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Mark walks into the downtown, the leaves are now starting to fall from the trees. It's his favorite season, autumn is a great time for walks in the afternoon. His eyes linger to the plaza, to the buildings and to the neon signs of the shops. He noticed how everything is new after 10 years, while walking into the place again.
Seems like all the things around him have passed by, but one thing that still did not change is him .
He stops when he sees his own reflection in a full body mirror outside of a dress shop. Mark caresses his face, it's still the face of a 21 year old guy in 1988, a boy named Minhyung. He is still adjusting to his new name which is Mark, because apparently, Minhyung is dead.
You see, the thing is, Mark or Minhyung doesn't die. Some say his condition is a result of witchcraft. People are either scared, cursing and calling him names, or want to be like him. But with the advanced technology and science today, it was the year 2045 when a case like this was exposed to the public and now by 2067, scientists have concluded what's with their bodies that it became possible for them to have such long lives when they reach a certain age. And for Mark's case, it was when he turned 21 and did not age after that at all.
For others it might be seen as a blessing, being with your loved ones or friends forever is nice but the consequences you'll face are not as nice as it may seem. It was a lonely fight, dealing with a lot of changes around you. Mark had seen all people around him aged, from his parents who he only had and Renjin, his doctor who also became his best friend.
He lost everyone, he grieved, he's forced to switch identities so no one will conspire against him. But above everyone else, there's someone that made Mark more frustrated about his condition.
Lee Donghyuck.
The name of the guy he loved after so many years.
He is still fresh in Mark' memory. How the boy smiles brightly like the sun, how he felt safe around the presence of the boy. Aside from his parents and Renjin, Donghyuck was the only one who stayed beside him after hearing about his situation. It didn't matter to him. He even cracked a joke that Mark can take care of him for the rest of his life and the older one will be looking like his sugar baby when he becomes an old hag.
But fate doesn't work that way. Not everything you want is what you will all get. One morning, Mark was called by the hospital only to witness Donghyuck's lifeless body lying there after getting into a car accident.
The ring from his phone made Mark snap out of reality. He quickly fishes his phone out of his jacket. He's still amazed how the world became this innovative and he knows it will improve more as the year goes by. Though Mark's not sure if he'll still be here if that happens.
"Mark! Where are you? Did you drink the pill? Why did you--" Mark distanced the phone away from his ear to escape Renjun's nagging on the other line. Maybe it was on their genes to be a nagger and a doctor. The fact that Renjun also looks a lot like his grandfather Renjin is one of the things that keeps Mark sane.
"Hey Mark?! Are you even listening? Hello?"
"Renjun" He heaves a sigh, doesn't know what to say more to Renjun, his doctor, his friend.
"Did... did you take the pill?" Renjun became quiet on the other line, as if he's scared to know but he still wants the truth.
"Yes Renjun. I've already decided" Mark said as he continued to walk and stop by a quaint looking café amidst all the new infrastructures beside it.
"W-why..?" Renjun sniffs. Mark knows that the younger's eyes are now swelling up with tears even though he can't see him. He knows him very well.
After lots of tests and research, scientists finally found a solution to resolve the agony of Mark, and of people who have the same condition as him. The pill will apparently turn their body to adapt to an average human life again, to age like an average human. Having an eternal life has some perks but not until you experience it. Mark and other people like him who participated in the study are living proof.
The pill hasn't been released yet to the market, the scientists and researchers must test its effectiveness first but they can't do that without a person with the particular condition to take it. Mark automatically becomes a candidate. After thinking about it a lot and reading the side effects that might've come, he volunteered. Though the pill might be ineffective and lead him to immediate death, there's still a possibility that it will work and Mark will now spend the time in the world as he grows old.
"It's not like I'll be gone tomorrow Injun-ah"
"Don't say that Mark... Mark hyung"
Mark chuckled. He remembers how he was like that too, begging for his loved ones not to leave him. But maybe in another life, Mark thinks, they will meet again when the right time comes.
"The pill will be effective, hyung. Jeno is the best scientist I know and---"
"I know. I know. Have a little faith in your best scientist boyfriend, hmm?"
After a series of sniffs and long silence, Mark breaks it when he decides to go inside the café he's staring at and settle at one of the tables there. "Now go to your boyfriend or do your job, whatever, don't worry about me because I'm having my afternoon coffee, okay?"
When Mark heard a chuckle from the other line, he was relieved. Renjun has not only been a great doctor and a friend to him but the guy also became his little brother who he wants to protect. The call ended and that was the only time Mark finally saw the whole café. The theme of the shop is obviously retro, he can see things and furniture around the café that are from the 90's to early 2000s. Mark smiles as waves of nostalgia hit him like a truck.
He can't help but to think about Donghyuck again. How the guy can make him smile and lift his mood up just by his existence. He had never felt that kind of love before, the thing he felt for Donghyuck. He reminisces how the younger likes to experiment on drinks, he likes to add milk and other things to coffee that Mark can't pinpoint but it all still tastes good. Donghyuck doesn't want him to know or Mark just doesn't know what Donghyuck does with coffee because as the younger have said before he was quite a lost case in the kitchen.
But after Donghyuck died, Mark worked really hard to make food for himself. He tried cooking until he mastered it and can feed people besides himself now. Mark can imagine how glad and surprised Donghyuck would be if he knew about this.
"Hyung" Donghyuck lifts his head from Minhyung's chest to see the older one reading a book.
"Hmm?" Minhyung replies, eyes are now on Donghyuck whose eyes are now swelling up with tears. Seems like the younger one caught a bad dream again.
Donghyuck smiled but it did not reach his eyes. "I... I dreamt of us"
Minhyung cocks his eyebrows but he puts the book down immediately when a tear escapes Donghyuck's eye. "I dreamt of us.. moving together, marrying, adopting three kids and a dog, loving each other until our faces are full of wrinkles and our bones are crackling"
Minhyung was at a loss for words on what Donghyuck had said. It was actually a good dream but he understands why that also made Donghyuck cry. It's because of the fact that it's impossible for them to be like what Donghyuck imagined. Minhyung will not age in the future the same way Donghyuck is. He's not gonna lie, he wants to be with Donghyuck till both of their hair are white. Heck he even wants them to be together until their last breath but it can't be, there will be someone who will be left and unfortunately, it's him, Minhyung .
"I know. It's impossible but maybe in another life right?" Donghyuck chuckles slightly as he buries his face on the crook of Mark's neck.
"And in the next life I'll still love you and I promise you that" Minhyung softly replies but was not heard because the younger is now back on his sleep, soft snores pervading Minhyung's ears.
"Sir? Hello?"
Mark went back to reality when a guy approached his table. When he snapped his head to see who it was, he was welcomed by a familiar face. The fluffy blonde hair that used to be dark brown, the pair of deep dark eyes, the button nose and soft lips. All of it was familiar to Mark, like the countenance is innate to him.
"May I have your order?"
"Donghyuck?" Mark softly muttered, can't believe that a person who has gone a long time ago is in front of him.
"Donghyuck? I'm sorry but my name is Haechan" The other guy said and it rings in Mark's ear. Still shocked that the guy in front of him isn't Donghyuck but another person who shares the same face as his lover.
How could it happen? Mark thinks that there's someone who is playing a prank with him right now. The guy in front of him is Donghyuck but the other insists that he is not because his name is Haechan and not Donghyuck.
"I know I'm cute and all and you're not quite bad yourself too but if you're not going to order then I suggest you can leave---"
"Haechan!" A figure moves beside Haechan and he smiles at Mark, revealing his flashy teeth.
"I'm so sorry, Sir. He's just having a bad day so he's like that. Should I take your order instead?" Jaemin, according to the nametag of his apron, said to Mark before bowing 90 degrees.
Mark chuckled at the scene. It was too familiar again, he also met Donghyuck for the first time looking angry as hell at a tteokbokki place. The younger thought he was the one who broke his best friend's heart when he wasn't.
"No. It's okay." Mark said, flashing a smile towards Jaemin. "I would like to have latté? And a talk with Dong--- Haechan"
Looks like fate is not as cruel as it may seem. Maybe Mark won't be waiting for another lifetime for them to happen again and grow up together. Because no matter what life or time, Minhyung and Donghyuck or Mark and Haechan will gravitate towards each other.