Man, I can’t believe Dumbledore died.

Mingyu had that sentence tattooed on his forearm since forever.

He had always wondered who the hell is Dumbledore? as a kid and every time he whined to his mom, she would always reply with a laughter and a ‘don’t worry, you’ll find your soulmate somehow’. So, imagine his surprise when he read Harry Potter for the first time.

To say that he was pissed would be a huge understatement. Why couldn’t it be something ordinary like ‘hello’ or ‘nice to meet you’? Why did his mark had to be a spoiler of a book which was possibly the most popular literary work of the century? He didn’t know whether to kiss or strangle his soulmate when they finally met.

*****

The first time Mingyu learned about soulmates was when he was 6. It was the first year of elementary school and his teacher had explained the concept of soulmates and marks to the eager students. For the next few weeks, it was the hottest topic for his peers. They had fun checking out each other’s marks. Most of them had it tattooed on their wrists or forearms while others had it near their collarbones or hipbones.

Mingyu soon learned that not everyone was born lucky. Most of them had common words like ‘hello’ and ‘excuse me’. Jeonghan who lived next door was one of the lucky ones, whose tattoo was a very specific “hi, I’m Jisoo”. His classmate Jihoon had the words “I like pink, too” and he made it his life’s mission to buy anything with the color pink. He even begged his mom to dye his hair pink, for God’s sake.

For some reason he couldn’t understand, the gods above decided to make the lives of some people (like him) miserable by giving them unusual and confusing words.

(He used to wonder what the hell he has done to deserve a mark like this. Was it something he did in his past lives? Or was he that unlucky?)

He knew a boy in 3^rd grade named Seungcheol whose tattoo was ‘TVXQ broke up in 2009, you fool’. The older boy told him that he cried when he realized that his mark foretold the fate of his favorite band (Mingyu thought it was kind of ironic).

“At least you got a clue, sort of. I’m still wondering who the hell this Dumbledore guy is,” Mingyu said as he showed Seungcheol his own mark, and they ended up consoling each other awkwardly.

*****

Mingyu received his first Harry Potter book on a chilly afternoon. It was his birthday and his house was full of his relatives; chatting and eating and dancing and generally being really, really loud. His extended family was a rather big one, it annoyed him sometimes (well, most of the time), but having lots of relatives meant that he got lots of presents. He started unwrapping his presents once he managed to avoid all his aunts (who wanted to kiss and pinch his cheeks) and all his cousins (who wanted to open his presents). After endless toys and game sets, he finally stumbled upon a different kind of gift; a book. It was a gift from his favorite uncle (“I found this on a nearby store and thought of you,” his uncle said) and he started reading it right then and there (even though he wasn’t a fan of books, to be honest). Mingyu was barely halfway through the first chapter when he spotted the word Dumbledore and he felt like someone had just dumped a bucket of cold water on his head.

Dumbledore. Dumbledore. Dumbledore.

He checked his forearm.

Man, I can’t believe Dumbledore died.

He saw his mom in the kitchen. He ran. He shouted.

“Mom, I found Dumbledore!”

*****

Mingyu and his family were beyond excited when they found out who Dumbledore was. He was certain that he would meet his soulmate soon. But of course, fate decided that he should not get his happily ever after easily. Of course this Dumbledore guy didn’t die in the next book. And the next. And the next one.

Life , Mingyu decided.

He spent the next few years hiding his mark from everyone he met, and every time they tried to see it he would reply with a ‘trust me, you don’t want to read it’. Living a single life wasn’t that irritating, but he couldn’t help being jealous when most of his friends had found their soulmates. All he could do was keep sulking, and waiting for the next Harry Potter book to be released. He couldn’t wait the day Dumbledore died so that he could finally wear tank tops and t-shirts and anything with short sleeves, without having to worry that he would spoil anyone.

Mingyu silently nodded to himself. Life really .

*****

It was one sunny Wednesday when he finished reading Half Blood Prince, the sixth book in the series. It was the middle of summer, that kind of day when you couldn’t stop sweating and the world seemed like a giant oven. School was over several days earlier, and he would attend college next month. Mingyu finished reading the book in one day. Yes, he was that desperate to know Dumbledore’s fate. The old man finally died. He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Dead Dumbledore meant a) he could finally wear clothes with no sleeves, and b) he would meet his soulmate anytime soon. He decided to go to a coffee shop downtown.

The café was crowded and the scent of coffee and pastry wafted through the air. Mingyu was waiting in line to order his coffee when he saw him. He couldn’t help but notice each details of him, from his messily styled dark hair down to his sneakers. The stranger looked around his age, nineteen or so, but his tall figure made him look slightly older. A small smile was making its way on his face, his eyes were a deep brown (like the color of coffee, Mingyu thought) and he was looking at the copy of Half Blood Prince that Mingyu carried.

And then he spoke.

“Man, I can’t believe Dumbledore died.”