She waved to me as more people poured inside. It was getting jam-packed inside to the point I was getting smashed in the corner between the side of the seats and the closing door. I was madly uncomfortable as I wanted to get off and just run home. I was stuck now.
—
I was jammed in the corner between the side of the seats and the closing door. I was madly uncomfortable and wanted to get off and just run home. I was stuck now. I sighed. I heard the customary voice lines from the conductor signaling he was about the start.
I had to take three stations to get close to the beach. This is going to be a long ride. We got to the next stop. Not many got off, but tried to get on. Many shifted around to let people in. Somebody was being a little rowdy, asking for some space when it wasn't much to begin with.
I rolled my eyes. Some people were pushed away. Someone with a hood up fell towards me.
They caught their selves before falling into me.
"Are you okay? " I whispered and yelled towards them.
They grunted.
They lifted their head, stringing curses. They caged me in my corner. I looked away uncomfortably but oddly complaint. The curses stopped from the other man in front of me. I felt their eyes on me. I tried ignoring it, but it seemed like they were getting closer to me. My anger flared. I looked at them, about to give them a piece of my mind.
Red eyes.
"The man at the park," I stuttered out.
His eyes bore into mine. He leaned in super close. I looked up at him, feeling myself trying to get away, but I was trapped. I was scared. I couldn't control my pheromones in time, letting out a sour scent of distress. I panicked when he moved his hand to touch my cheek. I observed that one of his fingers stayed up while touching my face.
My pheromones calmed down. This weird warm feeling shot through my body the longer this man touched me. I swear I could hear his heartbeat synchronized with mine. I hesitated to touch his cheek.
He leaned close to my ear, "You're too young to be my mate."
His raspy voice sent shivers down my spine. I then registered what he said. Mate? He's my soulmate! I don't know why, but I felt... I don't know, happy? I was elated, smelling his faint scent wrapping around me felt oddly comforting.
"You're my soulmate?" I asked in disbelief, rubbing his cheek with my thumb.
I engraved his face in my mind.
"Disappointed?" His hesitant smile anticipated my answer.
"No, not in the slightest," I said, smiling at him.
Lady Fate truly has a twisted sense of humor. The very man I had bared my soul to, confiding all my secret hopes and pains beneath the hush of night, turned out to be my destined mate.
I couldn't help but giggle, dazed with amazement at my own fortune. How bizarre, how beautifully ironic, that the stranger who had listened patiently as I poured out my heart, who had offered quiet reassurance in my loneliest moment, was the soulmate I'd been searching for all along.
The universe worked in mysterious, mischievous ways, and now, all those whispered words had bound me even closer to him.
"What's so funny?" His voice is charming with a hint of danger, trying to read me.
"We just met yesterday. Isn't that fate?" I smiled.
He chuckled softly, "This could only be a coincidence."
"Then I'm lucky you coincidentally became my mate."
"Lucky? Quite the opposite, brat."
I frowned, "You couldn't be that much older than me."
"I'm 20."
I was shocked, I knew he was older than me, but not 4 years older than me. I felt stares and tried to look around, but he distracted me.
"Just look at me. Nosy fools. It's not safe." He said, looking back, shielding my body from peering eyes.
I have never been protected like this before; it makes my stomach flutter.
"Alright." I looked down, shifting my body as a scorching heat stretched through my body.
I heard him chuckle again. I looked up, seeing him smirking, his red eyes teasing.
"You look like a Tomato." He said, grabbing my nose and wriggling it.
I slapped his hand away, flustered.
"Shut up."
Time passed as we bantered, and I was comfortable leaning on his chest, not wanting to leave. I knew my stop was coming soon, and I pitied myself.
"Can we meet again?" Practically begging with my eyes.
"No." He sounded serious.
I couldn't stop myself from tearing up. My vision blurred as hot, silent tears welled up in my eyes. I turned my face away, staring intently at my trembling hands, twisting my fingers together in a futile attempt to distract myself.
Embarrassment washed over me, prickling my skin with shame as I realized he was close enough to see every vulnerability etched on my face. Swallowing hard, I forced myself to rein in my emotions and scent, searching desperately for a logical reason behind my reaction.
There were so many possibilities: perhaps it was too dangerous for us to be together, maybe he already had someone else in his life, or it could be that he simply didn't want me at all.
"You don't look half bad. I never knew a crying face could be so pretty." The man mumbled that part absentmindedly, and I couldn't hear what he said.
"Could I hug you goodbye then?" I inquired.
"What are you doing after this?" He asked, ignoring my question.
He stood there trapping me between him and the wall, never taking that stupid smile off his handsome face.
"I'm going to train with my mentor and talk to my friend about this date coming up." I don't know why I said that last part. I felt that if I didn't provoke him, hoping he would let me go just like that.
The train came to a halt. I wiped my stray tears.
"Goodbye, mister, I met you at the park," I said, smiling bitterly, not looking at him.
The doors slid open and, without hesitation, I hurried past him, careful to avoid even the slightest touch. My footsteps echoed as I walked away, each step heavier than the last. Suddenly, I found myself sprinting up the staircase, panic flaring in my chest. I had just met my mate, and he didn't want me. Every reassuring word he'd spoken last night evaporated from my mind, leaving behind only hollowness. Where vibrant colors used to paint my world, now there was nothing but a dull, lifeless gray returning.
Before I could gather myself, rough hands yanked me back into a shadowed alleyway. A palm clamped down over my mouth, smothering my cry before it formed. My heart hammered wildly in my chest, fear freezing me in place.
"Alright, alright, I let the joke go on too long. Stop crying." The man from the park said.
I shook my head, biting one of his fingers. He scoffed, not even bothered. I tried to force his arms off of me, but they wouldn't budge.
"Let me go!" I said, muffled behind his hand.
"You're so daring." He snarled in my ear.
I'm scared. This is different from the teasing man earlier. I felt he would swallow me whole if I didn't stop resisting. I did my best to relax.
"I should break your legs now, running away from me. " He threatened me as his pheromones indicated his simmering rage.
I trembled. I never felt this threatened, even when All Might, the number one hero, tried to make me submit. On instinct, I bared my scent gland. I don't know why I knew in the back of my mind he would hurt me.
"Don't ever run away from me unless I tell you to." I let my anger flare, and it was him telling me not to see him again, not the other way around. His arm around my waist loosened.
I was about to get away, but his grip tightened. He was about to speak, but I cut him off, forcing his hand away.
"I'm just obliging to your wish never to meet again. You're so contradictory. Let me go!" I tried wriggling out of his grip. I kicked my legs, but that didn't work either.
He sighed, frustrated, "I'm in the wrong."
His scent calmed, not wrapping around my neck. I calmed down as well. I had this weird feeling that he doesn't say that often.
"That was cruel."
"...I know," his voice low.
"Will I see you again?"