"I thought I was delusional.”

Minho can’t help but smile, “Why?”

“I was walking to the station from work the other day and I looked up at the sky, expecting grey and black and white.” The stranger was smiling at the memory too, his fingertips hovering over the rim of the cup in front of him. “Imagine my wonder when I saw a streak of something else – that color being orange.” He chuckled, making Minho’s ears perk up at the pretty sound, “It was the same color on the egg I ate this breakfast too. I never believed the others when they said the sun looks like raw egg yolk.”

“How did you know it was orange?”

“My roommate told me, he found his soulmate two years ago.” And this was at this point where the stranger finally looked up to meet Minho’s eyes. “I’m a bit jealous before that he already found his so I’m really glad I found mine. It was worth the wait.”

He never thought he’ll adore brown just as much as he does now, and in his boggled mind Minho thought he saw the most beautiful shade of brown filling the stranger’s eyes. “Yeah, it really was.”

They were both smiling – playful and innocent at the same time, hiding under a blanket of what ifs and maybes and let’s sees. “I’m Nam Taehyun.”

Nam Taehyun.

Song Minho’s soulmate is Nam Taehyun.

“Song Minho,” he didn’t know his hand was already reaching to tuck some stray strands of Nam Taehyun’s hair behind his ears, “And you’re stuck with me.”

Jamais Vu

(Never seen)

“Everyone you know is somehow a bit of a stranger, and everything is new – extremely confusing, and frustrating.”*

1:

Minho learned, when his eyes met the stranger’s and a slow smile blossomed on the other’s lips, that the other was looking for him too. He also learned that Nam Taehyun entered the café because he suddenly saw orange yesterday the exact moment he passed by the establishment. The only reason why Taehyun did not go back was because he wasn’t sure of what was happening, and instead opted to go home to ask his trusted roommate.

Taehyun left at around nine a.m. for his photoshoot, with a promise to meet Minho again the next day. Minho, with a wide grin plastered on his face, forgot about his own work and ran out of the coffee shop with an appalled wince and a hurried goodbye to the old man by the counter.

To his luck, their boss doesn’t seem to be in the office when he punched in for his attendance but he was still greeted by his co-worker who commented on his tardiness.

“Minho-yah you got to be more careful next time, you hear me?” The taller man told him half-heartedly as he swiveled his rolling chair closer to Minho’s cubicle.

“Yes hyung,” was what Minho answered before he pointed at the plant near his desk. “Wah! I never thought it was… colored!” he exclaimed, too late to notice the surprise in his co-worker’s face.

“You can see green!?”

So it’s’ green’. Then Minho remembered, his cheeks burning. “I met my soulmate this morning…”

“Wow! Lucky! Now I can finally talk to you about all the colors I see!”

Minho slowly turned his body towards the other, “Wait, wait, wait, hyung… you already found your soulmate?”

The other nodded, somewhat bashful. “Yep! Almost two years ago! I just didn’t want to be insensitive so…”

*

Minho lay on his bed awake that night, neck bent towards his window so he could see some stars scattered through the night sky. Were the stars really white?

He reached for his phone on top of the bedside drawer. Minho smiled like an idiot as he typed Nam Taehyun’s name and forgot the fact that it’s already past midnight.

To: Nam Taehyun

What color are the stars?

Not a minute after, Minho heard his message tone and he can’t help but feel like a little high school girl receiving a text from her senior crush for the first time.

From: Nam Taehyun

White? I think they are, but sometimes I could see a spark of yellow. Why are you still up?

Because I’m thinking of you.

Minho briefly considered the reply, just to delete it halfway, settling instead with:

To: Nam Taehyun

Ah, I just can’t sleep. What about you?

From: Nam Taehyun

I was thinking of you.

Minho felt his heart stop, and then it ran fast and did a summersault.

His fingers were shaking, but he still managed to reply as quickly as possible.

To: Nam Taehyun

I wanted to tell you that first, haha.

From: Nam Taehyun

Glad I beat you to it. I’m free the whole day tomorrow btw.

Minho’s heart skipped a beat and he sat up, raking his hair back in part frustration because it wasn’t his rest day tomorrow.

But maybe he can ask Seunghoon to cover for him…

To: Nam Taehyun

Me too :)

From: Nam Taehyun

Really? Great, we should sleep now then. See you tomorrow.

To: Nam Taehyun

See you! :D

But Minho didn’t sleep after that, because he had to call Senghoon several times before the other picked up with a disgruntled and exasperated: “What the hell Song Minho, it’s two in the morning.”

Minho apologized repeatedly before telling why he called.

Seunghoon’s voice was raw, hoarse even, “Okay. Just let me sleep.”

Minho thanked him and promised to treat him to lunch next time.

The second time Minho met Taehyun in the coffee shop, he ordered something different, but not really.

He was wearing a lavender sweatshirt paired with pale grey ripped pants as he waited for the café door to ring its bell. When it did, Minho almost stood up, only to be frozen in place as he saw Taehyun in a striped shirt and tight dark pants.

Taehyun saw him too, and waved at him shyly as he walked to where Minho was and took the seat across from him.

“Try cappuccino, it has this golden brown foam on top,” Taehyun said as he leaned forward like he wasn’t too fond of the small table separating them.

Minho noticed this, and as he ordered the drink he leaned forward as well, until their noses were mere inches apart.

It was somehow embarrassing, but none of them thought it was awkward.

“How was your photoshoot yesterday?”

“Better,” Taehyun has the most beautiful smile Minho had ever seen. He so wanted to tell that to the other but Minho was still afraid that he might come off creepy. “It’s better because I can now see the colors. Thank you.”

Minho shook his head, “No, thank you.” They went about thanking each other back and forth until their drinks arrived and then they started talking about the sky and stars.

They left after they finished their drinks and decided to take a stroll, entranced by the colors that pass them by, swerving, in a spiral of beauty none of them thought ever existed.
 

It was still patches of yellows, blues and greens. Sometimes, Minho would see other unfamiliar ones but he’ll just smile and look over Taehyun who was busy taking pictures with his camera.

At one point, Taehyun noticed him staring and apologized for his lack of attention. “Don’t worry about it,” Minho assured him, “I was admiring the view.”

Taehyun chuckled and held his camera down, “But you were looking at me?”

“I am, because you’re the most beautiful view.”

Minho basked in glee when he saw Taehyun trying to cover his reddening ears and hoisting his camera back up to cover his flushed cheeks, “You smooth talker.”

“Did it work?” Minho teased as he brushed the camera away from Taehyun’s face and was glad as the other let him.

“…Yeah.”

And Minho grinned, his fingers intertwining with Taehyun’s.

*

Taehyun said, when they were watching the clouds on the hill a few dates after their first one, that he wanted to become a photographer so he could document everything, see them all in color once he can.

“I honestly thought I’ll never find you,” Minho didn’t see the way Taehyun smiled at him because he was too busy pointing at a cloud that looks like a strawberry.  “It wasn’t like I actually was looking