INEVITABLE

Chapter 5

"I think I'm going crazy now, Chaeyoung." Ryujin walks around the room, two fingers nibbling her lips. "This is insane."

Chaeyoung closes her laptop and turns to her friend. "Okay. Just hold yer horses right there. What is wrong, my friend?"

"I... I can't stop thinking about her." Ryujin scratches the back of her neck. "It's like my brain keeps thinking about her every second of every day. And it's been over two years now!"

"Who? Your wife?" Chaeyoung rummages through the papers and shows a sketch of a female character. "Or this Julia?"

"Her!" Ryujin points at the sketch. "But not that character, the person. The one I met at the resort."

"Ah. Your soulmate."

Ryujin stops in her tracks and sighs. "Yeah. My soulmate."

"Still regretting not persuading her to know her more?"

"I don't know. It didn't feel right at that time when we met. I just got married, and she has a partner too. We don't want to ruin what we have, only because we found each other."

"But you're still thinking about her?"

"Yeah. Like a lot. I dream about her often." Ryujin runs her fingers through her hair. "The funny thing is, it was Yuri who made me realize Julia's the character I've been drawing since then."

"Mmm-mmm."

"I felt like everything around me stopped when it dawned on me, you know. Since I was a kid, I've always dreamt about her. I always thought it was Yuri, but when I met Julia, I knew it was her. It was her all along."

Chaeyoung taps her fingers on the table, twisting her chair on the other side. "Let's say you meet her again, this Julia, what would you do?"

Ryujin shrugs. "I... I honestly don't know..."

"Do you have plans of divorcing your wife or something?"

"No. No. That's out of the picture," Ryujin says immediately. "There is no way I would hurt Yuri like that, no. I can't do that to her."

"But that's what soulmates are about, right? Finding your other half to spend the rest of your lives together?"

"I..." Ryujin sighs, helpless. "I just want to see her. I want to know who she is. I want to fill these questions in my head, hoping that maybe after that I'll be able to move on from her. Sometimes it's the uncertainty that sparks the interest, you know. I am certain that's what I'm going through right now."

Chaeyoung hums. "So, you are saying you don't have plans of pursuing her romantically?"

"No way."

"And you just want to have answers to all your questions about her identity, so you can stop thinking about her?"

"Yes. That's right." Ryujin nods eagerly. "And as I've said, it's been over two years now since I've last seen her. Who knows, maybe she's also married now. There's no way we would go down that romantic road. Or maybe we can be good friends, we're soulmates after all."

"Friends." Chaeyoung chuckles. "How would you introduce her to your wife? 'Hey, boo, meet Julia, my new close friend who looks exactly like the character I've been drawing since we were kids. By the way, she's my soulmate. But don't you worry because we're just platonic friends. I am not attracted to her'."

Ryujin grabs the nearest throw pillow in her reach and throws it in her friend's direction, who laughs.

"You look like a grumpy monkey," Chaeyoung says, still laughing. "That's what you get for not believing in soulmates. See how the spirits are playing on you now?"

"Yah. Son Chaeyoung-ah you're not helping at all!"

Chaeyoung wipes her tears with her fingers. "Okay. Okay. I'll be serious now." she sniffs and composes herself. "Look. To make you feel better, I seriously think you need to see her again."

"You do?"

"Yes. You've been restless for over two years now. I seriously think you won't be able to get over that unless you see her again," Chaeyoung says. "I'm not sure what will happen after. What I'm sure of is that you need to see each other again. Maybe she's experiencing the same thing, you know. Both of you are soulmates, after all."

"But how will I be able to find her? I don't know anything about her."

"Well..." Chaeyoung turns to reopen her laptop and types something on the search bar. "Ever heard of the theory of six degrees of separation?"

"Never heard." Ryujin closes their distance to look over her friend's shoulder. "What's that all about?"
​​
"It says here all people in the world are six or can be fewer, social connections away from each other. This means," Chaeyoung turns to her friend, "you and this soulmate of yours aren't that far from each other. A friend of a friend of a friend may know her."

"Oh. That's... that's cool. But where should I start?"

"That I don't know." Chaeyoung turns back to her laptop. "What I know is if it's the spirits' will you two are tied to each other, they will find a way for you to see each other again. They will use instruments, people, for that to happen."

Chaeyoung props her elbows on the table and rests her chin on her clasped hands.

"After that, I don't know what their next plan is."