A frantic Nol stood up from his bed with his eyes fixed on his left hand's pinky. He even tried to rub his eyes anxiously to have a clear view of his pinky, just in case he is having one of those days where his eyes felt heavy and cloudy that he had to tell his Nana because it scared him. He raised his left hand. Though he had just woken up, he's sure he isn't just seeing things now that he can see clearly with a few rubs and blinks of his eyes.
There's a red thread tied on his pinky.
What?
Nol, yet still on his 4th grade, wouldn't have thought there's more scarier view than seeing his father and Mrs. Hirahara's eyes flare on the sight of him. He tried to touch the string to see if it is "real", but the string simply passed his other hand like a ghost. As realization hit him, he screamed at the top of his lungs and searched for his grandmother urgently.
"Nana? Nana! There's a string on my finger!"
As soon as Mrs. Lochlainn heard the little boy, she immediately walked towards the source of the voice. She saw the boy, hands shaking, on the living room while desperately trying to pull something off his finger.
"Sweetie, what's wrong?"
She asked, worried of her grandson, as she knew he had always been visited by nightmares every night since he met the Hiraharas and basically called him a mistake. The boy even asked her of what he had done wrong to receive an unpleasant welcome on the contrary of what he had thought would be very awesome, because... who wouldn't want a new member of a family? And heck, Nol would have a big brother?! (Nol was so happy when he heard about this.) However, that wasn't the point with Nol and his family. From then on, she understood why Nol would rather be with her, and with her guidance, Nol became a cheerful and playful child despite having been treated like a deviant of his family.
Nol looked at his Nana as he said, "Nana, there's a red string tied on my finger…"
"And I can't even touch or remove it!" he added, while his right hand still fumbled on his little finger.
Mrs. Lochlainn, yet worried of his grandson whom she loved dearly, simply laughed it out. It could be one of Nol's pranks again as she knew the little boy loved pulling them on her. One time, his prank almost got her dying as he jokingly severed his thumb. She thanked heaven when his grandson showed it was just a magic trick.
"Nana, I'm not even kidding."
Nol pouted. He swears, as soon as his Nana laughed, he slightly regretted pulling pranks on her every day. His favourite book "Only Puns You Would Pee Your Pants" is to be blamed for this, yet he can't help because it was so pun to prank his Nana.
"Oh, sweetie. I'm sorry I cannot believe you, though if it is indeed true – perhaps I heard you said that the string was red?"
Nol took a glance on his pinky and he nodded. Anxiously, he asked with a low voice, "Am I going to die, Nana?"
Shocked at his question at first, his Nana smiled and told him, "Oh, no, that's silly! Instead, let me tell you an interesting myth about red strings being tied to the pinkies of people."
His grandmother told him to take a sit on the sofa and listen to her story.
But Nol cannot even understand whatever Nana was saying. Soulmates? Fate? Love?
What even–
And he thought Nana's story is even more complicated than math in his school, yet his classmates would complain how hard math is. He doesn't understand.
Nana, amused of her grandson's dumbfounded look on his face reached to cup his cheeks and said, "You will surely understand someday, sweetie. After all, you're my very handsome and sweet grandson. Your destined one is a lucky person."
Nol smiled at his Nana.
On his 6th grade, the red string appeared again.
For the second time in his life.
And he is not having it now that he has a better understanding of love.
"Nah. Not interested. Love is for adults. I better search for friends."
The first one was short lived that right after his Nana told him the myth about the red string, he took a nap, and when he woke up it disappeared. He almost believed he was only hallucinating that day, but it returned. No, he wouldn't ask his Nana for her help because this time, maybe, he knew what to do.
Nol walked towards their kitchen in the middle of the night, and grabbed a knife. He then swung it like an idiot in the air as an attempt to cut the string from his pinky.
It didn't work.
But anyway, he decided to just sleep it off because it will be gone anyway.
On his freshman year of high school, he wondered why it never came back.
He thought that maybe something has to be done for it to return, but anyway, he's not really interested, now that he knows love can be very disgusting, especially on what happened to him. But still, it got him curious. Maybe his new friends knew about the red strings of what again? Soulmates? Fate? Love?
"Hey, do you two happen to know about the red string–"
"The red string of fate?"
Nol, who now goes by the name of Yeong-Gi as he preferred because someone ruined his name for him and he doesn't even want to be reminded of it, clapped his hands as he remembered the story of his Nana about the red string of fate when Dieter answered him. He smiled at his friend because he knows about it too.
"Yeah! You knew about that too? Awesome!"
Soushi interrupted the two, "Yeah, bro. Who doesn't know about it? That story was so frickin' elementary, the whole girls from my school was obsessed of that myth as if it was true."
Nol glanced at his left hand's pinky.
His eyes glistened.
There it is.
Again.
The red string.
He gasped that he surprised Soushi and Dieter too.
"What's wrong, Yeong-Gi?"
"Anything wrong, bro?"
Ah.
What is this?
"No, don't worry about me."
Nol laughed at them by seeing their concern, but he wouldn't want make them worried.
"Red string of fate is said to connect two people together by God who are destined lovers."
Nol remembers his Nana's story.
"And regardless of time, their places, or the circumstances, the string may stretch and tangle, but never will it break."
He wonders who could be at the end of the red string.
He hopes it's a nice person.
He hopes it won't be after his money or name.
"Mr. Stalker?!"
"Ah, it's you again! Awesome! You remembered me."
He's feeling unwell due to the spiked drink he drank from a girl whom he offered help to escape their family's party, and that girl also happened to be the massive crush of his friend Dieter. Also, she is the same girl who threw him an orange soda on that burger restaurant.
Auburn hair.
Red eyes.
He simply cannot take his mind off the girl who threw orange soda on him.
As they converse on how she wanted to get out of the place without being seen by Kousuke, whom she called "Q-TIp"; but he thought this could be an opportunity to befriend her as he finds him interesting. Real.
Maybe she needs a friend? It's not too late for that too, isn't it?
"Let's be friends."
He was about to leave Sunbucks when he saw Kousuke looking at someone before leaving.
Shin-Ae.
An older lady splashed a drink on her, and it got him concerned.
"Are you okay?"
She looked at his way, pouting, and faced him. "Oh, it's you again…"
"It was nothing, I deserved it so there's no reason to get worried. Now go... No reason for you to keep me compan–"
"Big sister was only trying to help me out!"
The little girl cut her off, explaining in detail what had happened. He carefully listened on what she said. Now it made sense that the little girl was missing her sister and her sister's friend, and that Shin-Ae was only trying to protect the little girl from the older lady's daughter but got misunderstood. The little girl was lost and scared.
"Don't worry, big bro will help you! Do you remember where was the last place you were with them?"
"No, and I'm so scared because there are a lot of mean people here."
Yeong-Gi smiled warmly at her.
"Don't worry, this lady over here will scare them! But… I want you to stay strong."
Although Yeong-Gi hasn't seen the impact it made to Shin-Ae, Shin-Ae was reminded of her father's comfort from his words.
"Can you do that for me?"
The day of the formal.
Although he was exhausted, he's too afraid of his family to stop playing politics. He's too tired to get reminded of how much of a trash he was on the family. All he wanted was recognition that he is part of the family, yet...
He knows it already.
It's been imprinted on his mind.
"You're nothing but a mistake."
They don't need to repeat it all over again.
His relationship with Alyssa also adds up with this with a realization that she's only for his name.
Something, somewhere on the back in his mind, is regret.
And when he got inside, he saw his friend–
"Shin-Ae?"
"Those ladies were just really generous when I asked for some food. I didn't expect them to hand us both the whole platter."
"Those ladies didn't give you the food out of generosity, because you know… actually, nevermind."
Yeong-Gi smiled at her. He thought that maybe, she feels sorry for him. Those ladies gave them the whole platter because they know he was a Hirahara, and who wouldn't want to step on someone with so much power and money like that?
"No, I get it. You can say it out loud. I hear it all the time."
It's because…
"You're really handsome."
(They want my money.)
Though they both look surprised on what they both said, he's caught off guard when felt his Nana's comfort and warmth at Shin-Ae; he had to tug his chest from this overwhelming feeling.
"ke up– Nol, are you crying? Please, wake up."
A frantic Nol gasped as he woke up from his sleep. He heard someone's worried voice just now.
And thank god it was just a nightmare.
"Shin-Ae? Please come here."
His eyes felt blurry and heavy as he reached for Shin-Ae's warm presence. As soon as Nol asked for her presence, she thought he doesn't even have to, as she would hug the heck out of him once he woke up from his nightmare. She heard him desperate, reaching for something in his sleep, and she thought she needs to wake him up to know that he is safe
Him and her.
He is free from his family.
Free from burden.
Free from expectations.
Manipulation.
Abuse.
He hugged her as tight as he could, and he buried his face on the side of her neck. He was crying and sobbing, and Shin-Ae was gently stroking his hair to know that she is there.
"You will be okay, I'm here."
He's still sobbing as he tells her of what his nightmare was about.
"They are going to take you away from me, Shin-Ae, I'm afraid of what will happen to us – Even Nana, Dieter, Soushi, your father will be–!"
Shin-Ae brought his face near hers, and while she caresses his cheeks, he assured him, "No, please calm down. This is now our life, and we have settled that. You're strong. You're sweet. You're handsome. I love you."
"I want you to be strong, Yeong-Gi. Nol… Can you do that for me?"
He stared at her eyes for a moment.
Red.
Like the red string he kept seeing before.
Red, that reminded him of sad memories of his life.
And her beautiful eyes.
Her.
Comfort.
Love.
"Yeah… I will."
"I know you wouldn't believe me, but have you ever thought that the story of the red string of fate was real?"
Shin-Ae asked, as she was playing over his left hand that was wrapped around her as they laid on his bed together on a lazy Saturday night.
Nol, interested with what she was about to say, replied, "I also have something to say about it too. Do you believe it?"
He took a glance on his hand.
The red string was there, tied on his left hand's pinky.
"Will you believe me if I said that I can see a red string on my left hand's little finger?"
And right now he can see it. He isn't sure why it has to appear now. Now, it's driving him mad.
"Crazy, I can see a red thread magically appear on my right hand's little finger too. And it just appeared right now. Do you believe me? I can also see yours!"
Wha–?
His eyes widen from what he had heard. He thought he was the only one who's crazy when he people couldn't believe he can actually see that he has a red thread tied on his left hand's little finger.
"So you can see it too?"
"Wait. I wasn't the only one?"
The both looked at each other, Nol while laying on his bed, and Shin-Ae, levelling her head towards his.
Nol squinted his eyes as he asked her, still couldn't able to believe that she could see it too, "When did you first saw the red string?"
Shin-Ae took the squinting as challenge when she replied to him with her eyes like his, as if mocking his doubt on her ability to be able to see the red strings too, "I saw it when I was 4th grade, mister. When I was asking my father what the hell was that since I heard some girls talk about it like crazy. Few minutes of the talk, I couldn't believe what I saw."
Nol replied surprised of her story, "What? I also had mine on my fourth grade!"
"I tried talking about it on my 6th grade too when I asked my father again about it in the middle of the night"
Shin-Ae amusingly recalled, yet she remembered not seeing it again 'til his freshman year of high school. She had gone back to Nol's arm though as she kept talking.
"I didn't saw the red string again until my freshman year, and I had to talk about it to Maya and Rika."
Nol recalled the instances where he had seen the red string appear on his pinky.
And to his surprise…
It matches with Shin-Ae's.
–oh my god.
He had a hunch. Maybe the red string appears whenever their destined lover talked about it with someone?
He glanced at her right hand's little finger.
And indeed, there is a red thread tied on it.
His eyes glistened with joy.
"And here I thought our connections were simply coincidences."
…
..
.
He cupped her face for a kiss after he whispered.
"I love yoo."
author's note
I love Yeong-Gi and Shin-Ae so so so so much after seeing his eyes glisten to her smile on Episode 55, when he was trying to make her dance comfortable with Kousuke. I'm dying ahhhh I repeatedly read that chapter on that day for more than 10x I think lmao. I'm also sorry this is soooo cheesy but I love them so damn much they made me listen to cheesy love songs and I think about them.I'm not as proud of this work as the merry-go-round, but I'm going to share them anyway . I know, I'm addicted. Lol.
And it's so interesting how these two characters reminds each other of the special person close to their heart – whom probably gives them comfort and love that they need in life despite having it bad in life. This was supposed to be super short, like a drabble on how Yeong-Gi finds Shin-Ae in his arms to be the person destined to be with him because of the red string of fate, but I couldn't help but bring up this parallelism. There are many parallels between them, yet this is my favourite one.
Also this fanfiction took like 5 hours to write, so yeah, it would be such a waste not to share it. This was an accident, I swear. I was singing kiss me and then I decided to show their pictures as slideshow, LOL I was dying when it played the song and it showed their pictures. I was smiling like crazy too like, was I the one who fell in love?! Damn it.
Please read I Love Yoo and get crazy over the story and the characters like what I'm doing now! Lol.