genre: angst with a hint of fluff
pairing: lee jihoon x reader, ft. wen junhui & boo seungkwan
synopsis: he felt familiar, like someone you’ve known and yet he was nothing more than a stranger to you a few moments ago.
It all went down on the night before your 18th birthday, you were sitting there with two of your best friends, Seungkwan and Junhui, the three of you were huddled in your small pillow fort as you waited for the soulmate mark to appear on your wrist. Your friends got them earlier before you, Junhui with a small blue arrow and Seungkwan with a gold star, it was finally your turn. A blanket covered the three of you as you waited for the clock to strike midnight.
Two minutes remained when Seungkwan decided to start a conversation. Being him, the silence was too much for him.
“God I feel like we’re in the Hunger Games waiting on the Reaping or something, the suspense is too much.” He said, shaking out his shoulders as he smiled a bit nervously at you and Jun.
“You already had your mark, Seungkwan, it’s y/n’s turn now.” Jun interjected, rolling his eyes at the younger.
“Yeah but this is like a big deal for y/n, this’ll determine her whole future!” He sighed, “I can’t believe my baby’s growing up.”
“You’re such a drama queen, Seungkwanie.” You cooed, pinching his cheeks as he pushed your hands away.
“Thirty seconds,” Jun cut him off, looking down at his watch as he turned to smile at you, “holy shit this is actually happening.”
“Language,” you scolded him. “Honestly, I should be the one nervous not you two.”
“We can’t help it!” Seungkwan exclaimed, bouncing up his seat, “you’re the youngest out of the three of us, of course we’ll be excited for you, you’re our best friend.”
You smiled warmly at the two of them, “thanks guys, it may not look at it but I feel like I’m about to explode!” You breathed out, slightly shaking, “metaphorically,” you added quickly.
“Ten seconds!” As Jun said this, the three of you scooted closer to each other as all your eyes turned to your wrist, “three.”
“One” as you said this, a small white mark glowed on your skin before finally turning into a small crescent moon.
“Happy Birthday Y/N!” Your two friends said, hugging you in between them.
“I hope you find him,” Jun whispered.
“Or her!” Seungkwan added, smiling up at you, “I mean, you’ll never know, right?”
You rolled your eyes at them, hugging them back with just as much intensity.
But everything came crashing down when you were twenty two. You were watching a movie with your two favorite dorks when it happened. It felt like electricity, and not the good kind of electricity. It felt excruciating, your wrist felt on fire as you grasped it with your other hand, eyes closed shut as the two looked at you worriedly. Tears pierced your eyes as you pressed your palm deeper onto your wrist, in hopes that the pain might go away. It didn’t.
“Y/n!” You heard Jun call out as your vision began to blur, tears overcoming your sight as you finally closed your eyes. The pain too much for your body as you passed out.
You woke up the next day, head throbbing as Jun and Seungkwan looked at you worriedly, a hint of sadness and pity glazing their eyes as they stared at your waking figure. You turned to your window seeing that it was already nighttime. You looked back to your friends before sitting up, you suddenly felt a slight sting on your arm as you look down on it.
Everything seemed to come crashing down as you looked at it, eyes starting to get blurry with tears again as you felt Seungkwan begin to hug you.
“I am so sorry, y/n.” He choked down by your neck as he quietly sobbed, Jun sat next to you as well as you stared down your mark. Your mark that was once pure white, was now a daunting black, staining your skin of it’s fair color. A small reminder that your soulmate is now dead. “You deserved so much more.”
And you knew, you needed to get out of here. Looking at Junhui and Seungkwan’s marks made you almost sick. Jealousy riding up your throat and you couldn’t help but push them off. The look on their face made your heart sink as the tears began to roll down your cheek.
“I’m sorry,” you said, pushing past them as you ran, ran anywhere your legs could take you. The chilly air travelling through the space between your hairs as you forcefully wiped off a tear, you halted in the middle of a meadow, eyes travelling through the scenery as your vision continued to be blurred by your tears. You looked up to see the glaring moon staring down on you and you felt small under its gaze. You kneeled down on the ground as sobs wracked your whole body. The small stinging on your wrist making the whole scenario a bit more nagging, reminding you that there’s no one out there left to love you.
“Are you okay?” A voice said making you turn to it, seeing a boy with dark hair standing there.
You quickly wipped the tears off your cheeks, “yeah, just stargazing, that’s all.”
“A-are you crying?” He said as you heard footsteps going towards you.
“C-crying? No one’s crying, I’m just someone… You know, looking at the moon.” The last part sounded like a whisper, barely audible when your mind drifted back to your mark.
“I thought you were stargazing?” The voice said questioningly as you felt someone sat beside you.
“Stargazing, Moongazing, we’re all just looking at the same sky, right?” You said, hiding your face on your arms.
“Why aren’t you looking up then?”
“Why do you have so many questions?” You said, finally looking up at him only to feel a bit starstruck.
He chuckled lightly at your sudden out burst, his laugh making your heart melt while his smile made you forget, that just for a little while everything was okay.
“I’m sorry, but seeing a sad girl all alone in the middle of the night does make someone wonder.” He smiled cheekily, making your heart flutter once again. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“Not really,” you breathed out, looking down the grass, feeling the tears well up again.
“Here,” he said taking your cheeks by his palms as he gently wiped the tears off. His hands felt cold against your cheeks making you flinch a bit at the temperature. “Are you cold?” He asked worriedly, taking his jacket off and wrapping it around your shoulders, not even waiting for your response as he grinned at you.
He looked down, frowning a bit before turning back to you, “it’s getting late,” he said, “you should probably go home.”
“What’s your name?” You asked, looking at him curiously as his eyes softened.
“Lee Jihoon,” he answered.
“I-i’m y/n, will I see you again?”
Another smile made its way on his lips, “whenever you need me.”
The next day, he wasn’t there, you looked at your watch to see that it was 10:50 pm, you looked around worriedly at your surroundings as your gaze settled to the moon again.
Ten minutes passed when you heard some twigs crack behind you, you turned around to see Jihoon.
“Hello again,” he said, “I didn’t thought you’d wait for me.”
“For starters, we don’t know each other.” He stated matter of factly, sitting down beside you.
“Well, why don’t we?” He gave you a sad smile before listening to everything you had to say. The both of you exchanged details about your everyday lives, him telling about his profession while you told him about your two best friends. You weren’t one to share such informations to a stranger, but something about Jihoon made you feel at ease. He felt familiar, like someone you’ve known and yet he was nothing more than a stranger to you a few moments ago.
It was a week later when your friends noticed your nightly disappearances, they’ve grown very worried over you and the previous circumstances didn’t help ease their minds. So one day they decided to confront you about it.
“Okay, where are you running off to every night?” Seungkwan asked suddenly while you were watching some cartoons, you hear Jun facepalm next to him as he turned to him.
“I told you to be subtle!” You heard him scold the younger.
“But that will get us nowhere!” Seungkwan whined, “and I’m getting really worried about y/n.”
“You know I’m still here, right?” You interjected, raising your hand as both boys turned to you. “And if you guys are curious, you could always come, I want to introduce you to someone.”
“Someone?” Jun asked worriedly, his eyebrows scrunched as he looked down on you.
“Ohhh who could it be?” Seungkwan teased, wiggling his eyebrows, emitting a laugh from you, causing both boys to smile. It’s been a while since they heard you laugh.
“You’ll find out tonight,” you winked at him, “at the meadows.”
“Is that where you ran off to every night?” Jun asked, you nodded your head in answer before you turn back to the tv.
That night, you waited out in the meadows with Jun and Seungkwan, the two of them asking questions about Jihoon as you tried your best to answer them.
“Lee Jihoon, eh?” Jun said, “the name sounds familiar.”
“You probably heard of him, he told me he’s an amateur music producer.” You replied, smiling at the thought of him.
“Probably,” he mused, looking out on the field.
“What time will he come here?” Seungkwan interjected, looking at you excitedly.
“He mostly comes here at night,” you thought out, earning a nod from the two.
It was when you heard footsteps that made you turn around excitedly, to see the pale boy making his way towards the three of you. He stopped momentarily when he saw Jun and Seungkwan.
“There he is!” You exclaimed, pointing your finger at him. The two looked back excitedly before frowning. Seungkwan stood up in front of you, putting your hand down before placing them on his.
“Y/n, who’s there?” He asked, turning to Jun, watching the two of you with a soft look.
“Jihoon!” You said, still smiling, “he’s right there.”
“Y/n,” Jun spoke up, “there’s no one there.”
“W-what?” You asked in disbelief, staring at Jihoon as he looked at you with a pained expression. “He’s right there.”
“I think we should go home,” Jun breathed out while Seungkwan began to guide you out of the meadows.
That night, you heard a knock by your window, a small voice calling out to you as you stirred awake. You slowly opened your eyes to see Jihoon sitting by the fire exit on your bedroom’s window.
“Jihoon?” You whispered under your breath as you sat up. He waved at you with a small smile as you opened the window for him. He went inside swiftly before engulfing you in a hug. “What are you doing here? I-i don’t understand.”
“I’m sorry,” you heard him whisper, the sound becoming almost inaudible as you hugged him back. His coldness mixing in with your warmth, you sighed out in relief as he held you in his arms.
“I don’t understand,” you pulled away from the hug, “why can’t they see you?”
“They were never meant to see me,” he said, taking your hand in his as he grazed his thumb on your mark, the pain of the black ink suddenly feeling a bit warm with just the touch of his skin. He turned his wrist over to show the same black mark, “they’re not my soulmate.”
You looked down on his arm in shock and disbelief, “this can’t be, y-you died.”
“Technically I’m still dead, but soulmate marks always have a deeper meaning to it, right?” He stared at you, looking at your face as your eyes continued to look at your marks.
“Is that why I only see you at night?” You asked, turning to look at him, his face glowing by the moonlight escaping through your window. His features looking more ethereal as you continued to stare at him when he nodded his head. As yawn erupted from your throat.
“I’m guessing you need to sleep?” He asked while you nodded your head. His hand reached out to your waist as he guided you to your bed. His cold hand giving comfort to your warm body, gently laying you down before settling himself beside you, his body cuddling closer to yours as he held on to you. His fingers slowly disappearing as the moon began to dip down.
“Will I see you again?” You whispered out, your voice making him bury his face on your back as he felt himself slowly going away.