Taeyeon watched her roommate lie unconscious on her best friend’s bed while said best friend paced in a circle behind her. The girl hit her head upon falling on the ground but she was smiling and looked extremely peaceful with her limbs sprawled on the mattress.

“Who is she?” Sunny finally spoke up after halting herself.

Taeyeon turned to the shorter girl and heaved a sigh, “She’s my roommate. A freshman and she wanted to meet Sica.”

Sunny scrunched up her face and finally brought herself to look at the girl who was making her heart beat irregularly. “I can’t believe it.”

“Must be fate,” Taeyeon said with a light laugh. She knew how much Sunny hated the word but the scenario had to be more than just a coincidence or an accident.

Sunny wanted to laugh too but she didn’t think the day would come. And if the day did come, she hoped that the other person was just a stranger she could avoid.

Why did the stone have to be attached to her body? Why did it make her sweat like she is right now? Why did her breathing change every time she got closer to the stranger in her bed?

People never said anything about this. The stone was just supposed to glow, why was she so nervous? She wanted to voice her concern to Taeyeon but she had a feeling she’d just about it.

Sunny was staring at Sooyoung now, trying her best to calm her insides. It was unfair, the girl was beautiful. But Sunny refused to conform to the gem and she wanted more than anything to ignore what was happening.

“You’re going to be stubborn about this, aren’t you?” Taeyeon then asked, breaking their silence. She looked at Sunny and smiled at her, showing her support. She may not be showing it, but she knew that Sunny was panicking on the inside.

Sunny just nodded, looking at Taeyeon with a frown. Although she was being serious, her expression was too cute for Taeyeon to not make a wider smile.

“She’s going to be stubborn about it too,” Taeyeon added, laughing a little to herself. Sooyoung had a strong belief in the powers of the gem.

Sooyoung finally stirred in her spot causing the two short girls to flinch. Taeyeon walked over to her side and Sunny followed behind her slowly.

“Sooyoung-sshi?” Taeyeon mumbled to her roommate and new friend. Sunny watched the girl’s face contort and found it rather amusing.

Her face finally stopped moving and she went back to smiling. Suddenly, she started mumbling and Taeyeon leaned in closer to try to decipher anything.

“…hungry,” was all she could get.

“Sunny, do you have any snacks?” Taeyeon then asked after letting out a chuckle at the girl’s response. “She said …hungry,” Taeyeon did her best impression and even giggled at her own little trick. Sunny couldn’t help but laugh at her friend’s dorkiness.

“There should be some food on the table in the dining room,” Sunny mentioned while pointing to the direction behind her as if telling Taeyeon where to go.

Taeyeon quickly ran out which left Sunny alone with her supposed soul mate.

Sooyoung was still groaning a little and her smile faded into a look of utter distress. Sunny didn’t think that such a skinny girl would be so upset over the lack of food but she must have been hungry.

Being this close to her was dangerous but Sunny couldn’t help but be drawn to her. Her heart was beating so fast at this point and she could swear that Sooyoung’s was too. Their gems were still glowing and Sunny wanted it to stop. When the other girl was awake again she had to make it clear that they weren’t going to pursue anything.

“You seem like a nice girl but you’re not my type,” Sunny muttered to herself, “Too long.” Her eyes crawled upon every inch of Sooyoung’s body. Who was she kidding? The kid was gorgeous.

“I just don’t believe in this,” Sunny mumbled again, watching her glowing gem. “You know my dad cheated on my mom. He cheated on her and she committed suicide. I thought these gems meant eternal happiness with the person you loved?” Normally she’d be crying by now, but the story was too old. “When she committed suicide, he died too. Apparently you’re supposed to die with your soul mate. How fitting? They’re probably not together now. My mother was an angel and he was a demon.”

Sunny nearly gasped as she watched tears roll down Sooyoung’s cheek, “You’re that hungry huh?”

Taeyeon walked back in just in time with a bag of pretzels in hand.

“Your roommate’s crying Taengoo,” Sunny said with a chuckle, “Did you starve her or?”

“No! Quick, give her the pretzels!”

Sunny grabbed the bag and opened it. She quickly took out a pretzel and shoved it into Sooyoung’s mouth. The two girls watched carefully as the pretzel was accepted and being thoroughly chewed.

Sooyoung’s eyes opened wide and she grabbed the bag from Sunny and started choking down the pretzels. Taeyeon and Sunny watched the girl with an amused expression as she inhaled the chips like she had been starving for days. It was amazing how someone with her figure ate so freely.

“Taeyeon unnie! Water!” she demanded through flying crumbs.

Taeyeon obeyed immediately and grabbed her new friend a glass of water.

As Sooyoung consumed her target, she suddenly remembered where she was. It was weird, despite never being in that room before, it felt like home and she felt comfortable. But when she remembered whose eyes were on her, she felt her cheeks burning.

The bag was almost empty at this time but she put it down. Her eyes met with those who were shining with amusement. Taeyeon ran in quickly with her water to find Sooyoung’s damage done and over with.

“Did you suddenly remember your humanity?” Taeyeon joked as she handed the younger girl a glass of water.

Sooyoung took the water embarrassed and drank it slowly before wiping her face of the crumbs.

“I’m sorry for intruding,” she said meekly with a little bow.

Sunny and Taeyeon exchanged glances and Sooyoung just stared at Sunny’s glowing gem.

“Don’t worry about it,” Sunny replied with a smile.

Awkwardness soon filled the air as Sooyoung and Sunny took turns stealing glances at each other. Taeyeon started backing away from the two towards the door.

“I’ll leave you two alone for a bit,” she stated from the door.

“Taengoo!”

“I’m gonna wake up the princess,” Taeyeon excused, quickly leaving the room despite Sunny’s protests.

Sooyoung watched helplessly as her roommate left the room. She wanted to speak up again but her heart wouldn’t stop pounding against her head. She told herself to calm down, it was just her supposed soul mate left alone with her.

“So what’s your name?” Sunny finally asked, finding the words and courage.

“Ah, it’s Sooyoung, what’s yours?” It came out like lightning but she knew it was comprehensible. The other girl laughed and it made her cheeks burn again. Her laugh was loud and it boomed throughout the room.

“I’m Sunny,” she responded once her laughter died down.

Sooyoung offered her a shy smile and she wanted to smack herself in the face. She never knew she was attracted to girls before, but the gem couldn’t be lying and the feeling in her stomach couldn’t be lying either.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Sooyoung bit in the inside of as she said the sentence with the same speed as the first.

Sunny started to laugh again and Sooyoung brought her hands up to fan herself.

“Ah, I’m sorry Sunny unnie I’m not usually like this,” she began, finding a slower speed of speech and feeling her heart jump down from to her chest, “I’m sorry, I’m just really nervous right now.”

Sunny shook her head, “Don’t be nervous Sooyoung, just ignore the gem and pretend it isn’t glowing, that will help you relax.”

Sooyoung’s mouth hung open a little at her response, “How do you ignore this? How do I ignore how much my body is shaking? Or this lump in my throat? How do I-“

Sunny placed her hand over Sooyoung’s mouth, “Hey, hey, calm down. It’s just a gem, it doesn’t mean anything. We’re strangers, right? Who’s to say that we have any obligation to fall in love?”

As Sunny took away her hand, it revealed a cute pout on Sooyoung’s face, “It’s not just a gem, this glowing means something!”

Sunny sighed, “You’re letting some rock on your wrist control your feelings, isn’t that a little weird?” She wanted to say stupid but she felt she would have offended the girl.

“But!”

“Hey,” Sunny interrupted, holding her hands up in defence, “You heard Taengoo’s story right? It’s not that simple and she told you that. Her and Jessica didn’t just decide to fall in love just because their gems were glowing.”

“Yeah, actually I ignored Taeyeon for a week,” another voice came into the conversation which caused Sunny and Sooyoung to turn to the door where two figures were standing.

“You ignored me for three days,” Taeyeon objected, playfully slapping her sleepy girlfriend on the arm.

“I was planning on ignoring you for a week but you were so desperate!”

“I was not desperate! You made me think we weren’t friends anymore!”

“Yah! Quiet you two!” Sunny yelled from the bed. She stood up and wanted to stop her friends from embarrassing themselves further.

The three girls turned to face Sooyoung as she watched the three of them with a wide smile.

“Ah! You guys are so cute!” she squealed, her eyes sparkling at the two who were bickering at the door. “Jessica unnie I really want you to tell me your side of the story, I have to know!!”

“Taeng, your roommate is noisy,” Jessica replied with a pout. When she saw Sooyoung’s face fall she immediately smiled, “Aish, I was joking. You’re Sooyoung right?”

When Jessica walked closer she noticed the two glowing gems in the room and smirked, “Oh~ Sunny-ah, looks like you got your soulmate in your bed in record time.”

Sooyoung blushed immediately but Sunny turned to Jessica with a glare, “Don’t.”

Taeyeon sighed and Jessica nodded in understanding. Sooyoung felt her heart sink at the response and did her best to take Sunny’s earlier words seriously. She really wasn’t interested in pursuing the prophecy of the gem.

“Come sit here with me and tell the story,” Sooyoung then spoke up to prevent any awkwardness from developing. Taeyeon smiled at her younger friend as she and Jessica came to sit next to her and Sunny was thankful for her understanding. She watched her look at her two best friends with excitement and realized how much the Fertility Stone’s purpose and story must have meant to her. She felt a little bit bad for not being as excited as she was about the situation, but she had to stay true to her beliefs. And some tall, beautiful stranger wasn’t going to change that.

But it didn’t mean that Sooyoung wasn’t going to give up either. She knew the stories she was told while growing up were true and she was determined to make Sunny follow after her. She’s never tried to make anyone fall in love with her, but she wasn’t going to let go of her soul mate.

And what she wasn’t planning on telling Sunny anytime soon was that she perfectly heard everything she said to her in her sleep. Whatever Sunny’s tragic past was, she was going to find out more about it and her and get her to open up to her. She wanted to approach this and show Sunny that love and destiny were all very real things and that she couldn’t run away from it.