Kyungsoo walks down the street with his mum, holding tightly onto her hand. The summer holidays had just begun, and the city was even busier than it had been before. Today was a really hot day, and within seconds of stepping out of his house, Kyungsoo could feel the heat hit him.

That’s all Kyungsoo had to tell him it was a lovely day. He could feel the sun, but he couldn’t see it. He couldn’t see the perfect blue sky, the bright colours of the people walking past him, the black and silver of the cars that passed him. All he could see was grey. It was such a dull colour and it made Kyungsoo sad that it was the only colour he could see.

“Mummy, why can’t I see other colours, but you and daddy can?” he had asked one day, finishing a day at nursery where his teacher had to tell him what different colours looked like.

“I’ll tell you when you’re older sweetie. You’re too young to understand right now” his mum had replied and that was the end of that conversation.

Kyungsoo forgot about it quick enough, he had more pressing things on his mind. Why did his brother have to keep stealing his toys? Would the Power Rangers defeat their latest enemy? Why wouldn’t that Baekhyun kid leave him alone and followed him everywhere?

“Are you sure you don’t want me to carry you?” his mum asks him, pulling Kyungsoo close to her side when a large group of teenagers shove their way past them.

“No mummy. I’m a big boy now! I can walk!” Kyungsoo replies as seriously as he can and with a reluctant sigh, his mum tightens her grip on his hand and lets him carry on walking next to her.

His brother kept teasing him. He didn’t have to be carried by neither of their parents anymore, but Kyungsoo did. What a baby. Kyungsoo wanted to prove him wrong, even when his brother wasn’t there, he would walk everywhere he went to prove he wasn’t a baby and was a big boy as well.

Kyungsoo’s snapped out of his thoughts by something wet hitting his arm. When he looks up and realises what it was, he gasps and smiles widely.

“Bubbles!” he exclaims excitedly, tugging on his mum’s arm. “Look mummy! Bubbles!”

Without a second thought, he lets go of his mum’s hand and runs down the street after the rest of the bubbles, laughing when he jumps up and manages to pop some with his finger.

“Mummy, come lift me up so I can pop some more!” he says, turning to his mum, but freezing when he no longer sees her in front of him and instead a sea of strangers. He was lost, he couldn’t find his mum, and he was beginning to panic.

“Mummy?” he shouts out, trying to walk forward, but gets pushed back by people trying to move past him. “Mummy?”

When he couldn’t find his mum, Kyungsoo began to panic. What if mum never found him again? Did she notice he was gone? What if he was lost forever?

“Are you okay?”

Kyungsoo turns to the voice and finds a boy around his height frowning at him. Something was different this time. There was no grey. He looked at the boy and his eyes were a different colour, a warmer colour. Unlike the boy, everything else around him was so bright. Kyungsoo didn’t know what this meant or why it was happening, and now he finally allowed himself to cry.

“I’m not okay” he wails. “I’ve lost my mummy and I can’t find her!”

The boy pouts at his tears, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a handkerchief, sloppily trying to wipe Kyungsoo’s tears away.

“Don’t cry!” he says, “My mummy and daddy own a shop nearby. Come with me and we’ll help you find your mummy.”

The boy holds out his hand but Kyungsoo hesitates to take it. His mum had made sure that he knew to never go with strangers, ever. He was supposed to scream and make a scene if a stranger tried to take him somewhere. But this was different, he was lost, and the boy had promised him that he could help find her. Wiping his eyes, Kyungsoo takes the boy’s hand and lets him lead him over to a shop where a woman waits outside anxiously. When she spots the boy, she sighs in relief and runs over to him.

“I thought I told you to not run out like that!” she scolds, crouching down to check him over. “I have your dad and your sisters out looking for you!”

“Mummy, this boy is lost” the boy replies, completely ignoring his mum’s concerns. His mum finally notices Kyungsoo next to her son, her expression softening.

“Have you lost your mum?” she asks gently as Kyungsoo nods his head and begins to silently cry. Rubbing his back, she leads both of them back into the shop, promising Kyungsoo that when her husband was back, they’d help him search for her mum.

The inside of the shop isn’t as bright as it is outside. It’s slightly darker, but it still looks nice. There are other people in the shop, sat at tables eating, drinking, and chatting as music plays in the background. The boy’s mum leads them both over to another table and sits them both down.

“You’re still in big trouble when your dad gets back. You know you’re not supposed to wander out like that” she scolds the boy again as she places a glass of water in front of Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo knows it’s water, his teacher had told him that water was blue. When he looked outside, he saw that the sky was blue as well and that people walking past the shop were wearing blue pieces of clothing as well. He wondered if the if the sun was yellow like his teacher said, but he wasn’t allowed to look directly into it, that could hurt his eyes.

“Drink! You’ll feel better” the boy says, making Kyungsoo stare at him again as he nods his head and takes a couple of sips. “What’s your name?”

“My name's Kyungsoo. What’s your name?” Kyungsoo asks but before the boy can tell him, they both hear a loud sigh coming from the entrance. When they both look, they find a girl much older than both of them staring at the boy and rolling her eyes.

“He’s back!” she shouts out the door and a couple of seconds later another girl walks back into the shop. When she spots the boy, she stomps over to him and slaps his arm, hard enough to make the boy whine and rub the spot.

“Who are you?” she asks when she spots Kyungsoo who looks down to the floor and avoids her gaze.

“Your brother found him on his little adventure” their mum explains, “He’s lost his mum. When your dad gets back we’re going to go look for her.”

Kyungsoo doesn’t spend that much longer with the family before a guy walks into the shop. When the boy spots him, he looks away in embarrassment and Kyungsoo guesses that he’s his dad.

“I’ll talk to him in a bit” his dad says as he turns to his mum. “I found a lady when I was looking for him, absolutely frantic she was. She’s lost her son and I said we’d help her look for him.”

At that moment a new person walks into the shop. She’s panicked, eyes as wide as saucers, looking like she could cry at any second.  Kyungsoo recognises her straight away.

“Mummy!”

“Kyungsoo?”

Kyungsoo jumps down from his seat and runs into his mum’s arms, crying the second his mum is hugging him again. In the emotion of the reunion and thanking the boys mum for looking after him, Kyungsoo completely forgets to tell her that his world has gotten a bit more colourful.

 

 

 

Kyungsoo’s twelve, his brother’s fifteen, and they’re doing their homework at the kitchen table whilst their dad watches T.V. in the living room. His mum is going out for a friend’s birthday party tonight and is trying to decide which dress to wear.

“Honey, does it really matter which one you wear?” his dad asks whilst his mum stands in front of the T.V. and holds up two different dresses for him to choose from.

“Yes, it does matter! I need to make myself look as good as possible. You know how scrutinising that Miyoung can be!” his mum replies moodily, holding both dresses up again. “So, which one should I go for?”

“Go for the left one” Kyungsoo pipes up, poking his head into the living room. “Red suits you much better than purple anyway.”

His mum gasps and in the shock, let’s both dresses drop to the floor. Kyungsoo frowns at her, turning to his dad to asks what was wrong, but finds that he’s just as shocked as well. Even his brother is staring at him in surprise.

“What?”

“Kyungsoo. Sweetie. What did you just say?” his mum asks.

“I said that red looked better on you than purple” Kyungsoo replies, still frowning.

“How long have you been able to see colour?” his dad asks, their questions making Kyungsoo began to worry that something was really wrong.

“Since I was five. The day that I lost mum. What’s going on?”

 

“I’m guessing they didn’t take it so well?”

Baekhyun sighs in frustration as Kyungsoo hits him with a blue shell and wins the race at the last second.

“Mum started freaking out and told dad that I was too young. I didn’t stay around to hear anything else and came here” Kyungsoo replies as Baekhyun starts a new race and both of them rush to pick Mario as their racer.

“For so long you worried about how you’d tell them, and you do it by picking out a dress for your mum” Baekhyun laughs, managing to beat Kyungsoo who chooses Yoshi as his racer instead.

Kyungsoo can still remember teaching himself all the different colours that there were. His teacher’s description did them no justice. He remembers teaching himself the colours of the rainbow, recoiling when he saw the colour black for the first time, staring in wonder when he came across gold and silver, frowning when his mum had made him wear an ugly pink shirt. All this time, he knew the different colours, but had kept it from his parents. Seeing their reactions to his slip up, that was the reason why he had been so afraid to tell them.

“I asked my dad about it yesterday, why people suddenly see colours. He told me that until you find your soulmate, all you can see is grey and nothing else. Then when you meet them, you see colour everywhere. He said that this moment is the greatest in any human’s life; being able to see the world around them for what it truly is.”

“What’s a soulmate?” Kyungsoo asks, firing a shell and smirking when it hits Baekhyun’s racer.

“Someone you spend the rest of your life with. Once you meet them, there’s no other person you could wish to be with” Baekhyun explains and a knot forms in Kyungsoo’s stomach. He started seeing colour after he had met that boy. The boy never got a chance to tell him his name and Kyungsoo never saw him again after that day.

“I was only five when I met my soulmate” he says quietly, but Baekhyun hears him, gently nudging his thigh with his foot.

“Tell me the colours of the Mario characters. What are their outfits like?” he asks, trying to keep Kyungsoo’s mind off of the matter.

“Well, Mario wears red with blue overalls and a red hat whilst Luigi wears green. Weird combination for them both, I don’t know why the creators gave them those colours. It’s better than Peach though, she’s just wearing a pink dress… god pink is such an ugly colour.”

Baekhyun snorts as he hits Kyungsoo with his own shell and reclaims first place with a lap to go. “I’ve never known anyone to hate pink as much as you. You’re so dramatic.”

“Trust me, the day you meet your soulmate and you start seeing colour you’ll definitely agree with me” Kyungsoo assures and they fall silent as they finish the lap, the only noise coming from Baekhyun when Kyungsoo hits him with another shell and manages to beat him again.

“You’ll find your soulmate again Soo” Baekhyun finally says after a number of minutes. “I’m sure of it. You’re meant for each other, so he’ll find you again one day.”

Kyungsoo wants to believe him, he does. But it had been seven years of uncertainty and he had only just found out about soulmates. Baekhyun would probably get his romantic introduction to his soulmate, and Kyungsoo met his as a crying child who lost his mum. Being twelve .

 

 

 

Saying goodbye to his mum, Kyungsoo hops out of the car and makes his way through the school gates. It was his last year of school, and he was going to try and enjoy it before his exams loomed on him. His brother had spent the entire holiday trying to scare Kyungsoo, but he wasn’t stupid or gullible anymore. In fact, every time his brother tried scaring him, Kyungsoo would need to do nothing more than glare at him and he’d stop, too scared to carry on his teasing.

A couple of his classmates greet Kyungsoo as he passes by them on the way to his class. Like him, there were some students in the school who could also see colour; some had found their soulmates throughout their time at school or during the holidays, excitedly telling their friends when school had started again, describing all the colours they could see, and how new the world now looked to them. Kyungsoo wanted to join in with them, to finally speak to people who could see what he saw, but then they’d ask about his soulmate and he’d have to explain his situation. He didn’t need nor want their pity. He had enough of that from his family already.

There were more students inside of the school, and Kyungsoo was hit with a wave of maroon the second he stepped inside, scrunching up his face in disgust.

“What does maroon look like?” Baekhyun had asked him on their first day.

“It’s like… dark brown mixed with red” Kyungsoo had explained, “On other things it’s a very nice colour, but it’s a horrible choice for a school uniform. I’m sure the school did this deliberately.”

Baekhyun had picked at his blazer’s sleeve, he remained quiet and thought over Kyungsoo’s words before he nodded his head. “Okay. I’ll have to take your word for it. Really ugly uniform, got it!”

Lost in his thoughts, Kyungsoo turns the corner and doesn’t see the person heading in the opposite direction until he had walked right into their chest. Stopping himself from falling to the floor, Kyungsoo steadies himself and turns towards the person to apologise but stops when sees them. He definitely doesn’t recognise the person, and yet there was something about him that seemed so familiar. Kyungsoo couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you around here before” he comments, and the new guy looks positively terrified as he shyly nods his head.

“I-I’m new, I start today. I was supposed to meet somebody else but he… he’s running late” he replies and Kyungsoo’s reminded that if he doesn’t hurry, he’s gonna be late to class as well.

“Well, if you head down the hall and then turn right, you can wait for your friend by the entrance. Sorry for bumping into you, by the way, but I really need to go now.”

Kyungsoo bows slightly and then walks away from the new guy. He doesn’t get very far though when he feels a tug on his sleeve. Turning back around, the new guy is now looking at him with a pleading expression on his face.

“I know you need to go… but I’m really, really lost. Can you just help me get to where I need to be, please?” he asks and biting back a sigh, Kyungsoo smiles.

“Where do you need to go?”

The new guy shows Kyungsoo his timetable. The class he needed wasn’t that far from his class. With a wave of his hand, Kyungsoo heads off down the hall and the new guy stands in the same spot for a couple of second before catching onto what Kyungsoo was doing and sped up his walk to keep up with him. Silently studying him, Kyungsoo’s surprised at how quiet the new guy is. He doesn’t make any sort of move to start a conversation and just keeps his eyes to the floor, following Kyungsoo like a lost puppy.

“I’m Kyungsoo. What’s your name?” he eventually asks, hoping to get some words out of him. The new guy finally looks at him, and Kyungsoo couldn’t make out his expression. Shock? Surprise? He wasn’t so sure.

“Jongin” the new guy replies and Kyungsoo definitely sure they’ve met somewhere before. There’s something about his eyes that he can’t quite make out. They looked awfully familiar.

“Have we met before?” he asks and Jongin looks almost hesitant as he shakes his head.

“N-No. I don’t think so.”

Kyungsoo doesn’t know whether to believe him or not but lets it go, stopping outside of Jongin’s classroom. “If you need anything else whilst you’re getting settled, you can come find me. I mean. I can help you out” he offers and Jongin whispers a thank you to him, taking a deep breath in, and enters the room.

Kyungsoo should have forgotten about the whole thing there and then, but he couldn’t. The nagging feeling wouldn’t go away, not even at lunchtime.

“Maybe it’s just mistaken identity. You might have thought he was someone else you knew” Baekhyun suggests, but Kyungsoo shakes his head and tries to focus on eating his lunch instead. There was something about Jongin that just felt so… familiar. Until he figured out what it was, it was just going to keep occupying him mind.

 

 

 

Kyungsoo doesn’t bump into Jongin for another two weeks. He’s so caught up in other things that even if he had passed Jongin in the hall, he may have accidentally ignored him. The first time he spots him is during lunchtime. It’s purely by coincidence. He’s looking to see where Baekhyun was sitting, and his eyes landed on Jongin eating alone. Cautiously he walks over to the table, and Jongin doesn’t even realise he’s there until Kyungsoo’s practically stood in front of him.

“Oh, hey. Kyungsoo, right?”

“Why are you eating all by yourself?” Kyungsoo asks, making Jongin sigh sadly as he stabs his fork at his food.

“My friend and his friends, they’re all on the basketball team. There’s a tournament on today so they’ve ditched me to go to that.”

Kyungsoo frowns as he continues stabbing his food. Looking around the hall, he finally spots Baekhyun and taps Jongin on the shoulder. “Come on. You can come eat with me and my friend.”

“What? Really?”

Kyungsoo doesn’t know why Jongin’s so shocked. It’s just an offer to come and eat with them. “Of course. I don’t want you to eat on your own. We don’t bite, I promise. Baekhyun though, he’s an odd one, so you need to be careful around him.”

Kyungsoo’s mock seriousness is just what’s needed to make Jongin laugh and get out of his seat. Baekhyun’s surprised by the new addition to their table, but nonetheless warms to Jongin when Kyungsoo introduces the two of them to each other.

“I don’t see why you just didn’t come and sit with us in the first place. We’re practically the coolest guys in the school” Baekhyun rambles and Kyungsoo rolls his eyes, leaving his friend to it. “I think many people avoid us because they find Kyungsoo scary. Just one stare and they run away crying! This one time when we were eight he-”

Baekhyun trails off when Kyungsoo glares at him, gulping and silently going back to his food. Kyungsoo catches Jongin smiling and he thinks it’s a nice smile… he really likes Jongin’s smile.

“If it helps, I don’t think you’re scary” he says and Kyungsoo smiles smugly at Baekhyun.

By the end of lunch, Baekhyun likes Jongin and Jongin manages to loosen up and talk to the two of them more. To Kyungsoo’s delight, he smiles more, and his laugh is so sweet and angelic. Kyungsoo can feel the butterflies in his stomach, but he tries to ignore them. Baekhyun leaves them early to rush off to his next class, so it’s just Kyungsoo and Jongin walking down the hall together.

“Thanks… for not making me eat like a loner” says quietly, looking away when Kyungsoo frowns at him.

“Does your friend regularly go to these tournaments?” he asks.

“I don’t think so. They usually have a lot of away matches, though. So, I imagine he’ll leave me again.”

Jongin pouts at the thought, and Kyungsoo has to avoid reaching out to squeeze his cheek. He had only met the guy a couple of hours ago dammit. Why was he having such an effect on Kyungsoo like this?

“Well… you can always come sit with us again if you want” he offers. “Don’t want you eating like a loner, do we?”

Jongin smiles gratefully before heading to his class. Kyungsoo carries on down the hall, the butterflies still in his stomach. That was the problem though; even if he did like Jongin a little bit, he couldn’t like him.

 

 

 

Kyungsoo stands at the entrance of the school, watching as other students ran with their bags over their heads towards their parent’s cars. At first, he thought this was going to be just a small shower, but then the rain got heavier and heavier. With neither of his parents being able to pick him up, his brother out of the city, and now money to get the bus, he was effectively screwed.

“Great. Just what I need” he grumbles to himself, about to give up and go wait inside the school before feeling a tap on his shoulder.

“Need some help?” Jongin asks, holding an umbrella over both of them.

“U-uh…” Kyungsoo replies lamely before clearing his throat and starting again. “Do you even live near me?” he asks.

“Where do you live?”

Kyungsoo tells him his address and Jongin’s silent for a moment before nodding his head. “I’d have to take the long way home, but I definitely go past your house. Come on, let’s go.”

Jongin steps away from the school and expects Kyungsoo to follow him. When he doesn’t, Jongin turns around to see Kyungsoo shaking his head.

“You don’t have to do this for me. I can just wait inside.”

“But I want to” he replies with a frown. When Kyungsoo doesn’t move, he sighs and walks back to him, gently tugging on his sleeve. “Look, I wouldn’t offer if I didn’t want to do it, so come on. It’s cold and the rain’s getting heavier.”

Albeit reluctantly, Kyungsoo joins Jongin under the umbrella and they begin to walk home together. Jongin’s umbrella is bright yellow with a couple of teddy bears plastered on it as well. It attracts some stares off of people they pass, but Jongin doesn’t seem to care at all and Kyungsoo wants to tell him how adorable it is but stops himself. Things would get complicated and he doesn’t want to explain himself.

“S-so, how did you friend’s basketball tournament go?” he asks, trying to make decent conversation.

“Hm? Oh yeah, it went pretty well! They lost in the final to their ‘ultimate rivals’ as he put it and according to him, the coach was even more upset than they were. Apparently, he cried.”

Kyungsoo’s not sure if Jongin’s messing with him, but he laughs anyway. Jongin laughs as well, oh so casually wrapping his arm around Kyungsoo’s shoulder and pulling him closer so he had better cover under the umbrella. It’s a simple gesture and he lets go immediately after, but Kyungsoo’s heart is already beating erratically and doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon.

“You and this friend of yours seem pretty close already” he comments, breathing slowly to try and get his heart to stop beating so quickly.

“Of course. We’ve been neighbours since I could remember. He’s practically my best friend.”

“I met Baekhyun when I was five” Kyungsoo begins, smiling at the memory. “He would follow me around everywhere at nursery, would never leave me alone no matter how many times I told him to. We just kind of grew up together to where we are now. I used to find him so annoying… I still do now actually” he finishes, laughing a little before frowning, turning to properly look at Jongin. “How come you and your friend are only now in the same school if you grew up together?”

Jongin’s expression changes at the question. Kyungsoo’s not sure what it is; sadness, bitterness, a mix of both. Biting his lip, Jongin ponders on the question for a bit longer before finally answering.

“My parents thought that sending me to a private school would be better than a public school. They never had the money to send my sisters, so they saved up and sent me instead. It was great, I guess. I did well academically, made it onto the athletics team, made some great friends. Then last year, the friends I thought I made weren’t really my friends anymore. I don’t know it… it got complicated, so my parents pulled me out and sent me here instead.”

Kyungsoo regrets asking the question when he sees how painful it was for Jongin to answer. He wants to know what had happened between Jongin and his old friends, but he doesn’t want to push it.

“Well, you’re in a better place with better friends now” he says instead. “You have your neighbour… and you have me and Baekhyun if you ever need us for anything.”

Jongin smiles and this time it’s warmer, more grateful.

When they make it to Kyungsoo’s house, Jongin wants to go so far as to walk Kyungsoo to his front door. Kyungsoo doesn’t let him and quickly thanking him, runs towards the door and quickly gets inside before the rain can do too much damage. Once inside, Kyungsoo leans against the door, clutching his chest where his heart is still beating erratically. In the short amount of time that he’d known him, Jongin was driving him crazy. It wasn’t fair. Jongin was not his to have.

 

 

 

“Cheers!”

The table clink their glasses together and whilst the adults drink alcohol, Kyungsoo’s on Pepsi. Tonight, was a night of celebration. Kyungsoo’s brother had met his soulmate and tonight was the first time that his family and her family were going to meet each other. His brother’s soulmate was okay. She was pretty, polite, smart (she was a psychologist in training), the only annoying thing about her was her laugh. Kyungsoo guessed he could look past it though.

The restaurant they’ve picked to celebrate is a nice, smaller one than the others in the area. Stepping inside, something about it seemed familiar to Kyungsoo, but he didn’t know what it was. The whole restaurant was painted red with gold and silver drawings and writing littering it. There was music playing quietly in the background, and other customers looked like they were enjoying themselves as well.

One thing that Kyungsoo enjoyed the most was the food. His mum’s cooking was amazing, nobody could ever compete with it, but this place was coming in a very close second. Smiling at a comment from the soulmate’s father, Kyungsoo ducks his head shyly and pauses when he looks under the table.

“Are you really wearing pink socks? With this outfit?” he asks his brother who looks over to him and shrugs.

“It’s her favourite colour” he replies and ignores Kyungsoo’s look of utter disgust.

His brother had it deep for her already. It was disgusting. Turning away, Kyungsoo’s eyes scan the plan some more, landing on a familiar figure and having to double take to make sure it was them.

“Where are you going?” his mum asks. Kyungsoo hadn’t even realised he had stood from his seat.

“Um… I’m just going to the toilet. Be right back?” he tries, and his mum seems to buy it.

When he gets closer to the person, there’s no doubt who it is and when Kyungsoo taps him on the shoulder, Jongin’s just as surprised to see him as well.

“Kyungsoo? What are you doing here?”

Kyungsoo smiles widely at Jongin, not even phased by how much Jongin was surprised to see him. “My brother finally found his soulmate so we’re here to celebrate. What are you doing here?”

Jongin hesitates before answering, almost seemingly embarrassed. “My parents own the place. I help them by working here for a couple of days a week.”

“My mummy and daddy own a shop nearby. Come with me and we’ll help you find your mummy.”

Kyungsoo frowns but snaps out of it before he creeps Jongin out with how quiet he’s being. “This is a really nice place. Your parents did a good job with it.”

“You really think so?” Jongin asks, pleasantly surprised.

“Oh yeah. The music is nice, and it’s good that the volume’s not too loud. The decoration is nice as well. I like how you’ve mixed the red and gold together-”

Kyungsoo freezes when he realises what he’s just done. Looking at Jongin, the latter is gaping at him and Kyungsoo just wants the ground to open up and swallow him.

“You can see colour?”

Kyungsoo nods wordlessly.

“You’ve already met your soulmate?”

“It’s… it’s complicated” Kyungsoo manages to say. This is really bad. Really, really bad.

“Is it Baekhyun?” Jongin asks jokingly.

“Oh God no” Kyungsoo laughs and Jongin grins as well. At least Jongin could salvage the situation and make it into a joke.

“My grandparents used to own this before my parents. Apparently, before they redecorated, this place was yellow” Jongin tells him and Kyungsoo frowns.

“Yellow? Seriously?” he asks, “It’s a nice colour on most things, I’ll admit to that. But it’s just so… bright for a room. The nursery I went to had yellows walls as well and I hated it, it was like being blinded every single time you walked in there!”

The rant against the use of yellow is so ridiculous and Kyungsoo knows it, but Jongin listens so intently, smiling the whole time. Their meeting is only interrupted when someone shouts from the kitchen and Jongin’s handed a tray of food to hand out.

“I need to get back to work” he apologises and Kyungsoo agrees, completely understanding.

“You should tell whoever cooks all of these is an amazing chef. Nobody can beat my mum’s cooking, but they’re really close behind” he adds.

“My dad is always trying out new recipe combinations that he gets me to try. If you give me your number I can message you whenever there’s something new to try… I mean. If you want to.”

Kyungsoo leaves his number on a napkin for Jongin, and when he finally gets home, there a text waiting for him.

My dad’s trying out different combinations for Kimchi tomorrow.

Wanna come and try some?

 

 

 

Baekhyun walks alongside Kyungsoo as they make their way into school, frowning at his friend. Since the two of them had met that morning, Kyungsoo had had his face stuck in his phone, smiling and laughing every so often. Nosy as he was, Baekhyun snuck a glance at what he was doing, and managed to catch Jongin’s name flash up on the screen.

“You should just ask him out on a date” he says, finally getting Kyungsoo to look up from his phone. “Go to see a movie, grab a milkshake or something. Anything to stop you from giggling like a little schoolgirl.”

Kyungsoo glares at him and lightly shoves his shoulder. “You know why I can’t do that Baekhyun.”

“It wouldn’t hurt to ask” Baekhyun sighs, “Just ask him and see what he says.”

“I can’t” Kyungsoo stresses. “I accidentally let it slip in front of him that I can see colours. He knows I have a soulmate. Even if I like him and I did ask him out… he wouldn’t be able to fall for me. He needs to meet his soulmate and I can’t take that away from him.”  

“But Soo.”

“Can we stop talking about this now? Please?”

Baekhyun backs off and quietly apologises. Glaring at him, Kyungsoo speeds forward towards the school and Baekhyun silently follows behind him.

 

 

 

A couple of days later, Kyungsoo sits in class waiting for Baekhyun to get to school. He was feeling a bit guilty ever since he snapped at Baekhyun and was waiting for his friend to get to school to apologise to him.

Baekhyun was right, it wouldn’t hurt that much to ask Jongin out, but he couldn’t do it. He was scared, but he also had his soulmate and he could see the world for what it really was. He couldn’t let Jongin fall for him and live his life full of grey and dullness.

Kyungsoo jumps when Baekhyun runs into the classroom and skids to a halt in front of him. He’s wide-eyed, panicked, almost scared and Kyungsoo’s very worried for him.

“Baekhyun? You okay?”

Baekhyun bites his lip, nodding. “You’re right” he begins quietly, “Burgundy is a horrible colour for a uniform. I think it suits shoes more.”

Kyungsoo gasps, looking at him in disbelief.

“But pink is an amazing colour” he adds, his eyes watering. “Princess Peach look gorgeous in it.”

Both of them begin to laugh and Baekhyun also begins to cry. Jumping out of his seat, Kyungsoo pulls his friend into a bone crushing hug and lets him cry on his shoulder. A couple of their classmate’s stare at them, but neither of them could care any less.

“Who is it? How did you guys meet? When did you meet?”

“Remember when I had to stay behind for a bit the other day? I was heading down the hall to go home and he just passed me. So many times, I’ve had people describe to me what it’s like to suddenly see colour, but their descriptions do no justice. It was so… magical. Everything was suddenly brighter. I looked down at the uniform and actually screamed when I saw what it looked like for the first time… Oh Kyungsoo, it feels so freaking good to finally see colour!”

Kyungsoo nods excitedly, urging him to carry on. “Oh yeah! The guy, he heard me scream and ran over to me, asking me if I could see colour too. He’s so hot! He’s tall, he plays on the basketball team, he has such a baby face, but his voice is so deep. We talked for a bit and tried to figure out a time our parents could meet and then I ran home. It was so good just being to see everything you’ve ever described to me! My dad cried more than my mum when I told them what happened.”

“Did you feel anything, before you saw colour?” Kyungsoo asks.

“I felt this wave of energy and then I saw colour. I felt more awake more… not alive, but similar to that? I dunno. But it just felt so good!”

Kyungsoo’s mum had described to him a similar feeling when she met his dad. He’d ask his brother as well the next time he saw him. He was happy for Baekhyun, he really was. He was just a little jealous. Baekhyun got to have this amazing, emotional moment with his soulmate, and all Kyungsoo got was crying over his missing mum.

“He’s invited me to his next basketball match tomorrow. I don’t want to go alone. Can you come with me?”

Kyungsoo liked nervous Baekhyun more than normal Baekhyun. He was so adorable like this.

“Of course I’ll come, Baek. You didn’t need to ask.”

 

 

 

So Baekhyun found his soulmate on the basketball team.

We’re watching a game tomorrow.

You up for it?

 

Basketball team?

Chanyeol never said anything about it…

I hope it’s Minho. He hasn’t shut up about finding his since I met him -_-

 

“I thought our school colour was bad. Just look at these guys.”

The opposing team is already on the court warming up and both Kyungsoo and Baekhyun were questioning their choice of jersey colour. Both were frowning as flashes of orange ran around in front of them.

“Why orange? Orange isn’t a good clothing colour at all! What was their school thinking?”

“You’re really fussy about colours” Jongin comments, turning to both of them. “You should be grateful you can actually see them!”

“Kyungsoo prefers black, apparently. A dull colour for his dull personality” Baekhyun replies, yelping when Kyungsoo thumps his arm.

“He was talking about you too” he replies moodily, but the issue was quickly forgotten when the home team came out and everybody began cheering.

Kyungsoo was trying to guess which of the players was Baekhyun’s soulmate, he was also trying to figure out which one was Jongin’s friend. Baekhyun begins slapping his arm until Kyungsoo slapped his hand away and turned to him moodily.

“It’s him, Soo! It’s him!” he exclaims and points towards one of the players. Baekhyun was right, he did have a baby face for a guy as tall as him. Baekhyun’s soulmate looks for him, spotting Baekhyun and excitedly waves towards him. Then his eyes move to wear Jongin’s standing and he looks away a little guiltily.

“Chanyeol’s your soulmate?” he asks incredulously. “That jerk never told me he found you!”

Baekhyun doesn’t have the appropriate time to defend Chanyeol. He just found his soulmate, he didn’t want Jongin killing him before they properly got the chance to get to know each other. Warmups are done with quickly, however and the teams gets ready to start their match. Baekhyun makes a note to jump in between Jongin and Chanyeol if anything happens after the match.

It's a tense match. If their school was one of the best in the area, then their opponents were ranked closely behind. Kyungsoo doesn’t know the exact rules of basketball, but he does know to cheer when their side scores or to protest when a player on their team gets injured or fouled. Jongin tries explaining the rules more specifically during a break but gives up when he realises that Kyungsoo isn’t understanding anything he’s saying. In the end, the home team won 14-11 and Baekhyun dragged the other two down onto the court to celebrate afterwards.

Chanyeol runs over to Baekhyun, but they don’t hug in celebration. They’re still shy and giddy together, and Kyungsoo has to stop himself from squealing at how adorable it was. Then Chanyeol notices Jongin, and his delight turns to guilt.

“You promised to tell me when you met him” Jongin accuses, arms crossed and pouting. Kyungsoo didn’t know what was cuter- Jongin acting like this, or Baekhyun and Chanyeol trying to get used to each other as soulmates.

“Well I mean… I was gonna tell you the day after it happened but, you know, I got kinda… distracted” Chanyeol explains, indicating to Baekhyun who ducks his head embarrassedly. Chanyeol’s eyes then wander to Kyungsoo who smiles and waves shyly at him.

“Oh, you’re Baekhyun’s best friend” he states, making Kyungsoo laugh.

“Best friend huh?” he asks playfully, looking over to Baekhyun who sticks his tongue out at him. “Sure, I guess I am. I’m Kyungsoo.”

At the mention of his name, Chanyeol’s eyes widen, like he recognises the name from somewhere. His reaction makes Kyungsoo frown and if he had looked at Jongin, he would have seen the panic in his expression as he tried to tell Chanyeol to zip it.

“Kyungsoo? Hey aren’t you-”

Their conversation is interrupted by the sounds of shouting and cheering and Chanyeol only has enough time to push Baekhyun away before his teammates drench him in water, cheering wildly whilst Chanyeol laughs and takes it.

Unfortunately for Kyungsoo, he’d been caught in the chaos and was drenched in water as it trickled down the side of his face and down his neck. Jongin laughs at his predicament, handing him a handkerchief to wipe the water off.

“You still keep a handkerchief?” Kyungsoo jokes as he wipes some water away from his eye.

“Obviously. It’s convenient when you need it.”

Kyungsoo laughs and hands it back to him. Doing so, something jolts inside of him. Something about a young boy handing him something when he was crying. Weird.

“We’re gonna head off to the coffee shop nearby. You two can join us if you want” Chanyeol asks, hair drench and water dripping down his face, but he didn’t seem phased by it.

Jongin and Kyungsoo glance at each other, smirks on both of their faces. “I think we’ll pass. Let you two spend some alone time together” Jongin replies, winking at Chanyeol.

“Don’t get up to anything I wouldn’t do” Kyungsoo teases Baekhyun who whines and playfully shoves him.

With just the two of them alone, Kyungsoo tries to think of something to say. It was embarrassing how quickly he’d turn shy and quiet in front of Jongin. If the latter couldn’t tell, then he had to be the most oblivious person Kyungsoo knew. Thinking of something to say, Kyungsoo finally notices the umbrella hanging from Jongin’s wrist, laughing at it.

“You really like that umbrella, don’t you?” he asks.

“Of course! There’s nothing wrong with it. It has teddy bears on it. Teddy bears! They’re cute!” Jongin defends making Kyungsoo laugh even louder.

“On a yellow umbrella. We’ve discussed the use of yellow before.”

Jongin huffs and turns his head away from Kyungsoo with an overdramatic flair for good measure. Kyungsoo rolls his eyes at him. He’s so adorable. “Like I told my sisters; I don’t care what other people can see, if I see something with bears on it, I’m buying it!”

“Wait until you start seeing colour, then you’ll be agreeing with us!”

Kyungsoo regrets saying that the second it comes out of his mouth. He didn’t need to remind himself of the complicated situation he was in. He didn’t need to remind Jongin that he already had a soulmate.

“It must be nice, having someone you’re meant to spend the rest of your life with” Jongin comments as a couple walk by, holding hands and laughing.

“Aren’t you gonna join the school’s athletics team?” Kyungsoo asks, quickly changing the topic. “You said you were on your old school’s team.”

“I thought about it” Jongin admits, “But it would have been pointless. We’re in our final year and there wouldn’t have been time to actually try out and get into the team in the first place.”

An idea pops into Kyungsoo’s mind, smirking as he nods at Jongin’s answer. “Ah, I see. You’re too scared to race in our team because you’re afraid they’ll be better with you, I get it.”

Jongin narrows his eyes at Kyungsoo but smiles at him nonetheless. “I’ll have you know I was faster than anybody from your school! I outran them many times on the track!”

“Don’t believe you, you’ll need to prove it” Kyungsoo challenges, pointing to the park. “Race me from this side to the other side.”

Jongin looks across to the other side of the park. It wasn’t the far, easily doable, and he could kick Kyungsoo’s in style. “Alright then, if you really want to. Ready…"

“Go!”

Kyungsoo shoots ahead of Jongin, leaving him stood there shocked for a moment before he laughs and begins chasing after him. Kyungsoo was a pretty decent runner, so he wasn’t putting on an embarrassing display, but Jongin was able to catch up in no time.

“Hey, that’s cheating!” Kyungsoo shouts when Jongin pushed him to the side.

“You were cheating first!” Jongin shouts back, dodging Kyungsoo’s push as they carried on running through the park.

Kyungsoo was having so much fun, laughing wildly as he sped through the park. Nearly at the gate, Jongin then grabs him and picks him up, making Kyungsoo scream as he spun them around a few times before putting him back down. Jongin laughs breathlessly, trying to regain his breath, and Kyungsoo uses this moment to properly study him.

Jongin’s a very good-looking guy. Unlike others at school, he doesn’t care that he’s tanned while they’re paler than him. Kyungsoo’s seen him with a couple of his new friends around the school; people may have thought he was intimidating or quiet, but he’s actually a huge dork. He even has an umbrella with bears on it!

Jongin’s still trying to catch his breath, but this time he’s frowning at Kyungsoo and asking if he’s alright. In the spur of the moment, Kyungsoo tiptoes and gently kisses Jongin on the lips. He thinks about pulling away, but then Jongin’s grabbed the front of his jacket and is kissing him back. Kyungsoo can feel it. He can feel the jolt. He can feel this energy surge through him. Was this what Baekhyun was describing to him yesterday?

Then Jongin comes to his senses and shoves Kyungsoo away from him. Jongin doesn’t need to say anything, the expression on his face is enough to tell Kyungsoo how badly he had screwed up. When he tries to approach Jongin and apologise, Jongin moves away from him, shaking his head.

“I… I should go.”

Without sparing Kyungsoo another glance, Jongin silently turns and walks out of the park as fast as he could.

 

 

 

Jongin I’m… I’m so sorry. I was really stupid… I didn’t mean for that to happen…

Just don’t ignore me. Please. I really need to talk to you.
 

Baekhyun sits at his desk, frowning as he stares at the door. Kyungsoo was late. He was never late. Even if he was on his death bed, he would find a way to get to school until somebody sent him home. For Kyungsoo to not turn up to school without a single text sent to Baekhyun of course made him worry.

Kyungsoo makes it to class just before the bell rings, and Baekhyun’s ready to scold him but stops himself when he sees the distress on his friend’s face.

“Are you okay?”

“I’ve ed up Baekhyun. ed up badly.”

 

 

 

Chanyeol joins Baekhyun and Kyungsoo at lunch. Since he and Baekhyun started dating, he had both of them sit at his table with his teammates for lunch. Kyungsoo looks away from him, but he can sense the pitiful glance Chanyeol gives him as he sits down.

Baekhyun swore to Kyungsoo that he never told Chanyeol what had happened. That didn’t stop Jongin from telling him. It had been almost a week since the incident, and for most of that week, Jongin no longer sat with his friends at lunch. He’d walk into the hall, spot Kyungsoo sat with Baekhyun, and then walk straight out. It pissed Kyungsoo off. Jongin wouldn’t reply to his messages, would acknowledge him if they passed each other, and now he was avoiding his friends to avoid Kyungsoo.

“Jongin’s always had a flair for the dramatics. He’ll snap out of it eventually, trust me” Chanyeol assures, digging into his lunch and joining the conversation his teammates were currently in.

Kyungsoo wanted to believe him but a part of him knew that wasn’t going to be possible.

 

 

 

Look I know you’re angry at me, but you shouldn’t ignore your friends!

Take your frustration out on me, not at them!

Jongin… will you please just reply to one of my messages? Stop making this so difficult for me!

 

Kyungsoo and his brother are sat in their grandmother’s kitchen, peeling potatoes whilst their mum is helping to cook dinner. Their dad is sat with their grandpa in the living room, shouting obscenities at the television over the ensuing football match.

“Will you tell me what’s wrong now?” his brother asks as Kyungsoo frowns at him and continues peeling another potato.

“Nothing’s wrong. You’re just imagining things” he replies and his brother scoffs.

“Nice try kiddo. Look, I know I’ve been an annoying brother for the majority of the time you’ve been alive, but I’m still your brother so if there’s something bothering you, tell me.”

Kyungsoo hesitates. His mum had been suspecting for days that something was up but couldn’t get anything out of him when she asked. A part of him thought that this was her meddling to finally get her son to talk.

“When you met your soulmate, what was it like? How did you feel?”

“Pretty amazing actually” his brother admits, a goofy smile on his face. “Seeing colour was one thing, but the surge or energy I felt when I made eye contact with her was something else!”

“Like you feel alive? With a spring in your step?” Kyungsoo asks and his brother nods, expression falling when Kyungsoo becomes increasingly distressed. He felt all of that with Jongin. He felt alive and happy, so happy. These were feelings he would never have understood as a five-year-old, and now they were much more confusing.

“Do you think there’s a chance that fate gets it wrong sometimes? That just because you can see colour, doesn’t mean that person is meant to be your soulmate?”

“Soo, what’s going on?”

With a shaky breath, Kyungsoo tells his brother everything. From the day he met Jongin, to the day he kissed him in the park. The whole time, his brother never , never said anything to mock him. Instead he listened in silence and eve after Kyungsoo finished, he remained silent.

“… I wish I could help you” he eventually replies and it’s not the answer Kyungsoo’s looking for. “In all the time that people have known about soulmates, there’s never been an instance of two people not meant to be together.”

Kyungsoo nods his head, swallowing back tears.

“Things happen for a reason. Who knows, soon you’ll finally meet your soulmate and things will get better” his brother assures and Kyungsoo puts on his most convincing smile, hoping that his brother would drop it after.

 

 

 

Kyungsoo gets a shock on the following Monday. Walking over to the usual table that lunchtime, Jongin’s actually joined his friends this time. He’s sat in between Chanyeol and another friend whilst Baekhyun’s sat across from him. They’ve set this up deliberately, but Kyungsoo doesn’t care; it’s nice to see Jongin laughing and be with his friends again, even if he’ll ignore Kyungsoo for the whole time.

Kyungsoo joins the table in the middle of their conversation, Chanyeol whining when his teammates for questionable fashion choices. Like him, a couple of them had also met their soulmates, and wasted no time in teasing him.

“Hey! My mum got me that shirt!” he whines.

“Hate to break it to you buddy, but I think your mum chose those colours deliberately.”

“That’s not the ugliest one though” Jongin manages through laughter. “Tell them about that awful purple jumper you had with the massive Reptar image on it. I was glad when you chucked it away!”

So caught up in laughing at Chanyeol’s misfortune, Jongin realises too late that he’s just exposed himself in front of all of his friends. In front of Kyungsoo.

“You can see colour?” one his friends ask, but Jongin only has his eyes on Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo’s never seen a person look so terrified before.

“I-I… Uh…”

Panicking, Jongin jumps from his seat and runs straight of the hall. Kyungsoo stands to go after him, but Chanyeol waves him back down, shaking his head.

“Leave him. It’ll only make the situation worse if you go after him now.”

“How long have you known?” Kyungsoo asks.

“Since the day he first saw me wearing that jumper. We were… thirteen?” Chanyeol admits a little guiltily. There’s also something else he wants to tell Kyungsoo, but he’s hesitant to do so with his other friends at the table. Staring at them, they get the hint and leave the table, telling Chanyeol they’d see him at practice later.

“What’s going on?” Baekhyun asks when it’s just the three of them left.

“The day that you guys came to watch my game, I met Kyungsoo and something bothered me” Chanyeol begins. “I had heard his name somewhere before. It wasn’t from Baekhyun; he only told me about his best friend and then I realised it was Jongin who kept telling me about you.”

 

“What’s her name? Your soulmate?”

“He. He’s called Kyungsoo. I haven’t seen him in a while, but I’ll recognise him when I see him! Not by his name, but by his eyes.”

 

“He’d talk about you all the time. He would never shut up! He was obsessed with seeing you again. Then on his first day here I was running late, I come into class and he starts freaking out on me!”

 

“Chanyeol! He’s here. It’s him!”

“Who’s here? What’s wrong?”

“It’s him, Kyungsoo! He’s here, at this school!”

 

“I… I don’t understand” Kyungsoo manages.

“Jongin met his soulmate when he was five years old. He found a boy around his age crying in the streets because he couldn’t find his mum.”

Kyungsoo hears Baekhyun gasp, but he can’t react. Something deep down told him that he knew this all along but was too afraid to admit it. Now Jongin had run away and would surely avoid Kyungsoo for the rest of the year if he wanted to. Kyungsoo had to sort it out.

“What are you doing?” Baekhyun asks when Kyungsoo stands up.

“I have to fix this. I need to speak to Jongin.”

“He wants to be alone right now. He probably won’t even want to talk to me!” Chanyeol tries whilst Baekhyun tries to pull him back down, failing as Kyungsoo wiggles his arm out of his grasp.

“Then I’ll find another way! I’m not losing him again!” he exclaims, walking away from the table.

Jongin, Chanyeol told me everything.
I’m not angry. I just want to talk to you.
Please don’t ignore me.

 

 

 

I’ll be in the park after school.
Meet me there.

 

Kyungsoo races to the park, nearly running into a couple of people and shouting apologies at others he almost runs into. When he finally reaches the park, he’s so out of breath that he has to take a moment to catch his breath. His heart is beating like crazy. This could be his make or break moment. He couldn’t screw this up, even if Jongin did act hostile towards him.

He finds Jongin sitting on one of the swings and hesitantly makes his way over. He doesn’t sit in the empty one next to him, instead he stands in front of him, taking a deep breath in.

“When I was five, I lost my mum and a boy my age helped me. From that day onwards, I was able to see colour” he begins and Jongin briefly glances at him before looking away. “How long did you know?”

“… from the second I saw your eyes” Jongin admits sheepishly.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because you couldn’t remember who I was!” Jongin exclaims, jumping up from the swing. “It had been so long that you didn’t recognise me! I didn’t tell you because I was afraid you would freak out and… and reject me.”

“I didn’t know your name. How was I supposed to remember?” Kyungsoo asks, wincing when Jongin sighs in frustration and turns away from him, clenching his fists. Kyungsoo’s so afraid of losing Jongin, he can’t let him run away again.

“For so long I’ve watched others meet their soulmates and live happy lives. For so long I’ve wondered what it would be like to finally meet mine. I met you and I really thought that fate was being cruel to me. I… I like you Jongin, and before today I was a mess. I liked you, but I thought I could never be with you because I already had a soulmate. Yet here he was, all this time.”

Kyungsoo slowly reaches forward and takes one of Jongin’s fists in his hand, gently rubbing it until Jongin loosens it and holds his hand.  

“A couple of my ‘friends’ from my previous school had found their soulmates. Difference between myself and them was that theirs were all female. They found out about you and I thought that they were being nice... but then it just got messy and I was pulled out by my parents. For a while I was so angry at you, I even hated you! I hadn’t seen you in over ten years and yet there you were ruining my life. Then I bumped into you in the hall and right away I knew… and I also knew that I could never hate you.”

Jongin turns to face Kyungsoo properly, intertwines their fingers.

“Can I… can I kiss you?”

Kyungsoo wants to laugh but bites his lip and nods instead. “You don’t need to ask me ever again” he replies in a whisper.

Using his free hand, Jongin cups Kyungsoo’s face as he leans down to kiss him. Kyungsoo uses his free hand to grab Jongin’s blazer and pull him even closer. This time there was no hesitation, no fear of the unknown. Everything was just right.

 

 

 

Kyungsoo met his soulmate when he was five years old and never knew it. He was twelve when he discovered the meaning of the word soulmate and was scared that he’d never get to meet his again. Then he met Jongin and for the first time in his life everything seemed to be going his way.

“I’m leaving!” Kyungsoo shouts to his mum in the kitchen, waiting for her to reply before he grabs his bag and heads out the door for school. 

It’s raining heavily today but he’s not bothered by it. Jongin’s waiting for him when he steps outside, bright yellow umbrella in hand that has Kyungsoo rolling his eyes. Nevertheless, he rushes out to meet him and Jongin takes his hand to pull him in closer as they walk down the road.

“My parents have given me the night off tonight. Wanna go catch a movie like we said we would?” Jongin asks, wrapping an arm around Kyungsoo’s shoulder.

“I would love nothing more” Kyungsoo replies, wrapping an arm around Jongin’s waist and they continue walking to school like so.

Kyungsoo’s eighteen when he finally realises how important Jongin was to him. His future was uncertain, and he never knew what life would throw at him. As long as Jongin was by his side, his world would remain as bright as it was, and that was all Kyungsoo needed.