Chapter Text
January 1st, 2020
No one knew exactly when it happened.
Some people swore it appeared at midnight.
Others claimed it happened while they slept.
Doctors couldn't explain it.
Scientists couldn't recreate it.
Religious leaders argued over whether it was a blessing, a
warning, or the beginning of something humanity was never
meant to understand.
By sunrise, every person on Earth carried a name on the inside of their left forearm.
One name.
Nothing more.
Hospitals overflowed with frightened patients demanding answers.
Governments declared states of emergency.
Social media collapsed under millions of photos of identical markings appearing across every country, every language, every culture.
Within days, the world had given the phenomenon a name.
Soulmarks.
No one knew who had chosen the names.
Or why.
Only one thing became painfully clear.
The name on your arm belonged to the person the world
insisted was your soulmated.
Whether you wanted them...
Or not.
───
The following years changed everything.
Marriages ended.
Engagements were called off overnight.
Families broke apart.
Others grew stronger, refusing to let a single word dictate decades of love.
Some people searched obsessively.
Some hid their marks beneath sleeves, makeup, or tattoos.
Entire companies emerged, promising to reunite soulmates.
Governments created official Soulmate Registration Centers, allowing people to leave contact information, photographs of their marks, and a message for the person whose name they carried.
Hope had become an industry.
───
New York City
Celeste Bennett rubbed the sleep from her eyes as sunlight slipped through the thin curtains of her tiny apartment.
She had fallen asleep still wearing yesterday's hoodie after finishing another overnight shift at the bakery.
Her feet hurt.
Her shoulders ached.
She groaned quietly before reaching for her phone on the bedside table.
7:18 a.m.
Too early.
As she pushed herself upright, something caught her eye.
Black ink.
Perfectly neat.
Just beneath the sleeve of her hoodie.
She frowned.
"...What?"
Slowly, she rolled the fabric higher.
Her breath caught.
Two words.
Beautifully written.
Kim Namjoon.
She stared.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Silence filled the apartment before a quiet laugh escaped her lips.
"No..."
She shook her head, almost amused.
"That's impossible."
Out of nearly eight billion people...
The universe had somehow chosen one of the most recognizable names on the planet.
She laughed again, louder this time.
"Sure."
She leaned back against the wall, covering her face with one hand.
"As if Kim Namjoon is ever going to know I exist"