"Jiu-ah, come here." A woman called from outside as Jiu was busy admiring her stickers that had a massive amount of pink on them. She looked up from her sticker book and yelled.

"I'm coming, Mom." She closed her book and started running towards her mom where she had to call out several times since she couldn't find her anywhere in the house. Finally finding her mom as she was outside talking to another lady. She stepped outside all nervous since she didn't know the strangers.

Jiu started walking up slowly to her mom while making little to no eye contact with the strangers that were in front of her mom. Once she reached her, she hid behind her mom's leg knowing that she will be protected from them.

"Aigoo~ My little princess is getting all shy on me now." Her mother cooed as she ran her hands through Jiu's brown hair. Jiu was embarrassed since this wasn't her usual behavior, but the strangers didn't make fun of her.

"Oh, no worries, our daughter is always like that too. She usually hides away from anyone that isn't from our family." The lady said as she kneels down to eye level to talk to Jiu. "I would love for you to be her first friend since we just moved here.” The lady sweetly told Jiu. “Do you want another friend?" The lady gently said as she smiled at Jiu who was looking at her with curious eyes even though her cheeks were flushed with embarrassment. Jiu gave her a slow nod and the lady's smile became even wider showing off her teeth. "Okay, I'll go grab her, but you have to be patient since she doesn't talk much on the first day of meeting new people."

Jiu watched as the lady walked into her house and moments later came out with a little body that clung to her front. Her head was snuggled into the lady's neck to make sure she wasn't making any eye contact with anyone. Jiu found this gesture cute and watched their interaction as they approached her, the lady crouched back to eye level once again.

"Hey~." The lady said in a gentle voice that was laced with care to her daughter to ease her nerves. "Meet your new neighbor, Sua." The lady shook the girl, but she just shook her head which made Jiu smile more at her small but cute actions.

After what felt like an eternity, which to everyone's surprise, Sua finally brought her face out and looked around. Jiu was frozen like a statue when she saw the Sua's face. Jiu watched in awe when the Sua finally looked at Jiu and her breath was caught in .

Sua eyes were filled with wonder and fear, she slowly got out of her mother's hold and started walking towards Jiu. Their parents watched their interaction with happiness.

When Sua was at least at arm's length away from Jiu she stopped and just looked at her. She took deep breaths before finally mustering all of her courage to say a simple sentence.

"Hi, I'm Kim Sua and... would you like... to... be... my friend?" She said as she maintained eye contact with Jiu's brown eyes. Jiu was smiling at her for a long time and it was supposed to be a good thing but since Sua was an awkward shy girl. She started going back into her shell and was almost in tears thinking that the girl rejected her or was thinking that it will be a pain to be her friend. She started walking backward and almost back into her mom's warm embrace where she knew that it's going to be safe but before she could attempt to do such a feat Jiu pulled the girl into a bone crushing hug as she screamed out yes for the whole neighbourhood to hear,

That action that Jiu made something goes off, but they didn't know what it was just yet. So, when Jiu let go of the tiny fragile girl, she was already happily knowing that she's going to be friends with this one for a very long time. That and something in her mind told her that she needed to protect her from everything in the world.

Sua looked at Jiu and noticed something that seemed off with herself. Her hands were at Jiu's chest as she put them up to push her away since they were embracing for a fairly long time. That's when she noticed that her left hand has a red line on her ring finger. She questioned what it was and seemed to find trouble saying the words since this was the most, she ever said to anyone that wasn't in her family.

Jiu tilted her head to her right side as her arms were still around Sua. She looked at where Sua was looking at and noticed the same thing. She then looked at her hands and found that she herself had the same thing. Jiu became confused at what was happening because she remembered that she wasn't allowed to put anything on her finger unless it was her getting married. She looked at her mom in horror as she tried to comprehend what was going on.

"Mom!" She said as she rushed over to her mom letting Sua stand there watching the girl retreat to her mom and that made her scared which she started doing the same. She ran to her mom as she pointed to her hand.

"There's something strange on my hand." Sua cried to her mom as she attempted to get it off, but it was to no avail. Her mom became shocked at the fact that the world would bless them so soon. Her mom embraced Sua as she looked at her husband who was just as shocked as she was. She mouthed the words. We need to talk to her about this. Her husband nodded as he began preparing himself to tell his daughter all about soulmates.

Over at the Jiu's side, she kept saying sorry to her mom, but her mom didn't know what she was apologizing for.

After calming Jiu down, she finally got her little girl to explain what was wrong. Jiu only replied that she got married without telling her parents. Her mom looked at her hand and didn't notice anything but then it clicked.

"Oh, honey, I'm not mad. I'm actually proud of you." The mom said as Jiu looked at her mom confused. "You found your soulmate." Jiu stared at her mom and then back at Sua who was sniffling, and her heart began to hurt after seeing her cry.

Without thinking, Jiu sprinted towards Sua and embraced the girl once again.

"I'm here, Sua. I'm here." She coaxed Sua as she felt the girl trembling. Once Jiu's brain finally caught up to her, she finally said at the most weirdest time. "I'm Kim Jiu by the way." Hearing her words made Sua laugh and that made Jiu's heart flutter.

Three years later...

Sua and Jiu's relationship was the innocent type that only consisted of hugs, kissing, cuddles, enjoying each other's company and purely just sleeping in each other's beds, however, they hid the fact that they were soulmates since society wasn't fond of same- relationships. Even if the world put them together, most of the citizens didn't like the fact that two of the same es have been put together.

Sua and Jiu attended the same junior high school and did things that friends did in public. It wasn't unusual for girls to link arms or hold hands. Sua being timid and shy didn't use much skin ship as Jiu would towards the rest of the group. Jiu being all cheery and socially active made her a large group of friends while Sua just had at most 2 friends that hang with her. She didn't like putting herself out there and talking to new people. It frightened her to the point that Jiu usually had to intervene with the conversations to make sure that her love was alright.

Sua was worried that Jiu found Sher a nuisance since Jiu always seems to be saving her and making her a priority.  Due to Sua's personality, it was easy for her to be bullied by others. Jiu always helped Sua out but that made her have ultimatums with her friends. It was either the loser which was Sua or them her friends. Jiu always chose Sua since she had the philosophy that friends come and go but soulmates are forever. Of course, she couldn't tell them that Sua was her soulmate because she was forbidden by her mother to not say anything.

Sua, on the other hand, hung out with her two friends a lot since they liked being with her and would always help her with her problems. She was thankful that they stuck with her even if they were semi bullied for being friends with her. Sua was usually with her friends because she didn't want Jiu to be losing her friends because of her but Jiu didn't mind at all and she always wanted to be by Sua's side anyways making Sua fall for her soulmate even further. I hope every day will be like this. Sua thought to herself but she didn't know that her wishful thinking wasn't going to be answered.

One day, Jiu was with her friends as she listened to them list off their bias' for boy groups and how they wished their boyfriends were hot/ handsome like them. Jiu just nodded her head as she didn't understand the need to compare the fact that their boyfriends wouldn't be as good looking as someone who is unattainable. She then started hearing about her friend's constant strings of boyfriends as she usually calls them conquests and such.

"Why do you date a different guy every week?" Jiu found herself saying as her friend was complaining about her recent boyfriend of being a douche. Her friend looked at her and without hesitation she said.

"Experience, my innocent Jiu. It's all about comparing and gathering information that way I know what my soulmate is going to be based on the things I like and don't like about the guy. Besides, it's good to know that I haven't found mine yet." The friend shrugged at the fact that she hadn't found her soulmate. Jiu furrowed her eyebrows at her friend's statement.

"Why are you relieved that you haven't found him yet?" Jiu said not understanding where her friend was coming from.

"It's like this." The friend started becoming all serious about her answer. "There are over a billion guys in the world ready to be taken and once your soulmate comes in then you are stuck with them forever. Don't you think that's kind of unfair? It's like saving yourself before marriage. You are going to have all these what if's when you look back on your decisions. So why not ease your what if's and worries about the future later because just like life says you only live once right?" Jiu only nodded as she had a lot of what if's going through her mind but the biggest one was what if Sua disappeared from her life permanently? How would she deal with it? She was only 15 and she couldn't stand being away from Sua for long periods of time. She pondered on what she was going to do next.

Grade 9 Graduation

Jiu was surrounded by her friends who were crying that they weren't going to the same high school as her or that they won't be seeing her for another year or two. She smiled and tried to lighten up the mood, she knew that changes were going to be made but she didn't know how she would break it to Sua. It broke her heart on what she had decided all on her own without consulting the girl first, however it must be done. Jiu's resolve was solidified as she watched Sua cry as her friends were patting her back, but she wasn't in danger or anything. Jiu felt that Sua was just sad that they wouldn't be attending high school together. She also felt something else from Sua but couldn't place what it was. Jiu shrugged it off since she'll be seeing Sua at her house anyways to cuddle and watch movies together.

Sua wasn't ready to tell Jiu that she applied to another high school and that she wasn't going to the same high school as her. She needed time to be away from Jiu, so she didn't have to depend on the older lover like she had over the course of her entire junior high year. She needed to become strong so she could protect Jiu from the strange people that might harm her. Upon arriving at Jiu' house she let herself in since she's been there so many times that Jiu's mom gave her a key and told her to come whenever she left like it. Her mind was racing, and her body was trembling as her nerves were beginning to stiffen up. She knew that she was nervous and anxious about what the outcome was when she would reveal the biggest secret she had held.

When she entered the room, she still felt herself at awe on how beautiful her lover was as she saw Jiu just sitting on her bed with pink pajamas and a pink body pillow nestled in her lap. She had glasses on and was looking out the window not to mention that she put her hair in a messy bun. Sua walked up to the brunette who was still lost in thought and just sat at the edge of her bed. Somehow looking at Jiu made her nerves calm down and she smiled at the fact that she could stare at Jiu without it looking creepy.

"Jiu Unnie," Sua said as she felt her smile grow bigger as her name rolled naturally off her tongue. Jiu's train of thought broke when she heard Sua's angelic voice. It was a tad high, but it didn't bother her much as she found it cute that Sua's voice would squeak as she scared the girl sometimes.

"Hey," Jiu said softly as she didn't want to break the nice mood, they apparently found themselves in. "Congratulations on graduating from junior high." She said as Sua's smile reached from ear to ear gaining her the perfect moment on seeing the perfectly white pearls that she always seems to hide from her.

"You as well, Jiu Unnie," Sua started fiddling with her hands which was a habit of hers when she really needed to say something to get off of her chest. Jiu noticed her actions but didn't reach out to stop Sua's hands like she usually did. This was something different and they both knew it. Jiu was the one who broke the ice first.

"Are you okay with us being like this?" She said quietly but Sua heard her loud and clear. She processed Jiu's words and her heart dropped into her stomach. She didn't like this feeling at all.

"What do you mean?" Sua said as Jiu composed herself in telling her hat she had been feeling for the past month.

"I feel as if there is more to life than soulmates," Jiu said to her lover as she felt her lover's heartbreak inside her. She didn't want to cause her pain but there it was. Breaking inside her chest and the pained expression that was openly revealed on her face. Jiu took a deep breath and continued on. "We are still young and inexperienced in love, just because we are soulmates doesn't mean we have to stay together." She felt cold droplets on her hand as she found herself crying, she quickly wiped them away as she scolded herself to be strong. Her lover was already in tears and there was no anger which made Jiu feel even worse.

"Are we breaking up?" Sua’s voice trembled and came out as a whisper. Insecurity swept over her as she looked at Jiu who refused to take her hand since this conversation started. Jiu held herself as if she were fighting against herself to comfort her lover.

"Yes, we are," Jiu said after giving some time to think about it. Sua couldn't stay there anymore but she needed to know the reason why.

"Is this because we are 15 and everyone else hasn't found their soulmates yet." Jiu nodded and Sua felt as if someone slapped her enough to make her fall. Jiu felt the need to explain herself and so she did.

"Everyone else is experiencing the thrill of other's while I have already found mine. It's not fair for either of us. I just want to know what the world has to offer before sticking myself to just the one person you know?" Jiu said and Sua nodded.

"Then...," Sua sighed as she felt that Jiu was being honest with her. She knew that this is what Jiu wanted and she didn't want to burden her by being selfish in times where they were almost high schoolers. The thought of someone else touching her or making her smile sickened her but as one of the famous quotes went. If you love someone let them go and if they are the one, they will come back eventually. "I'll let you go."

Jiu looked at her lover in surprised and Sua took that opportunity to kiss her one final time and left Jiu's room. "Good-bye." She said as she stopped at Jiu's doorway. "I hope we see each other after your endeavors." I love you Sua thought as another tear slipped from her eyes and Jiu just sat there for a long time crying silently to herself.

"It's okay, Jiu. You'll be fine you'll see Sua again in high school and we'll just be friends like we were originally supposed to be." She looked at her left hand as she watched her red ring still glow in front of her as if it was taunting her. Saying that she is going to be tied to Sua no matter what.

Sua didn't tell Jiu that she was going to a high school that has a rule that it's mandatory for the students to live in the dorms while they attend classes. Sua knew that it was for the best for both of them not that they weren't dating. Even though they were soulmates Sua had to compose herself for the future that didn't involve Jiu anymore. She needed to change fast but first; she'll mourn the fact that Jiu didn't want her. Knowing that fate and their love for each other wasn't enough for Jiu to stay with her she was going to change so that she wasn't this shy, timid, awkward girl that everyone makes fun of. Maybe that was why Jiu broke up with me. It's because she doesn't want such a weak child as a soulmate. Sua dried her tears and began packing her things for her new life in high school.