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The first time he heard his soulmate he was at the super market with his mom. Probably around 8ish years old. ‘I want to go home’, gosh he remembered looking around the isle thinking someone had spoken to him. He heard a bit more before shyly tugging at his mom’s dress. ‘It’s alright’ She said, ‘That’s your soulmate.’ The boy had always heard a lot about these soulmates. He knew some people were special and had more than one, people like his mommy. One of her soulmates was his daddy, while the other was his auntie. The fact he heard his soulmate made his belly fill up with butterflies although admittedly, he didn’t fully understand why at the moment.
All his life he knew he was a receptor of sorts. He carried their mark, like many others in his family. However some of them carried other abilities. His dad for instance carried a sort-of calming touch to the people around him. Maybe he’d develop one when he got older. But as the child grew up he didn’t hear his soulmate again. Maybe they were just visiting? Maybe they moved away? Who knew really? It was sad but , at the same time he was glad. What if his soulmate didn’t like him? ‘Nonsense’ his mom would say, ‘A soulmate is someone who you will connect with instantly.’ It was an easy thing to say that when you’ve found yours.
Skipping a few years of teenage where-is-my-soulmate angst we find him now in his first year of University. He didn’t enjoy the idea of living in the dorms; that is until he heard his soulmate again. Who knew he’d get the same damned sensation in his stomach as he did when he was younger? If he was lucky enough he’d share a class with them. It would be hard to pinpoint who it could be though with so many people constantly coming in and out of campus. Did voices sound the same inside their heads as they did when they spoke? He should have asked his mom that. He’d find them though; he was sure of that. Although he could have done with a bit of a clue as to how they looked. Why was life always testing him?
Admittedly it was hard to not scream at the top of his lungs asking who the hell could love ramen so much to consider it a food group, he was having fun. He was hearing about things his soulmate loved, video games, his cat, ramen, dancing-- Would that make him kind of a thought stalker? Could that be considered an actual thing? Man this was getting even more complicated as he thought about it. All while he was receiving the other’s thoughts he didn’t know he was the other was doing something similar. Albeit it wasn’t exactly thoughts. Empathy was a hell of a thing.
At some point it became evident his soulmate knew. ‘Did you eat?’ and ‘Let’s meet’ became frequents thoughts for the other. Maybe they should meet up. Then came that thought he always used to have when he was younger. Oh god it was worse when he thought about all the factors they’d have to run into each other eventually. There were only so many places he could hide. Yet for a while things became quiet. It was Chuseok of course everyone could go home except him. The life of a complete loser. All he could so now was catch up on work. About a week later things were still relatively quiet. Had the other comeback safely? Maybe he’d gotten tired of his shit— He would have too honestly.
It was hard to explain how their empathic connection had become so strong when they had never even seen each other. Little things seemed to slip over. ‘Don’t be sad’, ‘You read a lot don’t you?’ and ‘Why are you always cold?’ were just some of the things he’d hear the other tell him. He knew. But the biggest bomb shell didn’t come until a few days later. “Do you really hide here?” A rather familiar voice said one evening as he sat at back of the library since his dorm room was… preoccupied. At first it didn’t really hit him who it could be. He was too busy reading up on the lecture he’d missed thanks to his roommate. “You should be nicer to me.” The stranger said again before sitting down in next of him. Was that…? Nah. But, what if it was?
“You.” The young man mumbled after a while. Tentatively he reached over poking the stranger’s forehead smiling lightly at the tingling sensation it left on his whole hand. “Jinyoung.” He offered his hand for the other to shake. To his surprise he was pulled into a hug but he didn’t complain. It was a nice sensation. Good god, soulmates were very important. “Jaebum.” The other replied with a smile after their hug ended. What followed nearly got those two kicked out of the library but in their defense, they had a lot of catching up to do. But that’s a whole other story on its own.