Soobin Choi was born a soul eater. Born is a bit of a stretch. He was cursed when he was 22 for murdering a witch. The witch's sister didn't want to give him the freedom of death. She wanted him to sufer by sucking out his soul. An extra spell was placed on him but it costed her her life. If you asked, she would say it was worth it.
The extra curse was every time he fell in love, that soul would become the most enchanting in the world to him. Souls were how he carried on living. The brighter the soul, the more he wanted to devour it. He didn't get the freedom of dying. At least not by conventional methods.
If he didn't eat, he would just grow weak. Once, 100 years ago, he went on a hunger strike. He was tired of murdering good people so he figured he had to die eventually of starvation. He was wrong. Soobin didn't steal a single soul for a whole year and still didn't die. He was just incredibly weak. His body, if you can even call it that, grew tired of his hunger strike. A woman noticed him slumped over in an alley. Her good nature is what killed her. The second she got close, Soobin pressed his lips against hers and sucked the life out of her. His body felt instantly better but his mind hated seeing the rag of a woman below him.
He tried to have people murder him but nothing seemed to work. Fire touched his skin but only burned around him. The pressure of the bottom of the ocean flattened him like a pancake but that's about it. Bullets bounced off of his skin. Poison went straight through him. Even the depths of outerspace didn't do it. Crystals formed on his body but disappeared as soon as he returned to earth.
Witches were far and few between. He had only met 5 in his life and none of them knew the correct spells to finally kill him. One even tried implanting a soul into him, to give herself something to kill, but he only absorbed it like every other one he eats.
It seemed hopeless. He fell in love a few times but the curse made him kill all of them. He refused to fall in love since. That is until he saw Kai. He was pretty yes, but that wasn't what attracted him to the stranger walking down the street.
Usually he had a sort of radar for people's souls. The more pure of a person, the more attracted he was to take it. Kai was the first and only person he had ever met who he couldn't detect anything. It was like he wasn't from here. A soulless human if he was even human.
Using his charm, he introduced himself to the stranger. It did not take long for them to get to know each other. Soobin fell in love quickly. Kai's quirky personality was just as beautiful as his face. He was the most pure person he had ever met, yet Soobin still couldn't detect anything.
Besides the broken radar, Soobin was annoyed about something else. Kai had a boyfriend. Beomgyu Choi and him grew up together. They had loved each other since they could remember.
One day, Kai introduced the two of them to each other. Soobin smelled Beomgyu's soul. It was enchanting as hell. Almost begged for him to devour it but he couldn't. He didn't want to lose Kai by killing his boyfriend.
Kai watched them talk. He noticed the way Soobin was looking at Beomgyu. It was weird, almost pained. From an outside perspective, he looked constipated. He had suspicions Soobin wasn't human but didn't say anything. He just watched the interaction continue.
Beomgyu was annoyingly nice to be around. Soobin saw why Kai fell for him so hard. He did his best to interact but he couldn't take it anymore. He had to feed on someone else before he went completely insane.
Kai watched him run away after he made some excuse. It only made him question Soobin more. He dismissed that thought to focus his attention on his boyfriend. They went to a movie together and continued on with their lives.
Soobin made the mistake of running past an elementary school. There were so many pure souls playing on the school yard. Some kids weren't meant to live forever. He waited until their class got out then snatched one walking home. It was a little boy. Soobin could tell he had good parents by how drawn in he was. He killed the child behind a dumpster. The body looked completely drained by the time he was done. The blood in the kid's veins turned black as his body went pale white. Wasn't the first time he killed a kid. He doubted it was the last too.
On his way back to his place, Kai called him. He told Soobin to meet him at his condo.
When he arrived, he saw Kai alone. It was the first time he was completely alone with the guy and he still couldn't feel anything. He should've been radiating something but he just fucking wasn't. It made Soobin mad.
Kai closed the door then locked it. "Let's just get this out of the way. You aren't human are you?"
"Of course I am. What kind of question is that?"
"Don't lie to me."
Soobin kept lying. "I'm not."
"Sure."
The blonde dropped the act. Clearly Kai knew and he wanted to figure out why the fuck he couldn't sense anything from him. "How did you know?"
"Very little gets by me." Kai got up to grab a bottle of grape juice from the fridge. He sat back down and started to drink it.
"Why can't I sense anything from you?"
"I don't have a soul."
"Are you like me?"
"Not really. You eat souls right? That's why you were so uncomfortable around my boyfriend? Because he's so pure?"
"He's a little less pure when he looks at you... but yes."
Kai almost spit out his grape juice when he heard that. He swallowed it back then wiped his nose with a tissue. "That must suck to be you. How old are you? I'm surprised I've never seen you before actually."
"Actually or what I tell people?"
"Both. Why not? We can compare."
"Actually 142. I tell people I'm 22 since that's when I was turned."
Kai swallowed the last of his grape juice then tossed the bottle in the recycling. "I beat you. I'm so old, I've lost track. I know it's in the millions. My dad is in the billions. I tell people I'm 21 though, because that's how old Beomgyu is. I can change my age to whatever the fuck I want."
Soobin didn't even know what to say. Millions? He was a baby compared to Kai. "Can you kill me if you wanted to?"
"Sure. You in the mood to die today? Wouldn't be that hard."
"No! I just wanted to see if you could!"
Kai got up after laughing for a bit.
Soobin followed him to the kitchen. "How can you kill me if no one else can seem to be able to?"
"I'm millions of years old Soobin. I've learned a few things here and there." Kai grabbed another bottle of grape juice for himself and Soobin. "Take it."
"I don't exactly drink... or eat for that matter."
"I think you'll find you can drink this."
Soobin took the purple beverage. He pressed the bottle to his lips and let the sweetly sour liquid grace his tounge. It didn't make him feel ill like all other food. He chugged the rest of it and begged for another one.
Kai laughed some more as he gave it to him. "Take it easy. That's the last one."
He finished the bottle in 10 seconds flat. "How? That was amazing! But how?"
"I told you. I've learned things. I can actually give you a soul if you wanted one. You could be human and die like everyone else."
"Wait. Why are you dating if you know Beomgyu is going to die? Doesn't that suck?"
"Not really. I'll age with him like I've always done. It'll suck when he's gone but it isn't goodbye. That's entirely his choice. I'd do it all over again if I have to."
Soobin threw both of his bottles into the recycling. "I don't want a soul. I'm not ready to die. Can you die?"
"When it comes to living or dying, I can do whatever the hell I want to Soobin. I could start over with you after Beomgyu dies. I could go back to my dad right now and you'd never see me again. I could give you a soul whether you wanted it or not."
"Start over with me?" Soobin wanted to know if Kai felt the same way. That question gave him hope. It was dangerous to have especially since Beomgyu was so enchanting to him. He could kill him right now and have Kai to himself if he wanted.
"It was an example."
"But say you lived a fufilling life with him and he chose to not start over. Then could you be with me?"
"Depends I guess. Unlikely though. I love Beomgyu but I kind of hate it here. I'm sorry you were forced to be here for the past 142 years." Kai looked at his watch. "Beomgyu will actually be here soon. If you ever want a soul or want to die, just let me know. I'd recommend the soul thing though. You'd get a chance to live like me. To find someone who makes you eternally happy until it's time to say goodbye."
Soobin got up to leave. He didn't want to find someone else. He would wait into eternity if he had to for Kai. Knowing he could literally live forever with him, made Soobin want him more.
Death was no longer something he aimed for. It was something he dreaded. It was just a matter of time until Beomgyu died. Good thing he had all the time in the world to wait.