PART ONE
Soulmates were always connected when people were young, because you always would draw on your arms when you were a little kid. Parents would always be happy when their kids had little drawings on their arm that the kids didn't create themselves.
Yoongi's arm had been decorated with small drawings of animals, mostly bunnies, and other small doodles. This never seemed to stop. But so too Yoongi got bruises on his arms sometimes. Yoongi thought nothing much about it, maybe his soulmate was just someone very clumsy.
But soon he grew older. When Yoongi hit sixteen he started to get small cuts on his arms, he didn't feel the pain, but he saw the scars that appeared late at night when he was working on his homework. Yoongi was worried what his soulmate was going through.
It took two years before the cutting stopped, scars still on his skin, matching with his soulmate. After that his soulmate started to draw big complicated doodles on his hand and arm. Yoongi always watched the event with his mouth agape. He was mesmerized by the beauty of the ballpoint pen ink that appeared on his skin.
Not much after that Yoongi's arm got decorated with the most beautiful paintings. Landscapes and night skies were drawn on his pale skin, covering up the scars of the cuts. Yoongi never dared to wash away the paint, afraid to make his soulmate sad as the paint would drip off his arm.
Yoongi was twenty three now, he still watched his soulmate paint on his arms every time he got the chance to watch it. Every morning he checked his arm, if he fell asleep too early to watch the painting appear, to see if his soulmate had decorated his arm with the beautiful paint again.
Yoongi himself on the other hand was no artist. He was a boring student who was mediocre at everything. People like him took advantage of the ink on arms. He slipped in information about his exam onto his arm amidst all the designs. Nobody would say a word, it could be something his soulmate wrote after all. And that's how he passed high school by cheating.
He was incredibly thankful for his soulmate too, the designs appearing on his arms slowly always gave him inspiration for his own work as a writer. Winding around his arm, twisting in unexpected directions in picturesque ways, the designs were a sight to behold. He often wondered if tattoos also would show up on his soulmate's skin but he didn't want to risk it being permanent. He didn't want to take a canvas away from his soulmate and his passion.
On days when he felt something was amiss, he'd scribble little thoughts. Simple things like "the stars are beautiful tonight. I wonder how bright your eyes are" or "the sun is glaring down at us today, hope you're protected from the cruelty" to things like "my friend found his soulmate but I'm sure you're going to be so much more beautiful. Your art is beautiful, the creator can't be any less beautiful".
It warmed his cheeks but he hoped to cheer his soulmate just as he cheered Yoongi up. Everyone who knew Yoongi, knew of his soulmate and his beautiful art skills. Everyone was curious about them, like Yoongi was.
Jungkook had never felt confident about himself, the only thing he liked about himself were his skills in art. When he was painting he could spend hours, even days, without eating or sleeping just working on perfecting a canvas. So nobody around him was surprised when he took a major for fine arts in the end, knowing extremely well that fine arts had no good future.
Jungkook eventually dropped out of college, starting his own small business where he thought classes and gave birthday parties. He got told that he'd do great because of his patience and positivity.
So Jungkook has his little art shop in a somewhat smaller alley in Seoul, it's a nice place. It's one you'd describe in a romance novel and maybe that's why Jungkook loves his store so much. Right above the store he lives, a white mattress on the floor and art materials spread everywhere.
