Chapter Text
It's strange.
Ever since Luca was young, he had the ability to see the red string of fate that connected fated individuals to each other. Granted, it was a special ability, but to Luca, it wasn't so special; to him, it was a curse.
"Luca, when you get older you'll meet someone you love very dearly-someone connected to you by the red string of fate- and you'll marry them," Luca's mother smiled at him warmly, sitting beside her husband.
Luca tilts his little head, "Then why is daddy's string connected to someone else?"
Shortly after that Luca's dad had left the family to run away with his mistress- his fated partner. He had left little Luca behind with his deterred and heartbroken mother, the only person who would take care of Luca.
Luca still doesn't forgive himself for breaking his family apart, if only his mouth weren't big.
They weren't destined to begin with, Luca thinks while walking down the path from his university dorms.
He spots a couple sitting on the bench ahead, leaning their heads together and laughing while they hold hands. Their strings weren't connected to each other.
Luca looks down to his feet, Can’t they have the decency to not be so touchy in public… They’re not even connected to each other.
“You’re so cute,” the boy says to the girl.
“Stop it, we’re in public,” the girl giggles, leaning her head further onto the man’s shoulder.
Luca shakes his head to himself.
They’ll break up soon anyway.
Luca walks towards his department building before making a sharp turn, crashing into a small body.
“Ah- I’m sorry,” Luca apologizes, looking down at the person and going to help them up before stopping. “Oh, Millie!”
Millie looks up at Luca, before smiling. “Oh! Hi Luca! Sorry we bumped into each other, I must’ve been turning too fast around the corner.”
Luca shakes his head while laughing, a flush adorning his cheeks, “No, please it’s okay! I should’ve paid more attention when I was turning.”
“Oh yeah, that reminds me,” Millie chirps, grabbing her phone from her pocket, her pinky’s string hanging loosely, “Me, Enna, and a few department friends are going to have dinner tomorrow night at around 8 p.m., I was wondering if you’d like to go with us?”
Luca almost jumps at the opportunity to eat dinner with Millie. He’s liked her ever since their sophomore year of college, it’s been a year since then.
“Of course! I mean- yeah of course I’d like to go!” Luca smiles, feeling embarrassed at his enthusiasm.
Millie looks at him confused, but laughs and smiles, “Okay.. well I’ll text you the details later then! See you around, Luca!”
“Yeah! See you around..” Luca watches as Millie continues around the corner before smiling to himself. He’s going to eat dinner with Millie tomorrow!! With a few others..
She’s so cute, Luca thinks to himself as he keeps walking. Whoever her fated partner is must be lucky..
Although Luca likes Millie, he couldn’t help but notice the first time he began having feelings that their strings weren’t connected. Luca had gone to his dorm disappointed that their strings weren’t connected, but his feelings for Millie weren’t fleeting, and continued to stay even a year later.
A notification dings his phone. Bringing it out, Luca expects to see information about tomorrow night’s outing. Instead, what catches his attention is a thin, red string being pulled, his red string.
Luca drops his jaw, ogling at the string that’s now directing him towards the arts departments. He follows the string, running to quickly find who could be tied to his pinky.
His heart pounds heavily in his chest, this is what Luca’s been waiting for ever since he knew the meaning behind the red string.
Thought flew around Luca’s mind, Is this it? Will I finally meet the person I was destined to be with?
Luca holds his breath as he approaches the door, the door that was hiding who the universe decided to pair him up with.
Luca slams the door open, gasping a bit for air. He looks up, finding a startled man around Luca’s age in front of him, holding a laptop and sketchbook. Luca looks around, trying to find the girl he had been attached to.
There’s no way.. Luca thought to himself. He turned his head towards the other man, whose vibrant purple eyes watched him with confusion. And there it was, his pinky that was holding onto the laptop tightly had a string tied around it, connecting all the way back to Luca’s.
Luca stared at the other in disbelief, his jaw dropped, while the other man stood waiting as well.
“Um.. can I help you?” the other man spoke up first, pulling Luca out of his trance. The man smiled before putting his sketchbook and laptop into his tote bag hanging off his shoulder.
“Are you the only one here?” Luca blurted, lips parted in anticipation of the question.
The man looked around, before looking back at Luca. His obsidian hair, highlighted with purple and a bold streak of yellow moving with his movements. “Uh.. yeah, I am. Do you need something? I can ask for the professor if you-”
“No!” Luca cuts the other off. Luca clears his throat, “I mean, no. I’m sorry, I thought there was someone else in this class.”
The other man smiles awkwardly, “Okay then..”
Silence falls upon the two once more. Luca’s heart is still pounding in his chest. He couldn’t believe it.
A man?? Why would I be paired with a man! Luca thinks to himself.
He felt like throwing up. Luca had always considered himself a strictly straight male, never having had thoughts about men romantically or sexually.
“Um,” the other student speaks up first, “I think I’m gonna go..? I hope you find who you’re looking for.”
The student leaves quickly, leaving a dazed Luca alone in the classroom.
Luca looks at his pinky, watching as the string points towards the direction the other students walks.
“No,” Luca feels his face turn cold, “no, no, no, no! There’s no way my string is connected to another man. A dude !”
Everything Luca had grown to expect came crumbling down, leaving him discouraged and confused more than he’s been since his parents separated.
The next day, Luca walks from his lecture. He leaned against the brick wall of his department, tilting his head back until it gently bumped against the wall.
He sighs, bringing his phone from his pocket to check the time. It was 2 p.m., meaning he had six hours before the outing with Millie and the others in his department.
Since his encounter with his destined partner, he had felt low on energy. It felt like a dream, and Luca had hoped it was. But Luca was smarter than that, and he had been dreading to encounter the other student.
If we’re fated partners, then we’ll have to encounter each other often.. Luca thinks to himself. Although he knew so, he was hoping, wishing that he wouldn’t see the other individual. Hoping that everything was indeed a dream, and he still had a chance to be connected to Millie in some sort of way.
His thoughts were interrupted when a familiar, adoring voice was heard calling his name.
“Luca!”
He turns his head to his side, seeing a cheerful Millie running towards him. Her small ponytail bouncing as she approaches him.
“Hi, Millie,” Luca smiles. His anxiousness seemed to somewhat fade away at the sight of her.
“You’re still coming to the outing, right? I told everyone ‘the boss’ was coming today,” Millie laughs mischievously, something she did when she was acting childish and playful.
Luca couldn’t help but smile harder. She’s adorable .
Luca looks down at her pinky, before redirecting his eyes to hers in disappointment. He almost forgets to respond until he sees her waiting eyes.
“Oh yeah! Of course I’m still going. The boss has to be there to manage everything after all,” Luca jokes back. Millie’s laugh chimes again, causing Luca’s chest to swell. He loved making her laugh.
Millie’s laughs calmed, before her eyes found someone else and widened. “Shu!”
Luca follows his gaze to where Millie was looking, his eyes quickly finding the other student from yesterday- Shu.
Shu turns his head, his eyes catching Millie. “Oh, hi Millie.” His eyes catch Luca quickly after, and his eyes widen in surprise.
Luca stares at Shu, surprised to see Shu, who he had met not long ago the night prior.
“Hi again,” Shu smiles at him, nodding while walking towards them.
‘Hi…” Luca greets. He looks down, noticing how their strings were still connected to each other, their pinkies connected by–what Luca deemed for sure now–a red curse.
Millie looks back and forth between the two. “You two know each other?” she asks in surprise.
“Uh.. we met just yesterday,” Luca says, keeping his gaze down, not wanting to meet Shu’s eyes.
“Wow, what a small world!” Millie laughed.
Luca’s chest tightened once more at the chime. Shu laughed along, “It really is.”
“Oh! Shu, would you like to join me, Luca, and a few others tonight for dinner? We’re having a little get-together at the Korean barbeque place a few minutes down!” Millie asks, smiling towards Shu.
Luca squints his eyes at Shu, feeling threatened, not liking her friendly attitude towards Shu.
“Uhh,” Shu starts. Luca tenses. He feels the need to be more guarded, more protective of Millie. And Shu must have felt this, because he glances at Luca, before redirecting his eyes towards Millie, smiling apologetically.
“I think I’ll pass this time. I have a few projects to do back at home. I’ll try to make it next time,” Shu gives a brighter smile.
Millie’s shoulders slump a little, before smiling again and shrugging her shoulders. “That’s a shame. Maybe next time, then!”
Shu nods his head before turning to Luca.
“Well, I better get going. I have class in a few minutes..” Shu looks down towards his watch. He glances back up to Millie, “I’ll see you another time Millie! And..”
Luca meets Shu’s gaze, his lilac eyes meeting Shu’s vibrant ones.
“Luca, right?” Shu confirms.
Luca only nods, not wanting to interact with the man that was seeming to take Millie's attention.
Shu nods back, pursing his lips. “Okay, well, catch you two another time then!”
Shu walks away from them, and Luca hopes, he really hopes they won’t.