14 hours | lee felix

16

One hour after

"It's hopeless."

Felix sighs running a hand through his tangled blonde hair.

The group of boys around him are unsure if his messy appearance and dark underused are due to the flight or the sudden realization (and later separation) of his soulmate.

"Come on what else do you remember before your flight?" Minho sighs. "Your mark is on your arm, usually there's some physical effect that happens before you get your mark."

He tries to think.

A memory suddenly floods his mind.

My luggage slips from my hand, and the metal handle crashes directly onto my forearm as I try to catch it.

I wince from the pain, but as I go to find whoever bumped me they just weren't there.

What? I look around me thinking i've seen a ghost, but no one else has taken a notice.

Maybe they're just in a rush?

"Some random person ran into me at the airport. They made my luggage handle hit my arm, it definitely hurt, but I never even saw what they look like though, it happened so fast I thought it was a ghost." He answers honestly.

"Can that happen?" Jisung asks with wide eyes. "I've never heard of someone having a ghost soulmate before." He states wholeheartedly.

Chan is quick to flick the side of his head.

"You guys are hopeless." Jae, Chan's soulmate, butts in. "Look your soulmate mark usually has some kind of connection to your soulmate. Think hard, are you sure you've never seen this design before? Maybe it was on their phone screen or they have it tattooed on them or it's significant in some way. The fact that you have multiple makes me think you know this person already."

If they were to listen to anyone about soulmates or soulmate marks it's Jae. After meeting Chan, she started to become more knowledgeable and study soulmates more intently.

The boys knew her journey to her soulmate wasn't easy, and she wanted whoever was next to meet their soulmate not to have to go through what the pair did. (psss you should read their journey 'dear soulmate' on my profile:p)

"But I truly have no clue." Felix let's out an exasperated sigh. "I mean it's familiar but I just- ughh."

Felix buries his head in his hands.

How could this happen? The boy who would do anything to have his soulmate is now completely separated from them. The universe must have some twisted sense of humor.

"Hey it's going to be alright." Chan pats his head. "We'll find your soulmate, I mean you guys are literally destined for each other. Don't let this road bump be the end of the journey."

Felix stares at the mark on his wrist.

One hour after

What is that supposed to mean? His head can't help but to run through the worst scenarios.

-Him and his soulmate are separated forever and this is a countdown to eternity
-His soulmate is gone and it's a cruel reminder that he never got to see them
-How did he get stuck with a useless clock as a soulmate mark?

"Do you think his soulmate is freaking out as much as him right now?" I.N. whispers to Hyunjin.

"Of course. There's no way you get your soulmate mark and you're just calm. It's how everyone reacts." Hyunjin hushes the boy.

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"So you got it?"

"Yup."

"Like it, it?"

"Yessir."

"And you know who it is?"

"I'm pretty sure."

"Aera are you insane? You got your soulmate mark and you know who it is! Why aren't you running to them? Why are you just sitting here and unpacking? Wait are you packing your bag to go to them? Is this an international love story?"

"Sohn I just called to let you know I got home safely." Aera chuckles at her excited brother.

Her phone is propped up on her luggage as she begins to unpack from her trip. Luckily majority of her clothes have already been put into the wash cycle so it was just her other toiletries and shopping she did in the states.

To anyone looking in this was just another quiet and peaceful day for Aera.

Sohn on the other hand was absolutely losing it.

He couldn't believe his sister got her soulmate mark, not only that- she got it while across the world so he can't do anything to persuade her to go to her soulmate.

"Aera come on, talk to me. You can't hold onto this stuff forever." Sohn pleads. "At least tell me how it happened."

"It's the same story people always tell there's nothing special." She lies, hoping he won't be able to pick it up through FaceTime. "I got into my taxi to go home and I felt a burning pain in my wrist. That's when I saw it."

She subconsciously traces the mark that appeared.

Memories of how Yongbok made her feel swarmed her brain. It clicked for her. He was her soulmate, not only that, he wanted nothing to do with her.

"In the moment of course I freaked out, the taxi driver wasn't too pleased, but he understood when I explained it." She shrugs nonchalantly. "And I know who it is, but I also know he doesn't want me in his life. So please just leave it okay?"

Her words were strong and confident, but the shake in her voice told Sohn she was anything but.

"No." His voice booms over her phone speaker. "Look you can hate on soulmates all you want, you can believe that nothing good comes from them, you can keep letting one person- a person who you don't even care about anymore, keep ruining your life but no way am I gonna sit around and watch you do it." He rants. "I'll see you in 14 hours, I'm coming to Korea."

And with that Aera was face to face with a black screen.

"Well one of us had to end up being the dramatic one." Aera whispers to herself.

He was right. She was running away from soulmates the same way her mom did. Truthfully she wasn't against soulmates, just afraid of them.

Loving someone that much.

It's too scary to be true, but she saw it. In Sohn and how he dropped everything to come to Korea, in her dad and how he loved her and her brother more than anything, even in Yongbok- the way she still cares about him despite everything.

She falls onto her bed contemplating what to do.

"Ok first things first." She huffs grabbing her laptop from her bag and placing it on to her lap before typing onto Google. "Stray Kids."