Taekwoon was born in a pool of his father’s reflection – where his mother held a child of alabaster light, bathing in the eyes of her lover above. Taekwoon still remembered the fairy-tale love stories she would often recite to him before the sunlight broke through between the winding arms of trees. But that was ages ago, and humans only live so long, so Taekwoon was left with himself and the howling edges of night. He did not believe in fairy-tales anymore.  

 

The nights were becoming increasingly longer and lonelier at the approach of Winter, especially so when most creatures of the night burrowed away for warmth. Taekwoon was somewhat used to it, being alone, that is.  

 

“You seem troubled,” Jaehwan’s ears twitched at the cooing owls in the distance. He dipped another hand into the river to clean out the drying blood between his fingers.  

 

“The nights are too long,” Taekwoon said, his knees drawn to his chest. He never usually accompanied Jaehwan on his hunts – only when Wonshik was not available, but it had become cold long ago and Wonshik was gone for hibernation. Taekwoon silently watched as Jaehwan scrubbed the stains of rouge off his lips and jaw. His father beamed a low light into the rippling waves, illuminating ribbons of light.  

 

“Yes that does usually happen in the Winter time,” Jaehwan turned with another one of his smug grins, canines gleaming. Taekwoon’s frown ran deeper and with his right foot, moved to shove the wolf boy into the water. Jaehwan laughed, grasping a hold of Taekwoon’s bare ankle before he could, “I am joking.” 

 

Taekwoon knew Jaehwan meant well, but it did not change how much he wanted to throw his chatter box of a friend into the river. They both knew that he would not, and that the rest of the wolf pack would indefinitely come running to save their drowning leader – and Taekwoon was not that cruel.  

 

“Cheer up,” Jaehwan straightened with an elongated stretch of his arms, “Winter is short. You have time in the palm of your hands.”  

 

Taekwoon sighed and pulled himself to his feet, the damp grass swaying in the night breeze. Jaehwan was right – the world will continue to move in an endless rotation, creatures and nature will die, but with each death comes a birth, and Taekwoon will remain here in the same forest – gifted (or doomed) to reign the night sky at the bridges of his endless empire. Lack of time was never an issue for Taekwoon, not now, and not ever.  

 

“That is the reason, Jaehwan,” he said. “Too much time can be the trouble.” 

 

Ͻ 

 

Sunrises were unusual: beginning with the birds. They awoke even before the darkness began to gradient into a hues of blue, loud chirps cutting through the silent night. Taekwoon heard them less during Winter mornings, most of them having to fly south. Their calls would continue as the sky broke a sliver of gold at the edges of the east, blue slipping into the blackness stretched above. Taekwoon wasn't exactly supposed to stay to watch the sun but he did it every morning, rooted in the same spot below his favourite tree that sat a perfect view of the horizon.   

 

Today, however, was different. It was different when Taekwoon felt something unfamiliar step foot into the threshold of his forest. The feeling was a soft tickling heat at first, and then a blazing fire into the base of his stomach, burning up to the tips of his hair. Taekwoon was not familiar with the creatures of the day, but he wanted to know what this was. The sun was growing by the second, the gradient of sapphire and gold burning holes into him but he ignored it. He pulled himself to his feet, with knees weak, fatigue washing over him in waves – and walked towards the edge of the woods. It only took a few moments of practiced steps before he could see it, even from a mile away it was hard to miss.  

 

There, breaking into the trees, was a silhouette, framed with a bath of white. Taekwoon sank behind a large trunk, its leaves long enough to shadow him from the colour, and he watched from behind as the silhouette moved into the trees with the sun.  

 

As the shape roamed closer into view, Taekwoon felt the air in his lungs slowly leave his body. It was a man, with hair swept a golden blonde around the apples of his cheeks, his eyes cerulean like the growing blue sky above him. His sun-kissed skin like a velvet curtain of olives, giving canvas to the ridges in his long neck, long arms and long legs. He was a bolt of lightning, a picturesque halo of colour that pulled Taekwoon breathless.  

 

The sun was rising rapidly now, and panic raised into the fluttering in his chest. With a flurry of weak limbs, Taekwoon hauled back into the darkness, scrambling under shadows and underpasses to reach his lake, his legs taking him slower and clumsier than he hoped to. The pool was at the heart of the forest, shadowed by endless thickets and evergreen – the reflection of his father long gone at the blueness in the sky. Taekwoon's eyes were drooping already, vision dotting with spots of fatigue as he stepped into the water. He waded into the centre, where he let himself slide into the lake, letting the water engulf him in its arms with sleep.  

 

Ͻ 

 

“He is the Sun,” Jaehwan said, albeit distractedly as he threw another branch into the darkness, where Sanghyuk – still an overexcited pup – bounded towards into the thicket. Taekwoon marvelled how fast Sanghyuk had grown, and was sure it was only a matter of time when he would overtake Jaehwan in size. Taekwoon shook his head then, “the Sun does not have a human body.”  

 

“I mean the child of the Sun,” Jaehwan shrugged. “He is like you, but perhaps not as gloomy.” Taekwoon tried to ignore the jab this time, but finding he could not, settled with a knuckle between Jaehwan’s sharp shoulder blades.  

 

“He was not here before,” Taekwoon said. He did not mean for the defensive tone that seeped into his words, but it did. Jaehwan’s ears twitched at it, yellow eyes narrowing.  

 

“I see nothing wrong with it,” Jaehwan sniffed, “this forest had no one to control it during the day. Their creatures have become unruly and –”  

 

His statement was cut short as Sanghyuk bolted back, a multitude of branches in hand, tumbling headfirst into Jaehwan’s chest, sending them both to the ground. Taekwoon let laughter bubble in his chest, only spilling out when Sanghyuk placed a few kisses to the corners of Jaehwan’s line of a mouth. 

 

“Unruly you say,” Taekwoon snorted. Jaehwan’s response was a growl and a shove to Sanghyuk’s side. 

 

“Hakyeon is nice,” Sanghyuk said with a smile, after he had rolled through the grass, foliage sticking to the tuffs of his dark hair and the fur of his ears. “He plays with me when Jaehwan is too tired to.” Jaehwan pinched the boy’s cheek at that, the bridge of his nose curled upwards playfully.  

 

“So you met him,” Taekwoon said, his lips pursed. It was times like this where he wished he could step into the sun without wilting away. Sanghyuk nodded, bright eyes shining in the moonlight with crescents of silver. “He asked about you.”  

 

Taekwoon felt his heart leap into his chest, an unfamiliar churn to the pit of his stomach.   

 

“Why would he do such a thing?” he asked. Sanghyuk only shrugged.  

 

Ͻ

 

The next sunrise, Taekwoon stood closer to the clearings of the forest with a watchful eye, ignoring the twinges of lethargy that knotted at his thoughts. The edges of light were just peeking over the horizon, it was a fiery crescent of light that illuminated tree tops. Taekwoon waited.  

 

There, in the soft green of the clearing, sat a pond, slowly falling into a glittering view as the light hit the flickering waves into motion. And as the colours above grew higher, the churning in the glowing pool began to gather towards the center. Taekwoon bit back a yelp of surprise when the surface broke like a shattering glass, raining shards of water across the grass. Hakyeon woke with the sun: streams of ethereal light hit the lines of water against his , his hair shone a glossy dream as he shook the wet from it. Taekwoon held his breath, as Hakyeon stepped out from the pool, the Sun still softly rising at the edge of the trees, and reached for the white tunic that hung from a low hanging branch on the other side of the clearing.  

 

"What are you doing?"  

 

Taekwoon jumped at the voice behind him, his senses were much too weakened for him to have noticed. In the trees stood a young man with chestnut hair that curled like tendrils, almost covering the pointed tips of his ears. He bore green leaves and vines coiling around his ankles and thighs as his clothing. His emerald eyes showed curiosity, his head tilted slightly to the side. Taekwoon did not recognize this man, as he had never met the creatures of the day before, but from the stories he heard from Wonshik, he gathered him as a forest nymph.  

 

"I-" Taekwoon glanced back towards the pond, where Hakyeon was no where to be seen. "I am just leaving."  

 

"You look very human," the nymph took a step forward, the vines of the tree moved to give way, "but I do not believe so."  

 

A wave of wariness hit Taekwoon with a harsh jab into the back of his head. He took a step backwards, feeling the flush of his back hit the tree bark, still cool from the night. "I am from the night. I must go." Taekwoon pushed forward, the strength of his legs much diminished, but a strong arm blocked his aim of path.  

 

"Who are you?" The forest nymph's eyes are narrowed, pale skin beginning to glow under the orange sunrise.  

 

"I am-" his vision was spotting now, as the daylight began to shine between the branches of the trees, burning into his retinas, "Jung. Taek-" The nymph's dimpling face became out of focus as his eyes rolled up into his head, and the world fell into darkness.  

 

Taekwoon awoke hours later with his face full of Jaehwan's fur, and the view of the enclosed darkened wolf den around him. Jaehwan was nudging him awake with his nose, the mouth of the cove still shone in light, but dying in colour, and vastly covered by the largeness of Jaehwan's wolf form. His fur was caramel on coffee, identical to the colour of his human hair.  

 

Taekwoon reached up and scratched at the soft spot under Jaehwan's jaw to let him know he was awake. He received a not so kind bat to the nose with a closed paw in response. It did not take words to understand the meaning of that. You are an idiot.  

And oh, did Taekwoon know that already.  

 

Ͻ 

 

 

Months passed where Taekwoon continued to watch the sun rise, avoiding a pestering Hongbin (he learned the forest nymph's name from Sanghyuk, who apparently knows all the creatures of the forest), and testing his limits under the shadows.  

 

"Why must you torture yourself like this?" Wonshik, finally awake from his slumber, shifted in place under the shadows of the tree, "you should sleep."  

 

Taekwoon had one eye open, the sun risen high in the sky by now, filtering through into leaf shaped patterns in the ground. "I will be fine. Perhaps one day I will walk the forest until mid-afternoon."  

 

Wonshik snorted, "we both know that is impossible." Taekwoon rolled his eyes but kept an eye on the clearing, where a lull of day projected rays onto the tree roots. He may not be able to walk in the day, but he wanted to try. And try he did. 

 

Spring was on its peak when Taekwoon grew the courage to watch daybreak crack into the sky from the clearing with the pond once again. He watched as the waves rippled into life as Hakyeon once again broke awake at the crack of dawn. Taekwoon had been getting better at conserving his energy, drawing out more from the shadows under the trees.  

 

With a clearer mind, he could see that Hakyeon was the definition of elegance – thin but toned, his movements fluid like the push and pull of the ocean waves. Taekwoon took a step forwards, and the crack of a twig snapped beneath his foot. 

 

"Who is there?" Hakyeon asked. Taekwoon stilled, breath caught in his throat. "Reveal yourself."  

 

Taekwoon would not, and could not do so. He slid closer under the shadows of the branches as Hakyeon approached, long strides strong and b with energy under each step, the gold jewellery around his wrists and ankles jingled as he walked. Taekwoon could feel his heartbeat rattle against his chest, a flush of heat filing to his face as Hakyeon rounded the edge of his vision.  

 

It was like time stopped in secession. The breeze against the grass or the chirping morning birds seemed to halt, and Taekwoon could not breathe at the sight of Hakyeon's bright eyes that bore straight into his.  

 

"You are the Moon's child," Hakyeon finally said, voice soft, almost as if not to startle him. Taekwoon could only nod, the heat in his face burned. Hakyeon smiled then, the corners of his lips curled towards the sky, white teeth reflected against the soft light against his face. He took a tentative step forward, "I am Hakyeon. Child of the Sun."  

 

"Taekwoon," he finally found his voice, but his voice came out much weaker than intended. Hakyeon was still smiling as he wrapped his fingers – gold on silver – around Taekwoon’s  wrist.  

 

“Taekwoon,” his eyes curved downwards at their hands like half moons as blue as the sky, dark eyelashes were long and curved against his cheek, “you are beautiful.”  

 

Taekwoon felt fire flood into his face. With a sigh he pulled his chin to his chest, trying not to look at Hakyeon’s slim fingers pressed against the inner sides of his forearm. He wanted to tell him the same, but his lips would only betray him and he kept his eyes trained to the floor. It was then that Hakyeon laughed – a sweet melodious tune that glittered over tree tops and reverberated into the earth. 

 

"You do not speak much," Hakyeon said, the pad of his thumb circled the inner bone at Taekwoon's wrist.  

 

"I must go," Taekwoon responded, regret tinged his voice but he knew he had a race with the Sun to finish. Hakyeon's fingers loosened his grip around Taekwoon's wrist and he – reluctantly – pulled away.  

 

It was when he was retreating through the shadows that he heard Hakyeon's question, almost lost in the maze of the forest. "Will I see you at moonrise?"  

Taekwoon could not hide his smile.  

 

Ͻ 

 

Hakyeon was what made the threshold between night and day so much more than it ever had been. There used to be a routine before him – boring at most, almost as horrible as the misguided humans that lived their lives in monotonous cycles. Now it had become less lonely with Hakyeon with him, at the borders of the world as the sky churned with colours of apricots and lemons.  

 

They sat beneath Taekwoon's favourite tree during sunrise, and lay in the fading warmth of the grass during moonrise. As the colours dimmed in the sky, Hakyeon turned – the fading golden curves of his hair against grass illuminated in orange light, the shine in his eyes still as bright as the Sun himself.  

 

"What was your mother like?" He asked, fingers brushing against Taekwoon's.  

 

Taekwoon slipped his fingers between Hakyeon's in response. "She sang lullabies," he said. "She spoke of fairytales about princes and princesses."  

 

Hakyeon hummed, eyes closing at the darkness closing in on the clearing, "sing one for me." Taekwoon made a noise at the back of his throat, eyes casting downwards, "I do not remember."  

 

"Liar," Hakyeon smiled, eyes still closed, "sing your favourite one."  

 

"If you fall asleep while I am singing, you will forget the melody," Taekwoon said, and he could not help but let a smile creep into his words.  

 

"I will not," Hakyeon said, eyes opened once again, with a squeeze to Taekwoon's hand, "I promise."  

 

Taekwoon began singing then, a lullaby he had remembered his mother would sing to him many nights. Even when he stopped aging, and she continued to, her lullabies would not cease. Until she could not sing anymore, Taekwoon continued for her until her last days.  

 

The melody was a sweet soft tune about abridged lovers, all nature forbidding yet unable to chase the love away from them. Taekwoon sang to the rising light of his father, and to glittering eyes of Hakyeon, words soft and curling in the cool breeze in the air. When he finished, Hakyeon was smiling with his teeth this time, and although Taekwoon could tell that he was struggling to keep awake, he could feel the fluttering hot thuds against his chest rise up into his ears.  

 

"You have a beautiful voice, Taekwoon," Hakyeon said. "I will not forget your melody." 

 

"You must sleep," Taekwoon caressed the back of Hakyeon's hand with his thumb, "it is almost night." Hakyeon's smile widened as he stretched his other arm out towards Taekwoon, "carry me home."  

 

"Never."  

 

"I will never wait for your moonrise ever again," Hakyeon bit back, but Taekwoon could hear the lie from a mile away. With a grunt and muttered complaints, he scooped Hakyeon in his arms and walked towards the opening of the pool that sat in the middle of the field.  

 

"Good night," Hakyeon yawned, as Taekwoon waded into the water. 

 

"Good night," Taekwoon kissed his forehead, before lowering the Sun into a mirror of white light.  

 

Ͻ 

 

"A solar eclipse?" 

 

Taekwoon watched Wonshik's bear form in the midst of the river, black fur illuminated by the moonlight against the running lines of the current. He was crouched on all fours, a helpless salmon squirming in his jaw as he sank his teeth into its pink flesh.  

 

Yes, in two night's time. Wonshik's eyes met Taekwoon's as he sat back on his haunches, his meal still twitching in his mouth.  

 

"How do you know such a thing?" Taekwoon asked. "My father would not even tell me about this." He could see Wonshik's shoulder shift upwards, then downwards. I was told by Hongbin. He speaks to the Stars sometimes.  

 

“You know Hongbin?” Taekwoon dipped his feet into the river, letting the rippling cool waves rush against his toes. During times like this, he almost wished that he could learn more of the strange affairs between the creatures that could roam both worlds. Wonshik grunted through his mouth – a loud gruff noise that huffed out of his nose, before tearing another chunk out of the fish’s side.  

 

“Oh,” Taekwoon realized, “you know Hongbin.”  

 

Shut up. Wonshik turned away, a ridiculous motion in fact, that there was no way to tell if a bear was blushing through all that dark fur. Taekwoon threw a stone at Wonshik’s back, utterly missing by nearly a full metre, “Since when would you have told me this?”  

 

I was going to. Wonshik’s form huffed once again, the tips of his ears twitched with his head bent forward – he was always a terrible liar. Taekwoon merely scoffed and let the river slide up to his ankles, brushing the base of his feet against the multitude of rocks underneath. There was a moment of pause then, as Wonshik slid back into his human skin, paws into fingertips, and bloody snout into face. Taekwoon watched in silence as Wonshik turned back to the river to wash his face, the flush of his cheeks now evident on his olive skin.  

 

“Thank you,” Taekwoon said.  

 

“What ever for?” Wonshik asked, pausing mid-wipe underneath his jaw.  

 

“For informing me,” it was Taekwoon’s turn to blush this time. He turned his head to the side, absently kicking his feet into the water like he had when he was a child. 

 

“Oh,” Wonshik smiled then, with a genuine crinkle at either sides of his eyes, “Of course." It was times like this that Taekwoon really appreciated as good of a friend Wonshik was. Taekwoon pulled his feet out of the water – the wet anticipation clung on to the soles of his feet until it hit the grass with a dull thud. A solar eclipse.  

 

Ͻ 

 

The world would spin out of time during an eclipse. Taekwoon had experienced it once or twice before, but never like this. Never had he waited for it, under the shadows of his large evergreen, barely mobile in the hot afternoon sun, baking the air in a humid afterthought.  

 

Hakyeon was there, his fingers against the sticky sweat on the back of Taekwoon's tunic, a soft ground to reality, barely keeping Taekwoon's consciousness at bay. Hongbin had said early afternoon, but for the first time Taekwoon had difficulty with waiting.  

 

"I am falling asleep," he murmured under his breath. He could feel beads of sweat forming at his forehead.  

 

Hakyeon squeezed his shoulder in reassurance, his long fingers flit across his collarbone like soft waves against beach shores. "Stay. It will be here soon." Hakyeon was right – Taekwoon could see a red silhouette approaching the brilliant white sphere in the center of the sky, a looming air filtered through the treetops.  

 

Not just a few moments later, Taekwoon felt it. They both did. It was like a rush of white smoke filled him from the inside out, blooming from the space between his ribs. Energy rushed back into his body with an egnited fire he had never felt before. He heard Hakyeon gasp as the sky drained from colour, as the world slowed to a stop before them. All noise in the forest ceased, the forest blurred into painted colours of white noise.  

 

The sky was a ring of fire. A blackness that stretched so deep into the atmosphere Taekwoon could almost pull himself through. He looked into the shadow of his father, loomed above them with a power that held every breath in his throat. No words were ever really exchanged to Taekwoon, but the sole image of the Moon told him everything. The eclipse was here for him, for them.  

 

A hand grasped Taekwoon's and he turned to see the tips of Hakyeon's eyelashes shimmering in silver, his ivory hair floating in an absent breeze. If Taekwoon had not been breathless already, he certainly was now. He could hear nothing but the hard thumping in his chest – Hakyeon had the sky in his eyes, the Sun in his smile. Taekwoon held fast and leaned in, noses bumping, their foreheads touching.  

 

"Hakyeon," he said. His voice cracked, words too beyond to reach by now, "Hakyeon."  

 

Hakyeon hushed him softly – with just a soft whisper of breath, before leaning forward and pressing their lips together. The world spun and stopped over and over again behind Taekwoon's eyes. Hakyeon's lips were soft, yet a steady strength that pushed and pulled like an open breeze that brushed gently against tree tops. Taekwoon was hooked into a spiral of his current, so pliant and so willing to chase the Sun into the Moon.  

 

Even when they had parted and the day floated back into the world, the eclipse – which lasted a realistic mere sliver of Taekwoon's endless time, was an opening to the rest of the future. Hakyeon's laugh against the flush of his neck was a new lullaby that could lead him through the endless rotation of nights and mornings. Taekwoon had time in the palm of his hands, after all.  

---

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