Chapter 2

 

            Upon arriving in Korea and unlocking the doors to their mansion in the country, Kai and Sehun set their things off to the side and decided on taking a car into the city they hadn’t seen in decades. 

            The first thing on Sehun’s mental list was to track down Miranda.  He knew that she was currently in Seoul while she worked a modelling job for Gucci Korea.  He hadn’t seen her since she and Orlando Bloom got divorced.  He speculated that the reason for their split was that Orlando found out that Flynn wasn’t actually his and in fact, the child of one of her other Immortals.

            “Call her,” Kai said as they crossed the busy streets of Seoul to the venue she had her photoshoots done at.

            “What if she’s not here?”

            “Only one way to find out.”  They stopped at the fountain out front and took a seat. 

            “What if she doesn’t want to see me?  What if she thinks that I’m the one that told him about Flynn?”

            “I doubt that.  Orlando probably doesn’t even know that Flynn’s yours. Including yourself and her ex-husband, doesn’t she have, like, three other Immortals?  Flynn could have been any of theirs.”

            “That doesn’t make me feel better.”  Sehun pulled out his phone from his back pocket and opened his contacts to Miranda’s number, but hesitated to press call.

            “Sorry man, just being realistic.  She’s probably the one that told him anyways.”

            “She isn’t.  In her letter, she said that according to Orlando, he found out from someone else.  I’m the only one that knows…”

            “But you didn’t tell him, so obviously you’re not the only one that knows.”

            Sehun finally built up the courage to press the call button and put his phone to his ear.  It rang once, twice, three times, then she finally answered. 

            “Sehun!” he heard through the line.  “Are you finally here?”

            “Yeah, Kai and I are outside at the fountain.”

            “I’ll be out in two minutes!”

            The line went dead and Sehun glanced back at his friend.  “She’s on her way down.”

            “That’s my que to leave then,” Kai stood from his seat and brushed off his pants.  “See you back at the house.  Unless you spend the night with Miranda, then I’ll see you when I see you.”

            They waved to each other, then Kai went on his merry way to find anything that remotely resembled what he remembered from his childhood, but nothing was familiar to him.  Even the street names were different.

            He turned the corner back towards where he left Sehun, but he had no idea where he was going.  He sighed in frustration.  How do I get lost in my home country?  Kai continued on down the street, in search for a cab or a friendly face that could offer him directions, but it was the middle of the week day.  Adults were at work, and kids were at school.  Even a city as busy as Seoul had days when the streets were mostly dead.

            “Excuse me?” said a sweet voice from behind him, “you look a little lost, do you need help finding something?”

            He turned around to face a girl, about his age (or at least the age he looked), carrying a backpack, clearing full of books and a diaper bag.  She looked a little young to be a mother.  “Uh…yeah.”  He pushed the hair from his eyes awkwardly and continued, “I’m looking for- actually I don’t know what street it’s on or what it’s called, but it’s a big building with a fountain in front.  I guess people do photoshoots there, or something?”

            “I know exactly what you’re talking about.  I’m actually headed there myself to pick up one of the model’s kids.  I’ll take you there.”

            “That’d be great, thank you!”

            “Of course.  I’m Chaerin, by the way.”

            “Kai,” he replied.

            The two of them finished the walk down the street, then turned a few corners and arrived at the venue.  All while making small talk.  Turned out, Chaerin was Flynn’s babysitter.

            Kai thanked her again, then watched as she entered the large building.  He shot Sehun a text to say that he was here, but before he could press send, a shrill voice rang through his ears that made his skin crawl, “Who the hell was she?”

            He spun around fast and replied through gritted teeth, “What are you doing here?”  After years and years of trying to lose her and failing, Kai was never surprised when Lizbeth would show up seemingly out of nowhere and unannounced. 

            “Answer my question first.”

            “She was only showing me how to get here, but as history shows, you probably already knew that.”  He asked her again, “What are you doing here?”

            “I wanted to see you.”

            “It’s been six years, I don’t want to see you.”

            She wasn’t hurt by that comment.  He’s told her much worse, in much more difficult situations.  “This time I’m not going anywhere.”

            “You’ll die if you don’t leave within the next couple of days.”

            “I’m not leaving you this time.  I’m so close to full maturity, Jongin.  Soon we can be together again!”

            “It’s not the first time you’ve said those words to me.”

            “This time I’m serious.”

            There was a moment of silence while Kai pondered over the idea that Lizbeth would finally be able to survive around him again.  He wasn’t completely fond of the possibility.  “No,” he finally said.

            “What do you mean “no”?  I’m not giving you an option.”

            “And how is that fair?”

            “I made you.”

            “So that gives you the right to control how I live my life?  Lizbeth, I’ve told you a million times, I don’t love you anymore, just stay away.”

            She didn’t say a word as she watched him retreat into the building, however, she did chase after him.  As he got onto the elevator, she held her arm out in front of her to stop the doors from closing, and in she followed.  “You can’t just kick me out of your life.  You know just as much as I do that we have to die together, or we won’t die at all.”

            He watched the doors close, slowly.  She pushed the number “8” on the panel and watched as the numbers quickly changed from floor to floor.  “That’s not for a long time.”  The elevator landed on the eighth floor, but neither of them exited when the door opened. 

            “I’m the one that decides when it happens.”

            “We’re the ones that decide,” he corrected.  “I can’t die without your magic, and you can’t die without killing me remember?”

            “The spell requires us to be together.”  Lizbeth looked up to meet the eyes of her one true love, but he didn’t return the gaze.

            “You and I both know that isn’t true.”

            The doors opened again, this time to allow, who Kai thought to be a CEO, onto the elevator.  The two of them exited to continue their private conversation and continued down the hallway.  He hoped that he’d find Sehun soon.

            “Why do you keep coming back to me?” he asked.

            “Because I love you.”

            “Why can’t you love somebody else?  If you’re so anxious to die, go turn someone else.  Your kind is drawn to people fated for demise after all.”

            “I don’t want to die with anyone but you.”

            They turned a corner, only the find themselves at a spiral staircase decorated in size 00 girls, all twisted in inhuman positions around the rails.  Kai looked around the room, he spotted Sehun saying goodbye to Flynn as Chaerin gathered up his things to take him home.  Miranda was coming down the spiral staircase as the photographer called it quits for the day.  She waved at him and he waved back.  Sehun followed her gaze and surprise flashed across his face when he realized who it was that attached to his friend’s hip.

            “You can go now.”

            “I’m not going anywhere, Jongin.”

            Sehun draped his jacket over Miranda’s bare shoulders, and hand in hand they crossed the room to meet the other two.  “Hey Lizbeth,” he said, “It’s been a while.”

            “Hi Sehun,” she replied awkwardly.

            Sehun had to force himself not to flash Kai a look while his moderate was right there.  Miranda exchanged pleasantries with them, then whispered something in Sehun’s ear and took off toward the dressing room.

            “So Miranda and I are going to go back to her house, so I won’t be back until late tomorrow night.”

            Lizbeth attempted to wrap her fingers around Kai’s, but he pulled away and forced himself to ignore her presence.  “Good.  It’s been a while since you’ve seen her and Flynn.  Take as much time as you need.”

            Sehun nodded and went to help Miranda carry her bags.

            “Jongin,” Lizbeth spoke up.

            “Go away.”  He turned to leave the venue once again, but she continued to follow him. 

            “I’m not done talking to you!”  She had to run to catch up to him.

            “I’m done talking to you.”

            She stopped in her tracks and yelled loud enough for the entire floor to hear, “Kim Jongin!  Stop this nonsense right this instant!”

            He laughed to himself and turned to face her.  They were a good ten feet from each other, but neither of them moved any closer.

            “If we don’t fix this you’ll be alone.”

            “What are you talking about?”

            “Eventually you’re going to want to die!  They always do, and I’m the only one that can do that for you.”

            “I don’t want to die.  Ever.”

            “Let me finish!  At some point, all your friends are going to be gone.  Sehun and Miranda will die together, and maybe your other friends will be the one their moderates choose to die with.  I want to die with you, so whenever I’m drawn to somebody else, I purposefully avoid them.  I don’t want to fall in love with someone else just to keep them from dying.”

            “You had no problem doing that with me.”

            “I was selfish.  It wasn’t my time to die, but it was yours, and I took that from you.  I wouldn’t have been able to survive without you.  If I hadn’t saved you, I probably would have killed myself a hundred years ago.  I regret my decision every day.  If I hadn’t turned you, we’d both be dead by now.”

            “I don’t regret it.”

            Her eyes widened.  “What?”

            “Because you turned me, I’ve gotten to live all over the world.  I don’t want to die, ever.  I love my life, and I’ve met so many amazing people and as much as I hate to say it, the times you came to see me were the best.  Even when we were at each other’s throats.”

            “So you do still love me.”

            “Yes.  But I don’t want to.  It hurts too much.”  A single tear rolled down her cheek.  She avoided meeting his gaze so he wouldn’t see, but he knew her too well.  In seconds he was inches away and he grabbed her hands as said, “look at me.”  She hesitated, but eventually brought herself to do so.  “You don’t need my permission, but I know you and without it you won’t do anything, but I’m telling you to move on.  I know you’re done with life.  You’re only waiting on me.  You don’t have to.  I don’t want you to.  Go love somebody else, turn him and die with him.  Let me go.”

            “I can’t do that.”

            “Force yourself to.  You’re unhappy and you can’t die without your immortal.  I know you can’t change anyone without being in love with them, but for your happiness, you need to force yourself to or else you’ll just be a walking corpse.”

            “You don’t get it!” she cried, “I only want to die with you!  I will never love another!”

            “If the endgame is death,” he thought for a long time before continuing his words, “and you won’t die without me then…give me a few more years.  I-I’ll die with you, but only if you don’t find someone else.  You need to promise me that you’ll try though.”

            She nodded.  “If I don’t fall in love with someone else, we die together.”

            “You have thirty years.  Don’t waste them.”

A/N:  Hello everyone! I know its been a while, but thanks for still reading!  Drop a comment, subscribe and an upvote! Thank you!