Before you go on to read the first chapter, please wish my wonderful friend and beta, Reya, a very happy birthday <3 Happy birthday \o/ Now enjoy the chapter!

“Now Haeun, don’t expect yourself to feel your soulmate as soon as it’s midnight, and you’re officially sixteen. You’ll only feel their emotions when they’re particularly...strong,” her father spoke to her as Haeun climbed into her bed. Laying her back against the headboard, she tied her hair up into a messy bun. Her dad was leaning against the wall near the doorway, and he was smiling down at her. 

“I know, I know,” she spoke, rolling her eyes. She glanced at the clock - 10:43 PM, just an hour and seventeen minutes left. “That doesn’t mean I’m not excited though,” she grinned. She was definitely excited, but probably not why her dad was expecting her to be.

Her most immediate concern was to find out if this boy she had a particularly large crush on, Yoon Jeonghan, was her soulmate or not. She smiled at the thought and the possibility that he could very well be her soulmate. He’d never indicated to anyone that he knew who his soulmate was yet, but he tended to be quiet, anyways. He wasn’t necessarily popular, but he was known around school for being smart and kind. They had class together one year, and since then, they've been studying together regularly. Once Haeun got to know the boy, she realized that he was more just kind and studious. He was mischievous, and he loved to play pranks on his closest friends. It wasn’t well after Haeun had developed a crush on the boy that he was exactly someone she wanted in her life - quiet, kind, and just fun to be around.

Her dad laughed at her excitement, mistaking her smile for her crush for the excitement of turning sixteen. Haeun grinned at her dad, and she tilted her head slightly as she thought about how her parents weren’t soulmates, but they were still happy. 

They both made sure that she knew that whether or not she ever found her soulmate, she’d turn out just fine. That didn’t mean she wasn’t expecting a fairy tale to come true, though. She was  hoping Jeonghan would turn out to be her soulmate. Haeun wasn’t sure how’d she feel if he wasn’t her soulmate, but she also wasn’t completely against the thought. 

Since she was a little girl, her parents would tell her stories about soulmates and the history about them, but they also told her that they weren’t soulmates.

Having a soulmate was something that everyone was blessed with, but no one knew how the bond formed or why the bond appeared at the age of sixteen. It didn’t matter if the soulmates were of the same age or different ages, the bond for one of them would appear as soon as they turned sixteen. If one was sixteen while the other was thirteen, the older of the two would feel the bond alone for three years until the younger one developed it as well.

Each human only had one soulmate - something her parents had to find out in a very painful way. Her parents both found each other after their individual soulmates had passed away. They told her that when their soulmates were dying, it was a pain they’d never felt before. It felt as though their entire body was on fire for a moment, and then absolutely nothing. The next few days lead to them being overcome with emptiness and depression, even though they had never met their soulmates. It was common for those who didn’t have soulmates to fall in love whomever they wished to fall in love with, but it would never be a connection as deep as a soulmate bond. Her parents were absolutely fine with that, and they ended up having a small family of their own. If they could be happy, so could Haeun. They’d make it work, just like her parents. 

Haeun was distracted from her thoughts when Kai bounded into the room, and she smiled at the sight of her small three month old orange and white tabby cat. He ran over to Haeun’s bed before rubbing his back on the blue blanket that was hanging off the bed. Haeun smiled and picked the cat up, rubbing his head. Kai purred against her hand and snuggled up against her. She guessed that the cat escaped her mom as she tried to put him to bed, and soon enough, she heard her mom calling for the cat. Her dad laughed and moved towards Haeun.

“It may be your birthday soon, but that doesn’t mean that cat can sleep with you,” her dad said as walked closer to grab the cat out of Haeun’s hands. Haeun pouted, but she knew her dad was right, so she handed the cat over. Kai tried to jump away from her dad and back into Haeun's embrace, but her dad kept a firm hold on the kitten.

“And now,” her dad spoke, trying to calm the cat in his hands as he started meowing loudly, “it’s time for you to sleep. Good night, Haeun.” 

“Good night, dad,” she called out as she laid down in bed and got comfortable. Her dad turned off the lights and walked out of her room, closing the door behind him.

She snuggled up to a pillow, and she soon fell asleep with the thoughts of who her soulmate could be in her mind.

Unfortunately, it was also her soulmate that woke her up a few hours later. 

Haeun shot up in bed, her hand pressed up against her chest. She tried to breathe in, but all she felt was complete and utter pain. Tears slowly started streaming down her cheeks, and all she could think about was the pain, and how she could stop it. For a moment, she panicked about what was happening to her. Was she having a heart attack? She wasn’t ready to die this early. 

Shaking the thoughts away, she tried to take deep breaths as she leaned her head against the headboard willing to wait till the pain would pass, but it wouldn't. At this point, it’d be best to go to her parents. Blinking away as many tears as she could, she leaned over to look at the digital clock on her nightstand - 3:21 AM. 

Well happy birthday to her.

She climbed out of bed, and she crumbled over with the pain. She tried to put on her slippers, but she couldn’t see straight, nor could she control her body. So, she straightened up as much as possible and made her way to her parents’ room. Pushing the door open, she padded