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He dreams about him often - his soulmate - and it was never the same dream twice. Sometimes it was just the two of them on a quiet stroll, enjoying sceneries that could only ever exist in dreamland Other times it felt like he was living a life straight out of a movie, always ending with a cliffhanger. No matter what it was, the only thing that remained certain was that his soulmate would always be at the center of it.
There was a thought that felt silly and a truth he never wanted to admit in his waking hours - it was that he was already falling in love with a man he'd only ever met in his dreams.
Part of him wished that his soulmate remembered every moment they spent together when he woke up, like he did. Soulmate dreams were different for every person, some had memories of their dreams - the feelings lingering at the back of their head, while others woke up never knowing how they spent their dreams with their destined half.
Although he wished his soulmate was like him, that he was out there holding their memory in his heart, he knew that there was a chance that he wasn't. There was even a chance that his soulmate didn't know him at all.
---
It all started on his 21st birthday, as everyone else's does. Back then he was terrified that he would wake up with no recollection of his dream. Although it was unusual not to remember your first soulmate dream, it was not unheard of. But he need not worry, that night was the first time he felt what it was like to be whole - like a piece he never knew he was missing completed him.
That morning he woke up with the memory of his soulmate's dimpled smile, his contagious laugh ringing in his ears and the memory of them meeting under the northern lights.
"Will we meet soon?"
"Maybe."
---
Four years later with no sight of his soulmate, he was almost ready to give the idea up and find love on his own. But every time he would try, his dreams always held him back - the pensive smiles and hopeful stares of his soulmate drawing him in like clockwork.
Every morning he would wake up, that flame of hope in his heart still alive and longing for a man who's only ever left him with the ghost of his lips on his skin.
It was almost cruel, how fate was dangling an unreachable treat in front of him, one he was always just allowed to touch when he closes his eyes at night. And he's heard everything that people had to say about him not yet connecting with his soulmate, talking to him as if he wasn't trying to find him.
He was. By gods, his soulmate was all that he could think of.
But his soulmate was elusive and secretive, always teasing him with a coy smile on his lips. And although he's spent four years with him in his dreams, he's never told him his name or anything that could help him find him. All he knew was that his soulmate loved music, always serenading him with a song, his voice soothing his worries every night.
Even with that, his soulmate was always just a stranger in his dreams - a stranger that held his hands and kissed his lips every night and being nothing more than a memory in the morning.
"I want to meet you."
"Me too."
"Then tell me how to find you."
"Don't worry, I will find you Anan Wong."
---
"We're going out." It was late and Prom just barged in his study, pulling away papers from his desk and dumping a shopping bag on his table. "Get dressed."
"Said who?" Were the first words out of his mouth, eyeing the suspicious package with caution. He learned a long time ago that it was never safe to trust weird packages from his weird friends. "And what's this?"
"Said me." Prom replied, pointing to himself then to the bag. "Clothes, we're going clubbing."
He only had to hear the word 'clubbing' and he was already pushing the bag away. "I'm busy."
"Doing what?"
"Working-" He argued, nodding to the papers that were once in his desk. "Before you interrupted me."
"Come on, it's a Friday night. Those can wait until Monday morning - as they were meant to because I know you and I know that most of those aren't even urgent - and you can get ready for a good time."
"Sometimes I'm not sure if you and I have the same definition of a good time."
"It doesn't matter. Auntie says you've been cooped up here since - well since your last dream about him."
That last part was said in a whisper but Yin heard it loud and clear. His soulmate hasn't been coming to him in his dreams since he said he would find him. In the beginning, he hoped that it was because he was trying to find him too but that hope dies a little every night without him. Was he too pushy? Did he scare him away? Was he the type who didn't believe in soulmates?
"I know you want to see him and I know it's difficult. But you shouldn't be in here drowning in your thoughts alone." Prom sighed, thrusting the bag in his hands. "If he's left you then he's a giant asshole and you're better off without him. If he's looking for you, then I hope he's coming soon because we hate seeing you like this. Either way, it just means that you have more time before you're tied to your destiny."
"You make it sound as if meeting your soulmate is such a bad thing."
"The idea that your love was preplanned for you takes away the magic of finding it and falling in love on your own. Isn't that why love is beautiful in the first place? It just smacks you head on."
Not everyone had the same concept of love. Most think that having a soulmate was the best thing that could ever happen to them and many would fight just to get that perfect happy ending with their destined match. Some still believe in the old concept of love, that it will be found when the time was right and that their dreams were nothing more than just a little helpful guide.
"I wish I could stop thinking about him but-"
"But you're already in love with this man. I know."
"When I met him for the first time, it felt like I was seeing my future in his eyes. I was sitting there watching the sky when walked up to me out of nowhere and said hello. The northern lights were beautiful that night but I couldn't tell you what they looked like if you asked me, I was too busy looking at him."
He never knows how long they spend together in their dreams but he remembers the first time like it was yesterday.
The night sky lit up with a cacophony of colors, more beautiful than he had seen in photos. He doesn't know how long he's been sitting on the ground just looking at it, wondering what it would be like to run his hands through the sky. With that silly thought he reached out, gasping in shock when his fingertips brushed through the lit sky.
"Wow."
"It's beautiful isn't it?"
That was the first time he saw him, his unruly hair catching the wind and his soft smile directed at him. When their eyes met, he knew - his soulmate had found him.
---
"Remind me to never let you drag me anywhere ever again."
The night was young but he was already tired from all the commotion inside the room. Apparently, a band was coming to perform that night and many gathered to see them live so there were people in every square inch of the small place.
"I heard they were good and it would be good for you to be around people for once."
"I am around people most of the time."
"Your workmates and family don't count and Zulu is not a person."
He wasn't reclusive but he was a homebody most of the time. And he liked keeping up with his sleeping schedules, his dreams being the only thing connecting him to the stranger he's all but fallen in love with.
"How do you even know that they're good?"
"I know some of the band members. They've been away for a long time since they got famous overseas but they might be settling here for the time being. Apparently, one of them has found his soulmate."
"Here?" Yin asked, taking a drink from the bar. "Wow, they're going to stay here just like that?"
"Bet you would do the same thing."
"I-"
"Oh, wait I think they're coming up."
Right on cue, the lights inside the club dimmed and the people wandering around the room made their way to the center where the stage was set up. Yin really wasn't interested in the band so he let the people walk past him and settled in a chair in the bar, grabbing another drink before turning to face the stage like the rest of the crowd.
"That's their vocalist, Bonnadol." Prom whispered, pointing to the man who was hyping up the crowd. Then he pointed to another man who was just walking up the stage. "That's their drummer - War."
War.
The world stopped - atleast it did for Yin - when the drummer's eyes and his met from across the room. But instead of the shock he expected to see in his soulmate's eyes, there was familiarity and his smile - his smile drew him to his feet, elbowing through the crowd just to get closer.
When he was right in front of the crowd, heart thudding inside his chest a million times a minute, he could finally see him. He could finally tell himself that this wasn't just another dream or another case of mistaken identities. Because waiting for him was his soulmate, his smile brightening when Yin broke through the crowd.
It felt like they were living a scene from a movie, but this time it was real and this time there was no reason for Yin to fear the waking up.
.
War was everything he remembered he would be - beautiful in every sense of the word. He knew his soulmate loved music but seeing him onstage, Yin realized that not only did his soulmate loved music, he thrived in it. Under the stage lights, he was practically glowing.
And although there were probably a hundred people around them, screaming and jumping to the music, Yin only had eyes for the drummer - his missing piece. His soulmate winked at him before sitting behind the drums, his toned arms in the air as he cued their set.
He's never been hypnotized before but this must be what it felt like. For four years he had only ever seen him in his dreams and even then Yin already thought that his soulmate was magnetic. But watching him play was different - it was a million times better than he'd ever imagined their first meeting to be. War's eyes remained trained Yin, the drummer's smallest smirks causing a flush to spread through the latter's cheeks.
Yin would be lying if he said that he remembered what their songs were about, he was too busy trying not to melt under their War's gaze. But he was snapped out of his haze when the vocalist ended their set and called their drummer over, a knowing smirk on his face.
"As you all may know by now, we're planning to stay here permanently. So don't get tired of us yet, you'll see us everywhere. But, the reason for us being here was that someone finally realized that he was being stupid idiot by letting his soulmate wait-" The crowd cheered. "And we all told him that if he doesn't get his shit together, I will personally tell his soulmate that my friend is not worth waiting for. Good thing he was already madly in love with his soulmate huh?"
"Shut up Bonz." War hissed under his breath, but not without making sure to smile at Yin's direction. "I'm trying to woo someone here."
"By all means, woo away." The vocalist said, gesturing to the stage.
Yin watched in stunned silence as War took the mic, eyes directed at him. "I didn't believe in soulmates. In fact, I never wanted to have anything in my life that I couldn't stand losing. But when I met you, I knew that it was already too late for that. I'm sorry for keeping you waiting but I'm glad I'm here - I found you. Or maybe, you found me?"
With War's eyes firmly trained on him, Yin was rooted in place, listening as the man of his dreams - literally - spoke to him through a song.
"The things I've hoped for, the things I've waited for. It might seem indistinct, I'm nearly dreaming. Looking for someone, I don't know who they are and I don't know when I'll meet that person."
He remembered the first time he heard this song, War was singing it under a tree with his eyes closed, strumming his guitar to the tune only he could hear. Yin remembered asking him why he chose that song to play that day, his soulmate only answering that it reminded him of them somehow.
"I was born to search for one person, the person whom heaven created for my heart. We both know the world is so vast, but it's not too hard for me to find you.
---
Yin thought he knew what he was going to say when they finally met, he thought that words would be easy when he was faced with his love. But as it turns out, words were escaping him when they were face to face, alone and free from the noise of the crowd outside.
"Is it really you?"
"Hi. Sorry again for keeping you waiting, if you hate me that's okay. I'll do everything to - oh." Before War could even finish talking, Yin already had him in his arms, his smaller frame engulfed by his larger one. "I like this version better than what I had in my head."
"Me too." Yin whispered. "When you didn't come to me I thought-"
"I would never. I promised that I would find you didn't I? And I never break my promises, especially not to my soulmate."
"Am I really not dreaming?"
War laughed, cupping Yin's cheeks and taking in his pouty face. "Not dreaming. I promise."
"And you never break your promises."
"Never."
"Is it odd that I feel like I've know you for so long even though this is the first time we've met?" Yin asked, tugging at his sleeves, unsure of where they stood even if their arms remained firmly around each other. "I thought I knew what to say to you when we met but now I'm not so sure."
"Has anybody ever told you that you're adorable?" The drummer blurted out, relishing in the beautiful red that dusted Yin's cheeks. "I'll make sure to keep reminding you then."
"And you're-" Yin bit his lips, taking in the sight of his soulmate.
"I'm?"
"Nevermind."
"Come on, say it." War teased cheekily, thinking of all the wonderful ways that he use to make his soulmate blush. "I won't be mad."
"I won't tell you. Yet."
"You won't?"
"Not yet."
"Even if I kiss you as payment?"
That had the desired effect of causing Yin's cheeks to turn a deeper shade of red. "Wha-"
"I've wanted to do that since I saw you pushing through the crowd. I wanted to run to you but I was distracted by you too. I couldn't believe you were actually here, I was planning to come see you tomorrow, grovel in your doorstep with flowers-"
And Yin kissed him, partly because that's what he always did when War rambled in his dreams but also mostly because he wanted to do that too since he saw him up that stage.
"Brave Anan Wong, know that I don't give away kisses for free. I will collect payment plus interest." War smirked, brushing their lips. "That was interest."
"I have more to give?"
"Is that so?"
"Yes."
"Then let's not waste any more time, I wasted enough for the both of us." War wrapped an arm around Yin's waist and drew him closer, walking back until he was leaning against a wall with Yin pressed up against him. "If I thought your kisses were already addictive before, I think I wouldn't be able to get enough from now on."
"Good. Because that makes two of us."
"But before we both get carried away, I want to ask you something-"
"What is it?"
"Do you want to go see the northern lights with me?"
End.