Time.

Time heals. Time destroys. Time can build or break. Seconds bleed into minutes bleed into hours.

Seokmin groaned at the deafening alarm clock ring, thrashing to reach across his bed and turn it off. He yawned, peeling his tired eyes open, and out of habit, they jumped to the watch branded into his skin.

The soulmate watch. It haunts everyone from birth, with it’s neon blue numbers and soft ticking. The watch that tells you how much time you have left until you meet the one destined for you, your “soulmate”.

Of course, there were always...special cases. Those born with their watches at 00:00:00, who didn’t have soulmates, those whose watches suddenly stopped before reaching 0, rumoured to happen because of a soulmate’s death. Seokmin was neither, but his watch was still special, for some reason it only counted down in intervals of 10. Right now, it read 00:10:50, 10 hours and 50 minutes left.

“Well, today’s the day” he thought, “10 hours from now is...” he glanced at a real watch and his eyes widened in shock.

“ ” he cursed, throwing his clothes on, realizing he had accidentally set his alarm late and now had 30 minutes to get to work. He soon ran out the door with a donut shoved in his mouth, rushing to his car.

On the way, his mind wandered, he could feel the slight anxiety and excitement bubble up inside him. Finally, after 25 years, he would finally find he one that would complete him. He’d always stared longingly at his friends, classmates, colleagues, the happy couples completely smitten with each other, the look in their eyes like....like they were finally at home. Seokmin’s heart hitched in his throat at the thought that all that would soon be his, and the side of his mouth tugged into a cheerful smile.

Walking into the teacher’s room, he let is suitcase fall on his chair as he turned to the nearest coffee machine: Kim Mingyu.

“Mingyu-yah, I need an Americano ASAP. I overslept an-“

“What, dreaming about your soulmate already?” the tall man smirked, ruffling his hair in the exact way he knew it made the female students stutter. His eyes fell to Seokmin’s watch. “Oh, about 10 more hours left. So that means about 6 PM. Oh my god are you going to meet your soulmate while grading papers at home?? What if it’s a new neighbour that turns out to be an old lady  or what is it’s the trash man knoc-“

“That’s enOUGH MINGYU” Seokmin could hear Jihoon in the back wheezing from laughter. “For your information I’m going out tonight with some frie-“

“But we’re your only friends”

“NOT YOU OKAY OTHER FRIENDS JESUS”

“Jesus?? You’re friends with Jisoo??? I didn’t know you met Jeonghan’s soulmat-“

Seokmin stared at Jihoon with pleading eyes. He knew Jihoonie had a soft spot for him.

“Mingyu.” Mingyu flinched. Ever since the music teacher had chased after him through the courtyard with a guitar threatening to end him, he hadn’t been the same. Some of the other teachers still called having a breakdown over another teacher “pulling a Jihoon”. Mingyu shuddered at the memory, and turned around slightly to face Jihoon.

“Yes?”

A smirk fell over Jihoon’s face. “How much are you willing to bet Seokmin’s soulmate is the trash man?” he asked, barely stiffling a laugh. Mingyu pulled out his wallet and slammed down a 10 bill. “Ten bucks on trash man.” Jihoon proceeded to do the same, adding a five bill. “I call bartender at the pub he’s going to tonight after classes.”

“I call cab driver on the way there!” Jeonghan chimed in, just as the warning bell rang. Everyone’s eyes jumped to the clock: 5 minutes untill classes start. They all scrambled to get to their respective course rooms. It was only the third day since classes started, and the teachers hadn’t quite snapped out of summer break.

Seokmin’s shoes clicked as he walked into the lecture classroom. The students shuffled, awkwardness obvious on their faces. Teaching college freshmen was always a struggle, they never answered questions in the beginning and looked like they were afraid Seokmin would bite them. That is, until Seokmin brought out the puns and acted like his usual happy virus self.

He glanced at the watch. Ten hours and eleven minutes left until he met his soulmate, and he should start his lecture.

“Hello everybody! So my name is Mr. Lee but you can call me Seokmin. Don’t worry, I’m not SeokMEAN” he shot finger pistols at the students and quite a few chuckled, especially after he flashed his 100 watt smile.

“This year we’ll be learning Bio-“ his words were interupted by the door slamming. A late student. Seokmin glanced the student’s way, and was shocked by his disheveled appearence: messy blue hair in all directions, shirt sticking to his skin, heavy breathing and sweat dripping down his forehead. Like he’d done some serious physical exercise before the class. For some reason, Seokmin’s thoat dried and he struggled to swallow, his hands turned cold and started shaking slightly. He cleared his throat.

“Excuse me, mister...”

“Kwon. Kwon Soonyoung” the student answered between pants, leaning on his knees with his hands.

“If you decide to run a marathon before my classes, at least next time sprint towards the end so you’re not late, alright?” Seokmin asked, smiling warmly, for some reason his hands formed fists. He couldn’t understand what was happening to his body, and decided to ignore it. Soonyoung stared back, dazed. “Uh, yeah” he muttered, quickly finding an empty seat.

The lecture continued smoothly. The students payed attention quietly, for now. Halfway through, Seokmin’s eyes fell to his arm, and his breath stopped instantly.

00:10:10.

There was no way. When the lecture started it had been 00:10:11, and so much time had passed since then, this could only mean...

His soulmate was dead. His soulmate had slipped right through his fingers, with so little time left until their meeting. Seokmin felt his his eardrums pop, his heart beating too hard to be normal. How could he mourn a loss when he didn’t even know that person?

“Uhm, Seokmin?” one of the students spoke up, “are you alright?”

“I’m...I have to go.” He spluttered, running out the door as fast as he could without collapsing on the spot.