Pairing: Jung Jaehyun x female reader (ft. Johnny)

Genre: soulmate au / office au / fluff

Warnings: flirty and suggestive moments, a tiny bit of angst and miscommunication, and some cursing

Word count: 9926

---

 

“Have you figured it out yet?”

Glancing up at your best friends Gabbie and Dee, you shook your head softly. “Not yet.”

“It’s not as if we have a timeline to understand what our connection is,” Dee reminded the brunette beside her, sending you a comforting smile. “Y/N will find out when she’s meant to.”

Giving her a weak smile in response, you tried to not feel disheartened. It wasn’t easy, though. Everyone around you knew who their soulmate was or what to expect. Gabbie had been colour-blind until she met Aly, and since then, she made sure to point out just what shade everything was around her. Much as she had when you arrived at the coffee shop and relayed how lavender wasn’t quite the right colour for your skin tone to glow.

Dee had heard a strange male voice in her head until Archer appeared in her life, and those conversations became out loud ones. Well, except for when they sank into each other’s gaze and kept their intimate conversations within their minds. Which happened more often than you liked to admit. They were cute, but you were extremely single, and their connection only heightened that knowledge for you.

It wasn’t just your friends who had an understanding of their soulmates. Your parents had been tied by a red string, and your brother had a countdown on his wrist until he met his wife. Your cousin hadn’t met her match yet, but she had dreamed of her soulmate for her whole life. Even your neighbour had a mark on his hip that indicated he had someone out there with the same design waiting for him.

You were surrounded by people who had successfully found their match, and you didn’t even have a clue what your trigger would be. It didn’t matter as a teen, but now with you nearing thirty, well, you were starting to think you’d never get a sign that your soulmate was out there waiting for you.

Your thoughts must have shown on your expression because suddenly a hand landed over yours. “Y/N. He’ll come for you.”

“Or she. You never know what gender your soulmate is until you meet them,” Gabbie added, since Aly was short for Alyssa. It still amused you that Gabbie, who had spent her whole secondary and tertiary curriculum lusting over the jocks and popular guys, was now dating her girlfriend. But you knew true love when you saw it, and they were perfect for one another.

You wanted to whine outlandishly about how unfair the world was.

Dee’s eyes flicked to yours, and you could see sympathy rising. Shaking your head to avoid any more pity than you could handle, you raised a hand in protest. “Enough about my lack of a connection. There’s more to life than whether or not you have a soulmate.”

“You do have one. Don’t give up,” Dee confirmed, and you nodded dismissively.

“I also have a meeting in twenty minutes with possible recruitments, which is much more pressing than trying to figure if I’m going to start feeling hot flushes if I come too close to my destined one.”

Gabbie smirked. “That would be a fun game. You’re still in the cold zone. But maybe when he steps into your radius you’ll burn deep down.”

“Burn in what way?” Dee continued, the ladies sharing a knowing expression that you didn’t want to dive headfirst into.

Instead, you got up, picking up your takeout cup and shook your head. “I’m going to leave before this gets too .”

“Darling, we’re not at work right now!” Gabbie called after your departure, your fingers wiggling over your shoulder in farewell.

Once outside the shop, you inhaled a deep breath to steady yourself before heading back to your office. As much as you loved your best friends and were happy for them, you hoped that someday soon you could meet your soulmate so the topic could be permanently retired.

It was becoming quite the stalemate.

---

 

“Good to see you back, Y/N,” Johnny, your co-worker, greeted with a loose smile, jerking his head in the direction of the conference room. “They’re already showing up.”

“How many so far?” you asked as he followed you to your office, the taller man leaning against the edge of your desk.

Johnny was hot. He had a natural charm about the way he held himself, and if you believed more in free will, you would have acted on your crush on the man months ago. Sadly, he recently found a date marked on his ankle, and since you didn’t have a matching timeframe, you knew he was invested in the countdown to that day arriving. Still, you couldn’t help but admire the man and equally knew he did the same to bide the time.

“Three. One of them seems close to a panic attack.”

You groaned. “That’s not going to pay them any favours in our line of work.”

You worked for one of the most prestigious magazine companies in the country, boasting a top three ranking for the past seven years. Whilst you spent more time writing articles on fashion do’s and don’ts – something that Gabbie didn’t grasp or else she would have known that lavender was the it shade for spring this year – you had been ered by your boss Taeil on overseeing the hiring process a couple of times. You had to admit that you were good at reading people to make the right choices for your team.

After all, you had hired Johnny on the spot almost a year ago, and he had become the best thing about going to work each day.

Oh. And he was great at reviewing entertainment trends too.

“How many do you have lined up for the sportswriter slot?” Johnny wondered, leaning over your desk. You inhaled the citrus cologne that wafted into your personal space.

“Five potential candidates. Three being early is a change. I’m not even running behind in greeting them yet.”

“Don’t hire anyone who is late. Being on time is a charm,” Johnny instructed, and you grinned at him, knowing he was the first to arrive for his batch of interviews and had been chatting with you so engagingly that you had been off your game and not greeted the others waiting for the interview outside the door.

In which you decided not to make a habit of, and after grabbing the resume folder off your desk, you shot him a look. “I’ll see you for lunch?”

“Sushi?” he suggested, and you nodded.

“You know the way to my heart,” you enthused as you brushed past him, heading for the conference room.

Johnny chuckled. “If only you were the one finding your way to mine, Y/N.”

You ignored the comment, hoping your cheeks weren’t as flustered as they felt when you stepped inside the room. There were four men now waiting, and as you glanced at the one sitting closest to the door, you knew he had to be the one panicking.

Stuart Langley. You didn’t have to look at your file to know who he was. He was the most acclaimed of the potential recruitments, and you had been excited to meet him today.

A shame he can’t even look me in the eye, you thought as you greeted each member at the table warmly, taking a seat across from the men and getting stuck into your opening speech. Ten minutes into your meeting with the candidates, the door opened suddenly, and you turned to see a man in deep breaths of air.

Suddenly the room grew hotter.

“Sorry I’m late,” he panted, dragging in another deep breath. “There was an accident, and traffic is completely backed up. I had to ditch my cab and run the rest of the way here.”

“That’s fine, please take a seat,” you offered, your eyes shifting to the resume you had discarded to the side when he seemed to be a no-show. You smiled politely at him. “Jung Jaehyun?”

“That’s me,” he confirmed as he sat down, shooting the man he sat next to with a small smile. He turned to look at you, and you had to divert your gaze, clamping your hand down into your lap to stop from fanning yourself.

Jaehyun’s suit was crinkled, no doubt from his mad dash to make it on time, and yet it wasn’t the crinkles that distracted you. His broad frame filled out the pale blue dress shirt, the buttons taut around his chest.

You really needed to stop looking before your earlier threat of thoughts slipped to the forefront again. You seriously weren’t someone who thirsted easily over men either, especially the younger kind.

Today was turning into something else.

“Right. Well, now that we’re all here, let me quickly re-explain what I was discussing before we get into the interview, shall we?”

Jaehyun sent you an apologetic smile, and it was then that you noticed that he had dimples.

You were going to need a miracle to get through the next hour alive.

---

 

“So, who will you hire?” Johnny asked with a mouthful of food, your features scrunching up at how typically male it was of him to eat and talk at the same time. He swallowed and gave you a knowing grin. “I’m all male, Y/N.”

“It’s as if you can read my mind sometimes.”

“Of course, I can. You let your emotions show so openly on that pretty little face of yours,” he concluded self-assuredly, and you rolled your eyes.

Thinking back over your session with the potential writers, your mind hovered over one.  It wasn’t the most experienced writer of the bunch that held your attention. And he had been late – even if it was out of his control with the accident. Still, Jaehyun was the clear pick. He answered all your questions genuinely and was the most creative of the five. You would rather suggest Taeyong hired someone who appeared determined to improve on the job and give him a great first magazine writing experience than choose someone who looked like his shadow would scare him at any given time of the day.

“The one who was late, right?” Johnny guessed, and you looked at him in surprise. He laughed and tapped his temples. “Mind-reader, remember.”

“I think Jaehyun could be something really special to the sports team.”

“Does he play anything?”

You nodded. “Basketball.”

“You and guys who like ball sports, huh?”

You almost choked on your sushi roll, and Johnny roared with amusement.

“I’m going to kill you before that soulmate of yours turns up. What date was it again? Three more months? You’re treading on thin ice and might not make it that far. Besides, he’s also good at swimming, so it’s not all about balls, Johnny.”

And it explained Jaehyun’s athletic body shape.

“I played volleyball, remember?” he whispered into your ear, and you groaned loudly.

“You might lose a month by the end of the day,” you grumbled, and Johnny settled his teasing.

“I think you should go with your instincts. If he’s fit for the job, you would definitely know. I mean, you are Miss-Know-It-All the best of the times and—”

You shoved your hand over Johnny’s mouth and went to retort but spotted the all familiar candidate across the sushi bar eating his lunch with an amused smile on his face.

.

“How loud were we?” you hissed, slapping Johnny on the shoulder before shifting away from him. “Please tell me you think this place is loud enough that our conversation didn’t make it to the back of the room!”

“Because a potential candidate is in here eating lunch too?” Johnny surmised, and you gasped. He smirked. “I saw him when we entered. Didn’t you?”

“I hate you so much.”

“Y/N, we both know if we lived in any other society, you’d love me. Hate is such a passionate word, though and—”

“Disowning you right now,” you proclaimed, trying not to look to the corner of the bustling bistro.

“Something tells me that he’s going to knock me out of the top spot in your mind,” Johnny mentioned a moment later, and you looked at him, allowing your gaze to roam back to Jaehyun. He met your stare and smiled politely.

You returned it and then cocked your head to the side. “Wouldn’t I know it already if he was? You’re currently safe in the male department of my thoughts, don’t worry.”

Except when you looked back at your meal, you wondered what it was about Jaehyun that threw you off from completely believing your statement.

---

 

“So, you’re saying you got hot flushes as soon as this guy rocked up?” Gabbie inquired over the phone later that evening and you rolled your eyes at her response to how your day had gone. “What are the odds that I joked about it and now you’re having a soulmate trigger!”

“Calm down, Gabs. I was reacting because Jaehyun is attractive. Extremely attractive. You know, the type of guys you were crushing on hard in university? He exudes that type of handsomeness. It wasn’t a soulmate trigger at all.”

“How do you know? Aly, what do you think?”

“Babe, I think you’re too invested in poor Y/N’s love life.” Aly squeaked, and you wondered what Gabbie had done to warrant such a noise. “Fine. It could be something.”

You sighed in answer. “You mean the lack of love life, and it’s probably nothing.”

“Sign or not, if you’re reacting to him then it’s worth investigating if the guy has a soulmate trigger when he gets hired. You can never be too careful and rule someone out.”

“You sounded like Dee just now,” you teased, and your friend laughed.

“What can I say. She’s rubbed off on all of us. Especially Archer.”

“I don’t want to discuss couples on a Monday night. No offense to you both,” you groaned, and after talking for another five minutes, you hung up and decided it was time to take a soak in the bath.

You wanted to forget all about triggers, hot flushes, and the way you had Jaehyun’s dimpled smile etched into your mind. You stripped out of your clothes after running the water and adding your favourite bubble bath, sinking into the water with a moan.

Everyone was so obsessed with finding their match when you considered the freedom to do as you pleased a great luxury to have. Relaxing into the water, you closed your eyes and focused on finding your zen, pushing aside work deadlines and potential leads for upcoming articles.

But no matter much you shunted them away, Jaehyun’s brown eyes wouldn’t slip out of your mind.

Snapping your gaze open with some annoyance, you lifted your left hand to your face, halting in brushing wisps of hair away from your face when you noticed something unusual on your inner forearm. Sitting up, you stared at the new appearance on your skin.

Hey there.

In somewhat of a daze, you lifted your right hand to rub over the handwritten message, swiping it back and forth. It didn’t smudge or disappear, like a tattoo on your skin.

“No ing way,” you cursed lowly, eyeballing your arm’s message with interest.

After twenty-nine years of existing in this world, the first sign you had a soulmate was simply to say hello?! And why was it happening only now?

You were grateful you were alone because you were beginning to feel like you were having an existential crisis over the message.

Dropping your arm into the water before lifting it back out, you cursed again when the message remained, the two words mocking you more than you expected them to. “What do I do? Do I speak my reply into existence, or is this the most thought of words of the day type of trigger? If so, hey there is a bit ambiguous. I suppose at least they’re being polite and greeting me first.”

You laughed, the words you rambled out only making your heartbeat run faster. Standing up, you forwent your soak in the bath and stepped out, not bothering with wrapping your towel around your body just yet. Going over to the mirror, you angled yourself in increments, checking yourself over for anything else.

Nothing. Just the two words inked into your forearm existed.

Slowly wrapping your towel around yourself, you padded into your bedroom still stuck in that daze, slumping onto the edge of your bed blindly.

You decided to keep this new development to yourself. You needed time to digest it before you told your best friends about it and had them encouraging you to explore more. Further, you wanted to see how it panned out over the next few days. If you knew your soulmate type well enough, it meant the expression should change daily. So, all you had to do was wait and see what happened.

---

 

When you woke the following morning, the first thing you did was lift your arm and inspect the site where the words had been. You weren’t sure if you were relieved or not to see hey there still etched into your skin.

Still seriously stunned by the late-night development, you got ready for work, ensuring your blouse covered the length of your arm before heading off for your ritual coffee and breakfast with the girls. Today both significant others had joined your best friends. It wasn’t uncommon, and you adored Aly and Archer too. Normally, you would feel resigned over the fact that you were entering Couples-ville, but this time, as you curled your left arm against your waist, you considered that in the near future, there could be three happy couples sitting and enjoying breakfast together.

“You look the epitome of envy in sage green today,” Gabbie greeted, and Aly scrunched up her nose.

“Isn’t that more of a Laurel green?”

You laughed. It wouldn’t surprise you if the pair had invested in colour palette swatches to understand every variant shade a colour could possess.

“Either way, you look great,” Dee offered, and you smiled, smoothing down your grey pencil skirt after taking a seat.

“I’ll go grab the usual order,” Archer offered, and once everyone checked he had what they wanted, Dee scooted closer to you.

“Something’s up with you.”

“What makes you think that?” you asked hesitantly, trying to keep your expression neutral.

“There’s something different about you,” she mused, and you all but embedded your arm under your ribcage, trying to keep the rest of your body loose and casual. Dee did another sweep over you before gasping.

Oh, God. She’s figured it out.

“Is that the new Tom Ford perfume I can smell?!”

You didn’t know if you want to hit her for scaring you or kiss her on both cheeks for not figuring out what was actually different about you. Grinning, you nodded. “I got a PR package for my latest review on their winter collection.”

“I swear, you’re living your best life.”

“I don’t know about that,” you admitted, feeling on edge as your skin itched right where the words were. “But I sure am living something.”

You were grateful that no one paid much attention to you over breakfast and that Johnny had a scheduled out of office morning for research on his next article. It meant you were left alone in your office, and with a heavy sigh, you sank into your chair before sliding up your sleeve.

The words were gone.

“Wait. What?”

For some reason, you felt the need to search all over your lower arm, as if they had the ability to move into another spot on your skin whenever they felt like it. But your entire arm, aside from your smartwatch, was bare.

“Maybe it’s better this way,” you murmured to yourself, jumping when there was a knock on the door.

You smiled when Taeil stepped into your office. “I reviewed your recommendation. The youngest and most inexperienced one? Interesting choice, Y/N.”

“Experience and age aside, I felt that Jaehyun was the…” you trailed off then, your hands fumbling with the folders on your desk before you held his resume in your hand. There were no handwritten elements, and you frowned, wondering why you had just thought to match the message with his handwriting.

Especially since the words had disappeared, leaving you with nothing to guide you to an answer.

“Y/N? Everything alright?”

“Huh?” Glancing up at Taeil, you shook yourself off and cleared your throat. “Of course. Sorry, as I was saying, I felt he was the best fitting candidate for our office. What he lacked in, he gained by graduating from one of the best journalism and writing schools in the country. He also seemed to consider my questions, taking his time to answer them in a way that was very complimentary to our magazine’s focus.”

“I’ll hire him. But you know the drill. You’re his mentor for the next month.”

“The most I know about sports is where my gym is and how to sign up for Pilates classes,” you admitted, and Taeil shot you a smirk.

“I’m not asking you to write about sports, Y/N. You just have to be the one signing off on all his work, okay?”

You inhaled a deep breath, wondering just how small your office would feel with Jung Jaehyun sharing it with you. Smiling lightly, you nodded at Taeil. “You know me. I make the right judgement calls.”

“That you do.”

Once your boss was gone, you threw yourself down on your desktop and whined immaturely. If you were so good when it came to others, why couldn’t you be more precise in decisions relating to yourself?

---

 

“Hey there,” a honeyed voice greeted you the following morning, and you snapped your head up at the statement, relaxing when you saw Johnny sauntering into the department. “How’s my favourite fashion guru today? White pants? Are we feeling bold enough to not spill coffee on ourselves like we did the last time we tempted fate with this ensemble?”

“Just admit that your first thought wasn’t about the coffee incident and how good these look on me,” you replied smugly, having seen the way he appreciated your jeans before his gaze had travelled to your face. You rolled up the sleeves of your bubble-gum pink shirt to your elbows as you grinned at Johnny further. “No response, huh? That’s not like you, Johnny Seo.”

“The date changed,” he admitted suddenly, seemingly nervous. You blinked several times, understanding immediately what he meant.

“To what day?”

“Your birthday,” he murmured, and you gasped, covering your mouth with both hands and shaking your head. Johnny searched your eyes intensely. “Which is two months away, right?”

He had greeted you with Hey there, hadn’t he? Could this be a bigger sign than you realised? Just as you were about to confess the disappearing message from the day previous, you flinched when there was another knock on your door, and Jaehyun stuck his head in.

“Hey. I was told that I was assigned to this office?”

Johnny dropped his hands onto your shoulders and gave them a squeeze before stepping away from you and greeting Jaehyun in a friendly way. You were trying to regulate your breathing for a moment longer, and Jaehyun stood awkwardly in the doorway. “Should I, uh, come back?”

“Huh? No. Not at all. Please come in and set yourself up. The desk is big enough for the two of us to work here together. You can have that side. I’ve tried to tidy up my mess as diligently as possible once the big boss told me he hired you to start immediately,” you announced, feeling yourself relax into his company. Jaehyun shot you one of his dimpled, boyish grins, and you retracted the instant relaxation, feeling the skin where those words had existed turn itchy.

You scratched the spot mindlessly, and Jaehyun watched your reaction quietly, but another smile soon spread over his lips, and he pulled out his laptop, setting up. “I didn’t realise I would be assigned to you, Y/N.”

“Everyone is when they come through these doors,” you admitted with a friendly smile. “Don’t worry. You’d much prefer being in here with me than the likes of Jade next door. She used to take on our recruits, and let’s just say not many made it past the trial period.”

Jaehyun chuckled, the deep sound warming your insides. “I’ll take your word for it. Don’t worry. I’m diligent and hardworking. I want to make this work.”

“I could tell that about you. Which is why I chose you for the role.”

Jaehyun’s eyebrows shot up. “You made the call?”

“If Moon Taeil was left to make a decision, he’d choose based on connections. He’s not a bad guy at all, but he kind of at getting a really good read on people.”

“And you’re good at that, huh?”

You shrugged. “Got you the job, didn’t I?”

“Yes, you did,” Jaehyun replied, grinning at you charmingly. You felt the skin grow hotter on your forearm and started to itch it again. Rounding the table, Jaehyun reached for your arm, stopping you mid-scratch. With a soul-searching stare, his smile faded. “You should stop that. You might hurt your skin.”

“What?” you breathed out, looking down at where his thumb now caressed the inflamed pink area on your arm. “Oh. Shoot. I didn’t realise I’d done that. Where’s my pawpaw cream?”

Slipping out of his grip, you opened a drawer and dug the tube out with an aha! Jaehyun nodded to himself as you squirted some onto the area before returning to his side of the desk and pulling out more of his belongings from his bag.

---

 

Aren’t you going to say something back?

Two days later, you woke up with another message in the same spot as the two worded one from Tuesday. All week long, you had been waiting for another sign that you hadn’t hallucinated the temporary tattoo onto your skin, and you sat up with a start, looking at the new sentence and running your fingers along it.

You really had a soulmate out there.

Johnny hadn’t said much to you about the change in date on his ankle, and with how busy you had been with Jaehyun’s orientation, you had been spending more time in the office for lunch than out of it. But now with the message boldly inked into your skin, you knew you needed to talk to him about this.

What you weren’t exactly hoping for was Jaehyun tagging along with you both for lunch. Sitting in Johnny’s favourite burger joint, you wondered how to broach the subject without turning it too personal. Hand clamping your lower arm where you had worn another long-sleeved blouse to cover it, you chewed on your bottom lip nervously.

“You know that burger is going to get cold, and you’re sitting with two guys today, Y/N,” Johnny announced, having been deep in conversation with Jaehyun for some time. They seemed to get along as if they had known each other for years, not days.

Jaehyun chuckled. “We won’t hesitate if you’re not hungry.”

“Watch it, Jae. She has a big appetite. Don’t let her appearance convince you otherwise. She threw me under the table during an all you can eat chicken wings contest.”

“Really?” Jaehyun’s eyes widened, and his dimples deepened.

You rolled your eyes and picked up your burger, taking a big bite out of it and gave both of them a pointed look.

“Duly noted. The burger is off-limits,” Johnny announced with a chuckle. “But when you finish that mouthful of yours, are you planning to tell us what’s on your mind or do I need to play mind-reader?”

You choked on your mouthful, reaching for your soda and dragged a decent amount up the straw to dislodge the food before scowling at Johnny. “Can you not put me in predicaments where I could potentially choke to death?”

“How was I meant to know you’d react like that?” he answered with a lazy grin. “Come on, spit it out. Not your food, that is.”

“I was thinking about soulmates,” you admitted, and both men were paying attention to you now. You cringed inwardly at their avid stares. “And some of the ways they present themselves. I have a friend, you see.”

“Not you?” Johnny teased, and Jaehyun smiled, though his eyes didn’t match the reaction. They seemed to regard you a little too well, and you blinked, looking at Johnny again.

“Her trigger finally showed up. A message on her skin. And then it went away. Another arrived asking her if she was going to reply. But truth is, she doesn’t know how to. I’m trying to figure out how to help her.”

Johnny frowned. “Weird. Mine just appeared out of nowhere, and I haven’t had to do anything about it. I assumed it would be the same for my soulmate.”

“You don’t know who your soulmate is?” Jaehyun asked, and Johnny shook his head. “What appeared on you?”

“A countdown date,” you explained, eying Johnny carefully. “Which changed dates recently.”

“Don’t those just remain dormant until the impending date arrives?” Jaehyun mentioned.

Johnny cleared his throat after staring at you silently and shrugged. “I assume so. Makes sense, doesn’t it?”

“But that doesn’t answer how my friend should go about hers. She’s tried talking out loud and thinking the response with all her might, but I doubt anything happened.”

Jaehyun tried to hide a smile by pulling the straw of his milkshake into his mouth.

“That is weird. I’ve never heard of it before. Since when were soulmates so much work?” Johnny commented, and you groaned, slumping into your seat.

“Why not try writing a message back?” You both stared at Jaehyun, who was now focused only on you. “You know, on your skin.”

“I doubt drawing on her skin is going to help,” Johnny refuted, shaking his head.

“What has she got to lose?” Jaehyun challenged, his warm gaze penetrating yours. He quirked his eyebrow slightly and then turned back to his meal.

“I’ll uh, suggest it to her. As you said, what has she got to lose, right?”

---

 

“This is absolutely ridiculous,” you proposed, holding a pen in your dominant hand and angling it to your opposite wrist. Lowering it, you groaned. “I haven’t drawn on my skin since I was a kid.”

And you certainly hadn’t received any messages back from a soulmate, either.

Glancing at the words fading on your forearm, you frowned. So far, you knew only two things. The messages didn’t last long, and all other attempts to reply hadn’t worked.

What has she got to lose?

You thought back to Jaehyun’s sentence at lunch and contemplated his expression. You wondered how he had come up with the concept of writing back and pouted when you realised you should have asked him if he had much experience with his soulmate yet or not.

You were stalling by being up in your head, and so you posed the pen against your skin, trying to be as neat as you could be as you wrote. The last thing you wanted if this actually worked was for your soulmate to think poorly of your handwriting.

I’m saying something back now.

You looked at the sentence and groaned. “Why did I write that?! It’s so lame!”

Reaching for the damp paper towel at your side, you went to wipe it off your skin, but the words faded on their own into you. Or off you. Either way, one minute your message was there, and the next, it was gone.

As was the one your soulmate had left.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” you breathed out, staring at your skin until it prickled and tingled. Blinking, you then gasped.

There you go. Hey there.

“It worked!” you squealed, feeling as if you had unlocked one of life’s greatest secrets. And then you sat there pondering what to say back, reverting to your juvenile years where you wrote love letters to your unknown soulmate at the time. You giggled heartily before clearing your throat and recomposed yourself.

“Let’s write something better this time, Y/N,” you instructed and put the pen to your skin.

Over the next hour, you had figured there were limits to what you could tell your soulmate about yourself. You had asked them who they were, and when they evaded answering outright, you had inked your name into your skin, watching as the words didn’t fade off. Instead, they remained unsent on you. Personal details that would make you easy to find were unable to penetrate through the weird connection, and so you spent your time learning about the person in more creative ways.

You had discovered they were male, however, and this helped somehow solidify an image in your head of him. You couldn’t quite give him a face, but he had admitted to having brown eyes.

The colour you loved most on men.

He was already winning in your books.

After chatting past midnight, you yawned, rolling over in the bed you had brought yourself to and settled under your blankets. You smiled when another message appeared.

I’m beat. Sweet dreams, soulmate.

“I’m getting a goodnight message,” you said softly, a genuine smile splitting your lips. You didn’t realise just how much you had longed for this type of connection until now. Picking up your pen, you tried to rein in some of your euphoria.

I’d say I hope you dream of me, but we don’t have that kind of connection.

A reply came a moment later. You never know. I might be able to conjure you into my head.

Will we chat tomorrow? you replied after giggling at his presumptuous answer. You waited with bated breath, hoping this wouldn’t be the last time you heard from him. When you finally saw his reply, your heart swelled.

You can rely on me to talk to you every single day from here out.

---

 

“Someone’s had a great weekend,” Johnny announced as he and Jaehyun looked up from the desk as you breezed into your office.

You shrugged, but your grin couldn’t be erased from your face. “Why am I not surprised to find you in here? Jaehyun, I understand since this is our office, but Johnny, why aren’t you at your desk? Should we rearrange in here so you can drag your stuff in here too? Since you’re always here.”

“Woah. And here I thought you loved it when I spent all my free time with you.”

“You’re distracting my rookie writer from starting his morning off right.”

Jaehyun pursed his lips together bemusedly.

“We should harness all the positive energy for Jaehyun’s success,” Johnny proclaimed, nodding overdramatically before swinging around to your side and pecking you on the cheek as he often did.

However, you felt weird about it, your thoughts throwing to three different people. Jaehyun. Johnny. And your soulmate. Who should you be concerned over first? You didn’t know why and so you stood there sort of dazed by the normally easy gesture.

Johnny frowned and then waved you both off, disappearing out of the office and shutting the door behind him.

Jaehyun was quietly working on something on his computer as you powered yours on. He didn’t lift his eyes away from the device when he spoke. “Good weekend, Y/N?”

“Yeah. How about you? Get up to much?”

“Not a great deal. Spent most of my time at home.”

“Me too. I was meant to go out with my friends, but I blew them off because I—uh, had some chores I couldn’t keep putting off anymore.”

Jaehyun’s gaze finally lifted to yours, his expression filling with silent laughter. “Chores are more important than friends?”

Not really, you thought, but you had declined going to brunch with Dee and Gabbie so you could spend more time talking with your soulmate.

Which you had practically done nonstop all weekend.

“I assure you that the state of this desk is also the state of my home if I don’t mindfully keep it all in check,” you truthfully expressed, and Jaehyun snorted.

“I had no doubts about that.”

“Hey!” you whined, feeling soothed by his deep chuckle in response.

Jaehyun’s stare fell back to his screen. “Did your friend try replying to her soulmate, by the way?”

“She did. Thank you for your help.”

“No problem. Hope it works out for them.”

“I’m certain it will. She told me that sparks were flying,” you replied, trying to not unleash a giddy smile along with your statement. You didn’t need to let Jaehyun figure out you were, in fact, the friend in question.

“Sparks, huh? He’s a lucky guy then.”

“Do you know your soulmate, Jaehyun?” you wondered casually, and he stopped typing, his gaze not quite meeting yours. You were certain you saw a blush crawl up his neck, and you suppressed a giggle. “You do, huh? I’m happy for you.”

“What about you, Y/N? Have you met yours yet?”

“I’m not sure. Something tells me I have, but it’s very early days. Maybe I’ll get to know him in person soon.”

Jaehyun didn’t answer, not that you needed him to. Settling into your work for the week, you were buzzing with elation.

You finally weren’t on the outside anymore.

---

 

Hey you.

The words made you gasp. Not because you weren’t excited to see the familiar greeting, but it was more about the position of it. Never had a message ended up off your forearm where you had equally sent them back. You hadn’t been naïve to think that was the only spot they could appear, but you hadn’t tested the theory yet either, expecting to only see your soulmate’s personal messages in the same spot every time.

So, when you went to the bathroom just before lunch mid-week and pulled away from drying your hands on the paper towel, you noticed the inked message on the palm of your left hand.

“Oh, you didn’t,” you breathed out, trying to not panic. You had just agreed to lunch out with Johnny and Jaehyun again, and whilst they were people you trusted easily, you didn’t need their perceptive stares discovering the message on your hand.

Then they would know you were the friend you had asked for advice last week.

You thought to reply quickly so it would disappear, but you didn’t have a pen in your purse, causing you to groan loudly. But you did have a band-aid. Thanking the fates above for some saving grace, you peeled the seal off, hiding the message under the band-aid.

Your chest loosened from your panic, and you your palm with a small knowing smile before collecting your belongings and joining the men on the way out of the building. It wasn’t until you were seated and eating a donburi bowl that anyone noticed your cover-up.

Johnny reached out for your hand and flipped it over. “When did you hurt yourself?”

“Oh. Just before.”

“On what?”

“The edge of the paper towel dispenser in the bathroom,” you lied evenly, pulling your hand back. “Thankfully, it’s just a scratch. But I covered it just in case. You can never be too careful out in public.”

Johnny seemed satisfied with your answer, but when you looked up again, Jaehyun was staring at you, his expression smug. He didn’t back down when your eyes caught his, a quirk to his eyebrow happening again, much as it had last Friday.

He was challenging you, but you couldn’t figure out why. Dropping your focus back to your meal, you tried to ignore his attention. Jaehyun was soon staring at your hand, and you wondered if he had guessed you were the friend who received messages on her body after all.

In that moment, you could tell that Jaehyun knew it was you. He had watched you long enough for you to understand there was no other answer for his stare.

Looking at Johnny, who was talking about some new trend celebrities were doing, you relaxed knowing that he was still in the dark. You didn’t know why, but you didn’t want him to know yet.

But Jaehyun knowing kind of excited you.

As soon as you were back in the office, you took a deep breath. “Jaehyun?”

“Yeah?”

“I can’t help but feel like you are more observant than I give you credit for.”

A ghost of a smile crossed his lips. Not enough to deepen those dimples of his, but you noticed it because you were just as perceptive as he seemed to be. That, and he didn’t try to hide it either. “I won’t bring it up if you don’t want to talk about it.”

Peeling back the band-aid, you held up your palm, showing the message residing there. “I uh, need to thank you for helping me out.”

His eyes washed over the message on your hand, and you tried to figure what emotion resided in his expression. It took you a moment to realise the answer was pride. He was satisfied he had been right about you being the friend in the beginning.

“I covered it because Johnny would see it. I mean, he was onto the band-aid quick enough.”

“You don’t want Johnny knowing you are talking with your soulmate?” Jaehyun asked, his brows furrowing. “How come? Isn’t he your friend?”

“I’m twenty-nine, Jaehyun. Everyone has known about their soulmates longer than I can keep track of. I’m the only one in my group of friends who hasn’t met their soulmate.”

“That you know of,” he countered, and you shrugged.

“Maybe I’ve crossed paths with him. It’s plausible. Which is why I definitely need to be careful around Johnny in case it’s him.”

Jaehyun was dead silent.

“You see, Johnny and I’ve been flirting with one another almost as long as he’s worked here. I hired him and shared this office with him for a month, just like I’m doing with you. But he didn’t have a soulmate at the beginning, and I sure as hell didn’t think I even had one. So, we passed the time just being a little too friendly. Nothing happened outside of flirty banter. But I wanted it to. I actually don’t know why I’m explaining all this to you,” you stumbled to the fork in your thought process, cringing at how much of an oversharer you were.

Jaehyun didn’t respond still, and you watched him carefully. “Should I shut up?”

“I’m intrigued. Why do you think Johnny is your soulmate?”

“I was going to confess my crush to him three months ago. Properly. But then he came in all excited and lifted his leg onto my chair to expose a random date tattooed there. Obviously, he had come across his soulmate and triggered the countdown date for their special meeting. I never thought it was me until recently. The day you started here, he greeted me in the way my soulmate’s first message had appeared. It startled me. And then he told me the date on his ankle changed to my birthday. It’s too convenient, don’t you think?”

“That’s your evidence?” Jaehyun asked, his tone brisk. You blinked several times, and then he closed his eyes and smoothed out his features. “So why not tell him what you think?”

“Well, I was going to write something on my arm when working and check first.”

“What will you do when you don’t see it there?”

“Honestly? I don’t know. Part of me hopes it’s not him these days. When I’m talking to my soulmate, he feels really different from Johnny.”

“Probably is.”

“I’ve unloaded a lot on you just now, and we’re supposed to be working. For some reason, I feel like you know me more than we’ve actually spoken in person. It’s the feeling I get. So, I blabbered on about my honest feelings. Sorry.”

“It’s okay, Y/N. You just sound confused and want clarity.”

“I guess. But I’ve waited twenty-nine years for my soulmate to arrive,” you stated, more for yourself than to agree with him. You smiled. “I’ll be patient for our actual meeting as long as it takes.”

---

 

You didn’t hear from your soulmate for a day, but when he finally replied to you, it was back in the usual spot. You didn’t think too much of it as you eagerly chatted with him all night long. You were on cloud nine from talking about your childhood experiences and sharing fond memories that you rolled onto your stomach and quickly wrote onto your skin without stopping to think about it.

Do you think we’ve ever crossed paths without knowing it?

It wasn’t long until you received a message. What if we know each other already?

Could you? Jaehyun had said that to you too, and whilst you had loosely agreed, you put more weight into it now. Could you know your soulmate in person already? Surely not. Both your friends had a moment in time where they first met their soulmates, and it truly changed their worlds. Then again, their connections kind of called for that. You wanted to believe you would know the man you were falling for if he was standing in front of you.

But you were also only being fuelled on by words. And whilst they spoke volumes in your heart and mind, they didn’t speak out loud.

If we did, would you know it was me at first sight?

Yeah.

You sighed. Then we haven’t met yet. Because I haven’t had that moment myself.

Maybe you have, but it confused you.

Sitting up at his reply, your eyes widened. Was your soulmate insinuating he knew you in real life?! You didn’t know how to take that news, anxiety filling you up. If you already knew him, you wanted to know right now. So you could stop talking through your skin and use your mouth instead.

Your mind flooded with delicious fantasies that made you clamp your legs together.

Would you show me that I know you?

I thought I had already.

“Holy . My soulmate knows me.”

Reaching over for your phone, you rang Dee, the woman answering blearily on the fourth ring. “Y/N, you do know what—”

“I have a soulmate.”

Dee was alert immediately. “I’m going to swing by and get Gabbie, and then we’ll be at your place in fifteen.”

You were an excitable bundle of nerves when you opened your door to your best friends, both still in their pyjamas and launching themselves into your ready embrace. You laughed so happily that tears welled in your eyes before they dragged you over to the couch, where you explained everything that had happened.

“Aside from the fact that I’m upset you didn’t tell us right away, this is big news, Y/N!” Gabbie proclaimed, reaching out to shake your hand elatedly.

Dee agreed. “I told you that someone was out there waiting for you.”

“I think he knows me,” you confessed shyly, and both women gasped. “We’ve been having a confusing chat about crossing paths in life, and he’s alluded to it having happened. But I can’t think of who he is.”

“Johnny?” Gabbie offered, and Dee shook her head.

“Why would he have a date on his ankle, and Y/N doesn’t have one too? Your soul connection has to be the same.”

You groaned, realising how stupid you had been thinking it was him even for a second.

“What about that new guy at work. Jaehyun, is that his name?”

“He’s twenty-four.”

“So, your soul isn’t going to care how old he is. You know my old next-door neighbour had a fifteen-year . Six years is nothing, sister.”

You replayed each moment with Jaehyun, trying to gauge if it was truly him. You slowly leaned towards the possibility of it being him. Dee grinned. “It could be, right?”

“It could, yes.”

“We should test it.”

“How? I’ve tried asking point-blank, but the connection won’t allow for it that way.”

“Didn’t you say before that he changed where he wrote a message to you?” Gabbie asked, and you nodded.

“It was on my hand. Right before I went to lunch with— oh my god. He had stared at my hand, and I thought it was because he figured I was the friend asking for advice. Not that it could have been for him to see it in person!”

“Two things,” Dee started, raising her fingers. “You need proof. Try and get him to write in front of you so you can check his handwriting. You share an office, so that shouldn’t be too hard to achieve.”

“Good idea,” Gabbie replied with a nod, and you smiled.

“What’s the second thing?”

Dee smirked. “If you can write anywhere on your body, why not play with that?”

“Dee!” you screamed whilst Gabbie broke out into hysterics.

“I’ve trained her well. And now, we’ll train you too. It’s time to amp things up, don’t you think, Y/N?”

---

 

You went to work the following morning early, grateful that Jaehyun hadn’t arrived first. Diving onto his side of the desk, you started to dig through the various piles of papers there, searching for anything with his handwriting. It was mostly just printouts of sports stats that made little sense to you, and articles about the people he was researching. You knew he carried around a little notebook that he jotted things down in, and noticing it wasn’t on his desk, you assumed he took it home with him.

Resigned, you looked at his stuff and attempted to tidy up the piles you had just sifted through.

“Is something wrong, Y/N?”

You yelped in fright, dropping the pile closest to the floor, papers scattering everywhere. “You gave me a fright.”

“Sorry,” he replied with a wry smile, walking over to your side and bending down to help you collect up the mess. “Though I’m confused at why you were looking through all this.”

“I’ve lost a printout on upcoming summer predictions I had shared with Taeil the other day and decided it wouldn’t be a far cry for it to end up over here, considering how I don’t know how to keep contained to my side.”

It was completely passable since it had happened three times already. Jaehyun’s cautious expression softened, and he let out a laugh as he stood back up. “Of course, you have. Want me to help you find it?”

“Don’t you have your meeting with the sportswriters at nine?” Glancing up at the clock, you smiled with relief. “You have five minutes to get ready.”

“Shoot.” He swung the bag off his back and placed it down in his chair.

That brown notebook appeared right in front of you. Inching towards it, Jaehyun scooped it up before you could reach it, turning for the exit, but you were far too close for him to not bang into you.

The room grew thick with heat.

“You okay?” he asked in a huskier tone, your eyes falling to his covered forearm. “Y/N?”

“Hmm?”

“I have to go.”

“Right. Of course. Sports meeting.” Stepping back, you cleared your throat and laughed awkwardly. “Off you go. I’ll see you later.”

“Johnny’s not in the office today, is he?” Jaehyun mentioned at the door, and you stopped moving around the desk to look up at him. He smiled softly. “Lunch?”

“Lunch,” you confirmed, enjoying the dimples appearing with how broad his smile was in response.

You were ninety percent certain Jaehyun was your soulmate now.

Twenty minutes after he left, you felt the usual tingle on your skin before words appeared on your arm. Sliding up your sleeve, you grinned at the message.

Are you onto something?

“He’s too clever for his own good,” you murmured, picking up your pen.

Maybe.

You didn’t write it on the usual spot, opting to go for the palm of your hand as he had the other week. It wasn’t even a minute before you got a response in the same place.

You’re getting bolder.

Really? Maybe I’ll have to reply somewhere better next time.

You had to in a steadying breath when he responded with, I dare you to.

“We shouldn’t play with fire, but I guess this is one challenge I’m open to trying,” you spoke out into the universe, already know where you planned to leave a message next.

Slipping to the hem of your blouse, you twisted in your seat after lifting it aside and drew a small heart on your torso. Waiting for your response, you realised he might be too busy in his meeting to discover what you had imprinted into his skin, turning back to your work with renewed anticipation for when he could finally reply.

Forty minutes later, Jaehyun stepped into your office, your eyes not going to meet the heavy stare you knew he was giving you. Instead, you smirked when you found his shirt was now untucked when before it tucked into his slacks.

Bingo.

“About lunch,” he started, and you watched as he walked over to the desk. “I need a rain check. Brandon wants me to come with him to interview our baseball team.”

“No worries. I can do lunch by myself.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Sure. You know where to find me,” you offered, finally lifting your gaze to his avid stare.

He held you captive as soon as he caught you, and you felt yourself sinking into his warm brown eyes. You didn’t want to stop falling into him, especially now with reason to. Jaehyun was your soulmate. The day he had crashed through that conference door, you should have known. But you were too wound up within your thoughts that you couldn’t possibly have a soulmate to see the proof had been in front of you all this time.

Jaehyun finally drew back from your gaze, swinging around to his side of the desk and pocketing his pen. Without any explanation, he departed back out the door, and you soon felt the tingle in a place you hadn’t expected him to go. You laughed when you ed your blouse just enough to look at the mound of flesh on your chest.

Two can play this game.

---

 

You didn’t know why you didn’t rush to say it out loud. You both knew the other had figured it out, and yet over the next two days, you continued to write all over your body, the conversation turning far more suggestive than it had ever been. When you woke up and searched your body on Friday morning, you laughed when you found his handwriting on your upper thigh.

Bet you can’t wait until my mouth greets you here instead of my pen.

It was the closest either of you had gotten to the sweet spot, and you decided that whilst you were having too much enjoyment writing your inner thoughts and desires in places for Jaehyun to find them, that he was right.

You wanted his mouth to finally find yours.

You decided to put on a summer dress for the first time since Jaehyun has started working at the magazine. It was a magenta-coloured midi dress that had spaghetti straps, and unless you chucked a light denim jacket over top, there would be no way to hide any messages he sent you now.

You were done with keeping his words hidden in places upon your skin.

Walking into the office, you smiled when Johnny eyed you eagerly. “Wow. What is this?”

“It’s called a dress.”

“Is it work-appropriate?” he wondered, and you rolled your eyes.

“Of course. Everything is covered that needs to be.”

“Huh. Lately, you’ve shown so little skin that I feel like my mind has imploded.”

Before you could refute his cheeky statement, his hand reached for your forearm. You hadn’t even felt the tingle, but your face broke out into a grin. “What’s this? It says, ‘will it be good?’. Did you get a drunken tattoo last night, Y/N?”

You shook your head. “No. It’s my soulmate talking to me.”

“You’re the friend?! No way.”

“Way.”

“I’m jealous. Who’s the lucky guy? Does he know yet?”

You opened the door to your office, and Jaehyun swung around to see you, his mouth falling ajar. You grinned back at Johnny. “Oh yeah. He knows.”

“Wait. I feel like I should know what that means, but… Jaehyun. Do you know that Y/N’s got a soulmate?”

He got up and approached you, nodding his head though his eyes didn’t stray far. “Hey Johnny, Jade was talking about going over your latest article when you arrived today. Thought you might want to make yourself scarce.”

“Thank you for the warning, bro! I owe you.”

The door shut behind Johnny’s escape, and you smirked. “You didn’t answer him properly.”

“I didn’t want to.”

“Why?”

“Because if he wants to know, he should look a little closer.”

“I didn’t know at first,” you pointed out, slipping your hands onto the front of his navy shirt and sliding them up until your palms rested on his chest. “It took me a little while to look close enough.”

“You were convinced it was another guy.”

“Only for about two seconds,” you countered, and Jaehyun chuckled.

“Your real soulmate would have been pretty crushed by that.”

“I’ll make it up to him,” you announced, and Jaehyun’s eyebrows rose.

“How?”

Stretching up, you pressed your lips into his. The kiss didn’t knock you off your feet or suddenly complete you in a way you hadn’t been before you reached up for his lips like you assumed it would. But it was oh so good. Jaehyun tasted like winter mint and smelled of musk and suede, tantalising all your senses. And when his tongue along the seam of your mouth and parted it, you knew that you had been forgiven for confusing anyone but Jaehyun as your soulmate.

Panting when you finally pulled back, you slowly grinned. “So, you like writing on me, huh?”

“I am a trained writer, so it makes sense, doesn’t it?” he fired back, and you laughed heartily.

“It’s a good thing I didn’t listen to Johnny’s advice on who to hire that day. He told me not to have any time for someone who was late.”

“I guess I made a lasting impression then.”

“Oh, that you have.”

Jaehyun grinned for a moment and then reached into his pocket. He wrote something onto his hand, holding it up as the word Mine transferred from his palm to yours.

Taking the pen from him, you returned with the word Yours.

“Should we put the pen writing on hold for a bit?” he wondered as he marvelled at your handwriting on his skin.

You shrugged, reaching up for the nape of his neck, and brought his mouth back to yours. “It comes in handy when we’re not together.”

“Bold of you to assume that now that we’re doing this,” Jaehyun gestured to your mouth and his. “That I’m going to let you out of my sight for long.”

“Is that right?”

“You betcha.”

“Well, I guess since I finally found my soulmate, I ought to make sure he doesn’t ever go anywhere.”

“Believe me,” Jaehyun replied, his mouth hovering over yours. “I have no place I’d rather be than with you.”