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The boy never appears at the same time twice.
He sends no signals of his arrival, not with the chime of a bell nor a splash of the water, and yet Jongseong could not explain how he always knew of his presence. It felt lighter than the force of a magnet, when one tried to bring both North’s or South’s together, the invisible resistance strong and opposing each other, creating great tremors in the holders hand.But it was not so light it could go unobserved, rather it was the perfect sensation in his neck, back and, shoulders that told him something transpired near him.
The first time the feeling struck him was on a lonely night. The murky fog had polluted the skies, and Jongseong was unable to peer up at the stars. A telescope was not a beauty in his possession, as his eyes saw enough on a clearer day. Though he hadn’t realised he’d feel so physically unnerved by the inability to gaze at the cosmos, that his upper body would flinch out of the blue, prodded by sensations he had never felt. Maybe, he thought as he repositioned and shuffled around his bed, a telescope could be a worthy investment.
However, the tickles did not stop, nor the rapid flinch akin to his skin being flicked by a finger and most importantly his loneliness did not cease. It was then, all of a sudden, the urge to leave the solitude of his warm bed pulled at him. Though having never felt the desire before, Jongseong dressed himself in an appropriate attire for a chill night close to the coast of the sea, and headed towards the sand in no area particularly. He simply felt that the remedy to his loneliness would be found there, somehow.
Carefully removing his shoes, Jongseong revels in the warmth of the sand, walking over to the water shining under the moonlight. The darkness of the night, and the fog excluding the starlight meant he was unable to appreciate the scenery, for he could not see enough to describe.
Then, for a moment, he stills, at the sight of a young figure sat poised and gazing over the sea. He continues walking in curiosity, as the tingles in his body dissipated slowly, as did his previous anxiety.
He decides to accompany him from a few steps away, so that they were not at all close, but once words had been exchanged it wouldn’t be difficult to hear.
The boy had long black hair, roughed up at his nape, not a strand reaching past the corner of his shoulder. His posture was perfect, as was his sharp nose, completing his face beautifully. There was a shine below his eye, as long as his nose, and Jongseong pondered if it was the natural oils of his face, the reflection of the light or the boy simply just glowed. His lips were small, close to his face and relaxed. The most striking feature of all, though, was the illuminate pattern creeping up at his neck. From the side, Jongseong was only able to see a select few whimsical swirls, like vines made of silver embedded into his skin. They were as gorgeous as the stars he was missing, and he wondered what the entity beside him truly was.
“I believe they are made of the dust of fallen stars.”
His voice is quiet, but not small, and had an almost melodic sound to it. Jongseong finds himself repeating the words in his head, but no memory of the voice could live up to its reality.
“Has it always been there?” He replied back after a moment, thinking over the stories he’d been told throughout his life about a group of beings belonging to the stars.
The boy turns to look Jongseong, “For as I long as I have lived.”
He smiles in appreciation, “It is beautiful.”
The boy with long hair, ethereal ornamentation branded in skin and a charming smile reaches a hand out, his fingers positioned in the reverse of how one would hold a quill and asks,
“My name is Jungwon. Would you like to see the stars?”
——
From then on, on lonely dismal nights, where the carelessness of humans disallowed Jongseong to find his solace in the sky, they’d meet by the edge of the land and talk. Of their worries, their passions and their hopes. Jongseong found that his melancholy never ceased, but Jungwons silvery voice made it easier to bare.
The greatest part of the night however, was when Jongseong took his hand softly, closed his eyes and allowed the boy to make it so that his eyelids were as black as a deep night, and the stars birthed before him, melting, exploding, splattering and revealing themselves. To hear waves wash over, see an incandescent array of stars in his eyes, and feel the silky skin of Jungwons hand created a most delightful, astonishing experience.
Somehow, Jungwon had turned his lonely nights into ones of great beauty, such that at the first sign of loneliness he no longer felt the end of the world impending on him, nor the pain of a thousand men at war, but a childish excitement grow inside of him.
That was until a night so despairing, that even the physical call to Jungwon, crawling at his skin, was not enough to get him out of bed. He laid there, in his bed, feeling unworthy of the stars. Unworthy of Jungwons sublime presence. As he cleaned the edge of a dirtied knife, he no longer felt the difference between the sensation of the call, and the pain in the cuts of his arm.
He despised his episodes of mindless sadness, where he isolated from all that was alive. He hadn’t felt the rays of the sun in days, nor the wind of the night. With a heavy heart he resided alone in his home, with no telescope or Jungwon to see the stars.
A few nights later he returned to Jungwon. As always, the boy was there, watching the waves overlap each other. When Jongseong sat beside him he noticed the art on Jungwons neck glow strong for a moment, before returning to it’s original shine. He wondered if it meant Jungwon had missed him just as much.
That night they did not watch the stars, because Jongseong preferred to watch him. He confided regretfully in the boy, who had gently coaxed the truth out of him, and Jungwon made a promise at the end of their conversation.
“I will make it so that I am not here only when you are lonely, but when you are joyful too.”
___
“Will you allow me to heal it tonight?”
Jongseong thought over the question for a moment, looking down at the sand, “Have you figured a way in which you will not have to look at it?”
His eyes looked away, “I’m afraid not.”
“Then no, it is too shameful to allow you to see.” Subconsciously, he cradled his scarred arm to himself, uncomfortable with the thought of someone so wonderful to be stressed with the reality of his sorrows.
“Shameful? Do you believe that is was you think?”
The question was odd to Jongseong, “Well of course, I am humiliated by the actions of myself when not right in mind.” It was the truth.
Jungwon shook his head gently, “I believe you are burdened by them not ashamed. To show me would solidify it’s existence and you do not feel ready for your burden to be a reality.”
He lifted his head, scanning the sea as he breathed swift laughter incredulously to himself, “Burdened you say? Humorous is it not? To think that I scarred myself due to the weight of my burdens, yet they have now become it.”
Jungwon tilted his head towards him by his chin, his eyes wide and safe, “I can not pretend to understand your reasoning, but I wish for you to accept my help as there no one else i’d rather use my powers on.
He softened in his grip before detaching it as his thoughts ran free, “We have not known eachother long. You can’t possibly know if i am worthy yet.”
“I feel it.” He nodded his words sincerely.
“Where?”
He brought Jongseong’s hands to the irradiate patterns on his neck, shining and his skin pulsing, “Here.”
He caressed it with his thumb, mumbling, “I feel you there too.”
“Must worth be felt to be real?” Jungwon continued their earlier conversation, “You are worthy because you are you, and if I felt none of this i’d still believe in your purpose Jongseong.”
His eyes glistened with tears, and the boys simply looked at eachother adoringly for several moments, “I thank you Jungwon, for I have never heard such words before.”
He smiled back at him, with his eyebrows scrunching in an attempt at convincing him, “There is more to come, if you would allow me to?”
Jongseong rolled up his sleeve and closed his eyes, as stars exploded behind them, and the touch of Jungwon healed both his scars and his woes at once.