friendly catch up

"okay, let me get this straight." heeyeon gives her friend a skeptic look. "you and your soulmate went to the mall earlier to buy this drawing tablet."

"yup." seulgi nods, folding her arms firmly on her chest.

"a drawing tablet you can order online and have it delivered here?"

"i need to inspect the item to make sure i get it in the best condition."

"mmm-mmm. and you need to bring your soulmate over for shopping?"

"well, i was supposed to go alone. but she said she could tag along, so i said yes. eunae left yesterday for another international flight and won't be back until the day after tomorrow."

"ahh. i can see how these layovers are helping you and your soulmate, huh?" heeyeon smirks and seulgi raises an eyebrow at her. "and aren't you too considerate to pick your soulmate up from the office?"

"joohyun doesn't have a car. in fact, she's not into driving at all," seulgi explains. "she plans on cabbing her way to the mall so i offered to pick her up since her office is along the way."

"okay. and what did you do after you bought this item?"

"we..." seulgi's eyes were searching the room. "we went for ice cream before going home."

"oh. an ice cream date!" heeyeon claps. "very much seulgi-style, huh?"

"it's not a date." seulgi narrows her eyes. "it was just a friendly catch up."

heeyeon inspects the tablet box, humming. "do you think she looked pretty earlier?"

"of course."

"and i assume you drove her home after, out of kindness?"

"i dropped her outside her apartment building."

"ahh. so no inviting you inside yet, huh?"

seulgi glares at her friend. "i know what you're trying to point out, heeyeon-ee. stop it. it's not going to happen."

heeyeon chuckles. "you know what, it's much more believable if you'd say you like her than you saying it's not going to happen. that's crazy, man. if you'd only seen how happy you looked when you entered that door after that 'friendly catch up' with your soulmate, you'd know what i mean."

"what the hell are you saying? nothing is going on between her and me."

"i know. i never said you two are having an affair. i'm just saying something inevitable is about to happen if you keep seeing each other like this."

seulgi turns away and plonks herself down the nearest couch. "then what are we supposed to do? if we stay away far too long from each other, we'll experience that hell again. but then if we get too close, we might... ugh."

heeyeon takes a deep breath in, staring at her defeated-looking friend. "for what it's worth, i think you shouldn't contradict the spirits this time around like you did before."

"and i thought you were mocking me earlier for going out with joohyun."

"i was only teasing you." heeyeon chuckles. "i've seen what happened to you these past three years, seul; of how that longing for your soulmate has taken its toll on you. i bet it was much harder for you to actually experience it. if you and your soulmate didn't meet each other soon, i'm sure it will eventually affect your relationship with your wife."

seulgi leans her head back and stares up at the white ceiling, a blank look on her face. "yeah. like what happened to joohyun and her ex. a year after we met, they broke up."

heeyeon shakes her head. "tsk. tsk. tsk. just as i thought. it's not a good idea for you two to ignore each other."

but seulgi's eyes widen when she remembers something. "heeyeon-ee..." she sits up to look at her friend. "what does it mean when someone says they are having a casual relationship with their ex?"

"it means they've accepted the fact that there's no point for them to get back together again, but they still hang out, as friends or sweet friends."

"hang out like just chilling and simple dates?"

"could be." heeyeon shrugs. "it may also involve occasional hookups too. i mean, what's fun with having a non-exclusive relationship without some , right?"

"what! does it always involve ?"

"not for some people. but if it's with an ex, it is more likely to happen because you're already comfortable with the person to start with."

"so that means they are still having ?"

"who's having with whom?"

seulgi grunts, leaning back again and massaging her head. "joohyun and her ex; that... that little blonde... hamster... with big eyes... ugh..."

laughing, heeyeon approaches her friend. "hey, head. are you actually jealous right now?"

instead of answering, seulgi covers her face with a pillow and stomps her feet on the floor, making heeyeon laugh harder.

"hey. stop acting like you aren't ing your wife regularly. come on." heeyeon taps her friend. "she's a single adult with needs. she can do whatever she likes, or get ed by anyone she wants. she ain't married like you."

seulgi grunts even more.

"you're still her soulmate, bear, no matter whom she s. stop moping like that. i seriously think that should be your least concern right now."

"yeah. because i have bigger problems, heeyeon," seulgi says into the pillow, her voice muffled. "bigger and more serious problems."

"and that is?"

"i think... i think you're right. i like joohyun now."