~One Year Earlier~

“Don’t you think you should stop?” Chanyeol asked as Baekhyun took another shot of soju.

Baekhyun shook his head, “Ok, now I’ll stop.” He said as he let out a cackle. The two had decided to go eat after work. But Chanyeol hadn’t planned on Baekhyun drinking so much.

“Actually, I think it’s time I drop you off.” Chanyeol said as he let out a small laugh.

Baekhyun shook his head, “No no, shhhh.” He replied as he held his finger up towards Chanyeol’s lips. His eyes wandered around the restaurant and he let out a hiccup. “I’m so jeal—“ *hic* “Jealous of all the—these soulmates.” His eyes watered and he looked down at his wrist. “I want mine.”

Chanyeol dropped his debit card down on the receipt so that the server could pick it up. “Alright, we’re leaving now. You’re way too drunk.”

“Aish! I’m not that—“ He stumbled on the stool he was on, causing him to lose his balance and fall down onto the floor. A couple of whispers were heard, but Chanyeol ignored them. Instead, he helped Baekhyun up to his feet.

“We’re leaving Baekhyun.” He told him.

After getting his card back, Chanyeol helped a stumbling Baekhyun get into the car. He placed him in the backseat. Baekhyun threw himself back, laughing. “It’s tight again. It’s thinning again.”

“What?” Chanyeol questioned before shutting the door completely.

Baekhyun just let out another laugh, “Why does he hate me?”

Chanyeol rolled his eyes and got into the driver’s side. “You’re talking out of your .” He told him as he made sure the doors were locked.

Baekhyun shook his head, “I’m not!”

Chanyeol drove towards Baekhyun home to drop him off. The latter had drank way too much, he was speaking nothing but gibberish.

“Hey Chanyeol, your string ever thin out?”

Chanyeol scoffed, “Nah, but I don’t spend hours staring at it either so I wouldn’t know.”

“Mine does.” Baekhyun said as he stared at his string. “It’s tight and thin. It means my soulmate wants to tear it.”

Chanyeol shook his head and laughed. It didn’t mean that it was tearing. It meant that the person on the other side was feeling some kind of strong negative emotion. But Baekhyun was much too drunk to explain anything to. He would need to tell him this when he was sober.

“Alright Baek,” Chanyeol began. “We’re here, let’s get you upstairs.”

Chanyeol helped Baekhyun up to his feet and carried him towards the apartment. The latter was so drunk, he didn’t even notice they were taking the elevator instead of the stairs.

“Woah…I’m dizzy.”

“It’s the elevator. You’re fine.” Chanyeol reassured. Baekhyun clumsily swayed back and forth, trying his best to regain his balance. If it wasn’t for Chanyeol supporting him, then he would have fallen a long time ago.

After a couple of minutes of looking for Baekhyun’s keys, they finally opened the door to the apartment.

Baekhyun fell onto his sofa and covered his face with his hands as he laughed hysterically. “Where am I?” He questioned.

Chanyeol shook his head, “You’re home idiot.” He told him. “I’ll stay with you until you fall asleep, alright?” Chanyeol knew there was no point in telling him any of this. Baekhyun had a habit of forgetting things when he was this drunk. He didn’t always drink this much, it was actually extremely rare. But when he did, he forgot everything.

“Ow…” Baekhyun muttered as he lifted up his wrist and looked at it.

Chanyeol looked down at him, “What?”

“My wrist hurts again.” He said as he suddenly began moving it back and forth.

Chanyeol laughed, “Just sleep Baekhyun.” He told him. “You’ll feel better in the morning.”

“No…” Baekhyun answered as he continued the motion with his hand. “I’m tired.”

“Then sleep.”

“No stupi—“ he hiccupped as he tried sitting up on the couch but instead fell backwards. “Stupid. I’m tired of my soulmate hating me.”

Baekhyun suddenly furrowed his brows and stared at his wrist. His fist tightened and began trembling.

Chanyeol raised an eyebrow in confusion, “Baek?”

“Ima make it easy for him…”

If Chanyeol were to have known in that moment what Baekhyun was doing, then he would have put a stop to it. He would have reached out and grabbed his fist. Or maybe, he would have quickly talked some sense into him in a panic. But alas, Chanyeol didn’t understand what was happening, until it was much too late.

Baekhyun suddenly threw his hand back violently, nearly throwing him off the couch. His teeth were gritted together and his legs went up in the air as he did so.

“Baekhyun?!” Chanyeol was at a side in an instant, fearing that he really would fall off.

“There…” Baekhyun said as his arm dangled off the couch. “Now…he won’t have to stress about me anymore…”

“What are you—“

“I tore my string.”

Chanyeol’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped, “Tha—That’s a sick joke.”

Baekhyun shook his head as he shut his eyes. “I tore it…” He said finally as he drifted off to sleep.

Chanyeol stood there in disbelief. Never in a million years did he think he would witness anyone, much less Baekhyun, tear their string.

***

Miles away, Kyungsoo argued with his fiancé.

“What do you mean you don’t care?!” Sunhee asked angrily. Her words echoed throughout the mansion.

“I just don’t.” Kyungsoo told her as he walked away from her.

Sunhee grabbed his arm and squeezed tight. “I’m not marrying you Kyungsoo!” She yelled at him. “You should be devastated!”

Kyungsoo turned to look at her, “I’m glad you don’t want to marry me. At least now I have something to tell my parents when they ask why I don’t wanna marry you. I don’t want to be with anyone else but my soulmate.” He told her calmly as he escaped from her grip. He knew he was raised to eventually tear his string, but he would never follow through.

He looked down at his string and smiled. Don’t worry my soulmate. I’ll find you soon. I’m sorry for thinning out my string so much lately. He thought.

“What the are you smiling about!?”

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes, “Listen, I don’t want to have a shouting match in your parent’s home. I’m just going to leave befo—“ He couldn’t finish his sentence.

An electric shock shook his entire arm, causing him to grunt out in pain. He let out a small yell as something suddenly tugged on his arm, causing him to fall backwards. He shut his eyes as he hit the floor with a thud.

“What are you doing?” Sunhee questioned.

Kyungsoo wasn’t sure what he was doing. Just what was going on?

He placed his wrist into his other hand to massage it softly, but what he saw made him want to cry out in horror.

His string…was torn. His soulmate had just torn their string.

“Is your string—“

Kyungsoo looked up at her, eyes glossy.

A small smile embroidered her lips as she looked over his pained face. “Oh…well now you can’t have me or your soulmate either huh?” She let out a laugh, “I don’t want you and neither does your soulmate.”

Her words sunk in and Kyungsoo got even more devastated. His soulmate didn’t want him? But he loved his soulmate so much…

He let out a sob and ran out the door into the rain, leaving a laughing Sunhee behind in the mansion.

***

“What?!” Jongin exclaimed, dropping the tea that was in his hands. The mug shattered into pieces beneath his and Kyungsoo’s feet and tea spilled in every direction. “I---You---Torn?”

“Jongin, is everything alright?” A maid walked into the living room to see the shattered pieces all over the floor. “Jongin!” She exclaimed, “Step away from there, you can cut yourself—“

Jongin looked over at her, “It’s ok. I’ll clean it.” He told her.

“If your father finds out I’m not doing my job, then I’ll get into trouble.” She told him, her eyes pleading.

Jongin hated having people clean up after him. But he knew that their livelihood depended on this job and her words held much merit to them. So to avoid any trouble with his father or the maid, he would do as she said.

“I understand.” He told her. “I’m sorry for overstepping. I’m so sorry for making more work for you.”

She smiled at him and let out a light chuckle. “Don’t worry about it Jongin.” She told him. “I finished the house hold chores earlier today anyway. You have given me something to do.” She went to get the cleaning supplies.

Jongin took this opportunity to lead Kyungsoo upstairs to his room. They would have more privacy there.

After shutting and locking the door behind them, Jongin looked straight at Kyungsoo. “Ok,” he began, “Now tell me in detail what happened.”

Kyungsoo sat on Jongin’s bed and began to tell Jongin what had happened.

***

Chanyeol was at the coffee shop washing the blenders as he thought about last night. Did Baekhyun actually tear the string? There was no way he actually did…right?

A sniffle from his left had him turning his head. He must have been so into his thoughts that he didn’t realize Baekhyun had walked into the back to start his shift.

Chanyeol swallowed and forced a smile on his lips, “Hey Baek!” He greeted.

Baekhyun sniffled again and nodded in acknowledgement.

“You ok?”

Baekhyun looked up, a forced smile on his lips. “Yeah, I’m fine.” Baekhyun told him. “I’m hungover and have allergies today.”

Chanyeol bit his lip. Baekhyun was trying to explain away the red eyes and sniffling he kept on doing. But it was obvious that the latter had been crying. Does Baekhyun remember? “So, crazy night huh?”

Baekhyun nodded slowly. “Yeah.” He replied. In a soft, hushed whisper Baekhyun suddenly said, “My soulmate tore our string.”

Chanyeol’s eyes widened, “What?”

Baekhyun looked up at him. “I said it was a really crazy night!” Baekhyun said with a forced smile. He went to where the coffee was and began organizing ingredients.

Baekhyun thought his soulmate tore the string? He must not remember anything from last night. He must have woken up to his string torn and assumed it must have been his soulmate that did it. The only person that knew the truth was Chanyeol.

Chanyeol looked over at him slowly. Baekhyun seemed to be in a trance. He would place ingredients in their correct location, but it was evident his mind was elsewhere.

“Baekhyun?”

“Yeah?”

Chanyeol let out a sigh. He couldn’t force him to remember. It seemed wrong to tell him right now. He would wait until later to tell him the truth. Maybe he could somehow bring out the truth in Baekhyun by pretending that he didn’t know the string was torn. Perhaps that would help prompt Baekhyun into telling him the string was torn. When that day came, Chanyeol would assess the situation, then make the call of when, where, and how he would tell Baekhyun. In the meantime the only thing he can offer is, “I’m here for you if you ever need someone to talk to.”

Baekhyun sent him a small smile and nodded, “Thank you.”

***

Kyungsoo walked into the office the next day with puffy eyes from crying in Jongin’s arms all night. He was still in disbelief. He couldn’t believe that his soulmate would tear the string. Had he done something wrong? The thought made his heart clench in agony. Why? Why did this happen?

He was so into his thoughts, he didn’t realize the silence that had befallen once he stepped into the building. In all honesty, he was training to one day take over the business side of his dad’s company. He didn’t want to be here today. He wanted to be home, mourning. But, how does one mourn someone they haven’t even met yet? And that is still very much alive?

“Kyungsoo?” A soft voice called out.

“Hm?” The voice took him out of his thoughts. It was Junmyeon, the newest hire.

“I’m sorry about what happened. Are you alright?”

Kyungsoo furrowed his brows, “What?”

Junmyeon bit his lip, “I’m sorry. If it’s too soon, I’m really sorry.”

Kyungsoo was confused. What was he talking about? Nothing had happened to Kyungsoo publicly. There was no way anyone could know about what happened last night. The only person he told was Jongin--?

His eyes widened as he made a realization.

“Oh, Kyungsoo!” A voice greeted from behind him. “I’m so sorry about your torn string. I hope you don’t mind that I told everyone.”

Kyungsoo turned to face Sunhee with a smirk on her lips. “By the way, I don’t need you to marry me anymore. My string is attached to someone of equal status to me. So, you can forget I exist.”

Kyungsoo gritted his teeth, unable to come up with any words to express the fury building up inside. He didn’t want anyone to know, but now it seems the whole building did. He wouldn’t be surprised if his parents knew as well. Sunhee was such a gossip and threw tantrums when she didn’t get her way. Seeing Kyungsoo so miserable last night after his torn string must have sent her into a happy fit.

“You told everyone without Kyungsoo’s permission?” Junmyeon suddenly interjected. His voice came out icier than intended.

Sunhee glared at him. “Did you say something?” She asked.

Junmyeon furrowed his brows, “Yeah, how could you be so heartless?”

She smirked again, “Be careful how you speak to me. I can easily remove you from this establishment newbie. Do you know who my parents are?”

“No, and I don’t care to know.”

Kyungsoo looked over at him, “She’s not worth it.” He looked back at her. “I’m glad I’m not forced to marry her anymore.”

She raised an eyebrow as her lips went downward. “Your soulmate tore your string. You didn’t even have the balls to do it yourself. How can you call yourself a man if—“

“I think its best you leave.” A menacing voice came from behind Sunhee. “I’d be shame if my father suddenly decided to burn bridges with yours, now wouldn’t it?”

She turned around to see Jongin glaring at her. He stood straight with his jaw clenched tightly.

“You wouldn’t dare—“

“You’re not as powerful as you think Sunhee. Should we talk about how much your family lost last year in sales? My father keeps all the numbers.”

Her face went pale, “Bah!” She exclaimed. “You’re not worth my time.” She said as she walked towards the elevator.

Kyungsoo held it together with his fists clenched by his sides. “I never want to see you again!” He shouted after her as the elevator door closed.

Jongin walked over to him as he put his arm around him. “I came over as soon as I heard what she did.”

“So everyone knows huh?” By everyone, he meant all of his father’s friends, colleagues, business partners. Basically everyone in their social circle. People whom his parents believed were important. Their son was now the gossip. Their son was their entertainment for now. Their pathetic son who didn’t have the guts to tear the string. But instead, had gotten his string torn by someone of a lower class.

Jongin kept silent. Kyungsoo knew the answer already.

What he found peculiar was how none of that actually mattered to him. What he cared about was his soulmate. Why had they done it? Why? Why? Why?

Kyungsoo loved them so much…why?