Abducted; Namjin

Chapter Thirty One

Jung Hoseok

    "Is this seat taken?"  
    I look up absentmindedly from my book to see a strange guy I've never seen before around my age smiling down at me. He nods towards the chair across from me.
     "Suit yourself."
     He sits down and stares at me. I frown uncomfortably. "Need something?"
     "I'm Hyungwon." He holds his hand out expectantly.
     Confused, I slowly reach out and shake his hand. "Hoseok." Oookkkayy.
     His smile widens and I see a strange light in his eye. "I've been looking for you."
    I can't help but scoff. "For what? Do we share a class or something? I have nothing for you to cheat with."
     His head shakes a bit before reaching into his bag and pulling out a photo. He flips it over and shows it to me.
     My entire body freezes up and my mind goes black. It's him. The guy I keep dreaming of. The man connected to Jin's disappearance. Blinking, I refocus my gaze on the guy across from me. Suspicious.
    He looks pleased by my reaction. "By your reaction I'm assuming you recognize this man."
     "W-who the hell are you?"
     Grinning, he hands me the photo. "Would you like to meet him?"
     "You know where he is?! What about my friend—Jin?" Desperation is clear in my voice. I reach over and clutch his hand tightly.
     He stares down at our hands in surprise. "He's alive and well. They are together now."
     A deep feeling I can't explain fills my chest at that knowledge. It's a complicated emotion I can't name. "I want to see them."
     Nodding, he sits back and clasps his hands together. "I would love nothing more than to take you to them but it's a bit...complicated, if you will."
    "How so? I'll do anything or go anywhere."
    "Even if you can never return here?"
    "What do you mean by here?"
     He glances around us before leaning closer. "Shall we talk about this elsewhere? This library is too crowded."
     Swallowing hard, I nod and gather my things as fast as I can. The thought of having answers finally after so long driving me forward.
     He leads me outside to a black car. I slip inside without thinking about it as he follows suit. He closes us in together and nods towards the driver who starts the car.
     "Where are they? What's going on? Why did Jin get taken?"
     He listens to my panicked questions in silence until I stop to breathe. "What would you do if I told you that your friend was not taken from anyone from this world?"
     "...I would say stop fucking with me."
     He grins. "Ah. You doubt me? Soon you will learn for yourself. I'm taking you to them but let me tell you now that they are not on planet Earth."
I glare at him, suspicion and nervousness coursing through me. "You aren't kidding, are you?"
"Not at all. Why would I?"
"Are you going to tell me next that you aren't from this world, either?"
"I used to be. This is my first time returning home in...a long time but I guess it's not home anymore."
"Why is that?"
He stares out of the car window, eyes wandering all around, lost in thought. He seems...melancholy. "Times have certainly changed here, haven't they."
I look out, confused. "What do you mean?"
He smiles ruefully and shakes his head. "Please ignore my errant musings. All you should concern yourself with is preparing for the journey ahead. We should arrive to your friend within a much quicker timeframe than they arrived to us. I have a a faster ship." He smirks.
I have no idea what he's talking about so I simply nod. "How long?"
He tilts his head, thinking. "It took them months to arrive at their destination now. It took me two days to reach Earth from their location. Our hyper speed is much more advanced than Captain Kim's." He gloats.
A shiver goes through me at the mention of his name. "W-who is Captain Kim?"
"Do you feel anything when you think of him?"
I hesitate to respond. "I'm not sure."
Taking a deep breath, he smiles. "He's your soulmate. Your partner. Your souls are intertwined."
Now I know he's fucking with me. That kind of shit isn't real. "Fuck off."
He shakes his head. "I'm telling you the truth. Kim Namjoon is your life partner."
"Then why have I never met him! Why am I here and he...there?"
"Ah, so full of questions, aren't you?"
I suck in a deep breath or annoyance, noticing him dodging my question. "So who are you? What do you get out of this?"
"I'm simply the messenger and deliverer. I'm just following my orders."
"You are human, right? How can you just leave and not want to come back here? How long..."
His eyes go dark again and his smile fades. "I have a debt. A life debt. It will only be repaid when I die. Until then...I can never call this planet home again." He says, surprisingly honestly. Eyes clear and bright.
"How did you acquire such a...life debt?"
He looks off, staring through me. "My commander...my master...Jooheon. He saved me a long time ago from the very humans I once called family. Without him...I would have suffered a fate worse than death. In exchange for his help, I vowed my entire self over to him. He owns me, I guess you could say." He explains quietly.
"That...really must suck. Just for his help—He owns your life? How is that a fair deal."
"Perhaps not to us. It's different for them. You'll grow to understand soon enough, Hoseok."
We fall into silence. Me thinking while he just continues to stare at the world around him. The world he obviously misses and longs for. It doesn't seem fair. He seems like a good guy to me—at least for now. He doesn't deserve this.
"So how did he save you?" Beyond curious. Distracting myself.
My family and community were not so understanding about my preferences as the world seems to be now. I was tried and tortured. Scheduled to be stoned to death for being caught loving another man. It was a much different time." He looks away. "My partner was killed before my eyes while I was left to hang for days without food, water, or shelter." He laughs without humor. Eyes full of pain. "I hate this place, to be honest. It only brings back bad memories. It could burn for all I care."
My jaw drops as I listen. What the hell...how could such an extreme thing happen? Just for loving another man? I know that society is just now openly accepting homosexuals but torture and death? God...
"I'm so sorry." I don't really know what else to say.
His lips twitch but he's unable to force a real smile. "It was a long time ago. Nothing to be sorry for."
"So he found you and took you from here?"
He shifts uncomfortably. "Something like that."
I can sense his need to change the subject so I take the hint. "Will you answer my previous question?"
"Which one?"
"You know which one. I can't possibly be that guy's soulmate. I've never met him.."
"Not in this life."
I don't like that. Not at all. "What?"
He smirks, eyes once more teasing. "The reason you've never met him is because you belonged to him in another life. You died, Hoseok. Your soul was transported here for rebirth."
"..."