As it turned out, Taehyung had just moved into the same apartment building they lived in. And the entire walk home, Yein couldn't help but envy her friend. No matter how much she didn’t care about love and soulmates, she also wanted to see the colors around her. Sujeong and Taehyung could not stop admiring everything, and it made her wonder, just like a few years before, if colors really were that wonderful.

“Oh! Taehyung, I found it! I found the color chart!” Sujeong exclaimed, never once looking up from her phone.

He hurried to her side, peering at the screen over her shoulder; his jaw practically dropped, “There are so many!”

Yein walked off to the side, taking the umbrella she was holding up for both her and Sujeong. At this action, Taehyung immediately adapted and angled his umbrella to where it would shield both him and Sujeong. With a smile, Yein watched as her friend slowly became aware of Taehyung’s close proximity. It was a nice sight, to see the usually overconfident Sujeong become nervous. After a couple seconds, Taehyung noticed too, and then suddenly Sujeong appeared next to Yein and Taehyung was back to being the one on the sidelines.

“Yein! You need to hurry and find your soulmate too so you can experience this! I had learned that the sky was blue in school but I never knew it looked like this! And even though it’s raining and the sky is slightly grey like before, it still looks beautiful, because you can see the sunlight and blue sky peeking through gaps in the clouds and it creates such a nice effect in the rain. I can even see what I’m guessing is a rainbow!”

At this comment, Taehyung had rejoined the conversation, “Wait, rainbow? As in that thing they taught about with like all the colors or something? Where’s the rainbow?”

“See where the sun is shining through the clouds?” Sujeong pointed at a direction in the sky and Taehyung nodded. “Focus on the rain in that area.”

A couple seconds later, Taehyung was gasping in what Yein guessed was amazement, “It’s pretty, isn’t it!” Sujeong asked before sighing, “I had always thought that all those kids that found their soulmate in school were just bragging when they could see colors but now I know. The world finally doesn’t seem so depressing anymore.”

“Yeah, it really doesn’t,” Yein could detect a hint of sorrow buried under Taehyung’s reply and she knew that he understood all too well what Sujeong had felt throughout her life. Yein, however, could only wish to understand.

-

That night, Taehyung was invited over for dinner, and Yein could’ve sworn she had never seen her best friend laugh so much. And after dinner, there was another discussion about colors, one Yein tuned out. Maybe it was jealousy but hearing them speak of colors was making her slightly annoyed. So, she left, making sure to grab an umbrella on the way out just in case the rain decided to start again. Sujeong and Taehyung were too engrossed into what they were talking about that they didn’t even notice. It didn’t matter anyway, they could always call her to know where she had gone. The sun hadn’t even started setting yet. Even so, she interrupted their conversation to say she was going for a walk and ran out before they could protest to her being alone.

Yein walked down the unusually quiet streets, observing the various symbols that covered the streets. They had been there for as long as she could remember, each one unique to the other, used to differentiate purposes for each thing it labelled. For example, octagons were commonly associated with stop; apparent in the shape that lit up at traffic lights and stop signs that stood on each corner. Yein watched as a car slowed to a stop in front of her before using the crosswalk, looking up at the traffic light that quickly transitioned from a triangle to an octagon. And once she had reached the other side, the lights went back to a circle, signifying for the cars to go. It was the world they lived in and everyone considered it normal. She couldn't imagine how life would look when she didn't have to rely on shapes or symbols and instead with colors like those who weren't colorblind claimed. 

Before she knew it, the streetlamps were all on and the sun seemed to be setting. Time to head back, she guessed, but just as she had turned around, she collided with large body and landed on the ground. However, Yein didn’t care about the pain she felt on her tailbone, she could only care about the fleeting sensation she had just seen. The young girl didn’t understand what it was but for a moment, everything wasn’t in shades of grey anymore, the world around her was brighter, and life wasn’t bland. But in the second it had occurred, it had disappeared, bringing her back to the world she knew. Though, the more Yein thought about what had just happened to her, she could only come to one conclusion: she had just experienced color.