A/N: I tried finishing the revisions of this last part as fast as I can. I still think this chapter was a mess. You could refer on the foreword to see whose POV was presented. This was a very long chapter. I didn't cut it into parts since I couldn't find where to separate the parts. 

To those anticipating this last part, this is for all of you.

 

There was a boundary separating dreams from reality and dreams from past lives. Dreaming was the most intriguing aspect of sleeping according to the sleep and dream specialist, Dr. Rubin Naiman. Multiple scenarios were mimicked inside the dreamland and more often than not, most of them resembled reality. Similarly, some people would experience previous repressed memories and past lives entering their dream world, as if to remind them of something they had forgotten.

 

But what if your dream was tormenting you for years? And for reasons you couldn't figure out, bizarre things were also happening in reality outside the illusion of the dreams that were plaguing your sleep. Could someone really tell how dreams work? Could someone really decode its meaning? And just how many dreams would it take for people to realize that their dreams were expressing something that never even crossed their minds?

 

Under the bright moonlight and starry night, Woohyun's loud voice echoed when they were far enough apart and already separated by a wide distance.

"In our next lifetime, I will find you and will never let you go, Kim Sunggyu.”

He smiled brightly that his eyes disappeared into a thin line, "I will be waiting in our next lifetime, Nam Woohyun."

 

 

YEAR 2040

Seoul, South Korea

 

There was that man again standing there, staring at the horizon in front of him. The sun that lit up the sky would soon touch the water in a few hours. The young man glanced at his side, as if someone had called his name. He could see his surprised face, but he couldn't figure out who the person was.

 

After a while, he felt that the man was dejected and in sorrow as he stared at him. Why was he unhappy? Why did he look shocked when he turned his head? There was no one beside him.

 

BZZZT... BZZZT... BZZZT

 

 

He was awakened by the sound of his alarm clock, which eventually cut short his dream. He reached for his phone to snooze the alarm for an additional 5 minutes while giving himself time to calm down and breathe.

 

He thought about his dream. That dream started when he was 5 years old. That time, all he could remember was seeing the ocean on a bright sunny day. As he aged, his dream also began to unfold like it was telling him a story. He always had the same dream. It would begin with a man looking longingly at the body of water and would end with an additional scene. This time it ended when he turned his head in surprise.

 

Additionally, his dream was causing him to experience strange emotions. Everytime he woke up, he felt suffocated. He thought he was having a nightmare at first but it didn't seem like one. There was also a hollow feeling inside him all the time. It was strange how his dream unfolded like a movie and became even stranger when he felt affected by it after he woke up. Though he wasn't sure what his dream meant, he felt certain he would soon learn what it meant. All he had to do was wait for it to be completed.

 

 

 

After 5 minutes, his alarm rang off again. He turned it off and got out of bed to start his day.

 

It was the first day of school. He worked as a high school professor at one of the finest universities in Seoul and the subject he was teaching was Biology. Most of his students were those who had an inclination toward becoming physicians someday. Thus, his class was always full of students and most of them were in their senior year.

 

He was already in his second year of teaching. Upon graduating, he sent his resume to almost all the universities around Seoul. He was lucky that he was accepted and hired right away. According to the head of Kyunghee University Highschool Department, it was very difficult to fill his position. This was because of the number of students who wanted to be in Biology class. It was one of the reasons why Biology teachers quit their jobs. Even though they found a solution to the overcrowding in the classrooms, the student-teacher ratio was still not ideal. Thus, the department was forced to offer the class to seniors only.

 

Pursuing a degree in education wasn't his original dream when he was a kid. But as time went by, he started to admire the results that came from teaching. One would enter school without any knowledge of something, but when the school was over, they would be awash in knowledge they never thought they could learn. Fascination. That was what made him change his childhood dream.

 

So far, he was happy and content with his job. He enjoyed communicating with his students. Although they were already or soon-to-be 18 years old, some of them were still immature, but he admired their eagerness to learn. Of course, there were still some naughty delinquents, but he managed to keep them under control.

 

*****

 

On the other side of Seoul, another man also awoke from his dream. His chest couldn't stop pounding. It was another dream of himself, sitting on a beach front talking to a person beside him but he couldn't see his face.

 

In his dream, all he could see was the man and the beach. All he could hear was his clear voice and the voice of the person he was talking to was so muffled that he couldn't hear what he was saying sometimes. The weird thing was, he knew what he was going to say.

 

I have never forgotten you.

 

Those words re-echoed inside him. He said those words but to whom?

 

One time he was about to say a name but was suddenly woken up by a noise outside his door. His dream was full of conversations that he couldn't understand, and they continued on for years.

 

First time he dreamed of talking to someone at the beach, he was walking along the shore looking for an unknown person. He was 10 years old at that time. The only reason he knew he was the one walking was that it wasn't his own body that was shown, it was his own perspective.

 

The dream stopped for a while, but then it started again. The story would continue from time to time as it visited his sleep.

 

 

 

He heaved a long sigh before getting off his bed. There was no time to contemplate over his dream. It was the first day of his senior year at college. He was majoring in music at one of the prestigious universities in Seoul, Kyunghee University.

 

Music had always been his passion. According to his mother, since he was in diapers, he was often heard humming some tunes that were too imperceptible to understand. When he reached the age that he could speak, as per another story from his mother, he could already sing almost all the songs in his nursery rhymes book.

 

His love for music didn't stop as he grew older. Moreover, he was a member of a band at his former high school and always joined the music club. Being in his final year of college, he planned to continue his studies and would probably pursue a master's degree.

 

He checked at the time and he only had 45 minutes to prepare for his first day of class. After stretching his limbs, he stood up and marched his way to the bathroom.

 

*****

 

Kyunghee University Highschool Department

 

The school bell rang and the students rushed inside their respective classrooms. Like usual, Biology class was a full house. He went inside the class room for his class orientation. It was the first day and it was also the first time he would meet his teaching class.

 

"Good morning." He greeted his students with a smile.

 

As he mentally counted his students, his eyes wandered throughout the classroom. Twenty-five. A big group indeed. He introduced himself to his class and discussed with them all the expectations he had for them for the whole school year. Since most of them would be only turning eighteen, immaturity was still the number one trait they had.

 

"Ssaem, are you single?"

 

He couldn't count how many people in their entire department asked him that particular question. Apparently, his popularity skyrocketed during the last school year because of his civil status.

 

He shook his head and smiled at his students before responding. "Single, but not looking."

 

"Awwww, why?" Everyone whined in chorus.

 

"I'm married to my work." The students laughed at his retort.

 

 

 

Soon, his morning class ended. He had another one in the afternoon, and he hoped the class would be a little smaller in number.

 

The experience of teaching a class of more than 20 students was challenging, especially when students from different ranks were mixed together. Mostly, the overachievers in their departments were not willing to help those who needed to have their grades improved because of competition. Thus, group work was a challenge. But he couldn't just watch those at the bottom being continuously eaten by those at the top.

 

Biology was a challenging subject due to the large amount of facts and concepts that one needed to know: from simple parts of plants to dissecting frogs, everything was overwhelming. He had to strategize group work in order for everyone to pass his class.

 

*****

 

Kyunghee University College of Music Department

 

He hastily made his way to the school entrance. Traffic was a nightmare and he was stuck in it for more than 30 minutes. It wouldn't give a very positive impression if he was late on his first day. The professors at his college were known to be strict and extremely difficult to please. He couldn't afford to be on their bad side.

 

While sprinting down the hallway, he checked his watch. They would be having their orientation in the music hall wherein all the professors would be present. Three minutes and he would be late. Luckily, his speed allowed him to reach the entrance door before it was closed.

 

While panting, he looked around to find where his best friend was seated. He found Sungjong waving at him at the far corner of the hall.

 

"Hyung! Why are you almost late?"

 

"Traffic." He answered while catching his breath.

 

Sungjong, his best friend, was taking the same college course as him but he was a year lower than him.

 

"You woke up late, didn't you?"

 

"No. I woke up early because of you know."

 

"That dream again?" He nodded.

 

Before he could tell his best friend, what happened in his dream, all the professors lined up on the stage one-by-one, making the whole room silent.

 

As he looked at their teachers at the front, he noticed two familiar faces. His teachers in highschool were there. Because those two were the friendliest teachers in his previous school, he thanked all the gods. Hopefully, he would have a class with them.

 

"Hyung, Prof Jang and Lee are here. I'm excited to meet them again." Sungjong whispered.

 

"Me too. At least we have two professors who would not our sanity away."

 

The orientation continued and aside from the new professors who were not new to him and Sungjong, he was surprised that one of his friends transferred as well.

 

"Yeol! What are you doing here?"

 

"Hyung, I missed you. I will be finishing my last year here."

 

 

 

The first day of his senior year was definitely a good day. He and Sungyeol had the same class schedules and even the same minor subjects; and on top of that, Professor Jang would be their teacher in Performing Arts and Professor Lee for their Music Theory. His worry lessened knowing that he would be meeting familiar faces.

 

After the orientation, he and his friends went to their corresponding classrooms to meet their teachers. Since it was the first day of school, most classes were dismissed early. Formal classes would begin the next day.

 

"Hyung, let's hangout before going home."

 

"Sure, let me call Jong."

 

They met Sungjong at the university gate and walked their way to the café near the university.

 

As he and his friends trudged towards the café, he made sure that his bestfriend and Sungyeol became acquainted with each other. They were both his closest friends and he would want them to get along.

 

In his 22 years of existence, he only gained a few loyal friends. Most of the people he met were just passing by and never stayed. He once met someone at the playground when he was 5 years old, some neighbor's kid. He thought they would be friends for a long time but that friend moved away after a month. There were some classmates he had when he was in elementary school that became his friends but most of them changed schools once they became middle schoolers. When he met Sungjong, he was in middle school, and when he met Sungyeol, he was in high school. They were two of the few who stayed.

 

A voice called to him as they continued walking down the road. When he turned his head, he saw the last person he wanted to see, Choi Minho. That man was consistently pursuing him since last school year, regardless of how many times he turned him down. Having a partner who was much younger than him wasn't his cup of tea. But nonetheless, out of respect, he smiled at him and returned his greetings.

 

"Hi Minho."

 

"Hyung, where are you off to?"

 

"Home." He heard Sungjong's silent sniggers beside him.

 

"Ok. Take care hyung."

 

He immediately turned away and pulled his friends. There wasn't anything wrong with Minho. He was handsome, athletic, smart but he was younger; so, no chances of getting into a relationship with him.

 

All the relationships that he had were short-lived. More often than not, he was the one to break it off. He was looking for something in all his past relationships that he couldn't find in any one of them. There was always something missing. He never really felt completely happy and that was what held him back from entering into another one again. For now, he wanted to focus more on his studies and think about romance when he was more capable of handling it.

 

*****

 

At The Café

 

He sat at the corner of the café he frequented every free moment during his school days. The location was near the university and it was a popular place. Sitting alone while sipping his caramel frappe provided him peace. This would be the only remaining free time. Starting the next day, he knew he would be swamped with lesson plans and quizzes.

 

Being alone had its advantages. He could people watch; not in a creepy way of course. He could think of things to do to make his class enjoyable. The solo time provided him peace and he didn't give a to everyone around him. From time to time, there would be students who would greet him and he would just smile and wave to acknowledge them.

 

He wasn't a loner. However, he needed as much alone time as possible since he had always been surrounded by people. By alone time, he meant alone time outside of the four corners of his apartment. Because being alone in the confines of his white-walled home was a constant reminder that he was a one lonely soul.

 

He never had any relationships. It wasn't that he didn't want to be in a relationship, but there was something inside him that was preventing him from getting into any relationships. Everytime someone caught his eye, there was something holding him back. At the back of his mind, his inner self was telling him a big NO. He had no idea what was pulling him back to jump into any relationships but he always felt he was betraying someone. Someone who was unknown to him.

 

The chime of the bell at the entrance of the café roused him from his musings. Three students walked in. As he followed them with his eyes, one of them caught him watching. They gazed at each other and he could tell that he was mirroring the confused look of the student.

 

As he looked at him, he furrowed his eyebrows as well; because he felt his forehead already creasing into lines. He had no idea who he was and yet there was something familiar about him that he couldn't pinpoint. Their gazes lingered for he thought about a minute or two before the other students with him pulled his attention. When the particular student turned away, he shrugged off the feeling and made his way out. It was enough alone time for the day.

 

*****

 

They entered the café and proceeded to the unoccupied table. He felt someone watching them as they walked and when he looked up, he caught the eyes of a man sitting at the corner of the café. He didn't know what happened but he felt his chest get a little tight and he felt a little quashed. They stared at each other while he furrowed his brows. There was a peculiar familiarity he was experiencing, but he was sure it was the first time he saw him. The staring got broken when Sungyeol called his name to ask for his order. After telling his friend, his eyes returned to the table, but the man was already gone. He quickly shrugged it off and sat down with Sungjong.

 

A couple of minutes later, he had forgotten the man and continued talking with his friends

 

 

A Month Later

 

The man was now sitting with someone beside him. He watched the two of them and he heard chuckling from the man. He couldn't hear their conversation, but it seemed that the other person said something funny. Their backs were all he could see. Out of curiosity, he quietly walked near them, trying to eavesdrop.

 

"You should get back at your office. It's not nice leaving your new secretary alone, dealing with your demanding clients."

 

"I will. When I'm ready to go back. I still need time alone for a while. I couldn’t concentrate in my current condition."

 

He hoped that if he came closer, he could observe and hear the two of them properly. However, all he could hear was the voice of the newcomer and not the man he frequently saw at that beach. The man's voice was audible but the normal pitch of his voice was somewhat distorted. Even though he was behind them, he could definitely see how blurry their faces were. It was impossible for him to figure out what the two looked like no matter how hard he tried.

 

"How did you do it?"

 

"How did I do what?"

 

"Forget."

 

"I never did... I have never forgotten you."

 

Sudden crushing pain inside his torso crept up on him. It felt like someone was stepping on the middle of his chest, making it harder for him to breathe. He saw light seeping through his curtains as soon as his eyes snapped open.

 

His dream showed him something new after a month of repetitive scenes. There was now a conversation between them that became weird. In his dream, the new person said the name of the man he was used to seeing; but why was it liked in a movie? It was bleeped or it became too muffled to be heard. It seemed like his dream was hiding something. Could a dream do that?

 

Why do I keep dreaming about it? Was there any reason why I often dreamed about it? And who are those two men? He could only mentally ask himself. Curiosity. That was all he was getting from his dream. He would've done some research if he only knew the names of those two.

 

He shook his head and got off his bed. It was a Saturday and he had to run some errands and meet his bestfriend. It had been a while since he saw him though they were working at the same school.

 

*****

 

Sungjong was lying beside him on his bed. It was a Saturday and his bestfriend woke him up from his sleep. He wanted to punch Sungjong because he disturbed his dream in the middle of a crucial conversation.

 

"Lee Sungjong, do you know how much I wanted to strangle you right now? My dream was getting into a crucial part and you woke me up."

 

"Was it the same dream you always had?" He nodded his head. "Tell me what's new."

 

He tried recalling the details.

 

He was certain that he and the man in his dreams were talking about their past. It was clear from the exchange of words that there was some type of relationship between them, or should he say, between the two men since he was very sure that the man he was talking to was not one of his ex-boyfriends.

 

"I did understand. That was why it hurt and it broke my heart. I knew how I hurt you. I know how much pain I've caused you. And I wish things had been different that time."

 

He didn't know why he was feeling sad but he felt the pain when he said,

 

"It hurt so badly. So terrible that I was forced to run away cowardly to save myself from getting hurt more. I picked up the pieces of my heart in a place where I thought I would forget you; but I didn't. I repaired my heart, but I have never been able to replace it; to replace you. One day, I just came into terms with myself that I will be leaving this earth with just you inside it and no one else."
 

Seeing that the man in front of him was about to say something, he just pressed his lips together.

 

After some time, he dropped a question.

 

"Do you want to be together?"

 

 

 

"So, what was your answer hyung?"

 

"I don't know. You woke me up dummy."

 

He was also curious of what his answer would be. The two of them had a hurtful past and he was also anticipating how the story would end. Nevertheless, he often wondered what his role was in that story. What was its significance? Aside from the fact that it had been going on for a decade, he frequently woke up from that dream with anguish.

 

He often found himself asking if the two persons in his dream were once alive or still alive. Was it a part of a history? Or was it only a random dream that chose him as the dreamer? How he wished he had answers, but it seemed no one could give him one. He didn't even know the names of the two men. The only thing he knew was that he might have been acting in place of the man in that dream, which explained why it was from his perspective.

 

"It had been going on for almost half of your life hyung. Do you think there was a meaning behind it?"

 

He shrugged. No one knew the answer. He had been living with that dream for a long time and he never found any answers to any questions.

 

"Hyung, what if there was also someone dreaming the same dream as yours?"

 

"Huh? What do you mean?"

 

"You were talking to someone in that dream. Maybe another person was also having that dream but from the other man's POV."

 

"You are crazy Jong. I don't think that dream was significant enough to appear in two people's sleep."

 

To be honest, Sungjong had a point. However, it was creepy enough that he had that dream for years and to think that someone shared the same dream with him was more frightening.

 

He shook his head as he felt the hair on his arms stand up.

 

 

Kyunghee University Highschool Department

 

His students were currently busy with their group work. He was walking around the classroom to check what all his students had accomplished so far. Their task was to identify the phases of mitosis under the microscope. In the last week he discussed the topic with them, and he gave them an activity to review for their upcoming quiz.

 

"Seonsaengnim!" He turned to the student who had called him.

 

"Yes Yoseob?"

 

"The slides that we have here have cracks."

 

He sauntered to their table and took the slide. It was indeed cracked. It wasn't his student's fault though. The slides were quite old and he must have given them a broken one. He gave them replacement slides and set aside the cracked ones.

 

It took his class about 20 minutes to finish the activity. While checking their work, he gave them time to open their notes to review the whole topic of cell division. He could hear them groaning because of the quiz even though they knew they had no choice but to take it.

 

"Ssaem! Can we have an open book test?" Eunkwang requested. He heard others agreeing.

 

"If you wanted an open book test, you would have to cram to find the answer in 25 seconds. The cell division chapter is a very long chapter. Do you want that? Because we could have it."

 

"No Ssaem!" Everyone said in unison.

 

He chuckled. One thing that he liked about teaching highschool students was how fickle-minded they were. They changed their minds easily to something that would benefit them more. As nothing was constant with them, teaching them was exciting.

 

*****

 

Kyunghee University College of Music Department

 

With a towel around their necks, he and Sungyeol lay down inside the dance room, bodies sprawled. Professor Jang's dance class would definitely be the death of them. He was teaching them modern dance that was beyond their stamina.

 

"What happened to Professor Dongwoo? He wasn't like that in highschool. Looked like he would make us dance to death!" Sungyeol said in between catching his breath.

 

"I don't know. I guess because this is Kyunghee University. One of the top performing schools in terms of music. Let's just be glad that he wasn't a terror teacher like others."

 

He was more of a singer than a dancer. However, Professor Dongwoo's class was all about performing arts and it included dancing. Right now, he made them focused on the dancing part of his lessons. No matter how much he wanted to complain, he couldn't. In his course, performing arts was a major subject and he was expected to pass it. Therefore, if it meant that he would be dancing until he passed out, he would.

 

"Hyung, are you still dreaming about it?"

 

Sungyeol also knew about his weird dream. There was one time that he fell asleep during their lunch time when they were in highschool and he woke up panting and out breath and Sungyeol was with him.

 

"Yes. Until now."

 

"It had been so long. The story wasn't over yet?"

 

"I think it would be soon. The last time I encountered that dream, it felt like our conversation was the of that story."

 

He felt it. The more he thought of his dream, it certainly felt like its end was getting near. His dream gave him a feeling of melancholy. He was assuming that its conclusion wasn't a happy ever after.

 

Until the next scene was ready to unfold, he dreamed of the same conversation over and over again. It would be much better if he could see the face of the person he was talking to. But all the years he spent talking to that man in his dream, his face was still hazy. Despite his voice being muffled before, it now sounded clear. He was able to hear him clearly.

 

He wished it was the other way around. That the face would become clearer than the voice. It was creepy talking to a person with a blurred face. He couldn't even determine if the man was handsome or not.

 

"I think you'll miss that if it ended. You've been dreaming about it since you were a kid."

 

"To tell you the truth, I am afraid of its ending. There was a feeling that it wouldn't end in happiness."

 

"Don't beat yourself up about it, Hyung. Just think of it as a book that the author decided to end."

 

Once his dream ended, he didn't know what to expect, but desolation started creeping in. Furthermore, he wished that when it ended, he would also understand why he was chosen to have that dream. It had been a part of him for so long and he wanted to know and comprehend why.

 

 

One lazy Sunday while he was browsing the internet, he chanced upon a blog post about tarot readings. Initially, he had no interest in it, but when a dream gave him a heavier feeling than usual, he thought about it. There were a lot of questions that he knew a normal person could not answer. To keep track of the address of the tarot card reader, he took a screenshot. He would visit it once his dream was completed.

 

His dream wasn't showing anything new and he was expecting it. The last time that another scene unfolded before his eyes was last month. It had been only three weeks, and he already knew that it would continue next week. He took note of it. Whenever it showed something different, he marked his calendar, and it was consistent. The next scene would be shown in four weeks.

 

During his 24 years of living, that dream remained the only constant in his life for 19 years. He was anticipating the end of it. It didn't mean that he wouldn't miss it. In fact, he would. However, the overwhelming weight of the dream was too much for him to bear. He had no idea why it seemed like he could feel the emotions of the two men in his dream. Numerous times, he felt he asphyxiated after waking up from it. Even though it didn't really affect his daily life, it would be nice if he would wake up again feeling fine and not catching his breath.

 

Although he did not know how many months were left until his dream would fade away, he sought to understand its significance in his life. He wouldn't dream of it for almost two decades if it didn't mean anything, right?

 

*****

 

While taking a break from doing his homework in music composition--on which he had run out of ideas--he browsed random articles on the internet.

 

As soon as his search engine was up, he typed dream interpretation and saw a website about dream moods. He looked for something that would be comparable to what he was dreaming of. There was a section about recurring dreams and he clicked it.

 

Why Do Some Dreams Recur?

 

Most dreams contain messages that serve to teach you something about yourself. The repetitive patterns in your dream reveal some of the most valuable information about yourself. It may point to a conflict, situation or matter in your waking life that remains unresolved or unsettled. Some urgent underlying message in your unconscious is demanding to be understood.

 

 

He read the last sentence repeatedly. Message. It must've really been telling him something. But what?

 

As he recollected all the things and conversation he had in his dream, he could ascertain that it was coming off as a sad dream and would only bring sorrow at the end. What message was his subconscious telling him to understand? Heartbreak? But why?

 

Reading brought more confusion. In the end, he exited the website and lay on his bed. There was a message he needed to find, and he knew who could help. But before anything else, he had to finish his homework first and he suddenly got an idea of what he would write on his composition sheet.

 

 

A Week Later

 

He was in a fast food restaurant, looking over the quizzes he gave his students. This was a unit exam since it was the end of the month and he had to turn in his students' grades. He thought of bringing his work while he ate out. It was too boring to stay inside his house for the weekend.

 

He valued moments when he could go out alone. Most of the time, he was surrounded by people at work and he could only go out on weekends. However, sometimes his weekends were also swamped with paper works and lesson plans. He couldn't even remember when was the last time he had been out with his friends.

 

While he was at it, someone sat down at the vacant table opposite his. He looked up and saw the man sitting across from him at the table. He thought he had seen him somewhere.

 

As he secretly observed him, his heart suddenly throbbed. It hurt so much and he didn't know why. The feeling was like a needle was pricking into him, the same pain you feel when a needle pokes into your fingers. You could feel all over your body.

 

Several drops of water dripped from his eyes and trickled down his face like they were racing. As he cried, he felt a peculiar ache inside that he couldn't place.

 

The man from the other table glanced at him and in a matter of seconds, he was in front of him offering him a glass of water.

 

"Ahjussi, are you ok?" A melodious voice resonated in his ears.

 

He raised his head to look at the man again. There was something really familiar about him and his voice. It was like he had heard it before. But where?

 

*****

 

He gazed at the crying man. He remembered seeing him at the café near his university. It was the same man who he stared at. He was feeling strange. His chest began to scrunch just as it did the first time he saw him. It was tolerable, but still felt like he was drowning.

 

As he watched him weep, he didn't know what got into him and he gave him a glass of water. The man seemed to need it at the moment.

 

"Ahjussi, are you ok?"

 

The man looked at him with an odd expression. By the look of his face, he was certainly thinking.

 

"Ahjussi, drink your water. Do you need some tissues?"

 

The man just stared at him and tears were still streaming down his face. It was making him uncomfortable and yet there was something in the man's look that was making him weak.

 

Before he could stop himself, his hands reached for his face and gently wiped away the tears. Seeing him lean on his touch with his eyes closed sent volts of electricity coursing throughout his body.

 

His hands remained on the man's face until his eyes started to open. The tears stopped. The tightening in his chest intensified as he stared at him. After abruptly withdrawing his hands, he placed them on his chest. He clutched his chest and massaged his fist on it, hoping to alleviate the tension. The man must've noticed it and guided him to sit on the chair across from him.

 

"Hey are you ok?" He snapped his head to look at the man.

 

There was a familiarity in his voice. He knew he had heard it somewhere. As a music major, his ears were trained to hear different sounds and voices. Therefore, he couldn't be wrong. He had already heard that voice with the same tone and pitch. But where?

 

*****

 

Following his encounter with the man fast food place, he returned home with even more questions in mind. Why did he cry? Why did he look and sound familiar? Had he met him before?

 

The way he wiped his tears was so gentle. Because his touch was so soft, he couldn't resist leaning on it. The way he held his face seemed so natural and it was also as if he had already felt it, as if he had touched him before, but couldn't remember. He was sure he had never met him previously other than the brief staring encounter at the café. However, he felt like he had known him for so long though he had no recollection of meeting him.

 

His head unexpectedly ached. It was already 7:00 in the evening and he had to prepare his dinner. Because the caramel-haired man occupied his thoughts since he left the fast food chain, he forgot to thaw his frozen meat. Thus, he just decided to call for food delivery.

 

*****

 

As he lay down on his bed, the man in the food chain invaded his thoughts. Why did it feel right when he touched the man's face? Why did it seem like he had already done it before? And why did his heart beat too hard whenever he saw him? Strange things were happening between them. The way that man cried when he saw him and the way his chest hurt the two times he encountered him were bizarre.

 

His voice. He had a feeling that he had heard it just recently. Was it at school? In the café? In the drama he was watching? He had to remember it because when he heard the man's voice, he felt a sudden gush of small happiness inside him. Weird to feel that from someone he only met twice and didn't talk with for too long.

 

Why did he feel like they had some kind of connection?

 

 

 

That night, his dream visited him again.

 

He was still sitting beside the blurry person. They weren't talking but it seemed like he was anticipating something from the man.

 

"Do you want to be together?"

 

Just like previously, his mouth moved instinctively and words came out naturally from him.

 

"No."

 

"Neither am I."

 

"We are two broken souls... We wouldn't be able to fix each other."

 

"I know. The hurt was so deep within us and I know both of us were already drowning. We are empty inside and we need to feel something other than loneliness and weariness in order to be fixed.”

 

“Do you regret what happened to us?”

 

“No. I don’t think I would ever. Did you?”

 

“I never did and I never will."

 

They both stared at the horizon. He answered no and the blurry man's answer sounded the same. Then he spoke again.

 

"You know what...?" He could feel the man glanced at him.

 

“In the parallel universe, there might be another secretary…. and another CEO…  who are not cowards and are brave enough to stand up for their feelings. Love will never break them apart, and they will live the happiest day of their lives with one another. They will face challenges but they will get through it."

 

The blurry man chuckled and it made his laugh as well.

 

"I don't believe in parallel universes but I believe in next lifetime."

 

"Reincarnation? Sounds like an old tale."

 

They stared again ahead of them watching the sun set. The blurry man gave him a hand and helped him to stand up.