Joohyun has never been in a rush to see the world in colours; she knows perfectly well that if someone is meant for her, they will eventually walk in her life, whether she wishes for them or not. Guided by this worldview, she breezes through her school days, and eventually university without being swept in her friends’ giddiness to meet their destined ones. She has a few friends who have found colours in their lives and Joohyun’s happy for them, but she doesn’t feel pressured to start looking for her other half.

Right person should come at the right place and at the right time, that’s what she tells herself and her friends, waving off their exasperation for her to start looking, or perhaps see someone else in the meantime because it’s criminal for someone with her beauty to not be with anyone. Joohyun dismisses this, unsurprisingly. She’s content to wait, and to chase her own dreams while doing so.

She watches the world passes around her in a blur while she lives her own life in slow motion, noting the love and heartbreaks, the smiles and tears of the people around her while her own heart remains guarded, waiting for the right one that never shows - until that day in her parents’ restaurant.

Joohyun wipes the last table, feeling a little annoyed that Yerim is just sitting at one of the tables she has cleaned a few minutes ago, swinging her legs in contentment while watching something on her phone in a loud volume. Her sister is supposed to be helping out as well but she whines about having a tiring PE session at school today and leaves Joohyun working alone. Joohyun twists the washcloth when she’s done with her work, leaving it to dry on the rack before she approaches her sister, smacking her back and laughing when Yerim curses at her, shocked by the sudden entrance.

“What are you watching?”

“Wendy’s new MV! I played her song to you last week and you said her voice is nice, remember?”

She remembers, taking a seat beside Yerim. “Yeah. Is she a new idol? I’ve never heard her name before.”

Joohyun isn’t very invested in the current idol scenes, although she is a big fan of BoA. It seems that the music by the new idols’ generation is not really her cup of tea, but she admits that she’s intrigued by Yerim’s current obsession. Something in her voice calls out to Joohyun, but she never searches for Wendy herself, only remembering the singer vaguely whenever her songs come up on the Top 100 playlist that they play in their restaurant every day.

“A solo idol singer actually, like your beloved BoA. She just debuted a few months back, but she’s gained a lot of popularity. Her new song got a Perfect All-Kill a few hours after it was released, unnie! And her new MV got millions of views overnight, how insane is that for a rookie?”

Joohyun shrugs, not bothered. Things like chart positions or music video views didn’t really matter back when she was fangirling over BoA, so how would she know the significance of it? She stretches in her seat, almost hitting Yerim again in the process. “Let’s go, I need to prepare my resume tonight and start emailing it out tomorrow.”

Yerim lets out a long, exaggerated sigh, meant to push her older sister’s button but Joohyun knows her too well to fall for that. “Come on, Yerm. You have school too, let’s close up and leave. Besides, don’t you want to talk to Saeron tonight?”

Joohyun grins when she sees her younger sister blushes. Yerim is one of the lucky ones to have found her soulmate early in life and Joohyun has never envied her for it; rather, she dotes on Saeron and would tease Yerim sometimes saying that Saeron probably loves her more than Yerim.

The two sisters close the restaurant before they walk home together, about 300 meters away. Yerim is still gushing about Wendy, swinging her phone that’s still playing Wendy’s new MV while Joohyun nods, half-listening while she tries to keep them safe from the passing pedestrians and cars because Yerim has the self-preservation instinct of a toddler.

“She’s notorious for having slept around or been on dates with other people, unnie.” Not unusual, nor a taboo if you haven’t found your soulmate so it doesn’t surprise Joohyun, although she supposes it’s a bad look for idols. “She even says that the whole soulmate thing is flawed and a big you from the universe because what rights does the universe have to decide who could see in colours and who couldn’t? What about the people who fall for the people besides their soulmates - are their feelings not valid?”

Now that is unusual. Joohyun frowns, her usual black and white surroundings seem darker all the sudden. She stops in her tracks and Yerim follows suit a moment later.

“Unnie?”

“She seems pretty radical. I wasn’t expecting you, a person who has found your soulmate to...stan her.”

Yerim shrugs, waving her phone screen in front of Joohyun and for a second, Joohyun sees a flicker of something unusual that disappears in a blink of an eye.

“She sings love songs too, and she’s not anti-love. If anything, she roots for the kind of love that’s not predetermined by the universe, a love that goes against all odds and prevails anyway. It’s the kind of love anyone would want to find - regardless of whether they find their soulmates or not, yeah?”

Joohyun ponders over the concept. It’s true, she supposes.

“I feel bad for her soulmate.”

“She said in an interview that she hasn’t found them though, and that she would be open to change her mind if they are able to make her but you’re right, her soulmate would be in for one hell of a ride.”

Yerim laughs, and Joohyun smiles. She hears Wendy’s faint voice singing in the background and she gestures to the phone her sister is holding.

“Can I watch the MV with you?”

“Sure, would you like me to describe the colours for you?”

Joohyun glares, knowing that Yerim is only teasing. The last time she tried to explain the different colours to Joohyun, they both ended up being frustrated and angry at each other. Since then, it has become an inside joke between them. Yerim holds the device between them as they continue their walk home and Joohyun loops an arm around Yerim, trusting her sister to lead since she has her eyes on screen.

Wendy’s voice is good, and the MV looks great enough. The set seems to be in a garden of sorts, with waterfalls and buildings that are meant to mimic a fairy-tale background if Joohyun guesses correctly. Just as Wendy appears on-screen, Joohyun feels her vision blurs for a few seconds and when she blinks to clear her eyes, she’s in for the shock of her life.

The previously dim street gets so much brighter with...colours. Joohyun panics, releasing her hold on Yerim as she looks at her own hands which reflects the light in a way they never had before. She could see that her sweater with her favourite shade of grey has now changed (she would later learn it’s purple) and her even greyer, almost black pair of jeans looks different as well (navy blue). She looks at the trees around her, leaves swaying from the light breeze and she looks back and the music video that is still playing in Yerim’s hand, although her sister is currently looking at her, concerned.

“Why do the leaves of the trees in the music video have a different colour from the leaves on this tree?”

Joohyun randomly points at a tree and Yerim jumps to explain. “That’s because she’s trying to create a fantasy vibe and apparently the spectrum of the fake trees and the real trees would be indistinguishable to people with no soulmates, it’s a work of art, really…”

Yerim trails off, gasping as she looks at Joohyun.

“You? Colours? How?!”

Joohyun pales, looking down at the phone screen again and both siblings stare as Wendy appears, smiling as she sings words that Joohyun can no longer hear.

*

Joohyun tugs the lanyard around her neck, feeling like an impostor although the words ‘Bae Joohyun - Staff’ is clearly written on the ID she’s wearing. She jumps whenever a loud sound booms and that seems to happen once every few minutes since apparently the backstage of a music show is rarely quiet.

Once again, she wonders how she ends up here when she’s supposed to be looking for a job after her graduation and helps out in the family restaurant on the days she has nothing to do. However, Yerim has convinced Seulgi, an old family friend and a camera operator for a music show to employ Joohyun temporarily to “help her build connections”. Joohyun is sure Seulgi doesn’t buy Yerim’s excuse, but she’s too much of a sweetheart to pressure Joohyun into answering something she doesn’t want to so she just helps out without question, although Joohyun is sure Seulgi will confront her sooner or later.

Not coincidentally, she chose to start working when Wendy is promoting and today, after almost a week of working,