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Uruka had never believed in a destined partner.
The idea that there was someone he was fated to be with without his opinion or consent was just unacceptable.
That was why whenever he heard anyone gushing about finding their soulmate, he scoffed. This trash concept was just a cheap scheme for the uneducated and the hopeless to waste their money on an empty dream.
The existence of spirits was far more believable than this chosen companion thing. Though he didn’t believe the former either because there was no such thing as an afterlife. You lived once, and you died once. There was no forever in this life.
Uruka had never believed he had a promised one waiting just for him to be found or met.
…
That was why he refused to acknowledge the red string on his ring finger.
…
…wasn’t it supposed to be on the pinky?
It was just a normal day when he woke up and saw the string. Still half asleep, Uruka tried to pull it off his finger, thinking his hand might have snagged the thread from the red ribbon he had for a school project. By the fourth try, Uruka was fully aware that something was abnormal about the thread; he couldn’t feel it at all.
After staring at it suspiciously, Uruka had an idea. He took his phone from the bedside table and opened the camera app. When he pointed the camera at his hand, he felt a small crack form in his reasoning. The string was nowhere to be seen on his phone screen, but he could still see it with his own eyes.
This was absurd.
His brain must have been exhausted from his late night reading, so it punished him by creating an illusion.
Yes, he was just sleep deprived.
And so Uruka moved on and ignored the string.
A semester had passed and he was now a senior.
…
And the red string had evolved into a ribbon.
By what sorcery was this even possible?!
A red ribbon of fate?! Not even in fiction was there ever such a thing as a red string turning to a ribbon over time. It was either taut, stretched, or tangled. Never widen into a fucking ribbon.
Uruka could feel the last remnants of his reason slipping away.
He had been so adamant about ignoring the string that his brain had adjusted his vision to ignore the string just like it ignored the nose. So when he finally noticed the string had widened to a centimeter in width, he had thought he was seeing things.
From then on, his illusion was shattered. Uruka could no longer ignore its existence.
How could he when the small ribbon was tied to the one man he wished to leave him alone.
Hyouzaki Joe.
The loudest and most annoying man he had the misfortune of being stuck in the same school and the same class.
That man was as persistent as the red string. Absolutely hated it when he ignored him. Always had many reasons to pick a fight with him. Joe seemed to make it his life’s mission to annoy him to death. And Uruka almost believed he might succeed now that they were destined for life.
Uruka had searched everywhere for a way to undo this curse. It was just illogical that his fated partner was Joe. They were never nice to each other. They greeted each other with insults. Their skinship was through punches. Everyone saw that they were far from the ideal lover.
It must be some kind of cosmic mistake for Lady Fate to tie them together, so this animosity between them is the aftereffect of said mistake.
Because they were never meant to belong together.
…
Right?
Uruka was frowning again in his sleep.
Looking at him asleep on the low table with books scattered on the table and around him showed that he was pulling another all nighter.
Jeez, the exam week was done. It was almost summer holiday. Uruka sure as hell had done all the holiday assignments. What the fuck was he researching?
Joe unlocked Uruka’s window with ease, almost instinctively, and slipped in smoothly. He immediately made a beeline for the sleeping man. Joe stared down at him, his eyes slowly scanning Uruka as though he were burning the image into his mind.
For the hundred times.
It would have been nice if there was an invention where he could print straight from his mind. The camera never did his beauty justice, but alas he had to make do with what he could with current technology.
After being satisfied with staring at his mate, Joe moved to sit behind Uruka. Legs caging Uruka’s body, Joe wrapped his arms around Uruka’s stomach and laid his head on his back, listening to the slow heartbeat and breathing of his beloved. But it was not enough. He wanted to be closer.
Slowly and gently, Joe pulled Uruka to his lap, still chest to back. He nuzzled Uruka’s cheek and he would have purred like an engine if he were an animal when Uruka unconsciously snuggled deeper into him. It still amazed Joe how dead asleep Uruka was, completely contradicting with the Uruka at school who never let even a fly escape his notice.
It was such a moe gap he adored so much, among other things.
Joe then noticed the red ribbon, it was now almost 4 centimeters wide. He grinned approvingly.
Taking Uruka’s hand, he entwined their fingers. The red ribbon bows on their fingers side by side, looking like wedding rings. Joe held Uruka’s bow knot to his lips.
You’re mine forever.