I woke up in what looked like an office. To my right was Joshua, eyes closed. I nudged him awake.

“Watch ou-" he yelled before catching his breath and regaining sense of his surroundings. He looked at me and his face melted into something sickeningly softer. “Alice, are you okay?” he asked, reaching out to touch me. 

I dodged his hands. “Don’t touch me, I’m fine.” I looked around the room. The walls were white and we were seated on one side of a large mahogany desk, a vacant black chair on the other side. 

The door opened, and in the silence it just broke the sound was deafening. A man in a suit walked through, looking exclusively at a file in his hands. “Hong Jisoo and Kwon Hanjeong?” he asked. 

“Yeah,” I replied. “Who are you?” 

Joshua seemed to think he had a more important question. “Your Korean name is Hanjeong?” 

I ignored him, staring only ahead at the man who still hadn’t looked up. 

“I don’t have a name,” the man said, finally meeting my eyes. I nearly flew back in my seat at the sight of the bright golden orbs where his eyes should be. 

“What the hell is this?” I asked, my voice rising subconsciously. “Where are we?” 

“You are in the Fate department of Human Affairs. I am the agent assigned to your case, taking over for another agent.” He placed a file in front of us, open to a page with what looked like a profile of me on the left and Joshua on the right. “The agent before me committed a high offense. He falsely tied two souls together.” With a hand each, palms facing up, he pointed at us. 

“This makes no sense,” I said. “Joshua, is any of this making sense to you?” 

“No,” he replied. 

“See, every human being has a fate that is laid out ahead of them. Everything from what career you go into to what age you learn to drive is set for you. The agent before me was on the case of Kim Jongin and Park Jinhee before this. That is where he first learned of you,” the man said, pointing at Joshua. “He felt bad for how you were fated to live the rest of your life, so he tied you to her,” he explained, now pointing at me. 

“You know, humans find it rude to point,” I commented. 

He drew his hands back. “Apologies. My point is that you two were never supposed to get linked telepathically. Now we are here to right this wrong and you two will go on with your lives as though this never happened.” 

“You mean we won’t remember ever being linked to each other?” Joshua asked. 

“That is silly,” said the man with the glowing eyes with a straight face. “We do not yield the power to erase memories or change the past. The best we can do is cut the link and send you two off. Now,” he said, reaching into a drawer and pulling out a large and sharp looking pair of scissors. “Let’s get to cutting.” 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” sputtered Joshua, placing his body in front of mine. “What exactly are you planning to cut with those?” 

He pointed just to the left of Josh’s head, where mine was. “Apologies. I forgot that humans find pointing to be rude.” 

“Cutting off heads is also seen as very rude!” I hurried to say. 

“That is silly. Cutting a human’s head off would kill them.” He had the same straight face as always. “I am, of course, referring to the string that hangs between your heads. You can not see it normally, but for the sake of your peace of mind, I will allow for you to see it.” 

He handed us a screen that he then motioned to hold in front of our eyes. Through it, I saw that from my ear was dangling a piece of white string, the other end of which disappeared into Joshua’s. When I tried to touch it, my finger slipped right through where it was meant to be without touching anything. 

“So once you cut that string we won’t be able to feel each other in our heads anymore?” asked Joshua. “Won’t be able to communicate?” 

“Precisely.” 

“Oh, good,” I said. “Cut away. Snip, snip, motherer.” 

“Wait!” Joshua jumped. “What was supposed to happen?” 

“What?” I asked. 

“If we were never fated to be linked telepathically, what was supposed to happen?” 

“Why does that matter?” I asked. 

“It does to me,” he replied, not meeting my eyes. 

The man sighed, probably more to act human than of necessity or actual emotion. “You, sir, were fated to be in a one-sided love with Park Jinhee for your whole life.” 

“Ha!” I laughed unintentionally. “Where would my life be without this loser with a crush?” 

“You, ma’am, were fated to never fall in love after your last heartbreak. You were fated to focus on your career.” 

“That doesn’t sound too bad. I might just go ahead and do that,” I noted. 

“But you would be afraid of your own profession and would sabotage yourself to the point where you would not be able to graduate on time. You would graduate two years later after an extensive break and would never have any contacts to jumpstart your career. You would be fated to a life of working as a dance instructor at a third-rate gym franchise that hasn’t even opened yet. You were to be miserable and alone, as you wouldn’t have met your two friends without the lightning.” 

I sat back, stunned. Joshua snickered. 

The man with the golden eyes turned to him. “A whole life of having a crush on a girl who has already found her soulmate,” he reminded. “And let me not forget, you would be so depressed in your career that you would succumb to heavy alcoholism by age 26--" he looked up from his file. “Apologies, that is still Kwon Hanjeong’s fate.” 

I rolled my eyes. Joshua laughed even more.

“You, Hong Jisoo, wouldn’t even make it to 26. You were fated to die from a stage malfunction at age 24.” 

“Oh . At least I would be alive to be miserable,” I said. 

The man hummed to himself. “Huh. Now I understand why the other agent felt bad for both of you.” 

“Okay, we get it. We’re two cups of whiskey at a tea party. Just cut the string and let’s get out of here,” I said, feeling annoyed. 

“Am I still going to die at 24?” Joshua asked, eyes wide and voice hollow. 

“No. Because of all of this mishap, we are granting both of you free will.” 

“Yay,” I moaned with the most unenthusiastic voice I could muster. 

Before anyone could interrupt him again, the man reached forward and severed the string and suddenly we were no longer in that office. 

***

I stood up, back to being soaking wet. Alice was in front of me. She was sitting up. I tried hard to see the world through her eyes, but I saw nothing but my own view. 

“Oh, thank God!” she cried. “I’m free of you!”