"Do you wanna hear a riddle?"

Your eyelids flicker open, your vision momentarily blinded by the light. The sky was painted a watery violet, the orange rays of the setting sun blending into the darkness of the oncoming night. You could almost spot the Moon behind a mist of clouds, waning by just a quarter of the way. The scent of grass and dew blew faintly in the wind. You yawned, stretching your arms above you.

"I don’t know." you reply, your voice soft from lack of speaking. "Is it funny?"

You turned to the boy by your side. His brows knit together, his large chocolate eyes squinting in thought. You watched him as he remained silent, pondering the question with a rather needless amount of severity. His pale skin reflected the peach rays of the sleepy Sun. His hair, a peculiar shade of ashy black, curled softly in a perfect crescent just barely touching the lid of his eyes. His profile was particularly round, his cheeks curving smoothly, his chin soft, his lips full and ruddy, as it was a habit of his to bite them when in thought. From this angle, he reminded you of those old Roman sculptures, cold in their pale porcelain yet still vital.

The boy relaxed his features, his eyes returning to their usual half-lidded gaze. He spoke slowly, as if still determining the accuracy of his response. “No. I guess it’s not.”

You smiled lazily. “What is it?”

He turned to face you, his clear brown orbs looking straight into your eyes, sending an involuntary shiver up your spine. He bit his lip before beginning, “What gets harder to find, the more you look for it?”

You arched a brow in confusion. “I don’t know. What is it?”

The boy protruded his lip, pouting petulantly. “You didn’t even think about it.”

"Kyungsoo-ah." you whined, "I’ll never guess it anyways."

"Just try.”

You curled your lip inward. “What was the question again?”

"What gets harder to find, the more you look for it?"

You chewed the inside of your cheek in thought.
God? No, that didn’t make much sense.
Something material? Of course not. How could you lose an object further?
An idea perhaps?
You sighed in resignation.

"I don’t know. What is it?"

A small smile curved his lips. He turned to position himself once more on his back, the grass beneath him tickling his neck. “Your soulmate.”

"Soulmate?" you repeated, still observing the curves of his face against the light of the sunset.

"Mhmm."

You turned to lie on your back. Both of you faced the sky. “That wasn’t funny.”

He scoffed. “I told you it wasn’t.”

"Yeah, but I thought you might be wrong."

Kyungsoo chuckled. You smiled listening to the sound of his laugh travel through the air. You shifted yourself, feeling the lump of a rock beneath your back.

"What time is it?"

Kyungsoo lifted his arm, bringing the glass of the clock hardly an inch away from his face. “6:46”

You nodded, although you were unsure if he’d seen. In fifteen minutes, the sun would set. From Nalgeun Hill, almost every building in town was visible. You and Kyungsoo had made it a habit of meeting atop the hill every weekend to watch as the darkness of night slowly blanketed the city. If you were asked, you wouldn’t be able to explain exactly how the tradition had come about, but over the years, it had gained a good bit of importance to the both of you.

"I don’t really think that’s true."

Kyungsoo turned his head towards you. “What?”

"That riddle."

He looked at you, confused. “What do you mean?”

“‘What gets harder to find the more you look for it’. The more you look for something, the easier it is to find it. Even your soulmate.”

You chewed your cheek in thought. “I mean, how else can you expect to find them? You can’t just expect them to fall in your lap and you both live happily ever after.”

Kyungsoo turned to the sky. “What about fate? You don’t think there’s some things in life that just happen? That you shouldn’t try to control? There’s some things that are bigger than the both of us.”

"Like death?"

Kyungsoo frowned. “You’re so morbid. I was thinking something more like a miracle.”

You chuckled. “What does that have to do with anything?”

"Meeting one perfect person in a planet full of people is a miracle right? Perfect for you, I mean."

You shifted to your side, facing Kyungsoo as you rested your head upon your arm. “But how does looking for that person make it harder to find them? You have to look, or you’ll never get through the billions of people out there.”

Kyungsoo glanced at you, a smile playing upon his lips. “You’ll never get through them either way. And if you keep looking you’ll have an idea in mind. What if your idea’s wrong? I mean, you may think you know, but how can you really know what the perfect person for you is like?”

You pouted in frustration. “Alright, fine, you win. But what about you then? Do you think you’ve met your soulmate? I mean, how can you know for sure if that’s the way it is unless you’ve met yours?”

Kyungsoo looked up to the sky. The Moon hid shyly behind  the thinning family of clouds drifting lazily above. “I think so.”

"What?" You shot up at this, leaning forward in excitement. "You have? Who is it? Do I know her?"

Kyungsoo smiled slyly. “That’s very philosophical.”

You knit your brows together in confusion. “What does that mean?”

Kyungsoo squirmed about before sitting up. “You know her.”

You grinned. “Is she in our class? Is she pretty?”

Kyungsoo nodded. “I think she’s pretty.”

"Yah, That doesn’t count. Of course you’d think she is. I mean, objectively. Is she pretty?"

He nodded, biting his lip. Your grin widened.

"But how do you know it? Did she just come to you, like some miracle?"

Kyungsoo looked up at you, his almond eyes cloudy with thought. “I don’t know. We just started talking. I don’t think I was really looking for her. Then one day I was walking home and it sort of hit me, I guess.”

Your smile faltered as you tried to understand. “How? I mean, how did it feel? When you realized it?”

He sighed, looking across the horizon, as if perhaps he might find an answer among the rooftops. “It was just a sudden realization. It felt like enlightenment. I don’t really know how else to describe it.”

He chewed his lip for a moment as he pondered. “You know that feeling when you’re having trouble with a math problem and you can’t keep up in class ‘cause you can’t understand what you’re learning? Then one day it just clicks and everything is so much easier after you figure out that one problem? It’s sort of like that.”

You laughed. “A math problem? That’s what it’s like?”

Kyungsoo grinned bashfully, looking down at the floor.

"You’re such a dork." you joked, nudging him gently.

You glanced at his watch. “It’s almost time!”

Kyungsoo looked up in confusion before realizing what you’d meant. The two of you naturally got into position, leaning back against the old oak tree nearby. You sat no more than a few inches apart, as the trunk was quite small and the breeze quite strong. The last few rays of the Sun slowly began to make their way below the horizon.

"So have you told her yet?"

"Hmm?"

You pulled your knees up, resting your chin upon the caps. “Your soulmate. Have you confessed to her yet?”

He shook his head. You kept your eyes glued to the horizon, seeing the motion only through your peripheral. “Not yet.”

"Why not?"

"Would you?" he responded, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Of course I would!"

You felt him turn to look at you. “You would tell someone you’d never even dated- never even kissed- before that you think you’re their soulmate?”

You glanced at him, his eyes bore into you earnestly. You gazed over the landscape of the town. “I would. What if they are my soulmate and I don’t say anything? I would miss out on everything.”

He remained silent for a moment. “What if they reject you?”

"Then they’re not your soulmate, I guess. And it’s a good thing, too. You could do better than someone like that."

Kyungsoo smiled softly, humming a sigh of satisfaction. It was no more than a minute before darkness.

"Kyungsoo"

The boy met your eyes.

"Will you ever tell her?"

His brows knit together, his large eyes squinting in thought. He curled his bottom lip in, biting it gently. You looked towards the horizon as the last ray of Sun vanished beneath the mountains in the distance. A cluster of stars glistened in the velvety sky overhead, their luster resembling that of a diamond.

"I think I will, soon."

Kyungsoo slid down the base of the trunk, resting his head on your shoulder. You could feel the soft waves of his hair tickle against your ear.

You looked up at the Moon, glowing clearly now, luminous with a shy self awareness of it’s own beauty.

"How will you tell her?"

Kyungsoo shrugged. “I don’t know.”

You felt the warmth of Kyungsoo’s breath against your collarbone. His hair grazed against your neck as he lay sleepily on your shoulder.

"I’ll start with something funny. Something to make her smile. Maybe a joke."

He sighed deeply, breathing in the scent of your hair. You found yourself unusually relaxed as you felt the warmth of his cheeks grazing the nape of your neck.

 ”No.” he said, more to himself than to you. “Not a joke.”

You felt the cool skin of Kyungsoo’s hand above your own. His lips pressed against your shoulder blade. You felt your skin tingle, like an electric shock, both cool and burning at the same time. Kyungsoo smiled.

"A riddle would be better."