the wind on the rooftop was much harsher than the wind below. in the city it was blocked by buildings and more buildings. up on an empty rooftop, god knows how many feet in the air, it threatened to push baekhyun over the edge, tugging at his hair and sending shivers through the only gap in his hoodie.

"a superhero wearing normal clothes, would never have thought i'd see the day", an overly loud and mocking voice cut through baekhyun's waiting.

"oh sehun, nice of you to show up", he replied, trying to disguise the shakiness in his voice. it wasn't everyday a superhero would have a face-to-face encounter with his respective villain, but baekhyun was more of the talky type, less of the fighty and schemey type.

sehun, oh sehun, was the opposite. a strategist, would rarely show his face and was never heard, but would pounce at the last minute. almost a year of fighting him had baekhyun learning how the other's mind worked. 

"you think i'd leave my favourite superhero out in the cold?", he said, voice husky and eyes lazy. he took gradual steps forward just before he stopped a few feet away from the smaller. if he took one more step he could easily push baekhyun off the edge of the roof. 

with his back pressed up against the ledge and gusts of wind coming in almost like a punch to his chest, the superhero's legs were trembling, eyes unable to focus.

death by falling wasn't seldom of course but a hero dying by the hands of his enemy was almost taboo and baekhyun wasn't about to be named the hero who died so easily at the hands of his villain.

before he completely lost control of his knees the smaller slid away from the edge and stood by a box in the middle of the rooftop. he expected the taller would follow, his eyes as sharp and chilling as ever. 

"so", the man dressed head to toe in leather began, "what exactly is it that you want from me?"

baekhyun took in a breath before stepping closer, palms clammy and his legs feeling heavy as they just about held him up. like this, under the xiketic black of sehun's eyes, the hero's level of focus dwindled into almost nothing. 

he gulped, "i want to finally take back what's mine"

"your's?", the taller chuckled, playing with his rings, gold and silver, "from what i can recall, that village was originally my father's before your parents took it from him, before they made it their own"

"your father wanted to take the lives of all those innocent people!", he snapped, retracting his fists once he saw the flash of chartreuse green in the villain's eyes. 

"and your's", sehun growled, his feet dragging him ever closer to the hero, "your father wanted to turn that village into a place where he was a king and where he could control them and their every move, they would rather have been killed at the hands of one of the most evil men on this earth than live with a fake smile plastered on their face just to keep you safe!"

the finger pointed at baekhyun had his breath hitching in his throat, eyes in direct contact with the taller's. 

"what do you mean, keep me safe?"

the villain curled his lip, eyes showing his tease, "oh baekhyun! baekhyun baekhyun baekhyun." he made his way over to the box, opening it and rummaging through the contents. 

"what do you mean, keep me safe?", he repeated, voice harsh and demanding and as loud as the wind nipping at his face. the villain was still in his line of vision as he saw him pulling something from the box. 

"your father was a villain too", sehun said, returning in front of him, with a spin of the gun in his hand he added, "he threatened your life just so he could control those people, my father may have been bad, but yours was worse."

baekhyun scoffed, attempting to show a lack of care but it was obvious his heart was racing as he eyed the gun in the other's fingers. he couldn't help but subtly admire the villain's hands though, his veins and the way they flexed. he turned his focus onto the sehun's face, to his jawline and his eyebrows, his hatred for the other lessening more than it already had done. 

"yeah, sure", he managed to let out, "like my father would kill me."

still playing with the gun, sehun came closer, "it's true, my father went back to the village and saw him in your bedroom when you were a baby, his hands were bloody and he ran the tips of his fingers down your cheek, like he just couldn't wait to snap your neck"

"your father lied, he's a liar", the smaller replied, not bothering to cover up his shaky breathing.

"he wouldn't lie about your father killing my mother, and then seeing his hands covered in her blood, threatening his son while he slept."

after seeing the wetness in the hero's eyes, sehun lifted the gun to his face, it down his cheek, heart doing something at the fear in his pupils. 

the villain could sense the terror and hurt of the other, this so called fearless hero who protected thousands of people from sehun. but the definition-of-darkness male couldn't bring himself to laugh at baekhyun's pain, his heart told him to suppress the happiness and sehun couldn't figure out why.

"so, what, are you gonna kill me, avenge your mother? because it's not like that'll do anything."

"i'm going to reassure my father that nothing related to the man who killed his wife still exists."

the hero shivered, not from the fear but from the cold, it becoming more intense the longer they stood on the rooftop. sehun took a few steps back, extending his arm out so the end of the gun was an inch away from baekhyun's face.

he smiled, genuine and lacking in fear, "you think i'm scared, you won't kill me"

he didn't notice the single tear in the villain's eye as said man moved the gun to his foot and shot. the boy didn't scream, only winced and almost allowed the bile in his throat to slip away. he knelt to the ground, gravel stabbing at his knee but he didn't care as he grabbed his foot, pressing on it and scrunching his face through the throbbing. it was when he let out a pained and struggled breath did sehun correct him. 

"you think i won't kill you, baekhyun?", he tried his best to keep his voice steady, yet the tears which had decided to follow the first clouded his eyes. he blinked as he gripped the gun even harder, "i will."

the hero fought with all his energy to ignore the pain of his foot and look back at the villain. his eyes reflected that of sehun's: waterfalls. red and cloudy and streaming with tears. he hiccuped before opening his mouth to speak.

"choose your last words wisely, that's all you'll have before i pull this trigger", sehun half choked out before baekhyun could.

the hero let out a defeated sigh, along with an almost inaudible whine of pain. his breath came out in coughs with the rapidness of his heart and the unforgiving amount of tears. it was all so sudden, but in this moment it was all he had left.

"i love you"

time seemed to slow down almost to a halt and for that baekhyun wasn't thankful as he was still on the ground, staring up at sehun with foggy vision and a bleeding foot. he couldn't figure out the look on the villain's face, mouth agape and eyes bleary. he had dropped the gun and it was sitting on the ground, the cold metal which sehun was holding left nothing in his mind, it was forgotten and useless now.

"w-what", sehun managed in a whisper, stumbling back, "what is that some, some kind of way to distract me?"

"no", baekhyun coughed, attempting to stand, "i mean it."

the taller wiped away the tears which had settled on his chin, "baekhyun, i've only kissed you once and that was to weaken you even more, how can you just", he was trying to think of the exact words, "say that you love me?"

the hero was on his feet now, still wincing but blocking out the aching of his foot, his tears didn't subside, "because, you're oh sehun."

"i know that"

"no, i mean, you're oh sehun, sehun-ah, sehunnie, little baby sehun"

"those are nicknames i had as a kid, they don't mean anything now", he shrugged.

"yes", baekhyun replied, wincing again, "and i know that because i knew you as a kid"

"baekhyun, we only met last year, the first time we met was when you saved a family from me, i never knew you before that."

"i knew you though", he whispered, a final jab of pain causing him to fall to the ground, he continued nonetheless, "in school, i had a crush on you for ages, i began to think that you were the love of my life, and as i grew i realised i might have been too confused."

sehun knelt down, hesitating to move even closer, "i never saw you in school."

the hero shuddered with the wind, ignoring the taller's implied question, "but then i saw you again, being evil, and i soon recognised my love for bad boys."

"if you loved me so much, why do you keep trying to kill me."

"i'm a hero, sehun, i'm supposed to protect people from you."

"are you sure you didn't stick around to keep fighting me so you wouldn't lose me?", he said, the clarity of his eyes had returned and the playful yet evil glint there teased baekhyun.

the hero chuckled, "may-maybe", the strain in his voice due to the aching in his foot registered in sehun, the villain pulling out a cloth to press to the weak boy's foot. 

there was a moment of silence, of pondering and contemplation before a frown formed on sehun's face. 

"why now?" 

"what?"

"i mean", the villain let go, standing up and towards the gun once again, "why come out with this now, not earlier?"

fear shot through baekhyun's spine as he saw sehun grabbing the weapon, eyeing him, he responded, "i, i just, i don't know."

the villain dressed in black scoffed, "i know, baekhyun", he inched closer, gun still in hand, raising it to the hero's head, "you're a fake, you're not in love with me, you're scared that i'll kill you and you're completely defenceless."

"sehun!", he cried out, struggling up and with hands still doused in blood, he took a breath, "sehun, i meant it, i love you."

the popping of the gun rang through sehun's ears as he witnessed it splitting through baekhyun's stomach. the blood came spilling out faster than it did from his foot, he witnessed the life draining out of the smaller man and his eyelids refusing to part. the villain's hands were shaking much like the hero's. it was then he heard innocent screaming in his head. giggles and happiness.

"baekhyunnie! come over here, come play with us!"

children giggling in the playground with toy guns and capes. it was what sehun saw from where he was stood behind a building. seeing all the other children play, seeing them happy and enjoying themselves, it hurt the young boy. he was always alone. drowning in his father's overpriced leather jacket, he felt like a bad boy. he was an outcast for sure but his father always taught him that bad boys stay on top. within villainy he'd prosper over the happy people. 

"come on mr kyoong! kyoong-ah get your cape!", more  giggling kids ran past sehun. a small boy with fluffy hair, a bright smile and the cutest button nose zoomed past. with a short and almost unnoticeable glance at sehun he jumped in front of his friends.

a fanfare was mimicked by his voice, followed by him swishing his cape, "i am mr kyoong! i am here to save you!"

the giggling faded out of sehun's mind, as he saw baekhyun sat weak on the ground.

"mr kyoong", sehun voiced, close to a whisper, "mr kyoong."

the gun fell from his hands, legs weak and breath short, "baekhyun! baekhyun!"

he ripped off his father's jacket, pressing it to the hero's wound. his breathing was frantic and the realisation struck him as he took a look at baekhyun's face, his nose and his cheeks and his fluffy hair. he had known him all along. 

sehun's face was too numb from the cold for him to acknowledge the tears running down it. 

"baekhyun come on stay with me, you're gonna be okay", he held the hero in his arms, resting his head on his shoulders, "i'm so sorry, i know now, i did love you"

he heard a faint whisper from the other, attempted words morphing into nothing. he tried again, louder this time, "i hope you still do."

shock grabbed his heart, and awe made it beat again. he allowed the happiness radiating from baekhyun to seep into his pores as he stared at the bleeding man in his arms. it was at that moment did sehun see baekhyun puckering his lips, still half unconscious and bleeding unforgivably. it was also in that moment did sehun kiss baekhyun. 

"i love you."

heroes save the world, and everyone in it, including bad boys. villains destroy the world, and everyone in it, apart from good boys, at least sehun does, anyway.