𝐰𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥 | 𝐧𝐚 𝐚𝐞𝐠𝐲𝐨 𝐱 𝐟𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

II

--♡--

"you are my soulmate"

--♡--

The ringtone of your phone echoing in your room woke you up. Your hair was a bit messy, you ran your finger through to clear your sight. The sound was coming from your bag which was on the floor and beside your bed. The caller ID read "Yoonhee". Right before you could say "Hello" to indicate you answered it, you were greeted by her scold. "I have been knocking on your door for fifteen minutes! What are you doing in there, hibernating?"

You remembered that you drank last night and got home, found your bed somehow. That explained your current headache. And Yoonhee was at your door now, fuming with anger. You closed your eyes and massaged your forehead. It's too early for this.

Yoonhee, standing in front of your door, suddenly heard your scream which lasted longer. Her eyes widened; automatically, she found herself punching your door while calling out your name. You opened the door. Yoonhee held you by putting her hands on your arms. "I heard you screaming. Are you okay?"

You held your left in the air, Yoonhee noticed the red string tied to your pinky finger. Smiling, "Oh my god, finally! I am so happy for you." she said.

"Yeah," you said but your scream back in your room wasn't out of joy. "Come in Yoon." You invited her in. "Have you had your breakfast?" You asked while watching her taking off her clothes.

"Just coffee if it is counted as breakfast."

"Alright. I'll prepare something for us." You proceeded to the kitchen and took out few things from the refrigerator. Yoonhee also helped you by heating the bagels and slicing the fruit. You both sat down and dug in. Being hungry, you grabbed a sliced bagel and spreaded cream cheese, added blueberry jam, and ate it ravenously.

Compared to you, Yoonhee was slower, enjoying the breakfast. Her eyes were on you at the same time; studying your face. "I thought you would be more energetic after your red string appeared." She spoke almost inaudibly, afraid of hurting you by indicating what she didn't actually mean.

You swallowed the strawberry right before you spoke. "I did too, to be honest. After all, whenever I broke down, I had to learn to lean on myself when I knew that I didn't have my soulmate's shoulder to cry on. In every winter, I covered my pinky finger by wearing gloves. However, when the summer came, I saw how people looked at there. I watched how couples loved each other." You touched the silk rope with your right thumb and point finger. "Now I have this and so what? It is not like someone is just going to knock on my door and say 'Hi! I am the person you've been looking for for six years. Sorry for being late, I've got held up.' And I won't be like, 'Pfft, what is there to be sorry about? Come in!'"

You remembered what your grandma had told you when you were seventeen: "When each person of the Seoul turns eighteen, a red string wrapped around their left pinky finger appears. Then, it gets connected with someone else's string. That means your soulmate; regardless of time, place, or circumstances. Your soulmate will be the person that you'll eventually fall in love with, understand you well; you will depend on them, and spend the rest of your time with them-sharing happy moments together. Of course, sometimes this magical cord will stretch or tangle; yet, it will never break. You'll always find your way back to each other."

Every one glorified having a soulmate as if it was something you couldn't live without. A tear rolled down from your cheek. "No one knows how tortourous it was for me to not having a soulmate. Like I said, I learnt how to depend on myself in a hard way. I embraced my situation, my loneliness. Now I am not ready to share my life with someone. I am better off this way."

Yoonhee stood up and wrapped her arms around yours. "I am sorry. I didn't know it was this much hard for you. It's okay to feel that way. Since we were born alone, we are still alone among the crowd we live in." She said planting a kiss on your head.

"I am fine. Really." You assured her.

Yoonhee looked at your face. Without saying anything, she just wiped your tears. "Now that your red string appeared, does that mean your soulmate has just turned eighteen?"

*

While you were talking to a young patient in the hospital hall, noises were getting louder. You saw a man being chased coming towards you. For a second, you realized that he was holding something in his hand and a handcuff was swinging loose. The next thing you knew was you were separated from your patient; the man who was behind you now captured you. A woman screamed. "One more step and I'll kill her." The man growled.

You held your breath, lifting up your eyebrows consecutively to stop the hospital securities. Realizing that he blocked your arms, you cursed. Securities tried to convince him to let go of you. Meanwhile, you were thinking that surprisingly you were not afraid of being killed.

The man behind you was mad. By whispering, he ordered you to step back with him simultaneously. You quickly followed; his plan was to escape. "You know what? I'm okay with being dead, but you keep on stalling. It's boring." You said and throwing your head back as hard as you could. While he was holding his nose, you grabbed the scissors. Hospital securities seized him.

It was new for you to undergo such an awful situation like this; however, you didn't let it affect your work. When the clock hit 7 p.m., you changed your hospital clothes and left the building. As you were on your way to the bus stop, you were still contemplating on why you were not scared of him killing you. Maybe it is because I am dying anyway, you thought.

Someone who ran past you dropped a small package from their pocket. You crouched down and grabbed it to hand back. But when you looked up, you saw that the person was getting further. Her headphones were above her head, so you ran after her instead of shouting. The person took a turn. Seeing how fast she was compared to you, you just hoped that you wouldn't lose the track of her.

Then, you finally turned around only to see she was standing, facing you. You doubled, resting your hands on your kneecaps. You took deep breaths to calm yourself down. "You shouldn't have followed me." You heard her muttering, grabbing your attention.

The moment you stood to give her belonging back, you saw that her red string was connected with yours. It clicked so easily that your mouth said what your brain failed to follow quickly. "You are my soulmate."