Hello readers! I am alive and I have finally updated! Yay! This chapter actually surpassed 10k words in my doc, so I am feeling very pleased with my self. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and as always, thank you for reading!

When Kyungsoo reaches his house, his mind is still with his encounter with Jongin. He goes back over the conversation many times, remembering every word with the tan boy. He almost can’t believe fate; that he actually got to talk to the boy he was surely developing a crush on, within his first day. It seems too good to be true, but Kyungsoo decidedly ignores that sprig of doubt in his mind as he walks the rest of the way up to his house.

His parents are milling around the moving truck talking to the men moving boxes into the house. Kyungsoo approaches his mother who smiles brightly when she sees him.

“Soo! Sorry about not meeting you at school to walk you home! We’re totally swamped here, what with these guys coming early.” His mother exclaims when he walks up. He returns the smile and waves his hand.

“Oh it’s alright, I had someone to walk home with anyway.” He tells her, smiling as he remembers his walk with Jongin. Maybe it was a good thing that his mother didn't pick him up from school.

“Oh I’m glad, did you make new friends? How were your classes?” she asks, stepping aside from the truck with a gesture to the moving staff.

Kyungsoo hesitates, how should he put his day into words? He met a bunch of new really cool people, started crushing on someone within the first few hours, and literally ran into said crush twice. 

“It was great actually, I met a lot of new people, and my classes were… interesting.” Kyungsoo replied simply, smiling slightly.

His mother nodded and gushed about how excited she was for him to start at such a good school. She then quickly excused herself with an apology to go deal with the moving staff and told him to help his father in the house with directing the boxes.

He does as his mother tells him and quickly makes his way back inside and goes to help his father, ignoring the slight burn of his collarbone or the way his thoughts keep going back to Jongin.

_________

Kyungsoo helps his father take boxes into the house and tells the men moving the boxes where to put them and thanks them when they finish. The house is soon filled with various sizes of cardboard boxes, all labeled with different rooms. He quickly tells his parents that he's going upstairs and goes to unpack. Grabbing his backpack, he makes his way up the stairs quickly. He's excited to open the boxes and have his familiar things again. He walks into his room, still unfamiliar, but after the day he had at school, he thinks that he could be happy here yet. It only needs a personal touch.

Kyungsoo starts to unpack and tear open boxes to pull his belongings out. He is wrestling with a large wrapped piece of furniture, he thinks it’s his bookshelf, when he feels the distinct and unmistakable itching sensation come back. He stops cutting the box, this time paying his full attention to the itch, and puts the knife down as the itch continues to get worse. He steps back shocked as the itching soon turns into an intense and painful burning sensation as it feels like someone is holding a flame to his collarbone.He gasps, stumbling to his feet and walking shakily to the bathroom. The burning only gets worse testing his threshold for pain as he feels tears prick his eyes and his vision start to blur. Pushing the door to his bathroom open with his shoulder, he quickly flicks on the light. He quickly pulls down the collar of his shirt to gingerly inspect the burning area in the mirror. 

The pain gets slightly worse as he notices through his blurry tear filled vision that an unmistakable 7:49:43 is almost burned into his skin. He gasps, he heart stopping. He reaches a shaky hand up to his collarbone, hesitating slightly as he touches the mark gently. The pain goes away as quickly as it came, shocking Kyungsoo as he lets out a breath he didn't even know he was holding. The mark is red around the edges, but unmistakable. He met his soulmate, and now he has the time forever inscribed on his skin.

Kyungsoo finds that he has trouble standing shortly after seeing the mark so he goes and sits on the side of his bed, grasping his shaky hands together as his mind races. When did he meet his soulmate? He can’t for the life of him think when. He remembers his mother telling him something, when he was a child; soulmates often can make you unaware of your surroundings and time seems to stop. That sort of thing. Maybe that happened to him?

He has trouble thinking, so he just sits back on his bed, staring at the blank ceiling. His thoughts wander, and eventually they drift to his school day. He thinks of the new friends he met, the music room, and a red pair of converse. As soon as he thinks of the converse, his collarbone burns anew. He gasps, sitting up, shocked. What did he do? He only thought of Jongin’s shoes. 

Suddenly he can feel his heart skip a beat; it can’t be. He shoots out of bed, darting over to where his backpack sits slumped on the floor. He s it and quickly pulls out his phone, hands still shaking, though somehow even worse than before. He opens his notes, and sees that he made a note that morning at 7:51. He sits back shocked. He had felt compelled for some reason to write down that time, could it be because its important? He drops his phone and goes back into his bathroom. The numbers on his collarbone still read 7:49:43.

He wrote down the time on his phone after he met Jongin only minutes before. Theres only one person it could be.

Jongin.

__________

Kyungsoo has been here for a day. A day. Fate is a cruel thing, he thinks. Jongin, the boy he ran into twice and has only known for a day, is his soulmate. That is, according to the magical tattoo on his collarbone thats starting to feel like a brand.

Kyungsoo sits on his bed, face down, as he yells into his pillow. He feels shocked, slightly excited, but mostly confused. He suddenly stops though, when a new thought hits him.

What if Jongin, who might or might not have the same tattoo, doesn't know it’s Kyungsoo? He remembers his mother also telling him how unreliable the soulmate marks are, and how there can be confusion. He feels his heart constrict at the thought.

Jongin might not know.

____________

Kyungsoo is on a sad music bender when his mother walks into his room. He sees her stop when she walks in, hesitating a few feet into the door.

“Soo? Is everything okay? I came to see if you finished unpacking…” she trails off, glancing around the numerous boxes he has yet to unpack. She walks over to his bed, and sits on the side. 

“Soo?” she asks hesitantly.

Kyungsoo slowly removes his headphones, and look at his mother. He knows he should tell her, but he doesn't know how to do so without tearing up. He just looks into her eyes and pulls down his shirt collar without a word. She gasps, her eyes widening, a smile forming on her face, which quickly falls when she notices that Kyungsoo is not smiling, but is in fact tearing up.

“Kyungsoo, whats the matter?” she asks, a concerned look on her face. It’s obvious she wants to say more, but she hesitates, waiting for Kyungsoo to answer.

“It just formed. I think it’s someone I met today. His name is Jongin, and I think he…” Kyungsoo can’t finish the sentence as he feels the tears that have been wanting to fall for a while finally stream down his face. His mother makes a concerned noise, shuffling over and pulling Kyungsoo into an embrace. This only makes him cry harder, which makes his mother shush him and his hair.

He finally gets a grasp on his emotions and stops his sobs, though he still has tears in his eyes. His mother speaks softly, making Kyungsoo look at her.

“Soo, honey, don’t cry. You just found out, you can’t be totally sure until you talk to this Jongin boy.” His mother says, wiping his tears of his cheeks. Kyungsoo feels slightly embarrassed at crying so much in front of his mother, but he thinks that the situation warrants his tears.

He doesn't reply, just looking away, and wiping more tears that come on his sleeve.

“Kyungsoo, do you remember what I told you? When you were younger, and you were completely soulmate obsessed? I told you that the marks we get when we are near our soulmates are both definite, but also have some uncertainty. They mean that the person with the matching time is in fact meant for you, but the time can be unreliable. What you’re going through is normal. You know what you can do?” she says, pulling his chin up and looking him in the eye.

“What?” he asks meekly.

His mother sighs, putting her arm around him. “You go and you become friends, and maybe one day he’ll tell you about his mark, and then you tell him that you have a matching one. Use your brain, Soo. Think of something to do; you’re smart, you’ll get through this. He’s your soulmate. Besides, how can he not like you? You’re a sweet boy, so first and foremost, be his friend”.

Kyungsoo just nods, and takes his mother’s advice to heart and feels almost silly for worrying so much about his mark. He decides he doesn't care if Jongin doesn't realize that his mark matches Kyungsoo’s; he will be his friend first and foremost.

__________

The rest of the evening passes without as much drama as before while Kyungsoo recovers from his realization. He feels suddenly excited for school, especially if he gets to see Jongin tomorrow. He has the other half of his classes tomorrow, so maybe he will have some classes with Jongin? He can only hope.

He is going over his schedule for the next day after dinner and his shower when he remembers something that Jongin has mentioned briefly before they parted earlier that afternoon. He had said that he has dance practice tomorrow afternoon, and he even invited Kyungsoo to go and watch. Kyungsoo thinks this over and decides that it’s the perfect opportunity to get to know him better.

Kyungsoo goes to sleep that night thinking of Jongin and his new mark.