The Truth Untold: Yoonmin

1

The day Jimin got his soulmate mark, it hurt. Marks weren't supposed to hurt. He never imagined it would feel that way so when he'd woken up in a cold sweat with his neck on fire, he thought he'd been bitten by a spider. When he checked his neck in the dim light of his bathroom, craning around to see the mirror he realized it wasn't a bite.

There it was.

Finally.

On his neck, inked in black, about two inches in diameter, was a crescent moon.

Usually, meeting their soulmate, or interacting with them even if they'd seen them around triggered a person's soulmark, because that made it easier to pinpoint who they were, but Jimin didn't think he'd met anyone new. So, unless it was one of his new teachers, he had no clue who it could be.

Some in school were lucky enough to know who their soulmate was since they were young.

His best friend Taehyung had known since he was 5.

There was a time when Jimin had desperately willed his mark to appear to match the 3 lines on Tae's arm, but then Jungkook came along and when their eyes met, Jimin could just tell.

Tae had met Junkook when they were babies until Jungkook left Seoul to go to Busan. Their marks had appeared instantly. Tae had known. He'd just never told Jimin. But they weren't in love, Tae said. "I love him but it's platonic. Like us."

"That's not how it works, Tae," Jimin had insisted.

"Sure it is! Jungkookie and I were babies when we met. I've known him all my life. He's visited me ever since we left and I can tell you with perfect honesty that I've never been in love with him. He's never seen me that way either so he's free to love whomever he wants. I'll be happy on the day he finally brings someone to me who he loves so that I can meet her. Or him. Or whatever. Jimin, a soulmate is your best friend."

"I'm your best friend."

"You are and so is he."

Jimin couldn't argue. He wouldn't be the one to get in between soulmates who were paired by fate but he also felt that Taehyung was being purposely obtuse. To Jimin, a soulmate meant love—that perfect person who would match you in every way. The one who could read your mind when you were upset, who could finish your sentence when you were at a loss for words. The person who would always make sure you were taken care of.

So when he got his mark, finally, he was ecstatic. The next day, he would be on the lookout for anyone with a matching crescent moon on the back of their neck.

*

It took Yoongi a second to realize what he was seeing. In his panic he jumped into the shower scrubbing at his neck but the ink wouldn't budge. It was a mark— a soulmark. Yoongi had a soulmate and they had already met.

Fuck.

He'd been convinced that he'd never get one. He knew it happened. His own father never had one.

His mom had had one but she never met her soulmate. She'd been with his father for fun in high school, gotten pregnant and died when Yoongi was around six. She had been too busy taking care of him to ever meet new people, according to his grandmother and so she never found her soulmate.

Yoongi had been dumped on his father's doorstep crying and desperate to go back to his grandparents, but the law was the law. He couldn't live with them as long as one of his biological parents was alive.

The day Yoongi's mark appeared he'd fought with his dad. It was over something so stupid that he couldn't even remember what it was. It was always something inconsequential.