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It's nearing midnight, and Heeseung patiently waits. The lamp on his bedside table casts a warm shine across the cream-coloured pages of his book, inked letters barely legible under the soft glare of his silver-rimmed lenses.
He quietly turns over a page. The soft rustling of leaves can be heard from his open window.
Then the clock chimes twelve, and his finger slows to hover above a crinkled corner of his page. An icy gust of wind blows into his room, sending shivering waves rippling against his goosebumped skin. He gently smoothes out the folded edge, paper feeling gravelly under his palm as his eyes drift sideways.
"Waiting for me?"
Heeseung looks up from his book. A smile spreads across his lips.
The bed creaks gently when he swivels around to stand, bare feet padding over stiff wooden boards to quietly greet the beaming figure perched on his windowsill.
"You're late today," Heeseung murmurs, fingers tracing over shimmering, fair skin.
"Let me in," the figure whispers in response. "It's cold out." Long arms reach out for him, white fabric of a blouse riding up against a pale, godly expanse of skin. His heart can't help but flutter when he reaches to gently wrap his arms around a delicate waist, lifting the figure in a gentle spin-around his room.
There's nothing that can glow brighter in his embrace than the angelic reverie before him, pink lips stretched into a pretty smile as ice cold fingertips dip under his shirt collar, clasping around the nape of his neck. "I missed you."
The voice sounds phantasmal in Heeseung's feeble mind, yet it sparks the evergrowing fire that licks its way up his stomach. Tentatively, he lowers the glowing entity onto the ground, one thumb softly stroking a pinkened cheek, fingers digging into the expanse of a small back. "Sunghoon..."
A melodic laugh leaves Heeseung craving for more of the delightful sound as he slowly tugs Sunghoon closer to him, lips ghosting over porcelain skin. "Heeseung." The pink-haired boy presses a delicate kiss to the latter's jugular, relishing in the soft release of breath that escapes into the heavy air.
"He caught you, didn't he." Heeseung doesn't get an answer. Sunghoon's hand tugs on the collar of his shirt, pulling him across the room in a tantalizing daze. "Dance with me, hyung."
Who is he to deny the younger anything?
The faint crackle of his radio buzzes to life. Heeseung feels the music flood his ears, letting his body flow alongside Sunghoon's in that naturally instinctive way of his. Perhaps he's too immersed to notice himself become suspended in the air, a fleeting touch against his calloused fingers guiding him around the dimly lit room. Perhaps he has grown to be familiar with the sensation.
Soft guitar chords strum into the air, distinctive notes weaving in and around the two as they float across the room, loving smiles and feathery touches exchanged to the dream-like beat.
Did I drive you away?
I know what you'll say...
Heeseung brings Sunghoon closer to him, gaze hopelessly visionary as he kisses the younger, feeling him melt against his soft lips.
But I promise you this...
His back gently hits the bed as the music scratches on, words filling his head as his hands run up a shivering torso.
I'll always look out for you. Yeah, that's what I'll do.
Sunghoon's breaths are hot and heavy against his neck. Heeseung's hands map out soft, gleaming skin, pretty and picturesque and utterly heavenly under his burning fingers.
I say, "Oh".
"Heeseung..." Sunghoon's whispers of his name spill into his ear over and over again. "Heeseung..."
The younger is incandescent, glowing above him, sheen of sweat rendering him an embodiment of the pale moonlight.
Sunghoon is the moon personified. Heeseung's stars twinkle around him, bending to his will.
My heart is yours.
Sunghoon lets out a sharp cry, a piercing echo that drowns into the slow, continuous plucking of strings, chords melting away into the night.
.
.
The song is stuck on repeat. Heeseung hums along to the poetic melody, vibrations against Sunghoon's lips as they kiss gently, the cool current of air coursing over heated skin like icy ribbons.
"I love you." Heeseung pulls away to gaze into Sunghoon's quiet eyes, moving to gently peck at the mole on his cheek. "You know that, right?" The younger nods shyly.
"They say," Heeseung whispers against trembling skin, lips dragging across to mouth at another mole dotting Sunghoon's collarbone. "Moles mark places where your past soulmate kissed you a lot." The younger shivers when he gently nips at the area. "Do you believe that?"
A soft, breathy laugh sounds just above him. "I believe anything and everything. You should know that already."
"Do you believe in me, Sunghoon?"
"When have I not?"
"Then...do you believe in us? Do you believe we have a future together?"
"Heeseung—" The skin before him pales the slightest. "We've talked about this before." And Heeseung hates it.
He pulls away, watching Sunghoon's eyes widen at the sharp movement. "And how long are we going to keep this up? Days? Months? Years? You have all the time in the world, Sunghoon, but I—"
The younger's crescent eyes well up like shiny crystal drops, threatening to cascade down his cheeks. "Don't, Heeseung, please—"
"Do you even love me?" A sharp inhale reverberates against Heeseung's aching heart. "H-how could you even say that? Of course I do!"
"Then why does it feel like—you aren't trying?" Heeseung sighs, and Sunghoon's lashes flutter with pain. "I wait for you everyday, Sunghoon, and each time you—" He cuts himself off when a loud sniffle sounds in the heavy space between them. "I just hate that you're drifting away from me." He murmurs, voice softer.
"I'm sorry, hyung." Heeseung sees the familiar look of hurt flashing across Sunghoon's face, porcelain-like features cracking away to show vulnerability; his very weakness. "I'm so sorry." And it's this look that Heeseung cannot win over.
He reaches upwards to gently brush away the crystalline tear that smarts in the corner of Sunghoon's sparkling orbs, watching as the younger leans into his touch. He watches as the lips that drooped mere moments ago immediately melt away to reveal a soft smile. "You know I love you, hyung. So much."
"I know." His voice doesn't sound right, but the moment his lips make contact with Sunghoon's, it's like he never understood why he worried about anything at all. It's magical, the way his heart suddenly swells when the younger presses his ice cold fingers against his nape, cooling the thoughts in his mind. The way Sunghoon's face sparkles when he pulls away, eyes glittering in those alluring ways of theirs.
"Stay." He whispers, and Sunghoon's breath catches. "Hyung, I—"
"Please." Heeseung moves over to the slope of the younger's jaw, mouthing at the pretty skin there while his hands inch around a fluttering abdomen. "Stay."
Sunghoon's "okay" is nothing short of a tremor in his ears.
.
.
If he had known Sunghoon would be gone in the morning, Heeseung would have never asked. The rustling of leaves streaming through the open window is the only thing that stirs him from his sleep. The younger's side of the bed is cold to the touch, but he isn't surprised. He shouldn't have been surprised. But perhaps there's a side of him that wonders if there would be a day when he would wake up, and the younger would be there under the covers with him.
The funny thing is that Heeseung doesn't feel anything. He stares at the sheets beside him wordlessly, the faint flutterings of his heart settling into the silence. He should feel something. The nape of his neck tingles, and he touches it absentmindedly.
The funnier thing is that he doesn't even remember much. Besides, Sunghoon would be back next time. And he will always wait, wait until the end of time.
"I do not remember giving you permission to leave." Sunghoon freezes in place, heart rabbiting out of his chest as he looks up. "I had to relieve myself."
His voice is loud and it echoes through the room, but he knows it's not strong enough.
"It surely wouldn't take 30 minutes to relieve oneself." The gruff voice wheezes around a laugh, and Sunghoon grits his teeth.
"I guess I've been locked up for so long that I seem to have lost all sense of time." Sunghoon's glittering eyes flash with defiance up at the looming figure, and he relishes in the surge of anger that unravels through his stiffening posture.
"And you'll be in there for twice as long as last time if you continue to talk back."
He scoffs. "You wouldn't do that to your only son."
"If it's the only way to keep him safe, then so be it." He cannot believe his ears. "Keep him safe? You're ruining him!"
"Do not talk back to me!" The figure stands up, unable to contain his fury, and Sunghoon realizes with wide eyes how much bigger he looks now. His loathing grows just as much.
"I am my own person, father. You should not be telling me what to do or where to go."
The look on his father's face is incomprehensible. "You must be out of your mind. Do you not realize, Sunghoon? That I know much, much more than I let on?" And for a moment, Sunghoon is scared.
"Clip them." There's a faint ringing that resounds in his ears before it sinks in. "W-what? You can't, father—"
"Clip. Them." The words are smooth, uncut syllables, piercing jabs into his heart. His father turns to his side, glaring at the one person Sunghoon trusts more than himself. "I will not ask again." The smaller figure trembles.
"Hey, we can talk about this, right?" Sunghoon's voice shakes with every step he takes, noticing the sheen in the other's eyes. "You know you don't have to listen to him."
"I'm sorry, Sunghoon-ah. I'm so sorry."
"Jay—" And with a click and a scream of pure agony, his wings—his only way of meeting Heeseung—shatter to the ground like porcelain.