Chapter Text
Jinwoo was, well, ordinary. He had a great father that was now dead, he has a mother in coma. He has a younger sister that goes to school he works as a hunter. An e rank hunter with 4 years worth of experience on how to not die in dungeons as basically a civilian and how to earn money from it.
Well, he worked as a hunter. But lady luck and lady fate seemed to fuck and then kiss him on the head because turns out, he has a soulmate. Three soulmates in fact.
What are soulmates? Well, as the old tale goes, those are people fated to be together (a lie) and are the best pair created for each other linked together by a red string only hunters have. And so, Jinwoo has three soulmates.
Who are they you may ask? Well, you know who national level hunters are, right? Do you also know the three strongest hunters? The ones in the American list? Yes, those guys were his soulmates.
Thomas Andre the strongest hunter (a particular Chinese man disagrees) and once widely known gangster (“I wasn’t a gangster!” Jinwoo could almost hear him scream from all the way from united states) and now a Goliath that had fist fought a dragon and won (sometimes Jinwoo wonders who is Thomas’s soulmate, he or the dragon with how much he enjoys talking about the fat lizard). And he is also the guildmaster of the scavenger guild, the strongest guild in the whole world ( “but wasn't there a guild called Valkyrie which is a close second? I think they even called the guildmaster of the guild one of us” Jinwoo suddenly remembered how his other soulmate said his opinion.)
Liu Zhigang, the second strongest hunter (“Americans just want to elevate themselves. I am counted as the second strongest only due to me not having a guild and so they think my achievements are lesser then the gorilla’s” Jinwoo could also hear Zhigang’s voice all the way from China) and the widely known seven star hunter and the one and only officially recognized leader of all the Chinese hunters that are under the Chinese hunters association. He was the one person who did the most damage to the humanities’ biggest calamity and was the one to land the last hit.
Christopher Reed, the third strongest hunter and a son to a millionaire (“a billionaire Jinwoo” Jinwoo could hear Chris say) who is the founder of one too many hunter related businesses almost on a brink of creating a monopoly. Chris himself was widely known for being able to tank fire breaths and fire balls thrown by the dragon head on. He was also known as the lesser troublemaker among national level hunters (which is a feat alright).
And so, you would think that somebody as ordinary (and honestly pathetic) person like Jinwoo would feel insecure about his connection to such amazing people. And well, he was. For some time he was even far too uncomfortable to even sit in his soulmates’ presence not to mention be a partner to them. Plus the headlines of the magazines and journalists made it all the worse.
BUT! He soon forgot about all of his insecurities after being spoiled rotten. Well, really, who wouldn’t? People tripped over themselves to fulfill his every whim. He could ask for a yacht to be made from scratch and on the next day he will be having one and drink morning tee on it. He could ask to make Korean a requirement to learn for most jobs and it only would take a week to implement.
Not to mention the gifts. Man, it was like they were trying to outdo each other every time. Chris could gift him some rare wine and the other two would do anything in their power to gift a more expensive or better wine. One could gift him a whole house and you better believe the other two will do their best to gift him a bigger, or more expensive house.
And should he even mention the gifts he receives on special occasions? He still remembers with horror the things Thomas did on his birthday (god, if you can hear me, please stop giving your strongest warrior the stupidest of the ideas
Shortly, he was spoiled rotten with lots and lots of expensive things.
But you know what he was also spoiled with? Attention. No, really, he wasn't being sarcastic or whatever. The busy hunters known for not having a free second in their schedules were going out of their way to spend time with Jinwoo. They went on small dates, talked on the phone, made video calls, spend time with their families.
And their dates weren’t the usual go to a cafe, have dinner in a premium restaurant or merely watch a film together, no, of course not. The dates were as special as the gifts in the sense that no normal person would think of doing that.
For example, Chris (for god sake's, you are my favorite, why do you have to do this to me?) reserved a whole amusement park, to be precise, Disney (how did he even manage to do that?) the magic kingdom. He remembers the mascots (poor workers) sweating through the makeup and their suites and not due to it being summer. Poor things.
Thomas decided that it would be great to go watch the fishes for a whole day (poor Laura, he needs to buy her some sort of coffee from Korea for her hard work). But no no, they didn’t go to an aquarium. It would be far too ordinary for the most extraordinary person on this planet. So, what did they do? They went swimming with the fishes. To be precise, with sharks. To be even more precise, with wild sharks in the middle of a pacific ocean.
And one shark even tried to attack Jinwoo. It ended up with Thomas blowing it up with one punch underwater. Poor thing. Jinwoo hopes that his donation to the marine life was enough for it to rest in peace and not hold a grudge against a certain stupid man.
And Zhigang, oh Zhigang, he outdone everyone by a mile. Not only has he decided to go on a mountain hike with Jinwoo. He was somehow able to have a whole week off for it (how many human lives were sacrificed for it to happen?). Even if half of the hike Jinwoo spend on his back because he wasn’t made for walking for so long. He was a city boy they have transport for such things!
So yes, his soulmates were spoiling him with both, attention and gifts. Jinwoo would like to say that it was due to their love, which it was, but half of the reason is also because they are incredibly possessive. Which means jealousy is a given with their lover having two other soulmates. So as much as Jinwoo knew they loved him, he also knew how competitive they were. It was like he was petting a dog and the other dog got jealous of the attention the dog was receiving and tries to steal it away. Yes, that was the best explanation.
And one small detail was also that Jinwoo was traveling a lot. And by a lot he means he could board the planes for 6 times in a single week. Crazy, isn't it? But what could he do? Two of his soulmates lived in USA, his third lived in China meanwhile his younger sister was in South Korea and was not planning to move out of the country.
But it wasn't like Jinwoo was the only one traveling to other countries to see his soulmates. His lovers also frequently visited Korea to spend time with not only him but also his sister. They were rather fast to deduce the fact that the road to Jinwoo’s heart was led through his sister. And paid bills. That too.
With introductions out of the way, today, for some reasons, the stars aligned so well that all three of his partners decided to make a suprise visit to him and so they were in his apartment right now. Chris was laying on the couch putting his head on Jinwoo’s lap as they both watched a rather heated match Zhigang and Jinah had in Mario kart. But really, Jinah should know that when it comes to anything the Chinese usually won. Not to mention the fact that the usually fast paced games like Mario kart were more like child’s play to high ranking hunters to whom the game was moving as slow as a snail. But even with that she was putting up a good fight.
He could also hear cranking and jiggling in the kitchen signifying that Thomas, yes, Thomas of all people who could burn water if he tried to boil it was cooking in the kitchen. Jinwoo might be slightly afraid for his kitchen but the Goliath promised that he took some cooking lessons and wanted to impress Jinwoo.
And so, he, his sister and his soulmates were spending a quite (as much as it could be) evening together. And also with, well, the numerous hunters and workers from the Korean hunters association that were standing outside of his apartment building while people were getting evacuated from the nearest two streets. Great.
And from one side, do they honestly think that the beloved national heroes would fight in the middle of a city? And from the other side, yes, yes they would. Thomas and Zhigang weren't allowed to be in the same country much less in the same apartment. So he understands why they were outside waiting for the worst to come.
But did they actually think they would be able to do anything? Reason with those dumbasses? He doubts it.
“Somebody is coming to the door.” Chris mumbled his eyes closed as he slowly drifted to sleep.
“What?” Jinwoo asked because he wasn’t sure if what he heard was right. Was there actually someone brave (or just dumb) enough to come to the apartment where three national level hunters were were the notice of “to not be disturbed unless there is the second coming of Kamish”.
“Somebody is going to the door and is about to ring it.” Chris said again now turning his head to hide it in Jinwoo’s thighs away from the bright lights of the TV.
“A civilian?” He asked because there was no way they would send a hunter to deliver the news.
His soulmate didn’t even bother to answer as he heard Jinah curse after losing sixth game in a row.
“Jinah!” He called out as his sister turned around to show her tongue before returning to the game to a rather entertained Zhigang. The rule of the house was: no cursing. Whenever it was the rule his mother imposed in their old home or the rule he was imposing right now on everyone present. He would enjoy to at least have some reminiscence of his mother even if in such a small way.
“Mierda!” He heard Thomas curse in Spanish in the kitchen as something fell to the floor creating a sharp sound of a pan falling to the floor making him wince.
“Thomas!” Jinwoo called out again as he heard him muffle something as the doorbell finally ringed.
“I will go look who that is.” Korean said carefully to put the head that was laying on his lap on the pillow that was nearby. He could hear how Chris protested but didn’t hold him put as Jinwoo went to answer the door to the unfortunate soul that was send to deliver whatever news there was to deliver.
But to his suprise, the person who greeted him by the door was not a man or a woman in a neat suite. It was a girl. A young girl, maybe Jinah’s age stood holding the handle of her back her blonde hair put in a messy bum with hair sticking out. The color distinctly reminded him of Thomas’s hair. She wore a long dress that almost reached the floor if not for the heels. She had striking blue eyes, the very same that Chris had, the color of deep sea that contrasted sharply to his fire abilities. Not to mention the sharp features of her face that felt like he was looking at Zhigang.
They stood in a weird silence as the girl stood still her eyes downcast on the tips of her hills before Jinwoo finally broke the silence.
“Uhm, hello? Can i help you with something?” He asked as the girl raised her head before replying to him.
“Hello.” She answered and didn’t say anything else. And Jinwoo was sure he heard a muffled laugh. She would need to go and grab a frying pan and beat a certain someone who laughed.
“Can i help you..?” He asked as the girl nodded, her features unchangingly cold.
“I will not beat around the bush, one of your soulmates is my biological father.” A lot of things happened in that moment. He heard how something metal fell to the ground, something exploding, and the sound of firecrackers being lit up.
“…” Jinwoo stood silently as his polite smile was still on his face but now even wider as he closed his eyes. Why did he ever expect to have a calm evening with all of his soulmates?
…
“…” They sat at the kitchen that looked like it suffered through war . Jinwoo sat in between the girl who is yet to state her name and his soulmates who looked all rather tense.
“So, what is your name?” Jinwoo asked as the girl answered her features unchanging despite being in the presence of irritated hunters.
“ Sung Sarang” she said as Jinwoo was hit the second time in the heart this evening. So she has the same last name as he does… huh?
“…” the silence arose once more as they all exchanged looks with each other. Thomas wore his pink apron his gloves discarded somewhere as there a little bit of flour on his face (how did it even get there?). Chris hugged the pillow placing his head on top of it clearly displeased that his attempt at falling asleep was interrupted as Zhigang suspiciously eyed the blonde man. Jinwoo in his place just hid his face in his hands. Gods above, help him.
“I knew you were unfaithful!” Suddenly Zhigang exclaimed pointing his finger at Thomas.
“Who knew you would cheat on our Jinwoo like that! I thought you were better than this.” the seven star hunter said shaking his head as Thomas opened and closed his mouth like a fish taken out of the water.
“Don’t worry Jinwoo, i would never do that to you.” He turned around to face his soulmate who was clearly distressed and payed enough to deal with all of this.
“…” he sat silently deciding not to comment on the clear gap in logic. The girl looked like she was in between 16 and 19. So it would mean that the “cheating” would happen far earlier than the gates and the phenomenon of soulmates would even exist.
Jinwoo didn’t live in a fantasy, his soulmates were all older than him. They all had numerous partners throughout their years and even more so after becoming as famous as they were now. So something like that was bound to happen. Jinwoo just expected it to be a woman who would come and demand money for her toddler she birthed from one of his soulmates.
“I did not! Look at yourself you cockroach- can’t you see the girl is clearly asian? And she has very same facial features as you have! Jinwoo, i have not cheated on you! This cockroach did!”(again, has the common sense left the room?) Thomas shouted as Zhigang growled and showed his teeth. Really, was Jinwoo in a zoo or something?
“Dear, if this is some kind of prank then you have to confess now and not make it into a bigger deal then it is right now.” Chris began starring daggers at the innocent looking girl that may be the cause of Seoul's destruction.
“I have proof.” She said as Thomas and Zhigang stopped their bickering and looked at the girl who was opening her back as she placed some papers and a box on the kitchen table. Jinwoo finally lifting his gaze to look at the seemingly random things.
“Those are the letters my mother has exchanged with my father and this is the family heirloom he gave her that was passed down for generations.” She said as she went to open the box and show a pretty looking ring that looked really old.
Suddenly, Thomas and Zhigang looked at Christopher who just inspected the ring with his eyes.
“So you are the cheater!” Thomas exclaimed as Jinwoo slapped himself on the face. Yes, Reed family was known for having one bit too many heirlooms that they would die for. Jinwoo remembered how Chris once told him how a certain person who resembled his parents came and claimed that he and Chris were switched at birth and that he was the rightful heir. One DNA test later the fraud was kicked out. This somehow felt very similar to what was happening right now.
“Do you want me to burn your eyes out?” Chris turned around to ask Thomas who merely pointed at the girl.
“Look! She has the same eyes as you! You know blue eyes ain’t that common!” Jinwoo could almost watch in slow motion as sparks of fire appeared in Chris’s right hand ready to show it to the American's face.
“Do you know who of those three idiots is your father?” Jinwoo asked stopping the fight from starting as the girl shook her head.
“My mother always told me that my father died due to cancer but on her death bed she confessed that my father was one of the national level hunters. Before her death she wanted to go and confess her love she saw that my father already found his soulmate and didn’t want to create tension between the two. The three of you are the only national level hunters who have a soulmate.” She explained as she looked at Jinwoo who has as pale as a corpse. So now he was responsible for some poor woman not confessing her love because he existed? Should he be relieved that she didn’t came and ruin his relationship with one of his soulmates or mortified because her last wish wasn’t fulfilled because of him.
“Now, wait for a moment. Shouldn’t we do a DNA test first before jumping to conclusions?” Chris suggested clearly the only reasonable one in this room.
“Why should we? This ring is clearly belongs to your family.” Zhigang said cocking his head as Jinwoo watched the temperature rise in the air.
“Then why does it have Chinese design? Last time i checked my family wasn’t into Chinese culture.” He retorted back as Thomas suddenly grabbed the letters.
“They are written in Korean.” He said as he slowly read them. He really needs to put more effort into learning Korean because he couldn’t understand a single word. So clearly it was not his, he didn’t know Korean until some time after meeting Jinwoo.
“Let me see.” Chris asked taking the papers out of his hands reading through them.
“Not my handwriting. I have a cleaner one.” He said as he gave it to Zhigang to look.
“…” He blinked again as he turned the letter around to look at it at different angles.
“So you fucked a blondie huh?” Thomas said as Zhigang face became dumbfounded.
“Yep. This is your handwriting alright.” Jinwoo said looking over the shoulder as he gave it a glance to recognize his handwriting in Korean.
“… Let’s not jump to conclusions….” The Chinese man said all too defeated.
“I want to make a DNA test if that is possible.” the girl suddenly said as everyone nodded. This was a weird situation indeed.
…
“No way.” The Goliath mumbled to himself his sunglasses falling to the side showing one of his striking red eyes.
“ 我这次居然同意你的观点。” “for once i agree with you” Zhigang said as he lost all of his knowledge in his other languages opting to talk in Chinese instead.
“…” Chris instead forgot all languages he knew and just mumbled nonsensical things to himself.
“Well, that's weird.” Jinwoo merely said not bothered whatsoever. Why would he? This is not his problem!
“Looks like all three of you are my fathers.” The girl said weirdly not surprised or anything. Suddenly she looked at Jinwoo and walked to him.
“May you also take a DNA test?” Jinwoo looked at her his eyes wide open as he smiled.
“No.”
“Please?” She asked and Jinwoo shook his head, hell no. Why would he do a DNA test if this girl has nothing to do with him? Sure, Jinwoo has little to no ideas how this happened that a person could have three different biological fathers. And it wasn’t like it was a mistake on the laboratory. They went to six different buildings in the span of one evening and all the tests came positive. He wonders what that would mean to him.
…
Turns out, he is a mother of a child he was not pregnant with. No way. They must have lived in some weird fantasy bullshit. If what that girl said was true and she was truly 19 it would mean that Jinwoo birthed her when he was… 8 years old. Gracious god.
“Are all laboratories in South Korea broken? Send the damn DNA to China- at least i am sure it will come right.” Zhigang muttered as he read through papers of Jinwoo being the mother again and again.
“Laura? Yes. We might have a little problem. Scratch that. A big one.” He heard Thomas talk on the phone as Chris was nowhere found.
How did this thing happened again?