Chapter Text
Taehyung had looked forward to his twentieth birthday most of his life. He'd daydreamed and speculated about whose name would appear printed on his wrist. He'd played all those school yard games where you count letters, spin apples till the stem falls off, or play games of chance that children believe will tell them who their soulmate will be. His fantasies were always diverse because taehyung truly believed that his soulmate could be anyone at all and it wouldn't matter because he would love them with all his heart no matter what. Whether they were tall or short, rich or poor, beautiful or ugly, girl or boy none of that matter just that he knew they would be perfect for each other, and they'd love each other more than anyone else.
He often waxed poetic about his unknown soulmate and when he did his younger brother jungkook never failed to make gagging noises and leave the room. “Hey you don't get to do that, you already know who your soulmate is and you're barely eighteen!” He shouted at jungkook’s back. “Lucky bastard” he grumbled under his breath.
There had been quite a lot of drama when kim seokjin, the most popular guy in their high school, had showed up at their door not long after graduating with his sleeve rolled up and taehyung’s shy dorky brother’s name on his wrist. Although seokjin’s name hadn't yet appeared on jungkook everyone assumed it would, especially seeing how well they got on, no one could deny they had a special connection.
Sometimes Taehyung was almost sick with envy of his little brother who hadn't had to do a thing to find his soulmate and got a good five years of extra time with him. He laid his head on his arms at their kitchen table, he only had a few days left before he turned twenty though, and he was so excited he was practically vibrating.
Many people didn't bother trying to find their soulmate. When all you had to go on was a name and it could be anyone in the world some people considered it a lost cause, and left it up to chance when or even if they would meet. Many people also dated for fun in the mean time before finding their soulmates. Kim taehyung was not one of those people.
He had already decided he would spend the summer between graduation and the start of university to find his soulmate. He'd even saved up in case he needed to travel. All that was left was to hold out a few more days.
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It was the afternoon of December 30th and taehyung stood looking down at his wrist breathlessly. He'd invited all his friends over as well for what he was calling his soulmate party instead of for his birthday. Seokjin was there with his arm casually draped over jungkook, and so was hoseok with his newly found girlfriend and a few more friends. They were all standing around him waiting as well. As he'd stood staring intensely at his wrist waiting for those words to appear a million thoughts were running through his mind.
What if nothing came up? What if his wrist stayed blank forever? What if he was the only person in the world who didn't have a soulmate????
He was just about ready to start panicking when he blinked and the words were there, as if they'd always been there. Two little words now permanently burned into his skin and brain.
Min Yoongi.
Taehyung looked up at his friend, but everyone else looked as blank as he felt. “Who the fuck is min yoongi?”