CRUSH || evnne

six.

CHAPTER SIX: THE MEMORY [I]

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3rd person pov!

2009
davao city, phillipines

the five-year-old iinuma twins sat on their bed, waiting for their father, as usual. every night, he would read them a bedtime story. every day, they heard a new one, and they would spend a few minutes discussing the meanings of the stories.

tonight, it wasn't their father, but their mother who walked into their room. 

"mom, where's dad?" five-year-old anthonny jumped up from his sitting position, concerned. akari, on the other hand, stayed on the bed and smiled at her mother instead, not caring which parent came in. if we have parents, we are all very fortunate, she thought. she thought of the stories of orphans like cinderella and snow white. all stories that their father had told them.

"shh... your father is busy, so today, i'll be the one telling you the story," their mother picked anthonny up and gently placed him onto the bed. she sat on the edge of the mattress, smiling when she saw the twins' expectant looks.

however, what the twins didn't see was the troubled expression that she wore when she first came in, one of heartbreak, sadness and anger.

"tonight, i'll be telling you a legend. have you heard of the soulmate phenomenon?"

both of the iinuma children shook their heads.

"legend says that once you meet your other half, your true love, and your best friend, you will feel it inside you. we call this the soulmate phenomenon."

"oooh." the twins' eyes widened. they leaned even closer to their mother, wanting to hear even more.

"yes. most people meet their soulmate at the age of seventeen to twenty-five. some people have found their soulmate at ten, while others have to wait till they turn forty. so it really depends. love can't be rushed, you see.

"your soulmate could be anyone, from anywhere in the world. they could be the same age as you, older than you, or even younger than you."

"if that's so, then how do you know when you meet your... uhm.. soulmate?" akari, curious as ever, tugged on the edge of her mother's shirt. 

"you will feel it inside you. you just know it when you meet them.
but there are some people who never ever meet their soulmate and fall in love with someone else. they can still be happy, but they will always feel that something is missing inside them.
your soulmate will make you feel complete. they are your other half, your best friend ever." their mother smiled and patted their heads.

"so mom, did you ever meet your soulmate?" anthonny asked.

"...unfortunately, no. but your father has."

the silence in the air could have been cut with a knife.

"and that is why you don't see him tonight. you might never see him again."

the mood went from mystical and curious to downright shock.

"WHAT?!" akari, who usually never lost her calm, freaked out. she leaped up, grabbing her mother. "DIDN'T YOU SAY THAT MOST PEOPLE MEET THEIR SOULMATE AT TWENTY? MOM, TELL ME YOU'RE JOKING, PLEASE!" she screamed out, the guttural sound ripping out from her throat.

anthonny, seeing that his twin sister was in a full-blown meltdown, couldn't do anything but give her a hug. he knew his sister best, and after he comforted her for a while, her screams turned to wails, her wails turned into cries, and it eventually turned into quiet sobbing. anthonny also had silent tears rolling down his cheeks. as for their mother, her shoulders were shaking, and small teardrops stained the sheets.

"i'm sorry. i'm so sorry i couldn't find you a better home. i should never had married your bas- um, idiot of a father." their mother hugged the both of them.

that night, instead of easily going to sleep with dreams of rainbows and all things sweet, they cried themselves to sleep.

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2023
seoul, korea

"hey."

akari was stunned, jolting awake. 

why am i dreaming of things so far in the past?

apparently, she was on the bus to school, with anthonny on one side of her and keita on the other, sleeping. anthonny had one hand on his sister's shoulder, and he looked concerned. "are you okay?" he wiped a tear from her cheek.

akari's eyes darkened. she swiped her hand across her face, erasing any trace of the terrible nightmare. "i was... having a dream. about the day our father left us. about the day we vowed to stick together until we truly found our soulmates." 

hearing this, anthonny sighed. "well, at least our stepfather is actually mom's soulmate. she found him a little late, i must say, but at least she did it. even though it took her a huge heartbreak and four hours of convincing us that he was a legit guy and not just another person who wasn't her soulmate." 

akari let out a small laugh. "well, what's over is over, i guess. we used to think soulmates were really just a legend, until we saw it happen left and right."

nakomoto yuta, who had found her just by making eye contact on the street.

osaki shotaro, who found her through the red string.

kaedahara ayaka, who had found him only after she had gotten her heart broken three times. the first person who had comforted her.

zhang meiya, who had accidentally made body contact with her soulmate when she met him.

so many ways of finding a soulmate, yet both of them were still on their own. 

they were nineteen and still thought it was real. the legend wasn't actually true, but there were people who gaslighted themselves into believing it, making the twins believe it too. it was actually just a small group of japanese in the city who happened to have this legend in their religion, making the twins believe that the legend was real. no one in their school actually thought that soulmates were real (poor them).

"do you think it will ever happen to us?" akari asked seriously.

"maybe. one day, even if i don't, i hope that you will find the person for you. akari, i just want you to be happy. if you're happy, i am too." anthonny held her hand and smiled.

they spent the rest of the bus ride to school in silence.

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NOTES !

i edited this after chap 19 was published and wow. okay.