Chapter Text
Jungkook dipped his worn-out brush into the small pool of paint sitting on his palette, rolling the bristles through the colour until they were evenly coated. He leaned closer to the canvas, his eyes narrowing as he studied the section in front of him. For the past several hours, he had been obsessing over this particular part of the painting, adding a little more colour here, softening a line there, then stepping back only to decide that something still wasn't quite right.
He had long since lost track of how much time had passed. The only indication that the evening had slipped into night was the darkness visible through the windows of his apartment, the glass reflecting the warm yellow glow of the lamps scattered around the small living room.
His stomach had been complaining for at least an hour, but Jungkook had stubbornly ignored it. He knew he should have stopped for dinner by now, but he was too deeply absorbed in the painting to care. He was in that familiar state where everything outside the canvas seemed distant and unimportant, where the only thing that existed was the image slowly taking shape beneath his brush.
He carefully dragged the brush across the canvas, adding one final stroke to the edge of a piece of coral. He paused, studying it for several seconds before adding another, then another.
Satisfied at last, he flicked his wrist and added a few tiny details among the colours, subtle enough that they would probably go unnoticed by anyone who wasn't looking closely.
He held his breath for a moment, then finally lowered his hand.
The brush slipped from his fingers onto the palette with a quiet tap. Jungkook exhaled slowly and stepped backwards, until he had enough distance to properly see the entire piece.
For a moment, he simply stared.
The aquarium filled the canvas in a wash of deep and luminous blues, the water seeming almost to move despite the fact that it was nothing more than paint.
Light filtered through the enormous tank from somewhere above, scattering pale streaks through the water and illuminating the coral below in shades of pink, orange, purple and red.
A swarm of fish moved through the scene, each one painted in a different combination of colours, some little more than flashes of silver and gold among the blue while others were bright enough to immediately draw the eye.
Jungkook had spent hours trying to capture the strange beauty of the aquarium he had seen so many times in his dreams, trying to reproduce not just what it looked like but the feeling of being there. The finished painting was peaceful in a way that was difficult to explain. It was bright and full of life, yet there was something almost dreamlike about it, as though the entire scene existed somewhere between reality and memory.
But the aquarium itself wasn't what made the painting so personal.
Six figures stood in front of the enormous tank.
Six men.
They were scattered naturally throughout the scene, some standing closer to the glass while others lingered slightly behind, their bodies turned towards the water as though they had been caught in an ordinary moment of shared fascination. Their presence made the painting feel lived in, transforming it from a beautiful image of an aquarium into something more intimate.
Jungkook had deliberately painted them in different positions and postures, giving each of them a sense of individuality despite the fact that he knew almost nothing about them.
Yet none of their faces could be seen.
One was turned away from the viewer, another's head was obscured by the angle of his body, another was partially hidden behind someone else, and the remaining faces were concealed by shadows and carefully placed details within the scene.
It hadn't been an artistic choice made for the sake of mystery.
Jungkook simply didn't know what they looked like.
He could paint their silhouettes because he remembered them. He could remember the way they stood, the vague impression of their bodies and the inexplicable familiarity he felt whenever he saw them in his dreams, but whenever he tried to remember their faces, there was nothing. His dreams never gave him that much. The closer he came to seeing them clearly, the more the image seemed to dissolve around him.
Jungkook stared at the six figures for another few seconds before finally rubbing his tired eyes. He had been standing there long enough.
His stomach gave another particularly loud growl, reminding him that he had neglected it for most of the evening, and he let out a quiet laugh at himself.
"Okay," he murmured to the empty room. "I get it."
He crossed the room towards the small kitchen and opened the refrigerator. The light flickered on, illuminating the contents inside, though there wasn't much that could reasonably be called dinner.
He stared at the shelves for a moment, mentally calculating how much effort would be required to turn any of the ingredients into an actual meal.
The answer was too much.
It was already late, he was exhausted, and the last thing he wanted to do was stand in the kitchen cooking. His eyes eventually landed on a sandwich wrapped in the refrigerator, one he had made the previous day and completely forgotten about.
"Good enough," he decided.
He grabbed it, closed the refrigerator and wandered over to the sofa, dropping down heavily into the cushions. The sandwich was nothing special, but it tasted considerably better than Jungkook had expected after spending hours painting. He ate slowly at first, but his hunger quickly caught up with him, and before long he was finishing the last bite.
His attention drifted back towards the canvas.
Even from across the room, the aquarium painting caught his eye.
Jungkook swallowed and leaned back against the sofa, his gaze lingering on the six figures standing before the tank. He had painted them because of the dream, but even now he couldn't quite explain why the dream affected him so deeply.
Soulmates were something everyone knew about. They weren't a myth or some romantic idea people told children when they were young. They were simply a part of the world, an undeniable reality that had fascinated people for generations.
Everyone knew what a soulmate was supposed to be. One person who was meant for you. Someone whose soul was connected to yours in a way that nothing else could replicate. Someone who, if you were lucky enough to find them, could become the most important person in your life.
Not everyone had one, most people didn't. And yet soulmates were still one of those things that almost everyone secretly wished for. There was something undeniably appealing about the idea that somewhere in the world, there was a person who was meant specifically for you. Someone you were destined to meet, even if it took years or even an entire lifetime.
Jungkook had never really thought too deeply about what having a soulmate would mean for him. He had grown up knowing about them just like everyone else, he knew he had one but it had always felt like something distant, something that belonged to other people.
Until he started dreaming.
Dreams were supposedly another way soulmates could be connected. People who had a soulmate could sometimes experience dreams related to them, although exactly what those dreams looked like varied from person to person.
Some people claimed they could see their soulmate clearly, while others only remembered fragments. Some dreamed of places, objects or simple moments, while others experienced emotions so intense that they could remember them long after waking.
Jungkook's dreams had always been vague.
Blurry flashes, strange places, fleeting sensations that disappeared almost as soon as he woke. He had never been able to make much sense of them, and eventually he'd stopped trying.
But this dream was different. The aquarium had appeared again and again.
The first time, Jungkook hadn't thought much of it. The second time, he had wondered if he was simply dreaming about the same place because it had made an impression on him. By the third, fourth and fifth time, he had stopped being able to dismiss it as coincidence.
It was always the same.
The enormous aquarium, the beautiful blue water, the colourful fish moving through the tank, the coral glowing beneath the filtered light.
And the six men.
Jungkook closed his eyes briefly, allowing himself to remember.
He could almost feel the dream around him again. The cool darkness of the aquarium, the muted sound of water, the strange sense of peace that settled over him whenever he was there. And, more than anything else, the overwhelming feeling that he was supposed to be with those six men.
That was the part he couldn't explain. Whenever he saw them, something inside him ached.
He wanted to go to them. He wanted to reach out, to hold them, to cry against them for reasons he couldn't understand. There was a longing so intense that it sometimes left him breathless when he woke, as though he'd been separated from people he had actually known rather than people who existed only inside his dreams.
But he never got the chance. Every time he came close, the dream faded.
The scene would blur around the edges, the aquarium would disappear, the figures would become indistinct, and Jungkook would wake up with his heart pounding and his hands empty.
All that remained was frustration and confusion.
His eyes opened again, settling on the painting.
Six men.
Jungkook frowned slightly.
People usually had one soulmate. There were rare cases where someone had two, but even those were unusual enough to be talked about. Six, however, was completely unheard of as far as Jungkook knew.
So why were there six people in his dreams? And why did he feel like he belonged with them?
"I don't get you," he murmured quietly.
The painted figures, unsurprisingly, offered no answer.
Jungkook sighed and pushed himself up from the sofa. The hour was getting late, and he still had work in the morning. He carried his empty plate over to the sink and began washing it, deciding that whatever strange mystery his dreams were presenting could wait until another day. He had spent enough time thinking about it already.
Once the plate was clean, he placed it on the drying rack and wiped his hands on a nearby towel. He turned towards the hallway, ready to finally go to bed, but his eyes caught on something beside the finished aquarium painting.
Another canvas.
It was covered with a large sheet, hiding the entire painting beneath it.
Jungkook stopped. His gaze remained fixed on it for several moments. Now that the aquarium piece was finished, there was only one painting left.
He had been putting it off for weeks, finding one excuse after another not to work on it. It wasn't that he didn't know what he wanted to paint, that wasn’t the problem. He knew exactly what was supposed to be on the canvas, and that made it difficult to continue. There was something about this particular piece that made him hesitate every time he looked at it.
If the aquarium painting was personal, this one was even more so. And with the deadline for the gallery approaching, he couldn't procrastinate forever.
Jungkook lingered for another moment before finally looking away.
"Tomorrow," he promised himself.
Then he turned off the lights and made his way towards his bedroom, careful to keep his footsteps quiet. Yugyeom was almost certainly already asleep in the room next door, and Jungkook had no intention of waking his roommate after the early start he had tomorrow.
He changed into his pyjamas, brushed his teeth and climbed into bed, his body sinking immediately into the mattress.
He barely had time to pull the blanket over himself before exhaustion overtook him.
His eyes closed. And within seconds, Jungkook was asleep.
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The shrill sound of his alarm cut through the remnants of Jungkook's sleep, dragging him unwillingly back into consciousness. He groaned softly and buried his face further into his pillow, hoping that if he ignored it for long enough, the noise might somehow stop on its own.
It didn't.
The alarm continued to blare from the bedside table, relentless in its insistence, until Jungkook finally stretched an arm out from beneath the covers and blindly searched for his phone. His fingers knocked against it once before finding the right spot, and the room finally fell silent.
For several seconds, Jungkook simply lay there with his eyes closed, trying to convince himself that getting out of bed was unnecessary. His body still felt heavy with sleep, and the warmth beneath his blankets was far too comfortable to abandon. Unfortunately, the knowledge that he had a shift that morning eventually won out. With a quiet sigh, he opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling before reluctantly pushing himself upright.
His morning routine passed in a sleepy blur. He showered, brushed his teeth, changed into his clothes and attempted to make himself look somewhat presentable despite the fact that he still felt like he could crawl straight back into bed. By the time he emerged from his bedroom, his hair was still slightly damp, and he was already mentally preparing himself for the inevitable rush of the morning shift.
He hadn't originally planned on eating breakfast. He'd already been running a little behind, and considering how quickly he'd have to leave for work, he figured he could simply grab something from the coffee shop once things settled down. His stomach, however, seemed to disagree with that plan.
But the moment he entered the kitchen, his attention was drawn towards something sitting on the counter.
It was a simple egg sandwich, neatly wrapped and sitting exactly where he couldn't possibly miss it. And beside it was a small sticky note, the handwriting immediately recognisable.
He picked up the note and read it.
Make sure you eat!
Beside the words was a small angry face, complete with what looked like exaggerated eyebrows, as though whoever had drawn it was offended by the possibility that Jungkook might skip breakfast.
At the bottom was a familiar signature.
Yugyeom Xx
Jungkook couldn't help but smile.
Yugyeom's shift started earlier than his, which meant he'd already left for work by the time Jungkook had woken up. And yet, somehow, he'd still found the time to make him breakfast and leave a note behind. Jungkook looked down at the sandwich for another moment, a warmth settling somewhere in his chest that had nothing to do with the food itself.
He really didn't deserve Yugyeom as a roommate.
With a small shake of his head, Jungkook unwrapped the sandwich and took a bite. It was simple, nothing particularly special, but it was exactly what he needed. He ate quickly, washing it down with a glass of water before grabbing his things and checking the time.
His eyes widened.
"Shit."
He quickly shoved the last bite into his mouth, grabbed his bag and hurried towards the door, pulling on his shoes as quickly as he could. He barely managed to make sure he had everything before slipping outside and locking the door behind him.
The walk to the coffee shop was faster than his usual pace. Jungkook kept glancing at the time on his phone as he went, mentally calculating how many minutes he had left before his shift started. He wasn't actually going to be late, not yet, anyway, but he didn't want to risk it. He'd had enough close calls with his alarm over the years to know that a few extra minutes could disappear remarkably quickly.
Thankfully, by the time he reached the coffee shop, he still had a few minutes to spare.
Jungkook pushed open the door and was immediately greeted by the familiar sounds of the morning rush. The hiss of the coffee machine, the clatter of cups being placed on the counter and the low hum of conversation all blended together into the familiar soundtrack of his workplace. The smell of freshly brewed coffee filled the air, rich and warm, and Jungkook felt himself settle into the familiarity of it almost immediately.
Behind the counter, Yugyeom was already busy serving customers. He glanced up when Jungkook entered, and a grin spread across his face.
"Just made it."
Jungkook chuckled, shaking his head as he walked further into the shop. "Yeah, yeah."
Yugyeom pointed towards the back with an impatient gesture. "Get your butt back here and help me."
"Yeah, yeah," Jungkook repeated, this time with a small laugh.
He disappeared into the back, quickly pulling on his work apron before tying it securely around his waist. Within moments, he was back at the front of the shop, sliding into his usual place beside Yugyeom and immediately falling into the rhythm of the morning.
The first hour passed quickly.
The coffee shop was busy, busier than Jungkook would have preferred so early in the morning, but neither of them complained. They had been working together for long enough that they barely needed to communicate anymore.
They knew who would reach for what, who would take the next order and when one of them needed to step in and help the other. It was almost instinctive, the two of them moving around one another behind the counter with the kind of efficiency that came from doing the same thing together countless times.
Jungkook was halfway through sorting out another customer's order when he heard a voice from the other side of the counter.
"Your tattoo is really pretty."
He looked up. The customer was a teenage girl, her attention fixed on his right arm. Jungkook followed her gaze and immediately knew what she'd noticed.
"I've never seen one like that before," she added, sounding genuinely impressed.
Jungkook froze for the briefest moment. It was barely noticeable, just a tiny pause before he forced himself to relax again. He glanced down at his arm and then back at her, offering her a polite smile.
"Thanks."
He didn't elaborate.
He rarely did.
The girl gave him another smile before turning her attention back towards her drink, apparently satisfied with the answer. Jungkook continued preparing the order, his movements returning to normal, although his thoughts had briefly drifted somewhere else.
The mark covering his right arm was impossible to miss.
A beautiful bouquet of seven different coloured flowers twisted and wrapped its way around his arm, the flowers intertwining with one another in an intricate display that stretched from near his shoulder all the way down towards his wrist. The colours were vivid, and the details were so fine that most people assumed it had been the work of an incredibly talented tattoo artist.
Jungkook received compliments about it fairly often.
Sometimes people asked where he'd had it done. Occasionally they wanted to know how long it had taken or whether it had hurt. He'd learned over the years to smile, thank them and give them some vague answer that didn't invite further questions.
Because it wasn't a tattoo.
It was his soulmark.
Soulmarks were images that appeared on a person's skin and identified their soulmate. The same mark would appear on the soulmate themselves, creating a connection that couldn't be replicated by anything else. They came in all different forms, varying from person to person. Some were tiny symbols that could easily be hidden beneath clothing. Others were more noticeable, but still small enough that they didn't immediately attract attention.
Jungkook's was neither of those things. Cause for reasons he had never understood, his soulmark covered almost his entire right arm.
Seven flowers.
Seven different colours.
A beautiful, unmistakable mark that had been with him for as long as he could remember.
People often stared when they noticed it. Some were curious, while others simply thought it was an elaborate tattoo. Over time, Jungkook had decided that pretending it was one was easier than explaining the truth.
It was simpler to let people believe it was ink.
Jungkook pushed the thoughts aside and returned his attention to work. There were still plenty of customers waiting, and he wasn't about to get lost in his own head during a morning rush.
The rest of the morning continued much the same way, with one customer leaving only for another to take their place. Jungkook found himself slipping back into the familiar rhythm of work, his thoughts about his soulmark gradually pushed into the back of his mind as he focused on taking orders, preparing drinks and making sure nobody was left waiting too long.
It was easier that way. He had spent enough years learning how to ignore the questions surrounding his soulmark that he rarely allowed himself to dwell on them for very long anymore. There wasn't much point in wondering who the person sharing his mark was when he had no idea where they were or whether they were even looking for him.
Eventually, the rush began to settle. The line at the counter disappeared, leaving only a handful of customers scattered throughout the shop, and the frantic pace of the morning finally eased into something more manageable.
Jungkook took the opportunity to wipe down the counter while Yugyeom busied himself with a few things behind the coffee machine. For the first time that morning, they had a moment where neither of them was immediately occupied.
Yugyeom glanced over at him.
"So," he began casually, "how's the painting going?"
Jungkook's hand slowed against the counter. He already knew what Yugyeom was referring to, there wasn't much else it could be. The deadline for the gallery was getting closer, and Yugyeom had been asking about it regularly ever since he had recommended Jungkook to the friend who was hosting the exhibition.
Jungkook made a small face and continued wiping the counter, suddenly finding the surface much more interesting than it had been a second ago. "It's going."
Yugyeom raised an eyebrow. "That's not an answer."
"I finished one."
That got Yugyeom's attention. He looked over properly this time, a small smile appearing on his face. "You did?"
"Yesterday."
"See? And you were acting like you weren't going to get anything done."
"I never said I wasn't going to finish them."
"You didn't have to. Your face said it for you."
Jungkook rolled his eyes, though he couldn't stop the small smile that tugged at his lips. He leaned against the counter and folded the cloth in his hands, his expression becoming a little more thoughtful. "I still haven't finished the other one."
Yugyeom's smile faded slightly.
"How far are you?"
Jungkook hesitated.
"Not far enough."
There was a pause before he sighed. "I know what I want it to look like. I just... can't seem to get it right."
He had been staring at the second canvas for weeks, knowing exactly what he wanted to put onto it and yet somehow never feeling capable of actually doing it justice. Every time he tried, something felt wrong. A colour wasn't quite right. A line wasn't where it was supposed to be. The composition didn't look the way it did in his head. So he would paint over it, change something else, and eventually end up back where he'd started.
It was frustrating. Especially when the deadline was getting closer.
Yugyeom gave him a small frown. "You know you don't have to do it, right?"
Jungkook looked at him.
"I mean it," Yugyeom continued. "I recommended you because I think you're good enough to have your work there, but if it's stressing you out this much, you don't have to force yourself. You can always say no."
Jungkook immediately shook his head.
"No. I want to do it."
Yugyeom watched him for a moment, apparently making sure he meant it.
"I'll finish it," Jungkook added, more confidently this time. "I've still got time. I'll get it done before the deadline."
"Okay," Yugyeom said, though there was still a trace of concern in his expression. "Just don't kill yourself over it."
Jungkook laughed softly. "I'm not."
Yugyeom gave him a look.
"Okay," Jungkook amended. "I'm trying not to."
That earned him a small laugh, and for a moment the conversation seemed to be over. Jungkook picked up the cloth again, wiping away a spot on the counter that probably didn't need wiping, but his mind inevitably returned to the paintings.
"I don't know," he said after a moment.
Yugyeom glanced at him. "What?"
"The gallery."
Jungkook looked down at the cloth in his hands, his fingers absently twisting the edge of it. "It just feels... important."
He struggled to explain what he meant. There wasn't any logical reason for it. It was just a feeling, something he had carried ever since Yugyeom first mentioned the exhibition to him. At the time, he'd assumed it was simply excitement or nerves. Having his work displayed in a real gallery was a big opportunity, after all. Anyone would probably feel that way.
But this felt different.
He couldn't explain why.
"It feels like I should do it," he continued quietly. "Like it's important somehow. I don't know, it sounds stupid."
Yugyeom shook his head. "Doesn't sound stupid. Maybe it's one of those things where you just have a feeling about something," Yugyeom said with a shrug. "And who knows? Maybe someone important will see your paintings."
Jungkook snorted. "Someone important?"
"Yeah. Someone famous."
"Right."
"I'm serious." Yugyeom grinned. "Maybe you'll get discovered."
Jungkook laughed under his breath, shaking his head at the idea. "That would be something."
"Exactly."
Jungkook glanced towards the windows, watching the morning light spill across the street outside. For a moment, his thoughts drifted back to the aquarium painting sitting in his apartment, to the six faceless men he'd painted without ever understanding why they occupied his dreams.
Someone important.
Someone famous.
The thought was ridiculous.
And yet, for reasons he couldn't quite explain, Jungkook found himself staring into the distance for a moment longer before quietly murmuring,
"Yeah...maybe."