Play this over and over while reading because good lord.

 (This thing)

(But make sure you read chapter 33 of the real story first)

  "Promise me," Jonghyun mumbled lowly, picking away at the dirt under his nails.

Bom looked at him with her brows up, doing the same, "Promise you what?"

Jonghyun leaned on the table and gazed straight into Bom's multicolored eyes, his face serious, "Once this kid is born . . . once I'm freed from this place somehow . . . let me go."

Bom hadn't seemed surprised Jonghyun had brought the subject back up. He never mentioned it often, but whenever he had, there was a sadness casted in his eyes and a decision well-thought. This was the first time he ever mentioned what he wanted again.

  "Jonghyun," Bom put her hand over his, catching his attention, "The world has a lot for you out there. New people to meet, new places to see. I know the outside world has changed so much and you have yet to explore it.

  "I know what it's like to have lost, Jonghyun," Bom nodded her head, "I lost the King and the Queen. And I never got to say goodbye to Daesung. I wanted to die right there, right then. I mean, what was the world to me without the one I gave my all to? I thought there was nothing in this world for me without Daesung. And even despite the fact I was destined to live to help our savior, I started realizing it's okay. I don't need to die because I'm without Daesung physically," she held a hand over her neck, "Because he's still here. Despite my bond is gone, he's still there. Around here. I thought about what he'd want if he lived. That's why I want to rebuild our land. In the end, I know living to make others happy will make me happy. Daesung would feel it, too.

  "I'm sure Kibum would feel the same," she got closer when Jonghyun faced down, "I'm sure he misses you. He loves you. But he would not wish death upon you . . . But I don't control that. I know your love for Kibum never died and you see nothing around you without him. I'll make sure you're let go when the time comes, but just know, the outside world would still welcome you if you changed your mind."

Jonghyun shook his head and looked behind Bom where the grave was barely seen, "I want to go."

Bom gave him a small smile and shook his hand, "I'm not stopping your dedication to Kibum."

  "Jonghyun, stop, don't make me do it!"

Onew took out the taser as Jonghyun seemed ready to turn into the Taerant. After scratching up every surface of his room, Jonghyun wasn't satisfied.

Another year, it was. Another day of a year Jonghyun couldn't handle.

Jonghyun sobbed and growled at the same time, trying to keep himself sane. He couldn't handle keeping the Taerant inside, he just wanted to let it out and destroy everything in his way. Everyone deserved to die. But not Kibum. And yet Kibum wasn't the one here.

  "Jonghyun, it's okay," Onew slowly held out his hand as he carefully inched closer, "It's okay. It's okay to be sad and angry today, you have the right. But Jonghyun, you don't need to kill. No one deserves to die. Kibum wouldn't want you to kill, you know that."

By the mention of his name, Jonghyun snarled, hitting his head against the wall. He could just feel the hair growing from his body and losing the human structure to his emotions.

Onew inched closer, "Jonghyun, it's not your fault."

Jonghyun barked ominously, his hand grasping the wall and clawing at it.

  "Don't you think Kibum would hate this, Hyung?" Onew shook his head, "He would hate to have you this way. To even hurt yourself to keep from changing. You're worrying him, Hyung. Calm down and tell Kibum it's okay."

Onew clearly saw Jonghyun was still changing and his words did little. The vicious barks were sometimes replaced with an anguished whine. Jonghyun was hardly controllable, but readable. He was fighting what to do. What to feel.

  "So guilty . . ." Jonghyun made out, hitting his head on the wall hard again, "So guilty . . ."

Onew hooked the taser on his belt, and slowly kneeled on Jonghyun's bed, reaching out for him, "It's not your fault. It was never your fault."

When reaching to contact with Jonghyun, Jonghyun flipped out and grabbed Onew by his uniform. Jonghyun forced him down and shook him with a growl.

Onew didn't grab his taser.

Jonghyun was making attempts to let go. To hit Onew. To throw Onew. Maybe just claw him to shreds. But he held on to his uniform and just shook him and shoved him on the bed.

Onew still didn't grab his taser.

  "They took him from me!" an inhuman growl came from him, "You all took him from me!"

Onew said nothing.

Jonghyun growled, letting go of Onew and looking around his plain room, his sight turning red. He was angry again. He was only angry.

He grabbed on to Onew by his throat. Jonghyun was still turning, but at the same time something held the Taerant inside back.

He started suffocating Onew, forcing him hard down on the bed and depriving him of air. Onew still didn't grab his taser, but held on to Jonghyun's arms. He struggled, Jonghyun saw. Onew started wincing until the permenant grimace was on his red face. But he still said nothing and he still hadn't grabbed his taser.

In a way, Jonghyun felt satisfied he was making one of them suffer. The kind that took Kibum away from him and damned him to life. To just get rid of them would accomplish so little but at the same time so much.

  "You deserve to die," Jonghyun snarled and shoved hard at him again.

Onew started giving the sounds of struggle; the lack of air. He gripped on to Jonghyun tightly, not even trying to pry him off of him.

  "You all die," Jonghyun constricted Onew even more. The younger finally closed his eyes and just waited. His nose started bleeding and Jonghyun felt like he was getting somewhere with this. He was doing something completely right.

Onew started coughing hard and holding on to Jonghyun even harder. He didn't kick. He didn't squirm. He didn't try moving Jonghyun. 

Jonghyun watched as the human started turning sickly color, submitting to him. He kept suffocating him and suffocating him until there was this internal strike to his head.

The red drained from his eyes and he felt like he could see right, now. He was seeing one of his only friends being suffocated by him.

Jonghyun realized what he was doing and let go of Onew's neck, forcing himself away from him and hitting the wall. The Taerant disappeared and he covered his face in shame. What was he doing? Why would he kill one of the rare people he was friends with?

  "I'm sorry," Jonghyun apologized in a cry, smacking himself with his hands weakly, "I'm so sorry."

Onew his side and coughed hard. He inhaled deeply and grew slightly dizzy. He wiped the blood from his nose, but it continued bleeding.Slowly, he sat up and watched Jonghyun as he wallowed in his shame once more.

  "I almost killed you," he whispered brokenly, "I almost killed another person I love."

Onew coughed into his arm.

  "Why didn't you do it?" Jonghyun revealed his contorted face and shook his head, "Why didn't you grab it?!I could've killed you!"

Onew wiped tears from his eyes and looked at Jonghyun, slowing his breathing.

Jonghyun waited for an answer but Onew was silent, "Why?!"

The human grabbed the Taerant's hand and pulled him into a hug, letting the Taerant cry on his shoulder.

  "It's okay," Onew told him in a raspy whisper, "It's okay."

  "Luna?"

The teenager looked up from her medical supplies as she tried looking for stitches for Jonghyun's hip, "What do you want?" She looked at him angrily with hatred, but still scared in her eyes.

  "Can I . . . Can I tell you something?" he asked quietly, holding the bandage on his hip.

She curtly hummed.

Despite how angry and disdainful Luna had been since the beginning she'd come to the prison and how she clearly stated her hatred towards Jonghyun and his kind, Jonghyun didn't feel any hatred back. She understood what loss meant. At least that's what Onew said.

He trusted Luna.

  "Back in the dynasty era I used to be awful . . . But then something happened and I changed . . ."

  "Hey, Luna?"

The adult was going through her paperwork as the Taerant hopped on her counter.

She didn't look up from the papers, "Hm?"

The Taerant stared at the floor and shyly asked his question, "When we die, how do you think we'll feel? How do you think Sungmin feels?"

The woman froze.

She flipped her papers to the front and put them on the counter, instantly looking at Jonghyun, trying to look at his eyes, but he hid them from her, "What are you thinking about, Jjong?"

He shrugged, "Just . . . I know how we feel when we lose people . . . Do you ever think what they feel like? Everyone always say 'Oh. They're okay. They're happy and watching over you.' But . . . don't they feel the loss, too? We lose them in death and they lose us in life. Don't they feel just as awful as we do? Don't they cry like us? Don't they hold on to grudges like us?"

Luna kept quiet until she sighed, getting up from her chair and held Jonghyun's face up. The somber look was in her eyes and she just barely smiled, "I think they do," she answered him, smoothing the sides of his hair, "I think they'd feel exactly the same way we do. But as time goes on, it all disappears. They stop feeling loss. I think they'd get more stressed out over what we're doing, what bad or good could come of us, wanting to protect us but they aren't there to. . . I guess, instead of feeling the loss of a person, they feel a loss of purpose. But then again, they're always right behind us and trying to keep us going on in our lives because we'll meet them again soon."

Jonghyun nodded.

  "You're thinking about it again, aren't you?" she asked.

He nodded again.

  "You know how much I don't want that to happen," she shook her head, brows pulling up and together, "It's selfish to say, but I don't want to feel loss from you. I've grown up so much because of you and then it feels like my mentor just . . ."

Luna looked behind her to the Daegrent in deep sleep after all his injuries had been stabilized, "And you're his only friend here. . ."

  "I feel guilty," Jonghyun's face started turning red, sniffing slightly, "I feel guilty for doing it to all of you."

Luna stopped him, forcing him down from the counter and holding on to him tightly, "But it'll make you happy. And you've never been happy ever since what happened. You deserve it. We won't let him get in the way, we promise."

  "He won't be in the way . . ." Jonghyun shook his head, burying Luna to him, "He's just hard to walk away from."

  "There was this one time," Jonghyun said to Minho, "There was this one time where Kibum admitted to me he couldn't swim. His family taught him and taught him, but he just sank to the bottom."

Minho faced the ceiling as he laid on his bed, "Yeah?"

Jonghyun shook his head and smiled, "The place we lived in had a pond next to it. The prettiest pond I ever found. So I thought we would live there. Kibum hadn't felt comfortable living next to something that could drown him, but I got him to agree."

Minho kept quiet.

  "So one time, I jumped in and he freaked. I don't understand why he thought I'd drown, I'm a dog. I have a swimming technique named after me."

Minho hummed an amused laugh, "Doggy-paddle, eh?"

Jonghyun laughed and nodded, "I told Kibum to get on my back and he practically yelled at me. It wasn't long before I just put him on my back and swam to the middle of the pond. It probably felt like torture at first, giving that Kibum yelled and cursed at me and probably almost started crying. Until I started humming that song of our creatures, he seemed to calm down little by little. I was just casually swimming soon enough and it turned out Kibum fell asleep on me," Jonghyun smiled as he reminisced, "I got out, changed, caught him before he fell . . . I just took him to bed. It's not often I'd see Kibum break down; he's always kept to himself because he grew up keeping his problems and fears inside. And I just thought 'Damn. I'm lucky he shares everything with me.' I was really lucky."

  ". . . When are you going to tell me about what happened to him?" Minho brought up, sitting up and facing Jonghyun's back.

His smile faded, "Not now. Not yet."

  "Well, alright," Minho nodded, not prying, "It's not like you're going anywhere. You better tell me one day! I hate suspense."

Jonghyun nodded and stared at the white wall, lowly mumbling, "I'm not going anywhere for now."

  "What?"

  "Nothing."

Jonghyun was scared the day had come.

This was it, and this was what he wanted since forever started feeling like forever.

He never told anyone what he was going to do; what he wanted to do. But he knew both Onew and Luna thought about it. It was really clear what he was going to do. It was difficult to let Minho in on it without him being a difficult child over it. He had to do this right at the moment he needed to; to the point Minho couldn't stop him even if he wanted to.

He wanted to act normally. To be positive. It was it. It was time to run out.

But guilt towards Minho stumped him in the slightest bit. Minho was the only creature he really bothered to become great friends with. The child had so much potential for greatness; and he was destined for it, too. Jonghyun wanted to put a piece of himself within that. To leave a mark on him, no matter how much it hurt, because this child was his escape to a happiness with being alive. He felt awful about putting more stress on him then he already had, maybe even make him feel guilty too. But Jonghyun couldn't stop this. This is what he wanted since his forever started feeling like forever.

He knew what he wanted to say.

They were running to the courtyard as planned. They were trying to make it as far as they could without being stopped. The place was going to blow at any moment and Jonghyun needed them to get in the range of safety. No lives were going to be ash on Jonghyun's watch.

I'm scared, Kibum.

They sped through the courtyard along with the other creatures and humans freed from their bars. The ground shook with booms, the sirens were set off, people and creatures growled or yelled as they ran off. Jonghyun could feel it within him that his friends . . . his family . . . weren't going to have enough time. He had to make his goodbye quick.

He looked at many on the ground. Some of them were painful to look at, seeing they were good creatures he knew. They were all blank in the eyes, sprawled out unceremoniously . . .

It's my turn.

Jonghyun halted in his steps, staring at the ground. Should he just keep running? Should he just run back?

He half turned, trying to make a decision. He wanted to make this as painless as possible. But he still wanted to say what he wanted to say. . .

  "Jonghyun!" Luna halted, bringing Onew to a halt with her.

He was already feeling the tears well up.

Minho whipped his head around, not liking what he was seeing, "Jonghyun, we don't have time for this, come on!"

He was torn. One side kept telling him to keep going. But the stronger side demanded he make this quick. He shook his head at Minho.

Minho wasn't understanding and practically charged at Jonghyun, grabbing him by the shoulders and trying to force him forward, "Let's go!"

Jonghyun looked at Bom for assistance. He couldn't break it to Minho first.

Bom looked at him sadly at first but composed herself and demanded of Minho, "Let him go."

Minho shouted at her, not understanding, "What are you saying?!" he paused on to the two humans, "You both knew?!"

Then, Jonghyun grabbed on to Minho to face him. He spoke quickly, but felt like he hadn't said half of what he wanted, "Minho, I've been waiting for this day since my forever started!" he started choking up, "I've been waiting for the day I could welcome death!"

Minho's eyes were frightened and he shook his head denying everything he was saying. Minho wasn't letting go, "No, no, you're insane right now, we have to get going!" he tried pushing him again.

Jonghyun held on to Minho by the sides of his neck, "You . . ." he began crying, "You've given me the chance to see Kibum again! I've waited so long, Minho! Now I can finally go do this! I want him back, Minho! I need to go! I want to go!"

He was heartbroken by his own, desperate words. He couldn't say much to convince Minho and he thought he never would. He'd have to force this on him harder than he wanted.

  "Jonghyun," Onew started begging, shaking his head, "Please just think another second. It can get better out there, we can show you!"

Minho begged again but then snapped his head behind him, "You promised him?! What the is wrong with you?!"

Jonghyun turned him back around, trying to keep Minho from placing blame, and hugged on to him, "You've been the greatest friend I've ever found here! You've given me so much and I have yet to repay you, but I'll repay you in the next life with your bloodline! God, please Minho, you have to get out!" Jonghyun started crying, holding on to Minho's face, "You are made to be a king, Minho. So honor me as my king and best friend. Let me have my dying wish!" he begged.

The Prophecy started bursting, emitting a great large boom that overwhelmed Jonghyun. There wasn't any time; he had to get them going.

  "You're my only good friend, Jjong, please," Minho cried out, clutching on to him.

Hastily and desperately, Jonghyun dug into his pocket. It was an item he wanted to give to Minho. This item expressed the words Jonghyun wanted to say, "Back with K-Kibum, he wanted to know if I pulled my fang out, it would heal and re-grow. The theory was right, and I was always left with a spare fang. Keep that for me," he wanted Minho to keep it because it showed exactly how much he wanted Minho to remember. Remember how the Taerant was willing to do anything for love. For frienship-sake, "And let my story move on in the living. Tell them about how a creature can fall in love with a human! How it's possible!" he looked at Taemin. He stood there, on the verge of tears himself but Jonghyun shook his head for him not to. Taemin needed to stay happy. He needed it.

He looked back at Minho and forcefully shouted, "Go! They're all in trouble! Go!"

Jonghyun felt Minho struggle with letting go, but was soon forced off, looking Jonghyun in the eyes with understanding, but never getting over the sorrow. He slowly turned away to accompany Taemin.

Luna ran up for him and hugged him, "You're the best Taerant I'll ever love! Don't forget that when you go!"

  "Sun Young," he whispered. Even quieter, he whispered in her ear, "You'll always be one of the loves of my life. You and Onew. I'm sorry my kind was awful to you. I'm sorry I couldn't go with you the first time. Sungmin would still be here."

Luna held on tightly and Jonghyun took something from his pocket.

  "Put this in Taemin's bag before you go through the wall. I want him to have it," he carefully hid it into the bag she had on her back.

Luna let go and nodded, not needing to ask what it was.

Onew shook his head and gave him a large hug. He grabbed his face, kissing his forehead, "God damn it. Kibum better be happy about this. I love you, man!"

  "Jinki," he whispered. Even quieter, he spoke, "I'm sorry for every time I've almost killed you. I'm so sorry. You are the reason I started looking up. The only reason. I owe you more than ever."

Onew shook his head, hugging him one more time before Bom took over. She smiled and hugged him, "You fought hard, Jonghyun. The Royals note your honorable life and grant you your wish." she kissed his cheek, "Follow into your dreams. You are your own legacy," she his face, "Thank you so much for staying for me. I couldn't have done it without you."

Jonghyun nodded, wiping his tears away, "You're worth it."

  "I barely knew him, but he seems too amazing to let go," he heard Taemin.

He looked at him with a shaky smile. He was glad to earn his trust in such little time. And soon enough, he'd know a lot more with his gift and Minho's help.

A louder boom than the rest set Jonghyun off and he grew immediately sharp, "Get out!" he ordered them, "Get out—" another one went off, "Now!"

After staring at Jonghyun for the last time, causing him to feel more scared than ever that he was going to be alone and about to die, the group huddled into the wall.

  "I love all of you guys!" he shouted, trying to give the brightest smile.

Minho pushed them all through the wall, not stopping as he spoke, "We all love you, too, Jonghyun."

And there, Jonghyun would never see Minho's face in front of him again.

Jonghyun ran for the south as fast as he could. The explosions were starting under the ground and he hadn't had much time left. He needed to get there as fast as he could. He needed to be somewhere.

His eyes stung with his tears. He felt panicked after detatching from his family and wanted to go back to them. But his legs still went for the south and he wasn't turning back at all.

He jumped over the bodies, escaped from the shootings, and made his way to his destination. The tables were overturned and destroyed all over the place. The entire perimeter was deserted of all but him.

His running came to a halt and he stared down at Kibum's tombstone. The newer one Trinity had brought. The flowers had died off, trampled by the escaping people.

There was a violent shake of the ground and Jonghyun let it pull him to his knees. He ran his hand down the stone with Kibum's name on it with a smile. His crying intensified. He was so scared but he was so ready to let himself go.

He rocked himself as he traced the name over and over, talking to himself.

  "I made it on time, Kibum," he sobbed out, "I'm not leaving you this time. Not this time."

The explosions sounded as if they finally hit the surface of the ground, the sound of bricks hitting concrete somewhere in the distance. Then it kept going. And kept going.

  "Oh, Kibum. . ." Jonghyun got on his hands and kissed the stone.

He prowled around aimlessly, snaring at himself, nipping at his own fur in frustration. Where were the souls, the worthless living that he needed to prey on? He usually found them everywhere and anywhere. So why weren’t they venturing out this far? They were all pretty cocky animals.

His ear twitched, picking up on leaves and sticks crunching beneath foot a good half mile away to his left. He could hear humming from said animal, and from the sound, it was a nice, blood-filled human.

The beast stared, his stomach’s demand becoming smaller in his mind, the voice of something else growing larger instead, and it hadn’t known what it was. It was foreign, to say in the most cliché way.

There was some internal stomp in the beast, a snap, and his fur began retracting, his body temperature rising, his heavy, animalistic breathing growing smaller.

The beast realized it. It clenched its jaw and started walking backwards reluctantly. But if the beast stayed longer, he’d transform into his other body, and that isn’t what he needed even though he wanted to stay.

  "I was so awful before . . ."

His brother sighed, trying to get the younger Taerant to look at him, “It is that male, is it not? Do not lie to me, brother, I have watched you for years.”

The beast indeed looked up at his larger brother, sighing and nudging him under his jaw, “It is. I have been deciding whether to introduce myself or just kill him. I cannot leave him be, I cannot let him live without me near.”

The larger Taerant nodded on top of his head, giving him a small push, “Will you survive on your own, Jonghyun?”

The beast perked up, backing away with eyes large, “Jaejoong, you will not force me to leave?”

  "Who are you?"

  "I am Jonghyun."

  "I am Kibum."

Kibum.

I like you, Kibum.

Being human was a lot better than being a beast.

  "You changed me, Kibum."

  “I think . . .” Jonghyun rubbed his temples, sighing as he looked at Kibum, “This should be our last meet, Kibum.”

It was the most dramatic thing Jonghyun could do; but he now wanted to make it as blunt and quick as possible.

Kibum looked at him, alarmed, grabbing Jonghyun by the arm and shaking him, “Are you stupid?! Why would this be?!”

  “Kibum,” Jonghyun groaned, holding him by the shoulders, his human heart shredding as it begged to go back to being a Taerant, “Marriage is responsibility. You cannot just wander out here, you have to be there! That is the meaning of marriage; of being there! You may not always get what you want, but that is what joining together means, and I will not let myself or you corrupt it!”

  “Jonghyun!”

The Taerant turned around sharply, seeing Kibum a good distance with the most shocked, feared expression on his face.

Jonghyun forced it, trying to bring his human vocal cords to work, “So—you—see?”

The man stood there.

He snarled to clear his throat out to speak again, “This is me, Kibum. I am no human. I never was. I am a cold killer who could rip you to shreds under a second.”

A hand was on his head, in between his ears, softly petting him down to his nose.

  “Jonghyun, being with you allows me to roam around free, like I have always wanted,” Kibum breathed, scratching his neck, “But to roam free is not all that I want. And I know you know what I speak of.”

Jonghyun actually smiled, getting up as Kibum situated, turning to start their journey off into this land and away from the village. Sure, there were many savaging creatures out there, but the Taerant had more of a reason to fight than ever, now.

  "Everything . . ."

It was the first few weeks of spring, and that time was always Jonghyun's favorite of the year. The sun wasn't harsh as he laid down, the breeze wasn't strong, making his fur bristle lightly, and the trees were covering in green again, little swishy noises in his ears.

The pond's water made little trickle noises and he yawned, nuzzling his nose in between his paws, feeling so content, so comfortable where he was in life. The last three hundred years was awful, but these past couple years made him feel . . . incredible.

He snorted, rolling Kibum back on to the ground (with some whine from the younger), standing on top of him and sniffing through his hair. The scent was maddening; so addictive.

  "Stop!" Kibum laughed, punching at the Taerant's chest.

Jonghyun snorted again, not listening to him as he went down to his neck, his shoulders, his wrists . . . He slowed down, his breathing calming as he innocently explored . . .

  “The house, Jonghyun,” Kibum breathed, his arms around Jonghyun’s waist, “Take us into the house.”

Breathing heavily, he dipped down to his neck, his Taerant side taking over as he Kibum’s neck along his veins. He could just taste them, even just on the surface of his skin. It made him hungry, but the Taerant’s hunger wasn’t what he was feeling. It was something so much stronger that he couldn’t stop pressing his tongue to them, hearing Kibum’s voice call out, but not a single word followed through.

Jonghyun shuddered, consumed in such a sound the human made and how alluring it was. He could feel all of his blood heading south, his veins stretching until they were ready to snap, some animalistic nature wanting to take over.

One page of the little red book twisted in his mind and he let Kibum go, trailing his fingers down the inner of his thighs, the perfect, soft and smooth part of his thighs. Touching them was a delicacy—and if he could just . . . taste them, too . . . He had this odd need to . . . bite them . . .

 Kibum pulled Jonghyun to his mouth, both of them ravenously kissing just as Jonghyun grew less coherent to what he was doing. He was feeling everything at once and he couldn’t exactly pinpoint each place and what these feelings were. Kibum was driving him insane with his own body submitting to him, yet it wasn’t quite submission. There was no dominance happening; they were as equal as they could ever be.

Time slowly went by as they both were trapped in each others’ company to the point Kibum couldn’t hold back the volume of his voice as he grasped on to Jonghyun so tightly he could’ve suffocated.

  “What are you looking at me like that for?” Jonghyun raised a brow, removing Kibum’s hair from his forehead.

  “I love you,” Kibum chuckled, “Trying to read that little red book secretly,” Kibum breathed, reaching up for his lips, his hands pushing Jonghyun up, sitting up with him, “When you could’ve asked. I could still help.”

  "So close . . ."

  “Happy birthday, you old-as-dirt idiot.”

Jonghyun couldn’t even feel the insult and kissed the back of Kibum’s neck with a noise of approval from his throat just as a thank you.

  “Give me Kibum,” Jonghyun threatened, “Give me him!”

The man sighed, watching as Jonghyun got furious, his eyes flashing and little hairs poking at his skin.

  “Kibum!” Jonghyun sighed loudly of relief, bringing the man into his arms (he’d grown taller than him!) and bringing his head to his shoulder, “Oh god, Kibum.”

The younger sniffled again, his body shaking as he cried, the whole emotion wafting at Jonghyun and causing him tears in his eyes, clutching to Kibum tighter and nuzzling his face in his neck.

  “You are not insane, Kibum,” Jonghyun murmured in his ear, kissing the shell, “I trapped you with people who want to brainwash you. It is them and I am sorry.”

  “You tried,” Kibum breathed, pulling Jonghyun’s arms around his middle, “We tried.”

Jonghyun started crying again, shaking a bit as he lightly pressed his lips to Kibum’s neck carefully, feeling grateful to feel him on his lips again, his skin against him, just to have him in his hold.

  “Cry not,” Kibum soothed, pressing his lips to Jonghyun’s cheek, “It’ll be alright.”

  “I’ll get you out,” he whispered, trying not to let SangKi hear from outside, “I’ll get you out and we will go back home, if that is your wish. We won’t deal with this again.”

  “Home,” Kibum repeated, kissing Jonghyun on the lips, “We could go home.”

Jonghyun closed his eyes, kissing Kibum back, twisting his long hair in his fingers, feeling his cracked lips against his own.

  “I love you,” Jonghyun whispered, “You know I do.”

  “I love you, too,” Kibum nodded, kissing him again.

Jonghyun sharply turned himself around, finding the sight a huge relief as Kibum hadn’t looked harmed, even better than last time, with his long hair to his shoulders, slightly shifting in the breeze.

  “Kibum,” Jonghyun breathed slowly walking towards him.

Kibum smiled, sparkles of water in his eyes as he ran for Jonghyun and hugged him with all the strength he had, holding on tight as they reunited once more.

  “He refused,” SangKi was heard from behind, “He refused to forget it all.”

Jonghyun curled up so Kibum wouldn’t be harmed as he fell, his paws trying to cover as much of Kibum’s fall as possible before Kibum had fallen out of his mouth and rolled a few feet away.

It was always the back legs, why was it always the back legs?!

Jonghyun looked up at Kibum as the younger started trying to get up, planning to try and start up their run again.

  “Run, Kibum,” Jonghyun shouted at him, “I will be behind you, run!”

Kibum grabbed his paw, trying to tug at him, but his weight was too superior, “Not without you!”

  “You are not going to die by my fault, Kibum,” Jonghyun pushed at Kibum, “Go!”

Another popped explosion followed SangKi’s voice and Kibum shouted out.

Then and there, it went silent, but Jonghyun’s heart was in his ears, his blood running cold, his voice crawling up his throat in agony.

He shifted back into a human quickly, falling down to his knees in pain as he caught Kibum’s fall.

  “No, no, no!” Jonghyun shouted, holding Kibum as close to him as he could, “Why hadn’t you listened, why did you not go?!”

Kibum’s hand placed on his shoulder, squeezing him hard as the pain followed through, “Jonghyun . . .”

 “I love you so much,” Kibum whispered, hand falling to Jonghyun’s—the one over the wound, “I hold you dear to me. Always, Jonghyun.”

  “I love you, Kibum,” Jonghyun choked out, staring at him in the eyes, which was ever-most painful, “I love you more than my own life.”

Kibum smiled, despite the bad situation, squeezing their bloodied hands with the last blink he ever made.

  “You are the reason I received the life I wanted, Jonghyun. You unlocked it for me. Thank you.”

The breath stopped, the rapid heartbeat stopped, the blinking stopped, the moving stopped, the hand squeezing stopped, just everything stopped.

  “Kibum!” Jonghyun desperately called, shaking him a little bit, “Kibum, no, no, come back!”

  “Kibum, you changed me,” Jonghyun cried in a whisper, rocking them back and forth, “You made me perfect for you. Do not go back on me now, please.”

  “Kill me, too!” Jonghyun shouted at SangKi, grabbing him before he could be carried too far from him, “Why are you not ending me, too?!”

You are the reason I found out what true life was, Kibum. You opened that door for me. Thank you.

And I am sorry.

But I shall see you again.

No matter how long it takes.

  "I'm coming," Jonghyun whispered, kissing the stone again, "I'm coming."

Among the many explosions, the explosions now corrupting the building, there was a terrifying sound. Something along violent winds, sounding of high pitched screams among it as something large had been pent up.

  "I know it's going to hurt," Jonghyun cried, "It's okay, Kibum. Even Onew said so. It's okay."

The Prophecy came to its , the sounds of shrieks and screams in the whirlwinds growing louder and the Prophecy's wrath let go, engulfing everything into the explosion of fire, ripping the prison up in mere seconds.

  "We'll be okay."

Jonghyun could hear nothing but the peril and the explosion found its way to him in only seconds, the heat beginning to engulf his body and the pain arose.

Jonghyun screamed. He screamed in the most anguish he'd ever had in his life. But he still held on to the stone. He still held on to Kibum. He wasn't letting go.

He felt his body deteriorate and burn to ash. It was going to be over. This was it.

The screams of everyone in the prison died as quickly as they started. All were burn to ash immediately and the pain and anguish lasted only excrutiating seconds before they were all gone and burnt up in the Prophecy's wrath.

There was nothing to feel for Jonghyun anymore. He was ended just like that. He was welcomed into death with nothing. His existence was over. 

There was the feeling of no afterlife. As if life had ended right there. As if 'after-life' was just a mystery that in the end wasn't real.

No feeling of existence.

Black.

It was all black.

Jonghyun was over.

But even in this 'after-life' of no existence, there was still something heard by this nothingness. A voice that soon had a body in front of what could only be Jonghyun's eyes.

  "We're okay, Jjong. We're together now."

----Note~----

My throat really hurts. I think I'm really on the verge of crying right now.

But here we have the end of our very great, dino-puppy-Taerant-dog Jonghyun.

I hope you enjoyed/not enjoyed (WHO WOULD ENJOY DEATH? I UNDERSTAND.) the conclusion to Jonghyun. The ending may seem very final, but I also want to allow the readers to interpret the last two lines the way they want to.

Gosh dang it, I really want to take this all back and make Jonghyun live ;siuhlzdfiughigliudghietugh I'M ALL SAD.

Jonghyun was an odd, angsty, wise, fun character to write and he'll forever be engraved into my mind forever. He's so noble and I swear to god, I will never regret writing his character.

Kibum, I've already apologized about his death, but nonetheless, he's the perfect person for Jonghyun (ship-wise only) and I just hope they're both happy in whatever way they end up (in this story. Not real life, kids).

Thank you guys for reading. I'm going to cry in a corner now.

I'm really getting emotional over this. THE CONNECTION WAS REAL, JJONG.

But yeah, thank you guys for sticking along. c:

I appreciate you all.

~FlaMinhoe