“So this,” Chaeyoung grunts out as she helps drag the last heavy suitcase into the spare room, “is your room.” 

“Thanks, Chaeyoung.” Dahyun pulls her into a hug while Sana excitedly starts unpacking the suitcases. 

Sana and Dahyun had finally arrived, and Chaeyoung was more than happy to have them there. It wasn’t clear how long they would be staying, but as long as they helped out Chaeyoung wouldn’t mind them staying awhile. 

“Yeah, what are friends for? So, house rules. Very important. Dahyun you already know how everything works, so do your own laundry. Really it’s just the normal stuff you do at your own house, you’re staying here so make yourself at home. What's mine is yours, as long as you clean up after yourself.” 

“Yeah yeah, I got the rules down by now. I stay here almost every time I visit.” Dahyun waves like she's brushing off the statement. “And I already warned Sana about your workspace, so don’t worry. Just let us know if there's anything else you don’t want us to mess with and we won’t.”

“I can’t think of anything right now, but okay. I’ll leave you to unpack while I order dinner. Is pizza okay?” Chaeyoung says, pulling out her phone to check the app.

“Get wings too!” Sana calls from inside the guest room. Chaeyoung says okay and walks off to order on the couch, giving them space to unpack. 

It’s nice to have them here, Chaeyoung knows she's going to need them now more than she thought she would. She still hasn’t told Dahyun that her soulmate is her boss, she already knows her best friend is going to tell her to take advantage of the opportunity to get closer. She’s definitely not telling Dahyun about the sketchbook, she’d probably make Chaeyoung propose or propose for her with that information. 

She doesn’t want to lie to her friends, her soulmate is the whole reason they came to Korea, but she almost wants to pretend it's not real. At least until she has to go to work sometime later this week. Chaeyoung thinks that if she's lucky she won’t even have to see Mina at all during work, but by the placement of her office it seems unlikely. 

Speaking of luck, it doesn’t help that earlier today she had received a call from Momo just to confirm her number for work. Which naturally led to a text from an unknown number saying ‘I’m looking forward to seeing you this week’. All too obviously being from her soulmate, Chaeyoung had refused to respond. The problem was she couldn’t bring herself to delete the message, so it had just stayed there and she refused to open her texts back up and accidentally look at it. She let out a sigh and closed the delivery app. 

“It says the food will be here in an hour!” Chaeyoung yelled out, sinking into the couch and closing her eyes. 

*****************************

“I feel like I'm sending my child away. Do well, eat all your meals, I’ll miss you.” Dahyun jokes as she says bye to Chaeyoung at the door. 

Chaeyoung had been able to avoid soulmate talk so far, she knew she’d have to talk to them about it eventually but she wasn’t ready yet. They had been respectful and not pushed the subject, so for the past two days she had enjoyed spending time with them while dreading going to work. She let herself put it off while she showed the couple her studio, the mural she was working on, and various places she thought they’d like. Now it was Wednesday and she knew she couldn’t put it off any longer, so she got dressed and was on her way out when Dahyun spotted her and started joking around. 

Chaeyoung tried not to feel guilty about not telling Dahyun that her soulmate is her boss as she headed to work. The train ride there felt like it lasted forever, her mind racing with thoughts of one person. Maybe it would be better when she had projects to work on. Her mind continues to occupy her all the way until she opens the door to the building, greeted by a now busy lobby. She makes her way to the front desk to get her badge, noting the line for coffee at the coffee bar. She doesn’t see anyone paying for anything, but she’ll have to ask. 

“Hi, how can I help you?” The woman at the front desk asks.

“I’m here to pick up my badge. My name is Son Chaeyoung.”

“Oh of course, give me a moment to find it.” The woman begins rummaging through a drawer of folders in her desk, before supplying a badge. 

“I have a question, is the coffee bar free or do you have to pay?” She didn’t mind paying, but she didn’t want to get in line thinking she had to pay only to be told she didn’t when she tried to. 

“It's free, for the employees. Help yourself.” The woman smiled at her as Chaeyoung walked off. Deciding to go to her office first, and then get a look around the rest of the building.

She scanned her badge and headed up to the fourth floor, the closer she got the more the butterflies in her stomach raged. Myoui Mina was the only thing on her mind, hoping that she wouldn’t run into her. A part of her wishing she would. When the doors opened, she was greeted with no one. She could hear the people working away in their offices, but the hallway was empty as she walked to her office. Chaeyoung debated peeking into the room next to her, to see if the CEO was around. 

Instead she closed the door behind her, choosing to pretend the thought hadn’t crossed her mind. When she looked at the desk to put her purse down, she remembered the sketchbook lying there. Undisturbed from the last time she was here. She opened it to the first page again, letting herself admire the drawing this time. No one was here to see it. To see the way she traced the lines with her hand, admired the curves of the signature, let out a heavy minded sigh. 

It reminded her of a painting she had done. When she had been working on her soulmate paintings. She had painted the exact moment that Mina had drawn, only from her perspective. She had agonized days and nights over getting the look in the eyes right, making the expression perfect. In the end, her professor had told her the collection of works was a depressing theme for such a happy subject. That she had made her soulmate look sad at their first meeting, when she should have been happy. It was better that she had locked them away. 

Chaeyoung closed the sketchbook, not wanting to dwell on it anymore, choosing to head towards Nayeon for her first project. As soon as she opens the door, she's stopped in her tracks by the person she didn’t want to see. 

“I see you made it to your office. I hope the morning is treating you well?” Mina asks, Chaeyoung can’t help but take notice of the expensive and sharp looking dress she's wearing. 

“It was.” She can’t bring herself to say anything else. Having enough trouble stopping herself from reaching her hands towards the woman. 

There's a moment of silence, Mina standing in the doorway with Chaeyoung trapped in her office, before the cub decides to speak again.

“The drawing. Why did you make it?” It was one of the things that had been weighing on her mind, and maybe once she had an explanation it would stop affecting her. Her eyes resting on a vase of flowers set up on a table next to the door, instead of on her soulmate. An arrangement of white orchids and blue hyacinth. They’re fresh. As if placed there this morning. 

“Chaeyoung, I’m sorry. About that day-” Mina’s tone grows soft as she speaks, and Chaeyoung feels something in her tug at her heartstrings.

“I didn’t ask for an apology.” The cub quickly interrupts. “I asked why you drew it.” More silence fills the air, before the CEO shifts her posture a little and answers. 

“Because the way you looked in that moment washes all my worries away. It’s close to my heart. You’re close to my heart. I wanted to express that.” 

Chaeyoung doesn’t respond. Processing the information just given to her, trying not to be angry that she's happy or happy that she's angry. Instead she nods and Mina walks off, leaving Chaeyoung to get the materials for her first project and begin researching. The rest of the day is spent uneventfully, researching and sketching and consulting Nayeon. 

Chaeyoung doesn’t see Mina again, but it doesn’t stop her from thinking about the CEO. It’s those thoughts she blames later when she gets an ominous text from Dahyun to come outside just as she's packing up to leave. She grabs her stuff and heads to the elevator after telling Dahyun she’d be right down, of course the moment she touches the down button someone stands next to her. It must be some weird soulmate bond thing, because as soon as she recognizes there's a person next to her, the knowledge that it's Mina is instantaneous. 

“Did you have a good first day?” Mina suddenly speaks. Chaeyoung slightly turns to look at her, but Mina’s eyes are trained securely on the doors in front of them. 

“It wasn’t bad. Just working with the sales department on their ideas. It’ll probably be the same thing I do tomorrow.” The last bit slips out, she didn’t want to tell her soulmate the schedule she had decided on. 

“You’re coming tomorrow too? Maybe we could -” Mina starts to ask her something, but the elevator dinging and doors opening cuts her off. 

A small sense of dread fills Chaeyoung as Mina follows her into the elevator and presses the button for the lobby. She debates running back into the office, pretending she forgot something, but the elevator doors shut before the plan goes further than a mere thought. 

An uncomfortable silence stretches between the two while the elevator descends. Chaeyoung finds her eyes drawn to her soulmate against her will, noting the many shiny ear piercings, her silky hair tucked behind her ear, the constellation of moles on her face. Mina’s fingers tapping silently against the folder she’s holding at her side. The doors slide open, interrupting Chaeyoung and reminding her that she should be ignoring Mina, not admiring her. 

The two exit the elevator and Chaeyoung turns to head towards the doors, to find Dahyun. Only to be stopped by a hand on her wrist, and the feeling of dread builds to a boiling point. She desperately scans for Dahyun outside, before the hand pulls on her wrist lightly, making Chaeyoung face her on instinct. 

“Would you like to go to lunch with me next week?” Mina asks, the composed look on her face would make one think that she’s completely confident about this. Chaeyoung, certain it must be the soulmate bond and hating the knowledge, sees the look of raw emotion under the surface, the fear of rejection. 

She doesn’t answer right away. She can’t. Both because the request caught her off guard, and because over Mina’s shoulder is Dahyun. In a scene very similar to the worst day of her life, her eyes go wide as she recognizes her best friend with two fresh coffees in her hand staring directly at her. Chaeyoung’s not a fool. She knows that Dahyun knows what Mina looks like. Dahyun has seen her paintings, and was there the day Chaeyoung met her soulmate. In those few seconds of having to answer a sudden lunch request, her wrist still held by the CEO staring intensely at her afraid to hear no, Chaeyoung can only see Dahyun recognizing Mina and she's flooded with fear. Dahyun knows, and knows that Chaeyoung didn’t tell her. Her voice speaks for her, saying words she has felt but ignored. Unable to stop it from slipping out as all her attention is on Dahyun.

“Yeah, I’d like that.” 

Somewhere in the lobby, someone accidentally knocks something over and the crash seems to reset Chaeyoung’s brain as she abruptly looks into Mina’s eyes again. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” She gently, but quickly, pulls her wrist out of Mina’s grip and turns trying not to run for the door. Now that the moment is over, her heartbeat thunders in her ears, covered only by the noise of the people in the lobby, on phone calls and ordering coffee and having conversations. 

Chaeyoung manages to send Dahyun a text that something came up at the studio on her way there. Dahyun never responds, but doesn’t come to the studio either. Jihyo doesn’t question her either, as Chaeyoung throws on an apron and buries herself in painting for hours on end. 

When she finally goes home she carries the painting with her, covered like they all are. All the ones like this anyways. She tiptoes through the dark house, feeling like a kid sneaking in after bedtime. Taking the cabinet key out from the journal in her desk, Chaeyoung stores the painting with the others. For a brief moment, she wants to take them out and look at them, but changes her mind just as fast and locks the cabinet doors. 

AUTHORS NOTE: Flowers have a bunch of different meanings but for the purpose of this chapter the white orchids represent sincerity and pure love, while the blue hyacinths represent “I’m sorry. Let's make peace”.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter!