Red String Of Fate

Jisung's POV

I feel them before I see them. Again. It’s them. I look around and finally see them. I freeze. Chan's words ring in my head. Soulmates. 

Can it be? Surely not… but… but… how come we always keep meeting? We stare at each other, keep a distance but they're so beautiful.

"So this is Jisung and he'll be training you. Jisung this is y/n. Can you take them to the back and sort through the deliveries?" 

"Yeah… uh… sure…" I say, running my hand through my hair, eyes still drawn to y/n. "Follow me." I lead them to the back where we just received all the new deliveries and pick up one the new crates, “can you pick up one of these to bring it in the front, or is it too heavy?”

“No, it’s fine I got it,” They say lightly, practically whispering and picking it up, following me back into the front of the store. 

“If you just put it on top of this one,” I say as they follow my instructions and I start to unpack the items from the crate on the shelves, “and yeah just unpack the items neatly. It’s kind of easy.” I laugh uneasily to try and hide the tense atmosphere.

They say nothing but start following my actions. I glance at them every now and then, noticing their unique features which creates their pretty face. Soulmates. I don’t know whether to bring it up or not. That’s weird right?

I clear my throat, “so um… where are you from? You don’t sound that Australian… “

They still don’t look at me, just carry on placing the items on the shelves, “well I was born in America, then moved to Malaysia, then England because of my dad’s work and now here.” They say with a shrug, “what about you?”

“I actually studied in Malaysia for a while but I was born in Korea. Before coming here though my family moved to live in Canada for a while. It’s cool we both lived in Malaysia though… what if we… met before?” I ask, raising an eyebrow. Could it be possible we met in Malaysia before? 

Surely I would’ve remembered… anyway it still wouldn’t explain whatever that was. They look up at me with a questioning expression. My stomach lurches when their eyes meet mine. They… they do something to me. 

“I’m just joking! But what was your reason for choosing to come to Australia?” I look away, unable to cope with looking at them any longer.

“It’s hard to explain…” They sigh, “I felt a pull to Australia… I can’t explain it well… like… like…”

“Like you’re being pulled by a thread?” I know. I know what they’re trying to say. I can’t describe how I know. But I do.

They look at me with wide eyes, “yeah…” they affirm my answer, their voice slow, quiet and cautious. “Exactly like that… “

We share a moment looking at each other sceptically. Suddenly the ideas of soulmates doesn’t seem so foreign. I know y/n. They reach down to pick up the last item and so do I. By accident my palm touches the top of theirs and the electrodes spark again. Setting every participle of my body through to fingertips all the way to my toes alight. A bright, burning electrical current fizzing through me.

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The humid air is bristling through our hair while we are hearing the continuous crashing of the waves hitting the cliff face beneath us. “We’ll be okay.” I’m saying to y/n, continuing to wipe away their tears. 

I’m pulling them in for a hug, wrapping my arms so tightly around their body as tears start falling down both of our faces. It’s like we are wrapped together by thread, unable to let go.

My fingers are running through y/n’s hair. Y/n is still holding onto me tightly but is pulling away to look at me. “Thank you.” I’m shaking my head, trying to not cry anymore. “Don’t thank me. I’m sorry it has to be like this.” 

Y/n is stroking my cheek gently, “it’ll be better like this right?” 

“Right,” I’m agreeing, although I can feel my heart shatter into broken shards. I don’t truly believe myself. We’re leaning forward until we’re touching foreheads. 

We’re whispering words at the same time, “I love you,” and closing in to touch lips.

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I’m transported back. Breathing fast and heavy. The overwhelming sense of doom almost too much to bear any more. The fear has expanded exponentially a thousand times worse than before, controlling me like a puppet. 

I look for y/n to find them crumpled up on the floor. Their body jerks jarringly as they gasp and splutter repeatedly, making out a few strangled words, “what… was… that?”