Archive of Our Own

And wilt thou have me?

Are you not good?

I hope so.

Now tell me how long you would have her after you have possessed her?

For ever and a day.

Orlando & Rosalind, As You Like It (Act IV, Scene 1) - Shakespeare

“Where are you?” was the first thing blurted by the person on the other side of the line.

Daniel laughed; he was walking through the grass as he approached a wooden bench placed under a giant cedar tree. “I’m at the park,” He answered as he put his briefcase to the bench and plopped himself there as well—his back leaned against the curved wooden strips.

“Yah, Kang Daniel—“ His best friend’s voice sounded so tired and annoyed through the call. Daniel laughed again, “Relax, Minhyun. I’ll rushed back to the office after this. I still got some time before the meeting.”

In front of him, the scenery was breathtaking. There was a big pond surrounded by cattails and water lilies, some of the flowers were still blooming beautifully. It was approaching autumn, but this year’s summer was unbelievably hot, and the early autumn’s temperature still carried the humidity of the previous season—thus the flowers were still thriving. Across the lake, there were rows of trees, all in different sizes and colours; some of them were turning yellow at this point.

The sky above him was undeniably vast and blue, a thin cirrus trails of clouds scattered across the horizon. The sun was bright, almost too bright. Daniel sat on the bench, half of his body was covered by the cedar tree’s shade—but he could feel the sunlight on his skin nevertheless. He looked up to the sky and closed his eyes.

You like this park so much, don’t you Miran…?

As he thought if the name, the girl’s figure came forward to his heart. He still remembered everything—clear and vivid, as if he was seeing her only yesterday. Daniel didn’t need to open his briefcase to took the sketch he put on his notebook. After all, he was the one drawing the portrait—he remembered every single details of Miran’s appearance by heart.

“Hwa Miran…” He whispered her name, faint yet longing. Daniel held dear the name, almost sacred. Just like her name, she was as beautiful as an orchid. Her peers called her the white orchid. She got both the beauty and elegance, just like the meaning of white orchid.

Daniel remembered her smile, those eyes crinkled into thin crescent lines. Her laugh. The way she always double blink, scrunched her beautiful face because her uncommon blinking habit. How her raven locks swayed in the wind. The small birthmark on her left chest, atop of her heart’s position, shaped like an orchid—that’s how she got her name. The three moles on her left cheek, formed a small triangle just like the summer’s constellation. Daniel swore he could almost hear her calling his name, “Euigeon-ah…”

Or at least, his name from his past life. Odd as it is, Daniel actually owned his memories from his past life. His current self is Kang Daniel. Hwa Miran’s husband was Kang Euigeon—his former self. They were husband and wife, married on Daniel’s previous life. Daniel was searching for her in this current timeline, but he couldn’t find her. Unlike the other people he had encountered on this life period, Miran was never showed up.

It was like fate played a cruel trick on him. While the other people from his past life keep showing up in front of him on this lifetime, only the person Daniel longed the most that never appeared. Daniel sighed, stared at the pond. This historical park was exist during his past life memories, and his former self often visited the park with Miran for a casual stroll. His wife loves this place, especially the water lilies pond. That’s why Daniel pick the nearest building near the park when he started his company with his best friends, so he could visit the park as often as he wanted to.

“Where are you…?” He asked. The past life memories was the cruelest thing happened to him, as he couldn’t help to longing for his beloved wife—the one he couldn’t found in the present time. As it was on cue, the memory surged up.

He was sitting on the bench with his wife. Miran was leaning on him, slowly put her head on his shoulder. In front of them, the pond was filled with thousands of water lilies—all blooming in full glory. The pinkish red was so vivid, slowly swayed as the wind blew gently over the pond.

“Euigeon-ah,” She called, voice rasped. His heart ached to hear the latter’s weak tone. He put his hand on his wife’s hand, clasped them. Miran’s face was pale, her lips was void of colours, and he really hate to see her thinner by day. She was sick and he couldn’t help her at all. The doctors had given up, but Daniel couldn’t do the same. He won’t let go his hopes; he want to believe that something or someone could cure his wife illness. Miran was just in her 20s. She was way too young to die.

“Hmm?” He whispered as the reply, a stubborn lump stuck inside his throat. He was fighting the urge to cry. His wife smiled—a weak smile, yet it looked peaceful and serene. “After I’m gone…” His fingers clenched hers tightly as she said her words, so she patted Euigeon’s hand using her other hand, “Please life your life well. Don’t drown in sorrow. I’ll hate that.”

“Mmm.”

“If you met another woman, and you felt like you could be happy with her…” Miran said her words slowly, “Please do marry her and be happy.” Euigeon shook his head in protest, and Miran laughed, “I just… want you to remember me. Keep me in your heart, okay Euigeon-ah?”

“Always…” He replied. She smiled in return. “I’ll always remember you,” Euigeon promised. Miran still looked ethereally beautiful, doesn’t matter if she was ashen faced with gaunt, hollowing figure. “Live your life well to the fullest… even without me, okay Euigeon-ah?”

Present day, the tears rolled down Daniel’s cheeks. He was sitting alone on the bench; it was a different wooden bench yet it was placed in the same place with the previous one. His side was empty, his briefcase was lying there on the spot next to him. There was no Miran. He had never met her in this present time.

“…where are you?”

Daniel was barely three years old when the first piece of the memories came onto him.

It was a few days after his birthday; little Kang Daniel was sitting on the floor of the living room—colourful playing mat cushioned his play area. Various shapes of wooden blocks painted in bright primary colour scattered around him. He was holding the red one, shaped like a ball, when the image struck.

It was a quick image of another living room—he was bigger and currently sitting on a couch. When he saw his hands, they were boney and wrinkly. He felt tired and ached. The living room was dim and dirty, the curtain was closed yet he could see some neon lights seeped through the gaps of the stripped material. The neon lights shifted from bright yellow to red, then blue, before turned back into yellow. There were blaring sounds of honking cars and people loudly chatters, but slowly getting faint as his breaths went shallow. Then his vision dimmed, and he tumbled down. The floor was hard and cold. His whole body aches. He lied there, unable to move as his breath ceased to exist.

The red wooden ball fell from his tiny hand and little Daniel wailed almost immediately. His cry was loud and hysterical; startled his mother who was cooking in the kitchen. The young mother rushed to her baby, scooped him into her arms, then cradled him—coaxed him to stop crying.

“Sssstttt, Eomma’s here,” She patted his tiny back, and little Daniel buried his face on his mother’s neck—his tears and snot made a mess on her floral blouse. “What happened, baby?” She asked, but even Daniel didn’t know what just happened. He didn’t understand at all. The image didn’t contain much and only lasted for a few short seconds, yet it gave him such a heavy, lonely and hollow feelings. It made him upset and he hated the scene.

Daniel sniffled, refused to let go of his mother, inhaling the sweet aroma of her wild jasmine and lily of the valley perfume mixed with the scent of milk. She smelled familiar and safe, so he exhaled the aroma and slowly drifted asleep.

The second piece came onto him a little after a year later.

He was playing at the playground, metal and wooden bars were painted in bright colourful colours of the rainbow. Daniel was swinging on the swing, both legs wiggled towards the sky—his laughter filled the air as his mother gently pushed his back. Then the vision came: he was still playing swing, wearing a different clothes—a long, dark coloured dungarees with blue shirt tucked beneath. His mother was there, pushing his back—the one piece dress she wore was different from the current puffed sleeves polkadot blouse and straight black pants she wore today. She called him using her usual sweet voice, “Euigeon-ah, do you have fun…?”

His laugh stopped, and as he blinked the scenery was already shifted back to his current playground. Seeing his son suddenly stopped laughing and looked so confused, his mother asked him, “Niel-ah? What happened?”

Daniel blinked again, still stared at his mother. His young mother looked the same, but with different hairstyle and outfit from his previous snippet. This was the mother he knew and recognized, yet he also somewhat knew that the mother on his vision was also his mother. The only big difference was she called him Euigeon instead of Daniel.

“Mom,” He opened his mouth, hand gripped the metal chains of the swing tightly, “What’s my name…?”

His mother seemed taken aback with the question, “Niel-ah, your name is Kang Daniel.” and little Daniel slowly nodded. He still looked down, so she offered, “Wanna go home, Niel-ah? Do you feel tired?”

Daniel just nodded.

Later, he learned to ignored the visions.

They came onto him randomly, no matter the place or circumstances. The vision felt like a faraway, distant memories; something that he occasionally watch using his own eyes. They would only lasted for a while, several minutes on top. On his visions, the scenery was more outdated—the fashion and the buildings looked rather odd and old compared to his current era. It looked like a whole previous decade, or even more. He knew it because there was a show series his mother loves to watch, picturing the lifestyle of olden days: 40s, 50s, 70s and early 80s. The participants would be dressed in the suitable garments of the period era, and tried to live daily on the era’s standard for a whole week.

He was probably seven when he learned not to ask or talk about his visions to his parents. His mother and father argued a lot about it. His father blamed his mother about ‘filling Daniel’s head with nonsense’ while his mother could barely defended herself. His father insisted that the show aired years earlier, the one his mother used to watch, was the cause of Daniel’s dreadful imaginary.

The father and mother in his vision was separated. They had a divorce, and the mother in his vision raised him by herself. Daniel didn’t want the same horrible thing happened to his current parents, so he kept his memories all by himself. He did a list of them though, wrote them down as much as he remembered to his notebook.

While his name is Kang Daniel, the other him in the vision was named Kang Euigeon. They both lived in Busan, yet on the different area. The other him lived by the pier, playing by the sea almost everyday, and love eating seafood. His parents were divorced when he was really young, and he barely remembered his father. From the photo his mother owned though, he looked similiar like Daniel’s current father—just like his and Euigeon’s mother was so similar in attitude and appearance.

On the other hand, the current him was lived on the city’s outer perimeter. His parents was still together, and instead of being a fisherman his father worked as a salaryman. His mother was still a stay at home wife, his current one doing odd jobs like folding paper bags and making beads bracelets on the side for the extra money.

Both Daniel and Euigeon went to school, and both of them was rather good in academics. They got decent grades, and Daniel wondered if he was kinda cheating since he recognized some math formulas or some history lesson from his vision before the teacher taught him. The other him was great in sports, so Daniel gave it a try. He did well, and one of his teacher introduced him to dancing. He got hooked right away—and just like his other self, his weight shaved down and his chubby figure evolved into the leaner, fitter version.

His current self was allergic to shellfish though, so he couldn’t eat much of the seafood. He tried one shrimp burger before because he missed the tasted of the seafood he loves from the vision, but ended up fainting and he woke up in the hospital. His mother was crying and his father was totally furious.

“Sorry,” He apologized. “I just wondered about how it’ll be taste like.”

His childhood was normal despite the visions. He learned to not showing odd reaction whenever the vision came onto him. Sometimes, they came in his dreams: some nights he would remember everything, yet on some other night he would waking up crying but didn’t remember anything of it.

His father saw that his son never acted strange like he did before, so his temperament went softer. He didn’t argue with his wife anymore. Their little family gradually became their old, blissful state. Since Daniel did well both on his study and physical activities, his father was rather lenient with him. He was proud with Daniel’s achievement and often indulged him—bringing him to the stadium to watch sports event together, went to the local park to play ball, and brought him to picnis.

Daniel was happy with these bonding time—his other self never got the chance to experience this fatherly love. He got his mother, but his mother on the vision was rather busy and never got much time for him since she worked so many hours. His current self got a really happy life, with loving father and mother.

For a certain period of time, Daniel wanted to say ‘no’ to his visions. He wanted to become a normal person, without seeing a vision of himself in a parallel timeline. He thought of throwing his notebook away, pretending that he never saw the visions; but he couldn’t. He was seeing it, experiencing the visions for years, and it had became the part of his life. A part of himself.

If I denied the visions, does it mean that I’m denying myself…?

Then he met Minhyun on the first day of Junior high.

Both of them were looking for the class list plastered on the big wooden information board when Daniel turned his head sideways and saw the latter. He blurted the name: “Minhyun…?” He recognized the latter from his vision. His other self was friends with the other Minhyun, one could say that they were best friends.

“You knew me…?” was the reply Minhyun gave him. It was their first time meeting each other on Daniel’s timeline. The handsome youth with fox-like features was still dignified and elegant as the other one in Daniel’s vision, those silky black hair was even parted on the same style. His name was also Hwang Minhyun, the same with the other one.

“Ah—?” Daniel seemed surprised with the development. He blurted the latter’s name by accident, and it was fascinating how the people in his vision were often appeared in his current days as well. Most of them got the same name, though some of them got a different name altogether. But their appearance and conduct of manner usually remained the same.

It took a while to convinced Minhyun that he didn’t lie about his vision. The subject was rather sensitive; his parents used to fought a lot because of it. Daniel knew it sounded crazy; other people might perceived it as an attempt for seeking any attention or he just simply not in the correct mind to begin with. But it was Minhyun and they were best friend on his visions, so Daniel took a leapt of faith and showed Minhyun his notebook.

Together, they tried to fit everything into a timeline—and Minhyun found that the scenes were conveniently fell into order to some stuffs happened in early 70s. There were some politic turmoils happened, eventhough the events didn’t directly affected his life on the visions. It also fit the fashion style used by the people on Daniel’s vision. He had described and scribbled them in a somewhat caricaturist scribbles, but Minhyun recognized the bits of them.

“Maybe it was your past memories,” Minhyun said, eventhough he was still rather sceptical about the whole reincarnation and past memories vision. It sounded illogical, after all. Past memories? Daniel found it fascinating. “Like… I was reincarnating but retain my memories? Though they came in pieces instead of a complete one?”

“It seemed so?” Minhyun seemed not really convinced about the theory, and Daniel felt wronged by the latter’s lukewarm reaction. “Well, let’s see,” Daniel pondered for a while, “Kang Euigeon and Hwang Minhyun in my vision got one other member on their gang. And underclassman named Park Woojin—“

He tried his best to describe Woojin. The physical appearance, the snaggletooth, his behaviour and habits. Daniel even did his best to draw a potrait of the Busan underclassman, eventhough it ended up looked like a cartoon caricature and Minhyun laughed when he saw the end result. “Don’t laugh,” Daniel pouted as he gave a light punch to Minhyun’s arm, “If this Woojin really showed up, you better believe me 100%…!”

The answer came next year when they entered the second grade. It was spring and the flowers were blooming. The sky was undeniably bright and saturated in a beautiful vivid blue. He and Minhyun checked the wooden board and found that they were placed in the same class when Minhyun suddenly saw someone a few steps away from the two of them.

It was a first grade underclassman with a snaggletooth and high-pitched laugh. He was attracting so much attention since he dyed his hair with a deep, crimson red. But it wasn’t the reason why Minhyun suddenly stared the boy with a disbelieved face.

The boy’s face and expression was aligned so much with Daniel’s previous scribbles. Eventhough Daniel wasn’t an excellent portrait painter, he managed to kept all of Woojin’s signature features into his sketch. It was a bizarre moment for Minhyun as he felt like he was seeing Daniel’s sketch turned alive.

“Park Woojin…?” Minhyun blurted, and the boy with the crimson red hair turned around, “Yeah…?” They boy approached them, “…do you know me, sunbae-nim? Do we meet before—?” Minhyun’s jaws dropped, while Daniel grinned with a smug expression.

Woojin’s reaction was the total opposite of Minhyun’s.

His eyes were sparkling as Daniel told him why Minhyun knew and called out his name. For Woojin, Daniel’s story sounded so otherworldly—super awesome as Daniel could describe the gist of his personality despite never knowing him before. He saw the sketch in the notebook, and baffled as he saw the details listed on the page.

“HOW DO YOU KNOW ABOUT MY SCAR?!” Woojin excitedly pointed the bullet points ‘Scar on left knee. Scrapped during bicycle’s practice accident.’ “I got it, see?” He rolled his pants and showed them the scar, “I got this scar from a skateboard’s practice though.”

“It happens,” Daniel explained, “Sometimes there were different details between the past in my vision and our current timelines, but most of them was the same.”

“Wow, this is so cool…!” Woojin was excited, but Daniel couldn’t agree fully with him. After all, his visions of the past life made his parents quarrelled about it. It was also hard to have a ‘normal’ life with those visions, and sometimes the dual parallel memories confused him to differentiate which scenes happen in which time settings—that’s why he need his notebook to tracked his memories.

“Niel-sunbae, who’s Hwa Miran…?” Woojin pointed another page of the notebook—the younger male was reading the contents of the book as he stumbled upon the page describing Hwa Miran. There was a sketch of a woman on the page, each strokes were carefully drawn. She was beautiful, elegant like a flower. Her long hair draped around her face, her features were sharp—unlike most Korean women, who owned soft and round features. Daniel added a note of her special features: three moles on her left cheek, formed a small triangle.

Daniel froze for a moment.

Woojin sensed his sudden change of mood, and Minhyun stole glances at Daniel. He stared at his best friend as if he was asking for a permission to tell the underclassman about Miran. Daniel sighed and weakly smiled—a sad smile. “She’s my wife.”

“Your wife…!” Woojin exclaimed again, looking all excited, “Have you meet her yet…?”

“Not yet,” Daniel looked so dejected. “I still haven’t find her yet.”

Woojin wanted to ask more, but the sullen look on Daniel’s face along with Minhyun’s stop it stare made him swallowed his questions back. The energetic boy didn’t dare to speak again, merely browsing the notebook and tried to read the contents quietly.

In the past life, Euigeon met Miran in his early years. He met her before meeting Minhyun and Woojin—he was pursuing her seriously later during his teenager years. The Hwa family lived in the same neighbourhood with him, just on the other block. One could say that they were childhood friends, as Miran’s mother was friend with his mother, socializing on the same circle.

He had witnessed how Miran bloomed into a beautiful lady over the years—their relationship was decently close as they used to play together. It was easy being together with her, as natural as breathing. He was anxious as he knew he got so many rivals, so one day he approached her.

“Miran-Noona…!” He adressed her using the honorifics, since she was a year older than him, “I love you, please be my girlfriend…!”

It was direct. He didn’t even give her flowers or anything. He was there, stood in front of her, stupidly and brashly blurting his confession in front of Miran’s house, in the middle of the street. His mother and Miran’s mother was there as well, gave them the “Omo—“ reactions in sync.

He was ready for a rejection, but Miran stood there in front of him—blushed and slowly nodded, “Okay.”

Alas, the fate was cruel to Daniel.

Miran never showed up during his current life’s childhood. He spent his junior and senior years looking for Miran, but she never showed up. Minhyun and Woojin helped her to search about her whereabouts, but they got nothing in results.

“She would show up someday,” Daniel said during his university life. Despite there were girls pursued and confessed to him during all those years, he rejected them all. He only thought of Miran, his beloved wife. Both Minhyun and Woojin didn’t have the heart to tell him to enjoy dating with another girls as a free, single man—technically Daniel didn’t cheat as they don’t even met yet in this current timeline. But Daniel was so adamant about his past life’s wife, “I’ll find her someday, somehow.”

His phone rang again, playing Minhyun’s special ringtone.

The tune was rushed and dominated with the beats of drums, sounded like a war cry. Daniel laughed as he fished his phone from his pant’s pocket. “Yeah, Minhyun?” He was still sitting on the bench, the sky was vast and the waterlilies look amazing as they swayed along with the wind.

“Get you ass here ASAP, Kang Daniel,” Minhyun’s voice sounded impatient, “We got an important meeting, for God’s sake…!”

Daniel looked at his watch. Sure, time flew as he was sitting there, lost in thought—busy reminiscing his past. It was five minutes before the meeting’s schedule. “I’ll be there,” He told Minhyun as he took his briefcase away, yelped as he pulled the handle the wrong way—some of his personal stuffs scattered on the bench. Daniel almost curse, quickly put his belongings into his briefcase and dashed to his office building, next to the park.

On the other bench next to the big cedar tree, another person shifted his gaze from his sketchbook towards Daniel’s running figure. His raven haired was styled into a comma hairstyle. He was wearing a neat white dress shirt and long black pants, topped with a greyish black cashmere sweater.

He was holding his pencil and ready to continue his sketch when the wind blew once again, and there was a noisy rattle sound came from the next bench. His lips twitched in annoyance, then he closed his sketchbook and put his belongings to his bag. Approached the bench which seated Daniel a while ago, he took a notebook—looked so old and dog-eared as it was frequently used, corners battered with not so smooth surface.

“This…”

It was roughly two hours later when the meeting ended.

The presentation went well and they had signed the deal. Holding his coffee mug, Daniel went to his own desk. His workspace located on the west side of the building, next to the bright, glass panelled wall. The curtain was half-closed at the moment, basking his space with crimson red and gold hue.

“It’s great that they finally agreed…!” Woojin chirped. His desk was on the other side of the room. His position on the company was the operational director, while Daniel and Minhyun was the co-owner. Despite their titles, their company was just a small start-up. Else than the three of them, the company only owned eight more employee and two part-timer.

“Yeah, that’s great,” Minhyun took a sip of his own coffee, “But really, Kang Daniel—you almost gave me a heart attack. ‘I still got time’ my ass, you forgot about our meeting right? Thankfully I phoned you in time.” He glared at Daniel from his desk—the one placed right next to Daniel’s area. Daniel had done this so many times before, almost like a habit.

“Sorry,” Daniel laughed, opened his briefcase to take his USB drive, “I really lost in thought—“

He froze in horror. Frantically, he searched his briefcase. His mouth went dry as his heart dropped. Daniel’s hands trembled as he emptied his whole belongings from his briefcase to his desk. He dumped everything, made a mess everyhwere—but seeing Daniel’s distraught’s expression, Minhyun didn’t have the heart to nag him.

“What happened?” He asked, “What are you looking for?”

“My notebook,” Daniel paled. His notebook wasn’t there in his bag. That notebook was so important, he never misplaced it. Where did it go—? Both Minhyun and Woojin knew how important the notebook for him, so they was shocked as well. “Where did the last time you see it, Hyung?” Woojin asked, tried to help.

Daniel pondered for a while, “I kept it in my bag—“ Then he remembered the incident on the park: he was sitting on the bench and hurried back to the company. His briefcase had fallen and his things got scattered around. Did he left his notebook on the park?

Without saying anything, Daniel grabbed his phone and dashed towards the exit. He was praying in his heart: please, please, please let me find it back. please still there— He impatiently pushed the elevator button, cursing himself why he picked the 7th floor on the building. Lucky seven my ass, he scolded himself as he pushed the button over and over again.

After he reached the ground floor, he immediately ran to the lobby. He passed the revolved door and wheezed, steadied himself to ran back to the bench—

“Excuse me.”

Daniel almost want to refute sorry, I’m busy— but when he saw the person who called him, he stopped. He blinked, the adrenaline on his system still rushed in his veins, yet for a second he forgot his ragged breath and stared on the latter.

The male stood near the revolving door was dressed almost in all monochrome colours—his shirt was white, his pants was black and his sweater was grey. He was wearing a stylish black leather backpack. The raven coloured hair was styled in a comma style, contrasted with his alabaster white skin. His face looked like a masterpiece sculpted by a famous renaissance artist, with sharp chiseled features. Those eyes were deep, the dark pupils looked like onyx gemstones. Those rose coloured lips moved as he spoke, “…is this yours?”

Daniel’s gaze shifted to the notebook offered by the other male. He almost gasped. “Yes,” He was so relieved, “That’s mine. I thought I lost it.”

The stranger smile, and Daniel’s heart skipped a beat. It was the first time he met the other male, but there was something alluring about the latter. He felt somewhat familiar. Did I see him on my past life’s memories…? Daniel tried to remember, but no avail.

“Here,” He gave the notebook, “You left it on the bench. I saw you running to this building, but I didn’t know your name and your floor… so I waited here.”

“Eh?”

Daniel was surprised. If what he said was true, this man had waited for him for two hours. Since he always keeps the book with him, he didn’t put his name on the notebook; so it was true that one wouldn’t find out the owner of the book even they checked the content. But to wait for two hours just to return a book to a total stranger was almost unheard of.

“Oh my gosh,” Daniel apologized, “I’m so sorry. I had wasted your time…!”

The other male shook his head, “It’s okay. Just seeing the condition of the notebook, it seemed that you really treasured it. So I thought I must give it back personally.” After he said it, the man smiled at him, “Now I had gave it back, I’ll excused myself—“

“Wait…!”

Daniel grabbed the latter’s wrist. “What’s—“ There’s a thump in his heart just now, “What’s your name? I’m Kang Daniel. Please, let me repay you somehow.”

The latter blinked at him. His expression was rather unreadable. “No need, really,” The man shook his head again, “That’s okay, I didn’t do much.”

“I insist,” Daniel still held the latter’s wrist, “Please. You are—?”

The raven haired stared at him, then gave up as he saw the earnest sincerity on Daniel’s face. “My name is Ong Seongwoo.”

“Ong—?”

It was such an unique surname. It was the first time he heard the surname. Sure, Hwa surname was also scarce even back from those earlier years, but at least people heard of the surname before. At the moment there were only several hundreds of people owned the Hwa surname, 915 people to be exact. He knew about it since he searched for the data—people from his past life tend to showed up with the same name in his current timeline, so he did some research about the Hwa surname.

The youth in front of him didn’t appear to upset with his reaction. He was accustomed to people’s disbelief reaction whenever he said his name. “Yeah, that’s right,” He chuckled, “My name is Ong Seongwoo. Not Hong Seong Woo, it's Ong Seong Woo. Not Ung Seong Woo, it's Ong Seong Woo. Not Gong Seong Woo, it's Ong Seong Woo.”

“Ong Seongwoo,” Daniel smiled and gave him a nod, “Noted, I got it. That’s really an unusual surname, to be honest.”

“Yeah, so many people told me about that,” Seongwoo smiled. Then he shifted his gaze to his wrist, “Mmm… Kang Daniel-ssi?”

“Hmm?”

Seongwoo gestured again, moved his wrist slightly. “You’re still holding my hand.”

“Ah, sorry…!” Daniel apologized, but he still holding Seongwoo’s wrist. Seongwoo raised one of his eyebrows, an expression of the mixture from amusement and disbelief appeared in his face. “Mmm, Kang Daniel-ssi…?”

He tried to tugged himself free, but Daniel tightened his fingers and tugged back Seongwoo’s wrist. “Please let me repay you somehow. I meant it. Anything.” Seongwoo looked like he wanted to sigh. Those onyx-like eyes slowly shifted to a vending machine located by the entrance. “Buy me a can of coffee then,” He pointed to the vending machine using his other hand, “The espresso latte will be fine.”

Daniel was reluctant to paid Seongwoo using the canned coffee. After all, the coffee was cheap—the price was only ₩300 for the espresso latte. “Are you sure…?” Daniel asked him again, though he approached the vending machine and inserted his coins, “I could buy you the premium one on the coffee shop if you want to.”

The can rolled down with a loud thunk. Seongwoo took the can from the machine and waved the can in front of Daniel. “Nah, this is enough,” He smiled. His eyes shone under the light, looked sparkled, “I won’t say no if we do meet again though.”

“Okay,” Daniel replied, almost too soon. Seongwoo chuckled. “Okay then,” He opened the coffee and took a big gulp, “Thanks for the coffee.” The raven haired waved goodbye and left the perimeter. Daniel felt an urge to ask Can we meet again? Do you live or work nearby? May I ask for your number—? but he held it. What’s with this baseless attraction? He never felt like this before. Usually he was rather steadfast, lived his life steadily as his past memories made him more mature than his peers.

“Forget it, Daniel.” He told himself. He entered the lift and pushed the 7th floor button. His best friends were there when he stepped out of the lift. “Do you find it, Hyung?” Woojin asked, and Daniel nodded as he showed them the notebook in his hand.

Minhyun paused for a second. “But why do you looked like that?”

Daniel blinked, “Like… what?”

“Well…” Minhyun tried to find the word, “Disappointed? Dejected? You looked rather upset… and dazed. What happened?”

“…nothing happened.”

Minhyun did’t believe his words, but Daniel quickly entered the office and sat on his chair. He opened his laptop, busied himself. For a second he glanced on the notebook that he put next to his keyboard. For the first time, instead of Miran, he remembered Seongwoo’s face.

No, Daniel denied it, Nothing happened.

“Ah?”

The small bell tinkled when Minhyun opened the door. Just as he entered the vintage coffee shop near their office building, Daniel spotted Ong Seongwoo right away. He was sitting there in the corner, wearing a red turtleneck, layered with a white t-shirt and a washed out denim jacket. It had been three days after the first time they met, and somehow it was a refreshing feeling to see the latter wearing something else that black and white.

The raven haired was wearing a headphone, scribbling something on his sketchbook. His brows looked relaxed, those long lashes framed his gem-like orbs. His alabaster skin looked kinda golden under the warm hue lights, the fairy strings on the side biased some bluish twinkling on his hair. He looked so ethereal, like a painting. The jazzy music played from the LP added the other-wordly atmosphere.

Daniel stopped so abruptly and Woojin, who followed just after him, crashed onto his back.

“Ow,” The brunette winced, “Why’d you stop, Hyung—?”

The younger male followed Daniel’s line of sight; spotting the male in denim jacket, sitting on the corner table. Woojin glanced back to Daniel, his boss was showing a rather unreadable expression. He looked delighted, surprised, and hesitant on the same time. Minhyun finished his order and glanced back to his colleagues, found the two of them staring at someone across the room.

“Someone you know…?” He asked, and Daniel let out a breath that he never realized holding all these time. “No,” He hurriedly replied, “Well, I mean—yeah, I do know his name, but…”

It was new to see Daniel behaved like this. Minhyun raised one of his eyebrows, his stares questioning Daniel. Daniel stared at Minhyun briefly before shifting back his eyes on Seongwoo. “He was the one who found my notebook,” His tone was faint, almost like a whisper.

As it was on cue, Seongwoo put down his pencil and stretched for a bit. He took his mug, ready to take a sip, frowned when he realized that it was empty, then glanced to the counter before he noticed Daniel—he was still standing there near the counter. “Ah,” was the first thing he said. Seongwoo looked genuinely surprised—and so does Daniel; the small cafe was hidden as there was no signs, the store’s front looked like an ordinary apartment. It also located in a small alley, so not many people knew about the place else than the locals. He knew the place since he often came to the coffee shop before with Miran. The owner had changed, as the current owner was the grandchild of the owner in Daniel’s memories.

Daniel gestured something to Seongwoo, asking him to wait. He ordered something to the cashier, accepting his tray of two strawberry shortcakes and a metal number plaque for his coffee order—it would delivered later by the waitress.

Daniel took his tray to Seongwoo’s table. “I’m sorry for assuming,” Daniel put one of the strawberry shortcake in front of Seongwoo, “But the strawberry cake here was to die for.”

Seongwoo didn’t seem mind for Daniel’s barging. He merely chuckled as he took a small fork and took a bite of the cake, “I knew.” Daniel eased the butterflies inside his stomach. Stop. You guys weren’t supposed to be here. “For your coffee, I asked the barista to give you another refill of your current one. Is it another espresso latte?”

Seongwoo laughed this time, eyes thinned into two crescent shapes. Daniel blinked, drown in a restless deja vu feeling when he saw the way the latter’s nose crinkled when he laughed. “Yeah,” Seongwoo’s voice tickled his eardrums, “It’s another espresso latte, Kang Daniel-ssi.”

They sat there for a minute, not saying anything. Seongwoo was eating the cake, and Daniel copied him, eating his own portion, stealing some glances one in a while. The waitress came with Daniel’s mug and a moka pot filled with the espresso latte. Seongwoo took his now re-filled mug, “Thank you for the coffee, Kang Daniel-ssi.”

Daniel smiled in reply. He finished his own cake in several big bites, amused as the taste was remained the same even after years. The shop was still using the same recipe they used years ago. Miran really love the strawberry shortcake, but it was such a luxury back then—so they could only eat it once in a while, sharing one piece of cake.

He was wondering if he need to ask for Seongwoo’s number when Woojin called him. “Hyung,” His tone was urgent. The younger male was holding the take out trays; the three of them went to the coffee shop to buy coffees for the whole employees. Both of Woojin and Minhyun’s hand was full, and there was still another take out box that needed to be hold—they need to go back to the office, break time was almost over.

Daniel pursed his lips for a second, then drank the rest of his coffee. “I need to go,” He said, his heart felt reluctant. He didn’t want to leave—he wanted to speak more with Seongwoo. His desire to know the other male was so strong, even he was surprised about it.

“Okay,” Seongwoo nodded, waved him another goodbye. Daniel left the chair, took the take out box, and glanced back to Seongwoo for the last time. “Bye,” he said, half-heartedly as he prefer to stay there and chat more.

Seongwoo was still waving at him, a smile that looked not like a smile plastered on his lips—and Daniel couldn’t help to think …you didn’t want to say ‘see you later’?

“Okay, who’s that?” was the first thing Minhyun said to him when they were back in Daniel’s office. Both of his colleagues looked at Daniel with expectant eyes, but Daniel just shrugged it off. “It’s… the person who found my notebook.” He answered. It wasn’t a lie, after all. He wanted to add it wasn’t someone special, he was just nobody but he couldn’t say it. That, would be a lie.

“Okay, so—?”

“What do you meant with ‘so’?” Daniel rolled his eyes, “I thanked him with a coffee. I felt bad since he need to wait for two hours to return the notebook I left at the park. That’s all.”

His answer didn’t convince Minhyun. He was more meticulous than the more naive Woojin. “What I meant…” Minhyun approached him and sat on the edge of Daniel’s desk, “…was you obviously attracted to the handsome fellow. Seriously, that was really the first time I saw you behaved like that. Usually, you acted so nonchalant, so distant.”

“You are imagining things,” Daniel retorted back, almost annoyed, “I’m not like that.”

“Which part—the nonchalant or the attracted part?”

“Minhyun,” Daniel sighed, “It’s not like that.” His best friend still looked at him with I don’t believe you face. “You see,” Daniel tilted his head, “I got Miran.”

Minhyun seemed like he wanted to say something, but he was reluctant about it. “What?” Daniel asked, his voice seemed tired. Minhyun didn’t say anything, but after being friends for so many years, Daniel could see what he wanted to say: but you haven’t meet Miran yet in this lifetime. She never appeared. She wasn’t here.

“I’m still looking for her, Minhyun.” Daniel said, in a final tone. In response, Minhyun didn’t push further. “Okay,” He nodded, “Sorry for meddling.”

“Ah?”

It was the week after when Daniel took a book from the shelves, the gap revealed Seongwoo’s face on the other side of shelves. The other male was holding another book, noticed his remarks and let out another “Ah?” when he saw Daniel. Seongwoo was wearing a light blue sweater, slightly oversized on his lean built. The colour gave him a rather milky complexion, tender and fair.

“You’re here?” Daniel smiled, “Do you looking for any particular book—?”

This is an old bookstore on his previous neighbourhood—the used to be merry and bustling store was filled with less people and more limited selection of books now. They got some rare, hard to find books though, that’s why Daniel love to visit the store once in a while, looking for some precious books hidden on those shelves, sometimes covered in dust. The other reason was Miran used to worked here as a part-timer.

“I’m just looking around,” Seongwoo closed the book he was currently holding. It was an old poetry book with dark emerald green cover, the pages had turned yellow. Daniel recognized the poet’s name, Kim Chun Soo.

“Before I called her name, she was nothing more than a gesture.” Daniel whispered, “When I called her name, she came to me and became a flower.”

It was one of the poems of the poet, titled The Flower. Daniel remembered that particular one as the poem reminded him to Miran. Seongwoo heard what he said, then recited the other verse of the poem: “Like I called her name, will someone please call my name that suits my light and fragrance? I, too, long to come to her and become her flower.”

None of them muttered the last verse. It was silence between them, then suddenly Seongwoo put the book back on the shelves, filling the gap between them. “I need to go,” Seongwoo’s voice from the other side of the shelves sounded demure, “Goodbye, Kang Daniel-ssi.”

Daniel saw the other male dashed towards the store’s exit, a bit too rushed, as if he was running away from something. Or someone, Daniel thought to himself, You didn’t even look back for the last time, Seongwoo-ssi?

And instead of a ‘see you later’ that he hoped for, it was a simple goodbye. Daniel felt a sharp pang in his heart. He touched the spot—his fingers felt the beats of his heart: Thump, thump, thump. Suddenly Daniel wanted to laugh. He didn’t know why.

He just felt the urge to.

We all long to be something.
You, to me, and I, to you,
long to become a gaze that won’t be forgotten.

—Last verse of The Flower by Kim Chun-soo (1922-2004)

“Ah?”

It felt like a routine. Since their first meeting, he keep meeting Seongwoo everywhere. It’s like a joke played by the gods. Most of the places were the spots he used to spend his time with Miran in the past. There, he would met with Seongwoo. The raven haired never looked pleased with their meetings, but he still nodded, “Kang Daniel-ssi.”

Daniel nodded back, “Ong Seongwoo-ssi.”

Lately, they never bother to do a simple chit-chat. It felt too formal and tedious. They remained strangers—or better said acquaintances, since they do meet often and actually knew each other’s name. But that’s it. Eventhough he felt the urge to ask for the other male’s contact number, Daniel always holds himself back.

No, he told himself, You have Miran, Daniel. You are still looking for her. Don’t get side-tracked. Moreover, Seongwoo seemed distant and sometimes hesitant. His smile faded into a more polite ones, contrasted with his genuine ones during their early meetings. Neither of them try to reach out to know the other person better.

“Do you live nearby, Ong Seongwoo-ssi?” Daniel asked. The raven haired, cladded in another white t-shirt and greyish sweater, nodded. “You could say so, Kang Daniel-ssi.”

“Maybe that’s why we keep meeting with each other everywhere,” Daniel commented, sounded like an excuse to convinced himself. Seongwoo gave him another smile, and Daniel do noticed that that smile didn’t reach his eyes. “It was probably so.”

He was thinking about Miran less and less these days. Seongwoo came onto his thought most of the times, haunting him during those long and restless night. Daniel didn’t understand his own feelings; he was holding his memory of Miran so tightly for years. Now, all of the sudden, Seongwoo came and crashed over his whole world.

It was ridiculous, Daniel told himself. Guilt creeped his heart, weighting his conscience down whenever he found himself thinking about the raven haired male. He’s just a stranger, Kang Daniel. You only knew his name. You didn’t know anything about him. Stop being foolish.

But the attraction was always there; like an unseen force, pulled him close like gravity. Daniel swore that he would immediately noticed Seongwoo whenever they met. It felt so natural, effortless. His eyes would wander, then he would find Seongwoo in his gaze. It happened so many times that Daniel wondered if it was a curse or the latter was a stalker.

Judging by the other male’s reaction everytime they met though, it was impossible. It would be him who saw and noticed Seongwoo first. The other male never seemed happy to see him. Daniel could feel his rejection, but maybe that was he deserved since he reacted like that first—being so deep in his denial, try his best to convince himself to ignore Seongwoo. Or probably, Seongwoo thought that he was the stalker.

Stop. What’s wrong with me…?

Daniel sighed.

“I wish I won’t meet him everywhere anymore…”

People once said be careful what you wish for.

It was like a magical supernatural beings waved a wand and granted his wish. All of the sudden, he never meet with Seongwoo ever again. While it seemed that they would always bumped into each other earlier, all of the sudden Seongwoo disappeared from his life.

Days turned into weeks, and weeks lumped themselves into a month. He never seen Seongwoo again, even once. It was like the other male was never existed. That makes Daniel crazy. The only comfort he got was that Minhyun and Woojin had met Seongwoo before, so he knew that Seongwoo was indeed real and not just a figment of his imagination.

“You looked like a hot mess,” Minhyun put his share of coffee on his side. Woojin was visiting a client, so it was only him and Daniel went to the downstairs cafe for a quick lunch. They served great sandwiches there—Minhyun was eating bahn mi, the Vietnamese sandwich was packed with some slices of smoked ham and so many julienned vegetables along with the green romaine lettuces. Daniel’s sandwich was the carnivore American version, filled with deli meats and pepperoni else than the onions and some jalapeno.

Daniel took a bite of his sandwich in almost a robotic manner. Bite, chew, chew, chew. It was one of his favourite food, but he didn’t show any delight or eagerness to eat his food. Minhyun, whom specially dragged Daniel here since he was so fed up with the latter’s mopping mood for the last three days, sighed.

“I want to say something, but I don’t think you will like it.”

“What?” Daniel replied absent-mindedly. Minhyun waited until Daniel swallowed his food. “Daniel,” He said, “You are love-sick.”

“I’m not…!” Daniel acted so defensively. It was a good thing that he wasn’t drinking or eating, because just like Minhyun predicted, he would surely spew whatever he got on his mouth. Minhyun didn’t reply. “I’m not, Minhyun,” Daniel repeated.

“Okay, then explain why you often complained about Ong Seongwoo being missing?” Minhyun took a bit of his own sandwich, “Tell me again who was the one almost made the wrong order since he was so distracted these days? Who was the one being so haggard and sighed every 5-10 minutes, stared at the window, looking at the park so hopefully?”

“I—“

“Daniel,” Minhyun’s voice was rather stern, “You are not commiting any sin by falling in love with someone.”

“But I have Miran—“

“In the past, yes. She was your wife,” Minhyun sighed, “And she didn’t appeared in this timeline. You are the one who told me that she told you to be happy and life the fullest, even without her. You, Kang Daniel, are not doing what she wished you to.”

Daniel was speechless. What Minhyun told him was correct—he couldn’t refute those words. “You are not Kang Euigeon, Daniel. True that you used to be him, but you are living as Daniel at the moment. You are NOT cheating Miran by falling in love with another people. Miran was Euigeon’s. Euigeon’s time was in the past, and your current life wasn’t the extension of his. Your life is your own, Daniel. You need to draw a line between these two lifes. You couldn’t let the past bind you like this.”

Minhyun word’s echoed in his mind when Daniel wandered on the park once again. He had excused himself after the quick lunch, telling Minhyun that he need some private alone time to think. 

The season had fully turned into Autumn—the wind was chilly and the leaves had turned into yellow and red shade. It was beautiful, but Daniel lamented the waterlilies on the pond. As the weather turned cold, the flowers had turned into their dormant state, no longer blooming. Of course Daniel had witnessed this natural phenomenon for years, but this time it felt like a personal attack; a mock to the memories he held dearly.

“Am I being… silly?” He asked himself. He went to the same bench near the cedar tree, and as he approached the area, he was surprised to see Ong Seongwoo there. The latter was reading a book, earphone plugged in. His fingers ran through the pages, flipping the paper once in a while. He looked so serious, totally absorbed into the words written in the book.

“Ah?” was the first thing he said unconsciously.

His remarks pulled Seongwoo back to reality. He raised his gaze and his eyes met with Daniel’s. “Ah—“ was the first thing the latter said to Daniel. There was uncertainty on those onyx-like eyes, but this time Daniel jogged his pace and sat on the bench, next to Seongwoo. Faintly, he could recognized the scent of sandalwood and bergamot, with a trace of musk. The raven haired smelled so good, and Daniel felt like he turned drunk with the alluring scent.

“It’s been a while,” Daniel said. This time, he was smiling to Seongwoo—his genuine smile. He was true when he said his sentence, he had been missing the latter for days. Seeing Daniel’s mellow reaction, Seongwoo was taken aback for a bit. “Yeah,” Seongwoo’s voice sounded so clear and melodious to Daniel’s ears, “I went to… somewhere quite far. I just came back yesterday.”

“Work related?”

“…personal issues,” Seongwoo was being vague, but Daniel didn’t want to be petty and probed further. It was silence for a moment, and Daniel surprisingly found himself relaxed to the atmosphere. It was comfortable, being with Seongwoo like this. He felt a longing feelings tugged his heartstrings, and those butterflies filled his stomach once again.

“Hey,” Daniel felt giddy, “Do you believe in past lifes and reincarnation, Ong Seongwoo-ssi?”

It was a sudden change of topic. Seongwoo hesitated for a second. “I didn’t find any fault with those matters,” He said tactfully, almost too diplomatic, “Personally I do believe in fate, though. That some things was the grand design of the gods, the higher beings—with their cosmic power or whatever. Because… sometimes things happened, seemed wrong in the beginning, but turned out to be on purpose later. The way it should be.”

“Fate like… something happened because it was supposed to happen in the first place?”

“Yeah.”

Just like our meeting?

Is it fate… that Miran was never showed up?

That you are the one who suddenly came into my life, and I was attracted to you like the moth do to the flames?

If it was fate…

“Can we meet again in the future, Seongwoo-ssi?” Daniel asked. His earnest tone made Seongwoo awkwardly laughed, “Don’t we always meet before?”

“Not that kind of meeting, not the accidental ones,” Daniel took out his phone, “I mean the one that we do after we set the time and place. To actually talk to each other.” Daniel tried to smile again, he was bashful all of the sudden. “Please give me your contact, Seongwoo-ssi.”

Seongwoo stared at the black phone on Daniel’s hand. The blonde haired had opened his new contact tab. Hesitantly, he took the phone and tapped his numbers in, filling the other section with his e-mail. “There,” He gave it back. Daniel entered his contact name, the generic full name: Ong Seongwoo.

Daniel tapped something on his phone, and Seongwoo’s smartphone gave a ding right after. The raven haired opened his phone, found a message from an unknown number. The push notifications showed a bit of the message content: Seongwoo-ssi, this is Kang Daniel.

“That’s my number,” Daniel offered, since Seongwoo didn’t ask for his contact in return. Seongwoo nodded, “Okay.” He immediately copied Daniel and saved the number with the latter’s name: Kang Daniel.

“Let’s… contact each other,” Daniel resisted the urge to blab, “Once in a while, whenever you are not busy, Seongwoo-ssi.”

“…okay.”

Seongwoo’s lukewarm reaction made Daniel felt kinda restless. When Seongwoo tried to stand and said, “I need to go now—“ he immediately caught the latter’s wrist. It felt like their first meeting: Daniel was so reluctant to let Seongwoo go.

“Seongwoo-ssi,” He asked, “We will meet again, right?”

Seongwoo looked rather surprised with his question. He looked like he wanted to reply, but Daniel asked him again, “You will reply if I conctacted you, won’t you Seongwoo-ssi…?”

Awkwardly, Seongwoo nodded. Then, a tender smile appeared on the raven haired’s face. “I will,” He replied in a soft yet earnest voice. He touched Daniel’s fingers, and the blonde finally let him go after another tug. “See you later, Daniel-ssi.” He said, the smile never left his face.

And now you’re finally saying ‘see you later’, Ong Seongwoo-ssi.

They do texts and phone each other after the contact’s exchange.

Daniel and Seongwoo talked about everything, even the most mundane things in their life. It didn’t feel awkward, and it felt like the most natural thing to contact each other. They would chat regularly, the actions turned into almost a habit already.

“More like an addiction,” Minhyun complained. Since he was the co-owner, he was in the position to actually addressed the complain to Daniel. Woojin laughed, “But it was cute to see Daniel Hyung like this. He behaved like a teenager falling in love for the first time.”

“It’s his first love indeed,” Minhyun teased him again, “He was never attracted to anyone before, you remember? So many people pursued him, especially during uni, but he rejected them all. And look at him now: glued to his phone almost everyday, giggling like a high school, pursuing his crush.”

“Stop it, guys,” Daniel blushed from all the teasing. He was still chatting with Seongwoo at the moment, so when Woojin and Minhyun tried to peek on his screen, he covered his phone using his body. “Seriously, stop teasing me…”

“I’m happy for you though,” Minhyun laughed, “It was refreshing to see you acted so human like this.”

“You’re finally enjoying your love life, Hyung,” Woojin made a yahooo gesture, “Go for it, tiger!”

It was one Sunday morning when Daniel entered the graveyard.

Contrasted with people’s misconception of the creepy, haunted image of graveyard, this resting place was lush green and peaceful. The sky was a little bit grey, filled with heavy dark clouds, but there was still enough sunlight. The air carried the scent of water nevertheless, so he hurriedly followed the path.

While Daniel didn’t know where Kang Euigeon’s tomb, he did know where Miran’s tomb was. He saw it on his vision, his past life cried as he clung into the erected stone. Later, Euigeon would visit Miran’s tomb often, several times in a month. But after years, he grew old and it was hard to visit the graveyard.

Daniel’s first vision was the memory when Kang Euigeon died; he didn’t know whether he was buried or cremated. He didn’t have any kids and lived apart with his distant family. His friends were living far, most of them had passed away even earlier than him. He didn’t know who arranged his funeral, but he wasn’t buried next or near Miran’s tomb.

Several years ago, after Daniel saw the vision of Miran’s tomb, he searched the place. The tomb was still there, the name was engraved on the stone, along with the birth date and the date of her death connected with a simple hypen. The tomb used to filled with overgrown weeds, but Daniel cleaned them and hired someone to fix her grave. Then from time to time, he would visit whenever he missed her or having a deep thought about something.

Just like today.

Daniel’s breath turned into a thin mist in the chilling Autumn’s air. He held the bouquet of flowers in his hand tighter. This place was located in higher altitudes, on one of the higher mountain, so the weather was colder than the cities. Since waterlilies couldn’t live outside water and orchid was not suitable for graveyard, Daniel always bring Miran’s next favourite flower, the white roses, whenever he visit the place.

He was so focused on his steps that he didn’t see someone stood in front of Miran’s tomb from afar. It was later when he turned on the corner, several paces ahead, he realized that someone was there; wearing a white buttoned shirt and cream coloured cardigan, his long legs were wrapped in tapered black pants.

“…Seongwoo—?”

Hearing Daniel’s voice, the other male was startled. He was staring at the tombstone with a soft eyes, so lost in thought when Daniel found him. Daniel saw a bouquet of fresh white roses placed in front of Miran’s stone. “You—“

It was surprising, and confusing. Why did Seongwoo visit Miran’s grave? How could he knew her? Miran didn’t have any kids with him, but her side of family got so many cousins—did Ong Seongwoo somehow related to Miran’s Hwa family?

Seongwoo bit his lips. “This—“ He wanted to say something, but suddenly droplets of water fell from the sky. Instead of a drizzle, it came pouring down. It rained so hard that the visibility limit was barely several meters ahead—the rest was blurred into white.

“Come…!” Daniel pulled Seongwoo over, and they ran under a gazebo located on the corner resting area. They were absolutely drenched—Daniel opened his own jacket and shirt, proceed to wring them. Hen then slicked back his hair, combed his locks using his fingers. It was cold, standing there barechested like that, but wearing his wet clothes would only make him sick.

Daniel was pondering about should he wear his now damped clothes back or not when he stole a glance towards Seongwoo. The raven haired’s locks were fell flat on his head, the comma hairstle was ruined. Just like Daniel did, he slicked his damped hair back using his fingers. Seongwoo had wringed his cream coloured sweater, but he didn’t unbuttoned his shirt. The cotton material pressed on his body like a second skin, revealed the alabaster tone underneath, two flesh coloured nubs appeared clearly on his chest area. He looked so bewitchingly seductive, like an incubus—alluring someone to sinned.

But it wasn’t why Daniel held his breath and in a state of shock stammered softly, “Seongwoo… You…”

Seongwoo’s birthmark appeared as well, on his left side of his chest—right atop on his heart. The crimson mark was shaped like an orchid—so delicately shaped, almost like tattoed. The rain had smudged the concealer on his left cheek; revealed three moles that formed a triangle, just like the summer’s constellation of Altair, Vega and Deneb.

The raven haired realized that Daniel’s eyes were focused on his left cheek. “Ah,” He was startled, and with a flushed face, he covered his cheek using his hand. Seongwoo bit his lips, didn’t dare to say anything.

The birthmark.

The moles.

Though Seongwoo didn’t say anything, suddenly it clicked for Daniel. “Mi…ran…?” He called, faint yet audible. Those onyx-like eyes widened, looked watery as the rim reddened. Daniel took one step after another, slowly approached Seongwoo. His eyes never left the latter’s face. Suddenly the epiphany hit him hard—he realized that why those haunting dark orbs felt so enchanting and familiar.

Daniel’s fingers felt hot when he ghosted over Seongwoo’s skin—the touch spreaded a fiery sensation when those fingertips traced the raven haired’s cheek. Daniel’s face looked so tender as he smiled and softly said, “It’s you…”

Seongwoo stared back at Daniel’s eyes, his emotions swelled inside his chest. He felt warmth, yet there was a trace of guilt on his conscience. “I’m sorry,” He said, almost a whisper. Seongwoo put his hands on Daniel’s arm, the one held his cheek—he gave it a light squeeze, “I’m really… sorry.”

“Why’d you apologize—?” Daniel leaned in and sealed the gap between them, touched his forehead against Seongwoo. The raven haired felt warm, real. Daniel took a deep breath, fingers caressed Seongwoo’s face carefully, traced them like the blind tried to mold a shape in his mind.

“Because I’m not the same as before,” Seongwoo said, so faint—he practically mumbled to himself, “That’s why I didn’t want to tell you.”

“Wait,” Daniel paused, “How do you know that you’re Miran—?”

Seongwoo closed his eyes, he bit his lower lips slightly and tried his best to held his tears back. “I always see some flashes of vision. Random memories. In those memories, I was a girl. They called me Hwa Miran. Took years for me to realize that Miran was my past self, when I found that I saw so many familiar strangers around me; the one I saw before on those vision. Then… I found your notebook.”

“So you knew.”

“Hmm,” Seongwoo nodded. “I sketched down my visions. Your explanation in your notebook matched them all, including the one I never see—yours were filling the gaps on the vision I saw. When I saw your notes about Miran… the description and the sketch matched the girl I saw in my vision: my past self…”

“I’m looking for you, all these years,” Daniel was overwhelmed with Seongwoo’s confession. So the latter was seeing those vision as well. It was funny; he do know that there were some changes possible between the two timelines, yet he never considered that Miran would ended up being a boy in this current life.

“…that’s why I didn’t want you to find out,” Seongwoo’s shoulder trembled as his tears rolled down, “I won’t be the one you’re looking for. I’m not Miran, I was born a man. I thought that you’ll be so disappointed. I didn’t want you to find out. I wanted to stay away—but it was crazy; we keep meeting everywhere. I tried to avoided you, but we still met over and over again.”

Daniel wanted to say something, but Seongwoo put his finger on Daniel’s lips. He continued, “Then, we met again in the park. Previously, you put a wall between us. You were polite, but you rejected me. But that day, you approached me. Suddenly you acted so nice with me. You asked for my contact. I— I thought… Is it fate? Should I accept this and go with the flow? Is it… something that meant to be? Something that… seemed wrong in the beginning but proved to be correct in the end…? So… I decided to take a leap of faith: I opened myself to you.”

“Seongwoo-ya…”

“Then I found myself… falling in love with you,” Seongwoo’s voice went hoarse, his breath hitched, “I thought… Oh no, I shouldn’t fell for you. But I fell too deep and I didn’t want to lose you. I’m so sorry, Daniel. I’m so sorry for falling for you—“

“Don’t be sorry—“

“I couldn’t help to felt guilty to Miran as well. I felt like I owe her. I stole her man. While she was my former past self, I couldn’t relate to her. Being born in a different gender shifted my way of thoughts, my whole point of view. I knew that I was her, but I couldn’t identify myself as her.” Seongwoo’s tears felt hot against Daniel’s fingers, “I felt like an impostor, Daniel. A thief. So i came here; you wrote about her grave on your notebook. I came here to begging her for forgiveness—because I fell for her husband.”

“Seongwoo-ya…!” Daniel tried to pulled Seongwoo’s attention to him, “Don’t blame yourself. I don’t care, Seongwoo-ya. Don’t be sorry for loving me—“ He pulled Seongwoo into a crushing, passionate kiss. It felt fiery, yet tender at the same time. It filled with so many longing and earnest emotion. Seongwoo gasped—moaned softly as Daniel’s lips felt soft against his. Both of them deepened the kiss and Seongwoo let himself drown in Daniel’s embrace.

“Don’t say that you’re sorry,” Daniel whispered when their lips finally separated. Seongwoo was still gasping for air as he felt light-headed, his knees buckled up. Daniel supported his weight and pecked the luscious lips again, nibbled on Seongwoo’s lower lip. “I’m glad it’s you,” He mouthed, “I love you, Seongwoo-ya. Even before I realized that you’re Miran’s reincarnation.”

Seongwoo’s lips quivered. “Are you sure—?” He asked, “Because… I couldn’t be your perfect wife anymore, Daniel…”

“You’ll be my perfect partner instead,” Daniel chuckled, and kissed him again, “Just make sure that you’re healthy. Live a long life with me. Spend the rest of your future with me, until we’re grey and old. Okay?”

Seongwoo laughed. He wanted to bring up issues about kids, as he couldn’t possibly bear one, but Miran wasn’t giving Euigeon a child either and her husband never minded it. So he nodded, “Okay.”

The rain had stopped, but the two of them still hugging each other. Seongwoo leaned his head on Daniel’s wide shoulder, smiled as he stole a glance on the latter’s face. Daniel notice his gaze, and smiled back. “I found you.”

“Hmm,” Seongwoo hummed his agreement.

“Be mine from now on.”

“Hmm,” Seongwoo hummed again.

“Stay by my side and never let go.”

“Okay.”

Both of them laughed, and Daniel pulled Seongwoo in for another kiss. He felt so content, so complete. Like a piece of puzzle that finally found his perfect fit. “I love you,” Seongwoo muttered, and Daniel replied, “I love you too.”

Now tell me how long you would have him,

after you have possessed him?

For ever and a day.