Top drove the jeep into a small clearing, brought it to a stop and swiftly exited the jeep. I watched in awe as he briskly walked down a neat path towards the beach. 

“Let’s go?” Hero smiled at me and I nodded, murmuring a ‘thanks’ as we followed the same path. Top was standing next to a huge rock that resembled a plateau. He gave a cheeky smile at the sight of both of us walking together and I flushed. Beside me Hero scoffed and shook his head. Our eyes met and his grin toned down to a reassuring smile.

“What was in that box?”

Top’s blunt question threw me off and the two tall men laughed at my expression. I felt offended and started rubbing my arms with my hands. Hero stopped laughing and looked at me with concern.

“Cold?” he asked. I shook my head.

“My hands have nothing to do and I’m feeling awkward,” I muttered. He smiled at my reply.

Top cleared his throat. I looked at him and he sighed. “That was just a … conversation starter. I see you have a few of our collectibles.”

I widened my eyes. I was pretty sure I had thrown the cloth over the box without fail, covering each nook and cranny of it’s contents. I shifted my glance to Hero, who was looking at something above my shoulder and smiling.

“Don’t be scared,” he said. “We already knew you were coming.”

So they know I know, I thought. I deliberately coughed and signalled the need to fast forward the conversation.

“You ask questions,” Top said. “We’ll answer.”

I nodded. That seemed like a good plan.

                                    ****************************************************************************************************

Saya hesitated and after fidgeting with my jacket, scurried towards the rock to sit on it. I found myself fascinated by every move of hers and seconds later realized that it was because I had seen too less of her. I had always imagined what it would be like to talk to her and have her around me for more than two minutes. Now that it was happening, every moment seemed precious enough to hold onto.

“Why does Key have all your important belongings?” she started. Top exchanged glances with me.

“You know Key works in an antique store, right?” I said. She nodded and murmured, with a furrow in her eyebrows, “That doesn’t explain how your things landed up with him….”

“Most of the businesses in Verdelann are hereditary,” I explained. “One of the reasons why we’re strict about foreign people setting up business here is because number one, everyone here is content and living a simple life. They don’t need competition, they don’t need someone who hasn’t been a part of Verdelann’s legacy to move them out. Also, most of the ambitious people from outside look warm in the beginning but have ulterior motives for later. We catch them and nip them at the bud.

“Key’s job at the antique store is one of the many legacies of Verdelann. It’s an important business, keeping the history of Verdelann alive, a way to remind the citizens where Verdelann has come from. Of course, Key’s sharp business sense has made the store into a boutique of it’s own, but there’s no doubt that everything his ancestors ever collected are bound to be found there. There are many things, in fact, whose existence he still isn’t aware of.”

“So you’re saying….” Saya said, treading on the topic with care, “that… someone… gifted your stuff to Key’s ancestors and now… he’s found them?”

Top looked at me and I blinked at him. After giving out a sigh I said, “Yes. Someone had given his great-great-great-great grandfather some things to take care of, look after. Someone had to leave town for a while and upon their return, they found out that the antique store’s owner had died a tragic death.  That someone was of course worried about the nature of his belongings being revealed to the public but it seems that the person he had trusted his secrets with had taught his sons to do the same. It seems Key didn’t really follow up on that.”

Saya pursed her lips. “Key has not revealed anything to the public.”

“He seems to have trusted you too well.”

“The same way Aiden trusts Yoona.”

I was taken aback and noticing the look on Top’s face, it seemed that so was he.

“Which brings me to my next question,” Saya said, the warmth in her eyes fading out. “How is Yoona involved in your little secret?”

                                                ********************************************************************************************

“Yoona is like me,” I continued, emphasizing on the real meaning of my sentence. I still wasn’t ready to believe that the two men before me had the power to stay forever young. The concept of vampires might as well have jumped out the window, what with the sun pelting down on the three of us, the close contact with Hero reminding me he has body heat and the dusky tone of Top’s skin cutting off the last straw.

“Yes but….” Top looked uneasy. In between, he would exchange glances with Hero, whose eyes were constantly on me. I sneaked a peek at Hero’s expression, the smile during the jeep ride replaced by the poker face I had labelled him with ever since our first meeting at the music store.

“Aiden and Yoona know best about what’s going on with them,” Hero sighed. “But to sum it up, the two have been in love with each other for the past sixteen years and unfortunately, they will never be together.”

I widened my eyes. “Past sixteen.. what?”

“Yoona must have told you the story about Aiden’s father and the ual harassment case,” Hero started. I nodded and he nodded back in a ‘thought so’ manner. “That’s a front. It’s a story she has been using for the longest time. The truth is, yes, there was a ual harassment case but it wasn’t between Aiden’s father and some women. It had Aiden involved. Aiden’s father had died centuries ago.”

“Yoona’s father knows who we are. So does Yoochun for that matter, but he doesn’t seem to be too fond of our identity. When we returned to Verdelann after another century, things had…. Changed. Like I had told you before, the legacy of families, people not moving out… It helped us too. We weren’t being selfish, truth was Verdelann would always be the place they would come back to. There were very few times we would allow people to settle down here. It’s a popular tourist spot but we try to limit the hospitality as much as possible so that outsiders don’t start hoarding up shelter here.

“Yoona and Yoochun’s situation was the same. They were outsiders and it took time for their father to convince the lower officials to let him settle down there. He told us about the background he had escaped from. He had fought against a few corrupt government bodies and in turn, they had tried to convict him. They gave him an option to leave his country and never return. Had he been alone, he would have stayed. But Yoona and Yoochun were with him. He couldn’t risk their lives.”

Hero took a deep breath and looked down at his shoes. Top saw his face and continued with the story.

“We sort of… endeared to him. We too had escaped our world in similar ways. We wanted peace and equality, they wanted to be parasites, scavengers. We finally invited him to meet us and after explaining in one afternoon the conditions of staying here, he agreed.

“Yoona wasn’t supposed to know. Nor was Yoochun. But one day, Yoona skipped school to watch a movie with her friends…” Top gave a small smile here, like he had been talking about his daughter. “And when she returned home earlier, she saw Aiden.

“It was love at first sight for her and she was scared by the obvious flirtatious nature of Aiden. But when Aiden did see her, boy, was he blown away. Even at the tender age of seven, she was a beauty. He told himself that he would wait for her after a series of well, some watching over."

I raised an eyebrow. “You mean stalking."

“We tend to do that before…” Hero gave a cheeky grin. “You know, making a move.”

“Bottom line is,” Top concluded. “Yoona found out about us by mistake and it was only right for her brother to know as well. They quietly agreed to keep our secret but over time, the feelings between Aiden and Yoona grew. She was fond of him and he of her. There have been countless number of times when Aiden had saved Yoona’s life, beknownst to her of course.”

“So then… why can’t they be together?”

Hero and Top stopped moving. For a moment, I thought I had spoken out a deadly charm, freezing them in time. They looked like wax figures, until Top cleared his throat and with an uneasy look on his face, said, “They’re not…bound.”

“Bound to what? A contract?”

“No,” Hero said in a quiet voice. “Bound to each other.”

I remained silent for a while. I absorbed the meaning of the words, then sighed. “Hold on, do you by any chance… mean… fate?”

“Humans call it that.”
“How can you call something so important ‘fate’? Destiny still sounds grand…”

I stared at the two as they rambled on some nonsense. They looked at my expression and curiously waited for me to speak.

“Okay,” I held my palms up in surrender and with seething irritation, said, “I don’t care how old you two are, but that is just OUTDATED. They love each other, they should go for it! Hey, don’t tell me you four are stopping him from…”

“Even if they stay together,” Hero said. “It would only hurt Aiden. Yoona wouldn’t live forever.”

I stopped talking. After a moment of pause, I said, “So you can only give the Fountain of Youth to the person you’re ‘fated’ to be with?”

“There’s no ‘Fountain of Youth’ but….” Hero nodded in a matter-of-fact way and I rolled my eyes. Top started backing away and I caught him.

“Where are you going?”

“It’s time…” He gave Hero a knowing look and bowed to me. “You both should be alone now. To help… understand things.”

Within a matter of seconds, it was just me and Hero on the beach.