The Universe Makes Mistakes Sometimes - Replay

Panic attacks and Pretty designs

For a few seconds. Maybe a minute. Maybe two, or three, or five, Jungwoo was quiet. It was if the Universe had granted him a small grace period. A calm before the storm, if you will. And when that calm ended and the storm began - well it wasn't a small storm, I'll tell you that.
It was a bit like astral projection. Jungwoo wasn't here or now. At first he was years back. There was flash of fire, a scream that sounded like his own and a deep pang in his chest. Suddenly, his face was slick with tears. He wasn't sure if they were old or new.
But a second passed and that scene was gone. He was back at the house - not the house, but his house - the house that seemed a million miles and an ocean away. But it wasn't really. No more than an hour by train.

Jungwoo could remember the first time his father beat him. And the second too. The time that he passed out from the pain and the time after that. And then when he was finally kicked out - or did he leave? Things got blurry after a while.
   And then he was living up to his fathers insults - fag, homo, man-slut - because he was doing whatever Taeho wanted just to please him. He still does.

Maybe he was right, Jungwoo thinks. I got kicked out of my home, my boyfriend is cheating on me and my soulmate...my soulmate doesn't want me.

"Woah, woah, woah calm down!" Jae grabs Jungwoo's wrists, stopping then from scratching frantically at his head, and pulls them down by his sides.

"Jungwoo!" Jae cries again, not too sure what do because here is Jungwoo in the middle of the school corridor having a crazy panick attack.

~~~

Yukhei sees the weird boy in the middle of the corridor, people taking pictures, pointing, whispering, nobody helping apart from the new gangly kid that looks like chicken little, as stream down his face and his breath quickens.

Yukhei's not a mean guy. If he saw someone in the middle of the street have a stroke, or someone on the cross county field have an asthma attack, he would help them. Call an ambulance, get them an inhaler, whatever.

But Yukhei doesn't see how he can help the grey-haired boy. So he's made his mind up, he's going to walk past, tell a teacher about the ordeal of he sees one, and carry on with his day. But there's something familiar about he boy. Something that twists into Yukhei's heart and he can't help but rush to the boy's aid, Yuta shouting 'Yukhei!' after him.

"Move it! What he fuck are you doing you bitch, can't you see he needs help?!" Yukhei doesn't even realise who he's swearing at until it's too late. Veronica's hand cracks across his cheek, her claw-like red acrylic nails drawing blood. But he doesn't care. He's by Jungwoo's side in a second, on the grimy floor where the by has curled up in a ball to protect himself from the flash of cameras.

Yukhei bitch slaps the phones out of four people's hands and kneels next to Jungwoo so he's close enough to whisper in his ear.

"It's okay, it's okay, it's gonna end soon."

~~~

Jungwoo doesn't know who the voice belongs to, but he loves it already. It's soft and soothing, his breathing isn't steady and he can't quite think straight yet, but he's gonna get there, and he knows that because the voice says so.

And then the arms that belong to the voice are touching his back and he feels shudderes up and down his spine. His stomach disappears the same way it does on a rollercoaster.

One hand on his spine, the other hand wraps around his wrist, untangling it from his hair.

Jungwoo wants to scream for the person to stop because it's the wrist his soulmate is on. And if that person sees the soulmark, the whole school will know about it within a few days.

The person grazes his thumb along the ink-black design.

Jungwoo thinks the design is pretty, pretty, pretty, even though he hates it. He hates it because he has a boyfriend, Taeho, Taeho who can be a dick, but Taeho he loves all the same because loving Taeho is the only thing that has been constant in Jungwoo's life since he got kicked out.

But at the same time, it's the prettiest design in the world.

Then faster than lightning, the person's touch is gone and Jungwoo can hear feet pounding away.

~~~

Yukhei sits in a cubicle on top of the toilet lid, head in hands.

Oh my god.

Oh my god.

And that's all he can repeat to himself for almost an hour.

My soulmate...my soulmate is...

A guy?