Tally Marks- soulmate au

Prologue: My Gaurdian Angel

Noise. There was so much loud noise. Guns being fired. The shouts of his fellow soldiers. Screams of pain being emitted from those on the opposing side. And blood. So, so much blood. People running around, some in panic, most just trying to find their way in the midst of the chaos. There were so many people running around, firing their weapons, only hoping to survive the battle. The sounds of muskets being fired from both sides, and generals shouting commands to people, it was all too much. The blood, the yelling, the tortured looks on everyone's faces. It was all just, too much. No one should have to go through this. Why couldn't the revolution be done peacefully, no one would have to die. No one would have to feel this kind of pain. A musket was shot from the enemy's side. It's ball like bullet whizzing through the air. It flew among it's friends. Straight through the air, towards it intended target.

It missed.

Barely.

It skimmed it's target's arm, causing him lose focus. He dropped his musket and grabbed his arm in pain. He let out a groan as he moved away from the front lines. Blood poured out of his upper arm as he tried to apply pressure to stop it. Another soldier caught a glimpse of the man who was crying out in pain.

"JUNHUI!" The soldier yelled out above the chaos; rushing towards his friend who was on the ground.

"Seokmin, no!" He shouted to his friend who had stopped aiming his gun and instead turned to help his friend. Seokmin dropped his gun as he kneeled besides Junhui. The worried look on Seokmin's face said it all. He was willing to risk his life, to save his best friend. They had been through everything together. The moment Junhui had arrived in America he was faced with military training and on his first day, Seokmin had been there for him. They had always been caught fooling around and playing jokes, laughing despite their horrid situation.They trained together, they risked so much for each other, and now, they were faced in life or death situations and they were once again, willing to risk everything for the other.

Seokmin had more training in nursing than Junhui had and he immediately applied his recently learned knowledge to Junhui's wound in hopes of healing his friend. Junhui hissed in pain as Seokmin frantactly cleaned the soldiers wound with the limited supplies he had on him. Junhui glanced beyond Seokmin's shoulder and watched as his friends and enemies alike collapsed to the ground. Blood and pain littered the battle field. Bullets swam through the air.

And in a split second, everything stopped.

Seokmin's eyes went wide as he sucked in a harsh breath.

His last breath.

Junhui awoke in a cold sweat, finding it difficult to breathe. His chest rose and fell with panic laced into each breathe. It's had been 118 years since Seokmin's death and he was still having nightmares about it. He even left America right after the Revolutionary war in hopes of leaving those memories there, but to no avail. Now, nearly 120 years later, they still haunt him.

Junhui let out a sigh as he caught his breath. He ran his shaking fingers through his naturally black hair and let out a shaky breath. He found his fingers tracing the scar on his upper arm, feeling the bullets memory. Junhui glanced out the window of his small, one room cottage. It wasn't really a cottage, it was more of a side house that went along with the stable he worked at. The sun had started to peak out from behind the large Victorian houses. He sighed once again, something he had been doing a lot of recently, as he threw his legs out from under the thin sheets, getting ready to prepare for another day of small work. He currently worked as a stable boy for one of the high class families of their small Victorian town. Everyone treated him well and kind of took pity on him, knowing his situation. But he let it go, put on a smile, and pretended that he didn't want to end everything. Everyone always saw him as this cute, happy, cheerful, guy, but little did they know, that facade was the only thing keeping him from just stopping everything.

After going through his morning routine he walked out towards the barn. Then proceeded to go through his routine of feeding, brushing and caring for the horses that were kept there. It wasn't long until the eldest daughter of the house came down to the barn to collect her horse for her morning ride. She walked through the barn doors and was greeted with the ever beautiful Wen Junhui, tending to a white stallion. He looked over to her and after catching her eyes, his famous smirk found it's way upon his face.

"Good morning, Katherine."

She gracefully walked further into the barn, approaching the man.

"Good morning, dear." she said with a light chuckle.

He let out a small groan of disappointment. "I thought we agreed to stop with the nicknames. We aren't together anymore."

She let out a small giggle. "I know, I just wanted to get one last name in before I told you the news."

She reached for her riding helmet as Junhui guided the stallion towards the barn doors. They proceeded to fall into their old ways, walking besides each other, talking as if nothing had changed.

"What news?" Junhui questioned.

"I...I found my soulmate." She let out in a slight whisper.

Junhui abruptly stopped walking and turned to Katherine in surprise.

"Really?!? Katherine! I'm so happy for you!"

She blushed lightly and continued to walk. The two of them made it out the barn and stood facing each other, continuing their conversation.

"I really am! How long has it been? 50 years?" His excitement for her was obvious.

She blushed and looked down at her feet. "67, actually"

"That's incredible, when you get the time, you have to let me meet him."

Junhui helped her up onto her horse before smiling widely at her. " I definitely will, but I have to tell my parents first. I'm a bit nervous. How do you think they'll react?" She asked him.

"They'll be elated. I mean, to find out that their daughter found her soulmate before they die. That doesn't always happen." he informed her.

She nodded in agreement. "Thanks, I have to get going, but I'll be back later. I really hope you find your soulmate soon, those tally marks are going to take up a lot of space on your body. See you later Junhui!" She said as she rode off into the forest trail she rode every morning. Junhui's smile quickly faded as soon as she was out of sight. He let out an exasperated sigh.

The tally marks

He hated thinking about them. Each tally representing a year without finding your soulmate. A year without aging. A year stuck in the body of an eighteen year old. He had stopped aging at the age of 18, just like everyone else, and every year he goes without finding his soulmate is another tally mark. He had 133 of them. Each one more depressing than the last. All hidden away from the world as they lay upon his right hip. They had started to trail down towards his upper thigh. But all he could do was hope to find his soulmate soon. It had gotten to the point where he didn't care about gender, or looks, he just wanted to find them. 133. 133 years of loneliness. Of course, he had made friends, but they had all found their loves and had grown up. Grown old together. It was really cute, Junhui had wished he too could grow old with his soulmate. But, not much could be done about his situation.

He went about his daily chores and waited for Katherine to return. After a few hours, she had returned to the stables. She came up fast and almost seemed shocked. The look of panic on her face immediately transferred to Junhui's. She quickly pulled her horse to a stop and hopped down.

"What's wrong?" he asked looking her in the eyes.

"It's the Queen. Queen Victoria is dead."

Maybe now is a good time to find a change of scenery.

(1411 words)