On the day of his 21st birthday, Jinyoung couldn’t wait to get up. It was a day that he had been looking forward to for a while now, but not just out of pure curiosity. He had another motive. Jinyoung had been wondering about his tattoo for years, but in the last year he had been hoping his tattoo would be something in particular.

A rabbit’s paw that exactly mirrored Mark Tuan’s of Got7.

It was a simple request that many people around the world also hoped for. But he wished and wished that he would be the one lucky enough to actually get it. He had been hiding his feelings for his bandmate for years, it was only fair that he could be granted this one simple wish.

Or at least that was what he told himself. Jinyoung was well aware that his fellow member had no interest in him past being friends, but his ultimate fantasy was that they would end up with the same tattoo and Mark would be willing to go for it. And then they would kiss and fall madly in love and everyone would be happy for them. In an ideal world, maybe that would happen.

But it wasn’t what happened in his world.

When he woke up, Jinyoung immediately checked his left arm. But he saw nothing. His heart dropped and he flipped over and pushed his face into his pillow. He gripped the sheet with his right hand in a lapse of rational thinking and dug his nails into the fabric. His fist was a little too tight and as a reaction of the flash of pain, he pulled away and gripped his hand to look at it.

His fingers looked alright and he sighed to himself. Just as he was about to go back to wallowing in self pity, he noticed something.

A rabbit’s paw on the inside of his right elbow.

Of course, how could he be that stupid? Soulmate tattoos were always mirrors of the other. It was done so that when the soulmates stand next to each other, so can their tattoos.

Jinyoung grinned from ear to ear. He might have even let out a little squeal.

He was Mark’s soulmate. He was Mark Tuan’s soulmate. He was Mark Yien Tuan’s soulmate.

He was--

And then Jinyoung’s brain kicked in. Okay, Jinyoung let’s think about this rationally, he thought to himself. He had to make sure it was really Mark’s tattoo. He could just also have an eerily alike tattoo with his bandmate. The universe could be playing tricks on him.

Jinyoung picked up his phone off his night stand and started scrolling through his pictures. He had saved a few photos of Mark’s tattoo for this exact moment months ago. He found them and zoomed in, tracing every single line and corresponding them with his own skin.

They matched.

The singer let out a huge breathe that he hadn’t realized he had been holding in and smiled again. He laid back in his bed and held his arm over his face, admiring his skin and saying prayers of thankfulness to no one in particular.

But then the thoughts started to trickle in and the more logical side of Jinyoung appeared.

He couldn’t tell Mark.

Not now, not right before their comeback. Mark wasn’t interested in him. Finding out this life changing news probably wouldn’t be welcome and especially not then. It would just ruin the group’s dynamic.

Jinyoung turned to his side and hugged his arm to his chest. He couldn’t tell Mark. It would only be selfish of him to do so and if Park Jinyoung was anything, he wasn’t selfish.

Maybe after the comeback, he thought but immediately disregarded it. They were at the height of their career, something like this could put them in a bad place. And s didn’t train for years to have a silly thing like a tattoo ruin their chances at achieving their dream.

He sat there in his bed for a hour until he heard the others talking in the kitchen. Jinyoung decided he should probably come out. It was his birthday anyways, they were all expecting him.

With a small huff, Jinyoung got out of bed and put on clothes. He almost didn’t put on a long-sleeve over his shirt but he knew that hiding that perfect, most beautiful tattoo was what was best for everyone.

He walked out and saw everyone turn to look at him. He avoided their gaze and faked a yawn. Maybe he could blame his quietness on not getting enough sleep.

Bambam asked him what is was and Jinyoung bit his tongue. He couldn’t answer that so he shrugged, hoping that would be enough for everyone. But no, s cared too much about him. They wanted to know.

Jackson went next in asking if Jinyoung was going to show them. It pained Jinyoung to tell them no. They had showed him years of support and there he was shutting them all out. But it was for the best. He kept telling himself that like a mantra.

Jaebum even asked and Jinyoung had to hide all emotions in his voice. If he messed up, they would know something was up.

He finally allowed himself a glance in Mark’s direction but the silent redhead wasn’t looking at him. In fact he wasn’t looking at anyone. He was looking into his bowl, or maybe he had been because Jinyoung saw his eyes close.

Mark must have been tired, he tried to justify. But Jinyoung couldn’t help but feel disappointed. He thought maybe Mark would be looking at him with hopeful eyes.

Jinyoung chanced another look but Mark was already leaving the room, his bowl left on the counter.

The other members shuffled around, understanding that the conversation was over. The maknae’s went back to the stove and whispered to each other while Jaebum and now Youngjae sat on the couch, flipping through the channels on tv. Jackson, on the other hand, went to the hallway.

Jinyoung felt empty. He decided that he would just eat later and went back to his own room.

He passed by Mark’s in hopes to steal a look at the older, but what he saw was that Jackson wasn’t in his room like Jinyoung had thought. No, instead he had his arms around Jinyoung’s soulmate as if he had some sort of right to be touching Mark like that.

The singer felt the flames burn his insides and shook his head. No, he had no right to be mad. It was just Jackson being Jackson. It wasn’t like either of them knew that Mark’s soulmate was watching from just a few feet away. They didn’t even know Jinyoung was his soulmate.

And for that, Jinyoung had no one to blame but himself.

He tried to reason with himself as he entered his room but after hearing Jackson and Mark talking and holding hands as if they had some sort of claim to one another, Jinyoung felt his heart rip into pieces.

How could he tell Mark now that he knew that his soulmate’s heart belonged to another’s?

It wouldn’t have been fair to s before but now with this new information, Jinyoung couldn’t bring himself to be unfair to Mark. The two rappers didn’t know they were doing anything wrong.

Many people cheat on their soulmates. Jinyoung shook his head. He knew he was being too harsh with that wording. It wasn’t considered cheating to many as they just wanted to be loved. Jinyoung couldn’t fault them there. That was what he wanted to. He had just hoped that Mark would be loving him, not some other guy.

He didn’t leave his room for the rest of the morning.

Around lunch time, Yugyeom managed to peel him from his bed. Luckily, Jinyoung had put his long-sleeve back on, too upset to see his tattoo for any longer than he had to. Him and the remaining members in the dorm went to grab lunch together.

Everyone ate and laughed, enjoying the other’s company. Jinyoung tried his best to act like he was fine. If his mask fell, people would be suspicious and start to ask questions. That was the last thing Jinyoung needed. So he thanked himself for pursuing acting and pretended like he enjoyed himself and didn’t spend the whole time thinking about where Mark and Jackson were cuddled up.

The next few days were the same as usual. Vocal lessons, dance practice, and photoshoots galore. Luckily, their stylists and managers didn’t question him being stingy about losing any clothing. He had always been like that, at least now he had a reason.

Instead of sitting next to Mark or going out of his way to talk to the redhead like he usually did, Jinyoung used the busy schedule to his advantage. But what upset him the most was that Mark didn’t make any sort of move to talk to Jinyoung either. In fact, he always seemed to be sitting close to Jackson. The two were always whispering to each other and their skinship so blatant that Jinyoung kicked himself for not noticing their relationship before.

Everytime he changed or showered, Jinyoung would look away. He would put is focus on anything but the sad design on his right arm. He couldn’t bare to look at it after he found out about Mark and Jackson. It was only a reminder of what could have been.

After one of his showers, Jinyoung had reluctantly dried himself off and headed to his room to put clothes on. He managed the covering the bottom half half of his body before he realized he wasn’t alone.

He only showered when no one else was in the dorm or when everyone was asleep. He couldn’t risk anyone walking in and seeing his misfortune.

But today he had apparently miscalculated as Jackson was standing in his dorm frame, mouth ajar. Jinyoung expected their eyes to meet but realized that Jackson was otherwise occupied. His eyes were glued to Jinyoung’s right arm.

The singer tried to move his arm back, to turn it so that the tattoo couldn’t be seen but the damage had been done.

“You’re Mark’s soulmate,” Jackson breathed, looking as if he couldn’t believe his eyes.

Jinyoung sighed and closed his eyes. Of all people, the boyfriend of his soulmate really wasn’t the first person he wanted to see his tattoo.

“You’re Mark’s soulmate,” Jackson repeated when he got no response. This time his eyes trailed up to meet Jinyoung’s.

“I know,” And this time Jinyoung’s voice matched how empty he felt. He didn’t even have to pretend.

“Why haven’t you told him?” The brunette questioned in shock.

This took Jinyoung aback. Why would Jackson of all people ask that? Shouldn’t he be asking Jinyoung to keep it a secret?

“Why do you care?” Jinyoung said, barely believing that he of all people said such a rude thing so easily. He really needed to check himself. He couldn’t let this heartbreak get the best of him. Jackson was his friend, one of his closest and just because he happened to be dating Jinyoung’s soulmate did not give Jinyoung the right to interact with him so carelessly.

Jackson seemed to agree.

“Why do I care? Jinyoung are you serious?” He sputtered with wide, disbelieving eyes. “I’m Mark’s best friend!”

The younger just shook his head, “Best friend? Is that all you are?”

The accusatory tone in his voice surprised him. He kept his eyes down.

Across from him, Jackson crossed his arms and said, “Well, I’m currently petitioning for the title of best best friend but apparently you own it. Mark was very firm about that seeing as he’s--”

The brunette slapped his hands over his mouth and whispered something that sounded like, “No, I’m not doing that again.”