It takes Seungwan and Joohyun another half hour to make it into one of the elevators, despite their greatest efforts to close the large gap between them and the doors in a timely manner. Joohyun is fairly certain that she elbowed at least a dozen people in the ribs in order to forge the way, at times even ducking through a few pairs of legs to ensure her and Seungwan got a spot in the crammed lift. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and while she had always been the more level headed one in their relationship, Joohyun’s never seen the Canadian so distressed before.

Consequently, Joohyun does her very best to make way for them, but she doesn’t escape the endeavor without a few bruises of her own. In fact, the older woman had narrowly avoided breaking her own nose after someone threw a kneecap in her direction while she was scrambling across the floor with Seungwan. The fanatics of the frenzy had yet to die down, and Joohyun wasn’t sure if the hectic atmosphere ever would calm. Amorous appeared to be chic and cool from the outside, but its visitors were straining the ambience of the place in a way Joohyun is sure no one could have predicted. Shouldn’t there be security guards keeping the order here?

At the same time, however, the woman was quickly numbing to the chaos around her. As she pulled Seungwan along by the hand, Joohyun kept recalling a set of striking eyes, of the sight of a beautiful woman raising her hand, as though she had been reaching out to the older woman. The older woman presses up against the back of one of the elevator’s four walls, nearly nose to nose with Seungwan as the Canadian frowns at her wrist watch, yet she is far away, delving deep into her memory. Her own movements seem slow and sluggish, time still slumbering around the woman, transfixed with flashing eyes and a beautiful woman lingering in her mind’s eye.

 She glances down at the rugged line her friend had drawn across her skin, consequently replaying the way the stranger’s eyes had widened, then narrowed at the sight of the dark mark. The stranger’s actions interested Joohyun deeply. The fact that she had done it at all made it clear that she had been trying to see if she and Joohyun were indeed soulmates. Her insides are still warm, set ablaze at the woman’s curious, lingering stare. Could that have been my soulmate? Joohyun kept repeating the phrase in her head. Soulmate. Soulmate. Soulmate.

Joohyun had always had extremely high standards when it came to dating. She was the pickiest person she knew; in fact, her fickleness often made her worry that she wouldn’t be attracted to her soulmate at all if they met. The older woman had gone out with a handful of people in her earlier years of college, just to try out the whole dating scene. Most of them were just harmless dates, going out to see movies or try out a new restaurant, and often didn’t even involve a goodnight kiss. However, there was something about each date that didn’t settle quite right with Joohyun.

 She was certain that it wasn’t the other person, who would be undeniably attractive and interesting due to her high standards. It was just that Joohyun honestly never truly felt anything during the dates. It was as if she were an unfeeling, uncaring person, which Joohyun definitely was not, but during all of the dates all Joohyun could feel were “friend vibes” as Seungwan put it. After the soul marks started appearing, it became easier to say no to those pursuing her, after all, Joohyun had the feeling that no date would feel right unless if it were her soulmate. 

No one had ever turned Joohyun’s head, had ever completely captured her attention before, and that’s another reason why the woman had piqued her interest. I hope to God she’s my soulmate, Joohyun thinks to herself, frowning. She’d been on dates with models, male and female, and yet the stranger’s beauty outshone each of them. Her fruitless dates paled in comparison to the woman, who was alluring and mysterious and everything Joohyun had imagined. I wonder if I’ll see her again, Joohyun wondered. If I do, I’ll know that it must be true, that we’re both soulmates.

“It’s nearly 2pm now,” Seungwan murmurs softly, interrupting Joohyun’s internal mantra. There’s something broken in the younger woman’s eyes when Joohyun peers into them, and it makes Joohyun frown. The Seungwan that Joohyun had gotten to know quite well over the past few months was characteristically overly optimistic at all times, almost like the Energizer Bunny from TV commercials. The younger woman truly had a knack for giving support when it was needed, ready with encouraging words and a wide smile. Joohyun had difficulty remembering a time in which the Canadian wasn’t smiling or gushing over something.

This morning in fact, she was convinced that Seungwan had been the happiest she’s ever seen her. She woke from a night of fitful sleep to the younger woman singing while cooking them breakfast, dancing in the kitchen to the radio. Even when Joohyun made her presence known by settling in a chair at the kitchen table, Seungwan continued to sing and dance. She even grabbed at Joohyun’s hand, making her join in on the antics – Joohyun’s kitchen tile transforming into their dance floor.

The Canadian couldn’t stop grinning to herself, especially on the bus ride over to Amorous. Joohyun noticed that her friend was smiling out of the window seat whenever she thought the older woman wasn’t watching. But Joohyun knows not everyone’s as invincible as they wished they could be. Everyone has their own breaking point. “Do you think they’re still waiting for me, unnie?” Joohyun wipes away the string of tears that have spilled over Seungwan’s glittering eyes, disregarding the odd looks they’re getting from those around them.

The creative writing major rummages around her purse for a few seconds, a determined look plastered to her immaculate features. A moment later, s