Nobody moved for almost a minute.
Sehun and Luhan just sat in bed, staring at the lavender envelope in Kai's hand.
With Kai and Lay's panting subsiding, Luhan's own heavy breathing could be heard.
Sehun had never felt so tense before.
He wanted to reach out and grab the envelope for his lover, but for some reason he was afraid the action might upset him.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Luhan gingerly slipped out of bed and walked towards Kai and Lay with unsteady steps.
He took the envelope, and the two quickly disappeared through the doorway, shutting the door behind to give Sehun and Luhan privacy.
Sehun froze in bed, unsure of what to say or do.
Luhan was rooted in place beside the bed, eyes fixed on the envelope in his hands.
Sehun couldn't even begin to understand what Luhan was feeling.
Relief?
Joy?
And to Sehun's fear, sadness and anger?
Sehun for once felt uncertain about Luhan's feelings.
Before, he found him easy to read despite what other people say, and Luhan's thoughts were crystal clear to him.
But right then, he had absolutely no clue what Luhan was feeling, or what he should do.
Sehun was scared.
Scared of Luhan's reaction, scared of what Luhan's mother wrote.
For all he knew, it could be a letter telling Luhan to leave her alone and she didn't appreciate him bringing painful memories back to her.
Sehun hadn't thought of that when he recklessly told Luhan to send his mother roses.
But it was much too late for that.
Sehun silently cursed himself and bit his lip anxiously.
He knew how shocked Luhan must be, but the anxiety was killing him and being the child he was he wished Luhan would just open the damn envelope and... and...
And what?
Fear engulfed Sehun.
The letter, or whatever was inside, could potentially ruin Luhan.
And there was Sehun and his own selfish thoughts.
Sehun was so angry with himself he wanted to cry.
He could feel tears threatening to form in his eyes, when he heard a small ripping noise.
His eyes immediately cast over to the envelope in Luhan's hands.
The bony fingers were slowly tearing the seal open.
Sehun hitched his breath, and waited.
He didn't even dare to move.
Oh how he wanted to call Luhan's name or lay his hand on his shoulder, just so he would know what to do.
But he couldn't.
His eyes fixed on the single sheet that Luhan pulled out.
A photograph.
A yellowing photograph with creases in the corners.
In it, a small baby boy, probably no older than a year, was looking straight at the camera with a big smile.
Sehun knew right away that was Luhan, the crinkles on his nose gave it away.
Luhan looked at himself in the picture for a while before turning it over.
There was a message behind the photograph, written in Chinese.
Sehun had felt frustrated before that he couldn't speak Luhan's mother tongue, wanting to be closer to his lover despite Luhan's perfect Korean.
But this was different.
It was because he cared about Luhan.
Without warning, Luhan spun around and ran into Sehun's arms.
His own arms wound tightly around Sehun's neck, face buried in the broad toned chest.
Sehun instinctively held the thin boy tighter, slipping out from under the covers to stand on his feet, bringing their bodies closer.
He expected to feel dampness from his shirt, but there was nothing.
Luhan simply stayed in Sehun's arms without making a noise.
Sehun still felt obliged to comfort the other even so.

"Luhan, you'll be okay. We'll be okay." Sehun whispered beside Luhan's ear.
The pale boy nodded in a frantic manner, balling up Sehun's shirt in his fists with the photograph caught in between.
It was only then Sehun understood how overwhelmed Luhan felt by his emotions.
Luhan needed Sehun, desperately.

"You told me it's okay to be a child again, to feel again and cry. Lu, I'm right here, and I'm not going anywhere."

Sehun never got to know what Luhan's mother wrote in the message.
They never spoke about it, and Luhan never wrote to his mother again.
Not at the school, not after they graduated, not after they moved in together, not after their wedding.
Sehun figured that he didn't need to know what she wrote.
But he knew it was something that completely changed Luhan.
It was amazing for Sehun, to watch his lover transform, into someone so beautiful that Sehun never thought could exist.
Luhan started believing in himself, in life, in love.
There wasn't a day Sehun went by without thanking God for Luhan.
He thanked Him for Luhan's pure heart.
Sehun had always wondered what Luhan's purpose was on earth, and he finally knew.
Luhan was there to cleanse wicked people of malevolence, sin and injustice.
His soul was white as snow.
It was untainted despite all the evils of human nature.
Luhan was God's living proof that angels existed.
Sehun never saw Luhan as anything less than an angel, and Luhan always acted his part.
Even the day of his death.

"Sehun-ah..." Luhan called softly.

"Hmm?" Sehun placed his newspapers down and adjusted the covers over Luhan, then pulled his chair closer to the bed, the same one Luhan laid in sixty years ago.
Sehun had bought the land after the school shut down, and made Luhan's favorite room in the nurse's office his own private ward.

"'If you love a flower that lives on a star, it is sweet to look at the sky at night.'"

"Why do I need to look at flowers and stars when I have you to look at?" Sehun took Luhan's slender hand in his own wrinkly one, lacing their fingers together.
Luhan smiled slowly, chuckling a little as he the side of Sehun's hand with his thumb.

"I'm sleepy..." Luhan's voice started dragging, and Sehun knew.
Luhan was slowly slipping away.
Sehun leaned in so his face was only inches from his pale lover's.

"Alright. Goodnight, Lu."

"I love you... Sehun-ah..."

"I love you too." Sehun kissed Luhan tenderly.
Luhan eyes were still doe-like as usual despite his drowsiness, and he didn't shut them until Sehun pulled away.

"Wait for me in heaven..."
By then, Luhan couldn't form coherent words anymore.

"Hnngh..."

Sehun watched the sparkly orbs that he loved looking at so much disappear completely behind Luhan's ghostly white eyelids.
A small smile crept up onto Sehun's face as he picked up the single white rose sitting in Luhan's vase on his bedside table.
He laid it gently next to Luhan's face and brought their hands up to his lips, planting a kiss on the back of Luhan's.
Thank you.
Thank you for everything, Luhan.
Thank you for saving me with your pure heart.
From now on whenever I watch the sunset on our bench, I will think of your warm smile.
Whenever I see the stars outside our window, I will think of your bright eyes.
Whenevr I tend to the roses in our field, I will think of your beautiful soul.
Whenever the first snow falls every year, I will think of your pure heart.
You've just made heaven a better place by being there.
We'll meet again, Lu.
Soon, I promise.

Author's Note:

It's the end people :(

I almost cried when I wrote the ending because it reminded me too much of Le petit prince...

-Le sigh-

Thank you all once again for the comments, subs, votes and views

I love you all ❤️

25/04/2014