First part of a double update.

There will be a minor scene of self harm, please be advised. I'm not putting a trigger warning because it was only one sentence. Still, it might be enough for some people, so if you think I need to put this under Rated M, don't hesitate to let me know.

Thank you so much to those who have commented, subscribed and upvoted this story. You guys are the best *smooch*

Chapter 4

General Park stood silently as he watched Hyukjae fumbled with the main console of the embryonic hibernation tank. He recognized the glass cylinder as soon as he saw the orangey liquid inside. It was probably the last functional tank. Hyukjae once again zapped the panel and it only took him one try to activate the tank. A screen lit up accompanied by several beeping noises.

 “Commencing re-animation process.” A female voice said from the console’s speaker.

A gurgle can be heard and slowly the liquid from inside the tank was drained. Hyukjae had his forehead pressed against the glass, eyes never leaving Donghae’s face. He was at a loss for words. The feeling of awe and wonder at finally seeing Donghae in the flesh overwhelmed him. He stood so close to the glass cylinder he might as well plastered himself to its surface.

The insistent pull on his stomach had intensified. It was like the pull is a compass and Donghae is the North. And standing before Donghae, the pull had become an invisible force, drawing him to Donghae, demanding him to stay close, rooting him to the ground and making him unable to step away.

All through the years, Hyukjae was only able to hear Donghae’s sweet voice. He never appeared in Hyukjae’s dreams. He had asked why Donghae never showed himself and the answer was quite heartbreaking Hyukjae never asked again.

 He tried to picture how Donghae would look and was pleasantly surprised when Donghae turned out to be even more beautiful than he could ever imagine. The man appeared to be of the same age as him, but Hyukjae knew that Donghae was much, much older. His eyes took in Donghae’s strong features. The prominent cheek bones, strong jaws, aquiline nose, thin lips and thick eyebrows. He couldn’t wait for Donghae to wake up so he could see the other man’s eyes. His fingers were itching to run themselves through the soft looking brown hair. His whole body yearned to touch Donghae.

“Donghae. Donghae. You’re so beautiful. Donghae.” Hyukaje whispered, fingers caressing the glass, not caring that he had a spectator.

General Park turned his body slightly away from the seemingly private moment. He wasn’t a romantic man, but he could clearly hear the adoration and longing lacing Hyukjae’s voice. Hyukjae kept on whispering sweet nothings to the man inside the tank.

15 minutes passed before the tank fully drained of the orange liquid and series of whirs and hiss sounded from the bottom of the tank. A blast of warm air started to fill the tank, creating a layer of fog that obscured Hyukjae’s view of Donghae. Hyukjae pressed his palms against the glass and heated it up, making the fog around Donghae’s face disappear.

General Park peered at the screen, displaying Donghae’s status and a countdown sequence. He cleared his throat. “I think the process will take about an hour.” He said.

“Hmm.” Hyukjae replied.

“Can I ask some questions while we wait?” He asked.

Hyukjae sighed. “Fine. Ask away.” His gaze still riveted at the man inside the tank.

General Park didn’t waste any time, he only known Hyukjae for less than 2 hours but he was already familiar with the younger’s mercurial moods, so he quickly asked the ones he was most curious about.

“How did you know about Donghae? He’s been here even before you were born.”

“He came to me in my dream when I was 7.”

“Uh, he came to you in your dream?”

Hyukjae’s lips curled in distaste. “What? You don’t believe me?”

“Well, it just seemed… unlikely.”

“General Park, do I need to zap you to make you believe in magic? No? You do believe in magic then. Why is it so hard to believe that I met Donghae in my dreams?”

“Well, magic is tangible. I can see it; verify its existence with my own eyes.” The General said.

Hyukjae scoffed. “I’m here, so does Donghae. We’re not tangible enough for you?”

“Still, it doesn’t explain the why and how.”

For a moment Hyukjae averted his gaze from Donghae and looked at the General. His eyes bore into the General’s, silently judging and weighing. General Park tried not to squirm under the intense scrutiny. Hyukjae must have found what he was looking for because he smiled at the General, and it was a genuine one.

“I don’t trust people easily, but I have a feeling that I could trust you.” He said as he looked back at Donghae. “I don’t understand the how myself, not completely anyway. You’ll just have to ask Donghae once he wakes up. As for the why, it’s easy.” Hyukjae pressed a kiss against the glass. “It’s because we need each other.”

*****

The rumble had grown to a permanent hunger, taking place in Donghae’s sternum. At times it was only a dull throb, but most of the times it was a gut wrenching ache, especially when he was around Magi. It seemed that the more magic he was exposed to, the greater his hunger grew. He tried to hold himself back, to consciously try not to steal any magic. Sometimes he succeeded in reigning in the want, other times he wasn’t so lucky and the gaping maw in his sternum the magic, making him satisfied for a moment before the guilt rushed in and left him a heaving and retching mess inside locked bathrooms.

He had taken to distancing himself from Magi, seeking companies from non Magi instead. Slowly the people around him started to notice how he would shy away from Magi and avoided hanging around them anymore. His family tried to talk to him about it, but he was too afraid to tell them the truth. He dropped enough hints to make his family thought that he was only jealous and feeling inferior around Magi. They still tried to cheer him up, showering him with affections and praises in hope to alleviate the jealousy and inferiority complex.

But the last straw came when he was 14. Their parents were out for a date night and left the two brothers at home. Donghae had tried his best to not steal any magic from Donghwa and so far he had succeeded. He prayed that his luck would hold out until he figured out a way to control the hunger because the last thing he wanted was to rob Donghwa of any magic.

The night started out okay, Donghwa was downstairs in the living room, watching some show on the TV, while Donghae was holed up in his room, focusing all of his attention to his pile of homeworks. He found that concentrating on one thing made the hunger ignorable so he poured everything into studying. The rows of A+ on his report card were probably the only good side effect to his bizarre condition.

But then the ugly hunger inside of him reared its ugly head, making Donghae hunched over his desk in pain. Not two second later Donghwa knocked at his door and without waiting for answer, opened the door and peeked in.

“Hae-ah, what do you want for dinner? We had some leftover but Mom also left money in case you want to order out.”

Donghae wanted to ask Donghwa to leave but he had trouble pushing the words past his closed up throat. He made small choking noises as he struggled to breathe.

“Donghae? Are you okay?” Donghwa hurriedly stepped inside the room, concern lacing his voice. “Are you feeling sick?” He asked again, one hand outstretched to touch Donghae’s shoulder.

The moment Donghwa’s hand touched Donghae’s shoulder, the hunger took over. Donghae felt the terrible sensation and soon Donghwa’s magic flowed into his sternum.

Donghae felt good. Donghae felt great. Donghae felt amazing.

But when he saw Donghwa swayed on his feet, he felt bile rose and he wrenched himself from his brother.

“Leave me alone Donghwa.” He choked out before he ran to the bathroom and locked himself inside. He kneeled before the toilet bowl; dry heaves wrecked his small body. He shoved a finger down his throat to force himself to throw up. Nothing came out.

Donghae cried as he forced himself to vomit. He wanted to spew all of the stolen magic out. No matter how good it felt, it didn’t worth the rancid after taste. And the guilt he felt was enough to kill him a little inside.

When his parents came home later that night, they found Donghwa slumped on the floor with his back against the bathroom door, face pale and hands shaking. They heard Donghae’s sobs from inside the bathroom. It took 5 minutes to pull Donghwa from the floor and transferred him to his own bed. It took 20 to coax Donghae to unlock the bathroom door and another 10 to clean him up and put him to bed.

The next morning, they brought the two brothers to the hospital. Donghwa was diagnosed with a fatigue and was allowed to go home while Donghae was referred to a child psychologist.