three
soul mates

      Everyone has missed Eun Bi so much and are so delighted when she’s back. On our way here we bought cake and other delicious things for the kids that also express I should’ve visited them, even without Eun Bi because I’m fun. I can’t help look at her with a sheepish smile and a peace sign, almost showing off that I’m cool and even her kids like me. She just laughs, shaking her head before cutting the cake. They all ask questions about her and what’s she’s been doing, about her sister and when will the two come.

“Are they really that alike?” one of the kids ask me. They are nice and everything, but I can’t remember their names.

“At first they are, but I don’t get mistaken anymore,” I reply confidently and I can see from the corner of my eye Eun Bi’s incredulous expression.

“Is that why you have to flick my forehead and see my reaction in order to make sure?” she asks and I gasp audibly, exaggerating my reaction.

“That’s just to make sure and it doesn’t work anymore. You and your sister smack me now so it makes no difference,” I reply and all the kids laugh. “But I just have to look closely into your eyes and I can tell if it’s you or your sister.” I claps my hands together at the back of my head in a nonchalant attitude, trying to look cool. I can hear the kids saying ‘ohh’, which only makes me grin satisfied.

“Wow, our Tae Kwang is an expert, isn’t he?” Eun Bi comments, smiling fondly and I just shrug. “I bet if we show up with my eunni you wouldn’t know which one is talking.”

“I totally would. You really have no faith in me,” I defy her. “Come with her when she arrives and we’ll see.”

The kids are so invested in our challenge that they don’t even utter a word. Eun Bi and I stare at each other intently, none of us giving in.

“Fine, I will and we’ll see how good you are,” she agrees.

“Fine,” I repeat, just because.

Of course I would distinguish immediately. I don’t even have to see her to know, I just feel it. They might look exactly the same but only one makes me feel like I’m important and relevant to someone, like I’m understood, and only one makes my heart race with just a smile. Even if they have the same smile, only Eun Bi is the one I love. Still. That’s why I just need to look her in the eyes to know which twin is in front of me.

“If oppa can do that then he’s your soul mate, eunni,” one girl says, I think she’s the closest to Eun Bi and her words startle us both. Her head and mine snap in this girl’s direction, eyes wide and cheeks blushed.

“Ra Jin-ah, what are you saying?” Eun Bi asks, alarmed, and the girl, Ra Jin, seems confused because we don’t understand.

“If oppa says he can recognise you with just looking in your eyes it means he can see your soul, and if he can see your soul it’s because he’s your soul mate. Isn’t like that?”

My lips part but no sounds come out, I just blink in surprise and disbelief at a young girl who is giving me more hopes that she should be allowed to. She’s a kid, she doesn’t know about the things she’s talking about, yet her words ignite a spark in my heart that I’ve been trying so hard to extinguish. If only Eun Bi could believe in what this girl does, if she could believe we belong together and decided to look at me instead of Han Yi An… if only.

“Well, we don’t even know if Gong Tae Kwang can actually recognise me with just one look. If he does, then we’ll discuss this theory of yours. Does that sound all right?” 

My eyes now lock on Eun Bi. I’m so surprised I think even my heart stops for a second before racing to a dangerou