Joshua climbed out of Mrs Choi's car, thanking her for the ride to the cafe as he closed the car door. Junghan was at the cafe studying and had asked Joshua to go join him so he could take a break.

Joshua entered the cafe to find it almost empty, only a few tables of students with their laptops and exercise books. He spotted Junghan at a table in a corner at the back, a table or two between him and most of the other customers; the exception being that Dokyeom kid sitting at a table alone. Josh walked over to Junghan, hands suddenly clammy, and sat down in the seat across from him.

"Hey!" Junghan greeted him, all wide smile and bright eyes, his long hair tied back at the nape of his neck. "The waiter'll be around soon, he's getting me another coffee. You can order then, if you want."

"Uh, sure. Sounds good," Joshua agreed, trying to remember what notes he'd shoved in his pocket before he'd left the Chois'.

"Don't worry if you don't have enough to cover it, I get a discount. Or I can pay for you," Junghan offered, closing his laptop.

"I'll be fine, I was just trying to figure out how much I actually have and what I'm in the mood for," Joshua responded. "You work here, right? What's good?"

Junghan plucked a menu from the edge of the table, where he'd pushed the collection of things you'd expect to see on a table in a cafe, and placed it down in front of Joshua. "It's all good, have a look through."

Of course he's going to say it's all good, he works here.

"I already ate this morning, so what's something small? And fairly healthy?" Joshua asked skimming through the menu.

"I don't know about healthy -- you're the one studying to be a nutritionist," Junghan laughed.

Joshua's lips quirked at Junghan's laugh. "If not healthy, then something that's cheap and tastes decent?"

"You don't have to eat. Just order a coffee and they won't kick you out."

Joshua looked up. "No, I'll order. I'm just not sure what. Struggling uni student, you know?"

"We can go halves in something, if you want?" Junghan offered, leaning across the table. Joshua assumed he was trying to see the menu, so he leaned forward and adjusted how he was holding it.

"Uh, sure?" Joshua wondered how long it would take for him to get used to how forward Junghan was. Joshua had already pegged him as the type to not beat around the bush.

Junghan glanced to him, a teasing glint in his eye. "'Sure?' You don't sound sure. If you aren't comfortable with it we don't have to."

"We can share, save money. We're soulmates, right? It's fine," Joshua swallowed before he started rambling. "So, uh, what do you want?"

Junghan shrugged. "What do you want?"

I hope he's not one of those people, Joshua groaned internally.

"I don't know, that's why I asked you. You work here, order something that smells good."

"It all smells good, Shua. Just order anything, I'm not too picky."

Joshua rolled his eyes and suggested the first thing that caught his attention.

Junghan shook his head. "No, I don't feel like that."

Great, he is one of those people.

"Don't play his games," a new voice said, "he's got something in mind but wants to wait until he knows whether you want it or not before he says anything."

Joshua looked to the side of the table and saw who could only be the waiter. Tall, thin, handsome, black skinny jeans, and a white cotton tee that revealed part of his collarbones. A fading hickey or two. He placed a cup down in front of Junghan.

Then the guy flashed a charismatic smile at Josh, and pulled a notepad out of his back pocket. "I'm Jun, and I'll be your waiter this morning. How can I help you?"

"Um, could you tell what Junghan wants?" Joshua asked.

Jun shrugged, "Sorry, not a mind reader."

Joshua nodded. "Right, yeah. Of course." Then he turned to Junghan. "So, what do you want, Junghan?"

Joshua waited as Junghan pretended to mull it over. "A burger? They're pretty good, but kind of on the expensive side for a struggling uni student like myself."

Joshua turned back to Jun, only to find he was already scribbling the order down on his notepad. "Anything else?" he asked, glancing up at Joshua through his fringe.

"An americano?"

Jun nodded and wrote that down, too. "That'll be out shortly," he told Joshua before walking away.

Junghan let out a burst of laughter. Joshua waited for Junghan to explain what he was laughing at, but Junghan simply shook his head and dismissed it with a "don't worry, inside joke".

Joshua cleared his throat. "So, uh, what are you studying?"

Junghan groaned. "Psychology -- this stupid essay's for my course on children's psychological development or something."

"You don't know what one of your courses is about?" Joshua had a hard time believing Junghan was his soulmate. What did I ever do to deserve this? he asked himself. Junghan wasn't horrible or bad or anything, he just wasn't what Joshua had imagined either of his soulmates would be like when he was younger.

"That's what it's supposed to be on. I've just got a crappy professor who always has to bring soulmates into it," Junghan explained.

There was a lull while Joshua thought of how to go about conversation -- should he continue on asking about Junghan's academia, or try for a different subject?

Junghan chuckled, and took a sip of his coffee. "Sorry, I'm not very good at talking to people I don't know very well."

Joshua straightened, glad he wasn't the only one feeling a little out of place. "It's fine! I can be pretty awkward, too. So, umm -- continue talking about university or should we try a different topic?"

"Which uni are you going to?" Junghan asked. Joshua told him and he gasped. "I go there! How crazy is that?"

"Pretty coincidental. Does this mean I have somebody to show me around if I get lost?"

Junghan flashed a playful grin, "Any excuse to spend more time with you."

"Alright, enough with the desperate attempts at flirting, bunny boy," Jun teased, placing a plate with a burger and some chips on it and a cup of coffee on the table. Joshua grabbed his americano and took a sip (Finally, coffee). "Not much for me to do right now, mind if I sit down?"

Junghan picked up a couple of chips and threw them at Jun, who caught one in his mouth. The other two fries fell to the floor.

"There, look." Junghan pointed to the chips accusingly. "Something to do -- sweep these crusty floors."

Jun rolled his eyes and turned to Joshua. "Don't worry, he's playing around. He's only this much of a moron to me." Then, he meandered to the front of the cafe, around the front counter, and through a door.

"Time to cut this burger," Junghan announced, a knife and fork clattering as he took them out of the napkin they were rolled up in.

For the first time Joshua directed his attention to the burger. It was gorgeous. Fresh lettuce, a fillet of chicken , some tomato peeking out the side, and a bun that looked bouncy, with a couple of handfuls of chips next to it.

Joshua was salivating.

He swallowed thickly and took another sip of his coffee.

"That was my reaction the first time I saw our chef cook one, too," Junghan laughed from across the table. He hacked the burger in half, tearing the middle of the bun, then picked up one half and held it out to Joshua. "Careful, it's almost better than ."

Joshua took the burger and bit into it, Junghan watching eagerly. There was beetroot, and onion, as well as the best sauce Josh had ever tasted -- and he moaned. Partly out of how good the burger was, but mostly because he'd glanced at the menu and noticed how expensive it was.

No wonder Junghan never orders it.

Conversation dwindled as Joshua and Junghan ate their half of the burger, not that it had been much of a conversation in the first place.

Joshua noted Junghan seemed more subdued with his flirting, laughing at anything Josh said and dialling back on the touching. It was almost like Junghan was trying to feel Joshua out, see how interested Joshua was in him.

They finished their burger and chips. Joshua dusted the crumbs off his fingers onto the plate, waiting to see what Junghan would do next.

"There's these questions that Jun suggested we both answer to get to know each other better," Junghan said, grabbing his phone off the table.

Joshua nodded. "Yeah, OK." There was a moment of silence while Junghan searched for them on his phone, his fingers tapping away rapidly. Far faster than Joshua dared to hope he could ever type.

"Here," Junghan said, sinking back into his chair. He set his phone on the table so Joshua could see. "They're a bit personal, though."

Joshua shrugged. "Isn't that the point?"

"I guess. How do you want to do this? I can read them out loud since you said you're still not a hundred percent with Hangul, and then we answer when we come up with ours?"

"Sounds like a plan." Joshua was thankful Junghan had remembered he was still getting used to Hangul.

The questions weren't what Joshua had been expecting. They were more interesting than favourite colour, lucky number, birth date, and they took some thought to answer.

Junghan sometimes answered the way Joshua had expected.

"Six -- 'If you were able to live to the age of 90 and retain either the mind or body of a 30-year-old for the last 60 years of your life, which would you want?' Easy, body."

Or in a similar way Joshua had.

"Nineteen -- 'If you knew that in one year you would die suddenly, would you change anything about the way you are now living? Why?' I'd quit uni so I had less stress and more time to enjoy life."

And sometimes Junghan's answers were the opposite of what Joshua had assumed they would be.

"Thirty four -- 'Your house, containing everything you own, catches fire. After saving your loved ones and pets, you have time to safely make a final dash to save any one item. What would it be? Why?' You're probably expecting me to say a photo album or a toy I've had since I was a baby. It'd actually be this folder my mum keeps important stuff inside, like all the pictures I drew for her when I was little, and family documents, and old letters from her school friends. She'd be devastated if she lost it and she'd be so worried about the fire she'd forget about it in the moment."

The date (what is it even a date?) wrapped up nicely, Joshua feeling like he'd gotten to know Junghan a little better. Jun brought over the bill, and Joshua and Junghan went halves for the burger like they'd agreed.

"I suppose you couldn't walk me to the Chois', could you?" Joshua asked as he stood up to leave.

Junghan gestured to his laptop and the exercise book. "Sorry, I'd like to, I really would, but," he shrugged to show he didn't have much of a choice. He held out his hand, palm up. "I can type the address into Maps if you want so you can walk back on your own?"

Joshua dug his phone out of his back pocket and handed it over to Junghan. Junghan raised an eyebrow, "No passcode?"

Joshua shrugged. "I don't have anything I want to hide."

Junghan held onto Joshua's phone longer than Joshua was comfortable with. Once a few minutes had passed, Joshua realised Junghan was nosing around his phone.

"Have you finished yet?" Joshua asked casually.

"Yeah, just realising how generic you are. There aren't any shirtless pics, or nudes, or photos of you on a night out, or -- oh, you and some friends are playing boardgames in this one. Wow, there isn't even any alcohol on the table. How boring," Junghan complained, passing Joshua his phone back.

"I'm too young to drink in America," Josh said.

Junghan scoffed. "And that stops you?" He looked up to the ceiling. "Oh my god my soulmate's a square. If the other one is too, you two can have each other and I'll get with someone with a marred mark."

Josh sighed. Am I ever going to be able to handle him? he wondered.

"Did you do the Maps thing?" he asked.

Junghan nodded. "Yup, I took a screenshot of it. Get home safe, and if you need to you can call me for directions."

"Yeah, OK. I'll message you when I get to the Chois'?" Joshua shifted, not sure if he should kiss Junghan's cheek like they had yesterday or not.

"No, I really have to get this essay done -- you'll just distract me. I'll message you when I can."

Joshua added "hypocrite" to the list of Junghan's traits.

Joshua turned to leave.

"What, no kiss?" Junghan teased.

Joshua turned back around and leaned down to peck Junghan's cheek. Junghan chuckled, "I didn't really expect one -- you seemed kind of awkward with it yesterday."

Joshua shrugged and said, "You wanted a kiss on the cheek, right? So I gave you one. Everyone's different with affection and I don't mind showering you in it if you want me to. We're meant to make each other happy, right?"

Junghan laughed, opening up his laptop. "That's certainly the way Jun talks about soulmates -- compromise and sacrifice and communication. I've really gotta get this done, so I'll message you later. Bye, Shua!" Junghan blew a kiss to Joshua.

Joshua heard a groan from Dokyeom, who was still at the cafe.

As he walked sluggishly back to the Chois' house, carefully following the map on his phone, he realised how exhausting Junghan was. He hoped the constant attention Junghan seemed to need was something he would get used to. Josh couldn't wait for the day he and Junghan met their other soulmate, so he and the other guy (girl? He didn't know how Junghan swung or if they'd be a romantic soulmate) could share Junghan Attention Duty.

He sighed in relief when he saw the Chois' house -- he hadn't gotten lost! -- and audibly moaned when he got inside and took his shoes off. He made a mental note to look for something he could put inside the shoe to make it more comfortable. Or buy thicker socks. He wondered whether he should announce he was back or not -- would anyone care?

"I'm back!" he called out, just in case it was expected of him.

He made his way to his room and pulled his laptop out from under his bed. He turned it on and sat down on the floor, his back leaning against his bed.

Sun, 27 September 2015

Hey Mom,

No, Junghan's not younger than me. He's my age, so don't worry about me "taking this kid's innocence". I think he's going to take mine, actually. (Stop giggling, you know how I meant it, mom.) I think he's the drinking type -- thank you for making me get drunk before I left, by the way. You know I'd drank before that but -- you know what? I'm shutting up now. I love you.

Are soulmates supposed to be exhausting? Junghan's a lot to handle -- he's still great, how I described him, but now I've spent some time with him and seen him in an environment he's comfortable in he's... a bit more than I expected either of my soulmates to be. Maybe that's why there's three of us, to balance each other out?

I'm sorry, I've rambled a lot about this.

I'm not sure what else to write about -- we should arrange a time to video chat! I miss seeing my beautiful mother. How are you doing? What have you been up to? Remodeled my room yet?

I can't believe I let you convince me into taking all my classes in Korean. My first day of classes is tomorrow -- I hope I can understand everything fine and don't make a fool of myself. I've been reading the textbooks, but I read so slow, mom! How am I going to survive my first essay -- my first exam? They're timed, mom! I have to read AND write for those. I hope you're happy I'm going to flunk everything and not be able to get my degree.

On a more positive note, I have Junghan and Vernon to help if I feel swamped. And I'm sure there'll be someone at the college whose job it is to help me out. I know, I'll get through.

Love you

- Joshua

Message sent

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Does anyone have any fic recs? Svt or bts? I'm running outta fics to read.