Are you sure? Seulgi mouthed to Joohyun. The bride was waiting patiently in front of the altar, looking at Seulgi with her big brown eyes. Her hands were folded neatly around her bridal bouquet, a lovely mix of purple-blue sweet peas, lavender, cornflowers, tweedia, and delphiniums. The wedding theme was one of brilliant pristine whites and shades of baby blue, which came as a surprise. Blue wasn’t Joohyun’s favorite color.

        Anyone who even remotely knew the older woman was aware of the fact she favored a lavender hue over any other color under the rainbow. “This is Seungwan’s doing for sure,” Seulgi had overheard Yeri mutter earlier, while they were helping finish up the decorating. Luckily, neither of the women seemed to remember the impending doom of Seulgi’s string, too distracted with making sure everything looked perfect for Joohyun’s ceremony.

        Yeri had shaken her head as she strung translucent pastel cerulean streamers over the back of the altar’s flower display, though a fond smile was spreading across her face. Sooyoung had laughed, shaking her head while rearranging the pots. “Who knew she’d be the one to win the wedding decorating game.” The engaged couple giggled together before finishing their decorating, leaving Seulgi to watch them silently.

        Seulgi stared at the bouquet and the line of crimson running from it to where she stood, trembling in line a few feet behind Seungwan. A sick feeling rolled over in her stomach, as if she were flipping cartwheels instead of standing still. Now that it was finally time to do the deed, Seulgi was finally feeling everything kick in. The urge to throw up came suddenly, but thankfully died down as quickly as it appeared. Dots began clouding her vision, causing her to struggle to maintain her focus.

        Joohyun’s bouquet was a larger version of the one Seulgi held in her own hands, which were shaking ever so slightly as her nerves frayed and her body became overwhelmed with the task at hand. She was going to cut her life from Joohyun’s, then fasten the bride’s fallen string to Seungwan’s. It was an act permanently irreversible. Once Seulgi did this, she would never be able to get Joohyun back by retying their strings together.

        Not even the power of another person with the sight of the strings could undo this deed. Dragging her thoughts from that, Seulgi allowed her gaze to flit from Joohyun to the Canadian woman. Her best friend stood tall across from Joohyun, completely oblivious to their exchange. The Canadian woman was holding one of Joohyun’s hands as everyone looked on and listened to the droning of the priest.

        Her thumb a slow, small circle on top of Joohyun’s skin. It would’ve been sweet if Seulgi hadn’t felt another wave of nausea wash over her again. Joohyun nodded her head ever so slightly at her, repeating the signal to Seulgi. She looked like some kind of crystal vision, standing there with her wedding veil spilling out from behind her like a spirit and the fine cut of her wedding dress accentuating her figure.

        She was like this oblivious, innocent angel who blinked at her expectantly, waiting for her to make the next move, to end things once and for all. Seulgi took a deep breath, closed her eyes, then flicked them back open again, trying to calm herself. Everything had come down to the wire. Every choice, sentence, and failed attempt had led Seulgi down this path to a wedding where Joohyun would never get to be her bride again.

        Yet even now, as she watched Joohyun with lifeless eyes and a stoic expression, she couldn’t find it in herself to rebel any further. Fate had dealt its final hand, and all of the cards were in its favor. It was time for her to accept it. Joohyun wasn’t hers anymore.

        On the other side of the altar, Sooyoung and Yeri seem to be furiously boring holes into her. Their eyes widened with silent pleas, begging her to not go through with it. Their knuckles were white, gripping their bouquets tight in their hands, straining against their own will.

        But by that point, Seulgi couldn’t have cared less what they thought. Regardless of the string strung around her and Joohyun’s fingers, binding them together, there was one thing for certain Seulgi knew. It was her duty as Joohyun’s soulmate to provide the older woman with whatever she desired, as long as it was within her doing.

        And even if it meant giving up their connection forever, even if it made her no better than the Atropos, Seulgi would keep her promise. The author would go to her grave if it meant doing her part for Joohyun. That’s how devoted she was to the older woman, to the one who held her heart in her hands and knew nothing of it as she cast it away for someone else’s.

        With one final deep breath, Seulgi reached into the pocket of her suit jacket and retrieved the gold encrusted pair of scissors she’d been concealing. It seemed as if they sparked at her touch, sending an electrifying jolt through her veins. The sensation reminded her of the solidity, the utter reality of this moment.

        Despite the tears beginning to well up in her eyes and blurring away bits of her vision, Seulgi couldn’t seem to break away from Joohyun’s magnetic gaze. She slips her fingers into the handle of the intricate scissors, a flash of gilded fate in the palm of her hand. Deep down, she prayed no one in the audience was taking any notice of her as she did this, drawing the scissors out discreetly and hiding them behind her bouquet.

        Time ticked away with each heavy thud of her heart, and Seulgi began to feel even more sick to her stomach. Her body exuded nervous energy, she was having trouble keeping the flood of thoughts bombarding her mind under lock and key. Are you sure? Seulgi mouths again, one more time, giving the unknowing bride one final chance to stop everything in its trakcs before she snipped their lives away from each other for good.

        As she awaited Joohyun’s answer, it was as if every moment she and the older woman had ever spent together flashed before her eyes. Like some kind of cruel film movie reel, fate showing her all the things she would miss out on for the years to come; everything she would give up if severed their bind.

        Seulgi first saw herself sitting down at their lunch table for the first time back in high school, recalling how she had broken into a nervous sweat when she locked her gaze on their intertwining strings. She’d never forget how perfectly Joohyun’s uniform had been pressed, how not even a single strand of her long, dark brown hair was out of place. Joohyun looked as perfect and angelic as she did now, standing there in her wedding gown.

        Then, in the next moment, Seulgi was watching as Joohyun walked the stage of her high school graduation. She remembers the distinct swell of pride in her chest as she watched the older girl accept her diploma. It made her feel as if she could’ve flown over to Joohyun to a kiss to her cheek. She’d practically jumped into Joohyun’s arms the first chance she got. Had she known Joohyun wasn’t coming home for the summer or the summer after that, maybe she really would’ve plucked up the courage to kiss Joohyun’s cheek instead of just thinking about it.

        The next flashback came from one of the hour long FaceTime calls she and Joohyun used to share while the older girl was studying in Seoul. Late night calls matched their schedules well because Joohyun was always awake at odd hours of the night while Seulgi herself had gotten busier. On this particular night, Seulgi recalls the two of them accidentally falling asleep before ending the call, lulled into slumber by the sound of each other’s breathing.

        All of it became a haunting mirage that made Seulgi’s lip begin to quiver, yet she did her best to remain strong and shake the memories from her head. Now wasn’t the time to burst out into a fit of tears. Joohyun needed her to be strong, needed her to do this. Internally, she cursed herself for being so weak and sentimental when it came to the older woman.

        She had to get the job done, and then all of this would be over. She had to give Joohyun up, once and for all. This is what Joohyun wanted, she told herself, and that is exactly what she would give her. At the dip of Joohyun’s head, Seulgi swallows hard and returns the nod, signaling she understood. As she discreetly lowered the pair of scissors to her own right hand, a lone tear trickled off of her cheek and splashed onto marble floor below her. The words of the pastor became fuddled, as if she had forgotten what language itself sounded like.

        From his mouth, there came something that sounded like, ‘Lawfully wedded wife,’ but Seulgi couldn’t be certain. She was too focused on the task of severing her soulmate from herself to pay much attention to anything else. In order to conceal what she was doing from the crowd below, Seulgi discreetly turned her body to the side as she went.

        She opened the pair of strikingly crafted shears and slowly began inching them towards her beautifully threaded string. Its golden beads gleamed red in the light of the cathedral’s stain glass windows like hot coals from a roaring fire. She’d miss admiring it, with its unique design, the only thing left tying her to Joohyun. God, she would miss Joohyun. Another tear falls to the ground. She’d miss Joohyun so much.

        Already, Seulgi had decided she wouldn’t be actively searching for another soulmate after Joohyun for at least a few years, possibly never again. The thought of finding someone new didn’t sit well with her, especially since she was plagued with the sight of the strings. It wouldn’t feel right to her to have to severe someone from the soulmate for a second time in order to for her to find a new soulmate. Perhaps the author would never settle down. She wasn’t sure of that aspect of her future, not with so many things still clouding her mind.

        But none of that mattered now. Almost every single thought flew from her mind as she lowered the twin blades to her thread, her hand shaking ever so slightly. Across the stage, Sooyoung whimpered quietly to herself, watching Seulgi’s every move while anxiously biting her lip. Yeri put a hand over , covering up the quiet sob that escaped from her parted lips. Neither one of them charged across the stage, but Seulgi knew that every fiber of their being screamed for them to do so, to stop her in her tracks.

        But they couldn’t do it here. Not when there was a full house of people watching them from the pews and Joohyun and Seungwan were mere minutes away from being happily married. It was unavoidable. Seulgi’s thread glistened in between the golden blades of the scissors. One false move and all would be lost. Seulgi forced herself to take another deep breath, telling herself that one the count of three, she’d let the blades come together.

        Yet just as she tightened her grip on the shears, ready to strike down everything she believed in, there was a gasp from the crowd.

        “Wait!”

        A voice cut through the air, silencing everything it its wake as it echoed off of the walls and ricocheted into Seulgi’s ears. An uncanny stillness swept through the entire congregation. Grandmas and grandpas who had taken turns fanning themselves halted their movements, aunts and uncles stiffened in their seats, and the children who had been playing rock paper scissors beneath the pew all poked their heads up to see what was going on.

        No one so much as breathed as they drank in the scene before them. Joohyun had taken a step forward, holding both of her hands out in front of her, eyes wide with fright. The bouquet of her bridal flowers rolled across the floor, coming to a stop at the toe of Seungwan’s shoes. Seulgi merely looked at her, mouth dropping open in shock. Surprisingly, she hadn’t moved, even at an outburst as loud as that.

        “Stop!”

        Seungwan turned at last, confused as to why her bride had just interrupted the ceremony with such loud outbursts. The Canadian woman began to reach out for Joohyun but froze in place when she saw the scissors clutched in Seulgi’s grasp. Before she could meet Seungwan’s eye, Joohyun suddenly rushed towards her, drawing all of her attention back to her. “Don’t do it, Seulgi! I take it back!” Her soulmate exclaimed, tearing the scissors from her hand.

        There was a breathless moment between them, where the audience and the pastor and the bridesmaids all melted away. Nothing mattered but the two of them, as they stood in their little corner of the stage, sharing each other’s space. It felt like it was just the two of them there, inches apart, face to face, with Joohyun breathing hard as she held the scissors in one hand and gripped Seulgi’s arm with the other.

        She was looking at Seulgi with an undecipherable expression, dark eyes flitting over Seulgi’s face, as if seeing her for the first time. Seulgi would’ve given everything up just to know what the older woman was thinking at that moment, now that it was revealed she was Joohyun’s true soulmate. Yet just as quickly as the moment had started, it shattered.

        Joohyun tugged Seulgi by the arm, dragging her from the altar and down the aisle of pews without another word. Their shoes pattered loudly on the marble floor, echoing throughout the church as they ran away from Joohyun’s wedding. The sound was like the thundering of a herd of wild animals, desperate to get away from the daunting, unforeseen forces of a predator.

        The entire congregation had their eyes on them as the two of them sped off, no one uttering a word. Seulgi chanced a stolen glance over her shoulder as she and Joohyun reached the thick doors of the exit. Seungwan stood there, motionless, at the altar. The pastor had one of his large, pudgy hands on her shoulder as they solemnly witnessed her bride flee the scene.

        The Canadian woman let her own bouquet fall from in between her fingers at the same time, but Seulgi didn’t see it fall. She’d turned her attention to the multitude of people staring at them. The faces of the pews are all stricken with a mixture of emotions. There was shock, confusion, and others were completely oblivious to what had happened, too lost in their own personal trains of thought, Seulgi supposed.

        At least no one tried to stop them, she thought to herself just before they reached the doors. The two runaways burst out of the cathedral and into a beautiful cloudless afternoon, a warm breeze ruffling through their formal clothing. A couple walking their dog on the sidewalk outside the cathedral spotted them, shouting their congratulatory remarks from across the parking lot until Joohyun waved them away with a breathless smile.

        “Kang Seulgi,” Joohyun heaved, the two of them still gasping for air. Her nails dig into the fabric of Seulgi’s suit jacket, keeping her close. The beginning of a bruise was slowly forming from how hard Joohyun held her, but Seulgi knew she deserved it. The older woman must’ve sensed the way Seulgi felt like running away. Her free hand was already jammed into her pocket, toying with her car keys.

        Her plan to sprint off to her car to speed away from the scene without looking back to see the madness she’d caused was quickly thwarted by the older woman. She’d sell off a few of her homes and take the next plane out of Seoul, all while speeding towards her house.

        “You’re not going anywhere,” Joohyun said, motioning Seulgi to hand over the keys to her car. Weakly, Seulgi dropped her keys into Joohyun’s open palm and she allowed herself to be escorted to the vehicle by Joohyun’s iron clad grip. “You’ve got a hell of a lot of explaining to do, young lady, and I believe I’ve just freed up my entire evening.”

**

        “You can start now,” Joohyun said.

        Despite everything that had happened, the whirlwind of emotion she must’ve been going through, her voice was still softer than silk. Gentle as a lazy, warm breeze wafting through the air, so different to what Seulgi had been expecting. At the very least, she imagined Joohyun spewing harsh words at her. She’d envisioning a storm of a woman waiting for her in the bedroom of the hotel as she had changed out of her suit in the bathroom.

        But Joohyun was anything but angry. The older woman was sitting on the edge of Seulgi’s freshly made hotel bed with an almost blank, indifferent expression worn on her features. Her wedding dress was hanging up in Seulgi’s closet and Joohyun stared at it as she absentmindedly picked at the hem of the black V-neck shirt Seulgi had lent her.

        On the giant mattress, Joohyun looked like some sort of lost child. Her slight figure made her seem tiny, sitting there with the pillows propping her up and Seulgi’s flannel pajama pants engulfing her. The sight was beyond endearing, but Seulgi didn’t dwell on that for long. There were more important things at stake that needed her attention – her own fate, for one. While the obvious had been avoided with the wedding cancelled, there were still multiple things hanging in the air between two young women.

        Seulgi catches a gleam of the golden scissors on the bedsheets beside Joohyun and swallows hard as she emerged from the bathroom. “Start what?” Seulgi asked, rubbing the back of her neck. Though she knew exactly what Joohyun was talking about, she didn’t feel ready to delve into everything. Timidly, she settled herself in the chair opposite to the bed, skin prickling.

        What if Joohyun still wanted her to cut their strings? Why had she dragged her out of the cathedral in the first place? Did that mean…Joohyun had felt something? For her? Her mind overflowed with unanswered questions. To make matters even more awkward, now that everything had been blown out into the open, Seulgi wasn’t sure how to act around Joohyun anymore. There was this heaviness to the air surrounding them, weighing down on top of both of their shoulders. Everything either she or Joohyun did put the other on edge, both of them wary of the other’s actions at all times as the settled into the uneasy silence.

        “What you do best,” Joohyun replied, pouring herself her second glass of wine. Seulgi stared at the half empty bottle. The bride had made a pit stop at the liquor store just down the street from the hotel before they arrived. She swung Seulgi’s car smoothly into the parking lot and disappeared into the building, wedding dress trailing behind her. A minute or two later, and the bride had emerged with two bottles of red wine. Seulgi said nothing when Joohyun got back behind the wheel and handed her them off to her to hold.

        “Telling a story,” the older woman replied simply, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Seulgi tensed at the mention of her profession. “Our story. You know, the one where you didn’t tell me you’ve been my soulmate even though we’ve known each other for nine years.” Joohyun twisted her engagement ring. Once, twice, thrice. Then she stopped and took another long swig from her wine glass.

        “Right,” Seulgi murmurs, looking down at her hands. She’d been wringing them together, her knuckles white from clenching them too hard. She attempts to chuckle but it comes out as a faint wheeze. “That story.” Rather than answering, Joohyun took another calculated sip of her wine, waiting patiently as she reclined against the headboard of the bed.

        The author glanced at the row of glasses lined up on the table beside her and sighed. If she was going to do this, might as well have a drink. They both deserved it, Seulgi thought to herself. They’d been through enough today as it was. “Could I have some of that?” she asked, holding one of them out towards the older woman. Joohyun dipped her head in a nod and Seulgi took a few steps forward.

        The older woman wordlessly tipped the neck of the bottle downwards, filling Seulgi’s glass to the absolute brim. “Thanks.” Seulgi took a shaky sip of the blood red liquid, feeling the way Joohyun’s eyes were raking over her. warmed with the liquid as she settled back into her chair. The author didn’t speak again until she’d drained the wine completely.

        “Where would you like me to begin?” Seulgi asked, wincing as she set the empty glass down on the table behind her. She could barely stomach looking into the other woman’s eyes. Her heart wrenched against her chest each time she so much as glanced Joohyun’s way. “The beginning,” Joohyun replied quickly, leaning forward.

        Seulgi looked at her, then, gazing into her pleading eyes. Her heart leapt in her chest, beating faster and faster until she tore her eyes away.

        “Please.”

**

        When Seulgi tells the last bit her side of the story, they’ve finished off the last of the first bottle of wine and have already cracked open the second. Joohyun watches in silence as Seulgi pours her third glass of the evening, eyes sparkling with unshed tears.

        “It’s like you didn’t even try,” she mumbles underneath her breath, shaking her head left to right. “What?” Seulgi says, wondering if she’d heard correctly. “I said you didn’t even try, Seulgi. Other than the first time, when Seohyun interrupted us. There wasn’t even a second time after that where you tried to explain to me, tried to let me know the truth! I know that I wasn’t really around when I was at college, that I was going out with people and things like that, but not even a word after that?”

        Joohyun rubbed at her temples. “If only you’d said something…if only I’d known…so many if’s and years and just…things. Jesus Christ. The blind faith you had in fate is what’s gotten us here, right now.” For a moment, she paused and shook her head, spilling her long, black locks down her shoulders. She exhaled slowly and stared up at the ceiling, trying to keep her tears from dripping down her face. Seulgi nervously looked on from her seat.

        The author felt too drained from the day’s events and the emotionally exhausting toll recounting her story took on her was beginning to show. Even with Joohyun talking to her like this, Seulgi could hardly muster up enough energy to even counter back with a defensive remark. She was slumped over in her arm chair, clinging to her wine glass with white knuckles.

        The clock blinked a steady red nine o’clock on the dot. They’d had a long winded conversation, dotted with Joohyun’s frequent questions and interjections, and now everything was out in the open. The first time they met, the day Seulgi had almost confessed, how Seulgi had vowed to confess when Joohyun showed up to the dorms on her first day of college, everything. Her eyes stung, both from fatigue and crying, and she was ready to collapse into bed and lay there for a century or two.

        Joohyun, to her surprise, seemed anything but weary. As Seulgi nursed her wine, she watched the older woman fidget. Finally, Joohyun heaved another sigh. “You should’ve just told me,” Joohyun mutters, repeating herself. “None of this would’ve ever happened.”

        She threw her hands up in the air, gesturing back and forth between them. “I mean, the years I spent searching for you while you were right there, silently hurting. The heartbreak, the wedding, Seungwan. Oh my god, Seungwan.”

        The mention of her fiancé seemed to shock her even further into a frenzy. “All of this had to have been avoidable somewhere along the line.” Joohyun’s voice grew louder, shriller, and her eyes screwed shut as she leapt off of the bed to pace. “God you have no idea what my grandmother’s request meant to me! She practically raised me when my parents divorced!”

        “I thought you’d be happy!” Seulgi said, finally snapping. Her voice rose as she continued, and she stood to match Joohyun face to face. “Is this not what you wanted, Joohyun? You practically begged me for this, or don’t you remember?” She jabbed a finger at the older woman. “That one night when you brought me home and we had breakfast and for a moment got the briefest glimpse of what life would be like with you in it – and then you went and asked me to do the one thing I vowed to never do. Meddle with fate, let you choose your own soulmate.”

        “I didn’t know it was you!” Joohyun flung back, voice matching the same volume as Seulgi’s. “Why does it even matter that it was me?” Seulgi cried. “You seemed dead set on marrying Seungwan, even when you didn’t know if the two of you were soulmates! How was I supposed to know you were having second thoughts? You’re two of my closest friends, you’d been going steady for years, and it didn’t seem your relationship was wavering to me!”

        There was a white hot anger building within Seulgi’s chest, threatening to overflow after years of bottling up her feelings. “Was I supposed to have just chimed that little fact in one day? Maybe during one of our get-togethers? ‘Oh, Joohyun-ah, by the way, I forgot to mention, I’m your actual soulmate.’ You and Seungwan had been going steady for years when I’d predicted you’d only be together for a few months!”

        “That’s why I never said anything. You seemed so happy, how could I mess that up? How could I split the two of you apart when you’d already given up on finding me in the first place? And even if I had done that, would you have even believed me? If you weren’t sure of yourself, then what did ‘I’ve never been surer in my life’ mean, then?” Seulgi asked, her voice falling as she watched Joohyun’s expression crumble.

        The older woman collapsed into the arm chair while Seulgi still stood, chest heaving from her long winded speech. “I was happy,” the older woman confessed at last in a softer voice, shaking her head. She looked older then, Seulgi realized. Less of a vibrant youthful beauty and more her age. A matured, refined woman who had seen and felt her fair share of pain. “With Seungwan, I mean. For a while. A long time. I guess. I don’t really know how to explain it all.”

        She sighed then, looking down at her lap with a perplexed frown, trying to find the right words. Seulgi waited patiently, sitting on the edge of her bed. “There’s always a limit, you know? I’d been looking for my soulmate…for you…for years. It seemed like an endless, fruitless search. I must have an infinite amount of dates I’ve been on, Seulgi. I thought my soulmate must’ve abandoned me or that I might never find them.”

        “When Seungwan showed up I guess I just sort of…stopped looking. I grabbed ahold of what I thought was the best I could do because I thought I wouldn’t be able to find anything else. For years, I thought Seungwan was my soulmate. Settling down with her was another question. When she proposed, I couldn’t help but get this nagging feeling at the back of my mind, like what her and I had was something but it wasn’t it. It wasn’t right.”

        “Until it was me?” Seulgi couldn’t help but ask, interjecting her way into Joohyun’s thoughts. Joohyun looked at her, then through her, till her gaze hit home and sent a shiver through Seulgi’s spine. It was like Joohyun was seeing her for the first time, in this new light, as her true soulmate. She wondered if Joohyun had ever felt something towards her, had ever felt the tug of the strings.

        “Until it was you,” Joohyun replied. “Yes.” The older woman bit her lip as she stared at her. With the amount of concentration dwelling deep within her eyes, Seulgi felt like she was trying to commit her face to memory, like she was afraid of forgetting it. “You know…in high school, there was something about you that made me question everything I’d ever known. I’d already had a boyfriend or two by then, but none of them ever had the same pull as you did.”

        Seulgi felt her heart skip a beat at the knowledge that Joohyun had in fact felt their connection from the very beginning. Joohyun wiped her nose with her shirt sleeve and continued. “You turned my whole world upside down, Seulgi. I’d never even looked twice at a girl before, but you sparked something in me. For a little while, I thought I could block it all out with a new boy, a new face, someone who could almost match the same way you made me feel. I thought maybe it was a fluke, that it would go away in time.”

        A tear ran down Joohyun’s face as Seulgi watched her reveal her side of the story. “But it never worked, which is why I ended up going out with more than a few people back then. Then I graduated and we weren’t in contact as often as before. I stayed away for a long time, working and doing internships, the usual y adult college stuff. Though we called each other, it wasn’t the same. I thought then that I’d lost whatever crush I’d felt on you, that maybe we weren’t really anything at all and that you were just the wake up call I needed to realize I was gay.”

        “That’s why I didn’t think twice when it came to Seungwan. She gave me the same feeling you did when we were together and you hadn’t come around campus yet when I ran into her one day. And so when you came for move in day, I was already so caught up with her and my own courses and focusing on graduation that I didn’t even think about what I was really feeling because I was happy with her for so long.”

        She gave Seulgi an apologetic look. It must’ve been apparent the way her face had scrunched up with surprise at Joohyun’s confession, so Seulgi attempted to smooth out her features. “Then I graduated a few years after. I was doing my best to gain as much experience as I could in my field, juggling a social life, spending time with Seungwan. It was difficult for any of us to really meet up anymore, remember?”

        Seulgi nodded. How could she forget? While it was true their small friend group went to the same college, that didn’t necessarily mean all of them were attached to the hip. It was difficult to align schedules with each other what with classes and part time jobs, let alone find time to meet each other for more than thirty minutes at a time.

        “We were all in our own little worlds, working and studying and living. I didn’t even realize I wasn’t completely happy with Seungwan until I realized why I kept staying late at work all the time,” Joohyun sighed. “That’s when I got this idea in my head that maybe Seungwan wasn’t the one after all…and you know the rest, I’m sure.”

        The room fell silent again as both of their minds reeled with newfound information. Seulgi couldn’t believe that she’d been the reason Joohyun realized what her true uality was while Joohyun was still digesting all of the events Seulgi endured. In a way, it seemed like if only Joohyun had stayed, if she’d returned home once in a while from college, this could’ve been avoided as well. More if’s and but’s, Seulgi thought unhappily to herself.

        “I’ve got to go,” Joohyun sighed, finally checking the time. “It’s late and there’s still some things I’ve got to sort out.” Seulgi tensed, mind drifting back to the image of Seungwan standing there by the altar, alone with the pastor’s hand on her shoulder, as she and Joohyun ran. Seulgi wondered how Joohyun would face Seungwan, her family, and the endless stream of questions that no doubt all of them had.

        Would she reject Seungwan? Were they going to break up? What did this mean for her and Seulgi? Seulgi supposed that only time would tell, when Joohyun was ready to talk again. The older woman stood from the chair and paced the room, trying to find something to say, to close the night out once and for all. “I’ve got a lot to think about, Seul,” she finally said, rubbing at her temples again. She made her way over to the closet and stared for a moment at her wedding dress. Her shoulders sagged as she ran her fingers over the fine fabric.

        “About all this and what to do. Us and Seungwan and the future.” She made her way to the door with the dress slung over her shoulder and Seulgi just sat there, defeated, wine glass in hand, nodding in agreement. No doubt, the both of them had some thinking to do, Seulgi was still reeling from Joohyun’s side of the story.

        The older woman placed her hand on the door knob and seemed ready to leave but hesitated one last time. Joohyun paused and looked over her shoulder, meeting Seulgi’s unwavering gaze. She gave her one last burning, lingering look, eyes searching for something in Seulgi’s expression.

        “I’ll see you around, Kang Seulgi-yah,” Joohyun murmured, her voice catching in . It sounded more like a goodbye than anything, but Seulgi managed to quirk her lips up in a half smile in response. She was afraid that if she opened , the only thing that would come out would be, “I love you.” There was a whisper of a smile tugging at Joohyun’s lips, like she couldn’t manage anything more. And then she was gone, whirling from the room like a wisp of smoke dancing away from a dying flame.

        For a moment, Seulgi imagined herself getting up from the chair and rushing towards the door. She’d burst out into the long corridor and sprint after Joohyun and…Seulgi cursed and held her head in her hands. Joohyun didn’t need her to act on a spur of the moment instinct in order to know what the future held for the two of them.

        If Seulgi ran after Joohyun now, she might scare the older woman away for good, making things much worse. No, it was better like this, Seulgi told herself. No matter how much her heart yearned for Joohyun, Seulgi would to her best to maintain distance. They needed space this time around. Time apart would do them good after such emotionally draining events.

        Heaving a sigh, Seulgi stood from the bed and made her way over to the bottle of wine. When she’d corked it well enough, she placed it in the hotel fridge and ran a hand over her face. She felt like she’d aged a hundred years since the wedding that happened that morning, before Joohyun had stopped her and everything had become a jumbled, tangled mess like the jumble of red strings clouding Seulgi’s vision.

        No longer did she hold the power of her and Joohyun’s fate. It was Joohyun’s turn now to choose. Her or Seungwan. There was nothing Seulgi could’ve done but offer her side of their story and hope that it helped Joohyun make her decision. Seulgi pulled her shirt up and tossed it onto the floor, then shrugged off her jeans and kicked them towards her suitcase. Tomorrow, she’d check out of the hotel at eleven o’clock and make her way back to her home in Seoul.

        It would be a new day and Joohyun knew everything and for once, fate wasn’t settled on Seulgi’s shoulders. She changed into her pajamas and washed up and she reached for her phone for the first time since she’d slipped it into her suit jacket before the wedding. There were too many panic stricken messages from Sooyoung and Yeri to even begin to count, but when Seulgi reached the end of the notifications, she felt her heart clench.

        There was a single text from Seungwan, short and sweet, yet effective beyond belief.

        I know it’s you, Seul.

        Seulgi stared at the lit screen, reading the message until it was seared into the insides of her eyelids. Quickly, she typed out a response and sent it without thinking. I’m sorry. The author dared not respond to any other text, feeling especially jittery after Seungwan’s. There were multiple things that the Canadian woman could’ve meant by her message, but undoubtedly all of them were connected to one similar fact.

        Seulgi was Joohyun’s soulmate. Joohyun had felt something for her when they were in high school. Joohyun had run out of the church, dragging Seulgi behind her, and they had ruined Seungwan’s wedding day. The author screwed her eyes shut and pinched at the bridge of her nose. It still hurt trying to process everything that happened that day, the events flashing through her mind at what seemed to be warp speed.

        It wasn’t supposed to happen this way, Seulgi told herself, attempting to soothe the burning sensation of guilt radiating in her gut. If Joohyun hadn’t stopped her…a tear fell from her eyes and Seulgi rubbed it away with the palm of her hand. Feeling far too tired and tipsy to do anything but crawl into bed and fall asleep, Seulgi plugged in her phone and positively collapsed onto the mattress.

        Within seconds, she was out cold, plunging herself into a deep slumber. That night, she had one dream. In it, Seulgi actually decided to chase after Joohyun once she left, sprinting after her until she caught her arm with her hand.

        But when Seulgi turned the woman around, her face began to fade out of focus. Joohyun’s figure was evaporating into thin air, slipping through her fingers like water and spilling out onto the carpet of the corridor in a puff of black dust.

**

        More than half a year had passed since she and Joohyun had run out of Saint Anthony’s Cathedral. Seven months of silent hoping and pining and isolation, of writing and failing to feel satisfied with anything she typed out on the page, of this unsettled feeling fluttering within her chest. She hadn’t talked to either Sooyoung or Yeri for the same amount of time, not knowing exactly how to start up a conversation.

        How do you go from talking and keeping in touch once every week or so to just stopping cold turkey? Break up a wedding with two of your other best friends and run away with their fiancé, Seulgi thinks to herself. That’ll do it. She’s pacing in the living room of her house in Seoul, debating whether or not she should contact Yeri and Sooyoung.

        The author had been finishing up one of the last books from the horror series she’d put out before the whole wedding ordeal but found she kept getting distracted and frustrated with herself. Nothing seemed quite right with her work now. It was like she couldn’t pick up where she’d left off last, couldn’t connect what she’d written before the wedding with what she was after the fact. She did her best with her work but it didn’t feel quite right anymore.

        Even with critics and reviews raving about her work, there was a disconnect for her. It was like she lost her spark, her muse. Finally, Seulgi walked back over to where she’d been sitting, hunched over on her sofa, and shut her laptop. Heaving a heavy sigh, Seulgi shook her head. She couldn’t work like this. Although she only had a thing or two to finish up within the story she was working on before sending it to her editor for revising, Seulgi couldn’t seem to concentrate any longer.

        She swiped her phone up off the couch and stared hard at it. Taking in the abundance of notifications from her manager, articles from media outlets, reports on her sales from her publishing company, she grimaced. There were no calls, no texts from anyone close to her. It’d been a somewhat lonely existence, but one she felt she rightfully deserved. Sometimes, the only person she talked to on a regular basis was her manager.

        Now, she felt ready to talk about what had happened between her and Joohyun. She yearned to speak on the topic, to gain insight from the other two young women who she was close with. Perhaps Sooyoung and Yeri had news about Seungwan or could tell her where Joohyun was, if she’d even resurfaced. She knew she wasn’t ready to speak with Seungwan yet, but she was curious as to how the woman was doing.

        Although she and the Canadian woman weren’t necessarily on speaking terms, the author was concerned about her. They’d been best friends when all of this had gone down, almost closer than she was to Yeri and Sooyoung. Plus, there was always the possibility that Joohyun had simply went home that night and made up with Seungwan, that she simply just wasn’t returning any of her calls.

        The older woman could’ve easily decided to try and make things work with Seungwan still, if Seungwan didn’t mind them not being actual soulmates. From the look in her eyes when Seulgi looked back, she knew Seungwan must’ve put two and two together and had a rough idea of what Seulgi had been about to do with the golden scissors.

        Seulgi bit her lip, hesitated for a second, then made the call. She pressed the phone to her ear and felt her hands begin to clam up. Never before had she felt this nervous when it came to her best friends. Luckily, Seulgi didn’t have to wait long. Yeri picked up before the first ring had even finished going off.

        “Took you long enough,” was the first thing the young CEO chimed into the receiver. Seulgi’s lips quirked involuntarily into a smile at the record label owner’s voice, shaking her head. Yeri hadn’t changed a bit. “What’s up, Kang?” She let out a small chuckle before getting down to the point. “Are you and Sooyoung doing anything tonight?” Seulgi asked timidly. In the background, she heard Yeri shuffling through some papers.

        Checking the time, the author realized that Yeri must still be at work, sitting up in her office and sorting through whatever it was CEO of expansive record companies did. It was two in the afternoon on a Wednesday, the middle of the work week. But before she could retract her offer, Yeri piped up again. “How does Han River Park, say…around 4:30 sound?”

        “Perfect,” Seulgi breathes, relief flooding her voice. She can almost see Yeri smirking on the other end of the line. “Alright, we’ll see you soon…and Seulgi-