[CHAPTER 7]

“ The Anniversary “

The sounds of morning could be heard as doors from the apartments were opening and closing. Birds are chirping from outside the window and even the people from the streets were wide-awake.

Hakyeon was blinded by the morning sun and the peaceful sounds around him. He opened his eyes slowly to a good sleep. But as he turned around, he jolted in surprise.

He was sleeping on Hongbin’s shoulders on the floor by their bedside.

That’s right, we had dinner yesterday and I was reading… did I fall asleep? Hakyeon couldn't help but panic a bit. How did he end up sleeping on Hongbin’s arms though?

Though Hakyeon sees Hongbin almost every single day, it was the first time he’s seen the younger’s face so up close. Indeed, the younger was handsome. Not only did he have a refined jawline, big eyes and long lashes but Hakyeon noticed the bit of dimple Hongbin would show from time to time. The younger’s hair was so soft and silky, almost untouched by anything.

Hakyeon couldn’t help but be mesmerized by the younger’s visuals. Just as he had always thought, Hongbin was indeed a good looking man. If only he didn’t speak such sharp and irritating words from time to time, he would’ve been perfect.

This mouth… that always speak nonsense, what a waste. He thought as he almost felt tempted to touch the younger’s sleeping face.

But just before he was able to do anything, Hongbin woke up.

“Attacking me in my sleep are you?” He said and took Hakyeon’s hands to prevent him from touching his face.

“I-“ Hakyeon was flustered to be caught in the act.

“The time,” Hongbin said.

“Huh?”

“It’s almost 8am. Don’t you have work?”

“Oh shoot!” Hakyeon shot up immediately after realizing that he was completely late.

“Get your face washed. I’ll give you a ride on my bike,” Hongbin offered.

“But.”

“Or do you prefer being late?”

Hakyeon shook his head and dashed for the washroom. He splashed water on his face to wake him up and quickly brushed his teeth. He fixed his clothes and headed outside.

Hongbin was getting his bike ready and waiting for the older to make his way down.

“Are you sure about this?” Hakyeon was worried.

“It’s fine. The bookstore doesn’t open unless I want it to, so just hop on. Don’t waste time,” Hongbin signaled Hakyeon to the backseat.

Hakyeon had no choice but to take Hongbin up on his offer.

“What are you doing after work?” Hongbin asked as he was biking down quickly and safely to Hakyeon’s school.

“Parent-teacher conferences are coming up so I need to prepare for them,” Hakyeon told the younger and holding the younger tightly from behind so he wouldn’t fall off.

“After that?”

“Nothing.”

“Come over to the bookstore. There’s a delivery of new books that will be coming in the afternoon.”

Hakyeon didn’t even hesitate after hearing that the bookstore had more books and nodded in agreement.

“Anyways, I’ll be waiting,” Hongbin said as he dropped Hakyeon off at the school.

Hakyeon couldn’t say much and nodded.

Somehow, the younger’s speech and actions made his heart race a bit more than he would think. Hongbin was thinking about Hakyeon’s interest and the older appreciated it a lot. He hurried to the teacher’s lounge to get his supplies to be stopped by both his friends, Minhyuk and Eunji.

“I saw that,” Minhyuk said.

“Who was that?” Eunji was also curious.

“Huh?” Hakyeon was too much in a hurry to care for what the two was going to bug him about.

“That guy that dropped you off just now,” Minhyuk told him.

“That’s the bookstore clerk from my neighborhood I told you about before.”

“Wait him? No way! He’s such a looker.”

“I heard rumors about that clerk being handsome, so it was true after all,” Eunji commented. “But why did he give you a ride to school?”

“Uh… I woke up late this morning and he’s my neighbor, so he offered me the ride so I wouldn’t be late,” Hakyeon couldn’t look the two in the eyes. He took out all of the details to how it happened, hoping that it would make their pestering stop.

Minhyuk and Eunji chuckled together to see a flustered Hakyeon in front of them. He was obviously hiding something but neither of them wanted to tease their friend too much.

“Anyways, I’m going to be late for class so see ya!” Hakyeon dashed out of the lounge in order to escape the two friends’ questioning.

*  *  *  *  *  *

“But honestly, why is such a good looking young man attending a bookstore that almost no one ever goes to?” Minhyuk asked as the three of them were having their lunch break.

“He said it’s his grandfather’s place and he’s just attending it for the time being while his grandfather is away,” Hakyeon said.

“Where did he come from?” Eunji asked.

“I don’t know… I only know he’s from overseas.”

“Sounds awfully suspicious to me. Does he not go to school either?” Minhyuk asked.

“No he doesn’t. He said he doesn’t know what to major in even if he went.”

“So he just attends the bookstore all day long? What about his friends?”

“I don’t know… he’s new to Gwangju so I don’t think he has many. I’ve only heard about his friends from overseas.”

“He’s such a mystery,” Minhyuk was obviously intrigued by Hongbin’s character.

Hakyeon didn’t think much of it at first but as the three of them talked over lunch, he finally realized that he knew nothing about Hongbin. Where was he born? Which city did he come from? Why did he go overseas? Why did he agree to attending such a secluded bookstore?

The past several months since he’s known Hongbin and not once did the two ever talk about their lives. Hongbin got curious from time to time as he tried to question Hakyeon’s interest and background but Hakyeon was never once curious about the younger. At least, not until now.

*  *  *  *  *  *

“Why did you decide to watch over the bookstore for your grandfather?” Hakyeon finally decided to ask the younger as the two was reading quietly at the store.

Hongbin glanced at Hakyeon for a second, surprised that the older was asking him such a question. There was a slight hesitation in Hongbin’s response but he decided to make up a story to convince the older.

“… Just because I want to. It’s not like I have anything else to do.”

“But you came all this way from overseas right? Isn’t that inconvenient?” Hakyeon asked.

“Not really,” Hongbin averted his gaze from Hakyeon’s sudden questioning because it really didn’t take him much effort to get to Hakyeon’s story from Moirae’s Edge.

“What about your parents? Are they overseas as well?”

“Uh yeah, they are.”

“Don’t you miss them?”

“It’s fine. They’re more than happy that I’m out of the house anyways.”

“Huh?”

“I… don’t like going out much. It’s bothersome,” Hongbin tried to hide his facial expressions by looking down at his comic book while answering to Hakyeon’s questions.

Does he not have a good relationship with his parents? Hakyeon thought and almost felt sorry for asking Hongbin such a sensitive topic. Just like… me.

“Anyways!” Hongbin tried hard to shift the topic away from himself, “how’s the book?”

Hakyeon was reading a new novel and couldn’t find himself to put it down. He usually doesn’t read fantasy or sci-fi genre novels but this time, he was completely intrigued by the story.

A story of world from beyond.

A story of the past and the different worlds that divided the Gods and mortals.

It was a beautiful story about meetings, reunions and eternity.

“Thanks for recommending it to me,” Hakyeon said. “It’s very interesting.”

“Good to hear, now go back to reading so you don’t have to stay up all night again losing sleep because you can’t put the book down,” Hongbin directed him.

Hakyeon nodded obediently and continued with his reading.

Though Hakyeon decided not to question Hongbin any further about the younger’s interest and background, he couldn’t help but be curious after all. The younger was mystery, just like Minhyuk and Eunji said.

Hakyeon really didn’t know anything about Hongbin and almost wished he knew more. Was it because of his curiosity or was it because he wants to be closer with the younger?

It’s true that Hongbin could be a bit sharp tongued and straightforward at times, Hakyeon can’t deny the fact that Hongbin was still a good kid.

He’s seen Hongbin help out the landlady carry heavy objects around or even help a grandma walk across the crossroads. He’s even caught Hongbin playing with a few kids at the nearby park from time to time. All of these things were proof that Hongbin wasn’t as bad as he sounds to be.

I wish we could be friends… Hakyeon thought as he recalled all of the past occurrences.

Bzz. Bzz.

Hakyeon’s phone vibrated suddenly and made him jolt.

He was being so absent minded while thinking of Hongbin that he panicked for no reason.

He looked to see what made his phone vibrate suddenly and on the screen was a reminder. A reminder of an upcoming date.

“No way…” Hakyeon’s jaws dropped and couldn’t believe it.

He forgot that ‘this day’ was coming up. He’s never forgotten about it once for the past four years yet this year, he did.

On the calendar of his phone was a reminder of a certain day that he vowed to himself once before that he would never forget it.

An ‘anniversary’.

Hakyeon felt weak to his knees, weakened by the fact that he has completely forgotten about such an important day. What was he thinking?

*  *  *  *  *  *

Hongbin was bored out of his mind as he attended the bookstores. There were no customers at this time of day and he’s read all of this week’s comic books already.

He let out a big yawn as he stared at the clock moving ever so slowly.

“Maybe I should just close for today since there’s no business anyways,” he thought.

He took out a piece of paper out of boredom and started to scribble on it. On it, he wrote the name ‘Wonshik’.

He wrote his friend’s name onto the piece of paper that Wonshik had given him in case he needed help. Hongbin waited patiently for either his friend to reply or just come to his bookstore in person.

“What do you want?” Wonshik really appeared as he had hoped.

“Entertain me,” Hongbin said in a bored voice.

Wonshik looked at the other ridiculously.

“I’m leaving,” he turned around getting ready to make a gate way back to the facility. He had no time to waste on such a trivial matter.

“Wait!” Hongbin chased after his friend.

“What?” The other glared at him, clearly annoyed.

“What’s happening around the facility lately? Should I go back for a bit?” He asked.

“Everything is fine.”

“But isn’t the break over already? Maybe I should go back just in case.”

Hongbin was truly too bored attending the empty bookstore that he would rather record names in the library to waste his time.

“Don’t worry about that. Jaehwan-hyung helped you get a temporary leave after exaggerating that you got really ill over the break and needs major rest…” Wonshik even felt ridiculous thinking about the excuses that the older came up with just so that Hongbin could extend his stay on Earth.

“Thank Jaehwan-hyung for me.”

“I will. By the way, where’s Cha Hakyeon?” Wonshik looked around.

“He’s at work still. Why are you looking for him?” Hongbin was confused. “The two of you haven’t met yet so I don’t know if that’s a good idea…”

“That’s not it. Do you know what day is coming up?”

Hongbin shook his head in which Wonshik let out a deep sigh.

“The anniversary of that person,” Wonshik reminded him.

Realizing what Wonshik was referring to, Hongbin took out a calendar to confirm the upcoming date. His friend was right, an anniversary was coming up. Suddenly, he felt panicked inside and couldn’t help but worry about Hakyeon.

“Do you know where he is?” Hongbin asked.

“Last time I read, he should’ve gotten off work already and nearby,” Wonshik informed him.

“Thanks!”

Hongbin grabbed his coat and belongings in a hurry as he dashed for the door.

Please don't do anything stupid, he prayed as he ran through every corner of the neighborhood in order to find Hakyeon.

*  *  *  *  *  *

The rain was pouring hard that day, as if it was reflecting on the days that were to come.

Where did it go wrong? How could he have forgotten? Hakyeon kept wondering those things over and over in his head yet he was left without an answer.

Hakyeon could feel the rain seeping through his clothes and shoes, his hair was completely drenched yet, he made no attempt to escape the downpour. In fact, he felt the rain could wash away his sin; his sin of forgetting such an important date.

Why, why, why, his head began to pound as he walked through the way.

“How did I forget?” He asked himself once more.

Not once in the past four years has he ever forgotten about that day because it was the day where his life took a different turn. It was a day where he came to question the meaning of who he is and why he exist. Hakyeon became a different person that day and even though he once thought he should have let it go, he couldn’t.

Everything had changed since that encounter.

Bzz. Bzz.

Hakyeon took out his phone and glanced at who it was. To his surprise, it was Hongbin.

[Where are you?] The younger texted him since Hakyeon did not pick up his calls at all.

“Hong…bin…” he muttered the younger’s name.

For a moment, he had forgotten about such a person’s name. If he had forgotten Hongbin’s name, maybe… just maybe, he wouldn’t have forgotten about the anniversary.

Hakyeon realized it that ever since his meeting with the young man named ‘Lee Hongbin,’ his life had changed once more. He thought his life would just stay the way it had always been but after meeting Hongbin, he found the joys of life that he had once forgotten.

It wasn’t because Hongbin was gentle or caring, but rather just his presence was more than enough for Hakyeon to move forward. But that didn’t mean he was willing to forget about the day marked on his calendar.

Hakyeon wants to resent Hongbin for appearing in his life but at the same time, he couldn’t find himself to blame the younger.

“What am I doing?” He was in despair as his tears were blended in by the heavy rain.

He walked slowly through the pouring rain back home but his legs were giving in, weak and frozen. Could he really go home? Can he really face Hongbin?

It’s not his fault… even though it isn’t his fault… I… Hakyeon kept trying to tell himself.

BEEEEEEP!!

Right before his very eyes while his mind was still absent, Hakyeon saw the blinding lights rushing towards him. His body froze from the fear that was approaching and his entirety began to tremble. He closed his eyes, readying for the worst but just then, someone pulled his arms tightly and pulled him away.

“Are you insane?!”

Hakyeon opened his eyes to see Hongbin in front of him, drenched in rain like himself and almost out of breath.

“Don’t you watch where you’re going?! Why didn’t you move out of the way?!” Hongbin was furious and yelled at the older.

“Hongbin…ah…” Hakyeon was slowly coming back to reality and the fact that the younger saved him from almost getting hit by a car.

“Are you trying to get yourself killed?!”

“I—“

He has never seen Hongbin lose his temper like this and it was all because of him. Hakyeon was speechless at the situation.

“Are you trying to get yourself killed again?!”

Again.

Those words rung through Hakyeon’s head over and over.

That’s right, this wasn’t the first time since such an accident had happened before. Except, this time, Hongbin was there to prevent it.

*  *  *  *  *  *

A/N: How the heck do I type 'sounds'? It's so hard to write the sounds in my head because I'm envisioning this fic like a drama *sigh* Also, shout out to the book that Hongbin gave to Hakyeon ~