[COMPLETE] First Time

TRANSMISSION 16 - SUNGJIN

I take her to my thinking place - it overlooked the whole city and made the city lights look like twinkling stars. The moon, constant, glows in silence.

I feel like I've been here with her before? But how's that possible?

I only have a few years left to live. I will never get to keep my job, never own a house. I will never marry and never have kids. I will never get to see my kids grow and have a family of their own.

I will never be able to grow old with the one I love, even if she's standing beside me right now.

Love.
So this is what it feels like.

But being with her makes me think that I have lived a good life. Short, but full of meaning.

The more we meet, the faster the disease spreads. I tell her about Younghyun's diagnosis - and she listens, pain eveident on her face. I wrapped my arms around her and her tears freely fall.

She told me about what she and Wonpil found out, how she's been avoiding me (or trying to, but I always messed that up) and how she came from a different multiverse.

"In the multiverse that I came from, the disease was already at the last stages. This was the multiverse that Wonpil found which had the highest rate of you surviving if we didn't meet -"

"But we did. I think that's really inevitable. We were meant to meet -"

"But not meant to stay together," you finished sadly. We were silent for a few minutes before I broke it.

"In that multiverse where you came from, how did we say goodbye?"

"We didn't. I came to this time to stop everything before it was too late -"

You were interrupted by your holophone ringing and you answered, "Hello Pil? Yes. Yes I'm with Sungjin right now - "

I grabbed her holophone and pressed the speaker function so I can also hear Wonpil.

"- this multiverse has merged with the ones before it, and what we're trying to stop is going to happen -"

"So I'm a goner, Pil?"

He paused mid rant and cleared his throat. "Uh. I didn't know this was on speaker mode."

"Thanks for being such a nice guy, Pil. I'll take her home after a while."

"Thanks, Sungjin." He ended the call and I returned the holophone to you.

"Whatever happens in this multiverse, I want you to stay until the end. No more running. Promise me that." I pressed my hand on her cheek.

"Never let me go," she said, looking straight to my eyes.

I dropped my gaze and said nothing - not confident that I can still be around to keep that promise... And that I can still hold my tears.