Chapter 4 — The First Encounter

The shadow was gone.

Chris remained beneath the gingko tree, staring at the rooftop where the stranger had disappeared.

His instincts told him to follow.

But another thought stopped him.

Seungmin.

Chris turned back toward the university courtyard.

The crowd had swallowed him.

For one hundred years, Chris had imagined what their reunion would look like.

He had imagined Min-ah running toward him.

He had imagined hearing that familiar voice say his name.

He had imagined being recognized immediately.

Reality was different.

Seungmin didn't know him.

And Chris couldn't blame him.

This wasn't the same life.

This wasn't the same person.

Seungmin was simply Seungmin.

A carefree university student who had no idea that another soul lived inside his heart.

Chris took a slow breath.

"Don't rush it."

---

Haneul University Café

"One iced americano."

"One strawberry smoothie."

"And..."

Seungmin looked at Han.

"You said you wanted what?"

Han stared at the menu.

"Actually, I forgot."

Changbin groaned.

"You've been staring at that menu for five minutes."

"There's too many choices!"

Felix laughed.

Seungmin shook his head and stepped aside.

"I'll wait for you guys."

He walked toward an empty table near the window.

As he passed the entrance, someone suddenly stepped into his path.

Seungmin stopped.

The man was tall, dressed in a simple black coat, with dark hair and calm eyes.

Chris.

For a moment, neither spoke.

Seungmin blinked.

"Sorry."

He tried to move around him.

Chris stepped aside immediately.

"No, I'm sorry."

Their shoulders brushed.

The instant they touched—

Chris froze.

A flash of memory struck him.

A garden.

Cherry blossoms.

A younger version of himself laughing.

And someone sitting beneath the tree.

Soft brown hair.

A warm smile.

A voice.

"Chris."

His heart slammed against his chest.

The vision disappeared.

Chris stumbled slightly.

Seungmin noticed.

"Are you okay?"

Chris looked at him.

Those eyes.

The same eyes.

He had seen them countless times in his dreams.

"I..."

Chris struggled to speak.

Seungmin tilted his head.

"Do I know you?"

The question nearly broke him.

Chris swallowed.

"No."

A lie.

He had known him for a lifetime.

Just not this one.

Seungmin smiled awkwardly.

"Right. I thought maybe we'd met before."

Chris's lips curved into a faint smile.

"Maybe we have."

Seungmin laughed softly.

"That's mysterious."

He stepped around Chris.

"Anyway, nice to meet you."

Chris watched him walk away.

Then Seungmin suddenly turned around.

"Wait."

Chris looked back.

"What's your name?"

There it was.

The question Chris had dreamed of answering for a hundred years.

"Christopher."

Seungmin smiled.

"Christopher?"

"Most people call me Chris."

Seungmin nodded.

"Chris."

Hearing his name from Seungmin's lips made something inside him ache.

"I'm Seungmin."

Chris almost laughed.

"I know."

Seungmin raised an eyebrow.

"You know?"

Chris quickly corrected himself.

"I've heard your friends call you."

"Oh."

Seungmin smiled again.

"Well, Chris, I'll see you around."

"Seungmin."

He stopped.

Chris looked at him carefully.

"Be careful."

Seungmin frowned.

"Of what?"

Chris glanced toward the window.

For a moment, he saw the reflection of the cloaked stranger standing across the street.

But when he looked again—

Nothing.

"Nothing," Chris said.

"Just... be careful."

Seungmin stared at him, confused.

Then he smiled.

"You too."

He walked away.

Chris remained where he was.

For the first time in one hundred years, the impossible had happened.

Min-ah had spoken to him.

But it wasn't Min-ah's voice anymore.

It was Seungmin's.

And somehow...

Chris already knew he was falling in love with him all over again.

---

Outside the café, Seungmin walked back toward his friends.

Felix immediately noticed his expression.

"Why are you smiling?"

"I'm not."

"You are."

Han leaned closer.

"Who was that?"

Seungmin glanced back through the café window.

Chris was still standing there.

"I don't know."

Changbin smirked.

"But you want to."

Seungmin rolled his eyes.

"Stop."

They laughed.

Yet as Seungmin walked away, something strange happened.

A faint warmth spread across his chest.

He reached beneath his shirt.

His fingers touched something cold.

A necklace.

He had owned it for as long as he could remember.

But he'd never known where it came from.

The jade pendant suddenly began glowing.

Seungmin stopped walking.

His smile disappeared.

A voice whispered inside his mind.

Chris...

Seungmin's eyes widened.

He had never heard that voice before.

Yet somehow...

It felt familiar.

Like a memory he had spent a lifetime trying to remember.

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