After his disaster date yesterday, Sohal felt relieved to have a day off to spend catching up with his old friend, Asa. It had been almost a year since the two last saw each other. A year that flew so fast but at the same time made their last meeting felt like it was much longer than that. Work had been so busy ever since he got that promotion.

Asa reached out first and the two agreed to meet up at the park. The weather was gorgeous, which was a rare sight for this time of year. The sun was shining and there were only a few people walking around the park. It was the perfect spot to sit and relax.

The two boys sat on the park bench with coffees in their hands. Every so often, Sohal nodded along as Asa told him the story of what happened to him last summer.

“And that was how I ended up in the hospital with a fish duct-taped to my leg while completely naked.” Asa smiled from ear to ear as if he was proud of what happened.

“How are you even alive right now?” Sohal’s eyes felt ready to pop out of his head after hearing such a wild story. A part of him wished his life was more exciting, but then he remembered how his date with Tara went and decided he was better off without.

“Ha! I’m just really lucky. You should’ve seen Emari. They were freaked out.”

“Huh?” Sohal blinked as he tried to recall the name. “Who’s that?” 

“Oh, they’re my partner,” Asa said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Did you break up with Halley already?”

“Nope.” He happily sipped on his drink oblivious to Sohal’s confused expression.

“What? Then what happened to her? She’s not dead, is she?”

“No, she’s not dead. I’ve just got two partners now.”

“Wait, isn’t that illegal?” Sohal raised an eyebrow. He knew that Asa was more experienced than him, but he was jealous that Asa could find not just one partner but two. Sohal could barely find anyone that he liked, much less anyone he wanted to date.

“Only if I try to marry both of them.” Asa took a sip of his drink, clearly unphased about the notion of dating two people at once. “Otherwise, it’s all fine.”

“W-what about living together? The government only gives spaces to pre-approved couples and families. They won’t even let you get a space that’s larger than needed.”

“Well, we’re not at the ‘moving in’ stage yet,” Asa said with a shrug. “If we do go in that direction then we’ll figure it out. I trust you enough that you won’t turn me in, right?”

“I don’t know, Asa…”

“Sohal, there’s nothing wrong with living my life and having fun, right?” Asa put a hand on Sohal’s shoulder. “Come on, we’re friends.”

“I’ll just… pretend I don’t know anything.” Sohal sat there for a moment, taking small sips of his coffee. “How… did you even find people that were...? You know...”

Asa glanced around the area before leaning in closer towards Sohal. His hands gripped the edges of his coffee cup tighter. Sohal could tell that Asa was anxious about something. This kind of sudden change of behavior was uncharacteristic for him.

“So… there’s this place,” Asa paused, looking behind his shoulder again.

“Yeah…?”

“It’s a place where you can meet as many people as you want without having to jump through hoops or pay extra money for features like premium. You won’t have to sit around, waiting for matches either. You can just go there and meet people whenever.”

“So… it’s like Fated but in real life?”

“I guess you could say that.”

“But didn’t you meet Halley at Fated?”

“Yeah but honestly she hates it, too. Which is why we went to Vein.” Asa snapped his fingers. “How about I take you sometime? Maybe a change of scenery is what you need. Even if you don’t find a partner there, you’ll at least find some new friends. You in?”

“Yeah… I suppose so.”

“I’ll text you the details later then. Just keep it hush hush, alright? Trying to keep it under tight wraps. Don’t want the authorities to find it.”

Sohal could feel his mind slipping away into chaotic thoughts as he tried to process what Asa just told him. The way Asa had put it, it sounded dangerous. Illegal. Immoral.

Despite the nagging feeling in his mind telling him to just forget everything he learned, there was a part of him that wondered if he’d have better luck finding a partner there. For the past two years, he thought Fated was his only option, but what if it wasn’t?