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Mark was tired.
He had finally submitted his essay. Only five minutes before the deadline. He likes to live life on the edge you see. His eyes were barely open and his feet carried him back to his dorm.
Unfortunately, sleep-deprived Mark was a health hazard. On a background of general clumsiness, sleep-deprived Mark is like a ticking time bomb for disaster.
Turning around the last corner three minutes from his final destination (his bed), he bumped into someone and landed right on his butt. When he said bumped, he actually meant a literal head knocking, concussion worthy bump.
He started to apologise before there was any comprehension of what happened. It was dark and his eyes were not co-operating so he couldn't even see the person he was apologising to. But he did so anyway, because his mother had brought him up well.
Instead, all he could hear was a groan and a comment asking him to 'watch where he was going next time' and then the stranger wasn't there anymore.
Mark had bigger issues. Namely, sleep. So he trudged back to his room and sleep came to him faster than he could say his own name and he was dead to the world.
.........
The next morning he woke up well past midday, brushed his teeth while half asleep, had some cereal for breakfast and just lay like a corpse on his bed. He was flicking through Netflix to find a new drama that he could watch guilt free, as now he didn't have to worry about that darned essay anymore.
A couple of hours later, Chenle let himself.
"Honey, I am home!" Chenle yelled out.
Mark wasn't surprised anymore as the door to his room was always open and his friends lived there more often than he did. They really should start contributing to the rent.
He kept his eyes closed and awaited the cacophony that usually accompanied Chenle. But it was quiet. Too quiet for a second. And way too quiet for a room in which Chenle was in. The next thing he heard was a loud shriek before a never-ending stream of laughter (if that is what you call it) filled the room.
Confused, amused and annoyed- there should be a word for this emotion- Mark opened his eyes and looked and Chenle demanding an explanation.
"Dude, have you looked at yourself in the mirror? Was it Jaemin? I bet it was Jaemin, what bet did you lose to him?"
Mark was growing more and more confused by the second and Chenle decided to pull him to the bathroom and stand him in front of the mirror.
Lo and behold, an uneven blob of bright neon orange (can regular marker or paint even make that colour on human skin?) marked the expanse of his forehead extending to his scalp. He looked like someone picked him up and dripped him in thick oil paint in the colour of the chemical waste signs you usually see in and around the science buildings.
Opening the tap, Mark quickly started rubbing water and soap onto his forehead. A right mess but anything to first take off the mark. Then he would get to the bottom of the prank.
But no matter how much or how hard he scrubbed. No matter how many layers of cells he scraped off, no matter how raw his skin felt and how he knew his eczema would flare up later in the day, the mark wouldn't fade.
Mark was marked.
Chenle has been suspiciously quiet since he started his task to wash off his face.
Turning around he was met by a contemplative gaze and then he heard, 'Do you think this might be your soul mark?'
Mark began to respond because there was no one he met last night and if his soulmate was the book in the library or his essay, then he was truly doomed to have a sad life. But then he remembered the collision in the dark. His head had made contact with someone.
But he did not know who that someone was. No name, no face, and although he heard a voice, it all sounded very far away in Mark's sleep deprived state last night.
He briefly mentions the encounter to Chenle. His friend sends him a pitying look at his despair on being so close and yet so far in identifying his soulmate.
.........
Soulmates, well, it is difficult to say how and when this phenomenon came into being.
At first, everyone was looking to find 'their person'. Someone who was their other half. You would never know for sure and but belief goes a long way. Eventually, maybe due to the fact that people were generally becoming more introverted and unwilling to interact with others in order to find their soulmate, call it evolution or God's will, a tangible sign began to emerge for every human being.
The soul sign was variable. There is no one set design or mark. Unique to each pair of soulmates. One thing was universal, these signs would emerge on the skin when there is physical contact between the soulmates and would disappear in 24 hours until the next contact.
.........
So Mark, most likely, has a soulmark that is neon orange on his forehead and he now has 24 hours to find his soulmate (who should have something similar) before that clue would vanish. Scratch that, 12 hours give or take. The lie in he allowed for himself is now really biting him in the butt.
"Chenle has already message the group chat it seems!" Mark thought, as the sound of numerous voices started to crescendo until the front door to his room was slammed open.
Jaemin, Jeno and Renjun walked through. Always joined at the hip, they were friends Mark made in his second year of university and 3 years down the line, closer than ever. This was his group of five. His ride or die.
"Who was it? Do you know his name? What does he do? Does he go to our university?"
The questions came in clusters and Mark couldn't give any appropriate answers. He just didn't know! All he knew was he bumped into someone.
The despair must have shown on his face as everyone backed off and decided to come up with a game plan.
First - the location of the 'Head bump incident'. It was just in the lobby of his dorm. So it had to be someone living here or visiting someone living here. And someone who had left late in the night.
Simple! They just message all the people they know living in this building and spread the word around. What's more, Taeyong- Mark's brother from another mother- was the dorm rep this year! He would know how to help, maybe put up a sign or something. Mark's head filled with ideas and hope.
.........
8pm and still no luck. Everyone in the building that they knew or that someone they knew knew had denied bumping into someone last night and denied any new soul marks.
Mark sighed. Jisung (Chenle's new friend - *cough* soulmate *cough* - from his English language module this year) were going to pop by to help in the search effort.
Their story was legendary. When Chenle met Jisung they were sitting next to each other and both reached for the pencil that dropped on the floor. When their skin made contact, at the point of contact there were beautiful spiral designs in the deepest aquamarine blue that erupted. So beautiful that the teacher called for a short pause to the lecture and came to examine them herself! Mark himself has straight up tried some underhand shoving tactics just so that he could see their soulmark bloom.
He always longed for a soulmark as beautiful as theirs. People theorise that the type and character of the soulmark - from the design to the colour - reflected the relationship of the soulmates they bound together. And after 22 years of living on the mortal world hoping and praying for a soulmark that was symbolic and meaningful, he gets the literal representation of regurgitated Fanta. How disappointing. Mark wants to cry again.
Time passes and the chance is lost.
"Although we didn't find him today Mark Hyung, the good thing is that we know he frequents the university campus and the dorms. He can't remain unknown for too long!", Jeno's sweet voice filters through the haze of sadness in his mind.
Silver linings.
.........
Just then Renjun reminds them of the fact that he would be performing at the showcase that the music department puts up every year. All of them had tickets of course but last year Chenle had managed to sleep through the day and only awoke to a million messages demanding where he was and a feeling of fear that the end of his life was near. Long story short, he was Renjun's assistant/secretary/servant for the rest of week. Suffice to say, if ever faced with a Boggart, Chenle would be looking at Renjun in the vision he painted that day.
Mark always looked forward to these showcases. Although not studying music, it held a place of importance in his life. Walk, study, work, relax- all activities of his day would be incomplete without a melody being played in the background. Earphones, speakers, fingers drumming on the book. Music was his language.
And, he saw Haechan perform on stage for the first time in his second year. He just can't get enough of that voice. He follows him on all social media pages and looks forward to all the Cover songs he uploads onto his YouTube channel.
They have met briefly at various university events. Always respectful and friendly. They have shared a few conversations about music and it's a real shame that they haven't become close. But some people are meant to be casual acquaintances that you like a lot but just keep missing each other and the relationship stays superficial. And that's okay! Kind of.
Now that the showcase is round the corner again, Mark can't wait to see what Haechan has prepared this time. Something to take his mind of the chaotic 24 hours that just transpired.
.........
The day of the showcase arrives faster than Mark anticipated. He arrived early and was milling around the foyer. He realises that his scatterbrained self had left his wallet at home and he started to rush towards the entrance to try and sprint back to his room to retrieve it when he collides face first into someone.
Mark had never known pain like this. And he has been on the receiving end of a penalty kick to the part where the sun doesn't shine.
A few minutes later the pain haze begins to clear and he sees beautiful brown eyes staring back at him.
"I'm sorry! Are you...." he trails off. Because there in front of him in all his tan glory was Haechan. Except, decorating his forehead was a 5 year old child's attempt at painting the sunset with only one colour. Orange. It seemed like Haechan would not need to wear any reflective gear when cycling back home today.
There was silence. And more silence.
"I found you after all" Haechan breathes into the silence. "I know we have spoken a few times before but you know me as Haechan, my stage name. I figure as my soulmate you should know that my name is Donghyuck. Nice to meet you!"
He offers his hand for Mark to shake and it is painfully awkward when Mark takes it and proceeds to shake it. 2.5 times to be precise. Before his hand starts to sweat and he subtly rubs it on his trousers.
He must have looked quite funny as Haechan, no Donghyuck, started to giggle. "You can close your mouth Mark. You will catch flies otherwise. Let's meet after the showcase today and catch up."
Mark nods dumbly as Donghyuck turns to walk in the direction of the performers rooms. But Donghyuck stops and turns around.
"Actually, I want to say this. I am glad it is you. I have always admired your musical knowledge and our conversations on music. I have always felt like you understood music in the same way as I do. And a part of me has always wanted to be your friend. Maybe subconsciously I have also wanted to try to see if you could be my soulmate. But I was too scared. And now 2 concussions later, it is you!"
More silence. Mark is not mute. But he suddenly doesn't remember how to speak.
How to explain to Donghyuck that he is so starstruck whenever he speaks to him even in normal circumstances, that the knowledge that Donghyuck is his soulmate has caused complete dissociation of body and mind. He has never known euphoria like this.
And then suddenly his body seems to have had enough of his stupidity and Mark finds himself closing the gap between himself and Donghyuck.
"May I kiss you?" He asks.
He feels more than sees the answering nod before they kiss.
And it is messy, and in the foyer for everyone to see, and everything he ever dreamed of.
Slowly they pull apart and Mark is studying all of the beautiful features on Donghyuck's face. The expressive eyes, cute button nose and beautiful pink lips and the expanse of smooth tan and orange skin.
Tan and orange skin. Orange colouring every part of skin Mark's hands and lips have touched.
"You have to go and perform on stage!" Mark exclaims, horrified. "You can't look like you had a bad turmeric facial for your annual showcase!"
Donghyuck ignores the jumble of frantic words spilling out of Mark's mouth and leans forward to plant a sloppy kiss on his cheek effectively shutting him up.
"Orange you happy to show the world that I am yours?" Mark groans at the joke, on the receiving end of a dad joke for the first time instead of the other way round.
He isn't complaining.
.......
And when Haechan commands the stage in all his Orange glory, glowing like a Halloween Pumpkin with that wide smile, Mark feels happy. Maybe the Dutch football team deserves his support after all.