" ɪ ᴊᴜꜱᴛ ᴡᴀɴɴᴀ ʙᴇ ʏᴏᴜʀꜱ. "
✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧
Ryung-Gu stood against the cold wall outside the hall. His heart was pounding in his chest, threatening to escape through his throat, and the pad of his thumb brushed against his bottom lip. He could still feel the slight brush of her lips, even minutes after he walked away, his opposite hand was hidden in his pocket clenching on the crumbled piece of parchment hidden within it.
His dark eyes stared down at the red thread on his wrist that glowed, he could almost feel it searing into his skin, and his thoughts scrambled and hazy.
"Mr Lim." Ryung-Gu snapped around to see the Director standing in front of the hall doors, the male instantly bowed in greeting. His gaze focused on the floor as he unconsciously rubbed the red thread.
"Ma'am." The Director studied the distracted man and sighed softly as she remembered their conversation hours earlier.
"It glows whenever one is close to their soulmate." She quietly explained, Ryung-Gu gulped and nodded slowly, the director walked closer to the young man and placed a soft hand on his shoulder.
"Remember what I said Mr Lim." Ryung-Gu clenched his jaw and nodded silently, he stood frozen until the Director walked back into the hall, leaving him alone once again. Ryung-Gu exhaled deeply and carefully took out the crumbled and stared down at the inked page reading the words over and over again.
Soulmates are very rare, only a few have been recorded but those that have, have said that Soulmates are the only exception to fate's laws, Which is why they are so rare. When two soulmates met for the first time in every lifetime, their souls are tethered to one another, and they feel each other's emotions. The longer the soulmates are around each other, the stronger the tether becomes.
Ryung-Gu swallowed thickly, his face void of any emotion. He let out a heavy sigh and glanced at the hall door for a long moment before turning away and walking away from the hall, a crestfallen look in his eyes. Unaware of a pair of honey-brown eyes watching him walk away.
The next day came in mere hours, the reapers of Jumadeung wore their normal work attire and continued their duties as normal, all except Seo-Yun. The honey-eyed reaper couldn't focus on anything, her thoughts fleeting back to the empty hallway and what she witnessed outside the hall.
Soulmates?
Ryung-Gu has a soulmate?
All these questions filled her head, leaving her feeling slightly dizzy. She tried to hide her confusion, but it was clear to others that something happened the night before, but no one dared to speak up about it and continued as they would any other day.
"Good morning." Seo-Yun greeted, with a small smile as she walked into the Risk Management Team's office. Jun-Woong grinned and waved at her from his desk, he leaned back casually in his chair.
"Morning Ms Yo! Did you enjoy last night?" He asked lightly, Seo-Yun walked to his desk and leaned against the filing case beside it.
"It was actually pretty bearable," Seo-Yun commented, she then leaned closer to Jun-Woong with a small grin on her face.
"Although I started falling asleep during the speeches." She whispered and Jun-Woong laughed loudly, nodding his head in agreement.
"Same." He whispered back and Seo-Yun chuckled before looking around the empty office.
"Where's Ryung-Gu and Ms Koo?" She asked, Jun-Woong shrugged his shoulders, his light expression dulling slightly.
"I don't know...Mr Lim came in unfocused and really quiet, he didn't even tell me to do my work when I was blatantly playing on my phone, which as you know, isn't like him. Ms Koo pulled him out to talk to him, they've been gone for a bit." Jun-Woong muttered, Seo-Yun furrowed her brows. She was about to speak when the office door suddenly opened revealing Ryeon and Ryung-Gu, Seo-Yun smiled at them and bow her head.
"Morning you two." She greeted, shifting on her feet suddenly feeling awkward, Ryeon sent her a small smile.
"Good morning Seo-Yun." Seo-Yun smiled back and shifted her focus to Ryung-Gu who stood slightly behind Ryeon, he glanced at Seo-Yun and cleared his throat.
"Good morning Ms Yo." He greeted stoically, Seo-Yun's brows rose in surprise, her smile faltering slightly. Seo-Yun glanced at Jun-Woong and Ryeon in confusion before turning back to Ryung-Gu, who kept his gaze on his desk.
"I...Can I speak with you for a moment Ryung-Gu? Privately." Seo-Yun asked hesitantly, Ryung-Gu's gaze snapped to Ryeon who had, by now, sat at her desk staring back at him. Ryung-Gu broke his gaze from Ryeon and looked in Seo-Yun's direction, but never made eye contact with her.
"I'm sorry Ms Yo, but I have work to complete." Seo-Yun was thrown off by his sudden cold professionalism and firm tone that she visibly recoiled, ignoring the looks of sympathy the other male team member gave her. Seo-Yun flushed with embarrassment and lowered her head.
"Oh-ah-um yes of course." Seo-Yun stuttered, hurt clearly in her voice, she clenched her hands and bit her lip.
"I-I'll leave you to it then." Ryung-Gu forced himself not to look at her as she walked past him, he forced himself not to grab her hand as it brushed against his own.
"What the hell was that?" Jun-Woong asked as soon as Seo-Yun disappeared behind the door. Ryung-Gu glared at the ground before making his way to his desk, his face remaining emotionless.
"What was what?" he asked and Jun-Woong shot Ryung-Gu a glare, gesturing his arm towards the door.
"Why did you shoot her down like that?" Ryung-Gu simply looked at Jun-Woong, who looked back with a protective glare.
"I simply told her I couldn't talk to her at the moment because we have work to do. We still have yet to clear all the malicious comments about Ms Ryu." Jun-Woong shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest.
"I don't know why you're acting like this, but you should talk to her before you lose your chance with her." Ryung-Gu froze at Jun-Woong's words, his eyes lowering to his wrist.
Seo-Yun stormed into her office in anger. She couldn't understand why Ryung-Gu would blow her off the way he did, not after what had happened between them the night before, she couldn't understand why he wouldn't look at her for more than a few seconds.
Did he regret it?
because of his soulmate?
Seo-Yun only wanted to talk to him and figure out what last night meant for them, she just wanted to clear the air and make sure they were on the same page. Seo-Yun did not plan on bringing up what she had heard the Director say to him outside of the hall. But now knowing that Ryung-Gu had a soulmate, made Seo-Yun's heart fall into her stomach, the man she was positively in love with was not meant to be hers.
"Boy trouble?" Seo-Yun snapped her head up to see Minho standing against the door, his hands folded behind his back. Seo-Yun huffed and shook her head, giving her friend a tight smile.
"Something like that." She vaguely answered, Minho nodded his head gently and walked forward to her desk.
"So last night was a bust then?" Seo-Yun flushed and shrugged her shoulders.
"I didn't think so at first...But the way he's acting now suggests it was." Seo-Yun muttered, the woman rubbed her temples as a headache started to form and Minho smiled sympathetically at her.
"I went to visit him and talk to him about last night...But when he saw me, he couldn't even look at me and blew me off so coldly. I just don't understand what happened between last night and this morning for him to act like that, I mean, I knew it was going to be very awkward between us until we address what happened but he was too harsh." Seo-Yun ranted animatedly to Minho who stood and listened to her, Seo-Yun huffed and shook her head in confusion and frustration. Minho smiled sympathetically and walked to Seo-Yun, he put a friendly hand on her shoulder and gave a reassuring squeeze. Seo-Yun looked up at him and tried to smile, the dark-haired woman took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment.
"So, what are you going to do?" Minho asked after retracting his touch and stepping away. Seo-Yun sighed and shrugged her shoulders.
"Well...I'm going to go crazy if I don't talk to him about last night, so I won't stop trying to talk to him no matter how much of a jerk he is to me. But for the moment...I'll give him his space while I figure out what to do next." Seo-Yun explained and Minho nodded in response, the man sent her a small smile and politely bowed his head.
"I'll leave you to your scheming, but this time if it involves me, just tell me." Minho joked and Seo-Yun chuckled, shaking her head.
"Don't worry, I won't be using you again." Seo-Yun smiled as Minho let out his own laughter before leaving her office. Seo-Yun slumped back in her chair and stared up at the white roof.
Ryung-Gu sat at his desk hours later, the room was covered in complete darkness the only form of light came from the lamp on his desk, emitting an orange glow. He had been staring at the crumbled piece of parchment for what felt like hours.
"Out with it." Ryung-Gu jumped and snapped his head to see Jun-Woong standing by the door staring him down.
"What?" Ryung-Gu questioned cooly, Jun-Woong resisted the urge to roll his eyes and pointed at the paper on Ryung-Gu's desk.
"You know what. What does that have to do with the way you've been acting today, and why you've been avoiding Ms Yo as well." Ryung-Gu clenched his jaw for a long moment before sighing and leaning his elbows on his desk. He ran a hand through his hair as he stared at the paper for a second before glancing back at Jun-Woong who had walked closer to him.
"I-I honestly don't know where to start." Ryung-Gu muttered, Jun-Woong looked down at his co-worker.
"What's the paper?" Jun-Woong asked, Ryung-Gu bit his lip and slid the paper towards Jun-Woong.
"I was in the Library two days ago after I checked up on my mother, I was just wandering around and I noticed this book. leather bound, dark blue like the night sky, it sparkled like the stars. But it had no title so I opened it and in ink, it had the words 'Archives of Soulmates' And the more I read...The more everything made sense." Jun-Woong furrowed his brows and read the parchment.
"I still don't see..." Ryung-Gu's eyes flickered from Jun-Woong down to his own wrist and ever so slowly he rolled up his sleeve to reveal the red thread encasing his wrist. Jun-Woong looked down with wide eyes before looking back at Ryung-Gu.
"That page, it's said that Soulmates are the only exception to fate's laws, hence why they are so rare. It...It also said that when two soulmates met for the first time in every lifetime, their souls tether to one another, and they feel each other's emotions. The longer and more frequently the soulmates are around each other, the stronger the tether becomes, and...I never understood why I would feel this sudden overwhelming sadness and anger until I met her...Until I met Seo-Yun as a reaper." Ryung-Gu swallowed thickly and licked his bottom lip.
"I didn't start noticing the signs until the Cha Yun-Hui case...When Seo-Yun went to the hospital with Ms Koo, I...I felt this sudden anguish overcome me, it was so overwhelming that I knew it couldn't be my own emotions. It happened again too, the night you said Seo-Yun had an episode in her office. It kept happening but it wasn't only anger or sadness, the night I ran into Seo-Yun and we ate together...I felt it...The feelings she feels for me. The same I feel for her." Jun-Woong was left in utter disbelief and shock once he gathered what Ryung-Gu was implying.
"The book, it also says that whenever your soulmate is near and your tether grows stronger, the brighter the thread of fate glows. When I was taking care of Seo-Yun after she and Mr Park fought off Mr Ha's reapers, I saw it...The glow of her tread and I saw mine too." Ryung-Gu finished and Jun-Woong let out a breath trying to wrap his head around the new information.
"So...What you're saying is that...You and Seo-Yun are Soulmates." Ryung-Gu clenched his jaw once more and silently nodded, Jun-Woong tilted his head and bit his lip as he ruffled his hair.
"That explains the paper but shouldn't you be-I don't know, happy? thrilled? that she's your soulmate?" Ryung-Gu exhaled heavily and leaned back in his chair.
"I am, truly. Knowing that the woman I love is my soulmate. I mean, who wouldn't?" Jun-Woong froze and a grin started to appear on his lips.
"Woman you love huh?" He teased and Ryung-Gu snapped his eyes to Jun-Woong's and rolled his eyes.
"Fine! Yes! I am in love with Seo-Yun, now is not the time to say 'I told you so.' " Jun-Woong coughed to cover his laughter.
"I still don't see the problem," Jun-Wonng admitted and Ryung-Gu sighed, closing his eyes for a moment.
"After discovering the book and piecing everything together, I had to make sure. So I went to The Director, and I asked if I was right, if it was true. She confirmed it...But she prohibited me from doing anything." Jun-Woong narrowed his eyes in shock.
"W-What? Why?" Ryung-Gu poked his tongue into his inner cheek.
"As reapers...We are forbidden to have romantic relations of any form, and even though Soulmates are the exception to Fate's laws, it doesn't exempt us from Reaper laws, especially ones written and created by the King of Heaven themselves." Ryung-Gu explained as Jun-Woong shook his head in disagreement.
"So what? You're supposed to just ignore your connection? Pretend that you're not soulmates and that you're not in love with her? For how long? Until you are both given the chance to be reincarnated? Which who knows when that could be if it even happens." Jun-Woong argued, Ryung-Gu took a deep breath and slowly nodded.
"It's the only way." Jun-Woong shook his head ferociously, completely against Ryung-Gu's stance.
"No, it isn't and you know that. You can't live like that Mr Lim, hiding your feelings and your connection from her for who knows how long." Ryung-Gu glared at Jun-Woong.
"What do expect me to do huh?" Jun-Woong threw his hands in the air in frustration.
"To go against The Director! You've done it before!" Ryung-Gu bit his tongue and shook his head.
"I can't go against her this time." He coldly said and Jun-Woong groaned frustratedly.
"Why not?" Ryung-Gu stood from his chair, his chair rolling back harshly.
"Because I don't know what consequences Seo-Yun could face!" He exclaimed and Jun-Woong finally understood Ryung-Gu and his gaze softened. Ryung-Gu's shoulders dropped and he stared at Jun-Woong, tears of sadness and frustration lining his eyes.
"I want to go against the Director. Last night at the Gala, when I had Seo-Yun within my arms...I wanted to say 'fuck it' and confess everything and I still do. But Seo-Yun, she's the manager of the Escort Team, she's on the board's watch list as well as Mr Ha's hit list. She has already broken so many rules... One more wrong move from Seo-Yun, one more slip up and the worse case is that she could be...She could be sentenced to hell. If I were to tell her, and we get caught, Seo-Yun is the one who has the most to lose. If hiding what we are, what I feel for her is the only way to protect her. I'll do it." Ryung-Gu confessed and Jun-Woong silently stared at his friend, it was then and there that Jun-Woong promised himself that before his time was up, he was going to make sure his two friends found their happy ending. Together, in each other's arms. He swore that he would not leave until it happened.
A/N
HELLO EVERYONE! It's been a little bit, hasn't it? I'm sorry I haven't been able to update as often but work has me by my non-existing balls, plus with all the concerts I have lined up I haven't had much motivation to edit and publish chapters for this story. I hope everyone is doing well! So this chapter as a bit of angst, I hope Ryung-Gu's reasoning for his attitude towards Seo-Yun and why he's hiding the whole Soulmate thing from her makes some sense. He's trying to protect her and her position even if he's not going about it in the most reasonable way, he's trying. But please let me know your thoughts on the whole Soulmate concept and how you feel about The Director forbidding the relationship and if it makes sense. I Hope everyone stays safe and have a great day/night.
-This is Lyn, signing off.