The Universe Makes Mistakes Sometimes - Touch

Soulmarks and Sports Sheds

Jungwoo woke up early - earlier than he normally did. School started at eight thirty, so Jungwoo usually left around eight o'clock with seven minutes to spare, in case there was traffic, or he wanted to stop off and get breakfast.

He showered and ate a hurried breakfast of coco pops. Before he left, he grabbed his makeup bag. It wasn't as big a collection as Ten's, but it was still quite sizable.

Jungwoo left the apartment at seven forty and he arrived at five past eight.

To Unknown: r u here

Unknown: yh I'm in the shed

How long had Yukhei been waiting for?

Jungwoo made his way over to the basketball court, venturing behind it to the green sports shed. He held his breath and opened it.

~~~

Yukhei was inside, leaning against a rack of hockey sticks, looking almost annoyingly good, seeing as it was still morning and the sky was a dirty dish-water grey. February sucked.

"So...Yukhei...what did you-"

"Let's cut the crap. I'm just going to ask you straight up, do you have one of these too?" Yukhei thrust his wrist in front of Jungwoo, presenting a black crescent moon.

The elder nodded silently, showing Yukhei his own mark in the shape of a shining sun.

"Fuck!" Yukhei cursed, kicking the rack of hockey sticks he'd been leaning against "Why did this have to happen to me!"

"I know, it sucks, right-"

"This is easier for you! It doesn't just suck for me, it swallows too!"

"Eww," Jungwoo mumbled quietly "Anyway, how is this easier for me? I didn't ask for this."

"You're gay. I'm a guy, you're a guy, so this if fine for you," the younger replied.

Jungwoo straightened up, quite clearly pissed.

"I'm gay so this is all alright for me, huh? I have a boyfriend, Yukhei and I've been with him for three years. I live with him, and I think he's going to propose to me. And now, suddenly, I've got a soulmate who isn't him, but it's alright 'cause that soulmate's a guy and I'm gay, right? Right?"

Yukhei was speechless. Jungwoo took the silence as a chance to carry on.

"And there's you, running around with a new girl by your side every other day without a care in the world, and this is worse for you?!"

First Yukhei had had the audacity to bump into him, making Jungwoo spill his drink over himself and ruin Doyoung's crop top. And now, he had the audacity to tell Jungwoo that this whole mess was easier for him? How was this his soulmate?

"One, I don't have a new girl by my side every other day, I've been with Seoyeon for the past week."

"Wow couple of the year award!" Jungwoo grumbled sarcastically. Yukhei rolled his eyes.

"And two, I'm not gay. Why are you my soulmate if I'm not gay? This is your fault!"

"My fault? My fault? You must be a little bit gay if you're my...soulmate," the word left a bitter taste in Jungwoo's fault "And this is not my fault!"

"Yes it is! You're the gay one!" 

"Oh that's right, blame it on the gays!" Jungwoo snapped back.

Yukhei took a deep breath.

"Look, this isn't getting us anywhere. How about we ask Taeyong and Jaehyun what to do?"

"No!" 

"Why not?" Yukhei asked "Isn't Taeyong one of your bestfriends?"

"Yeah, he is, but telling somebody about it...doesn't that make the whole thing much more real?" Jungwoo asked timidly. Yukhei opened his mouth to tease him, but paused when he heard a sniffle.

"Wait. Are you...crying?"

"What do you think, dumbass!" Jungwoo choked back a sob as tears flooded his face.

"Oh no, oh no, I've never been good with crying. Do you want me to call Taeyong? Or Doyoung? Wait I don't have his number. Please stop crying, Jungwoo...fuck!" Yukhei was in full-blown panic mode. He'd never been good with crying. Even with his younger brother Chenle - when the tears started to fall, he'd let somebody else handle it. 

But it was just him and Jungwoo in the sweaty sports shed.

"Err shall I pat your back? Will that make you feel better? Wait, no, that's for when you're choking. Well...um...here," Yukhei wrapped his arms around Jungwoo, embracing him in a hug.

Jungwoo gasped, too surprised to worry about the tears falling.

A warm feeling spread throughout the two.

"H-have you stopped crying?" Yukhei stepped away, blushing, not looking at the elder.

"Y-yeah. I've stopped," Jungwoo decided not to tease the elder about his red cheeks.

Suddenly, the bell rang, loud and obnoxious as always.

"So err...we'll talk to Taeyong and Jaehyun then? Sometime soon?"

"Yeah," Jungwoo replied as Yukhei opened the shed door, beginning to leave.

"Wait!" he lunged forward, gripping Yukhei's wrist. Instantly, a warm tingle bled into his finger tips, drawing a blush to his cheeks. 

Is this what it feels like to touch your soulmate?

"What?" Yukhei asked, equally flushed. Jungwoo took his makeup bag out of his backpack. he took out a bottle of foundation, squirting it onto the back of his hand.

"So we can cover up the marks," he explained. He coated Yukhei's wrist in the mixture, before covering up his own mark in the same way

"Your skin's a little darker than mine, but it shouldn't be too noticeable."

"Okay...err...thanks. I'm gonna go now. Don't come out straight away, wait a few minutes. I don't want anyone to see us and make rumours," with that, Yukhei stepped out of the shed, sprinting away.

Jungwoo sat down, waiting until he could leave. He was in no rush to get to geography, anyway.

He decided to change his contact for Yukhei while he waited.  

Change Unknown to Soulmate?

No, what if somebody saw it? It was better of to go with something simple.

Change Unknown to Yukhei?

That would do for now.

He rubbed his wrist lightly.

For some reason, it had felt good to be close to Yukhei.