She’d gotten quite used to it. “It” was her vision and the way people treated her because of it. She got looks of pity, and she got shut out of certain conversations because she “couldn’t understand,” and no, there wasn’t anything she could read so that she would understand. Her parents took her to specific museum exhibits and movies designed for “people like her,” saying she wouldn’t be able to appreciate the other ones as well. Jungeun didn’t really understand what they were talking about. She thought her vision was fine.

As she got older, she heard more and more about “colors.” Apparently, there were a lot of colors that she couldn’t really see, because she hadn’t met her soulmate yet. So what? What was the big deal? She could see just fine, colors or not, and she didn’t know what the big deal was about.

She enrolled in university as a dance major. It was a little worse than high school. Now, even more people were obsessed with finding their soulmates. It was so annoying. Why didn’t more people focus on studying? Learning? Making friends? What happened to “everything in due time?”

Jungeun just kept her head down and focused on her grades. She was in the library doing just that, looking for a book, when somebody got her attention.

“Excuse me,” the girl said, moving between Jungeun and the bookshelf to walk further down.

Jungeun stared after her. It was like starting from the point where the girl was, Jungeun’s vision changed. Was this what color was?

The girl walked to a different aisle, out of Jungeun’s vision, taking the color (or whatever it was) with her.

“Wait!” Jungeun hurried after her.

The girl stopped and turned around. “You shouldn’t yell…” Her voice faded when she faced Jungeun. “Oh.”

“Yeah.”

They stood there for a few moments, just staring at each other. Jungeun had never seen someone as beautiful as this girl before.

“I think...I think you’re my soulmate.”

The girl nodded. “Yeah. I think you are too.” She offered her hand. “I’m Haseul.”

Jungeun shook it. “I’m Jungeun.”

Haseul’s brow creased. “Are you free right now?”

She’d been studying, but- “Yeah.”

“There’s someone I want you to meet.”

Jungeun’s eyes widened. “What, now ?”

Haseul nodded, her expression solemn.

“O-Okay, let me just get my stuff.”

Jungeun followed Haseul into her car. She had questions, but put off asking any of them, choosing instead to stare at the newly vibrant word around her, especially Haseul.

“Your hair…”

“It’s brown,” Haseul said, keeping her eyes on the road.

“Brown,” Jungeun repeated. She’d heard the word before, but it’d never made sense before. “I like it.”

Haseul smiled. “My eyes are brown too. So are yours.”

Jungeun pulled down the sun visor and looked at herself. Brown eyes. Huh. She liked them. Her hair was brown too, but darker than Haseul’s. She smiled. Her teeth were still white, but they were a bit brighter than before.

Haseul pulled into the parking lot of an apartment building. Jungeun followed her to the third floor, where Haseul unlocked the door to apartment 367.

“Jinsoul!” Haseul called.

A moment later, a woman appeared. She quickly locked eyes with Jungeun, and all the colors in Jungeun’s vision brightened.

“Holy ,” the woman said.

“Yeah,” Jungeun said, blinking rapidly. It was hard to take in everything at once.

She closed her eyes, and felt a hand rubbing her back.

“Are you okay?” Haseul asked softly.

Jungeun nodded. “Yeah, just...the colors are really bright.”

“Yeah,” another voice chimed in. Jungeun figured it was Jinsoul. “I’m your other soulmate.”

Jungeun’s eyes shot open, and she stared at Jinsoul. “What do you mean, other soulmate ?”

Jinsoul looked nonplussed. “I mean, Haseul and I, we’re soulmates. You and I, we’re soulmates. You and Haseul, you’re soulmates. So all three of us are soulmates.”

Jungeun nodded slowly. It made sense, but it was so... weird .

“I thought soulmates were just two people.”
“We thought so, too,” Haseul chimed in. Jungeun turned to look at her. “But when I saw you, everything looked different. Brighter.”

“Yeah,” Jinsoul said.

“Well, then.” Jungeun turned back to Jinsoul and stuck out her hand. “Hi, I’m Jungeun, and I think I’m your soulmate.”

Jinsoul smiled and shook Jungeun’s hand. “Nice to meet you, Jungeun. I’m Jinsoul, and I think I’m your soulmate.”