"Have you ever met a stranger you recognized?"
One in ten thousand- that's how many people have someone predetermined for them. It's even rarer for them to actually find each other, but thanks to a special birthday wish, fate might just be on their...
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nostalgia, three. ❛ what are you wishing for? ❜
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"Make a wish, Jungwon!"
The boy stared at the birthday candles in front of him, wax carved into the number seventeen. He was seated at a booth with his parents across him, in one of the town's famous restaurants- Sihyuk's Bistro.
Just as he closed his eyes, ready to blow his candles, he heard his parents' attempt at a quiet conversation.
"What do you think he'll wish for?" His father managed through a toothy smile.
"He'll never admit it, but what else does a boy wish for when they turn seventeen?" his mother whispered. "To meet his soulmate, of course."
In all honesty, Jungwon wasn't entirely sure why the topic lit a fuse in him. He'd always been annoyed at the word itself, and it tied to his disbelief in unproved notions. He liked to look at reality as it was, simply focusing on what needed to be focused on. A make-believe idea that someone was destined for you from the beginning didn't apply to that.
He'd had a few crushes here and there, some girls he found pretty, but never anything further than admiring them from a distance. He didn't plan on changing that anytime soon.
"Can we stop talking about that?" he asked, only for his parents to shrug in response. "I don't want to meet anyone."
An idea suddenly popped into his mind, and the corners of his lips twitched upward slightly. "And I know how to make sure of it."
His parents sighed at their son's stubbornness, hoping for all their sakes that this year would bring a change.
Jungwon closed his eyes, leaning forward as he silently made his newfound wish. And with that, he blew the candles out.
His parents clapped with smiles on their faces as Jungwon looked back up, proceeding to cut the cake and offer them a plate each.
The family was surrounded by the chatter of a busy restaurant. Those at one table couldn't even hear what the next one was saying, so it came to no surprise when a different family argument had gone unnoticed at the other end of the area.
