✓ IF YOU STAY | HEESEUNG

42 - Soulmates Of A Lifetime

"He's my neighbor." Y/N and her grandmother sat in her apartment while Heeseung headed to pick Minjae from daycare. With her foot propped up on a pillow, she drank the tea her grandmother made her along with some homemade cookies. She couldn't understand why the old woman was so surprised, so flustered at the sight of Heeseung. It seemed as if she recognized him from somewhere, and the mystery was gnawing at Y/N. 

"Neighbor?" Her grandmother repeated, her gaze fixed on the teapot. There was something in her eyes that Y/N couldn't quite decipher—perhaps nostalgia, pain, and something else she couldn't put her finger on. 

"Yes, Grandma. Heeseung. He lives next door. We've become friends," Y/N explained, watching her grandmother closely. "Is everything okay?"

She remained silent for a moment, then finally looked up at Y/N with a soft smile. "My dear, do you believe in fate? In the way paths cross and intertwine unexpectedly?" The way her grandmother spoke made Y/N feel a chill run down her spine. "I don't want to trouble you with what I know, but... I used to have dreams of another life. Perhaps our past life." 

Y/N's heart skipped a beat. Could it be that the dreams she had of Heeseung were also their past life? The question made her suck in a breath and paused. "Grandma, did you dream of Heeseung? And... I?" It was ridiculous. She had heard stories about people who remembered their past lives, maybe after seeing them as children, but it always felt like a distant and fictional concept—until now.

"Yes." The word was enough to make Y/N's eyes widen. "I was your grandmother in the past life too. And Heeseung was also your soulmate. The world was different from what it looks like now. People couldn't see colors until they met their soulmates. You used to paint a lot, and he made dresses... and eventually-"

"I figured out he didn't have much to live." She let the words slip out of her mouth and her grandmother's eyes widened for a moment before the pieces started fitting in their right places. "Grandma, I had a dream too. A lot, actually. And I thought it was just my imagination. But Heeseung was there, and we were different. The colors, the feelings... they were so vivid, as if they were memories, not dreams."

"Right. It was real." For a moment, Y/N let her tears fall. The fact that for two lifetimes, they managed to find each other, even in different circumstances, overwhelmed her. The fact that Heeseung didn't make it back then but now she was given the chance to create new memories with him felt like a miracle. Her grandmother reached over, gently wiping away Y/N's tears with a tender smile. "It's a rare and beautiful thing to be able to rewrite your story with someone you've known in another lifetime. Follow your heart, my dear."

And on cue, someone knocked on the door and she swallowed a lump that formed in her throat, wiping the remnants of her tears. Danbi ran to the door along with her grandmother before opening the door to reveal Heeseung and his son. Little Minjae bowed at Y/N's grandmother with a shy smile, and Heeseung greeted her with a polite nod. He was still a little hesitant because of the way she reacted to seeing him earlier, but he tried pushing those thoughts aside for Y/N. "It's nice to meet you, son. Please come in."

Minjae was already on the carpet, petting Danbi who looked like he was enjoying the attention. Heeseung took a step closer to Y/N, his eyes searching hers for reassurance. "Do you feel better?"

"Yeah. I think it hurts less now." In fact, the pain in her foot seemed to have faded into the background. All she thought about was how all the pieces of her life were falling into place. For the next few hours, the three talked about everything and anything. Y/N's grandmother didn't ask about Heeseung having a child. She didn't ask about the way they stole glances at each other like they were two people in love—because to her, that was what love looked like. Instead, she enjoyed watching her granddaughter find happiness in unexpected places.

It was evening when Y/N's grandmother hugged her goodbye and asked Heeseung to take care of her granddaughter. She lived far away and she needed to catch the last bus. Y/N stood at the door with her crutches while Heeseung bid farewell to Y/N's grandmother. As the door closed, she turned back to see Heeseung watching her with a soft smile. "Your grandmother is an amazing woman. She's full of warmth."

"She is. I owe a lot to her. And now, I owe a lot to you too." His soft chuckle and the way he stepped closer to her made her heart flutter. To think he was her soulmate in their past life made every moment with him feel like a beautiful continuation of their story. 

"You don't owe me anything, Y/N. I don't want you to think that I'm doing this for something in return, all I want is to be with you, to make you happy. That's what love is about, right?"

A warmth spread through Y/N's chest, and she nodded. "Right." Heeseung was the type of man who'd do things out of genuine affection, someone who'd go the extra mile just to see her smile. And that made her fall in love with him even more. Now she couldn't go back. He was etched into the fabric of her life, and she wouldn't have it any other way. "But I still feel like I want to do something for you."

Heeseung raised an eyebrow, his lips betraying a soft smile. "What did you have in mind-" Before he got to finish his sentence, Y/N had leaned forward and pressed her lips gently against his cheek. Heeseung blinked in surprise, his hand instinctively reaching up to touch the spot where her lips had left a tender imprint. For a moment, he just stared at her, at the way her eyes sparkled and her cheeks glowed with warmth. And then, he kissed her. His lips pressed against hers and his hands went to hold her waist, supporting her while she leaned into the kiss.

It is said that humans were, at some point in life, divided into halves and scattered across the world, destined to search for their other halves—their soulmates. And Y/N was so damn sure she had found hers in Heeseung because the way he touched her felt like it was always supposed to happen, like their souls recognized each other across time and space. And what's more beautiful than two souls finding each other again? 

Y/N smiled at the thought and gently pulled away before resting her forehead against his. "We should be quiet. Otherwise, we'll wake up Minjae." 

Smiling, Heeseung helped her to her room where his son was sleeping along with Danbi curling up at the foot of the bed. They stood there for a moment, watching the peaceful scene. "It seems he likes Danbi a lot. I was afraid that he wouldn't be able to have fun after we moved here without his mother. I thought that perhaps I'd be the reason he felt alone and the thought made me sad. But you're here, and you're the reason those same thoughts no longer haunt me."

The way Heeseung cared for his son was evident in every gesture, every word, and every smile. He could blame himself over the tiniest mistakes, but Y/N saw a man who was resilient, loving, and committed to giving his son the best life possible. "Heeseung," Y/N gently cupped his face, her thumb brushing against his cheek. "Minjae is lucky to have you as his father and you're doing an incredible job. I can see the way he looks at you and the way "daddy" is the first word on his lips. That should mean he holds you in the highest regard and you're more than enough for him." 

His eyes were glistening and one tear escaped, tracing a path down his cheek. And just then did Y/N realize how lonely and painful being a single father feels like. How fragile the balance was between holding it all together and feeling like it could all fall apart.