Hoseok pulled me to a booth by the windows, sliding onto the bench he stares up at me expectantly. Sighing, I set my coffee on the table before slowly sliding to sit across from him.
I wrapped my hands around the styrofoam cup in front of me, the heat seeping into my hands.
"So, anywhere special you wanna see today?" I inquired, bringing the cup up to rest on my lips.
Hoseok chuckled, his shoulders shaking slightly. "Oh, Yoongi. You really are too cute." He throws a smile at me, one so bright it could make you go blind.
"What do you mean?" I asked, furrowing my brow in confusion and bringing my cup back down to rest on the table.
"I don't want a tour, Yoongi," he said nonchalantly, "I just wanted to get you alone without your little admirer."
"Admirer?"
"Jimin. I'm talking about Jimin. There's no way you haven't noticed that he has a huge crush on you." His eyes narrowed when he said the last sentence, darkening his usually happy features.
Too bad it didn't work. I wonder what he would say if he knew Jimin had followed me here today.
"That's ridiculous," I scoffed, my eyes glancing around the room searching for said admirer. I knew the words were a lie. After all, Jimin had never made any attempts to hide how he felt towards me.
Hoseok's mouth dropped in disbelief, his eyebrows shooting to his hairline. "There's no way you're that dense, Yoongi."
I merely shrugged my shoulders, refusing to admit that I know exactly what he was talking about. I turned to look out the window, watching the people pass by, completely unaware of the world around them. Hoseok, oblivious to my inner people-watching, continued on.
"I mean that just makes it even better!" He claps his hands together, the sound drawing my attention back to the man in front of me. "If you haven't even realized that he likes you yet, then I don't have to worry about how you feel about him."
His words hit a nerve, ticking me off. I placed my elbows on the table, entwining my hands together in front of my face. Raising my eyebrow, I let my frustration fill my words.
"Whether I like him or not, I don't think that's any of your business. Do you?"
If he was hurt by my harsh tone, he did well at hiding it. A tight smile formed on his face.
"I do think it's my business, actually."
My eyebrows rose in surprise.
"Excuse me?"
His eyes met mine, leveling me with his stare. I wanted to shrink back at the intensity in them, but my pride refused to let me back down.
"I think it's my business, Yoongi." His smile disappeared, a small pout taking its place. "It's my business because we belong together."
I couldn't stop the laughter that burst out of me. Bending over, I laid my forehead on the table, causing the table to shake with every laugh that left me.
"What are you laughing at?" Hoseok demanded, his angry tone doing nothing to stop the laughs from bubbling up and out of me.
It took me a few moments to compose myself. When I finally did, I sat up, wiping the tears from my eyes before meeting Hoseok's disapproving gaze.
"Believe me, Hoseok. We are not meant to be together."
Sadness flashed across his face at my words, his eyes dropping to stare at the table in front of him.
"I understand your hesitation, Yoongi." Hoseok admitted, his small voice barely making its way to me in the loud cafe. "But I assure you that we are." The sadness radiating off of him made my heart drop.
"Hoseok," I whispered, his dejected eyes landing on mine. "I would know if we were meant to be together. Trust me."
"I need you to trust that I know we are soulmates." He fired back, his insistent tone stronger now.
"How, Hoseok? How could you possibly know?" I bit back, annoyance filling my voice.
"Because I just know!" Hoseok insisted, his raised voice causing the people around us to glance over at him.
"That's not good enough," I claim, moving to leave the booth. Hoseok wrapped his hand around my forearm, stopping me from leaving.
"Wait," he pleaded.
I turned back to him, not moving to reclaim my earlier spot just yet.
"Go ahead and explain then," I ordered, impatience lacing my voice.
"You're going to think I'm crazy.." Hoseok sighed, breaking eye contact with me to glance back out to the street, silently watching the masses of people passing by us.
I slide back to my original spot on the bench.
"Whatever you say, I'm sure I've heard and seen way crazier things," I placated, keeping my voice soft. I hoped it comforted him a abit, but I had never been the best comforter.
He looked to me, nodding.
"Iseeauras," he spewed, the words all running into each other.
"Excuse me?"
He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself before starting his explanation over again.
"I….I see auras." His voice is barely over a whisper, I have to strain my ears to hear it.
"Auras?"
"Yeah, like the essence of people's souls," he clarifies.
"So… You're able to tell what type of person someone is, just by looking at them?" I tried to wrap my brain around what he was saying. "What does that have to do with us being together?"
"The "good and bad" is just a stereotype that normies came up with. And as for the rest, are you sure you really wanna know?"
I nodded my head, my curiosity peaked.
"Okay." He leans back in his seat, taking a deep breath. "So a glass broke in my face when I was a kid, almost causing me to go blind. I needed to have a surgery to, maybe, save my eyesight. When I woke up, I could see the auras of the people around me. But I don't see the stereotypical things. Instead, I see soulmates."
"You see soulmates?"
"Yeah, like everyone has a different colored glow and if you have the same color glow as someone else, you're soulmates," he explained.
"So what color is mine?"
"Yellow, but not the boring yellow. It's a warm, happy yellow. Almost like the sun," he describes, his hands gesturing to the area around me.
"And what's yours?"
His gaze darts to the side before he quietly whispers. "Yellow… like the sun."
"So we have the same colored aura?"
He nods.
"And that's how you know that we're soulmates?" I ask, taking a sip of my coffee.
"Yeah. That's also how I know that Jimin is also your soulmate."
His words almost make me spit out my coffee. I quickly swallow, almost choking on the lukewarm liquid.
"What did you say?"
"I said that I know that Jimin is also your soulmate. His color is the same as yours, the same as mine." Distaste filled his voice at the mention of Jimin's aura.
"Well maybe he's your soulmate, not mine." I offered up.
Hoseok chuckled, shaking his head at me. "That's not how it works, Yoongi. I feel the pull to you. I bet he does too, although he probably doesn't understand why." He looks me in the eyes. "And I know you feel it too. You're just in denial, but I don't know why."
His head tilted to the side as he watched me. I could practically see the gears turning in his head, trying to figure me out.
"That's so strange…" he whispered, wonder evident in his tone.
"What is it?"
"Oh, uh. Your aura." He scratches the back of his neck. "Remember how I said that people can have more than one soulmate? But only one is a 100% match?" I nod. "Well I've seen people with their soulmates. And when they are near each other, their auras light up like fireworks."
"Well yours is like a solar flare right now. I've only ever seen it like this one other time: when you were with me and Jimin in the hallway. I wasn't sure which one was causing it then, but since Jimin's not around." A smile spreads across his face. "I guess it's me, huh? I'm your 100% match!" He squealed, clapping his hands in front of him. "I never thought I'd meet my match," he said dreamily.
Guess now would be the time to tell him that Jimin is actually here.
I open my mouth to speak, but he cuts me off.
"If you'll excuse me for a second, I need to use the little boy's room. But when I get back, I want to know everything about you," he said, standing.
"Wait-" I start, but he's already gone. I watch his back as he disappears around the corner. Once he's out of sight, I sigh and put my face in my hands.
What a mess.
I peek through my fingers, glancing to the bar at the front of the cafe. Raking my gaze across it, I land on a pair of brown eyes staring at me, orange hair peeking out from underneath his black cap. I lose sight of his eyes as Jimin turns away from me abruptly, avoiding my gaze.
I stand from the booth and stalk over to the poorly disguised man, dropping onto the stool next to him. I place my hands on the table, intertwining my fingers. Looking out of the corner of my eye, I see Jimin looking at me.
"Are you stalking me now, Jimin?" I ask, my voice quiet but I know he can hear me.
"Oh, Yoongi-hyung! What are you doing here?" He feigned ignorance, turning towards me with raised eyebrows.
"We both know that you know exactly what I'm doing here. The real question is-" I turn toward him, meeting his surprised stare, "-what are you doing here, Jimin?"
"I, uh, I just wanted some coffee," he stuttered, glancing around nervously.
"Oh yeah? Then where is it?" I gesture to the empty space in front of him, calling his bluff.
His face turned beat red. "Okay, you caught me. I may or may not have been following you."
"You don't say," I say, my voice sounding uninterested.
"How'd even know I was here anyway? I'm pretty well disguised," he gestured to himself.
"One: That disguise sucks. You really need to look up the definition of disguise." I shook my head at him. "Two: You were staring at me so hard I'm pretty sure there's a hole in the side of my head. And last but not least, I could feel your "pay attention to me" vibes the whole way from across the cafe."
He hid his face behind his hands, my words embarrassing him.
"I wasn't sending any vibes," he cried, his hands muffling the words.
"Oh I beg to differ," I chuckled.
"Whatever," he grumbled.
"But really, you shouldn't be here, Jimin," I said, all playfulness leaving my voice.
He drops his hands from his face, a pout on his plump lips.
"Why, Yoongi? So you can have alone time with Hoseok?"
"No, Jimin. That's not-"
"What's so special about him anyway?" He interrupts my denial. "What does he have that I don't have?"
I sigh, dragging my hand down my face.
"We've already been over this, Jimin. I feel nothing for Hoseok. Even if I did, it wouldn't really be any of your business now would it?"
I expected him to get angry at my words. Instead, a slight smile forms on his lips. His eyes softened as he looked at me.
"You say that, Yoongi. But you don't mean it." He places his hand on my face, his thumb brushing across my cheekbones. "You act distant, but I can see the difference. The way you blush when I flirt with you. The little giggles that you let out when I say something funny." He leans in closer to me, his breath washing across my face. "You only do those things with me, Yoongi. You may not be ready to admit it yet, but one day you will. And I'll be right here."
He leaned in, his gaze never once leaving mine. His lips brushed against my other cheek, so soft I was unsure whether it really happened or if I had imagined it. Dropping his hand from my face, he stood from his stool.
"I'll do as you ask, but remember Yoongi. You're mine and I don't like to share," he teased, winking at me. He walks away from me, the bell over the door jingling as he exits and takes all the color in the room with him. I make my way back over to Hoseok and I's booth, happy to see that he hasn't returned in the time I was preoccupied.
I lift my coffee to my lips, almost gagging when the cold liquid touched my tongue.
Ew. I hate cold coffee. It has the consistency of sludge.
As I pondered the pro's and con's of cold coffee, I started noticing that the color was returning to my surroundings. I shook my head, sure that Jimin was returning even though he said he would leave.
I turned to chastise him.
"I thought I said you should-"
My words caught in my throat as I came face to face, not with Jimin, but instead with Hoseok. His eyes met mine, a smile lifting his lips and causing his dimples to appear.
"What were you saying, Yoongi?"
"Oh, uh, nothing," I stammered, my eyes darting around, searching for any signs of Jimin. My search proved fruitless as I saw no signs of the small man.
What the hell is going on?
