Jinyoung made a promise to himself as a child, a promise to never change what he looked like, even if other people wanted him to. There's a reason he refuses to pierce his ears or dye his hair more drastically than to a shade a brown or mark his body in any unnatural way. His career demands a lot from him, but this promise is one this he won't compromise.

He made another promise to himself when he was young, though, and that promise was related to love. One day, he told himself, he would find the person he wants to spend the rest of his life with, and when that day came, he wouldn't run away from it. Instead, he would do something special and meaningful, something he would never do for anyone else.

He didn't know back then, the day he met Im Jaebum, that he had already found that person. But he knows now.

That's why, as Jinyoung sits in a little tattoo parlor, tiny pricks of pain crawling over his skin, he doesn't feel like he's breaking his first promise to himself, because Jaebum is worth it, worth permanently marking his skin for. Just the anticipation of the look on Jaebum's face when he sees the tattoo is enough to leave Jinyoung with no regrets.

He's in the car with their manager, on his way to Jaebum's apartment to surprise him, when he receives a text from Jaebum inviting him over. I have something to show you, the follow-up message says.

Great minds think alike ^_^, Jinyoung texts back, unable to keep the smile off his face because if he hadn't already been convinced that he and Jaebum complete each other, this certainly would have done the trick.

See you soon <3, Jaebum replies, and it isn't the first time Jaebum has sent him something cute like a heart, but Jinyoung flushes anyway.

"What did you want to show me?" Jaebum asks him after he's in Jaebum's apartment, before Jinyoung has the chance to ask first.

"Well...it's a tattoo," Jinyoung says, suddenly feeling a little shy, because Jaebum knows about Jinyoung's reservations about changing his appearance.

But Jaebum just smiles widely at him. "No way," he says. "That's what I wanted to show you too." Without warning, he tugs his shirt over his head, and for a few seconds Jinyoung just stares at Jaebum's torso uncomprehendingly, before he finally spots what Jaebum wants him to see.

"Hyung," he says, an incredulous laugh stuck in his throat, "you're not going to believe this." He pulls off his shirt too so Jaebum can see his tattoo.

Jaebum exhales slowly, meeting Jinyoung's eyes after staring at his side for a few moments. "Wait - you - really?" he says, sounding a little breathless.

"They match," Jinyoung says as a little smile starts to spread across his lips. He's still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that somehow, without mentioning it to each other at all, they managed to get exactly the same tattoo in exactly the same place.

But maybe it isn't so surprising, really, that they both chose to put a little black infinity symbol with each other's names neatly printed underneath on the left side of their ribcages.

Jinyoung thinks it's the perfect location for a tattoo like this, hidden away from prying eyes, but still - "Right next to our hearts," Jaebum murmurs, and it makes sense that even their reason for choosing that spot on their bodies is the same.

"We really are forever, aren't we, hyung?" Jinyoung asks warmly, not because he's unsure, but because he likes hearing Jaebum confirm it.

Jaebum cups Jinyoung's face in his hands and rests their foreheads together, the radiant look on his face giving Jinyoung no choice but to smile back. "Of course, Jinyoungie," he says, without an ounce of hesitation. "Of course we are."