Chapter Text
“kim dahyun! where the fuck are my keys?”
dahyun abruptly wakes up, blanket splayed across her legs thrown on the carpet, biology textbook landing on the floor with a loud thud.
chaeyoung appears in the doorway, hair messy and unbrushed, hairbrush in one hand, bag in the other. she’s dressed all nice today.
ah, yes. while dahyun stays at home (with tzuyu, but tzuyu doesn’t count) studying like a depressed college student, chaeyoung is going out with her soulmate.
her soulmate.
this is unfair, dahyun sulks, how come chaeyoung gets a soulmate before me?
“i don’t have them,” dahyun replies drowsily. searches around the cushions for her glasses, sighs in relief when she finds them on the floor beside her textbook. “maybe tzuyu took them. say hi to mina for me.”
chaeyoung pauses, staring into space for a minute before smiling lightly. “she says hi, and to not get in trouble while i’m away. i’ll be back later, bye!”
dahyun waves as chaeyoung moves away to tzuyu’s room, sighs when she’s out of sight. because as much as she loves her two roommates and best friends of…12 years, she’s very freaking lonely.
soulmates are not a foreign concept in this world. either you have one, or you don’t. either you have someone for you written in the stars, or you choose and hope for the best.
when you meet your soulmate, it’s said that you’ll know instantly. because, well, they’re the love of your life or whatever, and also because you can telepathically communicate once you make eye contact.
it’s crazy, a little creepy, but a lot romantic. (not that dahyun would know. she’s desperately single and has been her whole 22 years of life.)
son chaeyoung, one of her roommates and best friends, met her soulmate— myoui mina— about a year ago. mina had been on vacation in korea when they’d seen each other at a carnival.
apparently, according to mina, chaeyoung had been so nervous that her thoughts were a mess.
“a gay mess,” mina had said. in those exact words.
chaeyoung denies this, but dahyun has known her since they were 10. it’s definitely in her nature.
chou tzuyu, her other roommate who is a year younger but twice as tall as both dahyun and chaeyoung, has yet to meet her soulmate. dahyun and chaeyoung think it’s a matter of time, though; tzuyu has been on the market ever since they went through puberty. never mind that she’s the youngest of them all. but tzuyu always says that she doesn’t care about soulmates or love.
dahyun, however, is both ignorant and curious— she doesn’t want to have to wait her whole life for someone to fall in love with. but it’s…still a nice prospect, to be honest. to have someone you know is your own. someone who will care for you more than anything. honestly…she’d rather have a soulmate than not have any at all.
aish, ssibal . and to think she vowed to focus solely on her piano studies when she was 13.
dahyun rubs her eyes, sneaking a look at her phone. it’s 9pm, and there are a few messages from people she cannot be fucked talking to.
except for her siblings’ group chat, of course. dahyun’s always got time for that.
seulgi unnie dumbass : yooo my beloved sisters
seulgi unnie dumbass : guess whatt
yeji emo dongsaeng : what is it unnie
seulgi unnie dumbass : irene took me to watch the new movie
seulgi unnie dumbass : idr what its called but its good
dahyun has an interesting family.
she has two sisters: seulgi, her oldest by five years, and yeji, her younger sister by three years. she’s very fond of them both, even though seulgi talks far too much and yeji is going through her teenage phase. 19 year olds are pains in the ass.
irene is seulgi’s soulmate. they met when they were about…20 or so? so they’ve been together seven years— married for two of those years. dahyun is waiting for a niece or nephew.
yeji emo dongsaeng : because irene was there?
middle child dahyunnie : s i m p
seulgi unnie dumbass : aish ssibal you little shits
yeji emo dongsaeng : lmao
seulgi unnie dumbass : wait til you get your own soulmate dahyun-ah you will be SOO much worse
thanks, seulgi.
dahyun rolls her eyes before turning her phone off and flinging it somewhere to the side. glances at the time again; now it’s 9:55. she’s hungry.
dahyun gets up and knocks lightly on tzuyu’s door, listening for the moving of sheets that signals the taiwanese’s awakening.
“tzuyu-yah,” she says quietly, “i’m going to the convenience store. you want anything?”
she listens out for the sound of her youngest roommate’s disgruntled murmurs.
“…mrrphgh,” tzuyu’s sleep-filled voice reaches dahyun’s ears. “i want you to let me sleep.”
she probably should’ve expected that.
“sweet dreams, chou-tzu,” dahyun sighs, before grabbing her cardigan and moving out the door.
~
the musty smell of old comic books and warm tea envelopes dahyun like a thick blanket as she steps into the convenience store.
this old place has been around for as long as dahyun can remember— she recalls long nights filled with ice tea from the rusty fridges in the back. she recalls how her, chaeyoung and tzuyu would regularly come for ice creams. the chocolate ice cream there is still amazing after so many years.
tonight, it’s empty, of course— manning the counter is a half-asleep jeongyeon. jeongyeon, too, has been here as long as dahyun can remember. she’s a few years older and has basically been a part of dahyun’s life since primary school, along with nayeon (jeongyeon’s girlfriend. they constantly bicker but everyone knows it’s not real).
“having a nice nap on the job, jeong?” dahyun asks, as the older blonde jerks awake from the tinkle of the bell as the door opens. she then glares at dahyun.
“‘was a nice nap until you ruined it,” jeongyeon points out sourly, straightening her signature baseball cap. “hell you do want at 10 at night?”
dahyun moves away from the counter to browse her favourite aisles— namely the ones that hold cup ramen and choco pies. “i’m hungry. chaeng is out with mina and won’t buy me anything, and tzuyu is asleep.” she finally reaches for a pack of choco pies, and grabs a lemon tea from the fridges. “also i needed good company.”
“and you came to me ?”
“shut up, ass,” dahyun mutters, throwing her items on the counter, along with the money. “i was talking about the choco pies.”
jeongyeon gives her a hard glare before sighing and tossing the items in a bag. “goodness knows how i’ve managed to raise you, dumbass.”
dahyun sticks out her tongue before raising her fingers in a salute. “see you, jeong! don’t stay up too late! say hi to nayeon for me!”
jeongyeon pauses, blinks a few times, before her sour look is back. “she says she hopes you trip on your way home. bye, dahyun-ah.”
somehow, it’d already become colder outside in the good ten minutes dahyun had spent in the store.
dahyun pulls the thin cardigan tighter around herself, sighing— she can already imagine what seulgi would say. something along the lines of ‘i told you so, dumbass!’.
then she spots someone, in the near distance; beneath the lights of a street lamp. the lamp is flickering feebly, but dahyun can clearly make out the person underneath. a woman, maybe her age, standing alone. one hand holding a phone, and the other holding a small piece of paper.
then, the woman turns and meets her eyes.
they’re twenty metres apart but dahyun can see her perfectly— gentle honey-brown eyes, light ginger hair, cascading down her shoulders like soft waterfalls. light pink tinging her cheeks in the cold winter air. mouth slightly agape.
holy shit, dahyun thinks. she’s gorgeous.
like a dream.
~
“i’m sorry, you did fucking what ?”
“chaeng, please don’t talk so loudly,” dahyun winces, reaching up to cover her ears.
chaeyoung, now in a comfortable hoodie (that she believes belongs to one myoui mina), sighs apologetically and sits down. “sorry. but you’re telling me that you—”
“—saw a pretty girl and bolted? sounds like dahyun,” tzuyu shrugs. she’s stirring a cup of hot chocolate while leaning on the kitchen counter. “did she see you?”
“ yes, ” dahyun groans, head falling onto her hands. “she was so pretty and really cute and i’m so dumb.”
chaeyoung pats her back like a person with their distraught puppy. “there, there, dubu. calm down.”
“HOW CAN I—”
woah. are your thoughts usually so messy?
wait. who said that? dahyun’s head shoots up, eyes darting around for the mystery sound. strangely, it’s a gentle, soft voice she’s never heard before.
chaeyoung and tzuyu frown at their friend.
hehe. i’m sana, hello. you’re very loud, aren’t you?
“okay, are either of you talking?” dahyun demands, standing up. this whole thing is disorienting.
chaeyoung frowns, before placing a hand against dahyun’s forehead. “bro, you good? are you hallucinating?”
“no, but if any of you are—”
okay, miss— unless you happen to be a different gender and i got my own sexual orientation wrong— you should calm down, probably. i’m not gonna hurt you, you know.
“is there a voice? in your head?” chaeyoung asks. her voice is gentle. “calm down, dahyun, stop thinking for a little bit.”
“a bit hard,” dahyun mutters, but breathes deeply anyway.
oh, there you go. good job!
“who’s talking?” dahyun mumbles, slumping back onto the couch. tzuyu watches in amusement.
“i think dahyunnie found her soulmate,” tzuyu says, taking a calm sip of her hot choco.
chaeyoung gasps. “wait— is it the girl from before?”
you must be my soulmate, then. i think we met earlier? i saw you run away, though. i promise i’m not too scary.
oh, fuck. it is the cute girl from earlier.
aw, you think i’m cute? how flattering!
“i think…it is the girl from earlier,” dahyun says. blinks a few times. the gorgeous girl from earlier is her soulmate. she looked at her soulmate and bolted because she does not know how to talk to pretty girls.
hehe. you’re adorable, aren’t you. i’ll have to teach you how to talk to pretty girls, then!
and her soulmate happens to be a massive flirt. dahyun is absolutely, completely fucked.
“i am absolutely, completely fucked,” dahyun groans, head falling back into her hands.