When Hwang Hyunjin’s Words first appeared, he was sixteen years old. 

It was a bright summer day, with the weather not too warm and the clouds in the sky just the right amount. He was tending to the family flower store’s latest batch of sunflowers, finding the golden yellow plants perfect for such a good day; the flowers arrived just earlier that morning, which meant Hyunjin was in charge of repotting them into the store’s hand painted pots, which he painted himself, too.

His parents always said he was more fit to run the shop than they were despite his young age, with how much Hyunjin had an affinity for beautiful things. Flowers seemed to bloom better around him, their colours more vibrant and their scents sweeter, while his painted pots attracted customers all the same. It also helped that Hyunjin himself had a smile bright enough to rival the sun and a sweet disposition that matched the flowers he would sell.

So when his Words appeared that day, thick and inky on his fair skin, he nearly let go of the pot he was holding in his hands.

The Words were a way the soulmate mark manifested itself, although often not the same way for everybody. They appeared on one’s skin, sometimes an entire sentence, sometimes just one single word. Like the whole soulmate ordeal itself, Words were a tricky sort of thing. Some people—in this case, like Hyunjin—got their Words before they were said. It could be anything their soulmate would say to them, anything from the first conversation to the last.

Some people got it after the Words were said, appearing as soon as their soulmate spoke, and soon fading from a pitch black to something that blended better with their skin as a sign that they’ve met. Some never get theirs.

Hyunjin stared at the words on his arm.

Why do you have so many tattoos?

His initial thought was, ‘how am I going to explain this to my parents?’ Followed shortly after by a bit more frantic thought of, ‘how am I going to pull this off?’ He was, by all means, a shy kid. He was more on the conservative side, never stayed out too late, never went to any of those club parties that kids his age seem to frequent despite the dubious legality concerns. He liked stuff like painting, and flowers, and dancing occasionally when he had the time.

Just like most people, he wasn’t keen on the idea of pain, either. The image of a needle being stuck into him multiple times left a shiver down his spine. With his age, he couldn’t even get a tattoo yet without his parents’ permission; how was he going to end up with so many tattoos by the time he met his soulmate? When was he even going to meet his soulmate? He didn’t exactly want to meet them when he was sixty years old or something. This wasn’t the sort of problem he imagined he would suddenly be having in the middle of a flower shop.

Well, it wasn’t a problem he ever imagined to have at all.

“You could always get fake tattoos,” his best friend Changbin said one day when the older boy visited the shop. “Those kinds where you just press them on your skin.”

“Would that really work?” Hyunjin asked, still staring at his wrist. He did think about that at first, but he needed to get pretty realistic fake tattoos if he wanted his Words to be asked. Not just that, but tons of them. It did, however, seem like a better and less painful way. Maybe he could get those tattoo sleeves and hope for the best. He brought this idea up to Changbin, who gave it some thought.

The older boy shrugged, “you’re gonna have to wear those things every day, everywhere, if you want to up your chances.”

“The opposite of that works, too.”

He could, in some way, control when and where he would meet his soulmate. He’ll just wear the tattoos whenever he would have to work in the flower store. An odd sight for a boy like him, but Hyunjin was sure his parents would prefer that as well, as opposed to him getting real tattoos. Sure, it’ll also lower the chances of it happening frequently, but Hyunjin didn’t think the school would allow him to enter with a literal tattoo sleeve either, regardless of whether it was fake.

Well, they weren’t exactly strict, it’s just that Hyunjin would be labeled a delinquent and that’s the exact opposite of who he was.

“Just get a few real tattoos,” Changbin eventually said, grinning widely. “So that the fake ones won’t be that obvious. It won’t be that bad. Tell your parents it’s for love.”

“Am I that desperate to meet my soulmate?” Hyunjin countered, scrunching his nose at the thought of needles hitting his skin yet again. He didn’t think it mattered much, but the moment the thought crossed his mind something in his chest ached; a clear reminder that even if he still felt too young to be falling in love and all that, he had his Words for a reason. The discomfort didn’t go unnoticed by Changbin, who smirked knowingly.

“I’ll think about it once I’m eighteen,” Hyunjin eventually relented. “I’ll be of legal age to get a tattoo by myself. Until then, I won’t think about this whole soulmate ordeal.”

“You’re gonna wait two years?” Changbin asked in disbelief.

The younger boy took a deep breath and nodded, “for my soulmate, sure.”

He realized only after he said it that it was a really cheesy thing to say. The older boy endlessly afterwards, mimicking the Words on his skin. He couldn’t even counter by talking about Changbin’s Words, since those had faded into his skin long ago when Changbin met his soulmate. Rather than something that made him shy, it made the other boy absolutely delighted to talk about his red-haired, freckle faced soulmate, and Hyunjin was sure he didn’t want another round of that.

When Hwang Hyunjin first met Yang Jeongin, he was seventeen years old.

It was terribly rainy day just a bit after winter break started, with temperatures dropping to make way for the snow. As always, Hyunjin was tending to the flower shop since he had the time with school out of the way at least for a few weeks. There weren’t any new deliveries that day due to the bad weather, along with close to no customers at all, so he decided it would be the perfect time to paint some new pots. The shop needed a few winter themed ones to match the upcoming season, after all.

He was just about to get started, paintbrush already in hand, when the door flew open.

The gush of cold wind wasn’t pleasant at all, but Hyunjin didn’t think much of it as he hurried over to the boy who just entered, alarmed. The stranger was very clearly drenched despite the umbrella he had in his hand, which looked just about useless. Rather than get annoyed at the puddles growing on the floor, Hyunjin turned his attention to the way the other boy’s lips were slightly shivering from the cold. He didn’t like the extra work, but he definitely wasn’t heartless.

Before Hyunjin could speak, the other boy beat him to it.

“I’m really sorry for barging in and getting your store all wet. I was on the way somewhere and the rain just began pouring, and the wind was just so strong, then my umbrella pretty much gave up on me and I—“ He paused to catch his breath, still shivering slightly from the cold despite how the store had its heating system . The small break was enough for Hyunjin to regain his senses as he ushered the other further into the store.

“No need to explain,” Hyunjin began to say, grabbing a chair from behind the counter and placing it where the hot air that circulated would reach better. “Take your coat off and sit here. I’ll turn the heat up.”

The other said a quick thank you and shed himself of the large winter coat he already had on despite the lack of snow. Maybe he was sensitive to the cold? The thought made Hyunjin turn the heat up a little bit more than he originally planned. If it got too hot for him, he could always take his sweater off anyway, thankful he had a shirt underneath at least. After placing a few rags down to absorb the water on the floor, he returned to sit next to the other.

Hyunjin got his first good look at the boy, who seemed smaller now that the large coat was gone.

“Tell me if you need the temperature to be warmer,” He said, keeping his tone friendly. The other couldn’t have been older than he was, maybe even younger, with a head of dark hair that was also slightly damp. When the boy said thanks yet again, Hyunjin caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a glint of metal on his teeth. Storing his little observations away, the taller boy smiled, “it’s no problem. I’m Hyunjin, by the way.”

“My name is Jeongin,” he said, bowing his head slightly. When Jeongin looked up, his eyes met Hyunjin’s as he attempted to smile brightly despite the way his face still felt way too cold.

The wide smile made Hyunjin think of two things; one, that the other boy really did have a mouth full of braces. He got rid of his braces years ago, so the assumption that Jeongin was probably younger than he was grew stronger, but it wasn’t like everybody started braces at the same age. Two, that there was something kind of cute about the smile. He quickly got rid of the latter of the two thoughts.

From his seat by the counter, Jeongin scanned the area with curious eyes, while Hyunjin followed his line of sight. The flower store wasn’t that packed with flowers due to the changing season, but they still had a wide array of colourful flowers to choose from. The more sensitive flowers were in the storage room, just in case. Most people came to the shop lately for a quick bouquet here and there. By the next month, they were expecting a few weddings so they can r