minseok has no mark on his body, he is one of those people who has no mates. people who lost their mates even before they are born. people who are pitied. since you will never be whole without your mate, people says.

luhan is the other part of population, bold mark glaring in his wrist. two swirl of black ink which looks like yin and yang.

he is 28 years old and hasn't met his mate when almost all his friends paired of with theirs. but luhan doesn't give a single because he has minseok for 5 years and this soulmate thing, he can't grasp the idea being tied up to a stranger that he barely know.

luhan wears this big hipster watch in his right hand religiously, covering his soulmate mark and partly because minseok hates the bright red plastic wrapping around his wrist.

("so tacky," minseok often mocks, masking the bitterness that luhan doesn't catch in his tone. he sneers seeing the watch, a painful reminder of what under it. a soulmate mark. the mark that show how luhan is not, never, completely his. because the world is cruel like that.)

people always for being a hopeless romantic. spending half of his life imagining movie-like first meeting with his soulmate. his parents are worried, he is not getting any younger, but he believes they will meet at the right time, after all that's what soulmates about right?

turn out there's no right time. one second he feels so happy meeting his mate, excitement bubbling and mouth wide grinning. and the next second everything is shattered.

"sorry, i have someone else."

but you are my soulmate, you  are supposed to be with me, the frustrated screams stuck on his throat as his mate (no, the man in front of him, he is not his mate) goes on about his lover, a wonderful man called minseok.

he wants to be mad, but he knows better than that. so he smiles and offers his hand to the man.

"junmyeon"

"luhan"

names exchanged and when their hand meet junmyeon feels that electric thing people has always talked about. he wonders if luhan feels it too, but the man keeps talking about how ridiculous the concept of soulmate and junmyeon sips his warm team and nods.

minseok is mad. scratch that. mad is an understatement. he is furious. furious because luhan didn't tell him that he had met his supposed to be soulmate. ("he is not, you are." luhan said). furious when luhan told them how luhan rejected him, his soulmate. "didn't you think of his feeling?" minseok shouted.

minseok has no mate. he doesn't know how is it to be rejected by one's own mate. But he knows the longing, the aching that kill you slowly. he is never been rejected. no, he has been rejected since day 0.

luhan refuses to tell minseok anything after that. he refuses when minseok told him to say sorry to junmyeon. he kisses minseok when minseok said that he need to leave him for junmyeon, his soulmate. it is ridiculous because minseok is his soulmate, has always been and will be.

minseok doesn't get the man's name, but he is sneaky. he knows luhan's routine more than the man himself. a few questions to jongdae and he has the man's name already in his hand.

kim junmyeon. a literature lecturer. “very boring,” jongdae says. “and he is one of those cheesy type people, you know the ones who dreaming of their own fairy tale,” he adds jokingly, but minseok can see the fond smile forming on his lips. minseok's stomach lurches, thinking of junmyeon whose fairy tale destroyed by him.

"he talks with luhan-hyung once, and that's it hyung, believe me. luhan-hyung would never cheat on you. you know he loves you too much."

minseok forces a smile to jongdae. the always kind jongdae, if he found out minseok has been stealing junmyeon's mate for 5 years, would he hates him?

"does junmyeon has soul mate already?" minseok knows the answer but jongdae confirms his suspicion.

"it's so rare of you acting like this, hyung.” minseok shrugs at jongdae’s comment.

“junmyeon-hyung hasn't met his mate yet. if it's about luhan-hyung, the answer is no. seriously, that hyung has waited for his soulmate since he barely talk, he would never flirt with other people." jongdae's reassurance doesn't help the growing guilt on minseok's heart.

"it's not that jongdae..." minseok trails off, brain racking for some kind of excuses quickly.

"luhan mentioned some educational theories that this stranger talked about, so i kind of curious. but, he didn't remember the man's name." he knows jongdae won’t believe him 100%, but the younger doesn’t voice it.

"of course luhan-hyung will forget the name. of course junmyeon-hyung will talk to someone he just met about those boring theories. they're so predictable." jongdae rolls his eyes and takes his phone from his pocket. "i'll send you his contact. go talk about your boring education theory. i always forget you are a teacher because you are cuter than your students."

minseok raises his eyebrow, "i teach kindergarten," he reminds. "point still stands," jongdae grins.

minseok goes back home with a string of number inside his phone saved as junmyeon.