The tired sunsets and the tired people. It takes a lifetime to die, and no time at all.

Yixing wandered around for a long while. He went to their favourite streets, sat on their favourite bench in the park, went to their favourite beach. He took his time before he came to the shining golden gates. He didn’t know how, but he’d known that the place existed, and he’d known where to find it all along.

A young girl was sitting among the fluffiest clouds, peering out with her sparkling eyes. Yixing stopped, unsure, and gave a small smile. The girl hopping out lightly, a wide grin etched on her pretty face, as she approached Yixing’s hand and held out her hand for Yixing to take.

“I’m sorry… Is it possible if…you gave me a little more time? I’d like to wait for someone.”

The girl gave a knowing smile and nodded. She skipped back to her cloudy nest, waved at Yixing, and disappeared.

Yixing was still unsure, but he was less sad. He didn’t know if Baekhyun would be happy to see him, but he wanted to make sure he made it through safely. There were stories of people meeting their greatest fears as they passed through these gates, and he wanted to be there for Baekhyun.

He waited and waited. The nights here were agonizingly cold, but he held on to the knowledge that he couldn’t die anymore, and he gritted his teeth and sat through the hours. He had no need to sleep anymore. His hands and feet throbbed painfully, and it seemed as if his heart was too frozen to pump, but he clung onto the soft light at the path that he came, and he waited. Dawn was breathtakingly beautiful. There was no sun, but the entire universe was bathed in a brilliant glow. The ice from his body evaporated into glittering sparks that disappeared into thin air, and there was the scent of fresh grass and wildflowers.

Two nights later, before dawn broke, the soft light was snuffed out momentarily. Yixing sat up, squinting at the distant shape that was approaching him slowly but surely. Warmth spread throughout his body as he recognized the shoulders, the waist, the ruffled hair…

And those beautiful, beautiful eyes. They were shining with the purest joy. And there was something else.

Could it be…? He almost dared to hope.

Yixing stood still on the clouds, bracing himself for Baekhyun to walk past him without batting an eyelid, but he stopped an arm’s length away from him and his eyes smiled.

He was no longer pale and sickly. The places where his bones used to jut out were now smoothly rounded, his skin taking on a healthy glow. He wasn’t coughing, or wheezing, or panting, or wincing in pain. There was no furrow in his brow, no hollow emptiness in his pupils, no dark shadows beneath his eyes. This was him – Byun Baekhyun, the boy he'd loved till the last moment of his life.

Unlike Yixing, Baekhyun had been in a great rush. He’d soared straight up from the suffocating hospital ward, willing himself to travel faster, faster, until he saw the path that led to his destiny. For a moment he hesitated, afraid of finding a solidary journey awaiting him, but his eyes adjusted and he made out a small figure hunched against the cold at the entrance of the gates. The warmth chased away his chills and he started forward.

Before he knew it he was jogging, then running, and he relished the feeling of being able to run without his lungs trying to kill him.

He stopped in front of Yixing. The frost and ice crystals were still clinging onto his hair. The bruises and cuts were gone. He was almost the old Yixing he’d known and loved dearly – except for his eyes. There was still a shadow of doubt, of uncertainty, dimming their usual sparkle, and Baekhyun felt a stab at his heart because he was the cause of it.

He'd missed him so, so much. He felt the ghost of a smile creeping on his face and he reached up to dust the ice off Yixing’s hair. His heart clenched when Yixing flinched slightly, perhaps thinking he was about to hit him. He looked down and saw Yixing’s fists opening and closing, fingers twitching as he tried to sort out his emotions.

When Yixing looked up his eyes were filled with a daring hope and moist love. Slowly, Baekhyun reached up and laid his palm against his cheek, wiping away the tears with his thumb. In a flash he was pulled into a strong embrace and the smell of him was so familiar that it filled his own eyes with wetness.

They stayed there for a long time, breathing in each other, feeling each other, lost in memories and bliss.

When it was time, they let go of each other and Baekhyun took Yixing’s hand. The little girl hopped out again and opened the gates for them.

And together, hands intertwined, they took one step forward.

Then another.

And another.

Then they were through, and it was every as bit beautiful as they imagined. 

-The End-