Sungmin was blankly staring out of the window. He hadn't been at that noodle shop for more than seven years. Come to think about it, Sungmin had been avoiding black noodles since the day he stopped talking to Youngwoon. He felt like slapping himself.

"Aunt! Two more shares here!" a familiar voice called right in front of Sungmin. Mere seconds later, someone grabbed a chair beside Sungmin and sat down. "Bunny-Min, you haven't changed at all!"

Sungmin smiled. "Neither did you, Jae hyung. Never thought you'd become a glutton, tho, why two shares?" he greeted back, welcoming the quick hug Jaejoong pulled him in.

"Today is noodle day, Ling will be here any minute now." Jaejoong replied, all smiles.

On the other hand, Sungmin grimaced. The bliss of a matching couple was slapping him on the face. "That's why you asked to meet here. But tell me what is so urgent that you needed to meet me in such short notice." Sungmin replied, his demeanor turning more business like for the sake of shielding his heart.

"Dang, you really changed. Now all business, no happiness?" Jaejoong joked but he did hand Sungmin an envelope and a folder. "I have a message and a request."

Sungmin put the folder aside and opened the cream colored envelope. From it, he pulled a folded paper that was quite bold. When he opened it, layers of folded pictures and decorations stood in an explosion of colors and cuteness. To the left, Jaejoong held a giant diamond ring; to the right, Xinling was holding a pink heart balloon "See you soon in our wedding!" It read. As Sungmin stared at the wedding invitation, his heart sank.

"Wow! You guys are finally getting married?" Sungmin spoke, his tone delighted, but an edge of sadness was audible to Jaejoong. "You guys sure took your time."

Jaejoong smiled. "We had our reasons. Now that you know the message, look at my request." he added pointing to the folder.

Another huge surprise took Sungmin off his feet. While he was reading the document, his black noodles were served. However, when he looked back at Jaejoong, his food had been taken. It felt overly familiar, so Sungmin knew he was not dreaming. "Are you really working with the girl-group Silver Haired Butlers? They are going to sing at your wedding? Do you really want me to compose the song?!" Sungmin still needed the confirmation though.

"Of course," Jaejoong grinned. "Since their debut, I've been their stylist. Their producer got really mad over them being second place behind KRY. So I told them that if they allowed the group to sing on my wedding I would have KRY's hit composer to make them two songs. Would you do this for your favorite hyung?"

"You are not my favorite hyung." Sungmin countered, eyes on his stolen noodles and grinning.

Jaejoong looked at Sungmin, then down at the black noodles he was about to start eating. Carefully, he handed the chopsticks to Sungmin and pushed the bowl in his direction. "But you are my favorite dongsaeng?" He offered with a pleading smile.

Sungmin laughed. "You are lucky I don't have exclusive contract with KRY. I'll gladly compose the song, hyung." He said while taking the chopsticks and his dinner back.

Jaejoong's share was served not long after, right as Xinling was entering the shop. "Bunny-Min!" She cheered once she saw the two males talking. "Thank you for accepting his bribe!" she added, making Sungmin laugh. They were still updating each other through their sns, apparently.

"It's a good deal for me as well." Sungmin replied after kissing Xinling's hand.

"I have good news too. Seoyeon is on our side, she booked the restaurant with an alias and will not let Youngwoon find out." Xinling continued her happy babbling, her eyes were on Jaejoong tho.

Sungmin felt cold all over once he heard Youngwoon's name. Those really seemed to be good news, because Jaejoong cheered with her, imitating a teenager girl.

"You guys seem to be plotting something evil." Sungmin commented while playing with his noodles.

"Well, we kind of have to, Bunny-Min," Xinling retorted, making a face. "If you have not noticed, Youngwoon had gracefully missed all of our friends weddings. We are so not allowing him to miss ours."

“Talking about missing weddings, Kyuhyun is not invited this time.” Jaejoong stated, not looking at Sungmin.

The younger male pulled back, staring quite surprised at his friends. “You still don't know? We broke up about three years ago.”

Xinling frowned, paused her eating mid action, but Jaejoong continued eating his black noodles as if he had heard nothing.

“Three years ago?” Xinling mumbled.

Sungmin nodded, once again looking out of the restaurant window. “He told me that, during his Asian tour, he cheated on me with his bandmate. I really didn't want to believe it. Told him it was ridiculous because he was my perfect match. He told me that the match was a lie.”

“A lie? Youngwoon’s nose has never been wrong!” Xinling protested.

Sungmin found that quite strange because Jaejoong and Xinling had never really approved his relationship and they had never been nice with Kyuhyun.

“Sungjin and Kyuhyun tricked Youngwoon’s nose. They hid Kyuhyun's handkerchief in my bedroom, then planted it by the gate so Youngwoon would bring it to me and I would take that as proof enough of finding my match.” Sungmin explained what happened, using the very same words Kyuhyun had used. “I should have listened to you, hyung. When you said I should look better into it. But Youngwoon told me it was him.”

“Youngwoon truly believed Kyuhyun was your match, Sungmin.” Xinling replied, reaching to hold Sungmin's hand in what she hopped was a reassuring gesture.

Beside her Jaejoong suddenly slammed his chopsticks on the table. “That freaking bastard lied to us. I'm gonna kill Youngwoon!”

His outburst surprised Sungmin, who looked at Xinling in search of an explanation. Why was Jaejoong cursing Youngwoon when Kyuhyun should be the misleading bastard? She smiled tenderly at him.

“Youngwoon had been very shaken when Kyuhyun became your boyfriend. He really believed you were out of his reach. Sungmin, Youngwoon can't smell his own scent, to his senses you are like water. When his water was taken away, his soul became parched.” Xinling said softly, one hand firmly holding Sungmin's hand, the other pointing at a glass of water on their table.

Sungmin found himself unable to speak. His brain slowly registering the meaning of those words.

"We told him we wouldn't date until he would find his match. He kept scolding us, even when we video-chated, that we should not wait for him. One day he said he found his match, that he had found someone without innate scent. If Kyuhyun lied, then it means Youngwoon lied to us as well." Jaejoong explained his outburst, his voice calming down while he spoke, but his face was still evidencing how angry he was.

Sungmin frowned. "Maybe he didn't lie to you entirely. If he can't smell his own scent, then any scent can be a match to him. If he likes a particular scent, it can work… He wouldn't lie to you for four, five years. Right?" the younger retorted, his face contorting in agony.

"Why did you push him away, Sungmin? Why whenever I tried to pair you, you would flee? Why did you never let us say there could be something more between you two?" Xinling asked. That was the crucial question, she strongly believed that if Sungmin had never done that, Kyuhyun's lie would have not succeeded.

"Because I was scared. Because I felt betrayed by that possibility. If we were a match why he didn't say so? Why he kept matching everybody else? I didn't want to believe it could be true because if it was true, then he was just playing me." Sungmin replied, leaning his head back, sighing loudly.

"But it is true. You are his match," Xinling stated, "Why he kept matching everybody but you, was because he couldn't understand your scent, it took him a long time to realize what it meant by you not having an innate scent. When he finally understood, he felt scared to tell you because you kept turning him down. Then he truly believed you kept turning him down because your true match was Kyuhyun."

Sungmin listened, with each new information, it dawned on him why Youngwoon decided to flirt with him, why he became extra attentive. It was not because he felt sorry for not being able to match him, it was because he had matched him.

At seeing Sungmin's conflicted expression, Xinling showed Sungmin a photo she had on her phone. In it Youngwoon was with a girl, playfully showing off couple rings. "You have to prove this photo wrong because the way Youngwoon cried when he lost you is engraved in my head. If Kyuhyun lied to you, Youngwoon is lying to us. He pointed me to happiness, I'm not letting him live without his own."

Sungmin looked at the photo, then at the couple in front of him, then looked back at their wedding invitation.

How can I prove it wrong? Sungmin only had that question in mind.

"If it's not clear yet. We will come up with another evil plan. We are not giving you an option, Sungmin. By our wedding, you two must be together, happily ever after." Jaejoong stated, picking up his chopsticks and went back to his eating. That was his standard way of plotting. Beside him, Xinling only smirked. That sight was  wicked in a reassuring way.

Youngwoon felt cold all over. In his hand was the booking record for the next month. |Romantic dinner for two. Vow exchange. VIP room, table for two. Lee Sungmin.| the damned record read. The date was a week before Xinling and Jaejoong's wedding. Youngwoon closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. It was not his Sungmin. There are countless 'Lee Sungmin's in Korea.

"Hey, bear, did you check the bookings? Two high school friends of yours in the same month. I can't wait to meet them!" Seoyeon cheered, nonchalantly sitting on his lap and wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Which two friends, Yeon? You are already very familiar with Xinling and Jaejoong." Youngwoon tried to play dumb, his heart sinking in dread again.

Seoyeon promptly pointed at the booking record in Youngwoon's hand, her pretty pink butterfly nail art placed right below 'Lee Sungmin'. "He told me he was the last of your high school friends to be matched, so I asked him to send us a card, or something, so you could place it on the wall with the other wedding invitations. He promised to bring it on his booked dinner," She told him with a happy and mischievous tone. "Xinling told me he is a ball of cuteness. I really want to meet him."

If Youngwoon had really paid attention to her expression, he would have known there was something fishy with that story. But he paid no attention, his eyes were fixed on that name, Lee Sungmin. His only thought: He is really not my match.

Youngwoon had been out of his cool all day long, just because it was Sungmin's dinner day. Because he was always distracted, Seoyeon had to shoo him out of his own kitchen. Forced to attend the counter, he dreaded to see the door open to Sungmin and Kyuhyun.

The booked time came, but Sungmin didn't show up, nor did Kyuhyun. Seoyeon tho, asked Youngwoon to go check the VIP room, because she was about to take the dinner up.

With a troubled heart, Youngwoon moved to the VIP room on the mezzanine floor. Yet the moment he reached for the door handle, he found something rather strange. Hanging on it was a small golden ring tied with a red string.

Youngwoon picked it, noticing that the string went underneath the door. Opening it he followed the string with his eyes. He frowned, seeing that it went up straight to the table, its end was inside a glass of water. Confused Youngwoon walked to it, looking inside the glass he saw another golden ring tied to the red string. Slowly Youngwoon raised that second ring out by pulling the string. He looked at the two rings in question.

"I must really be water to you." Sungmin's voice startled Youngwoon.

The older male looked to the left, in a corner Sungmin was laying against the wall, intently looking at Youngwoon.

"What?" Youngwoon mumbled, startled with the fact that Sungmin was there, because when did he come in?

Youngwoon kept staring, Sungmin didn't change at all. In fact it was with shock that Youngwoon noticed he really could not perceive any scent coming from Sungmin, no innate scent, no fleeting scent. Just like that day.

"A taiwanese bird told me that I am water to you," Sungmin spoke, a smile on his lips at Youngwoon's dumbfound expression.

Sungmin started to walk towards Youngwoon. "Once, many years ago, you spent the night at my place, showered with my soap and shampoo, slept with my pajama, with my bed sheets,"

Youngwoon felt petrified as Sungmin stood right in front of him, effortlessly taking one of the rings from Youngwoon's left hand. "Once, many years ago, our fleeting scents were the same, exactly as our innate scents. You figured I was your match because just like water, you couldn't smell my scent,"

Carefully, Sungmin took hold of Youngwoon's hand and put the ring in his pinky finger. "It seems that bird didn't lie, because today our fleeting scents are the same and you didn't notice I was here."

Sungmin looked up into Youngwoon's eyes. "Now tell me truthfully, Youngwoon, where is the end of your red string of fate?"

Youngwoon heard, but he couldn't think straight. He couldn't understand the situation, he had too many questions flooding his head. His heart hurting for the memories of that one night. Memories of that day, how his heart soared once he realized Sungmin was his match. Memories of the day everything crumbled, Sungmin's smile while talking about Kyuhyun.

Sungmin smiled sadly at Youngwoon's lack of response, he could see how the older male was overwhelmed. When he was about to ask again, Youngwoon's phone rang. It brought him back to life.

That little distraction got him quickly shielding himself by checking the voice message. "Youngwoonie! Big news! Kyuhyun faked the match! He left his handkerchief in Sungmin's room to trick your nose! On another note, if you lied to us about Seoyeon you are dead meat. Just so you know." Jaejoong's voice was loud and clear. Youngwoon looked back at Sungmin, who was still waiting for a reply, now with a slightly worried expression.

Youngwoon looked at his couple ring with Seoyeon, the ring they bought when they decided to be partners at the restaurant, a ring that sealed their strong friendship, a ring that finally got Xinling and Jaejoong to go public about their love. That ring had shielded Youngwoon's heart for many years. Youngwoon smiled. Sungmin wouldn't be there with the same fleeting scents, if Seoyeon had not hid him in the restaurant at least for the whole afternoon, most probably since she kicked him out of the kitchen.

Kindly Youngwoon picked Sungmin's left hand, fitting the small ring on his pinky finger. "My red string of fate...  had always ended here."

"Finally, you slowpoke." Jaejoong burst through the door bringing in a meal set. "Romantic dinner for two now being served. Please take your seat. By the way I am not going to kill you because Sungmin threatened me. I don't know why I love you two this much. Really. I spent too much time with you two in high school. Seriously."

Youngwoon watched, amazed as his younger friend set the food on the table, especially because he was wearing the restaurant waiter outfit.

"Shall I bring your beverage now?" Xinling asked from the door, right behind her was Seoyeon laughing. They all really plotted behind his back.

"You guys, really..." Youngwoon mumbled as jaejoong forced him to sit down, Xinling kindly guiding Sungmin to his chair.

Seoyeon also walked closer explaining the dish she had prepared them, meanwhile she picked up Youngwoon's right hand and from it she fetched their couple ring. "You don't need this anymore, partner." with that she winked at Sungmin and left with her wannabe staff.

"Don't you love having evil friends?" Sungmin questioned, gaining Youngwoon's attention again.

"How did this happen?" Youngwoon questioned back, too overwhelmed with feelings.

Sungmin laughed. "Fate," he said showing off the red string still attached to their rings. "If you love, let go; If it's fate, he will come back to you."

From that day onwards Youngwoon started to believe in fate, actually in fate's matching fragrance.

The music stopped, but the chit-chat in the restaurant was loud.

"Attention please!" Seoyeon called, hitting her champagne glass with a spoon to call attention. "The bride is going to throw the bouquet! Single ladies, gather now!"

After saying that she herself rushed to try out her chance at the bride's bouquet. Xinling's friends gathered quickly, even some of the members of Silver Haired Butlers moved on to participate in the event, just for the fun of it.

Xinling looked backwards and Seoyeon quickly waved in hopes her friend was being nice on trying to locate her and throw the bouquet in her direction.

"Ready or not, here you go!" Xinling shouted after some feints into throwing the bouquet backwards.

The bouquet was sent flying with such force everybody got speechless. Even more as the bouquet was not sent backwards over Xinling's shoulder. In the last moment, it had been aimed as if it was a baseball ball. The unaware target was hit on the face, forced to take a step back not to lose his balance. The roses exploded in petals at the impact.

"Make sure you don't waste my bouquet and stop giving me troubles!" Xinling shouted, laughing out loud right after.

Sungmin chuckled, checking Youngwoon's face for any unwanted scratches. The bewildered older male was looking down at the partly destroyed bouquet that ended in his hands.

Mere seconds later it was taken from his hands. "Hey, partner, since you won't actually use it, I'll restore it and use in your homage. Now move your and find my match so I can actually do that." Seoyeon said cheerily while everybody else was laughing at the fact Youngwoon, the matchmaker, got "bouquet-ed".

Sungmin held Youngwoon tightly. Youngwoon smiled at Seoyeon. He still had friends that needed his help in locating the end of their fragrant red string of fate.

Where was Seoyeon's matching fragrance?