(Highly commend putting on a particular song on repeat for this chapter if possible, it is "Fire Escape" by Imaginary Future. He's an amazing artist, and the song features his wonderful wife Kina Grannis like most of his works. The mood of this story is heavily influenced and inspired by his music actually.

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/0UQhzoqIlt9Ca6wMWgfOiK

Youtube: https://youtu.be/sU-KYrFgcCE )

Cuddling has become more than a routine, more of a ritual for them ever since she got discharged from a sickening white compound. 

But Saeron is considering going back since her upset stomach binds her to the bed once again while the comforting warmth has been missing. Darn it, she was going to catch up on some schoolwork today. 

“Do you have to eat that much?” She has no choice but to get vocal about the discomfort as the other girl has been on her phone for the past hour. 

“Hm. I guess so.” It just reminds Saeron that she herself has also fallen as a victim upon hearing Kim Yerim’s cutely nasal voice.

She could only sigh, “Come here.”

“I’m sorry. There won’t be a next time.” She complies a little too fast, scooting closer to her embrace.

“You dummy,” Saeron looks up to the ceiling, which is somehow the same shade of beige back in the hospital, and makes a mental note of repainting it as soon as she could find time to. “If you suffer, it makes the two of us as always.”

Looking at the side profile of the serene girl, Yeri soon understands the words Saeron chose to not say. “It would hurt less when you aren’t hurting alone.” 

Yes, she was in great pain as well when Saeron was still in treatment. And she tried to not let it show. But it is not something new to them—those some described as tied together by a red thread of destiny, or whose souls spilt into two halves. 

She just wanted her to come home. 

Now she is home, they are both home. So everything will be okay.

“Still,” Saeron turns her head just to give her other half a look. “Go to the kitchen and make both of us some ginger tea. It’s not that romantic to suffer together because of some stupid stomach ache.”

Yeri smiles in response as she tardily drags her limbs up from the bed, “What about you?”

“I’m gonna ask Sooyoung-unnie how things are going at school.”

“Hey, she’s my partner-in-crime!”

“Well, since we are soulmates—what belongs to you belongs to me too!”

“Fine! Take all my friends but lay your heads off my Ariana Grande and IU album collections!”

-

“But I don't need it now,

It's too soon to go down to the bottom.

I will wait 'til it's close,

When I'm needing it most,

When I'm scared.” 

— Imaginary Future, “Fire Escape”

Seulgi nearly chokes on her water when she finally sees her captain, who has shut herself away from everyone ever since the incident yesterday. She thought Joohyun won’t come to school today judging on how she reacted to her crazy theory. 

“I need this handkerchief,” The usually soft-spoken girl demanded as she clutched harder onto the said object with her small hands, knuckles white and lips pale. “Can you…… Can you just give it to me, Seul? Can you? Huh? Please?” 

On the other hand, the captain’s alleged doppelganger almost fainted at her spot. Whereas Jennie had to poke her in the in order to snap her out of whatever trance she was in. “S-so it’s not a ghost? Not anything spooky?“ 

Kyulkyung, however, was the calmest out of the three despite her age. Even when her group of friends was roaring in excitement, especially Kyungwon and Minkyung. It was barely legible to tell what was in her mind from the look on her face. A simple “wow”, followed by the endless hype and squeal from the other girls. Classic. Maybe she did smile for a second or two. Hopefully, it was not because of the gray socks.

“Unnie,” The mono-lid girl softly nudges her best friend’s side as they stop at the front of the latter’s classroom. “Don’t you want to ask me anything? About-”

Joohyun gracefully raises a hand to cut her off, “I just…… need some time.”

“Well, the clock is ticking. Your clock to be exact.” Seulgi watches a boy from Irene’s class pass them by but not forgetting to throw the girl a flirtatious smile. “So as hers.”

Totally ignoring the boy’s existence, the older reassures the bear-alike before entering the classroom to start her day. “I’ll find her. See you, Seul.”

It takes Seulgi one hundred and forty-five steps to register what seems to be missing from this very important conversation. She tries to head back but is carried away by the current of students’ morning commute.

“Wait, unnie you didn’t even ask for her name!”

-

Yongsun opens the door of the studio and three of her adorable juniors greet her in unison—bright smiles and cheery voices. How lovely.

“You girls are so early today!” Conveniently settles down in front of the Mac connected to a MIDI keyboard, the vice-captain chirps. “Excited for your composition session?”

The tallest is the first to speak up, “Since I wasn’t there last time, the unnies wanted to show me their progress first. Man, they are so good!”

“I gotta say though,” Chaeyoung timidly smiles and her cheeks get even fluffier. “Kyungwon has her own style and neither of us could have come up with dulcet melodies like that. Ah, I can’t even describe, unnie you gotta listen for yourself!”

Witnessing the expressive antics and slurred words from the thrilled Australian, the senior has to hold in her laughter so that she won't ruin her passionate speech on their work process.

“Slow down, Chae.” Seungwan taps her pal on the shoulder before turning her attention to Yongsun and flashing her a really warm smile. “I really want this to go well. Unnie, are you interested in what we have put together so far? You got time, right?”

Even if she doesn’t, Kim Yongsun would never have the heart to say no to these soft puppies. Like how she often tells Eunji, they definitely have gotten themselves some real gems this year. These really cute and talented girls might just be the biggest weapon of a school club could ever have.

Still, she truly adores the girls as who they are. Genuine and passionate. Just like their music. It would quite be biased of her to say it is the greatest composition she has ever heard—but there is, indeed, an intoxicating beauty to it. 

Almost like restitution to the heart, the rawest form of emotion turns into melodies and beats.

Right then and there, even words lose their meanings.

In little ways, everything flickers their tune into the cacophony of oblivion, forevermore. Everything passes, and everything stays.

When it fades ever so leniently back into silence, Yongsun could only sigh, giving them each a pat on the head and a rub on the back.

She knows the reason why. She saw the timers on their wrists and how they are still counting down. She doesn’t care about the imperfect impediments, she only wants the best for them, she wants to make it work for them.

Truth to be told, she could tell without asking that the gleeful undertow is contributed by no one but Kyungwon. The completed half.

“Girls,” She gathers around her dear puppies who eagerly await her response. “You know how I-”

An untimely buzz on the table joins this cacophony. So loud that it drowns everything else.

“Bet it’s Moonbyul-unnie.” Chaeyoung tries to stifle a cheeky laugh with a giggly Canadian nudging her side. 

“Well, unnie. Just reply to her text first. We can wait.” Kyungwon throws Yongsun a wink to show her undying support. Man, she could write fanfiction for the two.

That is more like an open secret that Moonbyul is nothing but persistently sweet and at the same time a total loser when it comes to Kim Yongsun.

Blood rushes onto the vice captain’s cheeks with a tint of pink. 

But what is the thing that is stopping her from saying yes though? 

Is it because Moonbyul has never asked the question?

-

But things aren’t so peaceful outside of their studio.

“Oh, it’s just you two.” Eunji has her arms crossed and remains unfazed, not bothering to hide the distaste that is numbing her tongue. “Just stop preying on our new girls.”

Seulgi, who always manages to do the right thing even though she blanks out most of the time, gives Eunji a big smile silently pleading her to stop blocking the door. “Hey, I’m just passing by. Just wanna say hi to Wendy! Kyungwon told me you girls are having the session here.”

“Well, I’m not gonna play nice here.” Nana inches even closer to the fellow club captain, trying to intimidate her by height. “Seulgi has Kyungwon already and I can let her take Wendy as well. But I want Rosé. You can’t hog them all for yourself, you gotta share pal.”

“Kyungwon is some whipped cream.” The vocalist sighs at the thought. “But from what I heard, Wendy and Rosé are not interested in other-”

Impatiently, the dancer cuts her schoolmate off, “I just need to see Seungwan!”

The cheerleader backs up a little, surprised by the sudden outburst from the normal fluffy bear-alike. “Man, sorry I didn’t know you and Wendy are at that stage already.”

Eunji’s mother instinct kicks in and she is that close to grab Seulgi’s shoulders to shake the soul of the latter. “Is it true? You and Seungwannie?”

“You got it all wrong, dude. It’s not me!” Seulgi helplessly flails her arms wanting to escape the scene and abandon her original mission. 

“What pity, Wendy’s kinda cute. I mean, you two will look cute together.” Nana shrugs her shoulders since it’s not that big of a deal to her anyways.

“IT IS JOOHYUN-UNNIE.” 

Yeah, speaking of Seulgi’s mission. A glorious one. 

Since Irene has basically disappeared from the surface of this earth after their brief encounter this morning, Seulgi thought she might have to reach out to Wendy first instead. 

At least she has to let Wendy know that she has told Joohyun her name, through texts of course.

“Irene?” Nana, the ever-composed one, is the first to register the situation at hand. “Well, that’s really cute. Totally can picture her as a lovely top.”

“In the name of Jesus please stop.” If Eunji has two pairs of hands, she won’t hesitate to cover the tall blonde’s mouth right now, but too bad she’s still holding Seulgi by the arms. “Seul, give it to me straight. What tier are they in? Why didn’t Seungwannie tell me anything about it?”

(*For those who haven’t watched “Adventure Time”, the “tier” is a reference from Jake the Dog when he is talking about stages of dating. According to him, Tier 1 is hugging, Tier 2 is smooching…… And Tier 15, the final one, is…… You know.)

The slender girl merely shakes her head and lifts her hand to the eye level of both. 

The figures are burning bright like a daunting stigma. Especially when it still hasn’t turned zero. 

Sometimes it is like a curse more than a blessing.

There is no pure coincidence, no mere fate.

When you soar past the years and centuries of lovers and strangers, you see lights falter to the sea, you hear ice melting back to life. Over and over again. Souls wandering and intwining. Over and over again.

It takes efforts, it takes time. A simple tie ensures nothing.

How far are we from being forever, a skip of the heartbeat or an epiphany of the mind?

For that moment, they are all silenced.

“Oh hi! Why are you all standing here? It’s getting chilly these days, come inside!”

“Seungwan! I have something important to tell you.”

-

In such an instant, the voiceless singing in her ears finally ceases.

The fabric drops from her dainty hands just to seek warmth from her lap.

She has never felt that way before, so free and unrestrained yet so certain and sheltered.

Like a freshet empties into the sea, eventually.

“It just doesn’t make sense.” Mumbles the girl who is troubled by something ever so impalpable called feelings. And it isn’t even her feelings anymore, not only hers but also Wendy’s. Ah, no…… Her name is Seungwan. Should she call her Wendy, or just Seungwan?

“It doesn’t have to be.” Sowon softly smiles, legs swinging back and forth, humming a tune that Eunha loves.

Joohyun looks around this quiet little section of the school, not sure how to truly express herself even at more private settings like this. “So…… Does it mean it will bring me to, her?” 

She hears Seungwan sometimes, faintly solid. And she thinks Seungwan’s voice is beautiful. 

But Sowon understands. They are friends after all, they speak through gestures and gazes. “You should be talking about yourself instead of ‘it’. This is about you and her, not ‘it’ and her.”

“You needs to go to her. And she will come to you as well. Look at me and Eunha.”

She pauses and turns to look at the sky today. Wondering if she would like how it dimly lights the tip of the roofs as well. Winter’s coming.

The older girl lets herself succumb to her thoughts again. Words play tricks on her tongue and gnash their teeth in her brain.

A piece of recent memory slips in. 

It was also pleasant and calm. Kyulkyung was hard to read through. 

Joohyun was simply amused by the fact that Kyulkyung, who has braved the impossible to get where she is now, was just as scared as her. 

It just makes no sense when Joohyun slowly found her younger self in this girl sitting across the table, slowly telling her stories about the old cozy days in China. 

Kyulkyung also heard what she wasn’t supposed to hear.

“Unnie, someone once told me about this. But they failed.” 

“What do you mean ‘failed’?” 

“When the timer stops working. It stops and turns grey.”

“I…… That’s surprising. I only thought of scenarios where it never stops.”

“It’s when the other person…… dies. All clocks are ticking, unnie.” 

“I will look out into the starred sky,

With your help now, I will be alright.”

-

“You are such a loser.” The chic-looking girl tosses a towel back to its rightful owner.  

“Now you are just being mean.” Bless her reflex once again, Doyeon manages to catch it with her long arms. 

“I’m calling a truce for you two.” Changed and all prepped for more training for the day, Lisa makes a beeline to the exit of the changing room. Only heaven knows where her energy comes from. 

“Wait. You’re heading out already?” Jennie lets her usual cold guise slip. The conversation they were having just a while ago can’t end like this. 

Doyeon chimes in after making sure her shoes are double-knotted one last time, “What you said earlier…… You aren’t joking or anything, right?” She is getting more and more forgetful, perhaps heedless as well. 

A hint of solemnity creeps up on Lisa’s face so fast that Jennie thought she was really joking at first. 

But then she is hiding it so well that Jennie soon realizes she isn’t.

“Yoojung must have told you something similar before. Just make sure to go to the next dance practice. No need to thank me, pal.”

Gazing after the Thai who has walked away from the conversation and from the stuffy changing room, Doyeon stands up and is about to follow suit. 

But again, Jennie stops her at her track. “Hey, you sure you’re okay?”

The taller blinks twice before turning back to her teammate, “I…… I guess I still need some time.”

“Why though?” Tittering, Jennie swiftly ties her hair into a slick ponytail. “Ain’t it easier if the two of you are together? Like, aren’t you guys sharing everything already?”

Doyeon remains quiet as girls from other sports teams start to crowd the little space, their cheerful chattering muffle the ungraspable maundering that only she could hear. She even dreamt of an ancient Chinese pavilion because of all the bipa she heard last night.

“How do you know she is not freaking out like you?” The girl tries again. She probably would never understand how it really feels, but she could always imagine.

A sultry tone chirps as a figure in swimming suit approaches the duo, “Yo, who’s freaky?”

“I didn’t know you swim.” Letting a low whistle, Euijin, followed by her group of friends, finds a corner to put down her gym bag.

Joy does a sassy roll of her eyes, “My name’s Sooyoung after all.”

“Touché.” Eunseo quickly diverts her stare to a nearby locker before the raven-haired girl turns to greet her and catches her red-handed.

“Man, we need a bigger changing room!” Luda grumbles after having another serious headbutt accident with Bona the third time this week, while the latter is just giggling for no reason.

Doyeon just looks down and smiles to herself.

Finally having gotten out of that tight spandex-nylon composite fabric, Joy casts her big eyes on the cheerleader-in-deep-thought and gives her one wild smile.

Hey, I understand. 

Park Sooyoung would have told her everything by then if she doesn’t have places to be—how she has been talking to someone by writing on her own palm so much to a point that she had planned to skip the swimming practice today, for she thought the water might wash away the reply she had been waiting for all morning; how she chuckled by herself in class like a maniac not only because the doodles were just too cute, but also the random food list appeared on her skin telling her that someone was hungry and about to order delivery. 

She really understands. 

She is still too scared to ask for her name.

-

Fate, predestined lovers, soulmates. 

A great apostasy of the romantic serendipity.

“Let them go. They would come back if they are yours. If they never, they were never yours.”

The girl reads from her phone as the others lay around on the studio floor making the best use of the water break.

“It’s actually quite deep.” Nayoung hugs her knees, shifting her glance between her hands and a petite dancer who is still diligently sharpening her movements in front of the mirror.

Kyungwon just starts clapping for her girlfriend, stirring a round of laughter from her friends, especially Eunwoo who mostly laughs and cries at the same time. Minkyung just can’t be more embarrassed.

“Yeah, yeah. I got it, big poet.” Barely recovered from the intense workout she just had, Jisoo side-eyes the empty space that their captain and vice-captain used to stay and do monitoring whenever the new intakes are practicing. 

She is particularly exhausted today. Even her brain feels like it is running out of fuel, even her fingers hurt so much as if they have been pressed against sharp and hard strings all day long. 

And she knows where these are leading her to, just like she is almost certain she can play the guitar now without learning.

Kyulkyung wants to say something but is disrupted by the heavy beating of her heart. The constant bumping music and the excessive muscle flex are gradually wearing her out. 

This soulmate of hers needs to learn about how to take a proper break or else she is giving her heart attacks sooner or later.

Even though the first thing she would do is to throw away all of her gray socks.

Well, when she gets to meet this person—presumably Yoojung’s friend, judging from what she has been hearing. Someone who cares immensely about Yoojung. 

But somehow, like their captains, Yoojung is absent today.

Little do they know, Seulgi is just outside, trying to drag a guest along.

“I assure you,” The slender brunette lightly tugs her friend’s arm. “It’s okay! We have come so far, don’t tell me you are backing out here.”

“No!” Seungwan just won’t budge. Her overthinking has once again overpowered her sensible self. “What if I make a fool of myself in there? Like……. What if she’s there?! No! I can’t!” The Bae Irene who drives every suitor away with her cold demeanor and divine beauty.

“The last time I checked, Joohyun-unnie is not coming today.” Seulgi awkwardly stands there with one hand on the doorknob, watching passersby shooting weird looks at the two of them. 

“I can’t even dance.” A frowning Seungwan is inevitably cute and thus hard to resist. “Seul, I should just head back to join Chaeyoung.”

Her palm is itchy so she has to let go of the door, “No. You can, because Joohyun can. I bet you can dance better than me!”

“Seulgi-unnie? And……” 

Maybe fate still plays a part. Yoojung rushes from her dreadful painting lesson all the way to the overdue choreography session and is taken aback by how her vice-captain is wearing long-sleeves to practice (the senior usually prefers less fabric), and how she seems to be cajoling someone to join their club again. 

“Oh, hi! And this is Wendy.” 

“Seungwan is also fine.”

“SO YOU ARE WENDY-UNNIE!?”

Yoojung is seeing literally stars in the new star vocalist’s eyes. And she just can’t control herself from yelling. Not exactly starstruck, but if their speculation is true, Wendy is one of the potential soulmates for their one and only glorious greatest captain.

Although the girls would not have known who is the owner of the handkerchief, it is not that difficult to deduce from what Seulgi brought up about Joohyun’s…… other half. 

Then, surely, people from the inside would have heard Yoojung.

Sungyeon bursts the door wide open and engulfs her club member in a big hug, “Wendy! It’s you! Wait, but only Jisoo-unnie is here. Now, where’s Rosanne?” 

Yeah, as a member of both clubs, Sungyeon actually has all the right pieces in her head already. She can’t wait to win the bet and wipe that smug look off of Yebin’s face.

Dignity and 10 bucks are on the line. 

But much to Sungyeon’s dismay, her victory has to wait for another day.

Lapsed in reverie, she lives in the present but breathes the air of the future. If she touches her hand, when she touches her hand, they would then make time meaningless.

“Oh, my future, I can’t believe it’s time.

No, my lover, I’ll never leave you behind.”

I'm back! And wowie, it's definitely not easy to include so many characters (and pairings) in one story! 

But I hope it's worth it though :) 

And the finale is coming up next!

I will try my best to update asap since I know you all must be very eager to see how each pair of "soulmates" would meet.

Don't forget to subscribe, upvote or comment to let me know if you are enjoying the story so far!

P.S. "Adventure Time" is easily my all-time favourite! Check it out if you are interested in animated series. Kinda sad that it's ending this year.

xo