Joohyun was sitting alone, looking around her. The room was bright, the wall behind her was entirely white. She waited for the interviewer to finish to be ready. She was used to that kind of things. Joohyun was a famous singer known as Irene. She was having a successful career. And she loved it.

The team was ready to record. Joohyun was getting impatient. Even though she loved her job, she had pretty tight schedules lately. She was recording and shooting for her new album, and it would be released really soon.

The interview started, luckily, it wouldn’t take too long. It was pretty dull, as usual. The same questions every time, she had her answers almost all ready. There was one she pretty much hated. And she knew it would come up today, as always.

“Have you met your soulmate?”

Joohyun showed a small smile. “No, I haven’t.”

“How is his voice?”

Joohyun tried her best to keep her composure. His voice. She couldn’t hear his voice. She could hear her voice.

“Sweet.”

That was the answer she gave every time. It was true. Her soulmate’s voice was sweet, sweet as honey, Joohyun would say. But almost no one knew about her soulmate being a woman.

“Are you looking for him?”

“I’m focusing on my career.”

That was true. But she wished she could meet that woman.

 

The ride with her manager, Wonil, was silent. Joohyun stared outside. She finally pulled her phone out and checked some fans’ comments. She smiled. She loved them. Her fans made her feel alive, and they made her dream come true. ‘I can hear your voice’, ‘I hear you. You’re my soulmate’. Joohyun slightly shook her head. Those weren’t even true. Sometimes she thought her fans were kinda weird. They had their own soulmate, why would they bother to send those kinds of messages? Anyway, she wasn’t bothered by them. She knew it didn’t mean anything.

 

Yerim ran to her sister, jumping on the couch. Seulgi groaned in pain. The young girl almost shoved her phone in her face.

“Seulgi you need to see this!” Yerim was way too excited. “Irene is releasing a new album.”

Seulgi looked at her, silent. “And?”

Yerim looked outraged, slightly opened. “Firstly, Irene is the best singer in the world. Secondly, her album is going to be a bop. Thirdly, the MV will be perfect, and she’s gorgeous. And finally, you need to tell her you are her soulmate.”

Seulgi looked unimpressed. Indeed, she was Irene’s soulmate. She knew since the singer became popular. Or more like, since Yerim made her listen to Irene’s songs (because she was becoming popular). The young girl was a fan of Irene, a huge fan. Seulgi didn’t want to remember the reaction of Yerim when she told her that the voice she heard was Irene’s. Yerim spent hours literally making Seulgi listen to songs and interviews and even Irene’s appearance on TV shows. And that only confirmed Seulgi’s words. The famous Irene was her soulmate.

“No.” Seulgi said, her attention back to the TV.

Seulgi would be lying if she said she wasn’t a fan of the singer herself. But it was different. Irene was her soulmate. She wished she could reach her easily. But she had no way of talking to Irene. Yerim had mentioned fans meetings, because here, Seulgi would be able to speak to her and Irene would recognise her voice. But Seulgi didn’t want to. She was scared. What if Irene didn’t want her because they are both women? What if Irene didn’t want her because she wanted to focus on her career? No, Seulgi couldn’t just go like that.

Yerim was weirdly silent. It was almost suspicious. Seulgi looked at her. The young girl was typing on her phone.

“Yerim?” But obviously, no answer. “Yerim? What are you doing?”

Maybe she was just tweeting about Irene, right?

“Done.” The young girl turned around to Seulgi, a smirk on her face.

“What have you done?” Seulgi frowned.

“Me?” Yerim cleared , ready to stand up. “I sent something to her manager with a voice note.”

“You. Did. What?”

Yerim quickly ran back to her bedroom. Seulgi didn’t even bother to chase her sister. This girl was too much. Seulgi didn’t really mind. She knew that nothing would change. Irene’s manager wouldn’t even check that. Even though, deep down, she hoped they would.

 

Joohyun’s album was out. The views and the sales were going very well, not that it was the most important thing. Her fans looked really happy with it. She was going to attend to some fans meetings. She loved them. She could meet and talk with her fans, she could spend time with them. She had missed them since her last comeback.

“Irene?” Wonil’s voice called her. “You look pretty off lately. Is everything okay?.”

Joohyun shrugged. Maybe she was. “I’m nervous about my comeback.” But her manager knew, and he didn’t buy it.

“Tell me what’s going on.” Joohyun let out a sigh. “Is that about your soulmate?”

Maybe Joohyun should tell him. Maybe he could help. “I’m thinking a lot about meeting her.”

Wonil looked surprised, but his face let appear a frown. “Her? Your soulmate is a girl?” Joohyun silently nodded. “I don’t think it’s a good idea, Irene. Your career is going very well, and that could break everything.”

Joohyun looked at the floor, upset with the news. “Because it’s a woman?”

The manager didn’t answer at first, waiting a couple of seconds. “Yes. It’d hurt your career. You can’t know how fans would react.”

“But if it were a man, I could?” Joohyun didn’t let him answer. “This isn’t fair. I didn’t choose that. We don’t choose our soulmate. Why do we need to hide? Why is that any different?”

“Listen, Irene. I’m saying that for your own good.”

Joohyun didn’t want to argue with him. She let it go. She knew he wasn’t wrong. Being with someone could affect her career. Being with a woman could destroy it. And that was unfair. She didn’t wish that her soulmate was a man. For Joohyun, it didn’t matter. She just wished everyone would be open-minded and would stop judging others.

 

Seungwan pulled a seat in silence. She sat next to her best friend. She knew Joohyun. She knew something was wrong. The older woman was nervous about her comeback, but this time there was something else.

“Tell me.” Seungwan only said, and Joohyun didn’t even hesitate a second.

“I told my manager about my soulmate.” The singer wasn’t looking at her friend. “He wants me to keep quiet about her. He said I could be risking my career.”

“But you want to look for her, don’t you?” Joohyun only nodded. “And you’re pretty famous, she probably knows you already.”

“Why isn’t she showing up then?” The older woman pouted slightly.

Seungwan let out a chuckle. “I guess it’s scary.” Joohyun shrugged quietly. “But no one can tell you what to do. You don’t know how people will react. But could they blame you for finding your soulmate? For falling in love?”

Seungwan was right.

“You think I can just say I want to meet my soulmate?”

“You mean without saying it’s a woman?” Joohyun nodded. “Well, I don’t see why you couldn’t.”

Joohyun didn’t say anything. She didn’t really know what to think at the moment.

 

Joohyun talked with her fans just before starting to sign her new album. She talked about it, about the songs, the MV. And then she quickly looked around, noticing Wonil.

She opened to talk, her gaze lost in the crowd of fans. She was going to say it. She wanted to. She had to. She was going to turn twenty-nine, and she wanted to meet the love of her life.

“So… I wanted to tell you something.” She smiled. “Hoping this can spread on Twitter.” The fans chuckled. “I’m looking for my soulmate—“

Joohyun didn’t have time to finish her sentence that people were cheering for her, screaming and joking, saying ‘it’s me’. She quickly shushed them.

“I know there are already fake soulmates coming to me. But I want to meet my soulmate, I want to know to which…” She had to say it, she wanted to, she wanted people to know. “To which woman this voice belongs to.”

Joohyun had expected a lot of reactions. First, her manager’s. He kind of choked on the air, as expected. Then, her fans. She thought about everything. And they yelled, they cheered. Maybe some had insulted her, but she couldn’t hear them. Joohyun smiled. She just hoped she could find her soulmate now.

“And now. Signing time.”

 

Wonil glared at Joohyun as soon as she left the fan meeting. He looked mad, so mad. Joohyun looked at him, waiting for him to speak. She hadn’t planned to apologise or anything for her behaviour.

“Have you lost your mind?” He snapped. “You shouldn’t have done that. You just destroyed your career.”

Joohyun shook her head. “I did what I had to do.”

“You don’t get it, Irene. People will hate you.”

“I don’t want to hide anything. I know my popularity can help me to find my soulmate. I don’t want her to hide because she thinks I will turn her down. This is who I am. And I want people to like me for myself. I’m old enough to know what I want. And I want my soulmate.”

 

Seulgi almost dropped the cup in her hand when she heard her sister screaming through their flat. She slowly put it down on her desk and waited for Yerim to burst