Ai was way too reckless. If force-feeding people deadly noodles was his way of bringing them together, Jun wasn’t sure if he wanted Ai’s help after all.

“Why are you so clumsy?” he muttered on their walk home after work.

“What?” Ai leaned closer to hear him better.

Jun shoved him away. “I just don’t understand your methods of matchmaking.”

“Jun, do you know what builds a connection between two people?”

“Chemistry?”

“No. Random coincidences and encounters.”

Jun huffed. “That can’t be right.”

Ai stroked an imaginary beard and puffed out his chest. “It is true that the chemistry, so to speak, is innate. Using your ability as an example, two people are born the same color. I’ve never used my powers to bring two matches together consciously, but it helps to speed things up in a relationship. I’m sorry about Remy. I promise the next person will work out.”

“Why didn’t Remy work out? What do you see when you look at me to know my matches? Or have you been choosing randomly?”

Ai shifted his eyes. “While I don’t see colors, I have an indescribable sense. No one’s ‘color’ or ‘sense’ matches yours exactly, to be honest.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that before?! I would have gone easier on you.”

Ai scratched his head. “Well, it doesn’t mean your match isn’t out there. It just means that person hasn’t entered my one-mile radius. Maybe we should take a trip? To a hot spring or Disneyland.”

“Your true colors are showing. But now that you mention it…”

Ai perked up.

“You should come to school with me. My match may be somewhere on campus.”

Ai didn’t hide his disappointment but Jun ignored it as he knew it'd be useful for finding his soulmate.

**

Since Ai couldn’t go to class with Jun, Jun tasked him with the challenge of roaming around campus to find his match. Jun was in a painting class when his canvas began to paint itself. Rather than letting out a bloodcurdling scream, Jun hugged it carefully to hide it from his classmates’ eyes.

Li Hua raised an eyebrow from her station beside him. “What are you doing?”

“Uh… vibes… inspiration…” Jun began to sweat as he looked at the canvas.

CANT FIND N E BODY CAMPUS BIG SLEEPY

Jun sighed as the squiggly tail of the Y was completed along with the message. He needed to get Ai a cellphone. More importantly, how was he supposed to reply?!

Jun stared at the canvas.

When was it going to disappear?!

Jun hurriedly painted over the letters to restore his painting.

“Wow, Jun.” Li Hua leaned over him. “‘Big Sleepy?’ I don’t really get it but it’s intense. I like it!”

“Hahahahah,” Jun laughed nervously. 

Class ended soon after. Jun gathered his things and left with Li Hua. Some students ran down the hall shouting about flower petals in the courtyard.

“Have you ever realized how big this place is?” Jun asked Li Hua.

“It’s a national university.” Li Hua laughed. “Of course it’s huge. The medical college is three miles away. Not that I’m complaining.” She sneered. “Those snobs look down on us every time we go to the cafeteria.”

Jun didn’t think he’d be compatible with a medical student, anyway. Beside the medical college, the liberal arts college spanned two square miles and The Gallery was what marked the entrance into the Fine Arts department. Meeting other Fine Arts students was unavoidable. If his match was in his same department, then it would take three days at most for Ai to find him. If he was in social sciences, it'd be twice as long. Natural sciences would take even longer. If it just came down to school, that'd put Ai here for another month. After that, school was out for the summer and if Jun's soulmate was someplace else, the search would begin afresh.

Li Hua was angrily ranting about the medical students looking down on Humanities and Fine Arts when a group of elites in matching black glasses strutted down the brick walkway.

“Ugh. Physics students. They're such snobs.”

“Have you even met them?” Jun asked. She'd been talking about med students; since when were those in natural sciences stuck up too?

As they came closer, Jun read the text on their matching shirts. Physics Club: Our Quarks are Smaller Than Yours.

Okay, Jun didn't really get it, but it sounded stuck up. He mentally apologized to Li Hua.

“Find Sagi!” one, probably the leader, shouted to the others. “We can't let him leave the Sciences!”

Sagi? Jun's Sagi? Jun shook his head. He didn't mean 'his' like that! Of course, Sagi wasn't his. He meant as in, er, the Sagi who worked at the convenience store he frequented.

Jun was snapped out of his embarrassing self-scolding when Li Hua proudly said, “Looks like one of their own got sick of them.” Jun realized the group had dispersed. Even if they hadn't, it wasn't like he could have gone and asked what Sagi they were talking about.

Jun parted with Li Hua and headed to the South campus entrance, where he'd told Ai to meet him. But Ai wasn't waiting at the designated bench so Jun figured the sleepy message had meant he'd gone home. It was irritating at first but when Jun thought about how much scanning Ai had done on the populous campus, he found it a bit funny. If it turned out Ai had truly searched, Jun would cook something special for dinner.

Luckily, the station wasn't crowded and when the train arrived, Jun was able to get a seat. Jun looked off dreamily. If Sagi went to his school though… maybe they'd bump into each other and have an actual conversation. Sagi hadn’t warned him about the gross taste of ginseng but Jun had gotten used to it after reminding himself that Sagi (possibly) cared about his health. Sagi had also mentioned his glowing skin. Was he perhaps interested in health and skin care? Maybe they could talk about that. Though, Jun didn’t actually know anything about it.

Jun told himself to slow down. He didn’t even know if Sagi went to his school, let alone if they’d ever run into each other.

The train stopped and some passengers got off. Jun noticed a notebook left on the seat in front of him. He remembered a guy with a guitar case sitting there and picked it up to chase after him. But it was too late as the doors closed on him shouting, “Wait!”

Jun looked at the notebook. He wasn’t even sure if it was that guy's as his daydreaming had put a fog over his vision. The notebook was open to a page and Jun glanced at the words.

Hope like a dream.

Relationships of lore.

That we will go together like

Peanut butter and more

Saw your face

In a crowded place

I was hungry

It sucked! If it belonged to the guy with the guitar, they were probably lyrics. Jun flipped through the notebook for a name but found none. As he considered turning it into the station lost and found, he noticed the cover had a sticker for a live house. He didn’t have to work that evening, so he had time to drop it off. Jun got off at the next station then boarded the train going in the opposite direction. He got off where the guitarist had unboarded.

He followed the map on his phone and soon reached the live house in a district of karaoke bars and PC cafes. Jun went down the stairs to the underground door and expected a bouncer. He supposed he shouldn’t be surprised that there wasn’t one---it wasn’t the time of day for there to be performances.

The inside was rather dark, lit up by a few ceiling lights. The majority of lights were on the stage. A couple of musicians were up there, setting up drums and mics.

“Um…” He looked around for a guitarist but saw none. The girl at the mic noticed Jun then nudged the drummer.

“The show isn’t until Friday!” he shouted, his voice bouncing off the walls of the empty room. At that moment, another band member stepped on stage with a water bottle in his hand. He was wearing a black shirt with the sleeves cut off and a red flannel tied around his waist. His relaxed skinny jeans were flattering but Jun felt a bit intimidated by how tall he was. His dark, shoulder-length hair fell across his shoulders and half was pulled back.

“My notebook!” He flew off the stage with energy yet grace and jogged over. 

As he got closer, Jun tensed, realizing how attractive the guy was. Even his pierced ears were perfect. For a moment, he forgot how to speak. “Uh…”

The guy gave a small, curious smile and Jun held the notebook out to him. “You left it on the subway.”

“Thanks. My life would’ve been over if I’d lost this.”

‘You kind of did lose it,’ Jun thought. Instead, he smiled and said, “I’m glad I could return it.”

“I’m super grateful.” The guy held the notebook to his chest and Jun noticed he had a small tattoo on his wrist. “Hey, as a thank you, why don’t I play a song?”

Jun paled. Based on the lyrics he’d read, he was pretty sure he’d be better off leaving now. But before he could refuse, the guy dashed to the stage and grabbed a guitar. He nodded to his bandmates. The girl grabbed a bass.

“One, two, check,” the guy said into the mic. He turned to his bandmates and Jun heard him say, “Lemons.”

The drummer began drumming a soft beat and Jun braced himself for ear pain as the singer opened his mouth.

“Looked at the setting sun… Never thought I’d see it. Such a beautiful siiiight.”

To Jun’s utter surprise, the voice that came out was like silk. It was surprisingly good. And the lyrics weren’t bad. Jun blinked back tears, it was that moving. The guy soon got to the chorus and Jun knew his beautiful voice was about to get even stronger.

“Lemon sunseeeet! Lemon juice in my eyyeeeeees!”

‘The lyrics still suck!’ Jun realized.

“Never thought I’d seeee it! Lemon juice in my eeeeeeeeeeyes!”

But he could almost forgive the weird lyrics when a voice that gorgeous was singing it.

The song ended and Jun channeled all his love for the voice---just the voice---into his applause.

The singer jumped off the stage gracefully again and jogged over to Jun. “I’ve never done a solo performance before. I was a bit nervous.”

“I couldn’t tell at all,” Jun said with a kind smile.

“Hey, let me give you a ticket to our show on Friday.”

“Oh---”

“On me.” The guy gestured to a staff member at the sound system in the back who came over and handed a ticket to the singer. He gave it to Jun.

The Hitman YoYos. Even the band name sucked! “Thanks.”

“It’s the least I could do. My whole essence is in this notebook and you seemed to like the song. Thank you…?”

“Jun.”

“Jun. I’m Kyungwon. Our bassist is Leslie and the drummer Bob.”

A rock band drummer named Bob? Jun smiled. “See you then.”

Jun walked to the station staring at the ticket. He usually worked Friday nights, but maybe he’d ask to get off early. It wouldn’t hurt to hear Kyungwon sing one more time.