Work Text
Will You Call My Name?
There was no point in living. Those were the words racing through his mind as he stepped off the bridge above the cold unforgiving river. His eyes were clouded over and emotionless. Nothing mattered anymore.
Twelve hours earlier
Another normal and bland day in the life of Tae. A groan escaped his dried lips when the sun cascaded down into his eyes. Another bleak day has begun. With reluctance he slipped his legs over the side of his musty mattress and onto the cold floor. A shiver creeped up his spine when he breathed in the morning air.
He trudged through his morning routine forcing himself to get dressed and clean his face. He looked into his misty eyes through the mirror and sighed. He stared himself up and down with disgust. He then proceeded to inspect every single inch of his body, poking and proding at his squishy tummy, pulling at his hair, pinching his sun tanned skin.
“Disgusting.” His voice came out groggy from having just woken up. With another heavy sigh he fixed his hair.
Heavy feet carried the boy to his front door and he slipped on his old tennis shoes and a dull grey coat. His coat looked as if it was pulled out of the trash with the pockets falling off and the color that was once bright was fading fast. As he pulled the sleeves over his wrist he gasped at the words that were painted onto his left wrist. It read Jeon Jungguk. Everyone had a name appear on their wrist on their first birthday. The name was of their soulmate. From that moment forward people would tirelessly search for their fated partner.
Tae smiled and ran his fingers over the pretty cursive letters. The words had begun to brighten since last night and it gave a new hope to Tae. Even though he was turning 20 next week he still held hope that he would find his soulmate.
Everyone he knew had met the person engraved onto their wrist by the time they were 18, some rare cases people met them right as they turned 19. However Tae was turning twenty and still hadn’t found his soul mate.
The door creaked as he swung it open and headed down the foggy morning streets of Seoul. The walk to his job was long and lifeless. No one woke up at three am for work these days unless they had a death wish.
Apparently Tae did.
He arrived at his job at the cafe downtown in about twenty minutes and shivered dramatically when he entered the cute building. Relief washed over his body when a wave of heat met his skin. His shoulders sank into the warmth that washed over him. He walked behind the counter and into the back room to find his manager and best friend, Jimin. He smiled at the blonde and watched him frantically run back and forth.
He stayed that way until the other boy tripped and nearly face planted into the ground.
“Are you okay Jimin?” Taes words were laced with concern as he rushed over to his friend and grabbed onto his arm.
Jimin looked up at him and gave a weak smile before it turned into playful anger.
“Tae how long have you been standing there?”
The said boy shrunk in shame and chuckled, “maybe five minutes?”
Jimin dramatically huffed and shoved Tae’s shoulder, “meanie. Making me do all the work.”
Tae immediately frowned as the playfulness Jimin was using passed over his head. His teeth toyed with his bottom lip as he hung up his coat and tied on his apron.
Apparently Jimin noticed the change in his friends attitude because the next thing he did was hug the other, much taller, boy.
“Hey Taetae, you know I’m joking with you. Sorry if I made you feel bad.” Jimin's voice was soft and his breath was warm on Tae’s skin.
Tae nodded his head and buried his nose into the crook of his friends neck. “You don’t have to apologize, I’m just dense sometimes.”
Jimin rubbed small circles onto the youngers shoulders and sighed, “listen up Tae. I know you’ve been going through some stuff lately and I hate seeing you talk bad about yourself like this. You don’t need to keep it all inside, talk to me okay?”
Tae nodded his head shyly and breathed in the smaller’s sweet scent of coffee creamer and vanilla before pulling away. His eyes had regained a glint of hope and he smiled. “I promise I’ll talk to you if things get bad so don’t worry about me.”
Jimin reluctantly let go and smiled back at him, “if you say so.”
Both the boys then continued preparing for the rush of customers they would soon be receiving come four am.
The day continued on with little to no excitement. Sometimes the two friends would joke around or talk about their boring lives.
At one point Tae was staring at Jimin’s thin wrist and examined the name that was a beautiful shade of blue,
Yoongi.
“Hey Jimin, how did you meet Yoongi?”
Jimin looked up at his friend and gave a sympathetic smile. “I felt a pull towards the park and just happened to lock eyes with him. As soon as we saw each other we knew.”
I looked at my own wrist and sighed, “hopefully I’ll meet my soulmate soon.”
Work went by at an agonizingly slow pace, as the the time slipped away so did Tae’s optimism and hope. Finally another coworker came by to relieve him of his shift. He slipped out of his work apron and pulled on his old jacket.
The bell on the door chimed signaling his departure.
The air wasn’t much warmer from that morning and he immediately drew his jacket closer to himself as he walked aimlessly. His feet scrapped on the gravel, they were heavy and ridden with uncertainty.
He let his legs carry him away as his thoughts became lost in sorrow.
Too caught up with all the self deprecating words flowing in his mind he didn’t realize he ran into someone until the cold ground came in contact with his back. All the air was forced out of him and his vision blurred. He looked up at a boy near his age staring at him with wide bunny eyes.
“Oh my god! I’m so so sorry! I didn’t see you,” the boy crouched down to look into Tae’s eyes and help him sit up.
Thump.
His heart jumped into his throat when he tried to speak his words came out mumbled.
The boy tilted his head and smiled, “sorry I didn’t quite catch that.”
Tae looked down in embarrassment.
“Anyways, I’m so sorry for running into you like that. It looked painful,” his hand sheepishly ran through his Carmel brown hair.
The boy took Tae’s hand pulled him up, “my names Jungguk by the way. What’s yours?”
Tae’s eyes widened and he shook his head to try and wake himself up from his dream.
“Um, my name is-“
“Jeon Jungguk! Don’t just abandon your girlfriend like that!”
Both of the boys heads snapped to the direction of the voice and there stood a girl with long black hair. She was wrapped in a bright pink winter coat that came down to her calves. She was flawless. Perfect in every physical way. Her nose was petite and her eyes held the stars.
Tae immediately pulled his hand away and brought it close to his heart. His vision began to blur again but this time from hot tears seeping from his eyes.
“I’m sorry for disturbing you two. You guys make cute couple.” Tae’s voice betrayed him and cracked with a sob. Jungguk took his hand again “hey it’s alright. But also she’s not…” he stopped speaking as his eyes laid on the name glowing a soft purple on Tae’s wrist. “H-hey that’s…”
Tae ripped his hand away and took off running. This couldn’t be. How come his soulmate finally appeared? And how come he already had someone to replace Tae?
The emotionally distraught nineteen year old ran until his lungs burned of exhaustion. Everything hurt; his legs, chest but most importantly his heart.
He collapsed to his knees at the top of a bridge. His breath was ragged and he choked back his sobs the best he could.
Tae looked up to the sky and let his tears come pouring down.
Nothing matters anymore.
He finally found Jungguk but he was taken and dating someone else already.
Pain was all he felt as he leaned against the railing and peered below the bridge. The water looked so calm and inviting. He smiled sadly at the freezing water. At least the river would welcome him with open arms.
Tae swallowed and hoisted himself up and over the railing. His back faced the water as he let go of the last strings of life.
There was no point in living.
At least Jungguk and Jimin are happy. He smiled and closed his eyes waiting for the bitter embrace of death.
It never came.
His arms was in more pain then he had ever imagined and he quickly looked up to see the boy from earlier holding onto his wrist and the railing of the bridge.
Jungguk? Why was he here, and saving Tae nonetheless?
It must be a dream Tae thought.
Jungguk struggled to pull both the boys weights back onto solid ground, however luck was on his side today. He pulled Tae into his arms and collapsed onto the ground with him when it was safe again.
Tae finally came back to reality and gasped. Jungguk just saved him from doing the most stupid thing he’d ever done in his life. He sat up and stared at the boy, “why’d you save me?”
Jungguk looked up at Tae like it was an obvious answer. Now that Tae thinks about it it kind of was. “Because your my soulmate, stupid head.”
“What about-“
“You didn’t let me finish explaining earlier. That girl was just my friend. She’s always saying stuff like that.” Jungguk chuckled thinking about her and then broke into sobs. “I can’t believe you just jumped off a bridge.”
Tae felt guilty and he cupped Jungguk’s face in his hands.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry Jungguk.”
Jungguk sniffled and wiped his eyes. He looked at Tae and smiled. “Let’s start over okay?”
Tae nodded.
“My name is Jeon Jungguk. What’s yours?”
The brown haired boy smiled, “my name is Kim Taehyung.”