Jinyoung is only messing around when he says he doesn't think he has a soulmate. It isn't a big deal, he thinks, because he's the maknae in JJ Project, so he feels like he can afford to be a little playful. But Jaebum, sitting next to Jinyoung, doesn't laugh like the radio host does. A little disheartened, Jinyoung eyes Jaebum curiously, wondering why his smile is dimmer than it was before.

"Do you really think you don't have a soulmate?" Jaebum asks a little later in the conversation, and Jinyoung thinks he hears a hint of dejection and something else he can't quite name in Jaebum's voice.

He can't tease Jaebum, not when Jaebum is looking at Jinyoung the way he is, so Jinyoung thinks about the only person who could possibly fill the role of soulmate for him and smiles genuinely. "I think I do have one. But hyung, who's yours?"

The effect is immediate: Jaebum's entire face lights up like he already knows who Jinyoung is thinking about, and Jinyoung actually feels his own face warm up at the radiance in Jaebum's smile. "When the show is over, I'll tell you over text," Jaebum says happily.

Jinyoung finds that he can't wait.

(They're in the car, sitting in comfortable silence as they return to the dorm. Jinyoung is mindlessly scrolling through a news article on his phone when he gets a text from Jaebum, which he's embarrassingly quick to open.

it's you

Jinyoung's heart speeds up a little as he tries to downplay how pleased he is and ignore the giddy sensation that fills his body.

as if it could have been anyone else

But Jaebum, as he always does, sees right through him.

whatever you say...
soulmate ;P

Jinyoung looks up to find Jaebum already smiling at him, his eyes twinkling, and warmth spreads from his core all the way to his fingertips as he smiles back. And really, he never feels safer or more at ease than when he has Jaebum next to him, so it isn't at all surprising, but it's nice to hear it anyway. Soulmate.)