//Action placed in an alternative universe where a few hours before you die, they give you the opportunity to travel wherever your soulmate is. You will regain the body you had last time you've seen them, even if you never knew that they are your soulmate. You can choose to stay there with them until the end of the time or just die, losing the whole universe of your body, mind and soul.
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"Let's go there?"
"What's there?"
"My finger."
"Sh*t Sherlock, but no. What place is there? The country.", Kyungsoo laughed, shaking his head at his friend's attempt of a joke.
"That's...", Kai took a pause, moving the map closer to his face. "That's Italy. Venice, more exactly."
"Huh...I should've guessed.", the shorter man rolled his eyes, taking the map away from the other and put it back on the stand, pulling him by the wrist to keep wandering around the stands of the Tourism Fair, each one presenting any kind of offers to every country and place in the world.
"And what do you mean by that?"
Kyungsoo just looked back with his big eyes, locking them on the taller's ones. His full lips curled into a slight smile, Kai already knowing that his friend is about to make a rude comment again so he was just waiting there, with his eyebrow raised, looking down at the male who was still holding his hand. And with a short laugh, Kyungsoo opened his mouth.
"You're such a Venice bitch, Kai."
The taller could feel the hot breath of the other against his lips, since Soo was tip-toeing, always wanting to be at the same level as him before teasing him about...well, anything in this world.
And Kai was ready to respond to this one with a kiss on those full tiers, as he always does, teasing his friend back. And their lips almost touched before being interrupted by the lady on the stand.
"Looking for a honeymoon location, you two?", the young lady asked, smiling to the men in front of her.
Both turned their heads in her direction, Soo coming back to his normal position and Kai fixing his glasses. For a second, he forgot how to breathe. Not because they were mistaken as a couple, a thing that always happened. They were friends since forever, growing up together, going to the same schools together, going out together, making out together, sleeping together. Nothing they haven't done until then but for how strong their friendship was, all of these were more than normal. But this time, he was amazed by the beauty of the woman in front of them.
Long black hair and a small body, with curves in all the right places. She had a nice, different accent and something was telling him that she wasn't fully Korean or at least, she was away from the country for long enough to forget her natural accent.
"I'm Jennie", she spoke before the two of them, keeping her smile on. "I can show you some brochures for different places or if you have anything in mind for the honeymoon, I can make some offers."
Kyungsoo was quick to observe how stoned his friend was and he decided to act up, making their day even funnier. So, it was time for one of their usual dares. But in such an unusual place.
He smiled back to the girl then pulled his friend away from the stand, telling them that they will come back in a second.
"You love me, right man?", Kyungsoo asked, making Kai get out of his trance and choke on air.
"What the he- how di-", he didn't have the chance to asks to cause his friend was already whispering the challenge to his ear. His arm was around the smaller's waist, holding him close but as the words kept coming out of his mouth, the hold got weaker and weaker, terrifying Kai.
"Understood?"
Kai glared at him with a frown and almost pouting lips. But not in a cute way, rather a mad one. He hated how Soo could joke about everything by using his weak spot: Kai's feelings when it came to him.
Cause yes, even if they were just friends and they always dated different type of people, Kai couldn't keep his feelings away from the shorter. So for him, every eye contact they had during their car rides, every cuddle on a rainy night and every kiss after a bad night at the club when they got wasted meant something. Something more than it meant for Kyungsoo, who learnt by then that his friend can't say no to him.
And it was a proven fact cause Kai just turned his back after and walked back to the girl who was still free, showing her his best smile while his friend was waiting beside him.
"We're not a couple...", he starts, looking back to the man than to Jennie. "But I'd be more than glad if you'll tell me where you'd like to go on our honeymoon."
The girl blushed.
And she chuckled.
And they kept talking for a few good minutes, until Kyungsoo saw the small piece of paper Jennie gave him, sign that Kai just ended the dare. He was satisfied and soon after, he made a sign for Kai that they can leave now, knowing how much the other hated these dares and that he probably wants to go back home now. But for a strange reason, he ignored him.
So he did the sign again.
And again.
And again, still not receiving any answer from Kai, who was still busy talking with the girl, laughing together even when she had clients. He decided to leave his place and announce Kai that they should leave. Yet, he had to hit his arm twice before the man would give him attention.
"We're going home, let's go," Kyungsoo said, grabbing Kai's arm.
He wasn't expecting the taller to pull his arm back and shake his head, still laughing with that girl named Jennie.
"Go ahead.", Kai simply said before turning to his conversation.
"You're not coming?"
He had to wait a few moments for his answer, which came late, a simple shake of his finger, not bothering to stop talking with the woman again.
Kyungsoo watched them for a few more moments, with a concerned look on his face before walking away, looking back at his friend a few times or stop walking, thinking that he might follow. Still nothing. So he decided to leave.
Kai came back to their small apartment, eventually. Only, it was two days after and Kyungsoo found him packing his clothes in a black bag placed on the one person bed where they were sleeping. It was the only bed that would fit in their small studio apartment so they had to sleep one on top of the other.
He found out later that the initial dare, taking Jennie's number turned out...worse for him and amazing for the one who didn't want to do it. Kai explained to him how Jennie and he clicked immediately, something that they called "love at first sight" and the girl invited him to live together. "I know it's crazy but you have no idea how amazing she is." And he continued to describe her as he was throwing shirts and pants inside the bag, how adorable she is when she's laughing, how soft her lips are, how warm her hands are when she's holding his and how perfect her naked body is. He was, indeed, amazed by the woman he just meets.
And Kyungsoo could only listen, comparing her with himself in his mind. Compared to her, he had a weird laugh, his mouth opening in a weird way even when he's smiling. His lips were dry almost all the time until Kai would decide to wet them with his own and his hands were cold all the time. And then it came his body, that from his point of view didn't look good dressed, not even talking about naked.
And he was disappointed for different reasons. One, because he was nothing compared to her and two because he was stupid enough to not tell Kai about his feelings for him before this dare. Cause if he was brave and smart enough, they'd be kissing now, instead of watching his friend packing his things, ready to move out and...leave him alone, unlike Jennie, who had him now.
He thinks he stood there for a few good minutes, lost in his thoughts cause he only got out of this trance when he felt Kai's long fingers ruffling his short, black hair. "Hey, are you alright? Your eyes are red."
He was about to cry but he tried not to and simply shook his head. "It's just an allergy, probably from the perfume."
Kai was smelling different, that's true. It wasn't the perfume that could get Kyungsoo drunk, make him lose himself in it, relax his whole mind, body and soul. It was...Jennie's perfume. That was so strong that his nostrils hurt and to be honest, it really made his eyes red a little.
Kai only nodded his head, accepting the lie but deciding not to ask for more. "Anyway, I'll leave now. It's all yours." He showed him a grin, giving him the spare key. "Thanks for the dare, it was a blessing."
Or a curse, Kyungsoo thought.
And with that, Kai left the apartment him and Kyungsoo were sharing since they were 17 so for 10 years, tomorrow. It was too small for two persons, of course, especially two men but they were happy with it. It's not that they couldn't afford a bigger space or living alone but they had other priorities and this small apartment was the only place that felt like home for them.
Kyungsoo looked inside the empty part of the closet. The only thing left that could remind him about the taller was a grey, old t-shirt and... the jar with money underneath, with a note glued on the glass that said "Venice".
It was the last time when they saw each other. They started to text each other way too rare, Kai always making excuses. Sometimes he was at his new job, sometimes he was at home, helping Jennie with her pregnancy and sometimes he was just out of town or...country. Kai and Jennie moved after having their second child in Paris, where they were living for about 20 years now. Kyungsoo hasn't heard about him since then and in the back of his mind, he always thought it was better this way. To forget about their past and start new lives, each of them getting married, having kids and...
"Die.", the old man said to the nurse who was reading from the old notebook.
"Pardon, Mr Kim?"
"Die. He said, <<it was a good idea for us to start new lives, getting married, having kids and die>>. I've read that for the past 5 years since I'm here and still, that sucker is not here yet. How am I supposed to di-"
"Mr Kim, your friend never mentioned coming back to yo-"
"Oh, he did! So many times! Even last night. Two times, even."
And with that, a very old version of Kai stopped talking so he can cough for minutes, as it always happened when...he was talking too much. Of course, the only person who knew that was Kyungsoo because even since he almost drown in that lake when they were 15, his lungs stopped working a little.
"I'm sure that some small fishes got in there, you're gonna die soon.", the shorter used to joke every time while he was patting the other's back, waiting for him to regain his breath. He loved teasing Kai so much.
Kai was dreaming Kyungsoo every single night for a few years now. Sometimes were flashbacks since they were kids or teens. Sometime he'd have these randoms dreams with them during the war, even if they've never been there or lost in a nice forest, something very colourful and rather 80's.
Sometimes he'd dream of their first kiss. Or the first night together. And he could feel like Soo was right there, with him. The last night when they made it was a bad one, from what he could still remember the man who was now in his 90's. He remembers them having a fight- "he took me to cloud 9, that's how good he was at riding me!"- Kai shouted all of nowhere. It was usual for him to wake up screaming whatever he was thinking. His dementia started to show up, they used to say. But in any case, that was the night before meeting Jennie.
Their last night together, cause on the next one, they were already sleeping in different beds. What started like a joke, a simple dare, was for Kai a sign that he should stop hoping for Kyungsoo to love him back. Or at least commit to him. So he continued the dare for his whole life, leaving Kyungsoo behind. He didn't love Jennie from the start. And even after so many years since she died, he's not sure if he ever did. Sure, they moved together in Paris and had two kids, they never argued but...Kai's heart was never there. It was always beating next to Kyungsoo's, in his chest.
He never called him back and he had no idea what the other was doing or what happened to his life after they took different paths. "I always thought- thought it was the right t-thing. Kyungsoo never loved me l-like this!" he shouts again, making the nurses and the other older turning their heads to him.
He kept murmuring words that could be only heard by him until the same nurse from before, with long, black hair and a lovely smile came back to him.
"Mr Kim? Are you re-"
"Jennie? Is that you?"
The girl laughed and shook her head, carefully grabbing his arm. It was cute, how much this man loved his wife that even now, hours before his death he was only seeing her, she thought.
But she was wrong. Cause all this old, crazy man could see was a pair of big, black eyes and a weird smile. The one he hasn't seen in ages. He could only see and hear his dear old friend, Kyungsoo.
"I have to remind you again, Mr Kim. Once I connect you to this monitor, you can only choose to stay in that universe for the rest of your life, or disappear forever from this one.", the girl said after helping him to lay down on the bed while she was preparing his injections.
Everything was white inside the laboratory and the strong lights hurt his eyes so he decided to close them, hoping he will fall asleep so he can dream of his Kyungsoo again until he's out of this world.
Now, when someone gets close to 100 years old, the last days of being 99 is the last one of being alive. This way, they will die in the exact moment when they will get to 100 and from there, they are the one to choose. They gave them the chance to meet with their soulmate in the place where they died. Only if the soulmate was already dead or, dying at the same moment, which was rare, almost never happens. They would regain the body they had last time they've seen that person and they could choose to either live an eternity with them in a loop, meaning they will get born, find them and lose them again and again or just...disappear from this universe. It was their choice and no one but their brain could influence it. Not even the one who'll present as their soulmate.
It was 50 minutes before Kai's birthday. He wasn't sleeping yet. He couldn't.
"Happy to leave, Mr Kim? You think you'll see your wife there?", the girl asked as she was preparing the monitor.
He smiled but deep down, he knew that Jennie wasn't his soulmate. And he was afraid he will get there and he will be alone.
"What if I've never met my soulmate in this life?" he asked, shouting again.
The girl laughed, showing him a smile before putting his special glasses on, connecting the small cables from the monitor to his temples and chest. "I'm sure you did... You just have to find them there."
The old man could feel his whole body relaxing as he closed his eyes again, taking short breathes. In front of his eyes was the old memory of Kyungsoo painting their old apartment on a rainy day while he was painting on a canvas. Ballet music on the background, playing on the old pick up the owner before forgot there when he moved out. They considered that a gift.
"Good luck, Mr Kim." was the last words he heard before everything would turn black.
A second later, he was walking around the streets of a city he knew too well. Everything seemed to be so familiar and yet, so strange.
The place where your soulmate is... He murmured to himself as he looked around with a frown, walking down the streets of Venice.
It was a hot, summer day, nothing to compare with cold, January one that was serving as his birthday, and death day. People were walking around, holding hands and laughing together with their friends and family. For a second he thought that maybe he'll really meet Jennie here or, at least one of their kids. But these thoughts were washed away where he heard a voice coming from his behind.
"It was time to show up, little Venice bitch."
Kai could only smile when he saw the man in front of him, sitting down beside him on the small boat.
"Your little Venice bitch."
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2980 WORDS.
I hope you guys enjoyed it, it was my first time writing something so different.