Yixing balanced on the top of the highest skyscraper in Hana’s neighborhood. His hands were tightly fastened behind his back, lips pressed into a thin line, eyes shut softly. With one last straining breath streaming into the lungs of the body that has been created especially for him, he prepared himself for the next step. Hands untangled, arms spread out and rose to his shoulders, welcoming the wind that would soon guide and hold onto him.

The vibrant city lights sliced through the darkness around him, like an amusement park they invited him to play with them. And so he did.

Without the tiniest piece of fear wavering his determination, he let himself fall forward. Nothing was there to catch him, he was freefalling. A feeling of lightness invaded his stomach, tickling through his every atom. Just before he was able to crash into the roof of a building the wind caught him and carried him along, as if he were a weightless feather.

Even though Yixing was caged into a human body, he still had the ability to become weightless and transparent whenever he needed. That was a gift every Time Keeper possessed, despite having a human appearance. It has been passed down for generations and functioned as a protective mechanism.

Yixing piloted through the streets, bending and turning his body once in a while so he wouldn’t hit any obstacle within his reach. As the wind’s powerful strength began to fade, the boy got ready to set his feet back on the ground. But a stinging pain suddenly bolted through his heart, robbing him of his concentration, making him crash harshly in front of the apartment complex Hana lived in.

Breathing heavily, he got up and clutched onto his chest, “What’s wrong with me?” he pondered but decided to hide in the darkness before someone was able to discover him. It was easier than becoming transparent since the ability did cost a lot of energy.

It wouldn’t be too long until Hana would be rushing out with her skates loosely in her hands. He knew. Then as now he was still her invisible shadow. The attempted murder hadn’t changed anything about his desire to be with her; in fact, it got bigger by the day. Whenever he was forced to leave her side for even a second he felt worthless and lost. She had become the air he breathes, the water he drinks, the food he eats, the sleep he needs.

As expected, Hana walked through the entrance door only a few minutes later.

Small frosty clouds of air puffed from Hana’s cold purple lips each time she breathed out and took another step forward. The quiet scratches of her skates against the ice whistled a soothing melody as she unsystematically dashed through the ice rink.

Her body burned for something spectacular, something that’d make her feel weightless, a daring feat that’d take her to a place beyond this world for just a second. An inexorable desire to feel the poison called adrenalin pulse through her veins ghosted over her skin as she picked up her pace.

But maybe it was the longing to be captured in the illusion of that someone stopping her, to see his face again, to hear his voice just once more, to –

Hana’s foot got caught in a small interstice, sending her hectically attempting to regain her balance. Failing miserably she was hurled to the floor by gravity’s inescapable force.

Wincing she sat up, throwing curses at herself in her mind to be distracted from feeling the scratches along her arms and legs.

“Why do you always have to cause trouble?” that mystically beautiful voice vibrated through the cold. Hana’s head shot up. There he was, casually standing in the middle of the icy surface, looking like an angel without wings.

With weak knees Hana staggered to her feet and cautiously skated towards him. A small gentle smile tingled on his lips as she came to a halt in front of him. Hana reached out a shaky hand and softly caressed his face, just to make sure her fantasy wasn’t trapping her in a frail dream. It had been love at first  sight, she was sure.

The boy closed his eyes, nuzzling into her touch as her hand kissed his cheek. “Who are you?” she breathed, absorbing his every feature, hoping to never forget them, to never forget him.

Your secret admirer. Your shadow. Your guardian. “Your savior” he whispered, opening his eyes to stare right into hers intensely, “I’m the reason, you’re still alive.”

Hana’s hand fell from his face at his words. Her mind wasn’t able to function correctly anymore, “You…You-“

“My name’s Zhang Yixing. Nice to meet you” he spoke, his lips curling upwards and his eyes forming little crescents.

“Kris!” Luhan, the Time Keeper that posses the power of telepathy and also the important gift of feeling every Time Keeper’s soul, called with panic evident in his voice. Kris, who was standing on an invisible platform above the energetic city of Seoul, ripped his gaze from the skyline to turn to the boy. Without waiting for his Master to let him speak, he began to report his alarming discovery, “Something’s wrong with Lay. His soul’s getting weaker by the second. I’m slowly starting to lose its presence.”

Kris sighed. It seemed like in the end, his apprehensions were turning out to be justified. He should have seen it coming.

Luhan became impatient and asked him again, knowing that he was aware of the mystery, “Kris! What’s happening to him?”

“So, we’re finally going to be able to live in peace. I never expected it to turn out this way” Kris muttered to himself, shaking his head in consternation while crossing his arms together.

“What do you mean?” Luhan whined, looking at him with confusion twinkling from his eyes. Kris was talking bits and pieces of something he wasn’t able to connect, let alone comprehend without the main picture.

 Kris inhaled deeply and began to explain hesitantly, “Because Lay saved Hana out of love, his heart was like a magnet for the power Hana inherited. What most of the Time Keepers don’t know is that the power feeds on a person’s soul when they carry it, so those people have a rather short lifespan. However, since Hana was unconscious and not dead when Lay saved her, something I never dared to imagine happened.”

“Wait,” Luhan interrupted puzzled, “Hana wasn’t dead when Lay rescued her? But Lay should have noticed-”

“You know that Lay’s powers aren’t fully developed, which is why he thought she was dead. To get back to the point; because Hana’s soul was extremely fragile and weak at that time, the force conquered Lay’s body to survive” Kris finished, lowering his head aggrieved.

Luhan was close to tears and his voice trembled as he spoke, “So you’re saying...”

“Lay,” Kris nodded his head, confirming Luhan’s fears, “is going to die if we don’t do anything soon.”

“What are we going to do?” everything that was left of Luhan’s voice was a faint whisper.

Kris anxiously paced up and down, biting his lower lip while thinking hard. Once an idea had finally popped up, he came to an abrupt stop. “Gather all the other Time Keepers” he ordered, determination burning in his eyes. Luhan stared into his gaze sternly before disappearing into thin air.

Pleased Kris scanned through the ten pairs of eyes that were fixed on him in anticipation. With a minimum amount of words he described the worrisome situation and began to give orders to every Time Keeper, to help save Lay and their world.

“Luhan, I want you to warn Lay through telepathy. Not long after that, I will retreat his soul from his body and without wasting another second I want you to kill him, Chanyeol. Considering that his body burning would probably have a traumatizing effect on Hana, I want you to create an illusion that doesn’t send her quivering in fear, alright Baekhyun? Tao, I will give you a sign to make time pass again once everything’s over” Kris threw command after command at the clan members and each nodded, understanding their task.

“If everything goes according to plan, we will also be able to eliminate the great force.”

Sitting in a meadow, Yixing was still fascinated by how fast time slipped past when it has stopped. With a low sigh he stared at the sun rising with delicate hues of yellow and orange.  The light made the dew glitter from every blade of grass enveloping him and Hana in a piece of a touchable Wonderland.

Hana softly leaned her head on his shoulder as she dived into the scenery. There was no need to speak. It was enough to savor the moment to the fullest.

“Thank you” Hana whispered and locked her arm around his. Yixing angled his head to the side and gazed at her. “For everything” she answered his unvoiced question.

He chuckled, “In fact, it’s me, who has to thank you.”

Hana lifter her head and furrowed her brows, “What for?” she inquired, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. “For everything” Yixing smiled thinking of how much he treasured her, knowing that she has never been aware of it.

Before she was able to ask any more questions, he straightened up and cleared his throat, preparing to finally confess the meaning behind his appearance and everything she might be curious about. He turned to face her and took a deep breath –

“Lay!” a voice rang through his head. Luhan; he recognized it right away.

“It’s time to bid your last goodbyes. Make it fast.”

Those two little sentences sent Yixing’s mind on a rampage. He didn’t understand why Luhan would tell him to finally draw the line when he explicitly had asked Tao for a day.

“Do it. Now!”

Kris must have found him.

As panic electrified him, that strange piercing pain shot though his heart again. He flinched inwardly and tried to calm his pain by taking steady breaths.  In attempt to keep his posture strong a numbness, that would soon be making it hard for him to move, crawled through his body. What exactly was happening to him?

“Hana…” he breathed and her cheek as tears were forming in his eyes. “I have to go.”

Hana jumped to her feet and stared at him with denial in her eyes. Yixing got up too, took a hold of her hand and intertwined their fingers. “Let’s see each other in another life” he said with a bittersweet smile on his lips.

“What do you mean?” Hana panicked, scrutinizing his eyes that lost more of their color with every passing second. “Take care, alright?” his shaky hand reached to caress her cheek.

“Yixing, what’s going on?” she begged, a tear dropping from her eye. Gently the boy brushed it away with his thumb and shook his head, “I can’t tell you.”

“Lay, hurry up!”

Hana was now gripping onto Yixing’s hand for her life, “Why?”

The tall male sighed, “You wouldn’t understand…” he replied staring at their intertwined hands. “But I can try-“ Hana pleaded but he cut her off, “Don’t make it more difficult, than it already is.”

A long melancholic silence washed over them. The numbness had invaded nearly every part of Yixing’s body now, his eyes had lost almost all of their color and were now shimmering in a blank snow white instead of the vibrant hazel brown. Life was leaving him, it was evident.

“Thank you for everything and I'm sorry” he whispered and felt a drop trail down his face because every word that left his mouth painfully tore his heart into a thousand pieces. With every bit of tenderness he had left, he cupped Hana’s face and watched as tear after tear lost its footing while he captured her lips.

Hana closed her eyes and once she opened them again dust glittered from where Yixing had stood.

“I Love You” his voice echoed through the air.

With that the wind took a hold of his last pieces and carried them to the sky.

Abruptly Hana woke up to a dark room again. Like always she looked around to catch a glimpse of something extraordinary, but all that she could find was Daeun’s silhouette sleeping next to her on a spare mattress.

The hand of time was moving.