Chapter Text
It's a different kind of world when love is something that can no longer be hidden. It's a different kind of world when everybody believes in soulmates. Or something like that.
Except Yoongi considers the soulmate heart technology the worst invention of the millenium. Every child is implanted with the newest version of the “CardiSoul”, CS for short, right after they are born—a device that glows when you meet or find your so-called “soulmate”. Despite the inventor earning a Nobel Peace Prize, and many other awards, he feels it rather seems...useless.
The purpose of the device was to make it easier for people to find love. In conclusion, would increase people's outlook on life, to be more active and involved and make the world a better place. It worked, Yoongi admits, although he had been born way after the beginning stages of the technology. When he studies about the past, of how it was like in the 2000s, in his World History 350 class, he realizes immediate differences. He was born into a Korea with a thriving economy, a crime rate so low it seems strange to see CCTVs turned on anymore, and people actually do seem happier.
The CS doesn’t really detect soulmates per se, but rather when two people have feelings towards each other, both of their hearts glow. Literally.
“It detects the change in hormones within the person's body, finds a match nearby, and then it glows a bright pink-peach color,” his professor says, pointing to an anatomical diagram of how the CardiSoul worked.
The CS worked because at the time of invention, it was instantly much less confusing and much more relieving to both parties who might try to hide their feelings or play it off as something else. It was like an instant confession without even needing words.
“So basically, the CS helps people know what really lies in their hearts feel rather than confusing themselves with their brain?” a girl asks.
“Correct, while obviously a person can decide whether or not to begin a relationship, it helped many in falling in love, and finding happiness,” the professor answers. “Additionally, the rate of cheating has dropped dramatically because if someone's heart glowed for another person other than their partner, they would instantly know. Their partner would know as well since their hearts will no longer glow for each other.”
It was understandable between both parties; either they break up, or fix their relationship until their hearts work together again. Obviously, it wouldn't be an easy road, but the CS cuts all the bullshit out and honestly reveals what each partner is thinking. In a way, Yoongi can't really complain about that.
All that aside, Yoongi still hates the CS because he hates the thought of love; the thought of becoming a different person for a someone else. He hates the commercials of CS-related technology like rings that glow when they're near or beds with special effects when two lovers are in it. The commercials always show how happy they seem, dumb smiles and overly giddy laughs that don't make sense. No one is really that happy, for goodness sakes.
“The CS is as normal as like getting a vaccine nowadays,” the professor drones on. “Most doctors include the procedure right after the baby is born unless there's a specific request from the parent not to.”
Some people, as a result, don't have it at all but it does make it a little harder for them and their partners. As a result of that, not many stay in very long relationships and many others decide to get it themselves later on in life. It's the combination of mass media and conformity.
Yoongi has to admit his own heart has never glowed. Maybe it had broken. Or maybe his parents were the type to request that Yoongi not have the CS surgery as a baby. And maybe he just doesn't care enough.
He sits in World History, the professor rambling off about something else he hasn't listened to while deep in thought. Yoongi has the textbook flipped to the pages running off about pre-CS technology, how people would have lived, and how life was like.
He knows he'll never be able to experience that, and that he's stuck in a lifestyle that he couldn't really understand. Love wasn't really necessary to live, why was it such a big part of society not just today, but even from the very beginning?
In the lecture hall across from Yoongi's, Jimin sits intently, eyes flickering up to the teacher while constantly writing down notes on the lesson. If Yoongi hated love, Jimin hated it more. He would agree that love wasn't necessary to live and rather, it was a distraction. At least, not the love the CS technology aimed for. He only loved his family: his parents and little brother.
All he wants in life is to study hard through university, get his degree, work hard and live comfortably in the end. He really doesn't need to get involved with love because the last time his heart glowed, it was for a noona who was three years his age. All it was, was really awkward for the both of them. They never did anything, just avoided each other until the girl moved away and they never saw each other again.
He's convinced himself now, through the pain from the past, that there's no way he'll let something like that get in the way of his goals. In all honesty, he feels he gets enough exposure to love watching his two best friends Jungkook and Taehyung. He makes fun of them often, but it's okay because they're happy and Jimin is happy too.
When it's time to eat his lunch, Yoongi groans at the sight of crowds of teenagers in one place. Hearts glow too much here because of dating couples. The ones who have been in a relationship in a while glow less brightly, probably not because their love has diminished but because they've learned to keep control of it. On the other hand, new couples make Yoongi want to punch them in their faces.
He quickly grabs the food he wants, and heads over to a random empty table. Unlike high school, at least no one cared if you sat alone in the dining hall for lunch. He would eat with someone—like his friends Namjoon, Seokjin and Hoseok, if they all didn't take the same calculus class together. Namjoon and Yoongi were both music majors, why did he even need to take that specific class? He quickly eats his meal to avoid being in this place any longer.
With a two hour break between his World History class and his Music Theory class, he heads back to his dorm. When he arrives, he sees a small crowd of people around the bulletin board in the main entrance hall. He appreciates the fact his dorm and resident advisors and community leaders are trying to make everything as comfortable and fun as possible, but at the same time, it wasn't like he was going to participate in any of that anyway.
He is a junior now, and he almost regrets not signing that apartment contract a year ago with his three friends. I definitely will sign it this time, he thinks to himself.
The crowd starts to clear up, and Yoongi approaches the board because of, you know, curiosity. It was a large and flashy poster talking about a “great community party with all your dormmates!” and “find your one and only soulmate!”. Yoongi rolls his eyes at the unnecessary addition of the soulmate part. Yet, Yoongi isn't surprised because his dorm building was the largest one on campus. Hell, he expects people from other dorms at this party. The chance of finding “love” would probably occur at every corner. Not that it meant anything, because it's been proven that the CS can't yet get around the effects of alcohol and other substances on the body. Hearts would be glowing left and right, but it doesn't really count if you're under the influence.
Anyway, this event would be taking place in one of the large rooms that is pretty much only used for large gatherings, so he takes note to avoid that area that night. He remembers the first and only time he had been inside was for orientation after he moved in as a freshman. He's not really sure what he's still doing here but he blames his laziness and procrastination for not finding an apartment.
“How stupid,” Yoongi murmurs to himself and to his surprise, a voice responds.
“I know right?”
Yoongi's eyes widen and he turns to his left to see a brown haired male around the same height as he is, with round pink cheeks, plump lips and small but intense brown eyes. He's dressed in a plain light blue button up, black skinny jeans, a pair of yellow Timberland boots, a snapback worn backwards and adorning a black backpack with a red Supreme label on the front pouch.
“You too?” Yoongi responds casually, deciding to stop eyeing him.
He nods, “I hate those kinds of things. But I end up going anyway because my friends always want to go.”
Yoongi can't help but chuckle a little, “Funny enough, my friends always go too, but they don't bother to even ask me.”
The boy laughs back, and Yoongi notices how his eyes disappear and it crinkles in a very youthful way. His face was so babylike—was he really a university student? “Maybe we have the same friends.”
“No,” Yoongi's voice raise in sarcasm because that's really impossible. But even then, Yoongi decides to ask in all seriousness, “You don't really think so, do you?”
The boy shrugs, “Maybe somehow through a whole line of relationships, there's some common friends.”
“Well, either way, it's nice to know I'm not the only one who feels this way about...you know...”
“Love,” he finishes and Yoongi raises his eyebrows. He wasn't going to say that so bluntly, but this opens up a whole another common trait.
“Yeah,” he decides to go with it.
“People only go because they want to have fun and ultimately find someone to mess around with and pretend they're not in school.”
This makes Yoongi smirk in curiosity, “Not a party kid?”
“First of all, “hyung”, I'm not a kid,” the boy sasses. “And second, it's not that I dislike parties, but the fact...people...just...just there's no way to make a strong friendship through one event when there's 40,000 people here. Once you party with them and fool around, are you really going to meet up with them and hang out again? No, people just disappear.”
“There are things called phones and social media, you know,” Yoongi says. “Just for the record, I met my current friends through a party.”
“So, what, you don't go to these parties but you met your friends at one?”
“It was a private party, jesus.”
“Ooooh, private huh,” he sneers.
“Shut up, it was a party that one of my classmates held, so,” Yoongi almost wants to slap this kid.
“Whatever, either way, I hate these.”
“What it seems like is you have a personal grudge,” Yoongi bluntly says.
“Look, you don't really know me, so don't judge. I hate these kinds of things and so do you, right? That's all we know.”
“Yoongi.”
“What?”
“My name. Min Yoongi. You know my name, now.”
The boy looks awkward, almost as if he didn't want to know his name. “Park Jimin.” He sighs, “It's um...nice to meet you, I guess.”
“Yeah,” Yoongi smirks again.
“Well...uh...I'm going to go study. I'll...see you...I guess.”
Jimin walks away and to Yoongi, he thinks that this Jimin kid is okay.
The night of the party, Jimin's friends Taehyung and Jungkook once again made him go, much to his dismay. He was happy that it was a casual type of party, so not too long after the party started, he left his dorm with the two already waiting for him at the front of his door.
Coming to this made him think about Yoongi—that person he had met just because they both hated these types of things. He couldn't help but smile because he remembers how Yoongi had such nice, shiny and fluffy pink hair contrasting with his resting bitch face expression. He remembers how it was still quite endearing, and the way he talked with him just felt so casual and normal. He likes how Yoongi is so blunt about things, but talks slowly and blinks slowly, so it almost seems to soften the blow. He remembers that this is the first time he's ever been able to really express his feelings about love and the way college life is, because trying to talk to the Taekook couple was impossible.
Most of all, he remembers that Yoongi probably won't be here because he never comes, but at the corners of Jimin's eyes, he can't stop hoping.
And it's strange that he would think of fate when they're on the dance floor, where Jimin is trying to awkwardly shuffle away from Taehyung and Jungkook making out, their hearts glowing bluntly under their sweaters, he bumps into Yoongi.
He almost felt something spark at the sight of him.
Both of their eyes widen as they stand right outside the dance crowd, the music blaring and it's so dark in the room but flashy with strobe lights you just feel tipsy from trying to see clearly.
“You!” they both exclaim at the same time.
“Yoongi hyung!” Jimin continues first. “I'm so glad you're here! Let's get out, now, okay?”
“What? I just got here!” Yoongi is reluctant to Jimin's pull.
“Does it matter? You don't like it here, do you?”
It only takes Yoongi one glance and a second of consideration that despite how dark it is, there's shining hearts everywhere and responds, “Definitely not.”
Jimin grins widely and Yoongi notices how his teeth are really straight and tiny and perfect underneath the blacklights and before he knows it, they're out in the main lobby of the dorm again.
“Why were you there anyway?” Jimin asks, raising an eyebrow.
“Just...you know...” it wasn't like Yoongi really knew the answer either. All he knew was that he probably gave a stroke to his friends because he decided to come, even for the five minutes before he bumped into Jimin. “Curious. I regret it though.”
Jimin pouts, “Aww...if you didn't go, we wouldn't be here right now!”
“Jimin.”
“Yeah?”
“Are you a freshman?”
He nods.
“What a baby,” Yoongi rolls his eyes. “And no wonder you warm up to people so quickly. How annoyingly friendly of you.”
Jimin decides to ignore that comment and asks back, “What about you?”
“I'm a junior.”
“Ohhhh, two years older I see,” Jimin smiles again, just for no reason. Life is surely brighter in Jimin's world.
Yoongi scoffs and says, “Well anyway, do you want to go out?”
Jimin's eyes widen, “...What???”
“Oh,” Yoongi realizes he's been misunderstood. “I mean...like go outside. To somewhere. Like eat.”
Jimin breaks into a nervous laugh and twists the black ring on his left pinky finger, “That's what you meant...yes, please. I'm pretty hungry.”
“Okay, let's go.”
Without any further hesitation, he throws his arm around Yoongi's shoulder, and it makes Yoongi kind of pissed that a kid two years younger than him is essentially the same height as he is.
It doesn't really matter within thirty minutes because they seemed to have really hit it off.
Yoongi actually enjoys the company of Jimin, as loud and weird as it might be. They go to a midnight pizza restaurant and it's weird how similar their taste in food is. He realizes not only is Jimin a young child at the tender age of 18, but also he's the definition of sunshine and happiness. At the end of the night, as he's older, Yoongi offers to pay for the entire meal until he realizes that Jimin had already paid when he “was going to the bathroom”.
In a way, it scared Yoongi a lot.