Having a soulmate is the best feeling in the world, yet Jaemin finds that he doesn't tend to linger on the desire to find them.

He's young when he first has the 'Soulmate Talk', but he already had known what it had meant. The numbers on his wrist had always interested him and as soon as he could speak proper sentences, he has immediately asked about the numbers on his arm. The numbers are so high when he first asks, and his soulmate feels so far away. His heart ends up in his stomach and he couldn't look at the numbers on his arm for two weeks without bursting into tears.

It still crosses his mind but he's found out to not hold out hope.

He's seven when his parent's divorce. Jaemin wonders how they could possibly divorce when they're soulmates. Soulmates are supposed to be your other half, the one that loves you no matter what. But he learns that life isn't black and white. A happy ending isn't for everybody. It's evident when he decides to stay with neither parent and stay with his grandmother. Nor his father or mother look like they care, they stare at him with blank eyes and Jaemin feels like he's just been shot in the heart.

He wants to be angry when he sees people walking down the street, flaunting off their soulmates like their life is complete when there are people who are sitting alone at nearby bus stops and cafes. Even when a celebrity's timer ends up on display, how the media makes a huge deal about it and then timer ends and everybody works themselves into a frenzy. He wants to be angry but he just can't when people look so happy once they've found their soulmate.

He feels sorry for elderly people who have not met their soulmates, and have a timer that is ridiculously high. He doesn't want to end up alone because he's seen how depressed they are. How the breakdown once they see the huge numbers on their wrist and they realize that they will never meet their soulmate, they'll never be truly happy. Jaemin thinks that the worst thing that can happen to a person is dying alone, not having the chance to meet the one person who could light up your world. Some people don't ever find their soulmates.

6022:00:00

Those were the numbers Jaemin was born with. It's imprinted in black ink on his birth certificate like it's set in stone. It virtually is.

He gets older and he daydreams about what he's soulmate looks like. On good days, he hopes that they'll be quite good looking with full pink lips. Sometimes at night, he'll kiss his pillow, imagining it's his soulmate. There are butterflies in his stomach and suddenly it feels like his soulmate is far away again. He doesn't burst into tears this time.

15:10:37

Fifteen days, ten hours, thirty-seven minutes-

Jaemin's positively dying. Week after week, month after month of building up his ideal type has gone out the window. He doesn't care what they look like, he doesn't care because he can feel his life just at the thought. He's already prepared himself and doesn't mind if his soulmate's a boy or a girl. It won't matter because he'll love them just the same. He imagines what their name will be, their voice and just meeting them in general. He thinks that once the timer gets to zero, the world will stop spinning and it will just be the two of them in their own little world.

He's saved himself for them because he wants to give them his all. He doesn't respond to flirting of passersby, instead of keeping his mind set on the one clear goal. There's no meaningless , no rushed kisses, no insatiable lust. He wants to give himself completely.

There is nothing like the feeling of being with your soulmate, no feeling like how their lips slot against yours for the first time. 

There are only two weeks left but it feels like two years. He doesn't sleep the whole night.

03:11:30

There are three days left and Jaemin's already getting nervous.

"Are you nervous?" Yerim asks from her spot on Joohyun's lap. They're soulmates and they found each other when they were only ten years old. He remembers Yerim telling him that they would always refer to each other as a 'lesser being' when speaking to each other. Things haven't changed, but this time the title's said with underlying affection.

Jaemin doesn't even bother answering her question losing himself in his thoughts. Instead, he shrugs and lies down with his head resting on Seungwan's lap.

Is he nervous? To be perfectly honest, yes he is. This is his soulmate they're talking about. The person he's going to be spending the rest of his life with. Jaemin knows that he will fall in love at first sight, not even caring about how they looked because he knows they'll be perfect. He's nervous, but he's also restless and excited.

When you're the next person due to meet your soulmate, you automatically become the center of attention. He's the only in his friend group that hasn't met their soulmate. There are Yerim and Joohyun, that's just a given. Seungwan met Sooyoung when she first started school and they grew up together. Donghyuck met Chenle when the younger had first moved to Korea and Renjun had first met Mark earlier this year when they found out they were in the same music class.

Surprisingly enough, it's not Donghyuck that terrorizes him with jokes every time he's with them. Benefits of being his favorite hyung, he gets automatic protection from Donghyuck's teasing remarks. As far as he knows, the only other person who's safe is Chenle. It's actually the resident Ice Princess, Bae Joohyun, that constantly pelts him with questions about his soulmate. It's the most animated he's ever seen her, her face moving in different expressions he didn't think she could ever pull off. It's amusing, yet her voice seems to keep the same monotone quality like always.

Eventually, Yerim catches on and starts teasing her girlfriend about it, mimicking her faces behind her back. This makes Donghyuck and Sooyoung laugh obnoxiously loud, Seungwan and Chenle trying to keep them quiet but even they can't stop the smile that sprouts on their face. Joohyun eventually catches on and jumps her girlfriend, play wrestling and rolling around on the grass. Seungwan and Sooyoung join, their bodies becoming a massive tangle of limbs while Donghyuck cheers on the sidelines with Chenle on his lap. Because Jaemin can't lie on Seungwan's lap anymore, he slots himself between Mark and Renjun who are lost in their own world. They both smile at him before wrapping an arm around a shoulder each, hugging him tightly.

It's days like these when he doesn't think about his soulmate. He's so truly and genuinely happy with his friends and he can't wait till he meets his soulmate.

It's just after school when Jaemin starts thinking about his soulmate again. He still can't help but wonder what