Soulmate

part 18

A week later.

"How are things with you and Heejin?" Chaeryeong ask. They are in the small room inside the practice room taking a break.

"Things are actually going well. She's really nice and caring. She really takes care of me well. She always tries to make me smile. We seem to connect well" Ryujin answers with a big smile.

"Oh that's good" Chaeryeong says.

"I'll have to introduce you soon. I think you'll like her" Ryujin says.

"What about Yeji unnie?" Chaeryeong asks.

"What about her? I know I was starting to like her but we just aren't meant to be. Maybe in a world where we get to choose our soulmates but we don't and we just have to accept it" Ryujin huffs.

"I just don't think this girl is your soulmate" Chaeryeong says which kind of made Ryujin upset.

"Ryeong, you don't even know her yet. How would you know if she's not my soulmate?" Ryujin looks at her friend to see if she's hiding anything.

"I just thought you and Yeji unnie fit better" the redhead claims.

"Why are you pushing me towards Yeji unnie? There's nothing I can do about it. The universe didn't put us together so it doesn't matter if I like her or not" Ryujin says clearly annoyed.

"Why are you trusting this girl so much? You haven't seen your soulmate yet. What makes you think that when you go to sleep on your birthday you're gonna see her face and not Yeji unnie's?"

"What makes you think you're gonna see Lia unnie as your soulmate huh? You like her without knowing that fact. You can't control your feelings. She had a boyfriend for a while and they broke up. With or without soulmates we can't control but to fall for another person. What are you gonna do if you wake up from birthday and it wasn't Lia unnie in your dreams?" Ryujin argues back.

Chaeryeong is silent for a while, "So you like this girl?"

"I'm starting to I think. I was sad too when I first found. I was hoping for it to be Yeji unnie but we don't always get what we want."

"Compare how you felt when you first met them? What did you feel when you saw Heejin and what did you feel when you saw Yeji?" Chaeryeong ask.

"That's not fair. Heejin was a complete stranger that approached me in the streets and Yeji was a friend Yuna was planning to introduce" Ryujin claims.

"She was still a stranger to you. You didn't know her. Friends of Yuna or not" Chaeryeong making a point.

Ryujin exhaled loudly, "Fine. I still think it's unfair. Yeji approached me as a friend where Heejin approached me telling me I'm her soulmate so of course my reaction is different between the two."

Ryujin leans back on the wall thinking back between the two girls. "I unsure with Heejin. Of course I was, she just announced I'm her soulmate without warning. So I was hesitant but the more I got to know her, I started to like her."

She pauses thinking about Yeji, "With Yeji, she caught my attention right away. I already felt comfortable around and i felt so protective of her. I wanted to take care of her. Maybe that's why I was hoping we were soulmate but then I realized I can still take care of her even as a friend."

"If you're happy then I'm happy for you" Chaeryeong say with a hint of sadness.

"You should go back to work. I have to see Heejin in a little bit anyways. I'll talk to you later Ryeongie."

-------

Yeji watched Ryujin leave the practice room in a hurry knowing she's probably going to see Heejin.

"How are you holding up?" Chaeryeong comes up from behind her.

"It hurts. I want to say I'm fine and that I'm happy she's happy but it hurts" Yeji sighs still staring at the door.

Chaeryeong is standing next to her, "Why don't you just tell her? About your dreams?"

Yeji looks at Chaeryeong with teary eyes, "Would she believe me? I've gotten to know her now. Everything I will mention from the dream, she will think it's because we're friends not because I'm her soulmate. I have no choice but to wait until she's 21 to see for herself who her soulmate is."

"Aren't you mad at her?" The redhead ask.

"How could I? She doesn't know. If i was in her shoes and a stranger tells me they're my soulmate and shares information only my friends knows, I'd believe them."

She sits down on the floor with her knees press against her chest and placing her forehead on her chees.

Chaeryeong sits next to her and places her hand on the older girl's back.

Yeji lifts her head up staring straight ahead, "You know I was willing to wait for her. To see for herself. I expected her to hook up with other girls and have fun especially since she said she doesn't do commitments. Now she's dating someone and it changes everything. My confidence of her finding her way back to me is gone."

"What's the difference between her hooking up and dating this girl?" Chaeryeong asks.

"With hook ups she has no feelings involve. She's just having fun. I can deal with that. But she's dating Heejin thinking they're soulmates. What if in the end, Ryujin and I are soulmates but she loves Heejin and chooses her. How can I move on from that?"

"I'm sorry Yeji unnie. I wish I knew how to help you but we don't know what to do either."

"It's fine. I'm just so confused how this happened? How can we have soulmates so similar? Maybe I should move on too. Go out on a few dates?" Yeji says trying to get Chaeryeong's advice.

"It's up to you. If it were me, I probably wouldn't. Wouldn't I just be using that person to move from someone I actually like? It would hurt them. I'd try to move on first then see other people. Don't give people a chance if you can't give what they want from you" Chaeryeong advices.

Yeji smiles, "Thanks Chaeryeong. I owe you one."

"You owe me a lot but now is not the time to mention that" The younger girl laughs.