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Dongju looks around, standing on his tiptoes. There are too many people around, and he curses himself for getting separated from his brother.
He takes his phone from his pocket. It’s 23:48. There’s no way he would be able to call and talk to Dongmyeong or any of the others while the loud crowd is dragging him towards one destination.
He quickly sends a message asking to meet up after the commotion is over. It's futile to try finding them now.
His eyes are attracted to a fence somewhere higher than the sea, and he wonders if that is a good place to watch the sky. He manages to detach himself from the wave of young people heading to the cold sand and runs up the creaky wooden stairs.
At the end of the steps, there’s a badly conserved path, but Dongju can see an open space at the end of it. Stepping over the overgrown grass and moving aside some branches, he feels the salty ocean wind blowing at the platform.
The stone floor is full of patches of grass growing on it, and a big tree has destroyed a good part of it with its roots. Near an old bench there’s a stone pillar that had something written on it, but Dongju can’t make the words from under all the moss.
The beach is full of people, and he sees some dashing to get a good spot on the sand while the food stalls are still bustling with customers. It doesn't take too long to find the four band members' flashy hair colors. He records in his memory the name of the fried noodles stall near them and turns around.
Dongju screams in surprise when he notices there's someone else there, standing right behind him.
The stranger laughs, and his eyes turn into two crescents, almost disappearing behind his black hair. He's a little taller than Dongju, and has both hands full of the Lunar New Year festival's food.
"I didn't think someone else knew about my secret spot."
The guy's name is Seoho, and he invites Dongju to sit down and eat with him. Noticing the judging look Dongju shots at the old bench, he smiles and assures him that it won’t break if they are careful.
The invitation is accepted. As soon as Dongju bits down a tteokbokki, Seoho jumps and points up.
"Look! It's starting!"
In the dark sky, stars start falling down, leaving bright lines behind. Dongju hears the awed exclamations from the crowd when stars shower them. The newly turned adults and their friends are all excited with this important event in their lives.
Seoho has his mouth full of noodles when his star falls on him. He chokes in surprise, and Dongju has to pat his back to calm him down.
"I can’t believe you just continued to eat while waiting for your star." Dongju bluntly says.
Seoho laughs and chokes again, this time on his own saliva.
After drinking some water and managing to breathe normally again, he raises his left hand and looks at the newly formed blue ring tatooed around his little finger.
“Well, it seems I’ll have to wait a little longer to meet my soulmate.” Seoho says, and turns his eyes to Dongju. “How about you? How many years until your turn?”
Dongju leans closer and inspects the soulmark that glows in different hues of blue. It looks like the ocean water, the streaks moving in a constant and calming rhythm.
“Three years.”
They resume attacking the cooling food. Between mouthfuls, they make small talk. Dongju traveled there because Dongmyeong’s band played in the festival earlier. Seoho always came to that place because he lives nearby, and he considers the beach as an extention of his garden.
Just as they fight over who should let the other eat the last chicken piece, a phone rings. It’s Dongmyeong. Dongju had gotten so distracted by their easy-flowing conversation that he forgot about everything else. He picks up and gets to the edge, peeking over the fence. Most people are already heading home, and so it is easy to find the place from where his twin waves to him.
“If you ever come to this town again, feel free to come to my secret place. It’s yours now too. Finders keepers, ” Seoho shouts at Dongju when he is already halfway down the stairs.
As soon as Dongmyeong spots his brother, he runs towards him.
“Where were you? You can’t believe what happened!”
Before they got separated, the band had been talking about the guy who sang before then, a tall guy with a great voice. Harin bumped into him when the crowd sucked the people around in their wave. Somehow they succesfully manage to recruit the singer. Hyungu says it felt like fate. Dongju can't stop himself from smiling.
---
Seoho leans on the fence. It makes a suspicious noise. He almost can’t see the sand with so many people participating again in the Lunar New Year Festival.
This time, it seems like he's not going to have anyone to keep him company. Year after year, he has never felt lonely. But tonight, his mind keeps wandering to the boy he met last year. It was nice to have someone to share the excessive amount of food he always ends up buying.
Just as he debates with himself about going down to buy that fried potato he couldn’t carry earlier, he hears someone approaching. He quickly shoves his trash on a plastic bag and hides up his favourite tree. Should he give them a scare for invading his place?
A pair of young men appears from beyond the path partially covered by the branches. Seoho plans to jump in front of them when they arrive at the bench, but before he can put his prank in motion, the one with brown hair suddenly stops and kisses the blond one. Seoho almost gags in surprise.
A couple! There's no way I can get down now, that would be so awkward.
Seoho decides to pretend he's not there. The net he had installed in the tree a couple of years ago was still quite comfortable.
Clear my mind, take a nap. Hope they don't forget any piece of clothing around.
Stomach full, the tree's leaves and branches shielding him from the cold wind, Seoho falls asleep in less than five minutes.
Unlike Seoho’s imaginary scenario, both Youngjo and Geonhak stayed very clothed that night. Well, while they were there, at least.
Geonhak doesn’t trust the old bench and prefers to sit down on the stone floor. Youngjo pats his thighs so he moves and makes space for him to sit between them.
They take off the matching rings that hide their little fingers from prying eyes.
Youngjo's left hand tighly holds Geonhak's. His soulmark seems to reflect his emotions, looking like a stormy ocean, dark blue waves running on the band around his finger.
Geonhak still doesn't have a soulmark that could tell aways his emotions, but Youngjo can feel the younger's heart beating fast against his back.
Neither of them can think of something to say. They stay in silence, just enjoying each other's warmth. The clouds are almost gone and they know tonight's event is going to start soon.
The stars shine brightly in the moonless sky. Youngjo turns around, facing his lover. Theirs hands find each other again.
"No matter what happens, don't forget that I love you." Youngjo softly kisses Geonhak's forehead. "Even if the type of love changes, I'll always love you, Geonhakie."
Youngjo is pulled in a hard kiss. It is a kiss filled with fear of this being the last time their lips will meet, before Fate betrays their prayers and assigns them to people that aren't each other.
The stars fall, people get even noisier, but for the two of them, the whole world seems to consist of Youngjo and Geonhak, Geonhak and Youngjo only.
A bright light envelops them. Their eyes flutter open at the same time and lungs finally receive fresh air. They look deeply into each other, to commit this moment forever, and without a word, both look down at their joined hands.
Tears flow freely from Youngjo eyes. Their hands separate, and he can clearly see Geonhak's soulmark connected by an intangible thread to the now burning red soulmark on Youngjo’s hand.
Geonhak doesn’t give his boyfriend enough time to fully get up before he picks him up and spins, laughing brightly.
“It’s you. Of course it’s you.”
Youngjo lunches forward, seeking another kiss, and the brusque movement makes Geonhak lose his balance, and they fall on the old bench. Under their weight, it collapses, but Geonhak only laughs even louder. Youngjo is forced to shut him up with his own lips.
***
Seoho wakes up feeling cold. The couple seems to have left.
His fingers play with the ropes under him and he wonders whether it could support the weight of one more person.
---
“Oh, Youngjo-hyung was right, it does have a nice view.”
Hwanwoong happily skips towards the fence and Dongju puts down his baggage.
Well, it seems like the secret place wasn’t all that secret.
The bench where Dongju sat together with Seoho is now just a pile of wood, with some kind of mushroom growing on it. Good thing they brought a picnic mat.
While his hyung appreciates how nice the scenery is, Dongju starts setting up their things. He’s wondering if Seoho will show up when he feels something hit his back. He looks around and finds some kind of non-edible fruit on the ground.
He bends down to pick it up. Another one hits his butt. A giggle gets into his nerves.
Dongju quickly runs up to the biggest tree and looks up. He's blond now, but the eye smile is still the same. Seoho is sitting on a branch, with two more projectiles over his lap.
"Hey. I told you could come here, but I didn't say anything about bringing guests."
Dongju snorts.
"It wasn't me. My friend's friend was the one who told him about this place. It seems like he came last year."
Seoho hops down and throws the fruits away.
"Ah, the couple who broke the bench."
Dongju decides not to ask how they managed to do that. Instead, his attention turns to the bright blue soulmark in the hand that is brushing Seoho’s hair out of his eyes.
“A friend?”
Hwanwoong seems to have finally noticed the other’s presence and came to introduce himself. Dongju doesn’t like the glint in his eyes when Seoho explains how they met. Thankfully, before Hwanwoong can open his mouth and say something that might force Dongju to murder him, Keonhee arrives, both arms full of plastic bags filled with hot food.
After another introduction, Seoho is invited to join their nocturnal picnic. Dongju did owe him food, after all. Midnight is still far away, and they had planned to fill the waiting time with good food and games.
At first, Keonhee and Dongju were teamed up against Seoho and Hwanwoong, but it soon became clear that Lady Luck hated Seoho as much as she loved Dongju. Changing the pairs around was better for the game, but not for Dongju’s heart, that wanted to jump out of his chest every time Seoho came closer to whisper a smart strategy in his ear.
Keonhee and Hwanwoong barely manage to win, by one point. While the losers clean up all the empty food containers, the winners get lost in a heated discussion about which guy is going to be chosen by the heroine in that drama they’re watching. Instead of going back to where the bickering is happening, Seoho pulls on Dongju’s sleeve and silently asks him to follow.
Seoho easily climbs the tree he was in earlier, and extends a hand to pull Dongju up. A bit higher, there’s a net the younger hadn’t noticed before. They slowly go up, Seoho always carefully keeping an eye on his partner.
Lying down on the net, Dongju notices there’s a quite big gap between the branches that let them gaze at not only the sky, but the ocean too.
“Nice, right?”
Dongju sends him an inquisitive look, but Seoho just smiles and peeks down at Hwanwoong and Keonhee, who finally noticed the pair's absence.
“Dongju-ssi is up here with me! Sorry, don’t think either of you can fit in here.”
Dongju laughs at their friend’s expressions of surprise.
“Well, it would be kind of awkward to be down there with those two, anyways…” Dongju murmurs.
Before Seoho can ask what he meant by that, the crowd on the beach (and Keonhee) shout in awe at the first star cutting through the sky.
A stronger gust of wind blows, and Dongju shivers a little before feeling the warmth from Seoho subtly moving a little closer to him. His cheeks feel specially hotter.
“Woah!”
Keonhee shouts in surprise when the star hits him, leaving a tingling sensation through his entire body and blue waves storm in his little finger, before calming down when he hears Hwanwoong laughing at his overreaction.
It is Keonhee’s turn to laugh at Hwanwoong when his friend is the one to let a yelp when his star comes down, catching him by surprise. But soon Keonhee's laugh is replaced by a gasp, because Hwanwoong’s mark is a deep red. Slowly, the taller's eyes travel from Hwanwoong’s hand that is clutched against his chest, along the quite short thread that ends up in his own left hand.
The pair stays frozen for so long that Dongju wonders if someone pressed the pause button of this rom-com his friends are living.
Keonhee doesn’t know how to react. He isn’t disappointed with the soulmate he ended up with. It’s not like he had someone he liked and Hwanwoong was a good friend of his. But he has no idea what his soulmate thinks about this situation.
He’s thinking whether he should get closer or not when Hwanwoong starts laughing so hard he’s tearing up.
Hwanwoong laughs, and he can’t stop. A great mystery of his life has been solved right in front of his eyes. Keonhee is a scaredy-cat, always ships Hwanwoong’s NOTPs, sometimes is too noisy and kicked Hwanwoong last time they had a sleepover. Despite all that, Dongju somehow had been compelled to introduce the two of them that seemed to have nothing in common besides their ages.
Since that day they first met, a few months ago, he slowly started to notice they actually complimented each other in some weird way.
Hwanwoong sends a glance at the tree from where two voices are giggling before opening his arms to welcome his life partner. He fits so well in Keonhee’s arms that he can’t help but feel they really were made for each other.
On top of the tree, Seoho whines about his bitten hand. It’s not his fault that Dongju’s laugh is too funny to not be imitated.
---
Seoho is walking on the beach, a little farther than where the festival’s lights reach. He brushes his dark red hair back, but it immediately falls back into place.
A few dozen meters away, up the old wooden steps, there are warnings to stay away from the platform.
The old age and hungry insects transformed Seoho's favourite tree into a threat that could tumble down at any moment. He thinks back at how he and Dongju were together at his net, looking at the stars and laughing at his friends. Seoho wonders if Dongju came this year, only to find out their shared spot was gone.
After so many years, Seoho doesn’t know where else to go, so he just walks, and walks. Maybe if he gets far enough in the darkness, the stars will look brighter tonight.
He feels the sand invading his shoes, getting inside and outside his white socks. His feet are getting breaded like tonkatsu. He walks a bit more, until he gets fed up and lets his bare feet touch the cold sand.
Like a dog whose owner lets go of the leash, he has no destination in mind, but the mere thought of freedom makes him feel so much lighter and energetic. So he runs. The darkening night, greasy smell of food getting weaker, coarse sand between his toes, salty wind, the sound of waves going back and forth. He runs until his knees complain about the sudden marathon in the cold and throws himself in the sand.
It’s the new moon, and the sparse stars he can see are starting to flicker, preparing to rain down. He closes his eyes. The cold wind blows stronger, and Seoho feels it seeping into him.
He starts wondering if he’s going to catch a cold when he feels a blanket being thrown over him. Startled, he opens up his eyes. There’s a weight on his chest.
Seoho tries to get up, but Dongju's head pushes him down again.
"How-"
“Shhh, let’s just appreciate the star shower.”
So Seoho shuts up and the only thing he can hear is the fast thumping of his heart. Dongju certainly is hearing it too.
Above their heads, the sky is full of lines of light.
The stars fall and fall.
The sky is almost empty when a strong light blinds Seoho. When the colorful spots in his vision finally clear up, Dongju is all that he sees.
Seoho doesn’t have time to react before he is kissed. The hand that sneaks around Dongju’s waist is connected to the one in Seoho’s cheek by a red thread.
***
"How did you find me?"
Dongju doesn't move. He's strangely half draped over Seoho, and over the two of them is the sand-covered blue blanket.
“I followed the thread. I've known you were the one since the first night I saw you, hyung.”
Dongju had given up trying to clean himself. After rolling around like two fools, he’s sure there’s sand inside his underwear too. Under him, Seoho lifts up his head questioningly.
“But I didn’t want to scare you away. Normal people don’t see everyones’ red threads, and surely not before both get their soulmark.”
Seoho thinks about protesting. Had he known, he could have kissed those soft lips so much earlier. But he’s also not completely sure he’d have believed Dongju back then. He decides to not dwell on the past, and thinks about the future. Their future.
“Well, I’ve been wanting to kiss you since last year, so I think you owe me a year’s worth of kisses.”
As soon as those words leave Seoho’s lips, Dongju starts paying off his debt.