Yeonbin was close to getting back to work. There was only a week left for her recovery period and while some would dread having to return to their workplace, she was ready to start doing productive things in the space of her office.

Getting off the bus, she made her way to the coffee shop she would normally go to. It had been a while since she drank coffee as she had only drank beneficial tea and plain water the past few weeks. She was starting to get tired of the floral fragrances every day. 

“One venti iced americano, please,” Yeonbin ordered. 

After paying for her cup, she stood in the waiting line. Taking the time to look around, parts of the shop changed almost to the point where it looked unrecognizable. Their new logo was much more minimalistic than the previous, she thought it couldn’t get anymore minimalistic from there but somehow it was possible. The tables and seats were now wooden and sleek, giving off a feeling of cozy modernity. It was a nice change, she had to admit.

As soon as her coffee was ready, Yeonbin glanced around the shop again. Most of the tables were occupied, which was expected as it was a popular shop to stop by for a daily afternoon drink. Near the far left corner, there was an empty table beside a table that was being occupied by someone. Making her way to the table, she sat on the chair where her back was facing the brick wall. 

Something about the spot where she was sitting in felt odd. She assumed it was just from the way the tables and seats were new and positioned differently. Shaking off the feeling, Yeonbin glanced down at her phone to check any emails and anything else she missed the day before while taking a sip of the cold drink.

As Yeonbin spent the next few minutes reading over emails and replying to them when necessary, there was this feeling that stuck to her like it was déjà vu or some sort. Before she did anything else, there was a sound of an object falling. In the corner of her eye, she noticed a white pen on the tiled floor by her feet. It wasn't there before.

Bending down in her seat to pick up the item, the "pen" upon closer inspection turned out to be a stylus instead. She assumed it belonged to the person sitting at the table next to her. Without glancing up at the person, she began sitting up in her seat with the stylus in her hand. 

Her arm reached out toward the person. “I think this is yours.”

The person’s hand reached for the item before they said, “Oh, thank you.”

Yeonbin froze at the sound of the person’s voice. It was familiar, that pleasant tone. Slowly she glanced up and the person was none other but Dr. Byun himself.

An equally shocked expression was present on his face as he looked at her. After spending weeks without talking to each other, they somehow met in this place at the same time. Yeonbin glanced over at his hair and his attire. It was the same look he had in that one part of her dream; the knitted sweater with a dress-shirt underneath and his hair was teased up, revealing an undercut. Seeing him out of his scrubs was something. She admitted he looked even more handsome - if that was even possible.

“Hey…” Dr. Byun softly greeted as a small smile made its way to his face. He then placed the stylus on his table.

“Hey,” Yeonbin greeted back as she fully sat up in her seat. 

It went silent between them as they couldn’t figure out how to let the conversation continue. She could feel her heart race rapidly, unsure if it was from the amount of coffee she consumed or from seeing Dr. Byun for the first time after a while. 

“It’s been a while,” Dr. Byun broke the silence as he leaned in with his elbows propped up on his table. “How have you been?”

Yeonbin clasped her hands over the cup, her fingers tapping along the plastic subtly. “I’ve been recovering well.”

A satisfied smile appeared on his face as he nodded, “That’s really good, I’m happy to hear that.”

“Yeah,” Yeonbin smiled. She glanced over at the contents on his table which was simply a tablet and a cup of coffee beside it. “Were you working? I didn’t mean to distract you or anything.”

He shook his head, “No, you weren’t distracting me. I was just reading through some medical journals during my free time. It’s nothing important.” He then turned toward his tablet and turned it off.

“Oh. I see.” As it started to be silent between them, she was unsure if she should mention the letter she had received but then again, what bad could result from that? Hesitantly, she continued with, “I, um, received your termination letter last week.”

Dr. Byun sat up in his seat before breaking out into a soft chuckle, “Yeah, it must’ve shocked you to see that in the mail after we haven't talked for a while. I’m sorry it was unexpected.”

“You don’t need to apologize. But yeah, I didn’t really expect that. I thought it would be about the dreams. But it wasn’t,” Yeonbin forced a smile. “I’m guessing you couldn’t figure out what the dreams meant?”

Dr. Byun shifted in his seat. “Actually, I looked into the meaning of your dream but I wasn’t sure if it was really the right reason, which was one of the primary reasons why I didn't get to see you during your recovery besides the fact that I was being swamped with new cases," he ended with a small chuckle. "Though the more I thought about it, it’s very much possible. But you know, it will sound bizarre to you like it is to me.”

What could possibly be bizarre to her after what she had already experienced? Though she couldn’t help but worry. If he - a physician who would’ve seen everything - thought the supposed meaning of her dream was bizarre, she wouldn’t know how to handle it.

“Well, I’ve experienced enough unusualities,” she managed to laugh. She then found herself leaning closer to him with creeping curiosity. “So, what’s the meaning behind it?”

Dr. Byun’s eyes gazed at her, there was a subtle glint of reluctance in his eyes. A sense of concern formed in her stomach, leaving a heavy feeling.

“Well, the reason why you’ve been seeing me in your dreams before we even met is because,” he then paused as he seemed unsure to tell her the reason, causing her anticipation to increase. Finally he opened his mouth to end with, “You’re my soulmate.”

Yeonbin sat silently in her seat. Words couldn’t seem to form as a response to what he had said. She must’ve misheard him and just heard “soulmate” instead. Soulmates, as if the idea of that really existed. The reasons that Seulgi had mentioned made much more sense than his explanation. Dumbfounded, she couldn’t help but instead laugh lightly from how ridiculous it sounded. It felt like a joke.

“Soulmate? I’m your soulmate?” Yeonbin gestured to herself in disbelief.  

However, he wasn’t laughing. His expression had no hint of amusement and his silence was near deafening. Her laughing soon ceased and her smile faded.

“This is a joke right?” Her brows raised in hopes that it was just a way to mess with her. “Are you actually serious?”

Dr. Byun nodded his head as his expression remained indifferent, “I’m serious.”

Yeonbin looked at him like he was crazy. He definitely was, he had to be. There was no way soulmates were real. “That-That doesn’t make any sense,” Yeonbin stumbled over her words. “How did you even come up with that explanation?”

“Because you aren’t the only one to experience that.” Dr. Byun then glanced down at his table and managed to smile, letting out a short scoff before glancing back up at her. “I dreamt of you too.”

As if things couldn’t get any more shocking, Yeonbin found herself frozen again. hung slightly ajar as she tried making sense of his words. It wasn’t a weird occurrence just happening to her but him as well? It was odd, she didn’t believe it. 

After a moment of silence, she couldn’t but smile from how odd it was while shaking her head in disbelief. “I’m sorry but that doesn’t sound real at all.”

He leaned in as his elbows rested on the table, framing his shoulders to be much broader than they already were. “Whether you believe it or not, I did dream of you before we met as well. Just like how you dreamt of me.”

To think that he had actually dreamt of her was a surreal thought. Yeonbin wasn’t sure if she was still in the recovery room, dreaming of this situation. Subtly, she pinched herself. This was reality.

“I just think that explanation is absurd, I mean… soulmates?” Yeonbin questioned as she tried thinking of alternative reasons for the dream that made much more sense. “You know, maybe we've seen each other before but we just didn’t pay attention close enough.”

“Sure, that could be a possibility. But if I saw you before - even if it was very brief - I would’ve remembered you in some way. But I don’t though.”

She couldn’t help but agree with him. At the recovery room, she would’ve felt some familiarity from seeing his face and not because of the dream.

Yeonbin softly exhaled, slowly nodding, “Okay. So, when did you come up with this explanation?”

“The day we met.”

Her brows raised. How could he come up with that so quickly? “Specifically when that day?”

“After you told me about your dream.”

Yeonbin sat back in her seat. Her arms crossed over chest as she glanced at him with disbelief, wondering why he didn’t say anything about it to her. “And how come you didn’t say anything about that and pretend you didn’t know?”

Dr. Byun responded, “Like I said, I wasn't sure if it was the right reason. I wasn’t completely sure and knowing that... I didn’t want to assume that we were soulmates right off the bat and provide you with the wrong information nor give you the wrong idea about us.” 

Regardless, even now the idea of them being soulmates was wrong. What evidence could back up the idea that soulmates truly existed? There were millions of other reasons that could possibly explain why she would dream of him but somehow it all dwindles down to soulmates. And how could she know what he said about him dreaming of her was the truth? After all, anyone could say that. Unless he did, for a different reason.