Waiting for u to love me - Taekook

1. Soulmates

The other six members and I waved into the audience from our cushion chairs. This fan meeting was a bit better than how it usually goes. I fixed the flower crown that sat on my head and made sure to pose for an Army sitting in the front row.
"Taehyung, Taehyung" Namjoon taps my shoulder.
"They're calling your name over there." He points to some crowd in the back that I can barely make out with my depleting eyesight.
"Yes I'm Taehyung!" I yell. I try to be oblivious to the many cameras that now are faced towards me.
I hear two women yell back, "please show off your Smark!"
I look at the person confused and hold up the mic closer. "My what? Smark?"
"Your Soulmark! Soulmark!" She says. I nod my head when I finally understand what she means.
I start to stand which makes the small crowd cheer. I turn my back towards the crowd, something I'm usually not allowed to do, and push the bottom of my hair up to reveal my neck. I try to push it up more to show the little black heart but it's hard to tell if the people who asked could even see it.
When I think the interaction is over, I flip my head around back to the crowd. They're yelling something else now.
I tap the head of the person sitting next to me. "Cmon Jungkook, they want to see yours too."
He groans with a smile. I know we're not technically allowed to show them but I persist anyways.
"Cmon!" I shove his shoulder and he pretends to collapse onto the table covering his face. The cheers continue and I start feeling like I'm being shoved into the spotlight.
"Sorry army, maybe next time." I start to sit back down. "He's just shy that he's my soulmate."
Jungkook's head pops back up and takes the mic from my hand.
He sighs. "Army, if you had a SoulMark with him, you'll know why I'm embarrassed to show off the fact we're soulmates. He's a lot nicer in front of you guys." There is a moment of silence and he side eyes me and I just reply with a smile.

***

"Okay, time to go home." Jimin says once we're in the van and far enough from the fans. I plug in my headphones as the people in the vehicle become silent with tiredness. I look up from my phone to see Jungkook already passed out. I smile and then remember something from the fanmeet.
Quickly pressing Naver, I go to the search bar and type:
What is a Smark?
Tons of answers pop up immediately. I just click the very first page which happens to be an unofficial dictionary for slang words. It read:
Smark- a shortened version of the words Soulmate Mark, a heart mark that is on the back of a persons neck. Is either black or red and they correspond to each other. (I.e. black heart means your soulmate has a red heart) Soulmates can be but not limited to friends, best friends, lovers, siblings, family etc. Other shortened versions of this word are S-mark, SoulMark and MateMark.
Huh, I guess this is is a new slang word I should remember, it is my duty as a Kpop idol to stay relevant.
I look up from my phone again to Jungkook who now had his mouth wide open and head leaned back.
I would've never expected him to be my soulmate especially since we're both guys. We both kind of expected our soulmates to be romantic and to well, women. However, we were able get over it quickly since being in a relationship would probably ruin the group.
I always smirk when I replay in my head the first time I learned jungkook was my soulmate. I questioned my whole sexuality and didn't talk to him for a week. I close out of my phone, still replaying the flashback. The sound of the music still playing through my ears and I turn it up before I close my eyes to fall asleep too.

***
"Taehyung, wake up. Cmon Taehyung we're home."
The first thing I hear is Jimin's voice and some guy singing in English. I tug out the wires from my ears and pull myself up. I thank the our manager for driving as I climb out and quickly walk into the building.
As soon as my shoes are off, I feel like falling back asleep again.
"Taehyung, do you have anything else on your schedule today?" Jungkook taps me as I walk into my shared dorm with Jimin and Hoseok.
I open my phone and check my calendar.
"No, but I'm probably gonna take a nap, why?" As soon as I say what I have planned, he pouts.
"Oh well, I was thinking we can order some chicken and have lunch here together. Im pretty sure everyone else has something to do." I was planning on rejecting whatever offer he said but come to think of it, chicken sounded really good right about now.
"That does sound temping..." I say, making eye contact with him and then the unmade bed in front of me.
"You pay?" I ask and he immediately pulls a credit card from his pocket.
"What flavors are we getting then?" I ask.

***
I finish washing my face and walk out the bathroom when I smell something delicious in the living room. I look around the room to find Jungkook sitting next to three boxes filled with fried chicken wafting the air around it to his nose.
It was hard to suppress a smile and I could feel a grumble from my stomach.
"That smells so good." I sit down with him at the table and pick up a pair of plastic gloves and a paper plate. He does the same.
We both eat in silence, unable to speak with so much chicken in our mouths. However, Jungkook is the first one to talk after about 3 drumsticks each.
"You're lucky Manager didn't get mad at you for showing off your S-mark. You heard about that one Kpop group that had two members who were soulmates they bullied the rest of the members right?" He paused to swallow. "S-marks aren't something we can show or it could unbalance the group system."
"I know I know, I just thought it'd be fun to break the rules a bit. Besides, Manager likes me because I usually obey him so it's fine." I say and grab another garlic flavor.
"No he likes you because you're hot." Jungkook said nonchalantly.
I smile with my mouth covered in sauce. "Finally you have taste." I say.
"Well yeah, you're objectively hot." He says and bites into a another wing.
It doesn't sound like a lie but it's very off for Jungkook to compliment me so out of the blue. "Okay then if you could either date me as a girl or, I don't know, Yoongi as a girl. Which one would you date?" I ask.
He looks at me funny. "All of a sudden?"
"I mean, why not?" I pick up my final wing.
He swallows before saying. "You, I'd date you." His tone was very matter of fact and I couldn't find a joke in this conversation anywhere.
"...as a girl." I say. For some reason it felt like I needed to make that distinction. There's an awkward pause in the air and then he says, "sure, as a girl."

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