have failed, utterly, I don’t ask for your forgiveness,” Chanyeol declared as he stared up at his benevolent king.

The Emperor Suho looked back at Chanyeol sadly, his voice tinged with sorrow, “You are right, Chanyeol, what you did is unforgivable.”

“Then please grant me a quick death.”

Suho shook his head. “No, I do not want to kill you. Everyone messes up Chanyeol, myself included. Your failure this time did not end in the fall of our kingdom as Shanxue’s troops, too, were obliterated and their general did not seek further attack. And, in consideration of the contributions you have made to this kingdom throughout your lifetime, I can spare you the pain of death. Rather, eternal imprisonment will be your punishment.”

Chanyeol nodded and bowed his head in thanks for the emperor’s kindness. But secretly, in his head, Chanyeol would have preferred death. Rather than face a lifetime of suffering within barred walls, he’d rather die a quick, swift death. But if this was his king’s decision he would accept it.

He handed over his bow to the soldier that came forward to retrieved it from him. This was it, this was the end. At last his battle for bravery had been ended.

Chanyeol allowed himself to be led to the destination of his enteral imprisonment. He smiled when he saw the Seer already there, waiting for him. Chanyeol knew that Tao would be there. They were always there for each other.

The two sat alone within the walls of Chanyeol’s new home, both unwilling to be the first to break the silence. In the end they spoke at the same time.

“Hey.”

An uneasy laugh was shared and Chanyeol continued on, taking up the conversation, “Tao, can I ask you why you never spoke?”

Tao nodded, “Knowing the future is a heavy burden, hyung. I was afraid that if I spoke, I would be unable to keep the future to myself. Telling others their fate could very well lead to their ruin, so instead I chose not to speak at all.”

Chanyeol accepted that answer, it made sense to him. He too would have chosen the same as Tao, had he been in Tao’s position.

“So what makes you speak now?”

Tao shrugged. “I suppose I realized that there were more dangerous things out there besides the risk of spilling the secrets of the future.”

Chanyeol cocked an eyebrow, voice now tinging with curiosity, “Such as?”

“Such as being unable to say goodbye, or prevent my friend from making a fool out of himself.”

Chanyeol laughed, then stopped, surprised at his ability to laugh as he once did. It did not make sense considering the pain he had suffered in the past few days. But perhaps that was what friendship was. Friends would always be able to make you you again, even if not completely.

“Thanks, Tao, by the way, for stopping me.”

“You welcome. It was more for myself than you though. If I had to watch you lose yourself anymore, it would have destroyed me. If you died, surely I would have pained as well.”

“Do you think what I did was stupid?” Chanyeol suddenly asked.

“Yes and no. Stupid because you murdered people you should not have, but hyung, stupid is a mindset, an adjective whose meaning changes depending on the person you ask. If, hyung, believes that love is stupid, then yes your actions were stupid; but if, instead, you believe love is worth sacrificing for, then I think your actions were justified.”

Chanyeol smiled, heart a bit more at ease now. For him, love had always been worth it. But regardless, that did not erase the fact that he had killed his own brothers.

“When you leave me today, go to my estate and take all my possessions. Divide them amongst my men and send them to their families. Send my horse to the house of the soldier with dark hair, the one with a scar across his eyes and tell his family that he was a brave warrior and that he glorified them in battle.” Chanyeol remembered that solider. That soldier was the one who was fearful only his corpse would return home. It was that soldier’s words that stayed with Chanyeol the most.

Tao nodded, standing up as he was about to make his leave. “I understand hyung.”

“One last thing, Tao, is he safe?”

Tao nodded again, though his eyes were upset at the mention of the man Chanyeol asked of.

“Then do me one last favor.”

“You don’t have to tell me. I know what you are about to say.” Tao turned then, opening the door that would hold Chanyeol inside the rest of his years. Before he exited he asked a final question to Chanyeol, “Hyung, is he worth it?”

“Yes,” Chanyeol responded, “he will always be worth it.”

♥

Baekhyun sat within a small wooden house in a patch of woods near Rosecreek. He had found it a day after the final battle. It was a nice place, serene, quiet. The woods would make a good resting place for him in the rest of his years. It was far from society, exactly what Baekhyun needed now. No longer did he wish to mix with the darkness in humanity.

The man next to him hummed slightly, emotionless as he watched Baekhyun. Baekhyun sighed as he focused on the musician besides him.

“I don’t understand why you are not returning to Shanxue. Why stay with me in hiding when you should be playing in the imperial palace?”

Yixing shrugged. “You see Baekhyun, once someone tastes the freedom of the open sky, they find it hard to return to a gated palace. My music is freer out here where I can play whatever I wish. Besides, I’ve grown accustomed to having you close by.”

Baekhyun shrugged, deciding that he would be unable to get rid of the man. It would be good to have company anyways, to prevent himself from suffocating in the loneliness. The ex-general glanced at the empty cabin around them, they had been lucky to find the abandoned place. The two males had brought little with them, only Yixing’s guzheng and Baekhyun’s sword. All else was left behind. They would have to work to survive here. But Baekhyun did not mind that; at least here his work would not involve murder.

“Yixing, would you do me a favor?”

The musician nodded, tilting his head slightly as if asking what.

“Teach me to play the guzheng.”

Baekhyun wanted to preserve that beautiful memory he still possessed of Chanyeol forever. Through music; that was the only way. Else, before long, everything would fade until he could no longer remember. That pain of losing, Baekhyun no longer had the strength to bear.

Five years later, Baekhyun sat next to one of the rushing creeks that ran through the woods, a handcrafted guzheng in his lap. By now he could play the instrument successfully, though he had not mastered it completely.

He bought his hands to the strings and started the chords to the one melody he practiced daily. It was the melody the Seer had brought to him a week after the Battle of Rosecreek. It was for this melody that Baekhyun practiced the guzheng hours each day.

Five years had passed since he first strummed its chords on the strings of the instrument. Today, he would play it right. Baekhyun breathed in slowly and closed his eyes, allowing himself to focus solely on the music and the nature around him.

The minor chords rung out in the open woods, complimenting the soft rushing of creek water. Bittersweet was the melody, like the sound of autumn rain. Each note was drawn out and then cut off into a breaking end using a technique that Baekhyun had only today mastered.

Each note flowed from his fingers like a sob, desperate for a second chance. To anyone else, the music may have been only a sorrowful melody, but to Baekhyun, it was more than that. He saw his entire life flash before his eyes as he played the mournful chords of the song. There was the beginning, when he and Chanyeol were the epitome of perfection under the beautiful silver moon. Then came the first time he was given the agate necklace after which he saw his departure. Next it was their reunion, the tears, the sorrow, the blood, and the return of the agate necklace. Last was their end, the final seal on their fated togetherness and the staining of the agate stone.

Their entire love revolved around the exchange of the bloody necklace Baekhyun still wore around his neck. The agate was said to protect, to give strength, but in the end, it had not helped either of them when they needed it most. Instead, it had become evidence of their betrayal to each other. It symbolized their love and later their sin seared souls. Many times Baekhyun had tried to remove the blood from the ring, but after a while he stopped trying. The blood would always be there, just like the darkness within his soul.

Even so Baekhyun continued to wear the necklace that symbolized only pain and broken love because despite all of its faults, it represented them.

Chanyeol’s first and last song to him was titled Agate’s Betrayal. Tao had told him that Baekhyun would understand once he heard it. And Baekhyun had.

There was beauty in their imperfection, glory in their suffering, and splendor in their bloody fate. Even if in the end their hearts had shattered, their journey was not one to regret. The universe was never made to be perfect; imperfection was part of the designed beauty the heavens had implanted from the very beginning.

Just as how the agate was not a perfect protector, theirs was not a perfect love. In the end, the agate had betrayed them, just as they had betrayed each other and their duties; but perhaps, in that betrayal, there was beauty to be found.

As Baekhyun finished the last note to that heart shattering song, he glanced up at the skies and watched the sunlight stream from behind the clouds.

“Chanyeol,” he whispered, “are you seeing the same skies as I?”

♥

Chanyeol tilted his head up towards the blue heavens that was lit with gold streaks from the liquid sun; a sky he did not often see nowadays due to his imprisonment.  Somewhere, out there, Chanyeol knew, Baekhyun was staring up at the same skies. He pressed his palm to his chest.

“I love you, Byun Baekhyun,” he declared to the glorious skies, “for a thousand years and then a thousand more.”

To the end of the time I will love you; until even imperfection becomes perfection.