A light shines on the hull of a small wind up tugboat.

 

“So tell me about yourself. I have a feeling you were someone great. I knew it when I first took you from this sea of souls. Yes. I know you can’t talk...and you don’t have hands...or feet...so...blink if you can hear me.”

 

Blink.

 

“Great! You’re an expert already! Here’s how we’ll do this. I’m taking you to see the Gatekeeper. If he likes your life story and thinks you’re worthy, he’ll let you into the city. I’m your spokesperson. You can trust me. Just close your eyes and think back to your first memory.”

 

Darkness settles in. It’s peaceful. Quiet. Like being submerged in a blanket of sand and sea breeze blowing steadily.

 

Life seems meaningless.

—

At such a young age, Jeongguk is just a child, innocent and immature, blind to the truth of the world and content to simply sit in the sand of the beach near the house he’s called home ever since his very first memory.

 

“Look at that sun! Do you see the ships on the water, Guk baby? We’ve got a beautiful day ahead of us. Why are you smiling like that? You must like the view, huh?”

 

Those first words he can ever remember his father, Jin, saying to him have become engraved in his memory but he’s still just a baby yet with many more memories to be made in the future and many more to be forgotten.

 

“Jeonggukie, do you want some seashells?” Jin sings, turning to look at the one year old boy with a soft smile.

 

Jeongguk nods eagerly and watches his father make his way down to the water’s edge, hair tousled by the breeze as he kneels in the sand, hands brushing for a shiny shell to present to Jeongguk.

 

Blink twice.

 

Jeongguk is three with all the toys and books a three year old could ever want. His favorite however, is the small toy piano he plays along with his dad, Namjoon, whenever he sits at the larger piano and summons the most beautiful lullabies young Jeongguk has ever heard.

 

“Come on, Guk. Play with me. I’m sure you’ll be a fine player if you continue to practice,” Namjoon encourages Jeongguk whenever his tiny hands hit the wrong note and his bottom lip sticks out in a sad pout.

 

Despite his mistakes, Jeongguk still practices patiently, comforted and encouraged by his parents. Soon he’s playing at the big piano, becoming the talk of the small town for his incredible skills at such a young age.

 

Blink four times.

 

Jeongguk is now in elementary school. It’s a very important year for him. It’s the year he meets his best friend.

 

“Look, Guk. See the moving truck? Maybe you’ll have a new friend to play with,” Jin says, happily.

 

Jeongguk hopes so. He hasn’t made very many in his new school and he finds each day to be a bit more lonely than the last. His father turns out to be right. As Jeongguk takes his camera, a birthday present from the previous year, out to shoot some pictures of the sunset, he sees a young boy playing outside in the street. A boy with bright eyes and cheeks still chubby from his younger years. A boy whose face breaks into a delighted boxy grin when he sees Jeongguk.

 

“Hi! You’re from next door, right?” He asks, cheerfully.

 

Jeongguk can only nod, clutching his camera nervously.

 

“I’m Taehyung! Your new neighbor! I just moved in yesterday!” The boy exclaims, happily.

 

“I-I’m Jeongguk,” Jeongguk murmurs, nerves beginning to ease at Taehyung’s bright and cheerful personality.

 

Taehyung ends up following Jeongguk down to the sea, chattering on the whole time and Jeongguk comes to know that Taehyung is his elder by two years. He isn’t sure how to react to that but Taehyung makes him feel relaxed and at ease with the world, unlike the people at school so he guesses it’s alright to loosen up a bit.

 

Blink five times.

 

Now Jeongguk’s twelve in the seventh grade, watching as Taehyung, his best friend, graduates eighth grade and moves up in life. Jeongguk feels a bit left out but Taehyung reassures him that it won’t be long before they’re back together in school. Meanwhile, Jeongguk has participated in numerous piano competitions and won many of them. His dad teaches him everything he can and tells Jeongguk the stories of when his grandfather taught Namjoon the ways of the piano and how it must be played just right to give listeners a specific feeling and tone. 

 

Time seems to shorten as Jeongguk becomes more committed to the piano and Taehyung enters high school. The two boys find that spending time together is getting more and more hard to do. On lonely nights, Jeongguk stares out his window and across the street to where a dim light still shines in Taehyung’s bedroom.

 

Jeongguk misses him on nights when the stars seem to shine just a little brighter. He wants to share them with Taehyung but he doesn’t know how.

 

Blink four times.

 

Jeongguk gets sick, sicker than a teenager his age should be. He’s taken to the hospital and given tests and scans and the result that tells him he’s terminally ill. He’s old enough now to know what that means. He doesn’t want to tell Taehyung and can’t even bring himself to attend the older boy’s graduation ceremony. 

 

That evening, the night before what will be Jeongguk’s last recital, Taehyung calls him and asks to meet him at their spot by the sea. Jeongguk is hesitant. His parents, having given him strict instructions to sleep early for his recital, are still awake but, not having seen his best friend for weeks now, loneliness wins and Jeongguk is forced to sneak out for the first time in his life.

 

When he arrives, he sees his best friend sitting alone in the sand, mouse brown hair blowing in the breeze, a light blanket wrapped around his shoulders. Jeongguk approaches him slowly and Taehyung looks up at the sound of his footsteps.

 

“Hey, Guk.” 

 

“Hi, hyung.”

 

They sit in silence for a while, sharing the blanket and listening to the soothing song of the waves crashing at their feet. Finally Jeongguk works up the courage to speak.

 

“Sorry I wasn’t there today, Taehyungie. I...I really really wanted to be there...I just...couldn’t...” he stammers, refusing to meet Taehyung’s eyes.

 

“It’s okay, Gukie,” Taehyung smiles.

 

“No. It’s not okay. I should have been there for you,” Jeongguk sighs. “I feel like we haven’t seen each other in a while and I know this was an important day for you so-“

 

“I was talking to your father today...”Taehyung interrupts.

 

For the first time all night, Jeongguk glances at Taehyung, confused. He doesn’t look disappointed that Jeongguk hadn’t made it to his graduation. Instead he looks sad and just as lonely as Jeongguk has been feeling ever since his diagnosis. Suddenly he knows why his father was talking to Taehyung. His blood runs cold, heart sinking.

 

“Yeah?” He prompts the older boy to go on in a small voice.

 

“Jeongguk...he...he told me why you haven’t been coming to the beach often or coming outside at all recently. You’re...you’re sick...aren’t you?” Taehyung says, quietly.

 

Jeongguk doesn’t reply. He looks off across the sea, angry at his father for telling his best friend something he wanted to have the opportunity of telling when he was ready. Right now, he wasn’t ready but the truth was out. Taehyung’s hand wraps around Jeongguk’s arm, pulling an unwilling Jeongguk around to face him.

 

“Why didn’t you tell me? We could have been hanging out more! Just say the word and I’ll come over no matter what!” He exclaims, voice cracking, tears in his deep brown eyes and Jeongguk’s heart breaks.

 

“Please don’t cry, hyungie!” Jeongguk pleads, moving closer to try and comfort Taehyung. “I was going to tell you! I was! Honest!”

 

“Why, Jeongguk? Why you?” Taehyung cried as if he hadn’t heard Jeongguk’s pleas.

 

“There’s always a chance, hyung! Always! You never know! Remember when you were in eighth grade and we thought we weren’t going to be able to go to the mountains for vacation that year? We ended up going, didn’t we?” Jeongguk says in an attempt to cheer up his best friend but he knows it’s no use.

 

He understands how sudden and horrifying this kind of news is. His father almost passed out when he first learned Jeongguk didn’t have long to live. Jeongguk has cried himself and he still does on those lonely nights. So now he just offers the hug he never got to Taehyung and the older boy practically falls into his embrace in tears. The moon reaches its peak, shining down on silver waves and sand and Jeongguk cries too because he’s learning how hard it is to come to terms with death and how he’ll have to leave the people he loves behind to grieve for and without him.

 

That night, Jeongguk had never seen Taehyung cry so hard and although Jeongguk was able to comfort him and wipe his tears away, he knew that soon, he wouldn’t be able to.

 

The next day, after spending all night out with Taehyung on the beach, an exhausted Jeongguk completely messes up his recital. On the car ride home, both his parents are silent but Jeongguk knows they’re disappointed in him, especially his dad. Finally Jin speaks up.

 

“You were up all night with Taehyung, weren’t you?” He asks, glancing through the rear view mirror at Jeongguk who nods.

 

“Jeongguk, you should be more careful of your health,” Namjoon says, turning around to look at Jeongguk.

 

It’s the last thing he’d expected to hear from his dad. He’d been bracing himself for a lecture but instead he got soft looks and the worried faces of his parents.

 

“You…you aren’t mad at me? I mean…I messed up really bad today,” Jeongguk stammers, guiltily.

 

Namjoon shakes his head while Jin only smiles.

 

“No, Guk. We aren’t mad at you. We’re just worried and not about your piano skills. We want you to take better care of yourself, right, Jinnie?” Namjoon explains, glancing at Jin.

 

“Right. Sure, it wasn’t your best performance but that’s okay. What matters is that you gave it your all,” Jin adds, smiling back at Jeongguk. 

 

Jeongguk nods, managing to smile back at his parents and thinking that they must be the kindest, most understanding people in the whole world. Yet, despite their sweet words of reassurance for Jeongguk, he still wishes he could have made them happier and given them one last performance to make them proud.

 

Blink twice.

 

Time is slowing down for Jeongguk. His every day is wrought with headaches and pains that are almost unbearable. He couldn’t attend his own graduation ceremony even if he wanted to and now he feels as if he’ll be bedridden for the rest of his short life. Recently, because he can’t find the strength to play the piano, he’s taken up writing with his father’s old typewriter. The click of the keys are rather calming and takes his mind off the pain. One night, his father lingers in Jeongguk’s room longer than usual.

 

“Why don’t you try writing about your life, Jeonggukie?” Jin suggested, eyes crinkling in a sad smile.

 

Jeongguk notices how tired he seems. It must be tough for him and Namjoon, working all day and hassling medical bills at night. He wants to do something to ease their burdens but what can he do, in pain himself and practically dead already.

 

“Maybe. I’ll try,” he responds, managing a small smile for his father.

 

Jin nods, kisses his cheek, and retreats from the room. Jeongguk stares at the white paper in front of him and begins to type.

 

“The Insignificant Life of Jeon Jeongguk”

 

“Jeon Jeongguk grew up a rather quiet child, living on the seaside and becoming one with the soft breezes that blew in from the ocean...”

 

Jeongguk stays up long after Taehyung’s light has gone off in the house across the street. Even then, Jeongguk can’t stop writing. He comes to the part of his life where he met Taehyung. Jeongguk stops.

 

These days, he doesn’t know what to call Taehyung. The older boy has been coming over almost every day to keep him company and Jeongguk has told him he doesn’t have to come so often if he’s too busy but Taehyung insists on visiting as many times a day as he can. Jeongguk is grateful. More grateful and happy than he probably should be. It’s been messing with his head and making him wonder what life could be like if he wasn’t so sick. 

 

He’s had many thoughts about Taehyung, especially thoughts of their close friendship going beyond that of just a friendship. Jeongguk has even wondered what it would be like to go on a date with Taehyung, hold his hand, and what it would be like to kiss him. By the end of his eighteenth year, Jeongguk has accepted that he’s fallen in love with his best friend just like he’s accepted the fact that he probably won’t live past twenty-four.

 

He begins to type again.

 

“In second grade, Jeongguk meets Taehyung, his first love.”

 

As the night goes on, Jeongguk begins to hear his parents in the kitchen talking in hushed voices. Jeongguk pulls himself out of bed and makes his way to the door, peeking out into the dim light shining from the other room where his parents are sitting, side by side at the dining room table.

 

“What are we going to do, Joon? He’s suffering in silence but every doctor we visit keeps slamming doors in our faces!” Jin explains, sounding distraught.

 

“I honestly don’t know anymore. At this rate we won’t even be able to afford these doctor visits anymore,” Namjoon replies, quietly, hand sifting through the stack of paperwork on the table.

 

“So we just give up?! Give up on our son?!” Jin wails and Namjoon sighs.

 

“Jinnie, it’s a terminal illness. Eventually we’re going to have to face the fact that there really isn’t anything we as parents can do. All we can do is try and make him feel comfortable. The last thing I want to do is give up but we’re running out of options.”

 

Jin lets out a sob and Namjoon pulls him into a hug, tears slipping down his own cheeks as well. Jeongguk can’t watch anymore. He turns around and silently creeps away.

 

Blink thrice.

 

Jeongguk, despite the worsening pain, has dragged himself out of bed to meet Taehyung by the sea for what he assumes will be the last time. When Jeongguk arrives, Taehyung springs up from the sand and has a blanket wrapped around Jeongguk’s shoulders before Jeongguk can even process what’s going on.

 

“It’s so cold out here, Guk. We should have just met up at your house,” Taehyung says, leading Jeongguk to where he was just sitting.

 

“I’m okay, Taehyungie. This is fine,” Jeongguk replies, just happy that he can spend this time with Taehyung at their spot.

 

After all, the cold seems to numb the pain, the feeling in his hands and feet fading into nothing. It’s like being bathed in nothingness. Peaceful.

 

“Are you sure? You look a little pale,” Taehyung worries, continuing to fuss over Jeongguk. 

 

“I’ve been this pale for a while now, hyung,” Jeongguk remarks.

 

“Right.”

 

“Besides, I wanted to come out here. It might be the last time,” Jeongguk says in a quieter voice. 

 

Taehyung frowns.

 

“Don’t say that, Gukkie! There will be lots of other times!”

 

Jeongguk smiles. Since the time Taehyung had found out about Jeongguk’s illness, it’s like the two boys switched dispositions. Taehyung has become more sure that Jeongguk will make it to at least thirty and is determined to cheer up Jeongguk who has now accepted where things are going.

 

“Hyung. I need to tell you something,” Jeongguk reveals.

 

“Hmm. I need to tell you something too,” Taehyung responds with a smile.

 

“You go first,” Jeongguk says, although he’s practically bursting to confess to Taehyung.

 

He’s kept his feelings in for so long and, even though he doesn’t fully understand them yet, he understands enough to know that he’s really in love with Taehyung and he’s ready for the older boy to know. But he guesses he can wait...

 

“Guk, I know this is going to sound crazy but I have to tell you. I...I-” Taehyung begins and Jeongguk, scared of whatever might come, can’t stop himself anymore.

 

“I...Iloveyou...” he blurts out before Taehyung can finish. 

 

“Huh?” Taehyung his head, looking confused.

 

“I love you, hyung...” Jeongguk repeats in a slower but still quiet voice. 

 

“That...that’s what I was going to tell you after you said what you wanted to say but I couldn’t wait any longer so...”

 

Taehyung doesn’t say anything, just stares at Jeongguk, eyes wide, and Jeongguk mentally face palms, knowing he’s messed up big time and wishing he’d just died a fool secretly in love with his best friend instead of one who’s just confessed and ruined everything.

 

“You love me?” Taehyung finally asks, quietly. “Love-love me?”

 

“I’m sorry, hyung! I know I’m being selfish and I’ve probably just ruined this whole night for you because I know you don’t like me back and-“ Jeongguk starts to rant, trying to look anywhere but at Taehyung.

 

“But I do.”

 

It takes Jeongguk longer than it probably should for him to really realize what Taehyung means. Then he basically stops functioning and stares at the older boy in surprise.

 

“You...do?”

 

“I do like you back. I love you, Jeongguk. That’s what I was trying to tell you,” Taehyung laughs, eyes shining.

 

It takes less than a heartbeat for Jeongguk to close the gap between them and seal their lips together. Taehyung gasps in surprise before kissing back. It’s a fairly short kiss with barely enough time for Jeongguk to enjoy the feeling of his lips against Taehyung’s before it’s broken with shy smiles and laughs that makes Jeongguk feel like he’s healthy again. 

 

They watch the stars for a while just like Jeongguk had always wanted to do, hands laced together and swapping stories from their childhood. All too soon, the cold wears off and Jeongguk is thrown back into reality. 

 

Nevertheless, he feels complete, like he might actually make it to thirty and beyond. He hopes he will.

 

Blink once.

 

Jeongguk doesn’t make it to thirty. He doesn’t even get to twenty-three. A few days after he and Taehyung’s second beach night, Jeongguk’s condition worsens and he’s officially put on bedrest. Pain is his everyday life. The only thing that makes him truly happy is when Taehyung visits. 

 

He’ll sit and talk with Jeongguk for hours on end, acting cheerful and smiling all the time while Jeongguk knows he’s crying inside. Jeongguk can’t do much at this point, stuck in his bed and unable to offer a hug so he always insists on having Taehyung hold his hand whenever he comes over, always giving the excuse to the older boy that it makes him feel safer and happier. But really it’s his way of offering some kind of comfort to Taehyung.

 

Sometimes one of Jeongguk’s parents will bring them a snack. Usually it’s Jin and he’ll linger by the door after leaving the snack on the nightstand, watching the two boys with a sad smile. Jeongguk has a feeling his father knows what’s going on between them but he never says anything.

 

It’s a sad love Jeongguk and Taehyung share, a love that they know will come to an end soon. Enjoying the little moments to their fullest is crucial. The goodbye kiss from Taehyung when he has to leave for his new job every evening. Those rare nights when Taehyung doesn’t want to leave and pleads his way under the covers beside Jeongguk, snuggling up against his side. It’s those moments that make Jeongguk scared to die, scared that every one might be the last one, every goodbye, every late night cuddle, every sorrowful kiss. He’s sad that he won’t ever get to experience them again once he’s gone.

 

It’s the night before his twenty-third birthday and strangely, it’s Jeongguk who’s begging Taehyung to stay with him, to hug him and kiss all his worries away until he can finally fall asleep.

 

“Please, Tae. Just tonight. You’re always wanting to stay with me,” Jeongguk pleads, giving Taehyung his best puppy dog eyes.

 

Taehyung laughs and walks over to Jeongguk’s bedside.

 

“You know I have a shift at the store tonight. Otherwise I’d already be cuddling you to sleep right now,” the older boy replies with a fond smile.

 

Jeongguk’s heart sinks. Something’s wrong about tonight. He feels as if he’ll drown if he’s left alone. Mustering all his strength, he sits up and wraps his arms around Taehyung’s waist, burying his face in the older boy’s shirt.

 

“Please, hyungie. Please. Don’t leave me,” he begs, tears welling up in his eyes.

 

Taehyung sits down on the edge of the bed, pulling him closer into a warm embrace that Jeongguk finds himself melting into. It’s less painful like this, snuggled up in Taehyung’s arms and he sighs, happily.

 

“Fine, Guk. I surrender. I’ll probably get fired though,” Taehyung remarks, pressing a kiss to Jeongguk’s hair.

 

“Okay, okay. You can go. Just...please come back as soon as you can,” Jeongguk says, looking up at Taehyung who’s eyes widen.

 

“Baby, why are you crying?” He gasps, thumb brushing Jeongguk’s cheek. “I’ll be back tomorrow.”

 

“I know. I’m just scared. I’m scared something’s going to happen to you...or...or to me,” Jeongguk admits, a few tears escaping.

 

Now even Taehyung looks a bit scared and Jeongguk knows why.

 

“Okay, Guk. I’ll stay with you. Please don’t cry,” Taehyung murmurs, hugging Jeongguk just a little tighter.

 

Jeongguk pulls away, feeling a bit guilty. He doesn’t want Taehyung to lose his job because of his clingy boyfriend.

 

“No. I don’t want you to get fired. I’ll be okay,” Jeongguk reassures Taehyung.

 

“Are you sure, Jeongguk? I don’t care about my job. Hell, I’ll quit right now if you want me to,” Taehyung says, determination in his eyes and Jeongguk smiles, already feeling a bit better.

 

“It’s okay, Tae. Just come back as soon as you can. I’m going to miss you.” “I’ll be here when you wake up, okay?”

Jeongguk nods. 

 

He still doesn’t want Taehyung to leave, fearing something will happen to one of them, but he’d feel worse if Taehyung got fired on account of Jeongguk.

 

“Promise?”

 

“I promise, Guk.”

 

Taehyung seals their promise with a kiss meant to be sweet and quick but that quickly turns heated when Jeongguk takes the initiative to deepen the kiss, lightly biting down on Taehyung’s lip. The older boy whimpers and Jeongguk presses further, lips parting, tongues colliding messily as the world falls away around them. They’ve never gone this far but they’re enjoying every minute of it and Jeongguk makes sure to engrave the memory in his mind in case it’s the first and last time. Taehyung is the one to pull away. They’re both breathless but smiling and Jeongguk gives the older boy one final kiss laced with love and affection before moving away.

 

“There. Now you can leave,” he says with a satisfied smile.

 

“You sure you’ll be okay?” Taehyung asks anxiously as he helps Jeongguk back under the covers. 

 

“Mhm. Honestly, I still wish you could stay but you’ll be here tomorrow morning so I guess I’ll be fine,” Jeongguk replies.

 

Taehyung brushes a hand through Jeongguk’s hair and presses a kiss to his forehead. 

 

“Love you, baby,” he whispers.

 

“Love you too, Taetae.”

 

Taehyung smiles as he leaves, glancing back at Jeongguk from the door.

 

“Taetae, huh? That’s a new one. I like it,” he says before he leaves.

 

It’s the last thing Jeongguk can remember. Taehyung’s soft smile, the way his lips tasted like strawberries, the warmth of his hugs, his voice. He wants to stay there forever, warm and happy and content. But life has to go on someday or end someday and Jeongguk accepts that.

 

Later in the night, he wakes up from a fever dream. Pain blurs his vision. The monitor beside his bed is beeping. He can’t breathe. He can hear his parents running in, Jin starting to cry, Namjoon calling someone. Jeongguk forgets who it should be. Maybe it’s Taehyung. It all hurts like hell but Jeongguk doesn’t react. 

 

He knows he’s going. He knows Taehyung won’t be there or make it in time to say one final goodbye and maybe that’s for the better. The last thing he wants to see before he closes his eyes is Taehyung crying. He’s happy to go now after hearing Taehyung telling him he loves him.

 

Jeongguk loves him too. He does. He really does. Then, in the blink of an eye, everything is gone. 

 

The crooked lines on the monitor go flat with one final drawn out beep.

—

“So you left home and your first love to go floating a lost and lonely soul.” 

 

Jeongguk can only stare at the person, a young boy, whose sitting before him, the same person drew his soul out of the water hours earlier.

 

“You have a very sad story, Jeonggukie. How I’m going to present it to Hoseok, the gatekeeper, may not be so tricky after all,” the boy laughs.

 

He introduces him as Jimin, a soul sailor, trained to pick up and be the spokesperson for special seeming souls so that they might have a chance to join the beautiful city the gatekeeper owns. Jeongguk wishes he could reply to Jimin’s many questions as the boy seems to be friendly and talkative. But Jeongguk is only a soul now. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

“We’re almost there. Watch for Hoseok. He usually looks like a regular human ray of sunshine but he can also appear in many other different forms,” Jimin says as the boat glides through huge doors into a bright beautiful swamp.

 

Jeongguk looks around, curiously. The boat slows to a stop and an island appears, melting out of thin air. Another boy, who Jeongguk supposes is Hoseok, sits on the grass, draped in blue clothes and gazing down at Jimin and Jeongguk.

 

“Oh, great gatekeeper! I bring before you a soul who has died young and a lover. He had a lonely childhood until he met his first love who he’s now left for your realm. Pray grant him refuge in your great city,” Jimin suddenly cries, bowing before the boy who rolls his eyes.

 

“Cut the formalities, Chim. Stop making me seem like some great god or something,” Hoseok snaps before smiling brightly at Jeongguk.

 

“Hey! How are you?” 

 

Jeongguk suddenly finds that he can talk. He’s still a soul but no longer feels lost like before. He has the hands of a soul, the feet of a soul, the body of a soul that resembles his past life. Jimin claps his hands, eyes shining and seeming absolutely delighted.

 

“You’ve transformed! That means he’ll let you in! I knew you were special!” Jimin explains, happily before giving Jeongguk a tight hug. 

 

Jeongguk can’t help but smile.

 

“Thank you. For everything,” Jeongguk says when Jimin pulls away.

 

“Sure thing!”

 

“If…if it isn’t too much trouble, could you…could you please keep an eye out for him. Please?” Jeongguk pleads and Jimin nods, understandingly.

 

Jeongguk leaves him behind to float back out to sea and joins Hoseok in the city, feeling, for the first time since becoming a soul, that he belongs. He isn’t so lonely anymore. And he’ll wait for as long as it takes.

—

Taehyung is satisfied. He’s lived a life to be proud of, despite the heartbreak of his early years that still grieves him even now as he sits aboard a small boat in the middle of a sea of souls. He wonders about the different people out there among the waves. Is he there?

 

“You!”

 

Taehyung’s focus turns to the grumpy looking boy on board the boat.

 

“You’re the first love, aren’t you?” He asks, frowning.

 

Taehyung has no idea what the boy is talking about and he can’t even answer him or ask what he means.

 

“Chim told me all about you. Said to keep an eye out for you. I imagine your little boyfriend is still in that city waiting,” the boy says.

 

Taehyung’s heart or whatever souls have that leap with hope, skips a beat at the word ‘boyfriend’. He wants so badly to talk, to ask more questions, but he can’t.

 

“Won’t Chim get a kick out of this when I tell him. Hoseok will probably let you into the city as well. I’ll just have to say, ‘He’s that boy’s love who was left behind on Earth’ or some crap like that,” the boy continues to complain.

 

Taehyung can only wait patiently as the boat glides through the water and the boy continues to ramble on and on about how tough his job is. Taehyung finds himself thinking back to the life he’s left. He never dated anyone else or loved another person after Jeongguk died. His heart never wavered. He instead graduated college with a doctorate in science and medicine, setting up a research lab to find a cure for what took Jeongguk away from him.

 

“Here we are, Mr. First Love. Hey, Hoseok! I’ve brought that guy’s lover!” The boy shouts, breaking Taehyung’s train of thought as the boat enters a bright sunny swamp.

 

In front of them, an island appears with another boy, dressed in blue, sitting atop it. His face breaks into a sunny grin when he spots the boat.

 

“Yoongi! I haven’t seen you in ages!” exclaims the second boy, who Taehyung assumes is the Hoseok guy Grumpy Boy was talking about.

 

He bounds up to the boat and Grumpy Boy, Yoongi, gives him a sour look.

 

“Yeah. Enjoy it while it lasts,” he snaps but doesn’t seem to protest when Hoseok engulfs him in a bear hug.

 

Hoseok then turns to Taehyung who suddenly begins to feel his soul taking the shape of a body. He finds he can talk again and walk around.

 

“So you’re his lover, huh?” Hoseok murmurs, scanning Taehyung from head to toe.

 

“Who’s lover?” Taehyung asks, speaking for the first time.

 

Hoseok just smiles.

 

“Congratulations. Welcome to the city,” Yoongi mutters as he walks past Taehyung.

 

Taehyung, despite how grumpy Yoongi was during the boat ride, decides to thank the frowning boy for getting him this far and, to Taehyung’s surprise, Yoongi gives him a quick smile in return. He seems like he wants to say something but suddenly, Taehyung hears another voice. A voice he’s longed for, missed ever since the last day he heard it.

 

“Hi, hyungie.”

 

Taehyung spins around, eyes wide and heart pounding in his chest, hoping against hope that it’s who he knows it is. And he’s right. Standing behind a smiling Hoseok, foggy and soul like but still with those unforgettable doe eyes and bunny smile, is Jeongguk.

 

“I’ve been waiting for you for ages,” he sighs, bottom lip curling into a teasing frown. “I told the other sailor, Jimin, to keep an eye out for you when he first took me here. I guess he kept his promise. I’ll have to thank-”

 

He’s cut off by a soul crushing hug from Taehyung, familiar and just as warm as the last time he hugged the older boy so many ages ago. For Taehyung, it’s like coming home for the first time in years, decades, centuries even.

 

“Thanks, Gukie,” the older boy breathes, tears welling up in his eyes as he looks at Jeongguk. “Thanks for waiting for me.”

 

“Why are you crying, hyung?” Jeongguk asks, gently, bringing a feeling of déjà vu to both him and Taehyung when he thumbs the older boy’s tears away.

 

“You’re crying too,” Taehyung laughs and Jeongguk can’t deny it.

 

They’re both in tears but still smiling in each other’s embrace and Taehyung can’t stop himself from pulling Jeongguk in for the most magical kiss full of sincerity and all the love he was never able to give the younger boy during his lifetime.

 

“God, I missed you so much, Guk baby,” Taehyung murmurs against Jeongguk’s lips and the younger boy smiles.

 

“I missed you too, Taetae.”

 

In the blink of an eye, life seems meaningful once again as the boat pulls away, two lights now shining together on the shore it’s just left behind. They become stars in the night sky in a world where once upon a time, a young boy dreamed of sharing them with his first love.

 

“Look, Joon. He looks like he’s smiling.” 

 

“He must be with someone he likes.”