A cold wind blew through the sparse elms lining the street. A huge, empty hotel stood tall and imposing on one side, while a small, empty flat sat across from it. No surrounding building, just one flat. He watched blankly as a dandelion head drifted past, thinking of a time when he was a child and believed they could grant wishes. He still remembered standing in the playground of his preschool when he’d heard that for the first time. That building was around here somewhere too. Twilight came quickly in this place. Here, there was nothing to hold back the gloaming. Many seasons ago he hoped for his love to join him, but now the city was as barren as the figments of his self that remained.

            Hoisting his burden to a more comfortable position on his shoulders, he stepped into a small house at the end of the street. Once inside, he dropped the deer carcass to the floor and proceeded to skin and gut it. He removed a few easy-to-reach sections of meat for immediate use and hauled the rest into the empty pantry. When his belly was full of hot stew, he stripped out of his threadbare clothes and slid into his bed. Through the window, he could see the faintest glimmer of a star behind the constant cloud cover. It did nothing to alleviate the deep melancholy that had taken root inside him.

            His empty, dreamless sleep was interrupted by the frantic calling of a seabird. It seemed to be calling him. He searched through the blackness for a lantern and some flint. The flame trembled with his fingers and he dressed hurriedly by its inconstant light. It was a short walk from his house down to the dock, the lantern casting dancing shadows against cold, black rocks as he went. He held it up in an attempt to break through the pitch-blackness across the water, sure that the cries of the bird had led him to this spot. There was an unfamiliar sound coming from the end of the jetty, as though the water was breaking against something had never been there. Something creaked. He moved cautiously towards the sound and the light from his lantern illuminated something that he’d not seen in all the many many years since his arrival. It was a boat, and inside was a man.

            For the second time that night, he trod the main road with a body across his shoulders, only this one was alive. He wondered at the circumstance that could bring a man to these distant shores. He placed the man on his couch and covered him with a blanket. He would deal with it when the sun rose. He blew out his lantern and the world rece more to the unrelenting darkness that blanketed this barren island.

 

He woke with the weak sun. For a few minutes, he allowed himself the luxury of trepidation. He had grown used to his solitude and was unwilling to deal with any complex situations that might arise from the stranger on his couch. Eventually, however, he slipped into his shoes and made his way down the short hallway. He almost hoped the man would be gone, an imprint conjured by a desperate mind or simply a traveller who had long since moved on. He was dismayed and relieved when the couch came into view and its resident still slept fitfully. The blanket was bunched around the stranger’s shoulders in an unconscious bid for warmth and his eyelids moved rapidly as though reliving some terrible nightmare. He looked down at this sleeping face and felt recognition stir inside him. Those eyes, that mouth... He felt an overwhelming urge to protect this man. The eyes opened and the mouth split into a heart-stopping smile. He felt a hand brush against his cheek and was surprised when he didn't recoil from it.

            "Hyukjae."

            Blankly, he thought, 'yes. That is my name, isn't it?' How did this man know him when he himself had forgotten?

            "Hyukjae." The man whispered again. And then he knew. And was filled with sadness and great, great joy.

            "Donghae." Was all he could choke out before he was wracked with violent coughing. It was many years since he'd heard the sound of his own voice. After testing it a little, he succeeded in voicing two words.

            "You came."

            "Of course I came, love. Did I not tell you, 'till death do us part, and even then I will be by your side.'"

            "It's been so long."

            "I know love."

            "The boat would not take me, for I lived on in you."

            "I'm here now. We can take the boat together."

            "Yes. Good."

           

He did not know how long they stayed. It did not feel like waiting, since their time was spent lying on the rocky beach, remembering how to love. However, a long time passed and he knew that the boat was not coming.

            "Donghae, why did you take so long? Here, hundreds of years had passed before you found me."

            "Time moves differently, I think, in the land of the living. It has only been ten years for me."

            "Ten years? Then you are still young. Forty-years-old is no ripe age to die." Donghae looked at him and he recognised a flicker of guilt in the eyes he loved so much.

            "I could not wait any longer. The children... no longer need me. They are grown with families of their own now."

            "Donghae, you know you cannot leave this place of your own volition. You do not belong here."

            "I belong with you."

            "You belong with the living. You know you must return someday and that I will be here, waiting for you. I promise to not forget this time." A wry smile. "The boat will not take you like this."

            "I cannot go back. I cannot be happy without you."

            "But you must my love. And you will not be without me. You may sleep at night knowing that at the end, I'll be waiting for you."

            "I know you are right. This place is barren and not our home."

 

That night, they held each other for the last time. They shared a morning meal and walked together down to the jetty, where the sun could be seen peaking above the water, sending them a road of bright, glittering gold to bear Donghae away. They clasped hands.

            "I will return for you my love. When it is my time, I will return."

            He stepped into the boat and Hyukjae gave it a light shove to send it out into the windless sea. It was carried away by the tides and disappeared from view.

            This time, he would not forget.