Some are more fortunate than others.

These days, the procedure is so standard it is performed at birth – unless, of course, the parents decide not to have it done, though that's a very unpopular decision. It looks like a watch, but it's more like a timer. For some, it moves slowly. For others, each tick could be seconds or moments. It's tuned into your fate rather than actual time. It starts on zero, and in days, weeks, months, or years, depending on who you were, it would slowly start counting. When it reaches zero once more, it would give a soft beep, and it was at that moment your future was decided. When the clock reaches zero, that is the exact moment you meet the person you were destined to be with.

The best case scenario is that your clock has a low number of years on it, somewhere below twenty, maybe, and you mett your soul mate early on and live the rest of your life happily with them. In other cases, the clock would have fifty or sixty years on it and the two unlucky lovers would go the majority of their lives without each other. The worst case scenario is when your clock doesn't move at all, meaning that you were to die before you met that one person. Most people have the clocks taken off at that point, and move to a community of people like themselves to try to find some semblance of a relationship so their lives aren't entirely empty.

And then there are the people whose parents choose not to have the clocks put on them, the ones who are unlucky enough to have to wait until they're old enough to make their own decisions to get the clocks put on and hope it's not too late and that their time has not already passed.

People like myself simply neglect to get the procedure done when they come of age to do it themselves. Everyone has different reasons for this, but mine is that I'm scared to find out that I missed it. I just didn't have the clock put on. I'm not worried about being lonely forever, though. There are other people like me. Chances are that I can find someone among them that I won't mind spending my life with.

It's not a terrible existence. I have a boyfriend, another like me. Chanyeol is sweet and doesn't try anything funny when we're alone together, watching a movie or something. We've been together for close to a year now and still haven't gone past the hand holding stage (probably because of my aversion for most physical contact), though he doesn't seem very upset about it.

We're both students at the local university and we met through a shared interest in biochemistry. We were paired together for a project when our teacher decided that we'd relate well to each other since neither of us had clocks. It's a biased opinion, but it'd turned out for the best in the end. No, what I have with Chanyeol isn't that fairy tale story you hear about when two people, destined to be lovers from the start, meet. But it's not horrible. I can survive like this.

“Earth to Kyungsoo.” The snap of fingers in front of my eyes brought me out of my ruminations and I looked over to see the amused face of my best friend, Luhan. We were supposed to be working on a project for our shared literature class, but I kept zoning out. “I swear to God, Kyungsoo. You've been acting like someone whose clock's about to hit zero these last few days. Is there something you aren't telling me?”

My only response was to crumple up a doodled-on sheet of paper and toss it at his head. He laughed and shook his head, turning back to the task at hand. When we'd made a good amount of progress, we dropped the project for another day and order takeout. Later, when we were lounging on the couch watching Disney movies and sharing a carton of double chocolate ice cream, Luhan told me about the most recent act of stupidity that Sehun has committed against him.

Luhan and Sehun met a few months ago. Luhan had gone back to his old high school to get a copy of his transcripts for some reason or another and had bumped into one of the students there, both of their clocks going off right as it happened. Phone numbers were exchanged and they were constantly hanging out, but to Sehun's frustration, Luhan refused to do anything other than hold his hand until he was of age. No one really bothered with those laws anymore since it was hard to keep soul mates apart, but Luhan had always been a man of chivalry.

“But, anyway, I was wondering if you'd want to come over tomorrow. I was going have some friends over and buy some chips and beer to make it classy as . You could bring Chanyeol along too, if you wanted.” Luhan didn't like Chanyeol very much. He thought that Chanyeol was dull and boring, but then again, anyone that's exciting by Luhan's standards probably needs to be in some kind of mental facility. I did a quick mental evaluation of my plans for tomorrow and accepted his offer. I'd ask Chanyeol about it later tonight.

After being cajoled into making cookies for the small gathering tomorrow, I headed home, expecting to be greeted by my boyfriend's smile and the smell of something burnt since Chanyeol couldn't cook to save his life. But all that I came home to was the smell of the air freshener and Chanyeol with his nose buried in homework.

“Chanyeol-ah, have you eaten dinner yet?” I asked him as I slipped my coat and shoes off, putting them away.

“I'm fine.” His response was practically a grunt, and I frowned a bit. Normally he'd take the time to say hello and offer me a smile, but he seemed preoccupied tonight. It wasn't that big a deal, just a bit odd. I was used to his smiles.

“Do you want me to make you anything?” I tried again, hoping to get some kind of reaction from him, but there was nothing. Just irritated silence as he ignored my question in favor of his studying. With a sigh, I headed to my room. We didn't share a room since I don't really like being touched, and because he says it gets too hot. I went to sleep rather upset.

In the morning, I got ready to the smell of coffee and was greeted by a smiling face framed by sleep-tousled, honey-colored curls. “Morning, Soo. I hope you slept well.” In a startling turn of events, I was pulled into his arms for a brief hug that left my skin crawling for some reason or another.

“Good morning, Chanyeol-ah.” I greeted him in return, a stiff smile on my lips. He knew I didn't like that much contact, and I figured he'd recall that fact when I stepped out of his arms, but he wouldn't let me, keeping his arms around my waist and putting on that tiny, puppy-like frown that he used on me when he wasn't getting his way.

“Soo, we've been together for a year, almost, and I feel like you can't stand me.” The grip on my waist tightened, sending me almost into a state of panic.

“No, no, Chanyeol-ah, that's not it. You know I--”

“--Just don't like being touched. Yeah, I've heard that before. It's because you aren't trying.”

Suddenly everything was very vivid. My calves were pressed against the cabinets, the edge of the counter digging into the small of my back, and the press of his fingers into my waist sending shivers down my spine – and not in a good way. There was a look in his eyes that I'd never seen there before. This was not tender friendship or happiness. I didn't know what it was.

“Yeollie, please let go of me...” The words were a strained whisper, and though I was embarrassed by the weak sound of my voice, I saw the look in Chanyeol's eyes fade away. The nickname always melted him. Whenever I wanted a favor of him and he didn't want to get his up off the couch to do it, all I had to do was use that nickname and he'd be up in a second. It worked now, too. He backed up, his arm falling away.

It was a Saturday and neither Luhan or myself had classes and I knew he wasn't busy with anything else, so I left the apartment Chanyeol and I shared and headed over to his early.