Grab Bag Round: I Think We Both Know

Title: I Think We Both Know AO3 mirror
Rating: PG-13
Focus: Chen/Suho, Future!OT3
Length:1888 words
Summary: Baekhyun swears he’s found “The One.”
Tags: Romance, College!AU, Fluff, Soulmates!AU, RedStringofFate!AU, Slight!Language

Notes: I love this fest! Romantic OT3s are my alltime favorite as both a writer and a reader, so I hope my readers enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it. To my OP specifically, you wanted “meet cute,” right? Obviously I’m biased because I wrote it, but I hope this is cute enough for you!

There’s a breed of soulmates, rare even in a world like theirs, for whom the tattoo on the inside of a person’s wrist does not show their soulmate’s name or a countdown to when a person and their soulmate will first meet. Instead, on their wrist is a picture—a drawing, really—that tells the story of how the person and their soulmate will one day fall in love. Junmyeon’s always liked the idea of finding his soulmate that way, but when he wakes up the morning of his sixteenth birthday, all he’s got is a red thread on his pinky and a name on his wrist. He supposes he might still meet his soulmate through a different method—there are loads of soulmate breeds who connect via mental ties which, obviously, don’t just show up on the outside when a person comes of age—but there’s no chance he’ll be one of the chosen few whose wrists wear drawings. As it is he’s not too put out by this because at least he’s got a couple of choices when it comes to who his soulmate will be, and it’s still his birthday after all. He spends the rest of the day alternately searching in a dictionary for the chinese characters on his wrist, and fiddling with the pretty bow of red string tied neatly around his pinky, wondering when whomever it connects to will also finally turn sixteen. Finding a soulmate is funny like that because there’s no guarantee that the person you’re meant to be with has the same birthday as you, or that their birthday comes before yours does. Junmyeon’s red string stays in its bow for more than a year and he’s rather down about it until his sister comments that her husband had to wait almost five years before she got her soulmate indicators when she turned sixteen, and then even a couple more years after that as he finished college and got a steady job before heading out into the world to look for her So really, she tells him unfeelingly, Junmyeon should just stop whining and suck it up. He doesn’t like this advice much but it’s not out of character for his noona and this story basically just reinforces the fact that his brother-in-law has the patience of a saint. This conversation occurs sometime in August, a whole 15 months since Junmyeon’s coming of age day and a solid three months since Junmyeon’s turned 17. He resolves to be more patient, like his sister’s husband managed to be, and less than a month later his patience is rewarded with his red string unties itself. It feels like a strangely wonderful sort of miracle when he wakes up just after midnight and finds himself nearly strangled by the suddenly long and untied string. What makes the whole situation even more amazing is the fact that, when this miracle happens, Junmyeon’s actually sleeping over at his best friend’s house to celebrate Jongdae’s own sixteenth birthday and that his red string, when he gives it a tug in his excitement, actually leads him straight to Jongdae. The younger boy’s still asleep, all tangled up in his end of the string as he snores peacefully on the other side of the bed, but Junmyeon has no qualms about waking Jongdae, even on his birthday. They marvel at fate and how it’s brought them together, and don’t even notice that the characters on both their wrists are the same until Junmyeon’s sister points it out to them much later. “But we’ve already chosen each other,” says Junmyeon, almost defensively. His arms are around his boyfriend and he pulls Jongdae closer when his sister shoots him a look of clear exasperation. “You could—” she tries to argue, but gets interrupted by Jongdae. “We’re not changing our minds about this, noona,” he tells her, though he looks straight at Junmyeon as he speaks. Still, Junmyeon’s sister tries one more time. “But you’re young and—” Junmyeon rolls his eyes. “Me and Dae are soulmates, noona. Age is irrelevant when you’re literally made for each other.” He meant to end the argument there, but his words spark another round of convincing by his sister who reminds them both that the person with his name on their wrists—”This,” she pauses to check her pronunciation, “Zhang Yixing”—is as made for each of them as they are for each other. “You two might be the only soulmates he has,” she concludes, evidently attempting to guilt her brother and his boyfriend into at least considering Zhang Yixing’s position in all this. Her speech ends there because her husband’s arrived from work to take her home. But she’s also said and done all she could; the choice of how to proceed now rests in the entwined hands of Jongdae and Junmyeon. And, for years, that’s exactly where it stays. All through high school as they study together, apply to college together, and decide where to go, together, the two are content to remain a twosome. They graduate, after four years of watching their friends find their various soulmates and choose the one they want to be with for the rest of their lives, and still nothing changes. The summer after their senior year of high school passes uneventfully, as do the first two years of their college careers. To be honest, if not for the black etchings still indelibly tattooed on both their wrists, Jongdae and Junmyeon might even have forgotten Zhang Yixing’s existence; they’re never quite that forgetful, of course, but certainly neither boy is expecting to actually meet Yixing when they return to their university after summer break as rising juniors. They’re so wrapped up in each other—”As always,” their mutual friend Baekhyun likes to complain—that Yixing’s presence is at first entirely overlooked. Life for Jongdae and Junmyeon proceeds as usual, at least until Baekhyun messages them in their group chat that he’s found “The One” and that he wants them to meet him. Junmyeon, laying with his head in Jongdae’s lap as he reads the text, snorts. Baekhyun always thinks he’s found “The One” and Junmyeon’s not expecting this new guy to last much longer than the last girl did. He doesn’t text Baekhyun this, but he does relay the thought aloud to Jongdae, who teases that Junmyeon’s become a romantic cynic after dating only one person for so long. Junmyeon pouts at this and swears it’s not true. “You’re the one for me,” he promises Jongdae, who says he was only joking and chides that Junmyeon shouldn’t take everything so literally. “We’ve been together for, what, almost five years now? Can’t you tell when I’m not being serious?” Now Jongdae’s pouting too, but the string that ties them together is still tickling Junmyeon’s forehead and since Jongdae hasn’t stopped playing with Junmyeon’s hair, Junmyeon knows his boyfriend’s teasing. Jongdae confirms this when he grins down at Junmyeon and leans over to give his soulmate a kiss; the angle’s awkward and it probably hurts Jongdae’s neck a bit to stay hunched over like that, but neither boy minds too much. They’ve adjusted their positions but are still happily making out when Baekhyun shows up at the door with an unknown boy in tow, whining loudly about being ignored. “Stop being gross,” he orders, turning to the boy he’s dragged along and adding, “They’re always like this. Apologies in advance.” Jongdae sniffs indignantly and Junmyeon wants to ask what exactly Baekhyun feels the need to apologize for, but everything becomes suddenly much clearer when Baekhyun turns back to where the two boys are still entwined on the couch and says, “This is Yixing. Zhang Yixing.” Junmyeon’s speechless; Jongdae? Not so much. “Oh my god,” he blurts out, bolting off the couch and dragging Junmyeon up with him. “You’re The One.” Baekhyun rolls his eyes. “That’s what my text said, yeah.” Still unable to formulate speech, Junmyeon’s now gaping at Yixing, mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. It’s sort of surreal, meeting Yixing now after all the years that it’s just been Junmyeon and Jongdae together. Finally, and for the first time since Baekhyun appeared with him in their doorway, Yixing speaks up. “My mother told me that if you make a face like that you’ll be stuck looking ugly forever.” He smiles, flashing a solitary dimple, and Jongdae and Junmyeon have the similar thought that they’ve both fallen a little bit in love. “Luckily you’re a cute one,” Yixing concludes. “Even if your face got stuck like that you’d be okay, I think.” Jongdae lets out a bark of surprised laughter. This Yixing’s got balls, and he’s cute. Suddenly every protest he and Junmyeon ever made against looking for the boy whose name was on their wrists seemed sort of silly. Baekhyun seems to think so too because he’s glaring pointedly at his two friends like they’re missing something big that’s just in front of their faces. This is affirmed when he dramatically mouths “The One!” and shoves Yixing through the open door before theatrically slamming said door shut. “You’re the only reason I believe in love!” he shouts through the faux wood of their dorm door. “Don’t let me down!” The three left in the room exchange wary glances, but at least Jongdae and Yixing chuckle softly when Junmyeon nervously jokes, “Yep, he’s a keeper.” Yixing gives both boys a once over once they all fall silent again, and then, eyes twinkling and lips still curved upward in a smile, Jongdae and Junmyeon’s soulmate asks, “Well, what do you two think about maybe keeping me?” The segue is awkward, much like Junmyeon’s joking attempt to break the ice, but it gets the job done and now that Yixing’s been so forward with his intentions Junmyeon feels free to look his fill. He and Jongdae stand there, side by side, just soaking Yixing in, and that’s when Junmyeon notices it. There, on Yixing’s left wrist, is a childlike drawing of three figures; the two on each side are tied together by a thin red string which is wrapped so completely around the third man, the one in the middle, that it’s nearly impossible to tell that he doesn’t have a connecting string of his own. “Is that—?” he trails off but his fingers reach out of their own volition to brush against the skin of Yixing’s wrist. “Us,” Jongdae finishes for his boyfriend, voice hushed in awe at the rarity of Yixing’s soulmate mark. Yixing shrugs shyly. “There’s no real way to tell,” he admits, “since there aren’t any names attached, but—” He’s unceremoniously interrupted when Junmyeon snatches his hand away from caressing Yixing’s wrist to grab at Jongdae’s wrist instead. “Look,” he says, nearly pleading as he turns his and Jongdae’s arms to face up and show Yixing the name that they’ve both got tattooed there. “It’s us,” Jongdae reiterates. “All three of us, together.” “As it should be,” adds Junmyeon. Then, and almost petulantly, “Noona was right, damnit.” Yixing’s confused by this remark—what does Junmyeon’s sister have to do with anything?—but Jongdae seems to understand, and since he and Junmyeon are smiling at Yixing like the Chinese boy is their own personal miracle, Yixing thinks everything’s going to be just fine. Evidently, he’s a keeper too.