Being an idol, tattoos were a topic of interest. On everyone’s 21st birthday, they get a tattoo. It’s painless and random. It could be anything, maybe a four leaf clover or even Saturn. The design itself may not be too important but every detail mattered in terms of finding someone with the exact same one.

There are only two people in the entire world who have the same tattoo. They are known as soulmates.

Some spend years or even decades finding their soulmate but others have it easy and end up finding their soulmate in the grocery store or while on vacation.

Mark Tuan was someone who hoped he would have it easy. On his 21st birthday he woke up with a rabbit’s paw on the inside of his left elbow. He had smiled when he saw it. Many of his fans compared him to a bunny anyways, so it wasn’t really out of character. He honestly couldn’t wait to show the world and laugh with them in the funny coincidence.

His other members smiled at him, Jackson even made him breakfast as a congratulatory gesture. He posted it on social media with a caption that read, “so whos my soulmate?” He added the eyes and rabbit emoji for comedic effect and watched the comments pour in from his fans all jokingly claiming to be his.

The first few fanmeets afterwards made Mark laugh more than any of the ones before them. Fans painted similar looking tattoos on their arms, some joking and some with real intentions. Mark only smiled at them and asked them if they found their soulmate yet. It was cute and coy as most would say it was him and he would only reply, “Me?” in his most dramatic voice.

The fan would laugh and continue down the line to the next member. Though, some were rather convincing and Mark even did a double take a few times, resulting in the fans’ widening eyes and hopeful smiles until Mark noticed a line out of place and laughed.

He enjoyed those first few weeks with his new tattoo, but as the weeks went on and his tattoo became old news it reminded him of his previous worries.

The problem with soulmates are that people are naturally lonely and most people want to love and be loved. This results in people dating and falling for others before they get their tattoo. It’s easy to love but it’s hard to face the ultimate consequence that someone is not their soulmate.

Mark’s issue was that sometime in the beginning of the year, he fell in love. He denied it for a long time, saying that he was only fond of that person and that they were merely best friends so of course he would feel a pull towards them.

But as the year continued, it became difficult to hide from his own feelings. One part of the issue was that the person he was in love with was a year younger than him, so he would have to live a whole year holding onto the hope that this person would magically happen to have the same tattoo.

Knowing what his own tattoo looked like was sort of a relief to Mark, at least he knew what to look for. But it only served as a looming reminder that if the person who stole his heart did not end up with the same one, he would have no hope to be loved back.

The other, more important part of the issue was that Mark fell for someone who did not take chances. They weren’t cavelier like Jackson, who had been dating his whole life despite the fear of falling for someone who he would eventually have to leave. Nor were they open like Bambam, whose face was an open book and spoke words as transparent as glass.

So, Mark was in a slump. He was stuck watching his love live out their life right in front of him, watching but never disclosing his true feelings.

As time passed, the sharp anxiety slowly transformed into a dull ache.

The new year came and Jackson and Jaebum woke up with tattoos of their own. It was a happy day for Jaebum as he found a two-tailed siamese cat on the back of his right shoulder. He tried to convince everyone that it was Nora but as Yugyeom pointed out, this cat had one too many spots. The younger didn’t mind, he was just excited to have it.

For Jackson however, it was a sad moment as he had been hoping to wake up to a tiger butterfly on his wrist but instead got a feather on his hip.

That day, Mark found him sulking on the couch when everyone else went to their different schedules.

“Tough morning?” He asked, sitting down next to his bandmate.

The younger sighed and rubbed his face with his hands, “God you have no idea.”

“I’m sorry,” Mark said with a sympathetic look, stirring the noodles in the instant ramen cup.

Jackson turned to look at him, “You know, you’re the first person today that’s said that. Everyone else didn’t even pretend to look surprised when I showed them the tattoo. If they didn’t say it to my face, their expression clearly said ‘I told you so.’”

Truth be told, Mark and the rest of their members never expected Jackson to have the butterfly tattoo. Jackson had only been dating the owner of the tattoo for a month prior but with his happy go lucky mentality, he of course thought they were going to be soulmates. It was sad to see the younger down, but everyone knew he would get over it in a matter of days.

“Have you posted it anywhere?” Mark asked.

Jackson shook his head, “Not yet.”

“Are you going to?”

Their company allowed them a week to decide if they wanted to go public with the tattoo. Since it was a personal matter, they had the freedom to not share it.

Mark was glad that they had that option, some other companies force their idols to expose their tattoos as a bait for media. As most fans weren’t over 21, companies could capitalize on merch of the tattoo and play up the idea that some lucky fan could end up with the real one. It almost never actually happened, but still. There was hope.

“Yeah, probably,” Jackson nodded, looking as if he decided right then and there. Mark envied him for being able to make decisions on a whim without much thought.

“Well, at least your reveal shoot will be hot as ,” The redhead laughed, pulling up some noodles and blowing on them before taking a hesitant bite.

If an idol chose to put their tattoo on display, they often did what was called a reveal photoshoot. It consisted of poses and shots that were focused on the tattoo and showing it off to the world.

Some didn’t want to, they thought that their tattoo being printed in high resolution and showing every single detail was too much. Others couldn’t be more enthusiastic about it. Bambam had scheduled his two years in advanced, excited as his older members got theirs.

Jackson furrowed his eyebrows, “Why is that? I mean every photoshoot I do is hot as but why this one specifically?”

Smiling at his friend’s overconfidence and natural ability to fish for compliments, Mark said, “It’s on your hip, Jacks. That means you get to be shirtless, maybe even some low-rise pants action.”

The brunette beamed and Mark smile turned into a grin, amused at how excited Jackson always got over showcasing his body. The younger had just been complaining that week over Got7’s lack of y concepts, saying that he worked hard for his body and the world deserved to see it.

“I like the way you think, Tuan,” Jackson said. He was probably already imagining the poses he could request.

The two sat in silence, Mark letting his friend’s imagination grow wild as he slurped up his noodles. Eventually, Jackson asked, “Hey, how come you never did one for yours?”

Mark’s eyes shifted to the side, not quite meeting Jackson’s. He had revealed his on social media but never more than that. The other members thought he was just busy with their comeback schedule but in truth, Mark didn’t want something out in the world to remind him of his internal dilemma.

“I was...worried,” He said cautiously. He hadn’t talked about his feelings on this matter before. “I was kind of in a similar position as you are now.”

“Mark Tuan, were you dating someone?” Jackson said with mock disapproval. “I thought you were saving yourself for your soulmate like Jinyoung is.”

He winced at the mention of his other group mate. “That’s the problem actually.”

“What is?”

The redhead took in a deep breath and said, “That Jinyoung won’t date anyone but his soulmate.”

Jackson looked at him confused, “I don’t get it, a lot of people are like that. Did you want to be the only one or something? Because I’m pretty sure Yugyeom is like that too.”

The younger’s oblivious comments made Mark smile, but it weaned as he looked down at the ramen in his hands. “No, it’s nothing like that.”

“Then what is it?” Jackson asked, moving towards Mark on the couch as if sitting closer meant that he would be closer to the truth. If he wasn’t in that position, Mark might have laughed to himself because Jackson was the type of guy to actually believe something as silly as that.

“Jackson, I’m in love with Jinyoung,” As soon as the words left his lips, Mark felt a huge weight lift off his shoulders. He had kept it a secret for almost a year, it felt nice to finally tell someone.

When he didn’t hear anything in return, Mark lifted his head and turned to check how Jackson reacted. The brunette had the ghost of shock on his face, but it was slowly being replaced with something else. Jackson’s eyes were hazy as he looked off into the distance. He started nodding, slowly at first but then with more frequency.

“Well that makes a lot of sense,” Was all he said, his eyes coming back into focus. “That actually makes a ton of sense. Mark, why did you never tell me?”

Shrugging, Mark replied, “I didn’t think it mattered, especially since he’s not my soulmate.”

Jackson tilted his head to the side, “How do you know?”

Biting the inside of his cheek, Mark exhaled, “Because he’s just not. There’s no way that the universe would be that kind, I’m not that lucky.”

Jackson frowned and he spoke as if it was obvious, “Mark, you literally have a rabbit’s foot permanently tattooed on your arm. I’d say you’re pretty goddamn lucky.”

Now Mark was confused, “What does that have to do with anything?”

“People carry around rabbit’s foot for good luck, I thought you knew that,” Jackson said, his voice making it seem like more of a question. Mark shook his head indicating that he hadn’t known and Jackson said, “Well, the point is that you don’t have to carry one around because one is always with you. Maybe it’s a sign! Maybe the universe is trying to say that he is your soulmate!”

Even though Mark had never really thought of himself as a superstitious guy, seeing Jackson all excited of the possibility instilled a little hope in Mark. He had thought he gave up on the useless gesture a while ago but perhaps not. He smiled back at Jackson and said, “Maybe.”

Jackson didn’t have time to jump into a long theory about how Jinyoung and Mark were somehow destined to be together because Mark was lucky or something because the man in question walked through the door with Jaebum and Youngjae trailing behind him.

They were all carrying coffee in their hands, or in Youngjae’s case a deathwish made of sugar that was somehow called a frappuccino. Jinyoung met his eyes with a small smile, walking over with a paper bag in his hands.

He plopped it in Mark’s lap and said, “It’s that muffin you like, I know they were out of it last time you went, so…”

Mark couldn’t help but return the smile and nod his head in thanks. He watched as Jinyoung left the room and then turned back to Jackson who was wearing a grin so bright it could compete with the sun.

“What?” The redhead said, pretended to be irritated but in reality just trying to cover up the blush on his cheeks.

“You’re so whipped for him, how did I not notice befor