Jongin cleared his throat, shuffling his papers over and over again as a form of distraction.

He was a little nervous about the whole situation at hand and it would be a certain lie to say that his shaking knee and sweaty palms weren’t a clear indication of it.

After all, he was invited to be the key note speaker at a special felicitation ceremony being held at his old school and it had never been his strong suit to go and talk in front of large crowds. He was definitely more of a private person, preferring one-on-one conversations instead.

He was considering going out and backing away from the opportunity, when a slim soft pale hand rested upon his tan one, squeezing gently, as a sort of reminder that they’d always be there for Jongin no matter what he decided to do.

Looking into those beautiful eyes, he cracked a grateful smile towards his lover, knowing that with him by his side even infinity was possible.

He had finally gotten that little bit of extra courage he desperately needed to face the large crowd gathered there.

He knew why the ceremony was being held anyway. All these people, his old faculty and present students, they were all there to present him with an honour because of his new book release.

Jongin was going to make sure to remember this moment for the rest of his life, since it was phenomenally important to tell people of this story, his story some would say. The world, he felt, needed to know what he had written.

He was re-checking his suit for non-existent wrinkles and clasping his lover’s hand tightly when he heard the host’s loud “And now welcoming our key note speaker of the evening, let’s give a big hand of applause to Dr. Kim Jongin.”

His ears rang loudly with the applause as he got up,  smiling politely at people he passed by and slowly made his way to the stage, the sound of his shoes clacking against the hardwood floor being heard clearly in the silent auditorium.

The announcer welcomed him with a big smile and polite handshake, signalling him to make his speech.

He, on instinct, looked out for his significant other in the crowd, knowing that once he could look into his eyes and see his reassuring smile, everything would automatically get better. And it did. Taking a deep breath, Jongin began.

“Hello, I’m Dr. Kim Jongin and I stand before you all a very humbled diagnostic physician who has been very lucky to do well in his field. I’ll keep my speech short and sweet, as most would prefer. The organisers of this event want me to tell you about all the achievements I’ve managed to snag in my 35 years. They want you to listen to me telling you about how choosing medicine was the most gratifying thing I’ve ever done in my life.

But I’ll be a little unorthodox and tell you about the one person that changed my life for the better. He was my patient and my best friend.

And for that, you’ll have to read my book to find out. Thank you for the honour you’re all bestowing upon me. Godspeed.”

He politely made his way down the stage, getting sporadic applause for his less than descriptive speech. But Dr. Kim Jongin had a reputation for being a genius, so maybe there was some deeper meaning involved.

He kissed the fair skin of his lover’s nape as a sign of welcome and teasingly asked how he was on stage.

“Vague. Delightfully vague.” He muttered, leaning into Jongin’s touch.

This was how Jongin believed life should be, both of them against the world.

There was a book signing event right after the ceremony, with his publisher insisting that it would be a wasted opportunity to not talk advantage of Jongin’s felicitation at all.

It was an hour later, with Jongin’s tie visibly loosened and shirt sleeves rolled up, when it began. He was in his element, and this was the moment he had actually been looking forward to the entire day long.

The book signing and meet and greet was being held in the book store on campus, they had organised a little stage here as well, but that was for the author’s reading.

His arms were a little sore from all the signing of books he did and he smiled warmly as he made himself comfortable on the stool sitting upon the stage, an intimate crowd of perhaps 70 or so people looking up at him eagerly, waiting for him to start the session.

His lover was sitting somewhere far back in the crowd, not wanting to distract Jongin when he interacting with his readers. He wanted to be part of the experience of it all, and while he was part of the experience the book spoke about, this would be the first time he would know the story through Jongin’s words and eyes.

Said man cleared his throat and was about to start talking, when a tiny female figure up ahead raised their hand as a form of question.

She was cute and obviously painfully shy, with half her face covered up in a giant scarf.

“Hello Sir, I’m a student here at the university and a very big fan of your work. I was actually umm wondering if the story you’ve referred to in your book, ‘The Final Promise’ is real or just something you wrote fictionally.”

He smiled as he looked at the tiny person, her shoulders slightly hunched- as if she were shocked at her own ability at speaking up all of a sudden in front of her role model. She was shuffling her feet uncomfortably when Jongin answered.

“The story is completely real” he ensured, “It’s not a work of fiction and the only source I’ve had to write it with are my personal diary, friends and fading memories. The book is completely non-fiction, and is the story of the person it’s dedicated to- Do Kyungsoo, a man who changed my life entirely.”

The girl nodded furiously as she heard his words, while his lover clasped his hands tightly. Jongin became so passionate when he spoke about what happened, and he knew how affected he was by it all still.

On the other hand, Kim Jongin continued, “I’m sure I can speak for every person in this room and in the world when I say that we all have a one great love. We all have that one person- it could be our 1st love, our 2nd or 3rd love or even a passing crush, we all have that one person who changed us completely and who defined us for who we are. If you haven’t experienced that one great love yet, don’t fret.

Cause it’s waiting for you all out there, ready for the claiming.

The reason I speak of one’s true love is because the person who I’m going to speak about, the one in the story, Do Kyungsoo is mine. He made me realise life in a way, and I’m sure I’ll never regret the moment I met him.”

His voice shook slightly and he cleared his throat to calm himself down. It was the first time he was ever going to talk about the book in public, he might as well do it right.

He flashed his pearly whites to the crowd. “Let’s get this story started then.”

Dr. Kim Jongin was known to be one of the brightest diagnostic physicians in Seoul and at the age of 30, had made quite an impact on the medical front.

He was known for being upfront to his patients, choosing them specifically before he diagnosed them. He was very selective of them and for very good reason indeed.

You see, due to his reputation, many people came to consult him about their ailments, imagined or otherwise.

Such as that one time, when one of the hospital trustee’s wives barged into his office rudely, claiming she had severe migraines that just wouldn’t go away and insisted that Jongin must treat her ASAP.

He rolled his eyes at her stand offish behaviour, choosing to just see what was bothering the old bat instead.

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