From the first moment Jinwoo heard about soulmates when he was a preschooler, he wanted to know more about them. He specifically wanted to know more about his, but there was no way to know unless he actually found his. So he set himself on a quest to find his soul mate. The only problem was that he did not know where or how to find his soul mate.

 

Classmates often said soul mates were found with contact, by touch or eye contact. In his naive mindset, he thought finding a soulmate would be easy, so he went around his grade touching every classmate’s hand and looking at the in the eye. It did not work.

 

Jinwoo was frustrated with his results. He released that pent up frustration by talking to some friends about it. They suggested that maybe it was not hand touching, but something else touching. They said that maybe a soulmate was found by kissing. Jinwoo thought they were geniuses, so he went around and did exactly what they told him to.

 

He was beat up by five boys and three girls.

 

He no longer talked to those friends.

 

In elementary, Jinwoo thought that maybe soulmates were actually found by asking someone to be your soulmate and maybe then holding their hand or something. He first went to the prettiest girl and boy. When he was flat out rejected by both, Jinwoo lowered his standards and tried again. Jiwoo reached all of his classmates with no results.

 

In middle school, Jinwoo finally learned that people did not find their soulmate at an early age. It was virtually impossible, but that did not stop him from trying. Of course, he was less obvious now. Maybe a simple tap on the shoulder or quick eye contact.

 

Jinwoo also made a lifelong friend in middle school. Nam Taehyun, who was in a grade below him. At the beginning of middle school, he was on the same page as Jinwoo in wanting to find a soul mate quickly. They both came up with strategies or talked about how they thought their soul mate would look like. Yet, as middle school came to an end, so did Taehyun’s determination of finding a soul mate. Every time Jinwoo asked him something related to it, he would shrugged and say he did not really care.

 

Jinwoo suspected that it had to do with the crowd Taehyun was starting to hang out with. They were the so called bad boys of the school. Careless about everything in life. Though he appreciated Jinwoo’s friendship, Taehyun spend more time in that group than with Jinwoo.

 

The complete change really happened the summer between middle school and high school. Jiwoo was not sure what happened in that time period. Taehyun and he did not really talk enough during the summer to know what they were always doing, but Taehyun came back a changed person. He became a small rebel that talked back to teachers, rarely followed the rules, and a completely different ideology when it came to soul mates.

 

Jinwoo learned to live with it. Taehyun was still his best friend. For Jinwoo, Taehyun had not changed at all. He was still the same towards him, so Jinwoo learned to adapt to Taehyun’s more rebellious attitude towards others.

 

At the beginning of Jinwoo’s second to last year, Taehyun persuaded him to skip class with him and hide behind an old, unused storage place behind the school to smoke. Jiwoo was not comfortable with it, but he was also not comfortable with leaving Taehyun smoking alone.

 

Sitting on top of some old tables and boxes, they listened to the wind hitting the trees and the distant chatter of teachers teaching. “You know,” Jiwoo broke the silence, “there are some new students that are not so bad looking and some seem nice, too. Who know, maybe one of them is the one.”

 

Taehyun took a drag of his smoke and scoffed, “hyung, just do whatever you want.” Jiwoo looked at him and raised a brow. “If you think they're cute, ask them out,” Taehyun motioned to nothing and shrugged.

 

It was Jinwoo’s turn to scoff, “Taehyun, that's not how it works.”

 

“Says who?” Taehyun laughed. “Destiny?”

 

Jiwoo was confused by Taehyun’s sudden outburst. Taehyun had confessed to his disinterest in soul mates before, but he still let Jiwoo talk about them, because he knew how much Jiwoo yearned for his. This was strange. “Yes?” Jiwoo became insecure of his answer, “I mean, I guess?”

 

Taehyun finished his smoke and stood up to walk to Jinwoo (Jinwoo always stood away from Taehyun when the younger smoked. He hated the smell of it.), “Jinwoo hyung, get on with the times. Finding a soulmate isn't the most important thing. It's probably not important at all.” He shrugged.

 

Jiwoo opened his mouth in confusion, “what?”

 

“Have fun,” Taehyun shrugged and walked away. “Worry about soul mates later,” he turned back to Jinwoo and smirked, “or just don’t worry at all.” Jinwoo was stunned.

 

As high school passed, Jinwoo learned a little more about Taehyun’s extracurricular activities involving parties and drinking and other activities underaged people should not engage in. Jinwoo tried to stop him various times, but Taehyun would counter it by saying that he was not getting in trouble and that he was still getting average grades. Jinwoo sighed and gave up.

 

Soon enough, college rolled around and Jinwoo and Taehyun ended up going to the same college simply because it was close enough to home but far enough to have to live away from parents; that and it was cheaper that other colleges. Jinwoo and Taehyun were happy with it and took the opportunity to become room mates.

 

Taehyun’s old school shenanigans had not stopped, and there would be various nights where Jinwoo would be sleeping alone in the dorm while Taehyun most likely hooking up with someone he had just met at the local club.

 

Jinwoo did not know how Taehyun did it. Taehyun knew how to wrap people around his finger in less than five minutes. He said that one of his greatest achievements was never paying for a drink. Ever. In that aspect, Jinwoo wished he could be like Taehyun, but only in that. Jinwoo had no desire in occasional hookups that meant nothing, that would not give him the joy finding a soul mate would give him. He would rather wait.

 

Jinwoo was surprised about the amount of the people that went to those pubs and bars and clubs. People without a care in the world who spend the night forgetting and getting wasted. Jinwoo knew enough. There were times where Taehyun asked him to go with him to those place so he could bring him back to the dorm (since Taehyun would be too wasted to even stand up). When Jinwoo goes to those places, he normally stayed in the back and drank a beer or two, but Taehyun… Oh, Taehyun was the center of attention. He was the life of the party, and every time Jinwoo went with him, he learnt something new. For example, with enough alcohol in his body, Taehyun gained an excessive amount of confidence (and that man was confident enough).

 

Jinwoo swore, in his whole life, that he had never seen someone stand up in a table, call everyone’s attention before drinking half a bottle of some strong beverage, and then stepping down from the table and into a stranger’s lap before kissing him ruthlessly; all the while, people around him cheered loudly. Jinwoo watched that whole scene wide-eyed and was only able to say, “wow…” before taking a gulp of his beer. That was the closest he was ever going to get to whatever Taehyun just did. Whoever Taehyun was fondling with was the man paying the drinks that night. Jinwoo sighed and shook his head. He wondered how he was going to get Taehyun home that night.

 

.

Taehyun woke up with a terrible headache that morning. “ing ,” He muttered as he moved around on his bed to get away from the light. Somebody left the curtains open, and it was not helping him at all.

 

“Good morning to you, too,” Jinwoo answered back from his own bed.

 

“Jinwoo hyung,” Taehyun groaned and used a pillow to cover his face, “help, please.”

 

Jinwoo knew what that meant, but instead of doing it, he put money of the stand next to Taehyun’s bed. “I got coffee earlier, but it got cold before you woke up,” He said. “To not waste it, I already drank it.”

 

“Can’t you get more please?” Taehyun turned to the side where he could face Jinwoo.

 

Jinwoo whined and shook his head, “can’t you go get it yourself?” He lifted the tablet on his hand, “I’m watching a drama.”

 

Taehyun groaned, “but hyung, I am in pain right now.”

 

“So am I! This is the most dramatic part,” Jinwoo faked a cry, “will they ever end up together?”

 

“Of course they will,” Taehyun muttered, “they’re soul mates after all.” He was mocking, and JInwoo knew it but chose to ignore it. Taehyun sat up and ignored the thumping of his head. “Fine,” He said a bit louder. “I’ll get it myself.” He grabbed the money on the nightstand.

 

“I’ll be here,” Jinwoo waved Taehyun goodbye.

 

.

 

Taehyun was always thankful that there was a coffee shop right on campus less than ten minutes away from his dorm. Their coffee was not anything to die for, but it sure helped with a horrible hangover. Normally, this was Jinwoo’s duty, but he had determined that ty, predictable dramas were more important than his best friend. Unbelievable.

 

When the door opened, a small bell that was on top of the door rang, signaling to everyone that there was a new customer. “Welcome,” the staff greeted cheerfully, opposite to the mood of the new customer. Taehyun made a beeline to the ordering section.

 

“Good morning, how may I help you?” the man behind the counter asked with the same peppy cheerfulness as the rest of the staff. Taehyun hated it already. Not matter if his voice was deep.

 

“Coffee, please,” Taehyun looked down, not bothering with being completely polite. His headache was killing him, and the bright sunshine of the outside and the super jolly staff were making him as bitter as the coffee he now craved.

 

“Milk?” the barista asked.

 

“Not much,” Taehyun sighed. The man kept asking questions relating to the drink, and Taehyun answered him with all the enthusiasm found in a vegan dared to eat meat. When the price was told, Taehyun put the money in the counter and pushed it towards the other man. The other man took it and gave back the change in the same motion Taehyun had left the money.

 

“Your coffee will be ready soon. Please wait on the side,” The barista informed Taehyun, and Taehyun nodded before moving to the side.

 

At that moment, Taehyun decided to look at the man who had served him. He had his back turned to him and was preparing the coffee Taehyun wanted. He had a nice physique from the back. He was probably very attractive from the front, but Taehyun did not care enough to try and find a way to see how he looked.

 

When the man started turning to face the counter, Taehyun looked away and acted as if he had been staring at his surroundings all this time. “One cup of coffee,” the man said and handed Taehyun the coffee cup.

 

“Oh,” Taehyun acted slightly surprised as if he was not aware the staff member was coming towards him. He looked at the coffee offered to him. “Thank you,” he muttered and grabbed it from the other man’s hands only to drop it a second later in surprise.

 

They were right when they say that one second can change your whole life.

 

Taehyun looked at the equally surprised man in front of him. The person he was meant to be, who changes the way he literally saw the world. Colors. He found his soul mate, and . Now, he could see colors. The man smiled slightly, “hey.” Taehyun blinked, making sure he was not imagining anything. He looked down at the coffee that was now spilled all over the counter and back at the man in front of him.

 

Taehyun did not want that life-changing second. No way. Not now.

 

“I am so sorry,” Taehyun backed away a couple of steps before running out the door and facing the now seemingly brighter sunshine. “Oh ,” he still had a splitting headache. He was sure he heard his supposed soul mate yelling to stop, but Taehyun could not. He was not ready. Instead, he ran will full force back to his dorm.

 

.

 

Taehyun closed the door behind him with full force. It caught Jinwoo’s attention. “Woah, are you okay?” He asked as he closed the book he was looking at the pictures of.

 

“No, I’m not,” Taehyun rubbed his hands together and looked around the room with a weary-looking expression. “But we need to change where we go for coffee,” he walked towards Jinwoo.

 

“Why?” Jinwoo raised an eyebrow. “Did they not like your shirt or something?” He pointed at Taehyun’s shirt with a print not even an art expert could ever understand.

 

“Not that,” Taehyun glared and sat down next to Jinwoo’s feet. “I…” Taehyun sighed and looked down. He massaged his temples to try and relieve his headache.

 

“Yeah?” Jinwoo sat up and drew his feet back close to his body.

 

“I think I found…” Taehyun found it difficult to say and cleared his throat. “I think I found my soul mate.”

 

Jinwoo’s eyes widened. “What? You can see?” Taehyun did not look at him. “You can see?” Jiwoo asked a little quieter. Taehyun nodded softly. “Out of all people?” Jinwoo could not believe it.

 

“What is that supposed to mean?” Taehyun glared at him.

 

“You never searched…” Jinwoo said quietly.

 

Taehyun nodded and looked back down, “I know…” he sighed again. His looked hardened, “but it doesn’t matter.”

 

Jinwoo scoffed, “why doesn’t it matter?” He sat on his knees and put his hand on Taehyun’s shoulder. “You found your soul mate. That’s amazing!” Jinwoo grinned. “Who is it?”

 

“The guy working the cash register at the coffee house,” Taehyun mumbled. “And it really doesn’t matter. I don’t care,” he made some motions with his hands, signaling the conversation to be over.

 

“You can’t be serious,” Jinwoo looked at Taehyun like he was crazy. “This is something people spend so long searching for, and you’ve found it. You’re just going to let it go?”

 

“I don’t want it,” Taehyun shook his head and stood up. “There’s a really crappy coffee machine downstairs. I hate it, but it will have to do for now,” Taehyun grabbed Jinwoo’s wallet from the nightstand and took out a couple of bills out of it.

 

“Really?” Jinwoo looked at his money in Taehyun’s hands.

 

Taehyun hummed and nodded, “I think I’ll stay inside all day and rest. I’ll be going out tonight again.”

 

“What?” Jinwoo yelled louder than he intended. “You already have your soul mate.”

 

“I said it didn’t matter,” Taehyun said as he stepped out of the dorm.

 

Jinwoo felt outraged. Taehyun found his soul mate, and he was doing nothing about. He was acting like it did not affect him at all. No, Jinwoo had allowed Taehyun to do what he wanted to for the longest time, but there are times where Jinwoo just had to intervene. He was not going to let Taehyun loose such an important part of life. Jinwoo grabbed his dorm keys before heading out the door. He was going to that cafe.

 

.

 

Jinwoo entered the cafe. For some reason, he expected there to be a commotion in it. Somebody has found their soul mate! Congratulations! Whoo! There was none of that. The cafe was relatively empty except for some sleep deprived students trying to wake up before their classes start. Jinwoo slowly walked to the cashier who was at service.

 

“Hello!” The man said in a fake, cheerful voice. “What would you like to order?”

 

Jinwoo cleared his throat. He was not quite sure how to address the subject. “Are you,” He cleared his throat out of nervousness again, “are you same one who was here a few minutes ago?”

 

The barista blinked at him for a few seconds, and then pointed at him, “are you the soul mate?”

 

“No, no!” Jinwoo nervously shook his head. “My friend is, but I really need to talk to that soul mate.” By his choice of pronouns, he was assuming that this man in front of him was not the soul mate, but he could never be quite sure.

 

The barista pointed at one of the tables. Another barista was sitting there, drinking coffee slowly while intently looking at the table, almost boring holes into it, “he is.”

 

“Thank you,” Jinwoo bowed a little before turning to talk to the barista.

 

Jinwoo really did not know what he was getting into. He had no plan. He was simply going to talk and hope he reached somewhere. If that barista felt discouraged because their soul mate ran away from him, he should not, and Jinwoo was going to try and explain why.

 

“Hello,” Jinwoo said quietly before sitting down on the opposite side of the table.

 

The barista snapped out of whatever trance he was and looked at Jinwoo, confusedly. “Um, hi?”

 

“I am -um,” Jinwoo paused as he tried to look for the right words. “Taehyun’s friends.” Jinwoo saw that the barista had know idea who he was talking about, so either he did not know Taehyun’s name yet or Jinwoo just sat on the table of the wrong person. “The guy that came in this morning. Your soul mate?”

 

It almost seemed surreal. Every since Taehyun started proclaiming that he did not want to find his soul mate, Jinwoo assumed he simply must not have one. If he did, he was going to find him years after college. Jinwoo was going to find his first. They would have probably been happily married before Taehyun came around with his, but now here Jinwoo was, talking to the soul mate of his best friend, who did not even appreciate what he had been given. His soul mate was handsome  -very handsome- with tanned skin and commed, dark hair complemented by dark eyes; muscular, too; nice face. Jinwoo was jealous.

 

“Oh,” The barista straightened and his eyes widened in realization.

 

“I’m Kim Jinwoo,” Jinwoo stuck his hand out.

 

“Song Minho,” The barista, Minho, shook Jinwoo’s hand.

 

“Nice,” Jinwoo said simply for the atmosphere to not be awkward, but he might have just made it awkward anyways. “Look,” Jinwoo put his hands on the table, trying to look authoritative (and to not let the atmosphere be more awkward). It was something he was told he never looked. “You have found your soul mate -congratulations, by the way,” Jinwoo smiled softly at him before getting back into topic. Minho smiled back. “Taehyun is,” Jinwoo started before getting stumped again. He almost felt like he could start talking about things that would drive Minho away, which was the opposite of what he wanted to do. “He is a different type of person. He really is,” Jinwoo chuckled because he really could not find a better way to say it. “You are lucky to have him as yours.”

 

Minho smiled softly. “Maybe I am,” He said. His smile fell. “He ran away though, apologising. I don’t understand why.” He looked at Jinwoo expecting answers, answers that Jinwoo was not sure how he was going to give.

 

“About that,” Jinwoo cleared his throat. “Taehyun is one of those people who feel…” Jinwoo looked at Minho in hopes that the other male would know where he was going. He did not. “Who feel…” Please understand, get it, Minho. Stop looking so blank. Oh, he was never going to understand, so Jinwoo just said it all in one breath, “who feel no necessity to have a soul mate.”

 

Minho’s eyes widened, “really?” His face fell then, disappointment written all over them. He looked at his coffee, defeatedly, “oh…”

 

Jinwoo shook his head, “oh, no! Don’t be dismayed.” He looked around, not really sure what he was looking for. Maybe a reason that would make Minho feel better, because Jinwoo could not confidently say he had the answer. “You are still his soul mate,” Jinwoo explained, “him saying that he wishes to not interact with his soul mate will not change you being his soul mate.”

 

Minho looked him. His head leaned against his face, distorting his handsome features. “I know that,” he muttered, “it does not change anything though.” He looked at his coffee again and swirled it around with the little straw, “well… maybe it changes some things...”

 

Jinwoo assumed he was talking about the color of his coffee, which Jinwoo alway told it was brown, if mixed with milk or something. “Taehyun is not…” Jinwoo looked down, trying to find the right words, “a lost cause, let’s say.” Minho looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. Jinwoo realised that maybe he did not use the correct wording. Wow, this was harder than he thought. “Okay, you believe in soul mates, right?” he asked.

 

Minho nodded, “of course. I believe in the whole destination mumbo jumbo.” He made a movement with his hand which Jinwoo assumed meant the whole spectrum of soul mate-ology.

 

“Then you believe Taehyun is destined for you and you are destined for Taehyun?” Jinwoo asked while raising a brow. Minho lowered the hand he had in the air, enough for Jinwoo to see that Minho was having problems believing that. Jinwoo sighed.

 

“It’s not that I don’t believe,” Minho tried to defend himself. “It’s just hard to believe when the other half in unwilling to belief. You can’t force a belief on someone,” he sighed, defeated.

 

Jinwoo shook his head, “You can’t.” He put his hands together, resting his shin on top of the united hands. There was nothing he could say. After all, he went all the way here on impulse. He never had a conversation planned in his head. He could not pinpoint the exact reason as to why he came here. Maybe, he simply wanted to see Minho, that man who turned out to be his best friend’s soul mate, but why? Why did he want to see his best friend’s soul mate? Did he feel jealousy over Taehyun finding his soul mate first? Yes, he did. He stated it before. Maybe he wanted to see if it was worth being jealous over.

 

And boy, it was.

 

All Minho knew about Taehyun was that he was his soul mate, and that he was not fond of the idea of soul mates. Those two things were enough to bring Minho down. Of course, unless Minho’s mood was always down, but he did not seem like one of those people. Minho clearly wanted to have pursue with Taehyun, as soul mates should, considering his demeanor. Jinwoo wished for that. He wished for someone to want something with him after all.

 

Jinwoo was a man of good looks and good attitude. If he followed Taehyun’s doctrine, he would have not problem finding someone to have something with. However, those wants will always be superficial, lustful, not everlasting. Only the relationship of soul mates lasted a lifetime, but it must be pursued. That was what Jinwoo wanted. He was ready for the relationship soul mates had. A relationship so deep that it was hard to understand. One person always had the other’s back. Always had the other’s person’s need in mind. They were a balanced relationship. Balanced for eternity.

 

Taehyun could benefit from a relationship like that. His relationships were never stable. It was always people he picked up from a bar or a party or a club. Those relationships only lasted a week or so before Taehyun cut all communication with that person and never talked to them again. Jinwoo always thought that Taehyun was crashing through life, his love life at least. He was moving too fast, too recklessly, too needingly. One day, he was going to crash, and Jinwoo would not be able to help glue the pieces back together. He was never good at puzzles after all. Taehyun needed to slow down. Though not completely stop. Taehyun could never stop. Maybe Minho could help him slow down.

 

Minho sighed. “Thank you for stopping by,” he paused, “Jinwoo -I think.” He slowly stood up, “However, I need to get back to my shift or else Seunghoon hyung is going to yell at me., and Seungyoon looks like he’s about to kill the next customer that comes through that door.”

 

“Wait!” Jinwoo stopped him. “I can’t let you give up on Taehyun that easily.”

 

“Well, what do you want me to do? I feel like I have no choice.”

 

It came flooding into Jinwoo all what Taehyun was planning on going to do. “Win him over,” Jinwoo looked at the table, his eyebrows furrowed.

 

“How?” Minho scoffed, no hope in his ability to do that.

 

Jinwoo thought of all the times he went with Taehyun to a club or a bar or something amongst those line. He looked up at Minho, “Taehyun likes to accept drink offers.” He smirked, the beginnings of a plan floating in his mind.

 

.

 

Taehyun sat at the edge of the bar. An hour into his night out and he was still too sober. Not a single drink had passed through his mouth. Taehyun sighed. He could not believe he was not in the mood to move forward and make the first move on any of the obviously single men in this bar.

 

Taehyun tried his best to ignore the bright lights. All the different color lights that were constantly reminding that he had someone that was meant for him, and that he actually met that person, and he ran away from that person without thinking twice. Taehyun groaned and ran a hand through his hair.

 

He should not be feeling like this, so out of tune with the life he was accustomed to. His heart pounded. It was actually hurting. Was that normal? Taehyun put his hand in his heart in a vain attempt to calm it. He cannot keep doing this. Being in this corner of the bar, no one was going to approach him. He had to move, to make himself noticeable, to get all the attention.

 

But why could he not move?

 

By the single thought of his intention, the image of that barista entered in mind. That soft smile and those soft, dark eyes he gave when they touched. Taehyun felt those images in his heart. A small pang of guilt. It was not fair. Taehyun had not asked for this since his early days of high school. He had no business with that barista. Sure, that man gave him the amazing gift of seeing, but Taehyun gave him the same gift. The debt was repaid. Taehyun owed him nothing, so why could he not stop thinking of the man that he could not even remember the name of?

 

Maybe Taehyun should just go home. He should not waste his time here. He was actually a little tired, too. Maybe a headache was coming; maybe he still had the hangover. Whatever it was, Taehyun was going home.

 

As Taehyun was lifting himself off of the stool, someone sat on the stool next to his. Taehyun stilled, slowly, casually, sitting back down on his stool. As he turned to face whoever was the person next to him, the person asked, “is it okay if I buy you a drink?”

 

Taehyun then quickly turned to face the man. He knew that voice. It was the barista, his soul mate, and wow, he was handsome. The deep voice was already great. But when that man brushed his hair back and put on some nice, dark clothes… wow. However, that query he made. Taehyun averted eye contact. Had he been any regular guy that Taehyun had no connection with, Taehyun would have not hesitated to accept. This was his soul mate though. There was no deeper connection. Taehyun could not accept it. If he wished to continue his lifestyle, he could not. “I’m sorry. No, thank you,” Taehyun shook his head and quickly lifted himself out off the stool.

 

He did not even take three steps before his soul mate grabbed his arm, “wait, please.” Taehyun could not. No matter how much he wanted to. No matter how much his heart yearned for it. No matter how that young boy inside of him, who always yearned to meet his soul mate cried out to him to turn. Taehyun could not.

 

Howbeit, Taehyun made no motion to remove his soul mate’s clasp on his arm.

 

“I know you might not want anything to do with me, or the whole soul mate thing, but please, can we just forget about it? Can we just meet this way, and can you allow me to, at least, buy you a drink? That is all I am asking you.”

 

Taehyun stayed quiet. He pulled his arm away from his soul mate’s grasp and turned to face him. He should deny, reject, but watching the other man’s pleading eyes, Taehyun knew he could not. “Just one drink.”

 

His soul mate let out a breath of relief and nodded. Taehyun sat back down on the stool he was before. “Okay,” he nodded and looked at Taehyun. “My name is Song Minho, by the way,” he stuck out his hand for Taehyun to shake it.

 

Taehyun smiled at him softly, and it was not a fake smile, not forced or full of pity. “Nam Taehyun,” he shook his soul mate’s, Minho’s, hand.

 

“That’s a nice name,” Minho complemented before ordering drinks to the bartender. Taehyun actually found himself blushing. He thanked every god for the low lights of the bar.

 

.

 

“How strange that you did not call at three in the morning asking me for a lift back,” Jinwoo commented as he toweled dried his hair.

 

“I received a ride back,” Taehyun explained as he did something on his phone. Text, send an email, search through social media, Jinwoo could not decipher.

 

“That’s good,” Jinwoo nodded, trying his best to sound like he knew nothing. “And you weren’t drunk enough that you could not give your address. Nice,” Jinwoo praised and nodded.

 

“Shut up, hyung,” Taehyun simple said.

 

Jinwoo snickered and sat on the side of Taehyun’s bed. “So… what did you do last night?” Was that too direct, or did Jinwoo need to beat around the bush more?

 

Taehyun sighed and put his phone down, “I talked to him… my soul mate.”

 

“Oh, really?” Jinwoo sounded surprised. He thanked every acting class he ever took. Taehyun nodded. “How was it?”

 

“It was…” Taehyun looked down, “good, actually.” Jinwoo smiled, relieved. “We ended up talking for hours longer than I expected. I had a good time, a great time! It was different…”

 

Jinwoo’s smile drew into a grin. Yes, this was exactly was he wanted! Taehyun’s phone lit up with a message. Jinwoo pointed at it, “is that him?” Taehyun looked down at his phone and nodded, a blush dusting his cheeks. He picked it up to answer the message.

 

Jinwoo’s heart was close to bursting with joy. He was so incredibly happy for his best friend. He stood up and walked up to where Taehyun was. Caringly ruffling his hair, Jinwoo said, “Congratulations, Taehyun.” Taehyun waved him off and yelled at him for messing up his look, but Jinwoo knew the younger man appreciated it.

 

.  

 

Over the passing weeks, Taehyun passed more and more time with Minho. Jinwoo would be lying if he said he did not feel left behind, abandoned, and alone. Do not get him wrong! He still loved the idea of Taehyun finding his soul mate. Just like he had predicted. It changed Taehyun. Not a complete one-eighty degrees, as the boy still liked the party scene, but this time he did it with Minho by his side, and Jinwoo could at least be happy about that. He slept better at night.

 

Taehyun was another who had problems describing what exactly it felt to know your soul mate. He said that it felt like a piece of the puzzle was finally found, but what puzzle exactly? Jinwoo pretended to understand, but he knew not how it felt to have an incomplete puzzle. He told that to Taehyun, and Taehyun told him that he will know what it felt like to have the incomplete puzzle once he found his soul mate, which really was not what he wanted to hear. Jinwoo did not even want to get started with colors. How do you explain color to someone who had never seen them? Jinwoo was a blind man pretty much. Taehyun did not even try to explain that even though Jinwoo was so incredibly curious.

 

Waiting was making Jinwoo impatient. Jinwoo was still young, incredibly young, but he wanted what his friend had, and he wanted it now. Jinwoo was believing that destiny was playing dirty tricks on him. Jinwoo wished to let destiny know that he did not appreciate it all. All Jinwoo hope now was that he would not be those people that found their soul mate at the later stages of life. When life was already lived. Why was he thinking so ahead though? He was still literally beginning life, in his early twenties.

 

.

 

“Go out with us today, hyung,” Taehyun said as he fixed his hair on the mirror of the dorm room.

 

“That’s okay, Taehyunie. I’m okay vegetating in this room,” Jinwoo answered back, jokingly.

 

“Your life’s purpose is to vegetate, hyung,”Taehyun turned to face him.

 

“Ouch,” Jinwoo put his hand over his heart, and Taehyun rolled his eyes. “It’s okay, Taehyunie. You guys go alone,” Jinwoo made a hand motion telling Taehyun to keep doing what he was doing before while grabbing his laptop. There was a new drama episode, and he would rather watch that than watch Minho and Taehyun be love birds and constantly flirt with each other, forgetting about Jinwoo’s existence. Jinwoo had already seen that enough, and it did not make him good.

 

“Oh, please, we’re sorry about the many past times,” Taehyun said. “We really are. Minho feels bad. He’s bringing a friend, too!”

 

“He can suffer for me then,” Jinwoo opened his laptop and put on his glasses.

 

“You’re colder than me, hyung, wow,” Taehyun crossed his arms. “I’ll bribe you. Come on. I promised I’d bring a friend, too.”

 

“You have other friends, too,” Jinwoo raised an eyebrow.

 

“None are as amazing as you,” Taehyun stated back.

 

Jinwoo smiled, looking away from the screen of the laptop, “You sure are right.”

 

“Will you go?” Taehyun asked again.

 

Jinwoo sighed and closed the laptop, “Well, you said you’ll bribe me, so I guess I have no choice.”

 

.

 

The lights were bright, and the music was loud. People were dancing closely in the dance floor, and Jinwoo was never about this scene. The things he will accept to be about it though. He could not wait until he found something good enough to make Taehyun do. Talking about Taehyun, the younger man was currently dragging him across the dance floor and into an area of small bar tables where only Minho was sitting at.

 

“Hyung, I’m glad you could make it!” Minho greeted Jinwoo before giving Taehyun a hello kiss, or welcoming makeout session, whichever fit the definition better. Jinwoo just knew he did not have to see that. He had seen it enough times, and now Taehyun owed him so much more.

 

“You guys saw each other earlier today. Was it really necessary?” Jinwoo asked over the loud music.

 

Taehyun, whose body was resting against Minho’s with Minho’s hands around Taehyun’s waist, answered, “yes.” Jinwoo knew he could not argue with the two love birds. And though they gave him completely unnecessary scenes and nausea, Jinwoo still loved his two friends.

 

They settled into the table, which had chairs for four people, which made Jinwoo question the whereabouts of Minho’s friends. There was no need to ask since Minho probably read his mind but told Taehyun instead, “my friend is getting our drinks.”

 

Minutes were filled with mindless conversations between the trio of friends. It was mostly filled of flirtation between the soul mates and Jinwoo awkwardly laughing at the interactions just to let the two of them know that he was still there. Minho and Taehyun could easily get lost in their own world.

 

Finally, a couple of drinks were smacked on the table. “First round has been served,” the new voice said.

 

Minho looked up at the new face and smiled, “took you long enough, hyung.”

 

“Yeah, I think the bartenders are all having a pissy day today,” the new face shrugged.

 

Minho chuckled and looked at Jinwoo, who was in need of an introduction, “oh, Seunghoon hyung.” He motioned to Jinwoo, “This is Jinwoo hyung.”

 

The new face, Seunghoon, turned to face Jinwoo, and Jinwoo was captivated. Seunghoon was a well dressed man, with his hair brushed to fall naturally. High cheekbones and bright smile combined with a bright aura. Jinwoo could not help being captivated.

 

“Oh, really?” that smile became wider, and Seunghoon stuck his hand out, “Lee Seunghoon.”

 

Jinwoo blinked multiple times in other to stay aware of his surroundings, “Kim Jinwoo.” They shook hands and-

 

Oh.

 

There it was.

 

And Seunghoon saw it, too, because his hold of Jinwoo’s hand tightened.

 

Jinwoo understood now. The incomplete puzzle.

 

The missing puzzle piece standing right in front of him.

 

Jinwoo could not believe it. This was it. This was how it was. He saw it.

 

“Oh, wow,” Seunghoon laughed softly. “I’m so lucky,” he smiled again, and Jinwoo was once again captivated. Seunghoon intertwined their fingers, never breaking eye contact with Jinwoo, “hi.”

 

(“Why are they just standing there staring at each other?”

 

“I don’t know, Hyunie. Maybe they hit it off as friends quite well?”

 

“A little too good then. Jinwoo hyung is still my best friend.”

 

“And what am I then?”

 

“You’re something more special.”)