Wheein tried. She really did. Apparently trying her hardest wasn’t enough. Or maybe she just couldn’t take it anymore.

One of them at least deserves to know , she insists to herself. And that is when she makes, what she believes to be, the biggest decision in her life. She knows the risk she’s taking is dangerous, especially if Hwasa ever finds out what she is about to do, but she honestly can’t help it. Wheein is the type to fall hopelessly in love with fairytales and finding the perfect person that is destined for her, and she’ll be damned if she doesn’t help out when she knows that two of her closest friends are meant to be together.

She contemplates on telling Moonbyul first. She is closer to her, after all. They’ve been friends since high school, (which can’t compare to her friendship with Hwasa, but still). It was in Wheein’s better interest to let Byul know the truth, even though she didn’t know how the older would react to it. That was until an image of Hwasa popped up in her mind, reminding her of why she reprimanded her from letting Byul know in the first place. She has no time for relationships , she had prompted, she’s too busy with focusing her life on school, it just wouldn’t be ideal in her situation.

After mulling it over a bit longer, Wheein decides she’d settle for the other. She grabs her cell phone from the edge of the counter where it had been resting, then types a quick message. After she hits send she places her phone back where it had been and rests her face into the palm of her hand. A soft, delighted smile graces her lips as she waits patiently for a reply.

Jung Wheepup (11:26 am)

unnie, are u busy today?? can we grab something to eat, i wanna see u!!

Yeba Unnie (11:30 am)

yes i’m free today… is something wrong? are u okay???

Jung Wheepup (11:31 am)

no!!!! nothings wrong, just wanted to meet up ;)

Jung Wheepup (11:31 am)

meet me at the usual cafe around 12:15?? :3

Yeba Unnie (11:36 am)

okay!! i’ll see u in a bit! ~

-----

Solar wanted to admit, it was random for Wheein to be messaging her out of the blue. Usually, if anything, it was both Hyejin and Wheein who would text her to hang out, and that would be in the group chat. Getting a single text from Wheein was questionable -- not unwanted -- but she didn’t want to think too much of it. Maybe the younger simply just wanted to hang out. Maybe Hwasa was busy and couldn’t accompany her. Who knows. Yongsun decided not to dwell on the thought any longer, and patiently waited for Wheein’s arrival at the cafe.

It was warm in here. Not an unpleasant kind of warm, (considering the weather outside was pretty sunny as it was transitioning to Spring from Winter) but more like a toasty sort of warm, the way a cafe should be. The aroma of coffee and sweet pastries fills the atmosphere and envelops Yongsun in a pleasant embrace.

She honestly doesn’t need to keep her thin sweater on, so she takes it off, revealing the stupid blocky letters on her forearm. She had tried to wash it off again last night, which helped remove some of the damage, but it was still there, just a bit more faded than before. She sighs, then resolves the issue by crossing her arms. She’ll have to remind herself to put her sweater back on when she gets to campus -- she hated the stares and laughter her peers sent her way when they saw her arm.

It’s 12:20 pm when Wheein finally arrives. She has her backpack slung over her shoulder and a textbook cradled snuggly in her arm when she maneuvers through the cafe to get to Yongsun. She must be headed to class right after this too, Solar assumes. The girl plops down in the seat in front of Yongsun, setting her items down inadequately beside her, then faces Solar with a beaming grin. She fixes her fly away hairs that must’ve got messed up on the way here by tucking them behind her ears, then speaks.

“Sorry I’m a bit late! I know we said 12:15.” She pouts apologetically. “Did ya miss me, Unnie?”

Solar chuckles, and brings her pointer finger up towards Wheein’s dimple, finger disappearing into her cheek as soon as she pokes it. “Of course Wheein-ie, even though I just saw you two days ago at the karaoke place.”

“It’s okay, I know it’s hard to not miss me,” Wheein’s eyes crinkles with mischief, but her mood changes a moment later and next thing Solar knows the girl is cupping her hands with her own. “I actually wanted you here because I have something I need to tell you.”

Solar’s brows furrow in question at the statement, but she immediately regains her composure. She was curious, confused. Anxious, maybe. She can’t pinpoint her exact emotions, she just knows that the longer she stares at Wheein, who is now focusing really hard on their hands and not on Solar’s face anymore, the more it looks like the girl is struggling to say what’s on her mind.

Yongsun squeezes her hand reassuringly, which gets Wheein’s head to rise, brown eyes finding hers carefully.

“Hey, what is it?” Yongsun presses gently, comfortingly, like a mother would to her child. She studies the girl’s expression, not knowing what to expect. Then Wheein gulps, and looks around cautiously, for what reason, Solar can’t guess.

“Yongsun Unnie… You remember how Hwasa and I made you write on your arm the other day?” She says in a low whisper. Why was she whispering?

But yes, how can Solar forget. It’s literally still there on her arm taunting her of the poor choices she made in life. Solar smiles curtly.

“Of course,” She has no idea where this is going, so she decides to just go with the flow. “What about it?”

“Well… You see, my friend.. My good friend, she’s one of my really really good friends, she ah, well she um...”

Solar is a patient person. She really is. But right now, with the way Wheein is acting so suspicious, it causes her to be anxious, and she wants the girl to spit it out already. What about the writing on her arm is so important? And what did it have to do with her friend?

“Wheein.” She hums with the last bit of patience she has left, “What about your friend?”

Wheein shakes her head and speaks in a voice only loud enough for herself to hear, ‘ why was this easier in my head?’ is what Solar presumed to make out from the way her lips moved. She takes a deep breath, and looks Solar square in the eye.

“Not to jump to conclusions, ‘cause I know I’m right, but my friend uh, she’s your soulmate.”

Out of all things she could’ve predicted Wheein to say, this certainly didn’t cross her mind.

Solar shakes her head in disbelief. “What do you mean?? Wheein, how and why would you even come to that assumption?”

Wheein leans over the table to get closer to Yongsun, and releases their hands only to grab the girl’s arm that has writing on it instead. “It’s not an assumption, and because! This!!!” She shakes Yongsun’s arm violently, but not in a way that would cause any pain. “She has this exact same thing written on her forearm, in your writing! I swear!” Wheein is on a roll, it’s easy to see how excited talking about this makes her. “She showed us the other day, accused us actually, and as soon as me and Hwasa saw it, we knew. We even compared it to the picture we took of you as proof of the dare from that night. It’s literally identical.”

Solar slumps back in her chair, baffled. She’s at a loss for words. What is she supposed to say? To feel? This wasn’t necessarily the ideal way she imagined finding out about her soulmate. She thought it would be more romantic, if she had to be honest. She hated to admit she was kind of bummed, but maybe that’s because she couldn’t put a name or face to the words Wheein had just told her. So she asked.

“So, who exactly is my soulmate?” Saying the word out loud seems unreal. Don’t get her wrong, she’s said the word before, but this time it applied to herself. She had a soulmate now, according to Wheein, and it was still somehow not fully clicking in her mind.

“Her name’s Moon Byulyi. I live in an apartment with her near campus.” The girl in front of her admits in a low voice. “Well, both me and Hwasa do. We share it. She’s been our friend since high school.”

The name doesn’t ring a bell. “Do you have a picture of her?”

Wheein’s eyes light up at the mention of that and she reaches into her jean’s pocket for her cell phone. She fishes it out and taps into her phone, giggling. “Hold on, let me find a good pic. All the one she sends me are derpy.”

Yongsun swallows, awaiting patiently and curiously. She kind of hates herself for hoping that her soulmate is at least cute or decent looking. She shouldn’t be picky, she should be grateful for being blessed with a soulmate, especially one so close by. Others in the world had it harder; some soulmates existed on the other side of the globe, making it nearly impossible for others to find them, that in the end they’d have to settle for someone they weren’t actually destined for. Some people just weren’t bound to have a soulmate to begin with; the writing on their skin never never finding it’s match with anyone else’s. Solar deemed herself lucky.

“Ah! Here we go,” Wheein triumphs, sliding her phone across the table towards the girl lost in thought. “Sorry, it’s a little blurry. You can swipe to see a couple more.”

Solar gingerly picks up the phone and stares at the photo. She swipes to see the others. Her breath hitches, and a gasp escapes from her lips.

Moon Byulyi. The girl’s cheesy smile stood out the most, next to the nose wrinkles. She has bangs that rest on the sides of her forehead, and is absolutely 100% cute, no doubt. In the picture she was wearing ripped skinny jeans, a white t-shirt, and a blue flannel. She looked beautiful in the night light.

“Did you take these pictures?”

“Yep! The three of us went out the other night and after dinner we walked around the city for a bit, which was a really rare occasion considering Byul doesn’t like to get out of her room.”

Solar wants to say tfti , but finds herself speaking from her mind instead. “Can you introduce me to her?”

She hears Wheein sob across from her, then looks up to see the younger clench at her heart. “You don’t know how badly I want to, Unnie, but that’s unfortunately the problem.”

Yongsun tilts her head to the side, brows connecting to the center of her forehead once more as she slides the phone back towards the other. “Why… not?”

Wheein frowns, “To be honest, I wasn’t supposed to tell you. If Hwasa finds out, she’s going to kill me. Like seriously, K I L L me. She was so adamant in telling me to keep my mouth shut, but agh-” she slams her palms on the table, which startles Yongsun a bit, “I just couldn’t. I figured I should at least tell one of you, and seeing how you reacted I’m glad I did!”

“So… only I know?”

Wheein nods, “You, me and Hwasa.”

“...But not Moon Byulyi?”

“Definitely not Moonbyul.”

Solar doesn’t notice the frown that makes its way onto her face. “I’m still a bit lost, how come Moonbyul isn’t allowed to know but I am?”

Wheein had stood up in the midst of Solar’s question, as she searched through her backpack for her wallet. Taking it out, she admits, “Our Byulyi… She studies and works hard a lot. She’s too focused on finishing assignments and doing well in school that she doesn’t think of relationships much. According to Hyejin-ie, they’re not ‘ ideal’ .”

Solar finds that stupid, in her opinion. Well, not stupid , but maybe just somewhat absurd --  Like who uses that as an excuse to not find your soulmate ? Honestly, Yongsun thinks that’s just an excuse people because they don’t want to get out of their box. She feels like that’s what Moonbyul is doing, although she can’t say for sure. She doesn’t know the girl at all. Maybe she really is like that, and doesn’t care for relationships while concentrating on school. Which is kind of sad, really. But school isn’t an excuse to say you can’t be with someone. Solar knows herself to be quite the hard worker when it comes to classes and assignments, but if she wanted and sought after a relationship, she knows she can balance the two.

“So what now?”

“Now,” Wheein stretches and finds Solar’s hand across the table once again. She gives it a pleading squeeze. “We don’t say a word about this to Hwasa or Moonbyul. Promise me.” The girl looks at Solar with pleading eyes, a pinky outstretched. It took all in Yongsun to not turn down the sad pup, and in the end she unwillingly hooks her pinky around the other’s. “I’m not ready to die yet. Hwasa may be my best friend, but damn is she merciless.”

She releases her hand then and turns around to look towards the front of the cafe. She motions with her thumb towards that general area. “I’m going to order something, want anything?”

Wheein couldn’t have known, but Yongsun’s appetite dropped during the last bit of their talk. She couldn’t deny that she was slightly dismayed at the fact that she had to keep this new information hidden. Even if she wasn’t allowed to get with her soulmate, or let her know that they were soulmates in general, she still wanted to meet her and possibly (hopefully) become friends.

Yongsun shakes her head with a sad smile on her face. “I actually have to get back to campus now, I have class in 20 minutes.” She notices Wheein’s hyper mood dampen.

“Oh, okay.. Well, it was nice seeing you, Unnie.” She wraps her arms around the older. “We should meet up again sometime.”

Solar liked the idea of that, but wished she meant that included Moonbyul. She would’ve liked it even more. Unfortunately, Solar knows, she had only meant the three of them -- Her, Wheein and Hyejin.

“Yeah,” She smiles, despite her wistful thinking. She grabs her book bag and sweater from the chair and waves one last time to Wheein before walking out.

When she steps outside the cafe she felt the warmness of the sun touch her skin. It tingles in a pleasant way. Her eyes travel down to her forearm where the writing remained. She runs her fingers across it, smoothly, gently. It’s then in that moment that she feels a tightening in her chest. A sort of tug. It isn’t bad, it isn’t unpleasant, it’s just there. Looking at the print once more, she realizes she feels differently about it now, knowing she shares a special connection with someone else. Someone near, yet so far. The thought makes her smile bitterly.

She walks to the parking lot and makes her way to her car with one thing on her mind. She’ll find Moon Byulyi eventually, she just has to. They were soulmates after all.

-----

Author’s Note:

In case y'all were wondering, these are the pics Wheein-ie showed Yong ;) hehe