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Time waits for no man; this has always been a quote that Adachi Yuto lived by daily. For others, it could have been simple – waking up to a new day, going through their routine, going about their daily life and then ending it by going back to sleep and then repeating the same cycle of life. But for Yuto, his dreams were waiting to be turned into reality – Yuto dreamt about a particular man, to be specific. His soulmate perhaps, or as confirmed by his close friend, Wooseok, a strange fellow who happened to be his editor and who happened to have a soulmate that is close to being a saint unlike his very own editor and friend, the said man who calls Yuto day by day in regards of his book while taunting the poor Japanese writer that he would burn his limited edition Naruto collection Yuto had collected ever since he was in his younger days.
Yuto moved to South Korea a few years back with a promising spot as a content writer and alongside with the vague dreams he had about the country, he figured (and as confirmed by his editor, Wooseok) that his soulmate may be living in this country as well. Yuto may be wrong, and after all he wasn’t one to be chasing love over career but it so happened that there was a spot in South Korea that was offered to him and he wasn’t dumb to not accept the offer ever since he had gotten those vague dreams of his soulmate being there. His dreams had recently only surfaced not long before Yuto was offered a spot. And from many other personal stories he had heard from his close friends, dreams were only the first stage when it comes to meeting one’s soulmate. The next would be to finding them. However, as for the clock that were on their wrist that changes its years, months or even dates remains a mystery to many. There had been theories that it’s when you meet your soulmate, others say it’s the time where your soulmate dies while there were many other questionings about it on whether if it was the time where you would actually realize you’re in love with your soulmate and other sorts of bizarre theories that some people choose to ignore about.
3 months, 24 days, 3 hours and 21 seconds.
Yuto had learned that his dreams were slowly becoming more clear and specific, even to the point he had recognized some places he has been to – the Namsan Tower where he had third-wheeled Wooseok and Kino, Wooseok’s soulmate, on a White Day date because Wooseok had ‘feared’ that Yuto would be alone, the Han Bridge Yuto sometimes cycled to at night, and even his very own house where he had dreamt of having another person in his arms. It’s weird, Yuto thought to himself. One moment he was in Japan, having blurry dreams, the next he’s moved over to Seoul as his dreams get clearer as the countdown on his wrist decreases in months. He remembered it being more than 6 months to his countdown while he was still in Japan.
1 months, 3 days, 1 hour and 11 seconds.
His soulmate is Jo Jinho. Yuto knew this after having to dream of the said male as the latter became clear to his dream just a few days ago. Later on, Adachi Yuto knew Jo Jinho was no ordinary man. No, Jinho wasn’t just some average Seoul citizen he thought he couldn’t meet unless miracles had happened and Yuto had managed to see Jinho by coincidence while walking past each other then knocking each other by the shoulder and supposedly a date of apology could happen after that or either by meeting each other in the café when one was not having a spot to settle down at and the other offers the free spot he had. No, this wasn’t just some cliché novel made reality. Jo Jinho is a musical singer, a top star even if Yuto has to put it to a more absurd manner. What are the chances of Yuto meeting a musical star like Jo Jinho?
“You’re in luck. Kino happened to be best friends with Hui, a singer who happened to know a lot of connections who happened to know some stage choreographer who happened to be in charge of the musical and who happened to know Jinho who happened to get some extra tickets for us- or more specifically, you”, Wooseok explained in an uninterested manner with a nodding Kino beside the tall male.
“Oh. That was confusing but thanks…?” Yuto blinked as an overly excited Kino replaced Wooseok by stepping in front of his tall soulmate.
“You’re welcome. Just remember to meet him, okay? I heard he travels a lot because of his musical so that’s why his musicals in Seoul itself is quite rare”, Kino explained, handing a ticket over to Yuto, who took it with gratitude.
“Sure. Thanks again, Kino. And you too, Wooseok. Even though you threaten me often but the two of you had helped me so much”, Yuto sighed though in more of an appreciative way and he had meant his thank you.
“I don’t like it when you’re sappy but we know how much you’ve been seeking for him so knock yourself out that night and enjoy the musical, okay? He is a really good singer and honestly, I am a fan too-” Wooseok playfully nudged Yuto though before the Japanese writer could respond, Kino had pulled Wooseok away instead, bickering about not knowing how the other male had liked the musical star Jinho.
30 minutes, 23 seconds.
Yuto stared down at the countdown on his wrist. He had been busy with his work as well as making proper arrangement to meet his soulmate the past few weeks to realize that his countdown had gone down faster than he had thought. Was it because he was this close to meeting his soulmate? The Japanese writer looked up to see the walking traffic light turn green, taking it as a cue to then start moving to the musical venue where he would then meet his soulmate.
The Japanese writer was definitely nervous. Heck, he has been nervous for the past few weeks or months even. He gripped the bouquet a bit too tightly – they were peonies because he remembered watching an interview of Jinho saying how he had liked it if someone had gifted him peonies. Yuto made it a point to make a gentle reminder towards the interview answer.
It wasn’t soon that Yuto heard screaming from various corners of the venue, fans’ screaming to be exact. A van stopped in front of the venue and Jinho got out. Their eyes met briefly, causing Yuto to stop walking because this was it. He had finally met his soulmate and there couldn’t be anything happier than this.
Crash.
Yuto felt dizzy, light headed even as the screaming from before went from yelling Jinho’s name to yelling for an ambulance. Did someone get hurt? Yuto couldn’t tell but he felt like his shirt was damp. Oh. He saw Jinho’s face up close yet the other male seemed blurry like his dreams before this.
“Jinho…” Yuto breathily exclaimed the musical star’s name, only to hear a choked breath from the latter before warm tears met in contact with his skin. Was Jinho so happy to meet him that the latter cried?
“Yuto…? Please stay strong ohg-” Yuto couldn’t hear the rest. He suddenly felt sleepy and he didn’t know why when he had been all too giddy and happy to meet Jinho.
0 minutes 0 seconds. The countdown on Jinho’s wrist had shown the end of its countdown, marking not only the meeting of his soulmate but also his death.