soulmates time

joohyun's jaw slowly drops as she stares at sooyoung and seungwan standing before her very eyes. "you two are not kidding me, are you?"

sooyoung called her over for a surprise. little did she know that the surprise waiting is in the form of her ex-lover whom sooyoung addresses now as her soulmate.

her soulmate? how the hell did that happen?

"sooyoung, are you sure it's her, of all the people here in the city?" joohyun points at seungwan, internally wondering what have the spirits been up to lately.

"yah! why do you sound like you're against it!" seungwan protests.

giggling, sooyoung loops an arm through seungwan's. "i'm sure, unnie. seungwan and i have tested tugging each other. it worked every single time."

joohyun steps back, bringing a hand to .

"yah! joohyun, your reaction is offending me!" seungwan exclaims.

but joohyun doesn't seem to hear it. she looks at sooyoung. "are you aware that seungwan and i work together?"

"yes. she even told me you were ex-lovers."

"she did?" joohyun gives seungwan a knowing look.

"she even admitted that you two used to be ually active post breakup."

"oh. she really has to tell you that, didn't she?" she glares at seungwan who sheepishly smiles at her.

"it's okay, unnie. it's all in the past now," sooyoung says. "and it won't matter anymore because once a person finds their soulmate and get to know even just their names, any affection or recollection from their previous relationships will slowly fade. they won't forget those people, but their relationship and intimacy will eventually become a distant memory."

joohyun's eyebrows rose.

oh really?

was that the reason she slowly drifted away from seungwan after she met seulgi before--only because she got her soulmate's name?

but now that they are finally together, does that mean seulgi is starting to drift away from her wife?

that thought brings an unpleasant picture in joohyun's head--the image of seulgi spending the night alone with eunae. the more she thinks about it, the more she feels a strange feeling creeping up her chest, making it hard for her to breathe.

which reminds her...

"sooyoung-ah, are you okay with this, being friends with me, your soulmate's ex-lover?"

"of course, unnie. why won't i be?"

"well, doesn't your 'soulmate radar' kind of feel threatened towards me?" joohyun quotes her fingers.

"soulmate radar?" sooyoung chuckles. "unnie, what are you saying?"

"i just thought that maybe you'd feel some sort of resentment towards me because seungwan and i used to be together."

"ahh. i know what you're talking about!" sooyoung snaps her fingers. "shamans call that occurrence as discernment. a person can identify which people can pose a threat to their relationship with their soulmate. that's normal, unnie."

"oh. so it's really normal, huh?" joohyun nods.

"does your soulmate feel like that towards seungwan?" sooyoung asks, making seungwan look at her.

"yes." joohyun folds her arms on her chest. "but how come you don't feel anything like that towards me?"

"i think it's because we met first and have already established the friendship before i even meet seungwan," sooyoung explains. "honestly, i felt something when i first you saw you by the elevator that night i moved in here. it may be related to that discernment thing. whatever it is, i decided to approach you and befriend you instead."

joohyun and seungwan looked at each other with "ooh" faces.

"but don't worry. joohyun unnie's soulmate won't feel that way towards you anymore as you've already found me," sooyoung tells seungwan. "she won't feel that threat anymore."

"i see. now i can't wait to meet seulgi again." seungwan grins.

"well, she's actually here now." joohyun shows her flinching ring finger, a sign seulgi's near and is tugging her. a few seconds after that, her phone rings. "seulgi-yah, i'm here in the room across. wait. i'll get you there."

joohyun excitedly skips to the door, her heart bursting with joy the second her eyes catch her soulmate's image standing outside.

and when seulgi's face lights up, joohyun's sure she's completely head-over-heels for this person.

"hey." seulgi reaches out to hug her and kiss her temple. "i missed you."

joohyun's knees felt weak. she puts her arms around seulgi's waist for support. "i missed you too. come on. let's head inside. i've something to show you."

seulgi follows her lead and releases an "oh" when she sees seungwan and sooyoung inside.

"seulgi, this is sooyoung, the newest tenant here, the new friend i was talking about the other day," joohyun says. "and that is seungwan, whom you already knew, but yeah, they're soulmates."

"soulmates?" seulgi looks at her to confirm. joohyun nods. "wow. congrats then."

"thank you! and it's nice to meet you finally." sooyoung shakes seulgi's hand. "joohyun unnie has been telling me lots of things about you."

"it's a pleasure to meet you." seulgi smiles. she offers a hand to seungwan. "and it's nice to know you're finally tied too, huh?"

seungwan laughs. "yeah. was actually anticipating it."

joohyun didn't notice how she's smiling while she looks at seulgi's face, happy to see the other woman's soft expression.

sooyoung is right. seulgi seems calmer now even with seungwan around.

---

"living with my great-grandma for years got me used to the belief that everything happens for a reason, that we are all connected one way or another." sooyoung sips from the can of soda.

the four of them are now having dinner in sooyoung's place when the young doctor suddenly decides to have a little party and calls for pizza and pasta delivery.

"all our actions and everything around us works for some things to happen." sooyoung glances at seungwan. "you see, there is a reason you drove joohyun unnie that night after that dinner event you attended. and there is a reason why i suddenly felt the urge to buy a ramyun that night too."

sooyoung and seungwan exchanges heart eyes first before the latter speaks, "hmm. does that mean joohyun and i were meant to meet because she's going to lead me to you?"

"i think that's about right. that could be the reason you two got attracted to each other before because you're supposed to fulfill a role in each other's lives," sooyoung says. "but like you and joohyun unnie, people sometimes mistook that connection as love. because of our free will, we sometimes get into relationships with other people aside from our soulmates."

"but is that all the reason why joohyun and i met?" seungwan quirks an eyebrow. "how about me? what's my contribution to joohyun?"

"you're the one who badly wanted us to go to gyeongwon resort, remember?" joohyun says. "you planned everything well because you wanted us to have a great time there." she reaches out for seulgi's hand and squeezes it. "that's where seulgi and i met."

smiling, seulgi squeezes her hand back.

seungwan's eyes widens. "you're right! but why do you think the spirits fated you to meet the day after seulgi got married?"

joohyun looks down at her empty plate. she had the urge to ask that earlier but was too scared to do so.

"i really can't say. the marriage could be a result of seulgi unnie acting up on her free will, or maybe things are just meant to be that way." sooyoung shrugs. "all i can say is we should trust the spirits on this. keep praying and they will give you answers soon."

not wanting to comment anything, joohyun keeps shut. it's a taboo topic whenever she and seulgi are together. joohyun knows she has the right to demand more from seulgi--more time, more attention--but she doesn't want to. she doesn't want to add to seulgi's problems.

but how long is she going to be kept in the dark like this?

her train of thoughts got disturbed when seulgi kisses the back of her hand.

"i really should visit some temples now, shouldn't i?" seulgi tells sooyoung. "so they could help me out of this ordeal the soonest."

"you should. give the spirits and the monks grand offerings too so they would pray for you," sooyoung says.

and as the topic drifts to monks and monasteries, seulgi glances at joohyun and mouths, "i love you."

to which joohyun responds to with a chaste cheek kiss.

---

back to the apartment, they were busy kissing in the bedroom when the seulgi's hands slide down to joohyun's denim shorts.

"wait... hold on, seul..." joohyun stops her lover's hands, who look up at her questioningly. "i... i'm on my period. it came just this morning."

"eh? of all the days?"

"yeah. i'm sorry." joohyun grimaces.

seulgi sighs and nuzzles her face in joohyun's tummy. "it's okay."

"you look upset." joohyun seulgi's hair. "i can give you the favor if you're really in the mood."

"it's not that. i want to make love to you."

"well, you can make love to me in a different way."

"like this?" seulgi blows air into her tummy, making a farting sound.

joohyun laughs.

"or like this?" seulgi peppers kisses on the side of her stomach.

"seulgi! that... that tickles!"

seulgi's mouth travels up to her abdomen, to her neck, then back to her lips.

"how about we do it in the bathroom?" seulgi says after they part.

"what! it's messy!"

"i don't care. at least we won't mess up your sheets."

she playfully slaps seulgi. "it's gross!"

seulgi just stares down at her, smirking.

"you're not serious, are you?" joohyun can feel herself giving in sooner.

seulgi chuckles as she drops back on the bed. "let's do it some other time. it's cuddle night for now."

"you sure?" joohyun turns to seulgi, draping an arm and a leg over her soulmate's body.

seulgi hums, intertwining their fingers. " is great, but having you close to me like this is already awesome."

"why are you so cute, huh?" joohyun pokes seulgi's lip with a finger.

"it's because..." seulgi tries to bite her finger, but joohyun pulls away, giggling. "it's because i need to be cute to match my soulmate's cuteness."

"i am not cute."

"you're right. you're not cute."

"yah!" joohyun's slaps seulgi's tummy.

"you're not cute, because you're gorgeous, okay?" seulgi laughs, shifting aside to cup joohyun's cheek.

joohyun rolls her eyes and looks away, mumbling, "whatever."

chuckling, seulgi leans in to bite joohyun's lower lip with hers and pulls out. this causes joohyun to return the favor.

soon, the two of them were making out again. seulgi shifs on top of joohyun.

"tell me about your childhood," she whispers, gently kissing joohyun's earlobe.

"childhood?"

"yeah." seulgi pulls away to look at her. "i want to know more about you. how were you as a kid? i would love to see any baby pictures too if you're hiding one here."

joohyun giggles, tracing her fingertips along seulgi's lips. "my childhood was boring. i was a boring kid."

"i don't care. i want to hear all of it, from the day your parents had and conceived you until the day we met." seulgi tries to bite the finger again, but joohyun pulls back.

"sure. but that will take us the whole night."

"sure. i'm up for it."

joohyun smiles and kisses the tip of seulgi's nose.

she glances at the clock that says it's only ten in the evening.

it will be a long night for the two of them.