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“You’re beautiful.” Seungmin whispers. Hyeongjun freezes above him, eyes widening. His hands shake, the knife in them pressing deeper into the skin of Seungmin’s throat.
“Shut up.” Hyeongjun’s hands tremble harder. “Shut up!”
“You’re so beautiful, Hyeongjun.” Seungmin smiles up at Hyeongjun. “You’re the most beautiful boy I’ve ever seen.”
The knife is ripped away from Seungmin’s neck as Hyeongjun scrambles back, pushing himself as far away from Seungmin as he can manage on their little battleground. Seungmin pushes himself up on his elbows, breathing out a small sigh of relief. The night air sends a chill down to his bones, but Seungmin doesn’t mind it. Not when he’s with Hyeongjun.
“Go away.” A small voice says from behind Seungmin. “Just go away.”
Seungmin sighs and shifts on the hill, turning to look at Hyeongjun. “I can’t. I haven’t healed the gods yet.”
“You haven’t healed them because you’re the one making them sick!” Hyeongjun’s voice grows loud, strong. “It’s you humans that are doing this, you humans that fill the gods with your filth and your iron and then you come and say that you’re going to ‘fix’ it. What we need is not for you to try to heal them, what we need is for you to leave.”
“I didn’t do this, Hyeongjun. I’m not a part of the village down there. I left my people to come and heal the gods, and until I’ve healed them, I am honor bound to stay here.” Seungmin sighs again. “Even the village. . . I cannot condemn them. Lady Nayeon is not right in her ambitions, yet she is not wrong in them either.”
Hyeongjun’s eyes shine with tears as he stares back at Seungmin, his knife clutched against his chest. “You cannot condemn them?” He whispers. “You tell me that you are not a creator of the rot, that you wish to heal the gods, but that you cannot condemn the very thing that is killing us? You are a fool, Prince Seungmin. You have left your people for nothing.”
“Perhaps I am a fool, but I will not abandon my quest or this village. This is our world as it is yours! Do you think the village intends this? Do you think Lady Nayeon took joy in hearing that her work poisoned a boar god, and that I was forced to take his life? Do you think the women in those factories, heating and pouring and hammering the iron, hope that the gods of the forest grow sick from their smoke?”
“I think that they are humans, and they know nothing.” Hyeongjun hisses. He pushes himself to his feet, hovering over Seungmin. “I think that they are violent and stupid. That village will kill themselves, slowly but surely. Look at you, Seungmin. They shot you. One of their own, a stranger just like the rest of them. And now you lay here with a ball of iron in your thigh, and you tell me they did not wish for violence?”
“You attacked them, Hyeongjun, they were only – “
“I attacked them because they have attacked my home! The village in this valley has declared war on the lands and creatures that surround it! A retaliation is expected, is necessary!”
Seungmin moves to push himself to his feet but falters, grunting in pain. His thigh stings where the bullet cut into his flesh, blood crusting around the edges of the wound as a steady trickle of red soaks into the fabric of Seungmin’s pants. Hyeongjun observes his failed attempts to stand, chewing on his lip.
“There is a cave, not to far from here.” Hyeongjun’s voice is soft again, his anger covered by worry. “You can rest there for the night. Come.” Seungmin finally shoves himself to his feet and hobbles after Hyeongjun, down the rocky hill towards the cave.
It’s larger than Seungmin anticipated, the cracked walls coated with drawings. Splashes of dried red paint lead Seungmin further into the cave, towards a pile of plain cloth and thick furs. Hyeongjun stands before it, fitting his knife back into his belt. He looks back and Seungmin and tilts his head. “You followed me.”
Seungmin swallows. “You told me there was a cave where I could rest and heal. You have brought me to a cave where I can rest and heal.”
“It’s also a cave where I could slit your throat or carve your heart out while you sleep. You’re either very brave or even more of a fool than I’ve already accused you of being.”
“I wouldn’t much mind, if you cut out my heart.” Seungmin blurts out. Hyeongjun blinks incredulously at him. “I think that part of me may already belong to you.”
A pink flush rises on Hyeongjun’s cheeks and he turns away from Seungmin. “Shut up. You speak without your mind.” He selects a few furs from the pile and steps to the side, laying them on the floor a few feet from the large pile. “I will sleep here tonight. You may stay a few nights longer if you require. And then you should leave this land.”
“Thank you.” Seungmin says. He trudges towards the furs, shedding his coat, hood, and belt as he goes. Hyeongjun’s eyes remain on Seungmin as he makes himself comfortable, snuggling into the warmth. “Sleep well, Hyeongjun.” Hyeongjun merely hums.
.
(Hyeongjun wakes in the middle of the night. The cave is mostly dark, thin shafts of moonlight pooling near the entrance. Seungmin snores away in the pile of furs only a few feet away. Hyeongjun extracts himself from his own furs and quietly makes his way to Seungmin’s side. It’s tricky to pull the fur away from Seungmin’s leg and expose the wound, but Hyeongjun manages. Seungmin snores on. Hyeongjun leans down for a better look at the skin. He sucks in a breath.
It’s healed. Seungmin’s wound has been healed in its entirety, the only indication of his pain the dried blood on his thin pants. Hyeongjun has seen this before, this magical healing. But it’s an honor reserved for the forest. Reserved for those protected by the Forest Spirit.
He stares at Seungmin’s slumbering face. He seems. . . kinder, like this. It isn’t as though Seungmin isn’t kind, but there’s a desperation to him that bleeds into all of his actions, blurring the meaning behind them. It’s part of what has had Hyeongjun so wary of this man. But the Forest Spirit itself has deigned to heal Seungmin, to reach into this stranger’s body and flood the very essence of their forest into his veins. Perhaps Hyeongjun can trust Seungmin if the Forest Spirit does.
Minjung howls from outside the cave, Eunjung joining her moments after. Hyeongjun pushes himself to his feet, making his way towards the entrance of the cave. He pauses in the moonlight, stealing one last glance at Seungmin. He should hope that he never sees the boy again. A traitorous part of Hyeongjun’s heart hopes the prince will stay.
Hyeongjun shakes his head and joins his sisters.)
.
They’re standing together on the razed expanse of dirt, the villagers slowly creeping out of hiding. Seungmin tightens his arm around Hyeongjun’s waist and presses their foreheads together, looking deep into Hyeongjun’s glimmering eyes. “Do you see now why I could not condemn them?” He whispers. The words hang in the air between them, tentative and fragile.
“I do.” Hyeongjun whispers back. He presses his forehead more firmly against Seungmin’s, raises his hands to rest of Seungmin’s shoulders. “I do understand.”
Seungmin closes his eyes and breathes a sigh of relief, relaxing into Hyeongjun’s touch. “Thank you. I cannot justify what they did to the forest, what they did to your mother, what they had started doing to you. I just –“ Hyeongjun gently shushes Seungmin, his thumbs rubbing against Seungmin’s bare skin.
“You need not justify it. You cannot justify it. But they have learned, the village has seen, and they will not do it again. They will make their iron alongside the forest, not in spite of it.”
“Your soul matches the gentleness I see in your eyes.” Seungmin breathes. Hyeongjun blushes. “I would give my entire soul for a fraction of the good within yours.”
“I would not take your soul, Seungmin.” Hyeongjun pauses. He weighs the words on his tongue. “I would take you whole, though. As you are now. As you will be in our world’s eternity.” Seungmin’s heart stutters in his chest.
“Hyeong. . . Hyeongjun. . .”
“Come with me.” Hyeongjun begs. His arms wrap around Seungmin’s neck, tugging them even further together. “The forest will welcome you, and so will my sisters. I cannot – I will not ever return to the world of the humans. But the world of the gods will open for you, Seungmin. Please. Come with me.”
“They need me, Hyeongjun. They need me desperately.” Hyeongjun withdraws his arms from Seungmin’s neck and squeezes his eyes shut, holding in his tears. He makes to turn away from Seungmin but he wraps his other arm around Hyeongjun’s waist, warm and firm. “I will come with you.” Hyeongjun’s eyes fly open. “Just not now.”
“If not now then when?” The tears are falling now, glistening droplets down Hyeongjun’s pink cheeks. “I will lose you if you stay.”
“You will not lose me.” Seungmin soothes. “I will help them build enough roofs to cover their children and their sick, will help them find enough food for the village as it recovers and regrows. I will help them commune with the forest, and when they are sheltered and safe and in harmony with the gods of this land, I will come to you.”
“And you will stay?”
“And I will stay until eternity snips our threads and ties them off together.”
A howl echoes along the barren land, a second joining it soon after. Hyeongjun throws his head back where he stands in Seungmin’s arms, his voice joining his sisters. Seungmin looks on in awe. Hyeongjun blushes when he meets Seungmin’s gaze again. “It’s odd, isn’t it? To hear someone with a human visage howl like a wolf?”
“Your voice is as beautiful as everything else about you. If it is yours, it is nothing less than perfection in my eyes.” Seungmin leans in. “Must you go?”
“Yes.” Hyeongjun looks to his side, at the forest from where his sisters call to him. “Minjung and Eunjung get anxious when we’re apart for too long. I’m their precious baby brother. And we just lost our mother. I’m standing in the ruins of the village that murdered her, in the arms of a man they are still undecided about. We need to regroup and discuss. We need to heal, just like the village does.” Hyeongjun reaches up and fiddles with his necklace, untying the tight knots of cord. He pulls one of Seungmin’s arms from his waist and takes Seungmin’s hand in his. He rubs his thumb over Seungmin’s cracked, scarred knuckles before turning his hand over, Seungmin’s palm facing up. Hyeongjun places the necklace in Seungmin’s hand and curls his fingers around the wolves’ teeth woven into the cord. “When you’re finished, use this. You’ll find me in the forest.”
“How? How can I find you with just a necklace?”
Hyeongjun just smiles up at Seungmin. “You’ll figure it out, when the time is right. When you’re coming back to me.” He takes a step back and Seungmin lets him, his arm loosening around Hyeongjun’s waist. He takes another step back and Seungmin’s hand falls to his side, limp. They stand there, drinking each other in, silent goodbyes in their eyes and lips and hearts.
Another howl sounds and Hyeongjun responds, throaty and trembling. He takes a breath and darts forward. His lips press against Seungmin’s in a feather-light kiss and then Hyeongjun is turning away, running across the ruined earth towards the forest, towards his sisters. He doesn’t turn back and Seungmin wonders if he should be insulted until his heart seizes with realization. Why should Hyeongjun turn around? He is simply trusting that Seungmin will follow him.
Seungmin watches as Hyeongjun grows smaller and smaller in his vision, disappearing in a flash of white as his sisters reclaim their baby brother. He brings his fingers up to his lips and brushes over them. Their lips barely touched and yet Seungmin feels as if his skin has been burned away, left red and raw by the passion in Hyeongjun’s every move. He already craves more of Hyeongjun’s lips, is already missing the feel of Hyeongjun’s body safe and warm in his arms. The urge to follow him is nearly excruciating. It would be so easy to trace Hyeongjun’s footsteps across the mud, to trek through the forest with the necklace as a guide. But Seungmin has a job to do, a responsibility to the village and to Lady Nayeon. He feels no guilt in destroying it – the destruction was necessary. And yet Seungmin cannot condemn these people, so he will stay, and he will help. For however long it will take.
They’ll beg him to stay forever, Seungmin knows. Lady Nayeon will ask him to her newly constructed home and offer him a life with the village. Children will tug at his pants and shirt and beg him to not go, to stay and tell them stories and play games. All while Hyeongjun waits for him in the world of the gods. Seungmin has been naught but a servant all his life – a prince for his people, a tool for the village, a healer for the gods. Hyeongjun doesn’t consider Seungmin to be anything like a servant – he would never. His heart is far too good. But Seungmin will not complain about the control Hyeongjun has over him, the ease with which he slips through Seungmin’s mind and heart and tugs him in Hyeongjun’s direction. He is Hyeongjun’s loyal attendant, and Seungmin will follow him the moment the last bit of strength in his muscles fades away.
.
(The forest has changed so much in a short time. Singed trees and blackened grass sing with green life now, welcoming Seungmin as he plods along dirt paths and through briar-coated clearings. It’s good to see the land rejuvenated and whole, yet Seungmin cannot help but to feel an emptiness as he walks. The forest isn’t quite the same anymore. It won’t ever be.
Where Seungmin is going, he has no clue. He goes where the wolves’ teeth around his neck take him, tracing a convoluted path into the depth of the forest. Past waterfalls and orchards Seungmin goes, marching forward. Hyeongjun is at the end of his journey. It is all that keeps Seungmin moving.
The pond where Seungmin stops to rest is crystal clear, its water as still as a rock. A boar drinks from the lake. It meets Seungmin’s eyes when it finishes, assesses him, and turns to trot leisurely back into the undergrowth. Seungmin poses no threat to the boar. He wonders how it had known.
Hands press over his eyes and suddenly Seungmin cannot breathe, tears welling in his eyes as calloused fingertips skim across his eyelids. An airy giggles echoes behind him and Seungmin covers the smaller hands with his, pulling them down from his eyes. He turns quickly and then there is Hyeongjun, looking up at Seungmin as if he were the one who had sowed the entire forest all those centuries ago.
“You came.” Hyeongjun whispers, and Seungmin takes Hyeongjun’s face between his hands and kisses him, slowly and deeply.
“How could I not?” Seungmin whispers as they part. “You are the most beautiful boy I have ever seen and the master of my heart and soul. It would be a crime against the gods to not come back to you, and I vowed to never commit one of those again.”
Hyeongjun smiles, wide and lovely, and tugs Seungmin after him towards the trees. “Come, my Seungmin. My sisters are waiting for you.”
So Seungmin follows his Hyeongjun into a different forest than the one he entered, into the world of the gods.)