Jooheon awakens with a searing pain on his wrist. He whimpers as he flops onto his other side, his eyes cracking open slightly. It’s all he has in him to keep from yelping out in surprise at what he sees hanging from said wrist. His mouth goes dry, his heart pounds in his ears…

His string…

It’s finally here! It’s finally happened! He’ll finally meet his soulmate!

“Hyung?”

Jooheon glances over towards the other side of the room, where Changkyun lies seeming only half awake. He peers blearily over at the older, a small pout gracing his lips.

“Sorry, Kkungie,” Jooheon says, chuckling a little at the expression. “Just go back to sleep.”

“Are you okay?” the younger insists, sitting up a little at his hyung’s tone. “You sound… weird.” Jooheon laughs again, though he isn’t looking at his dongsaeng anymore. His eyes, instead, are glued on the incredibly thin string tied round his wrist.

Such a thin piece of string for such an important part of my life… he silently muses, having not realized how small it’d actually be, how fragile it’d seem. He plays around with the idea of not telling the younger what’s just happened, because it isn’t as if the other would see it anyway, but he knows better. Changkyun would figure it out, sooner or later.

“I got my string,” he merely responds with, and suddenly Changkyun is suddenly fully awake. He stumbles out of bed only to crawl up next to Jooheon, his eyes wide and alight with wonder. Jooheon holds up his wrist, and Changkyun ‘ooh’s despite his inability to see it. The older can’t help but laugh, though, finding the younger’s immediate interest adorable.

“You’ve got to go!” Changkyun tells him, already attempting at pushing him away towards the door. “You can’t waste a single minute! You need to go find them!!” Jooheon laughs even more at this, reaching over to pull at his dongsaeng’s cheek. The younger merely pouts, unsure as to why his hyung isn’t getting up and sprinting from the dorm immediately.

“Kkungie, it’s,” Jooheon pauses, glancing at the clock to check the time, “, it’s already nine!!! Why didn’t my alarm go off?!” he demands, all thoughts of the string completely thrown from his mind. He absolutely can’t be late to his first class of the day again… Hylolyn-songsaengnim will kill him if he’s late to her class again.

Changkyun doesn’t even bother trying to get his attention on the most pressing matter at hand… or, at wrist… He’s so much more concerned with classes and work than anything lately. He’d hoped that would have changed when he’d gotten his special string. But, apparently, it won’t.

Kihyun stares down at his wrist with a look of confusion, wondering just why this morning of all mornings this had happened. He has half a mind to go find whoever is on the other end, as he’s always been told it’d disappear if he waited too long. But, he has too many things to do now, the class he’s currently in being one of them.

“Kihyun-ssi!” Minhyuk, his vocal partner, calls, shaking him by his shoulder. Kihyun glances tiredly over at the noirette, the size of the bags under his eyes tripling at the mere sight of his same-age friend. “Are you done going over the lines yet? We really need to start working on harmonies, if so.”

“Sorry, Minhyuk-ah,” Kihyun mutters, rubbing at his eyes to stave off the incoming exhaustion. “I haven’t had time to memorize them lately.” Minhyuk rolls his eyes, groaning under his breath in aggravation.

“You look tired,” he says plainly, “and you’re falling behind in class. I don’t care what you have to change, but change it. I’m not going to let you drag me down with you, Yoo Kihyun.” Kihyun forces a lighthearted chuckle out, doing his best to keep the sting from the slightly-older’s words to keep from showing.

“Your concern is touching,” Kihyun comments dryly, “but it’ll be fine. Just give me another day, and I’ll be caught up.” Minhyuk hums, his skepticism clear in his eyes. Though, he doesn’t bother voicing his concerns, as he knows the other won’t listen to him if he were to try.

The professor stands and announces the end of class, causing Kihyun to launch into his typical whirlwind of packing up his belongings. Kihyun is done and running out the door before Minhyuk can even begin to gather his own things, leaving him watching the slightly-younger with a look of obvious dismay. Hyungwon, another same-age friend of his, walks up to him with nothing more than a single novel in his hand. That’s typical, though. Hyungwon never has more than a book or two with him in class.

“He still behind?” Hyungwon asks, nodding in the direction their mutual friend had gone. Minhyuk sighs loudly and nods, earning nothing more than a knowing ‘hmmph’ under the taller’s breath.

“He’s gonna end up dropping out if he doesn’t watch himself,” Minhyuk grumbles. He glances up, looking for nothing more than an agreeing smile, but sees a look of fondness so profound he almost chokes on the air he’s just inhaled. “What?” he asks indignantly, pouting a little at the obvious lack of attention.

“You’re cute when you’re worried~” he compliments, a genuine smile quirking up his plump lips. Minhyuk pouts even more at this, playfully slapping at the younger’s arm.

“Yah!” he complains, through he can’t help the pleased grin that comes to him at the compliment. “Listen to me when I’m complaining at you, Wonnie. Otherwise, how are we ever going to make this work?” They share only a single glance before simultaneously chuckling under their breaths. Minhyuk slings his bag over his shoulder, and merely offers a hand to the soulmate he’d found only a year ago.

Kihyun barely makes it in time to his part-time job at the local café on time, and immediately enjoys his complimentary employee drink. He’ll definitely need it to get through this shift. He willingly ignores the red string on his wrist, though, instead deciding to focus on greeting and serving customers.

He’ll worry about the string when he has time. Which, honestly, will probably be next week… or maybe the week after, depending on how the concert goes… and if he can pick up any more shifts at work… and a plethora of other things. He just has to make sure to deal with it before it disappears, very much not wanting to become one of those poor souls you see wandering around without a soulmate.

Kihyun stifles a sigh as a customer walks in, making him wish there were just more hours in the day.