The Red String Theory

Chapter 1

Levi Cho never believed in soulmates. He would watch as his mom celebrated Valentine's day every year by decorating the house in red strings. It was just stupid. How do you know you're destined to be with someone? What if you just didn't have a string? What if you didn't like your soulmate?

It's not something he prioritized anyways, he was a workaholic with a busy schedule. He was the CEO of Crown Magazine. Literally, one of the most important press companies in the United States.

There was a knock on the door and Levi turned in his chair.

"Come in, Vee" he said.

The door swung open and a brunette waltzed into his office, finally making a stop on the corner of his desk where she decided to sit. Her hair was long enough to brush the top of the desk, and it fell right on his papers. He pushed the curled tips off the paper and rolled his eyes as she turned to face him.

"Was that really necessary?" Levi asked.

"Most definitely Li" she shrugged.

"But, i'm very impressed how you knew it was me by my knock." she said.

"I didn't. I just felt the air shift with the presence of annoying little sister."

"You love me and you know it." She smirked.

"What did you want anyways?" Levi asked.

"Mother wants you home for Valentine's Day." Levi sighed, and Vee continued. "She's decorated the house in strings and hearts again."

"When will she ever give that up? Its stupid."

"I think it's sweet, so play nice and visit mother on her favorite holiday."

"I won't. Final." Levi stated.

"You will. Final." His sister said with an equal amount of attitude.

"Why? Give me one legit reason." He said.

"She's not well. And with dad..." Vee's face turned somber.

"Fine. I'll go." Levi groaned.

Vee smiled lightly and nodded her head. She hopped down from Levi's desk, and made her way out of his office.

"When do I have to book the flight for?" He asked the brunette.

"Levi, don't you have a jet?" She asked.
Even her voice sounded like she was rolling her eyes.

"Go away."

"See you Monday." Vee said, and shut the door behind her.

Levi sighed and slumped into his desk chair. Mother is asking him to come home. Something must have happened. He checked his watch. 12:30. Lunch break.

He stood up and stretched for a minute. Looking through the windows of his Manhattan office, he saw cars the size of ants,
which must have been at least a thousand feet down. Perks of having your office on the top floor. He closed his eyes and shuddered, imagining falling from this height. The mere thought terrified him.

He shoved the idea out of his stream of thoughts, and made his way to his personal elevator. It was only there because the last company to own the building had worked with the former president, but it got shut down when he got impeached for falsifying corporate documents; and abuse of power.

As he made his way across the sidewalk, he scanned his phone. The uber is five minutes away, and that was just enough time for him to light a cigarette. He looked around for a place to sit for a bit, judging that his uber would mostly likely be more than five minutes away. It was a Friday during lunch break, traffic was expected.

Finally, his eyes settled on a nearby set of stairs. It wasn't exactly ideal because of the suit he was wearing, but did he really have a choice? He watched as people passed by, busy like worker bees. Some were wearing heart printed clothes, others wore red and pink. What was the point?

It's a meaningless holiday, really. For some reason it was the only day a year people actually prioritize loving someone.

Levi looked at his phone again. One minute away. He stood up and threw his cigarette on the ground, stepping on it to smother the smoke and tobacco. Lunch. All he needed was a lunch break.