Yerim was awaiting the day her soul mark finally appeared. It was on the nineteenth birthday when the mark would appear for better or worse. That day Yerim was excited, bouncing all around. Sooyoung had her arm wrapped around Seulgi’s waist with a teasing smile, “Who could our Yerimmie’s soulmate be?” Sooyoung had lucked out with Seulgi somehow being her soulmate. The two were inseparable. Seungwan’s soulmate ended up being Sejeong, the two always snuck out together. The thing that troubled her was Joohyun. She had no clue who her soulmate was, and she never spoke of it. Soulmates was a banned topic around the leader.

“Of course, I am, unnie. Who could resist my charms?” Yerim smugly said as she looked at the two. That night went by a blur for Yerim. She had her first taste of alcohol and passed out on the couch later that night. She woke up with a throbbing headache and unsure of her surroundings. She had no clue how she ended up in her bed that night. There was a note by her bed with some medicine and much-needed water, take this when you wake up. -Seungwan. Yerim groaned and took the medicine before getting up slowly to go to the restroom.

Upon looking in the mirror she noticed a mark on her collarbone. She slowly pulled down her shirt a little to read the mark. She was frozen in place after seeing the name engrained on her skin, Joohyun. Her thoughts were erratic, she had always felt something for the leader but never expected this. Does this mean I am her soulmate? Then why does she not want to talk about it? Yerim collapsed on the floor in shock and uncertainty.

“Whats wrong, Yerim?” Someone came running into the bathroom. She looked up to see Sooyoung looking at her with a shocked expression. “Unnie, what do I do?” tears started flowing out of her eyes as Sooyoung wrapped her arms around the younger. She cooed and rubbed the younger’s back trying to calm her down. Sooyoung pulled her up off the floor and led her back to bed. “Sleep some more, Yerim.” With that Yerim fell into the comforts of her dreams and sleep for a while.

Hours later she awoke with the grumbling of her stomach. She got up and put on a hoodie to cover up her soul mark. Her eyes lingered on as she traced it before covering it up. She hadn’t seen Joohyun since before her birthday. When she walked out of her room she was greeted with the rest of her groupmates staring at her. Her eyes landed on Joohyun who was worriedly looking at her. She wonders if Sooyoung had told her about her mark.

“Yerim, come eat. We have pizza and chicken!” Seungwan linked arms with Yerim bringing her to sit on and eat with them. Yerim sat across from Joohyun, her mind a blur. Does Joohyun know? Do they all know? Is this pity? Joohyun got up abruptly, “I’m going to see Jennie.” Her voice was cold as she left, her eyes lingering on Yerim. With Joohyun’s departure, Yerim let out a shaky breath.

“Did you tell her, Sooyoung-unnie? Is that why she is this way?” Yerim’s eyes bore into Sooyoung as she waited for an answer.

“I didn’t tell her! I only told Seulgi and Seungwan.” Sooyoung puffed up her cheeks in defense. Seulgi chuckled at the cute sight before pinching her cheeks. Yerim groaned in disgust. Her stomach grumbled, and she gave in and started to eat. It was easier now that Joohyun wasn’t here to occupy her thoughts. After eating she groaned as she was left with her thoughts again. “Who is Joohyun-unnie’s soulmate?” She asked them curiously. She had no idea.

“She’s never told us,” Seulgi said. “I’ve never even seen her mark.” With a sigh of defeat, Yerim felt drained again. She felt Seungwan’s hand on her back, rubbing her comfortingly. Yerim was feeling defeated and unsure of what to do. Joohyun wasn’t someone she could just confess to, the elder was too important to her. Joohyun had been there for her since she was a child, watching her grow. She was always there for her in her darkest times to comfort her and advise her.

“I’m going to go meet Sae-ron. I’ll see you later.” Yerim looked too defeated for them to refute. They also realized she needed to confide in someone her age and outside of the group.

She met Sae-ron at a café not too far from the dorm. She immediately embraced the other. “What’s wrong Yerimmie?” she cooed at the girl. “Joohyun-unnie is my soulmate.” She whispered to a shocked Sae-ron. Tears started falling from her eyes while the Sae-ron patted her head comfortingly. “It’ll be okay. Why don’t we go have some fun?” Yerim nodded and followed the other girl to forget Joohyun for a little while.

Joohyun was sitting with Jennie at a bar in Hongdae. The day she dreaded had come. She had hidden her soul mark for the past eight years. The only one who she confided in was Jennie. “Yerim’s soul mark finally appeared.” She sighed as she looked at Jennie. Joohyun was twenty when the name Yerim appeared on her ribs. Shortly after it appeared, a girl eight years her junior joined the company. She was bubbly and cute and unfortunately Joohyun’s soulmate. How could she possibly ruin this child’s future by putting such a burden on her? Thus, Joohyun ignored the marked that burned on her skin. Time went by and Yerim got older and more eager to get her soul marl. Whenever the topic came up, Joohyun shut down the topic and left. She felt guilty at the solemn face her soulmate would give her, but she couldn’t burden her.

“Why don’t you try to find out who it is? You never know it could be you.” Jennie said optimistically. Joohyun snorted as she took a shot of vodka, “Me? Her soulmate? Yeah right. I’m an old lady. She deserves someone her age.” Joohyun had ordered another shot. Jennie sighed. She knew whatever she said about this topic would not get through to the older. Jennie pitied her, she always had when it came to this. Joohyun had kept it all inside.

It was long before Joohyun was drunk. She had been taking shots to forget about Yerim. Jennie sighed and pulled her into a cab. Upon reaching the dorm, she sent Seulgi a text to open the door. Seulgi opened the door almost immediately to see a drunk Joohyun being held up by Jennie. Seulgi hurriedly helped her in. “What happened, Jennie? Why is she so drunk?” Jennie sighed, “I wish I could tell you, but she would be mad at me. I’ll be leaving, take care of her. She needs it.” Jennie was getting ready to leave when Sooyoung grabbed her wrist, “Do you know who her soulmate is?”

Jennie sighed, “I do. It’s not me if you’re wondering but that is all I can tell you. I do not want her to be mad at me. She is drunk over her soulmate though. That is all I can tell you.” With that Jennie gave a small smile and left. Seulgi and Sooyoung sighed and took the elder to her room to sleep it off.

Joohyun woke up with a throbbing headache. She sighed and berated herself for drinking so much. She looked at the clock and saw it was two in the afternoon. She got up slowly and went to the bathroom to take a shower. She stripped and jumped in the shower, letting the warm water fall on her. She looked down at her ribs to see the mark that had been troubling her for all these years slowly reveal itself. She always put makeup on it before leaving the door. Stepping out she saw Sooyoung staring at her with a shocked expression. Immediately she covered herself up.

“What are you doing Sooyoung?” her voice was cold, she knew Sooyoung had seen it. “Unnie, Yerim is your soulmate? You’ve been hiding it for this long? How? Why?” Sooyoung was overwhelmed at her discovery. Joohyun walked over to her with a glare, “Do not tell a soul what you have seen.” The way Joohyun was looking at her made Sooyoung agree with her wishes.

After getting dressed she found Sooyoung waiting for her on her bed. She knew she wouldn’t be able to go without answering questions. “How long, unnie?” Sooyoung asked, “How long have you been burdened by this?” Joohyun sighed, “Since I turned twenty. Do not tell her, Sooyoung. I cannot burden her, nor can I let this group fall apart because of my mark. Let it be.” Sooyoung weighed and agreed. She was aware of Joohyun’s stubborn ways.

Joohyun and Yerim had become awkward since Yerim’s birthday. Yerim was unsure of how to act around her now. She sighed and went to lay down. The schedules were starting to tire her out and she hadn’t been sleeping well since her mark appeared. Her mind had constantly been flooded with Joohyun. The unnies offered her food but she declined. She had been losing her appetite lately. The last thing she saw before laying down was Joohyun’s worried eyes. It sent a feeling of warmth in her.

She had awoken in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. She walked in with heavy eyelids to see Joohyun in a bra and shorts. The elder was in the midst of removing makeup it looked like. Upon further realization, she saw her name on Joohyun’s ribs. Had she been covering my name up for this long? Yerim collapsed at the sight. “U-innie, is that my name?” It came out as almost a whisper. Joohyun sighed and leaned against the counter. “No use hiding it now. Yes, it is. You’re my soulmate, Yerim.” At those words, Yerim felt her body fill with warmth. Slowly she took off her hoodie and pulled her shirt down to show her collarbone. Joohyun gasped at the sight. “H-how is this possible?” Joohyun was in shock as she felt butterflies in her stomach.

Yerim was overwhelmed by emotion, tears started to fall as she took in everything. The sight of Yerim crying was enough to break Joohyun’s heart. She broke out of her shock and wrapped her arms around the younger girl. “She, it’s okay. Unnie is here.” She the girl’s hair as she cried into her shoulder. The girl slowly calmed down in Joohyun’s arms. “Let’s go to sleep, we’ll talk in the morning.” Joohyun slowly got up extending her hand to Yerim. “You can sleep with unnie if you’d like.” Yerim jumped up at the offer. She wanted nothing more than to be in Joohyun’s arms even if it was just for a night.

Joohyun held her hand tight as she led her to her bed. She laid down as she waited for Joohyun to put on her pajamas. When Joohyun came in, she turned off the lights and wrapped her arms around Yerim in a comforting manner. She pulled Yerim’s head into her chest and hummed softly, attempting to coax the younger girl to sleep. Yerim’s arms were around Joohyun’s waist as she closed her eyes, not wanting this moment to end.

She woke up to Joohyun gone. She panicked thinking it was just a dream. She jumped up and opened the door to see Joohyun in the kitchen. The bewildered girl ran over to Joohyun and wrapped her arms around her. “It wasn’t a dream, right?” She felt tears coming to her eyes again. She felt Joohyun her hair, “Shh, babygirl. It wasn’t a dream.” Yerim let out a sigh of relief at the words. She looked into Joohyun’s eyes and found immediate warmth and comfort; she felt overwhelmed at the sight.

“Get a room you two. I’m trying to eat here.” Sooyoung’s voice broke the moment and led to Yerim’s face flushing. “Sit and eat, dear.” Joohyun her hair and went to finish cooking. Yerim sat down with a flushed face as she saw Sooyoung smirking at her. “Shut up.” Is all she could say as she started to stuff her face with pancakes. Her eyes were focused on Joohyun, she couldn’t look anywhere else. Joohyun looked back at her smiled, her face flushed. She felt like a lovesick puppy with how she was reacting to the older.

It wasn’t long before Joohyun sat down beside her, a hand resting on her thigh. Yerim’s face had become a permanent shade of red because of Joohyun. The rest of breakfast went by without much said. Soon Yerim was pulled into Joohyun’s room to talk. Joohyun sat down on her bed and sighed, running her hand through her hair. “I will tell you everything you want to know, so sit.” Yerim obliged and sat on the floor, waiting for Joohyun to begin.

“The mark appeared when I turned twenty right before you entered the company. I’ve been hiding it ever since meeting you. How could I burden a child who is eight years younger than me? Even with the mark you have, I feel guilty because I’m old, Yerim-ah, you deserve someone younger than me.”

At those words, Yerim jumped up and embraced the elder. “You’ve been the only one I’ve wanted for a long time, unnie. No matter what, I’ve been yours. So, stop worrying and embrace me.” Joohyun melted into her embrace, the younger was straddling her. She looked up and captured Yerim’s lips, the two melting into each other.

The room was filled with gasps and moans as the two explored each other’s bodies. Joohyun letting out all the emotions she held in for the younger girl since her mark appeared. Yerim didn’t mind, she lived for the older showering her with affection and love.

Yerim left the room to get some food hours later to see the other members in the living room. “Wow, Joohyun-unnie did you in, didn’t she?” Sooyoung said with a smirk. Yerim flushed, “What do you mean?” The older girls chuckled at her words, “Look in the mirror.” Seulgi said with a grin. Yerim walked to the mirror to find all the markings Joohyun had left on her. This was going to be troublesome to cover. She groaned as she felt arms wrap around her, “Sorry, love. I got excited. You look good though. Everyone will know your mine.” Joohyun whispered into her ear that sent shivers down her spine. “Unnie.” She whined as she leaned back into the older woman. She would have it no other way. Joohyun was the only one she would love for a lifetime.