a world made just for us

i already love you. i'll let you tease me for the rest of my life.

i already love you. what else can i do? i'll let you tease me for the rest of my life.

It had been almost a year since Rain had to say goodbye to Phayu. For months he felt like he was moving through a fog. He was only doing things running on autopilot. He felt like an empty vessel. Every day he would look into his mirror and pray that Phayu would be looking back at him. Every day he only saw his own reflection.

Outwardly Rain still behaved like his normal self. He laughed and partied with all of his new friends. He and Sky still studied together. He still spent time with his parents, making sure to eat dinner with them as often as possible. Outwardly he was fine. But when he was alone, everything came crashing down. He would cry in the shower, the running water hiding his sobs. He would rush to sleep because he could see Phayu in his dreams. It was the only time he could see him. The only time they could be together again.

Every morning when he woke up it took him much longer to get out of bed. He would fight with himself to try to stay asleep. He never wanted to wake up. His days went by slowly, excruciatingly so. He was starting to believe there was no use continuing on, but he made a promise to Phayu. He had to continue to live his life. He had to make it. He had to make Phayu proud.

Though within the last few months, something interesting had been happening. Every day he would overhear people talking about the sudden appearance of an alumni. Someone who just seemed to appear out of nowhere. He was handsome and kind, always willing to help out even if he didn't know the person. It was too much like how people talked about Phayu.

When Rain had been hunting for Phayu's essays, almost everyone he had talked to that had known Phayu had nothing but good things to say about him. He was kind, and always willing to help. He never wanted an underclassman to feel like they couldn't pass a class or their grade. He wanted to inspire everyone.

Every time he would overhear people talking, his imagination would take over. It was Phayu they were talking about, and at any moment Phayu would waltz in, walk directly to Rain, and wow everyone by showing off his boyfriend. It was nothing but a daydream, but it was one of the only things that helped him get through the day. Was Rain being dramatic? Probably. But whenever someone said "I miss you so much it hurts", he had never understood it in the past. Now he understood it too well.

——

Sky sighed, leaning back in his chair. He watched as Rain stared absentmindedly at his cup. He moved the straw around slightly, never actually leaning down to take a drink. This was a normal occurrence. Rain would agree to go out with his friends, or join the study group, and would always end up daydreaming the whole time.

"Rain, your water can't be that interesting." Sky said with a sigh, Rain looked up from his cup, a soft shade of pink dusting his cheeks.

"Sorry, what did you say?" Rain asked.

"Did you finish your assignment?" Sky asked. Rain paused, thinking a little too hard about his friend's question. There were a few different assignments he could have been talking about.

"I think so?"

Sky laughed, shaking his head. He leaned his arms on the table, looking at his friend. Rain looked exhausted. University was definitely taking its toll on him. Sky was doing his best to help, but there was only so much he could do. He also had to make sure his own work got turned in.

"Have you heard the rumours of that alumni guy?" Rain asked suddenly. Sky thought for a moment, nodding his head.

"Yeah I have, it's kinda weird that no one knows where he came from." Sky said, looking around the coffee shop that they were in. Students surrounded them, gossiping, studying. The environment was a dull roar of people talking about different things. He was, however, able to overhear some girls talking about the same subject they were.

"He's so handsome! He helped me get all of those assignments to the teacher's office. The stack was so heavy to carry but he did it!" She said excitedly. Her friend and her giggled as they talked. Clearly this mysterious upperclassman had won the hearts of the whole campus. Yet, why hadn't they seen him yet? And why was he spending so much time at his old university?

"I don't think many people care about where he came from." Sky sighed. "They just care that he's here."

"Have you heard anything about why he's here?" Rain asked. Sky shook his head, taking a sip from his drink.

"Nothing. That's also what I was curious about. If he already graduated, why is he hanging out here so much? It's weird." Sky's phone made both of the friends jump as a sudden phone call came in. Sky picked up his phone, speaking briefly to the person on the other line, and hung up just as quickly. The speed of everything made Rain dizzy.

"We have to get going, Sig needs our help with his assignment." Sky said as he stood up. Rain nodded, taking a final sip from his water, gathering his things from the table. They had gone to this coffee shop on campus to try to get some studying done, but the whole time Rain had been spacing off. At least going to Sig would probably keep his attention.

As the pair walked out of the coffee shop, a group of upperclassmen passed them. They were talking loudly about something and definitely not paying attention to where they were going. One of them ran into Rain's shoulder. Without looking up Rain turned and apologised profusely before rushing off to catch up with Sky.

Rain kept his nose in his phone, scrolling through his photos. When Phayu had been in his mirror he tried taking photos of the mirror. He thought maybe he would be able to capture Phayu at least in a photo, that way he could look at him when he was gone. All he got in the photo was a glowing orb. But he still found himself looking at this photo daily, his imagination filling Phayu in around the orb. This was all the proof he had that Phayu had even existed in his life.

Out of the corner of his eye, Rain noticed Sky begin to walk across the street. Still without looking up, Rain began to follow after his friend. He had been so distracted with his phone, he didn't hear Sky shouting his name, he didn't hear the car honking at him to get out of the way. Just as Rain took one more step into the road, he was immediately pulled back. He shouted as he was pulled, completely terrified of what was happening.

Rain's heart was pounding. He had been pulled back so quickly he didn't have time to catch his footing and ended up falling back into whatever had just pulled him out of the path of the car. After taking a second to catch his breath he finally opened his eyes that he hadn't even realised he had closed. What he saw made his heart stop.

There right in front of him was Phayu.

"You need to pay more attention to your surroundings." Phayu said. Or, this imposter anyway. Rain carefully stood, dusting off his shirt. He was stunned. His voice failing him. How was this possible? Phayu was dead. Phayu had been buried underneath his house, and caught in a mirror. He watched as Phayu ascended. There was no way this could actually be Phayu.

"I knew you were clumsy, I didn't think it was this bad." The imposter said with a chuckle. The voice was the same. The face was the same. No matter which way he looked at it, the person in front of him was Phayu. Rain without thinking brought his hand up, carefully poking the other man's shoulder. He pulled his hand back to his body, shocked to feel anything. Phayu smiled softly.

"I've been looking all over for you. This campus is so big, I forgot how easy it was to lose someone here." Phayu took a step closer to Rain, gently brushing a strand of hair from his face, tucking it behind his ear.

"H-How? How are you here? This doesn't make sense, I don't understand!" Rain tried to keep his voice down but he was truly so confused by everything.

"I'm sorry it took so long for me to come to you Rain. I had to fight so hard to come back. I don't know how long I have, but that doesn't matter. We can be together. My life wasn't done." He paused, leaning in closely. Their faces were centimetres apart now. "I was born to fall in love with you."

Rain was the one who closed the gap. He wrapped his arms around Phayu's neck, their lips colliding in a sloppy, desperate kiss. Rain didn't care if it would have been considered a bad kiss, that didn't matter. All that mattered was that Phayu had come back to him. He threw understanding and logic out the window. This didn't have to make sense. He was someone who could see ghosts after all. Nothing in his life ever made sense.