Mela en' coiamin (Love of My Life)
Infinite Worlds
A/N: This came to me in a dream and wouldn't leave until I wrote it out. I hope you guys enjoy it. I know it's been awhile since I last updated. Sorry about that.
“Bunny!” He yells, scaring the small blue creature and it dashes into another bush. He frowns, but soon smiles when he sees a kaleidoscope of turquoise butterflies swarming the sky. The flutter of their wings reflect the light causing them to twinkle like stars. His eyes grow wider, small giggles leaving his body as he carries on with his journey through the young forest of life.
“Oh Jonginnie,” he sing-songs, “Nini.” he calls, swinging his arms while walking. There's silence for a moment while he waits on a reply. Suddenly, sounding from behind him is an angelic giggle, high pitched and cheerful. Kyungsoo quickly turns around to find that no one is there. He runs toward the next tree, fingertips catching the bark and he leans, peering around the trunk before whispering, “Nini!”
Another giggle compels Kyungsoo forward as he peeks around each tree in search of his friend. His body weaves throughout the forest, splashes of cherry red from his overalls painting the brown and magenta terrain.
“Cormamin lindua ele lle.” Kyungsoo sings in his native tongue and an abrupt gust of wind barrels toward him. His eyes expand twice their original size as he watches it draw near. The breeze sweeps through the shrubbery until it reaches him, sending his hair back and almost tipping him over, but he uses a tree to keep himself steady.
“Are you ready?” Jongin asks before in a hard breath. He blows another rush of air that thoroughly tousles Kyungsoo's pink bubblegum hair. Jongin laughs at his creation of a bird’s nest on top of Kyungsoo’s head.
“Jongin, you’re not playing fair!” Kyungsoo yells, stomping his curly toed slippers on the lavender soil.
“You call for a forest spirit?” Jongin asks from behind Kyungsoo.
“Oio naa elealla alasse.’” He says with a brilliant smile before spinning around to see Jongin. Immediately, he expression falls as he beholds a translucent head and torso. Jongin doesn’t have legs as his waist leads into tendrils that fade. “You're so clear.” There is worry in his tone because he's never been able to see through Jongin before. It's as though he's becoming an evanescent body.
The spirit’s expression sinks as he sullenly floats behind a tree. “Don't look at me.” Jongin says, “It’s because the love for the forest is dying.”
This alarms Kyungsoo because he adores the life within this forest, everything is lustrous, colorful and lively. The wild animals have a home for themselves where they can be free. It allows Kyungsoo a moment of peace and tranquility where he could sing and warble his favorite hymns. But the best part of this forest is Jongin.
When he met the young spirit two years ago, he was frightened to say the least. It was a rather ordinary morning as he took a leisure stroll into the woodlands watching the animals play and humming under his breath. He heard someone laughing and thought it to be a hallucination. However, as he continued to walk, the laughter became much louder until it was directly beside his ear. He nearly jumped out of skin, eyes threatening to bulge out of his head when Jongin floated beside him.
The spirit introduced himself and Kyungsoo fainted on the spot. It wasn’t until he aroused hours later did he see Jongin again. But as he groggily sat up on the lilac strands of grass, he fainted once again upon seeing Jongin hovering above his body.
That day is memorable for them both. And ever since that day, they’ve become great friends who played games together and talked for hours. So it’s quite disturbing to Kyungsoo to see Jongin in such a state.
“There must be something we can do!” He pipes up with hopeful eyes. Jongin peeks from behind the bark.
“I’m not sure Kyungsoo.” His delicate shoulders drop, a pout forming on his lips.
“You only need people to love you right?” Kyungsoo questions, mind racing with ideas. Jongin nods. “Hmm.” Kyungsoo scratches his chin, tapping his foot against the ground.
“It’s not just love, they need to show it as well.”
Moments pass in silence as Kyungsoo nearly dies from concentration. “Aha! I have an idea.”
Jongin swoops down to Kyungsoo’s face, aligning their eyes. “Really!?”
“Yes! So you need love and while watching the grown-ups in my village, they show love with a kiss!” Kyungsoo’s smile is bright and radiant, as though he’s thought of the best idea ever.
“Kiss?” Jongin his head in confusion, “Is that some sort of candy?”
Kyungsoo snorts, “No silly! Kissing is what people do when they want to show love!” He squirms on his toes, body aching to do a happy dance. This idea is perfect, he thinks.
Jongin is still uncertain and he eyes Kyungsoo with skepticism. “How do you know this will work? How old are you?”
“Well, I’ve only been alive for eleven years now, so to my parents and everyone else I’m the youngest, and they don’t even consider me a baby. I won’t turn 1 years old until I reach the millennium mark. Which means I have…” Kyungsoo counts on his fingers with his tongue sticking out from the corner of his mouth, “989 more years to go.” He nods triumphantly from doing the math correctly.
“Ah, fiddlesticks! Then there’s no way you’re right. You haven’t even lived a millennium.”
“Hey. It’s worth a shot!” Kyungsoo places his hands on his hips. “Do you have a better idea, hmm?”
Jongin ponders for a brief moment before shrugging, “Okay, my favorite elf. How do we do this so called ‘kissing?'"
Kyungsoo turns his head, pink swarming his cheeks. “Uh, it means we have to touch.” The tips of his index fingers press together repeatedly as he recalls where they must ‘touch.’
“Touch me then.” Jongin says as he pushes out an arm.
“U-umm…umm... We have to touch with our lips.” Kyungsoo’s cheeks redden deeply, shy feet shuffling along the ground and kicking up dirt.
Jongin’s buoyant motions become stiff, eyes widening in realization. He coughs in a palm, “Well, let’s get on with it then.” Kyungsoo snaps his head to look at the spirit, and Jongin hesitantly nods.
“Okay, here goes.” Their faces align, and Kyungsoo steps forward to close the distance between them. His nerves skyrocket and he could feel his knees begin to shake from their proximity. With his gaze fixated on Jongin, he moves his face closer. But as he draws near, the spirit’s eyes grow larger and larger, and Kyungsoo stops. “You have to close your eyes!”
“You close your eyes!” Jongin snaps back.
“If I close my eyes, then we won’t be able to do it right. How can we do something when we both can’t see?”
Jongin huffs, “Fine, fine. Elves are so controlling.” Kyungsoo simply rolls his eyes. He doesn’t have the energy to make a snarky rebuttal with his focus on their kiss. Jongin does as he is told, and the elf leans forward once again only to hesitate when they are centimeters away from each other.
Without being given time to back away, Jongin moves forward to connect their lips. Instantly, Kyungsoo screws his eyes shut. The kiss is mainly stagnant, without much movement. However, Kyungsoo’s warmth and pure emotions seep into his body. Jongin feels the tranquil heat of the sun for the very first time. The tips of his hair begin to manifest into a golden brown until it reaches his scalp. The deep tanned pigmentation of his skin journeys from his head and over his body, traveling toward his waist. Two sturdy legs form underneath his body, and for the very first time, he could feel the grainy dirt between his toes. After his transformation is complete, they break the kiss.
Kyungsoo slowly opens his eyes and staggers back upon seeing Jongin in the flesh before him. He clumsily trips over his feet and falls to the ground, his bottom hitting the soil with a thump.
Jongin looks over his limbs in awe and wonder, smiling to himself about the transformation. Kyungsoo does the same, unable to look away from the boy in front of him. Jongin’s light marigold hair is tamed in the shape of a bowl with healthy, sandy strands. The olive green tunic encomapsses his upper body while there are dark green tights to cover his legs. Only his arms and feet are bare, and his skin shimmers and sparkles within the sun beams, resembling that of diamonds when reflecting light. He’s absolutely ethereal.
Jongin looks to him and erupts in laughter when he sees the dumbfounded look on Kyungsoo’s face. “Did you just call me beautiful?”
Kyungsoo coughs awkwardly. “Maybe…” He stands to his feet, dusting off his behind.
“Your idea worked Kyungsoo!” Jongin runs—more like totters—over and engulfs Kyungsoo in a bear hug which causes the elf to stiffen. “Thank you! Thank you!” Jongin is so elated that he pecks Kyungsoo’s cheek without thinking.
The elf blushes, mumbling, “I told you it would.”
Pulling back from the hug, Jongin asks, “So does that mean that you love me Kyungsoo?” The elf dashes behind the nearest tree. “Kyungsoo?”
“Y-yes Jongin?”
“That was an elf's gift, was it not? That’s how you knew it would work.” The elf remains silent behind the bark, and Jongin sighs sadly. “What did you sacrifice?”
Kyungsoo gulps. an elf's gift, is their true love's first kiss because it is the rarest kiss of them all. It can only be given once within an elf's life time and they only do so when they are in love with that person. They have to wait until their destined partner comes for them to share the touch of one’s lips. If the two parties engaging in the kiss are elves, then there is no sacrifice given. Their immortality cancels each other out, allowing them to live forever without worry. However, if an elf kisses any creature not of their species, then they must offer years of their life for the kiss.
Kyungsoo knows of this rule. It’s the very first thing an elf is told when they are born. Despite knowing such a result, he would rather die himself than see Jongin disappear and never return. The fondness he has for the spirit would not allow him to sit idly by, and his fathomless love for Jongin would not diminish. Therefore, he did the only thing he could think of at the moment: sacrifice years of his life for Jongin to live.
“Kyungsoo, what did you sacrifice?” Jongin walks around the tree and finds the elf curled up on the ground with his knees to his chest, the trunk supporting his back.
“Are you mad?” He looks up at Jongin with a tearful gaze.
“No. I could never be mad at you.” Jongin drops to his knees beside him, “But I wish you would have told me. I’ve heard about this gift before, but didn’t think about it being your idea.” Jongin wipes the tears falling down Kyungsoo’s cheek. The wet substance soaks into the tips of his fingers and he rubs them together, staring at his hand. It’s nothing like he’s ever felt before and he momentarily blanks before returning his attention to Kyungsoo. “Hey, why don’t you tell me what you gave for me to live.”
“I gave away five millenniums of my life.” Kyungsoo sniffs.
Jongin pulls him in for another hug as they rest on the ground for a moment to collect their emotions. “That’s okay, and you want to know why?” Kyungsoo nods his head against Jongin’s shoulder, “Because I’ll love you forever and more. Don’t worry, I’ll be by your side for the remainder of your life which is already long anyway.”
Kyungsoo sniffles, rosy flushed cheeks rising from a smile. “A'maelamin.”
Jongin chuckles. “Now and forever,” he says, “and you should be happy to have found me at such a young age.” Kyungsoo wipes his tear-stained face and begins to stand. Jongin does the same, though his legs are quite wobbly.
“Should we go and introduce you to my people?” He takes ahold of Jongin’s hand.
Jongin looks to their linked fingers and when he feels the soft and warm comforting pads of Kyungsoo’s fingertips, he smiles. “Let’s go!”
My heart sings to see thee - Cormamin lindua ele lle.
Ever is thy sight a joy - Oio naa elealla alasse'
You are beautiful - Lle naa vanima
My beloved - A'maelamin
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