Junhee couldn’t help but wonder when he would meet his other half, the one to litter him with the mark he’d kept hidden beneath scarves and turtlenecks for the last two years. But then again, he’d been wondering that every day since his sixteenth birthday.

Maybe today’s the day he thought, chuckling out loud to dismiss the idea as he did every other day.

It wasn’t. It never was.

It reached July, then August, and then Junhee found himself sitting at his new desk on the first day of his final year of high school in September. Time seemed to be flying by all to quickly for him to keep up with.

The quicker time went by, meant the sooner he would be able to find out exactly how the first meeting of him and his supposed soulmate plays out.

But then again, did he even want to know?

Huffing, Junhee let his head fall against the cold wood of his desk. Why did it have to be this nerve wracking.

Days went by, then weeks, and before he new it, Junhee was at the stage of having to think about college, though he’d been preparing for this longer than a lot of the students in his class.

Having achieved straight A’s persistently for his high school career in music, participated in every musical the building held and built up a relatively successful name for himself as a city busker, it was known by most that he would be attending the university of arts, and hopefully on a scholarship.

But that was still months away, and to Junhee, nothing mattered more to him than finding the one behind his scar.

It limited him in more ways than just being embarrassing, though having multiple of his classmates ask if it was a bruise from a rough night in bed was definitely humiliation that he would love to live without.

What would his parents say if they saw it? His other sister? Would they think the same as his classmates? How does he explain that it wasn’t from a partner in bed? Say that he was attacked? How could he lie about something as serious as that-

“Kid, are you listening?” Junhee’s vocal coach wonders, flicking his head playfully to snap him from his daze.

“Sorry, sir.” He sighed defeatedly. He seemed to be losing patience for his other half awfully quickly recently.

“Well, we’re done for today. I’m not going to ask why you’ve been zoning out for half my lesson because frankly, I don’t care.” They both laughed as they began collecting their things. His vocal coach Jaehwan had always been a playful guy, he could never be serious for more than a minute which Junhee appreciated. It certainly made the two hours they spent together each Friday after school more entertaining.

“I’ll see you next week, kid! Keep practicing!”

Waving a short goodbye to each other, Junhee made his way down the school hallway towards the back entrance, planning to stop by the soccer field on his way home to catch up with his soccer enthusiast of a best friend, Yuchan.

He couldn’t help but notice the occasional glances thrown his way from the odd student passing by here and there, or the way they whispered to each other once they assumed they were out of ear shot. It was... odd, to say the least. But what could they possibly be conversing about that had anything to do with himself, Junhee thought.

As he pushed his way out of the back exit and towards the track field, a sharp yell halted him in his tracks.

“You!”

Suddenly Junhee was pressed firmly against the cold bricks of the building, a student with a matching navy uniform to his own glaring angrily into his eyes as he elevated him onto his toes by the hand harshly wrapped around his neck.

“It was you! You’re the one spreading rumours about me!” He growled, shoving Junhee harder into the wall as tears began to fill his eyes in pain.

“N-No I’ve never-“

“Don’t play dumb with me, kid! I could be homeless today because of you! How dare you go around telling the entire school that I’m gay!”

“I-I don’t know you- why would I-“ Junhee choked out, voice hoarse from the fingers tightening around his neck, restricting his airflow. His vision started to blur as he raised a hand to wrap around the strangers wrist that gripped his throat.

“P-Please- let go-“ Junhee whispered before slipping down the bricks in unconsciousness.

The strangers grip around Junhee’s neck faltered as he stared in shock at his wrist, the shadow he had stolen glances at for two years slowly beginning to disappear from the touch of the boy laying lifeless on the floor beneath him.

It was then, that he noticed the mark around the boy’s neck beneath him as it too, slowly began to fade.