Keychain
✦ pairing: Joshua x reader
✦ genre: soulmate au, fluff, found family
✦ word count: 3.6k
✦ note: I need to stop writing stories about the men that wreck me, cause then they end up in my biasline... welcome to the club Josh, about time you joined the lineup
✦ reading order: Hoshi ✦ Jun ✦ Jeonghan ✦ Woozi ✦ Minghao ✦ Dino ✦ Wonwoo ✦ Dokyeom ✦ Seungkwan ✦ The article ✦ Scoups ✦ Joshua ✦ Vernon ✦ Mingyu ✦
Much like Seungcheol, Joshua woke up on his thirteenth birthday without any kind of indicator of a mark. But it didn’t take him long before he realized just what his mark was.
Three days after the party, he woke up with a lip gloss and four bobby pins on the pillow next to him. In the beginning he was certain it was his mother pulling a prank on him, so he just returned all of the items to her.
After a few weeks she finally sat him down and asked if he was stealing things to give her.
It took the pair a bit of back and forth before they realized it was in fact no pranks being pulled, nor had Jamie Hong’s son suddenly become a kleptomaniac, no it was in fact all your doing.
Joshua had been nothing short of excited. No one liked to lose things, but all of the sudden he didn’t have to mourn them, because at one point they would all be returned to him.
At the first chance he got, he bought a little box to store it all in. It was his own little treasure chest, and every treasure taught him a little more about you.
When he started training at Pledis he suddenly had a lot of shadows, which meant that everyone picked up things after him.
The first time he had tried telling Jun not to pick up the little hearts that fell out of his backpockets, the man had only stared at him, not understanding a single word he was saying. It also made it impossible for him to be mad at him.
So when they all talked through their marks, it lightened the burden a little, and the things lost were quickly just left on the floor, until they disappeared to wherever the universe stored them.
Every once in a while he would lose something that he adored or desperately needed. The first thing was an in-ear, more precisely, his very first set. That had led to a scolding by their manager.
The second thing had been a personalized keyring his mother had gifted him when he decided to follow his dream of becoming a singer. It hurt a little extra because his keys were in fact stuck to it.
He at least hoped that some of it would be clues as to who he was, that everything would lead you to him one day.
You, however, lost everything. It was rare that he woke up without at least one scrunchie or a lipgloss on his pillow.
It always brought a smile to his lips.
You loved mint gum, not spearmint but mint. The scrunchies you lost were always black, so he assumed that it was the color you wore the most, until one day you lost a blue one.
He assumed it had some significance, maybe it even brought luck, so he started wearing it whenever they were recording new music.
One Saturday morning he woke up to a stiletto resting next to him. He had laughed long and hard about that.
His very own princess.
He was a romantic at heart, so he did really appreciate the sentiment.
The guys had all laughed at him, who would’ve thought his other half would be as chaotic as he himself were?
It took you a little longer to finally have a gift waiting on the pillow next to you. But when you woke to a handful of carefully cut out hearts on your pillow, you knew exactly where it had come from.
The romantic gestures were something he kept up, Valentine’s Day meant that you would wake up to a single rose on your pillow.
On his first birthday you woke up to a little box with a bracelet inside of it. The following birthdays there was once again a little box waiting on your pillow, all containing a little charm inside for you to attach to the bracelet.
Every box carrying a little note:
Happy birthday to me. To my love From J
Your father had always teased you that your soulmate spoiled you more than he did. Which also meant he was in fact worthy to be the one to protect and carry your heart forever.
Every little gift made your heart beat a little faster, and it made your cheeks heat up, a red hue painting them, a similar shade to the roses he always picked up.
When he lost his in-ears it was the first real hint you got, and the Hangul writing on the tape attached to it was the second.
So at the first chance you got you traveled to Seoul, and ended up settling down there.
The keychain he had lost had become the one you used in your everyday life and everything else was kept in a box on your dresser.
Your move to Seoul meant that you, unlike most of the soulmates of the group, got exposed to idols and Seventeen at a somewhat early age.
Seventeen had become your favorite quickly, and it had been because of none other than your other half.
The voice and overall look of Joshua Hong made you blush and stutter most of the time someone even mentioned him, something that of course made total sense since he was your bias.
Everyone felt like that, right?
Seoul was a big city so you had never run into the idol, thank all the gods, your little heart would’ve not have been able to handle that.
The closest you had ever been had been at your usual salon where he had walked in, followed closely by none other than Hoshi, a man, as it turned out, that was your hairdresser's soulmate.
You had been a blushing mess and it had been your luck that your bias hadn’t looked you way.
The following months after Pink and Hoshi had been introduced to one another the soulmates of the band had kept popping up here and there, it had been a pleasure to follow along in their story and celebrate their joy and excitement.
Not long after the article about the women behind the band had been published you had awoken to a white green hydrangea on your pillow, with a little note attached to it; ‘our flower’ was all the note said.
Which of course had to be a coincidence, right?
On one particular morning Joshua was having a bit of attitude, one that Vernon as per usual was quick to catch up on.
He raised a brow at his American brother and switched from Korean to English in the blink of an eye. Which meant that the two of them would be able to have a somewhat private conversation, despite being in a room full of people.
“What’s wrong?” He asked with a raised brow and that expression that didn’t give away even a slither of emotion.
Joshua sighed. “I tried with a letter again yesterday,” he shrugged. “It just came straight back to me”.
It hadn’t been the first time he had tried communicating with more than just a little note attached to gifts.
But it seemed that the universe was determined to keep the two of you apart, for just a tad bit longer.
“She’ll pop up when you least expect it” Vernon said with a little smile.
Joshua only sent him a stern look. The one that said: ‘keep it up or I’ll spill your secret’
Which only made Vernon smile widened.
“It’s her birthday soon, right? What do you plan on gifting her?” The young man said as he leaned a little closer.
Joshua shrugged. “I don’t really know, I was hoping for something grand, something special. But it’s a little hard losing valuable gifts. People tend to just pick them up, or in some cases steal them”
He couldn’t help but think back on one of the times someone had snatched the gift off the ground, meant for you, and ran off with it.
“At least you can give her something,” Vernon said as he stood up from his place on the floor.
“Well so can-”
Vernon pointed at his brother with a stern look. “Don’t you even dare” he said, before he turned on his heel, leaving the conversation behind.
The day had been terrible, long and soul crushing all at once. There was nothing you wanted more than to just drown a bottle of wine, stuff your face with a three course meal you hadn’t cooked yourself and then drift to sleep.
You pulled the bottle of wine a little closer to your chest, as you stood in line at the grocery store, a little scared you were so tired you might drop it.
When you pulled out your wallet from your jacket pocket, you didn’t notice how your keychain, his keychain, fell out of your pocket.
However, the woman behind you did, and gently picked it up. And just as she was about to tap your shoulder and give it back to you, she looked it over, and felt her heart pick up.
She knew it, she knew it well, after all she had been the one to pick it out for her son.
An enthusiastic tap of your shoulder made you turn towards her. She was older, yet a beauty, there was no denying that, and she beamed as if she was the sun itself.
“Excuse me, this might sound a little strange, but what are you doing tonight miss?”
There was something familiar about her, something you couldn’t quite place with the mask covering most of her face.
You smiled politely as you lifted the bottle of wine, which seemed to only amuse her. She gave you the keychain back and you thanked her profusely.
“You know, I know that keychain…” She said carefully as her eyes searched yours.
It took a little while for the sentence to stick to your brain, it took a little while for the word to make sense.
“Y-you do?” you said as you swallowed once.
She only nodded before she smiled even wider beneath that white mask of hers. You had searched for a similar keychain online, but nothing had really matched it.
“I do, I designed it for my son”
You felt yourself stumble back a little, and for a second there you almost dropped the bottle of wine. Lucky the woman before you were quick, and catched it before it had a chance to slip from your arms.
“You’re… his… mine… This is insane” you said as you laughed a little
She grabbed onto your arm and pulled you next to her.
“Let me cook you dinner darling, I’ll invite Jisoo as well”
There was nothing you could do but nod, cause your body refused to cooperate with every panicked thought of your brain.
You helped her pack her groceries and despite the fact that you knew you should be nervous, being with her felt natural.
He held on to your arm as the two of you left the store and pulled you close to her. There was a smile on her lips that radiated nothing short of pride. As if she was already proud of you, as if she had already welcomed you into the family without even knowing anything about you.
She made you feel right at home, all you could do now was hope that her son would invoke the same type of feelings.
His mother had called twice in a row, but he hadn’t noticed with his phone in the other end of the practice room.
And when her son didn’t answer she began calling his brothers. Jeonghan was the first to notice, and picked up at the first ring.
“Eomma, are you okay?” he asked as he looked towards his so-called twin, worried for a second that she had bad news.
“Jeonghan, darling, yes! I just need to get a hold on my son” she responded back through the phone, it was clear to hear a bubbling excitement in her voice, so he relaxed instantly.
He smiled before walking the few steps towards Joshua, handing his phone to him.
“Dude, it’s your mom”
Joshua looked worried for a second, but the calm demeanor from his older brother helped him relax.
“Mom” he said as he raised the phone to his ear, curiosity brewing in his veins.
“Jisoo, I’m gonna need you to come home for dinner today” she didn’t specify why, but there was no denying that she was in fact okay.
He looked to Woozi with a raised brow and made a face of confusion. The two of them had a standing date every other sunday for dinner or some other kind of activity, and this day was a friday.
“Mom that’s sweet of you but I already have plans…”
He didn’t get to explain further before she interrupted him.
“Jisoo Joshua Hong, you listen to me right now, you’re coming home for dinner, you’re picking up flowers on the way, and you better be freshly showered and good looking when you arrive!”
Her voice was stern and for a second he felt like a child being scolded once again.
He sighed as he rubbed his eyes with one hand in frustration. “Mom we’re practicing, we have the music video shoot in the morning and need to go over the last few things. So I’m not really sure I’ll be able to make it to dinner”
He looked down at his watch. He definitely wouldn’t be able to make it.
“Jisoo” she said once again, and all he did was sigh in response. “Jisoo, I found her”
It was as if everything around him stopped. The music and the yells from his members fated into the background and all he could focus on was the words spilling from his mothers mouth.
He said nothing so she continued. “I was out shopping, she stood in front of me in line. She dropped your keychain, you know the one you lost?”
He nodded even though she wasn’t able to see it.
“She’s currently walking around in the living room, no doubt looking at all your baby pictures, and I do not want to spoil who you are, so you need to get here, and you need to get here soon”
He swallowed once.
“Okay, I’ll be there in an hour”
She hung up the phone and all the noise of the world returned.
“SK! Thalia!” he yelled out as he gave the phone back to the rightful owner.
The pair came up to him quickly. “I need flowers” was all he said. His brother looked like one giant question mark, but his soulmate on the other hand didn’t question him for even a second.
Instead she took her other half’s hand and pushed him around the room until all the flowers of every member bloomed.
He bent down and picked those he felt would go great together with yours, and then he headed straight for his things.
Seungcheol ran up to him. “Josh, we still have practice, you can’t just leave”
“Cheol I have too” there was a desperate sound to his voice, a need that the leader knew all too well, so instead of picking a fight he melted and let him leave with only a wish of good luck.
Jisoo, as you had learned his name was, had an amazingly strong mother. The house she lived in was incredible, one her son had apparently brought for her.
She had ordered you to sit down in the kitchen, then she had opened the bottle of wine you had bought, poured the two of you a glass and then started cooking for you.
“I don’t want to ask too much, because some of it I would like to learn from him. But what can you tell me?”
She smiled softly. “He’s my only child, but he has a lot of very close friends that he typically refers to as his brothers. Kind of a workaholic, his schedule can be a little hectic from time to time, but he always prioritizes what’s important to him”
“That’s a good quality”
“Well I did raise a pretty good man, if I do say so myself”
You couldn’t help but laugh. “My dad says the same thing, he likes that he spoils me so much, even though we’ve never met”
She beamed at that.
The two of you talked back and forth for a while and then you saw a car pull up. You didn’t mean to but you instantly stood up. Fidgeting with your hands, you looked at Jamie with nervous eyes and all she did was send you a reassuring smile.
She went to greet her son, you could hear the pair talk. And then he entered the kitchen and your entire world stopped.
Because you knew him, you knew exactly who he was.
He moved a little closer and laid the giant bouquet of flowers on the kitchen island.
“Hi” He said with a gentle smile, and even more gentle eyes. “I’m…”
“... Joshua” you finished. He beamed at that.
“You know me?” He crooked his head to the side, and you couldn’t help but laugh. The Joshua Hong was standing in front of you, the Joshua Hong was your soulmate.
You nodded, and the tears in your eyes threatened to spill. So instead you just opened your arms, and he moved towards you accordingly.
He had you in his arms in an instant. Picking you up from the floor as he wellowed in the feeling of your legs closing around his torso, of your arms around his neck and of your cheek next to his.
He felt right at home, and he knew you had belonged to him and him alone, since the day the two of you were born.
He was huge, tall and muscular and the videos and pictures didn’t do him justice.
All the waiting had been worth it, and you wanted nothing more than to stay in his arms like this, but at some point his mother cleared her throat.
“Dinner is ready” she said with a gentle and happy smile.
Joshua sat you back down, yet he made sure to take your hand in his as he let you to the dining room.
The three of you ate dinner, talked and got to know one another, and at every point he either had your hand in his, or he had it resting somewhere on your body.
It was as if he physically needed to make sure that you were in fact right there.
When dinner was done, he offered to drive you home and there was no way you were saying no to that.
He held out his hand for you to take as he drove, and you took it without a second thought.
“So I have to ask, are you a carat?” He looked at you with that alluring smile that had always made something in you yearn for him.
You laughed silently as you tried hiding behind your intertwined hands.
“Yeah, I am” you said as you silently shoom your head.
“You know I have to ask right?” he said teasingly.
“Don’t worry, you’ve been my bias since the first time I saw you”
It was almost as if you could see him puff up his chest at that comment. He felt pride stirring in his heart. Pride that you had been watching him and cheering him on for a while.
“We actually almost saw each other once”
He whipped his head towards you. “Really? Where? Was it at a concert?”
You shook your head. “No, it was the day Hoshi and Pink met one another. I was the customer in her chair"
He looked at you with big eyes. “Are you telling me that if I had just sticked around for a couple of minutes more, I might’ve actually have found you that day?”
It was almost as if you could feel the sadness fill the car.
You nodded. “I’m glad it didn’t happen that day though”
He only raised a brow, almost as if he was to scared of why that was.
“I would hate to share the spotlight of being the new addition to the group, this feels better, more like…”
He smiled at that. “Feels more like us”
You nodded once again. “Exactly”
He laughed almost silently. “Well you know what we have to do now? Now we have to get you your spotlight”
You were early, earlier than most of the staff and definitely earlier than all of the guys. Which was a part of the plan.
It was supposed to be a surprise, that a mystery woman suddenly stood in their dressing room. Because how had you gotten there, and who the hell were you.
Joshua pulled his arm around your shoulder and pulled you close to him. Gently kissing your forehead. “Breathe my love” was all he said as you nuzzled into his side.
It melted his heart to have you this close, that you wanted to be this close to him. It felt good, it felt like home.
The two of you had spent the night in your apartment, intertwined in bed as you tried learning as much about one another as you could, while still getting sleep, which he definitely needed before the shoot today.
The first one to get there was Seungcheol, he was by Joshua's side in an instant, pulling the man into a tight hug before he turned towards you and introduced himself.
People came as the minutes passed by, and then Pink and Hoshi joined.
You looked at the woman you had seen so many times before. She crooked her head to the side.
“B? What the hell are you…?” And then she saw the arm slung around your shoulder, and quickly after the screaming began.
“OH MY GOD?! You’re kidding me?!” She had thrown herself at you and Joshua without any thought.
The spotlight was officially on you, and you didn’t mind one bit, not as long as it meant that he was by your side.
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✦ as always; please comment, like, share, reblog all of that. It what's keeps me going and keeps me writing. My asks are always open for feedback or if you just wanna give me a little praise.
