Author’s Note: For those who don’t know, soulmate AU is a popular fanfiction AU with a semi-realistic setting where the basic idea is that people have some kind of a mark (in this story, a name) that reveals someone’s soulmate. In the AU, soulmates have been popularized by the media in a very romantic way, but in life, not all soulmates ended up happily or even got together at all. What Jimin’s fate will be like, though, remains to be seen ;)

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It was simply incredible, how different the inscriptions could be. Some names were in elegant, cursive letters, like the twirling Kim Seok Jin inscribed on Namjoon’s arm. Some names were in painful letters deeply embedded in the skin, that looks almost as if carved in with a knife. Such marks were prone to even hurt, Jimin had heard. He supposed Yoongi’s mark was something of that sort, since he always had a bandage on his right hand that he never took off, and would occasionally wince in pain out of the blue. Some names were upside down, like the playful Kim Tae Hyung on the side of Hoseok’s neck. Some people’s marks were in all caps; some in all small letters; some were in an almost illegible scribble, while some looked as if stamped on by a typewriter.

Or, in Jimin’s case, all of the above.

There was the cursive Jeon Jung Kook on his forearm; the deep-set Jeon Jung Kook in the middle of his back; the all-capital JEON JUNG KOOK on his calf; the small lettered jeon jung kook creeping up his thigh, the neat Jeon Jung Kook on his collarbone; the upside-down Jeon Jung Kook on his shoulder.

And there were even more. In total, Jimin had over 20 inscriptions on different parts of his body.

And every last one of them, even the tiny name on the tip of his pinkie, said Jeon Jung Kook.

He had first seen an interpreter of the marks at age 7, when a group of experts who analysed the inscriptions came to his school. While waiting for his turn to talk to an interpreter, Jimin was hopping up and down on his chair, excited by the prospect of finding out more about his destined soulmate, and why this person’s name was written all over his body. But the poor man who was supposed to tell him about his soulmate was just as lost as he was.

“You- are you quite sure those aren’t tattoos, boy?!” shrieked the interpreter, examining the names one by one with trembling fingers.

“Umm. Yeah?” said the seven-year-old Jimin. He didn’t really think it was that big of a deal. “Like, I’ve had them for as long as I can remember. Mom said that, when I was a baby, I looked like a page from a book. Words everywhere.” Jimin chuckled.

The interpreter didn’t find that funny. He stared at Jimin’s marks warily.

“I’ve been interpreting the marks for a very long time, young man. But I have never seen someone having the same name even twice on their body - let alone this many!” He squinted at Jimin, as if still wondering whether the seven-year old could have possibly got a ton of tattoos and was just pretending they were the true marks of a soulmate.

“So… no one else has this many marks?” Jimin pouted. Honestly, he was kind of disappointed. “No one else is like me?”

“… Not that I’ve seen, no. But who knows... Some people never even see an interpreter, you know. There might be people like you somewhere.”

But Jimin had never seen anyone whose bodies were loaded with writing as his was. In fact, all of his classmates had only one small name on their skin. Rumor had it there was a boy from another class who had no name on him at all; and Jimin had an aunt who had two different names on her, one on each arm. But Jimin did not feel like his aunt was the same as him. She had two different names, which was very unlike Jimin’s repetative Jeon Jung Kook drawn across his entire body.

While he was in elementary school, Jimin did not care about the name on his body much. His parents had told him it was something to think about when he gets older, and he took their word for it and played and laughed without much worry. The other kids would occasionally ask why he had Jeon Jung Kook everywhere on him, and why he had a boy’s name when he was supposed to have a girl’s. But Jimin would say he didn’t know (no lie there – he really had no clue) and the kids would quickly lose interest and they’d continue playing whatever game they were in the middle of.

But as puberty approached and Jimin started middle school, it was getting more and more difficult to answer his classmates’ incessant questions and, occasionally, to endure their mocking. It wasn’t just the fact that Jimin looked like a walking tattoo parlor advertisement even though he was just a kid and had never got a single tattoo in his life – he was also getting tired of saying that, yes, he had a boy’s name on him, and, no, he didn’t know why, will you guys off already? It landed him in quite a few fights and, in the end, his mother, sighing tiredly, suggested that he starts wearing long-sleeved shirts and pants all year long, as well as to grow his hair to hide the name at the back of his neck. Gloomily, Jimin agreed, even though in the summer he absolutely hated it, sweating in his long clothes and looking enviously at the other kids, all in shorts and short-sleeved shirts.

High school wasn’t much better – but things changed once he got into university. For one thing, he met others who had boy’s names on them, like Namjoon and Hoseok did. But now, they did not really get made fun of. A few puzzled glances would be thrown their way every now and then, but nothing like the mocking and bullying Jimin had experienced in middle school.

Some things, however, hadn’t changed. One was the fact no one else seemed to have the same name written on their skin more than once. Jimin had hoped he’d meet someone, at least one other person, who was in the same situation as him. Especially since middle school, he had felt different, alienated, as if he was somehow fundamentally different from the other kids, even though what set him apart was only the repeating signs on his skin. It would have been nice to meet at least just one more person with one name repeated on their body. Then, perhaps, he would feel a bit better about his abnormal occurrence of the mark, as the interpreters would call it. He had seen many interpreters over the years, mostly ushered into their offices by his parents. But none of the experts had much to tell him.

“You’re a unique case, Jimin,” a female interpreter had gently told him, “and as such we cannot predict when you will meet your soulmate, or what will happen when you do. But I am looking forward to your future. I have no doubt it will be just as unique as your marks.”

However, Jimin’s life seemed everything but unique. He went to university. He danced. He played basketball. He hung out with friends. And he never, ever met anyone called Jeon Jung Kook.

I wonder if he’ll ever appear, thought Jimin more often than he’d admit, or I’m just going to die with Jeon Jung Kook written all over me without even knowing who the guy is.

But all the uncertainty, all the questions and all the waiting ended abruptly at the very start of the second year of university. It was already late September, but the summer seemed to had decided to stay a while longer. The lecture hall was stuffy and hot, and even the wide open window was doing almost nothing to alleviate the burning heat. The lecture had barely started, yet Jimin was already all sweaty in his jeans and long-sleeved shirt. As on all hot days, he thought bitterly about whether he should just stop wearing long clothes all the time and just not care about what people say about his marks.

But he had never shown the names to anyone since middle school, too haunted by the bitter memories of getting bullied and ridiculed. The only exception was Namjoon. During the second semester of the first year, while hanging out at Jimin's place, Jimin had still been internally debating whether it was really a good idea while shyly taking off his shirt to show Namjoon his marks.

But Namjoon had been everything except mocking. He was fascinated.

“Holy , this is – this is insane!” said Namjoon, tracing the name on Jimin’s collarbone, then the one on his neck, then moving to the one on the back of his left arm. “How many Jeon Jung Kooks do have?”

“On my body, 23. In my life, zero.” Jimin sighed.

“Hey, you’re bound to meet him sooner or later,” said Namjoon with a dimpled smile while helping Jimin put his shirt back on. It felt good, Jimin concluded, sharing his secret with someone who did not judge him. Suddenly he jumped on Namjoon, hugging him tightly until Namjoon was practically choking.

“What does this mean, though?” said Namjoon ponderously once he had freed himself of Jimin and could breathe again. “I mean, does this mean you and this Jeon Jung Kook are, like, super-soulmates or something?”

“Dunno.” said Jimin honestly. He didn’t really get what Namjoon meant by super-soulmates. Soulmates were already supposed to be two individuals closer to each other than anyone else and destined to be together. What would super-soulmates be like? Siamese twins?

He had forgotten to ask about Namjoon’s own soulmate that day, and Namjoon somehow never brought him up. A few times, it even seemed like Namjoon was avoiding the topic. But that was over with when Jimin one day decisively marched to his usual table in the university canteen and slammed his tray next to Namjoon’s.

“So. Kim Seok Jin.”

Jimin half-expected Namjoon to choke on his sandwich, get nervous or try to change the subject, but Namjoon replied calmly.

“Yeah? What about him?”

“Well, who is he? Did you meet him yet?”

“Umm, yeah.”

Jimin eyed him expectantly, but Namjoon just kept eating like a starving child, so Jimin saw no alternative than to snatch away his sandwich.

“Yah, what the hell?! I’m hungry as you know!”

“I can see that. I’ll give it back - after you tell me all about your soulmate.” Jimin smiled, “okay?”

Namjoon just shook his head. “Why do you wanna know about him so badly?”

“Because! You never talk about him.”

“You never even asked.”

 “It kinda seemed like you didn’t want to tell me.”

“There’s just not much to tell, really.” Jimin didn’t think Namjoon would continue, and he already opened his mouth to complain when Namjoon began.

“There was this tall pink-haired guy. I used to work at a fast food place during high school, you know? A guy came one day and ordered three whole meals, PLUS desert. I thought he was ordering for a group. But then he said he needed only one pair of chopsticks.” Namjoon chuckled. “He really ate all that food, you know. This skinny guy, all by himself. I couldn’t believe my damn eyes.”

“How did you know he was your soulmate?”

“He paid with a credit card. It had his name on it.”

Jimin was eagerly waiting for the rest of the story, but Namjoon didn’t continue.

“And? What happened then? Did you get together?”

“Nah, nothing like that.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Not all soulmates get together, Jimin. It’s not that simple.” said Namjoon thoughtfully.

“But what happened?” insisted Jimin. “What did you do when you saw his name on the credit card?”

Namjoon smiled slightly. “Well, I freaked out, of course. Didn’t think my soulmate would stumble right into my diner. Was shaking like crazy and everything.”

“And?”

“I told him he was my soulmate. He told me he wanted extra sauce on his chicken wings.”

Jimin was confused at first, and then, completely scandalized.

“What the hell?!”

Namjoon just shrugged his shoulders. “Guess he wasn’t into soulmates as much as he was into food.”

“No,” Jimin said decisively, “Maybe he didn’t hear you-”

“I was pretty loud, you know.”

“Maybe he thought you were joking.”

“He definitely saw the name on my arm.”

Suddenly Jimin realized how calmly Namjoon was saying all this - as though it was a funny story and nothing more.

“It- it really doesn’t bother you?” asked Jimin.

“Not really. Wasn’t the first time in my life that I got rejected, you know.”

“But-but he’s your soulmate,” said Jimin. This whole story didn’t make sense to him at all. “Did you ever see him again?”

“Nope. Never showed up at the diner again. A few months later, I got into uni so I decided to quit that job.”

Again, Jimin was shocked. ”You- how could you?! Maybe this Seok Jin would show up again-“

“Jimin, “ Namjoon suddenly got serious, “Life isn’t just about finding your soulmate.” He thought for a moment, then went on. “Nobody knows why we have these marks, or what they really mean – if they mean anything at all. You shouldn’t let a name on your skin decide your future.”

Jimin fell silent. Something bitter flashed across his face.

“I know. If I had just one mark, I might have been like you too, and just not cared. But…” Jimin rolled up his sleeves, and even though only his forearms were exposed, already four Jeon Jung Kooks stared back at him. And the rest of his body, Jimin knew, housed nineteen more.

“How can I ever ignore this?”

To be honest, Jimin had Jeon Jung Kook’s name written on him in so many places it was almost impossible not to wonder about him for even a moment. The long clothes helped alleviate his thoughts from his soulmate while he was outside.  But when he came home, the moment he’d take his shirt off, he’d face the Jeon Jung Kook on both his arms, on his collarbone and on his stomach too. If he doesn’t appear soon, I might start hating him, Jimin thought bitterly.

But when Jeon Jung Kook finally appeared on that boiling September day, barging into the lecture hall and hastily apologizing for being late, Jimin realized he could never, ever hate him. The very moment Jeon Jung Kook peered shyly through the door, a jolt of energy went up Jimin’s spine; his eyes went wide; his body got cold, then hot, then cold again; and there was an explosion in his chest, a feeling he could never quite describe except as something halfway between bursting fireworks and blooming flowers.

 “All right, all right, since today is the first day I will not give you an absence.” The lecturer peered at the nervous newcomer, wondering if he was new. “What’s your name again?”

 “Jeon Jung Kook.”

It was not Jung Kook himself who had said it. It was Jimin, who had accidentally muttered the name aloud, staring intensely at the very confused boy who, by some miracle of fate, chose the empty seat right in front of Jimin.

The lecture continued without a hitch, yet Jimin did not hear a single word his lecturer said, staring at the mass of messy brown hair in front of him and the silver glint of Jung Kook’s earring.

“Hey,” Jung Kook turned around once the lecture was over, “Do we know each other? How did you know my name?”

Because I can never think of anything BUT your name, thought Jimin.

“… Lucky guess.” he replied.

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