Gold and Silver; made for each other

---

 

 

 

The first town they reached was just outside the palace, and Donghae sincerely hoped that it was in the worst situation, compared to other towns. There was a depression evident in everyone’s faces, which the four had gotten used to seeing in the past few years. But never had they been forced to study them closely in the hopes of trying to see the solution linked to the problem. Never had they been hit with the full force of how tragic it really was.

 

The group asked around for some details on exactly when the powers started to fade, yet few people were actively trying to help. They were so used to being immersed in sorrow and hopelessness every day, they had given up on the possibility of things returning to what they used to be like.

 

Even Kai shook his head. He did get some people to open up to him, but they didn’t have any useful information anyways.

 

The four agreed to keep on going and not waste any time here. When it was night, they would find a temporary place to stay, be it a lodging, a cave, or an old temple built for their one Creator. In the day, they would travel further and further away from the Empire palace, pleased to see the problem of disappearing powers getting less severe with the distance they moved, but frustrated that they still had no clue on the cause or solution.

 

Their spirits diminished with time. It seemed like they were going nowhere after a whole six months.

 

Then, they came to their first lake.

 

There were only two main lakes in the Haedal Empire that required a ship to get across. The others were all small rivers, easily crossed by walking or swimming. Donghae was the most eager to surround himself with nothing but water on all four sides, lifting the group’s mood for the first time in weeks. The next ship would depart in a few hours, so they had some time to kill by the beach.

 

Donghae ran like a little kid into the waters, shouting and kicking with his bare feet. He opened his arms, feeling the swoosh of wind dancing around every inch of his body, and screamed when he was picked up from behind and thrown -first into the water.

 

The redhead backed away onto the shore, clutching his stomach and doubling over in laughter.

 

Donghae made a sound of protest, swearing for his revenge, and began to chase Hyukjae along the whole length of the beach before he grabbed him and pushed him into the water also.

 

A few meters away, Kai rolled his eyes and lay down to sunbathe. He had wanted to go into the water too, but a look from Hyukjae told him that he had to stay and try to make things better with Taemin. The other two had watched them interact tensely everyday for the past months, and it was becoming unbearable for everyone. He didn’t expect Taemin to also lie down beside him, as he had guessed that the reason for his pale complexion was due to a dislike for the sun.

 

“I thought you would hide beneath an umbrella or something.” He questioned.

 

“I have nothing to hide, Jongin. Unlike someone else.” Taemin retorted.

 

“How many times have I told you? It’s Kai. And just because you saw me dealing drugs that one time, doesn’t mean I kept on doing it. Those were desperate times. It’s not like you haven’t done anything you’ve regretted.” He put both hands behind his head and closed his eyes.

 

Taemin tilted his head to peer towards the fitter boy, who was putting down all his guard in this moment under the sun. Being born and raised inside the palace, Taemin was taught from a young age what was right and what was wrong. But, his views changed in the months he spent with Kai, and he decided that nothing could be solely labeled as being ‘wrong’. There were more factors to consider; the most important thing wasn’t what happened, it was what would happen afterwards.

 

He put his head back and closed his eyes too, but not before he caught a glimpse of two entwined figures falling into the lake.

 

Ah, young love.

 

Bubbles rose from Donghae’s opened mouth underwater in his attempt to scold Hyukjae for making them fall again. By the time they untangled themselves and stood up, both were drenched from head to toe.

 

“Ok, let’s stop now. Don’t spend all of our energy before we even get on the ship.” Hyukjae put up a hand, palm facing the shorter boy, before moving it to his shirt.

 

“W-what are you doing?” Donghae stuttered, his eyes not knowing where to look.

 

“My shirt is wet.” Hyukjae replied matter-of-factly. He lay down on the sand, propping himself up with his elbows, letting sunlight coat every edge of his bare upper body.

 

He had absolutely no idea of the redness starting to colour the brunette’s cheeks. Or the way a pair of eyes raked over his body, drinking in the smoothly defined muscles, following a single drop of liquid on its way down a slope.

 

“I’m going to get some water.” Donghae announced, and escaped before he got a nosebleed.

 

Back on the sand, Hyukjae’s eyes remained closed, but the corner of his plump lips curved upwards into a full grin.

 

 

☾☼ 

 

 

Once they had crossed the lake, the atmosphere on the other side was remarkably different. The four walked through town for a while, before they realised that the thing they saw here, which they hadn’t seen for a while, was hope. The people were expecting something.

 

Kai caught a passing man and greeted him, introducing the group as having come a long distance to get here.

 

“So, what’s the occasion? Why is everyone so excited?” He asked.

 

“Oh, welcome! We’re having our annual lantern festival tonight, so make sure you’re out on the streets to have fun. There’s also a belief that if you set off a lantern at midnight with your wishes written on it, then the Creator will make it come true!” The man smiled warmly at them, raising alarms in Kai.

 

“If you don’t mind me asking, are the powers of your townspeople still stable? Have they not decreased at all?”

 

“Well, I’ve heard that there have been some people who said their powers are getting more and more tiring to use, but what does that have to do with anything?”

 

“It was just a random question.” Donghae jutted in. “Thank you for welcoming us. We will definitely be celebrating the festival.” He led the group away.

 

“Something’s suspicious.” Kai declared. “There’s nothing different about this town, but why is everyone so positive? It’s like they don’t even care that their powers will eventually disappear.”

 

“I think you’ve been studying the mindset of the depressed citizens too much, Kai.” Hyukjae said. “You’re starting to think like them. You’ve got to remember that being negative and pessimistic is not the norm. Just because that’s all we’ve seen, doesn’t mean it should be like that.”

 

“Hyukjae’s right.” Taemin agreed as well. “This might be the first, or the only town that hasn’t reached that state yet, so it’s our biggest hope. If we find out how they’ve managed to maintain their positivity, maybe we can find a way to restore normal use of powers in the empire.”

 

“It’s settled then. We won’t travel further- we’ll stay in this town and see what we find.” Donghae decided. “Let’s have a rest from our trip across the lake, and go to this lantern festival tonight!”

 

Hyukjae scoffed at the childishness coming out in Donghae. Though to be honest, he too had missed the sight of happy people, who weren’t living miserably from losing their powers. And about that belief with the lanterns granting a wish…

 

Hyukjae always thought that those types of things were just myths. But if you believed in them, truly believed with all your faith, then you might be rewarded with it becoming a reality.

 

 

☾☼ 

 

 

“Hyukjae! Look!” The redhead followed the arm, which was pointing towards a performer breathing fire, and chuckled. He searched around for the other two, but they had gone off on their own. Taking his gaze back, he watched the brunette put a whole sugared hawthorn into his mouth, pulling it off the end of the stick, then smiling contentedly with eyes closed at the crunchy deliciousness.

 

“Is it really that good?” The shorter boy was making it seem too appetizing.

 

Donghae the next one like it was a lollipop, and replied, “Yes. You should really try one.”

 

But Hyukjae was no longer focused on the treat. He averted his gaze from the pink tongue, walking forward hastily. “No thanks. I don’t like sweet things, anyways.”

 

The brunette hesitated from the other’s sudden distantness, but being the goldfish he was, immediate caught his attention on something else.

 

“Hyukjae! Hyukjae! Look! It’s a crystal statue of our Creator! He’s got everything that the books say he has- shoulder-length wavy hair, pink on his eyelids, scarlet lips…. Hyukjae, can you buy this for me? Please?” Donghae held up the statue excitedly, turning it upside down to examine the details, and smiled wider at all the careful components.

 

“Where’s your own money? Wait, no, let me guess. You forgot to bring it?” Hyukjae judged him disapprovingly, but his hand reached inside his pocket to pull out some money with unbelievable naturalness.

 

“Yay! Thanks Hyukjae! You’re the best!” Donghae carefully put the statue into his own bag, then threw his arms around Hyukjae, thanking him with a hug.

 

“You are so sweet, to take your boyfriend out on a date, and then buy him a present.” The old grandma behind the table beamed at the pair after taking Hyukjae’s money.

 

 “Oh, no… we’re not…” Donghae looked desperately to Hyukjae for help.

 

“Thank you.” Hyukjae smiled towards the elder. “I can’t exactly say no when he wants something this bad.”

 

Now Donghae was sporting a full-on blush, and he abruptly dragged Hyukjae away from the little shop to avoid the grandma’s staring.

 

“Why did you say that!” Donghae blamed him. “She’ll have the wrong impression of us now!”

 

“Well, I didn’t lie.” Hyukjae shrugged, maintaining eye contact with the brunette.

 

“Yes, you did!”

 

“No I didn’t. Are you a boy?” Hyukjae asked.

 

Donghae knew where he was going with this. “Yes, but-”

 

“Are you my friend?” Hyukjae continued.

 

“Well, yes, but-”

 

“Then it’s settled. I didn’t lie.”

 

“-But I’m not your boyfriend!” Donghae felt his eyes getting wetter. His snack had slipped out of his hands, but he didn’t notice.

 

Hyukjae stayed silent. He just stared into those warm brown eyes. Then his voice dropped an octave lower. “Is it because you don’t want to be?”

 

No. No, this was going too fast for him.

 

“Hyukjae… I only saw us as-”

 

“It’s ok. I get it.” The redhead’s expression tightened. Disappointment clouded his senses.

 

“No, you don’t understand-”

 

“What is there to understand? That I was an idiot for ever thinking that the almighty Crown Prince would ever associate himself with a… person like me?” Hyukjae laughed at the brick wall in front of him, having turned 90 degrees from his previous position of facing Donghae.

 

He couldn’t see Donghae’s face, but Donghae could see his. Hyukjae’s side profile sagged down from lack of self-esteem. His single eyelids covered almost half of his eyes.

 

“It’s not that. It’s just…” Donghae trailed off. That was a mistake.

 

“See, you can’t even bring yourself to say it. It’s alright. Actually, it’s better this way. Because what kind of boyfriend would I be, if I couldn’t even go to my boyfriend’s birthday dinner just because of the way I was dressed? What kind of boyfriend would I be, who likes that these diamonds or crystals or whatever make you happy, but I don’t ing understand any of the histories because I’ve never read a book in my life?”

 

Donghae’s face felt wet. And cold.

 

“Just… forget I said anything. I’m going to go back now. See you tomorrow, Donghae.”

 

The redhead began to walk away. It wasn’t until he nearly disappeared from his sight, that Donghae found his speech and movement again.

 

“Wait, Hyukjae-”

 

“NO!”

“Donghae!”

 

A flash so bright, he thought this was it. He’d either go blind, or die.

 

But what came more instantly, even more unexpectedly, was the water. Like someone had poured a whole bucket of water over his head.

 

Donghae wiped some off his eyes with the back of his hand so he could see again. In front of him, a few meters away, was Hyukjae. His hand was outstretched, a horrified expression on his face, and the pose urgently reminded Donghae of something he knew.

 

Then it clicked. That was the exact same pose he had five years ago, when he had stunned the boy who was going to attack Hyukjae. He had shot out lightning from his very fingertips…

 

Donghae’s eyes widened, mirroring Hyukjae’s. The water… where did it come from? Was it maybe… Hyukjae?

 

“Hey, kid, you’re not allowed to step pass this boundary. Ok?” It was the man breathing fire from before. “You’re lucky that one over there knows water, or else your head would be burnt to a crisp right now!” Some people laughed, and the tension from the almost-disaster was mostly gone.

 

He saw something flash in Hyukjae’s eyes. But before he could do anything else, the redhead bolted, leaving him alone and dripping wet.

 

Donghae had never been more shocked and confused.

 

But first, he needed to find Hyukjae.

 

 

☾☼ 

 

 

He found him sitting on the grassy bank behind their temporary lodging. Hyukjae’s wine-coloured hair lifted softly in the night breeze, the moonlight casting oversized shadows behind the figure with his arms wrapped around his legs. It was a peaceful sight. Unbelievably sad, but calm at the same time.

 

Donghae carefully stepped next to him and sat down too. He expected the redhead to return his gaze when he turned his head to look at him, but instead of dark eyes, he only saw that angular jawline, tilted upwards towards the sky.

 

He was looking at the moon.

 

“I was born in a temple.” Hyukjae murmured.

 

Donghae fixed his stare on a stray flower in front, listening attentively.

 

“There was only one old midwife, who stayed with my mother because she pitied her. There was nobody else there. Just us three.”

 

The flower swayed back and forth in the wind. It was listening, too.

 

“My mother was abandoned by my father because… she was accused of cheating on him. In the time period that I was predicted to have been conceived, my father was away from home. So they accused her of cheating.”

 

The swaying became more violent. Donghae wondered if it would break off and blow away.

 

“Then they kicked her out and left her on the streets to fend for herself. If she didn’t find an elderly couple who let her stay, she would be… I wouldn’t be…”

 

The wind stopped. Hyukjae’s tears were finally able to fall vertically.

 

“She found a broken loom and fixed it herself. All those years, she used the money made from weaving clothes to keep me alive. She would never lie to me, Donghae. She told me that she didn’t cheat. So she didn’t.”

 

Donghae wanted to put an arm around the other. He held himself back in fear that it would stop him from talking.

 

“All my life, all I ever wanted was to make her life less uncomfortable. I fought with others, stole sometimes, just so that I could put one more piece of bread on the table.”

 

He suddenly looked at Donghae. The pain in his eyes was heartbreaking. “But you wouldn’t understand that. Your life is the complete opposite of mine. How could I ever think of trying to get colours from mixing black and white?”

 

Donghae’s heart throbbed dully. They weren’t that different. If only Hyukjae knew.

 

“That’s why, I didn’t want to get involved with a royal. Someone who wouldn’t understand what I went through. But you were so persistent… No, it was my fault. I should never have agreed to you in the first place. It would have saved me all this… pain.”

 

Donghae couldn’t hold back any longer. “Hyukjae, I’ve heard your story. Now, you listen to mine. Because we are similar in ways you wouldn’t believe.”

 

Hyukjae wiped the last of his tears away. Then he stared at Donghae’s unusual seriousness.

 

“My father- the Emperor- loved my mother very much. So much that he never touched her because she ‘wasn’t ready’.”

 

Hyukjae’s eyes widened. “But you-”

 

“Before she became a concubine, my mother was a courtesan. She was one of the most famous courtesans in the red house, and had someone whom she loved, who wasn’t my father.”

 

Donghae paused, all the memories coming back to him.

 

“My father loved her very much, and promised her a comfortable life in the palace, although she couldn’t be Empress. My mother told me that the one she loved also supported this decision, because he himself wasn’t wealthy enough to get her out of the red house. When my mother became pregnant… everyone who knew about her history doubted her faithfulness, and many tried to find a way to kill me because of that.”

 

Hyukjae edged closer to the brunette. He wanted him to stop talking, to stop experiencing the hurt all over again, but he knew that Donghae needed to speak it all out.

 

“My father kept his word though. He made sure that she was well protected, and I was born unharmed. He knew that whoever my father was, it wasn’t him, but love can really make you do incredible things sometimes. He accepted me as his own, and even gave me this title, just because I was her child.”

 

Donghae gave a small smile.

 

“I trust my mother wholeheartedly too. So if both our mothers didn’t lie to us, then we both don’t have a father.”

 

“But… how is that even possible? Isn’t a man and a women both needed for… babies… to be born?” Hyukjae faltered midsentence, slightly embarrassed to be discussing this topic with Donghae.

 

“Yes, but… I don’t know either. I’m just saying, though, that it’s scary how similar we are, if you look at it in this way too.”

 

Hyukjae fell silent. He thought about their shared ability of flying, and then remembered his newly discovered power of water. It was strange; most people discovered any powers they had before they were five. He had never heard of someone gaining a power after eight, let alone eighteen years of age. Donghae was the only exception.

 

Donghae noticed the redhead’s uncertainty as the other looked at his own hands, and guessed that he was probably thinking about his newfound powers.

 

Suddenly, something gleamed in Hyukjae’s hair and Donghae doubted if it was the moonlight playing tricks on his eyes. He leaned closer, his head above Hyukjae’s own head that was hanging low, and confirmed his suspicions.

 

“Your hair is silver!” He exclaimed.

 

Hyukjae lifted his head swiftly in reflex, knocking into Donghae’s chin and earning cries of pain from both of them.

 

“I’m sorry!” Hyukjae rushed, rubbing his own head sheepishly. “My hair… is actually silver. My mother said that it would attract lots of unwanted attention, since most hair colours around us were black and brown, so she made me some hair dye to cover it up. She said that red would cover silver up the best.”

 

Donghae was so excited he could jump up and run around in circles. But first, he tested his jaw to make sure he could still talk properly. “That’s unbelievable! I mean, there are cases of people getting unusual hair colours, so it’s believable, but the unbelievable thing is that I’ve found another similarity between us!”

 

“You don’t mean-”

 

“My hair colour is also not naturally brown. My hair colour is actually… why don’t you guess?” The playfulness came back to the eighteen year old, and his eyes sparkled with anticipation.

 

“Is it… blue?” Hyukjae tried weakly.

 

Donghae frowned in disappointment, though it passed quickly. “No, it’s gold! Well, kind of a metallic blonde, but I think it’s gold. My father told me to dye it a normal colour so that I could be closer to the citizens of the Empire.”

 

Both boys peered upwards at each other’s hair, a feeling stirring in their chests at the number of unpredicted parallels they shared. Even though no one said anything about it, neither believed that it was all just one big coincidence.

 

A veil of guilt covered Hyukjae’s face and his head dropped. “About what I said before… I’m sorry.” He hadn’t given Donghae a chance to speak before those words came out.

 

“No, it’s ok.” Donghae put his hand over the other’s, feeling the cool grass underneath both their fingers. Hyukjae’s hand twitched, but he didn’t move away.

 

“If I didn’t want to be associated with you, do you think I would have asked you to travel with me? Do you think I would have asked you to come to my birthday celebration, where all my family would be there?” The brunette explained. Hyukjae felt even more guilty.

 

Donghae quickly changed to a softer tone. “But it’s my fault too. I shouldn’t have given you that impression. The truth is…”

 

Hyukjae waited. After nothing followed, he lifted his head and Donghae’s enlarged face came into view. They were too close.

 

“You can’t just… ask me like that. There was no warning.” The tips of his ears were burning red, visible under the moonlight.

 

“Are you prepared now, then?” Hyukjae’s hand flipped over, clutching Donghae’s in a tight grasp.

 

Donghae’s heart skipped a beat. He opened his mouth reply, but no words came out. Just as he was about to nod, something caught his attention in the distance, and he sprung up, taking Hyukjae along with him.

 

“They’ve started lighting the lanterns! Come on, if we hurry, we can still make a wish in time!”

 

The two ran towards the bank of the lake, where everyone was currently crowded around, and bought two lanterns in haste. Donghae asked a little girl nearby if he could borrow her pens, then stuffed one into Hyukjae’s hand, urging him to write his wish quickly before the countdown started. A few scribbles from Donghae and some neat characters from Hyukjae later, the first of twelve chimes started to reverberate over their heads.

 

“What did you wish for?” Hyukjae asked, his hand finding its way back to link with Donghae’s.

 

“I wished for us to find a way to complete our mission,” Donghae replied, their fingers interweaving. “So that we can go home soon.”

 

Hyukjae hummed, understanding Donghae’s nostalgia.

 

“What did you wish for?” the question was directed back.

 

“I wished for… the same thing.” Hyukjae chuckled. “But I also added a bit at the end.”

 

“What did you add?”

 

Hyukjae only smiled, lifting his glowing lantern into the air. Donghae followed his motion, and on the twelfth chime, they let go together.

 

Above them, the velvet night sky was no longer embellished with only the twinkling of stars. Thousands of lanterns spread across the visible space, rising steadily into the clouds, where hopefully, they would be answered by someone.

 

The night breeze sent shivers through Donghae’s body, yet the soothing warmth that dissolved into his hand turned chilliness into excitement. Even though the walk back to their lodging was mostly in silence, the thoughts that they were both deeply immersed in were about each other.

 

Reaching the door to their room, which all four boys were sharing, Hyukjae stopped and paused. Instead of letting things happen as they did, he decided that life was too short to not follow your feelings once in a while. Even if those feelings did not originate from a rational source.

 

“Do you want to know what I added onto my lantern?” He said, his voice low, not giving anything away.

 

“Yes.” Donghae replied in a similar low voice.

 

Hyukjae led him down the hallway, past a couple more rooms, and finally stopped at one with dusty handles. After checking inside to confirm that this room wasn’t already occupied, he held the door open with one hand, beckoning the brunette to go in.

 

Donghae cocked his head to the side, but after seeing Hyukjae’s indescribable stare, he shuffled inside the small room containing one double bed.

 

Donghae wasn’t naïve. He had felt a weirdness coming from Hyukjae all night, and now, alone with him in this almost cramped room, Donghae wished desperately to not embarrass himself, at the very least.

 

Hyukjae locked the door behind him, then stepped in front of Donghae. The half-a-head-shorter boy succeeded in looking everywhere but the other’s face, until his chin was caught by a large hand and brought to face the redhead.

 

Donghae closed his eyes in desperation, which he regretted almost instantly. His other senses were magnified to make up for his loss of sight, and he was sure that his cheeks were definitely aglow from the sound of heavy breaths in his ear, the familiar scent in his nose, and the soft puffs of air that landed on his lips.

 

“Wait,” Donghae let go of Hyukjae’s hand and pushed him lightly. “I’m not as… experienced as you probably are. Just give me a second.”

 

He wanted to be alone for a moment so he could calm down as much as possible, but there wasn’t even a bathroom in the tiny room. Just a double bed, a bedside table, and a closet. Donghae was not going to climb into the closet.

 

He missed the way Hyukjae’s fingers curled at the loss of contact, and the frustration that was tinted in his eyes. “Experienced? If anything, you know more than me- you’re the one who read all those books.”

 

The brunette shook his head. “No. Well… I might have read about it, but…. No.” His eyes darted left and right, not knowing where to put his hands. It wasn’t an exaggeration- he actually couldn’t remember the position his hands were normally in. It was one of the worst things to be self-aware of situations you never took notice of before.

 

“It’s ok,” Hyukjae stepped forward, trapping Donghae between him and the wall. “We can learn about it together, then.”

 

Donghae still wanted to protest, but his lips were denied the chance to speak as a set of plumper ones pressed softly upon them.

 

Hyukjae drew back slightly, his eyes unfocused from their proximity. “Will you learn with me?” He breathed onto Donghae’s lips.

 

The brunette understood everything that was in those five words. It wasn’t just asking him to be a reckless teenager for a night, where they would pretend nothing happened in the morning. There was something else in there; something much more rare; something that propelled Donghae forward and gave him the courage to close the meager gap between them again.

 

He couldn’t remember when their mouths opened to let the other in, or when they started on the other’s lips like it was an essential need. It felt like a lifetime, although it was too short, and the two boys panted harshly for much needed air in the seconds of rest they gave each other. Then lips latched onto lips again, and more fireworks exploded brilliantly behind closed eyelids, both their worlds consisting of nothing but the person holding them, kissing them, relishing them in the sweetest way possible.

 

He didn’t notice they had moved towards the bed until they were already on it, Hyukjae over him, fingers still tangled in his hair and lips still working wonders to his own ones. Donghae gasped loudly when the redhead finally let go of his swollen lips, only to move downwards and kiss a trail down his jaw, over his Adam’s apple, all the way to his collarbones.

 

“You are so beautiful,” he whispered to the smooth skin dipping low then curving back up.

 

Donghae’s lips trembled. “Hyukjae… Hyuk…”

 

Without warning, the redhead sank his teeth lightly into the flesh he had been tasting earlier, closing his lips around the area and marking Donghae as his own. “Say that again.” He demanded.

 

“Ah… H-Hyuk… please….”

 

Satisfied with his artwork, Hyukjae began to Donghae’s shirt, not expecting to be stopped by the person below.

 

“No… you first.” Hooded eyes peered up at him.

 

Hyukjae chuckled, grabbing the collar of his shirt with both hands and pulling it off in one take. Donghae felt something stir from the unbelievably hot motion, then quickly gasped when his own chest was met with cool air. Hyukjae placed his hands at Donghae’s sides, just above his waistband, rubbing circles around the protruding bones to elicit moans that would be inevitably muffled by his own mouth.

 

“Do you trust me?” Hyukjae murmured, aware of the exaggerated rising and falling motion of the other’s chest.

 

“Or do you want me to trust you?” The redhead asked again when there was no response.

 

The truth was, Donghae had forgotten how to speak from the last few minutes, when all his tongue had done was to be on and devoured.

 

The brunette crossed his hands behind the other’s neck, bringing him down again. “I trust you.” He smiled into the kiss, anticipation doing backflips in his stomach and heart.

 

The sky outside was quiet, dotted with wish-carrying lanterns floating higher and higher.

 

Inside the room, endless grunts and moans filled the limited space, making even the listening birds blush.

 

Tonight was destined to be a dreamless night.

 

 

☾☼ 

 

 

 

“How did this happen? How did you let it happen? Are you blind or do you just spend all of your time doing your hair and makeup?”

 

“This is natural beauty, Bora, don’t be jealous of me. And the one who should be blamed is you. You’re the one who’s closer to them, I had to come down all the way from the sky whereas you were just a second away, in the ocean.”

 

“You know very well that it takes the same amount of time for me to come up and you to come down, Heechul. This is your fault as much as mine. Well, what are we supposed to do now?”

 

Of all the things Hyukjae expected to be woken by, it was not two blurry figures at the foot of their bed, fire emanating from their eyes and voices. In his arms, Donghae stirred, and screamed shortly when he noticed the two as well. He couldn’t be blamed- they were both still after all.

 

“Who are you?” Hyukjae asked carefully. He had a feeling that they weren’t just random people who accidentally came into their room. Glancing to the side, he saw that the lock was still on. Did these people know how to teleport?

 

“You don’t need to know, monkey. You should be the one answering my question. How dare you tarnish my cute little Donghae?” The one named Heechul reminded Hyukjae of something, but he couldn’t pinpoint it. He had just gone to sleep an hour ago, and the exhaustion made him a bit slow.

 

“He is not a monkey, you condescending . He is a phoenix, the first in the world, and he’s the one tarnished by your stupid bird.” Bora’s eyes narrowed in distaste toward Donghae, who instinctively recoiled from the unpleasantness coming from the beautiful woman with ebony waves.

 

Hyukjae’s eyes focused a bit more and found that he wasn’t able to see the two figures clearly, no matter how hard he tried. He could distinguish their overall shape and build, but it was as if everything about them was filtered so that if you took your eyes off, there was no way you remembered what they looked like.

 

“Well my ‘stupid’ bird is smarter than your monkey. Wait, he’s not a bird. He is a dragon, the first in the world, and he was supposed to make everything right again.” With these words, Heechul glared at Hyukjae again, as if blaming him for hindering Donghae’s progress in ‘making everything right’.

 

The redhead felt the brunette tense up, and turned his head to check if he was ok. He gasped in surprise at the golden shine of the other’s hair, which caused Donghae to gasp the same way in return at Hyukjae’s wispy silver hair.

 

Bang!

 

The door burst open and through it, Kai fell forward, followed by Taemin with an unreadable expression on his face. Donghae recognized it to be the one he had whenever he caught Donghae stealing sweets from the kitchen cupboards, when they were little. It always made Donghae feel guilty, although he didn’t know why he should be feeling guilty right now.

 

Oh wait. He was lying in bed with Hyukjae. .

 

The blushing brunette- no, golden blonde- pulled the cover up as much as he could to hide what he could, but it was no use. Taemin continued to judge him through his eyes, and Kai’s mouth opened so wide it nearly touched the floor.

 

“Hi Kai. Hi Taemin.” Hyukjae greeted nonchalantly.

 

“What are you doing?! Why is your hair like that? You two disappeared for the whole night, and then we heard a scream from somewhere around here so we came to check, and you’re…” Kai swung his hands around, incredulous. “And who are these two? What are they doing here? What the is going on?”

 

“Well, Jongin, I thought you’d be smarter than this. It’s why I allowed you to stay by Hyukjae and help him. But if you need the situation explained, Hyukjae and Donghae spent the night together. So they’re together now, as much as we dislike it.” Bora muttered the last half-line. “And for us… I suppose it wouldn’t do anyone harm to know. I am Bora, goddess of the sea. This is Heechul, goddess of the sky.”

 

“ you, Bora. I’ve told you before, I’m not a goddess. I’m the god AND goddess of the sky.” Heechul threw her a dirty look.

 

Bora laughed, and everyone except for Heechul was momentarily dazed by her smile. “Gods don’t have gender, Heechul. It’s just a title. And you’re only half in charge of the sky.”

 

“Who’s the other half then?” Donghae spoke for the first time that morning, if his scream didn’t count as speech. “Also, what you two said about what Hyukjae and I are…. is it true?”

 

“Yes.” Bora replied. She saw no reason why their creations should still be kept in the dark about their origins. “Hyukjae, eighteen years ago, I created you. The waves that Donghae is named after… they actually happened because I gave you some of my powers of the sea.”

 

There wasn’t a sound in the room. All four humans were trying to process the information. Heechul was boredly checking his reflection in a mirror.

 

“My dearest brother here created Donghae on the same night. So much for adoring him, only to give him a little spark to celebrate his birth.”

 

“Hey! It was lightning, not a spark! Donghae, zap her for being rude to me. Ugh, the worst thing about being siblings is that you’re not allowed to fight each other.”

 

“Wait… if you two are brother and sister, and created Donghae and Hyukjae respectively, then doesn’t that mean that this is…” Everyone looked to Taemin, who paused before uttering the last word.

 

“…?”

 

This time, Heechul laughed along with Bora who had tears in her eyes.

 

“Oh, Taemin. We created them, not gave birth to them. Do you think that they are the only humans we’ve ever created? They are the only ones who were created for an unusual purpose, which was to…” Bora trailed off. The gravity of the situation came back to the two gods.

 

“Which was to find a solution for the humans’ fading powers.” Heechul finished for her. “The Creator told us that something like this would happen, and said that we only need to create two humans with this purpose in mind, then it will all be solved. But now that you two have gotten so sidetracked, what’s going to happen to your species?”

 

“Wait, so… you two aren’t the Creator?” Kai asked.

 

“No. Humans have mistakened my brother as the Creator, and even made statues and drawings of him, but the Creator has been gone for a long time now. We’re just his descendants. Our job was to make sure the humans were ok. Not watch our creations, who were supposed to help us in this, fall in love with each other.”

 

Hyukjae tightened his arm around Donghae. No matter who tried to get in between them, be it humans or even gods, he would try his hardest to stay by the other.

 

There was a flash, temporarily blinding the humans, and it faded to reveal another man standing beside Heechul. Hyukjae finally understood how he had woken up to find the two trespassers in the room with the door still locked.

 

The newcomer had softer features than the two gods, although it was clear that he, too, was one of them. He stared at Heechul and Bora as if he was talking to them, but his lips stayed shut and no sound came out. Donghae realised that they were communicating with their minds.

 

Seconds later, the eyebrows of the two ‘goddesses’ smoothed out, and they looked relieved.

 

“I’ll take care of this.” The third god told them. Heechul and Bora nodded, circling the bed to kiss their respective creations on the forehead, then disappeared in another intense white light.

 

“I am Leeteuk, god of the sky, where I rule together with Heechul. I would like to thank you two for solving the problem regarding the power of humans, and wish you all the best in all your lives.”

 

Donghae and Hyukjae widened their eyes in confusion, simultaneously. “But we didn’t do anything!”

 

Kai and Taemin were also puzzled. “How are the humans going to get their powers back?”

 

“They won’t.” the god simply replied. “Haven’t you realised that, for humans, physical powers are actually redundant? How many times do you truly use your powers, except for showing it off to people?”

 

The four sank into silence. It was true. Now that they thought about it, they used their powers little to never, and they still survived fine. So was that the answer?

 

“I still don’t get how we helped, though.” Donghae wondered. They did literally nothing, but a god was thanking them?

 

“You two helped to create a new power that will be passed down in all humans from now on. When we remake life, we will keep that power in mind, because it alone is strong enough to preserve humanity.”

 

“What’s that?” Hyukjae asked. But Leeteuk only smiled, and left in another blinding flash.

 

“Good job, phoenix and dragon.” His last words echoed off the walls of the tiny room.

 

The four friends looked at each other. Was this the end?

 

Donghae finally recovered from the shock of the visiting gods, and shrieked towards the standing pair before hiding underneath the covers. “Get out!”

 

Hyukjae laughed, indicating with his head the same order Donghae had given, then joined him under the covers.

 

Taemin and Kai left before they could be scarred even further.

 

Above them, Heechul returned his vision as he arrived back, pleased with how things had turned out.

 

“Are you going to be sad when they die?” Leeteuk appeared beside him.

 

“You are probably the best mood-ruiner in the world. No, in all the worlds.” Heechul rolled his eyes.

 

Looking below together, they watched as Donghae and Hyukjae grew older, taking over the Empire, until at last they left the world in one united flame.

 

Heechul wiped a tear from his eyes. He hated how the passing of time was different up here compared to down there. He hated how quickly Donghae and Hyukjae finished this lifetime.

 

“Hey, it’s ok,” reassured the one next to him. “They will be born again. It will be different, but the same things will repeat, and they will fall in love again.”

 

Heechul responded with an otherworldly smile. Yes, history would repeat itself, and they would be together again.

 

 

☾☼ 

 

 

Maybe after millions of years, when everything is different in the human world, most of humans’ powers will have weakened to the point that they are not identifiable anymore.

 

Maybe one day a baby will be born in Ilsan, who will later nickname himself Yoo Jihyuk, and six month later, another baby will be born in Mokpo, delivered with the help of his grandmother.

 

Even if they won’t have any memories of that very first lifetime, when they existed as mythical creatures to the people of today; even if they don’t remember when one was a prince and the other a commoner, travelling together across faraway places only to realize that their destination was the other.

 

The connection that exists between them will still be preserved. It will be acknowledged when two trainees overcome difficulties before debut through each other’s support. It will be witnessed when two idols fulfill their promise to enlist for their army services together.

 

As cheesy as it sounds, there is only one thing that can withstand the erosion of time.

 

And that, is the power of love.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

End. ☾☼