Chapter Text
“Momo and Dahyun are soulmates.” Mina stated bluntly.
Chaeyoung’s jaw dropped, and even though she couldn’t speak her mouth opened and closed like a goldfish. She needed to sit down she was so shocked. She was already sitting but she somehow felt like she needed to sit again.
She stood and sat back down, hoping it would somehow help—it didn’t. She shook her head and grabbed her board.
‘if you know Dahyun is Momo’s soulmate, what were you saying about Sanaconda a few days ago?’ After holding up her board, she motioned to the chair behind the counter and mouthed “Please sit” to Mina. This didn’t seem like the type of conversation to have across the counter—like Mina was just another customer, another student she was helping. Like Mina didn’t just drop this bombshell about her friends she’d been working with for over a year.
Mina nodded and walked around to the other side of the help desk. “Ah, that's where it gets complicated.” Mina started and took the proffered seat behind the desk. “Thanks.” She said while signing and Chaeyoung couldn’t help the grin that crossed her face, it calmed her a bit.
Mina looked around the desk at all the items spread across the counter which were normally hidden from view. “It's different being on this side.” She got distracted momentarily, fiddling with the different items on the desk—wasting a few staples, testing the hole punch, and playing with the barcode scanner—before she realized she was in the middle of a story and placed her wandering hands in her lap. She tried to whistle nonchalantly, as if that would cover up the previous two minutes and Chaeyoung let out an amused giggle at how Mina was acting.
The older girl immediately froze and looked over. “I really like your laugh. It's cute, like you.” Mina grinned and coughed into her fist when Chaeyoung gave her a deer in the headlights look in response. Chaeyoung looked away, clearly embarrassed, and Mina returned to the previous subject to allow Chaeyoung to stop flushing at the attention she was receiving.
It’s essentially this:
Dahyun thinks that Sana is her soulmate. Sana thinks Dahyun is her soulmate. They have each other's words… for the most part.
It's easy, they work. For the most part.
See, Dahyun likes Sana, but she feels like there's something off. And Mina knows it's because Sana didn't exactly say Dahyun’s words, although she's never told the other girl this. She was there when they met.
But this is where it really gets complicated, Momo is Dahyun's soulmate.
Chaeyoung tried to grasp this newfound information to see if there were any signs she missed. She had been working at the library almost a year and a half—she started shortly after Dahyun who was the one who told her about the job—but she knows that, despite not needing it, Momo had been working at the library for three years since her sophomore year.
Momo had been working with her soulmate for all this time and hadn't let out so much as a peep stating such. Chaeyoung is observant so she didn’t think she would've missed this.
Momo hid it well and Dahyun was clearly unaware.
‘how does she not know? don’t they have each other's words?’
“They do, but can you say you've ever seen Momo’s?”
Chaeyoung shook her head. Momo doesn't even hide her wrists and forearms so if she had a soulmark, she's another anomaly, like Chaeyoung.
“Hers is on her right bicep, but she doesn’t show it because she thinks her words are embarrassing.” Mina let out a laugh, showing that she agreed.
Chaeyoung thinks that it’s probably still better than her own and waits for the reveal.
“It says,” Mina paused to laugh again, “It says, ‘Get outta the way, nerd.’”
Although it didn’t seem like it much now, Dahyun had a bout of deviousness in her early teens. Chaeyoung had heard stories from Jihyo who had grown up with the other girl but found it hard to believe since no one else had given any proof. Until now, that is.
Chaeyoung laughed, maybe that was worse than hers. ‘okay, that is pretty bad, but why didn't Dahyun notice?’
“That's the problem with soulmarks,” Mina starts, looking away. She rubs at the tattoo on her wrist and Chaeyoung wonders what words lie beneath. “You get them when the universe decides that you come of age. Some people don't even get them at all.”
‘I think I’d rather not have one.’ Chaeyoung huffs.
“Hmm,” is all Mina says in response. There's a moment where Mina continues to stare at Chaeyoung curiously, and Chaeyoung half expects Mina to ask what her mark says, but instead she looks away and continues with Momo’s story.
Momo is older between the two, and had received her mark when she was 14, a year before she met Dahyun. The problem was that Dahyun would not receive her mark until weeks after she turned 15, which is years after her interaction with Momo. Two years, to be exact.
That was another issue with soulmarks, if one had met their soulmate prior to receiving their mark, they may not even be sure the meeting occurred. That's another reason the statistics are not that high.
Chaeyoung had seen Dahyun's words, despite being the mysterious sort of person she was, Dahyun was proud to show off the cursive on her inner wrist: Oops, I'm sorry.
It made it funnier to think about now, knowing what Momo’s words were. She let out a snort as she tried to hold back her laughter.
“It’s funny, right?” Mina grinned, thinking about how 15-year-old Momo ran into a 13-year-old Dahyun and tried to apologize but ended up being called a nerd. “Momo said that Dahyun made a face at her, so she chased after her, but Dahyun got away. It wasn't until she had gotten home that night that she even realized who she had met. She saw her a few times but didn't find it who she was until later because Dahyun had only been in town to visit. And now they're both here and Momo isn't even sure how to bring it up.”
Chaeyoung nods sagely, then thinks for a moment. ‘what about Sanaconda?’
Mina laughed at the crossed off portion of Sana’s name as she recounted the meeting.
“Sana is clumsy.”
Chaeyoung nodded. She wasn’t sure this was supposed to be some sort of revelation or something. Everyone knew Sana was clumsy.
‘water is wet..?’
“Chaeyoung!” Mina gave a soft slap to Chaeyoung’s arm. “I’m going somewhere with this!” She gave a gummy smile then let out a sigh.
“Sana walked into Dahyun in the hallway over the summer and said ‘Oh, I'm sorry.’ And Dahyun said ‘It's okay,’ which are Sana’s words. I was there when they both did the little freeze everyone does in the movies like they heard their words.” Mina looked down. “I know Sana said ‘oh’ and not ‘oops.’"
Chaeyoung’s frowned. She knew that Mina and Sana were friends, and that Mina was apparently a long-time friend of Momo, so it must have been hard to keep that to herself. Holding all the secrets and knowing the truth of it all. She reached out and placed a hand on Mina’s which rested on the counter. When Mina looked up, Chaeyoung offered her a soft smile and showed her the board she had quickly written on.
‘you’re a great friend.’
Mina gave her a wry smile. “Sometimes it feels like I’m not when I’m keeping all this information to myself, because it could change everything if they only knew.”
Chaeyoung took her hand back to reply. ‘but you’re letting them make the decisions themselves. you’re not trying to force this so-called fate people like to believe in whenever soulmates are involved, and I admire you for that.’
Mina was silent for a long time. The only noises around the two being the soft buzzing of the fluorescents overhead, the distant squeaking of sneakers across linoleum, and the faraway sound of pages being turned in various books and magazines.
Suddenly, Mina stood and took a step towards Chaeyoung. Her voice was softer than usual when she spoke, “Can I please give you a hug?”
Chaeyoung knew it was more for Mina than her, but she couldn’t deny that she wanted one. She grabbed the board and quickly wrote ‘of course and you don’t even have to ask in the future.’ Mina nodded and didn’t respond other than taking the younger woman into her arms.
Chaeyoung felt the warmth from the hug long after Mina had left. The older woman bid her goodbye saying she had an emergency she apparently needed to deal with.
----
Mina sat at a table waiting for Sana in the Japanese restaurant Sana worked part-time in. It wasn’t too busy at the moment, so Sana was trying to take time outside her break to talk.
Mina watched as Sana spoke to Nayeon and motioned to one of their frequent customers. Mina assumed that Sana was asking Nayeon to take over the rest of her duties with the woman sitting at a far table, Enjay she recalled Sana calling her once before. Nayeon rolled her eyes and started to protest, but Sana said something else, and Mina guessed that she was telling Nayeon she could keep the tip because Nayeon’s face lit up and she immediately nodded.
Mina had known Nayeon for years, as their fathers were part of the same company, and both worked at the American branch in Texas when they were children before transferring back to the Korean branch. That said, there was little that could get Nayeon more excited than money and women. The latter Sana and Nayeon had found out they had in common in when they attended a Women’s History course together on the University’s main campus and the teacher was the infamous Bae Joohyun—they were paired together on the semester long project and bonded over the appreciation of beauty and wit of their professor. It was following their course—which they received an A in—that Sana mentioned an opening at her aunt’s restaurant since Nayeon mentioned needing a job to support her stress relief (aka retail therapy) now that her parent’s had reduced her monthly stipend due to her excessive spending.
Sana had told her the only catch was that they often spoke Japanese to their customers to keep the authenticity of the restaurant. Sana was ready to teach Nayeon a few key phrases for her interview, but it turned out to not be a problem since Nayeon was basically fluent, after she spent her middle school years in Japan while her father worked at the Japanese branch and had practiced Japanese with Mina while Mina practiced her Korean with Nayeon.
Mina watched Nayeon give a salute to Sana and walk off before Sana took a seat across from her.
Sana was silent for a while. She just stared at Mina as if hoping she could read her mind. And Mina was generally pretty good at figuring out what Sana wanted, but she had no clue why she was there today.
Sana sighed and let her head thump onto the table. “I think I made a mistake.”
“What do you mean?” Mina asked, running a hand over the top of Sana’s head, making sure not to mess up the ponytail her hair was in.
“I think I found my soulmate.”
Mina’s hand stilled. “Didn’t you already find your soulmate?”
Sana mumbled something into the table and Mina patted her head to get her to lift it up so she could hear. Sana obliged.
“Sometimes there's this feeling, something more than when you hear the words. There's this pull, y’know?”
Mina did not know, and she knew that the other woman didn’t mean it, Sana knew that Mina didn’t have a soulmark. Mina wasn’t upset, it was just a phrase Sana constantly used and she didn’t even seem to notice her slip. Mina let it slide.
Even still, she knew Sana, so she knew what Sana was trying to say.
Sana liked Dahyun but whatever it was that happened was different than how it was with this new person.
“I don't know what to do.” Sana stated. She had just gone on a date with Dahyun the day before. After weeks of chickening out, she had finally worked up the courage to ask. Quite the unfortunate timing. That this meeting with her real soulmate would occur the day after Sana finally went on a date with the girl she thought was her soulmate for the past few months.
The worst part is the date went well and they were planning to meet again.
“What do I do?”
Mina was quiet for a moment while she thought of a response. She remembered what Chaeyong had said before Sana had called and was determined not to meddle. She would continue to be on the sidelines and support her friends and the decisions they made.
“That's your own choice, but don't drag Dahyun along if you're not serious.”
“Okay.” Sana pouted like she wanted to be anyone but the person to make the decision.
Mina looked at Sana and took some sympathy on her. “How about you tell me about this girl?”
And the way Sana’s face lit up showed the difference in how she felt. Mina just hoped that Sana would let Dahyun down easy.
---
“I don't think I can do this.” Dahyun huffed as she fell into the extra seat at the help desk.
It was days after the revelation Mina bestowed upon her, and Chaeyoung had found herself being scheduled to work in the front at the help desk instead of at the back behind the scenes more in the past month than she had in the entire time she worked there.
It was nearing midterms and Chaeyoung decided to take extra shifts this semester, as she didn't have anything by way of extracurriculars and was well prepared for her own exams.
‘you can always ask Momo to schedule you for less shifts since you practice and need to study.’
Dahyun lazily read the message, but her head popped up at the mention of their staff lead before burying her face in her hands.
“That’s not what I meant.”
Chaeyoung made a sound of confusion. Dahyun was probably one of the hardest to figure out of all the people she knew. She was always cryptic in responses to personal questions or gave just enough to satisfy as an answer without actually answering at all.
“I meant Sana.” Dahyun groaned and removed her hands so she could see Chaeyoung's reply.
‘what about Sana?’
“She's too perfect.”
Chaeyoung tried not to laugh at Dahyun's statement, but a snicker came out.
‘what? how can she be too perfect?’
“We’ve been on a couple more dates and-and—I can't explain it, it kinda seems like she’s trying to be and not at the same time… she just is!” Dahyun threw her hands up in defeat. “And I think that's why it feels so wrong.”
Chaeyoung straightened up at that. Chaeyoung was glad they were getting somewhere, and she was especially interested in the subject at hand, since she was given information that may or may not be true the week prior. Not that she thought Mina was lying, she just wasn’t sure what to believe.
Dahyun looked at Chaeyoung and when there was no reply she continued.
“She's supposed to be my soulmate, but it feels off somehow? I can't explain it.” Dahyun trailed off.
‘are you sure she's your soulmate?’
“I said her words.”
‘did she say yours..?’
Dahyun looked away from Chaeyoung and the board and to her lap where she fiddled with the end of her t-shirt. “She did. Well- she kinda did.” Dahyun paused for a moment as she closed her eyes and thought of the moment they met.
“It sounded like it.” Dahyun turned her left arm over so her wrist, her soulmark, was facing up. The black cursive letters of oops I’m sorry glinted in the light like ink on a fresh tattoo. She traced the letters with her right hand then looked back at Chaeyoung. “But now I'm not so sure.”
Chaeyoung nodded, and if the story Mina told her was true, that would explain things.
‘I can't make the choice for you, but you should never force yourself to be with anyone. even if they are your soulmate.’
Chaeyoung looked away after writing the message. Being with your soulmate wasn't all that the stories made them out to be, not everyone was as loving as they should be.
Chaeyoung rubbed at her throat absent-mindedly, as if remembering a phantom sensation, before she shook her head and looked at Dahyun who had an inquisitive look on her face. Chaeng gave a small smile in response to the unasked question and motioned to the cart of books behind her. Dahyun nodded, understanding that Chaeyoung meant to put them away, and didn’t press any matters further.
Chaeyoung was thankful for the excuse. Dahyun was one of the few that would always be willing to let something drop if you didn’t want to talk about it. Chaeyoung thought that it was fair considering the fact that she knew so little about the other woman.
Before Chaeyoung and the squeaky book cart could make it far, Dahyun called her name.
“Thank you,” Dahyun said, signing the words, before she let her arms drop as she continued speaking. “I think I always knew what I should-no, needed to do. I just appreciate you telling me it’s my choice, even if she isn’t my soulmate.”
Chaeyoung nodded.
‘soulmates aren’t everything… it isn’t the end of the world’
Someone approached the counter to check out a book and Dahyun glanced at them before offering Chaeyoung a quick grin. “You’re right.”