Short Stories- Kai ships only!

Sookai- My Last Hope

In the year 2052, Kai Huening had developed a one of a kind app.

Everyone had a chip in their body for health and security purposes. It was fairly simple. The chip went into the heart. Healthcare professionals could scan it to get an instant read on vitals. No more blood pressure tests, no more taking temperature, even some diseases could be detected with the chip. The patients medical history was all linked as well. All a doctor had to do was scan it and proceed to diagnose from there.

The police loved it too. They had a different access to the chip. The DNA portion. Crimes were getting solved at an exponential pace because of this. They didn't have access to any other medical records unless a judge signed a warrant on it. Conveniently, their criminal records were linked too. That's something the medical professionals couldn't access to avoid bias.

All of the chips had a unique code. It's like when you tap to pay with your electronic device. The actual information is stored in the database to the chip, but the code changes with each scan. The idea was to make it impossible to hack.

Kai Huening developed the only app in the world that could get access to the country's database. Every country had their own. Kai was only interested in his. He created it simply as a challenge to see if he could do it. MIT college classes were boring him. This was his fun little side project. Now he was one of the most powerful people in the world and no one knew.

He managed to keep it a secret for a long time. If it became public knowledge, the price for his head would be higher than app. He didn't want to think about what the government would do to him. Kai only used it to secretly screen his dates. He wanted to know if they were ex-cons or had a sexually transmitted disease. A shocking amount of his dates had one or the other.

One date he went on was with a guy named Soobin Choi. The date was fine. Nothing spectacular. He said yes to a second one, assuming they were both nervous. The guy was clean and hot so that was good enough for him.

On his way home, the world seemed to stop. He parked as quickly as he could. His head was pounding. He could barely walk. A cold sweat broke out on his body. He weakly begged for someone to call 9-1-1. A woman walking by, caught him before he passed out onto the pavement.

Kai woke up in the emergency room. He was told he eventually needed a kidney. Due to a birth defect, he only had one. It felt hopeless. His name was on the transplant list. Unfortunately, the number of donors was low thanks to the new chip. It was, by far, the worst side effect of the new technology. He hated his family members so asking them wasn't an option in his mind. None of his friends were a match which he illegally knew. But Soobin was.

In an incredibly selfish, desperate act, Kai started to plan a way to make Soobin fall in love with him. He was pretty low on the transplant list, but his biological clock was ticking. If Soobin fell in love with him, he had a chance to get a kidney before he died.

He left the hospital after his fever went down. The doctors gave him a bunch of medication to delay the inevitable. Kai took a couple of the pills with a bottle of water. This next date had to go well.

Two days later, they met at a cafe. Kai was nervous the first five minutes. He excused himself to go to the bathroom to calm down. Cold water ran through the faucet. He splashed his face a couple of times. That didn't work. He splashed a bit more then told himself to get a grip. After Kai dried himself with paper towels, he walked back to the table. "I'm sorry about that."

Soobin noticed his wet hair. He took a couple of napkins and started to dab them on Kai's hairline. He joked "am I really that scary?"

"No! I'm just that nervous..."

"Don't be. I think you're really cute." Soobin kissed his cheek then pushed Kai's drink over to him. "It's still warm. I tried a bit while you were gone."

"Hey! At least let me try yours then!" Kai reached for it but Soobin was faster. He laughed and kept trying. His date finally gave in. He took a sip of the warm beverage and hated it. "That is all yours."

Soobin smiled from ear to ear. "I was actually hoping you'd like it. I ordered it without knowing what the hell it was."

Kai drank half of his then pushed it across the table. "Here. Have the rest of mine."

"Thanks." Soobin took a sip. "So what do you like to do in your free time?"

Redness rose to his face. His hobbies embarrassed him. "Um... I love watching anime and playing video games. It's kind of lame, I know."

"Are you kidding?! I LOVE anime!"

They spent the next hour and a half geeking out about their favorite shows. Their tastes were the same. Kai finally had someone to share his knowledge with. Cutely, they argued over biases.

The manager politely asked them to leave so other customers could sit. They agreed to. Soobin offered his arm. Kai took it and they began to walk together. His apartment wasn't far away. Kai asked "do you want to come inside?"

Soobin excitedly nodded. They took the elevator up. The black haired 22 year old, gasped at how big the space was. It was easily double, maybe triple, the size of his little studio. Colorful posters were on most of the walls. Plushies laid on the couch. A giant pink penguin sat in the corner. He saw a couple of signed instruments hung in the dining room.

Kai showed him to his bedroom. It perfectly matched the rest of his house. There was a couch across from his bed with more plushies sitting on it. A drum set, a piano and a couple guitars laid across from the couch. Embarassed, Kai said "it's a lot of stuffed animals, I know. I've been meaning to get rid of them but lacked the time."

Soobin grinned. "It is a lot but I don't mind it. Your apartment is definitely big enough to house them."

"I'm planning on moving soon if I live long enough to be able to." Kai froze. He didn't mean to say that. "I mean, live through the finals I have coming up. Been a little stressed lately."

"Oh. Same. So do you have rich parents or something? I'm not judging, I just can't believe someone my age can afford a place like this!"

Kai walked back into the living room and sat in the couch. "Actually, I did this all on my own. Sold an app and a couple of software programs. I actually own this."

Envy rung in Soobin's voice. "Must be nice to buy everything you want." He could barely afford ramen. His date was paid for by his tip money. Now he was mildly offended his date didn't offer to pay for him.

Kai got really depressed. "Yeah, well. Some things money can't buy."

"What? Like happiness?"

Without missing a beat, Kai said "life." He looked up to see Soobin confused. "I meant... happines... yeah. That's what I meant."

Soobin was still confused as he watched Kai browse through his anime collection. That was the second time his date mentioned something relative to dying. He figured it was none of his business and ignored it. He snapped out of his jealousy and sat next to Kai on the floor. "Your DVD collection is impressive."

"Thanks..." Kai didn't bother to look at his date. He heard the attitude switch when he mentioned he was rich. "You don't need to stay with me. My financial status is clearly an issue. I'm sorry if I mislead you in anyway."

Soobin kissed his cheek again then held his hand. "It's not an issue. I had no right to act like that. I'm sorry."

Kai smiled then picked out an anime to watch. They sat through the first season together on the couch. They talked through the whole thing, enjoying being the biggest weebs with each other. It was easily the best date either of them have ever had. Kai found himself actually falling in love. He needed a kidney but guilt started to hang over his head.

At the end of the first season, they called it a night. Soobin asked if it was okay to kiss him. He got permission. The kiss was short but sweet. He drove back to his place really happy.

Before bed, Kai looked at his app and scanned himself. It read mostly normal with a slightly faster heartbeat. That was from the excitement of his date. He closed his eyes, hoping it would stay normal. He prayed for the one thing he couldn't buy. Time.