The rain fell down in sheets and the thunder shook the windows of my apartment as lightening illuminated the small space. My cries were drowned out by the sound of drops shooting against the walls and ceiling. Hushed comforting whispers breathed into my hair as Jisoo ran his fingers over my back. He couldn't comprehend how I felt though, as far as I knew no one could. No one else had their soul mate timer malfunction. Sure, some waited longer than others or someone's soul mate died before the meeting but that wasn't my case. My numbers didn't stop, they never even moved, except for once. Years ago when I was in middle school my counter had went from staying at a solid zero to moving up one digit. I was thirteen then, just a few months after I had been scanned my timer, as most teenagers were at that age. I kept my broken timer a secret until I had moved to high school and met Jisoo in a music class. From that day he has always been my rock, shoulder to cry on, and best friend. He, however, had a perfectly fine timer. It counted down the days just as it should until you meet your soul mate. Just like he did a few short months ago. I was jealous of his and Jeonghan's relationship, for my own selfish reasons. I was over joyed when Jisoo came running to me that warm sunny day in August to show me his counter had hit zero and that today was his day. Underneath my happiness was a nipping jealously that I would never experience that nerve wracking sensation of seeing that single digit and knowing that your life would be complete after that day. Jisoo and Jeonghan were always supportive of me and even moved in to help keep me from feeling lonely, but what I never spoke out loud was seeing them together gave me such a feeling of emptiness that it almost pained me. I tried to keep thoughts of my soul mate at bay and distract myself with work and hobbies but even the things I loved doing seemed so pointless to me nowadays.
"It will be alright." Jisoo tried his best to console me but I just laid limp in his arms and stared at the tiles of the floor.
"It's not fair, Ji." I wiped my eyes and stood from his embrace. "I'm going to sleep. I'll see you in the morning."
He told me goodnight and went to go back to his and Jeonghan's room where his soul mate patiently waited for his return. I, on the other hand, went to a cold and empty bed filled with nothing but my dark thoughts and stifled cries. For the first time in years, I dreamed of my soul mate.
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My heart was racing and I felt light headed as I stared at my wrist. The number had bumped up from one to nineteen in the matter of a night. When I showed Jisoo he got a confused and enthusiastic expression and held my hand in his.
"This has to mean something!"
"Shouldn't it be going backwards?"
He just shrugged at my question and continued to give theories on why it escalated. I drowned most of them out with who my soul mate was or if they even existed. Maybe this was just another malfunction.
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The dreary autumn months fell to the chilled snowy winter and each day my timer would increase anywhere from a few to a few dozen digits. I had gotten into the habit of wrapping a bandage over it so I wouldn't see the alarming rate of increase anymore and settled on trying to live my life the way I had been, going to work and focusing on school. Jisoo was going to college longer to become a music teacher and Jeonghan had just finished getting his degree in English while I had almost completed schooling in Zoology and began working under a vet down the block.
I had just arrived home to find people in crammed onto the couch in the living room, Jisoo and Jeonghan on the love seat beside it.
"Ah, you're home!" Jisoo gave me a warm smile along with Jeonghan.
"I'm gonna go shower and go to bed." I turned and went to clean up without looking at who was accompanying them.
I took the bandage off my wrist and saw the number had increased by almost a hundred since I replaced it at work this past afternoon. I wrapped a towel around my wet body and yelled for Jisoo who immediately came with a distressed expression. As I showed him the ever growing number, his eyes widened. He walked me back to my room and told me to change and come out, Which I complied. I took notice of the strangers to see three of them taking up space on the couch.
