More Short Stories!- Kai Ships Only

Beomkai- Collecting a Past

"Huh..." Kai checked his phone to confirm he went back far enough in time. The screen said it was 8:23am on October 5th, year 2046. He accidentally went back a little further than he wanted but this would do.

Kai Huening was an author. A very successful one too. Some say he was a historian but he would never call himself that. "Author" felt more appropriate because he preferred to write biopics. Sometimes the truth about someone's life was boring. Readers don't want countless chapters of someone being average. They want anomalies, the drama, the oddities that explain why a historical figure was significant enough to be considered one.

The truth about someone's life was always mostly accurate. The order of events may be changed and small lies may be thrown in but overall, Kai's work was sound. He was currently trying to figure out Beomgyu Choi's past. It's one thing to read about it but it's a whole other thing to experience it! In the near future, he was a war hero. Medals upon medals were added to his repertoire. You couldn't think of World War Three without knowing who Beomgyu Choi was.

In the year Kai was from, Beomgyu Choi was dead. Kai just finished a book on Wall Street's prodigy Soobin Choi. It was critically acclaimed like all of his books were. An interviewer asked who his next subject was. He gave her a classic PR answer. "I have a list of potential figures. My publisher won't let me release them but I'm very excited for my next project!" The truth was he had no idea who to write about. He hadn't covered a war hero before. That seemed like a good place to start and Beomgyu Choi was the perfect subject.

He was currently watching him laugh with his friends in gym class. Another student was rolling out a large thing of dodgeballs. Kai turned his invisibility shield on then slipped inside of the gym. He had his pen and paper ready. Those legendary aiming skills were about to come into play.

The teacher gathered the class then laid out all of the rules. Any unreasonably aggressive behavior was grounds for immediate detention, etc. Stuff Kai didn't care about. He mumbled "yeah yeah. Just blow the whistle already." Surely enough, the whistle blew.

Kai watched his subject pick up a ball. Beomgyu had a hunger in his eyes. His arm extended back, the ball released from his grip and then he missed? Kai shook his head. He figured it was a one off thing. The next shot surely had to hit. Well, it did hit, but it missed the target. Beomgyu was clearly aiming for the head but he barely grazed a shoulder.

So maybe high school wasn't where he learned his skills. Kai checked his notes. The war wouldn't be for another four years. Disappointed, he decided to fast forward time a whole year. He found himself in the back of a movie theater. A woman almost sat on him before he moved in time. It took Kai five minutes to even find his subject in that dark little room. Once he did, he decided to sit in the empty seat next to him and his date.

Beomgyu was sitting with a girl. He faked a yawn then wrapped his arm around her. Kai thought it was cheesey but very cute. He became confused again when something was off. According to his notes, Beomgyu's life ended with him marrying a man. He whispered "Ah. Maybe he hasn't discovered he's gay yet." Kai shut up when the two turned to look in his direction. Altering the past was a death sentence. No trial, straight to the firing squad.

The couple only saw an empty chair. Kai breathed a small sigh of relief when their eyes focused back onto the screen. He started to write down a detailed description of the girl incase Beomgyu was with her for a long time. After he was done writing, he just needed her name. His subject kept calling her pet names like "babe". Things that were not helpful to Kai.

When the movie was over, he followed the couple out into the theater lobby. The nameless girl went to the bathroom. Kai became nosey when Beomgyu started texting. He watched him message some guy named "Yeonjun". His energy picked right back up. Yeonjun was his future husband. They were texting about how boring their dates were and how they'd rather be with each other. This was the good stuff.

Kai followed him around for the next two weeks to learn his routines. Overall, he was disappointed in how normal Beomgyu seemed to be. His parents were good parents. He didn't take drugs. He didn't strive for stardom or make sacrifices to achieve a distant dream. His family didn't have a history of being in the war. They didn't own any guns nor did they go hunting. He wasn't extrodinary in any sports either. He was so normal. So how did this normal teenager become a war hero?

That question didn't have an answer yet. He skipped forward another year and found himself in a college dorm. No one was around. Or so he thought until the toilet flushed. Kai heard the sink turn on through the door. His shield began glitching out from being away from his timeline for too long. He smacked the contact in his left eye. "Come on, not now!" The shield kept glitching. Kai heard the sink turn off. He dove under the bed and silently prayed no one would see him.

Beomgyu stepped out of the bathroom. Kai watched his feet travel across the room towards the other side. He saw him digging through the dresser mumbling "where did you hide it? I know you have it." Kai quietly started writing again. He watched his subject pick the safe lock in his roommate's closet. Beomgyu kept looking towards the door out of paranoia. "Where the fuck did you hide my necklace? Think you can steal from me and I won't notice. You got another thing coming."

The doorknob creaked right after Beomgyu cracked the safe. Kai watched him dive under the bed. They both observed the roommate grab a couple of studying materials. He was taking longer than either of them would've liked.

Kai especially needed both of them to leave. He had to check back into his timeline so he could use his shield again. His access badge expired a day ago and he completely forgot. It was a simple renewal process. Simple if he could activate the neon blue portal alone.

The roommate finally left. Beomgyu slipped out then began to work on the safe again. Kai wondered when he learned to do that. He kept writing diligently. This had to be the start of why he was such a good soldier. Hiding and stealing came naturally. Kai just had to observe more instances of it.

Beomgyu exclaimed "finally!" when the safe door cracked open. In his hands was a shiny gold chain with a diamond "B" pendant dangling in the middle. Kai recognized it from photos at his award ceremonies. He began to wonder when he got it and why it was so significant. All notes to reread later.

Taehyun Kang, his government contact, began messaging him. Kai saw the concerned texts on his watch. He shut it off to prevent Beomgyu from seeing the glow. He really needed to get out of there.

Kai was so thankful when someone knocked on the door. Beomgyu greeted that person with a hug then walked out. This was his chance. Kai crawled out from under the bed then called Taehyun. "Hey. Sorry, I lost track of time."

"Again?"

"I'll tell you what happened this time later. I'm coming back soon. I'm not safe yet."

"Your shield is down I assume?"

"Yeah."

"Alright. Hurry up."

Kai hung up. He activated the contact in his right eye. It began to glow neon blue as it projected what he needed. His brain selected his account in his vision. An annoying amount of verifications were required to access the government passes. Once he finally had one, he went back to his main menu to select the correct year to jump into.

A thud on the ground broke the hologram. Kai was stared at the backpack, on the floor, in the doorway. Pencils rolled to his feet. He dared to look up and saw what he feared. Beomgyu was staring directly at him with his jaw dropped. Kai had never been caught before. He had to fix this or he would die.

Beomgyu slowly picked his backpack up from the ground. "...who are you...?"

"My name is Kai. Please don't panic. I can explain."