Seeing Only Red

9

"Well, I can do better then 'hey you'."

***
LUNA
The next morning I woke up with Chan's breath fanning softly across my neck and his arm wrapped tightly around me. Last night slowly started coming back to me in pieces as I put my hand on top of his and snuggled deeper under the covers.

"Mmm" I heard him mumble from behind me as he kissed my neck. "Morning"

I rolled over and put a hand to his cheek "Good morning" I kissed him as he pulled the blankets up higher over us in the cold room. Binnie's parents must have turned off the heat again. He kissed my forehead and I watched him close his eyes almost falling back asleep. I didn't mind, I was content to stay in our little blanket bundle for now. He'd already had three our four blankets piled on his bed because of the constant lack of heating.

"I love you" I whispered thinking he'd fallen back asleep, but I was wrong. His eyes opened and he smiled at me.

"I love you too, Lu" He smiled and his little dimples popped in on his cheeks. He pulled himself up and grabbed the book off of his nightstand while I nestled in beside him.

"So what's the deal with this book? Does it hold answers to all the mysteries of the universe?"

"I wish! No, it's a full and complete history of soulmates. Including, people like you who can only see certain colors."

"So I'm not the only one?" I asked.

"I've heard of it a couple times while talking to my dad, but I never really asked why it was like that."

"Good. So I'm not a freak." I said feeling a little better.

"You couldn't be a freak if you tried, beautiful." He kissed the top of my head and opened the book.

"Well. That's the tiniest writing I've ever seen. This is going to take a while."

"Yeah, I forgot how damn tiny the writing in these books is. Probably should've grabbed a magnifying glass off his desk." He rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well, in the meantime, there are some other things we could do." I said crawling on top of him and putting the book back on the nightstand.

"Oh yeah?" He laughed.

We had a month with the book, and just knowing the answer was right around the corner was enough that we didn't need to bother with it today. Tomorrow we'd crack into the book and start reading, but not today. Today I just wanted to stay in my bubble with him and just enjoy being around him. His roommates weren't home for once and we had the place to ourselves. Why not enjoy it a little?

***
CHAN
I'd spent the entire day in my little Luna bubble and it was the best day I could ever ask for. Making love to her all day and talking about all the things we wanted in the future. Talking about our childhoods and how we turned out the way we were. We ordered Chinese food and actually ate just about everything on the menu.

I learned that her dad left when she was seven, her mom sent her dad for groceries and he just never came home. It had always confused her because they both saw colors, at least they said they did. What soulmate would just up and leave? It didn't happen very often, but it did happen.

After that her mom brought through a string of men who would drink heavily and fall asleep in front of the TV every night. She kept to herself through school until she met Bora in middle school. Most of the other kids knew that her dad had left and her mother slept around. Bora was the only one who didn't make fun of her. She promised herself when she graduated high school that she'd find the university farthest from home and go there. Somewhere she could start over and no one knew her name. And all those events led her to meet me our senior year in college at the school farthest from her home town.

I smiled at her while she talked, using her hands and waving them around. She'd smile and her eyes would light up, and when she'd laugh she'd hold her stomach and curl up like she just found it so funny she'd explode. But at the end of the day she curled up next to me of all people. She whispered she loved me and we both fell asleep holding on to each other as if one of us would just slip away in the night. This was going to be the rest of my life whether she saw all the colors or just one and somehow that gave me a peace, security, and comfort I'd never felt before.

A few days later while Luna was in class was the first time I got a chance to really look in the book. The old brown leather binding was worn, and the tissue paper like pages were full of the tiniest print the human eye could still try to read without any help. How I managed to read this as a kid is a mystery.

"Why is there never a damn index with these books? I'm just supposed to know where to look?" I muttered under my breath.

In the next four hours I skimmed through what felt like three thousand pages before I found something relating to Luna. I didn't tell her but I was worried that her only seeing red might be a bad thing. What if she had a terminal brain tumor? What if she was going to die? What if we weren't really soulmates? What if I just fell in love with someone that was just going to get taken away from me?

I pushed the intrusive thoughts from my head as I squinted and read further down the page.

SOULMATES SEEING ONLY ONE COLOR
Those only seeing one color may be from one of the first four. These are the first four families that started noticing the soulmates gene. The first soulmates only saw primary colors or blue, red, or yellow. Eventually, the gene evolved to seeing all three colors allowing them to mix and see all colors at once. In recent years, there's been an increase of people reverting and seeing only one color. Usually, there is no treatment for this unless an extremely deep connection is felt between two people. Many things could cause this connection, but it's rare. Those seeing one color can assume that seeing that color with a person is indeed their mate, however; the color may come and go occasionally when they're not around.

I sat back and let out a breath. "So she may never see all the colors together. Great."

Changbin knocked on my door and let himself in just as I was trying to figure out how to tell Luna what I just read.

"What's up with you?" he asked sitting on the edge of my bed.

"Nothing. What's up?" I said spinning my desk chair around to see him.

"So...my parents wanna know when you're moving out." He said cautiously.

"Uh...what?" I asked confused.

"I mean, you found your soulmate and we graduate in two months. So they wanna know when you're moving out. Aren't you moving in with Luna soon?" He assumed. Most people our age do move pretty quick when they have a soulmate.

We'd just been in our own little world most of the time. It hadn't occurred to me that was kind of our next step.

"I mean, at some point. We haven't really talked about it." I said surprised that his parents were so quick to kick me out, so much for being their son's best friend for the last ten years.

"I know it's sudden. They just really wanna get someone else in here if they need to." Bin said bouncing his leg up and down.

"Aren't you and Jisung graduating too? Why do we need someone else in here?"

"I'm doing graduate school here next year and Jisung got a job not far from here so it's easier for him to just stay."

"Wow. I missed a lot in the last few months." I said suddenly feeling like I'd neglected my friends.

"Chan. It's ok. Jisung and I have never seen you this happy. We're excited for you." He smiled "That's why I feel bad even brining this up."

"I'll talk to Luna later." I said nodded my head. Nothing like rushing your relationship and moving in together after only a few months together.

"Good. I gotta go to class, but I'll see you later!" Bin said getting up and leaving.

I sat further back in my chair and put my hands up over my eyes in frustration. How was I going to tell Luna that red might be the only color she'd ever see?