“You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own than when you almost broke it, eight years and a half ago. Dare not say that man forgets sooner than woman, that his love has an earlier death. I have loved none but you." -Jane Austen, Persuasion

"Sayuri!" her mother called. "Breakfast is ready!"

"Coming, Mom!" she replied. Sayuri marked her page on her newest purchase, Jane Austen's Persuasion. Bringing the novel down with her, she then came down the stairs from her bedroom, greeting her mother with good morning kisses and sitting down on the table for breakfast. Sayuri ate through half of her eggs and bacon before going back to her bookmark. "Sayuri, you're old enough to know that food fills you up for the day more than letters on a page," her mother told her.

"I know, Mom," Sayuri replied. "But sometimes I really can't help getting absorbed in such an interesting story."

"I know that too, dear. You're growing up too much like your father these days. He would have been talking all about Jane Austen with you right now," her mother chuckled. "Not that I don't think it's a problem, anyway."

Sayuri smiled. Jane Austen was one of her father's favorite novelists, as her mother told her. She always felt some sort of connection with her father whenever she picked up a book and started reading. She especially loved romance novels, since they always made her think of the Soulmate Countdown ticking on her wrist. Sayuri dreamed of the day she would meet her other half and when her Countdown would stop at zero.

She then glanced at her wrist. Three months, two weeks, forty days, six hours, and counting.

Sayuri finished her breakfast before heading downstairs to the bookstore. Her father used to run it with her mother, and it was convenient how their apartment was located just above the store. It was routine for Sayuri to help out manage the store with her mother; from organizing books to checking inventory to servicing customers at the cash register, Sayuri was always there for get the job done when her mother needed it. As Sayuri flipped the sign at the front door from "Closed" to "Open", she then started her day at work.

BEEP! BEEP!

The alarm rings at six-thirty in the morning and an elongated arm reaches out from the bed to turn it off. In his drowsy state, however, he ends up pushing the alarm clock off the nightstand. To his disappointment, it still keeps ringing. "Aw, come on," he mutters to himself. He then makes the effort to get up from his bed and pull the cord, therefore unplugging the alarm clock. Looks like I'll have to reset it again, he thought.

Mornings weren't exactly the best time of the day for Chanyeol. He was more of a night owl, which gathered from the numerous compositions he's made on his laptop. Although his best friend and roommate Junmyeon always complained about how the music he made was distracting and prevented him from sleeping, Chanyeol always insisted that he worked better and gathered more inspiration during the nighttime. Having just woken up (no thanks to his alarm clock), Chanyeol takes a minute to fix his hair and get ready for his day job at the cafe next to his apartment building. Chanyeol goes into his kitchen to make some cereal for breakfast, and as he goes to the refrigerator he notices a little Post-It note on the door.

Off on a morning run with Yura today. Take care! -Junmyeon

"Fantastic," Chanyeol spoke to himself. How does his own best friend manage to win his older sister's heart over? Then again, it wasn't like he really minded. In fact, Junmyeon and Yura were Soulmates since college. Junmyeon's Countdown stopped at zero when he and Chanyeol were in high school while Yura's hadn't stopped until she finished her sophomore year of college. By that time she recognized Junmyeon's feelings and returned them as well.

While it was awkward for Chanyeol to third-wheel them every now and then, he truly cared for his older sister. And of course, anyone would be under good hands with Junmyeon. Sometimes he couldn't help but envy their relationship, and when he thought about them, he glanced at his Soulmate Countdown. Three months, two weeks, forty days, six hours, and counting. "Three months, huh?" he wondered. He figured maybe it would pass, but for now, Park Chanyeol was off to work as a barista at the Moonlight Cafe.