Chapter Text
Everyone is born with a flower bud as a tattoo. Normally, it’s on the forearm or wrist, some people having it on their legs or on their chest/stomach. Namjoon had his on his left collar bone. Namjoon’s was an odd one. It started to slowly bloom back when they started to find people to debut him with. When he had spent a fair amount of time with his soulmate, it started to grow, as though it was using his collar bone as a support climber. Namjoon had gotten excited when he noticed it in the shower after a day in the dance studio, to think he must spend so much time with his soulmate for his tattoo to be blooming the way it was. He always knew deep down his soulmate wasn’t a female. He would look at the women he worked with and never felt anything but respect for them, working in a tough industry and putting themselves at risk of never meeting their soulmate. It was the same when he was at school, he never felt anything when he dated a girl, and yeah, of course it hurt him a little when she broke up with him, but he was lowkey happy, because the relationship was making him uncomfortable.
As soon as he realised its growth, he contacted the doctor from the company. The doctor said it looked like that it started to bloom when all the boys had first met to introduce them all as bandmates. The doctor also told Namjoon that his tattoo consisted of red and white roses, which usually meant unity, so he could safely assume he worked with his soulmate daily. Namjoon smiled like a goof. There were nine people in that room on the day that the doctor said his tattoo started to bloom; Bang Sihyuk, and he knew that his tattoo had bloomed way before that day. Manager Seijin, who had his soulmate already and they just celebrated six years of marriage. The other seven were him and the rest of BTS. He knew it wasn’t Yoongi or Hoseok, as they realised during HYYH Era filming they were soulmates. As for Jimin or Taehyung, it couldn’t be them as they figured they were soulmates during the Wings Era. So that left either Seokjin or Jeongguk.
They never forced each other to show their tattoos, but when in the changing rooms, those four just happened to look in the right place. Namjoon was jealous at first, but then he realised that they all had a platonic soulmate bond, after they all noticed a small bouquet of lilacs, hyacinths and gardenias form on their left wrists. The company doctor said it was possible to have soulmate tattoos for platonic relationships to form and it’s normally coloured in, unlike normal soulmate tattoos. Namjoon could remember how happy everyone was when they were told this. The platonic bond had developed during a rough and dark time for them all, and to know they all had a platonic bond helped them out of it to be where they are today. To be honest, he was glad his soulmate tattoo was easily hidden in his shirts etc, and any low v-cuts would just cover the tattoo, most of the time he’d use makeup to cover it. He really didn’t want the media to know that he spends a lot of his time with his soulmate, and for them to start those stupid searches and scandals to find his soulmate. He saw how it affected many other idols and even broke some of them. He didn’t want that for himself or his soulmate.
The other members soon caught onto the fact that Namjoon was happy almost every day and eventually asked him to spill. At first, he kept telling them he woke up with a happy thought more and more. But he eventually revealed his soulmate tattoo to them all, the room filling with gasps and small excited shrieks, but didn’t tell them that he knew it was one of the members.
How did it happen?
Well, he had just gotten back into the dorms after a workout session in the gyms with Yoongi and Jimin. They were all really sweaty and Namjoon had called shotgun on the shower first. When he had finished, he walked out with only his joggers on, and his torso completely bare. It wasn’t until Jimin patted his shoulder and felt the warmth emanating from the soulmate tattoo that he realised what he had just done. This realisation resulted in a loud shriek, then a gasp, then a shout of “Joonie hyung’s soulmate isn’t being hidden” (You can imagine the stampede that happened at that statement). Then eventually the whole living area evolved into gasps, small shrieks and a lot of gushing on how it looked etc.
He let them all marvel at it, watching how all of them reacted. Well he thought he was but he missed the reaction of one of the two potential soulmates;
Seokjin’s.
Seokjin knew one of his band mates was his soulmate since the beginning. Every day he would check his tattoo, and noticed the bud slowly open after the group’s first meeting. He felt happy at first, knowing he could spend time with his soulmate without them knowing. But as soon as Yoongi, Hoseok, Jimin and Taehyung found out they were each other’s soulmates, he found group times hard to enjoy. He knew it was between Namjoon and Jeongguk. In fact, he knew who it was but they didn’t know it was him, the day Namjoon showed them his soulmate tattoo, his world stopped for a moment, confirming his thoughts.
Where Namjoon’s was on his left collar bone, Seokjin’s lied on his right collar bone, if the two were connected, their collar bones would make one long climbing flower tattoo. Seokjin tried to act happy for the younger, but it hurt him. Every time him and Namjoon had contact, his skin would burn. He would only ever touch him back if there was a clothed area, he could touch to avoid him feeling the same burning sensation. Namjoon seemed to be oblivious to it, which assured Seokjin a little.
But why did he not want Namjoon knowing that he was his soulmate?
That was down to what he saw with his brother growing up. When he was around 13 years old, his brother’s tattoo was in full bloom whilst he was in a relationship with a lovely girl. They were happy and were near their 4-year anniversary of being together. However, his brother’s tattoo started to wilt and morph into a different flower. Turns out that his girlfriend had cheated on him after getting ‘bored of the same stuff over and over’ and the fact she felt ‘caged and not in control of her future’. To say it hurt his brother when they broke up was an understatement. After finding out your soulmate cheated and lied how they felt for at least a year. It broke his brother, and it scared Seokjin that it was possible he could experience this one day.
His first impression of Namjoon was a tall, slightly clumsy guy who was fair, chilled out and realistically too cute for a rapper. And he still believes that to this day. He knows Namjoon would never put him through what his brother’s first soulmate did. Seokjin knew his brother was happy now with his true soulmate, and happily married with about four cats (he lost count after the second one). He knew deep down, this fear was never going to happy to him, but kept his guard up instinctually, regardless of the fact
It was eventually summer and they only had a few months before their next album, Answer. It was going to be tougher than the Wings Era, with a dance routine for their title being their hardest yet. The company had set them some weeks off over the summer, the heat becoming harder on them when dancing and the dryness of the air making it hard for them to make a decent recording. They had gone to a private beach for a couple of weeks, having the ability to just go into the ocean and not worry about covering up due to the press lurking around the corner. Jeongguk chose to hang out with Jimin and Taehyung for most of it, obviously being the youngest and closer to his age, he could ask them all the questions he had about soulmates. Seokjin had the perfect chance to talk to Namjoon about being his soulmate, but decided to spend his time with Hoseok and Yoongi instead. To say that hurt Namjoon would have been far from the truth, knowing that his potential soulmate was avoiding him on purpose crushed his soul. They were planning a night barbeque for the next day, and before anyone could say they’d go shopping, Namjoon chirped up and said he’d go. When he left the house, all eyes went to Seokjin.
“Stop it,” Seokjin spoke clearly, the youngest members looking confused at why Namjoon had gone alone, Hoseok and Yoongi scowling because they knew why.
“Stop hurting him hyung,” Yoongi said sternly yet quietly.
“Wait Yoongi hyung what do you mean?” Jeongguk blinked as he swapped his view between his two hyungs.
“Wait, are you telling me that Namjoon hyung’s soulmate is-.” Jimin got cut off by Seokjin slamming his cup on the table.
“I do what I want! Namjoon isn’t in pain, he’s just lonely and needs to learn to live with it. He’s not going through what I am. The constant pain whenever I touch his skin. The burning that goes under my skin. So, shut up and leave me to do what I want.” And with that he stormed out. Yoongi sighed and followed after him, Hoseok giving a small, sad look to the youngest before following after his soulmate. When Namjoon showed them his soulmate tattoo, the youngest knew it wasn’t Jeongguk. They’ve been trying to work out his since it bloomed randomly during wings. They knew it wasn’t someone in the company, and tried to find them with no luck so far.
After some time, Hoseok had emerged from Seokjin’s room, his usual sunny demeanour nowhere to be seen. The younger ones wanted to question him but stayed silent as he picked up his drink from earlier.
“Seokjin’s brother had a horrible incident with his soulmate. She cheated on him and lied how she felt for a year. Luckily, his tattoo did change and evolve into the one he has now. Seokjin has since then had this fear it would also happen to him. He knows Namjoon wouldn’t put him through all of that, but that natural fear still lingers.” He sighed as he took a gentle sip of his drink. As he opened his eyes, he saw Jimin slowly tearing up, Taehyung trying to reassure Jimin the whole situation would be fine. Jeongguk, however, stared at Hoseok with his large doe eyes. A question swimming in them so eager to be asked, but kept silent in fear of being answered with something he didn’t want to hear.
“No mention of this to Namjoon please. Me and Yoongi are trying to sort it. Here,” he hands his wallet to Jeongguk, who looked confused at the sudden gesture.
“Download whatever games you want. Well, no, download 3 games that we could all play easily together.” Hoseok smiled and patted Jeongguk’s head as he walked by, the younger’s face now knotted in deep thought, thinking of all the games that they could all play. And also, what was fairly expensive because he hadn’t been given a spending limit.
Namjoon returned from shopping and felt uneasy. He could sense that something had gone on because the beach apartment was quiet. Too quiet. He shrugged his shoulders and resumed to putting the shopping away in the kitchen. Afterwards, he stumbled towards the bedrooms and the first room he went to was Seokjin’s. He knocked and a quiet ‘go away’ responded almost immediately.
“Hyung it’s me, just letting you know I’m back from shopping and I’ve put everything away.” As he turned away to go let the others know, he heard the door open.
“Ah sorry Joonie. I thought you were Yoongi or Hobi. We had a bit of a fight earlier and yeah,” Seokjin trailed off, averting his gaze to the floor, knowing his eyes were close to locking with Namjoon’s and the potential threat of tears spilling. Namjoon turned around and just smiled at the elder.
“Want to hug and talk about it?” He asked softly, the eldest nodding to the hugging, but shaking his head to the talking, making Namjoon chuckle a little. Seokjin had his large jumper on that he would wear when sad, because it was a jumper Namjoon brought but it was ‘too small’ for him, so gave it to Seokjin. He didn’t complain, not every day your crush would give you a jumper that was too big for you and smelt like him. They didn’t realise but they both fell into a light sleep. When they heard crashing of pots, they both groaned and slowly woke up. Apparently, Jimin had the brilliant idea to try and bake a cake at 6am to cheer everyone up. They may have been grumpy at the time, but the sight of Jimin getting frustrated baking this one cake did amuse them and lighten the apartment back up. Seokjin, Yoongi and Hoseok talking later in the day setting the barbeque area up and apologising for the arguments the night before.
They all enjoyed their small summer break. When they returned back, fresh and ready to get their comeback underway, they started working extra hard to make this their best comeback. Everyone was doing great, but Seokjin still felt he was lacking in comparison.
He felt the pressure. All the rap line had successfully released mixtapes, and the other vocalists were successfully making covers and originals for their sound cloud, and honestly Seokjin felt useless. All he had was his cover for the festa a year or two ago. He didn’t want to disappoint his fans, or his fellow band mates. He would spend extra time at the gym and in the recording booth, conscious of making his part as balanced as he could. It was harder than when he last did this, as it was still summer and the heat was unbearable, to the point that the air conditioning would break down every couple of days. He was over working himself in the heat, and he wasn't exactly eating or sleeping much, relying on water and protein bars and shakes. Once the producers and personal trainers found out about him practically living in the booth and gym, they forbid him from any extra work to what he was scheduled. This angered him, so he went ahead to the dance studio to perfect the choreography. All the members knew something was wrong, but couldn’t work out what.
It was a month before the album was due out that Namjoon next checked his tattoo. It was late at night after a long day. Seokjin didn’t return with them as he said he needed to talk to the choreographer. He stepped in front of the bathroom mirror to see his flowers, wilting a little. Normally if one flower wilts its normally stress or a cold. But several could be anything from exhaustion to being badly injured or worse. Namjoon look at half of his tattoo wilting and he started to worry. Without thinking to put his shirt back on, he ran to Jeongguk’s room, bursting in on him and the other vocalists watching a film.
“Namjoon hyung what’s wrong?” Jimin asked but Taehyung answered him instead.
“His soulmate isn’t well Jiminie, look,” and he pointed to Namjoon’s tattoo. They looked to Jeongguk who sighed.
“I’m sorry hyung it’s not me, my tattoo had bloomed way after meeting everyone, during wings in fact but it rarely flowers at all,” he smiled apologetically at his hyung. Namjoon’s eyes widened in fear, his mind putting everything together.
“Where’s Seokjin hyung?” he rushed, stumbling over his words. The three looked at each other and shrugged.
“He hasn’t come back from the dance studio yet,” came a worried tone from behind him, Hoseok. Before he could start to panic, Yoongi was next to his soulmate with a set of car keys.
“Come on, put a shirt on and I’ll drive you there,” and Namjoon was running out the door before he could answer him.
The drive to the studio was painfully long, physically and emotionally. Even though there was no traffic on Seoul’s roads this late at night, it seemed to be taking double the time it should do. All the members were given a spare key to the dance studio in case they needed to adjust any choreography in between schedules. Namjoon now knew why he hadn’t seen Seokjin much in the dorm; he had been in the dance studio every night. He never knew when he came home, but he would always see the elder look slightly weak every morning, assuming he had just stayed up playing games. He felt guilty because he had failed as his leader and as his soulmate. Yoongi placed a hand on Namjoon’s shoulder as he pulled up.
“I have my phone if you need me okay, just let it ring once and I’ll come.” He smiled and thanked Yoongi as he sprinted out the car to the dance studio. It wasn’t hard to guess which one Seokjin was in, it was the only room bursting with light, contrasting in the dark corridor.
Seokjin wasn’t aware of Namjoon’s presence, the music blaring, disguising the fact that it was near midnight and he hadn’t eaten since lunch. As he went to do one of the fast turns in the chorus, his head spun rapidly, his balance going almost instantly. He braced himself to hit the floor, but instead he felt his skin burning from someone holding him.
“Hyung we’ve been so worried,” Namjoon held the elder close, his arms wrapping tightly and securely that Seokjin had no chance of escaping. Seokjin wanted to push him away, didn’t want him anywhere near him. But his heart was telling him to keep him close, to not let him move away from him. Slowly, he wrapped his arms around the younger and allowed his pent-up tears to finally be freed, letting out sobs that started off small and weak, but evolving into screams. Namjoon didn’t let go, rocking them slightly in an attempt to calm Seokjin down. Only Namjoon could hear his sobs, as Idol blared out and then merged slowly into Answer: Love Yourself.
“Hyung, I just need to ring Yoongi hyung and let him know you’re okay,” and Seokjin understood why, but he still whined when one of Namjoon’s arms weren’t snaked around him anymore. When Namjoon hung up from calling Yoongi, he repositioned them so that Seokjin was sitting in his lap.
“Hyung, how long have you known?” Namjoon asked quietly whilst carding his fingers through the elder’s hair.
“I knew it was between you and Ggukie, but I had a crush on you. Then when you showed us your tattoo that night, that’s when I knew.” Seokjin sighed at little, remembering the pain of the past.
“Wait, so the argument on the beach break, was that because you knew and wouldn’t tell me?” Seokjin paused for a second, then nodded his head, Namjoon sighing slightly.
“Can I see yours hyung?” Namjoon asked quietly as his fingers were massaging the elder’s head, small circular motions in an attempt to calm him down. With a small weak nod, Seokjin moved his t-shirt to reveal his right collar bone, the exact same tattoo as Namjoon’s, wrapping carefully around his right collar bone. Namjoon raised his hand, stopping half way realising he wanted to touch it but hadn’t asked if he could. Seokjin gently grabbed his wrist and guided his hand so his fingers lightly grazed against the tattoo. Both of them inhaled sharply, the fiery tingle spreading through their bodies at the skin to skin contact came as a shock to them. Seokjin turned around and looked Namjoon in the eyes. He could see a lot of guilt in them, but he could also see hints of sadness and happiness mixed in them as well.
“Namjoon, why are you sad?” he asked in a hushed tone, seeing the younger’s eyes slowly watering.
“Because I put you through all of that pain hyung, and I hurt you so much-” Before he could say anymore, Seokjin carefully placed his slightly dry lips onto Namjoon’s, the younger letting a small shock moan in response. The pair just looked at each other, pressing small, delicate and insecure kisses to each-other’s lips, cheeks and foreheads, whilst giggling slightly between each one.
Yoongi eventually went up to see what was taking so long to find Seokjin in Namjoon’s lap, head buried in the younger’s neck and from what he could hear, the elder was breathing softly, a sign he must have fallen asleep. Yoongi looked to Namjoon, noticing his slightly puffy and red eyes, but also the small, unsure smile with his dimples just poking out. He assumed they had talked over and sorted things, if the fact that Namjoon’s lips looked a little pinker than normal and little swollen. Namjoon carried Seokjin down on his back and sat in the back of the car, his back to the door so that Seokjin could lay on the seats whilst he laid on the younger’s chest.
“Joon, nap until we get there. I’ll wake you up I promise,” and Yoongi’s words were like magic, as Namjoon soon drifted off to sleep whilst holding his soulmate. Although Yoongi lied, he didn’t wake him up straight away, he let everyone take some pictures of them first to remember the night.
“Joon, we’re home, come on now wake up,” Yoongi tried to wake the younger up gently but he kept getting grunts in return.
“Fine, I’ll just go find your hidden stash of pictures you’ve taken that happen to be of S-” and before he could say the name, he felt a hand weakly hit his head. After a loud grunt and a few cursed mumbles, Namjoon was awake and trying to move himself and Seokjin out of the car. You can probably imagine what happened for the rest of the night, Namjoon and Seokjin were cuddled up together in Seokjin’s bed, Jimin going to Taehyung’s room to cuddle and Yoongi dragged Jeongguk to join Hoseok in cuddling.
The group were closer after that day, knowing that only Jeongguk was left without his soulmate. They didn’t want him to feel left out, so they all rotated having him as a part of their soulmate bonding, but they also made sure to have platonic bonding sessions, where they would put Jeongguk in the middle of their cuddle piles and made sure to squish him with all the love they had for their youngest.
As for Namjoon and Seokjin?
Well, they went on dates almost every opportunity they had. If you ever went to see them live, I’m sure you’ve seen the pair flirting with each other and just being a couple in general, without any worries because they know, that ARMY will accept them if they ever became public.