The Touch (Saeran x Reader)

The Touch

Saeran could always tell which couples were and weren't soulmates.

Take Saeyoung and MC, for example. A single glance at the pair was enough to know. Because no matter what, no matter when, no matter where: they would be touching.

But then that girl and guy over there, having coffee? There was no question that they were dating—the twinkle in the girl's laugh and the blush and the boy's face was too prominent for their relationship to be anything less. But their blatant refusal to allow even the slightest physical contact was a blaring, neon sign that though they were together, fate hadn't planned for it to be that way. Lovers they might be, but soulmates they were not.

Saeran let his eyes further wander around the cafe, flitting from couple to couple until he found another prime example: a girl and a boy.

The girl couldn't have been aged past thirteen, the boy scarcely older than her, but their fingers were intertwined tightly together in a quiet display of pride.

Lucky, Saeran thought as he watched the normally black ink on their arms shine a soft baby pink as the designs moved up and down in a neverending motion that passed back and forth from arm to arm. The movement was truly mesmerizing, starting the at exposed skin peeking out of the girl's T-shirt and climbing its way down to the boy's muscular arm, where both sets of tattoos seemed to dance on the skin.

It was rare to see soulmates find each other at such a young age, but endearing too. People said that the way your soulmate tattoos move would change as you age, and Saeran couldn't bring himself to look away as he watched the marks waltz back and forth, slow but steady, from girl to boy.

It was different from how Saeyoung and MC's tattoos moved.

More innocent.

Saeran preferred it.

Though that was just his jealousy speaking, he knew. Still, the knowledge of his envy didn't make dealing with it any easier. He'd seen more than enough of his brother and his girlfriend. Those two never stopped touching each other, obsessed with how their tattoos would pulsate in rhythm with their hearts, triggered only by the revered touch of the soulmate.

Saeran sighed.

A touch he would never feel.

"Ray?" A voice called, forcing the boy's eyes away from the young lovers. He stood up to retrieve the coffee he'd ordered, mumbling a quiet 'thank-you' to the server.

In truth, he'd left the bunker mainly to get away from Saeyoung and MC.

It wasn't their fault, he knew. Fate had spelled out their romance for them when it inked their soulmate tattoos onto them in the womb, that was just how they were meant to be.

So why did looking at them always deepen the void Saeran felt inside of him?

The redhead sighed as he took a sip of his coffee, pulling down the sleeves of his jacket as if someone would notice the lack of any markings on his left hand. As if someone would notice that he was one of the few born without a destined soulmate.

I should be thankful, he thought bitterly. If I had a soulmate, she would be miserable with me.

That much was true, at the very least. Saeran was damaged, he knew. Years of following the Savior's orders and taking Elixirs had ravaged his mental state, and he still woke from nightmares daily.

It wasn't just that Saeran didn't deserve anyone.

No one was bad enough to deserve him.

He sat himself down on a bench outside, opting to watch the world go by. Doing that always helped him whenever his brain felt like it was tied into knots. There was so much to see: couples kids running after each other, parents chasing close behind, stray couples wandering up and down the streets of Seoul. It was therapeutic.