STAY - Against The System | CHOSEN 2 (MINSUNG FF)

ZERO

2320.12.03

Happily Jisung scrolled through his phone. Some minutes ago he had scanned the emerald colored barcode on his left wrist, for what, the 13th time this week? 

He didn’t care. 

Minho would come back from university in less than an hour and there was nothing else to do for the younger. He already had cleaned the apartment, changed the bed sheets, he even cleaned the windows. His lecture got canceled in the morning, so Jisung was able to spend a little more time with his boyfriend until the latter had to leave for his own courses. 

His boyfriend. 

System approved partner.

In the past, back in history when people had married the people they had chosen by themselves, a couple would’ve called themselves wifes and/or husbands after the wedding ceremony. Jisung really liked these names. He also liked the pictures of weddings he had seen in history books. The people in them seemed so happy, smiles as bright as a bride’s dress.
So, while waiting for his husband the young man had decided to scan the code again.
And now he looked at his other half through the phone screen. Minho’s name, his birthday, major at university and achievements in school came into his view before disappearing behind the upper display frame. Jisung already had known all of this before getting paired up with his best friend.
Almost everything. 

In the end of the file some pictures were attached. Again, the boy lovingly stared at Minho’s shining bright eyes, when he spotted a small yellow message in the upper right corner of the display. 

UNDER EXAMINATION

“Huh?” 

Jisung tried to tap on it, but nothing happened. Under examination? What did that mean?
Jisung closed the file, only to hold the camera over the code on his skin to scan it again. The “loading” screen popped up, as always and the boy patiently waited for it to change into the file of his husband. 

He waited. 

And waited. 

Longer than usual. 

When Jisung was about to close the file again - maybe there was a bug and the system tried to fix it right now? - the display turned black, except for some bright red letters. 

FILE NOT FOUND.

“What the-” 

The boy tried to open the file again and again. But his phone only showed those three words, again and again. 

When Minho finally came home, the younger man rushed to the door.
“Hi, baby.”
The elder was about to pull his boy into a hug but the latter only snatched his phone to hurriedly scanned the barcode on his arm. Minho observed the situation, sensing the irritation the younger boy radiated.
“What is going on, Ji?” 

The younger only frowned. “Take your jacket off, please. I need to try something.”

Confused Minho did as his boyfriend said. Jisung took his arm, rolled up the sleeve and scanned the code on the elder’s wrist.
Then, his eyes turned big, bigger than usual. 

“Ji, what happened?” Obviously concerned, he took his phone back to look at the display. 

FILE NOR FOUND.

What on earth was that??

“Mine is not working either”, the younger boy said. “Half an hour ago it said under examination and then, poof, it was gone.”

“Maybe it’s because of maintenance work.” That was the only way he could explain this.
Minho finally hugged his boyfriend. The feeling of the younger one in his arms, fitting quite right. He cupped Jisung’s cheeks with his cold hands to plant a kiss on  the latter’s soft lips. Fitting like two pieces of a puzzle.
“Let’s cook some dinner, yeah?”

After deciding what to eat the couple started to prepare the ingredients.
Cooking together has become one of their favorite activities. The kitchen was bright and spacious, like the rest of the apartment. Three weeks ago, after the line ceremony and the banquet the couple had moved in and had spent their first night together in their new home. An unforgettable night in many ways, by the way.
Even if Minho missed his old apartment, this new one already started to feel like home. He was sure that that had to do with the apartment itself, but mostly with the boy by his side, the one that could make him feel like home everywhere.

When he closed the fridge, the sound of the doorbell rang through the apartment. Who would visit them on a Friday evening?

“Did you invite Felix?”
The younger shook his head.
The elder shrugged and went to open the door.

“Good evening. Are you Lee Minho?”, a man with a tablet in his hand asked.
Insurance agents? At this time? And three of them? That was insolence!
Minho was about to close the door in front of the men’s face when the one in the front pulled an ID card out of his jacket.
“Agent Kim Seonho, OSC (offline system control). It’s about you and your assigned partner. Unfortunately an error occurred at the data center. I am here to tell you that you and your current partner are not a perfect match. It was a mistake, you are not supposed to live together with each other. Of course we will take care of it. The responsible persons already deal with the consequences of it."

I know, y'all already know this part, but well, this is the beginning of our second book. Fasten your seat belts, it will be (partly) a rough ride!