Summary: When a regretful soul makes a vow to reunite with his brothers in the next life, he had no idea that he would be seeing them again 30 years into the future. Now if only his reincarnate, Jin, could figure it out and do what he couldn't: Keeping them on the right path.
“Thanks for coming by, dear,” an elderly woman said, smiling at the tall handsome man standing in front of her. The male put a forced smile on his face feeling immensely guilty about what he was going to do.
“The sink is right this way, Jin.”
The woman opened her door wider to let Jin into her house and turned around to lead him to her kitchen. Unbeknownst to her, Jin gave a signal to another person standing nearby cloaked by the darkness. Another male, a couple of inches shorter than Jin, stepped into the porch light and gave Jin a once over.
“Hoseok, I'm going to leave the door unlocked, don't come in until you see that the coast is clear alright?” Jin told him, making sure that the door wasn't one of those slam locks.
“Got it. Just small unnoticeable things, right?”
“Right, and please try to not make any noises okay? Wouldn't want her to get spooked,” Jin said before he walked fully into the house, behind the woman. Hoseok moved to the door to make sure it wasn't any security cameras to catch them, and once he saw that the coast was clear he slipped in.
Hoseok made sure to keep his feet light so he wouldn't make any sudden noises. The years he spent as a dancer finally paid off. He noticed the woman's purse sitting beside her couch, and was almost tempted to get some money for groceries tonight.
It has been two days since we ate anything,’ Hoseok thought to himself before shaking his head. Jin was going to get a little pocket change for the odd job tonight anyways.
Hoseok focused his attention on the little jewelry box sitting on the fireplace. Looking around once more to make sure that he was alone, he approached it and took it off of the mantle. Opening the case, he was surprised to find so much expensive looking jewelry sitting out in the open like that.
He skimmed over the bigger pieces since those would be easy to miss, and focused on a pair of jade earrings. Big enough to get them more money, but small enough to miss. Hoseok slipped them into his jean pocket and started to look for more things to grab.
After fixing the elder woman's sink, Jin made some small talk to give Hoseok enough time to escape. The woman asked him basic questions like, how was his school going, did he want to stay for dinner, etc. Jin gave her a warm smile and politely declined the dinner invitation.
“Mrs.Choi, can you please walk me out? It's getting rather late, and I have to get to school in the morning,” Jin asked her, once he was certain that Hoseok had made his escape.
“Alright,” Choi walked Jin to the door but stopped before she reached the foyer. She started looking around the living room, with a strange look on her face. Jin started to get an uneasy feeling in his stomach. He knew that Hoseok was careful in not leaving any evidence, but even the most experienced thief always slip up. The woman then walked to the couch where her purse was and picked it up.
“I almost forgot to pay you for your help, Jin.” Choi took a few bills out of her wallet and Jin let out a silent breath of relief at her words. The woman then walked back over to where he was standing patiently and handed him the money. Jin quickly put the cash in his pocket.
‘I’ll count it when I regroup with Hoseok,’ he thought to himself. Choi then walked him to her front door and open it for him.
“Thanks again for your help, JIn.” The woman gave him a sweet smile, and it was times like this where Jin felt immensely guilty about the thievery.
“No problem, Ms.Choi,” Jin walked out of the house and down the stairs. Before he disappeared from sight, he turned around and gave Choi a wave goodbye. After making sure that she wouldn’t follow him like she did so many times before, Jin went to his meetup location with Hoseok. The teen was leaning against the wall with a bored expression on his face.
“So how much did we get?,” Hoseok asked as Jin approached him.
“22,000 Won. You ready to go?” The older boy turned around and walked in the direction of their home.
“Wow, 22,000. That could be used to buy a few groceries,” Hoseok said as he followed behind Jin.
Their house wasn’t really something you would be comfortable living in. It was an abandoned property near the Han River. After Jin had met Hoseok, a runaway at the time, on the streets of Seoul he took him under his wing. The pair became closer than blood and had stuck together ever since. However, this lovely friendship came with a price, and since no one would give two street rats a chance at making a good living, they had turned to petty theft.
Once they arrived, Jin and Hoseok looked around to make sure that no one had followed them and walked down the steps. After looking around once more for good measures, the pair entered their home. Even though it wasn’t ideal, both of them had done best to make it liveable. Hoseok knew a few “electricians” who had installed working lights, water, and heat in their home. They got furniture from both yard sales and the dumpster.
Although humble, the home was quite spacious. There were seven bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, and a spacious kitchen that took up most of the space. Even though Jin and Hoseok occupied the home by themselves, they limited themselves to the first two bedrooms, the living room, and the kitchen. Jin assumed that it was left over from a darker time in Korea's history, merely forgotten about as the occupying military went home and the gangs left the area.
The best part of this house was its location. This section of the Han River was just remnants of a long abandoned Shantytown. The alleyway was very dimly lit and was far enough from the tourist section and from the infamous 'Bridge of Life' that it went unnoticed. One would have to be looking for this place; you wouldn't be able to stumble upon it.
After closing the makeshift door behind them and locking it, Jin took off his jacket and threw it on the couch. It was a routine that they usually do after the finished going to one of the ladies homes. They would shower, change their clothes, and go shopping with the money that Jin had gotten from his odd jobs. Usually, they would wait a week or two before cashing in the stolen goods.
“I’m going to take the first shower, hyung,” Hoseok told him grabbing a towel from the linen closet.
“Alright, don’t use all of the hot water like last time. It’s quite annoying to have to wait an hour for it to heat back up.”
“Okay.”
Jin glanced up just in time to see the teen shrugging his shirt off. He noticed that the lotus tattoo on the boy’s back looked like it was growing more petals. When he had first met him, Hoseok only had one petal on him, but for some reason, after three years he had gained another. Jin, himself, had a similar tattoo on his chest.
Laying back on the couch, he decided to take a nap to prepare himself for the tiring shopping trip ahead. Seokjin found himself becoming increasingly tired of the same routine over and over. It was like something or someone was telling him that this path was the wrong one to follow.
‘Maybe I’m sleepier than I thought,’ he thought to himself as his eyes grew heavier. He closed them and drifted off to dreamland.
The next day….
Min Yoongi made his way to the bathroom to get ready for another dreadful day of school. He peered into the mirror only to find his dead-eyed reflection staring back. His eyes once held so much passion. After the death of the only family member that he actually gave a damn about, Yoongi had questioned what was the point of living if you’re just tired all the time.
Sighing deeply, he went to get dressed, making sure to put on a long-sleeved shirt so no one would see the scars on his left arm. He made a face at the tattoo on his right arm. Yoongi had no idea how it came to be on his arm, or why the flower looks like it’s alive, but with everything else raging in his mind, he really couldn’t find the energy to care. Pushing the thoughts to the back of his mind, he grabbed his bag by the door and headed out.
Once he got near the campus, he made a face at the person waiting for him to arrive. He had no idea why Kim Namjoon insisted on being his friend or be around him. To the outsiders, it would seem quite comical for the “popular” composing student to hang out with the school brainiac all the time. Not that either of them gave a fuck about the status quo of this college or anything.
“Hey Hyung, you’re early today,” Namjoon called out to him when he spotted him approaching.
“Joon, why are you so loud this early in the morning?,” Yoongi said, stopping in front of him.
Instead of answering his question, Namjoon handed him his much-needed caffeine for the day. He was quite used to Yoongi’s early morning grouchiness, which was usually gone around the third or fourth class. The elder just wasn’t a morning person. He smirked as Yoongi quickly took the drink from his hand and started drinking it like it was water.
“So, Yoongi, remember how you were complaining about the marking on your wrist bothering you and how it looked like it was growing?”
The pink-haired man looked up from his drink at the younger man, who was looking excited like he just saw his favorite Line character, “Yeah, what about it?”
“Well, after conducting some research, I found out that it’s a reincarnation marking.”
Yoongi raised a brow at that, confused at whatever the hell Namjoon was going on about, “Reincarnation marking? What the hell is that?”
Namjoon took out his phone and showed Yoongi an example. He continued with how the markings had different meanings and added that if certain people have the same mark, even if it’s in a different spot, they’re soulmates. Yoongi nodded his head, still confused, but he couldn’t bring himself to stop Namjoon while he was in the midst of talking. He would never admit it, but he had grown a soft spot for the brainiac.
“So, you’re trying to say that I have a soulmate out there somewhere and that’s why I have this on my wrist?,” He asked once Namjoon stopped talking.
“That, and I’m also saying that you were right in the fact that it seemed like it was growing. Since I have a similar one on my back, I decided to research it and it all made sense.”
“How?” Yoongi found himself becoming interested, for the first time in a couple of months.
“Well, before I met you last month, I had only one petal on my back and now I have two.”
“It could all be a coincidence, Namjoon, after all, we’re not the only ones with tattoos.” Yoongi finished his coffee and tossed it into the bin beside them.
“I thought so too, but then I came across that old urban legend. You know the one about the seven brothers?”
“I heard about it, but just bits and pieces. Something about they all died in freak accidents?”
Namjoon nodded his head and went on to tell Yoongi about what he found. Apparently, the eldest brother felt like he failed his brothers in raising them right, after an incident with the second youngest. The flower was a sacred vow from the eldest to reunite with them again in another life so he won’t fail them again.
“Legend has it that RJ’s brothers are out there somewhere, and whoever has that flower on them are direct reincarnates of his brothers. What you think, hyung?”
“I think that you need to stop hanging around your godfather, Joon.”
Ignoring the pouty look from his friend(or whatever he was), Yoongi looked at his watch and saw that he was late getting to his first class. Eh, the teacher never cared about him enough to check on whether or not he was on time. Hell, he’s pretty sure that no one, aside from Namjoon, would even notice if he was gone for the day.
“My godfather is a great storyteller, thank you very much, and it makes almost perfect sense.”
“Right, you and I are soulmates due to the fact that we have the same markings as some old legend and his dead brothers. C’mon, Namjoon, seriously?”
“Must you be so skeptical about everything, hyung?” Namjoon shook his head at the elder, not once taking offense at his friend's skepticism. Yoongi was the type to live in “reality” and a see it to believe it type of guy.
“Being skeptic has kept me alive for 21 years now.” Without waiting for a response from Namjoon, Yoongi quickly said goodbye and started to walk to his first class. He didn't want to see that pitiful look on his friend’s face or hear that somber tone asking if he was okay.
The violet-haired man watched as the elder disappeared from his view. He shook his head at his friend’s sudden departure. This was typical of Yoongi to do whenever when he didn’t feel like seeing someone’s reaction. Namjoon worried about the elder a lot. It seemed like the male didn’t have much life behind those deep brown orbs.
If you were to look at Min Yoongi, you would think he had everything going for himself. A full ride scholarship to this school, living in a rather nice neighborhood, good grades, etc. However, there was another side to his friend that the students rarely see. A dark side that Yoongi tries so hard to keep hidden because he refused to be “pitied”. Only Namjoon himself had seen some glimpses of this darker Yoongi and it worried him that his friend might try to do something to himself one day.
Deciding that he’s not going to follow the shorter man and give him the space that he needs, Namjoon headed towards his secret location. After climbing up the stairs and opening the door, he sat down on one of the many deck chairs located there. The rooftop was probably his favorite spot on the entire campus. It had a view of the skyline and you could see the many different areas of the city. He usually comes up here when his mind was heavy or to get away from it all.
Namjoon was stressed out of his mind and it’s only getting worse. Being the student body president was not all it's cracked up to be. It was rather stressful and not something that he didn’t even want to do in the first place, but he’s afraid what would happen if he told his parents that he didn’t want to this anymore. His mother and father only cared when it came to his good grades or the teachers praising him for being so gifted in the neuroscience field. It only got worse after he was skipped from a freshman to a junior in a little over a month.
As the cool breeze tickled against his face, Namjoon looked out to the skyline, more confused than ever. Even though he wasn’t happy at all with what he took up to study in school, he didn’t want his parents to treat him as a failure. Hell, he wanted to take up sociology but was talked out of it. He would never forget the disgusted look on his father’s face when he suggested the major.
‘When the time is right, Namjoon, then you’ll be able to assert yourself about what you want to do,’ His godfather’s words echoed in his head. However, Namjoon highly doubted that it would happen anytime soon.
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