Kalim Al-Asim: By Luck or by Fate
I just noticed that Kalim’s pose is similar to Jamil’s… The shorts are throwing me off a bit, and I can’t help but think of Youngster Joey from Pokémon. “I like shorts! They’re comfy and easy to wear!”
NOT KALIM BEING A GACHAPON PLAYER IN HIS VIGNETTES 💀 Let’s pray he doesn’t discover microtransactions—
There’s something magical about the moment right before breakage.
The air tenses, charged with anticipation. Your breath, held. Your hopes, clenched. It feels like the entire world is waiting for the plot twist, the beat to drop, the roller coaster to plummet, filling your bloodstream with adrenaline. And then you twist, cracking the plastic shell, and the capsule is open—its contents, finally revealed to you.
The spoils of 37 consecutive rolls litter the table. Many of the capsule toy animals—elephants, peacocks, monkeys, parrots—circle Kalim’s plate. Tiny hourglasses and replicas of dondurma—stretchy ice-cream, pulled by a spoon—sit in neat rows. And the crown jewel of it all, Kalim’s beloved two-jumped golden camel, perches on the rim of his dessert glass filled with blue jelly, as if it has stopped on its desert trek to drink cool, sweet water from an oasis.
(You can already imagine Jamil popping a blood vessel when he learns about Kalim’s haul. A problem for future you to deal with.)
“I didn’t take you to be into gacha,” you comment, stirring your cup of cider jelly.
“Yeah, it’s super fun! You never know what might come out, your heart’s beating a million times a minute—and it’s a big rush when you’ve completed the entire set!!” Kalim grins, his eyes sparkling like garnets soaking up the sunshine.
Oh god, he’s completely hooked.
You try to steer the conversation down a different path. “So… you like the unpredictability of it?”
“Yeah, it’s really different than what I’m used to. I can usually walk in, point at what I want, and buy it on the spot. Once, my dad bought an entire toy store for one of my younger siblings’ birthdays.
“Since you can’t pick and choose with capsule toys, they’re exciting! Every one is a new surprise.”
I guess ‘surprise’ isn’t something he comes by often. It feels like almost every aspect of Kalim’s life is already laid out for him.
You think of the clothes he wears, custom-made by a personal tailor. The foods he eats, prepared by the hand of a private chef and then tested for poison before a crumb ever comes close to his lips. The events he attends, where he’ll be expected to greets guests and talk business for hours and hours.
The golden future he has as the Asim heir, Kalim contained in his guilded cage.
So… controlled. Expected. Guarded.
The only disturbances, you realize, must be the attempts on his life. Unknown, born of the shadows. All the kidnappings, poisonings, attacks. It’s a wonder he’s not scared of the chance of something bad happening to him.
“… Well,” you say slowly, “a little randomness can be nice once in a while. Your transfer to NRC was the same way: out of the blue and unpredictable.”
“Gahahah, that’s true!” His laugh is loud and unrestrained, free as a bird in the sky. “I’m glad it happened though. Because that little act of randomness happened, I could meet you!”
Kalim declares it as if it’s the most natural thing to conclude. Water is wet, fork found in kitchen, I’m so happy we met by chance.
“Y-You don’t get embarrassed saying stuff like that?” you stammer, heat climbing to your cheeks. No matter how well-air conditioned the patisserie is, there’s no cooling you down.
He blinks. “Mmm? Should I not have said that? It’s honestly how I feel.”
“I-I’m not saying you shouldn’t have!! I’m shocked you can say it so easily.” You take a deep breath, trying to compose yourself. “… Thanks, Kalim. I’m glad I could meet you too.”
He smiles, clinking his spoon with yours. A secret pact, an unspoken promise.
There’s thousands and thousands of people in Twisted Wonderland, but it was you I met. You, who came into my life like the sun after a storm. Would you call that luck? Or maybe fate?
A part of you knows that you may never find the answer. And another part of you doesn’t much mind that, not when you’re gazing straight into his big smile.
Happy birthday, Kalim. May you be blessed with many, many more random incidents that bring you joy. When you smile… the world smiles with you.
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