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The last Friday bell rang, signaling freedom for the class. Jeongin closed his books and grabbed his bag, meeting up with Felix and Jisung outside the classroom.
“Hey Jeongin! Wanna come hang out with us today?” Felix asked.
“Sorry guys, I have math tutoring right now.” Jeongin really had to focus more in math if he wanted to pass.
“Awwwww, okay. But we’re going to hang tomorrow right? We have to celebrate your birthday, our baby maknae,” Jisung cooed and reached his hand out to ruffle Jeongin’s hair, but it was swatted away.
“Don’t call me that hyung. I’m turning eighteen not ten.”
“Wait you’re eighteen? I thought you were twelve,” Felix turned to Jeongin, eyes wide.
“Hyung!” Jeongin hit Felix on the shoulder.
“I’m just kidding,” Felix laughed, “but god you hit hard.”
“Well little one, you’re turning eighteen tomorrow. You excited?” Jisung asked.
“Of course I am.”
“Oh my god, you’re getting your soulmate tattoo tomorrow as well!!” Felix intentionally realized his voice higher.
Soulmate tattoos. Everyone has a soulmate for them, their perfect lover. When you turn 18, a tattoo appears somewhere on your body, and your soulmate has the same tattoo on them. Being the youngest of his friends, Jeongin would be getting his tomorrow. He looked at his friends’ tattoos; a rainbow band around Felix’s wrist and small flames on the side of Jisung’s neck. They had already found their soulmates, Felix with his childhood friend Changbin and Jisung… well it was an interesting story of how he meet Minho.
“Ohhh what if it’s that cute tutor guy,” Felix looked pointedly at Jeongin.
“Felix-hyung, you have a boyfriend, you can’t go around calling other guys cute,” Jeongin rolled his eyes.
“So? He’s cute, you’re cute, together you two can rule the school with your cuteness.”
“You know what, I’m going to be late. See you!” And with that, Jeongin took off to the library.
~~~~~
Jeongin entered the library. It was after school so it was mostly empty, aside from the kids who needed tutoring, like him. He looked around and spotted his tutor waving at him. He walked to the table and sat down.
“Hey Jeongin! How are you doing today?”
“I’m good. Thanks for asking Hyunjin-hyung.”
Hwang Hyunjin. Star student, angel of the school, heartthrob to all, and Jeongin’s math tutor. Girls literally lined up to confess to him, a few guys as well. None of them had Hyunjin’s soulmate tattoo though. Hyunjin had a cartoony-looking shooting star near his eye that sparkled and shimmered when the light shined on it right, making him look more ethereal than he already was. Now was Jeongin saying that he found Hyunjin attractive? Heck yeah he was. He didn’t freak out for hours after finding out that his long time crush was going to be his tutor for no reason. However, Jeongin has no plans of confessing. He’s fine with the relationship that they’re currently building and if he was to be honest, another certain boy is holding him back.
Jeongin is pulled back to reality as Hyunjin opens his workbook and starts explaining how to do the problems.
An hour and many math problems later, Hyunjin decides that they’ve done enough and Jeongin tries to get his brain cells back together.
“Hey Jeongin, I heard it’s your birthday tomorrow?”
“Huh? Oh yeah, it is.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?,” Hyunjin did a small pout, “Come on we’re stopping by a cafe or something. My treat for your birthday.”
“Aw hyung, you don’t have to.”
Hyunjin let out a slightly exaggerated gasp. “Are you suggesting that I don’t treat my favorite child for his birthday?”
“No- it’s just…”
“Come on you cutie. I’ll get you a hot chocolate.”
~~~~~
The two walked to a little cozy cafe that was near the school. Jeongin came here often, as their hot chocolate was his favorite. The two entered and sat down at a table.
“Hello, may I help- oh hey Jeongin,” the waiter smiled at the two.
Jeongin felt weak. Of course he had to run into his crush while he was with his other crush. This was too many feelings for him to handle. Seungmin worked at the cafe and frequently chatted with Jeongin when he was on break. With his warm smiles and personality, it wasn’t long before Jeongin had developed a small crush on him as well. Having two crushes is hard, but Jeongin gets through it. He’s getting his soulmate tattoo tomorrow anyway. If it’s one of them, he’ll confess. If it’s not, he’ll just wait until he does find his soulmate.
“Hey so I know you’ve already met, but Jeongin, this is my boyfriend, Seungmin”
“Wait what,” Jeongin froze and did a quick double take on their tattoos, Hyunjin’s star and a dandelion, right on the front of Seungmin’s hand. “But your tattoos…”
“Don’t match. We know. We just don’t care. We’re happy together and that’s all that matters for now.” Hyunjin smiled shyly at Seungmin, who returned the smile.
Jeongin slowly processed the information, and then smiled. “I’m so happy for you hyungs!”
Seungmin smiled sweetly, “Thanks Jeongin-ah. Now what would you guys like to order?”
Jeongin drank his hot chocolate with Hyunjin while Seungmin went back to work. After they finished, they parted ways, with Hyunjin giving Jeongin a goodbye hug and wishing him a happy birthday. When Jeongin got home, he immediately fell onto his bed face first.
“Jeongin-ah? Is everything okay?” Woojin poked his head into the room.
“Everything’s fine hyung. Thanks for asking.”
“If you say so… I have to go but there’s dinner in the fridge. Finish your homework but remember to not stay up too late. I’ll be home in the morning. Bye!” With that, Woojin headed out the door, probably to work and then to Chan’s house.
Jeongin finished eating and doing his homework before deciding to go to bed. It was only eleven, so he could stay up another hour for his birthday, but with thoughts of Hyunjin and Seungmin is his mind, he quickly grew tired and fell asleep.
~~~~~
Jeongin groaned as he woke up, pushing the blankets off him and rubbing his eyes. The clock told him that it was nearly lunchtime, so he should probably get up and start celebrating his birthday.
Wait it’s his birthday!
Jeongin sits up and notices color on his right wrist. He takes a closer look at his soulmate tattoo… it’s a dandelion. Seungmin’s dandelion.
Jeongin’s pretty sure that his brain just exploded. Seungmin is his soulmate? Sure, he might have a crush on Seungmin, but after seeing Hyunjin and Seungmin happy together yesterday, he’s conflicted on whether he should confess or not. He doesn’t want to cause them problems, and he certainly doesn’t want to be the reason they break up. He just cares for the both of them and wants them both to be happy.
Suddenly, as Jeongin moved, a sparkle on his other wrist catches his attention. It’s a star, a shooting star, just like Hyunjin’s.
Wait what? Jeongin looks back and forth between his wrists. He has two tattoos? Was that even possible? He had never heard of that happening to anyone before. He let his arms fall back down and laid back on the bed. What should he do? Should he tell Hyunjin and Seungmin? What would they think? Jeongin just feels so overwhelmed and doesn’t know what to do.
Just then there were knocks on his bedroom door.
“Jeongin, are you awake?” It was Woojin.
“Yeah hyung. You can come in.”
“Happy birthday!” Woojin burst into the room and gave Jeongin a big hug, which he greatly appreciated. Woojin took note that Jeongin was laying on his bed quite sadly. “Is there something wrong, Jeongin?”
Jeongin doesn’t say anything, he just shows Woojin his wrist.
“Oh your soulmate tattoo! Wait, isn’t that Seungmin’s?”
Jeongin then lifted his other wrist for Woojin to see. Woojin seemed shocked for a brief moment, before smiling at Jeongin.
“Looks like you have two soulmates.”
“But hyung, that’s not how it works. You aren’t supposed to get two tattoos.” Jeongin had never felt so lost before. This isn’t supposed to happen.
“Says who? It’s true that most people only get one, but who says that you can’t have two?”
“But hyung, it’s just… they’re dating each other. They told me yesterday and they seemed so happy together and-”
“You’re afraid that you’ll ruin it?” Woojin finished for him.
“Yeah, kinda.” Jeongin was starting to tear up. Woojin noticed and pulled him into a hug again.
“Listen, Jeongin. Have you ever doubted the soulmate system?”
“Well, no…”
“Your soulmate tattoo represents the person that is perfect for you. It also means that you are the perfect person for them. If you have two tattoos, that just means that you’re perfect for both of them. They won’t hate you or be mad at you.”
“Yeah, but I don’t think they really believe in the tattoos. I mean, they’re dating and their tattoos don’t match.”
“Think about it this way. You’re perfect for the two of them and they’re perfect for you. They’re also already in love themselves, it would be perfect if you confessed. You’re like a link between the two.”
Jeongin takes the time to look at Woojin’s own tattoo, music notes on his arm. “You really think I should confess?”
“Go for it Jeongin.”
~~~~~
Jeongin
Hey hyung are you busy today?
Hyunjin
No why?
Do you have a question about math?
Jeongin
No I just need to tell you something
Can we meet at the cafe we were at yesterday in like an hour?
Hyunjin
Sure
I’m already here with Seungmin anyway
~~~~~
Jeongin took a deep breath, pulling the sleeves of his hoodie down a bit before pushing open the door of the cafe and stepping inside. He spotted Hyunjin and Seungmin together at a table talking, so it must be Seungmin’s break. Jeongin walked over to the two and sat down across from them.
“Hey, you two.” Jeongin greeted the two shyly.
“Hey Jeongin. Is something wrong? You just asked to meet up so suddenly.” Hyunjin looked worried and Seungmin also gave him a worried look.
“I’m okay, it’s just…” Jeongin started to ramble, “I know the two of you are dating and that you’re happy together and if you don’t want me between everything you guys already have going on then you can just tell me and I’ll leave and I won’t bother you two anymore and-”
“Wait Jeongin. What are you talking about?” Seungmin stopped him from continuing.
Jeongin sighed and pulled up the sleeves of his hoodie, showing the tattoo of the dandelion first, and then of the shooting star, while putting his head down. Seungmin and Hyunjin looked at Jeongin, confused expressions on their faces and then looked at each other before sharing a small smile.
“Jeongin, are these your soulmate tattoos?” Seungmin spoke up first.
“Yes…” Jeongin answered quietly.
“Head up, baby,” Hyunjin reached out and pet Jeongin’s hair. “You’re so cute.”
Jeongin lifted his head from the table but still refused to look at either of the two. “So you guys aren’t mad?”
“What makes you think we would be mad?” Seungmin asked.
“You two are happily in a relationship and I just show up and I’m going to end up changing everything.”
“Oh Jeongin, sure things will change, but they’ll change for the better. I’m not going to lie when Hyunjin told me that you suddenly asked to meet him here, I guessed that you had gotten one of our soulmate tattoos. I was wrong though, you actually got both, and that makes it even better.”
“Really?” Jeongin looked up at the two across from him, eyes widening a bit.
“Really. Besides, don’t think I haven’t noticed how you look at me sometimes. Seungmin guessed that you had a crush on him as well.”
Jeongin blushed deep red at the comment.
“Well cutie, would you like to go on a date with us?”