The next day, Joohyun’s hands are ink-free, and Seungwan tries to mask the surprise on her face when the older woman sits next to her in Human Geography. Joohyun smiles tiredly at her, she’d been studying for hours the night before and hadn’t been able to sleep much. She doesn’t blame the younger woman’s curiosity, after all, not many of their generation are even looking for their soulmates. Most of the time, people their age were just looking for hookups and didn’t bother to use soul marks. “They don’t draw every day,” Joohyun murmurs, “only when they feel like it, I suppose.”

Their professor walks in a moment later, silencing the hushed whispers around them, and Joohyun’s too busy taking her laptop out of her backpack to notice lines beginning to streak across her own skin. Seungwan pretends not to watch out of the corner of her eye as one particularly thick line travel further and further, until it stops at the top of the young woman’s toned bicep.

The new line looks as though the belongs to a thick art brush, Seungwan thinks as her gaze trails over to Joohyun’s face as the older woman types. Yet another reason why Joohyun’s soul marks stood out from the majority of the population: her soulmate was beyond creative with how they expressed themselves. This time, rather than jumbles of doodles, Seungwan watches as a geometrical pattern of hexagons appear down Joohyun’s left arm.

The older woman, however, is completely oblivious to the soul marks and Seungwan’s stare; she’d logged into her computer and was typing up the notes from the PowerPoint their professor was presenting with renewed earnest. The Canadian finally tears her eyes away a moment later and begins to type up her own notes as well, but her thoughts quickly drift back to Joohyun’s soulmate.

Just how does Joohyun’s soulmate manage to draw such elaborate designs on themselves? Don’t they have classes they needed to go to? Do they even have classes? Are they even in college? She begins to think about the possibility of having her own soulmate, but merely shakes the thought away and strains to keep her focus. Even though she had tested out soul marks when she was a little kid, Seungwan had never gotten a reply, cementing her stubborn refusal to write anything to her own soulmate.

Halfway through the lecture, Joohyun finally notices the soul markings. Seungwan notices the sudden shift in the older woman’s behavior and instantly she knows Joohyun has spotted them. Joohyun stiffens beside her, and Seungwan steels herself to turn and look at the older girl. Seungwan feels her heart melting a little at the sight before her. Joohyun delicately traces a finger slowly over each of the designs, grinning to herself.

 Seungwan wonders briefly what it would be like to have someone literally bear their soul to a complete stranger nearly every day, and is amazed by the romantic gesture of it all.

The professor’s lecture is long forgotten as Joohyun leans over and pipes up, “They’ve outdone themselves today, Seungwan.” Seungwan matches the giant grin that’s playing across Joohyun’s lips. “They really have,” The Canadian breathes in agreement before back to the lecture once more.

She’d noticed people staring from a few seats over. Judging from their bewildered expressions, Seungwan deduced they had been drawn to the majestic scene of Joohyun’s appearing soul marks. Not wanting her new friend to feel as though she were being watched and observed just like a zoo animal, Seungwan fought the urge to turn and look at the marks for the rest of the class. After the hasty shuffle of laptops and notebooks being stuffed into backpacks, Joohyun and Seungwan step out of the lecture hall and walk towards one the Student Union building for lunch.

“Do you ever think about documenting your markings?” Seungwan finally asks, unable to hold bite back questions any longer. She couldn’t stop imagining the whole art museum idea in her head, it would be the perfect way to amplify the knowledge about soul marks and the pure, unaltered notions of love. It was the photography major gnawing at her insides that made her suggest her idea aloud. She was craving to shoot the older woman’s marks, to share the expression its beauty.

Joohyun clasps her hands behind her back again, her expression turning thoughtful. “Honestly, not at all,” Joohyun replies quickly, “While I don’t keep my markings a secret, I don’t necessarily broadcast them when they do happen to show up. I’ve never been one for being under a spotlight.” Seungwan nods silently in response, she had been expecting this kind of answer from the older woman, but she hadn’t been expecting the touch of disappointment she felt when the older woman saw no interest in her idea.

The second thing Seungwan noticed from the get-go was that Joohyun was an extremely well-liked woman. She was popular amongst their peers and no matter wherever