Genre: Fluff with a dash of poorly attempted humour

AU! Where the first thing your soulmate says to you will appear on your body as a sort of soul mark. Jihoon manages to find himself a soul mate with impeccable taste in pickup lines.  

The door opened with a clear chime of bell, causing Jihoon to straighten up from his position at the corner of the coffee bench. He turned to the door in time to see a man walking in, his frame highlighted by the pouring of golden sunlight behind his back, tall and undoubtedly muscular with broad shoulders and legs that filled and stretched his jeans in the most delicious way. The man scanned the small but packed space for a vacant seat and Jihoon took his time to appreciate the beauty in front of him. Dark, luscious hair that fanned down his face just above the thick, fluttering lashes and full lips set in a pleasant smile so easily as if it was his second nature. What captured Jihoon’s utmost attention, however, were his eyes. They were in the most beautiful shade of deep brown Jihoon had ever seen, shining with confidence and playfulness. The man was surely a sight to behold, Jihoon’s gaze lingered on the brunet as he strode to the nearest empty table, which coincidentally was directly in front of his work counter. Jihoon snapped out of his trance then, turned to grab the leather clad menu and calmingly walked over the brunet’s table. He had a job to do, after all, and Jihoon would be damned if he let anyone caught him ogling over a customer when he was in work hour. 

Jihoon gracefully got to the brunet’s table without shamelessly staring at the man the whole time or tripping over imaginary objects, stopping at a reasonable distance in front of the white marble table. The man looked up, their eyes locked and Jihoon suddenly felt like every breath had been knocked out of his lungs with how intensely the brown orbs were staring at him. They darkened with a flash of emotion that Jihoon couldn’t quite make out, yet the sheer look of it had a shiver trailing down Jihoon’s spine. The stunning customer opened his lips and Jihoon would have fallen deep under for the warm, soothing voice if not for the absurdity in the words he had said.

“Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?“ 

It took the handsome brunet a good few seconds to realised he had spoken out loud what seem to be the most cheesy and unoriginal line of all time, and when he widened his eyes almost comically at Jihoon's direction, mouth dropped open in a soundless gasp. Surprising even himself, a short laughter bubbled in Jihoon’s throat as he eyed the panicking man in front of him and Jihoon spoke before he had the chance to activate his brain-to-mouth filter, effectively cutting off the other’s sputtering explanations 

"No, but I did scrape my knees crawling up from Hell." 

The handsome man stopped his rambling and looked at Jihoon instead as if he had grown a second head. Before Jihoon could let out another snarky remark at his dumbfounded expression, though, the man hissed out in pain and clutched onto his left arm; Jihoon following him right after with colourful curses tumbling out his mouth as the hot white pain in his inner right arm caught him unguarded. He could only vaguely register the curious eyes of neighbouring customers as well as the worried glances from his co-workers through the consistent burning on his skin. As the seconds ticked by, the pain faded into a dull ache and Jihoon hurriedly pulled up the sleeves of his dress shirt, ignoring the gnawing voice in his head telling him that he already knew exactly what the pain was and what he would find under the white fabric. The little voice wasn’t wrong, though. 

Inked on the inner skin of his arm were the words he had just heard barely a minute ago, cursive "Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?” ran delicately down the length of his right arm. Jihoon stared and stared at the words, millions of thoughts rushing through his mind at once, blocking out all the noises and questions from his approaching friends. A deep voice resonated in his muddled up mind and brought him back to reality. He glanced at the source of the voice, eyes caught the now bare arm on the table, the last word of the tattooed sentence looking suspiciously similar to the word “Hell” even from Jihoon’s distance. 

“I’m Seungcheol.” The man - Seungcheol - blurted out suddenly before flushing a pale shade of red under Jihoon’s questioning gaze. “Just thought that you’d want to know.. Now that we are.. Err.. Soulmates. Because I have your first sentence as my soul mark.. And you have mine, right?”

Seungcheol stretched his arm out for Jihoon to see. The blonde glanced at the words on his arm and there they were, the words that just came out of his mouth were now etched onto Seungcheol's skin in bold, curvy lines, and Jihoon despite his buzzing mind relished in the way those words looked so right on Seungcheol's arm, like they were supposed to be there from the beginning. He turned back to look at Seungcheol, who was staring at him in amazement and excitement altogether with a hint of worry in between, probably at Jihoon’s lack of reaction, and Jihoon smiled then, a small but gentle, genuine smile.

“I’m Jihoon. Lee Jihoon. You really need to work on your pick up lines, Seungcheol. Also, have you decided on anything yet? Sorry but I could feel my boss glaring at me right now as we speak and it’s getting a little nerve-wrecking.”

Seungcheol’s face lit up in relief and he grinned, bright and warm like a mid-summer day. Now that was a sight Jihoon could get used to seeing on a daily basis.

“Can I have one hot vanilla latte, please. And sorry, I don’t usually blurt out things like that, it was really lame wasn’t it? It just kinda happened when I saw you, I guess" 

The bashful smile that Seungcheol had was rather endearing, Jihoon mused to himself as he jotted down his order and gave Seungcheol an assuring smile.

"I personally find it quite funny, so it’s alright." 

"I still feel bad for the overly used line though. How about this. Can I ask you out for a dinner date later tonight? I’ll make sure to do my research and find only the top-notch cheesy lines for you." 

Jihoon really laughed out loud then, shaking his head at the brunet. "Alright then. My shift ends at 7 today, then we could go out for dinner afterwards.” Seungcheol nodded happily and Jihoon turned away with a playful wink and walked back to the counter, unable to wipe the content smile off his face for the rest of his shift as the image of an excited Seungcheol with a wide grin on his face kept on replaying in his mind.  

Maybe, just maybe, Jihoon could learn to live with the overly cheesy pickup lines after all, but only if they were from a certain someone who had the stars in his eyes and the sun hiding behind his smile. 

And that certain someone was no doubt his one and only soul mate. His one in a million, his Choi Seungcheol.