As expected, Yuju, Umji, and Eunha agreed to invite Sowon without a fuss. They were even excited to have the team leader over, well, it was mostly Eunha who was eager.

Sinb was unaware of how much she let slip about Sowon to Eunha whenever she talked about how her work went. According to Eunha, Sinb kept raving about how skilled Sowon was on the field and she wanted to meet the “baby giraffe who charmed her”.

“You talk about her so much,” Eunha had complained,“but you haven’t let me meet her yet.”

“You’ll meet her at the gathering,” was what Sinb told her then. She couldn’t deny that she kept making up excuses to why she didn’t want to invite Sowon over to their apartment or introduce Eunha to her.

It’s been two days since, and she consumed herself in work to distract herself from her bitter thoughts. They had closed a tough case the night before, one that required numerous reports and detailing of incidents to be submitted to their higher-ups.

It was still early in the morning, at ten-thirty, but Sinb was already stuck at her desk with the screen of her computer glaring back at her, a blank report template waiting to be filled.

Her phone had been vibrating for some time with messages. Sinb ignored them at first, since if it was anything important the sender would call, but whoever it was remained stubborn in messaging her. She grumbled and finally checked her phone, half-ready to scold until she read the sender’s name.

Eunnie

Sinb, my number one detective in the world~

What food have you been craving for lately?

Kimchi fried rice?

Bibimbap?

Stew?

Kimbap?

And the rest of the messages was her spamming Sinb with food suggestions. Sinb scrunched her face in confusion because it was morning and Eunha should still be passed out in her bed, if not working at SourceM.

The past two weeks have been hectic for Eunha, due to her heavy involvement in the songwriting and vocal directing of Yuju’s nearing comeback. Sinb hardly got to spend time with her. She would be asleep when Eunha came back from work, and Eunha would be the one asleep when she left for work.

Did you wake up cause you got hungry or something? Sinb texted back.

Eunnie

Something like that.

You haven’t answered my question

Sinb huffed. The onslaught of food suggestions Eunha sent made her wish for past noon to hit so she could have her lunch.

Kimchi fried rice.

Also, I hate you for making me hungry now.

Eunnie

okay!

And you’re welcome, I guess I made you look forward to lunch ^^

Go back to your work, bye!

Sinb set her phone down, puzzled at Eunha’s antics. She didn’t think much of it though, focusing back on her report.

Two hours flew past as she worked. Sinb sighed and leaned back on her chair, stretching her arms out when her report was done. She glanced up at Sowon’s personal office. The team leader wasn’t back yet from her meeting with the higher-ups.

The criminal investigation team didn’t have a fixed lunchtime. They ate whenever they wanted, so long as they didn’t disappear from the station or office for an unreasonable length of time. All of her seniors went to take their lunches together, while Sinb was waiting for Sowon to be done with her meeting. It was their usual tradition to eat together at the station’s mini-cafeteria or the restaurants nearby.

Since Sowon wasn’t back, Sinb slumped forward on her desk and scrolled through her report to double-check it. A tired yawn escaped her as she did so, bored with the administrative work. She kept re-reading the same paragraph of words, her mind drifting off until warm hands covered her eyes and her vision turned black.

"What the—” Sinb jumped in her seat, but she relaxed when a familiar voice spoke into her ears.

“Guess who?”

“How did you even get in?” Sinb gently pulled the hands on her face away, and Eunha’s cheeky face greeted her over her shoulder. Eunha stepped from behind her to by her desk’s side, shrugging.

“The guard didn’t want to let me in, but some detective with pink hair asked who I was here for and when I said your name, he told the guard to just let me through. And I got this pass?” Eunha reached into her pockets and took out a lanyard with purple lining.

“Moonbin, that idiot…” Sinb muttered. Giving her a soulmate visitor pass?

The other detective must have assumed Eunha was her soulmate since he knew Sinb was close to her and he wasn’t aware of her markless status.

“Why are you here, though?” She tilted her head. This was the first time Eunha visited her at work, and she didn’t inform Sinb she was coming.

Eunha opened her backpack and lifted out a lunchbox bag. She waved it in front of her, the mouth-watering smell of kimchi fried rice instantly bringing back her hunger and craving.

“I made lunch!” Eunha plopped the bag on her desk. “I feel like I haven’t seen you in days even though we live in the same house. I have some free time this morning before I have to go back to SourceM, so let’s eat together?”

Sinb was pleasantly surprised by Eunha’s initiative. Eunha could cook, but every time she did she would whine about how tedious it was to prepare, do the actual cooking, and clean up afterwards. So she rarely cooked because she didn’t have the patience for it. Knowing that Eunha went out of her way to cook lunch and drop by her workplace just to spend time with her made her stomach flutter.

The warm, fuzzy feeling didn’t last long though when she remembered that Sowon could come back from her meeting anytime. This isn’t how it’s supposed to go, Sinb panicked as her leg bounced nervously from beneath her desk, they were supposed to meet in two weeks, not today.

“I—” she cleared . “My team leader…”

“Did you make plans with her? We can eat together too if she doesn’t mind.” Eunha suggested, before frowning. “Ah, I should have made three sets instead of two.”

As if on cue, the door pushed open and Eunha looked up from her to observe the new arrival. Sinb swivelled her chair around, facing the door.

Only one word went through her mind: . Sowon was there and walking right towards them. She had an inquisitive look in her eyes when she spotted Eunha by her desk.

Eunha was curious as well, and it didn’t take long for her to realise who Sowon was. She grinned as Sowon neared Sinb’s desk, and when the team leader was close enough, she spoke the words Sinb wished she could avoid hearing.

“You must be the legendary baby giraffe.” Eunha quipped, oblivious of Sinb’s internal dismay.

Sowon was taken aback at Eunha’s words, blurting out, “I’m sorry, what did you just call me?”

Eunha stiffened, her eyes widening at Sowon’s reply. Sowon was no better, staring at her like a deer in the headlights with open.

“I—What—You—” Eunha fumbled for words. Sowon spared her from talking by rolling the sleeves of her right arm up. Eunha fell quiet as she read the words on her arm, and she let out a shaky exhale. “You’re my soulmate?”

Sowon nodded. Sinb detested how they were gazing at each other with interest, the two of them in their own little bubble and Sinb was an outsider looking in to them. She hated the heavy tension in the air, the shy awkwardness of soulmates meeting, and most of all she hated the jealous twinge in her chest. It was hard to breathe, and was so dry it felt like she swallowed sand—and she knew she needed to leave.

Sinb stumbled up from her chair, startling both Eunha and Sowon. “I should go.” She barely choked out, and she left the office without waiting for their response. Her feet moved on instinct and she didn’t even know where she was going—anywhere but the office.

Sinb ended up on the rooftop garden. She hid in the corner, sitting on a bench tucked away. She pulled her legs up to her chest and hugged them, resting her head on her knees with exhaustion deep in her bones.

It was foolish of her to think that she could have controlled fate. She tried to orchestrate when they would meet which was supposed to be at the gathering. Eunha showed up on her own anyway, so sudden and out of the blue, and of course Sowon had to come back from her meeting at the right moment.

It felt final. Now that Eunha and Sowon met, Sinb truly had to move past her feelings for her childhood friend. Somehow.

She couldn’t keep crushing on Eunha who was no doubt going to fall in love with her team leader. How could she not when Sowon was pretty much ideal and compatible for her? The same went for Sowon, who would like Eunha as well. That was the whole concept of soulmates, after all. Sinb never stood a chance.

What was going to happen now? Sowon said she would take things slowly with Eunha, but eventually, they would get together and Eunha would move out and get married and—

“There you are.”

Sinb flinched when Eunha’s voice cut through the turmoil in her mind, but she remained unmoving, staring out at the city skylines.

“Why did you leave?” Eunha stopped right in front of her, holding her lunch box bag from earlier.

“Shouldn’t you be with Sowon-unnie?” She mumbled instead in an attempt to avoid her question. Eunha crossed her arms as Sinb finally looked at her face.

“I told her to give me some time to find you and drag you back.” Eunha huffed. “I came here to eat together with you and you run off without a word? Why?”

She tensed. “What do you mean why? You literally just met your soulmate. I didn’t want to get in between that and spoil the moment.”

“Sinb. I don’t know Sowon-ssi. Like you said, I just met her fifteen minutes ago.” Eunha shifted on her feet, her voice softening. “You won’t be getting in between anything. We really haven’t spent much time together for the past weeks. Just come and eat together with us? Please?”

Sinb met her pleading eyes, almost caving in to her until she remembered the crushing jealousy she felt watching Eunha and Sowon. She knew she wouldn’t be able to stand eating lunch together with all three of them. Not now. “The two of you should get to know each other, without me there. I don’t want to come. You…you should give that lunch box to her too.”

“What?” Eunha frowned and she ran a hand through her hair, a telltale sign her anger was rising. “I made this for you.”

“I know, but you should let your soulmate try your fo—”

“No, stop talking.” Eunha took a deep breath, and she glared at Sinb. “You don’t want to come? Fine. But don’t keep pushing me to get together with my soulmate! This isn’t a drama, Sinb, I’m not going to fall in love with her at first sight or start prioritising her in my life. And I’m certainly not going to give the food I cooked, for you, to her just because she’s my soulmate!”

Eunha dumped the lunch box bag beside Sinb on the bench. “You better finish that, Hwang Sinb,” she snapped, turning to leave.

Sinb stayed frozen as she stormed out of the rooftop garden. Eunha hadn’t yelled at her with so much fury for years. She kept a relatively cool head during the rare serious fights they got into and preferred to settle arguments more diplomatically. Yelling was Sinb's thing.

Was she really overreacting to Eunha meeting her soulmate?

Sinb had to admit, she didn't have much knowledge of how soulmates progressed after they met. Her own parents moved in with each other after two weeks, Eunha’s parents married after a month, while Yerin and Yuju got into a relationship quickly.

She rarely watched dramas as well, due to their poor depictions of markless people, but the few she watched emphasised how “life-changing, grand, and amazing” it was to meet your soulmate for the first time. The soulmate pairs in dramas always got together insanely fast.

She assumed Eunha would be eager to know Sowon better. Sinb didn’t want to be the third wheel in their conversation.

She brooded over Eunha’s words as she opened the lunch box bag dumped beside her, feeling abashed for upsetting Eunha. There were a few containers inside, one was the kimchi fried rice Sinb craved for, one was an omelette and the rest were simple side dishes. It wasn’t anything extraordinary, but she treasured it.

, I really messed up somewhere, didn’t I? Sinb berated herself, burying her face into her hands with a regretful sigh.

After Sinb cleared every bit of food Eunha made for her, she returned to the office still feeling guilty. She didn't even know how she was going to face Sowon without thinking about Eunha.

Sowon wasn't at the office when she came back but most of her seniors were. Sinb sat at her seat, contemplating whether she should send a text to Eunha to apologise for being overbearing regarding her soulmate. Or should she say it in person instead?

She opened the messaging app and glowered at the empty message box. Sinb typed, then she deleted and retyped a longer message. And she deleted it again.

"Sinb."

For the second time that day, Sinb jolted as a voice called her from behind. She really hated how she was faced away from the door and she never noticed when people walked in. She turned around and faced Sowon, her heart thumping from the scare. "S-sowon-unnie. You're done with your lunch?"

"Yes. We ate at the station's cafeteria," Sowon answered, leaning against Sinb's desk. "Eunha is certainly surprising."

"What do you mean?"

"She's very blunt,” Sowon mused. “Cute, but also terrifying when she's pissed. You really should have joined us. I think she was disappointed that she didn’t get to eat lunch with you."

"Did she leave already?"

"Yeah, she said she couldn't stay for long. Something about having to rush off to SourceM for work."

The guilt gnawed at her again. Not only did Sinb angered Eunha and put her in a bad mood for her first meeting with her soulmate, but she also ruined Eunha’s efforts to spend time with her. All because she couldn’t handle her own jealousy at seeing the two of them together.

For the entire day, Sinb struggled to concentrate on her work as she contemplated how she was going to apologise. Her mind was elsewhere when they went on to the field for a case and Sowon did notice. The team leader had chided her for not focusing and sent her to do some brainless menial task instead. Sinb felt even worse thanks to that, but she still couldn’t stop her distracted thinking.

It was how Sinb decided that she was going to stay up and wait for Eunha to come back from work. She camped on their sofa, drank a cup of strong coffee, and played her favourite series on the television just to force herself awake.

Eunha’s work hours were erratic. She could return at 1AM, which is considered early, or as late as 5AM. Sinb was determined to be awake when she came home. She wanted to resolve their conflict as soon as possible, or her shame would eat her up from inside.

Time crawled by and she kept slipping in and out of consciousness. One moment she would be reading the subtitles of the show playing, and the next thing she knew she had briefly fell asleep on the sofa. Sinb was atrocious at staying up late and even the coffee couldn’t help her penchant for sleeping. Soon, she succumbed to the sleep taking a hold of her mind, resting her head against the armrest of the sofa and passing out.

Thump.

“!”

It felt like the air was taken out of her when Sinb woke up, her back impacting against what felt like their ancient sofa that they really should be changing.

She forced open her eyes and her whole body went rigid when Eunha’s face was right across hers, looking at her like a startled bunny. Eunha’s arms were each by Sinb’s face, her body hovering over hers and trapping her against the sofa. Her heart instantly raced at their closeness and neither of them was moving.

This is definitely a dream, she concluded.

For a split second, Eunha’s eyes seemed to drop to her lips, and she pulled away from Sinb like she was burnt. She took a step back from the sofa, her face flushed and embarrassed. Sinb realised it wasn’t a dream when her back felt slightly sore from her impact against the sofa. She frowned, wondering if she imagined that last bit.

“What were you doing…?” She pushed herself up from the sofa, immensely confused.

“I tried to carry you to bed like what you always do for me, but you were heavier than I expected and I ended up falling forward and dumping you on the sofa,” Eunha explained in a rush of words, rubbing her arms. “Why were you sleeping out here anyway?”

“I was waiting for you,” Sinb answered. In a daring move, she tugged Eunha back down onto the sofa beside her. Eunha didn’t fight her and she sat with a tired sigh.

“Why?”

“I wanted to apologise.” She fidgeted, but she met Eunha’s eyes resolutely. “I’m sorry about this afternoon. I shouldn’t have acted so weirdly about you meeting your soulmate. You were just trying to spend time with me but I was a stubborn idiot. And um, thank you for cooking lunch for me. It was good."

Eunha was quiet as she spoke, her expression not giving away her thoughts. Sinb gulped at the silence and her piercing gaze. She reached out and rested her hand on Eunha’s knee, speaking as sincerely as possible, “Forgive me?”

“I’m not angry at you,” Eunha muttered. “I was just disappointed that you chose to hide on the rooftop when we could have eaten together. I get that you were trying to be considerate, but I wanted you to be there with me. Sowon-unnie is still a stranger, you know? I would have been more comfortable with you.”

Sinb winced. “Yeah…I get that now. I’m sorry.”

“I forgive you.” Eunha patted Sinb’s hand, cracking a small smile. “You’re a stubborn brat sometimes, but I still love you.”

Hearing the words “I still love you” from Eunha made her heart pang because Eunha meant it in a platonic way while Sinb could never say those words back without expressing all her feelings for her in them. She returned her smile, relieved that at least Eunha wasn’t pissed at her anymore. “So, um, how did your lunch with Sowon-unnie go?”

“She’s…interesting.” Eunha let out a short chuckle. “I see what you mean by clumsy. She fell on me once.”

Sinb grimaced. “She can’t help it though, so please don’t too much about it.” Ever since Sowon shared why she decided to become a police officer and how much she hated herself for being so uncoordinated, Sinb never made fun of her falling tendencies.

“I won’t. I actually find it endearing,” Eunha reassured, “I think I might have been a bit too direct with her?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I straight up told her, ‘I’m not going to date you just because we’re soulmates. Let’s get to know each other as friends first and see how it goes’.”

This must be what Sowon-unnie meant by blunt, she thought. It occurred to her that Sowon said the exact same words as Eunha at Han River, about how she wasn’t going to jump into a relationship with her soulmate as well. Even their thinking about soulmates matched.

“Sowon-unnie was so nonchalant about it though, she simply nodded and agreed to it.” Eunha continued talking. “That was a relief. I don’t know what I would do if she told me she wanted to get together immediately.”

Sinb’s sleep-muddled mind was barely keeping up. “I’m confused. So do soulmates typically start dating right away or not?”

“In the past, that’s what all soulmate pairs do. In modern society now, it’s leaning more towards the ‘know your soulmate first before dating’ way, but some people do begin dating the moment they meet,” Eunha paused. “Sinb, please don’t trust the dramas or movies on television. They’re completely misrepresentative of how soulmate pairs work in current times.”

“O-Of course I won’t.” She totally did, until now. It was a mistake of her to avoid topics about soulmates so much since she knew next to nothing about soulmate culture. She didn’t bother keeping up with soulmate things because it didn't apply to her. Who knew it would backfire one day?

“What—” Sinb yawned involuntarily, “—are you going to do next?”

“I don’t know, probably meet up somewhere like a café to know each other better?” Eunha shrugged her shoulders. She stood up from the sofa, grabbing Sinb’s arm and tugging her up as well. “You need to go to sleep. You have work early tomorrow, and you at staying up late.”

“What time is it?” Sinb peered at the clock in their living room. “You came home past five-thirty? SourceM needs to stop overworking you.”

“It’s only for the time being. I’m almost done with my part of the work,” Eunha dismissed as she dragged Sinb to her room. “Go sleep. You need your rest to stay alert on the field.”

“Okay,” Sinb obediently stepped into her room. “Night.”

“Technically it’s good morning isn’t it?” Eunha laughed. “Sweet dreams, Sinb.”

Sinb stayed awake in her bed until the sun rose and she had to get ready to work. She couldn't fall asleep at all, her thoughts filled with the memory of Eunha so close to her.

---

A/N:

I’m sorry for disappearing for a whole month... happened in life and I didn’t really have the inspiration and time to write. Updates will be irregular from now on but I’ll try to not disappear for too long between chapters!!!

Wonha finally meets, I know it’s probably not how many of you expected, but I felt like it was more fitting to have them meet in the most random situation rather than at the gathering. Leave me your thoughts as usual in the comments :)

Next up: the gathering! The rest of the members finally make a cameo.