Changjo smile faded as he felt a deep jab inside his stuffy chest, the words of gratitude apparently made his gut wrenched annoyingly. It grumbled so loud that he could hear its silent growls, as he wished Changhyun to take back his words. But it was inevitable, risking’s his life to save someone he loved was a virtuous act and nothing could change that.

It was virtuous because honestly, it was plain foolish.

“Hmm… yeah. I’m glad I’m this good too.”

Changhyun coughed as he tried to swallow the painful lump between his throat that was blocking his voice and making speaking a hard thing because deep inside, he felt that tug too whenever he thanked the tall latter. Somehow thanking Changjo felt wrong.

“Let's go…”

He smiled sweetly at Changhyun as he grabbed the shorter’s hands and stuffed it into his hoodie pockets.

“Uh. What’s this?” the shorter pulled out his hand out of the dark, navy colored pocket and held out a necklace. The glossy, winged shaped pendant glistened under the lights and the chain flickered beautifully, it was breath taking.

“I’m giving you wings, so that you could live free”

“Isn’t that your wish?’

Changhyun was speechless, it was just a necklace, yet, it meant so much more. Changjo presented the boy with a promise and that made him teary, because it was exactly what he wanted. Wings to fly and to be free.

“Wings…”

“Because you are my angel, you are, and no one can take that away”

Changjo lightly made his way forward, leaving the smaller boy behind. He would’ve looked and cherished Changhyun’s blissful expression but somehow he couldn’t bring himself to stare at the cute, petite boy. A lump in his throat made him feel suffocated and rather sick.

It ing felt like farewell and the tall, dark haired latter hated it.

He was walking three steps a faster pace than Changhyun. He remembered the way to the mansion incredibly well and that made him scared. Because he knew how each step brought them closer to countless of risks.

But he was determined.

“Stay behind me. I won’t let him come near…”

“It’s okay, I called home a few hours ago and thankfully my ‘aunt’ picked up. They’re going out”

Changhyun jogged closer to the tall latter and made his way beside Changjo. His warm, gentle hand was caressing the latter’s muscular arm as he smiled and consoled the growing fear within dark haired boy. Still, Changjo’s eyes were anxiously peering all over the mansion, carefully analyzing any threat that could hurt Changhyun in any way.

The solid, diamond carved wooden door creaked sharply as it dragged open against the marble floor. Changjo managed to let out a frail gasp as his eyes ran all over the place, admiring its ancient beauty.

The walls were slightly moldy while the dark, burgundy hallway made his back tingle in a funny way. But, how the sun shone through the thick, velvet curtain made him feel rather fuzzy, the house looked as if it had gone through the centuries elegantly.

It was serene.

His lean fingers slid smoothly against the metal frame of the brown, leather sofa that spelled royalty as the latter’s snickered at how homey it felt to be inside the huge house.

“I’ll just go and take out some stuff, would you wait here for…”

Changhyun’s sentence trailed off quietly as his gaze lingered at the breathtaking chandelier, while his grasp on the stair’s railway tightened. The fact that it was probably the last time he would ever see this house again was finally making its way to his head. Something was strangling him silently and his tight chest felt heavy.

He didn’t even pack yet, but somehow the longing unknowingly came into his guts. He wanted to cherish this home that used to be his shelter, but lingering around was dangerous. Though his steps were heavy, he finally made it to his room and took out a small luggage.

He swallowed the lump in his throat and shut his eyelids close as he threw his clothes inside. The silence was screeching loud and painful.

♦

The sparkles within Changjo’s eyes glistened as the latter peeked into the most secluded hallway. How there was nothing but old, scrumpy candles to light up the path, it felt so eerie that he could as if smell the danger. However, curiosity was winning him over as he squeezed through like his life depended on the path; something was loudly calling his name.

His heavy breath served as background music to the tight, rusty space that was eerie enough to cause anyone a trauma. Then, as he reached the end, he tried to pull his composure at each candle that was hauntingly lighting itself up. He felt the shiver growing on his two hands as his eyes got used to the dim environment, letting him see something that jolted his racing heartbeat.

“Yah!”

“ARGHH!”

Changjo yelped in horror as he felt each of his nerves burst with surprise and his fingers stiffen. But at the sight of his boyfriend, slowly, his throbbing heart died down and the boy drew a deep scoff. Changhyun giggled amusingly as he pushed the buffed latter aside and tapped on the lock like it was the most natural thing to do.

“H..Hey. I don’t need t.. to know. It’s okay… you don’t have to show me.”

Still the vault screeched open and the frosty gust of carbon dioxide flooded the path into a hazy, gray cloud. Coughing, Changjo’s sapphire colored eyes widened, as his pink lips gapped into the shape of an egg.

“wh….what is.. this?”

“it’s a… vault. Coffin. Bedroom. I’m not sure… but here is where my other guardian stays”

Changhyun gently tightened his grip on Changjo’s knuckles as he pulled the tall latter, deeper into the vault, allowing his boyfriend to see who was laying lifeless inside. Changjo’s stuttering steps halted when he saw the glass coffin, as he gulped his fear loudly.

Then when he saw clearly, who was lying inside, he looked desperately at Changhyun as he hinted the boy to tell him what the hell happened.

“He’s my other angel… my kind, brave and lovable Byunggie hyung”

“Is he…”

“Sort of, he’s in a state where he couldn’t wake up. He couldn’t heal neither could he die, well, rather… we won’t allow him to. We kept him this way you see, painful, but holding on”

Tears effortlessly trailed down Changhyun’s cheeks as he reluctantly revealed this sin that he was committing with Chunji. But then the latter’s trembling thumb that wiped the wetness away gave him enough strength to keep on talking.

Changjo didn’t need the explanation rather; all he wanted was to know the roots of Changhyun’s suffering.

“Is he the reason why…”

“Yeah. I won’t blame Chunji if he hated me so much, i.. hate myself too. I did this Changjo-ya…”

The taller nodded painfully as he grit his teeth at the sight of his hurting boyfriend. He could throw himself infront of a train just to physically save Changhyun, but when it came to his past, there was nothing that he could do. Both of them were hopeless.

“And now I’m bearing this fault… That’s why…”

“I need to stay away”

He answered the shorter’s remarks with a disappointed hiss, even after so far Changhyun was still carefully pushing him away.

“But you won’t go away, will you..”

The taller’s eyes flickered as he tried to process the shorter had said. “You won't go away, will you” translated perfectly in “Don’t leave me”. His eyes were locked on the glass coffin, but his body instinctively pulled the shorter into his arms and hugged the latter warmly.

“No matter what you do or did, I can’t. I can never leave you Changhyun. You know that”

“I know” the shorter closed his eyes as he relished the feelings of having Changjo’s heart being so close to his face, so much that he could hear it beat.

“So I’m going to kidnap you away from Chunji, this man and all of your painful past. We’ll be reborned and I’ll make you happy. I promise”

“Hmm” Changjo smiled at the silent hum Changhyun let out as he dragged themselves out of the cold, cruel-hollow vault that was tainted so deep with agony and regrets. The pain that resonated inside made his guts growled and slowly Changjo grew sick of the breath-taking mansion. He never wanted to see it again.

“We’re never coming back, okay”