The hand at her back slides off, and that’s a little painful too. Byul is awake. They lie there in silence for a while, neither of them talking, but both knowing that the other is awake. Yong contemplates pretending to go back to sleep, but that’s the coward’s way out. Instead, she shifts to lie on her back and rolls her head to the side. Byul is already looking at her, expression blank. || or, Byul and Yong aren't soulmates, but they don't care.

Sometimes, Byul thinks, it would be easier if she loved Yong less. But that’s the thought that hurts the most, more than any of the others, because Byul doesn’t want to go back to how she and Yong used to be before they professed their feelings. Not because she thinks they would be any less closer, or because she thinks they would go back to fighting at least once a month again— but because of the simplest reasons. It makes her happy to love Yong. To know that Yong loves her. It is a