promised - kim namjoon

one

three years later...

Tsai found herself inside her math class, about to cry in front of everyone in the room.  

It wasn't unusual for her to become like this, she just needed to think about how most all her friends had found their soulmates and she'd be a sad mess, seconds away from spilling tears all over her desk.

Her mother and father both found each other merely a year after receiving their tattoos, and her grandparents found each other within weeks. Tsai had gone three years in life without a sign of who it could be, and it was a little upsetting to hear almost every month that someone she knew had found their soulmate. 

Just two weeks before Tsai moved to Taipei (which was about a year ago), she heard her mother complaining to her father about Tsai. 

"She doesn't have an idea," her mother whined, "and I think she'll never find them."

"It's only been two years, she still has time," her father had said to her, but even looked doubtful of his daughter.

Tsai honestly was so happy to leave her family for a whole different country, because it gave her a chance to find her soulmate in a different place. Most people had soulmates from across the world, like her friend, Somi, who found her soulmate in Portugal. Tsai prayed she wouldn't have to learn a whole new language for her soulmate.

Tsai's phone buzzed in her pocket, and she took it out, looking at the text from a good friend of hers, Liu.

liu wang ; when class is over, do you want to get some coffee? 

Tsai sighed, knowing that she would be turning her friend down for the third time this month. She's been busy, and studying as hard as she could to pass her classes.

tsai kubo ; I need to go to the library, need to read and study for my psychology exam coming up. I'm sorry :(

Tsai placed her phone on top of her desk, and began to finish the equations she had wrote down earlier from the professor's lecture. Even though Calculus was her best class, Tsai ended up doing the problems just to kill time. 

Her phone buzzed a second time and Tsai glanced at the screen, her lips pouting when she saw Liu's response.

liu wang ; how about you tell me when you're available? because it seems like you'll never have time for me

Tsai turned off her phone and put it in her pocket, packing up her things inside her black backpack as the professor dismissed her large class. She just wanted to finish today and go find something to eat before she goes back to the dorm to sleep.

♂

Tsai walked into the college's massive library and sat her things down on the desk, leaving the bag there on the desk to go to the bookshelf that held the books left on hold for students. She stares at the different books and searches for her last name, but pulling out three large textbooks from the bookshelf. She struggles to get the books back onto the desk, but she manages to make it back to where she was without killing anyone.

Tsai pulled out her psychology notebook and pens, before beginning to diligently study the first book. Her round glasses are on the table in front of her as she carefully study all the main points in the first chapter before writing them down for her to look over later. There was no way she was going to take these textbooks with her to her dorm. She had three hours anyways, she had enough time to get through two of the textbooks today, and then come back tomorrow for the last one.

An hour into her aggressive studying, a black backpack is thrown on the table next to her, scaring Tsai to the point she gasps and throws her pen across the table.

"Sorry," the voice next to her says.

She looked up to the person, seeing a man with dark brown eyes and dyed grey hair. He had on a black, short sleeved button-up, designed with white paisley designs, and he wore a pair of black pants with boots. He had a lot of tattoos, his left arm was an entire sleeve.

Which of those tattoos is his soulmate one? Tsai thought as she scanned his arm quickly, realizing she seemed like a weirdo for looking at him.

"It's okay," Tsai said to him, "you just scared me a bit."

The boy nodded his head and walked away from the table, to get his books, Tsai assumed. She slowly back into the rhythm of studying, and before she knew it, she had finished the second textbook's notes.

Tsai opened the messages app on her phone and quickly typed a message to Liu.

tsai kubo ; I finished studying. do you still want to go and get something to eat? 

Tsai began packing her things, before picking up the textbooks and putting them in the book check-in. When Tsai returned to the table, the second backpack had disappeared. Tsai assumed that the boy had left because his books weren't here, so she simply picked up her backpack and began walking out of the library.

Tsai's phone rang again and Tsai checked her messages.

liu wang ; i'm busy, got called in to do a shift at work. 

Tsai sighed, putting her phone into her pocket before going to her car. She felt a little upset knowing she done this to her friend, who only wanted to hang out with her for an hour and talk about life. Tsai just wanted to get school done and pass, so she could move on and find her soulmate somewhere in the world, wherever they were.

Tsai dumped her backpack into the passenger seat and sighed, the weight of the backpack no longer on her shoulders. She rubbed her aching shoulders, before reaching into the front pocket of her backpack for her glasses before she would start driving.

However, the only thing in the front pocket was a pen and a pack of cigarettes.

"I don't even smoke," Tsai gasped as she opened the large compartment of the backpack. The only things inside were two literature textbooks, a large three-subject notebook, and a few pencils. Tsai grabbed the notebook out of the backpack and flipped to the first page.

She saw messy handwriting and a bunch of notes about metaphysics and what looked like dried ketchup, and on the very bottom of the page, she saw a name.

kim namjoon.