Inspired by this cute pic by @jadevoice13 for the past KyuSung Day (I'm bad at Twitter search so I can't find your og post forgive me T_T )

There was a penguin living at the park.

No one knew how a penguin egg ended up at the park but it happened. The egg hatched into a cute baby emperor penguin. The little fluff ball easily catched the public's heart and became the city's star. There were many attempts to relocate the baby penguin to somewhere more appropriate such as an aquarium or a conservation center. However, all attempts failed spectacularly because of one reason.

A turtle.

.

.

.

There was a turtle living at the park.

No one knew how long the turtle had been living here. Many locals claimed that they had seen it roaming around the park since they were young until they had grandchilds, the turtle was still there; living leisurely through days and nights. There were many attempts to relocate the turtle to somewhere more appropriate such as an aquarium or a conservation center. However, all attempts failed spectacularly because of one reason.

A penguin.

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"Jongwoon hyung! Wait for me!"

"That should be my line, don't you think?"

The turtle sighed but waited for the emperor penguin to catch up with him anyway. He hadn't even finished sighing when the fluffy penguin stopped beside him. Then, the two animals walked together towards a tall tree by a pond. The penguin took one waddle for every four turtle-steps to match their pace. Bead-like black eyes never once strayed away from the green creature that hummed quietly while taking a short step. The blazing sun did nothing to the small turtle because his penguin companion helped shield it with his flipper.

"Kyuhyun-ah, you should hurry up and get under the shade first. You might get heatstroke with that fluffy fur of yours."

"No, hyung, I promise to always walk by your side, right?"

The penguin said and lowered its head down. Kyuhyun happily nuzzled his beak against the turtle's long neck, causing Jongwoon to blush madly (let's assume that turtles can blush). The reptile animal shook his head and continued to walk slowly to the tree with the penguin following closely, grinning widely while staring at his partner (it grins in my head alright?).

"Speaking of our promise, hyung, those annoying humans try to take me away again!"

"Well, they just want the best for you. This place is clearly a bad living condition for an emperor penguin."

"But I don't want the best! I want you!"

Kyuhyun pecked the top of the turtle's head (his best attempt at kissing), earning a chuckle from Jongwoon.

"I only want to be with you too, Kyuhyun-ah."

The turtle replied and bobbed his head against the penguin's chubby tummy.

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No one could separate the penguin and the turtle.

As far as the locals recalled, the pair had been together since forever. Someone claimed that the turtle helped hatch the penguin egg (???) while others claimed that the turtle saved the penguin from drowning (???). No matter the reason, the penguin had been following the turtle around since when it was a cute baby penguin. Even in nowadays that the penguin outgrew the turtle, it still followed the shelled reptile around like a puppy. One day, staff from a famous aquarium tried to capture the penguin and brought it to their penguin exhibition hall. However, the fierce penguin pecked the staff with its sharp beak and slapped them with its flippers. As soon as it got away, the penguin quickly waddled to the turtle that was on its way (halfway, to be honest) to rescue its partner. The emperor penguin cried pitifully while rubbing its head against the turtle's head. So, the turtle bobbed its head against the penguin as if to tell the winged animal that everything will be fine.

Ever since then, no one tried to separate them again (unless they wanted to face the locals' wrath).

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Jongwoon will never forget the day he first met Kyuhyun.

He was sunbathing on a bank when a human disturbed him. A man popped out from a bush carrying a sack. The human looked around cautiously before taking something out from the sack— a big egg. The man placed the egg on the bank near him and ran away. At first, he planned to ignore it but a cracking noise distracted him. He watched a dark crack slowly formed on the white shell and in the next minute, a small beak popping out. Not long after that, a fluffy baby penguin hatched from the egg. With a shell on its head, the little kid looked up and their eyes met.

"Hwenllo—"

Splash!

Because the baby penguin tried to stand up without kicking the rest of the shell off, it fell down and rolled into the pond. Sighing, Jongwoon hurried to the pond as quickly as his short legs allowed and dove into the water. He let the fluff ball climb onto his shell and carried it back to the land. The baby penguin rolled off his back to lie on the ground unmoving.

"Kid," Jongwoon poked the fluff ball with his fore leg, "don't die on me."

It took a while but the baby penguin finally spit excess water out and breathed again. The kid turned to look at him, blinked, and smiled.

"Are you mwy angwel?"

"No, I'm a turtle."

The baby penguin beamed.

"You are mwy turtwle angwel then!"

Ever since then, the baby penguin, Kyuhyun, started to follow him around.

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People were divided into two sides: one who wanted the penguin to be taken away and one who wanted the penguin to remain at the park. Many experts said that the park was a bad habitat for the penguin, especially during summer. So, they should relocate the winged animal to somewhere better suit it. However, the locals said that the penguin would definitely die from heartbreak and depression if they separated it from its turtle partner. One choice was better for the penguin (physically) while the other choice was better for the penguin (mentally). They were caught in a big dilemma.

Why didn't they relocate both animals to the same place?

Because it was impossible. The emperor penguin hailed from a freezing land while the turtle came from a tropical island. They could never live together if it wasn't at the park. Looking at the two animals chilling together under a tree, no one had a heart to separate them so they decided to just leave it to nature.

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"Kyuhyun-ah, are you alright? Should we rest first?"

"I'm fine. Let's keep moving forward. Hyung wants to see the cherry blossoms, right?"

The penguin smiled reassuringly at the turtle as he waddled slowly beside his partner. Jongwoon frowned at the penguin who, despite saying that he was fine, looked exhausted and weak. It was in the middle of summer now. The sun above their heads shone blazingly that they could feel the heat wave. The turtle purposely slowed its crawling speed to match the penguin's waddling while keeping a close eye on his partner.

"Why do you want to see it anyway? Flowers are boring! They bloom only for a week or two and wither!"

"That's why it's beautiful. Kyuhyun-ah, you're too young to understand it."

"I'm not a kid anymore! I've been with you for more than ten springs now! It's just, you're the most beautiful thing to me, hyung!"

"Smooth," the turtle chuckled, "well, the truth is, I heard that there's a large lake there. I think your health might improve if we move there, so… I mean, the lake is connected to the ocean so the temperature should be cooler than the pond…"

"Jongwoon hyung…"

The penguin pecked the turtle's mouth.

"I love you."

"I love you too, Kyuhyun-ah."

The turtle bobbed its head back at the penguin's beak. Then, the two animals slowly made their ways to the new home. White hairs growing between dark ones one Kyuhyun's fur reflected the sunlight as he took another slow step. Noticing his partner's difficult state, Jongwoon checked on the penguin again in anxiety.

"Kyuhyun-ah, are you al—"

Thud!

"Kyuhyun-ah..?"

Jongwoon carefully nudged the penguin who was lying unconscious on the ground but got no response.

"Kyuhyun-ah!! Please wake up! Don't leave me alone!!!"

"Jongwoon hyung? What happened?"

The turtle glanced up and saw a brown squirrel climbing down a tree to him.

"Ryeowook-ah! Please get a human here! Kyuhyun-ah, he…"

"U-Understood!!"

The little squirrel quickly dashed away while Jongwoon didn't give up trying to wake up the penguin. He bobbed his head at Kyuhyun's face again and again while calling out to his partner non-stop.

But he never got any response.

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The entire city mourned the loss of their beloved penguin. As the experts feared, living in the park greatly shortened the penguin's lifespan and led to its demise. People of all ages and genders shedded tears for the penguin, but no one was as heartbroken as the turtle. On the day the penguin left the world, the poor turtle refused to leave its friend's side. Even if someone moved the turtle to somewhere else, it somehow found a way to come back to where the animal conservationists kept the penguin's remains and stick by its side. When the staff took the penguin away to properly bury it, the turtle had become lifeless. it refused to eat no matter what food the locals brought to it. It stayed hidden in its shell all the time and only came out to drink water once a day, almost as if its soul had left the world along with its friend.

In the end, the locals agreed to let the local aquarium relocate the turtle to take care and keep a close eye on it.

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A new spring had arrived.

Jongwoon could sense it even from the comfort of his shell, but he continued to hide from the world. Why would he bother with the surroundings when Kyuhyun wasn't here with him? Actually, he wanted to follow his partner's steps to the unknown realm but he knew that Kyuhyun wanted him to keep living. So, he lived, albeit with a bare minimum effort, but he lived. He lived for Kyuhyun whose life was taken away because of him. If only he told Kyuhyun to leave him and go with the human since the penguin was young, then, maybe…

"Hwenllo? Are you a penguing?"

A cheerful unfamiliar voice greeted him but Jongwoon ignored it.

"I heard from my cwaretaker that you don't eat? Why? Fwish are super tasty!"

He hid himself further inside his shell.

"Come on! Get out and plway with me!"

The annoying uninvited guest shoved its small head into his shell and startled him. Something sharp but not too sharp kept pecking him. In the end, Jongwoon couldn't keep ignoring the intruder and showed himself, making the mysterious guest fall down -first on the ground.

"Ouch! You surprwised me!"

Jongwoon almost couldn't believe what he saw before him.

"Kyuhyun-ah…?"

"Oh? You know mwy name? Hwenllo!!"

The baby rockhopper penguin got up and beamed at him, and tears fell down the turtle's cheeks. Although the outer appearance might change, Jongwoon could always recognize Kyuhyun's cheerful attitude from miles away.

"Don't kry! I'm here with you!"

The grey fluff ball nuzzled itself against the turtle's neck while trying to comfort him. It took a while for Jongwoon to stop crying and smile back at the baby penguin.

"Kyuhyun-ah… can I ask you something?"

"Yep!"

"Can I live here with you?"

"Wy not? I like you! Eh…?"

"I'm Jongwoon the turtle."

"Alwright, Jongwoon hyung, I like you, so, yep! Let's stay here togwether!"

The turtle smiled for the first time after the last spring while enjoying the warmth from the baby penguin named Kyuhyun.

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At SuJu Aquarium, people flooded to the place to see the newly established zone— Hall of Bond. There, they smiled happily as they watched the famous turtle chewing vegetables while a baby rockhopper penguin leaned on the green reptile; snuggling closely and refusing to leave the turtle's side.