chapter iv. homecoming-1

Seoul, D-5, December 2021

Bovine has always looked elegant and charming at night, the perfect place for lovers and friends to gather for dinner and hang out at to enjoy some drinks.

But as Jungkook comes to visit the place again after a long time, he soon realises that even in the daylight, the establishment looks just as beautiful as how he remembers it. It makes Jungkook smile when he recalls how much you enjoyed it when he brought you here for the special anniversary dinner a while back.

Entering the restaurant area of Bovine, Jungkook looks around, enjoying the interior look and the decorations that seem to have been upgraded during the past year he hasn't been coming to this place. Leading the way is Tasha, who was introduced to him by Namjoon as the managing director of Bovine. Namjoon is also there, walking by his side to give him support, and Jungkook is more than grateful to have him around since he isn't so good at dealing with these things.

"How many people are you inviting?" Tasha asks as she leads them further to a different area at the back of the restaurant.

Jungkook looks away from the small dry garden located at the side of the restaurant, the feature that you had once gushed about. "Uhm—I'm guessing we'll have somewhere around 10 to 12 people? With our parents, siblings, and our best friends. Not counting myself and my girlfriend, obviously," he answers while he lists the people that he is contacting for the dinner event. He doesn't want to make it big, but with his best friends already finding their soulmates, there is no doubt that he would have to consider them too.

Meanwhile, Tasha nods as she does the count in her head. "So, it's okay if I set the place up for fifteen people, right? Just in case you have more people coming."

"I think that sounds like a good idea," Jungkook says as he looks around the seating area. "Is it okay to reserve such a big group here? It's going to take a lot of space, isn't it?"

Tasha looks over once again and winks. "Don't you worry about it," she says. "Just follow me."

Sharing a quick exchange of glances, Namjoon and Jungkook follow her further to the back, entering a different space at the deeper area of the establishment which opens up to a different garden, much similar to the one you admired before but looking rather smaller and new. Even the seating area is a smaller-scale compared to the main dining hall, though it feels more exclusive and private, and just as beautiful.

"This is a new area that we've built in our latest expansion. These folded doors can be pulled over as partition walls to give you more privacy," Tasha explains as she points to the folded door separating this small area from the main dining hall.

As they find a comfortable corner to sit together, Tasha continues to explain the seating arrangements and how she is going to help Jungkook arrange the surprise proposal. She even lends him some ideas after finding out that he hasn't even thought of the details yet, and Jungkook begins to feel at least a little piece of his worries being lifted.

"You have the ring, don't you?" Tasha asks, and Jungkook eagerly nods.

"Well, I don't have it with me yet. Her brother in law is a jeweller and I had it custom made through him."

"Excellent," Tasha says as she switches on her tablet and opens the calendar to set up the date. "And it's going to happen in 5 days? When is she coming back? We might want to figure out the rest of the details before she gets here so you can spend some time with her without worrying about anything."

Jungkook grins when he answers, "Actually, she's landing the night before. At midnight, actually. I made a promise that I'd take her out to celebrate the moment she comes back so I'm going to make her believe that it's a celebration dinner with just the two of us."

Hearing this, Tasha raises her perfectly carved eyebrows and gives a little laugh. "She's coming home on the 9th?" Tasha asks him to confirm this. "And you're having the party right the next day? Are you sure?"

Jungkook rubs the back of his hand and starts chuckling sheepishly at this. "Yeah, I've talked about this with my family and her sister. I want us to focus on our families during the holidays and not steal anyone else's thunder by doing it then. And it would be a nice surprise to let her think that she would have to wait until the weekend to meet her parents when in reality, they would already be here when she lands," he explains, before adding, "Besides, I'm terrible at hiding secrets. I might explode and spill everything before Christmas ever comes around."

"Such a romantic," Tasha gushes with a sigh, pressing her palm on her chest as she teasingly throws a sharp glance at Namjoon and says, "Unlike some people I know."

Namjoon has had his eyes on Jungkook the entire time, though Jungkook has no idea how to read Namjoon's gaze. Noticing that both of his companions are looking at him, Namjoon snaps out of it and chuckles in response. "I have my own ways for romance, you know that," he says this with a smirk thrown at Tasha, which she responds by rolling her eyes at him.

As both of them continue to banter over Namjoon's comment and start flirting with each other, Jungkook can sense that there is something else going on between them. There is an obvious mutual attraction going on between his friend and the pretty manager, though he doesn't want to look into it further and chooses to look around instead of prying on their business. As his eyes fall on the seating arrangement and the lovely decorations around him, he begins to picture the upcoming dinner and releases a deep sigh.

Just one step closer, he tells himself this as he rubs his palm on his chest. He can feel his heart beating rapidly with how close it would be to the day he is going to ask for your hand in marriage and take things further. There is nothing in this world that he wants more than to spend his entire life with you. He cannot wait to show the universe that his true love can survive among those with fated bonds, and to prove that nothing else matters in this world as long as true love exists.

As he is deep in his thoughts of you, Jungkook fails to notice the pair of eyes that are looking at him, watching his every move with their deep, curious gaze, focusing specifically on his covered wrist.

Namjoon drinks his coffee slowly as he tries to put his thoughts in order. Once they were done arranging Jungkook's special night at Bovine, Namjoon had invited his friend to the nearest coffee shop to rest and relax, enjoy some coffee and snacks—since he also knows how easy his friend would get hungry whenever he is feeling exhausted.

But what he needs to do the most is talk, since Namjoon has a lot of questions for his friend, especially after what he had just discovered during their time at the Bovine earlier.

Ever since the timer in his hand had started running again, Namjoon's old habit of searching and paying close attention to other people's soulmate marks has been slowly coming back to him. Even if he has never truly done it on purpose, he would sometimes find himself scanning down someone else's arm, trying to take a quick glance over their mark to see what they have and wonder about their stories.

It is probably the reason why, when Jungkook raised his left hand to brush his hair back or whenever he was rubbing the back of his head, causing the sleeve of his shirt getting pulled back while he was discussing the dinner arrangement with Tasha earlier, Namjoon had instinctively run his gaze down Jungkook's wrist which rarely gets exposed. The first thing he saw then was the sight of the purple hyacinth tattoo that he had once guessed to be Jungkook's mark when he had once seen the tips of the flowers peeking out of his sleeve. Then, before he knew what he was doing, Namjoon found himself tracing the petals with his perusing gaze and his breath stopped at the sight of the initials written on his skin.

In red.

"You know—" Jungkook suddenly says, breaking the awkward silence shared between them. While Namjoon's thoughts were running wild in his head, even the white noise happening around them wasn't able to silence the voices in his head. But the moment Jungkook speaks, everything else stops, and his focus lands on his friend. "I haven't said thank you. You know—for helping me. I wouldn't have been able to reserve the perfect place in such a short amount of time if it hadn't been for you."

Namjoon gives him a small smile. "It's nothing. I only offered to help because I was able to. I wouldn't have made any promises if it seemed impossible for me to help at all. We were just lucky that Tasha is an old friend of mine."

Jungkook smiles at his friend, his gratitude is written all over his face when he then says, "I promise to repay you for helping out. In case you ever need my help next time, I'll try my best to be there for you too."

Seeing how Jungkook seems so open and honest right at this moment, Namjoon wonders if it would be a good idea to bring it up now. It wouldn't be surprising if Jungkook refuses to talk about it, but he also knows that the question will continue haunting him if he simply let this go.

"I appreciate it, but please don't think like you owe me anything. I was happy to help," he says to Jungkook before he continues, "I do have a question, though. It's rather private, so I'd understand if you don't want to answer me truthfully or if you don't want to talk it at all."

"Yeah, sure," Jungkook says without suspecting a thing. "Ask away."

Hesitant to continue, Namjoon looks around. The coffee shop is quite small, with not a lot of patrons present around them. And he is rather glad that he had chosen to sit at the small booth at the back corner which doesn't seem to attract others, giving them the privacy they would need if Namjoon is going to talk about this.

"It's about your mark," Namjoon finally says. "I don't mean to pry into your personal matters, but—" he stops briefly to study his friend's reaction, though Jungkook seems a bit more curious rather than troubled about what Namjoon might be asking him. With a sigh, Namjoon lowers his voice and finally asks him, "Jungkook, I caught it. I saw the mark on your wrist. Was it my eyes playing tricks on me, or is it true that the initials on your wrist are written in red?

Jungkook's eyes become wide for a moment as he looks at Namjoon. A mixture of shock, guilt, shame, and doubt appears on his face, before Jungkook releases a defeated sigh. "Yeah, and no, you weren't wrong and it wasn't a trick of light, if that's what you're saying."

"So—I don't understand. What about your girlfriend?"

"I think maybe I should start from the beginning—" he says this while he starts to roll his sleeve up slowly, revealing his tattoo to Namjoon's eyes. Sure enough, right in the middle of the cluster of purple hyacinth flowers adorning his skin is the sight of initials written in red ink.

With his soft voice, Jungkook begins to tell his story to his friend, the first person that he is telling this story to after he told the truth to his parents and his older brother years ago. Jungkook finally reveals the story of how he first met you and how the both of you had bonded for losing your soulmates. He tells Namjoon how his mark immediately turned red before he ever had the chance of ever dreaming to meet his soulmate, and how you had come to his path moments after facing rejection. He doesn't go into details about that first encounter, but explains how both of you had decided to try and how you had been together for years after falling to one another.

Sure enough, Namjoon is shocked to hear his story, but then he becomes even more curious and astounded as he continues to listen to more of Jungkook's story behind his situation. And it isn't surprising when Jungkook finally reveals that one of the reasons why he had spent years adding more and more ink work on his skin was to divert people's attention from his soulmate mark. Though his insecurities had often won, causing him to still cover his wrist either with the sleeves of his long shirts or with jewellery whenever he couldn't.

"Wow, I had no idea." Namjoon is completely speechless after he hears Jungkook's full story. Though he also cannot deny how envious he feels after knowing how Jungkook has been able to defy all odds, to still be able to find happiness even when the universe keeps throwing curveballs onto his path with his lover.

Suddenly, he begins to look at Jungkook with a new light. All this time, the only thing he feels for Jungkook is envy. Now he looks at him with admiration, a sense of fondness for showing him that there is a life and hope for finding love beyond the soulmate system.

"That's actually astonishing, how you managed to find each other and got together. And you're still together after all these years even without the bond," he says, admitting his fondness while keeping his other thoughts to himself.

"I'd like to believe that what we have is much stronger than the bond itself. What we have—" Jungkook sighs as his mind seems to wander off, picturing his love in his mind. "I can't explain it in words. But we do have our own bond, and I'd like to see if our love can be stronger than any regular mate bond."

Namjoon shakes his head. "I envy you, really," he cannot help but admit this, only to have Jungkook giving him a sarcastic scoff.

"What about you? You never talked about it, and I've never seen you dating anyone special. I just assumed—you know," Jungkook curiously asks him. "Have you not met her yet?"

Namjoon falls silent for a moment, though it doesn't really seem like the question had offended him somehow when he takes his time to choose his words. "It's a rather complicated story," he finally says, while his eyes are filled with guilt, something that lets Jungkook know that there is more to the story. "Perhaps I can tell you another time."

"Right, sorry if I'm crossing the line," Jungkook sheepishly says to him, while Namjoon merely waves his hand dismissively at him.

"No, it's fine. I owe it to you anyway since you've shared your story. I'm glad that you felt comfortable sharing it with me. I promise to keep your secret if that's something that you'd like to keep to yourself."

Hearing this, Jungkook looks incredibly relieved, letting Namjoon knows that he had made the right choice. "Thank you, I'd really appreciate it. Speaking of which—" Jungkook looks hesitant for a moment before finally asking, "Would you like to come? You know, for the party."

Namjoon raises his eyebrows. "You want me to join you and your family?"

Jungkook only shrugs. "Some close friends will be there too, so I can't see why not," he says. "My girlfriend—She's been curious about the people I'm working with and she's been asking about you a lot especially since you've done so much for me. I just want you guys to meet so I can finally introduce you to each other. I hope that's okay."

Namjoon feels conflicted. He thinks about the countdown on his wrist, suddenly remembering that his timer would be ending soon. If his calculations are right, then it would happen somewhere between the night of Jungkook's party. Knowing this, he begins to wonder how exactly do these things work. Would the universe give him a sign to show him where he is supposed to be? Thinking about the night where his countdown stopped for the first time, he tries to remember if he had seen the signs but had deliberately ignored them.

Maybe he did. And maybe he would know not to miss them this time. "I don't know if I have anything else happening that day. But you know what? I'll see if I can arrange to drop by right before your main event starts," he says, thinking about Jungkook's plan to propose at the same night. "I would love to meet the person who has been willing to fight alongside you to prove that your love can survive. Maybe I can even give you some emotional support in case you need one. Just as long as you don't mind me there to witness your important night."

Jungkook laughs. "You know that your support means a lot, Namjoon. You're definitely welcome to join us," he says, looking excited about having his close friend with him on the night that is meant to be the start of his new life. "I really can't wait for you two to meet."

Incheon - Seoul, D-1, December 2021

Fourteen hours.

It took you fourteen hours of being in the air before you finally landed back home. The exhaustion you feel the moment you step out of the plane is completely indescribable. You barely feel like your own self when you walk through the airport to find your way out, when your legs feel listless and your luggage seems as if it weighs tenfold than what it is supposed to be as you drag it along with you.

But all of that instantly fade the moment you finally see him. Your spirit is lifted once again when you find Jungkook waiting for you on the other side of the arrival gate with a smile on his face and relief written in his eyes. It was already late at night when your flight landed at Incheon airport, before you spent more time waiting to collect your things. Your journey home had to encounter a few hours delay due to the bad weather, adding more stress on your shoulders when you had been so restless and impatient enough to reach home already.

Perhaps that explains why you find yourself tearing up when you catch the sight of Jungkook expecting you, though the relief you feel inside you mirrors the look on his face when he meets your gaze from the distance.

Before you know it, your legs begin to move faster, taking you to him. You don't even care about the people who are watching you curiously as you rush towards Jungkook as if your whole life depends on it. The only thing that matters to you is to return to your lover, to feel his presence again after being away for an entire year without being able to hold him close, and it takes you merely seconds before you fall into his embrace, as he had already prepared himself to catch you ever since he saw you running towards him. The moment Jungkook has you in his arms, he doesn't waste any more time and lowers his head so he can capture your lips, making up for the long period of time he was unable to kiss you by giving you a deep, lingering kiss.

Being in his arms again feels right. It feels more than right. It seems like there had been a part of you that was gone when you were away, and now that you are holding him tight with his lips never once taking a break as they devour yours, every bit of the void that you had felt growing within you is slowly being filled right back in. The moment he tightens his hold around your waist to hold you close, it feels as if the puzzle pieces that had been left quite a mess are being rearranged until you are once again whole.

"I think now I understand what they say about the pain of being away from your soulmate," you whisper against his lips when you pull back to catch your breath, making him stop right before he is about to kiss you again.

"Really? In what way?" he asks, still with his lips ghosting over yours.

"In a way that I'm feeling it too. I don't ever want to be away from you again," you hum softly while blinking away your tears.

Jungkook's gaze is gentle when he looks at you, and you can sense his relief when he says, "Good. That makes the two of us."