-

"Jinnie!" Jungkook called, sitting in the middle of the kitchen, his legs spread and a puddle of paint in between them.

"Just a second, baby." Seokjin said, somewhat harried as he quickly turned off a burner when the pot of water started bubbling over.

He had taken too long to switch the laundry over, something he had told Yoongi to do yesterday, and now the meat was burning.

"Jinnie!" Jungkook called again, patting his palms into the paint. "Spilled!"

"It's okay, Goo. Jinnie will clean it up." Seokjin sighed, tending to the food. "Just don't get it on your clo-"

He turned around and cut himself off when he saw Jungkook was patting himself, leaving messy yellow fingerprints on his baby blue overalls.

"High fives!" Jungkook giggled.

Seokjin turned off all the burners, giving up on dinner for now. He stepped over the puddle and picked up his baby brother, carrying Jungkook on his hip as he headed to the bathroom.

"Where's Yoongi?" Seokjin muttered, carefully peeling off Jungkooks clothes and setting them on a towel so the paint wouldn't get everywhere.

It was almost five, Yoongi should have been home from classes over an hour ago. He had texted his brother but Yoongi hadn't replied and Seokjin was annoyed.

Jungkook giggled as Seokjin put him in the bath, turning on the warm water for him.

"Jinnie!" Jungkook called, splashing in the water. "Guks can have bubbles?"

"Of course, baby." Seokjin dutifully bent under the counter and pulled out the bottle of bubble bath. He dumped a cup into the water, and soon pink bubbles foamed in the tub.

"Where Gi?" Jungkook asked, popping the bubbles.

"That's a good question." Seokjin muttered.

He sent another text to Yoongi, asking where the middle child was.

"Yah!" Jungkook suddenly splashed a bunch of water over the edge and Seokjins attention was grabbed away from his phone and turned back to his brother.

-

Yoongi sighed, pocketing his phone.

"I think thats all we can do today." Namjoon said, stretching beside him.

Yoongi nodded, tired himself.

They had almost finished the project, just needed to type up a report and fix some minor things. It was a solid A for sure.

Yoongi was so relieved he had lucked out and gotten paired with Namjoon for this.

After arguing with Seokjin, Yoongi didn't want to go home, but he couldn't just claim Namjoon's couch as his bed for the night either.

"Hungry?" Namjoon checked the time. "It's after six."

"A little." Yoongi admitted.

"The cafeteria is closed by now," Namjoon thought. "We could order something."

"That costs too much." Yoongi shook his head. "I could make something here for us, if you don't mind me using your kitchen."

Namjoon snorted. "I never use the kitchen, so go ahead."

Yoongi stood up and headed over. It was small, just a fridge, two burner stove, slim pantry, microwave, sink and a small counter.

He checked the fridge and found it mostly empty, just some condiments and not so fresh vegetables. There was a small package of sealed meat that Yoongi grabbed, deciding it was the only thing he could use.

Closing that, he opened the pantry and found some rice.

He gathered the utensils needed and hummed to himself as he started boiling the rice.

"Who doesn't have a rice cooker?" Yoongi muttered to himself, checking the cabinets but finding them empty.

Namjoon really never used this kitchen.

Speaking of him, the tall student walked in then, leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed as he watched Yoongi cook.

"Sorry I don't have much of anything. I usually order out." Namjoon said.

"It's fine." Yoongi said, pulling out the chopping board. "I can make do with this. Do you have soy sauce?"

Namjoon went to check the fridge while Yoongi scanned the drawers, finding spoons, forks and chopsticks.

"Where are you knives?" Yoongi asked, shutting the drawer.

"In the dishwasher." Namjoon handed him the soy sauce.

"Thanks." Yoongi made do with what he had and twenty minutes later they were back in Namjoons room, eating and watching a show on his TV.

"Where do you live?" Namjoon asked conversationally as he took a bite, looking up at the TV.

"About forty minutes away. I take the bus." Yoongi replied, intently watching the show as well.

"Any siblings?"

"An older and younger brother. You?"

"Nah, only child."

"Lucky."

They drifted back into silence, watching the show about soul mates.

Namjoon snorted, setting his bowl aside. "Stupid."

"What is?" Yoongi asked.

Namjoon nodded at the TV. "That. The idea of soul mates."

Yoongi shrugged. "It's true. Everyone knows if you're born with a symbol on your wrist that you have a soul mate out there."

"Yeah and even then you still might not find them." Namjoon muttered, checking his blank wrists.

Yoongi looked down at his pale, empty wrists as well.

It was a very rare occurrence. Only about one in five hundred million people were born with a mark on their wrist. It was a symbol, and it meant you had a soul mate out there, who was your other half. Normally you got your mark when you were around five years old, but some people were late bloomers and didn't get a mark until years later. One lady didn't get hers until she was eighty.

There were websites and TV shows dedicated to helping these lucky people find their other half, and they were some of the most popular movie ideas, especially during Christmas.

"My parents were soulmates." Yoongi said.

Namjoon looked at him. "Were?"

"They're dead."

"How?"

"Car accident."

"Damn, sorry."

Yoongi shrugged. "At least they were happy together before it all ended."

Namjoon turned off the movie. "It's getting late, are you staying over?"

Yoongi was surprised. "I'm invited?"

Namjoon shrugged. "I don't care."

Yoongi didn't want to face Seokjin yet, so he nodded. "Sure. I'll crash your couch."

He sent a text to tell his brother he would be staying the night at a friends, and Namjoon set up the couch for him.

"Goodnight. If you need anything, just take it. I gotta be up early for classes so don't be loud." Namjoon yawned, heading to his bed.

Yoongi powered his phone off and crawled under the blanket, thinking about soulmates.