[ Kevin’s POV ]

I stared at Ren who was standing right in front of me, out of all times, it had to be now when all the drama hits. What is this some freaking drama or fanfiction? I glared at Ren who was obviously reading my thoughts. You nosy brat, I thought rudely. He stared at me and chuckled, taking off his hat, brushing off the…I’m assuming star dust. Ren nodded at my guess and put a thumb up. I rolled my eyes and stared at Ren who was now scanning the hallway. I wonder what _____ is doing right now..

“She’s with Eli.” Ren answered, chuckling. He studied my annoyed expression and smiled: “I guess I should be promoted to a matchmaker also, you like ______, don’t you?” I looked away and ruffled the back of my hair.

“What makes you think that?” I muttered stubbornly.

“I learned this new technique while I was away where I could instantly pop up this.” He snapped his finger and a bowl appeared on the palm of his hand. “This bowl could instantly reflect your feelings and show how you truly feel, all you need is a dash of stardust and well, DNA.” He smiled and plucked a hair out of my head.

“Ow?” I growled, rubbing the area where it started to sting. “ Ow! Yah!” I growled as a late reaction, I can’t believe he just pulled a hair out of my head. Stupid Ren. He glared back at me and placed the strand of hair in the bowl. Nothing was happening, I stared into the silver bowl, the water in it, nothing happening at all. I pouted at him and growled:

“Lame trick.”

He shot a death glare and shushed me as he placed a finger against his shimmering lips glossed with.. what star dust again? He stared back at me and frowned.

“I haven’t put in the star dust yet, that’s why the water isn’t reflecting any of your true feeling, you dimwit.”

“What did you call me?” I snapped, raising my fist. But I remember the last time I tried grabbing Ren’s collar, he used this attack technique that made me feel all woozy. I cringed at the memory and watched Ren take out a small ….ziplock. How lame, I rolled my eyes, earning yet another glare from him. He sprinkled the star dust in the bowl and the water glowed as radiant as the morning sun.  I stared into the radiant water and waited. Nothing’s happening.

“You’re supposed to drink it.” He frowned, face-palming.

“Say what? I just put my hair in there! You expect me to.. to.. drink my hair?” I asked, stupefied.

“Don’t worry, because of the stardust, it’s actually yummy, tastes like bananas.” He smiled, almost as radiant as the water.

I scowled at his remark and grabbed onto the bowl with both hands. What if I end up getting poisoned? I heard Ren chuckle lightly under his breath. I brought the bowl close to my face and sniffed the essence coming out of it. And it surprisingly, smells like bananas. I blinked and slowly chugged the water. A sudden drowsiness filled my mind, instantly I fell asleep.

***

A bitter taste surrounded the cavern of my mouth, yuck.. I felt dizzy.

“Wakey, wakey!” Ren smiled, sitting right in front of me. I scanned the room, everything was blue, from the walls to the furniture. A baby blue, to be more exact. I got up and looked around, everything was placed in order, everything was clean, not a single dust bunny anywhere. Where are we…?

“We are in the Starlite Realm of Reflection.” He smiled, twirling with his hands raised up in the sky. “When you drank the bowl, it permitted me to let you enter the Starlite Realm for a maximum of 2 hours and the ability to see your true feelings without any false interruptions, and in your case, there are an enormous amount of them.” He smiled, he grabbed my arm and led me to the other side of the room. “Come, come. Let’s see what you truly feel.”

In front of me was a large mirror as huge as a… oh gosh, it’s probably bigger than an elephant. I stared at the mirror wideyed and stared at Ren, wondering what the hell am I supposed to do. He gestured me to sit down, so I did.

“Now, inhale, take a deep breath, ease your mind and stare at the mirror.”

As instructed, I inhaled a full amount of fresh air and tried to gain a submissive peaceful state of mind. I pictured her smile, the smile that always soothed me. I smiled back and stared at the mirror.

“Now, close your eyes and well, you’ll see.”

I closed my eyes shut and waited. Wooosh! A sudden wind whirled through the room, more like it whirled around me. I kept my eyes closed as I felt a sudden cold air surround my body.

“Open your eyes.” I..said? Wait, that’s my voice. I opened my eyes abruptly and stared at two legs. I looked up and stared at the mirror..no, it wasn’t a mirror. It was me, a copy of me, the real me? I got up slowly and stared back at him, no, wait, me. I meant me.

“Shocked?” He asked, leading me to a couple of seats. I sat down across from him and scanned the room once more. This time the color of the room was of a baby pink, I was somewhere else. Where am I? I looked around the room in absolute awe and then cleared my throat.

“So..So, you’re the real me?” I asked him, uh..me. Whatever.

“Well, you’re you. I’m you. I’m just the true feelings that lie in deep within you. I’m usually locked away by your false feelings and of course, what’s common amongst most humans, stubbornness.” He laughed once again, ruffling the back of his head.

“I-I..see. So..” I wasn’t sure what to say or what to do. Why am I here again?

“Ask me anything, I mean Ren put in a sufficient amount of stardust to be able to answer all your questions, if you have any, that is. Don’t tell me, Ren was just showing off his skills.” He rolled his eyes and slammed the desk, causing me to jolt.

“I..I actually have a question.” I raised my hand in retreat.

“Ask away, although, I already know what you’re going to ask. Haha.” His laugh..my laugh sing-songed in my mind. I have quite a nice voice, I nodded proudly.

“I wanted to ask you about ______.” I whispered quietly. “I don’t know how I’m feeling towards her at all. I’m not sure. I don’t know what to do. I..what should I do?”

“Kevin. I could tell you how you feel, correction, how you truly feel but I cannot tell you what to do. I don’t have that kind of ability. You have to make your own choices. I’m sorry that I couldn’t be more of help, but all I can do is clear your questions about your feelings.”

I nodded and smiled weakly: “Alright, hit me. How exactly am I feeling towards ______?”

The “true” Kevin in front of me closed his eyes and inhaled slowly. His eyes fluttered open, his eyecolor no longer the same, this time: it was a golden blaze, stars, I stared at him in awe. I watched him glow before my eyes and waited for the truth.

“______-ah. I’m so sorry for all those times I’ve brushed you away, I’ve hurt you, I’ve made you cry. The reason for this w-was..” I stared at the “true” Kevin. He..He was tearing up, tears welled up in his eyes. “I just.. I don’t know I’m not the right man for you, that’s how I feel. When you cry, I don’t know how to react because I’m scared to make you cry even more. When you’re angry, I never back down because I wanted to show you that I have my own solidarity. I didn’t want to seem as feminine as all the other fans would say. When you catch me with Hyuna… My heart breaks for you.” I felt my heart start to pound. “You and Eli are perfect together. He protects you. He loves you. He relies on you and you rely on him. Everything he has done is right, everything I have done was wrong. I will do anything in my power to keep your smile, that beautiful smile that soothes my heart everyday whenever I’m down. ______, despite our … despite our problematic relationship, despite the drama we will go through, and despite the fact that you love Eli, I will, always. And I mean always. Love you. “ The “true” Kevin’s eyes slowly faded back into our natural eye color. I gasped as all what he said was so much to take in.

“I..I..love her that much.” I whispered, almost relieved.

“You love her as much as any husband would love their wife.” My eyes flickered towards him and I stared at him in shock. Husband? Wife?

“I can’t marry her. We’re too young, we’re… our ..”

“That’s not how you truly feel. Age is just a number to you. If you could, you will go on one knee and you will take this opportunity to marry this girl. She’s young for now, but you would wait for her, even if it was a 1000 years.”

”That’s crazy.” I commented.

“That’s love.”

I got up and adjusted my clothes. So many things were running through my mind, it was amazing. I sighed and stared at me. I took my hand out and shook his hand. “Thank you” I whispered.

“No. Thank you. Goodluck Kevin, remain true with your feelings. There are times where you’d feel negativity. Don’t. Think of her, her smile.”

I smiled at the true me and nodded. I walked back into the mirror and met up with Ren.

***

I shook my head, woosh. That was a rough ride. I closed my eyes waiting for the dizziness to cease. I brought my hands to my face and stared at Ren who was smiling, playing with a golden feather.

“How was it?” He asked, twirling the feather with his hand.

I smiled: “Different, mind opener.”

“I guess we better head home.”

“W-Wait!” I grabbed Ren’s arm before he could do..whatever magic jumbo he does. “This wasn’t the reason why you came. There’s another reason, you said there was a problem. What was that problem? You got to tell me. Is ______ going to get hurt?”

He stared back at me sadly and explained:

“It’s true lately that you’ve been growing tired much earlier despite the big number of hours before it hits 0. You become tired even if there still 16 hours to the clock, right?”

It’s true…Ever since that night at the hotel, I’ve become weaker despite the amount of hours… I shook my head. I thought I just wasn’t getting enough sleep.

“What about?” I asked, staring at him seriously.

“It seems..we have a bit of a fluke in our machinery.” He pointed at my tattoo and stared. Okay and what is it? “Well. Yeah, the tattoo keeps you from fading but.. it might not keep you from disappearing.” My eyes widened. “You..She..has to kiss you. There.” He placed his fingers onto his lips.

“Mw-Mwoh?” W-What is this? I stared at him. “Why?”

“Well, her wish.. was a shot at love and.. it was supposed to be with you and no one else. But she’s with Eli and… that’s a problem. You need to make her fall in love with you and make sure it’s for rea—“

“Forget it.” I interrupted.

“Ke-Kevin-hyung!” He yelled out loud.

“Forget about it. I’m not taking her happiness away.”

“You’ll disappear!” Ren pleaded, both hands grasping together.

I stared at him seriously and told him in my mind:

So be it. If I have to disappear for her to be happy and stay smiling, I’ll be the happiest and I will live with no regrets.

How much time do I have?

Ren stared at me and replied:

“2 weeks.”

“I see.”