The rather large and antique-looking clock in the living room very clearly said that it was 4:30. The sun is setting, and the dark curtains over the only window in the room were doing a poor job of blocking it’s dying rays as it passed by. Jiyong was sprawled on the floor, his head in Daesung’s lap, while he held an old-looking book up over his head. The intense look of concentration on his face was in direct contrast to the soft and relaxed look on Daesung’s.

Daesung was leaning back against the couch, the fingers of his right hand raking slowly through Jiyong’s hair as he watched the man concentrate. They had been sitting like that for just over an hour, and while Daesung was far from uncomfortable, as he would love to run his fingers through Jiyong’s hair forever, he was curious as to what it was that was taking all of the man’s attention.

“What’s the matter?” He asks, his voice low but not breathy. Jiyong tilts his head back just slightly so that he can look at Daesung’s face without moving his book.

“I’m researching.” He says simply, and Daesung smiles as he fights the urge to repeat his question; he knows that Jiyong will get around to answering it. Jiyong glances back at the book before lowering it down to his chest and returning his gaze to Daesung’s face. “I want to wish right, or else it won’t work.”

Daesung’s hand freezes in Jiyong’s hair, and he looks down into Jiyong’s eyes. “You don’t need to…If it’s going to cause you this much frustration…” Jiyong’s eyes go wide and he hastily sits up, Daesung’s hand still tangled in his hair.

“No, no! I just. I don’t want to say the wrong thing and have you not exist because even if you never became a genie in the first place and so this all never happened, I would… I wouldn’t ever. I would know.” Jiyong falls silent, his breath coming out in short agitated puffs as his cheeks turn pink with embarrassment.

Daesung pulls his hand down from Jiyong’s hair and along his cheek before dropping it into his lap. “It will be fine. Please don’t worry about it overmuch.” Jiyong’s mouth falls into a set line and Daesung realizes a little belatedly that he hadn’t said the right thing.

Jiyong just stares at Daesung, his eyes slightly wide and unblinking. He can’t understand why Daesung doesn’t seem to see how big of a deal this actually was. If he wished it wrong, then something bad could happen…couldn’t it?

“But, there is so much that could go wrong!” Jiyong says, his hands balling into fists on the ground.

Daesung just shakes his head and tilts it to the side. “Why, are you going to say: I wish Daesung were anything but a genie? Or maybe: I wish Daesung could stay with me forever! Because both of those would be incorrect.” Jiyong’s face falls into a deep pout and Daesung smiles, reaching forward to grab one of Jiyong’s balled fists. “But if you say something like: ‘I wish that Daesung was a human,’ or ‘I wish that Daesung was not a genie anymore,’ then you would be fine.”

“You’re making fun of me, and all I want is for nothing to go wrong.” Jiyong says, moving back a little

“Nothing will go wrong. I can feel it, trust me.” Daesung says, and Jiyong just nods in response.

The room falls silent again, and Jiyong stares at Daesung for a couple more seconds before moving so that he is sitting next to Daesung. He leans his head back onto the cushion of the sofa, and moves his hand in Daesung’s until their fingers are laced. He lets out a small sigh, and then turns his head to look at Daesung again.

“Why do the wishes have to be so precise? If you know what the person means, why can’t you grant that?”

Daesung takes a couple of seconds to respond, seemingly surprised by the question. “Ah, well… the easiest way to explain it would be to say that genies don’t really control the magic.” He runs his free hand over his face before dropping it back to the ground. “All I do is let it free. You make a wish, and I make sure that the magic is aware, and then the magic does the rest by itself.”

Jiyong rolls his head back so that he’s looking up at the ceiling. “Alright, but then how do you use the magic, for things like making dinner?”

“I can manipulate it for myself…but getting food or shutting off the gas in the stove is different from granting you eternal youth; one is concrete and has one meaning, the other has many. One is being asked for directly from the source, the other is going through a filter.” Daesung shakes his head before tipping it back. “It’s difficult to explain. Magic is mystery, and it also doesn’t help that most genies don’t want to help humans because humans don’t want to help them.”

Jiyong nods and squeezes Daesung’s hand in his. “If I wish for you not to be a genie, then you’re going to have to tell me whenever we don’t have food.”

Daesung smiles and squeezes Jiyong’s hand, “I think I can manage that terribly daunting task.” Jiyong allows himself a small smile as he closes his eyes.

The room goes silent again and Daesung lifts up his head to look at the old clock. He feels the need to call Youngbae, but he can’t really think of a solid reason why. He glances at Jiyong, whose eyes are still closed, and decides to log the feeling for later; it could probably wait. He closes his eyes for a moment and allows himself to really let the thought of becoming mortal and being able to spend the rest of his life just exactly where he is now. It’s a staggering thought, one that leaves him elated and slightly scared; he’s putting his future in Jiyong’s hands, and even though he knows that it’s everything that he could ever want, it’s still a little scary. Daesung is knocked out of his thoughts by Jiyong’s soft but firm voice.

“I want Daesung to be human, not a genie.” He says, and Daesung freezes for a moment, unable to believe that it was actually happening.

“Is that a wish?” Daesung asks; his voice no more than a whisper. Jiyong’s lips tilt up in a smile.

“Yes, it is.” He says, before snuggling himself into Daesung’s side and keeping his eyes closed.

Daesung smiles and tilts his head back. The feel of the magic moving around him, warm and comforting, makes him sigh. He holds Jiyong’s hand tighter and closes his eyes; He’s not sure what to expect. Before the magic can even start to work, he feels Jiyong fall asleep, and he’s surprised by how glad he is that Jiyong won’t be awake for whatever happens. He feels the magic tighten around him and he squeezes his eyes shut, trying to remember what it had felt like when he became a genie. A tingly feeling crosses over his body as the magic becomes tighter and he wonders how he will know if it had worked.

Jiyong wakes up to the sound of Daesung’s voice, muffled as if it were a few rooms away instead of right next to him where the man was supposed to be. He opens his eyes and looks around, realizing that he was still in the living room and that according to the clock it was only about 7:00; so he hadn’t slept for very long.

He hears Daesung say goodbye, and he wonders who the man had been talking to. He looks up as Daesung enters the room and tilts his head to the side. “Who was that?”

Daesung smiles and squats down in front of him. “That was Youngbae; I called him to make sure everything was alright.” Jiyong’s face takes on a puzzled frown.

“What do you mean, ‘alright’? Is he OK?” Jiyong asks, sitting up and getting closer, worry starting to make itself shown on his face.

“Yes, he’s fine, I just had the urge to call him earlier, so once I woke up I decided to do so.” Jiyong nods, but doesn’t look particularly convinced. “You can call him later to verify! I swear he’s alright.” Jiyong narrows his eyes but then nods.

“Right. So… are you human?” Jiyong asks, rather more directly than he had intended. Daesung smiles brightly.

“I can’t even make a door open.” He says, and Jiyong wonders if he’s really as OK with this as he sounds. Daesung smiles again and stands up, offering Jiyong his hand. “We don’t have any food, so I ordered a pizza…I think.” Jiyong laughs and accepts the hand.

“What number did you call; because if it’s not from the place up the street I’m not eating it.” Daesung chuckles softly and pulls Jiyong around so that they are facing. “What are you doing?”

“Are you happy?” Daesung asks, and Jiyong bites his lip.

“Of course I am.” He says, before looking down at their feet.

“Then why do I get the feeling that you are uncertain and I’m the certain one?”

Jiyong scoffs, “You just wait, you won’t know what hit you when I’m ready.” Daesung smiles.

“Oh, I think I know.” He says, and Jiyong feels himself shiver as Daesung moves in closer. “Sometimes you talk in your sleep.” He whispers, close enough now that his mouth is near Jiyong’s ear. “You’re very creative.” He says, and Jiyong can feel the heat creeping up his neck.

“Oh really?” He asks, forcing himself to stay focused.

“Mmhmm.” Daesung breathes, and Jiyong feels the shiver move from his head down. He reaches forward and places a hand on Daesung’s chest before looking up and directly into Daesung’s eyes.

“What do I say?” He asks, allowing his voice to go deeper, huskier even; enjoying the sharp intake of breath that Daesung takes.

“Quite a lot. Some of it I only catch parts of…” Daesung is cut off by the sound of the doorbell ringing. Jiyong grins up at him and kisses him quickly on the mouth.

“Huh, well I can’t do anything about it if I don’t know what I was saying.” He says before turning on his heel and heading toward the door. “Sounds like dinner is here. This conversation may have to wait.” He says, waving his hand dismissively behind him as he practically saunters to the front door to pay for the pizza.

Daesung’s eyes remained glued to Jiyong’s retreating form; how was he going to make it through dinner now? There was no doubt in his mind that Jiyong was going to make this meal one of the most long and drawn out affairs of his lifetime. A slow grin moves across his mouth as he thinks about it. Maybe it won’t be so bad, he thinks, as Jiyong passes him on the way to the kitchen. He’s fairly certain that he just saw him swing his hips.

“Come on! Before the pizza gets cold!” Jiyong shouts, dropping the box onto the table and opening it to pull out a slice. He leans against the counter and allows himself to grin behind his piece as Daesung walks in and his eyes immediately trail up Jiyong’s body; stopping only when they reached his mouth and Jiyong decided to a small amount of sauce off of his lips.

Jiyong points at the open box with his piece of pizza and then goes back to eating. Daesung looks at the box, barely registering what it is. He shakes his head and strides quickly over to Jiyong, grabbing him by the shoulder and moving the pizza-holding arm out of the way.

“I’m not eating until I get a proper kiss.” He says; his voice low and commanding. Jiyong smiles up at him and shakes his head.

“I’m not kissing until you’ve eaten.” He responds, pushing Daesung away and continuing to eat his pizza. “Actually, I’m going to call Youngbae.” He says, and walks over to the phone.

Daesung just watches him, a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth. Forever. He can wait, he decides, grabbing a piece of pizza and watching as Jiyong leans over the counter in an obvious ploy to distract him. He takes a deep and calming breath, his eyes trained on Jiyong. He silently prays that Jiyong’s phone call won’t last more than 15 minutes; he didn’t think he could handle Jiyong’s teasing for any longer than that.

Jiyong leans forward even more, trying to reach the pen he had dropped when Youngbae had told him his problem. “You what?” He chokes out, trying to wrap his mind around what his best friend was telling him while simultaneously trying not to fall apart under the stare that he could feel coming from Daesung.

“Aish, it’s hard to talk about on the phone, and…and Ji what am I supposed to do? I’m in my car, in the middle of nowhere…” Jiyong rolls his eyes.

“You’re at the park, that isn’t the middle of nowhere. Just clear your head and we will talk about it tomorrow.” Jiyong hears Youngbae’s deep sigh and the light click of the seatbelt.

“You’re right.” He says. “I just need to clear my head. Have a good night, enjoy your pizza.” Jiyong hesitate for a second, deciphering the sound of Youngbae’s voice, before deciding that his friend would be fine and they could definitely talk about it tomorrow.

He says goodbye and hangs up. He looks down at the phone for a second before he hears Daesung cough lightly behind him before shuffling his feet for a short moment. Jiyong smiles brightly at the wall and refuses to turn around. “If you have a cold, I’m not touching you.” He says. He’s barely done with the sentence before Daesung is behind him.

“I don’t have one, so I guess we’re all set.” He whispers, his voice sending shivers down Jiyong’s spine.

“Hmm, I guess so.” He responds, turning around and pulling Daesung’s face down to his, “So, tell me about those things I say in my sleep.” Daesung smirks and presses his forehead to Jiyong’s.

“Mm, but first…” He mutters before pressing his lips firmly against Jiyong’s. Jiyong moves his arms so that they are around Daesung’s neck and pulls himself closer.

Forever.