When Kibum finally finishes his work, it’s late. The sun is well past its highest point, though not quite setting just yet. He knows he shouldn’t go to the island, that it’s too late in the day, but he goes anyway. Taemin reminds him to be quick; neither of them have slept outside the cloud caves since they had come to be as they were and they both worried what would happen if they tried sleeping elsewhere.

Minho’s on the beach when Kibum arrives. He’s sitting in the sand, trying to coax something to grow but immediately stops as soon as he sees him.

“Kibum!”

“Hi. Long time no see, huh?”

“Nope but I’m glad you came today.”

“Where’s our puppy?”

“Jjongie is out on some weird speed migration thing with Jinki. He left a day or two after he got back from staying at your place.”

That means it’s been a least a week and a half that Minho’s been alone. It’s clear by the expression on his face that Minho is more than thrilled that Kibum’s come. It’s been almost 3 weeks since he had the chance to stop by and though he can’t put his finger on what it is, something’s different. Giving up on his project, Minho stands and takes Kibum’s hand, leading him into the garden. He shows him all the plants he’s been working on, how his citrus trees are in bloom, the new wells Taemin and Jinki built him. Every time they finish looking at something, Kibum thinks that he needs to go. But just as the thoughts creep up, he feels Minho’s hand tighten around his and so he stays just a little longer. Minho saves his new plot, the one he made on his day alone, for last. Even though he knows Minho’s plants are almost always beautiful, the sight of the new plot -- his section in particular -- takes Kibum's breath away. He notices how much redder his flowers are in comparison to the other three and feels his cheeks becoming the same color. Minho presses a kiss to his cheek. Feeling oddly shy, he looks away and notices that the sun is almost finished setting. He’s been here too long and now it’s too late to leave. He pulls a wind and asks it to let Taemin know he’s staying at the island and that he’ll report back in the morning.

“Is everything okay?” Minho asks, slipping an arm around Kibum’s waist.

“Yeah, it’s just too late for me to go home now so I was letting Taemin know.”

“Does that mean you’re going to stay?”

Kibum wonders if this was Minho’s plan all along, to make him stay the night. Though he claimed to only be able to control plants, there had been more than a few occasions where the others had wondered if there was more to his powers than just that.

“I don’t really have a choice in the matter, but yes, I’m going to stay.”

Minho beams. As the sun finishes setting and the sky gets dark, an odd blue glow begins to come from the wells. Minho explains it before Kibum can ask.

“It’s algae. Jinki found them and put them all in the walls of the well. The darkness is fine for me, since plants need it to help regulate themselves, but Jonghyun doesn’t always like it. He gets stuck in nocturnal ruts pretty often but for whatever reason his eyesight doesn’t adapt as well as it should. It’s enough that he can see but not enough to keep me awake.”

As it becomes fully dark and his eyes adjust, Kibum finds that he rather likes the soft glow. As he looks around the garden, he sees all the plants also adjusting to the lower light: blossoms closing up tightly, leaves rolling in on themselves. He feels Minho’s hand tighten around his before he’s lead, ever so slowly, to the hammock. Minho lets Kibum get in first: it’s much easier for him than it is for Jonghyun, since he has the wind hold the hammock in place. He lays on his side so that Minho can lay next to him but is surprised when he feels the hammock tilt enough that he slides onto his back. Minho gets in, laying on his stomach halfway on top of Kibum. Kibum’s surprised at how forward Minho's being but definitely not complaining. He reaches to give Minho a goodnight kiss and is surprised again when Minho gently cups his face in his hands, wasting no time to start giving him more than a few goodnight kisses. Normally, during the sunlight hours, their kisses are quick and bright pecks, short and sweet like little pieces of candy; it’s the reason why he and Jonghyun ask Minho for so many. Tonight though is different; Minho’s kisses are slow and languid and in a way, greedy; it’s almost like he forgets how to stop every time and once he remembers, he doesn’t want to. Kibum shifts around so that he can wrap his arms around Minho’s waist, holding him tighter. When Minho presses their foreheads together to take a breather, Kibum takes in the situation. Though he watched them close, the flowers’ scent is still thick in the air. The glow of the algae is just bright enough to light up one side of Minho’s face; his features are oddly softened in it and Kibum doesn’t think he could be anymore in love than he is at this moment. Though Minho’s always been very physically affectionate with all of them, Kibum can’t think of single instance that he’s seen or heard of Minho being like this, though he’s never really talked to Jonghyun about what happens when the sun goes down.

“Is this what our puppy gets every night when I leave?” he whispers.

“No,  he doesn’t,” Minho replies with a breathy laugh, Kibum's cheeks with his thumbs. “Jjongie almost always stays as an animal after dark and even if he stays in human form he doesn’t like kisses after dark.”

Kibum hums in response and cranes his neck in attempt to get more kisses. Minho obliges almost immediately and Kibum is blissful once again. He thinks back to 2 months prior, when Jonghyun had an episode that could only be described as reminiscent of an animal in heat. When he was in human form, he could go no more than five minutes without some sort of physical contact (whether it be holding hands or otherwise) before he would start weeping; in his animal form, it was even less time, though he’d simply start crawling on whoever was closest and whining for affection. To pacify him, Minho had allowed Jonghyun to turn into a little snake and wrap around whatever limb he preferred at the moment for the remainder of the episode. Kibum knew admittedly little about plants and though he doubted that they had heats in the same way animals do, he wondered if it was a similar situation that Minho was going through right now. There’s a full moon out and one of the five always seems to have some sort of episode during it, though so far never more than one of them at a time. Minho pulls away, and Kibum thinks he’s taking another breather, but he moves to start kissing his cheek instead.

“I just missed you,” Minho whispers in between kisses. Kibum’s breath catches in his throat and his heart flutters when Minho repeats it again and again. Though he knows that he’s saying ‘I missed you,’ to Kibum’s it sounds more like ‘I love you.’

“I missed you too,” he says when Minho finally takes another breather. Minho smiles and continues on his way, meandering between Kibum’s lips and cheeks and jaw, going as far as his shoulders. Neither of them say anymore, choosing to simply enjoy the moment. Over time, the already slow kisses get longer and Kibum realizes that Minho’s starting to fall asleep. When it’s too much, Minho gives Kibum one more goodnight kiss before scooting down so that he can tuck his head into the crook of Kibum’s neck. Kibum leans to kiss his the top of his head and is surprised when he somehow ends up with a mouth full of lavender. He calls a wind to gently swing the hammock, making sure that Minho falls asleep before trying to sleep himself. Every once in a while, the wind comes in ever so slightly colder; it’s not enough to wake him up, but enough that Minho cuddles closer into Kibum’s hold. Within minutes, Kibum’s asleep as well, too blissed out to worry about what will happen overnight.

*

When Kibum wakes up, there’s light coming in through the canopy of trees. He looks down and sees Minho still sleeping soundly. He shifts and feels like he’s caught in something. Looking at his limbs, he notices he’s covered in little thread-like tendrils of some sort of plant seemingly stemming from Minho. Obviously he isn't going to leave easily any time soon. He feels a pair of eyes watching him and looks up to see the lady standing next to the hammock. He tries to sit up to properly greet her, but she motions for him to stay still.

“Am I allowed to sleep here?” he asks timidly, worried he's in trouble. He’s relieved when she laughs.

“You can sleep anywhere you like, Zephyr. The others are a little more limited in their sleeping place of choice, but you in particular can sleep as you like where you like. It’s always been that way.”

He sighs in relief. Minho begins shifting around, and Kibum worries that he’s woken him, but he merely sighs and goes still again. Kibum watches as the woman walks over to the new plot and inspects it.

“He’s blooming this moon,” she states.

“Blooming?”

“Yes, blooming. This moon, his power is going to be at its strongest and most volatile and at the same time, he’s going to be at his neediest and most vulnerable. He goes through a blooming period every year, but it’s going to be incredibly strong this year since it’s happening at the end of summer. He’s going to need all four of you to help him cope with it. You have no orders until I come again.”

“Oh.” Kibum looks at Minho and kisses his forehead, fishing out the bits of lavender the inevitably form in his mouth. From where she stands, the lady laughs; it sounds almost fond.

“He called for you yesterday, didn’t he?”

“What?”

“When you woke up in the morning yesterday you had no intention of coming over to this island, and yet you found yourself drawn to the island anyway, correct?”

Kibum nods, trying to figure out where she’s going with this.

“Out of the five of you, Minho alone has the power to pull life from where there is none. Though he’s limited to plants, he’s connected to all living matter. He doesn’t know how much power he holds and that’s why he was chosen to carry it. Though you have gone past the realm of the living, he’s still connected to the life you once held. The more time you spend on this island, the stronger his pull on you. That’s why yesterday, when he was alone and needed someone, he was able to tug your heart in his direction.”

Kibum sits silently. He hears what she’s telling him and part of him completely understand what she’s saying, but in another way he can’t comprehend what she means. She finally looks up at him and laughs again.

“You don’t have to understand now. When it comes time, you will know. Just remember. No matter what seems like is happening, it will pass. None of you are in danger. Except perhaps him.” she pauses, looks at the plot of flowers once more. “I’m going to call on the others. Stay close. Do not leave him alone.”

With a flash of light, she’s gone. Out of the five of them, Kibum sees her the most, yet he still can’t fathom what or who she is; all there is to do is follow her orders. As he ponders what her instructions mean, he feels Minho wiggling around, huffing and sighing, signalling that he’s finally waking up. The tendrils slowly pull back and disappear by the time Minho opens his eyes. Kibum grabs his hand and starts kissing his knuckles as he waits for him to fully wake up and is pleased to find that he stops tasting lavender. Eventually Minho pulls his hand away so that he can rest it on Kibum’s cheek.

“How’d you sleep, morning glory?” Kibum asks. Minho doesn’t respond, though he smiles at the epithet. He pulls at Kibum’s face and cranes his neck, obviously trying for kisses, but is too far down to reach higher than his chin. He starts anyways, though there’s a distinctly disappointed feeling in the air. Kibum laughs and does his best to pull Minho up so that they’re properly face to face. Minho nuzzles his nose against Kibum’s.

“Are you blooming, my morning glory?”

Minho simply hums in response before resuming his steady stream of kisses from the night before. Though Kibum’s worried about what this is going to hold and why the warnings given to him were needed, he hoped the lady waited as long as possible to send the others.