Chapter Text
Life 1
Unremarkable except for the fact that it's Jonghyun’s first. Simple, average; he’s a human, the earth rumbles and the air shimmers with magic. He never does get very good at bending it to his will, but he can mold tiny spells with the power of his voice in little tunes that he comes up with himself. He plods along doing his best. Sometimes things are hard; nevertheless, he pushes on. He finds joy where he can. There's nothing about it to suggest that he’ll remember it long after it ends.
Life 2
But he does. The memories come to him early, before he can speak. When he learns to articulate himself, he amuses his parents with what they take as stories.
Then he unnerves them with his serious tone. With his quiet, adult contemplation of subjects that they certainly never taught him about. With his in-depth analysis of the political climate of his last life, and how different it is in this mundane, non-magical life. With the decades of wisdom that he brought with him, unsure what to do with in a body not even a decade old. They aren't sure what to do with him either.
Life 3
They certainly know what to do with her the next time. And it's not good. By the time she's sixteen Junghee remembers with perfect clarity the life of a man that lived in her village just before she was born, enough to recognize people close to him, have knowledge of his chosen craft without any training, even down to the particulars of his diary.
She's called a witch, a demon, a curse, touched with evil for knowing lives that are not her own. They remember that she remembered, even before, even in her previous generation, a life that was not hers. What the villagers thought were the peculiarities of the aging bookmaker at the end of the road turn much more sinister at the repetition.
Junghee is captured, she's tied up, she's at the stake, the fire is burning, and then she's rescued.
Taeyeon whisks her away in a whirl of flame and hoofbeats, of laughter that drowns out the crowd of screaming behind them, of wind that whips through her hair and a smile thrown over her shoulder that takes what little breath Junghee has left away.
Life 4
He keeps it a secret.
It's a new world; he speaks to animals and lights move and glow underneath his skin. He doesn't trust that he won't get harmed again and even more, he doesn't trust that he'll be saved by a tornado with fat cheeks and adventure in her veins.
It's a new world, but he recognizes a familiar face. A few familiar faces. From all three of his past lives. He doesn't quite know what to make of it—do they remember too? He's too scared to ask.
But not too scared to approach some of them, some old friends, and restart those friendships from scratch. The nostalgia warms his heart and he figures, even if it is just him that remembers, at least he won't have to be alone.
Life 7
Kibum hates hickeys. So, naturally, Taemin has been trying to give him a hickey all night long since he finished his rehearsal and returned backstage. He's been sitting in Kibum’s lap for the better part of an hour, lounging, slutting it up, nuzzling his neck and getting his thick black eyeliner smudged all over his skin in between soft, slow kisses on his throat. Every so often he changes places, trails his lips somewhere else, so Kibum doesn't get suspicious when he comes back and sucks a little more on the bruise he’s been nursing.
Every so often someone will come up to Kibum and tell him about a problem they had during rehearsal, or something different they want to try during the actual concert, or propose a change to his hair or makeup, and Kibum will swat Taemin away to listen. It's then that Taemin pouts on his shoulder and looks around the rest of the dressing room, and it's now that he notices someone new standing in the corner. Someone that definitely doesn't work here. Someone that definitely shouldn't be here.
Someone that has obviously been staring at Kibum for a while, hovering, a rolled up poster and marker clutched in his hands. Taemin snorts, grinning to himself. Not the most conspicuous. He’s tan, dressed in black jeans and a Kibum t-shirt, a snapback not entirely covering his dyed pink hair, biting thick pouty lips, and Taemin is just thinking that his brown eyes couldn't possibly be bigger when his gaze shifts a few inches over to land on Taemin and they turn positively enormous.
Taemin raises his eyebrows, instantly intrigued. Usually, always , it's Kibum that these people are starstruck by. To have someone looking at him like that is a novel concept. And, he has to admit, an enticing one. His confidence surges through the roof as, the longer he stares back, the darker the guy in the corner blushes. Taemin licks his lips and smiles, tilting his head just so, and he swears he can see the guy’s adam's apple bob up and down.
“Hey. Love at first sight.” Kibum snaps his fingers loud in the guy’s direction. Him and Taemin both jump at the noise. “I know you didn't sneak past security just to oggle my groupie,” Kibum says. “C’mere. What do you want?”
“You wish I was your groupie,” Taemin scoffs. He turns from the guy in the corner shuffling over obediently so he can speak against Kibum’s cheek. "You wish I was obsessed with you. I'm the only person in this building not obsessed with you and it makes you soooooo mad.” He knows that it does, even if Kibum puts his whole hand on his face and pushes him away, muttering, "I don't know why I let you speak.”
“Hi—hi, um. I'm Jonghyun,” the guy says as Taemin tries to get as many of Kibum’s fingers in his mouth as possible before he whips his hand away. As soon as he does Taemin rests his head on his shoulder, the picture of innocence. Jonghyun holds out his poster and marker to Kibum and asks, “can you, um, can you sign this? Please?" He's having a hard time keeping his eyes from drifting over to Taemin.
And Taemin isn't doing anything to make it easier. He's smiling at Jonghyun, looking him up and down, basking in the fact that Kibum is a real life celebrity that Jonghyun likes enough to come to his concert and yet he, Taemin, has stolen his attention just by looks alone. Jonghyun is almost breathless just standing in front of the two of them and when Taemin quirks an eyebrow at him he can hear his breath hitch.
All too soon Kibum is handing Jonghyun his poster back. It hasn't even been a minute and Jonghyun is already backing away, stumbling over his thank you s and nervously joking about sneaking back out. Taemin sure as hell isn't going to let this opportunity pass by so he doesn't let Jonghyun turn and walk two steps away before he calls him back.
“You got a cute little butt,” he says. He leans forward, ignoring Kibum groaning at the redistribution of his weight. He gives Jonghyun his most dazzling smile, his sluttiest eyes. “I'd love to be inside of it.”
Jonghyun looks at him blankly for a moment, stunned, and Taemin relishes—
“Yeah, right,” Jonghyun snorts. He chuckles, shaking his head quickly like he's clearing his thoughts, and when his eyes settle on Taemin this time they're full of laughter. For reasons Taemin cannot comprehend his smooth pick up line put Jonghyun directly into his element because his voice is clear and confident when he says, "I can guarantee you don't fuck well enough to deserve my ass. Him, maybe,” he gestures at Kibum, "but not you.”
And he sounds so sure of himself—not even in a cocky way, but like somehow he knows what he just said is fact. Taemin frowns. Then he frowns harder because Kibum has bubbled into laughter that he's not even trying to muffle.
“How would you know?" he snaps. “You just met me. Maybe I'm the best dick you'll ever have in your life.”
And there it is again, that knowing glint in Jonghyun’s eye. "Call it a hunch,” he grins. “Thanks again,” he tells Kibum, then turns and leaves. Kibum is laughing too loud for him to hear Taemin telling him to come back.
“Get fucked, oh my god,” Kibum cackles.
Life 16
Middle aged mom with three kids in tow; caramel macchiato. College dude half asleep on his way to morning classes; chocolate cream cold brew, hold the vanilla. Sentient eye bags in a rumpled suit and hair sticking every witch way; grande americano with double espresso. Taemin; Caramel condensed milk fra—
Wait. Jonghyun freezes in the middle of the mid morning coffee line. Taemin? Taemin here? Again? It's been months. No, if he thinks about it, it's been over a year. But yeah, that's Taemin, black hair grown out, ripped jeans and band t-shirt, yawning into his hand as he walks in exactly like he used to, like nothing has changed.
Fascinating. Jonghyun gets his order ready and sets it aside to take the order of the person ahead of him in line. When Taemin’s turn comes, he steps up to the counter and asks, “hey, good morning, could I get a caramel—”
“Caramel condensed milk frappuccino with extra whip and the rim lined with caramel?” Jonghyun interrupts, pushing his drink forward.
Taemin goes through a very amusing range of emotions. Surprise, confusion, incredulity, recognition, surprise again, and then he blushes. “Uh,” he says. “You remem—” his voice cracks and he clears his throat, blushing darker. “You remembered?”
“Of course,” Jonghyun says, smug all the way down to his toes. He's very good at his job. Plus, “you're one of my favorite regulars.” And not just because he already knew Taemin from a few previous lives. People that say good morning before just ordering always get a bonus in Jonghyun’s book.
“Oh,” Taemin says. “Well,” Taemin says. “Um,” Taemin says. “I appreciate it.” Cheeks blazing, he fumbles around in his pockets for his wallet.
“Mmhmm,” Jonghyun hums happily. “I've missed you,” he says. “It's been a while.”
“Oh, well, yeah.” Taemin shrugs, looking way more comfortable as he says, "I was in jail.”
“Oh!” Jonghyun exclaims, trying so hard to sound like how he genuinely feels, which is intrigued and supportive and not judgmental at all. That sure is a fucking thing to drop in the middle of a coffee shop at 7:00 in the morning. “Wanna, uh, share why?" he ventures.
Taemin, suddenly fighting and losing to keep down a smile, says, “remember when that shithead senator did all of that union busting shit, and then his house got burned down?”
“That was you? ” Jonghyun blurts. This time he doesn't have to try to not sound judgmental because he's pretty sure anyone could tell from a mile away that he's so awed and impressed. That was all over the news last year. It was so funny when it happened. Jonghyun was so happy. The shithead senator in question was so scared he resigned. Taemin grins wider, clearly encouraged by his reaction.
“I mean, legally, they only had the evidence to charge me with trespassing,” he says. “So no, legally, of course that wasn't me.” His smirk is taking up his entire face as he pushes his credit card across the counter to Jonghyun.
Jonghyun, smirking himself now, takes it with a solemn nod of his head. “Of course, legally,” he agrees. He slips Taemin a vanilla rainbow sprinkle cake pop for free when he gives him his card back.
Life 29
Jonghyun takes one last glance behind him at the distant view he has of his crew. As expected, they're bustling around the Restart, working to secure the ship to the floating docks of the sky city they've stopped at. Good. Turning back around, he pulls open the door to the sheriff's office and steps inside.
It's a tactic he's taken to ever since he became captain; there's no better way to learn where he should go in a new city than to ask the sheriff where he should avoid.
One immediate problem, though—the sheriff isn't in. Jonghyun looks around the small wooden office. There's a desk and chair, several more chairs by the front window, a bookshelf, various certificates and awards on the wall, and three holding cells lining the back wall. Two are empty but one is keeping someone with long legs, dyed silver hair, and a studded eye patch locked up.
Hmm. Well, if the local goody two-shoes isn't around, then Jonghyun guesses the closest local criminal will do. He walks forward until he can lean on the bars and look down at them. When they look up, he has to hide his surprise. He knows that eye, those fat cheeks, that soft mouth. That quick up and down glance of his body, that easy smirk. Taemin.
“Ahoy,” he says, and Jonghyun doesn't hide his eyeroll. He doesn't hide his smile, either. Pushing his hat a little farther up on his head, readjusting the cutlass at his belt, he raises his eyebrows.
“Would you know where I could find something to do around here?" he asks.
Taemin mirrors his raised brows. “Depends,” he says. “Are you a square or are you fun?”
“Fun,” Jonghyun says without hesitation. He's not a pirate, but he’s not exactly attached to the law, either.
“Alright then,” Taemin says. He gets to his feet, brushing dust off of his pants. He grips the bars in front of Jonghyun and gives him an all too familiar wild smile. “I have an idea for you. I'm Ace. Bust me out of here.”
“Yeah?” Jonghyun asks, an incredulous laugh of a word. Bold, even for Taemin.
Well.
Even for Ace.
Ace, who just quirks one eyebrow, biting his lip. “What's more fun than a prison break?" he asks.
Jonghyun snorts. “And then what, though?" he asks. “I smuggle you out of here on my ship and then you dip as soon as we get to the next sky city? If the Armada don't catch us first and haul me and my entire crew in for harboring a criminal?” He's been trying not to judge present interactions based on past experience, but this Ace is already shaping up just like his predecessors.
“I thought you said you weren't a square.”
Well. He’s got Jonghyun there. Jonghyun rests even more of his weight on the bars so they're face to face. Ace doesn't back down. If anything, he leans an inch closer, radiating energy like electricity, exhilarating in Jonghyun’s veins.
“What are you in for?" he asks. He's expecting something petty, like shoplifting, public intoxication, maybe something feisty like brawling.
A wicked smirk hooks Ace’s mouth to the side. “Fucking the sheriff's son,” he says proudly.
Jonghyun and a few of his crewmates break him out at midnight.
Life 42
First time going to college. Scary. First time going to any kind of college in any lifetime. Even scarier. Jonghyun has no previous experiences to compare this to.
Which is fun; it's fun to do new things. He has a feeling that the more new things he can find to do in future lives the more fun they'll be every time. But that doesn't mean that this isn't scary.
First time being lost on a college campus at 2:00 in the morning with only street lamps for company. Scared shitless.
It was just a walk down the street for a midnight snack from the corner store. He could have sworn he was taking the same route back, heading to his dorm, but he's pretty sure that that's the library up ahead in front of him. And if he's heading to his dorm, then that is not where the library should be. Or, more accurately, not where he should be. nevertheless, he’s being a big boy and pushing on.
Something comforting is that there's some kind of a big loud college party going on at the pool and he can hear it from here. It's on the other side of the science wing, one building away, and Jonghyun lets the music and splashes and yelling ground him. If he gets murdered then someone will probably come by here within a few hours and find him. Maybe the proximity to the party means he won't even be considered a murder target at all in the first place.
There are people up on top of the science building; Jonghyun sees them as dark silhouettes against the starlit sky. Definitely drunk, definitely rowdy. One of them has long legs and wavy hair and a wild smile that glints in the darkness and a familiar laugh that sounds like hiccups.
If that wasn't enough for Jonghyun to be sure, everyone else on the roof starts chanting, “Taemin! Taemin! Taemin! Taemin!”
Taemin shotguns a beer, shakes his hair out of his face, does backflip off of the roof, and then there’s a huge splash and an eruption of cheering.
Jonghyun keeps walking. Yeah. Sounds about right.
Life 53
Maybe it's the hot sun floating in the sky that's making his head feel swimmy. Maybe it's the fruity wine or maybe it's the special cookie he ate an hour ago. Maybe it's the music, heavy drums and slow guitar reverberating through the speakers in the distance. Maybe it's the crowds of people around him, bumping him, moving with him, swaying in sync with him. Maybe it's all of it together. But as Jonghyun wanders through this festival concert, he wonders.
He wanders and he wonders. And he yearns. And he misses. He's been missing a lot these past thirty-something years. He misses the last universe he was in. The neon rain, the glowing plants, the music sourced by the wind and carried throughout the world. The spikes on his shoulders, his arms, glowing like the plants, that would pick up the breeze and reverberate the music through his whole body. He was on that planet for seven lifetimes in a row. And now, suddenly, he's here.
It's not bad here. There's love and hate and there's life and death and there's joy and sorrow, just like there was before. But it's not the same. And he misses what he was growing familiar with. And he wonders why now it's different. Why it is that sometimes he stays on a single planet, sometimes a single city, for lifetimes in a row and why sometimes it'll be a different universe each time he's born again.
He wonders why now, when he hasn't seen them in centuries, why now Tae is slowly dancing their way through the crowd. Their hair is long and red, a bandana around their forehead, jewelry and glitter sparkling under the sun and they move with an easy grace against the hustle and bustle of the festival. Why are they here? What was it about his previous world that Tae was never born there? Or were they born there and Jonghyun just never got the chance to meet them?
Jonghyun must be staring because Tae’s gaze washes over him and then comes right back. They smile, eyes hooded, mouth slack and lazy, and shift direction just enough that their smooth dancing brings them towards Jonghyun. As they get closer, he can tell from the faraway look in their eyes that they're feeling just as swimmy as he is. They're just wandering too.
They wander right up to Jonghyun, cup his face with their soft little hand, push a slow, comfortable kiss to his mouth, and wander away with a smile and a trail of their fingers along Jonghyun’s jaw that makes him shiver.