—

 

if there is one thing in the world that eunbi hates, it’s waiting.

 

all her friends have found their soulmates and their clocks had already started ticking.

 

38 years.

 

she’s been waiting for 38 years.

 

even if she meets her soulmate now, she’s not sure she’d forgive them.

 

/

 

born in the joseon dynasty, chaeyeon learned how to fight.

 

when the japanese came to invade, she met miyawaki sakura.

 

at this point, she had lived a hundred blood drenched years already.

 

miyawaki was so sure they were destined. even when twenty years had passed and they both have not aged at all, she tells chaeyeon to live like this, in youth, with her for the rest of eternity.

 

chaeyeon wanted that, too—until sakura was executed for treachery and was beheaded in front of her.

 

/

 

the next century came flying by, and she took a ship to europa. 

 

chaeyeon learned the languages, appreciated the art, dressed and acted like one of them.

 

she mostly spent her time studying. 

 

i can live forever, chaeyeon thinks, even if i have to do it alone. 

 

/

 

by the 18th century, chaeyeon is a fully pledged dishonest sea voyager.

 

a pirate, if you will.

 

it is at sea that she meets hyewon. 

 

at first, she thought hyewon was a mermaid, and so chaeyeon got tricked into being captured by her, quite stupidly.

 

she ties chaeyeon to the mast and takes her cargo of stolen goods, but doesn’t leave the ship until she kisses her goodbye on the lips. 

 

chaeyeon had looked for her, of course. for 30 years. but considering how she still haven’t aged since then, she wondered if it was worth it.

 

/

 

chaeyeon was a soldier for prussia in the 19th century.

 

at that point, she can’t find any reason to fight. 

 

not that she didn’t want to serve the country, she just wanted to rest.

 

napoleon wins over prussia, but chaeyeon survives.

 

/

 

the first world war arrived faster than chaeyeon expected. 

 

this time she isn’t a fighter. she volunteers at evacuation centers to patch up the wounded soldiers.

 

here, she treats yena, a sniper stabbed by a piece of shrapnel on her shoulder.

 

chaeyeon could tell she met her soulmate already. no thanks to yena’s constant if i die tell my girlfriend that i love her. 

 

“tell her that yourself,” chaeyeon always replies. 

 

three months later, she had no choice but to knock on yuri’s door and break her the news.

 

/

 

chaeyeon made a lot of friends in her lifetime, but none of them are here now. most of them found their soulmates and died of old age together, some were killed.

 

she wants to give up. really.

 

but she thinks about her soulmate waiting for her somewhere, so she changes her mind. 

 

/

 

chaeyeon greets the 21st century only with curse words as she celebrates her 500th birthday alone. 

 

500 years. 

 

500 soulmate-less years.

 

she hopes the universe just kills her so she can be done with this.

 

/

 

chaeyeon goes back to her motherland, trying to find some comfort in her soulmate-less world.

 

there she makes new friends, albeit hesitantly, for they all had found their second halves.

 

it was fine, at first, seeing her friends happy mattered to chaeyeon, too. 

 

/

 

sometimes, chaeyeon wonders if she even has a soulmate. she’s probably the oldest person in the world right now. 

 

maybe she didn’t deserve one. 

 

well, as if i needed another reason to hate myself, chaeyeon thinks as she drinks her night away. 

 

chaeyeon gestures one more glass to the bartender and he nods.

 

she hears the chime of the doorway and turns to its direction. 

 

a woman. 

 

the moment their eyes meet, she knows it’s her. and chaeyeon could tell the woman knows it, too. but she scowls, turns around, and walks away. 

 

chaeyeon follows her, of course. 

 

she figured her soulmate was disappointed after seeing her, but she can’t just let her go without knowing her. 

 

she waited five centuries for this, for ’s sake. 

 

“wait,” chaeyeon shouts, “wait for me!” 

 

“stop following me,” the woman replies. 

 

chaeyeon groans, looks like she might give up any second now. but she runs to her as fast as she can. 

 

she trips, because she’s kinda drunk, but that’s fine because her soulmate rushes to her side. 

 

“jesus, you look like , are you okay?” she asks. 

 

and chaeyeon knows she’s not the most attractive person, but did she really wait 500 years just for some rude ? 

 

“you’re gorgeous, i know, but that doesn’t give you the right to insult me.”

 

“what? no, i meant your face is covered in mud right now. without it, you’re 10/10 for me. are you okay?” 

 

“maybe if someone didn’t run away from me, i wouldn’t be covered in mud right now.” 

 

“it’s your fault you tripped, why are you blaming me?”

 

“why’d you run away?” chaeyeon asks. 

 

“i was angry!” the woman pushes chaeyeon’s shoulder lightly, “everyone around me has found their soulmates for a while now. i was the only one left.”

 

“how long have you been waiting?”

 

“38 years.” chaeyeon’s expression softens, she smiles as she wipes the dirt off her face.

 

“i want to hug you, can i hug you?” chaeyeon asks and the woman just nods shyly.

 

“i’m sorry for making you wait, i’m here now.”

 

/

 

her soulmate brings chaeyeon to her own home.

 

on the way, she answers all of chaeyeon’s questions. chaeyeon seems to enjoy just listening to eunbi (she found out her name a while ago), and staring at her face for long periods of time.

 

“why are you looking at me like that?” 

 

chaeyeon’s cheeks automatically turn bright red, “you know, everyday i kept thinking, if i met my soulmate, would i regret the years i spent looking for her? would i just rather not meet her? sure, what if my soulmate doesn’t want me? but i’ve already prepared myself for that.”

 

chaeyeon sees eunbi bite her lip in thought, maybe she thinks chaeyeon might be underwhelmed with her, “and now that you’ve met me, what do you think? be honest.”

 

“i think you are five centuries worth waiting for.” 

 

eunbi visibly blushes, “oh, come on, no one would wait five centuries just for me,” 

 

“i did.”

 

eunbi is speechless for a second, “you did?” 

 

“uh huh,”

 

chaeyeon peers over at eunbi who hasn’t said anything yet, “eunbi?”

 

when eunbi turns to her, she’s crying hysterically. 

 

“i’m so sorry,” eunbi mumbles repetitively, like a chant. chaeyeon just keeps her close and hugs her tight.

 

“don’t worry about it. i have you now, don’t i?”