#g7marknet

Every time you meet, he’s a stranger.

Even though there’s a pull, a tether between you both, he never knows your name when you bump into him on the subway.

Or reach for the same book in the library.

Hundreds of years and he still wears a confused yet gentle smile when you say hello and introduce yourself.

This time, it’s Valentine’s Day.

It’s 2018 and instead of hand written notes left wedged in mailboxes, people text their feelings or attach a gif of blooming flowers to an email.

When you had seen him last, it was 2004 and he was only twelve, shy but curious as he rolled along on his new skateboard. 

Seeing him now, handsome at twenty four, the walls of your heart constrict and you want to cross the street and latch onto his hand. You stop yourself, you have to every single time you happen upon him, and remember he doesn’t know you. 

He never knows you.

With every reincarnation, he forgets the time spent together, the memories that came along with that particular life.

You’re the only one that can hold onto what once was. 

You clutch tightly to the lapel of your coat, the chill of the approaching evening running through your body. You let yourself stare from your seat outside the café, coffee in front of you going unnoticed as soon as he laughs.

His laugh is always the same. Loud and high pitched, full of teeth.

You chuckle lightly under your breath when you remember 1892 and the endless laughter you shared on a beach in Taiwan during a birthday trip his parents had surprised him with.

Even then, you were strangers. It was simply luck that brought you there.

It’s always luck when you bump into him, if luck was the right word.

You’re never sure why it’s him, never bothered to actually find out. All you knew was that you couldn’t age. Couldn’t die. And at some random moment in time, the universe brings you to him.

You meet. You become friends. You fall in love. He dies. You don’t.

It was an endless and vicious cycle, one you came to realize was unavoidable. 

You were always brought together, always. No matter how many times you avoided him, cried yourself to sleep because you knew you had to stay away, you found yourself in front of him.

You had tried, once upon a time, to remove yourself from the equation. You were convinced it was your fault and sought to rid yourself from the world. 

As a doctor, he had refused to let you go.

After all this time, you had come to accept it.  The cycle that would always continue. The pain that came with loving and losing him. 

Your gaze lingers on his blonde hair, the brown from before nowhere to be seen. He’s wrapped up in hoodie too big for him but seemingly the perfect fit, fingers disappearing into the sleeves everytime his arms go down.

He’s with friends, six of them you recognize.

With every life, the seven of them were clustered together, bond so tight that no amount of time or space could separate them.

Jaebum slings an arm around him and you remember what he was like at eleven, gaze cold as he tried to protect his best friend from bullies. 

Even as you watch his grin widen and eyes form half moons on his face, you can see his hold tighten against the fabric of the hoodie, as if to be a shield against anything that could hurt his friend. 

Your ringtone snaps you away from your trance like state and you see it’s time to go, taking one last sip from the mug you barely touched, leaving something extra behind for the lovely waitress that served you. 

You join the hoard of people crossing the street, shoulders brushing against shoulders as you find yourself passing the very thing that had stolen your attention in the first place. 

You do your best to ignore the pull, the thin red thread binding you both together throughout the spans of time, gritting your teeth as you angle your head down.

You’re almost far enough, you can feel the buzz in your veins die down, until a voice calls out.

“Miss! Excuse me!”

Breath catching forcibly in your throat, you turn and are face to face with the boy you’ve loved for, quite literally, forever.

“Y-yes?”

He smiles and you feel faint. “You dropped this, it fell right out of your sleeve.”

You look down to see his hand clutching the bracelet you swore was on your wrist just moments ago, the bright red of it standing out against his fingers.

A gift, braided together under an oak tree, promises of forever and true love whispered into the night sky.

A gift tied around your wrist the year you found out you would no longer age.

It was the only thing he had ever given you, the only thing that kept you from truly going insane.

“T-thank you. It’s very precious to me, I would’ve been devastated if I lost it.”

“You’re welcome. I couldn’t just leave it be right there on the sidewalk. Here, let me...”

He gently takes your hand in his, pulling the sleeve of your coat back before carefully tying your bracelet back on your wrist. There are dozens of people moving past on the sidewalk, swift movements around you both as they try to get to their destination.

But you feel as if time has stopped, air knocked from your lungs as you watch him. It feels like this every time you first meet.

Strangers. Until you aren’t. 

“There,” he whispers gleefully, grinning at his handiwork, “safe and sound.”

His eyes meet yours and there’s a flash of something -- recognition if you were being hopeful.

You hope the smile on your face is casual, “Thank you again. I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t been so kind.”

A slight pink color rises on his cheeks and your heart flutters at the sight. He scratches at the nape of his neck, as if embarrassed. “Really, it’s nothing. I’m glad I was able to get it back to you. Keep it close, not everyone is as nice as I am. You may drop it and never see it again.”

You chuckle and bring your hand up to your chest, “I’ll remember that. Um. I hope you have a good day. And thank you. Again.”

You turn, shutting your eyes and inhaling slowly, before walking away. 

Jackson, still as loud as when he was ten, asks him if he’s just going to let you get away. It reminds you yet again of another life, more moments you hold dear. 

You will yourself to move, to resist the fierce urge to hold him. To kiss him. To tell him you miss him and want nothing more than to be by his side.

You try to resist. But he’s always been persistent.

And the universe never lets the first meeting be the last.

“Wait! Please wait!”

Your heartbeat quickens and you pretend not to hear him, dodging bodies as you see your car come into view.

“Wait!”

Keep walking.

“Wait! Miss, wait! Please!”

My heart will hurt if I wait.

He catches up to you, hand on your shoulder gentle yet demanding you to turn.

You feign surprise as you face him again, cheeks now flushed from exertion instead of embarrassment. “Um. Did...did you need something?”

“Y-yes just -- hang on I’m -- wow I thought I was in better shape than this. Going to the gym doesn’t seem to be working.”

You laugh suddenly and he seems pleased to have been the reason. 

You can’t help it, he always makes you laugh.

“Your name. I wanted to know your name. My friends think I’m an idiot for letting you walk away so here I am, asking for your name. And if you like french fries.”

“Who doesn’t like french fries?”

He shrugs, “You’d be surprised. Potatoes in any form aren’t always a thing for people.

“Those people must feel so lost.” “If only we could help them, spread the potato love.”

You’re biting your lip now, grinning crazily. “I like french fries. And my name is Y/N. Yours?”

You know what it is, it’s etched onto your heart like a tattoo, but he’s a stranger and you have to play along.

And you’d never admit that when he says it, it makes you feel something, an indescribable something that never gets old.

“Hi Y/N. I’m Mark Tuan. Would you like to go get some fries?”

You should say no.  All these years, the cycle continues.

But you loved him.

And soon you wouldn’t be strangers.

So you say the same thing you always say.

“Yes.”