Chapter 35: What you see in me

.

The changes were subtle. But, to Kibum, they meant the world.

Jonghyun looked at him the same way he always had, with fascination and adoration, but the nymph only then seemed to perceive just how lovingly the elf always glanced at him. Jonghyun spoke to him the same way he always had, in his soft voice, with complicated words illustrating deep thoughts. But the tender touches, the lingering hands on Kibum's waist or arm weren't so uncertain anymore. They were still shy but more frequent. Jonghyun liked to hold his hand and lace their fingers together whenever he could. He always brought his arms around Kibum as they rode Tahca and gently held his hands or his wrists as he whispered his thoughts to the nymph, chin resting on the spirit's shoulder.

And Kibum was grateful for every small novelty yet immensely relieved that they appeared gradually. It was already so overwhelming to come to terms with the fact that his love was reciprocated, that his dearest wish had become true; he couldn't help his slightly excessive reactions to each and every little attention Jonghyun paid him. The elf didn't seem to mind the way Kibum blushed every time he smiled at him; he didn't make fun or seemed bothered by the thick mist that would appear every time he held the nymph's hand and brought it to his lips to kiss his fingers.

On the night after their first kiss, once Jongin and Taemin had escaped and left them alone, Jonghyun had taken Kibum to a cavern, hidden behind a waterfall, for them to sleep in. It was a beautiful place filled with colorful stones, and now it held one of Kibum's most precious memories. That evening, Jonghyun had held him tight, fingers brushing through Kibum's hair, the waterfall a nice, soft music behind them as he sang softly until the nymph fell asleep feeling safe, protected and indubitably loved.

As much as Kibum never wanted that trip of theirs to end, he was eager to see Jinki again and tell him all that had happened. His fairy friend was most likely busy having adventures of his own with Heechul, and Kibum couldn't bring himself to call for the fairy when he was enjoying every single minute alone -or almost alone- with Jonghyun. But he really, truly couldn't wait to see Jinki again, after his elf was gone again, and tell his fairy friend everything in excruciating detail.

One evening, after the four of them had ventured through Honeypeak to see the hundreds of linden trees in bloom and play in their shade, Kibum had stolen his prince away, giggling as he took his hand and ran, whispering that he had a surprise for him. The confusion and concern on Jonghyun's face had very quickly vanished. He knew that Taemin and Jongin wouldn't worry about them, if they even paid attention to their sudden disappearance at all.

Kibum was exceptionally excited, hopping everywhere and stopping suddenly to turn back to Jonghyun, grin at him, and press his nose against Jonghyun's.

"I hope you like the surprise," Kibum squealed, looking at his prince elf with transparent, shiny eyes.

"I'm pretty sure I'd like any place I go with you," Jonghyun answered fondly, an enamored smile on the corner of his lips.

His tone, combined with the look in his eyes, caused Kibum to blush, and the nymph giggled quietly.

"I think about it a lot," Kibum chirped. "I think about bring Jonghyun there a lot."

He was climbing roots, veering in between trees without even thinking about it, without even looking where he went, and Jonghyun followed him without a second thought, completely lost in those stormy eyes he loved so dearly. The elf didn't even realize that Kibum had conjured a path and taken them through it. He only blinked when he realized the ground under his feet was softer and the moonlight suddenly seemed brighter, no longer obstructed by trees.

When Jonghyun tore his eyes away from Kibum's pale face, he gasped. They were standing in front of a meadow. The forest was quiet around them, as if already asleep.

A little away from them was a small, white camellia tree. It stood immobile under the moon, surrounded by flowers that spread around everywhere, all the way up to Jonghyun's feet. The elf didn’t understand why they were still in bloom at night, and he couldn't help looking at them in wonder as Kibum softly pulled on his hand to bring him through the grass. They were careful as they walked; Jonghyun was terrified at the thought of crushing one of the beautiful blossoms, but it seemed as though the stems and leaves twisted away from their feet.

Jonghyun looked up to glance at Kibum, his eyes falling on the nymph's neck, and he smiled. It was probably Kibum's doing.

When they reached the white camellia, Kibum stopped and finally turned back to Jonghyun with rosy cheeks and a lovely grin.

"We are here," he said.

He looked around them and sat down, taking Jonghyun with him, before he moved closer to snuggle against his elf.

"It is very beautiful here," Kibum continued. "Do you like it?"

Jonghyun cupped the nymph's face with one hand, Kibum's cheek with his thumb before he pressed a soft kiss to his nose.

"I do."

Kibum had a very pleased smile on his face as he let out a contented little squeal. Then he shifted against Jonghyun and reached out to touch one of the flowers, softly its petals.

"Jeon-gyun knows the flower?"

Jonghyun leaned against the nymph to take a closer peek at the exact flower Kibum was touching, and it made the spirit laugh.

"I do not."

Kibum pressed his finger on Jonghyun's nose.

"Silly," he whispered.

"What is this pretty flower?" Jonghyun asked, a lazy smile on his lips as he tilted his head, squishing his cheek against his shoulder.

Kibum looked at him silently, his heart clenching in his chest at the cuteness Jonghyun was displaying. It made him strangely emotional, and he found himself at a loss for elvish words.

"It uuh..." Kibum stuttered, "it looks... you-... you see it looks like... something?"

Jonghyun straightened up with a slight pout and looked at the flower again. It looked almost round, its edges curiously pointy and twisted, with bright white petals, thin and soft.

Jonghyun's gaze got lost over the meadow for a moment, and his whole face softened.

"They look like the moon," he murmured. "A myriad of pretty little moons."

Kibum squeezed Jonghyun's hand in his with an excited little exclamation.

"Yes!"

Jonghyun looked back at him, raising one of his eyebrows in wonder.

"You brought me to a meadow of flowers that look like the moon..."

It wasn't really a question, more of a whispered, incredulous affirmation. Kibum simply nodded.

The nymph moved Jonghyun's hair away from his face and looked at him with so much affection that the elf prince sighed.

"Long before," Kibum said slowly, "a nymph live here."

He pointed to the camellia right behind them with his chin, then turned back to look into Jonghyun's eyes again. He had repeated and practiced his little story several times already, in his head, and hoped Jonghyun would understand it. There were a few complicated words.

"It was very long before. She is a nymph of flowers and trees, like Jong-in. And she loves the moon very, very much, like Jeon-gyun. She looks at the moon all the time when it's night. And then, one night, she dies and she go back to the forest."

Kibum saw Jonghyun frown, his face falling into sadness, and he eased it with a soft brush of his fingers against his cheek.

"Like a flower, she go back to the forest. All nymph go back one day when they are very old. But when she do, she appears again."

Kibum turned to the meadow and looked over it fondly.

"All flowers appear at the night to look at the moon. They bloom only at the night. Nymphs say they are moon flowers. They are magic. They are our nymph."

Kibum glanced back at Jonghyun to find him looking at the sky, at the crescent moon.

"You are my moon flower," Kibum said shyly.

There was a cheeky smile on his lips and a blush on his cheeks, and Jonghyun's heart threatened to explode.

"Are you the moon, then?" Jonghyun teased with a little smirk. "Because I can't stop looking at you."

Kibum laughed and pushed Jonghyun's face away in embarrassment, only for the elf to grab his wrists and lean back into him. Jonghyun pecked his lips quickly and Kibum sighed, not even trying to break free as he leaned in and kissed him back.

Jonghyun nibbled on Kibum's bottom lip and deepened their kiss. The nymph shivered against him and moved closer to sit on Jonghyun's lap and put his hand on the elf's neck. Jonghyun closed his arms around Kibum's waist as he kept tasting his lips.

When they parted, Kibum was smiling. Jonghyun felt a euphoric pride invade his whole body at the sight of the nymph's translucent eyes.

"I like to kiss you," Kibum confessed in a whisper.

Jonghyun stole another quick kiss.

"I like that too."

Kibum sighed happily and hid his face in the crook of Jonghyun's neck, snuggling into him for a moment. As he held him tenderly, Jonghyun saw a few droplets of water rise in the air around Kibum, sparkling in a beautiful teal color. Then, it started raining, a very soft, quiet drizzle falling around them and magically avoiding them.

"Thank you," Jonghyun murmured into Kibum's hair.

Kibum hummed lowly.

"I like that you love the rain."

"I like that you're made of it."

They fell silent for a moment, relishing in their embrace and the peaceful sounds of the gentle rain falling on the petals and leaves.

Jonghyun was looking at the moon, shining ever so tenderly over the flowery meadow, and Kibum was looking at him.

"It's so serene here," Jonghyun murmured.

"It is the flower," Kibum said. "They have calming magic. Like you."

Jonghyun nodded, but then frowned and looked down at the nymph.

"What do you mean?"

Kibum straightened up again and looked over the meadow with a sudden excited smile.

"Maybe you can take the magic of flower. It is beautiful then. You can make beautiful things."

Jonghyun breathed out in what sounded like a soft choke, and his eyes seemed sad.

"Kibum, I don't-..."

"Please try," Kibum asked.

He finally turned to his elf and froze when he noticed how fragile and small Jonghyun looked all of a sudden.

"Jeon-gyun?"

"I can't try," Jonghyun murmured.

Kibum cupped his face softly and lifted it up, gently asking for his elf to look back.

"Why?"

Jonghyun sighed and closed his eyes.

There was a growing pain in his chest, a shame he hadn't felt in a little while. It suddenly occurred to him that he wouldn't be able to hide the truth from Kibum. The nymph wouldn't fall for little tricks and stalling and lies. Jonghyun didn't want to lie to him anyway, no matter how terrible the truth made him feel.

Kibum was his cheeks, getting more and more worried about how deeply heartbroken Jonghyun seemed.

"Jeon-gyun?" he called again.

"I can't use magic," Jonghyun said in a voice so tight, so tiny that Kibum barely heard him.

The nymph gasped and frowned. He tilted his head to the side and pouted.

"What do you say?"

Jonghyun opened his eyes again. They were teary, and Kibum wished that whatever it was that made Jonghyun feel like that, he hadn't said it. If only he had kept his mouth shut. If only he had known.

"I don't know how to say it," Jonghyun sighed. "I uh-... It doesn't work. I can't use the magic to do anything."

Kibum was blinking quickly. The confused look on his face was making it even harder for Jonghyun to breathe. He suddenly wondered if the nymph would look at him differently after knowing he was unable to use magic. Could that mean something to Kibum?

"I don't understand," Kibum whispered. "I am sorry."

Jonghyun bowed his head in defeat. He saw Kibum squirm onto his lap, and the nymph caught both of Jonghyun's hands in his.

"I like your magic," Kibum simply said with a gentle smile that Jonghyun didn't see because he was too busy looking at their intertwined fingers. "I like what you do the most."

"But what do you mean?" Jonghyun murmured. He hated how whiny and broken he sounded. "I can't-... I can't do magic."

Kibum squeezed his hands, hard enough for Jonghyun to look up and see the nymph frown. He looked so entirely lost and baffled that Jonghyun wondered how they could misunderstand each other so much on something that didn’t seem too complicated.

"But you do magic all the time," Kibum complained. "You-..."

The nymph interrupted himself with a gasp and looked into Jonghyun's eyes with an intensity that made the elf feel like he was inspecting his soul. Kibum kept frowning, his eyes traveling up and down all over Jonghyun's body, making the elf prince feel shy and vulnerable. The nymph brought his hands to Jonghyun's face, his shoulders, his torso, pressing his palms against him, tilting his head curiously as he took a better look at his aura, his emotions, all the colors dancing around him.

"You don't know..." Kibum whispered, his eyes widening as his hands tightened around Jonghyun's arms. "Everything you do-... You don't even know..."

He gasped, his eyes suddenly filling with tears, and Jonghyun held him close, afraid that the nymph would vanish before his eyes and leave him behind, afraid that Kibum had realized that Jonghyun was unworthy of him.

"I'm sorry," Jonghyun breathed out in a tight voice. "I'm sorry, please don't leave."

Kibum choked on a sob at those words and hugged him back, as tightly as he could.

"I love you. I do not leave. I do not leave."

Jonghyun nodded, but his hold on the nymph didn't loosen, and Kibum waited. He told him again that he loved him, in a soft, reassuring voice until Jonghyun managed to let go. Kibum cupped his face carefully as if he were the most precious being in the world. And to the nymph, he truly was.

"Jeon-gyun," he called him. "You do magic."

As he expected, Jonghyun frowned and winced. He opened his mouth, but Kibum pressed a finger against his lips to prevent the elf prince from contradicting him.

"I am a nymph," Kibum continued with a smile, "and I can see magic. I love your magic the most."

Jonghyun felt like his whole body had gone numb. He felt Kibum press a kiss against his lips, but he didn't even kiss back, too stunned and overwhelmed to react in any way. Kibum looked at him fondly as he very softly said the words that shattered Jonghyun's existence.

"I can see your magic."

"I don't understand," Jonghyun murmured against Kibum's finger.

"I try to explain," Kibum said, suddenly anxious that he wouldn't be able to reveal his knowledge to his lover.

Jonghyun only nodded desperately, eyes still wide as he looked at the nymph.

"Jeon-gyun take magic all the time."

Kibum let go of Jonghyun's face, straightening up in the elf's lap to move his hands around as if it would better illustrate his words.

"You take magic all everywhere," he said as his hands grabbed the air around them cutely. "And you make beautiful things. Very little but all the time."

"What do I make?" Jonghyun asked in a sob.

Kibum rubbed his fingers on his mouth as he tried to remember the correct words. Then, he tapped his hand over his heart gently.

"Feeling."

Jonghyun now looked at him in utter disbelief. Some part of him thought that Kibum was saying pure nonsense and that it couldn't be... it couldn't be. But Kibum was a nymph. He was a deity, a spirit who knew more about magic than Jonghyun could ever dream to learn. There was no way Kibum could be mistaken. Still... it couldn't be.

"Jeon-gyun has... hmmm... soft magic... here..." Kibum pressed his hand over Jonghyun's heart. "You take magic and give it back."

Kibum took Jonghyun's wrist, and the elf let him, moving like a lifeless doll in Kibum's hands. The nymph brought Jonghyun's hand to his shoulder and his arms, recreating all of the times Jonghyun softly touched him to appease him.

"You touch and give the magic back with beautiful feeling. It is your magic."

Jonghyun looked up quickly as if he finally understood, and his eyes, filled with tears, shone so brightly that Kibum gasped at the sight.

"Do I?"

"Yes," Kibum assured softly.

Jonghyun was shivering beneath him, his trembling lips stretching into a smile.

"I think..." Kibum kept going or at least tried. "I don't know many word... hmm... You make a lot of magic, but you don't know. So you can't stop. And you can't do other magic."

He wanted to tell Jonghyun that he used his magic in the most beautiful, empathetic possible way without even knowing because it was his instinct. He wanted to tell him that it was the most precious thing about him and that it was now the part of him that Kibum loved the most. He wanted Jonghyun to know that it was amazing but that, if he were to want to use magic in any other way, it would be possible just by learning how to control his gift and stop it, so he could use all the magic he naturally siphoned into other spells. He wanted to tell him that he didn't have to constantly release those calming, reassuring sparkles of magic that made his aura so hypnotizing. But he lacked words.

So instead, he pressed his forehead against Jonghyun's.

"I will explain better with Minho," Kibum whispered. "But Jeon-gyun is wonderful."

Jonghyun nodded against the nymph, and his hands tightened around Kibum's waist again.

"I can really do magic?" he asked timidly.

"Yes."

Jonghyun hid his face in Kibum's neck, and the nymph held him as close as he could as he felt him break into tears. His sobs were loud in the quiet clearing, and the rain fell harder, just a little louder, so he wouldn't get embarrassed by his nervous collapse.

Kibum caressed his back soothingly, cradling him slowly until he felt Jonghyun smile against his neck. He was still crying, holding the nymph for dear life, but he smiled nonetheless.

Jonghyun wanted to thank him, but his throat was too tight, and he couldn't get the words out just yet. He saw the rain calm down again and heard the little hum that came from Kibum. It was low and sounded different than usual in a way that Jonghyun couldn't quite explain or pinpoint exactly.

Then, Kibum starting singing in the softest, most enchanting way. Jonghyun felt his whole body relax, and he realized he didn't understand a single word Kibum was saying. But he heard him.

The spirit language couldn't be heard unless a spirit was singing. A few more tears escaped Jonghyun's eyes.

"Thank you," he whispered.

Kibum pressed a kiss in his hair.

"I held the stars to light where you are... When your unfeigned heart called to me through the dark... Soaked in the sound that rose from the ground... There I could feel... I felt, I felt you near..."

Morning was gently peeking through the windows and white curtains, bathing the house in soft light. The sun was already shining, and a shy ray of light was illuminating the pillow where Taemin slept. Jongin sighed softly and shifted closer. With a trembling hand, he traced a line on his lover's neck where the light made his beautiful skin shine. Then his fingers slowly moved up, following the shadows on Taemin's jaw, and his pointy ears.

Jongin's lips turned into a tender smile, and he leaned down to press a soft kiss to Taemin's cheekbone. He didn't want to wake his prince up yet.

"I love you," he murmured in his quiet language, before stifling back a giggle.

Taemin scrunched his nose and breathed out as he turned toward Jongin, still deeply asleep.

Jongin withdrew, just a little, to watch Taemin's hand following him, searching for his warmth. He moved his hand back to Taemin's hair and just watched with curiosity and fascination how the colors in Taemin's aura changed. Taemin's emotions while asleep were faint, blurry. A cute blend of cream and pink. It mingled beautifully with his yellow core. But to Jongin's eyes, all of Taemin's colors were always perfect, pure, and precious. All of his emotions were pretty. All of his thoughts. All of him. And most of all, the way their two so similar shades of yellow disappeared into each other.

Jongin was completely lost in thought, lost in his contemplation of those breathtaking colors when Taemin stirred and opened his eyes. He moaned very softly, but Jongin didn't really hear him. When Taemin remembered where he was and with whom, when he was awake enough to see the things around him, to see Jongin staring at him without really seeing, he smiled lazily.

"Good morning, my Magnolia."

Jongin blinked a few times. His eyes fell to Taemin's, and his face instantly brightened up, a grin stretching across his lips.

"Good morning, my Taemin."

Taemin put one hand on Jongin's neck and forced him down to peck his lips. Jongin instantly hugged him, shifting between the sheets to lie down against his lover more comfortably.

Taemin asked him if he slept well, if Jongin had dreamed of him. Jongin answered softly as he always did when addressing Taemin. There was something in his eyes that made Taemin's grin soften. Jongin seemed distracted, but still strangely focused on him, as if his mind was filled with too many thoughts to be there fully, in Taemin's arms.

"Nini?"

Jongin hummed and rubbed his nose in Taemin's hair. A few red flower petals falling from Jongin's hair between them caused Taemin to blink and giggle in a voice still hoarse from sleep.

"What are you thinking about?" Taemin whispered.

He cupped Jongin's face to make him look back at him. His eyes were shining with curiosity, and Jongin blushed. His thoughts had gone far away; he hadn’t meant to let them.

"I think about you," Jongin answered with a small voice.

Somehow, Taemin had expected that. It was a very Jongin thing to do: thinking about him when Taemin was right there, close enough to kiss.

"And what about me?" Taemin insisted, raising his nose a little in a cheeky pose.

It caused Jongin to laugh and shake his head. Then he buried his face in Taemin's hair again.

"I want to give you a thing. Something."

"A gift?" Taemin hummed low in his throat.

"Yes."

Taemin straightened his head to kiss Jongin's neck.

"Why a gift, so suddenly?"

Jongin sighed when Taemin continued leaving kisses along his collarbone. They moved together, and Jongin felt his back being pressed against the bed as Taemin leaned over him to rub their noses together.

"Because I love you," Jongin murmured.

His soft tone, the way his eyes widened, the little gasp the nymph let out, it all made Taemin stop in his morning chase for cuddles and kisses. Jongin's hair was spread over the pillow, petals scattered everywhere, a couple of pink roses peeking through the strands of his brown hair.

Taemin sat up on the bed, close enough for their limbs to still touch, and put one of his hands on Jongin's chest.

"Alright, what is it?"

His grin faltered slightly when he saw how seriously Jongin was looking at him. The nymph also sat up and caught Taemin's hand in his. He laced their fingers together and squeezed Taemin's palm for a second before he let go.

"When the nymphs love another nymph," Jongin said softly, "we give gift. Taemin can't give me the gift, but I want to give mine to you."

Jongin was too shy to look at him, and Taemin cupped his face with one hand before he pressed a kiss to the nymph's forehead. He didn't try to make him look back but simply Jongin's cheeks with his thumb.

"It mean that I love you forever," Jongin continued. "Only you. Only Taemin. I am your Magnolia forever. I want to give the gift to you. Can I?"

Taemin pressed their foreheads together and closed his eyes. He could feel Jongin's warm breath on his lips.

"Yes, please," Taemin breathed out in a tight voice.

Jongin tilted his head to kiss the elf. Taemin didn't try to deepen their kiss; he let Jongin reverently taste his lips until the nymph seemed content enough.

Then, Jongin breathed out very slowly. He tried to calm his thundering heart and balled his hands into fists to keep them from trembling. He was very nervous about what he was about to do. He had been thinking about it for the last few days. He couldn't bear the suffocating feeling of longing that was encompassing his entire being any longer.

"Nini?"

Taemin called him softly when he saw the nymph getting lost in thought again. Taemin's hand in his hair helped Jongin come back to reality once more.

Without answering or looking up, Jongin brought one of his hands to his chest and pressed his palm against his sternum. He was trying his best to breathe slowly and focus.

He was performing a type of magic that he had been taught a very long time ago. Lord Baekhyun himself had taught Kibum and Jongin about it when they were just kids because Kyungsoo didn't know enough about it. He wasn't a nymph. He didn't do that sort of thing.

Taemin couldn't help the soft gasp that escaped his mouth when he saw his nymph glow with that soft halo that was so him. It brightened, deepened, so much that Taemin ended up squinting as all of the light in Jongin seemed to come out of his chest, where his hand still lay.

Then it grew faint again, slowly, in little waves.

Taemin looked at the few magnolias that had bloomed on top of Jongin's hair, and he held out his hand to caress them.

"Taemin?" Jongin called with so much fragility and gentleness that Taemin felt his heart clench in his chest.

"Yes?"

Jongin brought his now closed hand between them and unclenched his fingers delicately.

There, in Jongin's palm, was a little stone, or a crystal maybe... Taemin wasn't sure. He couldn't tell. It shone faintly of the richest, most beautiful golden shade Taemin had ever seen.

"It's yours," Jongin whispered.

Taemin couldn't take his eyes off it. He didn't even realize he had leaned forward just to look at it better. His hands held Jongin's since he was too timid to try to touch that precious gem.

"What is it?" Taemin asked.

He felt like he knew exactly what it was, but still, he had to ask. Everything seemed too unreal for him.

"It's me," Jongin said. "It's Nini."

Taemin finally looked up only to drown in Jongin's deep eyes, the gold and green sparkles in them more intense than ever before.

"Nymphs give the other a part of them. So I give you a part of Nini because I am yours."

Taemin's hands tightened around Jongin's, and he bit his bottom lip.

"I am yours too, Nini. You know that, right? I would-... I would give myself to you... If only I could..."

The smile that bloomed on Jongin's lips was blinding. It quickly disappeared when Jongin dived in to kiss Taemin again. This time, it was strong, demanding, and Jongin moved his other hand to Taemin's neck to pull him in and deepen the kiss. It was passionate, and Taemin tried to pour all of his adoration for Jongin into it.

They parted, breathless, and Jongin giggled softly against Taemin's cheek.

"Take it, please," he murmured as he bumped his hand against Taemin's chest.

It was Taemin's turn to struggle with trembling hands as he touched the little stone for the first time. It was warm under the pad of his fingers. He brought it closer to his face to look at it better and saw it shine brighter, its color ever-changing with the way the light hit it.

"It's your color, isn't it?" Taemin asked.

"Yes," Jongin smiled.

"You're magnificent."

Jongin blushed deeply with delight, happy beyond words at the compliment.

"You must always keep me," Jongin said, squirming on the bed as he watched the way Taemin his stone fondly.

"Of course," Taemin said, glancing at him with a smile.

"Promise? It is important, Taemin. You must always keep me. When nymph do the gift, normally it go back inside."

Jongin was pointing at his chest with a worried frown, and Taemin understood. Nymphs exchanged a part of themselves... but Taemin couldn't give anything back to Jongin, and he couldn't put that little part of Jongin's soul inside of him. The stone in his hand, the warm little crystal, suddenly seemed so fragile. It wasn't meant to be out. It was meant to be protected. Taemin suddenly worried about what could happen to Jongin if anything happened to the precious gem in his hands.

He looked at the nymph for a moment and pouted in concentration.

"Maybe I could tie it into a necklace... I could always wear you, then. Against my skin."

Taemin would keep it hidden, warm, sheltered.

The elf saw Jongin brighten up at the idea, and it reassured him. He untangled himself from the bedsheets to walk around the house, still , holding Jongin's gem in one closed hand as he opened drawers and moved books around, trying to find some small rope to use. Jongin hurried to imitate him, and they laughed, walking on each other's feet as they stumbled around the house in their search. Jongin was busier leaving kisses on Taemin's shoulders than trying to find some thread.

When they finally found a small cord that looked like fine brown leather, Jongin was the one to roll it around the stone in a complicated pattern because Taemin was too scared to do something wrong. The nymph tied a few knots to secure it and put it over Taemin's head.

The gem still shone faintly. It rested against Taemin's sternum, a very calming and comforting weight on his skin. Jongin took a step back to look at him, his elf, standing still, his head bowed to look at that little piece of Jongin on himself. Taemin had the softest look on his face, and Jongin was so in love with him. It brought tears to his eyes. Taemin's color had changed into the shade of them, Jongin's most favorite color in the world.

Taemin came close again, cupped Jongin's face, and wiped the small tears that escaped his nymph's eyes with his thumbs. He would have been worried about them if Jongin's head wasn't covered in flowers, if the nymph's eyes weren't shining so brightly that they looked like galaxies of their own.

"Thank you," Taemin said, his voice tight as he kissed Jongin fervently. "Thank you for loving me so much."

Jongin brought his arms around Taemin's waist and held him gently.

"I love you forever," Jongin squeaked between two of Taemin's kisses.

They arrived a little late to their usual meeting with Jonghyun and Kibum that day, too busy cuddling and sharing dreams of always being together to pay attention to the hours passing by. It was one of Jongin's new favorite things to do: sitting in their loveseat by the window with Taemin in his arms as they talked about one day rearranging their house in Nowhere (Taemin had a few ideas to improve the decoration) and living there forever without Taemin having to go back to Melalhil.

Jongin didn't know how much of it was a dream and how much was a plan. Taemin had told him once that maybe, one day, things would be different, that once he's King, Jonghyun would figure something out... but the nymph was too scared to ask for details. He would be content with anything anyway. He would be content as long as he could be with Taemin.

.

.

.

My lovelies,

I'm sorry it took me such a long time to come back to you ♥
I hope you enjoyed that new chapter... & everything that happened. I planned those things for so long ;u; it was really nice & rewarding to finally write them.

Please take care of yourselves until next time. Thank you for being there with me, always.