Sometimes, the one you love may not be your soulmate, or rather your soulmate might not be the one you love. I know it might sound a little counter-intuitive, maybe even a little absurd but that is what I believe. I don’t know about you but my definition of a soulmate is someone whom you can naturally connect with. Someone whom you can understand without them having to say a word and someone who understands you too. Miyoung and I were pretty close to having that, but I had already found my soulmate when I was 9, and she is my best friend, Yoona. She was also part of the reason why I survived my college years.

Yoona and I met because of our mutual love of dancing. She started before I did and when I first joined the dance class, we didn’t really like each other all that much because of some misunderstanding that I can’t even really remember anymore. However, we quickly found that our misunderstanding was just exactly that; a misunderstanding, and we found that we got along pretty well and pretty easily for that fact. We’ve been best friends ever since.

Funny thing about Yoona and me, we went to the same school but we didn’t meet until I started dance class. But once we got to know each other, we became inseparable and we would sneak into each other’s classes whenever we could. A year later, we ended up in the same class. Even though Yoona and I were both pretty quiet individually, together we were loud and mischievous. Actually, let me elaborate. Yoona had always been a good student. She was always one of the smartest students in class and very well mannered. Naturally, everyone, especially teachers loved her. I, on the other hand, always gave people the impression that I was a stuck up snob with a bad attitude, so I wasn’t very well liked unless they knew me well.

And yet, she understood me like no other. Yoona and I had always been able to communicate without the need for words; just one look and we knew what the other was thinking. When we danced, we were always completely in sync. We always knew when the other was upset or was troubled. We knew when the other needed some consolation and we know when all the other needs is just someone to listen and be there. We read each other’s minds. We kept each other’s secrets; she was the only one who knew I was gay for the longest time. We never judge each other, and we support each other unconditionally. She is my rock, my pillar of strength, and the person whom I copied my homework off of. She is more than my best friend, more than my sister…

Even though Yoona and I were the same age, she started college a year later than I did because she took a year off. But when she told me that she was attending the same college as I was, I was elated. You have no idea what it meant to me to have my best friend with me. Just her presence itself was always comforting. Did I mention that Yoona was in medical school? Yes, she was always the smarter one.

I had forgotten that I was supposed to meet her that day after spending the entire night with Miyoung. So only a few hours into my shut eye, I was so crudely woken up by the ear-piercing ringtone of my phone. Immediately, I remembered and I knew who was calling.

“Woman, where are you? You haven’t forgotten have you…?” the familiar voice of Yoo