The Day Time Stopped (A KongArt story - Completed)

The Day Time Stopped

The day Kongpob turned 18, the clock on his arm continued to tick.

He was disappointed, but he and Ella parted amicably because there was no point continuing their puppy love when they weren't true soulmates. She even came to him on her own birthday to show him the zeros on her arm and a name scrawled below coloured red, and to introduce him to Orvil whom she was destined to spend her life with.

Kongpob felt as if the clock on his wrist began to tick faster and he kind of resented it.

When would he meet his true match?

The day of his university interview he ran into M in a sea of applicants and felt happiness pool in his belly that his good friend would be by his side for the next four years. But he still wasn't sure this was the right course for him. No matter what his parents thought.

The senior he spoke with almost changed his mind. He was kind and smart and generous. And funny too, telling him that story about his dog! And although Kongpob had never looked at any guy like that before, he could definitely recognise a handsome one when he saw him. But he still didn't know if he wanted to go here..

It happened when he was leaving his interview and he reached down to roll up his sleeves. That was the moment he knew he was supposed to be here, that this was the right course and the right place.

His clock had stopped and there was a messy black scrawl underneath the neat line of zeros.

Kongpob's heart was beating a mile a minute and he couldn't help the wide grin that spread over his face even though he probably looked like an idiot. He twisted around to look back at the building where he would be studying, trying to picture all the people he had run into while he'd been inside.

How would he know which one was his? The signature wouldn't appear clearly until they spent enough time together. And it wouldn't turn red until he was accepted by them. So he supposed he would just have to wait.

Only, he really hoped it wasn't M! That would be too weird. Another guy he could handle, the cute senior came to mind, but not his old friend. Please Universe!

Arthit hated his clock. So he avoided looking at it as much as possible. He knew that at the age of 19 it wasn't unusual for it to still be ticking away. His mother had been 29 when she'd finally met his father, and he had an uncle who was almost 45 and still waiting for the numbers to stop.

But really, the reason he hated it was that it took away his freedom. He wouldn't have a choice in who he was destined to be with. All other relationships would become void the second his clock stopped and the signature appeared.

The worst thing was: it wouldn't be Namtan. She and Jay both wore short sleeves the day their names turned red. And he'd had to hide his feelings in his physics homework and choke down the celebration cookies she had baked.

So, really, his clock was often the last thing on his mind. Which meant he didn't notice immediately on the day it stopped ticking.

It was only later, when he was showering after basketball practise that he glanced down and noticed that the numbers weren't moving anymore. He slumped down on the bench by his locker and just sat and stared at it in disbelief. Why now? What was special about today? He hadn't met anyone new. So why was his clock acting up?

It was only when his line mentor, Tum, found him hunched over his own arm, that he noticed the neat blur of a signature below his clock. It was inky and permanent. Another reminder that he wouldn't have a choice.

If he cried on P'Tum's shoulder.. no one had to know.

"That bloody freshman is driving me insane!"