at one of the chairs to claim the table as theirs.
The three of them sat there in silence, waiting patiently for the two kind friends who saved them from having to walk at least 15 minutes just to get food. The silence didn’t last so long though.
“You know, Taehyun’s really nice.” Beomgyu says out of nowhere.
“Right? And really handsome too.” Then Kai comes in with the compliment, and Soobin already knows what they’re doing.
“So true, and he’s so smart as well. I heard he graduated with highest honors in high school and placed 1st in so many quiz bees.” Beomgyu then adds.
“Okay, first of all, how did you guys even know that? I didn’t even know that.” Soobin cuts in after hearing new information about his friend, his friend that he knew longer than Beomgyu and Kai does. “Second, I know what you guys are doing.”
“Come on, Soob. We know you don’t believe in soulmates or the system but that doesn’t mean you don’t believe in love, right?”
“And he’s liked you, for almost 3 years now too, Binnie. Did your feelings about him not really change in all that time?”
The two throw questions at him, ones he’s heard many times already since they’ve had this discussion every now and then that he has lost track of how much he hears it.
Taehyun likes Soobin, as if it isn’t already obvious to anyone with eyes. Soobin acknowledges that fact, but what he doesn’t understand is why. Taehyun had already confessed to Soobin by the end of their first term in their first year in university but they only stayed as friends. Still, even after that, Taehyun’s feelings for Soobin never wavered. He still decided to pursue him even if it looked like it might lead to nothing more than just being friends. And Soobin still understands why he does when Taehyun has a soulmate, someone he's fated to be with as written on whatever stars there are.
“It’s just…” Soobin leans back on his chair. “A silly little crush. Besides, he has a soulmate. It’s only a matter of time before they end up meeting.” He shrugs.
“Okay, but get this,” Beomgyu leans forward his table towards his taller friend who’s sitting right in front of him. “What if… he doesn’t have a soulmate?”
“And what kind of silly little crush lasts for three years? At this point, he could very well be in love with you, Bin.” Kai chimes in and his boyfriend nods in agreement.
Sometimes, Soobin feels like he has the angel and the devil on his shoulders when talking to his friends, but instead of being against each other, they instead work together. His friends might have a point but still, he thinks it’s impossible especially with Taehyun not having a soulmate. He already heard him once talking about wanting to find his soulmate, whoever it might be.
But just before Soobin responds to his friends, he sees Taehyun and Yeonjun walking up to their table as they carry all their food on a tray. He instantly gets up from his seat to go and help the two, taking one of the trays in Taehyun’s hands which is full of their drinks.
As soon as their food was on the table and all of them were seated, getting food on their stomach became their priority and all of them ate quietly for the first few minutes. After that they all started having a conversation about their school and professors who gave too much work. The conversation from before was completely forgotten, almost like it didn’t happen. Well, at least it was that way for Soobin.
The conversation still lives in his friends’ minds. His two friends who also can’t help but notice how he is very attentive when it comes to Taehyun. How he quickly notices that he wanted a sauce that was a bit farther away from him and how he reached for it to give it to him. How he instantly knew he needed a tissue and gave the one he had to the boy beside him. Or just how their friend listens to the boy who likes him intently, with one hand below his chin and his head turned at him as he watches him talk about whatever it is that the other boy is enjoying nowadays. Beomgyu and Kai can’t help but notice those small things, sharing a glance at each other every time it happens.