“Sunggyu has been dying.”

After that truth crashed upon him, Woohyun was swept up and away. He back pedaled a few steps before turning around and bolting out of the door and down the streets, as fast as his feet could take him. His footsteps pounding onto the pavement like heavy rain during a typhoon.

He’d blown right past Joochan without even knowing. Dumbfounded and with his eyes still on the fleeing human, Joochan walked into the tattoo parlor. “Where is he going off in a rush?” he asked the water nymph.

“He just found out about Sunggyu,” Sungyeol revealed and went back to sketching, back to his calm state. The ripples were no more.

But Joochan was still in a torrent. “I wonder why Sunggyu-hyung didn’t tell him himself,” he mused aloud while he pulled up a chair to watch the other sketch, hoping to pick up a pointer or two. “I mean, aren’t they close? Woohyun’s over there all of the time. And I really do mean all the time. So they’re together, right?” Sungyeol slowly moved his gaze from the paper up to the other nymph. “Like together together? They’re dating, right?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Sungyeol replied. “Sunggyu’s job is to protect. So he naturally protected the truth from Woohyun.” He went back to his sketch and mumbled lowly, “The idiot.”

“Oh, I guess you have a point,” Joochan yielded but also grew more agitated. He jumped up from the chair and moved over to the window. “I’m kinda curious to know how this goes over. Do you think they’ll break up or what? I hope not. I don’t know how hyung would take that, either hyung. But this is kinda a big secret to hide from someone, isn’t it? I can’t see it going over well,” Joochan looked back over to the water nymph who was carefully coloring in his sketch. “Aren’t you curious?”

“No,” Sungyeol answered plainly and continued coloring.

“Hyung!” Joochan exclaimed with a stamp of his foot. “Does anything make you curious anymore?”

Sungyeol sighed and picked up another color. “When you’ve lived as long as I have, Joochan, very few things are worth your curiosity,” he muttered in a distracted voice. His apprentice watched him for a few seconds with a deepening pout on his face. Sungyeol was just as cold and still as his frozen spring.

Joochan nodded his head reluctantly and clicked his tongue. “Yes, and if I lived as long as you have, then I’d be just as boring too,” he grumbled underneath his breath. He then looked up and noticed Sungyeol’s gaze boring through him. “Oh! Did I just say that out loud?”

“Joochan,” Sungyeol started and paused, sending shivers down the younger nymph’s spine. “Go clean up the bathrooms.”
“Yes, sir!” Joochan exclaimed with a salute and rushed off to do as he was commanded.

When the young nymph turned the corner, a faint smile crept onto the ancient nymph’s face. But it disappeared as quickly as it came. His expression was flat once again as he dialed a phone number into his landline. “Myungsoo, you’re having dinner with Sunggyu tonight, right?” Sungyeol spoke as soon as he heard the other pick up. “Can you tell me if Woohyun is there or not? And how he and Sunggyu are doing?”

“Sure,” Myungsoo chirped from the other end. “But why are you calling me with this number? What happened to your cell phone?”

“I have it switched off,” Sungyeol bluntly replied. “I don’t want to waste the battery.”

The other sputtered into a laugh. “Waste the battery? A smart phone is wasted on you, old man. Do you even know how to…”

“No,” the water nymph interjected. “But I know how to hang up,” with that he slammed the corded phone back into the receiver, technology which still seemed new to the nymph although they’d been phased out decades prior. Even though Sungyeol seemed unbothered by the world around him, he was very resistant to change. He liked things as they were now, with his old phones, his old ways, and his current friends. He prayed that nothing would change.

Change, Woohyun had noticed it. How could he not? He spent his days with plants, and his nights studying them. He knew the signs of a healthy plant and a sick one. The azalea’s leaves were covered in sickly, yellow patches. The leaves withered and fell off too early. The branches were growing bone dry and breaking off. He didn’t ignore these changes, but he dismissed them. He didn’t understand the connection between a nymph and its plant. Maybe the plant could suffer while the being survived?

But that wasn’t the case either. Sunggyu was suffering. He lost far too much weight. His strength had left him. He looked as brittle as his dry twigs. Once again, Woohyun didn’t ignore these changes, but he dismissed them. He didn’t understand how the divine world worked. He thought all divine beings were inherently immortal. But that wasn’t true. Some gods can die, especially itty bitty, minor gods like Sunggyu.

Plants die, return to the earth, and their seeds give rise to new ones. Once Sunggyu passes on, a new azalea will take his place, just as Sunggyu had replaced the azalea before him.

Why did Woohyun fall for a flower? Why couldn’t he be in a relationship with a water nymph instead? So that he could leave the other before he could leave him. Flowers are beautiful and lovely but are always too delicate, not long for this world.

Humans weren’t that much hardier than flowers. Woohyun was reminded of that once again after he scaled the walls of the Nymphaeum and fell onto the hard ground below. That was dumb and painful, but he lifted himself up and limped towards the cottage. His body was in as much pain as his heart.

Indeed, as a combination of humans and flowers, nymphs were always destined to die.

At last, Woohyun made it to the cottage. He propped himself up against the door as he pounded on it. “Sunggyu? Sunggyu! Open up! Open this door up right now! If you don’t open it, then…then I’ll break it down. I’ll break this door down in one second, I swear to…”

“I’m coming. I’m coming. I’m here. I’m here!” the nymph’s voice was muffled by the door and Woohyun’s knocks. When he opened the door, his last ‘I’m here’ through the air. Finally hearing him and finally seeing Sunggyu, Woohyun broke out into a sob. He’d been holding it back this entire time, but in front of Sunggyu, it all came flooding out. Woohyun couldn’t say anything for crying too hard.

“What’s going on?” Sunggyu asked as he guided the other inside. If Woohyun was going to fall to pieces, it was better to do it indoors and not let all of the heat escape. And because Woohyun was such a mess, he couldn’t speak. But Sunggyu knew what he was going to say. “Who told you?”

“Not you,” Woohyun finally made a coherent sound. Then he made some more: “You jerk! You big…jerk!” He was slumped onto the floor now, with his back against the door. His knees had given out and his whole body was throbbing, from his feet to his head. Sunggyu was still standing, looking down at him. Was this how it always was? Woohyun tugged on the other’s pant leg. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

With a sigh and a few tugs, Sunggyu came down and sat in front of the human. His head hung low. “I…I didn’t want to,” he admitted.

"The ?" Woohyun muttered. The tears gave way to anger and he found his voice again, "Want to? You need to tell me these things. I should know these things." The nymph sat still. Not a single white hair on his head moved. Had Woohyun grossly misjudged things? Unmoved, unbothered, terrifying, these were qualities Woohyun had seen in other deities, in Sungyeol and the lady in red. He’d thought Suggyu was different, but maybe they were all the same. Maybe they all didn’t care for humans, for Woohyun. "Don't you care about me?"

Sunggyu’s head snapped back up. "I care about you," his voice and gaze were strong. But Woohyun was going to need more assurance. So Sunggyu took the human’s face into his hands. His thumbs caressed the round cheeks softly, but his dark eyes bore into the other. He was going to etch this into Woohyun’s mind: "I care about you. I really do."

"Then why didn't you tell me you were...you were dying?" Woohyun had to swallow down another sob. It tasted bitter and heavy.

"Because I'm not."

"Huh?"

Sunggyu’s hands fell away, and he was now clenching them into fists. "I'm not. I'm not," the nymph repeated. He shook his head, eyes tightly . "I'm not." Sunggyu got up and raised his voice. "I'm not!"

"What?" Woohyun mumbled, lost. But he stood up too. "What do you mean?"

They stood there wordlessly, still. Nothing but heavy breaths filled the silence. Occasionally, Sunggyu would inhale sharply, about to put his thoughts into words, but Woohyun could tell that the nymph was just as lost as he was. Neither of them knew what to make of the situation, but they were both lost at different parts. It would take a while for them to meet and make sense of it all together.

"Let's sit down first," Sunggyu finally said something. It was then followed by a yawn and Sunggyu rubbed his tired eyes. "Can you make some ramyun too? I just woke up,” as he spoke, the nymph turned around and made his way over to the couch, where he laid down.

Woohyun stood there briefly, watching the other make himself comfortable on the couch. While the nymph’s body was still, his mind was whirling quickly. Sunggyu was still figuring out what to say.

While this realization was difficult for Woohyun to grapple with, it was the hardest for Sunggyu; Woohyun had to remind himself of that. Sunggyu appeared to be in denial, and if the nymph couldn’t admit it to himself, how could he tell Woohyun?

And yet, Woohyun couldn’t choke down the anger as easily as he could stop the tears, and that was hard to do in itself. But he should try not to act angry. He’d make the ramyun, but the "Sure” that snuck past his lips tasted bitter. His anger also came out in how he prepared the ramyun. He banged the pot against the stove, splashed the water everywhere, and half of the flavor packet spilled all over the range. A mess, much like his emotions were. He really didn’t want to do this, but he also didn’t think that he could look at Sunggyu right now. His anger wasn’t subsiding but slowly bubbling up more and more like the water in the pot.

Woohyun was so wrapped up in this torrent of emotions that he didn’t hear the couch creak or the soft padding of feet making their way towards him. But he did feel the arms around his waist and the nymph slowly clinging onto him more and more, in a tight back hug.

"I'm sorry," Sunggyu mumbled. His face was pressed into Woohyun’s shoulders. He then raised it and rest it upon the shoulder, speaking weakly into the human’s ear, "Truth is...I haven't been doing well. The winters...are hard. Really hard. And they get harder. Last winter…" Sunggyu stopped; his throat was tight. It was hard for him to speak. He then rubbed his face into Woohyun’s shirt, making it wet with his tears. Woohyun didn’t say anything but placed his hands over the other’s and waited patiently for him to continue, "This spring, and summer, I thought it'd be my last. I really did. I was getting things in order, in case..." the nymph didn’t want to say it; instead he groaned "Ugh,” and tightened his grip.

Even though Sunggyu couldn’t finish a lot of what he said, Woohyun got the point. Sunggyu didn’t need to say anything else. He didn’t need to be in more pain than he already was, neither of them. "Go sit down. I'll bring this over to you," Woohyun offered.

"No, I'm not done," Sunggyu argued and squeezed him, showing that he was not going anywhere. His head hooked over the other’s shoulders, also locking Woohyun in place. They were going to finish this conversation. After that was settled, Sunggyu sighed and relaxed, melt, before starting again, "I wanted to be alone. This winter, I was going to d-do this alone. No one needed to see it. I didn't want anyone to.” Woohyun felt Sunggyu shake his head as he spoke, the soft hair tickling his ear, as if it were comforting the ears for what they just heard. It was a horrifying thought: Sunggyu locked away in this cottage, bound to that bed, waiting for the end to come. An absolutely terrifying thought. Sunggyu had really planned to leave in the winter, never to return with the rest of the flowers in the spring. Woohyun opened his mouth to argue with him, but Sunggyu spoke instead, "But then you came along, and you wouldn't leave. I didn't think you'd stay. I wanted you to, but I thought it was selfish to ask."

Woohyun couldn’t hold back a deriding laugh. "You worried about being selfish now?"

"Shut up!" Sunggyu let go of him in order to give him a good slap on the arm. It was well deserved.

“Sorry, sorry,” Woohyun soothed the other, pulling the nymph’s arms back around his waist. After his hand went to Sunggyu’s head, bringing it to his own. Their cheeks pressed against each other, getting themselves back into the position that they were in a few seconds prior. Once Sunggyu settled back in, Woohyun went back to making the ramyun, plopping the noodles in, and asked. "You didn't think that I would stay?" Sunggyu only answered with a nod, which Woohyun could feel more than see. "Why?"

"We just met," Sunggyu mumbled. He inhaled sharply and his embrace tightened. "I didn't think...I didn't think you'd be like this. It's…unfair."

"Eung," Woohyun grunted. He tapped on the other’s hand, silently asking for Sunggyu to let go. Now that the nymph knew that Woohyun wasn’t going to leave him, he was more comfortable in doing so. And now the human finally got a good look at Sunggyu. The nymph was a mess. His white hair was sticking up in some places and his eyes were red and puffy. His cheeks were glistening with dew-like tears. And he didn’t want it to be seen. Sunggyu hung his head when Woohyun started to analyze him, but the human already saw all that he needed to. And he threw back his head, hoping that his own wet eyes would dry in warm cottage. Woohyun put on a grimace-like smile. "Ah, it's really unfair. We just met. We only just met."

Sunggyu sniffed loudly, causing Woohyun to look back down at him. The nymph appeared to be collecting himself once more. After a deep breath, he admitted, "I didn't mean to lie.” Sunggyu looked back up at the other, standing up straight and firm, "It's hibernation. Not anything else. I'll sleep now but in the spring, I'll be fine." He gave the other a weak smile. "It's better if I think of it like that. I’ve pulled through before. I’ll do it again."

"Yeah, but,” Woohyun hated to bring this up, in fact he couldn’t even say, ‘but what if you don’t.’

"I am going to pull through," Sunggyu insisted. He grabbed onto Woohyun’s hand. “Don’t worry about it.”

Woohyun gazed down at their hands. Shouldn’t he be the one comforting the other? Shouldn’t he be the one saying these things? If Sunggyu had found a flicker of hope in this dark moment, then so should he. "You will," his voice didn’t sound nearly as firm as the others, but he still squeezed Sunggyu’s hand in assurance and gave him a tender smile. "Aish, I really want to be mad at you," Woohyun’s tone was light.

"But you can't?" Sunggyu guessed with a cheeky smirk, which then melted into a look of relief when Woohyun nodded. “Ah, thank goodness." At that, Woohyun perked up and smiled genuinely. Imagine, a nymph caring about the feelings of a lowly human, or an even more incredible thought, Sunggyu really caring about upsetting Woohyun. Is it possible that they are moving away from ‘like’ and more into ‘lo…

"The noodles are swollen." And then Sunggyu had to go ruin it all with that comment.

"Seriously?! You want to complain about my cooking now?!" Woohyun exclaimed, exasperated as he turned his attention back to the long-forgotten noodles.

"I like you," Sunggyu said in a cute tone and clung onto the other’s back again. "I like you a lot, Namu! So much!"

“Alright, alright. Let go and let’s eat.”

Woohyun wouldn’t go as far as saying that everything was reconciled between them, but it was okay. They were cracking jokes and truly laughing over the worst ramyun either of them had. Only after they finished eating, Woohyun realized that he’d just ran out of work without telling anyone. So he called Miss Gong’s shop, and Dongwoo, who answered the phone, immediately asked how he was feeling.

“What do you mean?” Woohyun stood frozen on the cottage’s porch.

“Sungyeol came in and said you got sick during lunch. Did you eat something weird? Did you eat too much? Where did you eat? Because I don’t know if I want to go there now.”

Woohyun had nothing but a large serving of the truth (and the blandest ramyun), and it wasn’t settling well with him. Talking about it with Sunggyu made his stomach worse. It was real now, all of his fears came true. And there was nothing he could do to undo that.

What made things go from bad to worse was the fact that no matter how Woohyun was feeling, Sunggyu was feeling worse by a myriad-fold. And Woohyun felt like he’d done very little to make the nymph feel any better because he was too consumed with his own emotions. Try as he might, Woohyun couldn’t overcome them, not yet. And he doubted if he ever could. Who could truly make peace with death?

Yet Woohyun couldn’t be hopeful either. Sunggyu seemed to be, or at least feigned it. But every time Woohyun forced himself to think hopefully, brightly, it would get smothered in darkness. Every time he felt calm, the sickening thoughts came back in and shook him to his core.

Calm, peace, and hope were things that could come in time, but they were nowhere in sight tonight.

But he managed to be civil when Myungsoo came over for dinner that night. He had always visited often to check up on things, and now Woohyun fully realized why Myungsoo was so diligent in his visits. Myungsoo knew. He had always known. Woohyun was the fool.

And tonight, Myungsoo made it obvious that he wasn’t only checking in on Sunggyu but checking in on them. He stared at them carefully, analyzing their every move. Myungsoo wasn’t even bothering to be subtle about it. But then again, an evergreen never is subtle. Their scent is potent, sometimes overwhelming. They are prickly and incessantly green, even when the world is painted white. And that was Myungsoo at dinner table, the large, green tree, sitting in between two gloomy, pale beings.

However, whatever Myungsoo saw must’ve satisfied him because by the end of the evening, he was relaxed and smiling. He was hopeful. How?

Woohyun frowned as he closed the door behind Myungsoo when the nymph finally left. How is it that everyone was coping with it better than he was? Because they’d known for longer? Did they know something else that Woohyun didn’t know?

“You okay?” Sunggyu asked. Woohyun was startled. He didn’t know that the nymph was right behind him.

“Um, yeah, just making sure that the door is locked,” Woohyun mumbled, looking back at the door.

“So you’re staying tonight?”

Woohyun hated that it was even a question, but given everything, it was fair for the nymph to ask. “Yeah,” he muttered and took the other’s hand, rubbing warmth back into it. “I’m not leaving. You can’t get rid of me.”

As angry as he was, even though things seemed hopeless, Woohyun wouldn’t leave Sunggyu. Not with this crippling fear that the moment that he’d leave the nymph’s side, he’d never be able to return back to it.

Even now as they laid in bed, the fear took hold. What did happen to nymphs when they die? In dramas and movies, mystical creatures, especially beautiful ones, dissolve into glittering light and float away. In the middle of the night, will his arms become empty and the bed cold? Woohyun was too afraid to close his eyes and let that happen, as if his gaze was the one thing tethering Sunggyu to this world.

So he stayed awake, Sunggyu’s long white hair which now reached past his ears and getting closer to his jawline, to his neck where the tips of the branches were that traced down the tendons. And Woohyun’s finger then followed down that line.

That was until a hand slapped it away.

"Stop it," Sunggyu grumbled with his eyes still closed. "I can't sleep."

Woohyun just continue what he had been doing but more lightly, as if that made it less disturbing (it wasn’t; it was more ticklish now). "I don't want you to," he whispered and kissed the other on the cheek. When he pulled away, Sunggyu’s eyes were opened and fixed on his face.

"Woohyun, I'm not going anywhere," Sunggyu sounded tired but worried, as did his soft touch on Woohyun’s cheek. He was comforting Woohyun again.

This time, the human was going to take it and run with it. "Just stay awake a little bit longer, hm?" he begged and then took the nymphs hand away from his cheek, laying kisses on it. Sunggyu squirmed underneath him, slowly waking up more and more. And so Woohyun continued kissing more life into the other, with success.

“Then,” Sunggyu murmured while Woohyun was at his neck and his own hands were going underneath the human’s clothes. Woohyun had gotten used to the other’s cold touch, so he wasn’t trembling from that. "Make me."

“Hm?” Woohyun hummed into his ear before pulling himself up. "How? Should I make you some coffee?"

Sunggyu stared at the other blankly and then rolled over onto his side. "I'm going to sleep."

"I'm kidding!"

The following morning, Woohyun knew what he needed to do, which was just something, anything rather than sitting around and waiting for the spring to come. He snuck out of the cottage and went up to the large azalea outside of it. Slowly, he peeled back the tarp and assessed the condition of the bush. It wasn’t good, but maybe with time and effort, it could be better.

Woohyun had found his hope.

The human then walked further into the garden until he found who he was looking for. Joochan bundled from head to toe in the cold morning air. He had propped a ladder onto his own kousa dogwood and was messing with a branch near the top. It looked precarious. So Woohyun held onto the ladder before calling up to him.

“Joochan?”

“Huh? Oh, hyung! It’s you!” Joochan called down to the human. “I’ll come down.”

“Take your time,” Woohyun replied, but the nymph had already scrambled down the ladder before he could finish. When his feet were on the ground, Woohyun told him, “I’ll look after the azalea from now on. Just focus on everything else.”

“Oh! Okay!” Joochan’s voice was bright, but his eyes showed that he was still working through it in his mind. After a second more of thought, he shrugged. “One less thing for me to worry about. So I take it that things between you and Sunggyu-hyung are okay. You guys didn’t fight, did you?” Although Joochan tried to be sneaky about it, Woohyun still noticed the nymph struggling to put a large roll of tape into his pocket.

“We’re good,” Woohyun muttered as he looked up at the tree in front of them. Sure enough, near the top of the tree, there was an obviously fake leaf hastily taped onto it. Woohyun smirked. “Did you tape that leaf onto the tree?”

“N-no,” Joochan stammered, struggling to keep an innocent smile on his face. “Why would I do something like that?”

“Don’t be like that, Joochannie. Don’t protect people through lies,” Woohyun warned him. “It hurts even more when people find out the truth.

“Okay, I’ll take it down,” Joochan grumbled, with his head hanging low. Woohyun patted it before making his way back to his shop. He had a long day of work ahead of him.

At the flower shop, Miss Gong had collected several books for them to use and study from. Woohyun had always found it curious that one of the books dealt primarily with the care of trees and bushes. But knowing what he knew now, he was surprised that she didn’t have more. How many nymphs did she come to know in her life? Had she ever had to deal with anything like this?

Woohyun was too afraid to ask. And the old lady was all but retired. She hadn’t been at the shop all month, and with the holidays around the corner, Woohyun doubted if he’d see her this year.

During his lunch breaks, Woohyun would stay in the backroom and read as much as he could. He then would go straight to the Nyphaeum and continued working, tending to the azalea and giving it new treatments, until Sunggyu dragged him inside. Sunggyu had to know what he was doing, but they never talked about it. However, he never discouraged Woohyun either. So the florist kept up with this routine.

But the more he worked and the more he studied, the more and less confident he got. For all of his effort, he couldn’t see any real progress in the azalea. Although it was still in the middle of winter, so there was that. He learned of new plant foods, natural pesticides, and other techniques in his studies, all of which gave him hope. But one fact dashed it all. One fact that he had intentionally avoided looking up until now.

Domesticated azalea bushes live for 50 years, and Sunggyu was already 32. That meant there would only be 18 years, closer to 17 now, at most. A time, which under any other circumstances would be considered long, felt so short now. Never did Woohyun think he could outlive a god, but the evidence laid before him, on the book’s pages.

Underneath the average life-span for azaleas lied another horrifying fact that Woohyun couldn’t read without his vision being clouded with tears. Many azalea bushes die at 36. Just 4, closer to 3, more years left. Maybe even less.

Even knowing that, Woohyun still endured and kept trying his best with the bush and with Sunggyu. With blood, sweat, and too many tears, Woohyun was going to eke out 18 more years out of the nymph. They were going to have many more winters, springs, and summers together. He had found his hope and he wasn’t about to let it go without a fight.

But the fight wasn’t easy. Woohyun was t bright pink carnations. Their vibrant colors brought back memories of the azalea in full bloom, on the branches and on the skin. And here, Woohyun was watching these flowers slowly lose life as his two colleagues took it from him and placed them stems into their arrangements.

“I-I’m going to take a break,” Woohyun declared before hurrying off into the bathroom. “I’ll be back!”

“Oh, sure,” Jangjun chirped with a huge grin. “You go and have fun! Woo!” After Woohyun was out of sight, the smile collapsed into a frown. He shook his head while he delicately placed the carnation into the vase. “That’s the second time today, Dongwoo-hyung,” he stated. “It’s the second time today Woohyun-hyung started crying. And I lost count of how many times it’s been this week.” He leaned in closer to his colleague and lowered his voice. “Do you know what’s going on?”

“Eung,” Dongwoo grunted, distracted because he was so absorbed in his own arrangement. “I heard from Joochan that his boyfriend wasn’t doing very well. It seems like it’s something serious.”

“Ah, it’s probably some disease,” Jangjun concluded and he turned around to lean against the counter, looking down at the bathroom door. Sure enough, he could hear Woohyun loudly blowing his nose. Jangjun moved closer to Dongwoo again. “Do you think it’s the bad one or the really bad one?”

Dongwoo finally peeled his attention away from the flowers and looked up at Jangjun. “What are you trying to say? Aren’t they all bad?” he argued. The younger was about to say something else, but Dongwoo dismissed it and continued, “In any case, we should be very sympathetic and understanding and nice to him. But! But we shouldn’t act like we know. We should carry on as normally as possible.”

“Right,” Jangjun agreed with a nod. “Act normal.”

However the moment Woohyun came out of the bathroom, the two of them went over and gave him a hug. They never knew how to act normal anyway.

Woohyun had forgotten. He’d been so concerned with Sunggyu’s tattoos, scanning them as gravely as he would with the branches of the azalea outside, that he’d forgotten the nymph’s own fascination with the human’s tattoos. Ordinary tattoos must seem odd to nymphs. Sunggyu used to blatantly stare at them when they first met. The fascination seemed to dwindle over time, but it never went away. It came back stronger this winter, since Woohyun normally dressed very lightly when he was in the hot cottage. Sometimes he wore no shirt at all, like right now as the both of them laid in bed with a movie playing. Neither of them were paying much attention to it, especially Sunggyu who was lazily tracing Woohyun’s tattoos with his fingers as if he was inking them in himself.

"Which one is your favorite one?" the nymph suddenly asked.

"Hm," Woohyun hummed in thought as he quickly took inventory of them. His eyes fell onto his index finger, his most recent tattoo even though he’d gotten it months ago. "This one, for now," he stated as he showed it to the other. Along his index finger was scrawled neatly, ‘Write..’ "It means that I'm not finished yet. I still have a lot left to do and write," Woohyun explained and as he did so the nymph’s pout deepened. "You don't like it?"

"Not really.”

"Then which one do you like?" At that, Sunggyu immediately grabbed Woohyun’s wrist and pointed at the twisting tree on it. The human broke out into a laugh. "Of course, you do."

"It's a tree that doesn't change. Of course, I like it," Sunggyu defended himself as he let go of the wrist, only to pat Woohyun’s head instead. The human had thrown back his head, hoping that the tears would flow right back in, but was failing. Sunggyu chuckled as he threaded his fingers through the other’s dark hair. “You have a lot of tears. Your parents should’ve named you Hongsu instead of Namu.”

“Shut up,” he couldn’t take the teasing tonight. “I can’t help it.” He tried to squirm away from the other, but Sunggyu brought him into a hug instead. With as weak as the nymph was, Woohyun could’ve fought against it, but he embraced it instead, clinging onto Sunggyu.

“I know. I know,” the nymph cooed, still patting his head. “You can’t help it.”

If Woohyun couldn’t help himself from crying, how could he help prevent the inevitable?

No, Woohyun, hold onto that hope.

It was hard for winter to not seem like a hopeless time, with the bitter cold, the shorter days, and the general lifeless gloom that it brought. Maybe that’s why humans filled it with holidays of joy and cheer, reminding them that there could still be life and excitement during these times.

The dark nights were filled with twinkling lights. Every corner was filled with evergreens, poinsettias, and mistletoe, bright reds and greens. And of course, there were parties, which made even the hardened face crack into a smile when surrounded by people that they loved and held dear.

Woohyun was smiling himself at the small Christmas celebration that gathered all the shop owners and workers on this street together. It was held at the restaurant at the end of the street, where Woohyun often went with Sungyeol and later Sunggyu. The co-owner of it, Lee Sungjong, had gone a little overboard with the decorating and even draped lights over himself. That kid always knew how to have a good time. And Woohyun was determined to do the same.

He was about to go talk with Dongwoo, who just came in and always managed to cheer him up. But then Woohyun caught sight of Dongwoo’s date. She was a beautiful woman, with her bright red hair tied up in a bun. When she turned around and took off her coat, Woohyun noticed the holly leaves inked on the back of her neck.

That knocked Woohyun back, quite literally. He slumped into the booth, while his mind flew around the Nyphaeum, recalling every plant there. While doing so, another person slipped into booth.

“I’ve heard that you’ve been fond of azaleas recently.”

“Huh?” Woohyun snapped back and grounded himself back into the moment. “Oh Miss Gong! You came!”

The old lady smiled. “Of course, I did,” she replied. “I never miss this party, and I wanted to catch up with all of you. You all seem to be getting on well without me.”

“For the most part,” Woohyun responded. He was still trying to gather his thoughts and remain civil. “We miss you though. You haven’t stopped by for a while. Did you retire and forget to tell us?”

“No, not yet,” Miss Gong took it in stride. “But I am enjoying my old age and living freely while I still can. You three are allowing me to do so. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Woohyun sounded anything but pleased at her words. “I’m sorry. Did you say something about azaleas earlier?”

“I did.”

“How do you know?” Woohyun asked, leaning over the table and lowering his voice.

“I have very old and dear friends from my time at the Nyphaeum,” she answered. Her eyes twinkled. “We still talk, but I am not as…familiar with them as some people at this table.” Her hand slid across the table and cupped the young man’s. “So how is the azalea doing?”

“It’s…not his season,” Woohyun remarked and diverted his gaze, trying to find something happy or cheerful to look at. Sungjong was now putting lights on Dongwoo, while his date laughed.

The old lady tapped his hand to bring his attention back to her. “I’ve known that boy for over 30 years. He’s a resilient one. I wouldn’t worry about him,” Miss Gong assured him in a low voice. “Besides, don’t tell the others, but he’s his mother’s favorite. She will take good care of him.”

“Miss Gong, how well do you know his mother? Who is she really?” he asked, finally.

Unfortunately, like everyone else, Miss Gong didn’t have an answer. “I don’t know, and I’ve known her my entire life. Now that I think about it. I don’t really call her anything!” She laughed while admitting that. “But the most important things in life are shrouded in mystery.” At that, Woohyun grimaced. He had grown tired of mysteries. Miss Gong saw that and offered some solace, “I’ll let you have tomorrow off. How about that, dear? Jangjun-goon is the youngest anyway. Let’s treat him like the maknae for once and have him work Christmas Eve.”

Woohyun smiled and scanned the room once more, finding Jangjun among the gaudy decorations blissfully unaware that he’d be tending to the shop all alone on Christmas Eve. “Sounds good to me.”

Woohyun wasn’t the only one who had Christmas Eve off. Several of the nymphs had it free too and stopped by the cottage to give Sunggyu their greetings before heading off to spend it with their lovers. When they all left, and when Sunggyu went down for a nap, Woohyun brought out a few large boxes, filled with Sungjong’s decorations from last night’s party, and began decorating the cottage. It felt weird to put up a small, artificial Christmas tree in a place like this. But it was Christmas. It was the time to do weird and unusual things in the name of holiday cheer. On that note, Woohyun went outside and tied a red ribbon onto the azalea bush, wondering if it would appear elsewhere later that day.

Later when Woohyun was preparing food in the kitchen, he heard the bedroom door creak open. He poked his out into the living room to see Sunggyu rubbing his eyes awake and taking in the sparkling and bright decorations. “Did you do all of this?” his voice was still waking up too.

“Merry Christmas! I brought everything that we need for a little Christmas party!” Woohyun exclaimed as he went back in to grab the Christmas cake. In his mind, it was never really a party unless there was cake. When he came back into the living room, he found Sunggyu before the artificial tree, carefully handling a red plastic bulb. The nymph let it go a few seconds later and gazed about the room, but his expression remained blank. “Do you like it? Or is this really not your sort of thing?”

“No, I like it. I’m just…taking it all in. I’m still sleepy,” Sunggyu explained and finally turned to look at Woohyun. When he did, the nymph burst into a laugh. “What are you wearing?”

It was a sweater and a headband that he borrowed from Sungjong, who always had lavish and strange taste. But it was Christmas. It was the time to wear weird and unusual things in the name of holiday cheer. And it was worth it. It brought a real smile to both of their faces. “It’s a Christmas party. We should dress like it,” Woohyun told the other. He went to a box and pulled out a headband with reindeer antlers on it. “I got one for you too.”

“I’m good,” Sunggyu declined and scurried away to sit on the couch. It was fine, Woohyun thought as he put the headband away. This was why he put the ribbon on the bush earlier. He had a feeling that Sunggyu would fight against the party dress code.

“I have something for you too.”

“You do?” Woohyun was shocked. Sunggyu hadn’t left the cottage all month.

The nymph nodded proudly from his seat on the couch. “If you get me the guitar, I’ll play it for you.”

“Of course!”

“It’s nothing much, but while you were off at work and Joochan was handling my chores, I needed to do something,” Sunggyu launched into an explanation as Woohyun searched for the guitar. He found it, leaning against Sunggyu’s side of the bed, even though it belonged to him. It was so close by, and Woohyun hadn’t even known he was practicing this whole time. He took the guitar, went back to the other, and handed it over with an excited grin. “Thank you,” the nymph accepted it and settled it into his lap. He strummed the guitar for a bit and warmed up his throat, coughing a few times. Woohyun had settled down in the armchair next to him. When he felt good enough, Sunggyu looked up at the other. “Ready?”

Woohyun nodded immediately. So Sunggyu began his song.

“I think
And think,
But I can’t believe it.
Things like that
Also happen.

To me, you
Are that kind of person.
How do I…
I can’t express it.
It’s just kinda like that.

I don’t
Wan’t to hear any words,
But then I melt at your voice.
Even when I want to be alone,
I always long for you.

Don’t say goodbye.
Stay by my side for a long time.
Don’t say goodbye.
If possible, even until forever,
I’m fine,
So please stay…”

“Thank you,” Woohyun mumbled as he took off his headband and wiped his face. “I love it.” He then got up from the chair and went over to hug Sunggyu, who had already put down the guitar to welcome him with open arms. Woohyun clung on tightly. “I love you.”

“I know.” When Woohyun pulled away, the two of them looked at each other in confusion. “We’re lovers, aren’t we? I mean, you kinda live here now, with me,” Sunggyu explained.

“I guess so,” Woohyun grumbled as settled in and away on the other side of the couch. It was such a lukewarm reaction amidst such a tender moment. Maybe with a bit of stoking, he could make it hot once again. “It’s still nice to hear someone say it, right?” He then tried again, “I love you.”

“Yes, it does,” Sunggyu agreed with a nod. There were utensils already in his hand and the Christmas cake in front of him. Soon he broke into it and stuffing his face. What? Was the moment not sweet enough? Woohyun frowned, while he watched the nymph gorge on the cake. “This is good,” Sunggyu remarked pointing to it. He then noted the other’s disappointment. The nymph dug into the cake once more and offered it to Woohyun. “Want some?”

Woohyun nodded and ate from his fork. If this was all Sunggyu was willing to give now, he’d take it.

The human didn’t know if nymphs were more callous, because they didn’t quite fit in with the humans or the gods, or if it was just Sunggyu. Or was callous the right word? Sunggyu really did love him, even if he wouldn’t say it. After all, he’d written and practiced a song for Woohyun. He was still stuffing cake into Woohyun’s mouth. Sunggyu cared. Sunggyu loved him. He was just too Sunggyu to say it.

And since Woohyun loved him, he begrudgingly loved all of him, even this. Woohyun swallowed the cake and asked, “Can you sing the song for me again? I want to record it with my phone.,”

“Alright,” Sunggyu seemed happy with that request, but then stuffed his face again with another forkful of cake and began singing halfheartedly.

“Can you do it without your mouth full of food?” Woohyun interrupted.

“So many demands,” Sunggyu retorted while his frosting from his fingers before picking up his guitar again. “I just woke up.”

The rest of the night passed more sweetly, as there were more desserts to be had and wine to drink. All that sweetness led the both of them from a sugar rush to crash moments later. Sunggyu was already in bed. And Woohyun was drowsily and sloppily cleaning up. The one thing that helped Woohyun keep going was the song, his song, playing on the phone. After throwing the dishes into the sink, Woohyun went to clean himself up, finally changing out of his now suffocating sweater into a light undershirt. While he was brushing his teeth with his own brush and looking about the bathroom counter, where all of his toiletries were scattered about, it hit him. He really did live here now. Sunggyu was right.

Woohyun stopped and looked at himself in the mirror. They met in the spring and were living together by winter. Never before had Woohyun moved so quickly into a relationship, but then again, this wasn’t a normal one. It was a whirlwind romance, truly. Although everything seemed so calm and peaceful right now, they were only in the eye of the storm. Any second now, this false peace would break, and it all could be ripped away in the gale.

Woohyun needed to enjoy this calm for as long as it was granted to them. He finished up in the bathroom and went into bed with the other, kissing the white hair before wrapping himself around his lover’s back.

“You listened to it again,” Sunggyu’s voice creaked.

“You’re not asleep?”

“Not really, not yet,” Sunggyu spoke through a yawn and rolled over to face Woohyun, a faint smile wore on his tired face. “I’m glad you liked it.” His hand went down the human’s arm, ending at the wrist, rubbing circles over the tree tattoo.

“I did,” Woohyun whispered as he snuggled closer to the other. “I loved it.”

At that moment, Woohyun thought that Sunggyu would say something cheeky, as he was accustomed to do. But maybe he was too tired to feign otherwise or he misheard Woohyun. The nymph replied, “Me too. I love you, too.” With his eyes closing he kissed the other and said, “Good night, Namu.”
“Good night, my love.”

“Sh, go to sleep.”

December faded into January. The days were slowly growing longer. It wasn’t warmer outside, or any cooler inside of the cottage. But finally Woohyun was seeing progress. Sunggyu’s hair was now a light golden color, like the dawn softly breaking over the horizon, a new start. The hair was long and wavy, since he hadn’t done anything with it in months, but it looked soft and pretty in contrast to the barren branches on his skin. Yes, still empty, but it was only January. And any change should be seen as a good sign. He was going to survive this winter.

But what about the next? Was Sunggyu going to treat this year as if it were his last as well? Would Woohyun? Woohyun had only been through one of these winters, and it was entirely exhausting. Could he do it again?

Well, yes because he loved Sunggyu and he still had hope. So he was going to face this coming year with all that he had.

With that attitude, he’d been faring well. The Lunar New Year was today. He used work as an excuse for not going home this year. It was true. He was working around the Nymphaeum with Joochan and tending to the azalea bush. Meanwhile, Sunggyu was inside of the cottage, receiving New Year’s greetings from all of the nymphs of the garden. Being their caretaker came with some perks. The nymphs brought him food and gifts, too many of them. They overdid it. Whether to show their gratitude for Sunggyu or celebrating him, they still overdid it. Woohyun felt awkward and uncomfortable as he tried to organize the many gift baskets in the small kitchen. There was already not enough room there because of all of the nymphs lingering around, most of whom Woohyun had only seen in their plant form. It was really awkward. He felt incredibly human and small.

“How about we open a few of these and have a party?” Sungyeol suggested as he saw Woohyun struggle. The water nymph tore of the plastic from one basket containing a few champagne bottles. “What do you think?”

Woohyun offered a weak smile. “Sounds perfect.”

And that’s how found himself partying with the gods because after a while, he wasn’t sure if everyone in the cottage was a nymph. Some didn’t have tattoos and were eyeing him strangely, with all-knowing grins on their too tranquil faces. But the alcohol helped him to bear with it.

Once Myungsoo heard that they were going to have a party, he left and came back with more food, drinks, and excitement. Luckily, none of them were pine nuts. Unluckily, he, along with Sunggyu, goaded Woohyun to sing for them. He did, with some more liquid courage and hype from his friends. Since the reaction was good, he sang more than he intended to. Others joined in, and the cottage turned into a noraebang.

God or human, every Korean loves to drink and sing.

As the night wore on, the crowd grew thinner. It grew quieter. And they were all breaking off into smaller groups to have more serious conversations. That tended to happen at parties. Along with highs came lows. Now they were entering into the latter, including Woohyun. He took Sungyeol to the side.

“Be honest with me,” he asked his old friend. “Does Sunggyu look better than last year?”

“It’s hard to tell with him,” Sungyeol replied in his usual way, quick and honest. “He always has that smile on his face, always hide the pain. He always looks fine. Sick but fine. Then suddenly we get a call from mom to prepare for the worst.”

“But that hasn’t happened this winter,” Woohyun argued. “So he must be better.”

“Yet,” Sungyeol corrected him. He then gestured over to the nymph in question, who was on the couch drowsily listening as female nymph talked to him earnestly. Sunggyu was doing his best to stay awake for her, but he probably wanted nothing more than sleep right now. Then, the hot air around Woohyun cooled; Sungyeol came closer and whispered in his ear. “He’s still bed-ridden. In previous years, he could at least bear to get out of the house for a few hours during this time of year and do some things around the garden.”

“Really?” Woohyun challenged. Sungyeol nodded, making the human frown. “I was hoping you’d say that he was doing better. You should’ve lied to me.”

“Eh,” Sungyeol said while nudging the other with his elbow. “You don’t really want to be lied to about this stuff though.”

“I do,” Woohyun snapped back, crossing his arms over his chest.

Sungyeol chuckled. “I can’t be honest and tell you what you want to hear,” he raised his voice but still kept the smile on his face. He then patted the human on the shoulder. “But you’re really doing the most for him, Woohyun. Your efforts aren’t going to waste.”

“Thank you,” Woohyun begrudgingly accepted that compliment and walked away, announcing, “I’m going to go ask Myungsoo now. He’ll make me feel better.”

Luckily Myungsoo was only a few steps away, still strumming away on the guitar. Woohyun plopped down in front of him and glared more meanly than he intended to, while he asked. “Be honest with me. Does Sunggyu look better than last year?”

Myungsoo immediately nodded emphatically. “Oh absolutely!”

Woohyun’s face relaxed and he grinned too while he complained, “Sungyeol said he looked about the same…basically.”

Myungsoo dismissed that with a wave of his hand. “Sungyeol’s been around for so long that he can’t notice the minor changes in anything anymore,” he reasoned. “All he can see is that Sunggyu is ill, and he was ill before.”

“I suppose,” the human’s voice drifted off. He had to admit that Sungyeol had a point: Sunggyu didn’t move around much. In fact, Woohyun heard snores coming from behind him. Sunggyu had fallen asleep mid-conversation. That wasn’t good. Woohyun let out a sigh and asked Myungsoo, “What do you see then? How does he look to you?”

The other thought about it for a good moment, while putting away his guitar. When he was finished, he had an answer: “His will is stronger than this time last year. Honestly…I was scared for this winter. We all were. It was a long year of waiting, waiting to see how he’d fair. Then with what happened to…the peach tree,” Myungsoo was getting worked up. His cheeks were flushed. He was blinking more quickly. The words weren’t coming out easily. “I was afraid that he wasn’t going to pull through this time around because he…he didn’t want to.”

Woohyun felt himself getting upset too. “Myungsoo, let’s go outside,” he suggested, and they both went out onto the porch. Once outside, Woohyun leaned against the railing. “Is that true?” he began. “Did you really think that he…didn’t want to…go on?”

“Maybe. Or maybe I am supposing too much or overreacting, but,” Myungsoo fumbled around with his words as he walked over to Woohyun’s side. “This time last year, Sunggyu began to prepare things for…afterwards. Like the whole…setting up Joochan as his successor thing, and he was giving things away. Like, he gave me his guitar, and he wouldn’t take it back no matter how many times I tried. And, ugh,” Myungsoo had to stop there. He threw his head back and grimaced, gathering himself together before continuing, “The way he talked. He sometimes spoke like he already died, Woohyun. His birthday was downright dreadful.” Myungsoo then tried to do his best impression of the other nymph: “’Thank you all for coming here today. Who knows how many more times we can get together like this again? This may be the last.’”

Woohyun sputtered into a laugh of disbelief. “I’m starting to think that Sunggyu was the one overreacting.”

Myungsoo laughed along with him too and cocked his head. “Possibly,” he admitted. “He was scared.”

“Who wouldn’t be?” Woohyun mused. After all he was scared everyday too.

“Right, that’s true,” Myungsoo yielded. He then sighed and gave the other a half smile, “Eventually, he started to act normally again. It probably started around the time you two started hanging out. Late spring, early summer?” His voice was warmer and smile wider, especially when Woohyun nodded. “I thought so.”

Woohyun let out another laugh of disbelief, a short one. This didn’t make him feel good, honestly. It felt undeserved. Every single day, Woohyun was the one being comforted by Sunggyu. Sunggyu was the one who was hopeful, while Woohyun was plagued with doubts and had a hard time fending them off. And now to hear that others thought it was the exact opposite, that Woohyun gave Sunggyu hope? The will to live? No, it was ridiculous, untrue. Woohyun couldn’t accept that. So he made a joke of it, “Don’t say that it’s the power of love. That’s cheesy.”

But Myungsoo took it seriously, “Hm, I wouldn’t say that.” He gathered his thoughts for a moment before speaking again. “I feel like if you say it that way, it makes it seem like he only wants to live for you. But that’s not it. Well, that’s not all it. He wants to live for you, me, Sungyeol, all of us, our mom, and for himself. He’s in love with life again.”

With that said, the both of them gazed through the window, into the living room, where Sungyeol had woken Sunggyu up and he wasn’t happy about it. In these moments, with Sunggyu’s loud voice being heard even from the porch, aimed at the water nymph, it was hard to remember that Sungyeol was the older one by centuries (maybe even more).

Woohyun gave a genuine chuckle. “He’d hate to miss out on opportunities to nag people,” he joked.

“Right,” Myungsoo laughed along. But the laughter stopped when Sunggyu turned around and noticed the two staring at him through the window. Myungsoo acted as if he hadn’t been doing anything. Whereas Woohyun did what he usually did: turn an embarrassing moment for himself into something embarrassing for Sunggyu. He made funny faces at the other until Sunggyu started making more annoying ones and attracting the attention of everyone around, including Myungsoo chuckled and nudged the other. “How about we go back inside? You guys can tease each other better from the same room.”

They did, and soon afterwards the party came to an end. It had been dwindling anyways, and Sunggyu suddenly falling asleep was a hint that it was time for them to go home. It was late, so late that it was nearly morning. In less than an hour, dawn would break over the horizon, the first dawn of the year. Well, of the lunar year. It would be nice to see, but it was probably too much to ask for. Woohyun moved away from the window and walked over to Sunggyu, who was still on the couch, rubbing his eyes and yawning.

“That was a lot of people. You must be tired.” Woohyun then offered. “I can carry you into bed if you want.”

Sunggyu cocked his head. “Can you?” He then sniggered at the other’s pout. “I’m tired. I’m sick and tired of being in here. Let’s go outside.”

“Do you want to see the sunrise with me?” Woohyun asked as he knelt down by Sunggyu’s side.

“If I can. Let’s try.”

They took a bike up to an overlook in the garden. Woohyun had never been there before. It was nothing more than a bench on a high ground, no plant in sight. But from it, you could see a good deal of the Nyphaeum, including the cottage. It was the perfect place to see the sunrise, but that wouldn’t be for a while yet. It was still dark. And it felt eerily quiet up there with all of the other nymphs gone.

It was really only the two of them now, if Sunggyu was still awake that is. The nymph had leaned against his shoulder when the sat down. His eyes seemed closed, but Woohyun could never tell if his mind was still running. But he was going to take a chance to ask one of the thousands of questions weighing on his mind. And now seemed like a good enough time if any.

“I was thinking,” Woohyun began. “Why can’t you be the god of all azaleas? Like a promotion? You’ve done a really good job here looking after everyone. They’ll probably want you to do it forever. Also you’re really big azalea anyway. The biggest, fullest bush ever. You might as well be all of them, forever and for always.”

Sunggyu was awake after all. He’d pulled himself away as Woohyun was talking and gave him a pained smile when the other finished. “I don’t think it works like that.”

“Why can’t it?” Woohyun begged, nudging the other. “Ask your mom. Hm?”

The sky was lightening. The rays were breaking over the horizon. Sunggyu’s face gradually lit under the sun, his hair shone, and he just remained silent, staring at the other. Then Woohyun could see it, breaking across the black line and cascading down. Sunggyu was crying.

“Sunggyu?”

“I really wish I could be,” the nymph finally spoke. His lips curled up in a smile although the tears wouldn’t stop. “I really wish.” Woohyun moved forward and brought him into a hug. What had he just done? Sunggyu clung onto him and sobbed, “I want to be a god, not a stupid ing nymph. Bu-but I can’t ask her. I can’t do it. I can’t hear ‘no.’”

“I’m sorry,” Woohyun apologized and patted his head. “I’m sorry that I brought it up.” He then shut his eyes tightly wishing that he could’ve undone everything that he just said. Woohyun had no idea, no idea at all that all of this while Sunggyu had been desperately wanting the same thing. And for how long? Probably when all of this started years ago. But he didn’t think he could have it. Sunggyu was always careful of boundaries.

Woohyun, on the other hand…He opened his eyes again only to see a flash of red dart out of his line of sight. He had a pretty good idea of who it was, and so he was going to (silently) pray to her and ask for what Sunggyu wouldn’t.

“Please make him the god of azaleas. If he can’t be the god of azaleas, then make him one that live for 200 years. Please just let him survive one more winter. No, two more! I just want more time with him.”

Spring was in the air. Everything was warming up, and the cottage was finally a normal temperature once again. Sunggyu still wasn’t back to normal, but his hair was darkening at the roots. His body was filling out, probably from all of the junk food that the both of them had been consuming as of late. Woohyun himself had packed on a bit of weight. But he’ll lose it again when the spring came. He had a lot planned ahead, a lot to do. Especially now since fresh, green shoots were sprouting on the azalea bush. All of his effort paid off, so he was going to double it, triple it, do as much as he could!

But as for now, he was doing nothing, with his shirt off, sitting in a chair at Sungyeol’s tattoo parlor. Woohyun had gotten an idea for a new tattoo months ago, and he finally had the time to get it done. And he knew exactly who should do it, the young nymph that passed his days sketching at his flower shop. Joochan was led through the whole process under the careful eye of his teacher. But Woohyun was confident that it would turn out beautiful. How could they not!

And Sunggyu, that nosy nymph, it was the first thing that he asked about when Woohyun came home that night. “What’s up with this?” He pointed right at the patch peeking from underneath Woohyun’s shirt collar.

“A new tattoo. Do you want to see it?” it was a needless question. In fact, Woohyun was already ing his shirt to show the other and carefully peeled away the patch. Tattoos on humans were, of course, like those on nymphs. They couldn’t be made without bleeding, scabs, and scarring. And yet, they were still beautiful. As the saying goes, beauty comes with pain.

And the azalea blossoms tattoo close to Woohyun’s heart were surely beautiful.
“These will never change,” he said.

Sunggyu scoffed. “No, but they’ll fade,” he pointed out.

“Never,” Woohyun declared as he taped the patch back down. Sunggyu kept his eyes on the tattoo all the while, with a smile grin. Woohyun grinned too. “I won’t let them fade.”

“You went crazy,” Sunggyu teased. “They always go crazy.”

“I already was from the start,” Woohyun retorted and went up to kiss Sunggyu.

Wait a second. Why did Sunggyu feel further away from him? Weren’t they around each other’s height? Neither of them were wearing shoes. So why did Sunggyu seem taller all of the sudden?

Come March, Sunggyu was outside, zooming around the garden on his bike and resuming his work. Woohyun, with Miss Gong’s blessing, was now part-time at the flower shop. The rest of his time he spent at the Nymphaeum, learning more about the plants there and taking care of them. It had been the lady in red’s idea, and Woohyun blurted out ‘yes’ without thinking, mostly because he was still afraid of her. That lady also was busy herself, planting new trees all over the garden, including a new peach tree. So there was a lot of work to be done in the garden, many more nymphs to attend to.

And Woohyun declared himself the unofficial caretaker of the azalea bush, which he swore grew bigger under his care. Sunggyu didn’t see it, but Woohyun thought there was something wrong with his vision anyways. The nymph kept saying that Woohyun’s tree tattoo looked richer in color. But how could it?

In any case, Woohyun was certain of one thing: the world’s oldest azalea was 262 years old. And he was determined to be with Sunggyu for a long, long time.

A/N: 

Although this took me years to finish, I think I wrote this chapter at the right time. Although I had this chapter roughly planned out from the start and the dialogue written out, things didn't feel right. So I didn't work on it.

While I refused to work, things happened, things that I got inspired by and put into this story. Sunggyu came out with new albums; he reprised his role as Amadeus with a much better hairstyle (I loved that wig! That is my hot take!). Woohyun was released from the army. They sang together again, while stuffing their faces with food on one occasion. Woohyun and Sungjong decorated for Christmas. All of those moments made me want to write again.

But sadly, I think it's time to end this chapter of my life. I intend for this to be my last woogyu fic. I still have other stories that I want to finish, both on this account and on my other (specyeol). It's not because my love for infinite has died. It's getting stronger every day! I am so impatient for Myungsoo to get out and join them again! It's because I want to work on some ideas that I have for novels. Writing woogyu stories have always been a distraction from that goal. It's too tempting, and the support that I have been getting from all of you these many years has been wonderful, and slightly addicting. I truly mean it from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for reading my stories. You all have done me a world of good. I could only grow as a writer under your love and care.

I intend to keep these stories up for as long as I can. I will let you know if that changes!