Archive of Our Own ^beta

It is only when hobbling down the hallway does Luhan realize how much it feels like he’s in a hospital. Minus the dingy carpet (that is pretty much the same colour as the hospital linoleum anyway), it had felt the same all over again.

Then again, Luhan hadn’t spent so much time in a hospital. He would be there in and out, football injuries in his youth, visits to ailing loved ones, midnight emergency visits. But it was usually never for very long or him who was there for days— until this week. The scene was: a wicked beach part, rowdy volleyball match, errant ball from the result of a drunken volley, Luhan acting like a golden retriever… broken glass in the foot. The piece of glass was large, and Luhan faced enough blood loss to make him pass out and spend three days in the hospital. It didn’t help that his disease— “Did I mention I have hemophilia?” “No, Luhan, what the fuck .”— kept him there longer than maybe any regular person would experience with the same injury. And so, he spent a great few days doing absolutely nothing except finishing off the last few dungeons in his Dragon Quest save, leading to today, where Luhan was released under the caveat of not putting any weight on his foot for two weeks.

“And that was a strict order,” Sehun chastised, yanking Luhan’s keys out of his grip and shoving them into the door knob. Luhan awkwardly made his way into his apartment— a quadpod now with his crutches— and dramatically fell onto his bed. 

Sehun stared at Luhan from the door. 

“Yes?” Luhan peeked out from where he lay.

Sehun rolled his eyes. “God forbid a guy wants a thank you from his best friend.”

“O-Oh, uh, sorry.” Luhan begrudgingly sat up, smacking himself. “Thank you, Sehunnie. I probably would’ve thrown away the crutches outside the hospital if I walked back myself.”

“Yeah, and I don’t need to be the one who tells you that you shouldn’t do that.” Sehun huffed, throwing Luhan’s keys into the clay bowl on the table next to the door. Sehun looked down at his watch, sighing. “Anyway, I’ll be back later with Minseok, we’re getting you takeout. Don’t move without those crutches or I’ll get Zitao to cut your legs off.”

Even though Zitao couldn’t hurt a fly (and almost passed out himself when he saw Luhan’s blood), Luhan didn’t fight Sehun as he left. Instead, Luhan laid back onto the bed, a sigh so heavy leaving his lips it felt heavier than the boot Luhan now had to wear. It was nice to finally be back in his own bed, in a bed that was actually made for comfort and not the ease of cleaning. No plastic to be seen. Luhan could almost fall asleep right then and there, and he would’ve.

If not for the sunlight peeking through the curtain, reflecting perfectly off of a glass bottle and into Luhan’s eyes.

Glass bottle?

Luhan sat up again, shuffling on his bed to inspect this rude disturbance of his sleep. The glass bottle was resting on the dresser adjacent to his bed, close enough for Luhan to not need his crutches. He held the bottle in his hands, turning it over to look at its contents. It had a piece of paper and some random shit at the bottom Luhan couldn’t quite make out, instead, the paper was perfectly rolled so all Luhan could see was 2021 written on the back of the paper. 

Why would there be a random glass bottle in his room? With paper that only had a random number written on it? And how the hell was he supposed to get it out?

Why did he want to get it out?

Smacking the bottom led to some of its contents spilling out and onto his lap, metallic confetti of different colours creating a mess on Luhan’s bed he tried to brush off as quick as possible, swearing all the while. Luhan used two fingers to get the paper out, but the bottle’s neck was too skinny and too long for him to make any progress. He quickly grabbed his crutches and made his way to his kitchen, pulling out a chopstick and sticking it into the bottle, trying to push the paper against the wall and pull it out. It seemed useless, futile, but Luhan was getting desperate. 

The actual, quickest way to solve this was to break the bottle. But maybe because of how Luhan got into this crutch predicament int he first place, he knew broken glass in his apartment could only lead to disaster. And so, Luhan put his engineering degree and his stubbornness to work, and somehow it worked, the paper was out of the bottle and finally in his hands.

“Yes,” Luhan whispered, too relieved for such a useless task. This was such a random tangent to his restful day finally back from the hospital, and maybe it was those boring few days that compelled him to do this.

The paper had carefully written hangul on it, Luhan had to squint to read it— sure, he spoke and could read Korean, he lived here after all, but Luhan wasn’t exactly fluent in chicken scratch.

To the future me (or whoever reads this),

It’s the night before his wedding. The bachelor party was last week, and that was when he told me he loved me. That this marriage wasn’t real.

Of course, I had my suspicions. I’m his best friend, after all, I can tell when he’s lying. I just didn’t think he felt the same way.

But I decided not to say anything. I can’t ruin this for her, for him, for me. I know they probably feel nothing for each other or that there is no saving fake marriages— but, isn’t it better this way?

No, not because I think they should be together or that marriage can actually fix this…. Rather, I’m not staying here. I promised myself I would stay until the wedding, but after, I’m leaving. I already told Mr. Shim that I won’t be using the apartment anymore. The old geezer doesn’ check his KKT so he probably won’t see it until later this week, but that doesn’t matter. All of my stuff is out of that place anyway. I was almost going to steal the number plate, its the same as my birthday after all, but that ahjussi knows my mom so I probably shouldn’t… Though… No, I won’t.

Anyway… I just… Honestly, I don’t wanna talk about this. This stupid wedding. I shouldn’t even be in the wedding party. I’m writing this letter to get my thoughts out, but really. I’m cringing the more I think about this whole thing. Why do I have to love an idiot like him? Why can’t I just be happy? I resolved myself to just throwing this away and being done with it but… Well, maybe in the future, I can look back on it and laugh. At how stupid all these feelings are. So that’s what I’m going to do now. Laugh. Because in a little while, I’ll be moved on and done with my life. Hopefully.

I just hope it’s cold in New York. I hate summer.

김종다 — 20.04.2021.

—

“Kim Jongda? What kind of name is that?”

“I don’t know—” Luhan shrugged. “Not like I can ask the person who wrote this.” 

“Probably someone trying to play a prank on you,” Sehun pointed at Luhan with his chopsticks, noodles flying onto the table, making Minseok cringe. “I swear, probably Zitao or Yixing or someone came by and wrote some stupid-ass letter.”

Minseok smacked Sehun’s hand and shoved a napkin into his hands, pointing at the fallen noodles. “We’re not teenagers. Nobody has been in Luhan’s place, I can assure you that.” 

Luhan ignored them, leaning forward onto his hands. He glared at the letter splayed out on the dining table. His food had basically been forgotten, because ever since Luhan read that letter this afternoon, it was all he could think about. Sure, he took a little nap after taking a shower, but the contents of the letter rolled around his head like forgotten dreams. Kim Jongda … The name didn’t sound familiar. The only clue he really had was Mr. Shim, but Luhan wasn’t exactly busting to go and see his landlord, hot as he was, Luhan had naps and food to eat. 

Call it fate or something kinder, Luhan walked downstairs the next day, still struggling with his crutches, he saw Mr. Shim at the mailboxes.

“Luahn-ssi,” Mr. Shim called out with a smile, white teeth nearly blinding Luhan. “You’re better! Did you like the cookies my wife sent over?”

Luhan’s weak smile almost gave him away. “They were great. Ate ‘em all up.” Luhan opened his box up, hiding his face, the face that made the memory of those bricks disguised as cookies all too clear. He threw them away when he almost chipped a tooth. “But, maybe she should keep them with you guys. Bet you can’t get enough of them.”

Mr. Shim’s grimace made no effort to hide. “I’ll let her know. We’re just glad you’re back home.” He quickly turned on his heel to get back into his apartment, but Luhan stelled himself and rached out. 

“Wait!”

No time like the present.

“Um,” Luhan nearly closed in on himself, abandoning the effort, when Mr. Shim turned to look back. “You don’t happen to know anyone by the name of Kim Jongda, do you?”

“Jongda? Not Jungda?”

Luhan shook his head. “Uh, no. Jongda.”

Mr. Shim thought for a moment. “We’ve got qute a few Kims here, but no Jongda or even Jungda, I’m afraid. Why?”

“N-no reason. Just wondering.”

Mr. Shim didn’t believe him, but he didn’t pry. Instead, they bid farewell again, and Luhan was left alone with his thoughts.

Minseok didn’t acknowledge Sehun’s pout, instead, turning his attention back to Luhan. “Unless you are the one pranking us.”

“No!” Luhan lightly smacked his table, pointing an accusing finger back at Minseok. “I was bored at the hospital but not this bored! I don’t have some kind of creative writing degree.”

Sehun looked thoughtfully at the bottle, pieces of confetti that weren’t on Luhan’s floor still at the bottom. “I mean, that is your birthday though, April 20th.”

“Yeah, but, 2021 isn’t for another like… 20 years.” Minseok sighed. “It really can’t be Luhan, Zitao, or Yixing though… Your hangul isn’t this nice.” 

“And here I thought the thing looked like a glorified doctor’s note.” Luhan turned his nose up.

“Well, the letter mentions Mr. Shim right? I don’t know if I’d call him an ahjussi though…” Sehun frowned. “Isn’t he like, only a couple years older than you guys?” 

“Yeah, born in ‘68.” Minseok nodded, thoughtfully. “He only just turned 33.”

“You think something… science fiction-y is going on?” Sehun met Luhan’s gaze from across the table, that youthful look of excitement adorning his eyes. 

Luhan sighed. How was he supposed to know he wasn’t part of some science fiction scheme or just a… Uh… Regular one? He wasn’t going crazy, Minseok and Sehun held that letter in their own hands, read and confirmed every letter on that damned thing. Mr. Shim was no help. Maybe he had just been dreaming this entire thing and he’d just wake up on the hospital bed, waiting for Sehun to come pick him up…

Ow . Nope. Not dreaming.

An older lady— Ms. Im, I think ?— who lived on the 2nd floor stared at him weirdly. And really he couldn’t blame her, some guy she barely knew spacing out in front of the mailboxes, hand half in his box, the other pinching his cheek. Luhan smiled, probably more crazed than friendly, and quickly grabbed his mail, shoving a parcel into his tote, and darted to the elevator.

It wasn’t until he got back into his apartment that he looked through his mail. The parcel was weird, but maybe it was from his mom. A few junk letters that he normally threw away downstairs, no discarded in his paper recycling. The parcel was almost about to be left on the ground— wrong address— until he registered the name.

김종대

9-21 DBSK Apt.

Mirotic Street, Seoul, 31226

South Korea

Kim… Jongdae ?

Committing at least a felony of reading someone else’s mail, Luhan tore open the letter in an excited fervour.

To. 김종대,

We thank you for your purchase of the esteemed TIME Bottle! The classic keepsake from the early 2000s has had nearly 20 years of service and selling, receiving it’s new look in 2012. As a thank you for our 20 year anniversary and purchasing our premium bundle, we sent you a copy of our classic model, for any other mementos for your 20-year time capsule. We have also included stickers and pieces of stationary for your pleasure.

Thank you again for 20 long years together,

CEO and Founder of TIME Bottle, 김종인 .

Luhan sat there, reading the thank you letter over and over again. The parcel laid out before him, the same glass bottle that sat on his dresser. 

What… Was this?

The cogs churned in his head, threatening overheating, but Luhan couldn’t stop. He almost felt nauseous at the barrage of information suddenly pushed onto him, hands shaking as they reached out for the bottle in the parcel. It certainly did have those stickers and pieces of stationary, almost identical to the pieces to what was in the bottle.

The bottle was the same, almost the exact same. However, that bottle had a 0021 in a pink label on the outside, while this one had a 0007 . 

What was Luhan supposed to start with?

ISSUE REPORT

Following is the issues I, the author, have found in the product provided, alongside personal theories surrounding the issues and discrepancies. 

ISSUE #1 : Name discrepancy.

In the bottle (assumingly, the TIME Bottle) found on September 20th,, the letter found in the author’s room had been sent from, presumably, 김종다, or Kim Jongda. However, in the parcel received to the author’s mailbox on September 21st, the name addressed is 김종대, or Kim Jongdae. 

— THEORY: The author presumes these are the same people, or are related to each other in some way, with the original name 다 losing the final line to make the syllable read 대. This could be due to a mistake on the addresser’s part or scrubbed off.

ISSUE #2 : Address discrepancy.

The author lives in the DBSK (or, DongBangShinKi, 동방신기) Apartments, however, the author lives on the topmost floor in the apartment 7-21. There is currently no 9th floor.

— THEORY: Due to the letter author dating “2021”, the author presumes that the apartment building he currently lives in to gain at minimum 2 more floors in the next 20 years. 

ISSUE #3 : Birthday and apartment similarities.

The initial letter has the addresser state that they will be leaving their apartment to live in New York (City?), but feels regret due to the fact that their apartment number is the same as their birthday. The presumed addresser, Kim Jongdae, has the TIME Bottle apartment addressed to 9-21.

—THEORY: The presumed addresser’s birthday is September 21st. The TIME Bottle works in 20 year increments, supposedly, and the day the author received the bottle just so happens to be on September 21st. Additionally, the addresser, Kim Jongda, wrote the letter on April 20th, 2021, which just so happens to be the author’s birthday .

Maybe Luhan was going crazy.

He threw the notebook to the side, scribbles looking more and more like the work of a madman the longer he looked at it. He leaned forward on table, grasping his head in his hands, pressing his fingers against his eyes. Even with all this information, what was he supposed to do with it? Why did it matter?

Kim Jongdae . Luhan thought it to be a distinctly masculine name. Would that mean that the person Jongdae was in love with was… A man?

Is that why it mattered to Luhan?

Luhan took his hands off his face before he would go blind from the pressure onto his eyes, and took the TIME Bottle into his hands. 

Perhaps today would be his only chance.

He picked the pen he threw to the ground up, pulled out the piece of stationary from inside the box, and started writing.

To whoever reads this, or Kim Jongdae, or Kim Jongda—

I hope you do not judge my hangul too harshly. I am not from Korea, but I am fluent.

I… Don’t know where to start. Your letter to me was clearly not for me, or for eyes other than your own. 

The past week I had been in the hospital. It was kinda stupid, honestly, we were playing drunken volleyball on the beach and I cut myself on some broken glass… And, well, I have hemophilia so it made the bad situation much worse. 

Anyway, I got back home yesterday and saw a bottle on my dresser. No one had been in my apartment since the day I was admitted to the hospital, and I feel like I would’ve remembered seeing a glass bottle with paper before. But, I don’t. And curiosity killed the cat, the curiosity being me opening the bottle, reading your letter, and my sanity being the cat. 

Your letter said your name was Kim Jongda, but I received a parcel today with this TIME Bottle inside, with the addressee being someone with the name Kim Jongdae, but in my apartment building. I could be wrong, but I am going to assume that Jongda and Jongdae are the same person.

And forgive me for assuming, but you are a man… Right?

Your letter contained your feelings about a man, who you love, confessing his love to you the week before his wedding to a woman. I initially read the letter assuming you were a woman, yet, and I’m not knowledgable on penmanship or the intricate ways of writing in Korean, but I did get a feeling you were a man.

I don’t know what life is like for you, being a man in love with another man. Well, I do, but… I don’t know how it is for you . I am also someone like you. I like both men and women, of course, but, many of my friends happen to be like men who like other men, too.

I think it is why… I was drawn to this story. Where I am now, it is difficult being myself. I am over 30 years old and I feel like I am stuck with finding a partner. Of course, I could always be with a woman, but hiding such a big part of myself just feels so… Stifling. I wonder if the man you are in love with feels the same. Or if he is living life totally as a lie. I am glad you were able to come out of that. It makes me think, 2021 may not be so different.

Ah, well… That is another thing.

I don’t know if you are truly from 2021, but, I am from 2001. I know nothing of the future, of course, but life as someone who likes those of the same gender… It is better than before, but it is by no means a paradise. 

If you are reading this, I hope you know, I understand you, and I feel for you. You shouldn’t have to hide yourself too, but, I understand wanting to live peacefully in the shadows. It is why these sorts of friendships, like one you and I can maybe have, is important. I think. 

May your new home be kind to you,

And, I hope it is cold in New York.

P.S. You wrote this on my birthday. Weird, right?

鹿晗, or 루한

September 21st, 2001.

—

Luhan had rid himself of the crutches a long time ago, and had gone back to his regular, daily life. The obsession of the letter, of Kim Jongdae, had gone with his injury, work taking up too much of his time and thoughts. Minseok and Sehun asked about it once after Luhan told them about the TIME Bottle, maybe twice, but they hadn’t brought it up again. Perhaps it was because Luhan too, didn’t bring it up.

Minseok and Sehun had a secret wedding back in June, while not officially ordained in the slightest, their closest gay and lesbian friends had joined in and had a party. It was nice, but Luhan had been reminded of Jongdae. 

Though Luhan hadn’t been obsessed with Jongdae anymore, he still thought of him every once in a while. It was hard not to, he was such an enigmatic figure in Luhan’s life, almost like an imaginary friend from childhood, or a book character who you couldn’t remember where they came from, but knew every detail about their life, their growth. As time went on, he forgot. If Luhan ever heard about New York, or even America, Jongdae popped into his head. 

No, not an imaginary friend or a book character, but a friend you’d make for a class in college, or during a summer program, or at a bar, only getting a window into their life for one day, for them to disappear forever.

The last time before the wedding did Luhan think of Jongdae so intensely, was the day after his birthday. 

It had been 7 months since Luhan had stuffed the letter into the bottle, alongside the confetti and stickers, and it sat beside the first letter he received from Jongdae on his dresser. The bottle had become dusty over time, Luhan dare not touch it. It didn’t vanish, but sat there, as if Luhan had just gained a hobby of collecting glass bottles and stuffing paper into them, but quit at 2. 

But when he woke up, hungover from the night at the bar for his birthday, sometime into the afternoon on April 21st, 2002, the bottle containing Luhan’s letter was gone.

He asked his friends if they had taken in, even inspected their houses to make sure. He looked all over his own house, down the hallways of his apartment, in the street outside his window. It was gone.

Luhan had thought it was whatever force was at work that brought Jongdae’s letter there in the first place that made it disappear. He stayed awake all night on the night of the 21st, waiting for the bottle to return, or for the other bottle to vanish, but nothing happened. 

He would continue to wait. But that impulse too, disappeared. 

May, June, July, August…

The months passed, and Luhan had not seen the bottle show up again. Instead, the letter from Jongdae, and the letter from the TIME Bottle company remained. 

Luhan didn’t hear from Jongdae again until September 20th, 2002. 

The plan was already in motion, he would stay up all night on the 20th, waiting for something to happen for the bottle, to either disappear or reappear, but instead, when he woke up that morning, early into the afternoon, the bottle reappeared next to the previous one.

He was almost going to scream out into the streets. Finally . Something had come from this whole venture, albeit a day earlier than he thought, but the bottle had returned. 

Well, no, it wasn’t the same bottle. The one he sent had the pink label with 0007 printed on it, but this one had that same pink label, but now identical to the first bottle he received— 0021 printed in black.

Anticipating taking out the letter again, Luhan had bought a long-pronged tweezers for this excursion, the paper, still stubborn, came out easier than when he had just used the singular chopstick. This must be a letter from Jongdae. 

The confetti inside, the same colours as when he first received the bottle, but now, a flower, dried and shrivelled also laid inside the bottle.

Luhan swallowed a lump in his throat, and opened the letter. 

To 루한 ,

Luhan felt like he was close to spontaneously combusting.

Huh. I didn’t… I don’t know what happened. I had taken the letter with me to New York, and the day before my birthday, the bottle disappeared. I thought one of my friends stole it, but then… This showed up 7 months later. 

Frankly, I don’t live in New York anymore. I had spent a few months there, but I had never been the one to want to stray far from home, and Mr. Shim said the apartment didn’t sell, and I could live there again. I live there now. And, in a way, I’m glad I do, otherwise I would’ve never received this letter.

I don’t… I don’t know what’s going on. I’m not much of a science fiction reader, but I don’t think you’re lying to me. I mean, I don’t see how you could be. I have a security camera right outside my apartment, and nobody had come in that night. So, I can only assume something… Weird is happening. But I don’t really know.

Yes, my name is Kim Jongdae. I obviously can’t see the letter you read anymore, but while I was finishing off the letter, one of my friends had walked in on me, so I guess I didn’t finish writing my name. 

ISSUE #1: Resolved.

And yes, I am a man. I actually thought your hangul was easy to read, and your Korean wouldn’t have seemed off had you not prefaced that you weren’t Korean. I… Well, the man I told you about, I do have feelings for him. I don’t see him much now… But that is a mutual decision. He is still married to his wife, and I think they’re expecting their first child soon. But I don’t really keep up with social media that much.

Well… If you’re truly from 2001, then, you don’t know what social media is, right? I won’t bore you with future technologies, and I don’t know any lottery numbers, but as for me being a man who is in love with another man… It is a little better. Here, at this time, I mean. Our media has more and more people like us. I am like you, I like both men and women. But, we still have to live in hiding, but only sometimes, and only for some people, but we are able to live a lot more… Freely, I guess. 

Does… My apartment exist in your building? I wonder who is living there currently. My mother bought this for my aunt and cousin, back in, 2004? I think? My cousin would’ve been about 10, then… Well, if you are truly from 2001, then, I’d only be 9. Kind of weird, don’t you think? You said you were over 30, so that means you’re in your 50s now… How strange. You’re my dad’s age. 

ISSUE #2… Resolved. Maybe.

I guess it’s a bit more complicated than that. Obviously, in my letters, I’m not 9 years old, and I’d think you are truly in your 30s. I’ll be turning 30 this year, actually.

I don’t know what else to say. We’re in such a weird predicament, right? Kinda like we’re penpals, but instead of you being from somewhere like Austrailia or England, or even where I’d assume you are from, China? Your name read Chinese, though I’m nowhere near even conversational in Mandarin, but I did spend a few months there in my early 20s, but my friend told me it was a Chinese name. Yet, you live in Korea, in the same apartment building as me… Just, twenty years in the past. 

The other thing that is weird to me… You wrote this on my birthday, too. 

ISSUE #3: Resolved.

I don’t know what to think of this. Honestly, it’s kind of making me crazy. I wonder if you’re real. Or if this was a dream. Like, if I wake up tomorrow, I’ll forget it all. As if nothing happened. Do you only come to me in my dreams? When the night is soaked in moonlight?

… Or, something like that. 

If you receive this, and I can only hope you will, tell me something about yourself. What do you do for a job? I am a writer. I want to be a novelist, an author, and I had been working on my novel for some time… But life gets in the way. But I am mostly a writer for a university publication, for the literature department. Not the most well-paying job, I have to supplement it sometimes by writing freelance, and with the rise of AI, it is becoming harder… Do you even know what ChatGPT is? Kinda wish I was there, if you don’t. 

Tell me who you are. I want to know.

And, it was cold in New York. But only for a little while.

I hope your foot is better.

김종 대

April 20th, 2022.

Jongdae’s words spun around Luhan’s head like planets. He could study each sentence like he was reading a novel, taking apart each syllable and analyzing it. There were a few words there that Luhan didn’t understand, but he didn’t know if it was because of Korean being his second language or because he lived 20 years before Jongdae did. Did he have time to check?

He checked his watch. The nearest library closed at 8pm, and it was a Friday. He quickly grabbed his things, put his shoes on, and held Jongdae’s letters tightly to his chest as he ran to the library.

A few words had little to no correlation to the current Korean vocabulary, but when he checked the internet on the library’s computer, he found a couple results.

SOCIAL MEDIA: The closest results Luhan could find were English websites, such as SixDegrees.com, a “social networking” website that shut down last year. There were other sites were chatrooms like AOL and MSN messenger, as well as websites for blogs like LiveJournal.

AI: Luhan wasn’t so sure what this was. Jongdae had used English, or Roman(?) letters for this, and when Luhan looked into it, he was able to get some results for 爱 in Mandarin and 愛 in Japanese, meaning love, or 사랑. But when he looked deeper into it, he found results for something called: Artificial Intelligence. Previously a term in literature, especially in science fiction, had begun to take root in the 1950s alongside the rise of computers and computational thinking. It evolved into being included, in a way, in video games and other products. The literature continued to warn of it, but nothing necessarily bad had come out of it… But there was theory that it could get a lot worse. And, of course, nothing came from the term: ChatGPT.

Luhan got kicked out after that, at 7:55pm.

Jongdae was a writer, who didn’t use “social media” and didn’t like “AI”... When Luhan still had a blurry picture of what those were. 

But they were in Luhan’s line of work.

He was a computer engineer, of sorts. He worked at a company developing systems for medical uses, hoping to construct robots, of sorts, for ease of use for medical professionals or the disabled. While his job wasn’t as glamourous, since his work was mostly around energy-saving rather than the actual medical care behind it. He had been laid off from his job at Samsung back in ‘97, during the financial crisis, and had only just managed to scramble together this job after his foot healed. There he had worked for the development of electronics, mostly computers, TVs, mobile phones, and the like. There too, he worked with energy saving methods for those electronics. 

This is what he intended on telling Jongdae in his letter, but, when he woke up the next morning and checked his mail, there was no parcels in his mail. He didn’t know when it had arrived last time, or if it even would again, since the address was to Jongdae, last time. Would he be able to reply to Jongdae without a new TIME Bottle?

“Oi,” Luhan nearly jumped out of his skin, staring at whoever called out to him like a deer in the headlights. “I told you, you gotta put your apartment number on your parcels. Next time, I’ll keep it myself.” Mr. Shim stood in front of his apartment, looming at Luhan down the hallway in his robe, bunny slippers, and mug of coffee with the words: I ♥️NY on it. Luhan tried not to think too much about the irony.

“Sorry,” Luhan nervously took the parcel from Mr. Shim’s arms, scurrying up the stairs to his apartment, happy to no longer be a slave to the elevator anymore, able to make quick escapes.

Lo and behold, the parcel was another TIME Bottle. There was no letter inside, rather an invoice stating this TIME Bottle was also the older model, and worth ₩40,000. Luhan grimaced, but quickly pulled out the bottle, the confetti, and the stationary.

김종 대 ,

I had waited a year since I last sent the letter, not expecting anything to happen of it. I’m sure you’re feeling the same. I guess this is our life now, waiting until our birthdays to get the letter from the other.

Happy Birthday. I know when you read this, it will be past your birthday, but I wanted to wish you well regardless.

I had to look up what Social Media and AI was. I didn’t really understand it from how you wrote it, but I had a better understanding of what AI was. To answer your question about my job …

Luhan sighed. His hand was shaking from the excitement, almost making the letters illegible.

But, your job sounds really cool. I am not much of a literature person, but I like to read here and there. I don’t read science fiction though, but I picked up a few books since you sent your letter, but maybe I should read more. Maybe I can find some answers.

You’re surprisingly eloquent. In your initial letter, you were drunk. So to hear (or read?) your sober voice is definitely interesting. I’m guessing you’re fun when you’re drunk. 

Sounds like the Mr. Shim I know. It’s a little funny picturing him as a geezer. He’s really hot, right now. Only a couple years older than me. Maybe you should ask him for some younger photos of him. Since we can both appreciate the male form like that, you know?

Speaking of— screw that guy who confessed to you before his wedding. You deserve better. I hope you can find someone better than him. Maybe you already have. Tell me about them, if you do.

Oh, maybe you should tell me more about your friends.

My best friends are named Kim Minseok and Oh Sehun. I met them when I moved to Korea, Minseok and I were in the same university classes together, and Minseok met Sehun after we graduated. They got “married” this summer, I was both of their best mans, and both of their maid of honours. You know how it is.

Minseok works a similar job to me, but entirely different. We were just roommates. But it is kinda similar. Sehun is a high school teacher. He is kind of known as the young, handsome teacher that doesn’t have a wife but he should. If only they knew.

My other friends call themselves Lay and Tao (for the ease of Korean people). I knew Lay from when we lived in China. We didn’t live in the same area, but he’d often visit Beijing. Oh, I’m from Beijing, by the way. He is a doctor, can you believe it? He mostly works in the area for Chinese immigrants. My other friend, Tao, he is a bit younger than you, he… Well, he is on and off in his jobs, trying to find his footing. He wants to start his own company. I met him because well, he’s Chinese. I’m not even kidding. You kinda just gravitate to people like that. Maybe you were the same when you were in New York, or in China. 

As for your apartment… We don’t have a 9th floor. I live in the highest floor, the 7th floor. My room number is the same as yours. 7-21. Did you send this parcel to me? I looked into it and TIME Bottle doesn’t exist. It said 20 year anniversary when you sent your 2021 letter, so I assumed it would’ve, but it doesn’t exist in China, Korea, or even America. Isn’t that a bit weird?

I feel bad for making you pay for it. I put ₩40,000 in the bottle, since I don’t think I’ll be able to buy these. I don’t know why you’d drop that much on such a useless item, but maybe times are different for you.

Maybe I’ll try to ruin the development of AI for you. So you can write in peace. I don’t have much bureaucratic power, but there might be something there I can do. At least delay it for you a little longer. 

It’s weird to think of you as 9… Or 10, now. I’m 32. I kinda prefer the Jongdae in my head, an adult, I guess. Feels more like a friend and less like an imaginary person. And don’t ever mention me being in my 50s again. But maybe you can find me. Maybe I’m still living in that apartment. Don’t try and meet me, though. I think I’d go crazy. Even the thought is making me crazy.

I guess it doesn’t matter if you’re real or not. Not like I can check like you can. I’m sure if I went around looking for a 10-year-old named Kim Jongdae I’d get put on a list or something. I guess we can just enjoy this for what it is. That’s what I hope, at least.

Why do you prefer the cold over the heat? I’m glad you got to experience some of New York’s coldness.

And yes, I feel better now, so much better now. 

P.S. It is weird. I guess that’s part of the sciency fiction of it. Or something.

鹿晗

September 21st, 2002.

— 

“Something on your mind?” 

Luhan wiped the condensation of soda he was drinking on his pants, leaving his headspace to look Zitao in the eyes. “What do you think about time travel?”

Zitao quirked a brow. “How many times am I gonna be asked this in my career?”

“I’m just curious.” 

Sighing, Zitao took a swig of his coffee and leaned back on the park bench they were sitting at. “It’s theoretically possible, but only going to the past, not the future. Future and past time travel can maybe be made possible through the use of wormholes, but, nothing has been confirmed yet, obviously. Probably never will.” He turned, eyes boring into the side of Luhan’s face. “Why? Is this because of your penpal ?”

It was Luhan’s turn to sigh. “Yeah. Sehun told you, right? That I got a letter from the future?” 

Zitao nodded. 

“So… What do you think?” Luhan had more condensation on his hand, but, instead, this time it was on the hand that wasn’t holding his soda can. Oh, maybe it was sweat…

“I don’t wanna tell you that you’re crazy, especially from someone like me, but you might be crazy.”

Luhan didn’t respond.

Zitao sighed, again.

“Okay, okay. You’re not crazy. You’re one of the least obvious people for this to happen to, I’d see this happening to Sehun or Yixing before you. You and Minseok… You’ve always been the logic guys. I rarely find you up in dreamland. But lately, it seems like there is something on your mind. Especially whenever it has something to do with that letter guy.”

Luhan took a drink of the soda, wetting his dry tongue. “Do I seem… Out of it?” 

“Not really.” Zitao shrugged. “Only sometimes. Like now. You asked me to hang out last week and yet you’re barely talking.”

Luhan found himself at loss for words when he was around Zitao. Because in a way, Zitao was his way to know more. Zitao was a guy who always wanted to be more than he was, in between jobs, but his interest in science fiction, in time travel, had bled into other areas of his life. He was thinking about setting up a company, but nobody really knew what it was. Luhan wasn’t even sure Zitao knew what it would be. He wanted to be a quantum physicist as a kid, but after an incident during his undergrad, he dropped out. He had been trying to save up money to go back to school, hoping to make his dreams of time travel come true, or even be someone to further scholarship around the concept. 

“I’m sorry,” Luhan sighed, reaching out for Zitao’s hand, holding it firmly in his. “You’re like a little brother to me. I just feel a little lost about this. I try not to think about it because the possibilities would drive me mad. But is there… Anyway I can… I don’t know. I just want to know if maybe one day I can meet Jongdae— the “ penpal ”— in person. But it’s impossible, right?”

Zitao went quiet. It took Luhan to turn his head, searching for answers, to see Zitao deep in thought, staring at the Han River in front of them. “I don’t know, Lu-ge.” Zitao smiled, sweetly, but with a hint of sadness. “I wish I could help.”

— 

The bottle disappeared again on April 21st, 2003. 

— 

The bottle reappeared on September 20th, 2003.

루한,

Yeah, I guess this is our life now. Happy Birthday to you too. I don’t usually do much for my birthday, maybe a friendly dinner, but I’ve become excited for these letters now. I didn’t think I’d get a reply the second time, but, I guess you’ve become used to the routine. I didn’t think it would take a whole year. 

Ah. The early 2000s. You make me want to go back. Time seemed so much simpler then. The fact you don’t know or barely know those things seal the deal for me.

Your job is interesting. I can’t believe you worked at Samsung. It’s one of the biggest companies in the world right now, though I guess it was then. Makes me wonder if I’ve ever used a product you had a hand in, either in Samsung or in the company you work for now. I wish I knew.

If you bring up that drunken letter again, I’ll come to your time and end you. I’ll find a way just to end you.

I don’t even know if I want to know how hot Mr. Shim used to look like. He’s like an uncle to me. And the fact you think is hot is making me crazy. What twenty years can do to someone, huh…

Well, he’s…. Thank you for saying that. I haven’t found anyone. Me and him started talking again, though, just as friends. But it still feels weird.

Your friends remind me of mine. I guess it’s good we have that circle of people, or else these letters would drive us nuts. I haven’t told them about any of this, though. I feel like they’d think I’m crazy. I have kinda did what you said we should, just live in the moment and enjoy it for what it is. I kinda wish I could meet you, though.

My best friend is named Park Chanyeol. He actually lives in this apartment complex too, but it was his mom who got him that place. I think she used to live here, since she divorced Chanyeol’s dad. I doubt they live there where you’re at, though, but maybe by the time you read this, Chanyeol lives on the 8th floor. 

My cousin is dating Chanyeol. The one I mentioned who used to live in my place. The reason I’m here alone is because my cousin moved in with Chanyeol. I can’t even remember how long they’ve been together. But now I live here by myself. 

My other friend is named Kim Junmyeon, we went to school together. He’s a year older than me. He’s a college professor now. 

And the guy… Well, the guy is a childhood friend of mine. His name is Byun Baekhyun. He never seemed like the type to get fake married and confess to me in the meantime, but I guess he was… It’s been weird speaking to him again. I used to tell him everything, now, I haven’t even been able to tell him about this, when I probably would’ve, had that confession not happen… He seems to regret it. Maybe we can become friends again.

Wow, I thought they always had the floors above the 9th. I don’t know what you mean by TIME Bottle, though? This bottle is a TRAVEL Bottle, that’s the company. I think the CEO is actually from China, I think the name is Huang Zitao or something. They were founded in 2001, from what I was able to check online. But I buy them from TRAVEL Bottle. They take back the bottles you buy and send it to a random customer overseas. I always intended on buying it to send it off, for someone to read it, but I chickened out. Not really as a time capsule, but I thought I could use it as that. That’s… Really weird. It’s also only ₩20,000 but I’ll keep the change.

You’re sweet. You make it sound like you’re some kind of hero or knight or whatever. Do you have a partner by now? Maybe you don’t, since you sound so cheesy. You’re not even trying to flirt but I can imagine how yuck it would sound to hear that from a guy trying to hit on you. Ask your married friends for help? Kay~? Unless you were trying to flirt. Weird. You barely know me and you’ve already become mine? I’m just kidding. Maybe I’m a little drunk, just a little.

You’re in luck. I looked up your name and couldn’t find anything. Maybe you didn’t use the internet after you grew up. You don’t live here either. Maybe you show up on Chinese internet and government stuff, but, that isn’t exactly available in Korea. I kinda just gave up though, because, like you said, I’d rather stay in ignorant bliss. I’m kind of the obsessive type, sometimes.

I just don’t like to sweat too much. I hope it’s cold whenever I go.

Don’t hurt yourself again.

P.S. It’s giving more literary fiction at this point. But maybe I’m wrong.

김종대,

April 20th, 2023.

Answers.

Answers .

“Answers.”

Answers .

ANSWERS.

“ANSWERS!!!”

“What the— Luhan, I have you that key for emergen—”

“Huang Zitao,” Luhan spoke through laboured breaths, having ran all the way to Zitao’s apartment across the neighbourhood from his apartment. “I need answers . And I need them right now.”

The look on Zitao’s face was horror, he was half-naked in his apartment, after all. Luhan had no idea what he was doing before he walked in, but frankly, he didn’t care.

“Answers? Answers for WHAT?”

“TIME Bottle.”

“W-What?”

“TIME Bottle. A company that sells glass bottles for 20 year time capsules. They have a pink label on the front. I don’t know what it means, but it looks like this, right?”

Luhan clutched the bottle that showed up on his dresser that morning, the pink label shoved into Zitao’s face. 

Zitao’s eyes widened, the look on his face bridging between horror and an existential sort of question. Luhan couldn’t describe it. “H-how do you know about this!?”

“So, this is your company idea, right? Selling cheap bottles to people for time capsules?”

“Y-you make me sound like some kind of scammer—”

“Tell me, Zitao. Tell me the truth.”

“Okay, okay, geez,” Zitao pushed Luhan’s hands away, and Luhan too, since Luhan’s hoodie strings were beginning to touch Zitao’s naked torso with how closely Luhan was leaning into him for the interrogation. “Just, let me get dressed first, okay!?”

Luhan nodded, sitting his ass down on the couch, watching Zitao disappear into his bedroom to change like a hawk.

When Zitao emerged, Luhan half expected Zitao to dip into the Seoul streets, but instead, he sat across from Luhan on the couch.

HUANG ZITAO: INTERVIEW, BY LUHAN

ZITAO: S-so, what’s your questions?

LUHAN: TIME Bottle, that’s your idea for a company, right?

Z: Y-yes. I had the idea when I was a kid. I always liked the idea of putting letters into bottles and sending them out to sea. One time, I did, and I received a reply.

L: A reply?

Z: Yeah, someone from Korea. It’s why I moved here, honestly. I was never able to find the person, though. But I wanted to make a time capsule service around that idea, but I thought the idea was kind of dumb.

L: Did you plan on making it in 2001?

Z: What?

L: I received a letter from Jongdae. I asked him about TIME Bottle. I received a parcel in the mail after I received Jongdae’s first letter from a company called TIME Bottle, stating they were celebrating their 20 year anniversary in 2021, after they had opened up their company in the early 2000s. However, Jongdae didn’t recognize the company, instead, stating that the company was called TRAVEL Bottle, and the CEO was a Chinese man named Huang Zitao, but—

Z: Wait… Huang Zitao, the CEO of TRAVEL Bottle? What the hell is TRAVEL Bottle?

L: Jongdae said it was a bottle intended for letters, you write a letter, and then send it back, and they send it to someone random overseas. 

Z: But that’s not… That’s not the idea I had. 

L: Yes. In fact, the letter I received from the TIME Bottle company was stated to have a CEO named Kim Jongin, not—

Z: W-wait… Kim Jongin?

L: You… recognize that name?

Z: W-well… No, maybe… No… But…

L: …?

Z: Okay, I do. But it’s kind of a common name, right…?

L: I think we’re way past coincidences now, Zitao.

Z: I guess… You’re right. Yes. I recognize the name. The bottle I received back as a child was from a boy from Seoul named Kim Jongin. He was around my age. I came to Seoul looking for him. 

L: Huh… What does this mean…?

Z: I don’t know.

L: Did you ever look on the internet for the name Kim Jongin?

Z: Well, like I said, it’s a common enough name in Korea. I didn’t even know where in Seoul he was from, or how old he actually was. Anyway, this guy, he can’t be the same. If it’s in 2021 and he’s a CEO, he’d still be a kid right now, right?

L: …

Z: Lu-ge…?

L: Zitao, let’s go to the library.

Z: R-right now???

L: Yes. Let’s go.

Luhan grabbed Zitao by the hand and tugged him to the library. It was luckily a Saturday, but they wouldn’t be open as long as they would’ve been yesterday. It was already noon, and Luhan needed all the time he could get.

Once they got to the local library, Luhan sat back down on a computer, forcing Zitao to pull up a chair beside him.

NAVER SEARCH: 김종인 CEO Bottle

1,994,088 RESULTS

김종인 (CEO of TIME Bottle) Interview with 이태민 [Newspaper Scan]

“Oh— There it is! TIME Bottle?” 

“ Sssh! ”

“S-sorry…”

김종인  (born January 14th, 1954) is the current CEO of company, TIME Bottle. The company is a mid-size company originating from Seoul, South Korea. Kim Jongin came up with the idea for TIME Bottle when he wanted a time capsule. Kim told our interviewer when he was young that he received a letter in a bottle from China when he was young, and wanted to have it as a keepsake for when he grew older. He found it 20 years after, and inspired by the concept, created the concept of a time capsule glass bottle earlier this year in 2003. It has been quite the rage lately, with plenty of people buying it, some claiming they only enjoy it for it’s iconic pink label with 0007 on the bottle. 

Luhan felt nauseous. 

“A… message in a bottle…?” Zitao’s hand clutched his chest. He looked pale, probably green the same way Luhan felt, and likely looked. 

“Is this… The Jongin you know?”

“I… I guess?”

But, what am I supposed to do with that information?

It’s not like I can do anything about it. 

So Zitao’s company idea was stolen. So the TIME Bottle idea is actually from this… 

So, I… I don’t know.

The information feels so jumbled together, I can’t even begin to put it together.

All I can do is…

—

The next day, September 21st, 2003, Luhan received a parcel from TIME Bottle. It was no different from the boxes he received before, but this time, it was sent to the proper unit address. No mistaken addresses, no landlords in robes yelling at him.

Luhan had been in a sort of drunken stupor since yesterday. He didn’t even remember saying goodbye to Zitao yesterday, nor did he remember walking back to his apartment and falling asleep. It was strange. He had answers for what this entire thing meant for him and Jongdae, yet, they were all filler. Useless. Nothing could be done with them.

And Luhan felt lost. Was he overreacting? Maybe. But it was when he thought he had found a trail, none of it made sense. Who was Kim Jongin? His connection to Zitao meant more for Zitao , and nothing for Luhan. Nothing was changed by the fact that Luhan had nowhere to go, the answers only creating even more questions in their wake. 

Where was Jongdae? In 2023? What did that mean?

Did Luhan want to see him that… Badly?

“WAAHHH!!!” 

Luhan was pulled from his thoughts when a kid ran into him, knocking Luhan to the ground, falling back onto the ground too. He was a little chubby, in a cute way, like he was well fed. He had these glasses that fell off his head and into his own lap. He quickly grabbed them, putting them back on and his eyes widening. He got up and quickly reached out for Luhan, to pull him to his feet. 

“Ah… Ah! Sorry mister! I—” When Luhan gained his senses, he saw there were tears in the boy’s eyes. The boy wiped them away quickly, concern over his face rather than sadness. “I’m sorry!”

“Park Chanyeol! Where are you going?!”

Ms. Im, who Luhan had made an attempt to get closer to after he nearly got the cops called on him for being weird in front of the mailboxes, emerged from the elevator. Luhan didn’t know she had a child. 

Wait…

“Ch-Chanyeol? Park Chanyeol?”

The boy— Chanyeol— looked back at Luhan, but quickly turned his attention back to Ms. Im. “Eomma… I’m sorry…”

“Yah, you scared me half to death! Don’t you dare go running out like that again! You’re lucky Mr. Luhan here stopped you before you could go out to the street and get hurt!”

The tears came back to Chanyeol’s eyes, and he rubbed them away. How old was this kid?

“Ah, I didn’t do anything, Ms. Im. I was just standing here getting my mail when he ran into me.” Luhan didn’t want to pry, but the name shocked Luhan enough to go against his usual manners. “Is… Everything okay?”

Ms. Im waved her hand, dismissive. “Oh, he’s just sad he has to go back to visit his dad tomorrow. But with Mr. Shim starting construction soon for the two extra floors, I think it would be hard on these big ears of his to live here for some time.” Ms. Im sighed. “He’s also sad I will be moving too. I can’t be around it. Bur, Mr. Shim wants me to move up to one of the new apartments, you see? 9-20, I think.” 

Luhan blinked. Frozen in place. 

“You… You divorced your husband a few years ago, right? S-sorry to pry…” 

Ms. Im looked at Luhan with a fire in her eyes. Luhan had to know. “Hmph. Yes. I am still on good terms with him. Mr. Park. You may have seen him around here a few times. But, there was no love. All we had was our love for little Chanyeollie here.” She loving flicked Chanyeol’s ear, making him jump, snuggling into her side further. 

“R-right…” Luhan bit his lip, ready to run. “Um, Chanyeol, no more running from your mom okay? You gotta be safe!” Luhan spoke too quick to be seen as a regular interaction. “Um, I—I’ve gotta go.”

Luhan sprinted up the stairs, his football stamina doing him good, he made it all the way up to the staircase and ripped open the parcel. 

He held the bottle in his hand, and took the time to look at the thank you letter again.

CEO and Founder of TIME Bottle, 김종인 .

Luhan gulped. He had to read the entire thing.

To 루한,

Thank you for purchasing our TIME Bottle! We were founded earlier in the year of 2003 and we want to thank our customers for a smooth and successful launch! We have been hearing of many wonderful stories of you keeping your mementos and time capsules away, and we are so happy that our mission is being achieved everyday.

As a thank your for the first 10,000 bottles sold, we have sent some special customers a special gift: the love bottle! As you can tell, the bottle is a special dyed pink with the number 0061 in a pink label on it, representative of our CEO’s lifetime partner. We hope you enjoy, and you can send it to the person you love most! Maybe they’ll receive it earlier than you expect!

CEO and Founder of TIME Bottle, 김종인 .

Luhan quickly pulled out his pen, not even bothering to dwell too long on the sickliness he felt, if not from the absurd colour of the bottle alone.

종대,

Sorry for the pink bottle. I got some kind of deal or something… Meant to be for a loved one. Guess you’re the special one for me, since you’re getting this pink bottle.

Your friends sound sweet. You should tell them about me. Or about this. Maybe it’ll make you feel a little better. I can understand how weird, alienating, and lonely this is. Having so many questions for a friend you know nothing about. I hope you don’t feel that way, but I get it if you do. 

I don’t think you owe this Baekhyun guy anything, but, I think it’s good to want to reconnect. That’s kind of how it is, I guess. 

It’s a little crazy how you think I’m flirting just because of that. Maybe it says more about you than it says about me, I dunno. But I wish I could talk to you more. Feels a little weird how much I think about you, about this whole thing, only to talk to you once a year. Hear from you once a year. It kind of scares me, sometimes. 

That sort of feeling where, I don’t know what will happen if I wake up on that day and nothing comes. Kind of like, something might happen to you. I don't wanna put that out in the world, but it's scary. I guess that's why I wanna see you. Just once.

Luhan sighed. He felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest, a pain blooming from within. 

I checked in on TIME Bottle and TRAVEL Bottle. My friend, Tao, well, his name is actually Huang Zitao. When I asked him, he said that the business he wanted to open was called TIME Bottle. But when we looked it up online, we found results for TIME Bottle, but under a CEO with the name Kim Jongin. Do you recognize that name?

It was actually the name of the CEO whenever I received the bottles in the first place. I didn’t think much of it, but the fact that 20 years in the future TIME Bottle is unrecognizable and TRAVEL Bottle is owned by Huang Zitao, my friend… It’s weird, isn’t it? Because what’s really weird is that, I have never once ordered a TIME Bottle parcel. You ordered them, right? They were under your name, but whenever you did buy them, they went to you and to me. But they didn’t come to me under the name TRAVEL Bottle, or with the CEO named Huang Zitao. 

And today… I was getting my mail, my parcel, and a little boy ran into me. He had these really thick glasses on, didn’t look much older than 10. And he had these big ears, but, kids usually do right? His mother came out, I know her, her name is Ms. Im. But when she called the boy, she called out Park Chanyeol. I would’ve chalked it up to coincidence, had you not told me that Chanyeol’s mom lived here before… In the next year, we’re going to get out 8th and 9th floors. Chanyeol’s mom is getting one of the new places. 

I don’t even know if I should tell you this. It’s all just so… It’s weird. 

I want to figure this out so desperately, but I feel like the closer I get to you, the more it makes my chest hurt. What would I do, if I met a younger you? What would you do if you met an older me? Would I still be searching for you, twenty years from now? I don’t think so… Otherwise, you would’ve met me before, right? I know where you’ll be in 20 years.

Do you think about this as much as I do? Or is it just me?

I’m sorry to end this on such a… Weird note. 

Luhan leaned back in his chair. Telling Jongdae everything didn’t make him feel very good. He wanted this relationship to stay light, he wanted it to truly feel like they were just penpals. But he didn’t actually want that. Luhan wanted to know more about Jongdae. He wanted them to have a friendship like they did. It felt like agony waiting a year to hear from Jongdae. Everyday felt a little bit longer once September came. 

Maybe he could do something else.

Luhan looked to his left, running over to his nightstand. He pulled out a polaroid camera, only one piece of film left. He meant to buy more, but after his injury, and the last time he used it at that beach party, he hadn’t really touched it.

He raised the camera, a flash of light, and a stupid photograph printing out. Luhan tried not to look at it much, taping it to the back of his letter.

I hope your summer isn’t too harsh on you. I hope it’s cold in 2024.

P.S. Cameras still exist in the future, right? Maybe if we do ever meet, you can see how handsome I was in 2003. Here’s the proof.

루한,

September 21st, 2003

—

The bottle disappeared that night.

—

A pink bottle reappeared two days after.

루한,

That picture didn’t leave the best first impression, I’ll say that. You’re a bit uglier than I expected. Maybe that was a bit mean. If I showed this to my friends, maybe they’d think otherwise. But I know you better than they do, so I think I can see behind the facade. If only because I had to see that.

I’ll also say I nearly died seeing this pink bottle today. I am hungover from a small birthday party, so I thought maybe I was still dreaming when I woke up. But lo and behold, I see this.

And… I don’t know what this means. Kim Jongin… He’s the cousin I told you about. He is the one who introduced me to TRAVEL Bottle, actually. Said he used it once and thought it was a cool idea to get in contact with people. I thought he was just trying to scam me. But I don’t know… He is on a trip to London currently, so I can’t exactly talk to him about this. I messaged him but it seems like’s busy… Chanyeol is with him, too, so I don’t know. And, that definitely sounds like Chanyeol. He’s still got those big ears.

I got this pink bottle today too. In the mail. It says it can send messages quicker. What does that mean? Huang Zitao is around the age you’d be here, I looked him up. I thought, maybe, I should go and talk to him. I don’t know if I can. But there is always the possibility… Right?

I don’t know what you think about the future, but yes, cameras exist. We’re not in flying cars or anything. Do you really not have a cell phone with a camera? Those should be a thing in 2003. Maybe you’re older than you’re telling me, or you’re just a big technophobe.

It’s okay to look into this. Just— I don’t want us to meet the younger or older versions of each other yet. You can agree with me on that, right?

Also, that photo was annoying as hell to get out of the bottle. Use a paper printer or something to get out. I was this close to just giving up. 

Summer was as hot as it always is. I guess it’s just something I have to live with.

P.S. I did you a favour and sent a printed photo of me. Probably not the best, but it won’t be a bitch to get out.

종대,

September 22nd, 2023.

Luhan unrolled the piece of paper, ink heavy on one side, seeing a photo of a man in his 20s. He wore a thick pair of black glasses, reminding Luhan of the kind of glasses he’d see his dad wear when he was a kid, his hair parted in the centre. The photo made him look like a man from the 60s or even before, if not for the quality of the photo. It looked almost… Real. Even better than the photos you’d see in the magazines. The man was wearing a bright blue denim, bringing out the pink of his lips.

Luhan quickly put the photo down.

That was Jongdae? That was what 2023 looked like? Huh.

Luhan should’ve taken a better photo.

— 

A regular, clear glass bottle came to his mail the next day. However, Luhan didn’t write a letter for a few days. Instead, he went to a local technology and stationary shop and was looking at the voice recorders.

“Do you need anything, sir?” A clerk showed up behind Luhan, who was in deep thought. Luhan resisted the urge to fight, not flight.

“Oh—Uh—” Luhan said, dumb. “I am just looking for a small recorder. Something that could fit in a glass bottle with a long, skinny neck.”

The man nodded, before Luhan could even finish the description. He pointed to a pen encased in cardboard. The words ‘ARTIST’ VOICE PEN RECORDER by ONEW TECH  were written in big red letters on the box. On it was a model who had been on TV the past few days, holding the pen in his hands. Luhan remembered his name to be— Jong— Jong something. Jonghyun?

“Is it for a TIME Bottle? We’ve been getting a few people coming in the past few weeks asking for small recorders to put in their time capsules. Seems like a trend. They usually take this pen and put it in the bottle. It can fit in the bottle and be easily shaken out without breaking the bottle.” The man put the box in Luhan’s hands, a confident, polite smile on his face. Well, they knew what they were doing.

“I’ll take it.”

—

Luhan finished up his letter— using his new pen— and rolled it into the bottle as long as the confetti and everything else. While he didn’t really like the confetti, it looked pretty. He added a few flowers too, like Jongdae had. 

He looked down at his pen, and pressed the button on the side. He heard a faint beep and knew it was time.

Oh… Uh… Well… Hi.

Sorry. I sound stupid.

I’m Luhan. I don’t know who else you’d think I’d be but we haven’t heard each other’s voices so, I thought… Yeah. Anyway.

You might be ablet to hear the construction. They’ve been adding onto the floors above for weeks now. Making your apartment. Your cousin should be moving in soon.

I didn’t get a pink bottle this time so you’ll have to wait until April. I wish I could tell you. I think I’d throw up from anxiety trying to wait. But maybe you’re more patient than me.

So… Let me tell you a few more things about me. My hobbies are mostly football and running. Sometimes I cycle with Minseok and Yixing down the Han River. I don’t know how well you do with physical exertion but maybe you’d like it. I’m pretty good with tech and computers, was always kind of a whiz kid. When I was a kid, I was obsessed with magic and superheroes. I always wanted to be telekinetic or something. Since we started talking I started reading more. 

My favourite novel so far… I think it’s The Dwarf by Cho Se-hui. It came out when I was a kid but I didn’t get to read it until recently. It’s really good. I get why it’s a classic. 

I moved to Korea to study at Yonsei when I was 18. I had the dream— kinda silly actually— I wanted to become a singer. I go to karaoke with my friends every once in a while, but, I liked Korean music from the 80s. I was obsessed with trot. But obviously, that didn’t happen, so now I’m here and just working with batteries and whatever. I think moving here was good, though, even if I do miss my family. I’m an only child, so it’s just my mom, dad, and me. My uncles and aunties and whatever but…

I moved here in ‘88, actually. That’s before you were even born. That’s weird to think about—

I usually don’t watch TV. Actually, Minseok got me into a manga, Prince of Tennis, I think. There’s barely any Korean translations but I found a few Mandarin  ones, so I’ve been having to translate for him. I should be getting paid for that, honestly.

Uhh… A singer I’ve been liking lately is Jang Yoonjeong. I think she’s gonna become big one day. She’s working on a comeback now, should be out by the end of next month. 

Sehun’s been really obsessed with a singer named Boa. She’s quite a bit younger than us, so he kinda just likes her in a… She makes fun music. The kind of music I’d hear at a gay club when we’re just trying to think about being kids. 

I don’t know what else to say. I think that, I dunno. Hopefully you can actually hear me and this doesn’t sound like garbled… garbage. I’m not listening to it back over to check it out so, don’t ask me.

Everything about us is a bit weird, but, I think you should go for it. In a way, I want to know you, I want to meet you— but, I also feel like these coincidences lining up are… A bit weird. Uncovering them almost feels like I’m looking into something bigger than wanting to meet you. But other times, it’s all I want to do. Is that also… Weird?

Sorry for the bad photo. After seeing what you sent me… I didn’t realize I was talking to someone like you. Maybe we should go our separate ways now. You’re out of my league. Just kidding, you’re kinda stuck with me now.

Anyway… This is Luhan, signing off. The date is— uh— September 29th, 2003. It’s 6pm right now. I’m gonna go grab some food with my friends. I hope you’re taking care of yourself. Not to sound like your mom, but you gotta eat well to do well. 

Um… goodbye. For now.

The pen fell into the glass bottle with a concerning ting . Luhan put the bottle on his dresser, and continued with his life.

—

The bottle disappeared in April. The construction finished in May. Residents were already moving in. Chanyeol ran into Luhan once more, seeming like he wanted to become friends with him.

Maybe Ms. Im didn’t find Luhan all that weird after all.

It was a hot June day when Luhan was sitting in the small piece of grass outside their apartment building, Ms. Im standing somewhere behind Luhan and Chanyeol, gossiping with a neighbour. Chanyeol was eating an ice cream.

“The new apartment smells weird.” Chanyeol blurted, kicking his feet from where he sat on the park bench. He was getting taller and taller with every month that went by, and Luhan feared for a few years from now when Chanyeol would be towering over both him and his mom. He was already catching up on his mom.

“What kind of weird?”

Chanyeol turned up his nose, his glasses reflecting the sunlight, covering his eyes from Luhan’s view. “I don’t know.” He shrugged, and dropped the topic. “I’m starting middle school next year.” 

Luhan raised his brows. He wasn’t used to the way kids had absolutely no coherent train of thought. Was he like that as a kid? “Huh. You’re older than I thought you were.”

“What do you mean?” Chanyeol frowned.

“I thought you were, like, 8.” 

“8?! Only 8?!”

Luhan shrugged. “I don’t really know how kids look at each age, I guess.”

“I’m 11 and a half. Turning 12 in November.” 

“Huh. Born in 1992?” 

“Yuppers.” 

Luhan leaned back on the bench. He was the same age as Jongdae. Maybe Luhan just didn’t think he could be meeting a kid who was the same age as the person who occupied Luhan’s thoughts everyday. He didn’t like that. 

“Kiddo, I gotta go back to my place.” Luhan stood, dusting off his pants.

“Why?”

“Got some chores to do. Unless you wanna help.”

“Sure!”

Luhan froze in place. “What kind of kid are you?”

“Eomma and appa give me some money when I do chores.”

“I’m not giving you anything if you help me.”

Chanyeol deflated. “Cheapskate.”

“What?”

“Nothing. Bye Mr. Luhan!” Chanyeol stood and ran off to go see his mom, ice cream dripping everywhere and onto her skirt.

—

Luhan dreaded the day he’d run into a boy named Kim Jongdae or Kim Jongin. He’d become a bit of a recluse since that day with Chanyeol. It wasn’t like he or Chanyeol had a close kind of relationship, so they kind of drifted apart. It was sad, Chanyeol seemed to like his dad but his older sister didn’t seem to enjoy spending time with her younger brother much, now that she was getting ready for high school. At least, that was what Ms. Im told Luhan. Chanyeol didn’t seem to have many friends at school. Luhan hoped that would change, and it would, since Kim Jongin would be moving here any time this year. 

Luhan woke up early on September 20th, a glass bottle on his dresser. 

He took tomorrow and today off. With how much time he spent revolving his life around these bottles, you’d think he didn’t have a job. The bottles came on the weekend the past few years, today being the first day he got it on a day he wasn’t injured or off of work on the weekend. He kept a good track record for attendance for days like this.

Luhan grasped the bottle and brought out the letter again, but alongside the confetti, the pieces of dried flowers, and the letter itself, there was a small white thing at the bottom. Luhan inspected it, but he had to turn the bottle upside down (getting confetti all over his bed, again) and the white thing fell out onto the ground with a thud. Luhan picked it up, and held it in his hands. It looked like… An earpiece. Luhan had seen a few of those used by the military or rich businessmen, a more archaic version from when he worked in Samsung, but this one was much smaller, sleeker. It looked like a small corded earbud, just missing the cord.

He quickly looked at the letter, hoping for some answers.

루한,

The thing you’re holding is a wireless earbud. It’s a thing of the future. Put it in your ear, and you don’t need cords to listen to things on your phone… Or, laptop, or whatever. Unfortunately, I had to give you one of mine, so you better appreciate it. And don’t create some weird paradox with it. You could probably become a billionaire with it, but, keep it to yourself. I’m not here trying to make you some time villain.

Go up to 9-21 (if no one is living there, if there is, check the rooms nearby, you have to be as close to the apartment as you can) at noon. Put the earbud in. I want to test something.

종대,

April 20th, 2024.

Luhan was glad he woke up early.

He quickly made himself breakfast, and set out early to the apartment. He asked Mr. Shim if anyone was living there, and Mr. Shim said no. Luhan said he was interested in moving to the newer apartments. It took a little bit of coaxing and promising to come by for dinner one day to hype up his wife’s still terrible cooking for Luhan to get access to the place early.

“I’m doing a showing at 5pm, okay? You better be out of there before then.”

Luhan opened the door to 9-21 and looked inside. It honestly looked identical to Luhan’s current apartment, even the paint and the layout was the same. It came with a bedframe in the exact same place where Luhan’s was. It was practically empty, but the curtains behind the bed were sheer, allowing the morning sunlight in. It felt like home, even though it was an empty apartment that had never been lived in. Maybe it felt that way because of how familiar it was.

Luhan messed around until noon, going back up to the apartment and sitting down on the floor in front of the bed frame, the wireless earbud in his hand, small and fragile, almost no bigger than a bean. It was weird. 

But when the clock struck twelve, Luhan put the thing in his ear. It didn’t make a whole lot of sense, but it fit almost perfectly. Weirdly enough.

Luhan?

… Jongdae?

Luhan leaned forward from where he sat. A voice came from the other side of the earbud, an unfamiliar one, yet one that fit so well.

Oh, it worked! 

Jongdae… That’s… That’s you?

Yes sir! 

Luhan wasn’t really the type to cry, but maybe he would’ve. Maybe he should’ve. Maybe he was.

Are… Are you still there?

I just… I just can’t believe it. I can hear you.

Are you— Are you crying?

N-no. I’m a man, you know.

Jongdae tsked. 

Sure. Men can cry.

Well, he wasn’t wrong.

I don’t cry. Not me.

Yeah, whatever. Anyway, I’m surprised this work. I took a leap of faith you know? Those Airpods cost like ₩500,000! I thought I was just washing my money down the drain.

Air…pods?

Um, nevermind. Don’t worry about it .

Wait, how is this even working?

Oh, right. I got in contact with Huang Zitao. Turns out, he knows more than we do. He’s kind of a little shit, more of a grumpy old man than even Mr. Shim is. He also knows you, but I didn’t ask for more details. Wouldn’t want them, anyway. But, he told me the truth.

Basically, it’s not difference in just time, Luhan. It’s space.

Space?

Yeah, kind of. We’re in a parallel dimension.

What?

What?

Yeah, crazy right? Like, out of some kind of sci-fi novel. Mr. Huang said it was because in the early 1900s, our world split into two. The world you live in is the world that split off. But because you are put on a different trajectory, your time goes just a little bit slower than ours. That’s why you’re 20 years in the past. And the reason this works now is because I’m… I’m here. I’m in the same spot as you. We just can’t see each other. But it’s like the universes spaces are on top of each other, so we’re closer than we ever will be in this moment now. 

Luhan was silent for a few moments. Jongdae let him process, before he interrupted.

Sorry, I know it’s a lot. I just wanna know if you’re still there.

Y… Yeah. I am.

Okay. I just want to know in case the connection gets cut off or something. Apparently the frequency of movement between both universes are only in contact with each other on April 20th to 21st and September 20th and 21st. I don’t really know why, but, Zitao said thats why they’ve been sending you and me these bottles.

They?

Oh, well… There is some time travel at play here. The Kim Jongin that is the CEO of TIME Bottle is actually from my time. When Jongin and Chanyeol went to London, they… They actually went to your time. They have gone missing. To around the time you are born. The Huang Zitao I met is actually from your time, who disappeared to meet them and tell them to go. He said he disappears sometime next year.

Zitao… Disappearing? He will go missing?

Yeah. He said that after you told him about TIME Bottle, he met with that Kim Jongin, who told him to go to the future. He found a way, and so, he should be getting ready to go now.

So… Why are we involved?

Because… They want to end this. End it.

End it…?

Yeah. But, I don’t know.

End it how?

They want us to break the bottles. 

Break the bottles?

Yes. It will set the universes back right, with no contact between each other. It’s the only reason how they’re able to go back and forth. See… They want to see each other. Huang Zitao and Kim Jongin sent those bottles to each other as kids, but instead of a story across the sea, it was across time and space. But no matter how much they travel, it is impossible for them to meet each other. It’s become a cycle. They want to end it.

I can’t— I can’t—

J-Just kidding!

What?

I-I was lying. I was just wanting to write a story about this. I didn’t meet Mr. Huang. I don’t know anything.

You— What? You’re lying? You can’t just— There’s no way you can just be— You’re not lying!

…

Jongdae. Don’t lie to me. You’re telling the truth about this, aren’t you?

…

Jongdae.

I don’t want to.

Don’t want to— what?

I don’t want to break the bottles.

… 

If we break them, we can’t speak to each other anymore.

…

Baekhyun divorced his wife. The baby wasn’t his. She left him for the father. He always knew it wasn’t his. But he told me he wants to be with me.

And… You want to be with him?

I don’t know.

If you’re unsure, maybe that means you want to.

…

But you’re saying you’re not sure for my sake.

That’s not true.

It’s not?

I don’t think it is. I don’t know how I feel about you Luhan. I feel like we barely talk and sometimes, I think, do I only like the idea of you? Like, because you came into my life when I was at my lowest? But I barely know anything about you.

…

This is the first time we’re having a real, live conversation. Even people who have long distance relationships have it quicker than 3 years. The letters you send me are long, sometimes even pages long, and the ones I send to you are that too… But how much do I know you? Do I know you, can I love you than the man I’ve been in love with almost my whole life?

…

I just, I don’t know. I’m not really wanting to be with Baekhyun, honestly. I feel like I’m over him, that the ship has sailed, that I have moved on. Even if I were to say yes, and never speak to you again, I don’t think it would last. How can I be with someone when I’m still— when I still— when I’d regret everyday breaking those bottles?

Then don’t.

… Luhan.

Don’t be with him. Don’t break the bottles. 

We can’t be together. Jongin and Zitao— They’re only ever able to travel back to 1970 and 1992. I can’t see you in 2004. You can’t see me in 2024.

I don’t care.

Luhan—

I don’t care. Look, I don’t know you. But I want to know you. What’s so wrong with just trying ? With just wanting to see what happens? 

Luhan, if we do happen to see each other, we have to abandon everything we know. We can’t see our family anymore. We won’t be able to see our friends anymore. The world will be completely different. Are you ready for that?

… I am.

You’re ready to go missing from your family? For them to never see you again?

… Yeah.

Just to try with me? What if we find out we’re not even compatible? What if we make this jump and you hate the way I eat my food? Or I hate the way you don’t clean up after yourself? What if we take all these leaps of faith just to end up in a place where you have no friends, no family, and you’re stuck here?

…

Yeah. Exactly. You can’t justify it, can you?

I hate this. I’m so torn.

I know.

I know why this always drives the people crazy in the books and the movies. We still don’t even know each other… At the end of the day.

 I know.

… Jongdae, I just want to see you. Even once. 

I know. I do too.

I get scared, you know? I get scared that one day, I’ll wake up, and the bottles won’t be there. That when I wake up, the bottle will never come. And I’ll never know why. Or that one day, something will happen to me, and you will never know why I stopped talking to you. 

… I feel like that too.

Maybe you will think I hate you. Or that I just moved on with my life. Or I died. But you’ll never know. And I will never know. And I will die never being able to tell you, or never being able to see you.

You know in Buddhism, they say that, life is suffering? That the karma you go through will earn you a better life afterwards? But to get there, you have to suffer?

I didn’t know you were Buddhist.

I’m not. Me and my family are actually devout Catholics. It is similar in Catholicism, in Christianity. To suffer is to be put to God’s test. The more you make it past God’s tests, it will earn you a seat in heaven.

I see…

It makes sense, but I don’t really like it. I don’t like how God treats me. Treats you. Treats us. Is it so wrong to yearn for a better life? Where you became the singer you always wanted to be, that I became one too? We lived in the same time, in the same area, and we got to see each other day?

You wanted to be a singer too?

My dad is a singer. I always wanted to be one. But life got in the way.

Life likes to do that.

You’re funny.

You think that, even if we did live in a world like that, maybe we wouldn’t be able to see each other? What do you think is worse, never having met each other, or having to meet each other, and then something happens, and we can no longer be around each other?

…

Maybe we weren’t even close in that world. And we both don’t even try to keep in touch. It was a friendship or something else we had, and now, it’s gone. We’re just people we used to know now.

I think it’s worse to have never met each other.

You think?

Yeah. Isn’t it better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all?

You really put that literature degree to work.

That’s such a common quote. Maybe it’s different back in the Stone Ages.

Luhan wiped the tears away from his eyes, laughing bitterly.

I’m not a dinosaur.

Sure.

Luhan crawled into a ball on the floor, the tears still streaming from his eyes. He started to sob. Jongdae didn’t say anything, except a soft murmur of It’s okay every few minutes, just to let Luhan know that he was still there. 

He didn’t know how long he was there, crying in his ball, but he eventually wiped his eyes, and sat back against the bedframe. 

Are you okay?

I think so.

Good. I’m not really the crying type.

You were tearing up, though, weren’t you? I could hear it.

Maybe. You can’t see me so, you’ll never know .

Luhan laughed, wiping the remnants that still came out.

So, this A-pod , do I have to charge it?

Yes. Well, I have the charger. So you gotta send it back. I’m surprised it hasn’t died yet.

How are you even setting this up?

We’re on a call right now through an internet service. The airpod is hooked up to my computer, and I’m speaking to you through my phone. So you can hear me but you don’t need to do anything but put the bud in your ear. 

Huh. 

Yeah. The future’s great, isn’t it?

Isn’t it funny how I am in tech and you’re in Lit but you know more about technology than I do?

Well, I’d hardly say that. I’m pretty analog. I only just got an Instagram account.

What is…

Ah, it’s that social media thing I told you about. 

The thing where you saw Baekhyun and his ex-wife were expecting?

Yeah…

Luhan didn’t like that name. Baekhyun. 

But, you know, I mostly just do it to keep in contact with friends who have moved away and whatever. I really miss Jongin and Chanyeol.

Why can they only travel to those times? And… how?

I don’t know how, Mr. Huang didn’t want to tell me. Which I guess is fair. He doesn’t want more people to do what he did. Let alone someone like me, the only key to stopping this travel.

A few moments of silence passed, Luhan’s thoughts like moths to their flames. Luhan was running out of metaphors for his thoughts taking over him, and so is the author. You get the idea. 

But, they said it was because that was where points of convergence were on the frequencies or whatever. I’m not a scientist or a physicist so it kinda just went over my head. But apparently you can only travel to points of strong convergence, or else you’ll risk falling into nothingness. If you travel to points that don’t converge, you may get transported to points in neither universe, which Mr. Huang theorizes are nothingness. Or they are unknown, perhaps even beyond human comprehension.

… Like, a wormhole, right?

I think so. That is a way that was theorized for time travel, right? They made a movie about that back in the 2014, I think?  Interstellar ?

I wouldn’t know.

… Right. Anyway. It was theorized in that movie at least that when you go through a wormhole, an hour equals like, 7 years or something. Not that we’d have access to a wormhole. But, we don’t actually know what is beyond a wormhole, at least not in the time loop that he and Jongin are in. So he doesn’t want to risk it.

If only we were astronauts.

If only we weren’t just regular people.

But Zitao isn’t one like that. He’s just… A regular guy too.

Jongin and Chanyeol are quantum physicists, Jongin in particular studies astrophysics. 

… Oh.

At least, thats what Mr. Huang told me. The Jongin I know is just a regular guy. He likes space and sci-fi, Chanyeol likes Marvel and movies. Chanyeol works in the film industry and Jongin is a choreographer. That’s why I didn’t even think to wonder if Jongin could even know anything about this…

Hm. Maybe they studied it when they went to the past. Or something.

I guess.

That doesn’t do anything for us.

Yep.

Maybe Luhan would have to get in contact with the CEO of TIME Bottle. Maybe Jongin could give him more answers.

But… would he say the same thing as Mr. Huang? Would he tell Luhan the same thing? To give up, to break the bottles, and to resign himself to never even speaking to Jongdae again? Would Jongdae agree to be with Baekhyun? Would Luhan have to move on with his life, or would he be consumed by this for the rest of his life?

Was that okay?

Would he be okay with that?

Would he be willing to allow the little boy who couldn’t eat his ice cream fast enough, who couldn’t go a few days without seeing his mom, who liked to run around the apartment hallways live a life constantly trying to help his husband try to find someone that would be impossible to find?

Would he be willing to allow Zitao, his Zitao to never even try to meet that boy he always wanted to meet, who sent him a letter in a bottle?

… I’m not going to break it.

I’m not either. But we should.

Yeah. We should.

So… Will you?

How about this— on my next birthday, we have another talk, just like this. And then, we have a party. In our own apartments. And we decide whether or not we break the bottles. 

Huh. Why does it have to be a party?

Makes it sound more fun right. A broken kind of party.

With broken glass everywhere? And if you step on it?

… Well, I guess I’ll be in the hospital again.

No, idiot. You say ‘I won’t step on it because I’m not an idiot’.

I’m a bit of an idiot.

More than that.

Luhan grinned.

Now, tell me about yourself, until these A-pods die.

Luhan didn’t know how long they spoke, it had already felt like forever until they started talking about anything. Even when they had started to get tired, they kept talking, or Luhan listened to Jongdae go about his evening, listening to his breath. He learned that Jongdae went to China in his attempt to become a singer, he idolized a singer named Zhang Liyin. Apparently she was already making music, but wouldn’t become recognizable in Korea until 2007. Jongdae apparently had an older brother, who had a child. 

The time passed like it was nothing, and having no clocks in the room, Luhan had no idea what time it was, until the door opened.

“Ah—” Luhan quickly stood. Oh. He forgot.

What?

“Luhan. Why are you still here?” Mr. Shim whispered, though it sounded more like a hiss. Behind him was an older couple, and a little boy. He was around Chanyeol’s age. Was that Jongin…?

“Oh, uh.” Luhan coughed, hoping to signal to Jongdae that someone was there. “Mr. Shim! I lost track of time. I fell asleep, I think.”

“Asleep?”

“Yeah. Rough nights lately. The place is lovely.” Luhan quickly dusted off his pants and moved to leave the apartment. He bowed to the family and Mr. Shim. 

The little boy pointed at Luhan, a mischievous smile on his face. “Mister, you look like a girl.”

“Baekhyun-ah! That is not how you talk to strangers!”

“Sorry.”

Baekhyun?

Baekhyun?

“N-no worries.” Luhan laughed, awkward, trying to beat the sudden nausea. “I get that a lot.”

Mr. Shim glared at Luhan, and so he darted down the hall way.

Wait, Luhan—

“Oh shit. Jongdae? Jongdae?” Luhan pressed the earbud deeper into his ear, but he couldn’t hear anything. The connection was gone.

—

The parcel arrived the next day, and Luhan put the white bean A-pod into the bottle, and along with a short letter (Luhan didn’t really know what else to say to Jongdae after their long talk), that merely said: Everything will be okay. I’ll see you in April. 

He sent a few flowers, they would dry out by the time April came around, but he hoped Jongdae could still enjoy them.

He didn’t actually know if he would get to talk to Jongdae again, especially not through the phone, but he hoped that somehow, it could work. Jongdae wouldn’t be able to send his letter back until September, but maybe there would be a way Luhan could get that bean back.

—

Luhan didn’t want to, nor did he intend to, but he managed to meet Kim Jongin.

He was an older fellow, likely in his 50s, like how Luhan would be in Jongdae’s time. When they met, he seemed to know who Luhan was.

“Kim Jongin?”

“That’s me.” 

He was at Luhan’s company, at the front desk, likely asking to be let up, sometime in January 2005. Before Luhan walked over to them, he heard his name being exchanged by Jongin and the lady working.

“Let’s walk.”

Luhan swallowed, mouth going dry, and nodded. He fell in line with Jongin as they walked. Luhan was done for the day, but Jongin seemed to know the way home. Of course he did.

“You know what’s going on, don’t you?” Jongin walked in a way that felt more like a stroll than a walk, as if he had all the time in the world. Maybe he did. 

Luhan didn’t say anything.

Jongin hummed. “I told him that this plan wouldn’t work.” 

“Who?”

“Chanyeol,” Jongin smiled. “My husband.” 

“He is the one who did this?” 

The afternoon air was biting cold, the sun having already set. It wasn’t snowing, at least, but the air was cold enough for Luhan to want to walk even faster home. He pulled his scarf closer to his mouth, shivering. Jongin seemed unaffected.

“I told him about a boy named Huang Zitao in the first few years of us dating. I had never told anyone before about the bottle I received at my grandparent’s house, how I’d send bottles everyday and get more in turn. Zitao said he never told anyone except for that first time he received the bottle. But we kept that up for years. Every summer, I’d go to my grandparents’ house, and I’d send bottles out to sea. It wasn’t until I was a teenager when I realised that Huang Zitao was from a different time.

“I didn’t believe him, of course. But I had become fond of him. He seemed interested in me too, though I didn’t know how. When I went there for the summer before I graduated high school, the bottles just… Stopped. I sent them out everyday, but then, I never received anything.

“I thought about him for so long after that, but, I ended up moving on with my life. I met Chanyeol. We started dating, became something like a married couple. And when we were visiting my grandparent’s house, they told me they received a parcel from a company called TRAVEL Bottle. A letter from a man named Huang Zitao was inside. He told me that there was a way we could meet, if I go to the past.”

“How did he tell you that you could go to the past?”

“In London, there’s a spot where if you stand there, and think about the person who you know from the past, you will go to the past. It’s a little fantastical, don’t you think? I wish I knew more about it. It’s a place on the beach. If you stand in the water, think about that person, you will go to the past.”

Luhan bit his lip. “But you won’t go to a time where you can see them. As an adult.”

Jongin smiled, bitter. “I arrived in London, May 2nd, 1973. Across the world, somewhere in China, Huang Zitao’s mother was giving birth to him. And there I was, hand in hand with Chanyeol, with nowhere to go.”

They had made it back to the apartment, and Luhan invited him up to his apartment. Jongin seemed lost in nostalgia as he walked down the halls, up the elevator. He turned on the kettle once they stepped into Luhan’s apartment.

“Luhan, I am aware that Huang Zitao has asked Jongdae and you to break the bottles.”

“What do they have to do with all of this? Aside from the fact they can go back and forth between time?”

“They are the connecting point. It’s glass made from the sand of the beach from where we stood. Zitao is going to Barcelona soon. He will be transporting in the past, but to a different universe. To January 14th, 1994.”

Luhan frowned. “Today is…?”

“My birthday. For the Jongin that is in this universe, it’s his 11th birthday. For me, well, I don’t quite remember. I might be in my 70s, now.” 

Luhan poured two cups of green tea, and placed one in front of Jongin. Jongin was older than even Luhan would be in Jongdae’s time.

“Is there a reason you came here on your birthday…?”

Jongin smiled. “Do you want to break the glass?” 

Luhan didn’t speak, just sipped his tea. 

“You don’t?”

“No…”

“I don’t blame you,” Jongin sighed, taking a sip of his own tea, a refreshed exhale leaving his mouth once he put the cup back down. “I am doing everything in my power to see Huang Zitao. I don’t know what I would do without Chanyeol, if I could never see him again, or if I would never get to meet him.”

Luhan bit his lip. “So you understand.”

“I do. I’m sure Zitao does too.”

“And you don’t meet him now because… You’re afraid of the age gap being too large. Of him not being that Zitao you know.” 

Jongin nodded, wrinkled hands letting go of the cup. “The same as why you do not go upstairs and ask about a young boy named Kim Jongdae.”

“How? How can we meet each other? Do you really not know?”

A small, sad smile appeared on Jongin’s face. “It may have been possible for me and Zitao. But, I was too greedy. I never took into account that Chanyeol… Well, he wasn’t where he was supposed to be.”

“Supposed to…? Be?”

“There are different points in this world where you can go to to contact the other universe at any time. Only a few people can go there and have that point. There is only 10 people in these two universes who can do that. Me, Chanyeol, Zitao, and Jongdae have them.”

“But…?”

“You are not one. You have no place.” 

Luhan gripped his cup a little tighter. “So, if Chanyeol had gone to his spot, then, perhaps the three of you would be able to meet at any point you’d want?”

“Yes. A few have done it before. Your friends, they have done it. So have mine.”

“What— What are you?”

Jongin took another sip of his tea. “There were people who were born with the knowledge of the world, those connected to the sea. There was only ten. Knowledge of the universe convergence. They all lived in a time where they could be together, with no contingencies. But when the universes split, they had to part. But everyone else in this world had no knowledge, but these people, they would always find the convergences.

“The convergences would align with their days of birth.”

“So… I should be one.”

“Perhaps,” Jongin sighed. “But you aren’t. I know all the points of convergences, and the locations, but I don’t know yours.” 

“So that’s why you want me to break the bottles. Me and Jongdae. Right?” 

“Jongdae… He is a bit different, a bit too knowledgable at times. But I knew of his relationship with Baekhyun, how hurt he was by it. It is natural for the convergence points to connect with each other, but Baekhyun had chosen a different path. And I wanted Jongdae to perhaps connect with someone here, I thought maybe Yixing. But instead, it found you.”

“This is all… Too confusing.”

“It is. It’s a little funny how it found you in the end. I don’t think it means much, other than you being the one who will break the bottles, or continue the cycle.” 

Luhan tried to take a sip of his tea, but it was gone. All was left was small bits of leaves, bitter against his tongue, hard to swallow. 

“I want to meet him.”

“Hmm.”

“I want to try. I want to see what it would be like to live with him forever. To try.”

Jongin nodded. “You could’ve. Maybe…”

“Maybe?”

Jongin pursed his lips, the silence stretching for what felt like forever. He finally spoke. “Luhan, break the bottles. All that Zitao and I know is that the bottles will break the cycle, stop the convergence. We assume it will lead to a divergence, but, we don’t know.”

“So—If you don’t know, then—”

“Zitao only believes it will lead to a divergent path. A disconnect between the two universes. But, call me an optimist, I wonder…” Jongin murmured, his voice dropping almost to a low, inaudible whisper. But Luhan still caught it. “Would you be happy with meeting Jongdae, if only for a few seconds?”

“A few… seconds?”

“The length of an eclipse.” 

“An eclipse…?” 

“April 28th will be a total solar eclipse. A week after your birthday. Eclipses are funny things with convergence. Zitao and I aren’t astrophysicists, he might say he is, but he doesn’t know the truth… But what else do you have to lose?”

Luhan nodded.

He had nothing to lose.

“Is it bad to say… I’d trade my soul? Just to have a few moments, a few seconds. Just to meet him once.”

— 

The day after Jongin left, Luhan received a pink bottle in the mail.

He sent Jongdae a letter about what had happened, and asked for the white bean earbud, hoping that if Jongdae received a pink bottle, he would send it only on April 28th. 

Luhan hadn’t heard from Jongdae, Jongin, or even the little boy Chanyeol since then.

Huang Zitao didn’t disappear. Luhan told him to wait until after April 28th. He didn’t understand how Luhan knew, but Luhan made him promise.

—

Luhan woke up on the day of April 28th with a pink bottle on his dresser next to his other bottles. He had been re-reading the letters and things Jongdae had sent him. It was 2025 for Jongdae now. Luhan wished he could’ve heard more from Jongdae in these years. Luhan could live his life, pretending like he wasn’t thinking of Jongdae, spend time with his friends, go to work, and live his life. Sometimes, it felt like Jongdae only existed in his head, like a hazy dream, and when he woke up, Jongdae would no longer be there. Like a forgotten dream. 

The sun shone through Luhan’s window. Luhan rubbed his eyes, and brushed his teeth before he read the letter. He ate breakfast. He went for a quick walk. When he got home, took a shower, and read the letter, it was 8am.

Inside the bottle was a small letter, and the white earbud. It felt so small in Luhan’s hand. 

Jongdae said that he would be sitting out in the courtyard, so that Luhan wouldn’t have to invade the Byun’s apartment. Neither of them knew why Byun Baekhyun was living there instead of Kim Jongin, but it felt futile to wonder. Just another one of those dimensional things. Casual. Like it was bad weather, and not reality-bending facts and logic.

Jongdae said to call at 9am. 

He picked up the call at 8:59.

Hey .

Hey.

You sound so exhausted. 

Was it that obvious?

I just knew.

This is the third time you’ve heard my voice, and you already know?

Call it a hunch.

The eclipse is set to come around noon.

We have until then to chat, right? My airpods won’t connect to my laptop from so far away, so once we go inside to the apartments and break the bottles, we won’t be able to hear each other.

So, before then, we have to say goodbye. Right?

Yeah.

The two talked for those three hours, catching up. Jongdae told Luhan how he rejected Baekhyun’s offer, and the two went back to just being friends. Even if Jongdae and Luhan never see or hear from each other again after today, Jongdae wanted to move on to something else. Luhan told Jongdae about random shenanigans, how Minseok and Sehun were going to adopt, how weird it was to meet Jongin. How his co-worker the other day laughed at one of Luhan’s joke so much that coffee shot out of his nose. Luckily it was lukewarm.

Will you find someone? What do you want in a partner?

Luhan hummed, leaning back on the park bench.

I like people who I can talk with. We don’t have to do anything big, or pretend to be something in front of others, but when it’s just us, and when we’re together, it’s like… Magnets. Like we can’t do anything but want to bask into each other’s presence. I like when someone puts me in my place, don’t let me get away with stuff, teases me. Someone cute.

…

You shouldn’t describe me.

I can’t help it.

We aren’t together. We don’t know each other. You’re not mine.

Just say the word, and I’m yours. I feel like I have been for a long time.

You’re silly. Giving yourself to someone you don’t even know.

I mean, you could write a book about this. A silly guy and a cute guy.

I’d rather keep the stupid shit you say private. Nobody wants to read that.

Sometimes, Jongdae spoke in a way that was rude, a little bit too much for his usual kind, understanding demeanour. Luhan wondered if it was because his cheeks turned red, and he was trying to change the topic. Luhan liked it. It didn’t even faze him now.

And?

And?

What about you?

Ugh. I like silly guys.

I knew it.

The clock ticked, though Luhan never wanted it to, and suddenly, it was 11:30.

It was Jongdae who pushed them to finish the call, early, so they could prepare. Luhan knew he needed it, but he didn’t know what he would do when he may never hear Jongdae’s voice again.

I’ll see you soon, okay?

… Okay.

I’m leaving.

I know.

Goodbye.

Jongdae.

Luhan.

I’ll miss you.

I know. I’ll miss you too.

Luhan took the earbud out, and when he put it back in, Jongdae didn’t respond to his call.

He dragged his feet up the stairs, people were taking the elevator down to go see the eclipse. He made it in time, 11:50, and he looked at the bottles. 

11:57.

He held the first one that appeared when he came home from the hospital in his hand. It felt so light compared to their last ones, only some confetti and some paper, but the weight, Luhan had almost memorized it. The weight of 4 years. 

11:58.

He raised it up in the air, swung it, but never let it go. Practicing his swing.

11:59.

He raised it one last time.

12:00.

The room had suddenly gone dark, the sunlight leaving, and Luhan threw the bottle to the ground, glass shattering everywhere. He grabbed another bottle, and threw it down. The glass should’ve cut his skin, should’ve got into his eyes, but he grabbed another, and threw it. It disappeared before it could fly, and once he grabbed the next bottle, the broken glass disappeared before Luhan could even tell. There was no sound.

Once the last bottle was in his hand, the one containing the white A-pod , and he broke it, he looked at the non-existent wreckage, breathing heavily. It was cathartic, almost. The anger, the frustration, at how cruel this world was to him, was put into those bottles, and that catharsis just didn’t exist now.

A few seconds passed. A minute.

No Jongdae. The eclipse would end sooner than he would think. Did Jongdae not break his bottles.

Luhan fell to his knees. Jongdae was gone.

The eclipse was going to be over, and then Jongdae would be gone —

“Luhan!”

Luhan raised his head, seeing Jongdae across the room, in front of the door. It was the same man in the picture, the same voice he heard through the white A-pod . But instead, this time, he was a living, moving person. He had mass. He had shape. He moved. He smiled. He ran to Luhan, and gathered what was left of Luhan’s breaking spirit into his arms.

“Is it… Really… You?” Luhan grasped at Jongdae’s cream-coloured cardigan, hand on the apex of Jongdae’s back. Jongdae was warm, Luhan could feel Jongdae’s breathing.

“It’s me… It’s you…” Luhan could feel Jongdae’s body shudder and shake, and before he knew it, Jongdae was crying. Luhan felt the tears prick at his eyes, and he was crying too.

“Jongdae, I… I missed you…” Luhan brought both of his arms around Jongdae’s frame, and he held him close, nose nuzzling into Jongdae’s neck. Inhaling his scent.

“We didn’t talk for like, 30 minutes… Moron…”

“No,” Luhan pulled away, just to see Jongdae’s face, the tears in his eyes, his face already begin to redden. “I missed you my whole life.”

It was Jongdae who leaned forward first, lips pressed against Luhan’s. Luhan didn’t close his eyes at first, wanting to soak in this moment, for at any moment it could be over, but he couldn’t help it, he closed his eyes and held Jongdae tighter, kissed him deeper. 

And before he knew it, he heard Jongdae’s whisper. 

“Luhan…”

“Jongdae…”

“Luhan—”

“J-... Jongdae…?”

Silence. 

The light was basked in sunlight. The darkness from the moon had been replaced with full light, burning through the window as a noon light burned away the last of Jongdae’s presence. 

Luhan grasped himself tighter. Jongdae was gone.

“Jongdae…”

“ Luhan… ”

“ Luhan.”

“Luhan!”

“LUHAN!”

Luhan looked up from the dingy carpet in front of his apartment. It looked so similar to the hospital, he was almost lost in the memory of sleeping there. “Eh?”

“Hello? I was talking to you!” Sehun’s hand was still in front of Luhan’s face, from when it waved in front of him to get his attention. “God, did you not hear a single thing I said? Did you learn how to dream while awake at the hospital?”

Luhan frowned. Where did his mind go? He shook his head, like he was getting water out of his ears. What the hell was that? Oh well. 

It is only when hobbling down the hallway does Luhan realize how much it feels like he’s in a hospital. Minus the dingy carpet (that is pretty much the same colour as the hospital linoleum anyway), it had felt the same all over again. 

The same… Again…

Then again, Luhan hadn’t spent so much time in a hospital. He would be there in and out, football injuries in his youth, visits to ailing loved ones, midnight emergency visits. But it was usually never for very long or him who was there for days— until this week. The scene was: a wicked beach part, rowdy volleyball match, errant ball from the result of a drunken volley, Luhan acting like a golden retriever… broken glass in the foot. The piece of glass was large, and Luhan faced enough blood loss to make him pass out and spend three days in the hospital. It didn’t help that his disease— “Did I mention I have hemophilia?” “No, Luhan, what the fuck .”— kept him there longer than maybe any regular person would experience with the same injury. And so, he spent a great few days doing absolutely nothing except finishing off the last few dungeons in his Dragon Quest save, leading to today, where Luhan was released under the caveat of not putting any weight on his foot for two weeks.

Today… Yeah. Today. What was today again?

“And that was a strict order,” Sehun chastised, yanking Luhan’s keys out of his grip and shoving them into the door knob. Luhan awkwardly made his way into his apartment— a quadpod now with his crutches— and dramatically fell onto his bed. 

Sehun stared at Luhan from the door. 

“Yes?” Luhan peeked out from where he lay.

Sehun rolled his eyes. “God forbid a guy wants a thank you from his best friend.” Sehun sighed, then looked around the apartment. Not that there was much to look at, it was only a studio. “Well, anyway, looks like Jongdae-hyung isn’t home yet.”

Jong…dae…?

Luhan frowned. Sehun didn’t seem to catch on.

“I thought he would be, I dunno, planning a surprise party for you or something. But I guess he’s not really the type.” Sehun shrugged, and then placed Luhan’s backpack on the floor. When did Luhan have that? “Chanyeol-hyung and Jongin will be by later, okay? They’re getting you and Jongdae-hyung some takeout.”

“Wait, what?”

Sehun didn’t even look back from where he was with the laptop, throwing the stuff inside around the apartment. “You wanna eat Jongdae’s food? Is that what love is like? Minseok refuses to eat food I touched.”

“Wait, who is—”

Just then, a man ran into Luhan’s apartment, the door still open. 

Jongdae . Luhan remembered. Like a forgotten dream suddenly flooding back. The details. The taste of his own tears, so full, so plentiful, in his mouth, and the feeling of losing Jongdae from his arms.

“Luhan!” Jongdae exclaimed, and tackled Luhan back onto the bed. The same feeling. The same warmth, of a sun hiding behind a moon.

Sehun jeered. “Gross. I’m leaving then. Bye!” He left out the door, but then opened it again. “Hey, don’t forget to text me, okay? God, it’s 2025 and he acts like some old man in the war.” Sehun grumbled before closing the door again and leaving Jongdae and Luhan alone.

“What… happened?” Jongdae asked, pulling away. Luhan wanted to pull him close again. “Why are we— How are we—”

“I don’t know.” Luhan placed a hand against Jongdae’s cheek, and then both hands cupped his face. “I don’t care. You’re here. I know you. I remember you. You’re here.” 

Jongdae smiled. “ You are here. In 2025. And so is Sehun, it seems.”

Luhan grinned. “Somehow.” 

“Somehow.” Jongdae repeated, before kissing Luhan, tender, unlike that last one. Tender, soft, exploring, like they had all the time in the world. Maybe because, they did.

“How do you feel?” Jongdae asked, tapping Luhan’s thigh, the one that had a cast on again. 

“I feel better, so much better now. With you here.”