Chapter Text
Thomas is not an asshole.
He just wants to make that point known, because that's how he's categorized by a lot of people, but really, he's not an asshole. People tend to think he is because he acts like he's the king of the world, but that's not the case; he acts as if he is superior to others because he is superior to others. It's not a question of inflated ego, it's not that Thomas knows his worth or anything like that; it's just that he is the strongest man in the world and yes, he is on top of the world.
“Do you want my opinion on that subject?” Laura asks.
“Is your opinion in opposition to what I think?” He asks in turn, and Laura nods. “In that case no, it’ll be fine.”
In short, Thomas is not an asshole.
He's a proud person, it's true, and he has his own little quirks that he won't go back on, and yes, his services are expensive, but at the same time, he risks his life in each dungeon. Well, maybe not in every dungeon, because he's too strong to be threatened by shit, but yes, when his prices are high, the danger is high too. And okay, maybe he doesn't like it when people disrespect him, but no one likes to be disrespected.
So no, Thomas is not an asshole.
“That’s not what this journalist said Sir.” Laura responds, and he really needs to stop thinking out loud.
“That’s what she implied!”, He exclaims, breaking the glass of wine between his fingers.
Thomas snaps his fingers, and one of his men cleans up the broken glass on the floor, while another pours him a second drink. The interview took place three hours earlier, and Thomas is still angry. Since he succeeded to take his place on top of the world, the ones who dared insulting him right in his face became much less numerous- the fact that this bitch dared to imply that Thomas could be an asshole annoys him to death.
Yes, he has a lot of tattoos, and no, he never got his soulmate's agreement to get their linked tattoos, but that's not his fault. If his soulmate wanted to complain about his tattoos, they just had to come forward a long time ago. Thomas is not an asshole for imposing tattoos on his soulmate, it is his soulmate who is an asshole for not having contacted him before.
…
Jin-Woo's soulmate is an asshole.
He's known it since he was a child, because even though his parents never said it like that, they didn't hide their contempt either. Jin-Woo was born with tattoos on his body, with a lot of tattoos on his body – they're not even particularly aesthetic or meaningful; they're just big, and black, with strange geometric shapes. He was born with tattoos, and he got more and more over the years.
“Inflicting an unwanted body modification on your soulmate is an act of cowardice,” a professor once told them. “To recognize the person made for you, prefer temporary tattoos in non-visible areas and use the Internet to find each other.”
The few classmates who know about Jin-Woo's tattoos give him an apologetic look, and he just grunts.
As time passes, Jin-Woo gets more tattoos that he has to hide so as not to ruin his chances of having an acceptable social life. He constantly wears long-sleeved t-shirts, pants, and socks that ride up to his ankles, and he even ends up adding gloves because his soulmate is the kind of asshole who gets tattoos on his hands and fingers.
So yeah, Jin-Woo's soulmate is an asshole.
He knows it, his family knows it, everyone knows it –he already knew, even at barely ten years old, that he absolutely did not want to meet his soul mate. And no one can blame him for not wanting to meet him – who would want to meet someone who forces you to live with huge dark shapes on your body for a lifetime, unless you have enough money to have them lasered off – which Jin-Woo doesn't have. In short, he does not intend to respond to his soul mate, does not intend to get the slightest tattoo, temporary or not, and no piercing either. There is no need for him to find his soulmate to be happy in this world.
…
And then, it’s his soulmate’s fault. Everyone knows who Thomas is.
Even before he became a hunter, before he became the greatest hunter in the world, his reputation was already not limited to the borders of the United States of America. Already quite well known in his city and in his country, because he grew up in a gang, he was also a famous wrestler around the world. He's made the biggest wrestling matches possible, with the best entrances, the best storylines and he's even appeared in a few movies.
Of course, as he became the world's greatest hunter, his reputation became much greater and more impressive. He is Thomas André, the strongest hunter in the world, the strongest tank in the Universe, the one who defeated Kamish the Calamity, the master of the Scavenger guild – the whole world trembles at hearing his name, the whole world kneels before his presence.
And he makes sure to always appear with as little clothing as possible, so that everyone can see his body, so that everyone can see the tattoos he has. He makes the front page of magazines, makes sure to give an interview as soon as he gets a new tattoo so that his soulmate can hear about it, and confirm their connection.
No, really, his soulmate cannot not know that Thomas is made for him.
…
And it's impossible for Jin-Woo to know who his soulmate is!
Because the asshole who serves as his soulmate isn't even remotely original, preferring, like several thousand people, to copy the tattoos of Thomas André, an American wrestler who is almost fifteen years older than Jin Woo. Oh, it's not uncommon for celebrity tattoos to be copied, with various strangers wanting to pretend to be their soulmates, but Thomas André's tattoos are particularly copied all over the world and they are particularly ugly!
And seriously, even if Jin-Woo's soulmate decided to plagiarize a celebrity's tattoos, he could have chosen something other than a wrestler. Jin-Woo has nothing against wrestlers, really, but he thinks there are more inspiring people in the world – Nobel Peace Prize winners, medical researchers, astronauts or human rights activists for example.
The worst part of all this is that his soulmate must not be just any Thomas André fan, he must be a die-hard fan – because the tattoos are copied almost immediately. Truly, Jin-Woo doesn't judge others on their passions or interests, but he thinks that such a big obsession with a human being is not something healthy.
Oh, things get worse when Thomas André becomes one of the hunters who manages to beat Kamish. More and more people decide to copy his tattoos, because they all lack originality, and Jin-Woo thinks of all the people like him who are suffering because some American asshole decided that exposing his tattoos to the world was a good idea. Jin-Woo doesn't know what Thomas André's soulmate is doing, but it's about time this person hurry up and explain to him that it's unhealthy to get so many tattoos.
Unless Thomas André's soulmate is an even bigger asshole.
Possible.
…
Thomas is almost forty when he decides he's tired of waiting for his soulmate to reveal themselves. He decides he's had enough of waiting for a pipe dream, a person who will never come. He decides that the happiness he was promised as a child is just a lie. The person is probably dead, and Thomas doesn't care about adding tattoos to a corpse so he lets it go.
He adds tattoos on his body every day, to the point where his arms, hands, legs and ankles are completely covered. He doesn't even care what meaning he puts behind the tattoos, he just wants the ink to cover his body until his skin is no longer visible. He wants so much ink on his body that his soulmate's bones are tattooed in their coffin.
(Laura says that it's a way for him to fight against grief, he doesn't know anything about it so he accepts the explanation. It still makes him a little sad, even if he won't tell her).
…
“Why don’t you avenge yourself, then?”, Jin-Ah suggests one day, when Jin-Woo finds himself for the umpteenth time with a new tattoo.
Jin-Woo can't take it anymore. He wants to go murder everyone with the same tattoos as Thomas André just to make sure he never has to wake up with more ink on his body. He can no longer go out without covering his entire body because tattoos are so frowned upon in Korea that he could lose all social life and any chance of having a better job in the future.
"And how I'm supposed to get revenge.", He asks, finishing the dishes.
Jin-Ah helps him by wiping down all the dishes he gives him and putting them away in the cupboards. She finishes her task, leans on the counter and looks him over from head to toe. She looks at the few traces of ink visible on his skin, protruding from his clothes. She doesn't agree with him hiding the tattoos like that, saying he shouldn't ruin his life because of his soulmates' choices but even hunters can lose their jobs because of their tattoos if they depend on the Association, like Jin-Woo does.
“You already wear clothes to hide those horrible tattoos, so what difference does it make if you hide a little more?”, She explains.
“I'm not sure I'm following.” Jin-Woo replies, with a small smile.
They move into the living room, sit on the couch and turn on the television, just to have some background noise, but Jin-Woo can already see the way his little sister ruminates to prepare her speech, to organize her thoughts. When she is older, she will be an excellent speaker, because she knows how to formulate her ideas to convince crowds.
“Your soulmate is most definitely an American, because who other than an American could be a fan of Thomas André? And to love so much a wrestler and a hunter who represents everything Thomas André represents, I doubt they’re a good person.”
He's pretty sure that judging a person by their interests isn't a good thing, but Jin-Woo isn't going to pretend that he thinks his soulmate is a good person. Imposing so many tattoos on your soulmate is far from what a nice person would do. Jin-Woo holds back a chuckle.
“What does Thomas André represent? " He asks.
Jin-Ah shifts on the couch, almost getting on her knees to lean toward him, moving her arms. She makes a few faces, as if she doesn't understand how Jin-Woo can ask this kind of question, how he can't understand what she means immediately. She thinks for a few seconds before exclaiming:
“The violence of patriarchy; white privilege; the domination of the rich over the poor; the law of the strongest who crushes the weakest; capitalism ! Jin-Woo, Thomas André represents all the worst in our world, and your soulmate is so fond of him that they copy his tattoos. Which means that your soulmate appreciates the values that Thomas André represents.”
Jin-Woo continues to laugh before nodding.
“I still have trouble keeping up with you.”
“You need to get a tattoo of something your soulmate hates, that’s revenge.”
“And what does my soulmate hate?” Jin-Woo asks, still smiling.
“What could someone who is for white supremacy, patriarchy, class division of society, societal violence and capitalism hate?” Jin-Ah asks, before her smile grows, again, again, again and again until it becomes almost scary.
…
Thomas, when he wakes up, has a unicorn galloping on a rainbow tattooed above his navel.
He thinks for a few seconds, remembers his state the day before, tells himself that he wasn't at all drunk enough not to remember getting a tattoo. He quickly looks in a mirror, running a hand over his stomach. The unicorn is white, with a pink horn that is the size of its neck. The new design is absolutely not in touch with Thomas' other tattoos, all black and made of geometric symbols. The color contrast is huge and quite horrible.
Thomas loves it.
…
"Seriously?” Jin-Woo asks, and Jin-Ah makes a face.
The unicorn he got tattooed the day before is still there, still dripping with cuteness. The rainbow hasn't changed either, the colors still as bright. No tattoo came to cover the whole thing, no laser went through it. On the contrary, other small details were added, dozens of small stars to surround the drawing, as if the whole thing was already not radiant enough.
"Seriously?” He repeats, staring at his stomach.
What did he do to deserve this? He’s always behaved well, he’s never stood out, he’s always taken care of his family – he deserves better than having a total psycho as a soulmate. The unicorn was supposed to discourage them, not make them go even further into their delusions.
"Seriously?” He said again, almost tearing his hair out.
…
“I have a soulmate!” Thomas shouts, in the hall of his guild, so that all his men can hear him. “I have a soulmate!”
And his men stare at him, surprised, for a few seconds before they stand up to celebrate with him – it's a victory like he's never had, his patience finally rewarded. His efforts finally paid off and his soulmate recognized their bond. It's a fight that started decades earlier that is finally ending, and Thomas can't wait to finally meet the person made for him.
He doesn't want to show this tattoo to anyone; he doesn't want anyone else to see proof of his connection with that person, somewhere in the world. It belongs to him, just him, and no one else. He doesn’t need any of his men, or all the imitators around, to decide to get unicorn tattoos, that would take away some of the importance of this drawing, and Thomas refuses to let that happen.
This unicorn and this rainbow are proof that his soulmate is there, that they are alive, and that they recognize their bond. He won't let anyone take that away from him.
“How do you seduce someone?” He asks, and his men all look at each other.
Thomas never really had to make an effort in this area. All of his lovers, male or female, have always been easy to have. They were interested in something - fame, his company for the evening, money, protection... And Thomas now realizes that his soulmate, who is not by his side, is potentially harder to interest. He must hurry to find them, to bring them to his side, before anyone steals them.
“With good sex!” One of his men responds.
“Are you stupid? They never met.” Another intervenes.
They all look at each other, a little incredulous. Behind them, Thomas hears Laura sigh, certainly in despair. Sometimes, quite rarely, he wonders how she manages to survive surrounded by so many S-rank hunters, because even he is aware of their distance from reality.
“By showing that you are the most powerful?” One suggests.
“Everyone knows that Mr. André is the most powerful!” Three respond at the same time and Thomas cannot hide a satisfied smile.
The other members of his guild nod, all agreeing with the injunction and Laura sighs again, a little louder this time. After all, it's true. Thomas is the strongest of all hunters, strongest of all tanks. No matter where his soulmate is, they can't not have heard of Thomas, and that's such an advantage in their search to find each other.
“Hmm… By sharing common values?” One of the hunter suggests again.
" They do not know each other !” Someone answers. “How can they share common values?”
Laura sighs, much louder this time and several eyes turn towards her. Thomas thinks for a few moments about his values, about the way he can define himself. Strength has always been his watchword, the way he dominated the world and how he still rules it today, but it is not a value as such. He imagines that if he and his soul mate were to discuss values, he could highlight the desire to protect what belongs to him.
“By giving them gifts?"
“How are you so stupid ? They do not know each other.”
“It’s not such a bad idea.” Laura explains. “After all, you share the same body modifications. So there is a fairly easy way to send gifts to your soulmate. »
Thomas raises an eyebrow, immediately interested.
…
Jin-Woo wakes up with thirty-two piercings that weren't there when he went to bed.
He has them on his eyebrows, in his ears, in his nose. He doesn't even look at himself in the mirror too much, preferring to take them out one after the other and place them on his desk. They're extravagant piercings, most of them quite huge, and Jin-Woo winces as he removes them, but feels no pain. Removing them like that will also remove them from his soulmate's body but he doesn't care.
He is about to throw them away when he realizes that the piercings are made with gold.
“Is this theft?” He asks Jin-Ah, after preparing breakfast.
His little sister examines the piercings one by one, notices a few gems and precious stones in many of them, and she delicately places them back on the table. They weighed them quite roughly, and looked on the internet for an estimate of what they could get from them. It's just an estimate, of course, but Jin-Woo is pretty sure their entire apartment is worth less than that.
" No.” She finally answers, “Soulmates have to share everything, so it’s not stealing.”
“You’re right,” Jin-Woo adds, “and then, it was to be expected that I was going to remove them.”
" Of course ! And maybe it's a gift.” Jin-Ah nods, “To make up for all the tattoos.”
“Yes, yes, it would be rude to throw away a gift.”
Jin-Woo and Jin-Ah look at each other, straight in the eye, before bursting out laughing. With this, they won't have to worry about what they can eat for the next few years.
…
And several years pass.
Thomas continues to get tattoos.
Jin-Woo continues to complain.
Thomas continues to send him gold and diamond piercings.
Jin-Woo stops complaining.
…
When Thomas first meets Sung Jin-Woo, he wants to kill him. It's not particularly against the man at first, it's just that you can't touch what belongs to Thomas, and Hwang Dong-Soo, for all his stupidity, belongs to him. It becomes more personal later, when he has to repair his honor. He is Thomas André, the Goliath, his reputation is what he is – he needs to preserve and protect it.
He gets beaten soundly of course, – lying on the ground half-naked, bones in pieces, more blood out than in. Sung Jin-Woo sits on top of him with both legs around his and hits him with his fists until Thomas forfeits.
And normally, this is when the healers intervene. Well, 'normally' is a big word – Thomas never needed the healers to help him. But Sung Jin-Woo doesn't move, stays seated on him, his eyes fixed on his stomach, one hand at his navel.
“Is this...Is this a joke?” And he speaks in Korean, but Thomas lived with Hwang Dong-Soo for almost four years, he knows some expressions.
And Sung Jin-Woo has his gaze fixed on his body, on his stomach, on his navel and more precisely, on the tattoo which is just above it. He runs his fingers along the rainbow, almost delicately. And Thomas is aware that the tattoo stands out among the others, but it does not deserve such disbelief.
“Unicorns are fucking cool.” He says weakly, to defend one of his most cherished possessions, and the tattoo he loves most.
And Sung Jin-Woo looks up at him in disbelief. He blinks several times, a small expression of surprise on his face, before it changes to what can be seen as disgust, which is annoying, and finally turns to anger.
And Thomas gets knocked out by another punch.
…
“Your soulmate is Thomas André?” Jin-Ah asks, biting her lip to try and stop herself from laughing. "Are you sure ?”
He couldn’t be more sure. The little tattoo is far too recognizable, far too personal, too well placed for it to be a coincidence. And it's surprising, to find his soulmate like that, to know that the person made for him is none other than Thomas André, whom he spent months cursing. And that disgusts him a little, because Thomas André represents everything he doesn't like, and he is indirectly responsible for Jin-Ho's aggression. And it is possible that Jin-Woo allowed himself to be overcome by anger, by these years of hatred towards his soulmate for inflicting so many tattoos on him.
“He liked the unicorn.” Jin-Woo sighs.
Jin-Ah, in a complete lack of support, bursts out laughing.
…
“Why are you trying to take Sung Jin-Woo in your bed?” Laura asks him.
And maybe she sees the look Thomas knows he has on the Korean hunter, or maybe she sees it in the way he carries himself, in the way he's desperate to thank him, and see it again. Maybe she just knows him well.
“Have you ever seen someone as powerful as him?” Thomas questions.
And his eyes are fixed on Sung Jin-Woo, across the room. He shot him a look when Thomas entered the room before returning to his conversation with his vice guild master. He hears them of course, everyone can hear them, but he doesn't make any movement to show that he might be interested.
" No.” She responds quickly, before giving him a suspicious look. “You really need to rethink your standards Sir.”
Sung Jin-Woo refuses when Thomas asks him to be spend the night with him.
Well, he doesn't really refuse. It's more that he looks at Thomas in disbelief before turning around and heading in the opposite direction - he hasn't really said no to the idea of spending a night with him, but Thomas still takes it as a refusal.
…
“Why don’t you tell him?” Park Kyung-Hye asks, “You don't have to force yourself into a relationship you don't want, but it would give you answers to questions you've been asking yourself for a long time.”
Jin-Ah kept Jin-Woo's discovery a secret for about half a second. Since then, Park Kyung-Hye has looked at him with a mixture of apprehension and reassurance. She has nothing to say, not really, she hated Jin-Woo's soulmate the moment he was born with tattoos on his skin.
“He’s not a bad person.” Jin-Woo responds. “Not really anyway.”
Someone bad wouldn't give him the daggers that Thomas André gave him. He has nothing to gain, he doesn't know that they are soulmates. And that bothers Jin-Woo, because it doesn’t match the image he’s had of his soulmate all these years. He thought the person made for him was a fan of Thomas André, not the man himself. A few years ago, a few months ago, the very idea was far too incongruous to be real.
"Then why don't you tell him?"
…
When Thomas wakes up, he has a new tattoo along his sternum.
He takes a few seconds to appreciate the pleasure of finally having a new sign of life from his soulmate, running his finger along the already healed drawing. He then admires it for several long minutes in front of the mirror, every detail, every curve, every color – it is a sublime work, done by a talented artist without a doubt. Thomas loves it.
“It’s one of the daggers made from Kamish’s fangs”. Laura notices immediately, when she sees him in front of the mirror.
“A superb choice for a sumptuous tattoo." He answers.
Laura blinks a few times, sighs, rubs her nose, sighs again and clasps both hands before shaking her head. For a few seconds, Thomas watches her think about the best way to phrase her ideas, and she looks exasperated, but he's happy, so he lets it go.
“Mr. André…” Laura finally says, “How many people in this world know what these daggers look like?”
“The guy who created them – but he’s dead; You ; Me ; Sung Jin-Woo… And that’s all I think.”
Laura blinks several times again, and Thomas imitates her, in a silence that grows deeper with each second.
“You… you’re not my soulmate, are you?” Thomas finally asked.
“No sir,” Laura sighs, “I am not your soulmate.”
Oh. At least that explains Sung Jin-Woo's reaction to the unicorn.
And well it gives him a reason to go see him again.