Sungjong had never known anybody who'd imprinted before, but he loved the stories about them. He read about them when he could and happily listened when they were talked about.

"You're quite the romantic, Jongie." His grandfather would laugh when Sungjong brought home autobiographies and novels about imprinted couples. His grandfather was an old gruff man, but he had a soft spot for Sungjong and always humored him. "But you don't have to imprint to find someone special to love." Was what came next, always.

It was true; his grandparents had a happy, long marriage without being imprinted. Plenty of people did, Sungjong knew that, but why wouldn't you want to meet the one person who matches you in every way? Who compliments you and never has a doubt?

"Yes Pop." Sungjong would say obediently anyway. Though he knew he'd always be waiting for the spark of a touch that told him he'd imprinted and found the person he'd spend the rest of his life with.

"Jongie, can you please, please, please go pick up my car at the shop later?"

Sungjong sipped his coffee and laughed at his cousin juggling his home phone and cell while flipping through the papers on his desk. "Why, are you busy?" he asked sweetly.

Sunggyu paused to leveled a glare at him before he told his home phone "Yes, I'm still here, I-- oookay, I'll hold. Again."

"I get to drive a fancy news editor’s car." Sungjong sing songed.

"You get to drive it from there to here, whoopee." Sunggyu scowled, "I know you can barely drive, don't try to go any further than that."

"I feel the trust, hyung."

"I'd get Dongwoo to do it but he and his sister are visiting their parents for the weekend."

"I have homework." Sungjong piped up, but Sunggyu ignored him, "And Hoya doesn't get off work until after the shop closes."

Sungjong cleared his throat, "I have a major project due next week."

"And I definitely don't trust Sungyeol; he might take off with it."

"Fine!" Sungjong laughed, "I was going to do it anyway, geez. Calm down before you scare a receptionist or something."

Sunggyu made another face at him, but then someone took him off hold and he was all business again. When he got a break, he covered the receiver and whispered, "I called ahead and told them you were coming; it’ll be fine."

Sungjong held thumbs up at Sunggyu and finished off his coffee.

It took a while to walk to the shop, but Sungjong didn't mind it. He started early, straight from Sunggyu's apartment taking his time and stopping for lunch on the way. The auto shop was tucked away from the other street buildings and shops and there seemed to be no one around except for a man at the register eating lunch. His tag said Woohyun and Sungjong cleared his throat lightly before he scared the guy in the empty shop front.

"Hi, I'm supposed to pick up my friend's car today. Sorry if I'm interrupting your lunch." he said when Woohyun glanced up, mouth full.

Woohyun swallowed and pushed some papers around on his desk. "Nah, it's fine. You're Sungjong?"

"Yup."

"You can go on back; our mechanic is just putting finishing touches on now. It should be ready in a second." He smiled at Sungjong and took another big bite.

Sungjong glanced at the back door. It looked like the beginning of a creepy horror movie, but it didn't feel like one. He didn't feel afraid of the dark back room where there were big scary tools and a stranger waiting for him when no one was remotely around. "I can just go back?"

"Mmhm," Woohyun mumbled through his mouthful. "Hi nambths Mungfoo."

"His name's Mungfoo?" Sungjong repeated unsure.

"Myungsoo." Woohyun clarified after a swallow. "Our one and only mechanic. Go on."

Sungjong nodded and gave Woohyun a short bow before pushing through the door and into a short hallway to what must have been the garage. Sunggyu's car was back there, and Sungjong smiled at the smooth fender. No sign of the damage from the idiot who'd rammed Sunggyu's parked car. There were no overhead lights, just light from the garage windows and the work lamps.

"Hello?" Sungjong asked when he heard a grunt from underneath the car. "I'm Lee Sungjong; I'm here to pick up my friend's car. Are you Myungsoo?"

There was another grunt and the sound of wheels before Sungjong saw a man pull himself up on the other side of the car. He was just a bit taller than Sungjong and there was no helping it, Sungjong's first thought was that some people were made to wear wife beaters, and this man was one of them; lean muscled arms and a straight back with a slim waist. He had some car gunk smudged on his face and sweat made his hair stick to his forehead and when Sungjong met his eyes he almost missed the "Yes, Kim Myungsoo." It was a deep, steady stare and it took Sungjong a moment to gather himself enough to reach his hand out for Myungsoo's handshake.

"Hello." He smiled, friendly, right before their hands touched, and then it was like a pain that wasn't pain at all travelling up his arm and through his chest. Sungjong made a noise at the feeling and almost wanted to sit down through it. It took him a moment to realize that Kim Myungsoo hadn't let go of his hand and had closed his eyes tightly.

"What." Sungjong mumbled to himself, but it didn't occur to him to let go of Myungsoo's hand. He took a breath through the light buzz he still felt in his chest. "I'm sorry, did you feel that? Was that a shock thing from the car?"

Myungsoo opened his eyes very slowly, "The car doesn't do that." he said with a furrowed brow. "That's never happened."

"Are you okay?" Sungjong asked him, concerned about the deep crease between Myungsoo's eyes, but Myungsoo blinked once more and looked down at their hands.

"Yes," he replied, almost sounding unsure, "Are you?"

"Yeah." Sungjong assured, though he was a little unsure himself.

"I'm sorry I'm still holding your hand," Myungsoo told him, still sounding spacey and releasing Sungjong's hand slowly.

When the buzz faded as their hands seperated, bells started to go off in Sungjong's head. From the look on his face, Myungsoo noticed too. "Oh." Sungjong said blankly.

Taking a step forward seemed like nothing when Myungsoo did it, though there was little space between them anyway. Sungjong gasped and met Myungsoo's eyes again. "Um. Prepare yourself." he warned, and then he grabbed hold of Myungsoo's hand again.

Even though there was plenty of time for Myungsoo to block himself or pull away, he did neither. He let himself be grabbed again. This time Sungjong was ready for it and heard another of Myungsoo's light grunts at the contact. "Oh my god." murmured Sungjong.

Almost pleadingly this time, Myungsoo said, "What is it?"

"I think this is-- do you have any family or friends with Lund’s?"

"What?"

"Lund's syndrome... I think. We imprinted on each other." Sungjong said gently, keeping Myungsoo's confused eye contact.

"What? No." this time Myungsoo laughed a little. "That only happens on television."

Sungjong's stomach dropped. Since imprinting was so rare, there were many people who simply forgotten that it happened or or ceased to believe in it at all. Mostly imprinting became TV trope and forgotten in most peoples' daily lives. Sungjong had almost forgotten himself that other people weren't like him: waiting for their imprint and keeping themselves from other people who could be good enough. His grandfather told him regularly enough-- he'd read it himself regularly enough, but it still slipped his mind that not everyone was open to the idea of "Hello, I'm your Lund's mate. Welcome to being biologically, emotionally, and physically bonded to me for the rest of your life." Actually, it sounded really bad when he put it that way.

It took a minute for Sungjong to make words come out again. "I-it is rare." He said hoarsely, "It's rare, but it happens." Now Myungsoo wasn't even looking at him. He stared at their joined hands intensely but made no move to disconnect them. "I think. To be sure we should see a doctor." Sungjong didn't need to see a doctor. He knew what this was now.

That got Myungsoo's attention, "What? No. That's crazy, this doesn't happen anymore." He scoffed, but he looked wide eyed and almost panicked. Sungjong could feel the panic. It was a weird sensation to feel from someone else. He'd wanted to experience it so badly, but this-- Myungsoo's distress-- was something Sungjong wished he couldn't feel.

"Myungsoo," Sungjong said lightly, running his thumb over Myungsoo's wrist bone without thinking about it, "It's alright."

With the caress Sungjong felt Myungsoo's panic wade a little, but then Myungsoo shook his head and pulled his hand back. "No." He said defiantly. Taking a step back, Myungsoo shook his head. "No. I don't think this is what you think it is." He ran a hand through his hair and fumbled for a slip of paper on his work table. "Um. Give this to your friend. You can take the car now."

When Sungjong said nothing, Myungsoo met his eyes again. By then Myungsoo had called back all his calm. He looked put back together, but Sungjong felt it for him-- Myungsoo was still off-kilter. Now his face just made it clear that he didn't want to talk about it. "Okay." Sungjong relented. His chest cramped up. "Thank you." When he grabbed the paper, he noticed Myungsoo was careful not to touch him again. Sungjong stood there for a moment and hesitated before saying. "I have to come back tomorrow." Already he could tell Myungsoo didn't want that, but there was really no other option. He had to. They really needed to see a doctor too, but somehow Sungjong knew that was the last thing Myungsoo wanted.

"Please don't." Myungsoo said quietly.

"I'm sorry." Sungjong's throat felt tight and he almost wanted to cry. This wasn't what he was expecting when he'd dreamt about meeting his imprint.