A dream soulmate au/fanfic where Winter and Karina meet in their dreams only to completely forget once awake. The dreams stop once they meet each other (but they don't know that :D)

I.
Kim Minjeong.

Kim Minjeong. That is my name.

Minjeong was at the airport when she met Karina. She was only 6 years old and habitually forgets her name. Her mother made her memorize and recite it while they wait for her father to arrive at the airport.

She glanced once to her mother but when she looked away, the people that used to roam around with their luggage and bags were gone, except for one girl sitting on the ground not too far from Minjeong.

The girl has this long black hair that amazed Minjeong because it's touching the floor. She was hugging her knees to her chest and her shoulders seem to move up and down.

She walked to her and she was surprised to see the girl crying.

"Hello. Are you okay? My name is Kim Minjeong." She put her hand in front of the girl trying to get a handshake.

The girl looked at her hand before she took it but instead of shaking it, she used it to pull herself up. Minjeong helped her stand up.

"I'm Karina and I can't find my parents. Do you know where we are?" They both looked around. Other than the usual benches where people wait, seeing no one made Karina feel anxious.

"I want to find my mom." The girl began to cry again.

"Don't worry, we'll find them." Minjeong hugged the girl and that seemed to comfort Karina.

The girl wiped her tears and smiled at Minjeong. Minjeong gladly smiled back.

"Let's go find them!" Minjeong excitedly said. She gasped when her first step touched nothing and she fell as her surroundings faded to black.

The last thing she saw was the shocked face of her friend looking down at her as she falls down a dark hole.

"Minjeong-ah, your dad's here. Aigoo, my baby fell asleep." She was a bit puzzled and looked around her trying to find someone but her mom picked her up to meet her father.

II.
It took 8 years before Minjeong met Karina in her dreams again.

What's great about dreams is that they can continue where they left off.

Minjeong is back at the airport. There was nobody there like her dream back when she was 6 except she's 14 now.

In the distance, she saw a girl with long black hair, she's wearing what seems to be something similar to Minjeong's school uniform. She looked down at her clothes and it matches what the girl is wearing.

"Kim Minjeong!" Minjeong looked up to where the sound came from. The girl was running towards her.

"We meet again at last. Do you remember me?" The girl asked as soon as they were near each other.

"Are you... Karina?" Karina smiled at the thought of Minjeong remembering her.

"I thought you'd forget about me. You can't even remember your own name." They both chuckled at that.

Minjeong was a bit confused but something feels right with what's happening right now.

"How have you been?" She asked this time. "Your hair is still long." She pointed out. That made Karina fix the parting of her hair.

"My mom liked it this way, she loves braiding my hair." Karina smiled at Minjeong again. The smaller of the two felt a tug in her heart. What is this I'm feeling?

"How about you? You still have the cold, dead eyes. You almost scared me before but you looked really worried when I was crying."

"Do you have your phone?" Winter thought it was an odd question but she tried to feel her skirt and she does have her phone.

"Okay, type this. Karina Yoo, 15, Class 3 - A1. Did you type it? Minjeong?" She felt herself falling on the melting floor.

She woke up, phone in hand with gibberish text sprawled on the notes app.

"What the hell is this?" She closed the app without saving what she typed.

III.
Minjeong will be a junior in high school next year. And as usual, teenagers like to spend their time with friends more than with their family.

"Hey, Minjeong. I'm thinking of a nickname for me next year. I'm tired of being called Yuqi. I never heard anyone call me something else." Minjeong was on Yuqi's bed, typing on her phone, tweeting.

"Minjeong? Your hair is shorter now? You look cute." Minjeong opened her eyes to Karina's voice. She sat up upon realizing where her head was.

"Don't worry, we do that all the time. I think my lap is comfortable to sleep on." Minjeong smiled sadly and Karina noticed that but she didn't ask.

They were outside the airport. Planes lined up in front of them, a gentle breeze makes the atmosphere cozy.

"You know, my parents are getting a divorce soon. Since I'm still a minor, I have to choose between them. I'm closer to my mom but I want to keep them both." Minjeong looked down when she felt a hand over hers. She didn't know a touch like that is enough to comfort her.

"Why did you tell me this?" Karina asked while playing with Minjeong's hand.

"I feel comfortable to be sad around you. You didn't joke around and say what you'd rather do if you were in my place. You didn't say I'd go with my mom. Instead, you... listened to me." Karina smiled at the thought of Minjeong appreciating her presence.

"Hey, look at me." She tilted Minjeong's face towards her direction.

"You can always share anything with me. I will always lend you my ears." Minjeong smiled as her tears drop to Karina's fingers that are still on her chin.

"Your eyes are beautiful. They remind me of winter, cold—" Karina wiped her tears. "—but warm."

Karina leaned in and kissed her forehead.

"Remember me."

Minjeong opened her teary eyes to a concerned Yuqi.

"Are you good? You were crying in your sleep. Did you dream of something bad?" She slowly sat up, trying to remember anything but nothing came to mind. She felt empty when her memory didn't come up with anything.

"I can't remember."

IV.

"Hi, I'm Kim Minjeong but you can call me Winter." She sat down after introducing herself. It's the start of her junior year and like what Yuqi said, they need to rebrand.

Winter doesn't know where 'Winter' came from but it felt weirdly right to be called winter. She reasoned out that it's her favorite season.

"Winter sounds so nice. Why didn't you suggest cool nicknames to me?" Yuqi whined at the smirking Winter.

"It's not my fault you can't think of a cool nickname." Yuqi settled with 'Qi' as her nickname at the last minute. Winter had to cover or the teacher will hear her laughing at her friend.

"This is so unfair." She sulked beside her friend while they line up for lunch.

"Hey, wanna join the dance club? There were rumors that the president of the club is really beautiful." They were eating in the crowded cafeteria when the people grew louder.

"What's happening?" Yuqi asked, Winter looked around but she's too hungry to even bother.

"I don't know. Just eat, it's probably nothing." The students were lining up in front of one girl. They were giving her gifts.

"I think that's her? The president of the club?" Yuqi's hand shook the uninterested girl by her shoulder.

Winter looked up for a second and saw a tall girl with long black hair in sweat pants. She looked at her watch.

"Weird time for physical education—" How is the time so fast?

"Get up, Yuqi! We're late for class!" Winter took her last bite before she got her bag and ran to the exit.

"Winter, wait!" Yuqi followed behind her.

Little did they know the president of the club perked up at the mention of 'winter'. She stared at the short-haired girl running in the corridor.

V.
"Winter, you said you like art?" They met at the gym this time. Karina stretched her body and they both warmed up.

"Yeah, I like Van Gogh a lot. Are we in the gym? We go to the same school, right?" Karina nodded at that. She sat down on the floor, legs spread wide. She asked Winter to do the same.

Karina pulled Winter close to her, making their legs spread farther. Winter struggled to not scream in pain.

"You can express what you're feeling, you know?" Winter screamed and let go of Karina's hand immediately. The pain in her face made Karina laugh and feel bad at the same time.

"Let me help you." She massaged Winter's left leg while Winter does her right.

"How come we don't meet in real life?"

"So you've figured out that this isn't real?" Winter nodded.

Flashback

"Yuqi? Do you remember your dreams?" They were in Yuqi's house again, Winter's safe hangout place. Since her mom won custody over her, their house never felt the same so she would always ask her mom to sleepover at Yuqi's, which is a thing that her mom doesn't mind.

"Not most of the time but sometimes I do. There's this one time a dog ran after me in my dream and bit me. I woke up still feeling where the bite was. I almost fell from my bed that night." Yuqi laughed at her silliness while Winter stayed silent.

"It's weird... I know I always dream but once I open my eyes, I can't remember anymore." Her friend sat up straight and faced her properly.

"Okay. Answer my questions, I'll help you remember."

"Where were you in your recent dream?" Winter looked to her right and shrugged.

"Are you alone or you're with someone?" Winter checked every file in her brain but the only thing she remembers is...

"I think there was someone with me? I'm not really sure."

"A boy? A girl?"

"I'm not sure. But I think they're taller than me."

"Is there anything memorable that happened in that dream?" Winter thought hard and bit her lip.

"I don't remember but I woke up feeling some kind of sensation on my forehead? Like someone kissed me or something..." Yuqi looked at her with pity.

"You're a lost cause, Minjeong. Unsolvable." She hit her arm lightly.

"That's how you figured it out? Your friend sounded more like an interrogator though." Winter agreed and they both laughed.

After some comfortable silence, Winter was surprised when their surroundings slowly turned into one of Van Gogh's paintings.

"In dreams, we can be anything and we can do anything. Here's a little surprise." Karina s