There are clocks and then there is time – two halves of the same coin but only one ever really made the difference. Yixing looked on at his wrist with a glee he hadn’t really ever felt or understood before. The pretty little timer ticked on, slowly but surely, and he could feel butterflies fill his stomach as he watched. Just a few hours left.

A loud crash followed by a string of curse words broke his brief revere, and the boy ducked his head under his pillow. Yixing pressed the feather filled material firmly against his ears as the yelling escalated.

That was how he knew his papa was home; just like clockwork – every night. Something would usually brake, followed by a lot of loud words his mama had told him to never use, then his appa would get really mad and do something Yixing hated very much. There was a loud smack, something sickening to hear, and he knew his father’s tirade was over. The front door could be heard opening and slamming shut. Once, when he was eight, he’d opened the door to his room and peered out to see if his mama was okay. She was on the floor then, sobbing and holding her cheek, and he’d just hugged her. Since then he’d been told to stay put if he ever heard it happen again.

He knew his mama wanted to keep him away from his papa’s fits, but it still hurt to hear it happen. Yixing couldn’t wait to grow up for this reason. He couldn’t do anything as a 10 year old. He was too small. Plus he couldn’t work. He needed money to move away with his mama and his stuffed unicorns, and they just didn’t give jobs to 10 year old. He’d tried.

Yixing looked back at his wrist and smiled remembering what would happen in just a few more hours. He’d already been keeping track of it with his mama who told him to just play it cool when he met the ‘pretty young lady’ who would steal his heart.

“You have to be a classy gentlemen,” she’d said earlier that day when he’d run home screaming that it was tomorrow; that he would meet them tomorrow. “Be the lady killer I know you are my charming young man. I can’t wait to see who you’re destined with!”

Yixing made a face as her words floated back into his head. He didn’t know how to be a classy gentlemen. Not really. He could hold a door for them; maybe that’s what she’d meant? Or maybe he should bow? Yixing scratched his chin before nodding with a satisfied grin. Yup, he should bow. Bowing was respectful. It meant he had manners, and Yixing definitely had manners.

The little timer stretched out across his wrist was so much fun to look at. The numbers on his timer were white, almost glowing, against a galaxy background that seemed to expand and move the more you gazed at it. A thin purple border contained his galaxy and finished his timer nicely. Yixing read out the time left until the counter would hit ‘0’ all across the board.

“12 hours, 4 minutes, and 10 seconds,” he giggled out. The butterflies snuck back into his system and he rolled around to look at the ceiling.

Would they be a new student? Would he meet them at lunch break? Maybe they would be in his dance class? There were so many questions floating around in his head but at least he knew one thing.

“You’ll be perfect,” he said aloud. “You’re already perfect; I just haven’t met you yet to tell you that.” He tucked himself in and closed his eyes; ready to meet his soul mate the next morning. “I promise I’ll tell you that everyday starting tomorrow. I never break a promise.”

When Yixing awoke the next morning he sprang from his bed and clapped his hands together. Today was the day! He hurriedly pulled down his sleeve to check how much time he had left when his blood ran cold and his whole body froze.

“Mama,” He wailed; terrified that something was wrong. “Mama my timer, something’s wrong with my timer!”

Yixing felt tears prickle his eyes and his vision blurred as he stared at the broken white image before him. Gone was his little galaxy, gone was the time he’d been watching like a hawk, it was all gone. All he had left was a little broken image and a dull white background blinking back at him with cold black numbers. His mother ran into the room and he let his tears fall.

If would take less than an hour to find out from the doctor that the explanation was simple; but it didn’t mean it was easy to hear.

His mother sat down in front of him – his cheeks stained with tears and his eyes puffy – and held his hand with an attempt at a gentle smile. She didn’t want to tell her child, she didn’t know how she would. Yixing deserved the world. He was a good boy. How could she tell her son her soul mate had passed? How would she explain to him his timer broke and flat lined to zero the moment his soul mate left this world? She didn’t want to, Yixing would cry endlessly the remainder of the day into his beloved unicorn plush toys, but she knew she had to.

So she did.

“I never got to tell him he was perfect,” he cried that night into his plush. “What if no one ever told him mama? What if no one ever told my soul mate he was perfect the way he was?”

His mother looked curiously at him.

“How do you know he was a ‘he’, Xing?”

Yixing looked miserably at his broken timer, tears still streaming down his face. He shook his head before lying down. “I just know mama, he was perfect. I just know.”

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I DON"T KNOW WHATS WRONG WITH ME PLEASE DON"T KILL ME LIKE AAAAAH THIS IS SO SAD I DON'T WISH THIS ON ANYONES OTP EVER BUT I NEED TO FLESH SOMETHING OUT

I may continue it but it depends. I feel like kaixing needs some agsnt in this one shot collection. All my others are fluffy and what not.