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---
"No, the apples tasted better."
"Nuh-uh, of course, it was the oranges!"
"Apples!"
"Oranges!"
"Hmph!"
Kyungsoo and Chanyeol were laughing as they heard their two best friends argue with each other for the nth time that day. With their backs turned against each other, they were looking for support for their side of the debate. Sehun and Junmyeon were always arguing, like cats and dogs, complete opposites of each other, and yet, they were all in the same group of friends. Because no matter how much they seem to argue and fight with each other, they still are together more than half the time.
Well, of course, they are; they were roommates, after all.
The bell signifying lunchtime was over rang, so the group packed up their stuff and headed for their classrooms.
"See ya later, Soo and Yeol!"
"See ya later, love birds!"
Kyungsoo muttered before running away, fully knowing that Sehun and Junmyeonw ill shout at him.
"Soo!!!!"
Junmyeon and Sehun said in unison, which made them look at each other and burst out laughing.
"Come on, Se, let's go to class."
---
"Jun?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you think I can be a doctor one day?"
"Of course, you can, Se. You can be whatever you want to be."
"But I don't really have grades as good as yours."
"I think that's perfectly fine. What matters is that you are passionate about what you want. I have good grades, but I don't even know what I want to be in the future."
"How about you become my husband?"
There were a few moments of silence before Junmyeon replied.
"Silly, what are you even talking about?"
"Well…I have something to tell you."
Junmyeon realized that Sehun's voice suddenly turned serious, so he turned his head towards him. The both of them were lying down on the field, watching the stars at that moment.
"What is it?"
"I like you, Junmyeon."
"Hey, are you messing with me right now?"
"No! I mean, I know we are always at each other's throats all the time, but I'm serious. I think I like you like I want to be with you."
"I see."
"And you?"
"Yeah?"
"What do you feel about me?"
"Well, I certainly do not dislike you, even if you tend to disagree with every single one of my opinions."
"And?"
"And I think you are really handsome."
"Of course I am. I wouldn't be named Face of the campus if I wasn't."
"I see you still have room to boast about it."
"Well…all of that doesn't really matter. So, do you.."
"I do."
"What?"
"I said, yes, I like you too!"
And Junmyeon closed the gap between their lips after saying that, and they stayed like that for a while, lips touching and their hands on each other's backs.
---
"Sehun?"
"Yeah?"
"Stop crying."
"But--"
"It’s okay.”
“It’s not!”
“Listen to me.”
“But--”
“Just listen, please. I don’t have much energy left….”
Sehun nods at his bedridden boyfriend.
“I love you, Sehun. When I’m gone..”
“Please don’t say that; I can’t live without you.”
“Sehun, listen.”
“Okay, okay.”
“When I’m gone, I want you to know that you can find another person and love them with all of your heart. I love you, and I want the best for you.”
“I don’t want anyone else if they are not you.”
“I wish, I really wished I could beat these cancer cells, Sehun. But the pain I feel will be nothing compared to the feeling of losing someone you love. I know because I have been there. So I wish you would have someone to help you get over all the pain my death will cause you, Se. I’m so sorry I can’t live longer and be together with you. But, I promise, in our next life, I will find you, and I will try my best to live longer.”
A tear fell from Junmyeon’s eyes before the life was sucked out of him, and the glimmer was gone.
---
Sehun wakes up with cold sweat and looks beside him.
And there he was, the love of his life, his number one enemy, Kim Junmyeon.
Both of their dads are conglomerates who hate each other, and so even before they were born, they were already meant to hate each other as well.
And for the first 15 years of their lives, they did.
Or so they thought.
But when they reconnected in college, after all the fights and all their arguments, they fell in love with each other.
Now, Junmyeon was sleeping next to him, and he couldn’t contain his smile.
That dream felt too real, and it scared him so bad. Sehun didn’t want to lose this, what they have, and he would do anything at all to make sure of that.
He leans down and kisses Junmyeon on the lips.
“Good morning, Jun.”
“Se, what time is it?”
Sehun looks at the nightstand beside the bed and reads the time. 10:32 A.M.
Junmyeon suddenly sprang out of bed and headed to the bathroom.
“Oh my gosh, I am going to be so late. My dad is going to be so furious at me if he finds out. Why didn’t you wake me up?”
“What?”
“It’s past ten o'clock. I have classes at 9 with that terror professor, of all people”, Junmyeon said while he was washing his face.
Within a span of 5 minutes, Junmyeon was all dressed up and ready to go, while Sehun was still in bed and hadn’t moved an inch.
“Why are you not moving, Se? Didn't you have classes too?”
“Junmyeon?”
“Yeah?”, Junmyeon said, feeling a little agitated and frustrated with his boyfriend.
“It’s Sunday today; there are no classes,” Sehun said before he burst out laughing.
“Wow, you decide to tell me the moment when I’m already dressed up? Really?”
Now, Sehun stood up from the bed and closed the distance between them quickly.
“Well, you were rushing your way through the entire room. But you know what? I got the perfect solution for this ‘already dressed up’ thing you were saying.”
Sehun muttered before he kissed Junmyeon on the mouth and started unbuttoning his shirt.
“Se…”, Junmyeon muttered in between the kisses.
“Come on, it’s Sunday. We can go right back to bed.”
Junmyeon, not being able to resist the love of his life, went along with him, and they ended up with Sehun on top of him, kissing him all over.
---
“Jun, please don’t go?”
Sehun was on his knees, begging the love of his life.
“I can’t do this anymore, Sehun, this is way too much for me.”
“But I love you!”
“I love you too, and you know that. But you are going to get married. I do not want to be the cause of any misunderstandings.”
“I don’t want to get married. You know it was my dad that arranged that.”
“I know. In the end, our families are too different, and we knew all along it would be the reason why we would be apart. I’m sorry, Sehun.”
Sehun watched Junmyeon’s back as he was walking away from him.
“Junmyeon!!!!”
---
Sehun woke up in cold sweat and went to wash his face.
“That was too much for a nightmare. Maybe I really need to go and see Junmyeon.”
Sehun grabbed his phone by the counter and texted his best friend, a.k.a. the love of his life, good morning. Junmyeon answered this by calling him.
“Good morning to you too.”
“What are you doing over the weekend?”
“Nothing much. Why?”
“Can I come over?”
”You are like 5 hours away from me, and don’t you have finals next week?”
“But I wanted to see you.”
“No, we’ll meet after your finals, okay?”
“Okay…I’ll see you then. Love you!”
“I love you too.”
---
Sehun was so excited to finally finish his exams, knowing he would be meeting Junmyeon over the weekend, when he received a call on his way home from university.
“Hello?”
“Sehun?”
“Kyungsoo?”
Sehun looked at his screen and saw that it was Junmyeon’s number.
“Why are you using Junmyeon’s phone. Where is he?”
Sehun had this bad feeling in his gut.
“Sehun…he’s….”
“What?!”
Sehun could hear Kyungsoo sobbing.
“Soo, what’s wrong? What is happening?”
“Sehun, can you come over? Junmyeon, he--”
Suddenly, the line was cut off. Sehun re-booked his flight to the earliest one he could get and told his mom that he was going over to a friend’s house. He was so worried, and it wasn’t helping that he couldn’t contact anyone at all.
The best he could do was hope that Junmyeon was alright.
---
When Sehun arrived at Junmyeon’s house, no one was there, which only increased his worries. He tried to call Junmyeon’s phone again, but it did not help at all. In the end, he was forced to call Chanyeol.
“Hey, Yeol?”
“Sehun, where are you? You need to go to the hospital.”
“Which one?”
“The one you went to last time, the one near Junmyeon’s university. You need to come here quickly.”
And with that, Sehun rushed to get to the hospital as quickly as he could.
But when he got there, everyone had a worried face which only increased his anxiety.
“What happened? What is wrong with Junmyeon?”
“He’s in surgery, Sehun.”
“Kyungsoo, why is he there? What actually happened? Please tell me.”
Sehun’s voice was breaking, and so was his heart.
“He got into an accident as we were crossing the street. The light was green, and he was excited because you were going to come tomorrow, but a drunk driver was driving a truck, and the next thing I knew, Junmyeon was lying bloody on the road.”
Sehun couldn’t say anything, and he had no idea what to do. His knees buckled, and he was having a hard time breathing.
“Where is he? Can I see him?”
“He’s having his surgery, and the doctor has not come out since he went in.”
It was a long time before the doctor came out, and when he did, the look on his face told Sehun everything.
“No, no, no. Doctor, how is Junmyeon?”
“I’m so sorry; we did everything.”
“Junmyeon!”
Sehun let out a guttural cry that reverberated through the halls of the hospital.
---
“The red string of fate brings people together, no matter how many lifetimes it takes. In the end, two people find each other, over and over, trying to get their second chance, a third chance, and so on, and proves that their love is greater than fate itself.”
“Would anyone like to tell me what they think of this paragraph from the book that was your reading assignment? Was it fate that springs this love?”
No one raised a hand.
“It was your homework, or did everyone forget it?”
Someone entered the room, and everyone was looking in their direction.
“Just in time. I hope you did your reading, Mr. Kim.”
“Yes, sir?”
“What did you think about the last paragraph of your reading assignment, Mr. Kim Junmyeon? It seems like the entire class didn’t read it, but I am hoping you did, seeing as you had the guts to come to my class late.”
“Sorry, Mr. Oh. My alarm didn’t ring, so I wasn’t able to wake up.”
“And I will consider you forgiven if you are able to answer.”
“Sir, I think that some people are just meant for each other, no questions asked. I think when love is true, it conquers everything, not just the world but fate itself. I think fate is a funny thing, that no matter how you try to escape it, you end up being bound by its shackles again. But I believe that true love defies even fate and that souls that love each other so much find a way back to each other, no matter how much time passes by.”
“That’s a great answer. You may take your seat, Mr. Kim. Everyone give a round of applause for him.”
---
“Sehun?”
“Yes?”
“How did you know it was me?”
“I saw you in my dreams.”
'Finally, I'm no longer dreaming.'
“And what did you dream of?”
“It is quite complicated, but there was one thing I was sure of in all my dreams.”
'In all of them, I kept losing you but not this time'
“What is it?”
“That I was absolutely in love with you.”
'And nothing is ever going to change that, even fate.'
“You’re such a cheeseball!”
“And I am so whipped for you. You're the only thing I am sure of in this world full of doubts. Junmyeon?”
“Yeah?”
Sehun stood up from his seat across from Junmyeon; they were currently eating dinner at a fancy restaurant that the latter loves. Sehun got on his knees and pulled out a ring.
“Kim Junmyeon, I feel like I have been searching for you my entire life, or maybe even more than that. Will you marry me and finally spend this life together?”
“It’s a yes. It’s always been a yes, even before you asked. Sehun?”
“Yes?”
Junmyeon pulled out a ring from his pocket.
“I was going to propose to you tonight as well. Isn’t that funny?”
Junmyeon pulled Sehun up, so they were now standing in front of each other.
“I love you, Sehun, now and forever.”
“And I love you too, Junmyeon, in every single lifetime that's passed and all the next one that will come.”