“Do you believe that soulmates exist?” 

“Of course, I’ve already found two. One who is essentially a replica of me, and one who completes me.”

Once in a while, people inquire me on whether I believe soulmates are simply a myth or not. My instincts first told me that the term “soulmates” was another fallacy, especially since I had never encountered anyone special enough to give this title. Adapting an extroverted personality recently, I’ve begun to ponder if my notion of this world was too defined. Stumbling across all types of personalities, from immature and thoughtless children to assertive adults, I’ve figured that those who shared a long-running relationship with me lasted for a reason. 

There are specific people I spontaneously turn to when faced with troubles. Regardless of the depth—internal or external—of the conflict, I tend to fall into the arms of the same people. They view me without a single hint of judgment, and genuinely lend words of advice. At times, I experienced certain disputes that I felt responsible for without clearly understanding why or how. Yet afraid of their reactions, I unwillingly locked myself in, only to have my soulmates knock on that door. They instantly notice a slight change in my emotions, and readily reach out. Starting a conversation with them is perhaps the easiest deed, as our thoughts are often effortlessly shared with telepathic communication. 

Soulmates don’t necessarily have to be associated with romantic partners. In fact, they seem to be more aligned with the term “friend.” There’s two types of soulmates—at least from my personal experience. The first one gives the impression of being my own reflection. If you put the two of us in one room and instructed us to communicate nonverbally, we would complete the task quite adeptly. “Silence” is often accompanied by “awkward,” yet it nearly seems impossible for an “awkward” atmosphere to blanket the room when the two of us are together. My first soulmate and I have reached a point at which we agree on a lunch menu in a split second. If one struggles to make a decision, the other one offers an ideal—possibly perfect—suggestion. This type gives assurance to all of my hesitant decisions. 

There’s another type who is different with me in all respects. First and foremost, our food tastes are not alike—he loves mint chocolate, but I detest it. Second, his strengths are my weaknesses, so our hobbies and preferences are dissimilar in every way. As a person without a good taste in music, I put songs on repeat for endless hours. Once addicted to a melody, I must listen to it until I grow tired of the tune. On the other hand, this soulmate enjoys exploring the diverse music genres. Sometimes in the hallways, other times during social events, and soon as the main cast of a school musical, he has a strong presence on stage. Whereas when belonging with his friends, he turns back into a typical teenager. This type knows how to help people feel at ease and bolsters my confidence recurrently. An hour-long phone call with him allows me to recover from all of my anxieties. 

I would be telling a half-truth to claim that I’ve never bickered over trivial matters with my soulmates, but it has always ended only as a quarrel. The small disputes never last longer than a day, because both my soulmates and I have learnt to apologize and accept our faults. As a middle schooler, I was involved in a childish argument, in which neither my soulmate nor I desired to admit our mistakes. However, both of us soon came to realize that blinded by the will to retain our self-esteems, we had neglected our respects for one another. Ironically, we expressed our regrets to one another on the same day and built a tighter friendship than ever. 

Despite knowing my other soulmate for only two years, I feel as though I’ve known him for more than half of my life, and inevitably, we’ve had instances in which our opinions clashed. When I perceived certain actions as disrespectful, he would point out that I was oversensitive. He barely agrees with any of my beliefs and thoughts, but he is exactly aware of when sympathy is needed. This soulmate immediately notices when I am disheartened, and listens to my complaints for (what seems like) countless hours. Even if the advice he contributes isn’t always the best, these phone calls certainly comfort me. 

After getting to know these two special people, I was able to ascertain that soulmates are not about owning identical personalities or hobbies. Although at times these two aspects may coincidentally align to those of your soulmate, the more crucial message to fathom is that soulmates are those who make you shine in the best way possible; someone who appreciates you the way you are. They are glad to listen to you, and you are always open for them. It appears to me that no one else understands me better than my two soulmates, and I hope my soulmates and I continue to match each other’s puzzles.