PART 4 ~ 3

Hoseok’s POV

I slumped onto the bouncy couch after a long day at work. I reached for the remote and switched on the TV. Nothing special was playing. I sighed before getting up again and headed to the bathroom. I took a well-deserved long shower.

I faced the mirror as I dried out my hair and wiped my face clean. I had a good look of myself. And I couldn’t help but feel something was off. I investigate every corner of my face. I couldn’t find anything different. Yet, somehow, something felt different.

My mind drifted back to that old man I met earlier that day. No, wait. I’ve met him twice already. That couldn’t be a coincidence. And…he acted like he knew me. But I…I didn’t know who he was. But I could feel like there was something connecting us. Something unexplainable. Or maybe he knew when I was younger and I couldn’t remember? Highly unlikely. I grew up without a family. My head spun. And I couldn’t connect the dots together. The invisible lines hung in the air, with nothing to attach to.

Deciding not to ponder on it any longer, I turned the TV off and pulled my blankets. Hopefully, tomorrow I’d be able to forget it all. But what if the old man came to find me again? I pulled the blanket up to my face and squeezed my eyes shut. Just go to sleep.

~ ~ ~

I’ve had the most disturbing and strange dream. Or was it a dream? I wasn’t so sure.

“Hoseok…”

I heard my name being called. It was faint and distant. It sounded like as if it was from far away.

“Hoseok…”

That voice. I didn’t know who it was. But somehow, it sounded familiar. I looked around. I only saw darkness. I stood on nothing, as if I was floating.

“Where am I?” I asked aloud to myself.

Suddenly, in front of me, a light appeared. It shone brightly. It was like a portal. I shielded my eyes. All of a sudden, I felt my body was as light as a feather and I was into that portal. Like a recorder, everything around me spun. Out of place, and out of time.

Everything was in black and white. Sometimes, a little colour seeped in. And I saw myself. Everywhere. And then, there was another man. He looked vaguely familiar. And then, I realized, I was watching a memory. In fact, memories of a man I was supposed to know.

I watched myself in those memories. When I was little, and when I grew up. I stopped. This wasn’t me. I noticed the hair, the clothes. These were from a long time ago. Decades ago. This wasn’t me. This wasn’t my life. And that man, who was he?

I watched attentively as the memories played out. I watched how the two young boys became friends. And how they fell in love with each other. I saw them go to the same college. Their picnics, their dates, their adventures. And I saw his face. He bore a remarkable resemblance to the man who called himself Yoongi the other day. And then, I realized, I was watching his younger self. This memory must be from many years ago.

Suddenly, everything made sense now. How the old man, Yoongi, was always wanting to talk to me. He acted like he knew me because he did. I was the only one who didn’t know. Because I wasn’t the man he hoped I was. I wasn’t the man he fell in love with.

Hoseok…

The name that was so familiar to me suddenly felt like a stranger. I felt the heat in my eyes as I continued watching. Tears fell as I saw their lives, happy and almost perfect until the day everything fell apart. I felt their pain. I felt his emptiness. After so many years, I wondered how he got through it all.

Maybe he lived so long just to see if Hoseok