the sight for the cremation is a private one. only friends of the departed and the family are allowed to join since the dead man knew over half of the city. his family didn’t want something big because they wanted to grieve in peace.

the family is talking silently wondering what was going to happen to the man’s shop and friends talking about the good old days when the man was alive. there are two people, however, who stand far from each other and who look at the cold stone slab in front of them that say nothing.

“sungyeol,” a voice calls startling one of the men as he looks up. he smiles softly at the person in front of him. “i’m sorry for your loss. i know you loved myungsoo more than anything.”

“i did.” sungyeol says as his voice cracks. he grabs onto the white trim of his black robe and frowns. “thank you for your condolences. it means a lot to me.”

“i’m sure it does.” the man paused. “are you going to close the shop for a couple of days?”

“that might be best but i have to keep working. i think that making candles will help get my thoughts off myungsoo’s death.”

before he has a chance to speak, a group of men in black come marching toward them with a slab of stone on their shoulders and sungyeol sees a limp hand fall to the side. he closes his eyes and hides his face. he doesn’t want anyone to see his expression right now.

someone places an arm around his shoulder and rubs it. the candlemaker thinks that the feeling should be comforting when in fact, he hates it. he wants to throw the arm off his shoulders and stomp away from this place but he can’t. he must stay and watch everything disappear.

he looks up and watches as they put myungsoo’s body against the stone in front of where the guests are standing. sungyeol feels the tears in his eyes before wiping them quickly.

myungsoo’s brother walks slowly next to the stone and stares before clearing his throat, turning the face the crowd and speaking. he knows that he shouldn’t drown out the older man’s voice but he did as the other talked about myungsoo. he just couldn’t listen to all the lies and all the deception coming out from the man’s mouth. sungyeol hisses quietly, making a face at the body a few feet in front of him.

the arm around his shoulder leaves his shoulder moments after his hiss and sungyeol starts to worry that someone heard him. instead, the man just left because he wanted to console someone else. with a sigh of relief, he looks straight ahead and gazes at the male who looks like he’s sleeping but he knows better.

out of the corner of sungyeol’s eye, he sees someone with a raised black and white hood step forward. he watches as the owner looks his way and the candle maker can see the bright eyes of the prince. with a smile, sungyeol fixes his attention back to the man speaking.

-

sungyeol’s plan started two months ago, on the very day he found out about myungsoo’s cheating. you see, the candlemaker loved the blacksmith very much but to find out that the younger was cheating on him didn’t make him feel any better. he was the one that found the love letter written to myungsoo and the reply written to some lee sungjong. it didn’t take long for sungyeol to realize that it was the prince of their kingdom that myungsoo was cheating with.

the candlemaker waited out for a while, watching the moves that myungsoo made and following the younger male into the castle. he wouldn’t go any further into the castle for a fear of being caught but he waited until myungsoo would slip out and by then sungyeol had to run home.

by the time he reached home after the fifth time of following his cheating lover to the castle, sungyeol snuck in himself in. with many twists and turns, he finally found himself outside of the prince’s room. he opened and closed the door quietly with his back turned. when he turned, however, there was a sword pointed at this throat and a angry boy in front of him.

“who are you?” sungjong asked.

“my name is sungyeol, your majesty and i have something i would like to tell you.”

sungjong snarled and pushed the tip of sword deeper into sungyeol’s flesh. he broke the skin this time but the older boy bit his tongue. “it better be good for someone like you to sneak into my room at night.”

“it’s about kim myungsoo.”

that caught sungjong’s attention as he lowered the sword some. “is everything alright with him?” he asked and sungyeol could see the worry in the younger’s eyes. it was then that the candlemaker knew that the prince was in love with his lover.

“how long have you been with him?”

“what’s it to you? are you going to spread it around the town that the prince is love with a common blacksmith?”

“no your majesty, i would never but i would like to save you from public humiliation if what i’m about to tell you ever gets out. so please, answer my question. how long have you been with him?”

sungjong lowered his sword and stared. “for almost a year.” sungyeol choked. he had been with myungsoo for almost four.

the candlemaker lowered his gaze. “that son of a .”

sungjong just looked, confused on who the male in front of him was. his brown eyes narrowed as he gripped the hilt of the sword tighter. “who are you?” he asked.

“me? i’m kim myungsoo’s lover of almost four years.” sungyeol said looking up at the prince. “it’s an honour to meet you, prince sungjong.”

the younger male looked appalled at what the other said. it was as if he didn’t believe anything that sungyeol was saying but it was the look on his face that told him everything. sungjong wanted to screams.

“he’s your what?”

“he’s my lover. he has been for the past three years, the fourth year being next month.”

the crowned prince narrowed his eyes. “how do i know that you’re not lying to me?”

“because i wouldn’t have a reason to lie to, your majesty. i barely know you and i do prank my friends but to someone i don’t know? i wouldn’t do that.”

sungjong was speechless and felt tears in his eyes. “he lied to me then?” he asked, his voice cracking. sungyeol heard it and smiled sadly as he crossed his fingers together. he looked down not daring to look at the other male.

“so you’re here to gloat that you’ve had myungsoo longer than i have.” sungjong said after a while and sungyeol’s head snapped up.

“i would never do that your grace. i only wanted to know what kind of person myungsoo would cheat on me with.  because it is you, i fear i cannot win.” the candlemaker turned to leave. “i just wanted to tell you about the other man in the relationship so that you knew about me. that is all.” sungyeol bowed before grabbing the handle to door.

“where can i find you?” the prince asked suddenly causing the other boy to turn around and look at him in shock.

“infinite candles, sire.”

“very well. if i look for you, i know where to find you.”

the taller nodded, bowed once more before leaving into the night. before he left the corridor he promised that he heard something break against the prince’s door and crying coming from the other side.

sungyeol felt bad for the prince.

-

it was a couple of days later when sungyeol was busy trying to figure out how to make a scent so upsetting that it made the user want to shed tears and front door opened. he didn’t look up from the papers lying front of him but that didn’t stop him from smiling.

“i’ll be with you in just a second.”

“lee sungyeol.” sungjong’s voice rang out causing the said male’s head to snap up quickly. he stood up from his chair and bowed at the figure in front of him. “i’ve come to talk to you. it seems that we have a lot to talk about.”

the candlemaker blinked in confusion and stared while sungjong let out a small smile.

-

back in the present, sungyeol watches as myungsoo’s brother goes back to his spot amongst the crowd. he sees the dead body of his four year long lover lying on the stone slab, looking like he was sleeping.

it’s minutes before the cremation and people were allowed to go up to the body to say goodbye once more. the family members went first and his brother stays back, no being able to look at his younger brother’s body much longer. sungyeol watches as myungsoo’s mother pets the side of her dead child’s face before breaking out into tears. he sees as tears fall against his father’s cheeks and his grandparents cheeks.

for a moment, a single moment, sungyeol feels bad for the kim family as they lost someone precious to them. but when he remembers the lies that myungsoo told him, the feeling leaves.

the family steps back and sungyeol takes a step forward until he reaches the slab. he looks down the body and stares at myungsoo’s dark hair, pale skin and white robes. the blacksmith’s eyes are closed and his hands are over his abdomen as if he was asleep. if sungyeol looks carefully he could still see the marks where the man was beat.

“we leave everything here?” a voice asks.

“do we do. it’s our secret and no one has to know, your majesty. it was your idea anyway.”

sungjong smiles reaching out to pet myungsoo’s hair. “pity,” he says before his smile drops and he turns to leave.

sungyeol leaves moments after.

-

sungjong walked around in the small candle shop that smelled of apples and vanilla. the scent was calming to the prince as he looked at the different glass jars on the walls. “so what do you think?” he asked turning to look at the older man behind the counter.

“we won’t be able to get away with something like that, your grace.”

“we will.”

sungyeol sighed. “but prince sungjong i don’t think that this is the right thing for him.”

the younger shook his head and walked towards the candlemaker, his royal robes sweeping behind him. sungjong didn’t look like the kind and gentle prince that everyone in the kingdom of white knew, no he looked like someone out of a horror novel with such a dark gaze.

“kim myungsoo has to pay for what he did to you and to me.”

with a sigh, sungyeol moved out from behind the counter and picked up his dust coloured robe from the hanger, putting it on and snapping the clasp to hide his dark pants and linen shirt. raising his hood, he looked to the male in front of him. “let’s go plan the death of kim myungsoo, then.”
-

when the body goes up in flames, sungyeol can’t help but to stare in awe at it. the cackle of the flames mimics a witch’s laugh and the smell is something that he knows that he’ll never be able to forget. all around him, he hears sniffles coming from family members and friends causing him to look. the candle maker is surprised to see the robed prince with tears in his eyes before they fall over.

sungjong looks over to sungyeol who only nods. the older boy got the message.

the tall man feels his own tears well up in his eyes but he pushes them away. he wants nothing to do with the pain and the tears falling over. sungyeol tries to tell himself that he doesn't care for the man on the cold stone slab and that he doesn’t care that he helped kill him.

it’s the smell of burning flesh that causes sungyeol to smile and the smile on his face that makes sungjong stop his tears. they both have no regrets. their deed is done and is burning together with the body that the two of them had murdered.

a smile lights up sungjong’s features and for a moment he looks proud. no more lies, no more faking, no more cheating. no more nothing.

-

they killed myungsoo by telling the blacksmith to go into the forest where he’s to meet sungyeol. it was to be their anniversary of being together for four years and the older wanted to have a romantic evening with the other. of course the stars and the moon were going to be their witness as they sat together with smiles on their faces and maybe when their bodies would be intertwined.

myungsoo wore sungyeol’s favourite outfit of black cotton pants that hugged his legs and a soft linen top that was embroidered at the top. over his outfit, he wore the dark blue robe that he first met the taller male in. everything was going to be perfect for their night under the stars. everything.

what he was expecting was sungyeol  waiting for him with open arms. what he got instead was a very pissed off looking sungjong and behind him was sungyeol with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face.

“happy four years love.” sungyeol hissed.

myungsoo looked to the two, completely shocked at what was happening. “what’s going on?” he asked, baffled.

sungyeol stomped over to the blacksmith. “i found a letter from sungjong.”

“.”

“do you think that i’m stupid kim myungsoo?” sungjong almost yelled. “do you?”

myungsoo didn’t say anything.

“how could you do this to me? to sungyeol? you loved him for years before you came to me, you pathetic cheating scum.”

the candlemaker looked like he was about to cry. he tighten his robe tighter across his body and held himself. “when did it start?” he whispered. myungsoo still didn’t say anything which angered the male in front of him. “damnnit, myungsoo. when did it start?”

“after we had that fight.”

sungyeol looked completely taken back and didn’t stop the tears from spilling over. sungjong looked between the two.

“after what fight?” he asked.

neither man said anything, sungyeol crying and myungsoo looking to the ground like he wanted it to eat him up. the blacksmith fiddled with his fingers and step backwards as if trying to run from the two in front of him.

“you better not take a step.” sungjong said, his eyes narrowing. the prince walked over to the candlemaker, putting his arms around the man to stop him from crying. “what fight?”

“you went to another man after we talked about getting children?” sungyeol asked, his voice completely broken. “i feel ashamed.”

myungsoo looked up. “yeo-”

“don’t call me that.”

“sungye-”

“no.” the man said taking a step back. “no.”

the prince took a step forward and punched the blacksmith in the gut over and over again. he then slapped him upside the head and punched him in the face. sungyeol only stood watch with lifeless eyes as sungjong continued to beat the man.

“give me the yew berries.” sungjong said as myungsoo laid in a semi-conscious state. sungyeol handed him the little red berries that were hiding within his robe. he had a few left after after he had made a batch of candles using the scent.

the prince placed a handful of the berries into the man’s mouth and smiled.

“no one will know, sire?”

“right. now we wait. he’ll just fall.”

-

days later myungsoo never did wake up from his “short” nap.

-

sungyeol and sungjong are the only ones left after the burning of myungsoo’s body. a pile of ash was in the center of the stone slab and both of their eyes were fixated on it. they said nothing as they stood there feeling the soft breeze and listening to chirping of the birds around them.

it wasn’t until sungjong turns around did a big smile etch across his face. he looked to the candlemaker who smiles some before prince sungjong walks away, lowering the hood of his robe more so people wouldn’t see who he was.

“goodbye, myungsoo,” is what sungyeol said before he too left the cremation grounds with a smile.

miki says: someone asked me about who in the ends get myunsoo the answer is that no one gets him. he dies instead. that's why i couldn't tell you. it seems shorter than when i was writing it. hmm... please excuse any mistekes you see, if you see them!