Some people are lucky, some people know who their soulmates are before they’re even told. It’s just a bond that they feel, and so when that bold mark shows up on their skin, it’s not informing them of anything new.

            Wen Junhui and Xu Minghao are some of these lucky people.

            And, okay, maybe Jeonghan is a little jealous.

            It’s just the way that Jun and Minghao fit so naturally, so perfectly that nothing seems to stand in their way, it’s enviable. When Jun moves, Minghao effortlessly follows. Jeonghan knows this – heck, the entire world knows this. So, after dating for over two years, neither of them were really surprised when, three minutes before Jun’s eighteen birthday, he feels a sharp, stinging sensation behind his ear. The name Minghao sits inscribed perfectly, curling around the shape of his ear in intricate detail.

            Jeonghan can still remember being woken up at 2 a.m. on the day of Minghao’s eighteenth birthday, the name Jun flashing on his phone, and he answered with a hushed and groggy Hello? because he didn’t want to wake up Seungcheol.

            In lieu of greeting, Jun loudly exclaimed, “He has my name. Did you hear that, hyung? He has my name! Minghao, tell him, baby.”

            Jeonghan heard a soft chuckle and then Minghao’s soft voice was at his ear, sounding amused and shy.

            “Hi hyung. Jun wants me to tell you that I have his name behind my ear.”

            Jeonghan smiled, eyes falling as he snuggled deeper into Seungcheol’s embrace. “That’s great, Minghao…. Hasn’t he had your name on him for a year?”

            Minghao chuckled and Jeonghan could hear Jun whining in the background. “He’s just excited,” Minghao explained. “You know him.”

            “Hmm,” Jeonghan hummed. “I’m happy for you two.”

            “Yeah,” Jeonghan could hear the smile in Minghao’s voice, “I’m happy too.”

            Jeonghan pushes the memory away, smiling to himself as he thinks of how lucky his friends are.

            “…and anyway, I told Chan that he could come in whenever he wanted to. I think he likes dancing with Minghao.”

            Jeonghan perks up, tuning back into the conversation. “Chan? He went to go see you guys?”

            Jun smirks. His arm is slinged over Minghao’s shoulder, pulling the younger boy into his side. His fingers play with the strands of Minghao’s hair, while Minghao sighs happily, practically melting into his boyfriends side. Jun raises a brow. “Yes, he’s been in this whole week. The kid is practically working himself to death.”

            Jeonghan frowns and then he’s reaching over the table towards Jun. Jun looks at his outstretched hand in curiosity, while Minghao just smiles as he slowly moves his head, and then Jeonghan is flicking Jun hard on the forehead.

            “Yah!” Jun exclaims, releasing Minghao to rub at the red spot on his forehead. “What was that for?”

            Jeonghan is opening his mouth to reply, but Seungcheol, who is sitting beside Jeonghan sloshing his drink around, says amusedly, “He thinks you’re working Chan too hard.”

            “Yah,” Jun whines, “I’m not making the kid work. The brat comes whenever he wants.”

            Jeonghan points a threating finger towards Jun, flicking his brows up towards his hairline. “You better give him next week off. He hasn’t come to see me and Seungcheol in a long time.”

            Jun raises a shoulder in a shrug, reaching out to pull Minghao back into his side. Minghao happily grabs Jun’s hands, interlocking their fingers, placing his head on the older boy’s shoulder. “Okay eomma,” he teases, rolling his eyes. “Do you want me to hold his hand while I walk him over to your place as well or what?”

            Jeonghan grabs some of the sticky rice in front of him with his chopsticks, and then he’s throwing them in Jun’s hair, causing the other boy to squeal as he shakes his head frantically.

            “Jeonghan!” Jun whines, his fingers in his hair.

            Jeonghan blinks innocently, using his chopsticks to pick up a piece of meat. “Yes?”

            “The last time you put rice in my hair, it took me an hour to get it all out!”

            He smiles, fluttering his lashes. “Yes, and the problem is?”

            Jun grumbles, Minghao happily helping him pick pieces of rice from his hair, and Seungcheol laughs, a hand sneaking around Jeonghan as the other boy happily bites into a piece of beef.

            Jeonghan glances across the restaurant, and then – oh my god. He squints, tilting his head and leaning forward to get a better look. He lets out a loud laugh because – holy , that’s Jihoon with another boy and it looks like they’re on a date.

            His hand comes up to cover his mouth, a twinkling laugh escaping his lips as he glances at Seungcheol to see if he noticed the younger boy on the other side of the restaurant. It seems like he was the only one who noticed, because everyone else at the table just looks at him curiously.

            “Babe,” Jeonghan laughs, “babe, Jihoon is here.”

            Seungcheol frowns, raising a curious brow. Jun and Minghao look at each other in confusion, and Jun mumbles, “Okay?”

            “And he’s on a date.”

            Seungcheol chokes on his water and Jun practically crawls over Minghao to look around. “What?” Seungcheol asks once he’s gotten his breath back and Jeonghan points happily at the spot where he saw the younger boy.

            “Holy ,” Jun whispers as he looks. “Holy , you’re right.”

            Minghao glances from over Jun, his eyes wide. “Hyung is on a date!”

            “Oh my god,” whispers Seungcheol, his eyes not leaving the couple. “I feel like if I blink, it’ll disappear.”

            Jeonghan smiles. “Let’s go crash their date.”

            And everybody instantly retreats.

            Jun scoffs, sitting back in his seat. “And get my beat by the little one? No thanks.”

            “Yeah,” Minghao frowns. “Hyung is kind of scary.”

            Jeonghan rolls his eyes at the two before he glances at Seungcheol, his brows raised. Seungcheol, to be completely honest, looks scared out of his mind, but Jeonghan flashes him a pretty smile, and Seungcheol finds himself agreeing.

            “Yay!” Jeonghan grabs his boyfriends hand, standing up. He glances at Jun and Minghao, making his eyes go wide and, slowly but surely, Minghao stands up, a bashful smile on his face. Jun looks at his boyfriend with a betrayed expression.

            “Babe!” Jun exclaims.

            Minghao shrugs, smiling. “Eomma says we have to go.”

            Jun is grumbling to himself as they stalk over there, but he still holds Minghao’s hand.

            As soon as they reach the table, they crowd behind Jihoon in silence, hoping the younger boy hasn’t noticed them yet. Seungcheol slams his hands loudly on Jihoon’s shoulder, causing the small boy to jump up and turn around in his chair. As soon as he catches a glance at the group of friends, he frowns, muttering, “Well ,” underneath his breath.

            Jeonghan is smiling when he quickly glances at Jihoon’s date.

            Jihoon’s date smiles shyly at him.

            And Jeonghan feels something in his chest shift as he looks into those sparkling brown eyes.

⚘❁⚘

            The first thing Jihoon notices as soon as he sees his date is that he’s cute.

            He’s taller than him (but that’s a given), with black hair that falls into his soft brown eyes, a bright smile lighting up his face. Jihoon watches his eyes crinkle, a small blush flushing the taller boy’s face. This guy’s eye smile is great.

            “Ah, hi, Jihoon. I’m Joshua.”

            Jihoon finds himself smiling at the nervous tone in his voice. “Hi Joshua,” he bows, taking a seat. “You already now my name, it seems.”

            Joshua smiles, stuffing his hands in his pocket as he hums an agreement. “Yeah, Seungkwan-ah gave me the rundown on you.”

            Jihoon raises a brow, crossing his arms over his chest, his tone sounds somewhat defensive. “Yeah? What’d he tell you about me?”

            Joshua’s eyes go wide, his hands coming up defensively as he shakes his head. “No, no! He didn’t say anything bad, he just…” Joshua deflates, glancing at Jihoon from underneath his lashes, smiling shyly. “Sorry?”

            Jihoon finds himself smiling, leaning over the table. “I’m just kidding.”

            Joshua lets out a nervous laugh, rubbing the back of his neck.

            Jihoon raises a brow at this, noticing that the blush on the other boy’s face is very prominent now. His lips twitch into a smile. “Are you nervous?”

            The older boy smiles, letting out a laugh. It rings in Jihoon’s ears. “Am I that obvious?”

            Jihoon shrugs. “A little bit.”

            Joshua lets out a small breath, “I don’t really go on dates.”

            “I don’t either.”

            There’s a small awkward silence, and both are a bit relieved when someone comes to take their order. They both order more than the typical person eats, and their waitress looks at them as if they’re animals, asking them in a disbelieving tone Are you sure? You’re getting enough for six people. And both Jihoon and Joshua look at each other, smiling as they answer that they’re aware. Conversation seems to flow easier after this, both of them laughing and joking with each other.

            “So,” Joshua hooks his hands together, “Seungkwan tells me you’re unmarked?”

            Jihoon clamps his lips together. “Yeah,” he states, “no tattoos.” The inside of his elbow burns with the lie.

            “Hmm,” Joshua raises a brow, a knowing look on his face. He opens his mouth to speak, but then he’s glancing behind Jihoon, a small frown marring his face. His eyes shift a little to the left, and then the frown drops from his face, a panicked expression replacing it.

            Jihoon is about to question what he’s looking at when he feels warm, heavy hands land on his shoulders, causing him to jump in his seat. He turns around, looks into a pair of laughing brown eyes and a wide smile, and says, “Well .”

            “Jihoon-ah!” Seungcheol smiles. He glances quickly at Joshua. “Aren’t you going to introduce us to your date?”

            Jihoon grumbles, “No, leave me alone.”

            Jun, the teasing bastard that he is, steals a seat from the neighboring table, pushing it next to Jihoon’s as he plops down in it, pulling Minghao onto his lap. “Come on, Jihoonie, don’t be rude.”

            Jihoon rolls his eyes, begrudgingly gesturing to his friends. Idiots, honestly, the lot of them.

            “Joshua, the sitting beside me is Jun,” the boy raises his head in a nod, “and the one on top of him is Minghao. In case they haven’t made it obvious enough, they’re soulmates.” Minghao flushes as Jihoon says this, hiding his head in Jun’s neck, causing the older to smirk as he wraps his arms around the younger boy. Jihoon makes no move to hide his distaste, causing Jun to stick his tongue out just before he presses a kiss to the top of Minghao’s hair.

            Jihoon rolls his eyes, turning to Seungcheol. “This here is Seungcheol,” the older boy waves, “and this is his soulmate…. Jeonghan….” Jihoon trails off, for two reasons.

            One, Joshua seems to already be staring intently at Jeonghan, not paying attention to him and –

            Two, Jeonghan is staring back at Joshua just as intently.

            Jihoon looks between the two, watching as Joshua smiles softly at Jeonghan, his expression a completely different one than Jihoon has seen all night, and he sees Jeonghan’s lips start to twitch into a bright smile.

            It’s a bit disturbing, to be honest.

            Jihoon frowns, reaching his foot forward to kick Joshua. “Joshua?”

            Joshua makes no move, still staring at Jeonghan.

            Jihoon kicks him again, harder, and hisses. “Hyung!”

            This seems to make him snap out of it because then he’s wincing, just before his eyes turn curious. “Hyung?” Joshua questions.

            Jihoon’s lips spread into a tight smile. “Yes, hyung. I was just introducing you to my friends.”

            Joshua lets out a small squeak, glancing at Jeonghan again quickly before he looks back at Jihoon. “Friends?” he whispers.

            Jihoon smiles, nodding. “Yes, these are my friends. Say hi.”

            Joshua smiles, and Jihoon notices that it looks a bit tight. “Hello, I’m Joshua.”

            Seungcheol says a greeting back, but Jihoon is a bit distracted because he has just now noticed that Seungcheol’s hands are still on his shoulder. Seungcheol is applying just enough pressure to make Jihoon relax in his seat. Every time Seungcheol speaks, Jihoon feels the hairs at the back of his neck stand up, Seuncgheol’s words blowing down Jihoon’s back.

            “Joshua,” Jihoon hears Jeonghan whisper, seemingly in a daze. “Joshua.” He shakes his head, the cloudly look escaping from his eyes. He throws a quick smile at Joshua, and Jihoon notices that Jeonghan reaches out to clutch Seungcheol’s arm, a little too harshly if the wince Seungcheol gives is any indication. “That’s a nice name.”

            Joshua plays with his chopsticks, the tips of his ears red. “Thanks.”

            Jihoon glances between both of them. When he catches Joshua’s eyes, he raises a brow in question. Joshua just looks at him with red cheeks and dejected eyes before he’s quickly looking away, avoiding eye contact. And this is how they spend the rest of their night, with Jihoon’s friends sitting around them, eating all the food they ordered (Jun has the audacity to eat most of it and then complain that there wasn’t enough), and Joshua saying nothing.

            It’s only when Joshua is walking Jihoon home that Jihoon decides to say something.

            Jihoon grabs at the sleeve of Joshua’s sweater, stopping him in his path. Joshua sighs, turning to the younger boy. Jihoon raises a curious brow, releasing the older boy from his hold. “What was that about back there?”

            Joshua smiles sadly. “Your friends are nice, Jihoon.”

            “I know,” Jihoon says, because really, he might be a bit cold on the outside, but he loves his friends. He knows they’re amazing, but that’s not what he’s talking about right now. “But cut the crap, Joshua, tell me what was happening back there.”

            Joshua lets out a sigh, slumping his shoulders. His voice sounds small. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

            Jihoon raises a brow. “Try me.”

            And Joshua looks at him with hopeful eyes, and for a second, Jihoon thinks that he’s going to tell him, but then Joshua is shaking his head, a small smile on his lips. “I can’t,” he forces out.

            Jihoon frowns as Joshua lets out a small laugh, his eyes looking wet. And Jihoon starts to panic. “Oh god, please don’t cry. I can’t handle crying people.”

            Joshua lets out a shaky laugh, wiping his eyes. “I’m sorry.” He takes a deep breath, squaring his shoulders. The next smile that he gives Jihoon is sincere, all bright and wide. “I had fun on our date,” his eyes twinkle, “Jihoonie.”

            Jihoon groans, reaching out to smack the older boy as he laughs. “Don’t.”

            Joshua is shaking his head, laughing softly. “Okay, just as long as you call me hyung.”

            Jihoon looks at him bewildered. “You can’t be serious.”

            “Try me, Jihoonie.”

            Jihoon is frozen but then he throws Joshua a sickly sweet smile, fluttering his lashes. “I hate you, hyung.”

            Joshua laughs, reaching out to ruffle Jihoon’s hair, and since technically Jihoon has to be respectful, all he does is smack Joshua in the stomach softly – Joshua oomfs! and Jihoon grins – okay, so maybe not so softly.

            Jihoon feels the need to say something. “I had fun too. Maybe we could be friends.”

            Joshua smiles sincerely. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

            They walk the rest of the way in silence, and when they reach Jihoon’s house, Joshua exchanges phone numbers with the young boy. He’s stepping back into the street when Jihoon stops him.

            “Joshua!”

            He glances back and Jihoon knows that it’s none of his business, but he can’t stop seeing Joshua looking at Jeonghan like he’s never seen the sun before that moment.

             “Are you ever going to tell me?”

            And Joshua knows exactly what he’s talking about, because his shoulders slump and he lets out a long sigh.

             “Maybe. Goodbye, Jihoon.”

            Jihoon watches him walk away and he frowns, reaching up to scratch at his elbow. He pushes his sleeve up, looking at the various scratches that run up the length of his forearm. Since the morning of his eighteenth birthday, Jihoon has tried everything he knew of to try to get rid of his mark. But nothing, not even tearing at the skin, would get rid of it. Jihoon would end up with bloody and raw skin, but that damn mark would always show back up as soon as his skin healed, all bright and bold and looking as if it’d been imbedded into the inside of his elbow since he’d been born.

            He frowns at the name.

            Seungcheol.

            He drags his nails across the mark, putting just enough pressure to not break the skin.

            Stupid mark.

a/n: thanks to my subscribers and for commenting! you make me want to shout mansae ^*^