It was almost summertime. Wendy could tell because there was no AC in the older part of the school where her class was and the room's temperature was getting uncomfortably warm.

"When you hit puberty is when you'll be assigned your Love Date," her teacher says in the background, kids snicker as they check the inside of their left wrist.

Wendy glanced down at her wrist hiding underneath her oversized sleeve.

"This is what it would look like," the teacher states while raising her wrist up in the air to show the class, "I met my husband that day but I didn't know that he would be my soulmate. We both had matching days and thought it was a fun coincidence, but we fell in love too fast. It was obvious after that."

"What if we don't marry someone from the day on our Love Date?" a student asks in class.

Her head shot up and her attention rose. Wendy was curious too, she had a lot of questions but was too shy to ask them. Feeling some slight relief that someone bold enough was able to ask, she listened carefully on what her instructor had to say about it.

"There's only been a handful of people in the world that don't marry someone from their Love Date, but most of the time it's because they didn't find them. They'll usually go on to live alone-"

The clear and stern voice coming from her teacher slowly turned into a concerned voice.

"Wendy? Hello? Are you ready for me to start?"

Confused, Wendy shook her head and blinked hard. She wasn't in her middle school class learning about Love Dates, she was at a tattoo parlor with her arm prepped for the outline of her full sleeve.

"Yup. I'm ready," she replies after clearing her head.

She was ready, ready to never let anyone or anything dictate on when she can love. It was her choice, not theirs.

It stung but not as bad as she anticipated. Her arm felt sore from staying in the same position for 5 hours.

"All right! You did a great job for your first tattoo, most people need a break but you hung on," the artist says as she wipes the excess ink off of Wendy's arm, "Go ahead and take a look!"

Slowly standing and immediately feeling the tenderness of her arm, Wendy moves towards the full body mirror under the spotlight in the parlor.

"Holy-" Wendy says under her breath in shock at how her arm didn't look like hers with the new in imbedded into her skin.

She bends her arm carefully, checking every inch. Her eyes travel from her delicate wrist where the flowers huddle around her mark and up to where more flowers intertwine, finally ending where her bicep meets her shoulder.

"It's beautiful," she says to her tattooist, turning to face her with eyes glossy from tears.

"Just wait until it's all colored in," she replied with her eyes disappearing into a smile.

Her heart felt full. The artist took no breaks, and neither did Wendy. She felt like they went through this tattoo together and even has her number to schedule the rest of coloring when she's ready. Wendy didn't sit still because she was nervous about the tattoo getting ruined, but because the artist was beautiful. Monolids, and a steady hand. Long straight hair with cropped bangs that gave her an edgy look. She was Wendy's type; artistic, talented, funny, kind, focused and driven.

"Hello?" says a woman who had just walked in.

Both of them turn around to see who had just walked in.

"Ah! We just finished babe! Great timing!" Seulgi says as she walks over to greet her girlfriend.

"Wendy, this is Sooyoung my girlfriend. Sooyoung this is Wendy my new client and probably my new best friend!"

Sooyoung stuck her hand out to shake Wendy's and there it was. A Love Date that matched Seulgi's.

"Nice to meet you!" Wendy says enthusiastically, trying to mask her slight disappointment.

Except that feeling of sadness didn't last long when Sooyoung smiled back. Right then Wendy knew that they belonged together. Sooyoung was equally as gorgeous as Seulgi. They complimented each other so well, looks wise but when they were together Wendy could feel their love.

"Ah! Have you both eaten yet?" Wendy asks the couple.

"Not since we started the tattoo, and I'm starving!"

"I came straight from work. Let's go eat?!"

"Perfect! I could use some food too, let me call my roommate. Is it okay if I invite her too? I usually cook dinner but she's pretty useless in the kitchen." Wendy explains as she looks at them hoping they'll allow a stranger to join.

"Go for it!" Seulgi says and she nods her head.

Wendy smiles and turns around to give the couple some privacy while she calls her roommate.

"Yo-" says the voice on the other end of the phone.

"Did you eat yet?"

"Not yet, why?"

"Don't! Come have dinner with my tattoo artist and her girlfriend! Don't make me third wheel, please!"

There was a long pause after Wendy asked, sounding desperate for her roommate to come save her.

"Fine, but dinner is on you because I'm in the middle of a game. Text me the address and I'll leave in about 5 min-"

"OKAY YEAH! Thank you so much Yerim! Dinner is on me!" Wendy says quickly before hanging up the phone.

Turning around quickly and seeing the stunning couple pull away from a kiss, Wendy suddenly looks towards the ground.

"Sorry! Anyways, my roommate will be joining us! Her name is Yerim or Yeri," she manages to say while her cheeks get hot.

Seeing a gorgeous couple like Seulgi and Sooyoung made Wendy's heart flutter, and then seeing them be slightly intimate made her feel like she shouldn't be in the same room as them. She hasn't been around many same couples but always felt akin to them. She was happy to have finally made a friend who was like her.

"There's this new tteokbokki spot down the street! We should try it!" Sooyoung says while scrolling a food review app on her phone.

"That sounds so good right now," Seulgi says while rubbing her growling stomach, "but before we go, let me get your arm wrapped up and I'll clean up a bit. Have Yerim meet us here and we can all walk together."

"That sounds like a good idea," Wendy replies while typing furiously into her phone.

Text Message to Yeri

- YOU BETTER HURRY TF UP I SAW THEM KISS AND I CAN'T HANDLE IT I DIDN'T EXPECT IT AND NOW I'M BLUSHING BC THEY'RE SO PRETTY LIKE YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND. YOU'LL SEE WHEN YOU GET HERE. SENDING MY LOCATION, MEET AT THE TATTOO PLACE OMG OMGOGMG PLEASE HURRY SDAKLFJLKFJASKD

Wendy extends her arm out and Seulgi begins to put plastic wrap around her arm.

Text Message to Yeri

- Sorry about the yelling my caps lock was on and i was too lazy to remove it klasdfjk see you soon please hurry!!!!!!

"And THAT'S how Wendy got her hair stuck in the blowdryer!" Yeri says while laughing uncontrollably.

Seulgi and Sooyoung were laughing too, leaning on each other for support while their bodies gave into the hilarious story Yeri just told them.

"Well do you guys want to hear how Yeri got locked out of the house?!" Wendy interrupts.

"Oh no, Wan, that's not that funny of a st-" 

"Anyways! She was getting the mail but she was in her pajamas and so I locked her out of the apartment!" Wendy cuts Yeri off, not wanting to heed her warning.

The trio said nothing, just looked at each other before looking back at Wendy.

"How funny is THAT?! She's in the hallway! IN HER PAJAMAS!"

"It's not that-"

"IT'S HILARIOUS!" Wendy boasts as she grabs her stomach in an attempt to make everyone laugh too. 

She knew she wasn't that funny, but she should at least try. Practice makes perfect. Sometimes.

"Just stick to the music making, Wan. You'll be better in that field instead of stand up comedy," Yeri finishes with a chuckle. 

Wendy rolls her eyes and puts her arm around Yeri.

"Fine! Only if you stop telling that story," Wendy whispers to Yeri, "it's really embarrassing for me and I have this weird sense of wanting to impress Seulgi and Sooyoung because they're so good looking."

"Sure. Whatever you want, I'm just here for the free food," Yeri replies while walking to open the door to the restaurant after giving Wendy a smack on the back.

Time flies for the young 20 somethings that are enjoying themselves, eating and drinking until they're too tired to do anything else.

"We're gonna have to call it a night for us," Seulgi says with a slight frown while clinging onto her girlfriend trying to keep her from stumbling too much.

"Do you guys need help getting home?" Wendy asks, standing up from the table to help.

"Oh no! We're fine, we live just down the street!" The smaller girlfriend replies while throwing Sooyoung's jacket over her shoulder.

"Okay, well text me when you guys get home please!" Wendy waves as they head out the door.

Turning around she sees Yeri sign the receipt.

"Wait! I didn't pay yet?"

"I took care of it. Someone bet me money on a 1V1 and I obviously won," Yeri says confidently as she puts her hood over her head, and stuffs her hands in her pockets.

"But I said I'd pay-" Wendy's voice trails off.

"It's okay, just get me next time. You needed a night like this. I haven't seen you out with friends in a long time."

The night is cold and the wind was biting at Wendy's cheeks. She snakes her arm through Yeri's and they walk together, back to their apartment. It was just silence the whole walk back. Yeri's words kept running through Wendy's mind. 

"Did I need a night like this? I thought I go out all the time?" Wendy thought to herself, her body on autopilot as they walked.

Yeri didn't say a thing and neither did Wendy. They were just like this, quiet, unless fighting or supporting each other. Wendy was apprehensive at first with her new roommate. Yeri was brash, didn't give a about anything and always did whatever she wanted. Wendy was the complete opposite, always meticulously thinking about her next step, overthinking situations and daydreaming about her future. But she was thankful that she had Yeri because without her she wouldn't have been able to get her sleeve done. 

[One week prior]

"Ugh my date is in 6 months," Wendy sighed while rubbing the mark on her wrist, watching it stretch and wrinkle under her fingertips. 

Yeri just slurped her morning cereal without making a comment.

"My anxiety is through the roof, what if I don't meet them?!"

The sound of someone chewing Frosted Flakes fills the silence.

"I hate looking at this. I hate how it's a count down until I meet my soulmate. What if I don't even like them?!"

"They're you're soulmate. Of course you're going to like them," Yeri finally responds but with a full mouth.

"How old are you again?" Wendy asks while turning to look at Yeri in the kitchen.

"21."

"You're too young to understand, Yeri."

Yeri runs her bowl under the sink and starts walking to her room, but stops in front of her door.

"Why don't you just cover it up then? If you hate it so much, put something prettier on your arm."

"That's a good id-" Wendy stops mid-sentence as the sound of Yeri's door closing was louder than normal.

"I'll just get a tattoo! God she's brilliant! Kinda mean, but brilliant nonetheless!" Wendy says to herself while jumping up and down full of excitement.

Yeri's room was soundproof, she had thick foam in purposeful patterns around her room. It was for making her audio better on her gaming live streams, but also to keep noise out. She always kept it dimly lit, some LED's from her computer tower were lighting up her room. Yeri saunters over to her bed and as soon as her knees brush the edge of her mattress she collapses and goes limp with her face in her pillow.

"You're too young to understand," Yeri mocks into her pillow.

She starts to flail her arms and legs, having a small fit. She stops when her left arm is in the air, her sleeve droops past small mark on her wrist. She moves it closer to her face and looks at it closely, her eyes scanning over it. 

07/15/♡♡♡♡