SKZ Writing prompts

ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʟᴀɴᴇᴛ ɪ ꜱᴜʀʀᴏᴜɴᴅ - Hyunin

Hi, in case you're confused (if you've read ChanHyunIn_Lover25's chapter of this), I was the one who wrote this story but allowed her to publish it as it is a Hyunin story, she likes the duo, and she is my sister. I did not steal this story. You can check my Conversations, CHI_Lover25 confirms that.

Continuation of prompt

One day, Hyunjin's ring turns black. Dismayed, he checks in the light but his eyes don't deceive him. But one thing is off. The ring is still attached to his finger.

Start

Hyunjin is so startled he couldn't do anything but stare at the accessory on his finger. His muscles were simply frozen in place, too terrified to come into contact with the ring, for fear it might disintegrate forever.

He didn't want to accept this fact. It was in fact, black. His ring was black. His soulmate was dead, at least the tradition claimed it so. If that was the case, then why was his ring still resting on his finger, perfectly fine?

It was an anomaly, sure. But some part of Hyunjin wanted to believe that there was a reason for it. Maybe his soulmate wasn't dead. Maybe his soulmate was...

No word in Hyunjin's vocabulary could piece together a comprehensible sentence.

~

There was a constant buzz in his ears. Bodies were pressed together, relentlessly pushing against one another. All just to get a closer look at his outstretched hand on the table. A girl gasped and shoved out through the crowd, probably to go over to her friend's table to spread the news.

Hyunjin, the pretty boy of the class, was soulmate-less. Available.

Hyunjin felt his hand shaking, something within him quivering. All this scrutiny was unnerving and he was used to being the center of attention. He was just not ready for any of this.

His friend, the only polite person there, Bang Chan, asked, "How is this possible, Hyunnie? I thought-"

"I don't know, Chan!" Several classmates stepped back, eyes blown wide. Now, the crowd thinned, only a few brave ones gathering back for another look at the ring.

Bang Chan stepped back gently, eyes lowering, "I- sorry. I'll leave you alone." His one and only buddy walked away, leaving him to deal with the other classmates. Hyunjin cursed himself. He'd only made matters worse.

Things love to spiral for the worst, don't they?

~

For years, Hyunjin walked about his day, the purpose everyone else had no longer relating to him. It had also become a habit for him to dubiously check the ring in case the color changed. If the ring was still intact, it had to mean something, right?

Social interaction was awkward. Since the day the news went out, many girls and guys alike had started to hit on him. And many times, he had to point out their active ring, always with a bitter undertone.

His routine was nothing short of boring and uneventful. So far, he hadn't met any soulmate-less person who looked friendly enough to approach for some casual talk, and therefore he was left at a dead end.

At school, he mostly frolicked around and...didn't take much seriously. He was lost. Had been ever since that fateful day. And nothing would change till he met a strange boy at the park.

~

The park was void of activity. No aunties doing stretching and yoga, kids running around playing Tag and no dog-walkers either. Save for a boy who looked younger than him on a swing. Curious, Hyunjin cautiously made his way over.

He decided to just confidently sit on the other swing beside the boy, trying his best to look away. For a few moments, the only noise was the swooshing wing and the rustle of leaves.

Finally, Hyunjin decided to bite the bullet and looked over at the boy. He found the boy already staring. Rearing back, he nearly lost his balance but managed to regain it...in a dignity-losing way. He cleared his throat, staring at the ring on the boy's hand, "Uh, hi."

The boy followed Hyunjin's gaze and whispered, "Hi."

Hyunjin noticed the ring colour change into a dull grey. "Oh. Your soulmate must be pretty down."

The boy turned to Hyunjin, "It's been tallying from grey to black and repeating..."

Black? His hand shot to his own eye level, "My ring. Mine is black." At that moment, the ring colour changed into a weird pink. A very dull pink.

"Oh shoot, what's it doing?" Hyunjin traced a finger over the ring, eyebrows furrowed into a concentrated line.

For a while, Hyunjin continued rambling on to himself, trying to figure his ring out, forgetting the stranger beside him.

The soft voice snapped him out of his reverie, "What's your name?"

Hyunjin swallowed, not used to having to say his name as his popularity took care of that, "I'm called Hyunjin. You?"

"Jeongin. Hi, Hyunjin."

Hyunjin chuckled softly, clearly able to tell that Jeongin was as inexperienced with social interaction as he was. Then he sobered up slightly, "Your ring...do you have any idea why it alternates those two colours only?"

"I can only explain the black colour," Jeongin turned to Hyunjin, eyes glistening with some raw emotion pooling into tears, pushing to escape.

"I met my soulmate years ago. We dated, naturally. Fell deeply in- lo—love. Then-" Jeongin choked as he inhaled, turning away, "he died. Car...crash."

Hyunjin's gaze darted to the sunset and back to Jeongin's hunched form, the swing swaying slightly. "My ring turned black several years ago...as well."

Jeongin was examining his ring, tears flowing freely, when he froze, "Wait. It's not...black."

Hyunjin turned to his own. It was still a dull pink. Then, it dawned on him. "You're my soulmate."

Jeongin shook his head, "NO! Seungmin—he died years ago. Our rings turned pink together! He was my soulmate! You...have me mixed up with someone-someone else."

Hyunjin got up slowly, letting the empty swing sway to the wind, "I don't think I do." The closer he got to Jeongin, he noticed their rings turn more pink, losing the black.

Jeongin noticed as well, more tears flowing, "H-How? My soulmate can't have been...replaced. He died." He just sat there, unmoving except for the shaking of his shoulders.

Hyunjin crouched in front of Jeongin and took his hands. Jeongin let him. "Jeongin. I- you may not believe me but I think you had two soulmates. This Seungmin...he could have been mine too. But you were alive so the ring didn't fall apart."

Jeongin stared at the ground, shaking his head profusely, "No. The- The tradition there can't...no, it's not possible...some other...explanation."

Hyunjin softened his grip on Jeongin's hands, "I am your soulmate, Jeongin. Please...accept me." I've waited years...several, despairing years. Please.

"I'm sorry...Hyunjin. I can't," Jeongin wailed, "I can't betray Seungmin!"

Hyunjin's grip on Jeongin's hand finally slipped away, Hyunjin remained crouched. Something in him broke as he stared at Jeongin, who refused to look at him. Jeongin's wails died down to gentle sobs and whimpers.

When the younger finally gathered the courage to look at Hyunjin, he couldn't see anything. Not a trace of life in his eyes. The younger was so sure he could hear Hyunjin's heart breaking. Hyunjin was just crouched there, so still, it unnerved the younger.

So Jeongin fled, too scared to face what he'd done to Hyunjin.