inspired by a writing prompt i came across on ig

I Have Your Name on My Skin

“Changkyun, slow down,” Jooheon panted, dragging an unbelievably heavy suitcase. It was twisting and turning on the hotel carpet, making it that much difficult to carry. He thought his backpack would be the problem but it didn't seem like that once he found his luggage at the airport. Changkyun was way ahead, excitedly running a few feet in front of him, looking for their room.

“You should've packed less,” he teased his friend, patting the little suitcase that he pulled with ease. He could feel Jooheon's nasty glare on his back.

“You act like half of my bag isn't your God-damned shoes.”

Changkyun scanned the numbers on the doors. 605, 607, 609,... 611! There it was. He waited for Jooheon to shuffle to their room, sticking one of the cards into the slot on the door. He pushed them open, almost letting them fall on Jooheon who was still having trouble with his luggage. “I guess the trip officially began.”

While Changkyun took the liberty of checking out the whole room and terrace, Jooheon's only wish was to curl up on the bed and sleep until tomorrow. It didn't matter that it was barely 4 PM. He was tired and nothing Changkyun will say will make him go out. Forget go out, he won't move a finger. “We can see the sea!” Changkyun ran back into the room excitedly, hopping on Jooheon's bed with enough force to make him bounce. But he didn't move, weakly giving his friend a thumbs up and ignoring any other comments he made.

“Is there AC?” he mumbled into the bed, lying face down since they arrived. Changkyun grew impatient, he was ready to change and go enjoy the beach and the sun and everything about this place. He wasn't getting the same vibe from Jooheon, who didn't move an inch from the bed, not even to remove his hoodie in the scorching weather.

“There is, but you'll have to stand up to go turn it on,” Changkyun sighed, drumming on Jooheon's back. It didn't seem to do anything, not even annoy him to the point of moving away. Next step was to turn him over. That would be a start. Changkyun slipped his hands under Jooheon and pushed up, telling him to loose weight in the process. After a while of trying, he flipped the whole man over.

“I feel like a pancake.”

“Come on, let's go outside,” Changkyun whined, grabbing his friend’s wrists and trying to pull him up. Seeing it won’t work, he made his way to his suitcase to pull out some lighter clothes. He was already sweating in the room, he didn't even want to imagine what it would be like outside on the sun. He was determined on dragging his friend out of the room, whether he’d cooperate or not. He wasn’t afraid to use force.

“Why did you chose the beach?” Jooheon sat up, giving Changkyun a tired look but he didn't even raise his eyes up from his luggage.

“I love the beach!”

“You're only like 50% of our team.”

“Well, you love Mai Tais and wear those awful Hawaiian shirts and, frankly, that's enough of an agreement for me.” Touché. The promise of a drink by a sunset might make Jooheon reconsider not leaving the room. “Also you said you didn't care, you'd pay for whatever. Next time, you chose.”

“You did me dirty, bud. We could've gone to the amusement park or something.”

“Oh, absolutely not. Not after that kid almost threw up on my shoes. My shoes, you hear? My shoes! That's no place for me. Or better, for them. Come back when you can hold your lunch in your stomach, little lad.” Changkyun turned his attention to his friend, trying to get him off the bed again. Would he have to resort to dirty tactics? “Come on,” he pulled his hoodie up, trying to save him from death of overheating. “Put on one of those awful shirts and we'll go explore.”

“That sounds terrible. Lot of work.”

Changkyun knew it was bad when Jooheon stopped forming complete sentences. At times, he couldn't believe this dude was his soulmate. He didn't choose him, the world chose them together. And if it weren't for the drawings and writings they shared on their skin, maybe he wouldn't have believed it at all. “I swear, the universe assigned you to me as a punishment.”

“The best punishment you could get,” Jooheon added, throwing his hoodie on the bed and dragging himself towards the door. He knew it was the only sensible way of shutting Changkyun up. “You coming?”

Changkyun looked at his friend, seeing he’s wearing a thick shirt and long jeans. That man did not understand what ‘the beach’ and ‘summer weather’ meant. “Dude, you'll be hot.”

“I'm already a fine piece of . Come on.”

*

“Regretting your decisions?” Changkyun cheekily asked, swirling around an ice cube in his water. He watched Jooheon pat his neck with a tissue, looking as if he's about to dry out and shiver up. He was glad he found a little spot by the beach where they could enjoy the weather and the beach and burn, respectively.

“I can't say I'm completely content with the decisions I made,” he mumbled, rolling his eyes because he knew Changkyun was right. He looked around at the people walking around in swimsuits, lying on the beach or swimming in the water. Oh, the water looked amazing at that moment. He watched it crash on the rocks below them. If he had a little less self control and shame, he’d be down there in seconds. He was feeling so hot, he wondered whether he'd be able to take his jeans off later at the hotel, or if they are now permanently stuck on him.

“Beach tomorrow?” Changkyun asked, nodding his head towards the sunbeds and sun chairs by the sea, they looked like the whole part belonged to the hotel they were staying in. “I booked one of those beds there.”

“You got us a wholeass bed by sea?” Jooheon’s expression brightened up, Changkyun could see the glee on his face when he realized he could just lay there with a cold drink and the new Pokémon game the whole day. And he wouldn't even have to be in the sun, the beds have a tiny roof. Amazing, truly a step forward for the mankind.

Changkyun shook his head. “I just wanted to have a bed on the beach but since you're here...” he laughed, immediately feeling Jooheon kick him as a warning. “You know we'll have to share it, babe.”

“Oh, you already lost your beach bed privileges, mister,” Jooheon hissed, finishing his drink but before he could say anything more, he was quickly shut up by a ball flying his way. It hit his stomach before he could catch it, Jooheon spilling profanities.

“Oh, sorry,” a boy yelled, running to them. There was a bit of fear in his eyes, seeing their ball hit someone. Changkyun picked the ball up, throwing it back. “Sorry again! My boyfriend's just really ty at volleyball.”

“It's okay!” Changkyun yelled back, still laughing at Jooheon clutching his stomach and trying to keep his curses as quiet as possible. “Off to a great start, I see.”

*

Changkyun laid on the bed, waiting for his friend to finish getting ready. It was almost night time and after a long day spent outside, Jooheon convinced him to go out for a drink. He looked around the room, seeing a footprint on the wall. He immediately thought of last night they spent watching movies in peace until a mosquito came round, forcing Changkyun to leave the room quicker than Jooheon had ever seen him move. He peeked from the bathroom, watching Jooheon figure out how to get the mosquito off the wall, it sat up high. With little hesitation, Jooheon grabbed a sneaker from the ground, hurling it up at the bloodthirsty beast. It did its work but also left a footprint on the wall, right where it hit the bug.

He stuck his hands up, observing all the little words and doodles that were stuck on his skin forever. Jooheon's looked the same. Identically. His soulmate. Changkyun smiled. He had his soulmate. The word warmed his heart. In fact, he was sure he had it written somewhere. On his back. It was Jooheon's work after a few glasses of wine on their last trip together. All in his feelings, he grabbed a pen and scribbled it on Changkyun’s back, feeling the need to write it down. That they were, in fact, soulmates. Jooheon kept repeating how he much he loved him and how he was his star in the night sky. Or that’s what Changkyun could make out of it. He didn’t know how seriously to take him, considering he spent the previous half an hour convincing Changkyun that stars are just holes in the container so we could breathe. He wrote it anyway, on his back with a black pen, the same appearing on Jooheon’s back. That's the way it worked with soulmates. That’s how you knew.

But it was such a strange concept. That there's one person for you out there that just gets you. All of you. Your good days and your bad days. Someone who's your quiet place. You can feel their pain, share their joy. It's a beautiful harmony of two people.

Having a soulmate makes you a softer person. It lets you know that you've found unconditional love, in one form or another. For everyone, it was different. For some, it was their lover. For others, a friend. For some, both. Maybe a sibling. Maybe some people had more soulmates. People usually kept it to themselves, it was a sensitive matter. There were soulmates in all different shapes and forms. It was a peculiar thing the universe arranged. A soulmate lets you be who you are. And is, who they are. It's so authentic. You may feel the connection immediately, you may not. It may take time, to grow and bloom.

For some, they just know. Others, sometimes they find each other by the drawings and marks on their skin. What you draw on your skin appears on your soulmate’s. Some refuse to mark their skin. Soulmate or no soulmate, they are happy with the person they are with now. Some don't want to know who their soulmate is, feeling as if it’s too restrictive. They don’t want to tie themselves to one person. Some are obsessed with finding their soulmate. People differ.

Can you lose a soulmate? You probably can. He heard stories of people's symbols disappearing. Some got them back, made up with their soulmate. Some lost them. It was a delicate balance. Do you get a new soulmate? That's a hard question. Changkyun wasn't completely sure about losing your soulmate in the first place. The connection he felt with Jooheon, it was something he never thought he could lose. It was very special.

Changkyun looked at his pinky finger. There was a tiny smiley face on the side. That one was his work. When Jooheon was going through a bad break up and didn't return his calls or answer any texts. This was his quiet way of telling him, everything will be fine. And it was. And there was a little smiley face on their pinkies to symbolize it. Everything will be okay.

Jooheon had the locks to fit Changkyun's keys and keys to fit Changkyun's locks. They felt whole together and trusted each other, feeling the deep-seated connection whenever they looked at each other. It was like a complete puzzle. A beautiful picture.

Changkyun was brought out of his thoughts by Jooheon exiting the bathroom. “You spent this whole time on your hair?”

“Yeah.”

“Should've spent it on changing your shirt,” Changkyun snickered, poking fun at his friend's patterned shirt he loved to mock. He was pretty sure they're all he brought to their holiday. In return, he got a pillow thrown into his face.

“You’re just jealous you can’t pull this off, babyboy.”

They finally managed to make their way down, grabbing drinks at the beach bar. The night was warm and wet, what you'd expect when walking by the sea. A few lights poking from the ground illuminated the sand and beach beds, exactly where the boys headed. Although they spent most of their day there, Changkyun in the sea and Jooheon hiding from the world on the bed, they returned gladly. Whenever Changkyun would return from the water, Jooheon would smack him with the towel until he put it on, refusing to make the bed he was lying on wet and sandy. It took Changkyun a lot of convincing and even more force to get Jooheon even close to the water. But once he got there, he left nothing short of soaking wet. It was fun, but there was no way he'd admit that in front of Changkyun. They found a starfish on the rocks together. He drew a little one on his thigh, waiting to see if Changkyun will notice. He liked to keep memories like these from their trips. They were his favorite. Even with scorching hot weather or Changkyun dodging every kid that just got off a roller coaster or slipping on the wet leaves in the park or just playing video games in Changkyun's room. He enjoyed his company.

His friend arrived with their drinks, joining him on the bed. The sea calmly came back and forth, crashing on nearby rocks. It was a calming sight, an even better sound. They could listen to it for hours. Crickets sang in the background. That was nice too. They looked at the city nearby, glimmering in the moving sea. “It's so pretty,” Jooheon whispered, leaning on the bedpost and taking a sip from his long-awaited Mai Tai. This is what a vacation feels like. He laid his head on his friend's shoulder, trying to soak every second of this evening, of this trip, before coming back. It was nothing short of perfect.

Changkyun finished his drink already, contemplating getting another one. But they were both disturbed by a couple arriving at the bed next to them, sitting down and laughing loudly. Changkyun thought one of the boys looked familiar, it was the one that came running back for the volleyball. He finally saw his boyfriend. They looked very happy together.

The boy looked around, catching the sight of Jooheon and Changkyun by their side. He immediately relived the horror of shooting the ball into someone's stomach, even though it was his partner's fault. And his boyfriend knew, standing up and approaching the friends. “Excuse me,” he approached them, waiting to get their attention. “I'm so sorry for shooting the ball into you yesterday. He,” the guy pointed at the boy sitting on the bed next to them, “tried to teach me how to play volleyball but I'm so miserably at it. Hope it didn't cause too much trouble.”

Jooheon couldn't help but wince at the memory but more so at how guilty the boy looked. He looked so sorry, it wasn't even that much of a deal. “Maybe we could invite you two for a drink? To get even.”

*

“I'm Shownu,” the volleyball protégé introduced himself before leaving the table to go pick up their cocktails. The other guy introduced himself too, his name was Minhyuk. They seemed very nice. Well, they were very nice. Around their age, from a city not far away. They learned it was their first trip together as a couple. They've been together for little over half a year.

Changkyun looked at them and saw a strong connection. The way they looked at each other, Shownu playing with Minhyuk's hand the whole evening, the way they spoke about each other. You'd think they're made for each other. “I see you two found each other,” Minhyuk laughed, observing their arms and what essentially looked like tiny couple tattoos.

“Yeah,” Jooheon smiled, running his fingers over the memories drawn on his arm.

“When did you find out? If you... Don't mind me asking,” Shownu snooped but all in all, both of them were keen to talk about it. It was nice to relive those moments once again.

Changkyun started. They just started high school. It was a foreign place for both of them, new people, new everything. They both created their own circle of friends. Time went on, they barely even looked at each other in the class. But there was this one geography test. And that wasn't Changkyun's strongest part. He knew he'd have to cheat just to barely pass the class. He wrote all the answers he needed to know on a few little papers, spread around his sitting place for help. Shortly before the test, he realized he forgot the biggest lakes and the numbers he needed. No paper in sight, he wrote them on the side of his middle finger, not caring that they're there forever and not even realizing they're on his soulmate's finger forever too. That isn't something a sixteen-year-old thinks about.

It all went well. The test was easy, he was good at avoiding the teacher's gaze. All went smooth until Jooheon's test was snatched right out from his hands, torn up in seconds. ‘You cheated,’ the teacher reasoned her decision, failing him in seconds. Jooheon didn't understand a thing, pissing off the teacher even more. It took him minutes to notice the lakes on his finger. He had no idea where they came from. And that just sounds like a bad excuse. “He made me fail the whole test,” Jooheon laughed at the memory now but back then, he was dead set on finding the culprit. And he eventually did. Anger was later changed into this sort of weird realization that he probably found his soulmate. It was strange.

“And that's why we have the three largest freshwater lakes on our middle fingers,” Changkyun chuckled, showing them to the boys. Lake Superior, Lake Victoria, and Lake Huron scribbled in almost unreadable handwriting.

The conversation turned into them explaining their doodles and words, the pair that they met invested in every story. They asked about specific ones, it was nice to talk about those dumb memories.

The telephone number they had on they both had on their forearms. There was no exciting story behind it, just a girl scribbling it on Jooheon's arm in the club. But he kept it because of the memories of eating pizza in the town park at one AM. The buses stopped going, and they had no cash on them for a taxi. The best they came up with was to go have a pizza in the park. They didn't even remember how they got home in the end. They could’ve gotten it off. Jooheon could’ve washed it off at the club, before it left a mark. But he forgot, having you much fun with his friends. He heard there were gels for that too now, but they burned like hell and there was a chance of leaving a scar. Was there a reason to remove it though? It only brought back sweet memories.

Jooheon's name under their ribs. It was a high school party one of their friends threw. It was getting a little wild. Jooheon tried to excuse the whole dumb idea with being under the influence. Changkyun was too. He thought it was so important to write his name on Changkyun's rib. So he'd remember who his soulmate was. “We’re like... totally best friends. Like I love you, man. Dude. I-... I should write my name on you or some . I’ll write my name there. Dude, that’s cool,” Changkyun imitated his friend, laughing at how much of a dumb idea it was. Now they both had Jooheon’s name on their ribs.

Shownu asked about the writing on their right hands. It was bigger, compared to the other ones. It was placed between their elbows and wrists, but still wasn’t what you’d call huge. “You’re my peace of mind,” Shownu read out loud, scanning the pretty cursive handwriting. “Who wrote that?”

Changkyun glanced at his friend, knowing it’s his story. There wasn’t much to say about it. After his break up, he was in a bad place. A very bad place that not even Changkyun could drag him out of. He tried, he really did but Jooheon only closed doors and isolated himself. That was probably the longest they spent apart since learning they’re soulmates. It took a toll on both of them. Jooheon noticed. He still felt like , but it was so much worse without Changkyun on his side, especially after getting into a fight about the whole situation. But he wasn’t strong enough to call him. He didn’t want to leave his room. But this he could do. He grabbed a pen off his desk, scribbling on his arm, letting Changkyun know. That he was his peace of mind.

It wasn’t the story that was important to them. It was knowing, that they’re here for the long run. That no matter how far from each other they are, how long they didn’t see each other, they still love one another the same. And that’s what mattered to them.

Changkyun looked down at his leg, seeing a word under his knee in terrible handwriting. ‘’. It just read ‘’. That wasn’t a story he was going to share. There wasn’t much to it, other than Jooheon being pissed off that Changkyun beat him in his favorite video game. He didn’t even realize he’ll have it on his knee forever too. Changkyun still used it as an opportunity to remind him that he, in fact, won. And he’ll do it again.

There were many doodles without any real meaning. A few flowers up on their thighs. The whole story is that Changkyun forgot about the soulmate reality and drew on his thigh while studying for his test. In a state of boredom, even drawing flowers was more gripping than learning. Up until he received a text from his friend, asking what the the flowers were supposed to be.

Or the Pink Floyd logo on the bicep. They both love the band. That’s it.

There were many more that they didn’t talk about. They weren’t as important and both felt like they’d be taking too much of the couple’s time. “You two don’t have any?” Changkyun asked, noticing that as far as he could see, they didn't have one mark.

“No, not really,” Minhyuk smiled, rubbing his partner's thigh under the table. He knew it'd be a little hard to explain. “We prefer not to know.” He explained that they both had their relationships end for the same reasons. Some people ended it because they found out they weren't soulmates. They ended a working, thriving relationship because a drawing didn't appear on both of their wrists. Some ended it because both Minhyuk and Shownu refused to check if they were soulmates with their respective partners. It was stupid to just let go of a relationship because you weren't soulmates. That didn't mean there wasn't love. It wasn't a rule of the universe to stay with just and only your soulmate. Being in a relationship with someone who isn’t your soulmate doesn’t mean you don’t love and care about and want each other. That you two can’t build on the things you two have already. It doesn’t mean you won’t last.

And that's what kept them from wanting to ever find out. “I love him, whether he is my soulmate or not, what's the point of finding out?” That was the important part. That there was love and there was trust and there was a connection. And that's what kept it going, not the universe finding your perfect match, but both halves putting in all they had. Some people didn't want a perfect match. Shownu didn't want a perfect match. He wanted Minhyuk, for him, that was even better.

It was so sweet listening to them talk about their relationship. They really had a thing for each other and both Changkyun and Jooheon could clearly see that. They could see it that much clearer after three rum-filled drinks. They bid their goodbyes, sure to see each other in upcoming days. Changkyun dragged Jooheon to the beach, convincing him to go for a walk.

“You know, I'm glad you wrote those stupid lakes on your finger,” Jooheon broke the silence after a while. It just felt like the right time to get into their feelings and get all soft and glad they have each other. He could blame it on the drinks if he wanted.

“Why's that, homeboy,” Changkyun laughed, but he was glad he decided to cheat on that test. “I just needed to pass a test.”

“I’m just- I’m lucky to have you.” Changkyun took that to the heart. He couldn’t help but smile until his cheeks hurt. He came over to his friend, draping his arm around him and pulling him closer while they continued to walk along the sea shore, just to let him know he feels the same.

He was a pain in the sometimes. But life without him would be so much worse. He didn't know where else to look for something like he had with Jooheon. It's something you can't find, really. It's something that has to come on its own and you have to catch it and care for it until it blossoms into a beautiful relationship. He'd know they were soulmates even without the universe agreeing. Jooheon was an extension of him and he couldn't really imagine his life without his soulmate.

Being together felt like being home.

“I guess we were meant to be.”

“We sure were.”

They sure were.

thank you all for reading!! make sure to let me know what you think or what pairing you’d like to see next!!