— 🌸 —
AERA SOON FIGURED out that only she could see the string and that there was no way to cut it, tear it or rip it. why? she had no idea.
so she did the only thing any logical person could possibly do..
chase the string to see where it ends. and it seemed that the other person had the exact same idea.
"where does this end?" Aera wandered breathlessly through the rainy streets. one of her hands in her jean pockets and her other hand connected to the somewhat never-ending string. she held her other hand up to shield her eyes and head from the drenching rain.
Beomgyu, on the other hand, was miles away from her, also wandering around the rainy sidewalks to see what in the world must be connected.
no wonder they were soulmates, they even have the same stupid ideas.
he felt the rain droplets his head and face but was confused as the string was completely dry and perfectly fine. he rolled his eyes at the somehow invincible string.
who placed the string on his finger? and would
that person want him to find the end of the string? he had so many questions but no answers for any of them.
Beomgyu groaned and tilted his head to the floor, walking without his eyes. he soon felt his body collide with another, rapidly apologizing.
"i'm so sorry!" he apologized, watching as a young girl, probably around his age, fell to the floor. "are you alright?" he asked as she didn't bat him an eye and continued to walk forward.
until she realized...she couldn't walk forward. her string had ended and was connected to the boy standing right in front of him.
the two figures stood staring at each other, eyes upon their connected thread. they made eye contact before looking back down at the small space between the string and them.
"....."
"....."
the silence was almost too loud. rain drops hit their heads as they both tried to shield their figures from getting hit with the rain.
"l-let's sit at the park bench so we don't get rained on." Beomgyu recommended, slowly walking there, though the girl refused.
"why did you put this on my finger?" she asked, looking at the boy who was dumbfounded at her question. he turned his head around, the rain dripping from his hair.
"what?"
"i mean you and i are now connected through this thread and i want to know how." she said in a defense-like manner. her voice was rather calm and soft like honey, soothing to the ears.
"look, i don't even know your name."
"well yes, because stranger danger."
Beomgyu scoffed. "we're going to be connected by this thread for a long time, i don't think i'll be a stranger."
"i have to go."
"wherever you go, i have to go too, you know." he rolled his eyes as the girl stood, dumbfounded at the boy's statement.
"no, chestnut head, we were miles away from each other and we still were connected through the string so your logic makes no sense." she rolled her eyes. "we can still walk away from each other."
"CHESTNUT HEAD?" he placed his hands on his hips, furious at the girl's name for him. "my name is Choi Beomgyu for your information."
"chestnut." she mockingly grimaced.
Beomgyu crossed his arms, furiously.
she looked down at the string as the red color began to disappear and it soon became an invisible string. it was as if they had to meet first for the string to disappear, but it would always be there symbolically to connect them.
she couldn't possibly be more confused.
Beomgyu on the other hand did not seem bothered in the slightest.
"i'm leaving."
"fine, be that way." beomgyu sighed, wiping away the water from his face. "you know, we're never going to find a way to undo this string if we refuse to talk to each other." beomgyu sat on the rainy concrete sidewalk as the girl looked behind her from the few steps she took.
"you're going to get rained on." she rushed over to him and pulled him up. she soon comprehended her action and scratched the back of her neck. "oh—sorry—"
Beomgyu looked up and made eye contact with the beautiful girl. her eyes were so dark yet they were so pretty in the pouring rain. her dampened hair stuck to her face and hair strands out of place ached the boy's heart. who was this girl?
"it's 9 in the morning on a Sunday, we have nowhere to go because we have a holiday break right now."
"h-how do you know i go to the same school as you..." she asked quietly, walking closer to the chestnut boy.
"i see you and your boyfriend in the hallways all the time." he said. "i just don't know you."
"look," she sighed. "let's figure out what's going on and when we do we can pretend we never knew each other." she reached out her hand. "deal?"
"deal."
— 🌸 —
after long thinking, Aera decided to spend the day with the new boy and try to figure out what was going on and why the two of them are connected.
she suggested they go over to his house which would be better since his mother would be at work and he didn't have any siblings other than his kitten, Lilac.
he unlocked the back door and let Aera in first, entering the back view of the home, her head looking around the place.
the home wasn't extravagant but something about it was comfortable. the multitude of flowers and plants that surrounded the home, the staircase wrapped in plant vines, the off-white furniture. it felt home-y.
"are you allergic to animals or anything?" he asked honestly as the girl shook her head. "Lilac is quite active around the house."
"Lilac?"
"my pet kitten. she's probably in the living room right now, so don't be too afraid if she comes up running to you." he chuckled as the girl joined his laughter.
to Aera's (un)surprise, the furry creature ran up to her and did its best to stand tall, but only reached up to Aera's knee.
"oh!" she knelt down and held the grey kitten who was snuggling up with the girl even though she was a total stranger.
"i guess Lilac gets it from you." Aera remarked.
"gets what?"
"no concept of stranger-danger." Beomgyu scoffed and grabbed a cup of tea for the girl. he placed his computer on the living room table, sitting across from Aera who was pre-occupied with Lilac.
"so," Beomgyu began. "before we start trying to figure out anything, can I at least know your name? we'll be seeing each other pretty often if we want to understand what's going on." he smiled. "plus...you're in my house—willingly, might i add."
"Aera."
"hmm?" Beomgyu responded, confused if her name was actually Aera or if she were talking about something else.
"my name is Aera."
"Aera..." the boy placed a finger on his chin. "that's a beautiful name." the girl smiled before shaking the feeling off and moving forward.
"anyway..." she cleared her throat. "did you end up finding anything?"
"not really. here,"
Beomgyu turned his computer to Aera and showed her the limited search results for
why is a red thread attached to two stranger's fingers?
"that's a specific question." she thought hard. "here, let me try."
the boy handed her the computer as she began to search, making the boy move over to her side of the sofa for easier viewing of the search results.
red string thing
"hmm.."
Beomgyu looked at the girl, the light of the laptop illuminating off her face, the pupils of her eyes showed her intense stare at the screen. she moved, making Beomgyu divert his attention to the computer.
The Red Thread of Fate, also referred to as the Red Thread of Marriage, and other variants, is an East Asian belief originating from Chinese mythology
"no, it's not that." Aera said to herself, frustrated.
"wait, Aera." Beomgyu paused, as the girl looked at the boy who was sitting a few feet away from her. "press the second one."
The two people connected by the red thread are ____, regardless of place, time, or circumstances.
"what?" the boy exclaimed, catching the girl's attention.
"why, what's wrong?"
"everything is blank." Beomgyu repeatedly clicked on the screen, frustrated at the emptiness. "every step forward just ends up taking us backwards in the wrong direction."
"your sentence made no sense." Aera laughed to herself, quickly wiping away her smile once she saw the boy's death stare. "i see you're not in the mood for jokes today." she sipped her water silently.
This magical cord may stretch or tangle, but never break.
This myth is similar to the Western concept of _____
Aera threw her head back in frustration. "we were so close to finding out why this was happening." she ran her fingers through her hair. "why is this so hard for us?!"
"who's not in the mood for jokes, now?" Beomgyu grimaced, as she made a face at him.
suddenly, a phone rang from Aera's pocket. she picked it up as Beomgyu nodded, continuing to scroll through search results to give the girl privacy.
she stood up and walked to the kitchen to pick up the call.
"hello?"
"Aera, where are you?"
the girl furrowed her eyebrows. "i'm at a friend's, why, what's going on?"
beomgyu rolled his eyes and mimicked her i'm at a friend's, cracking himself up, receiving a glare from the girl next to him.
"o-oh okay." the girl said in more of a questioning tone rather than a certain one. "i-i'll be right there." Aera hastily put her phone away and tried to put on her coat slickly, as if she had a thought lingering in her head.
"is everything alright?" Beomgyu stood up, a worried tone detected in his voice.
"yes."
"you don't sound okay." he placed his hands in his pockets and closed his computer.
Aera half-smiled and walked out the door.
is everything alright?
Beomgyu wondered to himself as he picked up his cat and held Lilac in his arms, walking back to the sofa.
— 🌸 —
the red string of fate will never let the pair know that they're soulmates,
they must fall in love on their own.
(the blank spaces is the word "soulmate")