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Three days after Tao turns 18, he feels the pointed stab of his words being etched into the skin on his hip. He’s in the middle of demonstrating a basic wushu step to a group of eager learners, when the sudden pain causes his breath to hitch as he grabs at his hip in shock.

People usually get their words on their 18^th birthday. His sister did and she had been the one to soothe Tao’s worries throughout the entire day of his birthday when no words appeared.

“I read online that some people don’t get their words right away. I guess it’s like having your period. Some girls get it before others” she had shrugged, giving Tao a hopeful smile.

Tao had done a lot of research the next day, and apparently while tradition states that the soul text appears on every ones 18^th birthday, there were rare cases when a person did not get a mark until days, or even months after their 18^th.

Tao had been looking forward to his soul text ever since he fully understood what the words signify.

His close friend Luhan had gotten his almost a year ago and while the other man had yet to find his own soulmate he had a permanent reminder that his perfect match was out there waiting for him.

So yeah, Tao was a little more than ready to receive his soul text on his 18^th birthday.

He had been disappointed that now he’d have to wait for some unknown date that could be months away.

Of course his soul text had to be a diva and make a fashionably late entrance.

“Mr. Zitao! Are-are you okay?” a concerned high pitched voice brings Tao back to the present.

He’s currently kneeling on the yoga mat, one hand clutched at his hip while the other braced his body. The pain had lessened and now just felt like a dull ache against his skin.

‘I got them. I got my words’ is all he can think as he unconsciously rubbed at his side.

He looks up, a goofy grin plastered on his face. The little faces look worriedly at their teacher, a few of them approach the kneeling man in hopes of helping him to his feet.

Seeing that he had obviously frightened his students enough for one day, Tao makes a show of hopping to his feet. He grins down at his little helpers, ruffling their hair.

“I’m okay. Just…just a bit of gas” he explains, throwing in a small chuckle.

Some of them breathe a sigh of relief while one curious little girl comments,

“My sister gets those too” she turns to address her fellow mates, “Mr. Zitao gots cramps” she nods as if to confirm her own words were accurate.

Tao’s right eye twitches irritably but he makes no move to correct her.

He’s got his words and all he wants to right now is read what they say.

Giving the class a ten minute break he rushes to the bathroom, locking the door behind him.

Lifting his shirt, he shifts his left hip toward the mirror.

An excited gush of air escapes his mouth as he looks in wonderment at the blackened words that are s along the edge of his hip. He had read that the words may sometimes be a little blurred at first but by now his own words are imprinted clearly enough for him to read.

“Yah, yey…yah-hit?” his brain and mouth struggle with pronunciation of the first word. It’s not Chinese but yet it doesn’t sound like an English word. He intends to google it immediately.

“Yehet” he tries again before reading the rest of coiled words, “Yehet, thanks a lot for your help.”

Tao frowns at it. It’s kind of short and sounds more like something someone would say casually. But then these were words his soulmate were going to say.

What if this ‘yehet’ word meant beautiful or sweetheart or something really romantic.

He gushed at the thought.  His soulmate must be awestruck by Tao’s good looks. Does the soulmate wink after he said these words?

Yes, in this day and age Tao knew he was gay. And he was 1000 percent sure his soulmate would be a guy.

Considering Tao’s taste in men, his soulmate would be tall and charming. Maybe he’d have the typical pitch black Asian hair or…or, maybe he was indeed foreign.

An Australian, maybe.

Or maybe yehet was a German word.  His soulmate could be German.

Is his voice deep and husky as he leans in and whispers  ‘Yehet, thanks for your help’

What was Tao even helping him do?

Oh my god, someone is going to say this and we’re going to be destined for each other.

A smile and a blush force themselves back onto his face as he cannot continue the lovesick sigh that bursts out of him. His soulmate sounds wonderful already.

Four years have passed since that faithful day and Tao had grown out of the whole ‘soulmate’ phase.

After receiving his soul text he had done his research on the word ‘yehet’ and found that I was just nonsense word of excitement, no real meaning to it and he had been crushed that the foreign word held no deeper significance.

Well the word wasn’t as ‘foreign’ as he had hoped either. It was a Korean word, usually said by children.

Oh great, my soulmate is a kindergartener.

For a brief time, Tao remembers that he had contemplated running off to South Korea in hopes of stumbling upon his soulmate.

Luhan had been the voice of reasoning in talking him out of it.

“You’re right. What if he decides to come to China to look for me while I’m in Korea? We’d both miss each other!” had been Tao’s logic.

Now four stiff, weary years have passed and Tao doesn’t believe in the hype of ‘finding one’s soulmate’ anymore. He’s 22 and finally in South Korea.

But he’s far from living the dream.

For the past 10 months he’s been working at a luxurious hotel in the heart of Seoul, earning his keep on a long morning shift while attending classes at night.

In another year he’d finish his degree but until then he’s tired most days and cranky on others.

He’s in the middle of putting the last minute touches on a previously wrecked room when Yi fan comes flying into the room like some preppy hurricane.

The manager looks well primped and coiffed as he settles a glare on Tao.

“Tao! I told you and Meyan to tidy up rooms 509, 510 and 511 for the EXO members” Yi fan flips a leaf on his clipboard, reading the contents steadily before flicking his gaze around the room. “Where is Meyan anyway?”

Instead of answering Tao finishes organizing the pillows and places a small green mint for decoration in the middle of one of them.

“We don’t leave mints on pillows anymore,Tao” Yi fan says, but he sounds more amused  than irritated. He has casually slipped into Chinese, something he always does when he and Tao are speaking in private.

Tao rolls his eyes, “Some people like it. It’s very old school”

Yi fan pouts, then jots a note down on his clipboard.

“Where is Meyan though?”  the manager asks again.

“The school called her. Sunya is sick and they would rather Meyan take her home”

Yi fan frowns at that, “Why didn’t she just tell me before she left?”

This time Tao looks sheepish while scratching the back of his neck, “Uh, that’d be my fault” when Yi fan’s glare returned, Tao lifted his hands innocently, “She looked so tired and worried that I just told her to go and that I would tell you”

“And exactly when did you plan to inform me?”

“Uh, whenever I saw you. SO yeah, Yi fan, Meyan had…”

Yi fan silences him with a wave of his hand. “You know you’re going to have to clean EXO’s room by yourself”

Tao just shrugs. The rooms in question weren’t exactly dirty so he’d probably just need to change the sheets and replace some of the bathroom supplies.

Judging by the look on Yi fan’s face he doesn’t feel comfortable leaving Tao to work 3 rooms by himself and the thought that after all these years Yi fan is still such a worry-worth about Tao makes the younger man sort of giddy inside.

“I’ll send up someone to help, okay? No- nope, you can’t refuse” Yi fan adds when Tao opens his mouth to protest. Everyone in the hotel is pulling their own weight already; the last thing Tao wants is to add to someone else’s burden. “Someone will be up soon. Just get your up to 509”

For a second the old, playful Yi fan is back and he smacks Tao on the with the clipboard. However, as always it doesn’t last and Yi fan straightens himself back to his business like posture.

Tao continues to smile anyway. He pretends to salute, “Sir, yes, sir”

Yi fan rolls his eyes and is making to leave when another thought hits Tao.

“Hey” he continues when Yi fan turns to look at him, “A few of us are going out on Saturday to celebrate Yuri’s engagement. I know you love a good karaoke night, so you’re invited!”

Yi fan looks stricken for a second but quickly covers it up with a cool smile.

Tao can see right through it.

“I’ll check my schedule” is all he says, all up tight and in Korean.

“Good, I’ll make sure the club has Justin Bieber karaoke” Tao teases in return.

If possible Yi fan stiffens up even more.

He stands there for a solid minute or so while Tao patiently waits with a knowing look.

“Fine. Anything but ‘baby’” and with that he and his clipboard make a noble exit.

Tao huffs,  “Like you have the vocal talent to sing ‘baby’.”

~~

Tao had met Yi fan at a club one night in China. He and Luhan had been getting a few drinks and enjoying the border line between single and free and desperate and .

Yi fan had approached the bar where Tao had been ordering drinks for himself and Luhan. They’d locked eyes and Yi fan had smiled mysteriously, just a small upward lift to the corner of his mouth.

Tao had probably looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Because the man in front of him was gorgeous. Not like, oh he’s pretty. It was more of a unearthly beauty, like, smack you in the face kind of pretty.

Then Yi fan was leaning in, his mouth near Tao’s ear as he spoke loud over the music.

“Want me to buy you a drink?” it was the first words Yi fan said, direct and sensual. His voice was just as husky and manly as Tao would’ve wanted, but it wasn’t the words that that voice was suppose to say.

When Yi fan leaned back he took in Tao’s disappointed look and smiled sadly.

“I guess I’m not what you’ve been waiting for?” the taller man had said, reaching for the drink the bartender had slipped in front of him.

After a while, Tao had just shrugged detachedly, “Guess not”

The man had nodded in understanding, “Yi fan” he said as a n introduction, a hand extended.

“Uh, Tao” he made to order his drinks when the bartender finally focused on him.

Yi fan was still leaning against the bar, his eyes scanning the crowd but not really searching for anyone in particular.

When Tao got his drinks he hesitated momentarily before offering, “Wanna join my friend and I?”

Yi fan looked mildly confused for a moment then he nods with a grateful smile.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Tao and Yi fan became close and even gave buddies a try for a while before settling into a comfortable friendship.

In their time as friends Yi fan’s pessimistic views of soulmates had taken its toll on Tao.

Sadly despite Yi fan’s views that didn’t stop fate from shoving his soulmate at him 2 months later.  

“She’s absolutely amazing!” Yi fan all but gushed when he first told Tao of his encounter with said soulmate.

“She? Seriously?”

“What? I’m biual. Besides she looked like a preteen boy when we met. She’s a bit of a tomboy” Yi fan breaks off to laugh a little, “Which is strange since I’ve always liked effeminate boys”

Obviously that he had been a jab at Tao, but the other man is still barely processing the fact that Yi fan found his soulmate.

Amber was a part of a South Korean girl group called F(x) and was only staying in China for a few days.

When Yi fan got offered a promotion from his company, assigning him to The Westin Chosun hotel as a manager, Yi fan had shat bricks, while Tao had seethed enviously.

Why was Yi fan, who didn’t even want a soulmate or believe that people soulmates were out there, why was he being given everything Tao ever wanted?

“Come with me! I can get you a job at the hotel and you can study overseas. Besides didn’t you say your soulmate is Korean?  Maybe this is a good opportunity for both of us”

Tao had eyed the other man as if he was mentally deranged.

“How did you go from being a sarcastic soulmate hating douchebag to a tall lovesick mess?”

Yi fan had smiled this goofy, gummy grin, his eyes practically shining a bit, “I dunno. I guess….love”

Tao went to Korea. But he didn’t do it for love. He did it because he could get a decent job with a stable income while he worked on his degree.

Luhan had made the move later but only because he had been scouted for some agency to join a future idol boy group.

Here at the hotel, Tao is not a maid per se.

When he was first offered a job in the hotel by Yi fan, he was told he would be somewhat of a bellboy.

But somewhere along the lines he became a jack of all trades in the hotel and usually just did whatever tasks Yi fan assigned to him.

Well, except plumbing.

He had flooded one to many rooms in the past.

~~

His assigned partner for the day’s cleaning is Baekhyun.  Who was as much fun to work with as the joker.

His talents included, singing loudly while wearing headphones, not being good at cleaning and impersonating Tao’s accented Korean.

As soon as they got into the room, Baekhyun immediately declared,

“I get bedroom duty!” and he was off to possibly ransack the bedroom in search of anything that might’ve been left behind by the previous occupants.

“Don’t take anything!” Tao calls after him. All he gets in reply is his own voice being mimicked in a snotty tone.

Rolling his shoulders Tao enters the bathroom and gets to work.

By the time 3 p.m. rolls around, Tao and four other hotel employees are dressed in their bellboy clothes and waiting patiently for the arrival of EXO.

There are tons of fans outside already and it’s no surprise to Tao. He’s been in Korean long enough to get familiar with the names of most idol groups and they’ve had quite a few of them stay in the hotel over the past months.

He’s quite used to the chattering fans who lurk about the exterior of the hotel whenever an idol group is present in the hotel.

Two vehicles pull up in front of the hotel and Tao watches as the valet approaches them. The fans get loud as the tension builds. Some of them are now flocking in front and behind of the van hoping to get good angles for their pictures.

The door slides open and one head of dark hair pops out, a smile on the man’s face as he waves to the excited crowd. The man hurried makes his way toward the door.

4 more bodies exit one van while another 3 do the same from the other. The 7 remaining boys are surrounded by their managers as they try to path the sea of fans.

When they are all inside, the boys bow respectfully and Tao and his work mates gather up the baggage.

The EXO members wait as one of their managers speak to Yi fan who nods promptly at everything the man says. Tao takes this time to look closely at the individual members. Overall they are exactly what he expected. Pretty boy idol types with flashy haircuts and colors and expensive clothes. Some of them are wearing sunglasses still while those with them off just look extremely tired.

Luhan had been promised a spot in this particular group but he didn’t agree with some aspects of the contract and had left the company. Luckily, Luhan was too talented for Korea to let go of and he was offered a position in another group under the company YG Entertainment.

He was currently promoting in Thailand with his group ‘Max Stp’

The manager turns to address the boys, “Okay, let’s get up to our rooms”

“Tao will show you” Yi fan suggests kindly, giving Tao a pointed look.   

Tao bows kindly, “Follow me please”

~~

Three boys are sharing room 511 and they chat amongst themselves while Tao finishes unloading their bags from the carriage.

Two of them are particularly playful as they bounce about the room.

“Kai, look-“  the warning is too late as one of them slams painfully against a desk, causing the lamp on it to rock dangerously off to the side.

With quick reflexes Tao rushes forward, snagging the lamp barely before it hits the ground. It was pure luck that he had been close enough to it in the first place.

The one who did the bumping, rubs at his shin while looking sheepish as he says, “Thanks for that”

Tao is about to say it’s no problem when the shortest man begins to berate Kai for his irresponsible behavior.

Tao isn’t one to stick around in times like this and makes to leave. He’s barely out the door when someone stops him.

The boy is smiling pleasantly, and does this little hurray wave as he says, “Yehet, thanks a lot for your help” he gives Tao a thumbs up, “You must be some kind of ninja…”

Tao doesn’t stick around to hear the rest because he’s already shoving the carriage away from the door, running behind it and away from his soulmate.

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