A promise of love

Yesung saw with adoration the links forming for the new life being born into the world. No matter how many centuries he had been a servant of the Love Goddess, his work never stopped amazing him. He attached the thin and invisible strings of fate in that little pinky, signalling the encounters the baby would have in the future as she grew up; meetings and farewells, longtime relationships and fleeting encounters. Everything was in those strings.

After setting the rest, Yesung took that special string that could cause both happiness and sadness, but didn't make it less beautiful. The end of that red string connected her to the person who would be the love of her life... Well, the romantic love of her life.

Love can take many forms and be found in most close relationships; It can be found in parent-child relationships, between siblings and in friendships. But the red string of fate tied the hearts of people who would share that special kind of love only couples experience.

Yesung took a look at the basket in where the strings were previously stored, just to make sure he didn't forget anything. He was a little surprised when he found another red string. So she had two.

Unlike most would think, people can have multiple red strings of fate. There are some people who only have one throughout their whole life, some who live all their life without one, some who have multiple at the same time and some that change over time.

The red strings of fate signals encounters and everlasting love, but it's up to humans to keep the relationship going on. Or that's what Yesung has heard. He was just a turtle who got to live long enough to pick the interest of the Love Goddess and got transformed into a spirit with humanoid form. He didn't understand humans complicated society nor the complexity that is love.

Yesung pushed aside those thoughts and quickly continued his work, attaching the last bond in the baby's life. He made sure everything was properly connect and let the soul continue her life. She was the last one for today.

Time flowed different for him now that he was a spirit, so although the sun was still up in the sky, he has already tied the destiny of hundreds of souls. Humans were increasing in number, but his job didn't increase much. He knew very little about how humans were born or how work was distributed among the Love Goddess' servants. There were a lot of things he didn't understand.

"Yesung!"

He was one of them.

He was this certain someone who shouted Yesung's name from the entrance of the abandoned temple. A human with no red strings of fate who got lost in the mountains years ago and was found by Yesung. A human who could see him. The person who kept coming everyday to light Yesung's days.

The person who shouldn't come anymore.

"Yesung hyung!" Once again, the shout resonated in the building.

The spirit sighed at the repetition of this routine formed years ago. He went out the temple and was met with a man with chocolate eyes and ebony hair smiling brightly at him, a sight that has been part of all his evenings for more time than he'd like to admit.

"Kyuhyun, I already told you to not come here anymore."

"I'll do it if you promise to come and visit me at home."

"You know I can't do that."

"Then I'm going to keep visiting you every day."

"Kyuhyun, I'm serious. You can't keep coming. It isn't good for you."

"I'm old enough to choose what I do and what is good for me."

"Don't you want to spend time with your family?" Yesung looked at the human with worry in his eyes.

"I think I have spent enough time with them for today. They're always over me. They don't even let me got to the bathroom in peace!" Kyuhyun rolled his eyes, mocking exasperation at the actions of his family. However, Yesung knew he was hiding how he really felt. The human was very good at controlling his expressions, but that wouldn't fool Yesung.

Kyuhyun kept doing faces while complaining about them, but then looked at Yesung with a shy smile.

"But more than that, I want to be with you."

"Kyuhyun..."

They stared at each other, having a silent battle to decide whose will was going to be followed. Kyuhyun tried to convince Yesung with his eyes to let him stay while Yesung directed a cold look at him. However, they both knew the outcome was decided.

"Fine." With a loud sigh, Yesung admitted his defeat. Kyuhyun had a smug expression in his face, having won today once again.

Yesung knew he had to insist more, but he also knew he wouldn't be able to change Kyuhyun's mind and make him return. Since he was here already, all Yesung could do was show him some hospitality.

"I'll let you enter the temple today, but I don't want to see you here tomorrow."

Kyuhyun showed a checky smile. "How bad, my plans for tomorrow include coming to bug you."

Yesung felt a headache coming to him.

To be honest, Yesung enjoyed his time with Kyuhyun a lot. The human was witty and snarky, but his brilliant mind and strong, blunt heart captivated Yesung. Kyuhyun would often show him new compositions he wrote, tell him about the most delicious dish he ate that day or teach Yesung the new songs he learnt to then sing together. Yesung used to be a turtle, so he saw music as something only birds and humans could do. He never knew singing could be so much fun until Kyuhyun showed him how to do it.

Being with him was always fun.

Today wasn't the exception. They talked about everything and nothing, shared memories and fun stories. Kyuhyun talked about his plans for the future and his new ideas while Yesung told him about all the spirits that had come to visit him and the stories they shared with him. They laughed and played around until the sun was about to set in the horizon.

It was time to part again.

Yesung accompanied Kyuhyun down the mountain, making sure nothing happened to him. They were silent, walking just a little slower to extend the time they would be together, even if it was by mere seconds.

Just when they were about to enter the human road, Kyuhyun stopped. Yesung turned to look at him, asking what was wrong even when he knew what was in the mortal's mind. Kyuhyun looked at their intertwined hands, this small habit that was part of every walk down the mountain, and squeezed Yesung's tiny hand. Kyuhyun then looked up, staring straight at Yesung's eyes. His face reflected confidence, but the small tremors in his hand revealed he was sightly nervous.

"Yesung, I love you."

Once again, those three words were directed to Yesung. The latter just looked at Kyuhyun with an unreadable expression.

Kyuhyun waited a few minutes for the other to say something, but decided to walk down the human road after not receiving any response from Yesung yet again. That's why he was sightly surprised when Yesung tightened his hold on his hand. Kyuhyun looked at Yesung as the latter tried to figure the correct words to express what was on his mind.

"Kyuhyun, you know this can't be... This is never going to work. I'm a spirit, for Goddess sake! Your place is with humans, not up here in the mountains." It was the first time since the original confession that Yesung answered to him. This ignited some hope in Kyuhyun's heart, because even if the response was negative, having one meant Yesung was finally willing to talk about this. Kyuhyun wasn't going to lose this opportunity.

"I don't care if you were a freaking turtle or if I'm a bloody mortal. My place is were i feel the happiest and most comfortable. That place is beside you." Kyuhyun said full of conviction. He believed they could overcome anything if they worked together. Yesung shook his head, a sad expression rested on his face.

"You can't love me, Kyuhyun." Yesung lost hold of Kyuhyun's hand, trying to cut out the link between them. He took a step back when Kyuhyun tried to get hold of him again, making the human desist, at least for now. He limited himself to ask a question.

"Why?"

"You'll just get hurt. I don't even know if I can love you back." Kyuhyun was very precious to Yesung, the most important being in his existence apart from himself. But was what he felt for him really love? Could he even feel it? Yesung had only known love as something humans felt. He worked day to day with it, but he was nothing but a mere spectator, stranger to those experiences.

"Yesung." Kyuhyun cupped Yesung's face with his hands. "You are as capable of loving as anyone. You have showed me that time and time again during the five years we've known each other. One thing I know for sure is that you love your work and the mountain. You're always so enthralled everytime you talk about your work, about all the new beings coming to the world. You love life more than anyone else I know."

"But that's different. I love the mountain the same way you love music. That feeling is completely different from the love you expect from me, the one you want me to correspond."

"That may be true, but having the heart to feel that kind of love in the first place opens the possibilities to feel other types. I don't know for sure if you love me, but I'm sure I mean something to you." The spirit looked so lost and confused, but Kyuhyun knew Yesung already had the answer in his heart. He just didn't know how to interpret it.

"How can I know if this thing I feel for you is love?"

"Close your eyes and tell me how you feel after this."

Yesung looked at Kyuhyun with uncertainty, but he did as told after a few seconds. He closed his eyes, waiting for whatever thing Kyuhyun was going to do. He got sightly surprised when he felt something soft brush his lips. Then, that small brush became a continuous touch. He opened his eyes, unconsciously trying to understand what was this, and found Kyuhyun's closed eyes in front of him. It was then that Yesung understood the soft thing he felt were Kyuhyun's lips against his own.

This was a kiss, a show of affection between human couples.

He gasped at the revelation, action that made Kyuhyun bolder. He deepened the chaste kiss, moving his lips in a delicate touch. Yesung didn't think much before entrusting himself to his heart and closed his eyes. He clinged to Kyuhyun, wishing he would never go. The feelings accumulated for years finally overflowed. They kissed with need, holding the other so tightly, as if trying to become one.

Slowly, they ended the contact to look at each other. The tiny bits of sunlight left behind were getting dimmer and dimmer, but they didn't care. The instant he let himself enjoy the kiss was the moment Yesung understood what were his true feelings. A tear rolled at the implications of such revelation, implications known by both of them.

"Then?" Kyuhyun wiped Yesung's stray tear as he asked him.

"I love you." Yesung closed his eyes and let the rest of tears fall. "I love you." His voice cracked as he said his confession. "I love you." He hugged Kyuhyun as the latter brushed his hair and patted the spirit's back in a comforting way.

"Shhhh, it's okay. I'm going to be with you as long as I can."

"The future will be full of tears."

"I'll make sure to make you so happy it'll make up for all of them. I won't leave you alone."

"You know that's impossible."

"Even after I die and reincarnate, my soul will keep yearning for you. Even if I don't remember, I know I'll come here and fall in love with you again."

Yesung knew that was very unlikely to happen. Even if Kyuhyun did everything to keep his promise, that wasn't something for him to decide. Humans had very little decision in regards of what happens after dead. Still, Yesung wanted to believe. There may not be any red string of fate tying a human with an spirit, but he thought the connection between them was stronger than them. Something even fate wouldn't break.

"Can I come tomorrow then?"

"Tomorrow and whenever you want. You're always welcomed here." Yesung pulled apart and caressed Kyuhyun's face. "Are you sure? People will outcast you if you keep coming..."

"I've been living like that since the moment it was discovered I can see spirits. My family are the only ones I care about in that town and they won't mind if I keep coming here."

Kyuhyun put his hand in Yesung's. They shared a meaningful look, but then Kyuhyun looked as if he remembered something. He searched in his pocket and brought out a spool of red thread.

"Yesung, give me your hand."

"What are you doing?" Yesung asked as he saw Kyuhyun tying the end of the thread in his little finger. He cut it and then tied the other end in his own hand.

"I may not be a servant of the Love Goddess like you nor have any power to set fate, but I want to give you a tangible representation of our promise."

"But it may break if we leave it like this..." Yesung thought for a moment before using his powers. He couldn't tie a real string of fate between them, but he could put a spell in the thread to prevent it from breaking. Kyuhyun saw as how Yesung's powers entered the thread and made it elastic. "Done. Now it won't break and we won't have to take it out to part ways."

"How..?" Kyuhyun took the thread with his other hand and stretched it out. He saw with awe as it just got longer without getting any thinner. He then ran to the tree behind them and saw how the thread stretched out without breaking. He went back to Yesung, still not getting over the new characteristics of the thread that took its original length back. "Now I just have to make sure it doesn't entangle with a tree or something."

"Don't worry. I made it so only us can touch it. Nobody else can even see it."

"A secret only we know."

That night, their love was sealed with a  kiss and a promise. They didn't know what would happen in the future and could only wait for whatever fate had for them. Still, they were sure their love would last, as it is one of the few things that can change destiny.

It was a beautiful secret love story between a human and a spirit. Even if it ended in a tragedy, every second spent together would make it worth.

Because love is always precious.

_________________

[Originally posted on November 13th, 2022

Grammar and spelling mistakes have been fixed, as well as some typos out there (and a stray Jongwoon instead of Yesung). Some details have been added and some others have been sightly edited. A clarification about Yesung's form has been added as well.

I actually tried to follow Grannielf2408's idea and continue this story using the prompts,  but I didn't manage to make it that well. To have things a little more organized, I moved those attempts to here.

Link for twitter post of this. Username is @NyuNyu123. Just a warning; I'm not that active in there. I'm not as bad as Kyuhyun, but don't expect constant content.]

Author's notes:

Me: *decides to write a 500~ words drabble for each prompt*

Also me: *writes 2k words for first prompt without having anything for the rest*

... If I don't publish anything for the other days that's why.......

I rushed writing this in my free time during the day, so if you find any error that's the reason. It has little edition so tell me if you find any funny error.

Okay, I'll see if I can come up with anything for the other days, bye!