A soft knock on Solar and Moonbyul’s room made Solar – who had long lost hope on making Hwasa listen to her - look up and walk over to open the door. A small smile appeared on her lips as she saw Wheein and Moonbyul standing right before her.

“You-…Wheein…” Solar quietly called as she noticed the names on Wheein’s skin. They were just like Woozi’s. Colorful, yet the letters looked like they were dripping off her skin.

“Uh…I-I came to talk to Hwasa,” Wheein mumbled, biting on her nails while looking around, probably too nervous for her own good. With a reassuring squeeze to the younger girl’s hand, Solar stepped to a side so she could enter.

“You’ll be fine,” Solar assured before closing the door behind her, leaving Wheein and Hwasa alone. The tawny skinned woman was doing exactly what Wheein had been doing not long ago: staring outside through the balcony’s glass doors.

“Uh um…Hwasa,” Wheein called, but the black haired woman didn’t even budge. A soft sigh escaped her lips as she sat on the heart shaped bed. Words were always easier said mindlessly since you didn’t have to worry about anything until later. You were going to be judged anyway, so why worry about what or how to say something? Sadly, Wheein was already too immersed in her thoughts, trying to figure out how to even start the conversation. It didn’t last long, however, as an idea soon popped up in her head.

“Hyejin,” Wheein called once again, this time Hwasa seemed to slightly flinch at the mentioning of her real name, “Do you remember when we were in high school and people suddenly began to call me really mean things?”. The memories of those younger days seemed so far away now that the two of them were older…yet…for Wheein, the memory still lingered in her head, reminding her of the things she went through.

“Yeah. I beat them all up the following year since that’s when I found out on my own since you decided not to tell me,” Hwasa barked as she recalled having beaten all those girls up after having heard them speak those awful things about her friend.

“…I thought it was easier to keep everything to myself,” Wheein began saying as she glanced at the fuchsia Taeyong on the inner side of her pinky, “You got in trouble because of me, remember?”.

“It was worth it,” Hwasa replied with ease, “They had it coming anyways”.

“What if they had a reason for calling me those names?” Wheein’s sudden words made Hwasa frown as she glanced at her reflection on the glass door.

“A reason?” The black haired woman unconsciously repeated Wheein’s words, “Nobody deserves to be treated like that. Whether you are a real b**ch or not, it’s still wrong”.

“I…I never thought like that,” The short woman said as she stood up and began to stroll around the room, “For me, all the names they called me…I believed them,” She added which made Hwasa scoff and suddenly stand up.

“Why would you think that?! You’re nothing like-…” Hwasa’s words were left hanging as she was finally stared at Wheein…and her several marks, which were mostly blues, reds, pinks and browns. The room fell into a heavy silence, as Hwasa’s eyes kept looking form one name to another, forming a thin line in the process. On the other hand, Wheein was barely moving. Her gaze was fixed on her trembling hands as her mind kept telling her how bad of an idea this had been.

“What…why…Wheein are you a Soulful?” Hwasa asked after a while, finally looking up to meet Wheein’s uneasy expression.

“Yes…but for everyone else I was just a b**ch, a w***e, an easy girl-…OUCH!!” The short blonde haired girl howled in pain, holding on to her arm, which had been mercilessly slapped by Hwasa.

“No, you’re not,” Hwasa rebuked with a stern look.

“No, I was not…but how to make anyone believe me when I had all this names on me?” Wheein reasoned, earning a scowl from the tawny skinned woman, “For everyone, I was with all this people. Those girls who began to bully me thought that too…but, honestly, I didn’t and still don’t know any of them. These names just pop out of nowhere”.

“Since when have you had them? And why did you never tell me?” Hwasa suddenly asked, before going back to the balcony and simply sitting down, resting her back and head against the glass door.

“…I was ten when the first two names appeared,” Wheein confessed as she remembered looking at the mirror and finding one on the back of her elbow, an unusual charcoal mark. Not even a minute had passed when a lime green mark appeared on her lower back. When she told her parents, they immediately sent her with her grandmother, no reason ever given. Till this day, she still hasn’t talked to them, “And…I-I thought it was better for you not to know. Like I told you, everyone always seemed to either judge me or push me away when they knew”.

“I’m not everyone, Wheein,” Hwasa rebuked as Wheein looked down at her, their eyes fixed on each other, “For me, you’re that one friend who I can count on when I need them. I would have never judged you. Never”.

“…Sorry,” It was all Wheein said as silent tears began to roll down her cheek once again, “I’m so sorry…” Hwasa sighed as she motioned Wheein to sit with her. The shorter woman quietly sat between Hwasa’s legs, as she usually did whenever they watched a movie. The familiar scent of honey and a little bit of spice soon indulged her as the taller woman wrapped her arms around her.

“Don’t cry. I’m sorry too,” Hwasa said as she placed her head on Wheein’s shoulder, smiling lightly at the well known sea salt and coconut scent, “I’m sure that must have been really messed up to just wake up and have a random name on you,” She added as Wheein nodded, wiping her tears with the back of her hand.

“I-it was…” The short blonde haired woman agreed in a low voice, slowly becoming at ease as Hwasa began to sway her side to side.

“…So, you don’t know any of the names in you?” Hwasa inquired as Wheein shook her head.

“I wish I did, though. Maybe then…everything would be easier. I would at least know who they are, instead of feeling like a piece of paper where random people just wrote their names into,” The blonde haired woman replied as the room fell into a comforting silence once again.

“…Are we…are we good then?” Wheein suddenly asked, slightly doubtful.

“Nope,” Hwasa said as Wheein got out of her embrace and turned around to look at her.

“No? Why?” Wheein questioned as she saw Hwasa smirking at her, “What?”.

“I might consider forgiving you,” The black haired woman smiled as she leaned closer to Wheein, who simply tilted her head in confusion, “If you give me a reason to”.

“A reason?” Wheein asked as Hwasa nodded. The naïve short blonde haired girl was so focused on Hwasa’s words that she had not noticed the other woman staring down at her lips, which were right before her by now.

“I’ll give you a hint, if you want,” Hwasa offered as Wheein finally realized how close her friend was.

“Uh…W-well, I mean…I-I don’t…” Before Wheein could sputter more words, Hwasa leaned in and placed a kiss on her nose, much to Wheein’s surprise.

“What? Were you expecting more? Ooohhh, how dirty!” Hwasa teased as Wheein – whose face was as red as Hwasa’s nails by now – stood up and began to relentlessly hit her arms.

“I wasn’t! You were giving the wrong hints!” Wheein protested as Hwasa simply laughed.

The two oblivious girls didn’t seem to notice the pair of heads poking outside the door with fond smiles as they closed the door.

“Thank goodness they fixed their problem,” Solar said with relief as Moonbyul nodded.

“We have enough problems ourselves to have to deal with them,” Moonbyul said bitterly as Solar glanced at her. Their eyes spoke many words they couldn’t say out loud, no matter how much they really wanted to.

“Y-yeah. I-I’ll be going now,” Solar said as she bid goodbye to her friend…and soulmate.

I have to move on…I have to. Solar thought as she went to look for a certain brunette.