Karl was an avid fan of romantic tropes, more specifically: the red string of fate. Key word: was.
His hopes were lost at the ripe age of 20, accepting the fact that the string might not be real, until he's met someone.
Everyone knows about the red string of fate; it predicts who you are destined to meet in the future, that said person being your destined soulmate. Legends say that the vibrant red glow of the string only happens to appear every once in a while; everyones being different.
And the string isn't visible to everyone but you.
While it has a physical form, it cannot be manipulated in any way, and cutting it is deemed to be impossible.
But who would ever want to cut it?
It's not like the string has ever been wrong in its predictions, right?
Karl, aged 22, has never seen the red string personally; he had brushed it all off as fiction— a false truth everyone has created to bring hope in people.
He once believed in this so called matchmaking string, in fact, he was truly invested in it as a child. So throughout his entire childhood, he was afraid of developing crushes, not knowing whether or not they were his actual soulmate.
He always thought that maybe, just maybe, that he just couldn't see the string just yet. After all, everyone has got to see the string at least once. His friends all had supposedly gotten them, so why couldn't he?
He stopped believing in it once he turned 20, his childish hopes of experiencing the red string for himself dissolved into nothingness.
He didn't want to believe that he didn't have a soulmate— everyone has a soulmate. He was convinced that the string didn't exist.
So he didn't really care after developing some sort of affectionate feelings towards Sapnap, a younger man who he has been hanging out with since a year or two now after his move in. The warm summer afternoons of cuddling by his friend was comforting, and it made him feel very warm inside.
He was so convinced that Sapnap was the one, the only one for him.
He looks at Sapnap which such adoration, one might think he was practically infatuated with the man.
It was a chilly night of August, Sapnap and Karl were taking a stroll around. The flickering lights made the scene all the better for a confession, which motivated Karl even further.
Awkward silence tenses the atmosphere, the only sound of their shoes crunching against the dead leaves rang in their ears.
The stars reflected onto Sapnap's pretty deep blue eyes, and Karl felt his face become flushed, the bright red of his blush practically glowing in the dark sky and the dim street-lamps.
"Sapnap~" He chirps out in a sing-song tone, his high-pitched voice snapping Sapnap back from whatever trance he was in. He turns, and Karl suddenly felt his heart rate increase at a rapid pace, suddenly contemplating whether or not he should just tell his feelings right then and there.
The look on his face was soft; a dazed, puzzled, yet calm expression was present, and it made the older's heart soar all over again. "Yes?"
"..."
Karl thinks for a moment, nervously fiddling with the strings of his hoodie.
For a moment, time seemed to stop.
He giggles, setting aside all his worries.
"...Nothing, I'll tell you tomorrow." he weakly excuses, and the darker haired brunet replied with a huff, turning on his heel to wave Karl goodnight.
Karl says nothing, just watching the undyed white of Sapnap's bandana that stood out in the darkness become smaller and smaller with each step the man took.
He sighs, mentally punching himself for not confessing right then and there.
