Ahn Yujin was - for better or worse - the other half of Jang Wonyoung. At least that’s what it had seemed at first when the dark pink counter on Wonyoung’s wrist flashed ‘00:00’ and Yujin had appeared in front of her. Literally in front of her, causing the two giants to fall to the ground with a thud. The latter was the first to recover and pulled Wonyoung up with a low grunt and a huge grin.

Something about the girl just made Wonyoung smile unconditionally, her heart sent into a whirlwind of emotions as her stomach violently reacted with not just butterflies, but the whole jungle of animals.
Then again, it could’ve been the ferocious roar of Yujin’s stomach as she offered a small shy smile to the taller girl.

“Want to get lunch?” Wonyoung asked casually, not wanting to scare away her soulmate just yet. She took a bold step closer and grabbed Yujin’s hands to prevent her from leaving, a dangerous pout placed on her lips. “Please? To make up for bumping into you?”
The girl in question’s smile grew as she dragged Wonyoung to the cafeteria and that was enough for the girl.
They took quick steps to find a table once they got their food.

“So,” Yujin began, “I’m Ahn Yujin, what about you?” The name felt familiar on Wonyoung’s tongue, yet she couldn’t remember why.
“Jang Wonyoung. Hope we can be great friends.”

Great friends they were.

They bonded quickly, and the two group of friends slowly merged into one. It was difficult for other students to see one half without a member of the other anymore. There was many a time for banter and savagery on Nako’s part as everyday became its own story.
It reached the point where Wonyoung almost forgot about the timer on her left wrist.
Her mind became so preoccupied with thoughts of Yujin. Simple things from her smile, the way she laughs or the ways her eyes light up at food (not as much as Hyewon’s) or when her shoulders dramatically droop when scolded by Eunbi-unnie.
Worries plagued her mind, Yujin had not treated her any differently when they were together and Wonyoung could feel her heart sink. Did Yujin not want to tell anyone? Slowly, she started avoiding Yujin to be closer to Yuri and Sakura.

After a week, a new student came - “A returning student actually”, Yena’s voice quoted inside her head - someone who looked very familiar.
Many murmurs passed around the class but the first to exclaim was Yujin as she practically ran to the front and smothered the girl with kisses.
Wonyoung felt her heart being ripped out and thrown into a paper shreader. The way that Yujin acted within two minutes of seeing this girl versus the whole times they had spent together almost being 3 months.

“That’s her, isn’t it?” Wonyoung heard the girl whisper from in front. “The girl from rumours? Yeah, they found out they were soulmates at the age of 8!”
Wonyoung felt her heart stop for a moment. Her brain writhed as it tried to process this information, but she would never let it show on her face.

“So that’s how I remember her.” Wonyoung thought solemnly as her eyes glared at math worksheet in front to her. Not a single answer was on the page as her mind didn’t allow her to think about anything other than Yujin and her soulmate.

Throughout the rest of the day she kept a neutral face and avoided Yujin in the naturalist way possible. She wouldn’t have said she was being blunt - on the contrary she made jokes and savage comments here and there to make everything seem like it was all fine. Like her heart was okay. But Hitomi saw beyond that.

“Wonyoung.” She called out as the girl froze in front of the vending machine. The girl in question turned and plastered a too-big-to-be-real smile on her face which faltered as soon as she saw Hitomi’s expression. It was as if she let her guard down and the mask fell off completely. Her eyes began to prick with tears as she ran forward and captured the smaller girl a tight embrace - the other accepting it with care.

“Hmm...” Began Hitomi’s response as the other girl finished her autobiography of the past few months. “I’m sorry I can’t do anything about it Won-chan but for whatever happens next, I’ll be right here for you.” Hitomi rubbed Wonyoung’s back reassuringly as the two headed back to class. The rest of the week was a blur as Minju joined the group and whilst everyone accepted her with open arms, only Hitomi knew what happened behind Wonyoung’s doors as she stayed up late at night comforting the heart-broken younger girl on the phone.

On the last day of the school week, Wonyoung snapped. The built-up tension and frustration in her heart caused her to storm out of the room. It was like the 100th time Minju and Yujin were flirting in front of the others; even though she should’ve been over it, her heart still convulsed every time it happened. She kept running despite hearing half the group call out her name and not even the sound of running from behind her could cause her to slow down.
After about 10 minutes of running she slowed down to a halt, placing her hand on a nearby tree and taking deep breaths to stop the dizziness. She turned and pushed her back on the tree, sliding down the hard surface until she was basically sitting. Her arms wrapped around her legs instinctively as she buried her head between her arms - cradling her into dream land.

Only to be awoken by a soft shake from her right side, one eye opening before the other to re-see the surrounding forrest. At first, the young girl was confused before the events of this afternoon came back to her head.
“Won-chan, I’ve been looking all over for you.” Hitomi huffed causing her mochi cheeks to flair out more than usual. “The others are worried too. We had to search the whole school, you know.” Wonyoung felt a bit bad and the traces of tears marked on her face were remarked with fresh ones.
“Let’s go back, okay?” Hitomi stretched out a hand for Wonyoung to grab before heaving the girl upwards.
“She may look like mochi, but she had the strength of steel.” Wonyoung thought as they made their way back to the main building before -

CRASH.

Wonyoung collapsed onto the ground almost dragging Hitomi with her as she clawed and clutched the fabric over her heart. The pain was unbearable as it felt like 1 million needles stabbing her in the heart and doing it over and over to the sound of her fading heartbeat. The pink numbers on her wrist violently flashed and flickered like a candle in the wind before everything went black as she heard Hitomi yelling her name.