promises : lee heeseung

my soulmate

A lazy, yet extremely successful young lady named Sooha yawns and rubs her eyes. 9:37 AM her phone read, making her sigh and groan in frustration, burying her face into the pillows. She's late again. Messy hair with remnants of drool dripping down the side of her mouth, she groggily drags herself out of bed and looks at herself in the mirror, mentally psyching herself for work today. Why was life so hard?

Park Sooha is a first-year college student currently studying medicine. One day, she hoped to become a doctor to help other people such as her grandma who took care of her when she was little. Both her parents died in a car crash, so she's been living with her grandma until she died of sickness when she was 5. She was sent to the adoption center and found new parents until she turned 18 and moved out. Despite all this, she was positive enough to believe that things will somehow go right for her and that she won't give in to her bad luck. For now, she works as a cafe waitress, and she enjoys her job greatly, but she wished to be... something more.

Running down the hustle and bustle city of New York, she works her way past the crowd and barges into her cafe's doors, panting heavily. "Sorry! I'm late!" she announced, clearly abashed by her actions even if she's pretty much late every day. Her boss, Jimin, just smiles and chuckles at this, finding her extremely cute because she reminded him of himself when he was younger and just started to work. "It's okay..." he beamed in a warm, genial, and understanding way. He was never the type to become aloof to anyone, especially his employees. He believed that he should treat them right no matter what, unlike many cruel people out there. She was just so lucky to have a manager like him or she would've already lost her job.

So she goes on with her day, taking orders, but a certain man walks in with articulate yet familiar facial features such as that button nose, wearing those cute round glasses over his perfect doe eyes and a pink oversized hoodie, black ripped jeans, matching his Converse. He smiled at Sooha whilst walking in such finesse, holding his backpack with one arm and waving at her, "Hi there! I would like a cafe Americano, please? Venti please.." he took his wallet out and handed her his card, but she seemed to be in too much of a daze to notice this.

Something about him- the way he smiled, the way he acted, the way he talked, the way he dressed- it was odd yet everything about him was comforting. She was retentive of some of her past life's memories, especially the love of her life, but there was no way in this world that it could be him. The man waves his hand in front of her face, snapping her out of her trance, "S-Sorry! Wh-What was that again?" Sooha scratched the back of her head, sweat dropping.

"Oh, it's fine! Don't worry about it.." he smiled warmly, repeating his order, "I would like one venti cafe Americano please.. Here's my card." he handed it to her, and Sooha nodded and grabbed a cup, "And your name?" She returned his card and got a cup and a sharpie.

"JK." The man gave his initials as a pseudonym, bowing and walking away. "Wait! Sir, your drink!" Sooha hollered at him with a small blush. JK? Gosh... What was my husband's name again? I know it starts with a 'J'-- She racks her memory up for her significant other's name but before she could do that, the man was already long gone, exiting the store, as if he paid for the drink for her to have. Sooha stares down at the cup with a pout, shrugging and refocusing herself on her job. His actions kept bugging her mind, and she hated it. Why was he so special? She just met him!

After work, she shrugs and sips on the Americano the ambiguous man left and heads to a certain park, a memorial to be exact for the soldiers who fought in World War II. For some reason, she seemed to be attached to that place for no particular reason to actually go and hang out there every day after work. She usually goes there to clear her mind, that place being her scapegoat for all her problems since it was peaceful and empty. Sooha sat down under a tree and saw a small monument where all the soldiers' names were written. Intrigued, she stands up and peruses through the list of personnel that she's never read before in her long time there and...

Jeon Jungkook. She reads that name, suddenly feeling tears pooling in her eyes for reasons she can't explain, placing a hand against her heart. It's just a name. Her past husband's name. Sooha closes her eyes and tries to calm herself down, and whilst wiping her tears, she could see the same man from the cafe earlier kneeling in the middle of the field, holding a few white roses in his hands. Raising a brow, she jogs towards his direction and softly taps his shoulder, "E-excuse me... Are you... Alright?"

The man quickly wipes his tears and looks up at the sky, laughing softly. "Yeah.. Yeah, I'm fine. Why are you here?" he asked, meeting eyes with her. You could tell something bothering him, hiding behind that charming smile. She kneels beside him and looks down at her hands, "I always come here to clear my mind..", she mumbled, and to the stranger's surprise, he never noticed her. "How about you?".

"Me too actually... I feel attracted to this place... I go here whenever my heart feels lonely or depressed... I guess that's how I'm feeling right now.." he smiles sadly with a sigh, "What's your name by the way?"

"I'm Sooha..."

"Heeseung.."

"So why did you use the initials 'JK' on your cup?" Sooha asks curiously, laying down on the grass. "Also.. why did you leave?" The boy named Heeseung smiles at her, "I'm sorry about that... I was running late for my internship at the nearby hospital that's why I left. To answer your question too, all my friends call me 'JK'. They say I look like a 'JK' that sometimes they even call me "Gukkie". I dunno, ask them, I have nothing to do with that." he smiled with his adorable bunny teeth, putting his hands up. God, he was so familiar to the person she loved in her past life.

"I see... You just remi–" Before Sooha could say anything about him being her lover and ask if he remembers anything of his past life, Heeseung stands up and quickly excuses himself, taking a call. He walks down the crosswalk, not looking to his side to notice a car zooming past the stop lights and about to collide with him, not being able to hit his brakes.

Eyes widening, Sooha gets up to her feet and instinctively runs after him. Something inside her wanted to save him, needed to save him. She may have not known this man, but she needed to know he would be alright, he would stay alive, even if it cost her own life. Her heart yearned for him in such a heart-wrenching way, and she couldn't explain it. "NO!" She yells with tears in her eyes, reaching out for him. Now, everything was in her hands, his life was in her hands– whether he could continue with his life and fulfill his dreams, somehow get to know each other better, or if he would die with the guilt in Sooha's heart knowing that she wasn't able to save her. She wouldn't have a chance to restore– to rehabilitate the love that they shared in their past life. She just wanted... to try.

Her husband made a certain promise once... Strangely enough, she still remembers it. It was on her mind every single night, not knowing why it was so significant, but now it all makes sense.

Laughing softly in the kitchen, with Jungkook hugging her from behind, Min sways side to side, "Oh my god Guk!! We're gonna burn this kitchen down~". Jungkook just laughs and buries his face into her neck, "If we burned it down, I would always save you. You know that." he pecked her cheek.

"You promise that?"

"Always."

"What if you get hurt? Who would save you?"

Jungkook kisses her hand and smirks, giving a cheeky reply to her question. "You would." he laughs before shaking his head. "I don't mind though.." Min mumbles cutely, not believing he was serious.

"I got your back, bae. You know that. And I know I have yours too... Don't worry too much, Minnie-ah." With that, Jungkook plays some classic music on, dancing around their kitchen, holding her in his arms tightly. This feeling, this moment, was everything to him, and he needed this for his sanity. She was everything to him, and more. Even if it cost his life, he would save her all over and over again in every alternate universe.

This time, it was Sooha's turn to save him, to fulfill the promise to him. Heeseung might not remember, but it would make her heart content to let her lover have the life that was cut short from him in the past. If she wasn't fast enough to think of her actions, there could be serious repercussions to him– to them. If she could ostracize the two of them in their little world, and be safe, where not a single defect in time could hurt him, she was willing to do that. Whatever it cost. The universe gave her a chance to fulfill these promises made from love, and she was not going to lose that chance. Not again.