Jongin is pissed off. No, scratch that. He's literally fuming in anger.

 

Like everyone else, he was very much looking forward to identifying his soul-mate when he reached the tender age of 20. In their time, if a person were to draw on their skin with a sharpie, and if the drawing showed up at the exact same spot on another person, it would signify that the two were soul-mates who were meant to be.

 

Jongin had been so excited to find out who his soul-mate was on his birthday, but now he just wants to find that person and kill whoever he or she is with his bare hands.

 

Why?   You would ask.

 

Well, this morning, while he was washing up after crawling off his bed, he saw something drawn on the back of his left hand through the mirror.

 

He didn't take notice of what it was at first, but when he was drying his hands with a towel, his eyes had nearly popped out of their sockets.

 

There, on the back of his palm, was a small but quite prominent tattoo of a .

 

Jongin had panicked and dropped the towel onto the tiled floor in his haste to rush over to the basin to clean it off, thinking it was a mistake. However, no matter how hard he tried that damn thing just wouldn't come off!

 

Up until now, he's still hunched over his knees on the bathroom floor, crying his eyes out and cursing that dickhead who had thought it was funny to draw such a thing for something so sacred and pure like the matching of soul-mates.

 

A while later, he gets up and lets out a heavy sigh before going off to prepare for college, mind distracted with thinking of a way to hide the offending mark.

 

~•~•~•~

 

“Jongin!” He hears his best friend, Baekhyun, shouts out his name with a bright smile on his face the second he arrives at the main gate of their college.

 

“Hey Baek.” He replies, giving the latter a small smile, one that doesn't quite reach his eyes.

 

“Is there something wrong?” Baekhyun asks his friend out of concern as he takes in Jongin’s appearance. “Why do you look like ?”

 

Jongin bites down on his inner cheeks. “I-I..”

 

He looks down to the ground and then back up at the elder. “It-it’s n-nothing hyung, I-I just didn't sleep well last night.” He lies. “Was studying for the test.”

 

Baekhyun eyes him with suspicion, but he ultimately doesn't say anything and decides to let it slide.

 

“Okay, let's go! We're late for our English class!”

 

Jongin sighs in relief, thanking God that his friend hadn’t noticed the stain on his hand yet, though he pouts all the way as he lets the elder drag him off for lessons.

 

~•~•~•~

 

“Nini, seriously, what's up with you?” Baekhyun demands, a worried look marring his face as he watches the younger stare at his tray of food; the mountain of rice, meat and vegetables still very much untouched. Jongin seemed deep in thought, as if something was troubling him, so he doesn't hear the elder calling for his attention.

 

Baekhyun sighs, stretches his arms over the table and places his hands on the younger’s shoulders to give him a good shake.

 

“....gin! Jongin!”

 

“Huh?!” Jongin blinks and looks up at the elder, confused and still obviously dazed.

 

“What's the matter, Nini? I've been watching you all day and don't you dare deny something’s wrong. I know something is bothering you.” He says, taking the tanned boy’s hands in his own. “Please tell me, you're worrying me.”

 

“H-h-hyung I-i-” Jongin starts, but he is immediately cut off.

 

“Wait a minute. Now that I've noticed, why are you wearing a pair of gloves in the middle of spring?” The auburn-haired boy points out, eyes narrowing to scrutinize the said hand.

 

“Uh-hmm… Well, I--Noooo” The blonde-haired boy was just about to retrieve his gloved hand, but Baekhyun was too fast in catching on and quickly takes off the cloth.

 

A gasp was what leaves the elder's mouth when he scans the small but still quite visible drawing of a on his friend's left hand.

 

There was a short moment of silence before…

 

“Oh my god!” Baekhyun erupts into an uncontrollable fit of laughter. “Oh my god. D-don’t tell me-- hahaha”

 

“Hyuuuung” Jongin whines in embarrassment.

 

“Sorry.” Baekhyun tries to muffle his laughter by pressing his lips together and covering his mouth with his palms, but he ultimately fails to control himself.

 

“It's not funny, Baek! Stop laughing!” The blonde demands in a whiny voice, but the latter continues howling away in laughter, even having to wipe away tears that were starting to pool at the corners of his eyes.

 

Jongin sighs.

 

‘I swear if I find that , I'll chop off his and feed it to his dog!’ He curses under his breath.

 

“Sowwiee baby boo, but it's kinda hard not to laugh--” Baekhyun says once he has calmed down somewhat, but he finds himself rudely interrupted by the loud, sudden entrance of someone else.

 

“Hey, Nini !”

 

Jongin freezes. He knows exactly who that voice belongs to; he would be able to recognize it easily, even among a thousand others.

 

Such a deep voice, velvety and soothing.

 

Do Kyungsoo. The bad boy of their college. Jongin’s enemy (or so he claims). Also, his one and only crush ever since freshman year.

 

The reason they fought constantly? Everyone knows about it.

 

It all started when a young and slightly naive Kyungsoo thought that the way to get what he wanted (read: Jongin) was through pure force. He had taken the younger by surprise in front of the entire student body -- pinned him up against the wall and kissed him with as much passion as he could muster. Jongin, of course, was stunned and offended, and he had proceeded to slap Kyungsoo across the face.

From that day forward, Kyungsoo had channeled his emotions through making it his mission to annoy the younger male at every opportunity, because the only time Jongin would pay attention to him was when they were bickering or arguing. And that's how this strange dynamic relationship started between them, eventually taking shape as an everyday occurrence -- Kyungsoo picking a fight and Jongin giving him the attention he desired by retaliating.

 

Jongin bites down on his bottom lip before spinning around on his chair.

 

“What?!” He yells in mock annoyance.

 

“Nice tattoo you’ve got there!” Kyungsoo smirks. “Guess what, sweetheart?”

 

Jongin cringes at the pet name. Though he secretly likes it. Shh, don't tell anyone.

 

“What?” He rolls his eyes.

 

“I've got a similar one. Look!” The red-haired boy all but flashes his hand at him before chuckling and giving his friend, Chanyeol, a high-five.

 

Jongin’s jaw drops and his eyes widen almost comically as he recognizes the drawing on Kyungsoo’s left hand at once. It was an exact replica of the one on the back of his hand.

 

Wait. Does this mean I’m Kyungsoo’s soul-mate?!

 

Boom. Boom. Boom. His heart beats loudly in his chest.

 

Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness!Jongin hyperventilates inwardly. Yes! Yes! I've finally got-- No, wait a minute!He furrows his eyebrows. He-he’s the one who ruined something so sacred and wonderful as the bonding process!? Why? Why a , why?

 

Jongin’s insides boil in anger and he balls his hands up in fists.

 

He shoots up from his seat, the chair falling backward and onto the floor with a loud thud, and he narrows his eyes as he takes big steps toward the boy who is supposedly his soul-mate.

 

Everyone present in their college’s cafeteria looks on at the scene playing out before their very eyes. Even the teachers watch with bated breath, deciding not to step in as of the moment for nothing warranted their involvement. Yet.

 

“You!” He growls as he grabs the white collar of Kyungsoo’s uniform. “How could you?” Angry tears threaten to fall from his eyes. “Do you think it's ing funny, huh?”

 

Kyungsoo falls silent.

 

“Do you not have any shame? How could you go so low, Do Kyungsoo? Do you even know the meaning behind finding one’s soul-mate?” He yells at the said boy and tightens his grip on his collar, but Kyungsoo eventually scoffs and rolls his eyes.

 

Baekhyun and Chanyeol remain on the sidelines, watching their respective friend with amused looks. They were sitting beside each other, holding hands and munching on some french fries Baekhyun had stolen off Jongin's tray.

 

“I can't believe this!” Jongin shouts, harshly letting go of the other's shirt. “W-why? God, a-amongst millions of people living on this planet, why must you be the one I'm destined to be with? Why not someone like Yifan?!” Tears trickled down his cheeks and his lips start to wobble.

 

Yifan, who was sitting with his boyfriend, Zitao, a few rows away from their table, chokes on his mouthful of water upon the mention of his name.

 

“Hmmm, Jong--” Baekhyun tries to intervene, but the blonde doesn't let him.

 

“I h-hate you, Do Kyungsoo!” He cries. He knows he's overreacting a little, but he's really hurt. All these time he had been thinking, even if they wouldn't end up as soul-mates, he would be able to confess his feelings for the red-haired boy and try to get along with him. But no, his stupidity had to ruin everything.Ugh!

 

“Uh, Jongin?” Baekhyun tries again.

 

“What?!” Jongin asks in a harsh tone and turns to his friend.

 

“Kyungsoo’s shirt…” Chanyeol is the one to speak this time, gawking at his friend with his mouth agape.

 

“What’s with this ’s shirt?” He demands irritatedly.

 

“Ah, well” Baek scratches his nape. “You did kinda rip it open.” He laughs, and soon his boyfriend joins him.

 

Jongin turns back around and a gasp falls from his lips. His eyes widen at what he sees.

 

There Kyungsoo stands with a shredded uniform, arms crossed over his now exposed chest, a frown already formed on his lips.

 

God! My day couldn't go any worse!

 

“Oh ! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!” He rambles on in panic, his cheeks flushes in a furious red as he gawks that sliver of sculptured torso. “I'm so, so, so sorry, I swear I didn't mean to! I'll do anything to pay you back--”

 

“You done with your talking, sweetheart?” Kyungsoo, who's been silent the whole time, finally speaks up.

 

He must have felt a little bad for he says, “Listen, Jongin. I'm sorry, okay?” Kyungsoo’s tone has turned serious. “Look, I didn't mean to upset you.” He sighs and pulls out a chair to sit, motioning for Jongin to take a seat himself. The latter does so after a few seconds, reluctantly.

 

“Kyung--” The younger tries to speak, but Kyungsoo stops him.

 

“No, Jongin, let me finish first. Look I'll be honest with you okay?” He rubs at his temples and runs his fingers through his bed of hair.

 

Jongin glances up and nods.

 

“Well, my friends and I made a bet and I lost.”

 

Chanyeol nods affirmatively. “Yeah, that's right.”

 

“Thanks, Yeol” He smiles at his best friend and says in sarcasm before turning back to look at his destined one. “So as I was saying, my dorky friends made me draw this thing.” He looks straight into the blonde’s eyes and Jongin could almost see the guilt flashing behind Kyungsoo’s own ones. “Like everyone, I was waiting for this moment as well, but maybe destiny wanted this path for me.” He pauses.

 

“Can I tell you something, Jongin?” Kyungsoo asks after a short bout of silence, taking the said boy’s hands in his own. He delights in the way electricity seems to run through them as their hands come in contact with each other’s.

 

Jongin blinks and nods his head lightly. A slight blush starts to tint his cheeks because crap, Kyungsoo’s hands are touching his hand!.

 

“I like you, Jongin, like really really like you... a lot. And I apologize for ever hurting you, I'm sorry for annoying you all these time and I'm sorry for not being the ideal person you wanted as your soul-mate. I'm sorry for everything, Jongin.” Kyungsoo says, a sad smile on his lips.  “If you want me to leave you alone, I will. I promise.” He retrieves his hands, sighs and then he stands, making his way out after shooting Jongin a smile for the last time.

 

Jongin sits there for a moment, stunned as he tries to absorb every single word that had left the elder's mouth.

 

I like you, Jongin, like really really like you… a lot.

 

I like you, Jongin.

 

These are the only words that his mind keeps repeating like a broken tape.

 

He likes me. Do ing Kyungsoo likes me. Holy cow!

 

“Baek, did ya hear that? He likes me!” He turns to his friend and shakes him, his eyes wide open. “Kyungsoo likes me too, hyung!” He continues babbling on with a goofy smile on his face. He's long forgotten about the stupid mark on his hand.

 

Baekhyun smiles back at the younger boy. “I know, Nini, I know.” He hugs the tanned boy gently. “He has liked you for the longest time too. How do you not see it like we all do...”  Baekhyun shakes his head lightly.

 

“Wait!” A sudden thought hits Jongin. “Oh God! How stupid can I be? He confessed to me and I didn't tell him about my real feelings!” He cries and hits his head on the table while mumbling to himself, “what do I do, now?”

 

It was only after a minute or two that an idea comes to his mind in eureka fashion.

 

“Hyung, do you have a sharpie or