Jaemin Soulmate!AU
Jaemin has a reputation as a “cool” kind of guy, which is why he wears bracelets to hide the words permanently etched on his left wrist
“Wait- if it’s not butter, then what is it?”
Jisung and Haechan are notorious for giving him shit for having a ‘weird’ soulmate, but Jaemin thinks it’s kind of funny, honestly
Like great question dude but,,, why are you asking me this
Jaemin’s apartment is around the corner from a little family-owned grocery store that he’s frequented since his high school days.
He’s very much a regular, to the point of the owner being like “Jaemin…. Please just work here. You already know where everything is”
To which Jaemin has to respectfully decline, because he wants to focus on his dancing and singing, and working too much would get in the way of practicing.
That, however, does not stop the old man from sending customers with questions to Jaemin whenever he comes in.
Because Jaemin is too polite to be like “uhh I don’t work here, good luck”, he always ends up helping them
But secretly, he doesn’t mind. He thinks that maybe one day, his soulmate will be the next one to ask him a question.
Even after repeated questions about “how much does this cost?”, “when do you guys open tomorrow?”, “when will the next shipment of bok choy be in?”, he still isn’t terribly bothered.
The other employees chastise the boss for sending customers to Jaemin, but the old man is always like “he knows this store better than you all do. That’s why he gets a discount higher than yours”
Employee discount: 15 percent off all merchandise
Na Jaemin discount: 20 percent off all merchandise
It’s an unspoken rule amongst employees that Na Jaemin gets a discount, but they are NEVER to mention it to him! He knows that business has been rough recently and wouldn’t accept the generosity, but the boss thinks Jaemin is too skinny and wants him to be able to afford to eat well.
Now lovely reader, this is where you come in. You recently got a job at this grocery store but you work in the back, so you have never seen the famous “Na Jaemin” that all your fellow employees chat about so frequently.
Coworker #1: “Ugh, he’s like SO dreamy”
Coworker #2: “I know right? He’ll have no trouble becoming an idol at this rate”
Meanwhile you’re like “lol what who? Also where is the printer for printing clearance labels”
You specifically applied for the back of house position because you did not want to talk to people.
It’s not that you’re antisocial by any means- honestly it’s the opposite. It’s just that you have the tendency to say whatever you’re thinking with absolutely no filter.
So in the past when more…. challenging… customers have talked down to you, you gave back the same energy without thinking.
Management was not happy,,, so you were like “mmmm maybe I should just keep to myself and everyone would be happier”
One day though, it seems that you’re shit out of luck.
Your work bestie calls you at 3 in the morning on your day off saying that her kid has a fever and she’s gotta stay home and take care of him.
You have no plans other than generally being a lazy lump at home, and she’s always had your back at work, so you’re like “girl don’t worry about it, I got your shift. I’ll make some chicken noodle soup for him too”
To which she’s like “bitch if I hadn’t found my soulmate already I would’ve snatched you up T-T”
You giggle and tell her to try and get some rest- both her and her kid.
And then sleep another blissful 4 hours before rolling in for the 8am shift.
When you get there, boss man is like “ayeee so you’re covering for her shift which is stocking shelves, are you gonna be okay doing that?”
You: “Ahaha yeah it’ll be fine~ just please don’t send customers to me oh my gosh”
Boss Man: “Don’t worry, I just saw Jaemin walk in. I’ll send them to him”
You: “... who is Jaemin”
Boss Man: “He’s my FAVORITE!! Remember that!”
You: “Oh, okay!! Yes sir!”
You’re like fifteen minutes into your shift and you’re already on edge because all you’ve done so far is dodge all the old ladies who are shopping this early.
No actual products have been put on the shelves yet, or at least not by your hands.
Settling down in the dairy section, you relax a bit and start putting cold products in the cold shelves fixed to the wall.
And of course- things are in the wrong place. Why would anyone put anything back where it belongs?
Picking up a product, you glance at the label out of sheer boredom more than anything.
“Wait- if it’s not butter, then what is it?”, you say to yourself.
Or so you think.
“Yeah, that is like the one question I don’t know how to answer”, you hear a masculine voice say from behind.
You spin around and look up into the man’s face.
And oh boy is that a nice looking face.
“Oh I’m sorry, I- WAIT”, you start, before you realize what he said.
Grabbing his left wrist, you push up the bracelets to reveal what you’d just said. Then you drop his hand out of sudden shyness, and because it’s not cool just to grab people.
“Do… do you mind if I look at your wrist as well?”, he asks quietly.
You roll up your sleeve and present him with your arm. He delicately wraps his fingers around your wrist and flips it over to read the words written”
He drops your wrist and sinks into a squat, flopping his arms over his head and looking at the ground.
“Oh my gosh why did I say something so lame…”
“Umm,,, to be fair,,, I did ask you about butter so by comparison yours isn’t that bad,,,,”, you try to comfort him, and he lifts his head up to meet your gaze.
“You mean that? It wasn’t like the lamest thing you’ve ever heard?”
“Oh I’ve heard much lamer things, don’t worry!”, you say with a cheery smile that contrasts your words entirely.
He stands up again and clasps your hands in his. With a look of determination he looks straight into your soul and asks:
“What time do you get off work?”
You tell him, but let him know that you’ll be busy after work making chicken noodle soup for your coworker and her son.
He’s like “oh you can cook?” and you’re like “lol no but I’m gonna die trying”
He writes his phone number on your arm (next to your soulmate tattoo) and is like “text me when you’re done with work and I’ll swing by and walk you home and maybe I can help you cook”
And quickly clarifies “ONLY IF YOU’RE COMFORTABLE WITH ME IN YOUR HOME, I UNDERSTAND IF BECAUSE WE JUST MET YOU-”
You’re like “dude,,,, it’s fine, we are literally destined to be together. Also if you try anything I’ll just beat you up so it’s chill”
Looking at his watch, he sprints makes a beeline for the checkout counter, going on about he’s gonna be so later and Haechan’s never gonna let it go if he’s late twice in a row, and something else but by that point he’s so far away from the dairy aisle you can only hear muffled sounds where words should be.
The next several hours could not go by ANY SLOWER.
Starting off today, you figured the day would go by quickly because you’d be preoccupied figuring out how to do something new, but now all you can think about is pretty soulmate boy.
And how he never mentioned his name, but to be fair, it was a rather quick exchange.
What feels like centuries later, your shift is coming to a close so you grab the ingredients you the internet tells you you need for the soup and head to your favorite cashier.
Somehow the front of the store is both quiet and abnormally loud for this time of night.
“Jaemin’s been waiting there for fifteen minutes? Do you think he’s waiting for someone?”
“Maybe he needs to talk to the boss? Usually he’d just ask one of us to grab him but he’s just standing outside”
“Ugh it’s so cold, should we tell him to come inside?”
You glance over to the crowd of coworkers towards the entrance and break out into a smile.
“Just keep ringing me up, I’ll be right back!”, you tell the cashier and fast walk past the small crowd.
Peeping your head out the door, you greet him.
“Are you cold? Come inside, I’m almost done”
“Oh okay, should I wait by the door though?”
“No, come with me. I wanna show you off~”, you instruct and he raises an eyebrow, but plays along.
Holding open the door for him, he scuffles his way in and shyly offers his hand.
Gladly, and with a pounding heart, you lock your fingers between his.
“Your hands are freezing, dude”
“Shhh it’s fine. I was trying to be cool, okay”, he jokes with you as you walk back to the register
Ringing up your items, the cashier is looking at you and him with raised eyebrows, and you’re just like “shut up jessica I’ll explain tomorrow”
The two of you walk back to your apartment and spend the rest of the night cooking and talking about everything and nothing.
The more you learn about Jaemin, the more confident you are that the universe got this one right.
Even when most things feel unclear, you know this person is someone you can always rely on.
(also when you bring your sick work bestie the soup, Jaemin insists on tagging along and she’s like “omg Y/N that’s JAEMIN” and you’re like “I KNOW” and he’s like “hi here’s some soup, also why do you know my name”
