a/n: and here we are, at the final chapter of the book! thank you so much for coming this far reading the book <3

It’s awkward the first time they see each other again, when the group is gathered together to drink and their eyes meet.

They’re sitting across the table from one another, Siwon and Heechul. Siwon’s next to Hyukjae, who eats and drinks silently even though he understands everything. Heechul’s next to Jungsoo, who smiles and pretends not to notice the awkward situation.

And then Siwon smiles and calls Heechul ‘hyung’ and talks about the most random of topics and Heechul responds, and the awkwardness is present in the air and they can tell. Donghae looks up from his food and asks Hyukjae if anything happened and Hyukjae has to tell him that nothing’s wrong.

Jungsoo watches as surprise flits across Heechul’s face when Siwon speaks. He watches as Heechul’s expression morphs into one of friendly neutrality as he replies with his normal joking tone, although he can hear the slight awkwardness that tints it.

Jungsoo knows that there must be a million thoughts running through Heechul’s mind as he keeps up the joking smirk and responds to Siwon as naturally as he can. He can feel Heechul’s hand brush against his own uncertainly, and he holds it in secret, placing a smile on his own face to diffuse the tension.

Jungsoo looks across the table at Hyukjae, who stares back at him; then Donghae pipes up, noticing the slight awkwardness between Heechul and Siwon, and Hyukjae’s gaze averts direction as he assures Donghae that nothing happened.

Jungsoo watches as Siwon struggles to keep his bright smile up, and his heart and mind cries a little for the poor man, watching as the man he loved – loves? – sits across the table with someone who isn’t him; which subsequently causes a sense of guilt to hit him.

In the part of their stories where their chapters intertwined, two ended in a fairytale and the other ended in a hopeless tragedy.

Heechul is surprised when Siwon speaks to him, and he responds to the best of his ability; he’s aware that he can’t get rid of the slight awkwardness in his tone, and meeting Siwon’s eyes, he’s aware that the man isn’t completely comfortable either.

He brushes hands with Jungsoo and Jungsoo holds him to comfort him; it comforts him, yet sends guilt washing over him as he realizes why Siwon is so hurt in the first place. Donghae asks what’s wrong and Hyukjae takes his mind off it, and he shoots a small glance towards Hyukjae because he’s grateful.

He still doesn’t know if he’s made the right choice, but it’s too late to go back now, and – glancing sideways at Jungsoo – he realizes he’s being selfish, but he wouldn’t want to go back. He wants to continue being childish and selfish and live within the realms of his and Jungsoo’s fantasy for a long time more.

Siwon can still feel the pangs in his heart, and he surprises himself by calling Heechul’s name. He forces himself to make small conversation with his hyung, ignoring his foolish heart driving him insane.

He wants to escape his twisted fantasy, the world that has only him wandering alone now, so he forces back the stinging tears in his eyes and continues to make conversation with a smile on his face. Perhaps it would have been easier if Heechul hadn’t been sitting with Jungsoo right next to him, but he realizes that there’s nothing he could do about it.

He knows it’s never been his choice; that even if he forgave Heechul, begged him to stay beside him, Heechul would have chosen Jungsoo anyway.

So he forces a smile onto his face, and across from him he can see Heechul doing the same as him. Donghae asks if something’s happened between them and he panics slightly, but Hyukjae says no and Donghae keeps quiet; he taps Hyukjae’s hand lightly in a form of gratitude, and Hyukjae only offers him a small, sad smile.

Hyukjae watches them from the perspective of an outsider, his eyes roaming over the three of them clearly – Jungsoo, Heechul, Siwon. Prince Charming and Cinderella, and the one who was never written into their fairytale.

They’re all smiling and laughing, and no one else at the table seems to doubt anything until Donghae speaks up; he sees the flash of anxiety in Siwon’s eyes and he’s quick to tell Donghae ‘nothing’s wrong’, and he sees the relief in their gazes when Donghae simply nods and continues eating.

No one can see that there’s anything wrong, except for him who’s heard stories of all their messed up little chapters, and except for them who all have their scars over their foolish, selfish, proud hearts that they remember all-too-clearly.

His gaze trails to his two eldest hyungs. They’re living within their own fairytale now, but what makes him sad is that the chapters leading up to the happy ending are everything but perfect; and then there’s Siwon, his close friend, the friend who has been hurt so much. He gazes at him with sentimental melancholy in his eyes; the friend who has watched Prince Charming and Cinderella have their happily-ever-after, the one who had to just disappear as if he meant nothing.

“Hyukjae,” Donghae whines again, for the second time now, “Is something wrong?”

He bites his lip, observing all their gazes that contain so much. “Everything is okay,” he whispers. “Nothing’s wrong.”

He won’t tell Donghae of the pain and apology in their leader’s gaze, the way he stares at Siwon with his eyes as if trying to say sorry a million times over.

He won’t tell Donghae of the guilt and confusion in his favourite hyung’s eyes, the way his eyes dart from Siwon’s to the table in a mixture of remorse and ashamedness.

He won’t tell Donghae of the immense sorrow and lostness in their friend’s every move, the way he trembles a little when Heechul speaks or the way he looks at Jungsoo and doesn’t know what to feel anymore.

The three of them look at each other. Jungsoo joins the conversation with a forced laugh, ignoring the pangs of guilt in his chest. Heechul makes his smile even wider, choking down the apologies that bubble up in his throat. Siwon laughs hard, pretending that the tears that come to his eyes are because of the laughter and not sorrow.

Then their eyes soften, and they look at one another with this gaze akin to understanding, all holding some form of apology within.

None of them know why life has twists and turns in the cruel reality of it all, but they all come to the understanding that perfect fairytales can never exist in the real world.

They’re aware, all of them are, that one heart has to be broken for a twisted fantasy to transform into a fairytale.

And all their hearts – their foolish, selfish and proud hearts – they all cry for the other possibilities, they cry for all the ‘what ifs’, they cry for the possibility of a perfect fairytale.

But they understand that they’ll never be perfect.

The three of them will live in the chapters of their little realms, one with a heart still broken and two with scars inflicted deep into them.

Time has passed since the scars cut deep, and over time they grew up a little, with tiny realizations hitting them at the weirdest times.

They realize what love means somewhere along the way.

It’s love that makes Jungsoo realize that as much as he feels sorry towards Siwon, he can’t imagine the thought of giving up Heechul.

It’s love that makes Heechul realize that even if Siwon begged him to stay, his heart would still belong to Jungsoo.

It’s love that makes Siwon realize that even if he cried himself to sleep every night, in a small, odd way of his, he’s glad that the main character in his twisted fantasy was finally able to write a fairytale of his own.

It’s love, of a different form, that makes tears roll down Hyukjae’s cheeks as he watches two people he loves as brothers finally find happiness, and another man he regards as a family member lose his prince.

But, he supposes, that’s just the way reality works.

a/n: and this marks the close of my first ever published super junior fanfiction! if you have been supporting me up till this chapter, i'd like to sincerely thank you. your votes, comments, reads are what keeps me going. it's been a long yet short journey, bittersweet, a whole mess of emotions at the same time. i feel like it was just a month ago when i wrote this, but it's already been 10 weeks since i first posted this.

i hope that this fanfiction has been something that you've enjoyed reading. i hope it's made you feel something - whether it be happiness, sadness etc. and i hope you looked forward to a new chapter every week; because if you did, then thank you so much for your support and i really really appreciate it. 

i'll stop rambling now, this is where my first writing journey for suju fics comes to an end. thank you so much for all your support for fairytale and for being with me during this little writing venture of mine.

with that said, fairytale has come to an end.

-silverkatana