Work Text:
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"The sky I looked up is beautiful
Shall we dance on the moonlight?"
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I.Present
Hyungwon is always caught between timelines, between the past and the present as he leaps through time with the help of his father's beloved watch.He doesn't stay in a place for too long afraid to disrupt the peace but just enough to remember the feeling of that time, however it's never the same,what he longs to feel again always comes in an altered form.
Even if Hyungwon moves through time he is changed by the flow,his perspective shifts and his feelings are different.He can only be an observer but can't intervene unless he wants to change his future, unless he wants to forget the past.
If he changes aspects of his life,he would only be a ghost running through space and time, without a name, without anything to tie him to a place.
He has met another version of himself once, thought of that apparition as if he was some sort of stranger.The watch had a defection or the timeline was perhaps ripped and it created another Hyungwon,who was thrown rapidly and with violence into that abyss of time.He had never seen him again and to this day he still wonders if the other him has found a place to exist.He is mostly afraid that the other him could take his place someday.
Hyungwon sets his watch to a time he had known too well and had left himself to be transported to that night.
II.Past
Once again Kihyun is there,in the same spot as ever, gazing at the constellation carved into the night sky.His eyes are focused on the moon that in turn,reflects into his eyes.Hyungwon has seen the same view thousands of times, travelled to that night that he had seen Kihyun the last time.He had disappeared with the morning light never to face Kihyun in the future.He is afraid of what awaits him there,of what future Kihyun is doing so he keeps that night, cherishes it like it's his most precious possession.Kihyun has never looked more beautiful than he had looked at that time, heaven-sent and radiant,like a flower blossoming under the moon and Hyungwon has loved him so much that he was almost unable to leave.
This Kihyun is never going to despise him for leaving as he lives at a point in their timeline before Hyungwon would do that.He doesn't have to lie to Kihyun here,doesn't have to pretend for both of their sake.
"You are always late"Kihyun gazes at him but he doesn't look mad,he is even smiling brightly at Hyungwon."I thought that I saw a shooting star,you missed it but that only means that I was the one to make the wish so I'm happy for that!"
For some reason even if this Kihyun looks serendipitous there is this strange maturity surrounding him.He looks a bit older,his hair is more of a honey colour instead of the dark brown he usually has.Hyungwon believes it to be a trick of the eye at first.
"Hm and what wish did you make?To get taller?"Hyungwon changes the dialogue sometimes, nothing too important, it's just that after a while he gets tired of the same script and this starts to feel more like a memory than an actual occurrence.He is able to touch and feel Kihyun so it's not just in his head.This is something that he can experience as many times as he wants.A rare gift.
"I won't tell you,it won't come true then"Kihyun says as he throws himself on his back on the grass.It's really a warm night but for some reason Hyungwon feels cold,as if something eerie is happening.He makes his way towards Kihyun and sits next to him taking a moment to admire the moon even if Kihyun's presence next to him serves as a distraction.
There is this strangeness in the air,this unusual feeling of dread that wasn't there before.
Kihyun holds his hand and shifts closer.He is warm and smells like cherries and Hyungwon wants to bury himself into his arms and stop the time forever in place.No matter how many time has passed he misses Kihyun so much that it's harder and harder to leave.He could stay there but he is afraid, afraid of a future that is imminent,that is going to take away people from his life again.
He had lost his parents once but he was able to save them by traveling before the accident,even so he had disappeared after a while, unable to bear his role in all of this.He felt as if he could have been punished for changing their fate.
He is stuck as a time traveler because he is too afraid to face time and its consequences.His own actions.
He lays down as Kihyun moves to rest his head on his arm, almost covering Hyungwon with his smaller body.Hyungwon remembers this a bit differently.Kihyun used to kiss him in greeting.Maybe he has altered the moment more than he had thought.
"Say Hyungwon what would you wish if you saw a shooting star?"Kihyun asks as he buries his nose into Hyungwon's neck.
"I don't believe in things like those.Wishing on a star would do nothing"He doesn't recall them ever having this dialogue either.
"You're such a bore.Just imagine as if it was actually happening"Kihyun plants little kisses on the expanse of Hyungwon's neck and behind his ear as the taller man ponders on his wish.
What does he exactly wish for.What did he actually wanted to find between the unwavering waves of time.
"I would wish for us to be like this always"Hyungwon admits and Kihyun suddenly stops from kissing him.
"Then why did you disappear?"Hyungwon jolts as Kihyun distances himself,his features darkened by sadness.
Hyungwon knows that he was careful not to change this but the inevitable always happens somehow.
"How do you know that"He is shaking now, everything around him is falling apart too fast for him to grasp the reins again.
"The other you told me"Kihyun kneels down to Hyungwon and holds his hands in his smaller ones,steadying him like a lifeline."He-I mean you appeared one day into the future and it was a mistake as that damned watch you have malfunctioned.You told me everything that has happened but never the reason why you left."
"That doesn't make any sense.If you are a version from the future how did you get here?"Hyungwon can't make the cogs turn into his head ,he can't make sense of the situation no matter how much he struggles.This was too unexpected.
"The same way you did.I had used the watch.The other Hyungwon went to his father to help him repair it since it had belonged to him first.I waited and stole it before he could get it back.I wanted to come back here,to this moment.I wanted to remember what I have felt here in order to know if I could forgive you."Kihyun's hands are always warm and secure.Hyungwon has missed him so much but had never thought of the notion that Kihyun would miss him too,never let himself dwell too much on that.
"I know I hurt you but I had my reasons,I had wished that you would move on eventually.That you would forget me.Being alone was a punishment in itself.I was so miserable I didn't want to drag you down into my fears."Hyungwon feels tears running down his cheeks, feels his throat clogged and tight as he can barely breathe.There is a throbbing pain behind his eyelids and in the back of his skull.
"Breathe Hyungwon,I am with you now"Kihyun whispers to him, in that soft caring tone he hasn't heard in a while.Of course that Kihyun would find a way to come to him.If Hyungwon was an endless lost traveler Kihyun was the one to find him and anchor him again.
"I would always come back here because I missed you,it was the only way that I could see you again,even for just a bit of time"
"You were luckier than me because you could come here anytime you wanted but I had no way to see you when I missed you Hyungwon.I was unable to move on since I spent my days wondering if you were still alive.Everyone thought that you had died.I thought so too.I had mourned you but when I saw you again I was so blinded by anger and yet I was so glad that you were alive.Somehow I thought that if you were alive it was enough even if you left me."Kihyun is looking somber than before,there is a tiredness that weighs heavy on his shoulders,that takes a bit from that brightness he always carries.
Even so Kihyun is Kihyun, who despite his struggles would always keep his head up,make sure that everyone else is alright before he is.
"I think that I've made a big mistake.I was too afraid of the future to appreciate what we had then"Hyungwon admits aloud to himself and to Kihyun for the first time.He had that power of the watch and thought that he had finally found how to deal with his anxieties.He had lost so much time and was alone for a long time, isolating himself from everyone and everything.He had abandoned the ones that he loved in the process.
Kihyun wipes Hyungwon's tears with his fingers and caresses his cheeks, soothing him.He knows that he should be angrier but Hyungwon seems as fragile as him in that moment and he is afraid that if he pushes more it would shatter them both.
"You're such a crybaby"Kihyun laughs at him, making Hyungwon smile in return.The tension around them seems to dissipate and they could become more comfortable with each other again.
"Shut up"Hyungwon says as he drags Kihyun into his arms, embracing him tightly.Kihyun responds and puts his arms around him, buries his head in Hyungwon's sweater and tries to hide his tears.
To Hyungwon this feels like coming home.
"Seriously never pull something like this again.I will literally chase you through time and fight you"Kihyun threatens him and Hyungwon is aware that he would do exactly as he says.He never doubts Kihyun's power of will nor he dares to.
"I promise.No more running away"
They stay like that for a bit, swaying slightly in each other's arms under the moonlight.Hyungwon takes it a step further and gathers Kihyun's face into his palms to kiss him on the lips.It's sweet and slow at first but then turns into something more deeper as they both get completely lost into each other's presence.The future has to wait for them now.
Daylight falls on them a bit too quickly and the morning finds them sprawled on the grass still caught in an embrace.Kihyun is the first to rise and help Hyungwon get up despite his insistent protests.He pulls Kihyun down once more to snog him senseless before the smaller man can escape.
"It's time for us to part now"Kihyun suddenly announces and Hyungwon blinks at him in confusion.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I will have to go back to my timeline and you will have to stay here and meet me in the past.We had already altered this night so I am not sure what is going to happen but in order for us to meet again we need to do that in the future."Kihyun explains but he looks unsure about the concept of time.They are working on an unexplored territory.Anything could happen.
"But shouldn't we stay here and just continue from now on?"Hyungwon himself is pondering over the notions.The laws of time traveling that they see in movies are different than in reality it seems.
"I already know too much about the future but you have to live onwards and see it for yourself,face your fears about it.I don't know what is going to happen but what is certain is that I'll wait for you in the future no matter what happens."Kihyun kisses him on the lips again,seals that promise there for the future."Please don't take too much time"
"I'll be there then.It's a promise"Hyungwon smiles at him giving him one last peck on his forehead as a goodbye.
Kihyun steps into the sunlight as he synchronises his watch two years into the future.That is how much those versions of themselves have to wait to be with each other again.
For the first time Hyungwon watches as Kihyun is the first to leave.They share a few more smiles in silence and then ,in the blink of an eye Kihyun is gone.
III.Present
As he turns to leave, however he is met with another version of his lover who looks as if he had appeared from over the hill.
"Ah there you are!You disappeared when I woke up and I got worried"This is the Kihyun that he had left that day and he is so grateful to be standing there facing him once more.He has a lot of time to make up for the trouble he had given Kihyun.
"I am here now,I won't make you worry anymore"Hyungwon embraces Kihyun who looks more confused than ever.He just hopes that future Kihyun is as happy as he is at that moment.
"Tomorrow I’ll be waiting, always"
IV.Future
Kihyun's head spins after he is transported back.All that time traveling has put a toll on his body.He doesn't know how Hyungwon was able to do that all the time.
The decor around him is changed and instead of being in the middle of his tiny apartment he has appeared into a bigger one,cosier and with what seems to be better furniture.
There are pictures hanging on the walls and he can clearly see a portrait of himself and Hyungwon dressed in white suits showing their rings to the photographer.Kihyun had never seen himself smile so brightly like that.Memories of the times he doesn't remember to have happened rush through his head,the existence of his past self and the one he was now merging into a single one.
"You sure took your time"Hyungwon smiles at him from across the room.He looks older, happier and as dazzling as ever.He is the person that Kihyun would fall in love over and over again."Welcome home"
Kihyun is aware that he won't be able to ever let go of Hyungwon and that he would always choose to do everything he can in order to save him.Perhaps it wasn't a mistake when Hyungwon was thrown into his life once again, perhaps it was the universe trying to push them back towards each other,to this very moment.
Maybe some things are just meant to be left the way they are.
"I'm home now"