————

 

 

In the morning, Jongin usually wakes up early. 

 

Usually.

 

But somehow today wasn’t the day. He woke up fairly late, almost missing his second major alarm. He slept through his usual morning routine before work. Which consists of an hour of self-care and maybe a few light exercises in the shower.

 

He scrambled like a hot mess, trying to get ready within a short amount of time. He didn’t like to rush. That was why he would’ve woken up an hour or two hours before his commute. He knew that being late and rushing to get ready was already making his mood turn sour, but he tried to cheer himself up and pull on his most comfortable outfit and quickly grab his breakfast at the convenience store down his block.

 

Jongin rushes through his routine and puts on a simple shirt with a plain grey jacket, he didn’t think twice before putting on his favourite dress pants and busting out of his bedroom. 

 

He pats down his body and checks for his essentials, grabbing his bag and keys.

 

Ping!

 

LoeyCP: where r u? 

 

He let out a sigh. Trust Chanyeol to suddenly summon him this early in the morning. The man hurriedly exits his own apartment and dashed towards the elevator.

 

He really didn’t want to be late, but at the same time, he didn’t want to rush either.

 

The day started out great.

 

---

 

Working in an office job was draining. Jongin couldn’t count the amount of time he almost fell asleep. The only good thing about this office job was that he was in the creative department. 

 

Creatives or not, it is still a nine-to-five type of job. He could physically feel his soul being drained at some point in the day because of this work ethic bull. It doesn’t really help that he was the type to quickly finish his task and fool around after that, and then fall to boredom after not having anything else important to do.

 

I mean, what else is there to work on when all you had to do was a design or draft ideas, send a few emails here and there, participate in meetings that play no huge significance to you, and then be back at your desk; trying to save your file by repeatedly smashing the control key and the letter ‘S’ because the software kept crashing.

 

Jongin could’ve snored at his own desk if it wasn’t for Chanyeol’s distraction.

 

Chanyeol is, to put it simply, the floor’s clown. In their department, Chanyeol was like a prize. Because of his bright personality and funny humour and sometimes downright annoying teasing, most of the workers on their floor enjoy having him around.

 

He was his friend first though. They went to the same school and now work in the same department under the same company. 

 

“You didn’t get enough sleep?” Chanyeol teases him, eyebrows wiggling excessively. It was both luck and a curse having this clown sitting across from him. It’s almost comical though, how only half of Chanyeol’s face was visible, from his hair to his nose bridge.

 

“Ehh,” Jongin shrugged. “I slept kinda early last night though.” He muttered. 

 

The eyes staring at him turned to a comical frown before his eyes widened. Jongin let out a chuckle, already knowing the punchline of his joke coming. 

 

“What?”

 

“What if you’re getting ‘ sore’ ? Hmm?” Chanyeol questioned. Few other pairs of eyes turned towards Jongin, their interest piqued. 

 

“Eh hold on,” The noona next to Chanyeol interrupts. “Jongin-ah, you haven’t found them yet?” 

 

The group of people at their shared desk also turns their heads at the question. Jongin found himself shrinking into his seat at the sudden attention. They were like a pack of wolves, ears perking up and eyes gazing hard at him for his answer.

 

“W-What?” He stuttered, “Of course! I’m still young.” He reasoned. It was sort of true since the average person here in Korea finds their soulmate around the age of 24 and above. 

 

Ah, yes soulmate. His little dandelion.

 

“Ohhhhh,” The familiar sound of coos surrounds him, he felt a blush creeping on his cheeks at the sound. It was senior year of high school again! 

 

The same situation happened when Chanyeol asked the same question during physical education class and since then, he became the object of his classmates' teasing. It wasn’t anything severe that he’d consider bullying, it just became an inside joke between their class and their year group that Jongin refers to his soulmate as his little dandelion .

 

He remembered the girls in his year cooing and teasing him by bringing him the actual flower, but he refused and sometimes brushed off the jokes. Because he knew deep down that they weren’t his soulmate. 

 

“Is that why you kept putting dandelion doodles in a few of the draft designs? Because it’s your mark?” Another worker perked up, smiling knowingly at him. Jongin’s blush deepened and he could feel his face turning red. 

 

It wasn’t as if he was embarrassed, but lowkey he was. Only Chanyeol and he were considered the youngest here in the department, except for the younger interns. He had to refer to everyone else as hyungs and noona, and now they’re all coming for him.

 

“…Yeah?” He nodded hesitantly, confirming his hyung’s suspicion. 

 

Another wave of coo and whistles come from their desk, with Chanyeol being the loudest. 

 

The day kept on being great! He thought, sarcasm seeping through his every word. 

 

---

 

In all honesty, based on his soul mark, Jongin was one hundred percent sure that he’d meet his soulmate somewhere in a garden. Or a field. Or somewhere that indicates the growth of hundreds of dandelions. Because that was the obvious idea one would have if they get a soul mark in the shape of a dandelion.

 

The man pulls on his sleeve jacket, curling them around his elbow. The printed mark peeks out from his sleeve, the black ink curves on his skin like a tattoo. 

 

He had admired this mark ever since it started to appear randomly on a Friday night during night class. Stress and pure boredom were clouding him that night, and suddenly he felt the tingling sensation on his arm.

 

He ran towards the nearest bathroom stall and watched as the ink appeared slowly on the surface of his skin, just right below his elbow. 

 

He had always wondered if his own soulmate had the same mark or did they have another symbol. It wasn’t a weird occurrence that soulmates sometimes didn’t share the same symbol or mark. Some do share the exact mark, and some don’t.

 

Those who didn’t have the same mark would instead have a symbol that represents their soulmate. In any form or any type, the mark would make sense once they meet. 

 

Jongin runs his thumb across the mark, rubbing them slowly, almost caressing them instead. He sat in a daze, staring at his computer screen. 

 

“Where the hell is Chanyeol…” He mumbled.

 

The taller had gone to the toilet, after convincing Jongin to wait for him to finish his business before going down for lunch.

 

“Let’s go!” Chanyeol appeared suddenly, startling him out of his daze. 

 

---

 

“Holy ! The truck came back.” Chanyeol gasped, freezing in place. Jongin couldn’t even begin to process his sentence before being dragged suddenly in line by his friend. “We HAVE to get this taken away.”

 

“We do?”

 

“I DO!” The taller one exclaimed, pulling Jongin behind him and stopping once he got to the queue. He was confused for a moment. It seems like Chanyeol really liked this food truck for some reason. There was a long line too, so Jongin was confident that the food would somehow be extra delicious.

 

“Oh my god, they’re serving my favourite food too,” Chanyeol mumbled, he could see the man drooling already. He pulled out his phone and took a picture. “This food truck was my favourite for a while,” His friend told him. 

 

“They served the best wrap ever. I even got my sister hooked on it. You should try one though, I’m buying extra for noona.” Chanyeol informed him, excited.

 

“Sure,” He nodded. He just had to trust his words then, that this food was heavenly.

 

He stood there, sighing and crossing his arms. Waiting in line is always a bummer, no matter how bomb the food is. He pulled out his phone too, deciding to kill some time scrolling through.

 

They’ve inched forward every three to five minutes, and when Chanyeol steps forward, Jongin mindlessly follows his step. 

 

Until he bumps into someone.

 

“Excuse me, coming through.” A voice interrupts his focus on his phone. Jongin snaps his head forward and immediately bowed a little, an apology for bumping into the man. 

 

“Oh I’m so sorry,” He apologises, stepping backward to give way. The other man responded with the same bow and walked through. He was carrying two trays and Jongin felt a small relief that he didn’t bump enough to make the man drop his trays.

 

The man was shorter than him, wearing a light grey sweater with small black-rimmed glasses on his nose. He was wearing a black cap that covered his face too. The only thing that caught his attention was his lips. 

 

Jongin watched as the man walked idly towards the front of the line, raising his head to speak with the men inside the truck. He nodded as the conversation went and then he went to the side of the truck, entering and placing the trays on the corner side, just beside the door.

 

He was staring too long before he noticed that the gap between him and Chanyeol was almost too large. He immediately steps forward and clings behind his friend, as if hiding from plain sight, hoping that the man didn’t notice him. Chanyeol turns his head in confusion, staring at him weirdly.

 

“Why are you so close?” He questioned. Jongin shushed him and waved him off. “Shush,”

 

“Al…right.”

 

There were only two customers left at the front and the man was still inside the truck, conversing with the three people there. Jongin assumed he was a worker or a helper, but considering he was carrying trays, maybe he was there for supplies? 

 

Nevertheless, the shorter man caught his attention so easily. Jongin couldn’t get his eyes off of him. He needed to see his face clearly.

 

Then it was their turn, Chanyeol quickly ordered for himself and his sister. Asked the older man to wrap it up on the go. Jongin was still staring at the man.

 

Catching him off guard, the man turns towards him, leaning over the counter and staring back at Jongin. “Can I get your order, sir?” The man asked him, his voice sounded soft and polite with the formality rolling off his tongue. He sounded gentle. Jongin was hooked. 

 

But Chanyeol wasn’t done paying yet, and Jongin turned towards his friend quickly. “Oy,” He smacked Chanyeol’s arm, “What did you get?” 

 

“Huh? Oh, I got the set A combo. Set C for noona.” He replied, turning back to the older man for the payment.

 

“W-What he said.” Jongin turned back towards the man, cursing himself slightly for stuttering in front of this attractive person. Attractive?

 

“Would that be set A or C?” The man tilts his head in question, a small smirk hanging off his lips.

 

“Uhh… A. Set A,” Jongin responded quickly. Well, not that quickly.

 

He didn’t know what was wrong with him to suddenly behave like this. It wasn’t as if this was his first encounter with an attractive person. He had crushes here and there during school and university but it wasn’t anything like this.

 

He could feel a sudden attraction growing inside of him when he sees this person. A person that he didn’t know existed until he bumped into him. 

 

“Coming up…” The man smiled at him and grabbed a sticky note and a marker. “Name?” He asked suddenly.

 

“Jongin.” He replied automatically. The man stared at him for a moment before nodding. “You can pay ahead, we’ll call for your order soon.” 

 

This time Jongin nodded and went ahead and paid for his takeaway, the older man quickly gave back his receipt and turned his back to pat on the man’s shoulder before going off the truck. 

 

Both Jongin and Chanyeol stood at the side, waiting for their food to be prepared and whipped up. Jongin couldn’t help but stare as the man took over the older man’s position and rolled up his sleeve. Every single movement that he made somehow made Jongin swoon. He felt waves of sudden attraction in his chest and he couldn’t keep his eyes off that man.

 

The man and the other two workers inside the truck worked effortlessly through their orders and within minutes, Chanyeol’s orders were already packed and ready to go. He stared in amazement as the man turned to help cook and pack the food, his movements were quick and flawless. He could tell that the man was an experienced cook, seeing how quickly he handled the vacant position and how they operated smoothly despite the cramped space inside the food truck.

 

He stared at the other in awe, gulping at the sight of this… new subject of his affection?

 

Would it be right to call it that?

 

Jongin really couldn’t help himself but stare until his own order was called. 

 

“Jongin.” The man inside called for him, smiling and leaning forward at the edge, just close enough to the back door of the truck. Jongin immediately moved his feet and raised his hands to fetch his order. “Yes…” He responded awkwardly.

 

The other man was still smiling at him, eyes never leaving his own. He stood there, holding his plastic with the hot packaging slightly burning his palm. 

 

The two of them stared at each other for a moment before the man tilted his head again as if waiting for him to say something else.

 

Jongin fumbled with his takeaway, the hot packaging finally burning his palm enough for him to pull away. “T-Thank you,” Jongin responded instead, blinking nervously. He was aware that he was not really showing the smoothest side of him right now, but he couldn’t help it. It was as if his brain short-circuited.

 

“You’re welcome.” The man chuckled, his lips turning upwards, resembling a heart shape. Jongin was awed. His cheeks were slightly glistening, he assumed due to the sweating and heat behind the counter. Even if he was wearing those black-rimmed glasses, it wasn’t a barrier to his eyes, which Jongin could see clearly when he chuckled.

 

, he’s so cute.

 

“Ah..ha..” He breathed out, blinking again, and then the man finally turned back to his station. Chanyeol taps on his shoulder, pulling him out of his daze immediately.

 

“You good, man?”

 

“I don’t know.” He replied honestly. Because he knew that this man wasn’t just someone. He could feel it. How else could he explain the rapid beating of his heart? This was so random and it was too quick for Jongin’s brain to register.

 

The man was too cute and too attractive for him to pass up.

 

He really couldn’t help but ogle.

 

“Man, I think I’m really getting ‘ the sore’ now…” Jongin mumbled, walking off with his friend.

 

As soon as they returned to their office, Jongin checked his takeaway immediately. What he saw was simply a simple box packaging, a set of chopsticks wrapped neatly with a tissue, and the post-it note that he wrote his name earlier.

 

Jongin :) 

 

The man let out a sigh, taking his seat and grabbing the note carefully. When he pulled it out, he noticed something else was written on it at the back. But the handwriting was smaller and the ink was fainter than the large black marker that his name was written with.

 

+0x xxxx xxxx :)

 

The number is written and the identical smiley face wasn’t what threw him off. No. Far from it.

 

But it’s the little doodle at the bottom that surprised him.

 

At the bottom of the note, is a small doodle of a dandelion. Identical to his own mark.

 

He is going to lose his .

 

Jongin stood up immediately, coming to his senses. He grabbed the note and his phone, dashing through the door again. Chanyeol caught him in the hallway leading to the door, confused, and surprisingly managed to catch Jongin’s arm. 

 

“Whoa, whoa,” Chanyeol asked him, “Where are you going?”

 

Flustered and a little excited, Jongin showed him the dandelion doodle on the note, then pulled on his sleeve to show his own. He didn’t say a word, but his wide eyes and expression were enough to convey the message.

 

“Oh !” His friend realised, eyes widening too. “Go! Go!” This time, he pushed the man towards the door. 

 

 

---

 

 

It seems as if his long legs couldn’t bring him there faster enough, with all the people blocking his way throughout his journey back towards the food truck. As if these people coming back from their lunch and heading towards the building were packed in blocking his path.

 

He tried slowing down his pace but the thought of losing to meet his potential soulmate was bringing his energy to a higher level. He couldn’t afford to miss this chance.

 

Not when that cutie is his potential soulmate.

 

No, Jongin couldn’t gamble on that.

 

He had to find and confront him.

 

When he finally arrived at the food truck, he saw that there were still a few people lining up for the last wrap of their delicacies but to his disappointment, the man was nowhere to be found inside the truck, flipping food or packing them.

 

A small fracture in his heart broke at the thought that he left, maybe his shift was over or something. Jongin was rarely a dramatic type but he might as well be if he missed his chance to find his soulmate.

 

Feeling upset, he fished out his phone from his pocket but felt the post-it note from earlier. 

 

His number!

 

With fumbling fingers, Jongin typed in the numbers on his phone and waited for an answer. A few seconds passed with the tone ringing in his ear, until the call was suddenly rejected.

 

Upset, he tried to call again, this time with an obvious pout on his face.

 

This time, the other picked up. And for a brief moment, Jongin heard the smooth voice from earlier ringing in his ears as he spoke; “I’m behind you,” 

 

Click.

 

The man ended the call, Jongin whipped around and saw him standing a foot away from him, phone in his hand. His cap from earlier wasn’t on his head anymore, giving Jongin a clear view of his jet black hair and curling over his forehead.

 

Surprised was an understatement, Jongin blinked at the sight of the man. Out of breath, nervousness, and excitement thumping in his chest. 

 

He took the note that he was holding and showed the doodle to the man. With a breath, Jongin spoke. 

 

“...Soulmate.”

 

The man in question stood there, eyes widening in surprise at the word. After a beat, he tilts his head in question, confusion set on his face as he takes the note from Jongin.

 

“Seriously,” Jongin continued. “Are you my soulmate?”

 

The man raised his eyebrows at the question. Shoving his phone in his pocket again, Jongin quickly rolled up his sleeve and showed the man his mark. Without words, the man’s eyes widened again, and looked up at Jongin, reading his eyes.

 

He took Jongin’s arm and inspected the mark, thumb brushing casually as if it didn’t leave goosebumps across Jongin’s skin. From his point of view, Jongin could see a grin growing on the man’s face, the same heart-shaped lips appearing.

 

“It’s so beautiful on you.” The man whispered, chuckling to himself. Jongin ducked his head closer, wanting to hear him better. 

 

Then he let go of his arm, tugging on his own sleeve this time, folding them up. Jongin watched in anticipation as he revealed his own mark to Jongin.

 

This time, it was Jongin’s turn to be awed.

 

It’s him. 

 

His soulmate.

 

“I didn’t catch your name,” Jongin smiled, truly out of breath.

 

“It’s Do Kyungsoo.” The man returned the smile. 

 

“Hi, Kyungsoo.”

 

“Hi, Jongin.”

 

end:)