UNIVERSE . nyukyu

02

chanhee lay on his bed, staring at the pale moonlit ceiling, very, very confused.

28 hours has passed, yet he hasn't found his soulmate. was it a mistake? did the ink appear too early?

no one spoke to him after his encounter with the librarian's assistant. was ji changmin his soulmate? but why didn't the words that came out of his lips corresponding with the words in chanhee's wrist?

does he even have a soulmate?

brushing the thoughts away, he buried himself in layers of blankets and pillows, cursing the cold october night.

——

"i miss you"

"i miss you too"
"wait why did i just say that?"

"i don't know, but same"

"who are you?"
"are you my soulmate?"

"who are you?"

——

ding ding ding

chanhee woke up in a jolt, sweaty, blankets sticking all over his body. he took his buzzing phone from the bedside table and closed the alarm.

removing the blankets, his body was hit with the room's cold air. grabbing his towel, he went straight to the bathroom.

diving in the shower, he was hit with warm water. he just stood there, letting the water fall on him, as he tried to fix his thoughts.

wtf where's my soulmate?
will i be forever lonely?
and whats with those strange ass dreams?

wait, those dreams. does it have anything to do with the soulmate thing?

"i miss you."

chanhee's eyes widened. he immediately looked at his wrist.

i miss you

"no, no. it can't be." he muttered to himself. "chanhee you dumb fuck stop thinking about this shit, you're gonna be late."

trying his best to forget the thoughts, he grabbed the shampoo bottle and washed himself.

——

chanhee's mother still didn't know about the ink in his son's wrist. chanhee would hide the words with a watch. he didn't know why he didn't tell her. he was grateful he didn't, especially because now he doesn't even know who his soulmate was.

"honey, eat your breakfast already, you're gonna be late." his mother ruffled his hair.

chanhee could only fake a smile. "alright mom."

still confused about the soulmate thing, he decided to ask his mother. "mom, is it possible for a person to not have a soulmate?"

"no why?" his mom answered, quite taken aback by the question

"nothing."

ms. choi knew something was wrong. "honey, you'll find yours soon. i'm sure your classmates right now are finding their's but it takes time."

"thanks mom." if only you knew

"and if you're thinking about your father, not every soulmate is like him. i just wasn't lucky and ended up with him." she got over him, it has been 8 years since he left. but sometimes, chanhee would still hear sniffles from her mother's room. his heart would shatter everytime. "now enough about this, you'll be late. here take this milk box. have fun in school alright?"

"alright. thanks mom, i love you." he pecked her in the cheeks and headed to school.

——

chanhee found himself in the library again. not to study, but to find ji changmin. there's something about him that gave chanhee something that he couldn't put his finger into.

roaming through aisles of shelves, he pretended to look for a book. well yeah, he did have to borrow a book for his history class but that wasn't any of his concern right now.

"oh, hey are you here to sleep again?"

chanhee got startled, "w-what?"

it was him, who he was looking for, ji changmin. "i'm sorry that was rude, are you looking for a book? i'll help you find it." he smiled

that smile again.

chanhee brushed off the butterflies in his stomach. "uhhm, yes." he showed changmin a photo from his phone of which book he needed.

changmin laughed. "if you're looking for a history book why are you on the fiction section?"

chanhee furrowed his eyebrows and looked around. blood started rushing to his cheeks as he spotted harry potter books lined in the shelf.

"aww cute, that's fine i'll help you." the brunette grabbed chanhee's wrist and started pulling him to the history section.

changmin eventually found the book and gave it to chanhee. "uhmm, if you don't mind me asking, what's your name?"

the other was taken aback by the question. "choi chanhee."

"oh. alright, choi chanhee, let's be friends!"

"s-sure."

"why did you stutter?" changmin's smile was quickly whipped down into a frown. "don't you wanna be friends? it's fine for me if you don't. i'm sorry."

"oh no, no. not at all, i'd love to be friends." chanhee quickly reassured the brunette. "it's just that, no one has told me that for a long time."

"oh, that's sad. atleast now you have me."

finally, after a long time, chanhee's face was once again plastered with a real smile.