Seulgi woke up with the same weird feeling inside her chest. She lazily went to the bathroom before reaching her kitchen. She kept looking at the string attached to her finger as she ate. It was so tight. It was so tight, and it had been that for almost ten years. When she was 17 years old, she had tried to pull the string, to see if her soulmate would answer her. But they didn’t. She wasn’t tugged or anything. And she had tried every day for two years. But nothing would change. She thought that her soulmate didn’t care, didn’t want to find her. She would be alone for the end of her life, she thought. All of her friends had their soulmate already. But here she was. Alone.

Seulgi cast a glance at her phone. She had to hurry. She was an art teacher. She had always loved drawing. It was her greatest passion since she was little. She would spend hours sitting against a wall, drawing what she saw, who she saw. She would have liked to become an artist. But she knew it was almost impossible. Chase your dream, they told her. But she couldn’t. Not something like that. Hoping she could live from her creations wasn’t a life. She didn’t regret her choice to become a teacher. She still created at home. She created for herself and for the world, she posted everything on social media. Not to get known but to share what she loved the most. She tried to show emotions, feelings through her art. But there was one thing she couldn’t get right. It was love. What was love when the only thing you could feel was your heart breaking years after years? She had received some private messages and comments about that. But she ignored them. She brushed it off, saying everyone had a soulmate, so they knew what perfect love felt like. It was a stupid excuse, she thought. Because she wasn’t creating for others. But somehow, the concept of soulmates was so strong and important that people bought it. And that concept was unknown for Seulgi.

Seulgi leaned against the wall, her coffee in her hand. She had a break between two classes. She took a sip of the hot liquid when a familiar voice called her.

“Hi, Seulgi.”

It was Seungwan, the singing teacher. They had met during university, both had studied art. They ended up as teachers in the same school. Seungwan dreamt of becoming a singer, but she was too scared and she actually never dared to try something. Until Seulgi put her in contact with a young songwriter, Kim Yerim. At first, Seungwan refused, but Seulgi kept pushing her. The young songwriter was talented, she was able to produce her own songs. And she wanted to give that chance to someone else. She knew it wasn’t easy, but there were so many beautiful voices out there. And Seungwan accepted.

“How are you doing?” Seulgi asked, absently.

“Good.” Seungwan answered, her eyes narrowed slightly. “You seem somewhere else.”

Seulgi showed a small smile, as sincere as possible. Seungwan knew the older woman’s love life. She felt bad for her, but she couldn’t do anything. So, she supported her, telling her she’ll meet her soulmate one day, that they obviously care, fate just decided to make them wait longer than others. None of that could bring up Seulgi’s mood. She had tried to focus on her job, on her hobby, on her friends, on her family. But as time went by, the lack of soulmate by her side was becoming painful.

Seulgi finally shrugged. Seungwan didn’t push it further. If she could, she would have brought her friend’s soulmate by herself. But she couldn’t. No one knew who or where that person was. But she knew that someone was going to give Seulgi back her smile. They were just late, very late. And Seungwan was going to have a few words with them for making her best friend sad for so long.

“Seulgi.” Seungwan tried to get her attention. “I’m going to see Sooyoung tomorrow. You want to come with us?”

Sooyoung was a friend of the two teachers. Thanks to Seulgi, Sooyoung had met her soulmate. The art teacher made them meet without knowing anything, obviously. She had decided to spend time with her two best friends. She thought that bringing Yerim along would be nice as she wanted her to meet Seungwan. And, ironically, she thought that the younger girl would get along Sooyoung well. It was whe