The day began with the sun rising, enveloping the land around it with its golden rays. The sky began to turn from dark, to orange and pink, which would later turn into a soft sky blue. Fluffy white clouds began to form, the white puffs decorating the clear sky. Animals began to dot the green plains that lay underneath the mountains.

Hidden in the mountains lay a compound. A huge arena that was covered by an invisible force field that surrounded it. The Elyxion stood, proud as it looked over the grand landscape beneath it. Hundreds of villages were scattered throughout the Elyxion's territory, all under the protection of the Elyxion. As the Elyxion greeted dawn, the doors creaked open as a silhouette of a female slipped out.

Her name was Bae Joohyun. Scientist and healer at the Elyxion. Known as one of the fairest maidens throughout the land, Bae Joohyun was a sight to behold. With her sharp mind and icy doll-like features, she was known for her beauty and equally admirable mind that followed. One might wonder why the great Bae Joohyun was doing outside so early. However, those at the Elyxion now knew to leave her be as she observed the land, searching for signs of the returning army. 
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The pride of the Elyxion consisted of a group of men called EXO. Together, with the powers gifted to them by the Tree of Life, they fought against X-EXO, a group similar to theirs created by the Red Force in the Exo'rdium. X-EXO's powers mirrored that of EXO's, each member being made to oppose another in the opposite team. No one knows how they were created to be. Some suspect that the Red Force had created X-EXO in secret when working with the Tree of Life before it had overtaken it. Others say that X-EXO was created way after EXO had been created and the Red Force had taken over. Whatever it was, both sides were equally matched, and thus had no real winner emerge victorious throughout the many years of war.

EXO fought under the firm lead of Kim Junmyeon. Stubborn, fierce, sly, ambitious, and serious, but also determined, intelligent, courageous, warm, and humble. He took his role of leader very seriously, leading to very successful battles. Even with the absence of six of the members, for they had either gone missing, were injured, or were out conducting secret missions, EXO remained strong under the guidance of Junmyeon. Like his counterpart Suhø, Junmyeon was a great warrior armed with the power of water. However, unlike Suhø, who preferred to create huge tidal waves to drown people, Junmyeon created hard spheres of water to direct into his opponents' eyes.

The unofficial "mother" of the group and a caring person in general, Junmyeon was the person everyone would go to first - whether it was the EXO members, the staff in the Elxyion, or simple villagers. Therefore it was no surprise that Bae Joohyun had fallen for him, with his gentle persona, brilliant features and mind, and his sturdy composure. What came as a surprise to many others, was that Junmyeon had also fallen for her as well.

Abandoned at a young age, Joohyun had kept to herself most of the time after being brought to the Elyxion. She had worked hard and quickly climbed up the ranks to get to where she was now. Joohyun was nice, just a bit closed of. This was what had intrigued Junmyeon. Junmyeon hated enigmas, and Joohyun was a pretty big enigma herself. Determined to crack her shell, Junmyeon fluttered around her as often as he could, falling deeper bit by bit as he got to know her better. Both danced around their feelings for years, until everyone in the Elyxion was fed up with their obliviousness towards each other. It wasn't until Joohyun was assigned to go on a research expedition that Junmyeon confessed to her.

Overcome with worry about what could happen to her without him, Junmyeon trembled for days before gathering his courage. With X-EXO attacking unpredictably, the EXO members were concerned that Junmyeon might worry himself to death over Joohyun's first quest outside the Elyxion. A week before she left, Junmyeon had been helping Joohyun pack when he blurted out that he liked her. It wasn't the romantic confession he had planned, nor was it as eloquent as he wanted it to be, but nevertheless, Joohyun thought it was perfect.

With longing eyes, they bid farewell, and Junmyeon's wait had started. The agonizing wait had lasted months, making their reunion much sweeter than what it would have been had Joohyun returned sooner.
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It had been more than a year since Joohyun had last seen Junmyeon. X-EXO had trespassed the border, which led to EXO rushing out in order to stop them.

Joohyun was cuddling with Junmyeon, under his firm arm when the sirens rang. With a panicked expression, Junmyeon immediately leaped out of bed and grabbed his emergency bag. With a quick kiss and a whispered, "I love you, stay safe", he summoned water to whisk him out, leaving a frightened Joohyun in his bed.

Since that day, Joohyun had developed a routine of going outside three times a day, in hopes to see the banner which held EXO's crest. She knew they were still out there, if the sizzling crack of Jongdae's lightning, fluorescent lights of Baekhyun, or Sehun's windstorms had anything to say about it. She just didn't know if anything had happened to Junmyeon. Joohyun refused to think of the worst, instead, choosing to cling on to the memories she had with him. Kyungsoo, who was currently lying in infirmary as he had for the past year after a particularly nasty attack combination of Chanyeøl's fire and Chën's lightning and could not heal faster because of the mysterious absence of Yixing, had even confirmed that Junmyeon was still alive by using his earth powers to tap into the other elemental wielder's cores.

Joohyun watched with a bated breath as Kyungsoo closed his eye, concentrated. She leaned forward in anticipation as his eyes flashed an earthly green and jerked open.

"Well?" she asked urgently, "Are they alive? Is he alive?"

Brows furrowed, Kyungsoo had nodded. " They all are, but their cores are weak. I do not know if it is because they are traveling beyond my range or if they are severely injured."

After that day, Joohyun never asked Kyungsoo again, in fear of receiving dreaded news.

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Gazing out at the majestic landscape, Joohyun let out a sigh of disappointment for there was no sight of anyone. Her eyes flitted over to the flowers that grew under a tree in the distance. Perennials.

"Here!" Junmyeon waved his arms around excitedly as he gleefully watered the flowers.

"Here?" Joohyun looked around confused. "Junmyeon we see this everyday. There's nothing special here."

Junmyeon amusedly clicked his tongue as he pointed at the flowers once again. "Look, perennials."

Joohyun frowned. She still didn't understand what he wanted her to see.

With an affectionate sigh, Junmyeon pulled her down to the ground, next to the perennials, as they looked at the land in front of them.

"Look at the sky, Hyun, the mountains in front of us - everything. It seems to go on forever, right? It's like our love, our perennial love."

Junmyeon fixed his eyes onto Joohyun and let his eyes burn into her gaze.

"Listen to me," he stated firmly. "It's going to be hard, but I promise to make this work. So promise me too. Promise me that you'll stay strong. That you won't let our relationship fade."

Joohyun stared right back at him. "I promise."

Since then, perennials were a symbol. A sign to reassure that what they had would last. 

Joohyun looked out, towards the mountains where the border was.

"I'm waiting Kim Junmyeon."

And Junmyeon, miles away, looked at the land around him, and smiled.