The hawk returns the next day, and the day after that, and after a month of its constant presence Suho realizes that it's incredibly smart and incredibly annoying. But he learns to deal with it and does his daily chores with a large black hawk on his shoulder. It arrives in the morning when he walks out of the house and leaves just as Suho finishes his work.

While he tolerates its presence, when it nearly bites off Sehun's finger for getting too close to it, Suho grabs the bird by it's leg and holds it out upside down, ignoring it's sharp beak, and quietly tells it that if it ever harms Sehun, he will roast it.

The hawk chirps meekly and Suho lets it resume it's place on his shoulder. Sehun doesn't try to touch it again. Lay tosses his head and snorts at Big Eyes. Big Eyes hoots at the hawk, who squawks back. Suho sighs and pulls up another potato.

Suho meets Jongin the year he turns sixteen.

In the years since Suho met the hyperion, he's worked the farm in the summer and worked odd jobs in the town in the winter. His mother gave birth to a baby girl and named her Sunny. She follows Suho around like a puppy and always asks to ride on Lay's back. Lay, with his unending patience, does not complain when Suho sets Sunny on his broad back and she pulls out his mane. 

Sehun is eleven and one of the smartest in his class, as attested by Baekhyun, who passes Suho in the market occasionally and tells Suho of his brother's progress. Their interactions are always a bit nerve-wracking since Baekhyun always inquires after the state of Suho's arm.

"I could have a healer take a look at it," Baekhyun always offers, and Suho always politely declines,  fearing that someone will recognize his scars as the mark of a thunderbird and accuse him of heresy.

And heretics are punished by the church.

The air is just beginning to have a nip to it and all of the crops have been harvested and the trees around the spring are just starting to turn yellow. Suho is sitting next to the spring, watching the sunlight dancing on his newly tanned skin. His bandages are off and the contrast between his tanned right arm and his pale left arm is striking.

The hawk is suspiciously absent, and Suho keeps glancing about, trying to see if The Infernal Bird is hiding somewhere. He's so absorbed in searching for the hawk that when he hears a cough from behind him, he falls over on his side with a shout.

The laugh that comes from the cougher is rich and just a little adorable. Pushing himself up, Suho turns to see a lean boy with deeply tanned skin leaning against a tree. Suho blinks at him for a bit, transfixed by the way the boy's teeth flash white in the early autumn sun and his eyes twinkle gleefully at Suho. Suho's face feels inexplicably hot and he pushes himself to a standing position, brushing dirt and leaves off of his clothes frantically as he tries to find words.

"You shouldn't be here," Suho finally manages to say, pointing a finger at the intruder. "This is private property."

The boy shrugs nonchalantly.

"Never stopped me before."

The boy shoves his hands in his pockets and lopes toward Suho, still smirking a little. Suho watches him with nervous eyes. Was this guy even human?

The boy reaches Suho and sticks out a hand.

"Jongin."

Suho takes it warily and grips it firmly, shaking it once.

"Suho."

"Oh, I know who you are."

Suho's eyes widen and he scoots away from Jongin warily.

"How do you know who I am?" He asks, a now familiar tingling growing in his left arm.

Jongin blushes. It makes him look younger and more vulnerable.

"I…um…I see you in the market sometimes. You buy flour from my mother."

Suho nods, remembering that the miller's wife was sometimes accompanied by a tall boy who unloaded the flour from the cart and then meandered away to flirt with the village girls.

"Oh! Sorry, I didn't recognize you," Suho says with a smile. Jongin smiles back with pink cheeks and awkwardly scratches the back of his neck.

"So…." Suho begins after a minute or two of awkward silence. "Do you come here often?"

Jongin shrugs.

"Not all the time, but sometimes it's just nice to….get away."

There's another meaning behind that, Suho thinks, but he doesn't know Jongin well enough to pry. He just nods and sits down beside the spring again. Jongin sits to his left and neither of them speak for a long time. Jongin finally breaks the silence.

"What happened? To your arm, I mean."

Suho looks at Jongin out of the corner of his eye, but he can only detect curiosity in the boy's face.

"I was….struck by lightning."

It's close enough to the truth without telling the whole story.

"Wow…did it hurt?" Jongin is wide-eyed and Suho has to resist the urge to poke his cute face.

"Only at first," Suho smiles gently. "I keep them covered because I don't like people to stare at them."

Suho catches a glimpse of movement from Jongin and before he can react he feels Jongin's tanned, calloused fingers over the scar tissue. Suho scrambles away, scared that lightning will strike the boy. Jongin's eyes watch him curiously and he moves closer.

"What's wrong?"

"Don't touch me," Suho says, with a bit more bite in his voice than he intended.

Jongin looks wounded.

"I'm sorry," he mumbles.

Suho immediately regrets lashing out.

"It's okay…just warn me next time."

Jongin bites his lip and smiles.

"So you think there will be a next time?"

"You mean there won't be?" Suho blinks, a bit unsure.

Jongin smirks and leans a little closer.

"Maybe. Maybe not."

There's a pause where Jongin's face is an inch from Suho's and his eyes are half-lidded and Suho feels heat crawling up his neck as he swallows hard.

"I really like you," Jongin whispers.

And then he's kissing Suho and Suho isn't sure how to react. He just sort of sits there with wide eyes and stiff limbs until Jongin pulls away with a red face. Jongin looks at the ground and starts yanking up the dying grass as Suho stares at him.

Finally Jongin turns to Suho.

"What?" he spits, his voice a mixture of embarrassment and annoyance.

"Why me?" Suho asks quietly.

Jongin looks back at the grass and mumbles something in reply.

"What?"

"When you smile…it's like the sun comes out from behind the clouds…" Jongin is bright red and tearing up the grass into little bits.

Suho smiles.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome," Jongin mutters.

Suho reaches out and turns Jongin's face to him. Jongin furrows his brows and then blinks in surprise as Suho closes his eyes and leans forward.

They don't kiss.

Lightning strikes the tree behind them with a furious crackling roar and something -or someone- yanks Jongin away from Suho. Suho's eyes fly open to see Chen holding Jongin by the collar, black feather cloak bristling and silver eyes wide with fury.

"Don't touch him," Chen hisses. "Don't you ever touch my Suho."

Jongin is pale and shaking with fear, but manages to glare back at the furious thunderbird.

"And what makes him yours?" Jongin stutters, wincing when the silver-eyed boy snarls at him.

"I marked him."

Chen stabs a finger at the scars on Suho's arm.

"I marked him and he's mine."

Jongin's eyes flicker between Suho's frightened face and Chen's furious one.

"What…what are you?"

Chen narrows his eyes and Suho can feel the hair on his arms stand up as the air grows impossibly still.

"I am the bird who controls the storm," Chen barely whispers as sparks dance in his hair.

Jongin stares at Chen.

"Thunderbird," he breathes, a strange emotion in his eyes.

Suho feels the scars on his arm burn and he flings himself forward, tearing Jongin away from Chen 

as a bolt of lightning strikes the thunderbird. When it clears, Chen is still standing there, blinking at Suho in confusion and hurt.

"Why are you protecting him, Suho?" Chen's voice is quiet. And dangerous.

This is the first time that Suho has ever been afraid of Chen. Suho pushes Jongin behind him, ignoring the fact that Jongin is actually quite a bit taller than him.

"Don't hurt him, Chen."

Chen frowns and looks down.

"But he touched you."

"He's my friend."

"He kissed you!" Chen spits as lightning dances along his arms. "He can't kiss you! He's not allowed to kiss you!"

Suho steps toward Chen. Jongin grabs his arm but Suho shakes it off and walks to the furious thunderbird.

The sharp-featured boy blinks at him and the lightning sinks into Chen's skin as Suho reaches out to hug Chen. Chen stiffens briefly before returning the hug, his bare skin still sending warm tingles down Suho's spine.

A drop of something warm hits the back of Suho's neck and he looks up at the clear sky. It takes him a moment to realize that Chen is crying, his hands in Suho's shirt as he shakes in Suho's embrace.

It tears at Suho's heart and he pulls away from Chen's clinging hug to press his lips softly against the thunderbird's cheek.

"I'm sorry," he whispers, and something hungry flashes in Chen's eyes. That's all the warning Suho gets before Chen is grabbing the back of Suho's neck and smashing their lips together so hard that Suho winces as their teeth clack against each other. Chen smells like rain and something faintly metallic and Suho can't get enough of it and he opens his mouth just slightly to let his tongue flick over Chen's lips.

Chen chirrups and presses his chest against Suho, Suho's lip into his mouth and humming with satisfaction when Suho moans. Suho pulls away just a bit, chest heaving and cheeks flushed, to see Chen grinning like a cat, the tip of his tongue trapped between his teeth.

"You're mine," Chen states simply. He runs his fingers down Suho's arm, leaving a trail of sparks. Suho shivers and bites his lip.

"Yours," he agrees in a small voice.

It's then that he remembers Jongin, but when he turns to talk to the boy, Jongin is gone. But carved on the tree is a single word.

HERETIC

And Suho feels his stomach drop.