Soulmarks and Destiny

N'Ram's Birthday

"Happy Birthday to you~"
I clapped and sang along wondering how I ended up in Ram's house.
When I went to university I made sure to bring N'Ram's present with me.
Cheerfully humming a song, I walked towards my friends.
"What's the reason for your good mood?", Mek inquired curiously.
"Nothing, I just slept really well, I guess", I answered with a smile, unwilling to be teased by my friends again.
"Oh really? I think it has to do with a certain someone's birthday", Boss said with a smug smile.
"Well,vit obviously has to do with him. Otherwise he wouldn't smile this much", Bohn added with a bright grin.
Rolling my eyes at them I flipped them off.
"Rude", Mek commented, "we haven't even started teasing you yet"
"How come you'd rather focus on me being in a good mood rather than on Bohn having a hickey?", I answered and successfully diverted their attention.
"A hickey?! Where? Where??", Boss asked and excitedly jumped Bohn in an attempt to take a look.
Bohn tried fighting him off and they fought for a while like that before the taller boy tripped.
Their fall resulted in them lying on the ground in a rather ambiguous way.
Coincidentally, I noticed our favorite group of juniors walking by.
Not wanting to pass on this opportunity to get a bit of revenge, I loudly asked "Are you guys ok? That looked pretty painful".
I observed how Duen turned around and froze.
Once he fully realized the position his boyfriend was in, he came over.
Mek and Boss thought of N'Duen as a sweet, innocent boy but I found that he was actually just as possessive and protective as Bohn.
Judging from the freshman's expression, Bohn is going to have more than one additional hickey tomorrow.
I gently pulled Boss off of Bohn and then went to grab the other's hand to help him up as well.
Before I could do so Duen had already helped his boyfriend up and started pulling him into the direction of their dorms.
With a helpless look on his face, Bohn accepted his fate.
"Don't worry, I'll give you my notes later!", I laughed and he flipped me off.
"I hope N'Duen won't be angry with me", Boss muttered slightly concerned and rubbed his head.
"I'm sure Bohn will be the only one who suffers in this situation", Mek joked with a smile and Boss grinned.
"True, true. Let's hope he can walk tomorrow"
I was about to say something when I saw someone move towards me out of the corner of my eye.
"N'Ram, good to see you! How is our birthday boy doing?"
He only looked at me quietly before grabbing my wrist and pulling me away.
"Oi, where are you going? Class is about to start!", Boss yelled after us.
"I'll take notes, don't worry", Mek added and I gave him a thumbs up which he mirrored.
After walking for a while we stopped and he turned to look at me.
The moment I looked into his eyes my heart started beating faster.
I never really noticed but his eyes are truly beautiful…
Nope, now is not the time to get lost in his pretty eyes.
Blinking, I forced myself to focus.
"What can I do you N'Ram?", I asked with a gentle smile.
His quiet staring gave me the feeling that he was looking straight into my soul.
Which was weirdly pleasing but also kind of concerning.
"... my name..", he muttered so quietly I barely caught anything he said.
"Sorry?", I asked and automatically stepped closer.
"You called me by my name and not cool boy"
His words took me by surprise.
"Oh, did I? If it makes you uncomfortable I can-"
"It's fine", he interrupted me firmly.
I couldn't help but smile at how seriously he said that.
"Alright, then I won't apologize"
He nodded and we quietly looked at each other for a moment.
"So, what did you bring me here for?", I asked, breaking the surprisingly comfortable silence.
Perhaps I've already grown used to him not saying much, I thought absent-mindedly.
He pondered over something for a second before taking out his phone.

Cool Boy: You promised to give me a birthday present. I thought you wouldn't want to be teased by your friends for it, so I brought you here

I laughed at his message and gave him a bright smile.
"I brought your present as promised, don't worry. After all, a happy Ram makes for a happy King"
He blinked, obviously surprised but couldn't hide his small smile from me.
"Ah! You smiled! I saw it!", I cheered playfully and he rolled his eyes.
"You must be happy then", he said and I laughed.
"Yes, I'm happy too. Now", I rummaged through my bag before carefully taking out the little gift I prepared, "here you go".
I handed him the little plant, feeling unusually shy.
He took it very carefully and looked at it.
"This is…?"
"It's a carnivorous plant. It eats flies and other insects. I actually thought about a suitable gift for you for a very long time. Plants suit your personality very well but I wasn't sure which one would make for a good present. I really wanted to combine the more introverted part of your personality and the passionate fighter we both know you can be. And so, I decided that a plant that seems harmless but isn't, would make the perfect gift", I explained nervously.
Why I was nervous, I didn't know because just after I finished explaining he gave me an actual, warm smile.
"Thank you P'King, I appreciate it a lot", he said softly and I could almost see an arrow striking my heart.
Holy shit, I think this is the first time he said my name.
It sounds really nice…
Following that thought, heat rushed into my cheeks.
Oh my god, I am blushing like my sister whenever she talks about her boyslove novels.
With that realization came a wave of unbearable nervousness and shyness.
"Uh...anyways, I gotta go. Happy Birthday, cool boy!", I said and basically ran away.
Running like a madman, I soon arrived at the corridor where my class was being held at the moment.
Panting heavily, I leaned at the wall.
Touching my flushed faceI couldn't help but groan at my own behavior.
I can't believe I just ran away as if I was being hunted by a pack of wild dogs.
My heart felt like it was going to jump out of my chest.
I really need to get a hold of myself.
For the past months I just wanted to talk to Ram and now I can't stand it and run away?
I'm a mess.
Seriously.
"Calm down, King, calm down. No need to have a heart attack just because you're around your crush", I muttered, trying to calm myself.
"I really can't enter class looking like a tomato", I sighed and headed towards my room instead.
Considering how much of a mess I am right now, I won't be able to listen anyway.
N'Ram, you better compensate me for this in the future.
My phone made a ping~ sound and I took a look at it.
A message from coolboy?
Without much thought I clicked on it.

Cool Boy: You ran away before I could ask you about how to care for the plant.
Let's meet up after class?

Oh shit, I did forget about that.
Unbelievable!
How could I forget about the wellbeing of one of my precious babies????
I immediately apologized and agreed to meet up with him.
And so, after class, I went to meet up with Ram once again.
He was already there, leaning against the wall and looking handsome and mysterious.
The moment I saw him my heart stopped for a millisecond before beating so fast that it felt like it was going to jump out of my chest.
"Cool boy", I called out, trying to play it cool.
He looked up with a barely visible smile on his lips.
He waved and gestured to me to follow him.
We walked for a while and I wondered where we were going.
It was pretty peaceful.
That was until I heard barking.
There were dogs running towards us.
Probably the dogs of N'Ram.
They were quite pretty and incredibly terrifying.
I reacted without a thought and immediately hid behind the tattooed freshman.
Nervously, I stared at the dogs while tightly clinging to N'Ram as if my life depended on it.
He looked at me for a moment before calmly talking to his dogs.
Because of how tense I was all I could focus on was their sharp teeth and imposing bodies.
If they'd bite him it would hurt like bitch, I thought with shudder.
Suddenly, I remembered my plan to get over my fear of dogs exactly because N'Ram loves them.
Ah shit, why did they appear now?!
"They don't bite, don't worry", Ram said softly as he looked at me.
"Right…"
"Duen said that you're scared of dogs because you were bitten by one when you were a child", he said and I nodded.
He stared at the dogs for a moment with a frown before he pulled out his phone.
"I'll ask my mom if one of our neighbors can take care of them for the rest of the day"
I looked at him in confusion.
Why would they have to do that?
I'm just going to accompany him for a moment to talk about the plant.
Isn't this a bit too much effort?
He finished his talk with his mother and yi noticed that he spoke english with her.
When asked about that he only smiled and said that she only started living here after marrying his father so she still struggles speaking our language.
"That explains why your english is so good", I said and he gave me another small smile and shrugged.
He's smiling an awful lot today.
Must be my lucky day!
"But why did you ask her to take the dogs to your neighbors?", I asked, remembering the situation with his scary dogs just now.
He hesitated and awkwardly scratched his neck as his cheeks became slightly red.
"I-", he stopped and pulled out his phone, obviously embarrassed.

Cool Boy: I'd like to invite you to stay for my birthday party… Its nothing big! Just my family cebrating with me.

I stared at the screen for a moment in stunned silence.
As my brain failed me miserably, I could only agree.
Thus, I was currently surrounded by N'Rams family and some friends.
I felt a bit awkward but also very happy because he must value me at least a bit since he invited me.
At least as a friend…
Not wanting to think about that, I focused on N'Rams smiling face.
He was pretty like this.
Not that he wasn't good looking when he wasn't smiling but his smile made him look… softer in a way.
It's cute, I thought and without noticing it I started to smile as well.
I wish he'll keep smiling like this…
Preferably at me though.