«Δεν υπάρχει ποτέ χρόνος ή τόπος για αληθινή αγάπη. Συμβαίνει τυχαία, σε έναν καρδιακό παλμό, σε μια στιγμή που αναβοσβήνει, χτυπά.»

❝There is never a time or place for true love. It happens accidentally, in a heartbeat, in a single flashing, throbbing moment.❞

⁂ ⁂ ⁂

"You're kidding me, right?" 

"Why would I? The owner of this shop, Kim Seokjin, is your soulmate!" his declaration took her off guard and her eyes widened. 

"It can't be." 

Ara felt her whole world stop. She felt her limbs stiffen as she froze on the spot, upon hearing his words. 

Yoongi reached for her hand and intertwined it between his fingers. 

"It's true, Ara. You finally found him." 

Ara closed her eyes and a cluster of memories flashed before her. 

Three years ago... [WARNING : May Contain Disturbing Or Triggering Topics] 

Ara stood in front of her soulmate with tears staining her eyes. 

Like every other girl in her class, she always had a liking for the school's heartthrob, Kim Jonghyun. 

And as a surprise for her, life made him her soulmate. All the girls in the whole school were mad at her for this, even though she had no say in who her soulmate would be. 

Then there came a time, when Jonghyun found out that she was his soulmate. But, he had other plans. 

Jonghyun called her and told her that he wanted to talk. Ara, being so happy that her crush is her soulmate, didn't turn down the request, so she went to meet him outside the school gates. 

He rejected her. He rejected her in front of every other girl and boy watching. 

"I'm not interested, sorry sweetheart. I can still date outside the stupid soulmate system!" 

She gave him a slight nod and then ran out of the crowd. Loud laughs and giggles erupted from behind her and she ran into the ladies restroom. She locked herself in one of the cubicles and cried. 

She cried until she couldn't breathe. She cried until she convinced herself that boys were stupid and not deserving of her. 

After her long mental breakdown, she sniffled and opened the stall door. She looked outside and jumped as she felt cold water fall over her head. 

There were a few high pitched laughs and she didn't have to open her eyes to figure who drenched her. Th school queenkas. 

"Oops, I'm sorry. Didn't see you there!" 

She tried to stop herself from crying as the girls walked out of the bathroom. 

After a few more minutes, she walked out of the bathroom, in a dried uniform. It was already the last period and she didn't want to go to class anyway. 

She walked up to her locker and pulled her bag out. As she was leaving through the school gates, she heard a familiar voice call her name out. 

"Ara! Wait up!" 

Namjoon. 

She could recognize that voice even if she was in a crowded, noisy party. 

She turned around and raised an eyebrow. "What do you want, Joon?" 

"Even if we fight like a million times, my name rolls out your tongue like a mantra!" he chuckled and Ara rolled her eyes, before walking away. 

"Besides, you still call me by my nickname and not my name!" he smirked in a playful way and Ara tried her best not to giggle. 

Ara and Namjoon were best friends, but they had a fight last week, which made Ara mad at Namjoon.  

"Hey listen, I said I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking straight, forgive me? Please?" he cooed and Ara sighed. 

"Joon, do you even know what you did wrong?" she asked, as she stopped walking for a minute. 

"Yeah, I yelled at you and called you a slut for liking Jonghyun, I know Ara!" he looked away, his lips curling into a frown. 

Ara closed her eyes and sighed again. She then ran into his arms and hugged him tight. 

"I'm sorry too, Joonie. I realized what you meant. Jonghyun is never gonna like me, whether I'm his soulmate or not! I shouldn't waste my time on him," she cried onto his chest as his hands wrapped around her fragile, broken body. 

"Shh hey hey, it's okay. He'll come around someday, I know it. Ara, please don't cry. You know I can't handle my best friend crying, yeah? Shh, stop crying." 

He stroked her hair and then held his arms around her shoulder as he dropped her off at home. 

For the next couple of weeks, she ignored Jonghyun and avoided his gaze. 

Jonghyun though, had felt bad for pushing away his soulmate like that. He knew he couldn't avoid her forever. Life made them soulmates, and he knew what he did was wrong. 

Without his own knowledge, he had started forming an attraction towards her. 

And when he found out about that, he knew he had to do something about it. 

It had been a month since the day he rejected her. A whole month of feeling guilty and his heart ached for her. 

So, the next day, he made up his mind. 

He waited for her outside the school campus after the last bell rang. 

He had told his friends to leave without him. He was in a dark alley as he leaned onto a wall, with his foot resting on it. 

He soon saw his soulmate walking out of the school gates, alone. He pushed himself off the wall and hid so that she didn't see him. 

When she reached nearer to him, he pulled her in and towards his chest. He pinned her onto the wall and she gasped in shock. She tried screaming but he shushed him. 

"Hey hey, it's me! It's me, Jonghyun!" 

x Chapter Six x