the end of the beginning

"We parted with cold half-eaten sandwiches with half-biting conversations and an overly cute bear band-aid as a memory to look back at times." Kairos remembered, a hint of laughter stuck to it.

"And what happened after that?" Johnson asked, hands pressed together much like a fly as he leaned in closer to Kairos. He was invested in the story the latter was telling.

Kairos and Johnson were seated in the café near their office, it was after work, so it wasn't that crowded. The mid-February brush of snow touching the ground outside the café.

Kairos sipped his coffee, a smile tugging at his lips as he continued, "The fourth time I met him-"

It was 16th of September 1997, months after the café incident. No way it worked. Kairos was standing in his rundown sneakers, his sling bag hanging off his shoulder. He was back in his mid-20s, staring at the buzzing café he frequented just to catch a glimpse of a certain someone.

It worked. It worked! He was confused but most of all elated, and when he noticed the brunette standing outside the café he was giddy. The urge of his to just run and hug Emyr was strong. Kairos didn't realize how much he missed seeing Emyr, just living. Just breathing, being the perfect man he is. Perfect.

His feet started to move towards the bane of his existence, but he stopped himself. He would rather not repeat history. So, he just stood there, like a creep. Occasionally, flipping his phone as if to show he was normal and not a creep to passersby.

Kairos took shy glimpses of the male as he wondered how if he just walked up to him would he be able to change the future, change that day? He would let go of Emyr. He loved him, but he wasn't meant to be his. Not only that, but he knew better than that.

So he waited. Waited until the brunette got inside the café. Then he turned back and walked away.

To say his guilt was washed off completely would be a lie. Because Kairos remembered everything. It felt like his punishment for being who he was. His punishment of loving someone. The past and the changes that he made were colliding with each other. His head was about to burst open if that continued anymore.

The pain eventually subsided as the wheels of the past locked into the new past with a clicking sound. A tear slid down Kairos' cheeks as he thought of his lover. Ex-lover. A lover who wasn't meant to be.

"-The fourth time I met him was actually by chance," Kairos chuckled at the confused face of Johnson. "He introduced his partner to me." He ended.

"What?" Johnson exclaimed, then: "boo!"
Kairos laughed at the antics of his friend. Johnson muttered annoyance as he sipped his coffee and dug into his cake aggressively.

Kairos sipped his coffee as he looked out the large window they were seated near, looking out to the bustling sight of tourists. His eyes caught sight of a brunette that just walked into the café, a male walking in behind him.

Looking away from the strangers, he mused, "but it's just the end of the beginning."