When everyone on Earth was born, they saw the world in black and white. Color was a piece of nature’s beauty that no one could experience until they’d found someone to share it with. A lot of people believed that person was your perfect match. They thought that seeing color was a sign you were meant to be together.

Though he never had any other explanation for it all, Mark hated the idea of waiting to find his soulmate to see color. Sure, finding someone who was suited for you was cool and everything, but it took away an indescribably life-changing sensation for the entire beginning of your life. At least, that’s how color had always been explained to him. Was true love really worth missing out? Mark wasn’t so sure.

And as if growing up without it wasn’t bad enough, all color disappeared again when the other person died. Mark heard his mom go on about how poetic and romantic it all was, but if your soulmate died before you even met them, then you’d always see everything in black and white.

When he was younger and everyone else was in the same boat, all the kids in Mark’s class could bond over the curiosity. What was red? How could one shade of gray actually be so many different things? It was something none of them knew and all wanted to find out. But that friendship switched in the blink of an eye as they got older.

The first time one of Mark’s classmates saw color, he was thirteen. After a long holiday weekend, the boy came back screaming to everyone who would listen about how he saw something strange at the mall, which turned out to be purple. He didn’t even know who his soulmate was or where he’d seen them. A person’s ability to see the full spectrum relied on how close they were with their other half, so he could only see the one color and it was still super dull. But it was more than anyone else in the class. Easy to say, everyone else was at least a little jealous.

By the time his 22 birthday came around, Mark was convinced that his soulmate had either died or never existed in the first place. He’d never heard of not having a soul mate being a thing, but there was a first for everything, right? Almost everyone else his age had at least seen one color and those who hadn’t were the kind of people that gave off the “forever alone” vibe. When he first turned 20, the frustration he felt got so bad that he’d ended up punching too many holes to count through doors and walls.

He’d since calmed down, accepting his black-and-white future. Most nights he aimlessly surfed the internet or drank away his sadness in the solitude of his college dorm room. Talking was not something he did willingly. A dark corner with a bottle of gin was more his style of coping.

How his mom had managed to find out about his not-so-healthy drinking habits, Mark didn’t know. But two weeks before the end of the semester, an envelope with flight tickets and a note appeared in his mailbox.

“You need to get away from your own head, dear. Drinking your life away won’t do anyone any good. I’ve bought you tickets to see your uncle in Taiwan for a few days. I also got you a ticket to Hong Kong. I know how you’ve wanted to go there. It’s only for a day, but I hope you have a good time. Just go enjoy yourself, dear.”

As much as he wanted to be upset with his mother for meddling around in his life, he knew she meant well. Besides, she’d just given him the chance to go experience one of the best nightlife atmospheres in the world. How could he be mad?

The days leading up to the trip were torture. Between finals and the growing excitement of finally getting to go to Hong Kong, Mark felt mentally exhausted. Anticipation and stress didn’t mix well. He even forgot to pack until the night before. Luckily, his entire wardrobe was a mix of black and white pieces with a few gray pieces that he knew were some sort of color he still couldn’t see.

He packed enough clothes for a week plus some, just to be on the safe side, before turning his attention to his backpack. When it came to his carry on, his laptop, phone and headphones were given additions. Aside from that, he threw in a notebook and pen, just in case some lyrics popped into his head on the plane, and the black cloth mask that he wore when he went to visit his family in Taiwan.

That night, he barely slept. Thoughts of all the things he wanted to do bubbled up in his head. Between the food and the sightseeing and the shopping and the nightlife, there was too much. The list suited a week-long trip more than a quick one-day pit stop. Cutting anything seemed impossible. Everything was on the list for a different reason. How could he say one thing was more important that the other?

He wished his mom had just let him stay there for the whole week instead of teasing him for a day before sending him to see family. Nothing against them, but there was nothing exciting about going to see his family for the billionth time. Not in comparison to the new experiences he could have in a different city.

It was fortunate that he could sleep on planes. Staying up all night trying to plan out his day meant he was the closest thing to a passed out drunk while still being able to function. Moving through LAX came easy, though. His pre-flight routine - go to the bathroom, grab snacks and water, settle into a seat close to the gate but not too close and mess around on his phone until it was time to board - felt like second nature thanks to how many times he’d done it in his life.

Most of the 15-hour flight Mark spent asleep. The seats weren’t exactly comfortable and he had to curl into an awkward position just to make sure he didn’t fall over onto the older woman next to him, but he somehow managed to doze off. He only had to sit through two movies, both of which he wanted to watch anyway, before the captain announced their arrival. By the time they touched down, Mark felt rested, refreshed and only a tad bit sore. He did his best to stretch out in the aisle as he waited in line to get off the plane, but he couldn’t do much besides roll his neck a few times. He raked his hand through his shaggy locks a few times before pulling his beanie back on his head. He almost forgot about the mask in his backpack, putting it on just before the people in front of him started shuffling forward.

For a major international hub, the Hong Kong airport was surprisingly quiet. Business people in perfectly tailored suits rushed around, attache cases and rolling bags in tow. A few families milled around here and there. Other than that, though, there was hardly anyone around. That was, until he turned a corner just before the customs area. Suddenly, he was in the middle of a huge rush of people. Some of them ran around with expensive cameras while others screamed, holding their phones up to record whoever it was that the mob was surrounding.

One of the photographers rushed past Mark, accidentally elbowing him out of the way as she passed. It wasn’t so hard that it hurt, but it knocked him off balance. He stumbled backward, tripping over his own feet, and crashed into someone.

“Oohf!” they huffed. It was a deep, powerful voice that made Mark afraid to look behind him. He could just imagine some huge, important-looking executive staring down at him, screaming about how he’d somehow messed everything up. Mark dreaded facing the man, but the politeness forced into him since birth made him turn around.

“I’m so sor-” he started, eyes moving up to look at the other person’s face. Mark felt his heart stop as his eyes locked with the other person’s. Instead of the angry middle-aged man he’d been expecting, Mark was face-to-face with one of the most handsome men he’d ever seen. The man’s huge, apologetic eyes watched Mark, silently wondering if he was okay. Mark didn’t even notice when the man’s entire face suddenly shifted into a look of pure excitement. He didn’t even notice that he could suddenly see the chocolate brown color of the man’s eyes or the platinum gold of his hair.

Mark didn’t need to see anything to know that they were meant to be together. As soon as he laid eye on the man, he just knew. He was it.