Laughter bounced off the pale walls, with only a dim light illuminating the room. It was nearly midnight and yet the aroma of hot chocolate seemed to float and mingle with the air. The crisp cool wind rustled the lace curtains, lifting away the humidity felt nights before. It was late fall, with only a few more days left until winter. That didn't seem to dishearten the two boys sitting on the bed though with mugs of hot cocoa in hand. Big smiles were on their faces, eyes glistening. 

     "Hey Kris, can we go to the beach? I haven't gone there for a while!" the brunette said, his cheeks lifting up. Kris looked at him with his smile faltering a bit, but nodded nonetheless. "I also want fo go and eat some dumplings! I miss the ones your mom use to make for me!" he continued.

     At this, Kris replied with a laugh. He remembered how his mom use to make them by the hundreds just so the man next to him could eat his heart out. "Yeah, how about I make you some Xiumin, when I get the recipe from my mom," he lied, as his cooking skills would probably butcher the poor boy's taste buds. Xiumin looked up from his mug and raised his eyebrows, to which Kris laughed again. Kris thought Xiumin was too cute for his own good. 

     All of a sudden, a loud crash sounded throughout the room as a mug fell to the hardwood floor and scattered across the room. Kris looked at Xiumin in shock as he dicovered the boy was drenched in the sweet drink. Xiumin's hands were shaking violently and he looked up at Kris with fear evident in his eyes. Tears began to flow down his cheeks and mix the cocoa pooling on the floor. Kris dropped his mug in response, reality dawning on him that they would never go to the beach together ever again.

     Xiumin scrambled off the bed in an attempt to pick up the shards littering the floor but to no avail. Tears streamed down Kris's face as he saw Xiumin struggle just grasping the pieces off the ground. The shorter of the two boys tried to stabalize his hands but ended up cutting his fingers. Xiumin screamed in frustration, giving up. He d for Kris, who could not stand the sight of his lover in such distress. He picked up Xiumin and clung on to him. Xiumin screamed again and asked "Why, why does God do this to me?!!" while pounding on Kris's chest. Kris waited for Xiumin to tire himself out before changing his clothes and bandaging his wounds. He laid Xiumin back on the bed and kissed his forehead.  He then proceded to clean the floor. Once he saw that Xiumin fell fast asleep, he whipped out his phone.

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     Xiumin was sick. And he was going to die. Kris choked and sobbed after hearing the doctor's voice on the phone. He knew that. After Kris saw the shards on the ground he knew Xiumin was going to die. The boy was getting weaker and weaker by the day. For God's sake, he couldn't even hold a mug. Xiumin's doctor had told Kris that he only had a couple of months left. Kris decided that he was going to make the best of it.

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     Burns and cuts appeared on Kris's originally soft hands. He had just gotten the recipe from his mother for dumplings, but was failing miserably. He prayed that they tasted better than they looked. Placing them on a nice platter, he went upstairs to give them to Xiumin, who had just woken up judging by the noise upstairs.  

     He opened the door to their bedroom and sure enough there sat Xiumin on the bed watching some tv. He smiled awkwardly at Kris, probably still remembering what happened last night. However, his face lightened up as he saw what Kris held in his hands. Although poorly made, he saw the sweat and blood poured into the dumplings,,, literally. Specks of crimson coated one of the dumplings. Xiumin looked at Kris ushering him to come closer. Kris placed the dumplings on the nightstand before sitting down on the bed. Xiumin took Kris's hands into his and kissed them, trying to ease the pain. Kris smiled and ruffled Xiumin's hair. He then frowned when he noticed one of the dumplings were covered in blood. He reached over to remove that one from the platter but Xiumin stopped him and placed the soiled dumpling in his mouth. He chewed carefully, before giving Kris a thumbs up.

     "Why aren't you a little vampire!" Kris exclaimed with a smirk before realizing the sadness in Xiumin's eyes. Then he realized something. "Xiumin, did you lose your sense of taste?" Xiumin looked away, and Kris felt his whole world collapse. 

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     Kris remembered that Xiumin's favorite song was "Angel" and since he couldn't sing well, he decided to play the piano for his love. He was running out of time so he decided to just play the song even with the imperfections. It turned out Xiumin couldn't even tell.He smiled dumbly with eyes full of love. Besides, he lost his sense of hearing.. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

    After that, Xiumin couldn't smell, nor feel any sensation in his hands and feet. Later he could no longer walk. Kris watched tearfully as his love of his life eroded away to merely being a body. He was tempted to just leave more than once. He wanted to escape but he couldn't. He was too in love with Xiumin. The love bound him, like shackles. 

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    It was snowing hard, white covering the streets of China. Xiumin looked out the window and pointed out the beauty to Kris. The loss of his sight was delayed significantly which Kris was glad for since he carried a small white board to communicate with Xiumin. "Do you want to go to the beach?" Kris wrote, with a sad smile on his face. Xuimin had been pestering him all month long. Xiumin nodded estatically and allowed Kris to carry him and put him in the custom wheelchair Kris had gotten him. 

    Once they reached the beach, they discovered that it was frozen and covered with snow. Xiumin smiled nonetheless at the beauty of it all, and tried to stand up from his wheel chair. Kris looked sadly at his lover, trying to hold him down, but Xiumin persisted to walk and Kris gave up. Surprisingly, he was able to. Kris looked at him in shock and walked with him, unable to hide his joy. Xiumin felt himself getting weak before saying "I love you, and thank you!" Kris stayed frozen as he saw Xiumin fall to the ground. The snow began to pile up and Kris dropped to his knees. He screamed, and cried hysterically. However looking at the peaceful face on his lover, he decided to embrace him and let the snow bury them in eternal bliss.