Two and a half years.

 

Was that really not enough for Yujin?

 

“AHN YUJIN!! YOU BETTER COME DOWN AND EAT BEFORE I BREAK DOWN THIS DOOR!!” Her mom yelled through the door, which caused Yujin to jolt unexpectedly on her bed, but her face remained unfazed.

 

She’d been like that a lot these days.

 

“J- just leave it there Ma,” Yujin said as loud as she could, and she could practically see the crease on her mother’s forehead as she heard the plate gently placed on the floor, and the footsteps of the older Ahn walking fading into the distance.

 

Her mother was worried for her- definitely. Even Yujin was worried for herself— she hadn’t left her own room in 3 months.

 

3 whole months.

 

It had been 3 months since IZ*ONE disbanded, and it hurt Yujin like hell.

 

It hurt her so much she couldn’t even see her friends again. She didn’t want to be reminded of the life she lost- and the time she could never replay.

 

Eunbi unnie had debuted first, only a month after, as a soloist. Yujin sent her a congratulations message, which Eunbi replied to instantly, asking if she could come to the debut stage.

 

Yujin said no, she had an important family event to attend.

 

Said important event was building a brand new island in Animal Crossing.

 

Chaewon had joined Rocket Punch, and they finally bagged a first win- which Yujin also congratulated via text, no calls, no voice messages, no silly photos. Just a text.

 

Nako had graduated HKT and somehow joined SM Entertainment and made it to SM Rookies, which impressed everyone- thus earning her a signature congratulations text from Yujin.

 

Sakura and Hitomi remained in Japan, gaining fans and popularity all over Japan, and Yujin was thankful that they were doing well. Unfortunately, they received no texts.

 

Chaeyeon had left WM, making her change companies yet again, the eldest Lee now joining MNH Entertainment after an offer from none other than Kim Chungha herself. She was preparing for a solo debut, following in every dance legend's footsteps.

 

Hyewon got the role of a lead actress in the newest Train to Busan installment (and no, she wasn’t the zombie), and she did absolutely well for a person as shy as her. But everyone already knew that Hyewon was an amazing actress, Yujin thinks. Her popularity boosted immensely, and Yujin also- left her a text.

 

Yena, she left Yuehua, which the K-netz called a betrayal to Everglow (though they were doing perfectly fine without her), and ran off to Stone Music and debuted in a duo with Yuri. Yena also invited Yujin to their debut showcase, but she declined saying she was in Jeju at the time. Though she did give Yena a call instead of a text, since two months had already passed at that time, Yujin felt a slight bit better.

 

Highlight the slight though.

 

Wonyoung and her received 5 months off before having to return back to train for the new girlgroup.

 

Wonyoung was excited to debut again— she had the guaranteed position of center and maknae, and she’d already hung out with Gahyun and a few other Starship trainees last week.

 

Yujin on the other hand- felt like not wanting to debut at all.

 

It wasn’t because she was tired- or that she wasn’t passionate- or she lost the ability to dance and sing like before- or she lost interest in performing- or that she believed she’d done enough already- it’s just that- she—

 

She can’t imagine herself debuting in a group without Kim Minjoo.

 

God. Why did you say that name?!

 

Kim Minjoo.

 

If Yujin starts thinking about her, she knows she’ll never stop.

 

Minjoo was filming a drama. Minjoo went to Jeju to film the drama. Minjoo is in the drama with Kim Saeron, Park Sodam, D.O and Park Bogum. The drama was going to be called “Autumn in Love With You” Minjoo was the second lead. She’ll be a teacher in the drama. She’s going to be paired with Bogum (or Sodam, Yujin isn’t sure) in the end. She has to stay in Jeju for about 6 months to finish the drama. She’s recording an OST with Kreisha Chu for the drama. She’s recorded multiple songs already. She’s going to be an actress and soloist in the future, with a focus more on acting.

 

Everything about Minjoo— Yujin knows.

 

I sound like a creepy fool don’t I? Yujin thinks as she shifted slightly in the bed, her body shivering at the sudden movement after sitting as still as a stone for almost an hour.

 

Funny— the Yujin 3 months ago could have never stayed still for this long.

 

Yujin had been talking to Minjoo the entire 1st week- and she felt safe at that time- like nothing was wrong.

 

Then Minjoo got busy.

 

She was filming a reality show with Kreisha Chu, and they released their first song together (which Yujin listens to every day for that matter) and then Minjoo’s drama came in- and they’re always filming in the places with the worst signal in the entirety of South Korea.

 

And Yujin lost it.

 

It was near to impossible for Yujin to wake up if it wasn’t Minjoo waking her up- her body just refused it altogether. Anything that reminded her of Minjoo just hurt her like crazy, to the point where she couldn’t even sleep on the bed for two months- because beds reminded her of Minjoo and everything that was affiliated to the older girl hurt like hell.

 

She was glad she didn’t go to school anymore, because if she did, she probably would’ve been dead by now. The mustard colour? It was so Minjoo it hurt her eyes.

 

She also set a different ringtone and a different notification tone for Minjoo- so she would know when to pick up and when to not.

 

Yujin felt pathetic sometimes- why on earth did this girl affect her so much? Why did she feel so drawn- so attached to one singular person? They never dated- no- not even a single kiss was shared- but Yujin felt as if they’d spent multiple lives together, just the two of them.

 

Multiple lives together.

 

Past lives did exist. The entire world was well aware of those facts, and everything that happened in all those lives- and even your current life- was recorded in a book. Scientists can’t explain how the book came into existence, but it just did.

 

The public had no access to the books though- the United Nations came together and declared that exposing the books to the public was a hazard to society- after this one dude found out he was a legendary mafia boss in his past life and started going on a mass murder spree by following exactly what he did in his past life.

 

He really ruined the fun for everyone.

 

So the books were stored in a regulated vault somewhere in Sejong-si, in the building of the Ministry of Government Legislation, and you had to have a lot of credentials to your name to be able to have access to them.

 

There were stories of people sneaking into the vault in an attempt to find out who their soulmates were, or what their ‘destiny’s’ were. There were also stories from older people who were alive when they hadn’t banned access to the books yet. It was a well known fact among everyone that in the book would be filled with stories of you and your ‘soulmate’ throughout each and every one of your lives.

 

But- due to the years of not having access to the books- many have stopped believing in their existence. Continuing to live life as usual without caring about ‘soulmates’ or ‘destinies’.

 

“Destiny huh?” Yujin says to no one in particular as she shifts towards her bedside table, picking up her ipad. The screen flashes on, and she finds the smiling face of Kim Minjoo staring back at her with her bright pink hair- a photo she took of the older girl in the states.

 

Destiny.

 

Yujin unlocks the ipad, and jumps to safari- and searches up the thing lingering on her mind.

 

Past life books

 

The search pops up quickly, revealing thousands of articles and blogs talking about the topic. The very first one being from the UN themselves, talking about the reason as to why the books will be locked up from the general public.

 

Below that article, were countless stories of old couples and their adventures throughout their lifetimes. There were even pictures of the book- and Yujin was convinced.

 

Could she get access to it? She has no clue. She’d never done anything illegal before- and she was rather well known- she thinks. Most people were bopping to Fiesta right? Thoughts of doubt and hope fluttered around in Yujin’s mind, trying to come to a conclusion.

 

Why was she doing this again?

 

Right. Kim Minjoo.

 

The probability of Minjoo being her soulmate was 0 to 100. Who knew, maybe she hasn’t even met her soulmate yet. Or maybe she didn’t even have one- and that’s why she felt so miserable. Maybe her soulmate died already before they could meet. What if her soulmate was way older than her? Even worse- what if her soulmate was a man?

 

Yujin shivered at the thought.

 

Then Yujin thought again- which made her realise that she's been thinking more in the time frame of these three months than she’d ever thought the entire time she went to school- and she realised that this could be her answer, the way she gets the ultimate closure.

 

There was a user on one of the forums that mentioned how the books were meant to be a guide- and a way for one to not repeat the mistakes one had done in their past life.

 

Yujin wonders what mistakes she’d made in her past life.

 

Knowing herself, she’s probably ed up a lot in her lifetimes.

 

“If I read the book- i’ll know if Minjoo is my soulmate or not,” Yujin stops, pondering for a moment. “And if she is, I‘ll finally know why I feel so miserable without her— but if she’s not…….”

 

Yujin doesn’t want to think about that possibility.

 

—

 

“Yujin!” Her mother screamed at the sight of her daughter out of her room the next morning, munching on bread and some snacks she found.

 

“Yeah Ma?” Yujin said with full, some of the cream from the bread staining the corner of her lips.

 

“Y- you’re up!” Yujin’s mother continued to say, her eyes turning glossy at the sight. Her heart felt immense happiness at the rare sight in front of her.

 

Her daughter was back.

 

She hadn’t seen Yujin eat properly in months- even the food she’d left in front of her room was only ever nibbled on- and now Yujin was here, wearing a sheepish smile as she ravished through their bread supply.

 

“Yeah! Sorry I didn’t make anything for you Ma,” Yujin said apologetically as her mom approached her, ruffling her daughter’s hair as a tear fell from her cheek, falling on to Yujin, the older woman trying to rub it off quickly, not wanting to cry in front of her child.

 

“Ma? Are you okay?” Yujin asked, though she knew why her mom was crying- she’d been acting awfully pathetic since she came back, and this was the first time she walked out of her room, of course her mother had been worried.

 

Ahn Yujin you selfish prick….

 

“No, no- just glad you’re okay Yujinie,” her mother hugged her, and Yujin felt warm all over. She’d forgotten how much human touch was important, and how much she really missed home since she’d always been away from it.

 

I hope I get the same mom in my next life too.

 

“So! Why are you up all of a sudden?” Yujin’s mom asked as she walked towards the fridge, searching for any drinks Yujin would like.

 

“Oh. I need to go somewhere,” Yujin croaked out, internally debating whether or not she should tell her mom she was going to hijack the government in hopes of seeking her true ‘destiny’.

 

Maybe she should also work on phrasing it another way.

 

“Out? Where to?” The older woman questioned- she hadn’t even left her room for three months- now she was going out?

 

“Uhh- Sejong-si,” Yujin wasn’t in the mood to lie, and she didn’t really have an idea of what to lie about.

 

“What for?” Yujin’s mother questioned, her eyebrows scrunched together slightly.

 

“Just for fun,” Yujin tried to say nonchalantly, and her mother decided to let it slide- if her daughter wanted to go out to the government district- it was fine. As long as she left the house, hell, as long as she left her room, the eldest Ahn was fine with it.

 

“Will you be bringing anyone?” Mrs. Ahn asked, concerned for the younger’s safety.

 

“Uh, Yena unnie and Hyewon unnie will be coming,” Yujn lied about that part of the story, but her mother didn’t seem convinced.

 

“Sounds like you guys are just trying to cause trouble,”

 

“What! How can you think like that Ma?” Yujin said playfully, finishing her bread and walking over to the sink to wash her plate.

 

“Eh, I just know any sentence with you and Yena in it just spells trouble,” The elder woman joked, which Yujin just pouted slightly at, walking over to her mother and giving her a soft kiss on the head.

 

“I’ll be off now- I promise I won’t cause too much trouble,” Yujin said with a cheeky smile, and her mother gave her a look of doubt as Yujin walked out of the home, waving to her mother.

 

Oh… how I longed for you to smile like that again Yujin-ah……

 

—

 

Yujin was really good at riding bikes. She’d always been. She’d always imagined bringing a certain frog-looking (yet ridiculously beautiful) girl on bike rides, but it never happened. Maybe it was because Yujin was a total coward when Minjoo and ‘date’ were put into the equation.

 

What do you mean ‘maybe’? That totally was the reason you’re single right now!

 

Shut up inner Yujin.

 

I’ll shut up when you’re not single.

 

OH MY GOD!

 

Yujin ignored her inner thoughts, enjoying the spring wind in her hair and the light shining into her eyes as she cycled through the city, nearing the grandeur buildings of Sejong City. The air was light and windy, which reminded her subtly of the soothing New York breeze, a time she pondered on very often throughout the three months.

 

In the time they went to America, Minjoo and her went on countless shenanigans with each other throughout the free time they had. They visited the most colourful parks in the state, and tasted almost every desert they could get their hands on. Holy - the things Yujin would do to feel that happy again.

 

Things.

 

Things like sneaking into a government building just to know if they were meant to be.

 

Just to know if she could be happy again.

 

Happy the way she was in New York. Happy in the way they endured the heat of Thailand. Happy in the way she’d eat grapes with Minjoo when the day was particularly hot. Happy in the way she’d tease the elder for her cameos in dramas. Happy in the way Minjoo would literally drag her out of bed to wake her up. Happy in the way she’d always tease Minjoo for being such a clutz. Happy in the way she was with Minjoo.

 

That was all she wanted.

 

Her arrival at the modest building shook her out of her wish to be happy, as she admired the government owned building adorned with silver walls that reflected all that was the gleam of the sunlight. She parked her bike at a designated area, locking it so she would at least have a getaway vehicle if she ended up getting chased by government officials. (See, she planned her crime well!)

 

She continued her adventure of sorts, walking up to the guard post, which marked the start of the compound, and she walked past the post confidently, smirking at the guard who seemed to be far too focused on his phone to realize Yujin’s silent entry.

 

Yujin let out a deep breath as she marched into the main lobby of the building, where all types of people were bustling around the lobby- mostly focused on their phones and what seemed to be important business calls- while Yujin stood in between it all, trying to find something that could help her. Dressed in a white button up and black slacks, Yujin found that she fit in quite well with the office workers, and considered a new career choice for herself. Then she thinks about all the paperwork, and shakes her head, putting her mind back onto the mission at head.

 

There was a list of floors with the designated departments written on each of the metal plates, which lit the (albeit very few) light bulbs in Yujin’s head. The second youngest of what was once IZ*ONE walked up to the metal plates that were strategically placed next to the triplet of elevators. Yujin scanned the inscriptions, and she found it faster than she expected, the top most of the plates spelling out VAULT in big bold letters.

 

So much for trying to keep it away from the people.

 

Yujin clicked the button to go upwards, and the lift arrived almost in an instant. Yujin stepped into it, finding herself at ease with how easy it had been so far. She stepped towards the empty elevator’s buttons, and found her first challenge of the day.

 

You needed an access card to go up.

 

Of course you need one! Are you stupid Ahn Yujin?! Ahhh seriously. You are hopeless.

 

Why do you sound like Yena?

 

Why is that wrong? You need me Ahn Yujin. More than Yuri does.

 

Holy . I think this is it. I’ve finally gone crazy.

 

Yeah yeah. Thank me later Ahn.

 

Omg- Yena- what if you’re my soulmate?

 

Dear God that’s worse than Yuri…….. and I’m just a fragment of your imagination- so try not to up so much will ya?

 

The sound of the elevator door opening startled the girl- causing her line of vision to fall onto the young woman who just entered as she swiped her card on the other side of the elevator, pressing the button to the fifth floor.

 

Yujin cursed under breath, but a sudden ingenious thought came to her.

 

That— is such a Yena-like thought.

 

See! Told you you need me Ahn.

 

“Oh god. Seriously? How could I- ughhhhh,” Yujin groaned, startling the woman in the elevator with her.

 

“A-are you okay miss?” The woman questioned, and Yujin yet again applauded her own choice of clothing today- she really looked like an office worker. A hot one too.

 

“Ah- no- I left my card at home, and I need to get to my floor,” Yujin lied effortlessly- perks of growing up with strict parents.

 

And by parents she meant parent. And by parent she of course meant Kwon Eunbi.

 

Chaeyeon was always the cool mom.

 

“Oh? What floor are you on?” The girl replied, eager to help.

 

“Twelfth,” Yujin said with no hesitation, and the girl’s mouth formed an ‘o’ in clear shock.

 

“Oh, wow, I didn’t think you were that high up of a position. I mean! Well- no offense- sorry,” the girl stuttered out- and Yujin couldn’t help but laugh.

 

“It’s alright,” Yujin said, trying to put on the most charming smile possible, and the woman returned the smile, bowing politely as she moved back to the buttons to slide the card once more, and pressed the button to the twelfth.

 

“Thank you,” Yujin said, and the elevator bell dinged, indicating the woman arrived at her floor.

 

“I hope i’ll see you again,” the lady said with a small smile, walking out of the elevator as it closed again, leaving Yujin alone once again.

 

“Oh I hope I never see you again,” Yujin said as the lift proceeded to go upward, and Yujin took another deep breath. Seeing that lady again would probably mean she was going to face a death sentence soon.

 

The elevator dinged once again, and Yujin let out a sigh of determination as the doors opened out to an empty hall, contrasting much to the bustling lobby she’d seen earlier.

 

Bring it on.

 

—

 

There are many things Yujin regrets in her life.

 

One of them- was asking the universe to bring it on.

 

Bring it on. Yujin tells the universe.

 

Oh I’ll BRING IT ON PEASANT. Replies the universe, snickering.

 

To that, Yujin says— you universe.

 

She’d spent the past 10 minutes arguing with a girl named Sooyoung who guarded the vault, begging her to let her in with ten different methods- but she just wouldn’t budge.

 

“How much do you want?”

 

“I don’t take bribes,” the woman rolled her eyes yet again, and Yujin couldn’t help but curse her for the nth time that day.

 

“What do you want the most in the world Sooyoung-ssi? I’ll give you anything,” Yujin spoke with much exaggeration in her tone, and Sooyoung gave her a look of interest.

 

“Anything you say?” Sooyoung cocked an eyebrow, and Yujin nodded aggressively.

 

“Anything,”

 

“Well then—

 

I want you to leave,” Sooyoung deadpanned as she rolled her eyes at Yujin, who let out a frustrated groan.

 

“Please~” Yujin said with aegyo laced all over her tone, and Sooyoung almost barfed.

 

“Seriously? Aegyo?” Sooyoung said condescendingly, and Yujin only shrugged.

 

“It was worth a try,” Yujin said as she her heel, the sound irking Sooyoung to her wits end, but she shut up, considering the girl was leaving now.

 

It wasn’t that Sooyoung didn’t recognise Yujin- of course she did- Yujin Ahn was popular all around the world. It’s just that she wanted to keep her job, and besides, she was all for illegal vault trespassing (I mean- she’d done it herself, so who was Sooyoung to judge?) It's just that it wasn’t her place to help Yujin with doing so. So Sooyoung watched Yujin approach the elevator, with a small smirk on her face as she saw the small figure peeping out from the hallway nearby.

 

“Pssssssst,” a voice called out just before Yujin pushed the button, causing the young girl to jolt at the sudden noise.

 

“Yujin-ssi,” the voice called yet again, and Yujin turned to the direction of the voice to find a short woman, clearly a worker as she was dressed in regular work clothes, except she had a longer coat that covered her body. She had auburn hair with bangs that accentuated her cute features, and Yujin found herself involuntarily walking towards her. It just seemed as if the girl had a welcoming aura to her, that was literally dragging Yujin towards her.

 

Sounds like a serial killer to me!

 

Yujin stood tall in front of her, and the smaller girl smirked. They were in a rather secluded corner from Sooyoung, though Yujin was quite sure the echo was going to be quite loud here, so she felt a tiny sense of safety in the corner with this mysterious person. It was hard not to think of the possibility of this dangerously cute person harvesting her organs in this very hallway.

 

“I’m Kim Jiwoo!” The girl introduced herself rather loudly, causing Yujin to step back in shock.

 

“H- hi Jiwoo,” Yujin stuttered as she tried to maintain her balance, shaking Jiwoo’s extended hand quickly after.

 

“You want to read your book right?” Jiwoo asked with a high expectation of a yes, and Yujin- despite the sheer confusion written on her face- nodded in agreement to her statement, and Jiwoo looked pleased with her answer.

 

“Come with me then!” Jiwoo said with a smile that rivalled the sun, tugging Yujin by the sleeve as she brought her deeper into the hallway. Yujin allowed herself to be dragged, only stopping when they arrived at a large vault- not as big as the main one where Sooyoung was- but it was built in a similar way.

 

“W- wait!” Before Jiwoo could punch in the code, Yujin pulled her away, causing Jiwoo to blink in shock.

 

“Who are you? And why are you helping me?” Yujin asked in pure curiosity, and Jiwoo just laughed.

 

“I’m Jiwoo, I study past lives and stuff here. I used to agree with it- not letting other people look into their past lives- but after doing myself- I think it really does more good than bad,” Jiwoo said, as if pondering on what to say next.

 

“I’ve found that- you can’t judge things solely by their mistakes,”

 

“Mistakes are there for you to learn from them- not forget about them,” Jiwoo said with a soft smile, and Yujin understood now- why she really was doing this.

 

So she wouldn’t make a mistake again.

 

So she would never let go of Minjoo again.

 

—

 

 

Yujin and Jiwoo walked through the seemingly never ending rows of books that were arranged in such a way that made the place look like a library of sorts, except all of the books looked identical to each other, only a name written in hangul adorning each and every spine of the books.

 

“You’re lucky your family name starts with an A! Or else we’d spend decades trying to navigate through this place,” Jiwoo commented as they arrived at a section that wrote 안 (AHN) in big bold letters, Jiwoo shooting straight to the end of it, slipping through the space in between metal shelves. The room was lit like a warehouse, so though it was dark in certain areas, Yujin could find Jiwoo perfectly.

 

“Found it! Ahn Yujin,” Jiwoo pulled a book out of the shelf, tip-toeing as she tried to reach the book. The book looked like all the others, except it had her name and ID on it, etched in gold. Yujin plucked it from Jiwoo’s hands, feeling the dust stick onto her hands as soon as she gripped it.

 

“Ugh- tell Sooyoung to clean this place more often,” Yujin said, causing Jiwoo to laugh brightly. Which proved once again that everything about Kim Jiwoo was brighter than the sun itself.

 

“Your soulmate’s lucky,” Yujin told her new friend,and Jiwoo couldn’t help but chuckle.

 

“If you knew who she was- you’d curse her instead,”

 

“What? Why?” Yujin questioned the smiley Jiwoo, who waved her off.

 

“I’ll tell you later— now open it up! I want the tea,” Jiwoo pressured the younger girl, while Yujin pursued her lips as she flipped the book open to its very first page, which had a picture of Yujin on it. It was just her face, it looked pretty much hand drawn, but it put all of her most attractive features into detail, and Yujin had to give props to the artist- it was a nice photo.

 

“Flip it or I’m putting you in jail,” Jiwoo said, causing Yujin to sigh.

 

“Can’t you let a girl appreciate her good looks for once?” Yujin joked, but Jiwoo wasn’t having it.

 

“Mirrors exist kid,” Jiwoo teased back, flipping the page to the next, where a pearl necklace once was used as a bookmark, but it served that purpose no more. Yujin picked it up and observed it closely, and she felt a sense of deja vu surge through her, which caused her to look back at the page, wanting to know more about the story behind the necklace.

 

She inhales a sharp breath before she begins, praying to whatever deity that existed that she’d get the answers she’d been wishing for.

 

The happiness she’d longed for.

 

—

 

The First Life, the 3rd Dimension.

1780, January 30, South China Sea, Nearing the Guangdong Province, China.

 

Ahn Yujin has been bestowed upon the universe for the very first time. We hope she succeeds in living fruitful lives, and stays true to her soul. In any instance she does not- there will be no hesitation to remove her from the universe at once.

 

“Dimensions? You could have lived through different dimensions?” Yujin asked Jiwoo in awe, and the expert nodded.

 

“The third dimension is this one- this earth- and also, the prime years of your life are written on a golden paper- so if you want to save time, we can skip to there,” Jiwoo suggested, and Yujin followed, skipping to the first set of golden pages.

 

In these moments, Yujin had it all.

 

Commander of the Black Flag Fleet. That was Ahn Yujin’s title, a feared pirate and respected captain among her crew- and even the crews of the other fleets for a matter of fact. It was the year 1808, and Madame Zheng- the leader of their massive pirate confederation- had risen to tremendous power, even after the death of Zheng Yi, her husband. Though Madame Zheng may have not built the confederation from the ground- but like hell did she raise it up as if it were her own.

 

And Ahn Yujin was very much glad to be a part of it.

 

Born into piracy, Yujin was a natural at her job- and after her father retired, Yujin took over the reins as the captain of the Black Flag Fleet.

 

“We’re going to raid them tonight, so everyone should be well rested today,” Yujin ordered her crew, who nodded in understanding.

 

The Lantau Island was one of the most wanted spots for their operation, the factor being how close the island was to the vast open water and how many trading boats stopped by to engage in trade and other things- it became the perfect place to establish financial offices and finally manage a proper base.

 

So here they were, waiting for dusk- where they could strike down their bay, ruin their docks and leave the chieftain begging for mercy.

 

Chinese commanders always fell weak to their confederation.

 

“Young master,” a voice called, and Yujin turned to see the wayfinder of the ship, Ryujin.

 

“Yes Ryujin?”

 

“Some of ‘em are asking if we can bring some captives tonight? Rumour has it that Lantau has some of the best booty,” Ryujin said with a smirk on her face, and Yujin couldn’t help but cringe at the horrible joke her comrade made.

 

“Tell them yes- but you know the drill, take all their money and let them go, if you want to marry them- be my guest- but if I find any of you mistreating them, you’ll be answering to not just me- but also Madame Zheng,” Yujin said with venom in her tone, causing the previously joking Ryujin to gulp in fear.

 

“Actually, I take that back,”

 

“If anyone is found mistreating their spouses- they won’t even have time to answer,”

 

“Yes Ma’am!” Ryujin said, jumping out of the main chamber to inform everyone of the news.

 

Yujin could hear the brief cheers from her crew, and Yujin simply clicked her tongue. They were all a bunch of lonely (and quite ) bastards really. But they were all good pirates and listened to her well, so Yujin couldn’t say much about them.

 

“Yujinie, Yujinie, you should learn to have more fun y’know,” a new voice called from the main entrance, causing Yujin to spin swiftly, ready to attack if the person was a threat.

 

“Ah! Seriously Yuri? Can’t you knock?” Yujin sighed as she saw Yuri walk into the room and close the door behind her, the commander turning back to a stolen couch, roughly taking a seat on the soft material.

 

“Knock knock,” Yuri teases, smirking as she approaches the captain. “Heheh- you’re teased too easily Capt,” Yuri continues, chuckling at the commander's antics, taking a seat on the stool across from Yujin.

 

Yujin was silent, looking out the circular window of the Captain’s Cabin. From the hole, they could see the sun beginning to disappear from sight, and as soon as the moon revealed itself- they would start sailing towards Lantau Island.

 

“You look lonely Yujin,” Yuri spoke up, and Yujin just stared at her, questioning her words.

 

“Hey- you know I know you better than anyone on this ship,” Yuri continued, trying to strengthen her point.

 

“And so? I’m not lonely Yuri- just strongly independent,” Yujin replied, but Yuri only snickered.

 

“There’s a difference between being independent and being lonely Yujin,” Yuri commented, but Yujin refused to give in.

 

“Alright- I get it, you’re still young anyways- but I’m just saying- everyone needs a co-captain— Captain,” Yuri tipped her hat as she uttered her words with much respect, standing up from the stool as she made her way out of the room, leaving Yujin alone to think about what she said.

 

I mean- even Madame Zheng has Zhang Bao as her right hand man.

 

It wouldn’t hurt Yujin to get a partner in crime right?

 

Yet Yujin still shudders at the thought of sharing her life with someone- even if it was just professionally- Yujin was just so used to being alone. Her mother passed away shortly after her 7th birthday, getting shot during battle against five American schooners, which they had thankfully won. Though Yujin clearly remembers the loss she and her father faced that night. Her mother- was indeed her father’s right hand, a part of him which he couldn’t live without, the change in her father’s behaviour- from being an easy going and open guy to the closed off and strict commander- was what drove Yujin to bring herself up in a more independent way, so that she would never have to rely on someone to become her other right hand the way her mother was for her father.

 

One right hand was enough for Yujin.

 

“Captain! We need orders!” The door busted open once again, and Yujin swiftly glanced at the window to find they were already off schedule for tonight’s raid, and Yujin sighs- standing up abruptly as she dismissed the young pirate who came to remind her of the raid.

 

Yujin steps out of the cabin and heads across the main deck towards the forecastle deck, stepping slightly on top on the bowsprit, that was ornamented with the design of Cerberus the three headed dog as the ship's figurehead.

 

Yujin really liked dogs. The more heads the better.

 

Simply ordering with her gestures, the ship began moving forward. Yujin had set a series of gestures that every one of her crew had to master- to increase their capability to sneak up on enemies. It was the reason they were given the name the Black Flag Fleet, they simply worked in the shadows.

 

It was a misty night, but Yujin could make out the multiple junks and sampans following her fleet, according to her lead. She looked a bit further, and spotted the red flag, indicating that she was on the same pace as Madame Zheng’s fleet.

 

Yujin saw the older woman on the forecastle deck of the monstrosity that was the Red Fleet’s commanding ship.

 

Madame Zheng lifted one finger, looking to Yujin’s direction- and the younger smirked at her, nodding at the silent order.

 

“Sampans and corvettes forward- Blue fleet will guard us from behind,” Yujin told Yuri, and she passed the order to the rest of the fleet, and they acted almost immediately, with the rafts almost arriving at shore with their masses of rope.

 

Ryujin looked back to their main vessel from her position at shore, and Yujin gestured towards herself, and Ryujin and the other rafters on their pitch black sampans began the first part of the operation, throwing ropes onto the larger ships as their getaway method once they'd captured everything and everyone that was shiny.

 

Yujin looked back to Madame Zheng, who was staring intently at their rafters, who were nearly done with their jobs. After a few silent seconds, Madame Zheng turned to Yujin once again, and nodded, lifting five fingers and gesturing them towards the shore, where Yujin’s own men were waiting for the next order.

 

A five? Madame Zheng must really want this place. Yujin thought as she turned back to Ryujin.

 

A level five attack meant a rather brutal- all out attack on each and every house and store on the dry land- it also meant more captives and of course, a lot more loot than usual.

 

“Five,” Yujin said, alerting Yuri, who nodded with a slight bit of shock in her eyes as she turned to the rest of the crew, telling the anchors and the 15th squadron to remain on the ship just in case the villagers were feistier than usual.

 

Yujin looked to Ryujin, holding up a five with her right hand as Ryujin smirked, and all the masses of pirates began to swing from the ship onto the shore with the assistance of the fastened ropes, only the select few remaining on the ship to guard it from escapees and to help the rest load all the stuff onto the ship.

 

Once everyone was off, Yujin turned to her remaining comrades, which included Yuri of the 15th squadron.

 

“Go on now- we’re not as incompetent as you think Yujin,” Yuri cocked her head to Yujin, who chuckled at her friend, the Ahn sliding off the ropes and onto the shore, where chaos was beginning to ensue.

 

“You’re a little late Ahn,” Madame Zheng said as Yujin caught up to her, smiling softly at her younger comrade.

 

“Couldn’t keep all the fun to myself now could I?” Yujin says with a smirk, running away from Madame Zheng to join the rest of the crew, Madame Zheng yelling in protest as Yujin arrived at the village.

 

And hey- one building was already on fire.

 

People were screaming, but Yujin was beaming. The thrill of being a pirate was at its absolute peak in times like this, when people begged for mercy as Yujin sliced through homes, looking for as much gold as she could possible get her hands on and slipping it into her knapsack.

 

Yujin stepped onto a pedestal of sorts, unsheathing the longsword Jian with her right hand, and proceeding to unsheath her personal favourite saber, Dao with her left. Yujin extended her right hand slightly, and a horse came rushing right through the blade, gruesomely taking out it’s owner’s head in the process as well.

 

“Wow, nice moves Capt,” Ryujin clapped her hands, proceeding to take out a military officer with a small knife, stabbing the official in the eye.

 

“Having fun with your little friend there?” Yujin teased Ryujin’s so-called dagger, and Ryujin only chuckled.

 

“You know I love my qiang way more,” Ryujin said as she rubbed her spear, that was slung behind her back.

 

“Then start using longer swords Ryu,” Yujin said as she tossed the jian to Ryujin, who turned around as soon as she received it, slicing a military officer who’d been sneaking up behind the wayfinder.

 

“Nice!” Yujin complemented, hopping off the pedestal to join Ryujin in her bloodbath, but another crew member from the yellow fleet, Yena, came up next to them, looking to ask something.

 

“Hey Capt, I know the goal is just the main hall- but should we really leave this big guy standing?” Yena asked as she pointed to the mini hall, most probably used for public affairs.

 

“Burn it,” Yujin ordered Yena sharply, who smirked as she lit the bottle of alcohol on fire, tossing it onto one of the village's mess halls, the spark of them flames acting as pure amusement to Yujin.

 

“Good girl,” Yujin cooed, Yena smirking at the commander as she threw her own saber directly into the skull of an equestrian trying to make his escape, Yena pushing the body off the horse as she claimed it as her own, riding deeper into the village, knowing they couldn’t stop until they conquered the great hall of Lantau island.

 

“Ryujin,” Yujin said, turning to her wayfinder.

 

“Yes Capt?” Ryujin said, and Yujin tossed her a small metal device- it was rare in their community, but it worked wonders- and every person who got her hands on it was undeniably the most powerful in the room.

 

“No way,” Ryujin examined the little western device, one that Yujin obtained from a raid in Vietnam when she was younger.

 

“Entertain me,” Yujin said and Ryujin cocked the gun, a devilish grin on her face as she walked forward, while Yujin followed from behind as they kept an eye out for military officers, or any of the locals that were trying to make their escape.

 

They marched up to a crossroad that was rather silent, where it seemed like the area was almost cleared, and there was a blazing fire in the distance, which marked the location of their biggest prize- the grand hall.

 

Madame Zheng was for sure already at the top, despite Yujin joining the battle before her, the Madame would want to conquer the island as quickly as possible, and that meant threatening the lead military commander at gunpoint- or beheading him.

 

It depended on her mood really.

 

“Did you hear that?” Ryujin broke Yujin out of thoughts, the commander now alert and in position to slaughter any man that came close.

 

“Barely,” Yujin said, standing guard as one of the bushes rustled again, Ryujin swiftly pointing the gun towards the bush.

 

Call Yujin crazy, but she was 1000% sure the bush just yelped.

 

Yujin couldn’t help but chuckle at their enemy, but Ryujin had other fun plans. Ryujin let the bullet fly, and the person in the shrub jumped out of the bush, clearly unharmed by how fast she ran off, shocking Yujin, but Ryujin remained unfazed.

 

“Stop,” Ryujin demanded. “Anywhere you go- you’re going to die anyways,”

 

The strange enemy, now identifiable as a young woman around their age, stopped in her tracks, looking blank as she stared at the two Jin’s. Ryujin raised her gun at the girl, who seemed too stunned to even move at this point. The girl, Yujin realised, wasn’t staring at Ryujin- nor the gun pointed to her- but was staring at Yujin. Which made Yujin stagger back for a moment- no one ever looked at her with that intensity- especially when held at gunpoint.

 

Then Yujin met her eyes.

 

They seemed oddly familiar, the brown- somewhat black under the moonlight- orbs staring into her own as the girl stood there, seeming unsure about what she wanted to do in that current moment, trying to decide why she wasn't running away and why she wanted to come closer.

 

But she did, she definitely did want to come closer. There was a trance enveloping just the two of them, and Yujin would be lying if she said she wanted it to end. There was a certain pleasure in this moment, with this stranger staring right through her as her best friend attempted to murder her, and the pleasure was different from slashing through barricades of military officers of western navy.

 

It was lighthearted, it was gentle, it was less of an adrenaline rush and more of a burst endorphins, it was— different— to say the least.

 

The click of the trigger pulling had snapped Yujin out of her trance, the commander turning to see Ryujin already pulling the trigger- and for the first time in years- Ahn Yujin first saw the horror, and the sheer brutality of killing.

 

“WAIT!” Yujin yelled, despite knowing it was to late, but she was a fast thinker, and she hurriedly pushed Ryujin’s hand sideways, causing the shot to lose its accuracy as it simply grazed the girl’s shoulder, the civilian screaming due to the pain before shooting off- clutching her shoulder as she ran off, to the direction of none other than the grand hall.

 

“HEY! W- what was that for?” Ryujin seemed mad at first, but then she remembered that Yujin was still her superior, and she needed to address her as such.

 

The thing is, Yujin doesn’t know what ‘that’ was for- she simply didn’t want the girl to get hurt. It was weird. Feelings were weird.

 

“Look, she’s gonna get caught anyways- might as well take her captive. She looks rich,” Yujin said, but Ryujin narrowed her eyes at the captain. Yujin rarely cared about riches, it was the thrill of the kill that she really yearned for. Once, Yujin even called captives and riches ‘excess baggage’ after a raid, telling some of her men to return two whole chests of riches back to an orphanage because it took up too much space in the ship.

 

“Since when do you care about that stuff?” Ryujin asked, genuinely concerned for her commander’s sudden change of heart.

 

“J-just drop it,” Yujin said solemnly. “She can’t hurt anyone, she’s already injured,” Yujin’s tone turned into a sterner one, and Ryujin had no other choice than to oblige.

 

They continued to trek up the hill, spotting the grand hall, Madame Zheng standing in front of the burning building with a nefarious grin on her lips. Right behind Madame Zheng was the chieftain of the island, a rope harshly tied on his neck, hands and feet, pulling at his limbs as if he was a puppet.

 

“Submit or perish,” Madame Zheng held a dagger to his throat, squatting on the ground to meet the chief's gaze.

 

The chief’s eyes were hollow, as if he’d come to a point where death seemed like the sweetest thing known to man.

 

“I-,” The chief said slowly, as if Madame Zheng was draining every drip of energy from the man.

 

“I submit,” he said finally, and the grin on Madame Zheng Yi’s face extended from ear to ear.

 

“Bring him on the ship boys,” Madame Zheng ordered, and Zhang Bao, her husband and a few other men hoisted the man upwards, dragging him on the many ropes he was tied to.

 

“Girls!” Madame Zheng said joyously. “Amazing work back there,” the woman complemented, and Yujin waved her off with a prideful smirk on her face, approaching the woman.

 

“All in a day’s work,” Yujin said, smiling at the utter chaos they caused.

 

“We finally have a proper base now,” Madame Zheng said fondly, looking at all the blood spills tainting the once pure dirt.

 

“We should head back to the ships,” Madame Zheng looked to Yujin. “Quickly divide the spoils and the captives,” Madame Zheng ordered, and the two younger pirates scattered, going back down the hill they came.

 

Though Yujin did turn her head back as they walked down, looking out for even the most macro glimpse of the girl earlier. Just to know if she was safe.

 

Why the hell do you care if she’s safe?

 

—

 

Yujin sat alone in her cabin, wiping the blood off her swords while her crew brought all the spoils from the conquest on top of the deck, where they would divide it under Yujin’s watch later.

 

Though Yujin knew some of the younger pirates were eager to pocket some of the spoils for themselves, she didn’t care that much, but Yujin knew that if anyone were caught, she’d just slice their heads off. It was a known fact that the commander of the Black Flag Fleet was especially brutal when it came to punishments. And she was definitely the most strict when it came to routine and rules. ‘She was like a mirror of the Madame herself’, was what was often gossiped about her, alongside ‘the most good looking commander’ and ‘she’s hottest when angry,’.

 

Also, let's also not forget ‘her and her friend Ryujin can raid me anytime,’.

 

Yujin sighed as she thought of the other things people have said about her. Did she mind it? Not really, since they all came from some of the finest women the confederation had ever seen. Yet, it still made Yujin a little uncomfortable since Yujin haven't a clue of who these people were.

 

“I’M TAKING HER!”

 

“WE HAVE TO WAIT FOR THE CAPTAIN!”

 

“I’m her best man! She don’t got a choice!”

 

“Can’t you fools get back to work?!”

 

“She’s the last of the loot!”

 

“And the best of it too,” the sounds of nearly her entire crew cackling disturbed Yujin from her pure silence, since the cabin and the main deck were quite a stretch, it was rare to hear sounds from the deck here.

 

“!” Yujin heard again, but she just glared at the direction the sound was from, ignoring how loud her crew was being.

 

“NO! Stop it! She’s mine!”

 

“We can’t choose yet!”

 

“Who cares?! Capt never cares about the captives n’ways!”

 

“Yeah! As long as we keep ‘em nice and pretty! We’ll keep our heads,”

 

“Capt don’t even care about riches! And this one is definitely the best out of all we got at that lousy island,” the man said in a snarky tone, as if he intentionally wanted to disrespect whoever he was talking to.

 

Yujin continued to ignore it, the sound of a sword being unsheathed, followed by a series of gasps made her perk up, rushing to her door to get a peek of what was going on.

 

The door creaked open, and Yujin could barely see the outside, but she could, and that was all she needed.

 

“Who wants her- oughta get through me first,” the man with the unsheathed sword said with a grin of determination on his face, and Yujin knew him as Sungjae, an older pirateer within the fleet.

 

“YOU THINK YOU’RE STRONG SUNGJAE?! Back off!” Another man, a younger one this time, jumping down from the shrouds as he landed right in front of Sungjae. His name was Chenglei, a well known trouble maker before he became a pirate.

 

Yujin was too far away to see what they were fighting about, but Yujin knew it was probably over a captive, since they mentioned a she.

 

Where was Yuri? Why wasn’t she breaking up the fight?

 

Before Yujin could ponder anymore, the familiar sound of metals clashing rang through Yujin’s ears, and the commander had her eyes wide in shock as she saw not just two- but an entire group of men fighting each other, all in order to receive the favour of their new captive.

 

How ridiculous could these fools be? There was no possible way a captive could be as valuable as every pearl in the sea- to the sheer point where you’d kill just to get a taste.

 

Yujin stepped out of her room completely, her dao in hand as she marched over to handle the situation. A stern look painted on her face as she finally arrived at the main deck, where a full fledged fight had begun, and Yujin couldn’t be more enraged, feeling the strong burn in her heart as she saw the tomfoolery that was her crew.

 

“YAH! ARE YOU ALL STUPID? STOP IT!” Yujin yelled, earning everyone’s attention, Chenglei so shocked to the point that he toppled over into the barrel behind him, Yujin just glaring at him in irritation.

 

“Don’t help him up,” Yujin ordered. “Let him get up himself,” Yujin warned, and her crew, despite their disheveled looks, were now all standing up properly, with their hands behind their backs and heads turned downwards.

 

“What are you idiots fighting about?!” Yujin demanded, looking at each one of her crew members, who all refused to look her in the eye.

 

“Answer me,” Yujin said in a deeper tone while raising her dao, placing the tip on Sungjae’s neck, the young pirate forced to look up at Yujin. The boy was trembling as he looked into Yujin’s eyes, because despite being the taller one, Yujin’s freakish aura ascended higher than the main topmast.

 

“Do I need to repeat myself?” Yujin said, and Sungjae inhaled sharply, trying not to move his neck in fear of it getting chopped off.

 

“T- t- the captive,” Sungjae stammered, trembling horribly now as he pointed to his right, showing a large cage that would usually fit at least 10 captives, but there was only one girl in the cage.

 

“Move aside,” Yujin said, and every one of them stepped ten feet away from the cage, giving Yujin space. Sungjae let out a great breath of relief, falling to the ground as soon as Yujin let him go.

 

Yujin marched up to the cage, where the girl was trembling as she faced the other side, not letting Yujin see her face. But the way she clutched to her bleeding shoulder, and with the clothes she was wearing, Yujin was almost sure it was her.

 

You should’ve ran faster. Yujin thought as she looked at the girl, putting her dao back in it’s sheath.

 

“Unlock it,” Yujin instructed, and Fai, the key holder, came up to the cage, quickly fiddling with the myriad of keys, trying not to further anger his commander.

 

The door unlocked with a swift click, and Yujin stepped inside slowly, not caring about all the eyes fixated on her.

 

The girl eventually took notice of her nearing presence, and quickly turned, kicking Yujin in the shin as she backed up into the bars of the cell, her breathing erratic as she looked at Yujin with fear in her eyes. Yujin ignored the pain from the kick, crouching down to meet the girl’s eyes.

 

“Stop it!” the mystery girl yelled. “L- let go of me!” the girl demanded yet again.

 

“You’re hurt,” was all Yujin said, using the softest tone she could possibly muster, gesturing to her shoulder. Her crew was shocked at their commander’s change of heart- since she often told them to simply kill off the captives, but the performance they were enjoying right now- was the complete opposite of that.

 

The villager calmed down a slight bit once she took a proper look at Yujin, though she was still trembling from all the shock.

 

“Y- you saved me,” the girl said, remembering Yujin and how she pushed the gun away from her at the last minute.

 

“Yeah- but- you know- usually people run away when they see guns being pointed at them,” Yujin joked, a small smile on her face- and she could hear the gasps of surprise from her crew.

 

“Did the captain just smile?”

 

“Did she just try to make a joke?”

 

“Guys I think capt is dead,”

 

“We should make it an ocean-wide holiday,”

 

“I can help you,” Yujin said, still maintaining eye contact with the girl. “I’m Yujin,” Yujin introduced herself, waddling closer to the villager.

 

“Omg! She gets to call her Yujin! Even we don’t get to call her that!” Shuhua, another rafter complained, and Yujin had her hold herself back from slicing her head off on the spot.

 

“M- Minjoo,” the girl stammered.

 

“Can you- stand for me?” Yujin tried to request in the most polite form possible. (But what does ‘being polite’ mean to a pirate? We may never know)

 

Minjoo outstretched her good arm, reaching out to Yujin, who took the hand slowly. Yujin began to stand up as slow as humanly possible, not wanting to hurt her acquaintance.

 

As soon as they both fully stood up, Minjoo fell into Yujin’s arms, and the pirate held on to her, her eyes going wide at getting proper human contact for the first time since after her mom passed away. Yujin could see the large cut on Minjoo’s knee, and she knew Minjoo wouldn’t be able to stand for long.

 

“AWWWW CAPT IS BLUSHING!” Shuhua hollered again, and Yujin definitely knew who was going to walk the plank this week.

 

“Minjoo,” Yujin said as she attempted to soothe the girl, rubbing circles- if you could call it that, they were more like misshapen squares- against Minjoo’s back.

 

“Is it alright if I carry you?” Yujin asked while Minjoo buried her face in Yujin’s chest as if it were something as natural as breathing. Yujin didn’t mind either- because it did feel as natural as breathing- other than her heart wanting to burst out of her ribcage. This was fine. Her heart felt like it had just burst into flames- but really- this was fine.

 

“Okay,” Minjoo replied, her knees buckling slightly- but Yujin managed to keep her stable, adjusting so that she’d be able to carry the girl bridal style.

 

Yujin finally managed to carry the girl out, after having to squeeze through the small door of the cage. Minjoo seemed comfortable in her arms, other than the tears in her eyes from the pain of the shot, but she wasn’t trembling anymore, and that was enough to put Yujin’s heart at ease.

 

“Listen punks,” Yujin announced as she stepped off the main deck and onto the quarter deck, realising that all eyes were still on her.

 

“None of you fools will ever lay a finger on her,” Yujin said, and their usual captain was back with her menacing looks and threatening glares.

 

“Do you follow?”

 

“Yes captain!” They all echoed, and Yujin nodded.

 

“She’s mine,” Yujin said sharply, as if showing off her new prize. Some of the older pirates chuckled, but kept their mouths shut after seeing the glare Yujin shot them.

 

Yuri on the other hand, was still howling with laughter- even giving Ryujin a high five as she planned every single way she was going to tease the captain later.

 

—

 

“Wow Capt,” Yuri was in her room again, and Yujin quickly shushed her, Yuri lifting her hands in surrender, though a smile was still on her lips.

 

Yuri caught sight of the girl sleeping on the hammock nearby the window, and Yuri couldn’t help but smile.

 

“I told you so,” Yuri whispered, and Yujin stuck out her tongue, not wanting to admit that Yuri was right.

 

Companionship wasn’t half as bad as she expected.

 

Minjoo had been around for a month now- and surprisingly, she fit in quite well, to the point where even Madame Zheng took a liking to her, saying that anyone who could make Ahn Yujin blush was more powerful than any number of canons on junks. They weren’t explicitly dating (yet)- but Minjoo definitely was her partner in a sense. She helped with the planning and the finances as well as helping the crew not get their heads cut off by their captain- so if anyone, the black flag fleet was the most grateful for her.

 

Yujin even brought her a present from their raid at Hailing Island, presenting her new partner with a pearl necklace, that she felt fit the girl well- for it was simple, yet beautiful in ways Yujin couldn’t describe with her pirate vocabulary.

 

Did Yujin mention Minjoo also taught her how to read?

 

Minjoo taught her how to read.

 

Though Yujin still very much prefers it when Minjoo reads to her.

 

“Why are you here?” Yujin asked, narrowing her eyes at her friend.

 

“Relax, I’m not here to mess with your relationship,” Yuri said, sitting down on her favourite stool.

 

Yuri looked to Minjoo, and back to Yujin with a sheepish smile on her face.

 

“I’m getting married,” Yuri broke the news, and Yujin almost choked on pure air.

 

“What!? To who?!” Yujin whisper-yelled, and Yuri couldn’t help but laugh at her captain.

 

“Yena,” Yuri said again, and Yujin cringed.

 

“From the yellow fleet? Seriously? They seriously have the worst sense of fashion,” Yujin questioned Yuri’s life decisions, and the girl just laughed.

 

“She’s my soulmate unfortunately,” Yuri said, though she seemed very happy about it despite her choice of words.

 

“The book said so?”

 

“Mhmm,” Yuri had a dreamy smile on her face, and Yujin just had to cringe once again.

 

“Get your romantic out of my cabin,” Yujin sneered, but she also found herself smiling. “But, in all honesty, congratulations Yuri,” Yujin smiled at her friend, who tackled the commander in a bone crushing hug.

 

Yujin was stiff at first, but she relaxed into the foreign feeling of being hugged by someone who wasn’t Minjoo.

 

“Hey! You didn’t behead me! Love a good character development,” Yuri cheered the new side of her friend, who just sighed as Yuri let her go, ruffling the commander’s hair.

 

“Make sure to come- or else,” Yuri threatened, but Yujin only shook her head, trying to suppress a smile.

 

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Yujin confirmed, and Yuri smirked.

 

“Plus- you won’t feel so single anymore,” Yuri said, and Yujin cocked an eyebrow at her.

 

“What?”

 

“Well you do have a co-captain now,” Yuri teased, turning her head towards the sleeping girl and winking at the commander.

 

Yuri shot out of the room before Yujin could attempt to behead her for the nth time in her life, leaving Yujin alone with agape at the silly things Yuri says.

 

So now Yujin sits alone again, but this time, she wasn’t really alone- it’s just that her ‘co-captain’ was a huge sleepy head, and Yujin didn’t mind that. As a matter of fact, she didn’t mind sharing her life with someone any more. As long as she was sharing with Minjoo, Yujin figures, she’ll be alright. She may even be better because of Minjoo, and that was all she needed to hear. Yujin could never really be sure if Minjoo was her soulmate, since she was living the first life, but that thought didn’t bother Yujin anymore. Because now with everything in her life suddenly orbiting around one Kim Minjoo, and how natural the orbit was, Yujin thinks- that like her father once did—

 

She may have just found her other right hand.

 

—

 

“You know, the first lives are always the best ones,” Jiwoo said as she looked to Yujin, who didn’t really know what to feel.

 

It really was Minjoo.

 

“Really?” Yujin asked, and Jiwoo nodded vigorously.

 

“Definitely! Everything is new in the first life- and you basically have no direction or past wisdom- making it quite entertaining to read,” Jiwoo said, and it took a moment for Yujin to understand what Jiwoo meant.

 

“That doesn’t sound very nice,” Yujin narrowed her eyes at Jiwoo, who just chuckled.

 

“It’s like- watching a good movie for the first time,” Jiwoo explained. “Everything is new- you’re curious and you don’t know what might happen- but that’s the point- ignorance is bliss,” Jiwoo ended her explanation, but Yujin was still a bit confused.

 

“But pirate Yujin never knew Minjoo was her soulmate,” Yujin said, tilting her head. “I’d like to know who my soulmate is,” Yujin continued, and Jiwoo just smiled at her.

 

“Like pirate Yujin- you know it when you see it,” Jiwoo replied. “A soulmate isn’t something written on paper Yujin- it’s so much more than that- it’s something that transcends life and the universe itself- it’s something not exactly explainable by science alone,”

 

“Sure, we can talk about the chemicals that coerce humans to love- to feel for each other- but soulmates? The connection isn’t like any typical love,” Jiwoo continued.

 

“The connections between soulmates are ones that connect through glances, through screams, through silence- through everything- it’s a pair bond that’s simply unbreakable,”

 

“Glances?” Yujin questioned.

 

“Love at first sight- to me- doesn’t exist,” the older said. “But connections at first sight? To know you and someone are going to have one hell of a journey even with just one glance? That’s a soulmate thing,” she finished her sentence, and Yujin was left stunned.

 

“A soulmate is every good thing you never knew you needed,”

 

She remembers the way pirate Yujin couldn’t stop looking at Minjoo- the same way Minjoo couldn’t stop looking at her. The sudden change of heart in pirate Yujin- definitely reminded current Yujin of an event that happened to her. Though there was less beheading, the sense of deja vu was still there.

 

Flashback.

 

Yujin found herself sighing as she waited backstage, the abundance of pink at the studio damn near hurting her eyes. (To Yujin, blue was always the superior colour)

 

They were waiting their turn to finally get evaluated for Produce 48, to get into a class and strive to debut. They’d practiced every hour of the day to prepare for this moment, not wanting to taint the name of Starship Entertainment as they entered the competition alongside the other 94 girls.

 

Yujin was definitely tired- but she couldn’t be- she had to play the part of main vocalist for their mini performance, and she couldn’t disappoint Wonyoung and Gahyun, both of whom had worked tirelessly to get to this point. They were both her friends, and Yujin had no intention of turning against them.

 

Yujin glanced around the venue, and she didn’t know why- but she felt the need to walk towards all the equipment and lighting- giving a heads up to Gahyun before stepping away.

 

“I need to take a breather,” Yujin said after tapping the older girl. “Be back in a sec,”

 

No, the lighting area didn’t give Yujin a breath of fresh air- the place was hot and humid, much to Yujin’s dismay. So she turned around, wanting to return to her fellow trainees, but something stopped her.

 

What stopped her- was a brightly coloured shirt that was surely an eyesore to anyone with eyes, the shirt possessing every colour of the rainbow splashed onto the shirt in horrendous stripes, which weren’t even put in a proper pattern.

 

Yujin gasped at the fashion disaster, her mind finding every possible way to insult the shirt. Yet when she looked up, her eyes meeting with the owner of said fashion disaster, she was rendered speechless.

 

Yujin understood what the stylist intended now, it was metaphorical, they put the most gorgeous woman in the ugliest shirt in the history of mankind just to prove how beautiful she could be.

 

“Wow,” Yujin said as she continued to make eye contact with her fellow contestant, and they were both absolutely speechless.

 

It was enchanting. The girl— she was so gorgeous, Yujin could feel the tremble in her knees as they continued to engage in the little staring contest. She felt literal goosebumps appear as she scanned each particle on the mystery girl’s face. It was undeniable- that contrary to her shirt, she was a matchless beauty.

 

“D- do I know you?” The contestant suddenly stammered, and Yujin almost did a backflip into her own grave.

 

Her voice was soft- it was sweet and raspy and shy and it made Yujin’s head spin and turn with all thoughts of cherry blossoms and vanilla and all things nice in the world.

 

Yujin had to leave with at least this girl’s name.

 

“I’m Ahn Yujin,” she introduced herself, hoping with all her heart she’d get a proper response.

 

“Kim Minjoo,” the no-longer stranger replied, and Yujin let out a sigh of relief.

 

“Yujin-ah! We’re up next!” Yujin heard Gahyun call, and she internally cursed at the cue to leave.

 

“I’ll see you around?” Yujin asked, her tone bright and hopeful as she wore her charming grin.

 

“I don’t think we really have a choice,” Minjoo replied, but her eyes turned into crescents- and Yujin prayed that it would be night forever.

 

The younger walked away, smiling foolishly to herself, Gahyun narrowing her eyes at her as Yujin joined her fellow trainees.

 

“What daydream are you stuck in now Ahn?” Gahyun teased, but Yujin stayed silent, only waving the older girl off.

 

Alas, it seemed like becoming a singer wasn’t the only dream Yujin would be chasing now.

 

Flashback end.

 

“Hey kid? You done daydreaming?” Jiwoo asked, waving a hand in front of Yujin, and the young girl snapped out of it, her focus going back to the book at hand.

 

“Wanna read more?” Jiwoo asked. “Y’know, extract all the wisdom while you can,” Jiwoo suggested, and Yujin simply nodded, still a bit shaken by the realization.

 

Kim Minjoo is my soulmate.

 

Yujin is smiling like an idiot as she thinks about it, and Jiwoo is giving her a judging look— but did Yujin really care?

 

Kim Minjoo was her soulmate.

 

“Hey! Check this one out! It’s definitely from another dimension with how it’s written,” Jiwoo said as she pointed to a chapter, which intrigued Yujin- you could have lived in different dimensions??

 

“How do you know?” Yujin said with pure curiosity and shock written on her face.

 

“I told you I study these things! And I think you’re not in Korea too- and you can tell it’s in a different dimension because sometimes the timelines don’t match up- in the one at the end you’re in 1897 but in this one you’ve surpassed the 31st century…. it’s related to quantum physics and how time flows differently in different dimensions- I think it also has something to do with string theory and—”

 

“Okay, okay, I get it Jiwoo- now let's read?” Yujin cut her off, causing the PHD holder to cackle.

 

“Yeah yeah Miss Romance, wouldn’t want my intellect to bore you-and plus- this one reads Dimension 7,” Jiwoo says playfully, pointing to the next series of words in the chapter.

 

—

 

The Third Life, the 7th Dimension.

3027, January 15, Central City of the 60 Nations.

 

“Yujinie,” Minjoo poked the girl, trying to get her to wake up.

 

She didn’t.

 

“Yujinie~ I miss you~ please wake up,” Minjoo croaked out, but to no avail.

 

“Really Yujinie? I’ve been waiting a long time,” Minjoo said whilst pouting, but their moment was interrupted by the sound of the hinges turning.

 

“KIM MINJOO!” The door busted open to reveal Eunbi, one of the nurses that took care of the both of them.

 

“Oh no!” Minjoo slid under the bed- the nurse letting out all sorts of distress sounds as she looked at Minjoo, crouching beside the bed.

 

“Minjoo-yah, you know you can’t keep leaving your room- the doctors will complain about you- and then you’ll never get better!” Eunbi scolded the young girl who just laughed at the nurse.

 

“Eunbi unnie is scared~ Eunbi unnie doesn’t want doctor Sakura to be mad at her~” Minjoo giggled after saying this sentence, and Eunbi could only sigh.

 

Minjoo was 18 now. Yet she still acted like a child sometimes. Eunbi knew it wasn’t her fault, it was Minjoo’s mind that refused to cooperate with her growth in age. Eunbi knows she can get better, it’s happened so many times before in her lifetime- with more mods and vaccines developing- most hospitals were bare of people with illnesses that were not serious. There hasn’t been a case of any fever for 500 years now, and the flu hasn’t existed for 1000.

 

“You know doctor Sakura won’t get mad at me,” Eunbi said as she picked Minjoo up from the floor, pulling the girl out from the room gently.

 

“Yeah she will! Remember when you were on break and you guys were fighting in the staff room and then you kept on screaming her name! Everyone in the wards heard it!” Minjoo went on to explain her point, and Eunbi almost choked.

 

“We weren’t fighting,” Eunbi said sternly, but Minjoo wasn’t convinced.

 

“Then what were you doing?” Minjoo asked, but Eunbi swatted her hand lightly, and Minjoo just laughed.

 

“You’re too young to know,” Eunbi said under her breath, and Minjoo didn’t say anything, just following Eunbi back to her room.

 

“Now go to sleep Minjoo- you’ll see Yujinie tomorrow,” Eunbi stated in the softest tone she could as she watched Minjoo slip into her bed, grabbing the golden retriever plushie she loved so much.

 

“Promise?” Minjoo questioned, fiddling with the pearl necklace on her neck with one hand while patting the retriever.

 

“I promise,” Eunbi replied, closing the door shut after they bidded goodbye.

 

Eunbi actually has no clue why Minjoo and Yujin were so close. Sakura thinks it’s Minjoo’s condition leading her to assume that Yujin and her were close friends- but in all truth, the two had never spoken in real life before.

 

Minjoo had lived in the hospital for a long time. She’d been somewhat treated like a labrat by the senior doctors, using mods and new medicines to see if they could cure her. To the doctors, if they could cure her? Then they could cure anyone.

 

Eunbi wants to beg them to stop- to stop trying to cure something when they know they're only making it worse. Minjoo’s body rejected mods— but alas, she goes to work everyday finding new pills provided for the patient in Room 501, Kim Minjoo.

 

Meanwhile, Minjoo shut her eyes, falling deeper into her most favourite place in the world.

 

“Yujinie~ Where are you?” Minjoo called out to the girl, they were now in a park- it was made specially for the hospital, since most of the people there had chronic illnesses and could rarely ever leave the hospital. Minjoo walked towards the tree where she and Yujin would sit- often talking about their Eunbi unnie and Chaeyeon unnie, who’d take care of them like they were their own children.

 

Sometimes they’d talk about their real parents too- but as their images began to fade from Minjoo’s mind, she found herself remembering less and less about them. She didn’t mind though, she understood that she was somewhat a burden to society, so she endured the pain of being alone. Though sometimes, the pain of being alone hurt more than the pain of the cancer.

 

“Woosh,” Yujin said as her upside down head popped in front of Minjoo, causing the older girl to jump backwards in shock. Yujin was dangling from one of the branches of the tree, and Minjoo snickered at the girl.

 

“Hey! You scared me!”

 

“That’s the point,” Yujin giggled as she continued to hang from the tree, with Minjoo rather impressed at how well she held herself onto the branch with just her feet on the bark.

 

“If you fall- I’m not calling Eunbi unnie to save you,” Minjoo warned, but Yujin only smiled, reaching her hand out to pull Minjoo by the collar, bringing their head closer together.

 

“I won’t,” Yujin said, and Minjoo could almost feel her breath on her lips.

 

“I know what you’re doing Yujin,” Minjoo said, and Yujin loved seeing the way Minjoo’s cheeks brightened, and the way she tried to look everywhere but her lips.

 

It was cute.

 

“Then let’s do it,”

 

Yujin pulled Minjoo even closer, and they fell into an upside down kiss, and Yujin couldn’t help but smile against the kiss. She’d been practicing hanging for a while now- just to do this. And despite the slight buzzing from the blood rushing in her head, it felt magical- it was a weird position- but that didn’t matter, no one was here anyways, this was their world they were in. Yujin pulled away first, and flipped herself off the tree, landing perfectly on her two feet, shocking Minjoo once again.

 

“You’re a monkey!” Minjoo exclaimed, a genuine smile on her face.

 

“Arf!” Yujin barked, and Minjoo couldn’t help but laugh, walking forward to embrace the taller girl, who accepted it greatly.

 

They stayed like that for a few moments, enjoying each other's presence in the limited time that they spent together. Sometimes, Minjoo feels like she has a timer on her head, and at any time- it’ll turn to zero. But sometimes, Minjoo wishes it would do that sooner rather than later. Then again, in moments like this, there was only one thing that Minjoo really wanted.

 

“You should wake up Yujinie,” Minjoo said with her head in Yujin’s chest, hearing the faint and slow beatings of Yujin’s heart. The atmosphere changed, it became slightly gloomy, and the clouds began to cover the sun.

 

“Why? I don’t get you for myself if I do,” Yujin replied, it’s not that she really had anyone else who cared about her- she might as well live in this heaven with Minjoo than wake up and face reality.

 

“I won’t be here forever Yujin,” Minjoo croaked out, and Yujin’s breath hitched.

 

In the real world, Minjoo barely had control over her own body and how she acted, what she said- it was only here where she could truly be who she was before the cancer took over her body. Here she was just regular Minjoo- healthy and all. But it was just a dream- the perfect, picture-esque dream that Minjoo always wanted.

 

“I- how bad is it now?” Yujin asked as she felt Minjoo grip onto the material of her shirt, not wanting to let go.

 

“It’s the last stage,” Minjoo replied, and Yujin could feel her own heart twist.

 

The first time she ‘met’ Minjoo, was when she first arrived at the hospital after her parents' car crashed into an oncoming truck. Her parents died due to the collision, and Yujin fell into a coma. Minjoo had been undergoing surgery for the first time that day, and they met in the hallways of the hospital, which surprised the both of them at first- how were they talking? Where were they? How did this happen?

 

Regardless, they clicked. And every day after, whenever Minjoo would fall asleep, she’d see Yujin wide awake in her dreams, and when Minjoo would wake up, she would see Yujin stagnant in the bed, in a deep sleep, connected to wires so her body wouldn’t cease to function. This went on for a full year, and they both had to admit, their connection was like none they’d ever experienced before.

 

“I want to touch you for real Yujin,” Minjoo said some more, and Yujin couldn’t help but feel guilty.

 

“I miss you Yujin,”

 

She knew her parents were dead, she also knew how her aunt didn’t want to take her, thus she had no reason to wake up. Though now- with Minjoo begging her like this…

 

“I- i’ll try,” Yujin replied, but Yujin didn’t know if she could. She couldn’t wake up without a reason.

 

“YOU ALWAYS SAY THAT!” Minjoo lashed out, pushing Yujin away from her.

 

“No- this time—”

 

“Everybody thinks I’m insane Yujin! Everybody thinks I can’t do for myself! You’re the only one who knows about what I really feel. BUT GUESS WHAT?! YOU’RE NOT EVEN AWAKE!” Minjoo continued to scream, but Yujin didn’t react, choosing just to plop onto the group, the tears b in her eyes.

 

“Yujinie- please. I don’t have t-time,” Minjoo said, falling onto her knees as the tears fell off her cheeks.

 

Minjoo was like that sometimes, her mood and behaviour would change in just a split second, and Yujin learned not to let it get to her over time- but this time— this time Yujin knew Minjoo meant it.

 

“Will you wait for me?” Yujin asked, eyes hopeful as she looked to Minjoo.

 

“I want to,”

 

“But it hurts Yujin. It hurts so much,” Minjoo said shakily as she fell into Yujin’s arms, clinging onto the younger girl like her life depended on it. And to a degree- it did.

 

“I don’t want medicine anymore Yujin, I don’t want their stupid mods- I- I just want you,” Minjoo continued to cry the pain away, the pain that would infiltrate her every single second of the day, she cried it off, knowing that she could never get rid of it. The only choice she had was to lessen it, and she felt as if this was the only way.

 

With Yujin right next to her.

 

Yujin could feel the tears fall off her face as she felt Minjoo’s life force slowly fading away from her. Yujin always somehow knew when Minjoo was in pain- when the migraines got too bad- but this feeling, it was different, it was depressing. It was as if everything was fading from her inside out.

 

It couldn’t be.

 

She couldn’t lose Minjoo now.

 

Not now of all times.

 

“Minjoo- just hold on a little bit more- please,” Yujin begged the older girl, pulling her closer into her arms.

 

“Checking on patient- holy ! The brain activity! EUNBI!!!! Come see!”

 

Yujin heard Sakura’s voice pierce through the clouds, and Yujin felt her heart twist into two.

 

“Minjoo,” Yujin shook the older girl- but she didn’t move, the tears were still flowing down her eyes, but they were closed shut.

 

“Minjoo- Minjoo. Minjoo please, please answer me, you’re still here right? Minjoo-yah,” Yujin asked again and again, but to no avail.

 

“SAKURA!” Yujin screamed, because she knew Minjoo wasn’t okay- she should check on Minjoo first- .

 

“Eunbi! This is crazy! I’ve never seen Yujin’s brain activity spike this high! You think she’ll wake up?”

 

“SAKURA! NOT NOW!” Yujin yelled louder, as she stood up, Minjoo not reacting to being let go at all.

 

Yujin tried jumping, tried screaming again, tried moving so much- just so she could wake up, but it wasn’t working.

 

“Please please please please please! Let me wake up please. I need to see her. Please. She needs me,” Yujin begged whatever deity was keeping her stuck in this coma, stuck in this everlasting slumber.

 

“Doctor! Patient 501 is showing critical conditions! Her vitals are failing!”

 

No.

 

No.

 

No.

 

No.

 

No.

 

“! Minjoo!”

 

NO.

 

“AGH!” Yujin shot awake, and she felt her whole body ache, she could barely feel her legs, her head was spinning- the light was blinding her, everything hurt. But she couldn’t careless, because right now, all she cared about was Minjoo.

 

“Yujin!” Hitomi, another nurse, almost screamed when she saw her up, but Yujin had no time for greetings, she shot out of the bed, ripping out multiple things attached to her body as blood splattered all over, causing Hitomi to screech at the sight.

 

“Yujin don’t do that!” Hitomi yelled, but Yujin ran off from the bed, though she looked drunk and was horribly disoriented. She ran where she could hear commotion, and where she knew she would find Minjoo.

 

Room 501.

 

The door was open when she got there, and she saw it. Though her vision was blurry and all the sounds coming into her head just came out as fuzzy. Nothing was clearer than Kim Minjoo.

 

“Y- Yujin?” Eunbi called out, eyes wide at how Yujin was bleeding from removing all the IV’s from her veins.

 

“What? Get her out!” Sakura commanded, and another doctor moved to bring Yujin out, but she harshly pushed him away, and ran towards Minjoo.

 

“Minjoo,” Yujin said, breathless as she saw Minjoo’s eyes struggling to open as the older pulled Yujin with the bare minimum strength she had left, the blood on Yujin getting all over the girl.

 

“I’m here now. I’m here Minjoo, I woke up- you can touch me for real now. Minjoo,” Yujin’s voice cracked at the end of her sentence, her vision was getting worse, but she kept her gaze on Minjoo’s eyes, took her hand- and she never let go.

 

“I’ve missed you,” Minjoo barely said, her lips turning upwards into what was meant to be a smile.

 

Sakura wanted to pull Yujin away, but Eunbi pulled Sakura back.

 

‘She’s suffered long enough,’ Eunbi mouthed, and Sakura couldn’t help but agree.

 

“I know what you’re doing Yujin,” Minjoo whispered, and Yujin let the tears fall.

 

“Then let’s do it,” Yujin said, trying hard not to pass out- because this was it.

 

It was now or never.

 

“I love you,” Yujin said as she cupped Minjoo’s face, leaning her forehead against Minjoo’s.

 

“Mhm,” Minjoo’s eyes were fluttering now, and even though they were awake now, Yujin could still feel her fading- slowly, but it was inevitable.

 

“I- it’s okay Minjoo,” Yujin managed to say through the pain. The one in her heart or the one in her veins- she wasn’t sure.

 

“You’ve waited long enough,”

 

Her eyes closed. And it came- the piercing sound of her heart stopping- the beep of the monitor enough to send Yujin onto the floor, passing out immediately.

 

She saw Minjoo again- but this time, not in the hospital, mayhaps they were somewhere in the clouds, the bright light causing Yujin’s head to spin. But yet again- Minjoo was the only thing clear to her. Even in the beauty of the seventh sky, Minjoo was the only thing beautiful to her.

 

“Yujin-ah,”

 

“I love you too,”

 

Then she disappeared, and Yujin was left in the darkness.

 

And as usual- as everything with Minjoo was- it all was a dream.

 

Yujin prays, and begs and wishes on all the stars- that maybe- the moment she’d experienced seconds before, was also a dream.

 

—

 

“Yujinie? Are you awake? Are you feeling alright?” Eunbi's voice filled Yujin’s ears, and the young Ahn perked up, scanning her surroundings.

 

Yujin looks to Eunbi, who was expecting an answer.

 

“Was it real?”

 

Yujin waits-

 

One second.

 

Two seconds.

 

Three seconds.

 

And Eunbi nods.

 

—

 

Yujin sits in her wheelchair in front of the photo of Minjoo, where Eunbi had set up for Minjoo’s funeral.

 

She stares at it, but she says nothing, she simply fidgets with Minjoo’s pearl necklace, the only thing she left behind. She doesn’t know what to say really- she can’t even tell what was real and what wasn’t real. All she knows is she had Minjoo in her arms- but now she was gone. Yujin can’t grasp it- she can’t grasp the concept of falling in love with someone whom she’d never met before— only ever meeting in their dreams. But their love- it really transcended mere reality, it transcended beyond logic itself.

 

“Yujin,” Chaeyeon calls from behind her, and Yujin smiles at her.

 

“Here,” Chaeyeon hands a file and a book to the young girl, and Yujin accepts it, knowing exactly what it was.

 

“Can I ask you something?” Chaeyeon requests, and Yujin nods.

 

“How did you wake up?” Chaeyeon asks, and Yujin pursues her lips, thinking, wondering.

 

Yujin turns her head to the picture of Minjoo, and smiles.

 

“She was waiting for me,”

 

Chaeyeon nods in understanding, placing a hand on the handle of Yujin’s wheelchair.

 

“What are you going to do after this?” Chaeyeon asks, and Yujin is forced to think again, what was she going to do?

 

Yujin shrugs.

 

Because in all honesty, she doesn’t know what she’ll do after this. Minjoo waited for her- but now she was gone. The reason she woke up was indeed Kim Minjoo, and nothing more.

 

“You know, after finding a reason to wake up- the next big step is finding a reason to stay awake,” Chaeyeon says before ruffling her hair, and stepping away to where Sakura was calling her.

 

She looks down to the items Chaeyeon gave her, and she finds that she’s holding Minjoo’s death certificate, since no one wants to claim her as their family- Yujin was the only one left.

 

Kim Minjoo.

 

Cause of death : Medulloblastoma

 

Yujin also holds her book of lives, which will disappear only after her soul takes on her next life. So Yujin opens it, to the very last page with words written on the book. And she sees it, Kim Minjoo’s last thoughts- her very final emotions, inscripted onto the page in deep black ink. Her index finger traces against the words, her body still shaking from everything that happened within the last 72 hours. As she read each word, a tear slipped from her eyelids, causing the book to become stained with that one single tear.

 

Yujin-ah,

 

Even in death-

 

I am still in love with you.

 

“Chaeyeon unnie,” Yujin calls, her eyes still on the paper, her voice barely coming out as a whimper.

 

“Yes Yujin?”

 

“I’ve found a reason to stay,”

 

—

 

Yujin found there we’re still tears in her eyes from what she’d just read, while Jiwoo was sobbing uglily next to her.

 

“! We should read something more lighthearted! Jesus! Why is your life so tragic!” Jiwoo complained as she swiftly went through the book, trying to find something to mend her heart.

 

“Here, this one, it looks cute,” Jiwoo flipped to the next chapter, skimming through the words on the golden pages to ensure it wouldn’t leave her in tears.

 

—

 

The Fourth Life, the 12th Dimension.

2032, December 20. Akihabara, Tokyo, Japan.

 

A very much older- but not that old Yujin sat at the top of the stairs, the dim fairy lights illuminating the room. The clicks of lego blocks and the whirring of mechanical- hand powered tires were audible to Yujin. It was about 7.00pm but it was the best time to head from Tokyo to Osaka, seeing as it was when the roads were clearest- and Yujin was sure she could stay awake, seeing that she made sure she spent a whole lot of time dozing off at work- not that anyone cared, she was the boss and it was the last day before the whole- Carrie’s photography company (yeah Yujin named her company that- Minjoo laughed at her for days- don’t even get me started on the teasings that were endorsed by Yena, Wonyo and literally everyone else) got off for Christmas break- so everyone seemed a lot more cheery than the usual.

 

So yeah- to conclude, if you didn’t want to read that long paragraph- Yujin was basically very much well energised and ready to head to Sakura’s house in Japan.

 

But now there was only one more issue, which was to get all passengers on board.

 

“Akira~” Yujin called out, tapping the slightly washed out carpet on the floor. I mean- it was considered pretty good for a carpet she and Minjoo bought 10 years ago, when she had first proposed to the older woman.

 

“Yes Mama?” the five year old boy replied, peeking out from his makeshift tent- two lego figures in his hands.

 

“We gotta go now- don’t you wanna see grandma?” Yujin asked, prodding the little guy to come running to her so she wouldn’t have to take off the pesky boots- Minjoo had a strict rule regarding no shoes on the carpet, even if they were brand new- which was absurd! But Yujin knew better than to argue.

 

“You can go first Mama- i’ll catch up,” Akira replied casually, his head sinking back into the tent.

 

“And how are you going to find your way there huh Mr. Ahn? Do you have a car?” Yujin questioned, beginning to untie her boots since it was clear that her only son had decided to betray her for his lego city.

 

He was always super extra clingy to Minjoo- even before the kid could speak.

 

F l a s h b a c k

 

“Oh my god Minjoo I know you’re like super tired but I swear he won’t stop crying in my arms- kinda hurt by him but I really need him to stop crying right now,” Yujin said after trying a million methods from every single not sketchy parenting site ever- which included buzzfeed for good measures. They were trying to pack to go home to Osaka from Tokyo to spend Christmas with their family, but Akira was giving them a hard time trying to do so.

 

“Okay, okay- is your mama that stinky Akira?” Minjoo teased, softly holding their 11 months old son, who somehow immediately shut up as soon as he fully snuggled in Minjoo’s arms, even wearing a smile much to Yujin’s dismay.

 

“Yah! Look at that! Who you callin’ stinky huh? I change your diapers every hour you ungrateful chunk of meat!” Yujin’s expression during her outburst caused little Akira to giggle aloud, laughing at her taller mother. Akira’s string of laughter also caused Minjoo to laugh at her wife, who was trying hard not to crack a smile.

 

“Now you’re laughing huh- you’re lucky I love you Aki,” Yujin attacked the small child with loads of kisses, rivaling even grandma Sana, and the little Aki laughed even louder, getting ticklish from the kisses all over his tiny body.

 

“Only he gets kisses?” Yujin looked up from their baby, only to meet the eyes of another pouty baby- only much oversized.

 

“Oh my god there are way too many babies in this house,” Yujin said, pretending to pass out with her tongue sticking out a little, Minjoo still giggling a little.

 

Yujin leaned in for a lingering kiss on the lips, Akira in the middle trying to push them apart- clearly wanting all the attention to himself (if you asked Minjoo, she’d say he got that trait from Yujin).

 

“Aki,” Yujin said, daring him to push them any further. The baby just laughed at his successful attempt to tear the two apart. (He’s learning these effective ing skills from Chaewon imu)

 

“You want attention don’t you?” Minjoo cooed, Akira laughing as Minjoo’s face slowly inched closer to Akira’s, the laughter soon muffled by the myriad of kisses all over his face, Yujin also joining in on the kissing spree, occasionally slipping in a kiss on Minjoo’s forehead whenever she wanted.

 

Once they pulled away, the previously crying baby had the brightest smile on his face. And Yujin let out a sigh of pure bliss- falling in love with the sight all over again. She really had everything didn’t she? A successful career, a beautiful family. And to top it all off—

 

She was happy.

 

Yujin stopped for a moment, rereading the word happy over and over again, as if it were a mantra. She’d really been happy hadn’t she?

 

Jiwoo noticed this and smiled fondly at the younger girl- rekindling her own reactions when she first read through her book of lives.

 

Yujin honestly wondered how on earth she somehow got so lucky.

 

From the day she met Kim Minjoo at Moe’s Café, to the day Minjoo said yes, even to this day- holy cow did Yujin wish she had this kind of luck when betting with Sakura. The pennies she could’ve saved.

 

“I’m in love with you Kim Minjoo,” Yujin said out of impulse as Minjoo landed one more kiss onto baby Akira’s forehead, the younger woman falling in love with the sight in front of her, making a mental note to sketch the sight out later so she could keep it forever.

 

“Yujin,” Minjoo said, causing the younger one to lock eyes with her.

 

“It’s Ahn Minjoo,” Minjoo reminded her with her eye smile- because even after all those years- Yujin was always accustomed to her very first I love you. But Minjoo didn’t mind- even if Minjoo would have to remind her a 1000 times, Minjoo just loved saying her name like that- Ahn Minjoo.

 

“And- I’m in love with you too, Ahn Yujin,”

 

Yeah, that was another sentence Minjoo would never get tired of.

 

F l a s h b a c k e n d

 

“Well, I don’t got a car now. But I’ve been sending a whole lotta letters to Santa asking for one- though I let him decide whether to get me the super big lego set or the car- And I've been- well I think I've been a really good boy this year!” Akira said with confidence, moving a lego piece to another point on the large base grandma Jeongyeon gave him a while ago.

 

Jeongyeon was more than ecstatic to find out that her grandson was a fan of lego’s- and donated almost her entire unfinished collections to the boy. Though Yujin snatched away some so that she could use them to fool Akira into thinking she bought him new ones.

 

Parenting 101. Trick your children.

 

“Have you? Well- what about that time you cleaned Ray’s pee with one of mommy’s expensive shirts then hung it outside thinking it would dry clean?” Yujin questioned, raising an eyebrow as she sat cross-legged next to her boy.

 

“I had a dog in my past life?! Holy I need to get one,” Yujin commented, making a mental note to definitely get a dog as Jiwoo shrugged, squinting at Yujin’s interruption.

 

“I’m enjoying my fluff here Ahn,” Jiwoo shushed her, pushing the younger girl’s head back to the book.

 

“Huh?! Did Mommy find out?! Oh no! Who told you about that?” Akira’s face went into panic mode for the next ten seconds and beyond.

 

“She hasn’t yet- but- here’s a secret of my own,” Yujin leaned closer to her son, who was expecting an answer as he left his set and scrambled closer to Yujin, who picked Akira up and placed him on her lap. The young boy having much interest in Yujin’s little secret.

 

“You know how Santa watches everything? Yeah he saw- and he told me!” Yujin whisper yelled in exaggeration, Akira gasping in shock.

 

In this case, Santa was actually the security camera Yujin randomly monitors in her studio whenever she’s bored or out of creative juices at the office. Yujin never told Minjoo- she even went with it when Akira said Ray was the one who peed on it and wanted to dispose of it by throwing it over the fence but couldn’t because he wasn’t strong enough. Honestly Yujin had a hard time believing that Minjoo believed him- so Yujin just kept silent because she thought her information would prove useful in situations like this. (So yeah, Yujin basically wanted to blackmail her own son)

 

As she said, parenting 101. Blatant trickery.

 

“Oh my gosh! You’re friends with Santa Mama?” Akira asked in absolute disbelief.

 

“Yup! And he even gives me his naughty and nice lists to review before Christmas,” Yujin said, coming up with a story in her head about how they first met and all.

 

“Is that why you’re always busy the week before Christmas Mama?” Akira asked, going more curious as each moment passed.

 

“Yup,” Yujin said, popping the p.

 

Actually, Yujin was busy cashing cheques to pay for yalls expensive presents- but Minjoo would divorce her if she said that, so yeah- Yujin was so reviewing lists.

 

“D- do you know where my name is?” Akira asked shyly, not making eye contact with his mama.

 

“Well- you were in the nice list because I convinced him to put you there- but Santa will seriously move you to the naughty list if you don’t come with me to grandma’s house right now,” Yujin threatened with all she had, and Akira shot up- shoving anything considered ‘essential’ to him into this dinosaur bag. And by essential of course I meant those humanoid lego figures.

 

“Come on, come on mama! We gotta go now!!! I don’t wanna be on the naughty list! That’s where Nako is!” Akira tugged on his mother’s pinky, pulling her towards the staircase leading downstairs before another equally as small figure stopped him by jumping out of a bunch of blankets and pinning him to the ground.

 

The blankets that were layered upon each other to create a landing pad for whenever someone needed to crash to sleep immediately after arriving home were now a mess- and Yujin was disappointed because she used it more than she’d like to admit honestly.

 

“HAH! I knew it Aki!! Ray is innocent!! You were the one that ruined mommy’s clothes!” Nako- Yujin’s daughter pointed at an accusing finger at Akira, who was taken aback.

 

“AH! A PIG IS ON TOP OF MEEE!”

 

Oh, and I forgot to mention- their original plan to get just a son named Akira was changed by the doctor (read; a squealing Eunbi) telling them that they would be getting twins- to which they were both surprised, scared and delighted at the same time. It was far more different than being scared and , Yujin discovered that day.

 

So, their Japanese trio of friends came to visit the day after they knew of the news- and decided to proceed with an all out battle to determine the child's namesake, thus after a few horrible bets between their Japanese friends, they decided on naming their baby girl Nako Ahn, who loved eating equally as much as her namesake- and had the energy of a Honda Hitomi dancing with the promise of cheese dogs at the end and Sakura put in front of a gaming screen. Which really just was a ton to put simply.

 

Nako mostly ate and slept as a little baby- never crying too much or screaming for attention like Aki. Though it did lead Yujin to question whether they accidentally switched their baby for a koala joey.

 

“I’m not naughty- I’m honest! Right mama?” Nako looked to Yujin, who pursued her lips- no longer slick enough to get out of the situation.

 

“No! Mama’s got the naughty list already! Wasn’t Nako in it mama?” Aki turned to Yujin, her two children now looking at Yujin, desperately wanting to know whose side she was on.

 

“W-weren’t you in the bathroom downstairs just now Nako?” Yujin tried to change the subject, clearly panicked.

 

“No? That was Ray,” Nako answered, but her face turned stern again, not dropping the subject. Nako slowly got off her brother, the two standing up to corner their mother.

 

“Give us an answer Mama,” Nako and Aki demanded.

 

God why did she choose to be the ‘nice parent’.

 

Honestly maybe it was that argument with Jeongyeon on who could be the ‘cooler mom’- that’s why she became so nice. Curse you mother.....

 

“Yujinie? What’s taking you so long? Is Aki making a fuss?” Minjoo’s soft voice echoed through the space as she appeared at the top of the stairs, all dressed in a dusty pink sweater and some jeans to prepare for the chilly drive ahead.

 

“HAH! MY SAVIOUR!” Yujin jumped towards her wife, clinging to her immediately, Nako and Akira staring at their younger mother in disbelief.

 

“Mommy~ Mama is being mean~” the Ahn siblings whined to Minjoo, who smiled sweetly to her kids.

 

“Why?” Minjoo asked, crouching to meet their height, glancing at the standing Yujin for a moment.

 

“Mama doesn’t wanna tell us who’s on the naugthy list!” Nako and Aki complained in sync like the twins they were.

 

“Why can't you both be on the nice list? Or have you been naughty?” Minjoo raised an eyebrow, causing the siblings to pursue their lips, trying to keep the innocent facade up.

 

“N-no but Aki has! He ruined your shirt!” Nako began the argument, pointing a finger to her older brother.

 

“No- but Nako has!! I saw her eating mama’s jokbal after bedtime!” Akira spun the bad to Nako, who gasped in absolute betrayal. (Yujin isn’t sure if children should be eating jokbal but this child is named Nako so why not?)

 

“Aki ate some too!!!” Nako retaliated, and the two continued to bicker, Minjoo suppressing a smile as she turned to look at Yujin, who was smiling sheepishly.

 

“Akira, Nako,” Yujin said in a sudden serious tone, the two snapping out of their fight because as much as Minjoo was stern- a stern Yujin was even worse.

 

“Y-yes mama?” Nako replied, Akira too shaky to reply.

 

“I can’t believe you ate my jokbal- really guys? And after bedtime? I’m not surprised Santa put you both on the naughty list this year,” Yujin said, keeping up the stern facade, Nako and Akira hanging their heads in self disappointment.

 

“Sorry mama~” they cooed, Nako twirling her leg in guilt while Akira fiddled with the helm of his shirt.

 

“Now, maybe if we go to grandma’s now- maybe Santa might just shift you- alright?” Yujin said, still sounding stoic as Nako and Akira nodded in defeat.

 

“Yes mama…” they both spread out, grabbing their bags and hopping down the staircase, taking small glances at Yujin- because usually Yujin would start laughing and tease the two for being such sour grapes- but it wasn’t the case this time.

 

Though once they were out of sight, Yujin let out a string of giggles, Minjoo also laughing along, coming closer to her wife.

 

“Did you see their faces? So sad….” Yujin said before laughing again- imitating a sad face.

 

“Gosh Yujin you’re so mean!” Minjoo lightly pushed the younger woman, while simply leaning forward to give Yujin a slight peck on the cheek.

 

“Though, I must admit, stern Yujin is kinda hot,” Minjoo said with a chuckle.

 

“Oh really now? Seems like the ‘nice parent’ image isn’t what I should be going for,” Yujin commented casually with a smirk on her face, slinking her arm around Minjoo’s hips, pulling her closer as she leaned in for a kiss. The innocent peck turned a slight bit heated as Yujin couldn’t stop kissing her, Minjoo not hating a single second of it.

 

“Baby,” Minjoo tried to pull away, seeing that they were already late but the younger of the two started peppering kisses on Minjoo’s neck, the older trying hard not to completely submit to Yujin.

 

“Just a moment please darling,” Yujin asked for permission- her voice husky as she attached their lips together again, tongue seeking entry as she pinned Minjoo to the wall, but leaving a little space so that Yujin could still have her hand around Minjoo’s waist. Her other hand snuck upwards to gently caress the pearl necklace on Minjoo’s neck, a reminder of how genuinely powerful their love was.

 

Their tongues played around with each other as they continued to make out with each other, not giving a damn about the fact that they were already behind schedule on getting to Osaka.

 

“Can’t it wait Yujinie?” Minjoo chuckled during the brief moments they pulled away, both of them smiling into the passionate kisses they were giving each other.

 

“I can’t kiss you while I’m driving,” Yujin said, breathless, indulging in the softness of Minjoo’s lips- the taste of strawberry chapstick stinging on Yujin’s tongue as she continued to explore Minjoo’s tongue for the millionth time in her life.

 

“Fair point,”

 

Their make out session continued, Minjoo falling deeper and deeper into Yujin’s kisses, the world around them disappearing almost completely.

 

But of course two little rascals brought them back to reality.

 

“MAMA AND MOMMY ARE SNOGGING!!!”

 

“NAUGHTY LIST! NAUGHTY LIST! NAUGHTY LIST!”

 

Minjoo and Yujin practically jumped away from each other, the both of them blushing a bright red as Akira and Nako waddled up to them, matching stern looks on their faces.

 

“Snogging again mommy?” Nako pouted, her hands on her hips as both Minjoo and Yujin sat on the stairs, out of breath with their faces flushed red, sheepish smiles on their slightly bruised lips.

 

“What’s it about snogging?” Minjoo replied slyly, a shy smirk on her face, as she yanked Yujin towards her, pulling her wife’s shirt with a slight aggression, the older woman pulling Yujin just so she could lean on Yujin’s shoulder.

 

“Well- it’s a little yucky- and Santa doesn’t like yucky things,” Akira explained, sure as ever as he crossed his arms, radiating a funny kind of confidence for a kid his size.

 

“But Santa snogs Mrs. Claus all the time! I’m his friend, remember,” Yujin argued, the Ahn siblings pursuing their lips.

 

“Well~ hmmm- we just don’t like it,” Nako complained.

 

“Okay then- I guess we’ll just not kiss anybody anymore,” Minjoo decided for the both of them, the Ahn siblings shooting their heads up immediately.

 

“B-but what about our birthday kisses?” Akira stated.

 

“And our goodnight kisses?” Nako added, stressing her words as if no kisses from Minjoo meant the world was ending. (Yujin can relate)

 

“Well, you said you thought kisses were yucky!” Minjoo argued, the twins stepping higher on the stairs to get closer to Minjoo and Yujin.

 

“No we didn’t! I- it’s okay if you kiss us……” Akira said, his voice faltering at the end.

 

“Excuse you, but I found your mommy first- so by right I should be the one receiving all the kisses,” Yujin suddenly added, Minjoo laughing at the obvious comment, earning a shrug from Yujin.

 

“W-well- just don’t kiss without us!” Nako spoke out, a little shy now.

 

“Nako, Akira, be frank with me- do you want kisses or not?” Minjoo asked while suppressing a smile, trying to keep a stoic look on her face.

 

One second of silence.

 

Nako and Akira looked at each other, as if wanting to make a telepathic decision together.

 

Two seconds of silence.

 

“Well if you don’t want, we’ll just get going then,”

 

Three seconds of silence.

 

Their heads snapped back to their parents.

 

“WAIT MAMA DON’T WE SWEAR WE’LL LET YOU SNOG ALL DAY JUST DON’T TAKE AWAY OUR KISSESSSSS NOOOOOOOO,” The duo whined aloud, Minjoo and Yujin just laughing at their never ending antics.

 

“You really want those kisses huh,” Yujin said with a chuckle, the two nodding profusely.

 

“Well here you go!” Yujin sprung up, picking both of them up, peppering kisses all over their faces, the both of them screeching at the highest decibels possible, Minjoo laughing before she got up and joined the frenzy, the twins having no where else to hide as they were getting attacked by kisses at all angles.

 

“STAHP IT TICKLESJWSJO!!,” Nako managed to let out, squirming in Yujin’s hold until their mama got too tired to hold the both of them up, all of them falling to the ground breathless from all the laughing and kissing.

 

“So- what's it about kissing again?” Minjoo asked, pulling all three of them into an embrace.

 

“It’s still yucky. But a happy kinda yucky,” Akira said with a big grin on his face, snuggling closer into Minjoo’s embrace while Nako did the same to Yujin.

 

“A warm, nice kinda yucky,” Nako added, not wanting to keep silent.

 

They were very very late now, the road would be a tad bit darker than the usual and they would surely arrive too late to get a taste of the night eggnog- (Sakura’s eggnog was never good in the first place) but it was cold outside and Minjoo and Yujin were the warmest of all according to Akira and Nako- even if they snogged a little too much to their liking- their kisses were still the best, and that- despite all the things Nako and Akira disagreed on- no one could ever disagree.

 

“Well, that is my favorite kind of yucky,” Yujin said with a smile on her lips.

 

“What kind?” Minjoo questioned, looking at Yujin as she rested her head on Yujin’s shoulder.

 

“The happy kind,”

 

—

 

The happy kind.

 

“I think I like this one the most,” Yujin smiled to herself as she traced her fingers across the writings on the book.

 

The happy kind.

 

“The next one is the most recent one,” Jiwoo says as she looks at the page.

 

“Oh, my predecessor?” Yujin asked, and Jiwoo nods.

 

“Usually the most recent life you had is the closest to who you are today,” Jiwoo explained. “Sometimes you gain your fears and anxieties from things that happen in your past life,”

 

“So this one explains it all?” Yujin asks, and Jiwoo tilts her head.

 

“I wouldn’t say all,” Jiwoo corrects. “Just a damn lot,”

 

—

 

The Fifth Life, the Third Dimension.

1897, July 1, Hanseong, Joseon.

 

“You’re new here aren’t you?” Yujin jumped on top of the cement blocks, startling the girl buying potatoes from the merchant, who seemed to be shocked at first, but rolled her eyes when she saw who it was.

 

“Yah! Yujin-ah! Stop causing trouble at my store and start working on yours!”

 

“Business is slow imu~ the rich don’t want to buy arts these days- might as well come here and talk to a pretty lady,” Yujin said with a charming smirk directed to the girl buying potatoes, who kept the her face covered- but despite her eyes being barely visible— Yujin knows that this girl was beautiful.

 

“Lies, those rich people only want arts these days- you’re just bad at it,” the potato seller retaliated and Yujin only laughed.

 

“I’m Ahn Yujin- an artist- who would love to paint you one of these days- or nights, my services are always open,” Yujin faced the girl with a smirk as she tipped her gat- the archaic term for hat- that she’d stolen from the obnoxious male noble she’d once worked for- or otherwise, she’d be wearing straw hats her entire life.

 

The girl shifted her gaze towards her- though her expression was unclear through the veil she was wearing, clearly to cover her face. Even through the darkness of the Noeul she wore, Yujin could tell she was curious. The stare was strong, she was enticing, and this mysterious girl was one mystery Yujin indeed wanted to solve.

 

A noble.

 

Yujin almost snickered at the realisation, jumping off the concrete blocks as she walked away from the girl and off to her store, a few blocks away from the open market.

 

“Do you know where her store is?”

 

—

 

“Ahn Yujin-ssi,” a woman walked into her store, the chimes making music to the young painter's ears.

 

“Can I help you?” Yujin asked in the usual cocky tone she put on, and the woman rolled her eyes, clearly not wanting to be here- but she didn’t have a choice, Ahn Yujin was the best painter in Hanseong, and possibly even Joseon, and the ‘big boss’ specifically requested Yujin, so she barely had a choice.

 

“I come from the home of the noble lord—”

 

“The Kim’s right?” Yujin asked with an eyebrow raised and a grin on her face, and the older woman felt like slapping her across the face.

 

“Yes- I’m Choi Yena- and I need you to-”

 

“Is working for them fun? I heard they’re nice- and hot too,” Yujin questioned, Yena inhaling sharply in annoyance. “I mean- I am hotter, but I just needed to know y’know?” Yujin asked again, and Yena sighed.

 

“They want you to paint them,” Yena sighed, not looking directly at Yujin so she wouldn’t have the urge to slap her. “If you don’t come- you know they can jeopardize your business,” Yena warned, but Yujin only chuckled.

 

“Only I can ruin my business Yena-ssi,” Yujin said, standing up to properly face the older woman. “Now, who am I capturing?” Yujin said, Yena genuinely surprised she accepted the offer.

 

“The young miss, Kim Minjoo,” Yena explained, and Yujin was genuinely interested. Everybody in Hanseong knew about the Kim’s, from Kim Jongin, the head of the household, to Kim Minseok, his military oriented first son, to Kim Jisoo, his snarky eldest daughter, to Kim Yerim- his trouble making- second youngest daughter.

 

Kim Minjoo though- not a lot of people knew about her.

 

Some rumours said she was a kind and curious girl, while others said she was horribly ugly and that was the reason she never showed herself to the public. Many tried to ask Jongin about his youngest, but he kept mum, only stating that she’ll come out when she wants to.

 

“Kim Minjoo? The mystery girl?”

 

“Y- yes, the Master had requested her portrait finally be painted- to capture her beauty in her prime,” Yena said, maintaining her formal maneuver.

 

“Beauty?” Yujin chuckled, wondering just how beautiful the Kim’s youngest could be.

 

“Yes?” Yena said awkwardly, not knowing how to directly answer that question.

 

“More than Bae Joohyun? Greater than Zhou Tzuyu?” Yujin asked, spitting out the names of some of the most beautiful women she’d ever painted.

 

“Even better,” Yena said with confidence, and Yujin was sold.

 

What could she say? She loved painting pretty things.

 

“Where and when?” Yujin asked, knowing pay wouldn't be a problem with the Kim’s.

 

“Tomorrow after sunrise at his house, the Master would like his daughter to be captured in the sunlight,” Yena explained, and Yujin just nodded.

 

Now I have to get up early. These entitled bastards. Yujin cursed internally, though still maintaining the snarky smile on her face.

 

“Pick me up, will ya?” Yujin asked, and Yena nodded slowly, not really knowing the answer.

 

“I know you’ve got lots of horses,” Yujin remarked. “So bring me one of ‘em,” Yujin requested, but Yena didn’t oblige immediately.

 

“B-but,”

 

“There’s no way in hell I’m walking all the way to that big house of theirs- and there’s also no way in hell I’m getting on a horse with you,” Yujin snapped, Yena trying to consider what Yujin was saying.

 

“I don’t like sharing— Yena-ssi,” Yujin said, and Yena only sighed.

 

“Okay- but don’t tell the master!” Yena warned, but Yujin just chuckled.

 

“Psht- scaredy cat,” Yujin teased. “Now go tell that master of yours that Ahn Yujin is coming tomorrow,”

 

“And she’s expecting a grand reception,” Yujin said with a smirk on her face, and Yena was back to glaring at her, rolling her eyes as she nodded.

 

“Now hop along- you’re not the only customer I have,” Yujin said (though it was clearly a lie), and Yena left quickly, not wanting to stay with the cocky Ahn any longer.

 

Kim Minjoo…

 

The name was familiar to Yujin- but she doesn’t remember where she saw it. Perhaps it was in a book? But Yujin barely read books- well, there was another reason why she never read books, but she’d rather not mention it- even her past life book was left to catch dust in her mother’s attic. The words simply confused her, and she strongly believed that pictures were true art, compared to the poems and sheer fiction those ‘writers’ wrote. Portraits were real, and unreal at the same time— and to Yujin that was what real beauty was.

 

Something so real, it seemed almost fictitious.

 

Little did Yujin know, that her entire definition of beauty was about to change in the blink of an eye.

 

—

 

Yujin wakes up the next day barely energized, the sound of knocking prevalent in her ears as she struggles to get off the bed.

 

“Yujin-ssi! I’ve brought you a horse!” A familiar voice called out, and Yujin’s eyes snapped open.

 

The Kims.

 

Yujin jumps to her feet, pushing past the curtains that separated her earnest living space with the shop, seeing that Yena was waiting at the door through the window.

 

“Just a moment!” Yujin yelled, and Yena stopped.

 

“Oh,” Yena stepped backwards. “Alright- but please hurry up,” Yena said politely, and if Yujin had any more conscience, she would’ve even felt sorry for the butler.

 

“Yup! Just packing,” Yujin replied as she slipped into the bathroom, barely taking a shower. (She doesn’t like taking showers anyways). She quickly freshened up and slipped into her newest pair of clothes, putting on the gat she often wore when meeting with the rich. She rushed to the store part of her home, grabbing a bag that contained all the materials required for her portrait.

 

“All done!” Yujin practically ran to the front of the store, where Yena almost passed out due to shock.

 

“You get ready fast,” Yena nodded her head in approval, and Yujin simply clicked her tongue.

 

“If you’re going to oversleep, you have to do it well,” Yujin boasted, and Yena only rolled her eyes, leaning against her brown horse.

 

“Here she is,” Yena pulled at a rope in her hand, and a pure white horse appeared behind the brown one, and Yujin was amazed with how well groomed it was compared to the brown one.

 

“She belongs to the young miss herself,” Yena remarked as Yujin approached the horse calmly, holding out her hand to gently brush it’s mane.

 

“Does she have a name?” Yujin asked, and Yena’s answer was surprising.

 

“Gaeguri,” Yena replied, and Yujin shot her a look of confusion, snapping her head to her direction.

 

“Why on earth would someone name a horse as beautiful as this ‘Frog’?!” Yujin protested, but Yena simply shrugged.

 

“The young miss named her,” Yena said. “Minguri is her nickname— so I guess she wanted to match with the horse,” Yena explained, but Yujin was still far from coming to an understanding.

 

“And so? Why is Minjoo’s nickname Minguri?” Yujin asked, her tone higher than usual. “Didn’t you say her beauty was above Zhou Tzuyu? How can she look like a frog?!” Yujin was stomping her feet now, and Yena was internally begging the girl to calm down.

 

“Gosh Yujin-ssi,” Yena sighed due to the immense stress from just breathing around the artist. “Why don’t we get going so you can actually look at her yourself,” Yena suggested, cocking an eyebrow at the younger girl- and Yujin had no choice but to agree.

 

“I want to say you’re wrong,” said Yujin, followed by a brief sigh. “But there’ll be plenty of other times to do that- so let’s get going,” Yujin says, mounting onto the white horse, caressing the coat of the stallion gently before speaking a few words to her new friend.

 

“Don’t you think Snow White is a way better name for you?”

 

—

 

To say that The Kims lived in luxury was understatement. Then again, what came after luxury? Splendour? Magnificence? Prosperity? Those were all words far off from Yujin’s vocabulary- the painter would simply use the following words to capture the pure ethereality of the hanok, which was of course ; holy .

 

(A/n Hanok : traditional Korean home)

 

What really impressed Yujin is how beautiful the house was- even from the back door of the home, a path where only their butlers and maids used to get by their daily business.

 

“Yujin-ssi,” Yena interrupted Yujin’s gawking, but the artist shushed her.

 

“Quiet, I’m breathing in the rich people air,” Yujin says, and as usual, Yena judges the weird painter, shaking her head in disbelief at how ridiculous Ahn Yujin was.

 

“God,” Yujin said, letting out a sigh of distress. “The yangban scum,” Yujin is still breathing in the rich people air, and Yena aggressively gestures to the back door of the Kim manor, begging her to just get inside already.

 

(A/n Yangban : the upperclassmen of the Joseon hierarchy)

 

“Dab this on yourself,” Yena tossed her a small vial, causing Yujin to narrow her eyes as she caught it, observing the small glass vial.

 

“What is this?”

 

“Perfume- you smell like horse ,” Yena scowls, and Yujin almost sends a flying kick her way. “The young miss is sensitive to smells,” Yena warns, and Yujin does as told, albeit reluctantly.

 

“Let’s go now?” Yena suggests, and Yujin follows her inside, taking off her slippers as she steps into the home, the warmth of the wooden floors causing Yujin to hum in delight.

 

“Eunbi unnie,” Yujin snaps her head upwards at the presence of another person, and she finds another woman, most likely the housekeeper with how she was dressed, walking through the hallway.

 

“Oh, hi Yena,” Eunbi greets. “Is this Yujin-ssi?” Eunbi asks, and both Yujin and Yena nod, and Eunbi smiles in return. Yujin finds the need to bow slightly to the woman, but Eunbi just laughs at her.

 

“No need to bow to me- save that for the young miss,” Eunbi comments, and Yujin is confused, but she chooses to remain silent. “About that, the young miss is waiting in the garden,” Eunbi says, and Yena nods.

 

“Let’s go now? Yujin-ssi?” Yena gestured towards the narrow hallway, and Yujin nods- for some reason looking at Eunbi made her want to behave like a proper human, though she doesn’t understand why.

 

“Right,” Yujin says as they begin walking through the hallway, arriving at the daecheong maru, from there, the courtyard was clearly visible, and Yujin stood stagnant in awe as she stared at the courtyard, where the greenery was spread out neatly through the rectangular courtyard. The corner to Yujin’s right was decorated with a large tree, with cherry blossoms surrounding it, accentuating the spring vibe in the home. The sun was rising, and it illuminated the details of the garden well, the vibrance of the multicoloured patches of flowers shining through the grandeur home.

 

It’s beauty was unrealistically realistic— just the way Yujin liked it.

 

(A/n Daecheong : main hall, a living room of sorts)

 

“Please tell me I get to paint the courtyard too,” Yujin comments, and Yena gestures forward to the double doors that led to the teonmaru, and there was a slight elevation difference between the teonmaru and the ground before anyone could arrive at the courtyard. After stepping closer to the exit, Yujin found that there was music playing, and Yujin smiled.

 

Music was an art Yujin much appreciated, it amazed her how calming sounds could become. Her mother nagging her was also a sound, but the difference between music and her mother was so immense that Yujin had to appreciate how something so annoying could also become something so beautiful.

 

(A/n Teonmaru : narrow wooden floor running along the outside of rooms)

 

Yujin steps out onto the teonmaru, and she finally sees the entirety of the courtyard. Facing the section of the courtyard that was adorned with the tree and flowers was the main gate, etched with the Kim family emblem. There were a few other parts of the home Yujin couldn’t identify from where she stood, but she looked to what interested her the most- the source of music.

 

There was a girl sitting on a pyeongsang placed right under the shade of the tree. The pyeongsang was designed so that anyone who sat on it would be able to lean on the tree, and Yujin had to give props to the architect for making it that way. The girl was playing the sogonghu, a harp-like instrument with two sets of strings instead of one, allowing the player to create a much more diverse series of sounds.

 

(A/n pyeongsang : and elevated platform where people- mostly nobles- would sit on)

 

The girl looked very much focused on her little instrument, her eyebrows creasing a bit with how focused she was- and Yujin was pleased to find that Yena wasn’t lying when she talked about Kim Minjoo’s beauty.

 

“Young miss?” Yena called out softly, and Minjoo looked up, tilting her head at the call.

 

“I told you you don’t need to call me that when dad isn’t here,” Minjoo says with a loopy smile on her face, and Yujin finds her heart doing weird things, and she tries to shake it back to normal, but it seems like as long as Minjoo was smiling, her heart was going to keep acting like that.

 

“S-sorry young miss—”

 

“It’s Minjoo, Yena unnie,” Minjoo says as she puts the sogonghu to the side, sighing at Yena’s failure to address her by her name.

 

“You know his excellency will behead me if he finds me talking to you like that,” Yena says, and Yujin chuckles at the way Yena says ‘his excellency’.

 

After hearing the brief chuckle, Minjoo turns to finally address Yujin’s existence, and her eyes turned into crescents when her eyes meet with Yujin’s, making Yujin’s heart stop in five different languages that she couldn’t even speak.

 

“Ahn Yujin,” Minjoo says, and Yujin is surprised she knows her name. “Sorry my dad couldn’t be here- he’s in the north for some— well— I’m not sure what actually,” Minjoo says, but Yujin is still speechless as Minjoo stands, hopping off the pyeongsang and onto the ground, barefoot.

 

“Yah! Aren’t you going to wear shoes?” Yujin is shocked at how this noble acts, with her sheepish smile and pretty face, but she acts just like any 5 year old at the market.

 

“It’s alright,” Minjoo says. “I sweeped it already- so there won’t be any twigs that can hurt me- or you,” Minjoo says, and Yujin is a bit confused.

 

“Me?” Yujin questions, pointing to herself.

 

“Yes? You are going to spend time with me right?” Minjoo asks, and who is Yujin to disagree? This family was giving her big bucks.

 

Though spending time with Kim Minjoo doesn’t sound like too bad of an idea.

 

“Right, yes,” Yujin says as she steps on the ground, which had a sand-like consistency to it, it was soft to the foot and Yujin enjoys it more than she expects. Most of the ground she stepped on was dirty and rough, so this was a nice change.

 

“So- should we start?” Yujin says, but Minjoo is surprised.

 

“Right away? I thought you were expecting a ‘grand reception’?” Minjoo an eyebrow as she steps one foot forward, driving Yujin one foot backwards.

 

“Wh- what?” Yujin is a bit flustered now, with Minjoo inching closer to her. “I was only joking,” Yujin says, hiding all her panic behind her usual cocky tone.

 

“Well it’s too late,” Minjoo said. “Eunbi unnie and I made us galbitang,” Minjoo says proudly, and Yujin has to shake her head to get her to snap back into reality.

 

“G-galbitang?” Yujin is shocked out of her wits, because she’s never had beef her entire life- and galbitang? That was just a luxury. Only royals eat that variation of beef. And the dish took 5 hours to cook- meaning this Kim took five hours out of her time just to cook this for her? She might as well be living in a fantasy.

 

(A/n galbitang : short rib soup, quite fancy and usually found at weddings during modern days)

 

Minjoo nods vigorously and looks to Yena, whose head was turned down, but her eyes were fixated on them and she understood what Minjoo wanted, so she rushed into the house, while Minjoo and Yujin stood in silence.

 

“Sit with me,” Minjoo says as she grabs Yujin’s wrist gently, pulling the girl to the pyeongsang, but Yujin pulls her wrist away from Minjoo in a flash, knowing that she was not at all allowed to hold this girl.

 

“H-hey,” Yujin is scared now- what if someone saw her? She was surely going to receive a beating from her mother and maybe even the imu who sold potatoes would have fun smacking her.

 

“Why?” Minjoo pouted at Yujin’s reluctance, and Yujin finally saw the slight resemblance the girl had to a frog.

 

“I- I can’t touch you,” Yujin says, because sure- by profession, she was a sangmin, a regular commoner, but her heritage didn’t say the same. It was almost sin for people like her to touch a yangban, and though causing trouble was Yujin’s forte, committing cultural sin wasn’t a part of her act.

 

“It’s okay,” Minjoo says, holding out her hand. “I don’t mind,” Minjoo says with a sense of home and invitation laced in her tone, and Yujin almost gives in.

 

“I’m sorry,” Yujin says solemnly. “But I really can’t,” Yujin reaffirms, but Minjoo’s pout only grows more visible.

 

The noble then pulls out a white handkerchief, unfolding it to its maximum, and holds one end of it in her right hand.

 

“Here,” Minjoo says, her right hand now outstretched with the free end of the handkerchief facing the ground. Yujin understood what she meant with the action though, and she slowly, but eventually grabs hold onto the free end of the handkerchief, and Minjoo smiles at Yujin’s understanding.

 

Minjoo yanks the handkerchief her way, and Yujin is struggling to keep her balance as they make their way across the courtyard towards the pyeongsang, and Yujin has to dig her heels into the ground to stop Minjoo from pulling her onto the wooden platform.

 

“You know I can’t sit with you,” Yujin warns, and Minjoo is back to pouting as she stands on the pyeongsang, Yujin having to look up for their eyes to meet.

 

“Please? I’ll keep my distance I swear!” Minjoo begs. “See! I’ll sit at this corner and you can sit at this one!” Minjoo points to the two corners opposing each other, and Yujin decides that she’d just be rude if she doesn’t sit where Minjoo wants her to.

 

“Fine,” Yujin huffs, and Minjoo claps her hands as she sits where she said she would.

 

Eunbi comes quickly with a pot, some cutlery and two small bowls on a tray, and places the set neatly in the space between the two, and Yujin has to admit the scent coming from the dish was the best thing she’d ever smelled her whole 15 years of life.

 

“Eat well,” Eunbi smirks as she says this, and Yujin doesn’t understand why- but she definitely understands how well she was going to eat this beef.

 

Minjoo smiles at Eunbi as the older woman leaves, and Yujin moves to open the lid of the pot, but Minjoo gets the same idea and their hands meet in the middle, and Yujin jumps back so far she falls off the pyeongsang, Minjoo yelping at the sudden accident.

 

“Yujin-ssi!” Minjoo runs to the end of the pyeongsang, finding Yujin sprawled on top of the ground, her clothes now all covered in dirt while her gat was a few meters away.

 

“I’M OKAY!” Yujin says while lifting both her arms and legs into the air, which Minjoo finds funny as she starts laughing at the fallen artist.

 

“HAHAHAH! Your limbs are so long,” Minjoo giggles at the younger, and Yujin finds it strange that this girl finds her limbs entertaining, yet she still smiles, because she finds herself thinking that Minjoo’s laugh was a sound far better than anything the sogonghu could conjure.

 

“S-hush,” Yujin says as she gets back onto her feet. “Let’s eat? We don’t have all day,” Yujin says, and Minjoo goes back to her respective place, and this time Minjoo serves the galbitang, putting the bowl on the handkerchief, which Yujin pulls towards her gently, though her eyes were still on Minjoo.

 

The entire time they ate, Yujin’s eyes never left Minjoo as she enjoyed the once in a lifetime meal, yet of course her staring doesn’t go unnoticed by the noble, who found herself conscious as to why the younger was staring at her with such consistency.

 

“Is there something wrong?” Minjoo asks, feeling her face with her left hand, just in case there was something on it.

 

“No- I’m just trying to capture the dimensions of your face- so it’ll be easier to put on canvas,” Yujin makes up an excuse, though Yujin knows that she was just staring because she was completely infatuated with the youngest Kim.

 

“Oh- okay,” Minjoo says, a hint of disappointment in her tone.

 

“D- do you like the garden?” Minjoo asks, the sudden change of topic causing Yujin to nearly spit out her beef.

 

“Huh? It’s very beautiful- I like the flowers a lot,” Yujin comments briefly.

 

“Thanks, I made it myself,” Minjoo says. “This tree wasn’t me though, my dad planted it when Minseok orabeoni was born,” Minjoo continues.

 

(A/n orabeoni : archaic term for oppa)

 

“The sakura’s are Jisoo unnie’s favourite flower, while chrysanthemums are Yerim unnie’s favorite- and I like these jasmines,” Minjoo says with an adorable glint of passion in her eyes, and Yujin listens intently.

 

“The smells of the earth are soothing to me, so I decided to plant them myself- jasmines especially have the best smell,” Minjoo blabbers, and Yujin listens, something she rarely does. “And you smell like jasmine right now,” Minjoo points out, and Yujin is startled, internally thanking Yena for the perfume, and also maybe planning on stealing the whole vial from her.

 

“Oh- yes- I- that’s good,” Yujin remarks, and Minjoo giggles.

 

“You were so confident at the market- I didn’t think you’d be this shy- I’m still me- just without the veil,” Minjoo says, and Yujin’s mouth goes wide.

 

“YOU! YOU’RE THE ONE WHO BOUGHT THE POTATOES?” Yujin stands up abruptly, pointing at Minjoo in disbelief.

 

“Of course! Aren’t you eating potatoes right now?” Minjoo says, and Yujin looks down towards her bowl, where there was one more piece of potato leftover.

 

“Oh- you’re right,” Yujin says, sitting back down to eat said potato. “Why didn’t you just send someone to buy it for you? Isn’t that what rich people do?” Yujin asks, but Minjoo just chuckles.

 

“Eunbi unnie was sick- no way I could let her go,” Minjoo says, and Yujin nods in understanding, her heart warming for a reason more than just the soup.

 

She’s not that bad of a noble. Isn’t she?

 

—

 

“Kim Minjoo-ssi,” Yujin warns, and Minjoo pouts.

 

“I’ll pay you extra,”

 

“I’m a painter not a babysitter,” Yujin sighs as her line of vision tries to land anywhere but on Minjoo.

 

“Of course not- Eunbi unnie is my babysitter,” Minjoo comments, and Yujin just sighs out of frustration.

 

“Pretty please? What if you need to use the bathroom and I’m not there? Or if you need water? What would you do then?”

 

“I’m just here to draw you Minjoo-ssi- not marry you,” Yujin deadpans, and she sees the slight blush appear on Minjoo’s face.

 

“Still! You’ll be spending a lot of time here! After this dad wants you to paint the rest of us!” Minjoo defends her reasoning as to why she needs to bring Yujin on a grand tour through the place.

 

“Does he now?” Yujin questions, crossing her arms as she looks up to the standing Minjoo.

 

“I’ll convince him!” Minjoo exclaims. “The way I did with you!”

 

“You convinced him to choose me as your family painter?” Yujin asked, genuinely curious at how much Minjoo wanted to see her again.

 

“M-maybe,” Minjoo says, trying to play it off.

 

“Well Kim Minjoo-ssi, it seems like you like me more than I’ve expected,” Yujin teases, regaining her confidence after seeing Minjoo’s reaction to her teases.

 

“Well- I won’t like you as much if you don’t let me show you around,” Minjoo says sharply, and Yujin lets out a huff of defeat- because who wouldn’t want Kim Minjoo to like them? Yujin surely doesn’t want to back out of this one.

 

“Alright- but next week! Next week I have to start sketching you,” Yujin says, determined to not be completely at the losing end of this deal. An honest take on it though, was Yujin ever losing when she was Minjoo?

 

“Deal,” Minjoo smirks as she waves the handkerchief in front of Yujin’s face, and the younger grabs onto the other end, and Minjoo pulls her up with the handkerchief still in between them, leaving that small speck of distance between them.

 

“The kitchen is this way,” Minjoo pulls Yujin away from the pyeongsang and towards the house- and Yujin finds herself listening again, to every word and every story that came out of Minjoo’s mouth.

 

Alas, she finds herself happiest like this.

 

Even with the distance between them, and the distance between their social classes, the distance between their lives— their hearts remained close—

 

And she was happiest like this.

 

—

 

“Do you like books?” Minjoo asks, and Yujin shakes her head, at the same time setting up her canvas as Minjoo sits at the edge of the pyeongsang, fiddling with the flower in her hand that was to be used as a prop.

 

“No,” Yujin replied sharply as she pulled out a pencil from her equipment, beginning to sketch the young noble, her eyes intense with focus as she sketched the older girl.

 

She’d tried numerous times to sketch the girl from memory the few nights after her return, but it seemed every time she tried- she couldn’t perfectly capture the beauty that was Kim Minjoo- Yujin doesn’t know why she put so much effort into trying to perfect a basic sketch of Kim Minjoo, despite Yena literally clapping her hands after seeing the sketches she’d come up with the previous night- Yujin still wasn’t satisfied. It was Kim Minjoo, it had to be perfect.

 

Realistically unrealistic- that was the goal.

 

“Why? They’re awesome! You get to travel to a whole new universe without moving an inch! I say that’s magic,” Minjoo says as she opens up the leather bound book she was holding. Yujin sighs as she debates whether to reveal the true reason she doesn’t read anything.

 

“I’m illiterate,” Yujin deadpans, and Minjoo gasps.

 

“What?! That’s so sad,” Minjoo pitied as she thought about it more. “My dad used to read me books when I was younger,”

 

“Huh- well my mom used to do that for me,” Yujin comments.

 

“Really? I’ve never had a mom before,” Minjoo says, and it was Yujin’s turn to be filled with pity.

 

“W-what happened?” Yujin asked.

 

“She died when I was born,” Minjoo says, and she looks down for a moment, and a look of guilt flashed on her face. “When we were younger, Minseok orabeoni and the unnies would blame me for her death,” Minjoo says, letting out a long breath after that.

 

“Sometimes I think they’re right,”

 

Yujin stops for a while, and thinks about what Minjoo was saying. They were alike- but far from the same, and felt the sudden need to comfort the youngest of the Kim’s, as well as she felt the need to confide in Minjoo herself.

 

“I used to think like that too,” Yujin finally speaks, setting her pencil down.

 

“My dad died when I was three,” Yujin starts. “H- he was a nobi, a slave- to the Ahns- he married my mother in secrecy, and they got me,”

 

“He died because his master found out- and of course, he was punished to death,” Yujin stops for a while, looking at the ground before making eye contact with Minjoo. “He died because of their love- and I’m the product of their love- so technically, it would be my fault right?”

 

“But it isn’t. It’s not my fault because I didn’t want his death to happen- I wanted him next to me, but the universe said otherwise, so do I have a choice?” Yujin continues, and she can feel the tears building up, but she holds it in.

 

“What I’m saying is- we can’t put ourselves at fault for things we didn’t do,” Yujin ends her little speech, and lets out a sigh of relief, she looks back to her canvas and picks up the pencil again, and continues to sketch the bigger details of the piece.

 

“Thankfully- being a nobi stopped being hereditary after 1886- and the entire thing stopped after 1894- so I’m here a free—”

 

Yujin shut up at the feeling of two arms wrapped around her, and to say she was shocked was an understatement.

 

Kim Minjoo was hugging her.

 

Four levels of class divided them- and yet still- Kim Minjoo was hugging her, comforting her, being there for her, soothing her like those four levels were truly meant to be added, and not at all divided.

 

Yujin finds that all the pent up anger against her heritage, her past and the ice in her ways melting away little by little as she felt the warmth of Kim Minjoo engulf her for those few seconds- where everything felt nice and warm and all in all- unrealistically real.

 

The fact that any noble would even breathe close to Yujin? Unrealistic. Yet everything about Kim Minjoo? Absolutely real.

 

Minjoo lets go after a while, and Yujin is still stunned, not even able to return the hug as Minjoo smiles softly at her, returning to her position at the pyeongsang.

 

“Shall I read you a story then? It’s going to be boring if we’re quiet the whole time,” Minjoo suggests, accepting her own suggestion before Yujin could say a thing.

 

“This one’s about a girl who gets saved by a pirate captain,” Minjoo tells, and Yujin nods, chuckling at the silly story Minjoo wanted to tell.

 

Though Yujin must admit- she could listen to Minjoo’s stories for centuries and never get bored.

 

—

 

“Definitely Minseok-ssi,”

 

“Thank you Yujin-ssi,” Minseok says as he pridefully smiles under the tree that was planted in his honour. He was in his military uniform, the most honourable thing he claims to own.

 

Yujin continues the fine details of the portrait, blending the colours to get the perfect shades and blends needed to capture the eldest Kim.

 

“It’s no wonder my sister speaks so highly of you,” Minseok comments, and Yujin only smiles.

 

“Does she?”

 

“Oh- she speaks of you too much if you ask me,” Minseok says. “I haven’t been able to actually see your work properly, since father took away the portrait of Minjoo,” Minseok tells, and Yujin an eyebrow, wondering why the portrait was taken away.

 

“I think father meant well- to keep it in his private home I think,” Minseok answers Yujin’s silent question. “Minjoo doesn’t like looking at herself anyways- she says it’s vanity,” Minseok continues, and Yujin nods, she was well aware what Minjoo liked and didn’t like, she knows Minjoo would rather watch Yujin paint sceneries and hypothetical situations rather than her.

 

They’ve been secretly meeting for almost 2 months now. Whenever Minjoo’s father left and Minjoo was left alone in the home, Yena would come pick Yujin up, under the excuse- ‘I want the young miss to be happy’. And Yujin couldn’t disagree, because all she wanted was for Minjoo to be happy as well. Yujin was now good friends with Gaeguri the horse, though there were a few attempts by the horse to kick her away, Yujin could handle the mare just fine, even bringing Gaeguri on some midnight runs when the weather was nice and the streets were clear, racing against Minjoo who mounted Yena’s horse.

 

Though they still maintained the handkerchief of distance between them, the two were closer than ever.

 

“And~ we’re done!” Yujin says, lifting the brush from the canvas as she dusts her hands, placing the brush back in its case.

 

“May I take a look?” Minseok asks, standing up from the stool he was seated on as he slowly approached Yujin, eyes looking for approval.

 

“Of course,” Yujin steps away, and Minseok approaches the piece, and gasps as his eyes fell upon the piece of art.

 

“Wow- that’s magnificent! Thank you very much,” Minseok says as he approaches the photo, genuinely amazed at the detail that was put into the piece of art.

 

“You definitely are the best in Joseon,” Minseok compliments. “I’ll have the pay readied before you leave- but excuse me, I need to retrieve the pay,” Minseok says calmly.

 

“Father insists we put it in a secure place,” Minseok rolls his eyes as he says this. “I’ll be back in an hour or two,” Minseok says, walking off towards the main gates of the place, calling Yena to go retrieve his horse.

 

A few seconds later, and the eldest Kim was gone, going towards whatever vault they used to store their riches.

 

Yujin smirks to herself, and takes off her shoes, stepping onto the teonmaru as she jogs towards one of the closed rooms, lightly tapping on the thin door of the room.

 

The door slides open, revealing a smirking Minjoo with one hand holding their signature handkerchief. Yujin grabs onto the other end as usual, and Minjoo pulls her into the large bedroom, and turns to slide the doors shut.

 

Yujin sits on the floor of the room, and decides to lay down, and Minjoo follows, laying down next to Yujin, still gripping on to the handkerchief.

 

“Have you ever read your book of lives?” Minjoo asks, and Yujin shakes her head.

 

“I’m illiterate silly,” Yujin jokes, and Minjoo only smiles sheepishly.

 

“Aren’t you curious about your soulmate?”

 

“Not at all- I’d rather fall in love with them, naturally,” Yujin says. “They’re your soulmate- so you know you’re meant to be regardless of that,” Yujin explains why she’s never been bothered to read her book of lives, and she suddenly feels something warm resting against her hand, and she looks to down to see Minjoo holding her hand- breaking the boundaries society tried so hard to set up, yet again.

 

“I like that,” Minjoo says, and Yujin intertwines their hands together, and they stay like that for awhile. Looking at each other as if it was the first time.

 

Minjoo squeezes her hand, and Yujin feels her heart do things that seemed unnatural to her, yet it felt as if they’d been doing this everyday.

 

Minjoo pulls the younger a bit closer, and Yujin can smell the hint of vanilla and jasmine infused into the older’s natural scent- and she’s over the moon. Yujin’s

eyes flutter from Minjoo’s eyes to her lips- and Yujin knows exactly what’s next to capture.

 

All walls broken, and boundaries left behind, Yujin adjusts herself, and leans forward to capture Minjoo in the same thing that got her father killed all those years ago- a kiss.

 

It was awkward, it felt strange and it was scary- kissing the daughter of one of the most respected nobles in all of Hanseong.

 

Right now though, she was kissing Minjoo, the silly girl who looked like a frog and loved reading and flowers- and it felt like every smudge on a painting and every unfinished sketch had become complete perfection just by the longing touch of two lips, the warmth Yujin rarely felt now drowning her in affection and butterflies and the silly little thing the people decided to name love.

 

Yujin sat upright, and Minjoo followed, still not breaking the kiss as their hands still held on to the handkerchief, still somehow in between them- despite the lack of space in between them.

 

They pull away, breathless as Minjoo let’s out the dimpled smile Yujin has come to adore these few months, and Yujin smiles in return- before saying.

 

“Minseok said he’ll be back in an hour or two,” Yujin announces.

 

“Would you like to do that for another hour or two?” Yujin asks, and Minjoo doesn’t reply, yet she wraps her arms around Yujin’s neck and pulls her back into the tantalizing kiss, trapping Yujin in the heavenly hell that was kissing Kim Minjoo.

 

Heaven to Yujin- yet hell to society.

 

Neither of them could care less.

 

And Yujin understands why her father would’ve rather died than spend a second away from her mother.

 

Because by God does she not want to spend a moment away from Kim Minjoo.

 

—

 

“Hello Ma,” Yujin walks into the little hut that was her mother’s home, where she was tending to the fire she made to boil water. It’s been 2 and a half months since she and Minjoo shared their first kiss together, and Yujin decides that she should visit her mom before the winter falls upon Joseon.

 

“Ah, I almost forgot I had a daughter,” the woman says sarcastically, turning to give her daughter a brief hug, sighing as she let go.

 

“Now what brings you here? You know it’s dangerous if they see you with me,” her mother says, and Yujin frowns at that realisation, that even if the nobi title wasn’t inheritable anymore, society’s mentality was one that could be inherited for centuries.

 

“I just wanted to ask you some things,” Yujin says as she sits on the stool, facing her mother who continued to tend to the fire.

 

“Wow? My daughter? Seeking wisdom? Who changed you?” Her mother jokes, but Yujin only shakes her head.

 

“I’m being serious Ma,” Yujin rolls her eyes playfully, and her mother chuckled, letting out a sigh of contentment.

 

“What about?”

 

“When you fell in love with dad- did you ever feel guilty?” Yujin doesn’t beat around the bush, and her mother opens in shock, turning to look at her daughter- who rarely ever spoke about her father, as it always was a traumatic topic between the two.

 

“N-no,” the older Ahn replies, and Yujin waits for her to continue. “No- because I really loved him, I still do, even to this day- even if he isn’t here,” her mother says, with a tone of longing and endearment, and Yujin finds that it’s the first time she didn’t feel pain and sadness when speaking of her father.

 

“He was my soulmate Yujin,” her mother says, and she’s smiling, albeit the smile being small- Yujin understands, the love her mother has for him.

 

“Now,” the older says, leaving her water to boil. “Why the sudden eagerness to know about my romantic history?” Nayeon Ahn questions, cocking an eyebrow as she sits across from Yujin, on an even shorter stool.

 

“Have you found someone Yujinie?” Nayeon drags her stool closer to the now flustered Yujin, who gulps as she knows that her mother has the manic capability to see right through her.

 

“Who is he? Is he rich? Does he like painting too? Is he smart—”

 

“It’s a she!” Yujin intervenes, and her mother gasps.

 

They both sit there, silent for a few moments, Yujin’s mother just staring at Yujin, waiting for her to tell her that she was just joking,

 

But Yujin doesn’t.

 

And Yujin is trembling now, fearing the reaction from her mother, the radio silence almost knocking Yujin out- the only emotion that her mind could register was pure, traumatizing, fear.

 

Then her mother opens .

 

“Is her name Kim Minjoo?” Her mother asks, gently, with a tint of worry in her tone.

 

“How’d you know?” Yujin asks, and her mother sighs.

 

“Sometimes I prayed you’d never find her,” Nayeon says, standing up from the stool.

 

“Alas, love always finds a way,”

 

—

 

Yujin can’t believe it.

 

Kim Minjoo was her soulmate. Her mother had given her a single pearl necklace, claiming it the only valuable item she had left- but she didn’t sell it, because she knew it wasn’t her belonging.

 

Her mother doesn’t mind, she doesn’t mind at all that her daughter liked women, she’s known since she received Yujin’s book of lives, but it was scary. Her daughter could be subject to terrible things if people knew who her soulmate was. Things even worse than what her father had to go through, but Nayeon can’t change who Yujin loves- and she knows that better than anyone.

 

Yujin also recalls the parallels of Yujin’s past lives and Minjoo’s. The story of the pirates that Minjoo told when she first read to her, it happened to be a story of their first life together, and Yujin smiles as she grips the pearl necklace- the sole symbol of their love throughout the years.

 

Yujin decides it wouldn’t hurt to give it to Minjoo yet again.

 

Recycling was an important thing anyways.

 

Yujin chuckles to herself as she treks upwards to the Kim manor, a place she could navigate to with both her eyes closed and legs tied to each other. It’s been three days since she retrieved the necklace, and she finds it odd that Gaeguri or Yena hasn’t come over to her place, to inevitably drag her to the Kim manor where she would spend hours with Minjoo until moonlight came and the second dawn came through.

 

Yujin arrives at the manor, each step making her heart beat louder as she arrives at the back door of the home, but it seemed emptier than usual. She pushed the door forward, but it was locked.

 

Yujin steps away, deciding to simply go through the front gate, she’s made great acquaintance with everyone in the house regardless, so she could simply say she was visiting.

 

Humming to herself, Yujin halts as she arrives at the front gate.

 

There was a large horse-drawn lorry, where Yena and Eunbi were loading boxes onto the lorry. Yujin looks around, trying to make sense of what was happening.

 

“Ah~ why does this girl decide to bring along every book she has,” Eunbi sighs as she and a few other servants help load another box onto the lorry.

 

Yujin’s eyes finally meet with Yena’s, and the butler gasps in panic, dropping the box in her hand.

 

“Yena? What’s all this?” Yujin asks, and Yena squeaks, hiding behind the dozens of boxes.

 

“Yujin!” Eunbi exclaims, also panicked by the younger’s sudden presence in the vicinity.

 

“Are you all moving?” Yujin asks, and Eunbi says a few incoherent words, shaking her head.

 

“N-no,” Eunbi answers, though unconfident.

 

“Then why are you bringing all these-”

 

“Yujin-ssi?” The sudden call from a low voice interrupts Yujin’s burning questions, and Yujin snaps her head towards the voice.

 

“Jongin-ssi- I- I’m sorry to bother,” Yujin bows along with the other servants, but Jongin waves them off.

 

“You are definitely here to bother Ahn Yujin,” Jongin says in a bitter tone.

 

“I know who you are,” Jongin speaks authoritatively. “What you want,” Jongin says in the same tone.

 

“You’re my daughter’s soulmate,” Jongin says, and Yujin locks eyes with him, and she sees the burning hatred in his eyes- knowing his daughter’s soulmate was a girl of nobi heritage.

 

Kim Jongin treats his servants well- but to have a child of his be tainted by their dirty jobs? That he simply can’t allow.

 

“I am,” Yujin says, keeping her ground.

 

“Unfortunately for you- I control her fate,” Jongin affirms, and Yujin steps back. “Though I must thank you, your portrait of Minjoo attracted many suitable suitors for her,” Jongin says with a smirk, and everything began to make sense.

 

“You’re marrying her off,” Yujin pieces everything together, why Gaeguri hasn’t come recently, why the portrait suddenly disappeared, it made sense now.

 

“Y-you can’t do that,” Yujin says, raising her voice. Yet it hurts, because Yujin knows that he can.

 

“You know I can,” Jongin spites, and Yujin has to choke down the anger and sadness building in .

 

“No,” Yujin says, but it’s all she can say.

 

Jongin is smiling at how affected Yujin is, how weak she looked right now- it brought joy to Jongin’s cold soul, and Jongin continued to speak.

 

“Minjoo-yah, come out,”

 

“Yes father?” Yujin can hear Minjoo’s soft voice croak, as if she’d been crying for hours prior.

 

Yujin looks up from the ground to the voice, and she falls to her knees.

 

“Look at this! You made her so pathetic,” Jongin scowls as he gestures to Yujin with his foot, and Minjoo’s eyes go wide at the sight, scrambling to get to Yujin off the ground, but Jongin pulls her back by the collar, forcing her to stand still.

 

“DON’T HURT HER!” Yujin demands, but Jongin simply chuckles.

 

“I would never- she needs to be beautiful for the wedding,” Jongin snickers. “Don’t you Minjoo?” Jongin asks, forcefully using his hands to make Minjoo nod in agreement.

 

“Good girl,” Jongin says, finally letting go of his daughter. “Boys! Let’s give Minmin here a little show,” Jongin calls, and a group of military men appear, and one of them hoists Yujin up, while the other sends a strong kick onto her stomach, causing the painter to groan in pain.

 

“STOP!” Minjoo begs, but they don’t, those men listened to Jongin, and Jongin only.

 

“Don’t kill her boys- we don’t want Minmin to be sad now don’t we?” Jongin pats Minjoo’s head as he leaves the area, the men continuing to beat Yujin to near death.

 

As soon as Jongin is gone, Minjoo runs towards Yujin, but the man beating Yujin pushes Minjoo away, and the older girl almost crashes onto the ground, Minseok quickly catches his sister, trying to prevent her from doing anything more reckless.

 

“Minjoo- it’s time to go,” Minseok appears from behind the lorry, but Yujin’s vision is too blurry to make him out, and the pain was too much to bear.

 

Whether the pain be from her heart or from the blood streaming down her face, Yujin doesn’t know.

 

“THEY’RE HURTING HER!” Minjoo squirms in Minseok’s embrace, trying to free herself, trying any possible way to get to Yujin, to hold her again.

 

“O-orabeoni, tell them to stop!” Minjoo screams. “PLEASE!” Minjoo begs her brother, thrashing and screaming in his arms.

 

“Stop!” Minseok orders, and they stop, dropping Yujin onto the cold ground. “That’s enough,” Minseok says again, and there are tears in his eyes, because he knows Yujin is a good person.

 

Yet he can’t find himself accepting her.

 

Minjoo squirms out of Minseok’s arms, and his breath hitches as he watches Minjoo run to Yujin, holding the frail and bloody painter in her arms, trembling as tears fall from Minjoo’s eyes.

 

“Minjoo we have to leave—”

 

“No,”

 

“Not when she’s hurt like this,” Minjoo cradles her forbidden lover in her arms, caressing Yujin’s face as she wipes the blood from Yujin’s eyebrow away.

 

Yujin wants to say so many things- but it hurts, it hurts so bad that this was probably the last time she was going to see Minjoo, regardless if she lives or not.

 

“1 minute,” Minseok says. “I can only give you one minute,” Minseok looks away, paying more attention to Eunbi and Yena, who stood there in complete utter shock and silence, stunned by how their once respected master treated their friend.

 

60 seconds.

 

“M-minjoo,” Yujin croaks out, every syllable burning her bruised throat.

 

“Shhhh don’t say anything,” Minjoo hushes, cradling Yujin onto her lap, holding her closer than ever. “It’ll hurt more if you do,”

 

50 seconds.

 

“S-sorry,” Yujin speaks again, staring at Minjoo with the same intensity as she did the first time they met.

 

“You did nothing wrong,” Minjoo sighs. “Don’t apologize for anything,” Minjoo leans her forehead against Yujin’s, and Yujin lets her lips curve upwards as she smells the faint vanilla on Minjoo’s skin, and she memorizes that smell as if it were her favorite song, repeating it over and over, until she got sick of it. Though Yujin knows;

 

She could never get sick of Kim Minjoo.

 

40 seconds.

 

“See,” Yujin can only let out fractions of sentences, the pain in her lungs and in her body far too much to bear.

 

“You,” Yujin says, and Minjoo wants her to shut up- to stop hurting herself, but the tears are too much, everything was too much.

 

“Again?” Yujin asks, and Minjoo shakes her head.

 

“I don’t know,” Minjoo says, her new ‘home’ was located somewhere up north, far away from the familiar roads of Hanseong.

 

30 seconds.

 

Yujin’s hands are trembling as she lifts her right hand, resting it on Minjoo’s face, caressing each part of the most beautiful thing Yujin had ever laid eyes on. From her eyes that could turn into crescents, to her defined nose, to lightly touching the lips she loved to kiss the most. Yujin shuts her eyes as she does this, knowing that when she opens them, Minjoo won’t be there anymore.

 

“So I can always draw you,”

 

20 seconds.

 

“Yujin,” Minjoo calls out, and Yujin only hums, Minjoo’s shaky breaths and the pain in every corner of her body lulling her to unconsciousness.

 

“Minjoo,” Yujin replies with every bit of strength she has left.

 

10 seconds.

 

“I love you,” Minjoo says, and Yujin smiles.

 

9 seconds.

 

Kim Minjoo.

 

8 seconds.

 

Unrealistically realistic.

 

7 seconds.

 

Smart.

 

6 seconds.

 

Cute, though a little headstrong.

 

5 seconds.

 

Yujin’s soulmate.

 

4 seconds.

 

Youngest of the Kim’s.

 

3 seconds.

 

Looks like a frog.

 

2 seconds.

 

Kim Minjoo.

 

1 second.

 

I am so proud to say—

 

0 seconds.

 

“I love you too,”

 

And Yujin’s world goes black.

 

—

 

“It can’t just end there can it?!” Yujin panicked at the end of the golden pages, aggressively flipping the pages of the book so that she could find something- anything to satisfy what she just read.

 

The pain that past Yujin was feeling was still burning in Yujin’s heart as if it had happened yesterday, and Yujin couldn’t bare with that pain- it made her feel as empty as the day they’d announced the end of IZ*ONE.

 

It hurt. Yujin doesn’t have the full explanation why, but it stings like hell, and Yujin can’t live with that ending.

 

“Y-Yujin,” Jiwoo stammered. “Be careful with it,” Jiwoo continued, but Yujin didn’t stop, her eyes finally landing to a page that caught her interest.

 

—

 

Yujin-ah.

 

I hope Eunbi unnie delivers this to you. I know that maybe by the time you’re reading this i’ve already gone to Gangwon, where I will be married to a man I have never met my entire life.

 

Which is quite funny as well, because when I first met you, I’d felt like I’d known you my entire life. Actually, I don’t know if you’ll be able to read this, since you haven’t mastered reading yet. I’m sorry I couldn’t finish the lessons before I leave, but I hope you can at least read the slightest nowadays.

 

Do you know that, when you first introduced yourself to me at the potato vendor, I almost passed out? I’ve searched for you a long time, my soulmate. I used to read our stories together over and over again when I was younger, when my siblings would shut me out for being a ‘murderer’, I would confide in you, hoping one day you’d come save me the way you did when you were a pirate, hoping that you’d accompany me the way you did when I was in that hospital, love me the way you did when we had that family.

 

I was living in hell, and you’d come save me. It sounds silly now, like I was believing in a fairytale.

 

Though it’s true, you are my daydream come true Ahn Yujin.

 

I love you so much Yujin.

 

Even if we’ll live very different lives from now onwards. I’ll love you in every one of those lives. As I always have.

 

As I always will.

 

-Minjoo.

 

Ahn Yujin sits on a bench between the masses of happy and smiley people as they sing and dance, parading through the streets of Hanseong. She folds the letter neatly and slips it back into her bag, and she still isn’t completely literate, but she memorized every word in that letter, begging Eunbi, Yena or even her mother to read it to her over and over so that she could memorize the contents.

 

She reads it whenever she misses the older, and today, like most other days, was one of those days.

 

Chuseok was back for the fifth year after she and Minjoo had parted, and Yujin was silent as people sang and paraded, children running around with snacks in their hands.

 

Yujin is fine like this. She was far richer than she used to be, losing Minjoo putting her into a crazy frenzy of all work and no play, gaining almost enough money to put her in the yangban status.

 

“Yujin unnie!” Wonyoung, someone she met by coincidence in front of her store, called out, and Yujin smiled softly to her sole companion through the 5 years without Minjoo.

 

Sometimes Yujin thinks if she’s replaced Minjoo with Wonyoung.

 

Then she decides that Minjoo is irreplaceable.

 

“Yes?” Yujin asks, and Wonyoung grabs her arm, pointing to a restaurant that sold a variety of japanese food, and Yujin smiled.

 

“I’ve been craving some miso soup,” Yujin comments. “But I think I want to enjoy the parade a little more,” Yujin says, though the truth was she was just too lazy to move.

 

“I’ll go save us a place first?” Wonyoung asks and Yujin nods as Wonyoung leaves her alone again.

 

Yujin sits again, but before she could think of anything, the sound of crying interrupts her.

 

“M-mama,” Yujin snaps her head towards the sobbing child, who was standing across from her, fairly hidden behind the tree.

 

As if on impulse, Yujin walks up to the child, crouching to meet the boy’s height.

 

“Hello,” Yujin says awkwardly. “Are you lost?” Yujin asks, and the boy doesn’t hesitate to nod his head, trying to wipe away the tears on his face.

 

“W-what’s your name?” Yujin asks.

 

“Lee Yujin,” the boy answers, and Yujin smiles.

 

“Hey! My name’s Yujin too!” Yujin says excitedly, lifting her arms in the air in a celebratory motion, trying to up the boy’s mood. Little Yujin chuckles at this, and Yujin’s heart is put a little more at ease.

 

“Heh, your limbs are so long,” the boy says, and Yujin is taken aback.

 

“Yeah, yeah, I get that a lot,” Yujin says, brushing off the past. “Were you here with your mom?” Yujin asks.

 

The boy nods and Yujin stands, offering her hand.

 

“Let’s go find her shall we?” Yujin invites, and the boy takes her hand and follows her into the crowd of people.

 

“You see her?” Yujin asks, but the young Yujin shakes his head.

 

“I can’t see anything!” Yujin says, and older Yujin understands, the boy was still too short to see more than just legs and knees.

 

“Climb onto my shoulders,” Yujin says as she crouches, the young boy doing as told, sliding both feet onto Yujin’s shoulders, the older slowly standing up, trying to maintain her balance.

 

“You smell like my mama,” young Yujin says, and Yujin an eyebrow.

 

“Do I?” She asks, and the younger nods aggressively. Yujin only shrugs at this information, the jasmine perfume she wears is common.

 

“I’m going to spin now so hold on tight!” Yujin warns, and young Yujin grips onto Yujin’s hair as she does a 360 spin, scanning the area.

 

“There!” Young Yujin points out towards an ice cream parlor, where there seemed to be a woman, looking around in distress. The older Yujin can’t exactly see her, but she knows she’s there, and she walks forward towards the ice cream parlor.

 

“Mama!” The young boy yells, and Yujin puts him down as he runs towards his mother, and the woman turns, her frustration turning into happiness as soon as her eyes land on young Yujin.

 

Her eyes.

 

“Yujin! Where on earth did you go! I thought I lost you! Don’t run off like that!” Minjoo dotes her son, and Yujin almost falls to her knees. Minjoo was patting the young Yujin all over, making sure he wasn’t hurt anywhere before the young boy spoke again.

 

“It’s alright mama! This nu-i helped me! Her name’s Yujin too!” Little Yujin points to Yujin, who stood a meter away from the pair, and as soon as Minjoo’s eyes land on the painter, her eyes go wide.

 

(A/n nu-i : archaic term for noona)

 

“Yujin,” Minjoo says, speechless.

 

“Minjoo,” Yujin says endearingly. “Here to visit?” Yujin asks, and Minjoo nods.

 

“My dad is sick,” Minjoo says, and Yujin nods in understanding, news did travel around Hanseong that Lord Kim was sick.

 

They were silent for a while, though neither of them wanted to leave, there was still radio silence between the two, as if wanting to say everything that went unsaid the past 5 years, but neither knowing how to start.

 

“So you named your son after me,” Yujin comments, and Minjoo blushes.

 

“I missed you,” Minjoo says.

 

“I still do,” Yujin smiles at this, because she indeed does miss Minjoo too. Young Yujin is staring at them weird, but he remains silent, figuring he’d get it when he was older.

 

“It’s been a while hasn’t it?” Minjoo says awkwardly, yet she still wore the same sheepish smile Yujin remembers all those years ago.

 

“1 hour, 2 days, 3 weeks—”

 

“4 months and 5 years,” Minjoo finishes for Yujin, and Yujin notices, that peeking out from Minjoo’s pocket, was a white handkerchief, the same one they used all those years ago.

 

“Minjoo!” A man suddenly popped between Minjoo and small Yujin, placing a hand on Minjoo’s shoulder.

 

“Tae!” Minjoo jumps a little at the man’s presence, but her shoulders relax when she registers who it is, and Yujin watches, her heart stinging a bit at his presence.

 

“Papa!” Young Yujin jumps into the man’s arms, and Yujin almost feels like dissipating into thin air.

 

“Thank god you found him!” Tae says as he pulls Minjoo closer, and it pangs in Yujin’s heart, yet she still stands there, watching Minjoo the way she always did.

 

“Yujin nu-i helped me!” Little Yujin brought the attention to Yujin, who jumped in shock.

 

“Oh? Really?” Tae takes a good look at the painter, who smiles sheepishly at the stranger.

 

“Thank you very much,” Tae comes forward, bowing slightly to Yujin. “I’m Lee Taeyong,” the man introduces his full name, pulling Minjoo forward.

 

“This is my wife—”

 

“Kim Minjoo,” Yujin continues for him. “She’s very popular here,” Yujin says with a small smile on her face, and Taeyong is speechless.

 

“I’m Ahn Yujin,” Yujin introduces, bowing in return, and she swears she see’s Taeyong almost faint. “And it’s no problem, your son is cute,” Yujin comments, and Taeyong is still silent.

 

“I- I don’t know how to thank you enough,” Taeyong breaks his own silence. “Say Yujin-ssi,” Taeyong adds.

 

“Would you be honored to join us for some galbitang? ” Taeyong asks, and Yujin is about to accept, wanting one last galbitang with Kim Minjoo, but then she remembers Wonyoung, waiting for her at the restaurant.

 

“I’m sorry,” Yujin says with regret, bowing to the couple. “But someone’s waiting for me,” Yujin says as she turns away, but she locks eyes with Minjoo.

 

“Maybe in the next life?” Yujin suggests playfully, and Minjoo smiles with her whisker dimples, softening every inch of Yujin’s heart. Taeyong looks confused, young Yujin even worse, but she likes it that way- where she and Minjoo are in their own little world, filled with jasmines, cherry blossoms and chrysanthemums.

 

‘I love you,’ Minjoo mouths, and Yujin walks away, heart hollow as she knows that even if she wasn’t beaten to near death this time, another pain was taking over her bit by bit.

 

A single tear falls from Yujin’s eye, knowing that it was the wretched universe that had to pull two souls apart.

 

“I love you too,” Yujin says as soon as she knows they were out of earshot.

 

As I always have—

 

As I always will.

 

—

 

“Do you get it Yujin?” Jiwoo asks, but Yujin is still silent.

 

She feels every bit of pain Joseon Yujin is feeling- the loss, the longing, the stinging in her heart knowing that her soulmate was spending her life with someone else.

 

“Soulmates- means you do have a connection,” Jiwoo says. “But it doesn’t mean you end up with them every time,”

 

“Sure- we do have past lives— but nothing matters more than our life in the present,” Jiwoo tells, and Yujin meets her gaze, her eyes glossy from reading the tales of past Yujin.

 

“The thing that matters most, is what you do right now Yujin-ah,” Jiwoo says some more, placing a hand on Yujin’s shoulder. “It doesn’t matter if you were with her for 10 lives- but if you don’t try to make it work for this one- you’ll never get to her,”

 

“Are you telling me to stop jailing myself in my room?” Yujin says through tears, sniffing as Jiwoo softly rubs her back.

 

“Do the world a favour and do just that,” Jiwoo said, knowing the Yujin stans who’d been groaning in despair at her 3 month disappearance. “Go chase after her,”

 

“She is your dream right?” Jiwoo asked, already knowing how Yujin felt after watching the marathon of emotions on Yujin’s face while reading the book.

 

“But will she love me?” Yujin asked, still doubting herself.

 

“She doesn’t need to love you now,” Jiwoo spoke. “She just needs to know you love her,” Jiwoo said, and Yujin raised an eyebrow, giving Jiwoo the benefit of doubt.

 

“Just trust me,” Jiwoo continued.

 

“They don’t call it ‘soulmate’ for no reason,”

 

Yujin looks down at her book, and flips it to the pages at the very end- to see her current life being written with each breath she takes.

 

Yujin smiles to find that the page that told about her first Produce evaluation, til the page marking this very day— shone pure gold.

 

Every moment with Iz*one?

 

Damn right that was her prime.

 

—

 

Jiwoo and Yujin walk out of the vault, with Yujin determined to confess her true feelings and not put herself on lockdown anymore. Though doubts still floated around in her head, she came here to find her so-called destiny, and no, she hasn’t found what her true calling was, but she knew exactly what her next step was.

 

Yujin felt like a new person- somewhat wiser- but still equally as silly as the Yujin three months ago.

 

Alas, the Yujin right now- felt something she hadn’t in quite a long time;

 

She felt happy.

 

Yujin smiles giddily to herself as she and Jiwoo make their way to the elevator, where Yujin saw Sooyoung— still at her desk, typing away on her laptop.

 

“Oh! And you asked me who my soulmate was,” Jiwoo reminded Yujin, and the younger looked back to face Jiwoo, only after tapping the ‘down’ button on the elevator.

 

“Oh yeah, who is it?” Yujin asked, and a smirk appeared on Jiwoo’s lips.

 

“Hey baby!” Jiwoo turned to the main desk, and Sooyoung quickly made eye contact with the girl, who throws an obnoxious wink at her— causing Ha Sooyoung to scramble back to her laptop, her face as red as a tomato.

 

Yujin couldn’t help but chuckle at the couple, though she was surprised that the Sooyoung that made her life hell a few hours ago was the soulmate of the person who opened a whole new perspective to Yujin’s life.

 

Upon this, Yujin realizes, that a soulmate wasn’t the sole most important thing in life. There were so many people in her life that could make her happy, from Yena to Hyewon, to Wonyoung, to Chaewon, to her mom, to Eunbi and to every stranger she’s called a ‘wiz*one’—

 

They made her happy.

 

Though she had to admit, Kim Minjoo made her happiest.

 

“Thank you Jiwoo,” Yujin says.

 

“You can thank me properly at the wedding,”

 

Yujin almost chokes on air when she hears this, wanting to protest something related to her being too young to actually get married and how far ahead Jiwoo was thinking—

 

“Not now you doofus,” Jiwoo deadpans. “In ten years? Maybe 5? Depends how desperate you two are,”

 

Before Yujin could protest to Jiwoo calling her ‘desperate’, the elevator door opened, and Jiwoo pushed her into the small space, waving excitedly as the elevator doors closed once again, separating the new found friends.

 

You bet I will Kim Jiwoo.

 

—

 

“You want to go where?” Yujin’s mom was sure her daughter had gone insane.

 

“Jeju,” Yujin repeated, more firm with her words this time around.

 

“What?” Yujin’s mother asked, as if Yujin were speaking another language.

 

“Jeju— you know, the island,” Yujin explained. “It’s in this country,” Yujin shrugged at her last sentence, but her mother was still confused.

 

“For what?” Mrs. Ahn asked again, and Yujin pursued her lips.

 

“I miss Minjoo,”

 

“Then why don’t you just give her a call? You know? Like a normal person?” The older Ahn protests, but Yujin shakes her head.

 

“You don’t understand Ma,”

 

“What is it that I don’t understand Yujin-ah,” The older sighs. “I worry for months and months, wondering if you’d ever come out again- if you’d ever smile again- and now when you do- you want to leave me? Run off to Jeju? All for what? Minjoo?” Her frustration is clear, begging Yujin to give her any clear reason as to why she should allow her to leave.

 

Yujin may have been back in the house for three months- but she’d only truly been home for one day.

 

Her mother missed her.

 

Very much.

 

“Ma,” Yujin says, taking her mother’s hand.

 

“You are one of the people that make me happy,” Yujin starts, her tone low and soft. “You made me! How could you not make me happy,” Yujin continues, smiling. “You make me so happy- I love you, so much,” Yujin says, and the older nods, caressing Yujin’s hand as she held it close to her heart, knowing her daughter was older now, more mature, more independent.

 

I’m going to have to let her go aren’t I?

 

“The thing is Ma,”

 

“Minjoo makes me happiest,” Yujin says, and her mother knows it already- how much Ahn Yujin cared about Kim Minjoo.

 

“A-and it doesn’t matter who I am,” Yujin continues, not sure where she was going with the sentence. “It doesn't matter if I were a pirate, a patient, a family guy, a painter— or even just plain old Yujin—” Yujin tries to find the perfect phrasing, to convince her mother to let her go.

 

Though the older Ahn finds her comparisons odd, she still waits for Yujin to finish, wanting to hear the words fall from her daughter’s mouth.

 

“It’s Minjoo, Ma,” Yujin finally says, and the older nods.

 

“It’s always Minjoo,”

 

—

 

On the flight, Yujin found herself fiddling with the pearl necklace, the same one she couldn’t give to Minjoo all those years ago, and Yujin found herself thinking again, about why she was doing this- about why Kim Minjoo. Why it was always her- no matter what she did— always Minjoo.

 

She also finds herself thinking about how often she thought about the same thing.

 

She wishes she could directly contact her past lives, ask them how they felt with their respective Minjoo’s.

 

Yujin also comes to find, that in all her prime era’s— her golden moments— all of them included Minjoo. Whether she was beside her, or it was their first meeting- that didn’t matter.

 

Minjoo was her prime.

 

Even if Minjoo was a giant snake who killed her due to shock— then that was her prime.

 

Yujin also comes to the realization, on that same one hour flight, that compared to all the other Minjoo’s- in every single lifetime- nothing could compare to the Minjoo in this one.

 

But hey- was Yujin really to blame? Ahn Yujin did not just love her throughout lifetimes- for she loved her throughout infinities, past universes, down dimensions and everything the universe slid in between.

 

In this infinity- to the next- and to all the infinities past that—

 

Kim Minjoo was made for Ahn Yujin.

 

And for Ahn Yujin- there was nothing else other than Kim Minjoo.

 

And to be completely honest, Yujin wouldn’t mind leaving the universe behind just to get to Minjoo.

 

—

 

Yujin arrives at the airport, bustling with people from all over the world wanting to visit the aesthetically pleasing beauty of Jeju island. It was also springtime, making it one of the best times to visit Jeju, with lines and lines of canola flowers and cherry blossoms decorating the sides of nearly every street.

 

Yujin steps out of the airport, walking towards the location where she could pick up the car she would rent. She bought a one way ticket, thinking that regardless of the events that would succeed her ‘confession’, she wanted to stay in Jeju, enjoy the final moments of her holiday before she had to go back to the walls of Starship.

 

She’d gotten her license 3 months before IZ*ONE disbanded, and she hasn’t used one car ever since she stepped out of the yellow one for the test.

 

“I should’ve gotten insurance before coming here,” Yujin says to herself, stopping right in front of the car she’d booked, pulling out her phone and opening the app to unlock the car.

 

After successfully unlocking the car and fishing out the keys from the dashboard, Yujin starts the car, placing her phone where she could see it.

 

1 hour and 32 minutes.

 

Should I call Minjoo? Yujin asks herself, but she wonders if the element of surprise might make Minjoo lean more towards her.

 

Yujin sighs, deciding against calling the older, and if Minjoo seemed unpleased by her presence, Yujin would leave immediately. Minjoo was working anyways, it would be rude of Yujin to interrupt the filming schedule.

 

She plays the playlist of songs that remind her most of Kim Minjoo, beginning her journey to the west of the island, where Minjoo was filming, at a local private school with the best facilities, yet the worst signal known to man.

 

She nearly falls asleep multiple times, but she doesn’t crash into anyone, and her drive is smooth for a first timer. Thoughts of Minjoo keep her awake nearly the entire time, wondering what she’d do if she were to face rejection. Wondering how her life would change after this.

 

Yujin lets out a huff of nervousness as her car stops in the designated parking area near by the school Minjoo was filming in.

 

I should call her. Yujin suddenly decides, switching her phone to the contacts app with one hand, while the other grips onto the steering wheel, begging Minjoo to answer.

 

“Hello Yujin?” The soft voice rings through the phone, and Yujin smiles.

 

I miss you. Yujin wants to say.

 

“Hi unnie,” is what Yujin says.

 

“Are you okay? How did you call me? I can barely call anyone else in Seoul,” Minjoo blabbers, and Yujin finds that being Jeju makes calling people in Jeju easier.

 

“Lucky strike,” Yujin says. “Where are you unnie?” Yujin asks, and she hears Minjoo ponder on the other side of the phone, and Yujin can imagine the older girl looking around, as if trying to pinpoint exactly where she was.

 

“Sanbangsan mountain area,” Minjoo says, and Yujin sighs.

 

“Filming a romantic scene?” Yujin asks, trying not to sound suspicious.

 

“Me? Nope, not at all,” Minjoo replies. “Saeron unnie is getting all the action this time,” the older chuckles to herself, and Yujin smiles at the sound.

 

“Right,” Yujin says, letting out a sigh of contentment. “How long are you going to be there?” Yujin asks, and the little ‘hmm’ from Minjoo is enough to send her heart into somersaults.

 

“Until the day after tomorrow I think? We’re trying to catch the sunsets and sunrises,” Minjoo explains, and Yujin nods.

 

“Hey~ why are you suddenly asking all these oddly specific questions?”

 

“It’s because I care about you,” Yujin remarks, and she hears Minjoo gasp. “More than you think I do,” Yujin continues.

 

“Aw~ Yujinie,” Minjoo stops for awhile, as if trying to decide on what words to use.

 

“I care about you too,” Minjoo says, and Yujin breathes easy. Knowing that Minjoo cared for her, of all people, was like oxygen to the vocalist.

 

“I’d be pretty sad if you didn’t,” Yujin comments, and Minjoo giggles.

 

“Yah Kim Minjoo! You’re up next!” Park Sodam’s Oscar winning voice broke through the call, and Yujin frowns.

 

Wuss- as if you’re not going to see her later.

 

“Yujinie, I have to go now,” Minjoo says.

 

“I know,” Yujin replies.

 

“I’ll call you when I can?” Minjoo’s voice fills the silent air of the car, and Yujin nods.

 

“Definitely,” Yujin says, though she doesn’t put the phone down, leaving it pressed to her ear.

 

“Bye Yujin,” Minjoo says, and there’s a brief silence, neither of the two putting down the phone, yet neither of them saying a word.

 

I love you. Is what Yujin wants to say.

 

“Bye bye Minjoo,” is what she says.

 

Yujin sighs as the line cuts off, leaving Yujin alone again. The young Ahn opens up maps again, finding the directions to Sanbangsan.

 

“47 minutes? Seriously?” Yujin groans as she curses the massive size of the island. Her rookie driver skills could barely handle this anymore.

 

She restarts the car and drives away from school, internally slapping herself for not just calling Minjoo earlier.

 

The sun was almost absent in the sky, and Yujin knows she’ll arrive too late to catch Minjoo and the crew for today’s filming.

 

I should’ve booked a hotel…

 

—

 

The Current Life, the 3rd Dimension.

2022, 11th March, Sanbangsan, Jeju Island, South Korea.

 

Yujin wakes up at 4.30 AM. (KST, of course)

 

Sunrise would be at 6.50 AM, and Yujin has to make it on time to catch Minjoo before her next turn to shoot.

 

She brushes her teeth just enough so it wouldn’t smell. Uses the free soap and shampoo the hotel provided until it was drained of any liquid. (What? Yujin had a lot of skin)

 

She carries a knapsack, and slips the pearl necklace into the front pocket of her jeans. She walks out of the hotel and into her car, the air still dead silent, only the smallest rays of light beginning to shine through the sky.

 

She drives all the way to the mountain, and parks in a public parking space nearby. As soon as she arrives at the start of the fields of bright yellow canola, she can see the camera’s and crew all bustling about, trying to get everything ready before sunrise began.

 

7.01 AM.

 

The sun was beginning to peak out, but Yujin is still waiting for a certain lead actress to show up. Yujin is craning her neck trying to find the older, and the stars were almost gone and rays of yellow light began to shine against the mountain and greenery below.

 

“Okay Saeron? Let’s start shall we?” Yujin hears over a speaker, and she becomes more alert than before, scanning the scene yet again to spot a certain girl.

 

Found you.

 

Yujin thinks as she sees Minjoo a bit further from the designated set, staring into the blaring light of the sun, enjoying the morning wind blowing gently into her face. Minjoo is quiet, and she is alone. So Yujin decides it to be the perfect time to approach the older, shoving her hand in her pocket only to begin fiddling with the pearl necklace yet again.

 

Yujin, with every bit of confidence she has left, walked right next to Minjoo, and stared in the same direction as Minjoo did, her eyes stinging slightly at the intensity of the sun.

 

Once her eyes adjusted- oh wow.

 

Rows and rows of canola with hints of cherry blossoms decorated the view in front of them, and Yujin was so lost into the magnificence of it all, she nearly forgot the magnificence standing right next to her.

 

“That’s beautiful,” Yujin turns to Minjoo before breaking the silence, and Minjoo staggers back- eyes and mouth both going wide at the presence of her ex-bandmate.

 

“Yujin!” Minjoo yelps.

 

“Minjoo,” Yujin tips her invisible hat, and Minjoo is still speechless, forming incoherent words with that pretty mouth of hers.

 

“Ahn Yujin!” Minjoo yelps again, still in absolute disbelief.

 

“Kim Minjoo,” Yujin bows a little now, but Minjoo continues to form incoherent words, mumbling and blabbering phrases, yet none of them enough to make a coherent sentence.

 

“Unnie,” Yujin grabs Minjoo by the wrist, getting the older to look at her.

 

“Speak korean,” Yujin says, and Minjoo shuts , trying to figure out proper words to say.

 

“W-what are you doing here?” Minjoo asks, in disbelief as she stares Yujin up and down, trying to comprehend if this was reality or fiction.

 

I miss you. Is what Yujin, yet again, wants to say.

 

“I’ve missed you,” is what Yujin says.

 

Not this time.

 

You’re not letting her go this time.

 

“I missed you too,” Minjoo admits, breathless due to shock, proceeding to wrap her arms around Yujin, and it’s Yujin’s turn to be speechless.

 

The hug is warm, familiar and it’s everything Yujin had been begging for these past 3 months.

 

The happy kind of hug.

 

Yujin finally gains the sensibility to hug back, rubbing misshapen squares against Minjoo’s back.

 

“I- I got you something,” Yujin says, and Minjoo pulls away, though Minjoo leaves her hand in Yujin’s, her eyes set on the Ahn.

 

“Really?” Minjoo asks, a small smile, curiosity written everywhere on her face.

 

“It’s- it’s meaningful to me,” Yujin says, not sure how to explain the piece of jewelry. “A long time ago I got it for the person I loved the most in the universe,” Yujin says, finally managing to pull the necklace out with one hand, and it dangled as she held it in between them at shoulder level.

 

“Universe,” Minjoo says, but she isn’t questioning Yujin, moreover she was agreeing with Yujin, that the necklace was truly made for the person she loved the most in the universe.

 

“You know, every second, every moment these past months,” Yujin says, taking Minjoo’s other hand, the pearl necklace dangling in between their held hands.

 

“My heart broke from missing you,” Yujin says, and Minjoo chuckles at how sappy Yujin was being.

 

“Yujin,” Minjoo says for the nth time in her life, drowning in the intensity of Yujin’s orbs as they stared into her own, the thumping of her own heartbeat audible in her ears.

 

The connections between soulmates are ones that connect through glances, through screams, through silence- through everything- it’s a pair bond that’s simply unbreakable.

 

My second right hand.

 

Minjoo steps one step closer to Yujin, squeezing both of her hands at once.

 

My reason to stay awake.

 

Yujin mirrors Minjoo’s movements, the faint scent of vanilla and hotel soap now melding together as one.

 

My wife.

 

“Good to know you take showers more often now,” Minjoo jokes, the warmth of her breath hitting Yujin’s neck, and the younger hums.

 

My realistic unrealistic.

 

“I also brushed my teeth,” Yujin replies, smirking.

 

My teammate.

 

“Just in case,” Yujin adds, and Minjoo chuckles, letting go of Yujin’s hands just to slip them around her neck instead.

 

My roommate.

 

“I waited a long time for this,” Minjoo says, tip toeing the slightest bit so that their noses could touch.

 

My soulmate.

 

Two and a half years.

 

That could never be enough for Ahn Yujin.

 

Even an infinite lives with Kim Minjoo—

 

Never enough for Ahn Yujin.

 

Their lips connect once again, and it feels like the very first time, and that’s exactly what it is.

 

Their millionth first time.

 

With the feeling of their very first butterfly.

 

The kiss is lingering, soft with the slightest hint of desperation, the pent up feelings kept between the two since they first met, spilling out in this very moment.

 

Minjoo can practically hear Sodam hollering in the back- but she ignores her, as this was her prime- her golden moment.

 

They kiss for what seems like infinities, and eventually oxygen became a basic necessity to the two, pulling away slowly as they opened their eyes, looking at each other with the same fondness they’d always kept for each other.

 

They were silent, only their heavy breathing and hammering hearts audible to them. Alas, as Jiwoo says- a connection through silence.

 

“This person,” Minjoo says, breaking that silence, face flushed. “The one you love the most in the universe,”

 

“Could I know their name?” Minjoo asks, hands still settled onto Yujin’s neck.

 

“It’s you Kim Minjoo,” Yujin says, smiling- smiling the happiest smile she’d smiled in all her six lives.

 

“It’s always you,”

 

Bonus;

 

“Ahn Yujin,” Minjoo says, lightly nudging the younger, who was dozing off after waiting for hours for Minjoo to finish the filming.

 

“Mhm?” Yujin says, only opening one eye to look at the older.

 

“Let’s eat? It’s almost 1 o’clock,” Minjoo says, and Yujin sits up in the declined car seat, locking eyes with the older, though her eyes were barely open.

 

“Oh,” is all Yujin says at first, her eyes drooping back down to sleep again.

 

“Yah! Sleepyhead!” Minjoo giggles and Yujin snaps awake, putting both her hands and Minjoo’s shoulders, forcing her eyes wide open.

 

“I’m awake- eat,” Yujin says, staring intensely into Minjoo’s eyes, but Minjoo laughs again, and Yujin sighs.

 

“Seriously, I’m awake Min,” Yujin shakes her head, maintaining her consciousness as Minjoo nods, though her gaze was still playful.

 

“Don’t want you to fall asleep on our first date right?” Minjoo says teasingly, and Yujin is fully awake now, perking up at the word ‘date’.

 

“Date?”

 

“Yeah? Well, we do have the rest of the day off- the production team only needs Saeron and Bogum for the next scenes,” Minjoo announces, and Yujin suppresses a smile, all sorts of ideas popping into her head.

 

They could ride a bike around Jeju, go to the beach, enjoy trekking around the wanderlust trails of the island, they could skim through the ten folds of museums around the area, run around through acres and acres of garden, but most importantly—

 

“Do you wanna get some galbitang?”