synopsis:

a soulmate au where everyone is born with a simple tattoo on their chest. a circle, a dot, a line, anything. when you first meet your soulmate, the mark starts to bloom. when you fall in love, flowers swirl part of your torso. jang wonyoung was born with a tattoo of a pink dot under her collarbone. it starts manifesting when she enters college, when her eyes landed on a beautiful girl sitting on a bench, and when she smiled at her.

//

at the pure age of seven, little jang wonyoung stared at the pink speck under her right clavicle with peaking curiosity. she had spotted it long before but had disregarded it as a mosquito bite. yet it never seemed to disappear as the years passed. when she questioned her mother about this peculiarity, she was apprised that everyone was born with it, albeit in a variety of forms.

her loving mother said to her that it was a 'soulmate tattoo' and for a bedtime story, wonyoung was told the story of how her parents met and fell in love. her mother told her it was how the red roses and tulips came about and swirled from a mere stem on her chest, to her left forearm. when her mother showed her arm which was adorned with the red blooms, wonyoung thought it was pretty.

although wonyoung was elated about being narrated a delightful story, at her age, she never understood.

"when you meet the right person, magic will happen." so she was told, with a tender smile carved on her mother's lips.

the same night, little wonyoung slept wearing the same smile, wondering if this 'magic' would happen to her too.

.

at 12, jang wonyoung had a rather vivacious girl for a seatmate. ahn yujin was ebullient and loud. she was a student well-loved by their classmates because of her flamboyant nature. when yujin extended a hand towards her, with a blinding smile etched on her lips, wonyoung timidly accepted the handshake with pink tints adoring her cheeks. 

when yujin told her she liked the mole under her eye, wonyoung replied to her that her smile is as beautiful as the sun. their friendship started with compliments, and they soon indulged themselves in a bubbly conversation.

that day, wonyoung went home skipping, with a megawatt smile donned on her lips. with hope flickering in her heart, she requested her mother to tell the story of how she fell in love again. every word made her skin tingle, every sentence made her grin wider. 

when her mother asked about her euphoric mood, wonyoung was quick to hold her mother's hands in hers.

"i might've found my soulmate!" she confidently announced, leaving her mother gasping in surprise. 

when told the news, her mother shared the same happiness.

"then let's check if your tattoo grew," 

because her first interaction with her soulmate should have made her tattoo sprout, either a stem or a petal. wonyoung had forgotten about this, she hadn't checked because she had been too thrilled.

but she was confident, because she thought yujin made her happy. they clicked immediately on the first day of school. why wouldn't it be ahn yujin?

so she stood in front of the mirror with her mother by her side, excited for the reveal. her mother gave her a nod, and her eyes were instantly glued to the mirror as her mother shifted the collar of her shirt to reveal part of her skin, where the pink dot should be located.

however, her grin disappeared, dissipated like the smokes of a candle flame when there was no change in her tattoo. the pink speck remained. she stared at the mirror for so long, and her worried mother embraced her, reassuring her that maybe it would take some time before it flourished. she swallowed away the sadness in , and chose to put faith in her mother's words.

but gone was the flicker of hope she had in her heart.

then she spent every day of her time in school with ahn yujin, visited each other's homes, hung out often after school, talked about so many things only they would understand.

and she would check the pink speck on her body everyday. alas, there was no progress in her tattoo, even after a year. so she yielded to the fact that she wasn't yujin's, and yujin wasn't hers. at least they remained the best of friends, promising each other that they would inform the other if they ever met their soulmate.

.

at 16, her dolt of a best friend found her soulmate. a new girl — a beauty at that, who goes by the name of kim minjoo. wonyoung would watch as yujin's eyes glimmered whenever the beauty does anything, really. there was no doubt that there was envy, because she wanted to feel that yujin felt, wanted to watch as her tattoo bloomed each day as she connected to her soulmate.

yujin , but wonyoung responded a little cold-heartedly.

"if that's what falling in love looks like, i wouldn't wanna look stupid." wonyoung trudged her way home alone that day, with heavy weight on her shoulders. 

she grimaced when she thought about the way she had replied to yujin. she knew she was vexed because of something that was known to take time, but that didn't give her any reason to snap her best friend like that.

she reminded herself to apologise. and she did, yujin did the same. she was thankful to have someone understanding as a best friend.

.

at 19, jang wonyoung finally enters university as a freshman, along with yujin and minjoo by her side— her two pillars of support. and yujin had reassured her that this new start would be where she would, at long last, meet her soulmate.

wonyoung never really bothered to believe whatever words yujin would shoot out, she would shrug it off instead, with a giggling minjoo (who had gotten used to their dynamic) beside her. 

turns out, yujin's words may be precise after all. 

in the midst of the entrance ceremony, wonyoung excuses herself to the washroom. it was confusing enough to find one after exiting out of the auditorium, where there were hallways almost everywhere. fortunately, she managed.

on her way out, she turned to look at the daunting hallways with concern. her eyes darted to every corner. she couldn't properly decipher her turns she had made before. 

"oh no..." wonyoung heaves a defeated sigh, shoulders hunching. 

first day of university and she is already a hopeless cause. she knew she should have asked the other two to accompany her knowing she has a rather bad sense of direction, but they had been too immersed in their excitement about the opening ceremony that wonyoung didn't want to disrupt their rapture.

taking her eyes off the glossy marble floor, she lifts her head and steps outside to take a breather. 

guess i'll find my way later. 

when wonyoung steps outside, the breeze greets her with a kiss to her face, ruffling her wavy raven locks. she takes her time to admire this spacious field she's stepped into, the dancing trees, the lovely bushes of flowers.

her curious eyes eventually catches the sight of someone sitting on a bench, with earphones plugged into her prominent ears— a girl clad in an oversized hoodie, slightly bopping her head to the music in her ears. her short black hair dances along as her head moves, a small smile plastered on her face. 

wonyoung wonders if the girl is a senior because it seemed as if she was familiar and attached to that spot. wonyoung thought she looked serene.

it's too late when wonyoung realises that she's been staring for too long, because the girl looks up at her — probably sensing that she was being watched — and after a few seconds of blankly gazing into wonyoung's eyes, she breaks into a sweet grin.

normally, wonyoung would return a smile before frantically walking away from the awkward situation. but the moment the girl smiled, wonyoung felt a lump building in the back of , followed by a ticklish feeling above the spot on her chest— where the pink speck lay.

it certainly felt like magic.

.

wonyoung finds herself gawking in front of her mirror at the end of the day, for how long she doesn't know, but her feet was starting to ache. that didn't matter because her eyes were fixated on her tattoo. 

she had wondered what the weird feeling building up in her chest was when she locked gazes with the beautiful girl this morning. and all her questions were answered as soon as she rests her eyes on her mark.

her tattoo is no longer a pink speck, but in its place bloomed a single cherry blossom flower, its five pastel pink petals were so... pretty, enthralling to just look at. a tremulous smile made its way onto wonyoung's lips, what more if there were dozens of them swirling her body? and for a while wonyoung muses, how can a mere flower mark give surging happiness to a single soul?

she grazes the tattoo, tracing the thin lines ever so gently with relish. her eyes are glassy, pooling, but she's smiling with glee. the ember of hope in her heart which had dispelled when she was younger, sparked once again. 

.

the second time wonyoung meets her was when she was walking along one of the many hallways in the university. 

it's packed like sardines, many of the students were scampering for their classes, never bothering to apologise when they brush past one another's shoulders or accidentally bump into them. being tall doesn't help at the moment, having to halt her steps to prevent crashing into other students, squeezing her shoulders uncomfortably. her arms are aching from all the books she's carrying and all the squeezing into the crowd. 

and just her luck, someone rams into her shoulder and she loses her grip, her books end up sprawled all over the floor. wonyoung sighs in frustration, eyebrows knitting as she wearily bends down to pick up her items. 

not even an apology, she only heard the person's hastened footsteps to get to class, exclaiming he was late. 

the day has barely started and wonyoung wants to go home.

"these hallways are murder," 

a set of dainty hands appeared, assisting in her morning struggles. at first, wonyoung doesn't see who it is that's helping her (but she's thankful) because her long hair falls forward like curtains, covering her view of the person helping her. 

wonyoung releases a mirthless chuckle, smiling thinly as she pushes her hair behind her ear. she looks up.

"thanks-" and when she does, she's met with familiar chocolate doe eyes looking through circled-rimmed glasses back at her. wonyoung's voice is stuck in , her thin smile disappearing as she shamelessly stares at the girl with bewilderment. 

it's her.

"oh hey, you're the freshman who caught me skipping the opening ceremony the other day." the girl doesn't seem to mind the way she's weirdly staring, merely smiling as she rises up with some of wonyoung's books in hand. 

the girl remembers.

when she finds out that wonyoung towers over her greatly, she makes a surprised face— her big eyes seeming to enlarge more. but she doesn't say anything about it. for once, wonyoung doesn't need to respond to the same "you're tall" comments on a first (actual) meeting.

"i'm a second year, miyawaki sakura. pinky swear you won't tell anyone that i skipped the opening ceremony?" she says as she hands back wonyoung's books, wonyoung clears when their fingers brush. never had she been so happy to finally know a person's name, and now she knows why there's a cherry blossom on her chest.

"j-jang wonyoung... that's my uh, name." she replies, internally grimacing about how much of a mess she sounded like. but sakura didn't seem to mind her nervousness, flashing her smile while she stuck out a pinky.

wonyoung blinks, slightly confused as she looks at sakura's tiny finger, but goes along with it anyway. when she curls her pinky around sakura's, the size difference causes a stir in the pit of her stomach. there's a slight brushing feeling on her collarbone, but she pays it no mind, and only focuses on the senior in front of her right then.

and because she doesn't trust her voice, she only shifts her eyes into sakura's gleaming ones and nods in understanding. 

wonyoung doesn't understand how someone can look so good in a track jacket, the big glasses only adds to sakura's attractiveness. though wonyoung doesn't know whether they're real or not, she didn't wear one the first