Chapter Five - Don't Forget

"You - you're - You're saying you're immortal?" Jongdae asked as he crossed his leg and sat beside Yifan. Yifan nodded slowly. "For how many years are you living now?"

"Three hundred years."

"Do you still remember memories out of those three hundred years?" Jongdae asked. Yifan just stared at his knees as he slowly shook his head a no.

"Not really. I've been staying here ever since I can remember."

"Oh."

They stayed silent. Jongdae was the first one to speak.

"You said -  you've got no reason to live anymore." Jongdae looked down as he said the words softly. Yifan looked at him. "Why do you not want to live anymore?"

"I've been living for hundreds of years, Jongdae. It's really sad just to live knowing you can't die anymore. I've tried to commit suicide, but as expected, I couldn't die. So I had to continue living and let everything I love come and go. No matter how much I wanted them to stay, I couldn't because they couldn't live forever like me. I don't know if I'm just being selfish but I wanted people I love be with me forever. But seeing as it couldn't happen... I blame the person who gave me this. I don't deserve such curse."

Jongdae just stared at Yifan's flawless face as the latter looked up at the ceiling and sighed. He noticed a necklace dangerously hanging by the edge of the bedside table. "Whose necklace is that?"

Yifan slowly turned his head to look at the necklace. His heart felt like it was going to shatter any minute now. Why did the necklace show up? He tried so hard to forget and now he was remembering him again.

He slowly reached for it with his smooth long fingers and caged it in his hand. He opened his palm to look at it again. Jongdae was beside him, staring at it with awe.

"That's a nice necklace."

"My lover gave it to me." Jongdae looked back at him. Yifan's eyes were staring right back at the shiny little diamonds on the letter Y. "His name was Yixing and he was the one who really loved me even though he knew I was a freak." He laughed bitterly. Jongdae felt his heart clench when he heard him laugh that way. He thought of himself as a freak.

"For once I thought that the reason I was still living was for him. I loved him, he loved me. I even turned down another guy who confessed to me. I turned him down because I thought Yixing was the one, the one who was going to be with me forever. Huh. But I guess I was wrong.

We lived happily after that. But I should've known happy endings don't exist for real. He died because of a rare sickness and the doctor's couldn't do anything to save him. They also told me that even if they could, Yixing might still die because he was already old." The hand holding the necklace turned into fist, crumpling the necklace caged in it. "They didn't even try. They didn't try harder."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Yifan." Jongdae said softly as he reached for Yifan by the shoulder to hug him again, but Yifan jerked his self away. He scooted away from Jongdae and Jongdae just watched with a hurt look on his face.

"He wanted me to love another when in fact I couldn't even do that. He wanted me to remember him through this necklace. He was such a stubborn man. He wanted me to be happy? Then he should've tried harder to live for me. I loved him so much, yet he left me."

"He was weak." Yifan growled and threw the necklace across the room, Jongdae's eyes wide as he watched the necklace make a tink sound as it bumped the glass vase near the door.

"I should've known he wasn't the one for me." Jongdae looked back at Yifan. "And so I tried forgetting him. Like he was never a part of my life. Like I never loved him." He bowed his head low and just stared at the floor.

Silence.

The sun was shining so bright outside, it was already lunch time, yet the room was still a little dark because of the thick curtain.

In his peripheral vision Yifan saw Jongdae stand up and walk towards the door. He thought he was going to leave him. And he said he could understand me. Yifan thought. But Jongdae bent down to hold the necklace and walked back to him, causing Yifan to look up to him.

Jongdae crouched down and held one of Yifan's fist, softly telling him to open it and Yifan thought his voice was as soothing as the running water. He obeyed, his eyes staring at Jongdae's calm face. He didn't even know what Jongdae felt.

Jongdae softly placed the necklace back on Yifan's palm and patted his palm softly before looking back straight into his eyes again. He smiled softly.

"You only say those things because you're hurt. But you know deep down in your heart you cared for him so much. You try to forget because it hurts, yes I know. But trying to forget isn't going to solve anything because there will always be a time you remember everything."

Yifan just stared at Jongdae, his eyes red because of the crying earlier.

"Don't forget about him, Yifan. He asked you to remember him through this, so might as well keep your promise. By time, you know you're going to accept it. And it wouldn't hurt anymore. Okay?"

Yifan slowly nodded and Jongdae smiled widely. He stood up, Yifan looking up at him as he walked out the door. But then he turned back. "Would you like me to bring you food here?"

Yifan smiled softly as he shook his head a no. He looked down. "No, thank you." Jongdae nodded as he closed the door softly, leaving Yifan alone.

Jongdae surely made him want to keep his promise. But he couldn't say a thing about it.