Taehyung separates his lips from his dongsaeng's. His tears don't stop for a second. 

That's it. I've lost him, he thinks to himself. 

To his surprise, in front of him stands a very much not dead Jeongguk. Taehyung's eyes widen and so do Jeongguk's. 

"What the-" is the only thing that escapes Jeongguk's mouth. It's not because of the kiss, but because...

...because he's still breathing. Because his chest keeps going up and down and his heart beats - a little faster than normal, nevertheless still beats. 

Taehyung is too shocked to say anything. He quickly grabs Jeongguk's arm and suddenly his eyes widen even more. 

No mark. 

No date. 

Nothing. 

Jeongguk's eyes avert to where Taehyung is looking. He thought perhaps he saw wrong. Maybe he had made a mistake. But, no. He sees the same as Taehyung. Clear. His arm is clear. 

"What the hell happened?" Jeongguk asks. 

"Who cares?! Jeon Jeongguk, you're still alive!" Taehyung takes Jeongguk in his arms and squeezes him tightly. "I thought I'd lost you forever, oh my God! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" 

Jeongguk hugs Taehyung back and they stay like that for a while. 

What in the world happened? Jeongguk kept asking himself. Why am I still here? 

-

"Like nothing? You didn't even die momentarily?" 

"No, I was awake the whole time." Jeongguk replies. 

"You haven't lost your memory or feel like you were reborn? Hawl!" Taehyung says as he puts another kimchi in his mouth. Then he remembers. "Oh... I..." 

Jeongguk sees Taehyung is starting to become uneasy. "What is it?" 

"I'm so sorry."

"For what?"

"You know.... I-i... I kissed you." Taehyung feels to ashamed to even look at Jeongguk. 

"It's okay." Jeongguk says, to Taehyung's surprise. "To be honest, it felt nice that my last moment would be like that." 

Taehyung chuckles. "It wasn't your last moment." 

"First of all, don't get any ideas. Secondly, since we don't know what happened, I could die any moment now, so let's not be too cheerful."

Taehyung has mixed feelings. He is happy that his friend is alive, but what did he mean by 'don't get any ideas'? He didn't have any to begin with. 

"Let's think again, though." Taehyung says and Jeongguk is brought back to reality. "How are you not dead? It was writter right there on your arm!" It never goes wrong!" 

Jeongguk knew what Taehyung meant. Everyone had a date on their arms from the day they were born. Taehyung had one as well, but he still had a long time to live. He was destined to have a long lfie, unlike Jeongguk. How come after centuries - milleniums! - of people dying on their dates, he was still alive? 

"Oh, I know! Taehyung says, almost knocking the table off. "You're either secretly a deity or a deity has fallen in love with you!" 

Silence. 

"Did it take you long to think about that?" Jeongguk says, tired of Taehyung's . 

"But that's what always happens in dramas! You cannot have just been lucky!" 

, , , . 

Jeongguk really felt a knot in his stomach. He felt really nauseous. He knew Taehyung was just talking nonsense, but no way was this normal. 

"Dude!" Taehyung says and Jeongguk snaps out of his thinking. "Have you called your family? They must think you're dead!" 

"You're right... Wait a second." 

-

Jeongguk spent more than hald an hour explaining what had happened to his mother, father and brother. They were all shocked when they heard his voice. 

"No, nothing! I just stood there and nothing happened." He says once again. "I don't know... Yes, I feel fine!" He looks back at Taehyung, who seems to be dozing off. "I'll come back tonight, so wait for me. I gotta go now, bye."  He says and ends the call. 

He moves towards Taehyung, who's making weird thinking faces. "So what did we - you - do that changed everything?" 

"We were just having fun, and the walked..." 

"...and I kissed y-THAT'S IT!" Taehyung says standing up. "I kissed you and the deities pitied us, so they let you live so that we can-" 

"Can you lower your voice a bit? We're surrounded by people." Jeongguk says strictly, only to receive a quiet "sorry" before Taehyung shuts it.

"There is one thing that was out of the ordinary, though." Taehyung says after a while. 

Jeongguk can't possibly think of something that was weird today. He's curious as to what Taehyung thought of. 

"That man... The one you bumped into. How come I didn't see him?"

Was that it? Jeongguk thought Taehyung had no other ideas left and said anything that would come to his mind to create theories. 

"I didn't see him, like at all, but you seemed to really think there was someone there. You just talked to thin air."

"For 's sake, Taehyung stop making stories up and let's pay so we can leave." Jeongguk says annoyed by his hyung. Sometimes he thought he acted more like the hyung. 

Taehyung subtly nodded, paid for the food and left with Jeongguk. 

The rest of the ride back home was silent, since Jeongguk slept and Taehyung was in big thought about who that man was. He felt it in his gut, that that guy was not just any guy. 

He was sure that he didn't even exist. He didn't even see the guy. Nor did anyone bump onto Jeongguk. He had just fallen. That's what Taehyung saw. 

When they arrived back at Jeongguk's house, the door was wide open and Mrs. Jeon was waiting outside. When she saw Taehyung's car she run towards them. 

Taehyung got out of the car to greet her. "Hello eo-" 

"My baby! Where's my baby?" She runs towards them. 

"He's in there. He's sleeping. He's alright." Taehyung reassures her. 

"What happened?" 

"I wish I knew." Taehyung replies, still thinking of that blond man. 

What the hell had happened?