A Tale of Summer and Winter

Long ago before animals and humans exist in this world, the Earth was gifted with only two seasons; the summer season and the other is winter. It is said that the summer season was controlled by the God of Summer named Daehyun while the winter season was controlled by the God of Winter named Youngjae. But funny enough, these two Gods never met each other as they live in the opposite hemispheres of the Earth; Daehyun is residing in a place where there's never lack of sun while Youngjae prefers living in a darker and colder area.

One day, the Earth voiced out its plea for the God of Summer and the God of Winter to come out with a solution so that other creatures can live on its surface, as the summer can be too hot for animals and humans to live in and the winter season can be mercilessly cold for them.

“Oh my dear lord, the kind-hearted and warm God of Summer. Do heed my plea to make Earth a better place for humans to live in and for animals to run around. One part of mine is too hot to live in while the other will make any breathing beings die from severe coldness.”  The Earth, which was present in the form of floating yellow light, pleaded to Daehyun. The latter was sitting on his throne which made up of sturdy barks and roots intertwining with one another; he was sipping on the sweet nectar came from flower. His eyes glued on the glowing yellow light floating in front of him as he attentively listened to the plea.

“What would you propose me to do to make things better then?” Daehyun enquired.

“It would be advisable for my dear lord to have a meeting with the God of Winter from the other side.” The Earth spoke. Daehyun raised an eyebrow.

“And that would be needed because?”

“I believe that the power possessed by the two Gods will provide balance to the Earth; as my dear lord God of Summer possessed the most needed warmth and the God of Winter on the other hand possessed the power to lessen the heat.” The Earth humbly explained. Daehyun pursed his lips, thinking deeply of the proposition. He then put away the goblet in his hand and stood up from his seat.

“Very well then, do relay my message to the God of Winter. Tell him that I proposed to meet him in two days time at the center of the Earth; where the two seasons met.”

“As you wish, my lord.” The Earth said. Daehyun’s voice resounded once again before the yellow light dimmed out.

“What does the God of Winter look like?” Daehyun asked, genuinely curious of how the other God’s look like.

“The God of Winter is the most beautiful being ever existed. Ah, I wish I could precisely describe how beautiful he is but due to my incompetence, I’m afraid my words would only taint his true beauty.” The Earth said. Daehyun nodded his head and dismissed the other. Soon enough, the yellow light dimmed and vanished into thin air.

Daehyun tilted his head as he tried hard to imagine just to what extend the Earth meant when he said how beautiful the God of Winter is but soon he decided it’s better to see it himself.

The God of Winter’s beauty probably really is as beautiful as the Earth said.

The next day, the Earth came to find the God of Winter in his castle. Instead of presenting itself in the form of yellow light like he did in the God of Summer’s realm, the Earth took the form of silver light in front of the God of Winter.

“That was what the God of Summer said, my lord.” The earth ended his speech. Hearing the message relayed, Youngjae agreed to meet the God of Summer for the sake of the Earth.

“Before you go,” Youngjae’s soft voice resonated in the spacious Ice Castle, “what does the other God looks like? I’m curious.”

Youngjae raised an eyebrow when the Earth chuckled.

“Pardon my rudeness, my dear lord. It seems that the both of you will go along well in the future.”

“And why is that?”

“The God of Summer had asked the exact same question about you, my lord. But likewise, I couldn’t provide a proper explanation on how refined and good-looking the other is as well as I couldn’t say proper words about you. It’s the best to meet him in person for my incompetence would only taint the perfections.” The Earth explained. Youngjae nodded, dismissing the Earth from its duty.

Youngjae couldn’t even deny it; he’s utterly curious of the other God.

For the first time after so long, the God of Summer finally met face to face with the God of Winter. Daehyun didn't expect that Youngjae, the God of Winter, is one beautiful being. Youngjae, in other words, is an epitome of beauty. With skin as white as snow, contrasting to Daehyun's golden ones; a pair of cherry-red lips; soft pair of almond-shaped black eyes with long lashes fluttered as he blinks, Daehyun could say that he finally found an angel down on this Earth.

Similar to Daehyun, Youngjae didn't expect that the God of Summer would be this handsome. The latter was wearing a set of emerald green robes; almost similar to the white one Youngjae was wearing. A crown made of twigs and leaves adorned the dark brown hair, a total contrast to his icicles crown. The God of Summer has a pair of plump, delectable looking lips in which Youngjae was trying so hard not to stare for long.

"What should be done to make this Earth a habitable place?" Youngjae uttered, clearing his throat to shoo away the awkwardness after the intense staring game. He opted to stare at the snowy ground instead. But then the soft yet husky voice came from the other startled him. To be précised, the words uttered by the other God were what startled him the most.

"Marry me." Daehyun said. Youngjae snapped his head up, gawking as he stared at the God of Summer in disbelief.

"P-pardon?" Youngjae stuttered; his eyes never left the other.

"As I said, I'm asking for your hand in marriage. Will you accept it?" Daehyun confidently said, a huge smile etched on his lips. Youngjae was rendered speechless at the sudden proposal.

"It will be the best to know each other first, is it not?" Youngjae replied. A satisfied smile was etched on Daehyun's face as he heard the reply. Youngjae swore that the smile was so blinding that it could challenge the Sun.

"Let's take our time knowing each other more then." Daehyun said, the smile on his face never faltered. Youngjae was startled when Daehyun offered his hand. His eye travelled from the latter’s hand towards Daehyun's face.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Daehyun."

Youngjae smiled as he took Daehyun's hand into his. For the first time in his existence, he finally knew how warmth felt like.

"The feeling's mutual. I'm Youngjae." Youngjae replied. That day also marked the first time he knew how it felt when the heat creeping up his cheeks.

Every day they would meet at the exact same spot where they met for the first time. There was a huge tree in the middle where half of it consisting of tree barks and twigs with snows caught up on the branches while the other half was filled with healthy green leaves and flowers of different colors scattered among the leaves and branches. Both Youngjae and Daehyun would sit on the ground, leaning against the tree bark on their respective sides.

They would fill the time chattering on everything; Youngjae would talk about how it is on his side of world and Daehyun would talk about his.

"As you can see on the tree, my side have various other pretty looking flowers besides these ones. It's a pity that I forgot to bring them along or else I could've shown you how pretty they are!" Daehyun excitedly said.

Youngjae smiled, hugging his knees as he mumbled some words softly.

"It'll be nice to see those but it'll be much nicer if the flowers would survive on my land..." Youngjae said, the smile gradually faltered from his lips.

"I wish to see more than the pristine white snow and dead trees in here. It didn't help the sky is always dark in my realm." Youngjae uttered.

Daehyun silently watched the other, feeling guilty for he was the one who brought up such topic. But suddenly an idea crossed his mind. A smile slowly stretched on his face.

He just hoped Youngjae would be happy with his gift the next time they meet.

The next day came and the two met yet again at the same spot. Daehyun walked towards the other God with his trademark blinding smile etched on his lips; his two hands were hidden behind his back, making Youngjae extremely curious of what’s hidden behind the sturdy stature.

"What are you hiding?" Youngjae asked. Daehyun grinned before revealing the item in his hand. Youngjae saw a green stalk with heavily bunch of small white flowers on the end in Daehyun's hand.

"This is what we called as white lilacs." Daehyun proudly said. "It's my gift to you."

Youngjae eyed the white lilacs in Daehyun's hand.

"But the flowers will die soon if they crossed into my world." Youngjae said; a hint of sadness could be heard in his voice.

"Preserve them with ice then. I'm sure you're capable of doing that." Daehyun cheerily said. He waved the stalk in front of Youngjae, encouraging the latter to take it. A satisfied smile etched on his face the moment Youngjae took the stalk from his hand.

Youngjae closed his eyes, gathering energy on the flowers in his hand and in no time, the flowers were covered with ice crystals, preserving the beauty of them. A smile carved on Youngjae's face as he saw the stalk in his hand.

"Do you know why I gave you white lilacs as my first gift?" Daehyun riddled. Youngjae raised an eyebrow.

"So there's more then?"

Daehyun chuckled and nodded as reply.

"What does this flower mean?" Youngjae tilted his head in curiosity. Daehyun grinned.

"White lilacs represents innocence and youthfulness," Daehyun paused before continuing, "that was my thought of you the first time we met."

Youngjae could feel the heat creeping on his pale cheeks. That's the first time he felt the fluttering feeling in the pit of his stomach. Youngjae didn't know what the sensation was but one thing for sure; it was as pleasant as the first time he felt the warmth of Daehyun's hand on his.

Each day, Daehyun would bring along different types of flowers as a gift to Youngjae.

Sunflowers, gilly flowers, blue violet, forget-me-not and red tulips are amongst the flowers Youngjae had received from the older.

And each day, Youngjae would never failed to preserve the flowers and stored them dearly in his safe keeping.

One day, Daehyun didn't bring him anything as a gift but the other had requested something unusual, much to Youngjae's dismay.

"Let's not meet each other tomorrow. Meet me here in a week instead." Daehyun said. Youngjae swallowed his disappointment but he obliged.

The days he spent feel empty without Daehyun's incessant chattering. Youngjae would caressed the flowers he received from the God of Summer and a sigh would left his pinkish lips.

Youngjae was hoping that the meet up day will come soon enough.

A week has passed and the long awaited meet up day finally arrived. Youngjae can't help but feel nervous as it has been quite some time since he last met Daehyun. Warmth flooded his entire being the moment he saw Daehyun jogged towards him with the ever familiar smile etched on his face. As usual, the God of Summer would hide his gift behind his back and Youngjae would chuckle whenever he saw the childish side of the former.

"Hello." Daehyun awkwardly greeted, his other hand scratched on his non-itchy scalp. Youngjae genuinely smiled at the other.

"Hello to you too." Youngjae greeted back.

"What gift did you bring this time? I'm expecting something better than before. It's been a while since we last saw each other anyway." Youngjae teased. But soon his smile dropped when he saw the other was being fidgety. Daehyun was clearly avoiding eye contacts with him.

"Daehyun...?" Youngjae called; his voice was laced with concern. Daehyun drew a deep breath before he finally spoke.

"This gift, it held such deep and precious meaning to me and I hope you'll accept and find it meaningful as well." Daehyun said before he revealed the gift he brought.

It was a flower crown made of mix of flowers Youngjae had seen before. The sunflowers, the gilly flowers, the blue violets, the forget-me-not, the red tulips and there was a few velvety red flowers that Youngjae couldn't recognize. Youngjae took the flower crown from Daehyun's hand.

He glanced at Daehyun, closing his eyes as he channeled the energy to the flower crown in his hand once Daehyun nodded his head. Once the process ended, Youngjae fluttered his eyes opened. He admired the crown in his hold before his eyes trailed to meet Daehyun's.

"Remember how I mentioned that white lilacs remind me of you? So innocent and youthful." Daehyun uttered, his soft eyes hold so much emotions.

"The flowers I gave you before; the flowers I put in this flower crown has its own meaning." Daehyun said. He pointed at the sunflowers.

"The sunflower means happiness and warmth. Happiness is what I wish for you and warmth is what I believe you have deep inside your heart." Daehyun explained before pointing at the gilly flowers.

"A Gilly flower represents everlasting beauty" Daehyun smiled and Youngjae blushed, "and those flowers represent you as well. You're just as beautiful, Youngjae." A soft smile etched on Daehyun’s face.

"Blue violet represents faith. It's something I have in you and I hope it's the same for you too." He continued. Youngjae on the other hand was getting overwhelmed by Daehyun’s bared feelings.

"Forget-me-not, as it name goes, I hope you'll treasure the memories we had and will have together."

Youngjae swore he could feel the tears pooling in his eyes. His heart was pounding erratically in him.

"Red tulip represents perfect love... which something I was hoping for by the end of this day..."

"And this..." Daehyun pointed at the unnamed flower, "it is called Rose..." Daehyun paused.

"What does rose symbolizes?" Youngjae softly uttered as his misty eyes stared at Daehyun. A soft smile carved on Daehyun's lips as he stared lovingly into Youngjae's dark orbs.

"Rose symbolizes 'I love you'." Daehyun's soft voice travelled through the air, "The whole crown represents my feelings and wishes for you."

Daehyun took in a deep breath before he kneeled on the ground. At this exact moment, tears already streamed down Youngjae’s cheeks.

"And with this crown, I, Daehyun, the God of Summer, once again ask the God of Winter, for a hand in marriage."

Daehyun offered his hand, grinning at the teary-eyed Youngjae.

"I hope you'll accept it this time."

Youngjae placed his hand on Daehyun's as he uttered a 'Yes, I do' through his sniffles. A wide smile etched on Daehyun's lips before he rose up and pulled Youngjae into his embrace, capturing the pinkish lips into his.

The God of Summer and the God of Winter married to each other and was gifted with two offsprings, naming Jongup and Junhong; who later grew up to be the God of Spring and the God of Autumn respectively. With that, they control the Earth balance and made the Earth a place for humans and animals.

THE END

a/n: I wanted to say lotsa thanks to @chia_daejae for making this beautiful fanart <3 It’s truly beautiful omg no words can described how thankful I am for this!

Idk why you guys are so nice to me ;;