Chapter Text
Long ago, strange beings roamed the earth. They walked around with two pairs of feet, picked food up with two pairs of hands, watched out for each other with two heads, and loved one another with two hearts. Each being was the other’s half. One half to prepare food while the other eats. One half to scout the surroundings while the other prepared for the night to come. One half to protect while the other slept. They were known as Soulmates.
These beings thrived in life, always looking out for each other. Others were not so lucky. Some beings were born as one. One mind, one soul, one heart. No one to care for them. No one to care for. These Individuals could not survive on their own against the elements. To escape their isolation, they formed groups, desperate for survival, love, and company. However, things were not as simple as they seemed.
Individuals were not as like-minded as their Soulmate counterparts. They constantly fought over food, territory,rules-any point where an opposite opinion could be held, it was. The strong wished to rule over as much land as possible while the weak argued to form smaller communities. The brave wanted to form groups and explore while the timid wanted to stay in one place and grow in numbers. Their lack of common ground led to fierce arguments, brutal fights, and the loss of many lives. This greatly affected their populations-slowly, individuals started to dwindle.
Through these multiple hardships, the need for common ground became vital. Small communities sent out a representative to a meeting of The Peoples to avoid unnecessary loss of numbers. These elected leaders would find solutions to their disagreements over land, food, water, and other resources. After many arguments, the one point they could agree on was the need for more land to acquire these resources. One leader was bold enough to suggest the lands of the North: the lands where soulmates roamed.
If there was one thing all individuals agreed on, it was their mutual hatred for soulmates. They believed that soulmates received the better half of life: better lands, fruitful harvests, and, of course, their other half to defend them. In their anger, the leaders devised a plan to do the unspeakable.
“No!” A tiny voice gasped, distracting Haneul from her storytelling.
She turned to her little nephew, noticing his distraught face and furry eyebrows tight with worry. She tried her best to not roll her eyes at his obvious distress and chuckled softly.
“You know what happens next, don’t you?” He slowly nodded his little head. Of course he knew. Haneul’s sister would always tell him this story before bedtime. Haneul turned back to the story and continued to narrate the gruesome events that followed.
In secret, the leaders sent their strongest people to take over the Northern Lands. In groups, they quietly kidnapped soulmates from their territories and brought them back to the Southern Lands. Without hesitation, they tortured the double beings, beating them with rocks and cutting them with jagged edges. The soulmates pleaded with tears in their eyes, screamed until their voices were gone. They defended their other self until they couldn’t anymore. They thought the end was near.
It was a foolish thought.
As if the torture was not enough, the leaders ordered for the separation of soulmates. One by one, each being was cut in half, despite their immense cries of anguish, and stitched back separate. They were immediately isolated from their other half and placed in solitary chambers. Each soul then had their eyes clouded and scarred to prevent them from seeing their other half. To keep soulmates from finding one another, the leaders ordered the two souls to be placed on opposite sides of the Northern and Southern lands. Soulmates were never to be one again.
And yet, Faith is kind to those tortured. The inseparable bond that kept the two souls together before became a string of fate now. They may be far apart from each other, but, with time, their sacred bond will draw them close once again. Their bodies may be bloodied and scarred, but, with time, their hands will remember the feeling of being in each other’s arms. Their eyes may be blinded by pain, but, with time, the dense fog will cease and they will recognize again.
To this day, soulmates still exist. They walk with clouded eyes and tired bodies, waiting for one to find the other. But finding your soulmate is not as easy as you think. You have to allow time for your eyes to adjust, for your bodies to heal. You have to allow time to let your body recognize the bond that was once taken from you. For soulmates, it is not as easy or simple as love at first sight. Only time will tell…
Haneul slowly closed the book and faced her nephew, gently tucking him in to bed. His small frame tried its best to wiggle out of the covers.
“I can’t wait to meet my soulmate, Imo”, Bai assured her, his comment catching her off-guard. She looked at his dimpled smile and couldn’t help but give him a sad smile in return.
“I’m sure you will find your soulmate someday, Bai,” she said as she played with his hair, Suddenly, her smile turned to one of fierce seriousness. “But if you don’t get your sleep, you will never be able to get those clouds out of your eyes!"
Bai gasped and began rubbing his eyes as hard as he could, trying to rid himself of the ‘clouds’. Before long, he was letting out a big yawn. Haneul smiled and smoothed his hair one last time before getting off the bed and walking towards the door.
“Haneul-imo?” She stopped closing the door and turned to her nephew’s whispers. “Eomma found her soulmate, right?”
“Yes, Bai, she did. Goodnight.”
Haneul saw her nephew smile once again before closing his eyes. She quietly closed the door to his room and walked to the kitchen to grab the nearest glass and fill it with soju. No matter how many times she read that horrible book, it never got easier.
“Soulmates. Such bullshit”.