In a universe where ones future love life is set in stone from the moment they are born, would there still be a thrill of falling in love? Would high school crushes at sixteen still be a thing? If you’d know that at the day of your eighteenth birthday your soulmate’s name will appear on your left inner wrist like a tattoo in soft tones of grey. Would there be any point of falling in love previously until you come of the age where the answer for your future will just be given to you? Is falling in love or the emotion of love just a trick we play on ourselves to encourage reproduction? Is it something you can control? Is it something the universe can just decide upon without our own opinions being involved? Is there even such a thing as a soulmate?

It was the soft light escaping from the borders of the curtain that woke Mingyu up. His dorm room was a mess, making the events of the previous night undeniable if someone would walk in right now. An arm draped over his side, the body cuddling against his back providing him with a warmth he was more than used to by now. His boyfriend of two years Wonwoo was snuggling away against his back, hiding from the sunlight that would be followed by an awakening soon after. Both guys were seventeen, and Mingyu’s birthday was tomorrow. Already certain about whose name will be engraved in his skin he found himself feeling less excited to grow older. He didn’t need the soulmate tattoo in order to know who he’d spend the rest of his life with. Wonwoo, on the other hand, was younger than him by half a year, so he would only get his tattoo more or less six months from now. Not that Mingyu was all that worried. Their feelings were as real as it could get and there was no doubt in his mind that they weren’t soulmates.

Not a lot of people approved of their relationship, mostly because such love happened prior to their soulmate engravement. Many of their relatives and friends worried that perhaps they weren’t meant for each other and the universe would prove them wrong. Above all it were Mingyu’s parents who had an ongoing banter towards their son about how he should have waited with falling in love – like that was even possible. Mostly because they did not want to see their only child going through the pain of heartbreak before the actual journey to that one true love would begin.

Mingyu’s friends had very little to say about his relationship with Wonwoo, all of them had experienced the thrill of having a crush before their engravements. However none had serious relationships alike the one that Mingyu shared with Wonwoo, it had begun to worry them over the previous two years and they were merely hopeful that the two would turn out to be made for each other. None had experienced such heartahe after all, they had all passed the age of eighteen and knew very well who they would spend the rest of their lives with. One by one they had set out and eventually found their soulmate. Some easier than others.

All except for one, Soonyoung. Being merely a year older than Mingyu he had his engravements for more or less ten months now, however no one had seen it yet. The young man was quite private and unresponding when his friends wished to see his engravements and responded quite frustrated and annoyed whenever they would lecture him about having to find the person who would be his soulmate. The only information they really had about Soonyoung’s soulmate was that he was a male, this was because Soonyoung once made a slip of the tongue and revealed that. The only person who really knew what was going on and what was the cause of Soonyoungs secrecy about his soulmate, was Minghao. The chinese young man had been around when he received his engravement when Soonyoung reached the age of eighteen. Minghao knew whose name was written on Soonyoungs wrist for the rest of his life and why is it was so difficult for him to speak about it.

Kim Mingyu.

If Mingyu recalled everything correctly he can only conclude that Soonyoung became more distant since he reached the age of eighteen, unaware of the actual reasoning he just concluded that perhaps he had once fought with one of their friends and was therefore awkward around them in general. It would only be the observant eyes of Minghao that noticed how Soonyoung would tense up and become more awkward by the second with Mingyu in the same room, finding every excuse in the book in order to leave the room. Not being around his soulmate in general was less painful for Soonyoung than forcing himself to see Mingyu cuddle up to Wonwoo or it being the other way around. It broke his heart, but what could he do? Soonyoung knew how much Mingyu loved his boyfriend and if he would be responsible for ruining it he knew he would never end up being together with him in a million years. Mingyu would be mad at him, he would think this was all his fault and Soonyoung didn’t want that. So he remained silent, with his own pain to guide him through the days.

Soonyoung had the date marked onto his calender for many reasons; first of all he just never forget his friends’ birthdays so that included Mingyu’s, second of all he knew the drama that would come along with this day and didn’t know whether to anticipate this day or to be scared of its arrival. No one could deny that he wanted Mingyu to know the truth, to learn it himself but he also knew the tall young man would be heartbroken realizing that his life wasn’t meant to be spent with Wonwoo. Soonyoung could only imagine just how dramatic the entire scene would be. Worst part was that he would be around, as Mingyu organized a birthday party on his actual date of birth – which luckily was a Saturday – and he just couldn’t say no to the invitation.

It would be a dreadful evening, that’s for sure.