Their relationship continued all throughout the year. From Spring to Fall, they became the leaning shoulder of each other. Ken always spends his whole day staying and leaning on the invisible wall, saying things that only earn him soft hums and ‘mms’ from Leo.

Things are unfair for the two of them. Ken could see everything outside the dome that Leo couldn’t, and that thought made Leo feel this sort of longing emotion, which what his teacher named Ken said “It’s called Jealousy, you’re jealous because I can see things that you can’t.” Those words made him shut up again, why did his fate became like this?

“Hey … Leo.” Ken started making the male inside the dome look at him with confusion on his face. “I’m a fire god.” He said which made Leo hum in affirmation. Leo always hears this confession from the male. Every day, two to five times a day, he would always hear this confession from the male, he even saw Ken playing with fire, but still he couldn’t understand the real meaning behind this confession of his.

“I know …” Leo said with his soft almost whispered voice. For the first time Ken hummed. Leo saw Ken as a guy who always talks, he sometimes makes a fool out of himself only to make the once emotionless guy grow some temporary happiness inside his chest. Leo sometimes tried his best to contain this unmanly laughter of his but then Ken would only just make a more fool out of himself which will always send Leo laughing really long.

But now, the prankster aura of his seems to be far away, today he neither made a single joke nor dance like he would always do. There’s something different in the fire god’s eyes that Leo can’t point, that he can’t understand. Is there something more that Ken had forgotten to teach him? Like reading between the lines? No, he believed that Ken had already almost taught him everything going outside the walls, so what’s this unwelcome feeling between them.

“Do you … perhaps want me to break this wall?” Ken said before turning around. For the first time, Leo saw Ken directly staring at him without him guiding his gaze, the first time where Ken stared at him despite that he couldn’t really see him, but the scene where his gaze was on his really made Leo breathless for a second. “You’re looking at me … without me helping you.” Leo muttered earning a snicker from the fire god. “Of course, I’ve already spend most of the months of this year with you, it’ll be really depressing if I can’t still pinpoint your location right?” Ken placed his hand against the cold wall which Leo followed, tracing small circles on it.

“So … I wanted to see you … can … can I break this down?” Ken once again asked, he wanted to see him, he wanted to see who was the one who was always there, ready to listen to his nonsensical stories, his tales and things he did in helping a country fight its invaders, or the story where he fried a huge fish with his power and ate it to the more nonsense story like how he saved a wriggling worm from a bird and to more things like that.

Leo blinked, still feeling nervous about this proposal of his. What would be his world after this? Would he search for his parents? But will they even remember him? Will he hunt down the witch that took everything away from him, but who is she? Those questions quickly confused the male making him retreat back to his chair after saying a soft and disappointed. “I don’t know.”

After that Leo went to the middle of the dome, to his chair and sat on it. Ken who heard the fading footsteps, his head fell, disappointed that the male didn’t answer him with the words he would like to hear. “It’s okay .. I guess I’ll just come back again tomorrow?” Ken stood up and slowly fades leaving nothing but ashes and burn marks.

~*~

Days had passed but Leo didn’t talk to him again. Ken always returns with a cheerful smile, knocks on the wall only to leave quite early when Leo didn’t answered his calls. This scene continued for three days, which was until the witch that keeps on giving him food after Ken leaves, talk and initiated a conversation with him.

“I heard what the mighty god said, and I’m quite sure that you would like to leave this place as well, so why did you refuse the offer, my little prince?” The witch slowly smirked as she circles the sitting prince in the middle of the dome. Leo followed her silhouette with cautiousness in his eyes, and occasionally blinking and biting his lips. “I don’t know where to go after this.”

“Then go back to your wretched, insolent, pathetic parents!” The witch snarled making Leo for the first time surprised. This is the first time he heard words with hatred on it. “You … really hate these parents of mine am I right?” Leo asked with his face still as emotionless as it could be.  The witch let out a cackle that made Leo look at him incredulously. “Oh you’re wrong my little prince, I don’t particularly ‘hate’ your parents, I hate your father, he didn’t trust what your mother said, and that almost killed me, thus I took you away from them, hope you didn’t mind me taking everything from you.” Leo didn’t say a word after that, he just looked at him with his apathetic gaze. “And with that, I promised myself that I would lay a curse in your bloodline and so as the brothers you have that were enjoying the richness and prestige that you should also have experienced if only I didn’t take you away.” The Witch suddenly stopped from walking and looked at him. “But now that I saw you suffered enough in isolation, I guess it’s about time to give you some freedom, yes?” The witch made a sly smirk before fading away once again leaving Leo alone, with a question in his head. Did the witch finally give him freedom?

~*~

Two hours before December 24, Ken once again stood there waiting for a small hum from Leo.

“Hey … are you mad at me?” Ken asked before tapping the walls again. Leo slowly trudged towards the end of the dome, tapping back. That small noise made Ken felt like the most happiest guy in the earth, finally he replied. “I was worried about you!!!” He suddenly shouted making Leo flinch and look at him. It’s the first time Leo saw a sign of relief on his face, is it because he didn’t talk to him? Or maybe something else? Leo did not know, all he knew was that this guy in front of him looks so happy, so happy that it made himself smile too.

“Do you really want to see me? …. Why?” Leo asked. His voice slowly became a whisper, a whisper that they both only shared, no one can hear it but the two of them. Ken leaned his forehead on the wall before smiling. “Yes … I would like to see you, and … if you can still accept my selfish wish, I would like to live somewhere with you … just the two of us, alone.” He raised his head and smiled, a very satisfied one.

Leo let out a small laugh before smiling. “Thank you … “ Was the word that escaped from his lips after finally deciding what kind of action would be the best in this kind of situation. “Do you love me?” Leo asked Ken. Leo saw the surprised reaction of Ken, he was nervous when Ken just stared at him, not moving, or breathing, just there staring at him like a statue. Leo was about to retreat back to his place when Ken muttered a small, soft. “I love you …. “

With that, Ken inhaled and filled his lungs with as much air as he can before exhaling it along with a fire slowly forming on his palm. Leo took some steps backwards away from the wall as it slowly melted away by the fire god’s fire. The strong wall slowly melting from Ken’s fire made Leo’s heart beat in a very quick beats. He clenched his chest as his heart continued to beat like mad, small stings in his head suddenly came making him stagger a bit, but he ignored this and just believed that this things were just the effect of him breathing a different air than what’s inside the dome.

Finally a hole was carved on the wall, air quickly went inside the dome and so as Ken. There he saw Leo, shaking his head a bit before almost falling to the ground, luckily Ken was quick and grabbed him, caging him inside a hug. “You’re taller than me …” Ken whispered, his arms around Leo’s body with his face over his shoulder. “I know…” Leo somehow muttered when his breathing temporarily stabilized.

Ken took Leo’s arm and slung it over his shoulder and guides him out of the dome. When Leo was finally out of the dome, he suddenly fell towards the ground, face first while Ken was shocked as he stand beside him. Ken quickly kneeled in front of him and turned him around, he saw Leo’s breathing pattern became really ragged, his skin from brown to white, from hot to cold.

“W-what’s happening!!” He shouted making the dome beside them shatter into tiny pieces, it became really weak after Ken managed to melt a huge portion of it. “I – I have to warm him up!” Ken started to panic. Leo’s face keeps on wincing from some unknown pain that seems to be punishing the poor male. He placed his palm over his chest and is about to put some warm on it but then a cloth of black swished in front of him, taking his attention.

He looked up and there he saw a female in a cloak, smirking down at him. “My fire god, what you did was a really big mistake.” She murmured before vanishing once again only to appear right beside Ken, her lips in front of his ears. “That dome, you can say that it was his heart, but now that you broke it, what do you think will happen to this poor guy?” She said before running a finger on Leo’s face. Ken looked back and he saw nothing, the witch once again disappeared. “He’ll die.” The witch muttered still invisible from his sight.

Leo slowly moved and looked at Ken, he raised his hand and placed it on Ken’s cheeks, tears running from his eyes. “Don’t cry … why are you crying? You said that you wanted to see me right? Here I am, you should be happy right?” Leo whispered, his voice was really soft, too soft that it shows how weak Leo suddenly became. “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t know … I … I shouldn’t have broken that dome!” Ken bit his lips harshly, blood slowly pooled from that part.

Leo brushed his finger across his lips, wiping the blood on it. “No … I’m happy that you broke that … I’m happy that you saw me … I’m happy that I made your wish real … I’m really happy Ken …” Leo’s face became paler than it already was. “Can you call my name? ….” Leo asked making the tearing Ken look at him with a very disbelieving expression, but what can he do around this time? The guy he finally loved who was dying in front of him, made a wish, of course he’ll do it. “Leo … Leo … Leo….” He repeated it over and over with his eyes focusing on Leo’s face.

Leo’s bright slowly fade, his smile still on his face but then his eyes slowly closed. His hand on Ken’s face fell down to his chest, Ken took it and kissed it softly before muttering a promise.

“One day … we’ll meet again, and when that time comes, I’ll stay beside you, I’ll never leave your side, because for me, in my world, there are only two things exist, and that is You … and Me.” He murmured before a struck of lightning came down from the gray enraged sky. The lightning directly hit the two guys, when the flash disappeared nothing was left there, a sign nor a mark, nothing.

The witch slowly came out from the shadows with her lips pursed into a thin line. “That’s right my brave children, exist in a new world better than this, a world where trust means more than just a word, where love can exist from same genders, where you two can exist without any kind of complicated past, a place where only you and him exist.” The witch smiled slowly before pulling her cloak backwards.

She clasped her hands together, as if she’s praying or something, before muttering a prayer.

“Dear lords and gods,

I would like to apologize for dragging that poor prince in my hatred, I hope that by guiding the fire god here lessen my sins, so please now that they finally made their decision, I hope the powerful ones up there would let them be born once again…. In a different place far away from this corrupted land.”

And with that last wish, the witch disappeared from the scene and once again the silence of the place came back.

&&&

The kids’ eyes glimmered like the shine from a newly thawed ice, as they clap their hands in unison. Jaehwan laughed proudly knowing that he did entertained the kids for a while. The kids slowly stood up from his lap and sat on the green grass, they still haven’t stopped clapping their hands which took the attention of a guy walking towards them.

“Jaehwan! Are you just playing around here!?” A black haired guy came out from the doors of the orphanage and walked directly towards Jaehwan and the kids. The black haired guy has the air of coldness yet his voice was as soft as a girl, his eyes were sharp but sometimes Jaehwan can see a subtle softness of it which wasn't visible to the other people around them.

“Hyung! I’m not playing around, I told the kids a story because they said that I’m a star!” He huffed his chest proudly completely happy about the kids calling him a star. He grinned sheepishly before running towards his hyung. He wrap his arms around his waist and nuzzled closer to him.

“YAH! Will you please stop clinging on me, this is so annoying.” Taekwoon hissed, trying to pry him off from the hug but no matter what he do he couldn’t take his hand away around his waist.

Taekwoon groaned in distress as the kids just laughed at them. They all ran towards the orphanage leaving the two guys alone. “Aissh, we have more things to do inside so please let go of me.” Taekwoon sighed and almost begged but Jaehwan still didn’t flinch on his place.

“No.” he shouted making Taekwoon to cover his ears. Knowing that anymore words wouldn’t make Jaehwan to let go of him, he just let him be and started dragging the two of them towards the doors.

Jaehwan smiled as his cheek was pushed on the back of his hyung. “I’ll never let go of you, my ice prince.” He whispered.

Please comment your thoughts :) thanks and bye!!