Illusions of You | BrightWin Soulmate AU

05

After Win left Bright's penthouse, he rushed to send Love a message.

"Love, this is Win's friend, Bright from Culinary Arts. I got his permission to tell you this. So, please do check up on him. He's not okay right now. He went to my house and cried because of family problems. He's kinda okay now but check up on him, still."

"Hello, Bright! Thank you for telling me. Win likes to keep his problems on his own but I'm glad he opened up to you. Thanks for being there for him. Khao and I will take care of him, don't worry."

"Thanks. And don't hesitate to message me if he needs help. I'll try my best to be available."

Bright sighed as he locked his phone.

Love followed what Bright said. He asked Win how he feels at the moment and told him that she knew what happened because Bright sent her a message. Khaotung and Love got worried about their friend since they know how his family treats him.

But Win assured the two that he's alright and he already calmed down. He apologized to his friends for not telling them what happened right after the occurrence.

The two consoled him by saying that it's not a big deal and they're glad to know that there's someone who accompanied him in his vulnerable state. Love also said if Win already trusts Bright, then they're happy with that because he gained another friend.

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It's almost Bright's birthday and his friends were teasing him in the groupchat.

"It's almost Bright's birthday! Where will you treat us?" Gunsmile opened up the topic.

"Are you excited because of the food or my birthday?" Bright asked sarcastically.

"Food" - Foei
"Birthday" - First
"Foorthday" - Gunsmile

"Alright, First. Where do you wanna eat on my birthday?"

"Yes! I want buffet!" First exclaimed as if he won the lottery. Since he's the only one who answered nicely, Bright decided to tease the others.

"We're just joking!" Foei immediately took back what he said.

"Happy birthday my dear bro!" Gunsmile also thought of a way to compensate for what he did earlier.

"Wow, it's hard to have two-faced friends. I don't know where to slap them." Bright retorted.

"Kidding aside, you're turning 23 now. Are you ready to know who's your soulmate?"

I really don't understand what's exciting about it.

"No. I honestly don't wanna know."

"Why? You can't do something about it. Once you turn 23, your soulmate's name will appear on your wrist."

"Are you sure? What if they're younger than me?"

"Are you hoping that it's Win?"

W-what? Wait, why is Win being dragged to the conversation again?! Sheesh. They really can't forget about him, huh?

"No! Why are you pushing me towards him?" Bright denied his assumption.

"What? I'm just asking. You told us he'll turn 23 next year. It means he's younger than you."

And so what if he's younger than me?!

"Tss. What will happen if I see my soulmate's name? You got yours already, right?" Bright seemed to be curious about the soulmate thing.

"Yeah, that's why I'm making a move on Love. Her name appeared on my wrist when she turned 23." Gunsmile replied with heart eyes emoji. He's clearly into her.

"People in love stink, ugh!" First tried to ruin the mood.

"People are bitter because they don't have a soulmate, ugh!" Gunsmile clapped back.

"Man, I'm tired of all of you. Just answer me already. Did you see your future after that?" Bright was pissed off with his friends' non-stop bickering.

"Yeah, if you both turned 23 in the same year, you'll eventually know your future with your soulmate. In our case, Love will reject me multiple times but we'll still end up together. So, I'm being patient here." Gunsmile proudly explained.

"In First's case, maybe his soulmate is younger than him. So, he has to wait for his soulmate to acknowledge his name."

"The soulmate has to write First's name below their name. If they don't, no name will appear on First's wrist, and he won't be able to see their future."

That's complicated. What if you don't know when will your soulmate turn 23?

"I'm okay to grow old alone." First tried to cheer himself up.

"I heard there's a creepy thing about soulmates."

There's more to it?!

"If your soulmate died with an ungranted wish, you'll see illusions of them. Once your granted their wish, the illusion will be gone forever."

That thing really exist here? Isn't that out of this world already?

"Sheesh, I got the chills. How's that possible?"

"I don't know too. But I guess it's true because my grandma experienced that before." First shared to the group.

"My grandpa's wish was to see his wife and his grandson which is me, playing together. So, my grandpa's illusions went away after he saw us."

"I hate this kind of thing. Why does this exists in our world?" Bright complained for the nth time.

"Just hope that your soulmate won't die with an ungranted wish." Gunsmile teased Bright who's being serious.

"Yeah, don't be bitter. We all know that you want Win to be your soulmate." Foei's back at it again with his teasing addiction involving Win.

"Ok, then. First is the only one I'll treat on my birthday." Bright ended the conversation with him teasing the group too.

Damn, I'm getting nervous for my birthday.