Memories | Sanjoong

43. Discovery

*
You're the right time,
at the right moment.
*

The sun began to set, slowly disappearing into the horizon and leaving a golden hue over the city. The rippling water sparkled, creating a beautiful sight for tourists and beachgoers. But Hongjoong couldn't take his eyes off his own beauty who seemed to be fascinated by the sunset. He watched the glowing sphere emanate warmth and its last few rays of light with such fascination and Hongjoong watched the scene through the reflection in San's eyes. The safety and serenity they both felt in the moment was like falling in love with each other all over again. It was almost magical.

When the sun had completely set, Hongjoong hinted that it was time to go back to the house. Reluctantly, San stood up and hand-in-hand, the pair walked back up the winding roads. They were quiet and didn't say much but understood each other perfectly with the silence. By this point, Hongjoong thought the way he sought confirmation of their love for each other from San was silly. Their bond was inexplicable - a strong force of attraction that kept them close to each other no matter what difficulties they faced. In the end, they would always return to one another for the love and comfort they would not find elsewhere.

And San felt the same way. He was drawn to Hongjoong and couldn't imagine losing him. He realised what mistakes he had been making by not being completely honest with Hongjoong; first, he kept him in the dark about the memories, but now he kept certain aspects of his findings hidden. San knows he should not have done that. If anything, Hongjoong would know exactly what to do or say.

San was realising that Hongjoong and Wooyoung were right. At the end of the day, these were Seok's memories, not his. Letting them dictate his life and decisions was a foolish thing to do. He knows that now. San desperately wanted to hold on to Hongjoong no matter how loud the voices became.

When they arrived at the house, they greeted Mr Park and then went upstairs to their room. San sat on the bed and looked down at his knees, deep in thought. Hongjoong entered after, closing the door behind him and turning around to face San. He sighed, knowing that San was overthinking again. Suddenly San sat up and grabbed his notebook off the desk, flipping through the pages.

"What are you looking for?" Hongjoong asked.

"A few days ago, I found a couple of photographs... I just wanted to take a closer look at them again..." he mumbled under his breath, then suddenly slamming his hand on the page where he had finally found the pictures.

San traced the photo of the three boys he had found in the attic, still finding it scary how similar the boy in the middle looked to him.

San took a shaky breath and passed the photo to Hongjoong to see. "I always thought a past life was another dimension of people. Each dimension had the same people living their lives one after the other. But when I found this... I get the feeling it's not the same case."

Hongjoong looked at the photo with furrowed eyebrows, his eyes widening when he noticed the boy in the middle. He held the photo up beside San's face, eyes darting between the two. "This is a little creepy. How can he look so much like you, yet so different at the same time..."

"If the different lives we live, and each reincarnation is supposed to be in different dimensions then how on earth does that photo exist here?"

"You're right, it shouldn't be possible," Hongjoong agreed. "Unless... You and Seok are exceptions to this common rule?"

"I doubt that's the case, like who would decide that?" San shook his head.

"A worldly super-being, omniscient, powerful and-"