Chapter Text
25.03.2001
The Kim household was usually quiet during the mornings. With the exception of Mr. Kim getting ready for work, the only rustle heard during that time would usually come from the cozy nursery located in the right wing of the first floor, where 6-month-old Kim Junkyu snored softly, lost in sweet dreams about gardens full of flowers and magical kittens.
Junkyu was a well-behaved baby who rarely caused trouble, he had chubby cheeks and pretty almond eyes no one could resist. He loved being around his family, which consisted of his mom, his dad, his older brother and an adorable white kitten named Ruby. His favorite hobby was napping, he could fall asleep at any time and place if he felt like it and he would grump around if he was woken up.
It wasn’t common for Junkyu to cry, especially if he was supposed to be changed, well-fed and asleep by then. So, it was natural for Mrs. Kim to rush to the nursery once she heard the kid’s wails from the kitchen.
“What’s wrong Junkyu? Hm? Are you hungry?” She picked the baby up, rocking him and trying to soothe him with her voice. Mrs. Kim tried feeding Junkyu the bottle she had been preparing before he had woken up but he wailed harder, making the woman frown.
She was in the middle of shifting him when she caught a glimpse of ink on her son’s hand. Gasping, she rushed out of the nursery, calling for her husband with a crying Junkyu on her arms. Once the man came downstairs, worry evident on his face, she told him the news with an excited smile.
Junkyu’s soulmate had been born.
A soulmate was someone you were destined to spend your days with, someone you were meant for and someone that was meant for you. Soulmates could communicate through their skin, anything you wrote on your skin would show up on your soulmate’s skin as well. That’s how it worked, there was no science behind it and no person had ever dared questioning it.
There were certain rules to follow if you were part of the soulmate dynamic. You are not allowed to force your meeting or horrible things will happen, if you cross paths before you are meant to, your relationship will be of bad luck. You are only allowed to communicate with your soulmate through your skin, that meant no interchanging numbers before meeting. You are allowed to reject your soulmate but you will always live with the guilt of denying your destiny. And many more rules to ensure destiny gets away with what it wants.
To make matters easier, parents were required to doodle half a red heart on the hand of their newborn on the day they were born, their soulmate had 24 hours to complete the heart otherwise the newborn’s family would assume their soulmate had not been born yet. That had been Junkyu’s case 6 months ago.
Now, half a red heart stood proudly on the back of his hand. Little Junkyu kept sobbing as his parents shared shocked looks.
“Oh my god Junkyu! Your soulmate!” Mrs. Kim wiggled Junkyu around, managing to calm his sobs to little whimpers. “Poor thing, you aren’t used to the tingles, huh? Let’s complete the heart and then you can go back to sleep”.
She took a red marker out and completed the shape, taking out her phone to snap a picture of the memory.
“All done, you can go back to sleep now”. She put the kid back in his crib, watching his pretty eyes close as a new dream welcomed him.
850 km away, in the main hospital of Mie prefecture, Japan, Takata Mashiho shifted slightly in his sleep at the tingly feeling on his hand.