Kim Jongdae had always been the type of guy to take his time in everything he does. Whenever a project is handed to him by his boss, he does the project so leisurely. The fact that he can get away from handing in project like that was peculiar to many of his colleagues but they didn’t dare mutter a single word because in whatever Kim Jongdae did, mistakes were never present. Whatever project he was given, it’ll become a big success so his boss dare not fire him even if he only does about two to three project a year when his usual employees get about ten or more of them.

--

It was Christmas Day but to Jongdae, it was just another day whereby he can wake up late and just waste the time away the whole day without colleagues trying to up to him. Personally, he hated how his colleagues act around him. Don’t get him wrong, he wants friends but he could see that his colleagues were too clouded with jealousy to make them worthy of a friendship with him. He merely wanted someone who he could joke or talk with without them asking work related stuff. He doesn’t like talking about work outside his workplace. That’s just how he is.

He opened his eyes and saw light peering in his room in between his dark curtains. He turned his head to check the time and it was 9:21am. He smiled and stretched his whole body. He can’t help but just be so joyous that he could wake up late and not because it’s Christmas day. He doesn’t have a family to go back to ever since they found out he could never give his heart to a woman. They threw all of his belongings at his face. Hate and disgust were sketched so clearly on their faces. Jongdae was so ready to turn his back from his whole family but the sadness that was seen on his brother’s face, Jongdae promised to himself that he’ll visit Joonmyeon in the future.

He readied himself and headed out of the door. While locking his door, his neighbour, Baekhyun waved and said hello. Jongdae waved back and smiled. Even though he lived on the top storey, he took his time and went down using the staircase instead of the lift. Once he gotten down on the ground floor, half an hour had already passed. The chilly air greeted him as soon as he took a step out of the building ground floor. He pocketed his hands and strolled down the street.

He decided to take a turn where he never went before just for the fun of it. He had all the time in the world anyway. Nothing was unusual in the street but he couldn’t help but feel so spooked. Maybe it was the silence that shrouded the road. Neither people nor even a presence of a voice was heard but Jongdae shrugged it off. He thought that it was surely from all the horror films he watched the night before.

He was whistling and looking down on the road, concentrating on his footsteps when he heard someone whisper his name. He felt the hair on the nape of his neck stand but once again, he ignored it, thinking it’s from the cold. When he looked up, he noticed a tree. It was a kind of tree that was too perfect to be on a quiet street like that. The tree had perfect trunks and shape, as if wanting to stand out as the main attraction of the street. As a result of the silence, he could hear something ticking. Curiosity killed the cat, Jongdae went to check out where it’s coming from. The sound was too audible for a watch but he didn’t really care.

He dug out the snow and when his hands were numb from the cold, he finally found the source of the sound. It was a pocket watch. It was vintage and old but it wasn’t rusty. It was that of usual pocket watch you’ll get to see in a night market but there’s something different from the object. On the cover of the watch, there was a big T carved on it, as if saying that the watch belong to a person that has a name initial ‘T’. Jongdae pouted and pocketed the watch.

“Finders keepers,” he whispered to himself.

After an hour of walking down the unknown street, he took a turn again, leading him back to a familiar road. He could feel himself shaking from the temperature so he decided to go inside a cafe.

When he had taken his order and sat down, he heard the loveliest laughter in the world. He turned around and saw a group of friends chattering loudly which was such a contrast to the cafe’s environment. Once again, he heard the laughter. The laughter was so full of joy that makes Jongdae want to laugh along. He saw that the source was from a guy with dimples on his right cheek. It makes Jongdae’s heart skip a beat. Jongdae widened his eyes and turned his sight away from him. Sure, Jongdae wants to have a boyfriend but he wasn’t one to make the first move and he is very shy when it comes to guys he likes. He hates it. No one would have thought he was that kind of guy since he was so nonchalant about everything he does.

He looked back at the guy again and he found out that he was looking directly at him. Jongdae looked away, feeling blood rush up to his cheeks.

“Damn it,” Jongdae thought.

Jongdae’s head snapped up when he saw the guy he like standing before him, smiling that made him show his dimples.

“Can I freaking cut off that dimple, it’s making my heart beat crazily,” Jongdae thought with a groan.

The guy sat in front of him and introduced himself as Zhang Yixing. Jongdae tilted his head to the side with a frown at the unusual name. Yixing explained that he was from China and Jongdae smiled as a response. Finally gathering courage, Jongdae introduced himself. Just like that, they started to talk nonstop as if they met so long ago. Whistles and words of teasing were coming out from Yixing’s friends and Jongdae wanted nothing but to bury himself six feet underground. Yixing laughed at their teasing and reassured Jongdae that they were just messing around.

“I really like you,” Yixing said casually, “We should go out sometimes, yea?”

Jongdae smiled and nodded.

He didn’t realise that he had spent so much time in the cafe because once he went out, it was already night. Taking his time in going home, he hummed to himself, taking small steps. He took the stairs up ever so slowly because once he reaches home, he’ll do nothing.

He opened the door to his apartment and took his time to get ready for bed. He placed his pocket watch on his bedside table and once again, there was the same voice that whispered his name just now. He stood frozen for a while but ignored it. He went to bed, and he was thankful that there weren’t any scary whispers that were heard.

--

Jongdae woke up and turned his head to his clock, frowning why his alarm clock didn’t ring at all. He saw that it was 09:21 am and he immediately sat upright, thinking he was already late for work but when he checked his phone, it was Christmas Day.

He furrowed his eyebrows and he swore that he already went through Christmas Day but he shook his head because such thing as repeating a day itself was impossible. He scratched his neck, confused because he couldn’t shake off the feeling that something was definitely wrong. While readying himself, he was so lost in thought that he put on his clothes the other way around. Jongdae cursed and decided to stop thinking too much and went out of his apartment.

When locking the door, he saw his neighbour, Baekhyun, who waved and greeted a hello towards him. Jongdae smiled and waved back. When he walked away, he stopped in his tracks for a while and continued.

“Déjà vu,” he whispered.

However, Jongdae couldn’t remember any dream that was similar to what was happening to him at the moment so Jongdae did what he does best, ignore it.

--

While walking down the street, he had his hands in his pocket and was looking down, concentrating on his footings. When he was about to pass a street, he stopped in his tracks. He looked up and turned his head towards a quiet street.

Strange, Jongdae thought. He swore he went to that street but how could he when he haven’t even stepped in the creepy street before. Then there was someone that whispered his name which got him to snap his head back to look for the source but no one was looking at him. Everyone was too busy doing their own thing. Jongdae blinked, confused.

He shook his head and chuckled to himself. He thought that it must be all the horror movies that he watched the night before. He remembered watching. . .

What was it I watched? Jongdae thought. He cursed as how forgetful he became. He wasn’t a forgetful person but it feels like he didn’t watch a movie yesterday. It felt like days ago. He sighed and looked around. Everything seemed normal, though. Maybe he was just tired.

He decided to go inside a cafe and sat down when he got his order. A loud laugh caught his attention. He turned his head around to catch a glimpse of a guy with a dimple. He felt his heart skip a beat and he swore under his breath.

“Have I seen him somewhere before?” he whispered to himself.

The dimple guy seemed to notice Jongdae and smiled at him. He widened his eyes as he was caught red-handed. He looked away and took a sip of his coffee. He cursed when the hot coffee spilled a little on his hand. It was scalding hot and Jongdae banged the cup on the table.

“Be careful there,” an amused voice told him.

Jongdae looked up and saw dimple guy. Jongdae took in a sharp breath when the stranger (or is he? Jongdae thought) took his hand and wiped it with a tissue gently. Jongdae gulped at the contact and he snatched his hands away immediately which got a laugh from the latter.

“What’s your name?” he asked Jongdae.

So Jongdae introduced himself and he found out that the dimple guy is named Yixing. Jongdae knew that he was from China before the latter told him. He didn’t know how he found out but it was like a gut feeling.

While they were having their conversation, it felt as if Jongdae went through it before. Yixing’s friends were teasing the both of them and Yixing laughed as he saw how red Jongdae was. Yixing decided that they should continue their conversation outside.

“Nice weather, huh?” Yixing said, while looking up.

Jongdae scoffed and replied, “Yeah, if you love freezing.”

The older lad laughed, amused. He wrapped an arm around Jongdae’s shoulder and turned to him. Jongdae squirmed quietly at how close Yixing’s lips were from his face.

“Warmer?” Yixing whispered teasingly in his ears.

Jongdae tensed at the latter’s action and Yixing smiled cheekily.

“You’re so cute!” Yixing cooed.

Jongdae slapped Yixing’s hands away from his cheeks and huffed.

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