AU // As son of reincarnated gods, Yunho’s job is to steal time in order to reincarnate again within a century. But to Yunho’s dismay, he ends up falling in love with someone completely forbidden to him by his mother, Aphrodite, goddess of love and lust. Will Yunho defy his mother and goddess in order to achieve something he hasn’t in the past century?

----

It was too much for the young god to take in. He was lonely, and tired of his high-rich, -filled life. It was … boring. Almost five centuries, and no one had really filled him yet. No one sparked his interest, and if they did, it only lasted a few days before the enchantment was over. Aphrodite wasn’t against the possibility of her son falling in love, she simply knew that gods weren’t meant to fall in love with mortals. She knew the drastic consequences of doing so; she wouldn’t wish that fate upon any mortal.

Gods were immortals, they were infinite, death did not exist in the realm of the gods -- it did in the realm of the mortals. Death lingered everywhere, it roamed in the smog that danced around the large towers and skyscrapers in Seoul. Yunho could smell it.

He woke up from his regular routine and took a shower. He couldn’t even remember the name of the latter he had spent the night with -- was it Junsu? Or … He shook his head and let the cold rain drain over his muscular caramel body. The boy had went to sleep immediately after their rigorous ‘ing.’ And when Yunho sought best, he lined his wrist with that of Junsu’s and began to steal time -- years. He was stealing the remaining years that Junsu had to live.

It was cruel really, but that was Yunho’s form of sustenance. One day, at a young age, Junsu would simply close his eyes and sleep forever; while his family and friends wondered and questioned his death.

Yunho left the apartment -- he didn’t even bother leaving a note. What for? He had gotten what he needed. He needed twenty more years to accomplish the remaining quota for his next life. Two more victims and he could reside in peace.

----

Changmin ran, he was panting hard, his cheeks flushed red as the wind danced with his hair. He was escaping the orphanage that had him tied down to its rules, and cruel care-takers. He pushed his black wire glasses up the bridge of his nose and kept forcing his limbs to keep moving. He had to escape. He needed to start a new life, away from people that simply didn’t care for him.

He was 17, close to being an adult. They would kick him out of the orphanage eventually. He heard his mother had died when giving birth to him, he had drained her from energy. His father on the other hand simply left, he disappeared and vanished, almost as if he hadn’t existed.

The light green sweater he was wearing wasn’t helping him keep warm. The faded and ripped skinny jeans he had on were the only ones he had; he had worked hard for them. He remembered going to the bakery each morning to help the baker roll the dough. Changmin loved to play with the sprinkles, he would decorate the pieces of bread as if they were a piece of art -- to him they were. At the end of the day, the baker would thank him with three things: a smile, money, and a piece of bread. Those were Changmin’s happiest moments.

He wasn’t wearing anything valuable -- but there was something striking about him. Something about his gaze when you stared at him for a good period of time; it was marred with melancholy, with so much passion and devotion. It would take the right key to open that charm. Changmin panted, buildings came to view, but they were beginning to blur. His mind began to whirl in circles, nothing was making sense anymore.

His vision became distorted, black and gray, black and gray.

He realized he was falling, and falling fast.

----

Yunho stared at the young latter he had carried to his not-so-humble-abode. The young latter slept … beautifully, at ease. The world’s end could come tomorrow, and the lad wouldn’t wince - he wouldn’t feel a thing. Yunho stared some more. What is he wearing? It’s a crime to walk out of your house looking like …

. That’s what Yunho thoroughly believed, and no one at this point would change his mind about it. He looked at the puke-green color of the lad’s sweater in disgust. The jeans -- eh -- he could work with that, for the moment anyway. Yunho found himself roaming the lad’s body with his gaze, he was lengthy -- long arms, long legs, a big face, thin yet plush lips, a straight nose and a defined jawline. Hair the color of wood and fair skin. Compared to the others whom he had shared a bed with, this boy still had something the others lacked.

Innocence, he thought, it has to be innocence. Just look at him.

Yunho chuckled at the thought. It suits him.

The young lad began to squirm in his sleep, something about, you’ll never catch me … i’ll be free. Yunho furrowed his eyebrows and tilted his head, who was the boy running from exactly? Had he picked up a fugitive, or some derailed person who had escaped the psychiatric ward? Who was the young lad exactly?

“No! No! No!” The young lad woke up, a thin layer of perspiration coating his front and cheeks. His chest was heaving uncontrollably, and the moment he found Yunho staring at him, he about lost it. He charged at Yunho and began flinging his arms at him.

“Wait! Wait!” yelled Yunho. Yunho took a hold of the young lad’s arms and rolled their bodies over. Yunho on top, Changmin at the bottom -- securely pinned against Yunho’s strength and the carpet floor. Changmin thrashed his head, left and right, right and left. He had to escape … again.

“Let me go,” Changmin said through gritted teeth. He was out of breath, and badly out of shape. Sure he was skinny and all, but goddamn he could use some muscle in those flabby arms.

“I found you passed out in the middle of the street!” Yunho replied with a strong voice, “You’re in no condition of going out there by yourself, especially --” Yunho got up and helped the young lad get on his feet. Yunho gestured to the boy’s clothes and looked away with distaste. “Especially looking like that.”

Changmin stared at what he was wearing and turned to fix his attention back at Yunho. “What do you mean? What’s wrong with my clothes?”

“Let’s just say that your attire doesn’t do the word hoodlum justice.”

They stared at each other for what seemed a long time. Yunho broke the silence when he cleared his throat. “What’s your name kid?”

“I am not a kid,” Changmin replied.

“You sure look like one. Where are your parents.”

“I don’t have any?”

“Do you have kin anywhere?” Changmin shook his head and looked down at his feet. He was still wearing the outdated nikes he had found in the trash a couple of months back. “What’s your name boy?”

The young lad looked at Yunho, he looked at Yunho the way one would look at their last alternative for hope, for something better. “Changmin,” he whispered. Yunho’s lips curled into a smile.

“Well Changmin,” he said, “My name is Yunho, and you can stay here for as long as you want. The house is big enough for the two of us -- hell its big enough if thirty different families wanted to live here,” he added with a small hum of laughter. Changmin liked the sound of Yunho’s voice -- it sounded almost like a percussion, smooth, soft … flowy. He felt safe right away, there was no doubt in his mind.

“Thank you,” Changmin replied with slight embarrassment attaching to the curve of his voice. “I promise I’ll repay this kindness.”

Yunho shook his head, “Don’t worry about it Changmin. I don’t need for you to pay back. I’m a lonely bastard, I want to. I promise.” Changmin nodded and flashed a perfect set of white teeth. “So,” Yunho clasped his hands together, “How about you take a shower, and I’ll go find you some clothes?”

Changmin nodded -- it sounded like a plan. A good one at that.

----

Evening came around, Yunho and Changmin were chattering about something irrelevant in a room solely dedicated to one purpose -- a garden. Yunho realized Changmin was much better looking than he thought. Changmin’s brown hair was combed back, and it tousled even with slight volume. He was wearing a black v neck and casual light levi’s. Changmin was glowing, and Yunho couldn’t take his eyes off him.

Changmin felt like a million bucks, he had never owned something as expensive as Yunho’s clothing. It felt weird and strangely good at the same time. Yunho was rambling about something when his eyes caught interest in Changmin’s wrist. He peered at what seemed to be a birthmark. “May I?” he asked as he extended his hand.

Changmin looked down at his wrist and placed it atop Yunho’s large and elegant hands. Changmin smiled at the little beauty mark that rested on one of Yunho’s fingers. “Has anyone ever told you that your birthmark resembles that of a bow and arrow?”

“I have actually. Someone once told me that there were a select few around the world that are born with this birthmark, a bow and arrow.”

Yunho suddenly submerged himself into his thoughts. He swore he had seen that birthmark before, he had seen it, he was sure of it. Why couldn’t his memory clear up? Yunho shook his thoughts away and invited Changmin for dinner.

On their way there Changmin began to tell Yunho about his childhood memories.

“I don’t have many memories of my childhood. I just remember being cold and hungry most of the time. I remember waking up to the sounds of bells and shouts of the caretakers urging us to get out of bed. I don’t remember my father, and I surely don’t remember my mother. They vanished when I was too young to know anything.”

Yunho couldn’t share the same feelings as Changmin. For one, he was immortal, a god on land. He lived better than a King. He never experienced cold or hunger. He had everything because that was his purpose. It was meant to be. As to his parents, they were present during his childhood, and they were loving -- they were supposed to be at least; but when Yunho became old enough to take care of himself, they simply kept their hands to themselves. They didn’t help anymore.

To live on earth, Yunho had to steal time from the rest. How he stole time was something he was supposed to figure out; his parents didn’t guide him. They would only offer counsel when they sought proper to do so. Other than that, it was as if Yunho didn’t have any parents.

At times he wondered if he too wanted to be a parent. If he too could just leave his child just because the kid was old enough. It didn’t seem logical, it didn’t make sense.

He’d seen humans for a very long time, interacted with them long enough to know that they did have feelings; that despite the hardships they encountered they still relied on one another. They were needy of affection and were more than eager to show it to someone as well. Children were lucky -- well, at least some.

“And you?” Changmin’s soothing voice woke Yunho from his trance. He had heard everything, at least that’s what he thought he had done.

“My mother comes to visit me at times. She’s very beautiful. Has the voice of an angel, and she’s quite lovable.” Changmin smiled at the description of my mother -- Aphrodite.

“I would love to meet her.”

“Don’t worry about that kid -- she’ll show up eventually, keep that assured.”

After dinner, Changmin went to sleep. It felt weird for Yunho -- to not share a bed with someone. He had always slept with someone. meant time. Time meant life. Life is everything. Yunho went to sleep a little afterwards, and for the first time in centuries he struggled to close his eyes -- because for the first time in forever life was actually filled with something he had been void of for a long time. Was it love? No Yunho, he thought, you just met him, love cannot be that irrational, it cannot be that stupid.

The thing was -- love was all those things.

----

A couple of weeks went by, more like three, and Yunho felt his heart beat against his chest, like an animal trying to break free from a cage. He felt it pound with intense power and desire. All that havoc would commence when he was near Changmin. The mere thought of his name sent his adrenaline pumping through his veins. It was odd, euphoric, and Yunho liked it. He enjoyed the distress it felt to love someone.

He cared for Changmin, but he was afraid of confessing his feelings. He was an old man, old old man. He should be a bag of bones and a collection of dust, not a handsome immortal who looks younger by the day. To the world, Yunho was 27, about to turn 28. Ten years older than Changmin. Ten years his superior (in the human world of course).

Yunho sensed that Changmin was attracted to him -- no one seemed to hide that desire when they were around him, but Changmin, Changmin was the exception. Changmin was the only one who could keep that to himself. He would snap at Yunho whenever Yunho tried caressing him, or even petting him. He said he hated other people’s touch, but that was just a facade. It was the perfect cover for Changmin -- that way he could still pretend to doubt his feelings for Yunho.

Changmin was submerged in the library inside Yunho’s house-like-castle. There were bookcases filled and filled with books. They almost seemed to reach the sky. Books about poetry, romance, war, psychological -- everything Changmin could possibly desire about the written word was there. Nothing was as heavenly as Yunho’s library. Changmin vowed, that once he had his own home, he’d have a library just like Yunho’s -- and then it sank. I don’t want to leave.

The doors to the majestic library opened, and unsettling chaos swept right through, in the form of Yunho and an older woman. She still looked young, her burgundy curly hair swept to the right in a bun. The woman kept her cold gaze glued on Changmin, he gulped an unsettling knot down his throat and did his best in flashing a smile. “Hello,” his voice came out in a low squeak.

“I didn’t know you had guests Yunho-ah.” Why is she speaking so formally to him?

“Mother,” Changmin’s eyes widened when Yunho called the woman, mother. That’s his mother? “Let me present you to someone.” Yunho secured an arm around the woman and led her towards Changmin. “Mother,” he said with a smile, “this is Changmin. Changmin … this is my mother.”

Changmin bowed his head, respecting the female figurine before him. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you madam. I’ve been quite excited to have this opportunity.”

“Is that so?” the woman asked as she cocked her head to the side. There was something about the lad she didn’t like. She could visibly see it in his eyes. Something haunting and despicable. “And why is that?” she asked, she replaced her seriousness with a simple yet very elegant grin.

“Your son Yunho, he’s taken care of me for the past couple of weeks. He has a heart of gold, anyone would be lucky to have him. You’re lucky to have him madam.”

The woman kept studying Changmin’s face expressions -- he was saying the truth.

Does he know about Yunho being immortal? Why is Yunho so happy to have this … boy in his house?

The only thing Aphrodite could do was flash a smile and play along with her son’s new-found emotions for this human creature. She observed how Changmin would look up at Yunho, the way he would stare at his son -- there was a glow in his eyes. And when Changmin spoke to Yunho, it seemed almost like a lover’s whisper, it was calm, delicate, and … passionate.

Aphrodite kept her calm, her eyes scanned Changmin’s body for any sort of defect. There was none -- the boy was … perfect, in his own very humane way.

She felt her figurative heart drop when she caught hold of the birthmark on Changmin’s wrist. A bow and arrow. A shriek escaped her lips, and because of her damned impulse, Aphrodite sent a slap right across Changmin’s fair and soft cheek.

“Mother!” Yunho flashed forward and stood in front of Changmin. If she were to hit the boy he had fallen in love with, she would have to hit him. “What’s wrong with you? Why are you being like this?”

Aphrodite was about to suffer a nervous breakdown. She could not allow this relationship to bloom. “What are your intentions with this boy Yunho-ah? Tell me now, I demand it!”

Yunho’s gaze scanned the wooden floor, as if it contained the answer, but none to his fortune. He turned around and faced Changmin, his big brown eyes were wide, he was scared. “I …” Yunho went speechless. What is this feeling? he questioned. Could it be …

Yunho the side of Changmin’s cheek and planted a small kiss against the corner of Changmin’s thin lips. Changmin went stiff in Yunho’s hold. “I think I’m in love mother,” Yunho mumbled. Aphrodite’s hand twirled Yunho, he was now facing her. She was more than angry, furious. Her chest kept going up and down at a rate that wasn’t human.

“I cannot allow you to love this boy. Not at all. Either you find someone else …” Aphrodite’s eyes locked with Changmin’s, “Or I will have him kicked out into the street. Have him beaten, something worse.”

Changmin held onto Yunho’s hand, he squeezed it hard, as if seeking consolation by a simple touch. A simple touch Changmin had backed down from had it been a previous day. “Mother --” Yunho went speechless. Changmin couldn’t defend himself from the daggers that Aphrodite was sending his way. It was too much to bear. He ran out of the library -- he had to leave, escape if he had to. One thing was for sure, he didn’t feel safe any longer.

“Why did you do that?” Yunho yelled, he undid the tie he was wearing along with the first couple of buttons of his shirt. “For the first time in centuries I fall in love with someone who is worthy enough of my affection. Someone who makes me a better person, and you treat them like this?” Yunho shook his head in dissatisfaction at the whole scenario. His head could not wrap around what had just happened. Hadn’t his mother always told him to find someone worth loving? “I don’t understand.”

“That boy --” Aphrodite was having trouble speaking, she couldn’t belch out her anger, her betrayal. “That boy is your father’s son. He’s your half brother. Your father cheated on me various times. The only way I know that boy is Eros’s son is because of that stupid birthmark.”

“The bow and arrow …” Yunho mumbled. It all made sense to him know. He had been so stupid, so naive. He had seen that image somewhere, he had heard about it too when he was in Mount Olympus. All of Eros’s mortal children had that specific birthmark -- a bow and arrow. It’s what differentiated them from the rest of civilization. They were demigods. “I … I cannot be in love with my half-brother.” Yunho uttered in disbelief. Despite the new information, Yunho’s heart still ached for the lad he had already fallen for. His half-brother.

“You cannot love him Yunho -- it would be as if you’re betraying me, just like your father.” Yunho stared at his mother, her words ringing in slow motion inside his head. He couldn’t let Changmin leave, not now when he felt complete. Yunho deserted his mother inside the library and ran up the stairs that led to Changmin’s room.

Don’t go Changmin, he thought, don’t leave me.

Yunho flung Changmin’s door open and barged inside, he prayed that Changmin hadn’t left, Changmin had to know. Maybe that’s why Yunho had felt so compelled to help Changmin that day he found him on the ground. Something about the lad had sparked Yunho’s interest, and not in a erse way, but in a tender, let-me-take-care-of-you type of way.

“Changmin,” he called out as he walked through Changmin’s room, “Are you here?”

The boy was gone. He hadn’t left a note, nothing. Everything was intact, in place. Changmin hadn’t taken anything. He had only left the clothes that had belonged to Yunho to begin with. A small smile formed upon Yunho’s lips. He took the hoodlum clothes.

----

Three months passed. It took Yunho a day to finish his quota of 20 years. He was miserable, and there was nothing to do other than prey on humans who cared less if they had with a hot stranger or not. Yunho had learned not to even bother with the names. They were meaningless.

He strolled through the dark alleys of Seoul, he was still thinking about Changmin. Three months hadn’t been enough time to erase the young lad from his mind -- hell, the centuries to come wouldn’t be enough to erase Changmin from his mind. Changmin had it all, and Yunho wanted to be a part of everything Changmin had and was willing to offer. Yunho had given everything away already, all in the name of his love for Changmin.

He couldn’t stop thinking that despite his love for Changmin, they were half-brothers; the thought didn’t bother him as much as he thought it would. Weren’t Zeus and Hera brother and sister? How many of the gods in Mount Olympus had been together despite their blood lineage? If they didn’t care, who was Aphrodite to tell him he had to?

Son’s of Eros or not, Yunho loved Changmin, and nothing would change that.

The ring of the bell announced the entering of a new customer. Changmin wiped his face from the flour that decorated the sides of his cheeks. “How may I help you?” he asked as he put the piece of cloth he had used to clean himself. His eyes widened when he caught Yunho staring at the sweets put on display. Yunho looked up to order, his lips parted but no sound came out regarding his order.

“C-Changmin.”

Changmin kept his head up and tried to keep his indifference -- seeing Yunho hadn’t just caused a raging tsunami to splash the insides of his stomach. Of course not. Changmin was stronger than that. “Are you going to order or not? I can’t waste my time, unlike you.”

“Changmin.”

Changmin lined his eyebrows and spat a scoff, “Is that all you can say? Changmin? Why don’t you say something useful and leave!”

“I know why your father left you,” Yunho spoke, “I also know why my mother despised you so much the day you met. I know the significance behind that birthmark of yours … and I also know, that despite those answers, there is only one I truly care about.”

“Which is?” Changmin asked.

“Regardless what others may say, I cannot lie to myself. I love you Changmin, be it healthy or not, I love you. And nothing will change that, not now, not in a million years.”

Changmin had tears pooling in the corner of his eyes -- he had vowed to himself he wouldn’t break, he’d be strong, but who was he to deny what his heart wanted? He had felt so hollow and so empty without the smile of the latter. He too loved Yunho, and it was odd how it all came to surge, but he did. The tears gently flowed down Changmin’s cheeks. He took off his white apron and ran towards Yunho, who welcomed him into a warm and loving embrace.

Yunho smiled. There goes the vomit looking sweater, he thought.

Changmin took the initiative and cupped Yunho’s face, with no sort of hesitation he leaned in and sealed the love they had for one another in the form of a kiss. It was short, yet eternal to Yunho. He was ready to face all the odds, he was ready to face Aphrodite and defend what he felt. It was the right thing to do.

They were both Son’s of Eros -- but Yunho wasn’t sharing that secret anytime soon.