It was Summer when Jonghyun first saw him.

   He was nothing more than a boy then. A boy recently apprenticed to an apple farmer who lived as far away from the town as the world allowed him. It was different for him. He was used to staying home and helping his mother grow flowers. Here there was no bustle of town. There was only silence and apples. The orchards seem to stretch on for miles, melting away into the endless rows of corn, wheat, and whatever else the people of this small world could plant. Everyone relied on the crops. They knew nothing else. If you were not a farmer, you helped them.

    There was nothing else but the endless cycle of planting, growing, harvesting, and waiting.

    Spring. Summer. Autumn. Winter.

    Repeat.

    Jonghyun walked through the apple trees, hands held above him to brush against the low hanging branches. The air was sweet, smelling of the newly ripe fruits. The ground was warm and the sun shined brightly overhead. It was the perfect picture of summer. Jonghyun could not complain. All able bodied children were taken away and put to work as soon as they turned 13. He was no exception. Besides, there were far worse things to grow and harvest than endless miles of apples.

     Glancing at the sky, Jonghyun realized it was past midday. It was time for him to return to the farmer’s house. He almost did. But he never made it. Jonghyun turned to run back to the house and stopped. His heart pounded, his breath lost. Farmer forgotten, he stared at the creature before him. It looked like a boy like Jonghyun, but surely it wasn’t. The creature was pale, with piercing eyes and clean, white clothes. He had never seen anything like him. Everyone Jonghyun had ever seen in their world was tan. Their skin and hair kissed by the sun. Their clothes, and his, were brown and dirty, stained by the dirt they toiled in. This boy was none of that.

     He’s not real.

     Cautiously, Jonghyun moved forward. The boy didn’t move. He stared curiously at Jonghyun, no fear in him. Jonghyun stopped, frozen in place by the look in his piercing eyes. He felt like the creature was staring into soul and evaluating what it saw there.

    “Who are you?” he finally managed to say.

   The creature’s eyebrow raised slightly. “I’m Key,” he said. His tone was almost pompous, telling Jonghyun he should’ve known. It made him braver though. If the creature could be so arrogant maybe he was human after all.

   “I’m Jonghyun,” he said. “Where’d you come from? The nearest farm is way that way.” Turning, he pointed towards the Eastern fields. There crops like wheat and corn were grown. The boy’s gaze didn’t leave him.

   “I’m not from there,” he said. “I live in the house over there.” he gestured back behind him, further into the Orchard. Jonghyun shook his head, thinking the boy was lying. No one lived in the orchards. What was the point of that? Everyone needed to be working their own crops and the apples were the farmer’s.

   “No you don’t,” he said.

   The boy glared at him, obviously angered at having been called a liar. He whirled around, beginning to walk off haughtily. Not wanting him to go, Jonghyun sprang after him.

   “Wait!” he cried out. “I’m sorry,  I shouldn’t have said that….but where do you live? I live in the farmer’s house on the edge of the fields.”

    The boy kept walking, but he snuck a questioning look out of the corner of his eye. “There’s a house here,” he said. “Over the fence.”

     Jonghyun nearly stopped. The fence? Was he talking about the fence? The boy walked out of the lines of trees, heading straight for the fence. It was old, white paint peeling. It ran through the trees, sectioning off a large square piece of land directly in the middle of the apple trees. The trees inside were tall and overgrown, tangled and left alone. Jonghyun had been told to never ever cross over it no matter the circumstances. Once he had walked too close to see the sunflowers growing on it. The farmer had beaten him within an inch of life.

    What did I tell you? he had screamed. Don’t go near it! It’s dangerous. Leave that place alone! Its for the gods, not for us.

    For the gods….for the invisible beings who ensured their crops did not die. That they were bountiful and that they survived the harsh winters.

     Gods.

     Do not interfere in what you do not understand.

    Jonghyun really did stop now. He stared at the old fence, uneasiness rising. He shouldn’t be here. That place, whatever it held, was dangerous. Did the boy not know that? He lunged forward, catching the boy’s arm in his. The boy recoiled, staring at him in horror.

   “What are you doing?” he demanded. “Don’t touch me!”

   Shaking his head, Jonghyun started dragging him back into the lines of trees. “Don’t go in there!” he said. “It’s dangerous.”

    “Dangerous?” the boy asked. “There’s nothing dangerous in there. Just a house, me and the men…” he looked curiously at Jonghyun. “Is that it? Is that why no one comes? Because they think it’s dangerous in there?”

    Jonghyun blinked, unsure of what to say. He had thought that the boy just didn’t know….was it really that the boy was the one they were keeping hidden?

    “Don’t…” he swallowed. “I don’t know what’s in there. But I’m never to go over there. It’s for the gods.”

    The boy laughed, pulling Jonghyun towards the fence. “Oh it’s not for them,” he said. “It’s for me. But I’m for the gods, does that count?”

    “What?” Jonghyun asked in astonishment. “For them? What would they want with a boy?”

     He shrugged, stopping his useless tugging at Jonghyun’s shirt. “I don’t really know,” he said. “But I’m supposed to stay in there until I’m old enough to understand.” He rolled his eyes. “Whatever that means.”

     Jonghyun laughed too.

    “But you’re out here now,” he said. “Won’t the people in charge of you be angry?”

    “I don’t care,” he said rebelliously. “All they make me do is look beautiful and read stories.” he reached up to pluck an apple off the tree. He rubbed it on the white, white shirt he wore. “It’s more fun out here.” He bit into the unripe apple, face puckering at the bitterness of it.

   Jonghyun laughed at him, taking away the bitter apple. He picked a ripe one, cleaning it off with his white. “Here try this one,” he said, offering it to the boy. “It’s much better.”

    Wary, he took it. He bit into it slowly, eyes trained on Jonghyun. They probed his face, looking for tricks. When he finally did eat it, he smiled happily.

    “Much better,” he agreed. “I’m Key.”

   Jonghyun couldn’t help but smile back. Key’s grin was infectious. It lit up his entire face, making him even more beautiful. It stole Jonghyun’s breathe away, squeezing his heart until it was almost painful.

    “Key,” he said. “That’s a beautiful name.”

     That was the first summer. An innocent summer. They met again by the fence, though Jonghyun dared not go to it. Key always came over it, sneaking off while his guardians’ attention was elsewhere. They talked, they laughed, they played. They were children.

    Summer turned into Fall and Key did not come at all. He had duties to perform, lessons to learn. Jonghyun knew little of what he did, but he learned that Key was responsible for keeping the harvest gods happy. He prayed that he did it. Harvest came. The wheat grow tall and the corn grew strong. Pumpkins, squash, peas, beans. Bounty of all different kinds from all over their world. Jonghyun felt his heart almost burst with pride.

    His Key had done well.

    Fall turned into Winter.

   Jonghyun couldn’t leave the farmer’s house at all. The winters of their world were harsh. The bitter ice covered everything, ensuring everything in it died. Like everyone else, they cowered in the darkness of their homes. “Let us live,” they prayed. “Let us live another year.”

    Key’s harvest kept them fed through it.

   Jonghyun prayed that he was warm and fed in the house he lived in.

   Winter fell into Spring.

   The snow slowly melted, leaving Jonghyun restless and uneasy. He couldn’t leave the house yet, but he wanted to. Everything in him wanted to race to the fence and see if Key was there. Did he remember him? Did he want to come? Jonghyun didn’t know. Finally the ice retreated enough to leave. But the farmer had things to be done. Things Jonghyun was there to help with. Planting, fixing, changing, chopping. There was no time to go to the fence.

   Spring into Summer.

   Key was at the fence. His clothes were as white as ever and his arms rested on the sunflowers. He looked tired, but happy. Jonghyun hugged him. He couldn’t stop himself. Key was warm and smelled like apples.

   So the cycle began.

   Summer into Fall. Fall into Winter. Winter into Spring. Spring into Summer.

    Summer meant Key.

    “Key!” Jonghyun called out, head turning to catch a glimpse of the younger boy. “Where are you?”

     Only the sounds of summer were heard. Bees buzzing through the air, a gentle wind brushing the tops of the trees. No sounds of the slim boy. Jonghyun sighed. They were 14 and 13 respectively. How long were they going to play games like hide and seek?

    “CAUGHT YOU!”

    Jonghyun shrieked, barely seeing the blur of cream coming towards him. Key leapt from the trees, knocking Jonghyun to the ground. OOF! He exclaimed, breath rushing out of him. Gasping for air, he managed to grab hold of Key before the laughing boy ran off again.

     “Don’t you dare,” he wheezed, using his strength to roll them over. Now he was on top, pinning Key beneath him. Smiling in triumph, he watched Key struggle in amusement.

    “Jonghyun,” he whined. “Not fair. You’re stronger than me.”

    He nodded. “I work harder than you,” he said. He flexed his arm muscles to tease the thin boy. “And it shows doesn’t it? I’m well built and you,” he said, ticking Key. “Are tiny!”

     Key laughed, thrashing beneath him as he giggled helplessly. “Jo-jong-” he cried out breathlessly. “Stop! I can’t-”

     Jonghyun stopped, watching Key’s chest heaving as the boy tried to catch his breath. His face was flushed, eyes wide with laughter. His blonde hair laid on the grass, shining in the sun’s light. It occurred to Jonghyun that Key was beautiful. Far more beautiful than the farmers’ daughters. They were pudgy and plain. Key was elegant. Jonghyun suddenly felt the urge to swoop down and kiss his taunting lips.

     But he didn’t.

     He sighed. Don’t lose him now. Don’t scare him away.

     Key was like the Summer wind. A sensation rushing over his skin and leaving him warm and content. The only problem was that he was afraid that once the feeling ended he would be left cold and empty.

    Key was gazing at him intently now. Something dark and indescribable was swirling in his dark eyes. Jonghyun felt like he had the first time they had met. He felt like a child whose soul was being examined and judged by a standard he had no knowledge of.

   Key reached up to brush his hand against Jonghyun’s tan cheek. Jonghyun’s heart skipped a beat. Ever so slowly, he lowered his head until their foreheads touched. His hand caressed Key’s hair, burying his fingers into the blonde hair. Key closed his eyes, arms wrapping around Jonghyun. Unable to stop himself, Jonghyun kissed him.

    That moment, while they laid under the apple trees, was the moment that Jonghyun fell in love.

A dancing crescent moon on a midsummer's night

Brings to us the love of our dreams

Counting the lemon-colored stars

I lay a kiss upon your heart.

 Summer turned to Fall.

 Fall to Winter.

 Winter to Spring.

 Spring to Summer.

  The summer after the kiss was different. It was a dance of uncertainties and fluttering hearts. It took the fear of the end of Summer for Jonghyun to work up the courage to kiss Key again. Now they were 15 and 14. The kiss was more heated, skin rubbing against sun in the fading light of day. Then Key broke away and dashed under the fence. Panting, he waved good-bye.

   “Next Summer?” Jonghyun asked, his voice hopeful.

    Key nodded, but he looked like he was going to cry.

“Jonghyun,” he whispered. “I will be back next Summer.”

    Summer into Fall.

   Jonghyun turned 16 that April. 16 was their world’s age of knowing. An age of growing up and seeing and learning things kept hidden away. He learned about what lay beyond the fence in the apple orchard. He learned the people were not depended on many gods, just one.

    One dark god that lurked in the darkness of their orchard. A being so old the world was young to it. It was shadow and fear and it held their precious harvest in its hand. The orchards lay in the center of their world and should it be poisoned, it would spread to every crop. They desperately needed this god to be pleased. Without food for the winter everyone died.

    It was all important and it asked for only one thing.

   It wanted sacrifice.

    Jonghyun was not told what that sacrifice was, but he knew more than the aging farmer could ever guess. It made him tremble, to cry out in the darkness of his room. Why was life so unfair? Why would it take the one thing from him he could not live without?

   Jonghyun watched as Spring turned into Summer.

   He realized their Summers were slipping away quickly.

  “Jonghyun,” Key said, head resting on the other boy’s chest. They lay in the grass underneath the trees. They stared up at the clouds in the sky, both quiet until now.

  “Yes?” Jonghyun said. His lover’s tone was different. It was low, subdued and laced with fear.

   As much as Jonghyun wanted to pretend otherwise, he knew what the boy was about to speak of.

   “I-” he started, curling his fingers into Jonghyun’s shirt. “I want to tell you something I’ve known for a long, long time.”

    Jonghyun kept his eyes closed. He didn’t dare open them. As soon as he did he knew he would cry. He couldn’t do that. Not to Key. Not when the younger boy was struggling to tell him about it. Instead, he let Key cling to him. He tightened his grip on him, pulling him as close as he could. He wanted to reassure Key.

    “I don’t think I’m going to be back after next Summer,” he whispered into Jonghyun’s shoulder. “Not after I turn 16.”

    “Why?” Jonghyun asked, voice rasping.

    That was cruel. He knew why.

    It wanted Key as badly as he did. The difference was that It was a god and Jonghyun a farmer’s apprentice.

    “Because,” Key said. “My guardians, the priests...they’ve started the preparations. In two years I’m going to be 16 and they said that’s the time of-”

    He stopped, choking on his own words. Key buried his face into Jonghyun’s shoulder. Jonghyun didn’t know what to do. He had nothing. Even if they fled, jumped up and ran for it now, there was nowhere to go. They couldn’t survive the Winter on their own. No one would take them in. One look at Key’s fair skin and they would know. He was set apart as a baby just to die for them. No one in their right mind would shelter someone whose death would save their families.

    They were trapped by invisible walls.

    “Jonghyun,” Key whispered. The boy kissed his neck so softly it felt like the wind brushing against his skin.

“Jonghyun,” he murmured against his cheek. “Please don’t forget me.”

    Jonghyun turned to capture Key’s lips in his own.

    “I will never forget you.”

    Summer into Fall.

    Fall into Winter.

    Winter into Spring.

    Spring into Summer.

    Jonghyun was 17 now. Key was 16.

    16.

    The age of dying.

    This was their last Summer.

    Jonghyun cried every night of it.

     “If you could go anywhere in the world,” Key asked. “Where would you go?”

     Jonghyun thought about it while they picked apples. It was such a mundane task to do, picking apples. They picked apples every summer. He knew though that this was their last summer.

     The last, last one.

     “I would go to the sea,” he finally answered. “To see the edge of the world.”

     “That’s a good one,” Key laughed. “I’ve been there, it’s beautiful.”

    Jonghyun smiled at Key’s childlike enthusiasm. “When?” he said. “When did you ever leave the orchard?”

      He shrugged. “I did once,” he admitted. “To go be seen by the priests by the sea. They wanted to see if I was still the best choice.”

      “Choice?” Jonghyun said bitterly. “And what was so special about you that made them send you back?”

     If I had known they could’ve picked someone else, I would have been anything they wanted me to be.

      Key laughed, throwing him down some apples. “I don’t really know,” he said. “I was like what, 8? I think they wanted me to be pretty.”

     So that was it. Key’s entire existence was formed around his beauty. The priests could care less about his wit, his brilliant mind, his curiosity. They didn’t care about what fruits he liked, that he hated thunderstorms, but loved sunshowers. They didn’t care that he loved to dance and how he shone brighter than the sun when he smiled. They didn’t care that his eye twitched when he lied and that he had tiny, tiny scar on his eyebrow from falling down the stairs. They didn’t care that he wanted to know what it felt like to fly. They didn’t care how perfect he really, truly was. How perfectly his body fit into Jonghyun’s. How he tasted when they kissed and how sweet he always smelled.

      No, they, IT, just wanted him to be beautiful.

      A sacrificial lamb.

     His fists clenched until his nails drew blood from his palms. Key saw the pain on his face and dropped down from the tree to take him into his arms. “Oh Jonghyun,” he said. “I’m sorry. Whatever it is I said I’m sorry.”

     He lifted Jonghyun’s hands up into the sunlight. “You’re bleeding.”

    “It’s just a scratch,” he said softly. “Don’t worry about it.

     Key rolled his eyes. “You’re bleeding idiot of course I care.”

    Tears sprang into Jonghyun’s eyes. Key saw them and he began to cry too. He smacked Jonghyun in the chest, tears rolling down his red cheeks. “I care you idiot,” he cried. “I care.”

     Jonghyun held him and after that they spoke no more about the future.

     Summer into Fall.

They were in the orchard. They always met in the apple orchard. It was the one place they could lose themselves in without fear of being found. The trees were endless and the guards slow. They would not be found here. Jonghyun wished they could lose themselves here for good. To vanish into the trees and the sweet smelling air. Maybe than his heart wouldn't be breaking.

     "Key," Jonghyun whispered into the boy's blonde hair. "Please tell me this is going to last forever."

     Key nodded, even though both of them knew it was a lie. A sweet lie whispered so they could stay happy. Key reached up to Jonghyun's back. "This," he whispered into his chest. "Is going to last forever. But-"

     Jonghyun shifted back, almost in horror at the but. But nothing.

     Lie to me. Tell me this will last .

     Key sighed, leaning back into Jonghyun's warm embrace. "But if it doesn't,"

    This will never last. It cannot be allowed to last.

    "Promise me you won't forget me?"

     Key's voice was small. Jonghyun hugged him fiercely. "Don't worry," he said, glancing up at the branches above them. The wind whistled through the lines of trees. The slim boy shivered in his arms, reminded Jonghyun that summer was coming to an end. Another week and it would mark the beginning of the harvest.

     The end of them.

     "I will never forget you Key."   

     That is my promise to you.

     Summer into Fall.

     Key kissed Jonghyun that night under the stars. Usually they did not meet at night. Key was locked in his room by his guardians and the farmer looked for Jonghyun. But this was the night before Key’s would vanish forever. The last night of Summer. This kiss was different. It was heated and desperate. Jonghyun gave in and they stayed the night in the orchard.

     That morning Key kissed him goodbye.

     Waving, he stepped under the sunflower covered fence and walked into the tangled trees. Jonghyun watched him until he vanished from sight. Then he stayed there until night fell.

      I swear I will never ever forget you.

     Summer into Fall.

     The harvest that year was the most bountiful they had ever seen. The priest claim it was because the sacrifice was so well accepted .

     Fall into Winter.

     No one died this Winter. There was food left over for the first time in over a hundred years. No children died. No families starved. Key was a name they blessed. Jonghyun cried a lot those months.

     Winter into Spring.

     The farmer did not say much about Jonghyun’s actions. It was as if he understood that Jonghyun’s emotions were too raw for words. He let him tend to the orchard alone and said nothing of marriage.

      Spring into Summer.

     Jonghyun hated apples. He hated the sight of the trees bending in the wind. It reminded him too much of Key.

     He left and the farmer said not a word when he packed his bags and traveled to the sea. He wanted to see if he could find peace there. He almost found it. The water was loud enough to drown out the sounds of Key’s voice. He could lose himself in the wind and the waves. He almost did.

    He was sitting on the edge of the cliff. His legs hung off the side and he stared at the stormy sky. One jump and he could be gone.

    But suddenly he smelled apples and he couldn’t do anything but sob. Jonghyun left the sea and returned to the farm. The old farmer took him back without a word. Some things were meant to be left untouched.

     Jonghyun finally mustered the courage to return to the fence covered in sunflowers. He took a basket of apples in tribute. He sat it down by the fence and finally slipped underneath it for the first time in his life. It was an odd feeling. He expected it to feel different. To feel like he had reclaimed a part of Key. Instead it just felt like he was tired. He turned to leave.

    “Jonghyun?”

    He froze. No, not this. Anything but this. How could his mind be so cruel? Jonghyun trembled in place, hands shaking. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he heard that sweet voice. A pale hand gripped his arm, snaking around it so familiarly.

    “You finally came back,” the voice whispered. “IT said you wouldn’t, but I knew you would. You waited too long though. You should have come back sooner.”

  "How are you here?" Jonghyun asked. "Am I insane?"

  The sweet voice laughed. "You're an idiot. If you remember something, it can always come back. That's how the god works, it sometimes lets people go. No one remembered anybody else. Just me. Now turn around and kiss me."

  Jonghyun did.