Ink | Jungkook

Ink

"...keeps drawing doodles of his dog. Like who does that?" A hand waves in front of my face, interrupting my thoughts. "Are you even listening to me right now?" 

"Yeah, yeah," I mumble, my eyes still turned to gaze out the window. Summer was coming to an end, the students milling about the campus beginning to cover up with sweaters as they rushed from one class to the next. I envied them. They wore their long sleeves because they wanted to. 

I did it because I had to. 

"Then what did I just say?" 

I groan, turning away from the window to look at the girl in front of me, my best friend. Folding my arms on the table, I rested my head on them, my eyes drifting shut. "The same thing you always say." I yawn,  my habit of staying up late to read fanfiction catching up to me. "He draws doodles of his dog every day."

"Well if you heard, you should've said something," she mumbled and I know if I looked up right now, I'd see her pouting-something she did when she was embarrassed. "Did you stay up again?"

I open my eyes a crack, the empty computer lab greeting me. Sighing, I lift my head and rub my eyes. "It's not a big deal." 

She narrows her eyes at me skeptically. "Are you sure about that?"

"If you hate the doodles so much, why don't you just ask him to stop?" I ask, switching the subject back to her.

"As if he would," she scoffs, pouting. "He'd probably just draw it more."

"I doubt Yoongi's that mean."

"Mean, no. Plays too much? Absolutely," she sighs. Her eyes trail down to my arms, the skin of them hidden underneath my over-sized hoodie. I tug the sleeves down self-consciously and the look on her face softens. "And how are you? Anything new?"

Biting on my bottom lip, I look away. I know that someday I'm going to have to answer her, but I can't bring myself to do it. 

Seeing my hesitation, she nods in understanding. "It's okay to be scared, you know?" 

"I'm not scared," I deny quickly, looking away from her. 

"Oh really? Then why do you cover up the ink? You don't let anyone else look at them, and I don't think I've seen you glance at them once even though we've been friends for years." She grabs my chin, turning my head so I was looking at her again. "Ignoring your soulmates ink won't make it go away."

The shrill ringing of her phone interrupts her and she lets go of my face quickly, shoving her books in her bag as a string of curses leave her lips. She slings the bag over her shoulder. "I have to go, but I'll see you at home, right?" I nod, waving to her as she runs off. 

The door shuts behind her, leaving me alone with only my thoughts. I know she's right, that ignoring the words he writes won't make him go away. But I've tried my hardest to do just that since I got the first marking as a child. 

They started out as random doodles, then turned to pictures, now they were mostly words. Nothing really to be afraid of, I mean after all my best friend had a conversation with her soulmate years before they even met each other, all because she wrote her name on her arm and he responded. 

And that's usually how it happened. Everyone knows they have a soulmate. And when your soulmate writes on their skin, it shows up on your own. Most people embrace it and use it to track down the person that's meant for them. 

But not me. 

I hide mine from the world, covering the words with hoodies and long sleeves since make up never worked to cover the markings. My friends and parents thought I was just afraid to meet my soulmate, that nerves were what kept me from seeking him out. But I already know exactly who he is.