no strings attached. jay enhypen

00. the red string of fate

the world is cruel,
but i still love you.

the calm of the night was still. soothing sounds of the wind outside mixing with the music coming from her room filled her environment. the sunrise peeked through her curtains, providing the cozy and copious amounts of light in her room.

the night before, while preparing to go to bed, she noticed a red string that was attached to her pinky finger. she'd try grasping onto the string as she had assumed it was just a piece of thread only for her fingers to go right through the red material.

at first, she thought was going crazy. she constantly looked away from her hand to see if it was just a part of her imagination. every time she would glance back at it, the red string would still sit there pretty. a mix of feelings ran right through her body, mainly with confusion. it couldn't be her eyesight since her vision wasn't half too bad.

she tried sleeping it off but it only resulted in multiple failed attempts. she laid in her bed, staring at the ceiling. twisting and turning for hours and hours, trying to sleep but to no avail she ended up pulling an all nighter. she faces her nightstand, picking up her phone while unplugging the charger.

6:00am

she let out a huff and brings her right hand up, to reveal the same red string wrapped around her pinky finger. every time she attempted to grab the string, her hand would go right through it—as if it wasn't actually there. confusion written all over her face, she stares at her palm trying to make sense of what the red string was.

she came to the conclusion that she was just seeing things and it's probably because she hasn't slept. as she stumbled out of bed, she thought maybe it'll go away after my nap after school today.

***

fixing her hair after getting ready for school, she glances at her alarm clock which now read 6:37am. looking at herself in the mirror, she adjusts her name tag on her blazer only for her eyes to meet with the red string. she couldn't see it before, but the string wrapped around her pinky nicely into a bow. the manner of the bow managed to plant a smile onto her face.

walking out of her room, she drapes her backpack over her shoulders while putting her phone into her pocket. patting down her skirt as she walks down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"hey there, sunshine. sleep well?" her mother greets her, shoving a bowl of dakjuk. the smell of the porridge was as inviting as the appearance was. her mom only made this when the weather was "cold" enough for it. today just so happened to be cold despite the sun shining bright through the windows of the kitchen.

she took a seat at the table, enjoying the porridge as she was hungry all night but she didn't bother to get up. she was preoccupied thinking about the string.

"mom, can i ask you something?" she asked.

"what is it? if it's about sex i don't wanna hear it, EUN KYORIN." her mother says sternly, placing a glass of water next to her.

"what's the red string of fate?" kyorin says, taking a sip of water.

the brunette watches as her mom pauses very briefly in her footsteps before turning around, "why're you asking?"

"me and NARI were talking about it yesterday and it seemed interesting." kyorin shrugs. she wasn't lying, it was merely the half truth.

about a week before, kyorin had met up with her friends at a study cafe for their exams that were coming up. eventually, as do normal teens do, they grew bored and slacked off. her friend, nari , brought up the topic of the legend of the red string. so she wasn't completely lying to her mom, she truly was curious.

her mother pauses before answering, "think of it as a soulmates concept, sunshine. it's just another legend where it's like a string that connects you to your soulmate and what not. your grandma talked about it all the time while i was growing up."

kyorin smiled at the thought of her grandma being giddy of such things, "that sounds cute. so what, did you and dad have one?"

her mom smiles, "i like to think so, i mean you can't see it."

kyorin felt her heart drop to the pit of her stomach at what her mother had just said, "you're not supposed to see it?"

she shook her head, "of course not, that ruins the whole purpose of the legend."

"what if you can see it?" kyorin asked, taking another spoonful of the porridge into her mouth.

"well, i think you'll have to ask your grandma next time we visit, don't we?" her mother replies, patting her back before exiting from the kitchen. kyorin rolled her eyes in annoyance before glancing at the time again. 6:57am.

she takes a couple more spoonfuls of the porridge before placing the empty bowl into the sink, filling it with water. she drinks the rest of the water in the glass before placing that into the sink as well. washing her dishes, she watches the red bow constantly going through the physical objects whether it be the sponge and even the water.

placing the dishes on the drying rack, she dries her hands off but takes one last look at her hand and wonders:

then why can i see the red string?

the urge to write a ff for jay was
just too strong i had to do it
guys. think of it as a celebration
of the current comeback </3

i do apologize if it's a bit slow,
i promise it'll be better when i
manage to introduce all of the
important characters!
that being said, thank you for
reading! see you next time <3 !

- SEI 🌱