Lie to Me
Title: Lie to Me
Author: dracoslovebunny
Pairing: JunKwang
Status: Oneshot
Genre: Romance, AU, Fantasy
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Slash (not graphic)
Word count: 2,736
Summary: In which Kikwang finds Junhyung's diary, and not all is as it seems.
A/N: Written as part of my ongoing ALL-PAIRINGS 15-fic self-challenge. Each fic is a standalone (not part of the same storyline as the others). Fics are prompted by A Little Left of Logical. Title is the prompt.
Previous Installments:
Accident/KiWoon // Imitation of Life/JunWoon // Passing Flame/JunSeung // The Moment/KiSeob // Crave/DooKwang // Massage/DooWoon // Burn/KiSeung // Snack/DongSeob // Letters from Nowhere/2Jun
"I love you."
Kikwang accepted the long, loving kiss that was placed on his lips. His eyes fell shut at the contact, feeling strong hands caress his back. Then the kiss was broken, and Junhyung looked into his eyes with a deep passion. "I love you, too," Kikwang returned.
Junhyung ran his hand gently along Kikwang's jawline, then brought their lips together again before stepping away. "I've really got to be going, though, or I'll be late."
Kikwang pulled him back for another lingering kiss. "Let your students have a few minutes of playtime, then..."
Junhyung chuckled, taking a step back again. "You know I'd love to, but I can't."
Releasing a small, childish whine, Kikwang adjusted Junhyung's tie. "Fine. Go whip those university students into shape, History Professor Yong."
Junhyung planted a kiss on Kikwang's cheek before saying, "Love you, Angel." He opened the front door and stepped out.
"Love you too." Kikwang waved as Junhyung walked to his car, then shut the door behind him.
Kikwang turned to observe the large front room of Junhyung's old house. He figured the older man must have inherited it from family, since a professor's salary could never afford such a luxurious place. It was spacious and kind of old-fashioned, but absolutely full of antiques that looked more expensive than everything Kikwang owned combined.
He wadered lazily through the rooms of the house. He'd been through the place a number of times, but it seemed he was always finding new things to look at. His boyfriend's affinity for history must have been the reason he owned so much old stuff. Still, though a lot of the items in the house made him feel like he shouldn't touch them out of fear of breaking them and being eternally indebted to Junhyung, there was something very comfortable about the place, a very lived-in feeling.
After making his way through most of the rest of the house, Kikwang found himself in Junhyung's personal library. The shelves lining the walls and crammed full of book dating as recently as that year and as far back as... well, Kikwang didn't really know how old some of them were, seemed kind of imposing. But he liked to thumb through some of the older books, being careful with their aged pages, and see the way the world was seen years and years ago.
Kikwang ran his fingers gently over the bindings of the books on a shelf set back in the furthest corner of the room. Most of the books on that particular shelf looked like they hadn't been touched in years, but his hand found one that had no dust on it at all, and he reached out to pull it free. Instead of a book, though, he received just a binding with some false pages about two inches in width. Kikwang stared at it curiously before looking deeper on the bookshelf and realizing it was being used to cover another book. He took out the black, leather-bound book and looked at the outside carefully. There was no title, no author. Nothing was printed on the outside of the book. Kikwang opened to a random page toward the end, and saw written in flowing handwriting,
"- spending a lot of my time these days with him. He is funny and cute, with a bright smile that warms my heart in a way I have never felt before. I fear I may be falling in love with Lee Kikwang, and I don't -"
Kikwang shut the book with a snap. He realized then that he had found Junhyung's personal diary. He really shouldn't be looking at it; it had the man's most inner thoughts and private feelings. After staring at the book for a long time, Kikwang cautiously reopened it, his curiosity getting the better of him.
On the first page, all that was written was, "Volume 314 - Dates 12 October, 2006 through _____"
Kikwang was confused by the "Volume 314" part, but turned to the next page to read what his lover had written.
Most of what he read was the same thing he would expect to find in any journal, inner musings and the kinds of feelings one was usually only comfortable expressing to themselves, or in this case to a book expected not to reach others' eyes. The entries were spaced about a week apart, and some were very short. In fact, none surpassed two pages in length, until he reached the first entry of 2011.
It was the first time his name was mentioned, and it described the first time he and Junhyung had met. Based on what he read, he had left quite an impact on his boyfriend even with their brief interaction. He felt a little ashamed as he read about Junhyung's private feelings toward him from that time. Still, he kept going. Then, in an entry written a few months later, he read a passage that left a strange sensation in his chest.
14 April, 2011
He has me captivated. I am unable to resist the man's charms, no matter how I try. I have avoided this very feeling for as long as I can remember, and yet every time I see him, every time we are together, I cannot resist him. I want to touch him, hold him, kiss him, take him to my home and lock him away in my bedroom and never let him out so that I alone may live with his radiance and beauty for the rest of my time.
I fear this is the feeling the Old One foretold all those years ago. I always took his words to be something of a joke, not a thing to actually put any worry into. And yet, as I feel myself grow weak in the chest around that man, that Lee Kikwang, I find myself wondering, Was he right? Will this be my undoing? Is my immortality coming to an end here in the 21st century?
Kikwang stared at the page for a long time in confusion. Immortality? he thought to himself, reading and rereading the word. Finally, he timidly reached out and turned the page to read the next entry. There was no further mention of any Old One, any immortality. Kikwang felt unsettled. It was such an odd thing to have read, to have seen written in Junhyung's own handwriting, but something felt vaguely familiar about the words as well. It nagged at the back of his mind as he continued to read. Then another entry made him stop and take notice.
20 September, 2011
I feel myself aging as I never have before. This would have been something to mention in previous entries, but it is something I feared so greatly it has taken months to allow myself to admit what is happening. My muscles and bones have begun to grow weak. My strength is waning. Even my vision and hearing have dropped off significantly. I am almost human.
I hold back when I am with my Angel. I hold back for his sake as well as mine, fear halting me from carrying forward as I would like to. Yoseob has suggested I end things the right and proper way, the way the Old One instructed so soon after my transition. But I will not have his blood on my hands; I will not trade his life for my own existence. In one thousand years, I have never felt the way he makes me feel. I know that even if I lived a million years, I would never feel this way again. He makes me know that at some point I was a normal man, that I could be human again and age as they do, live as they do. Die as they do. The idea of death has frightened me for centuries. The idea of death alongside my Angel fills me with a sense of completion, fulfillment, as though my whole long life has led to this. And perhaps it has.
Does he know why I have held back? Is my Angel aware of the power he holds over me?
The Old One said he would not remember why he was sent to me. Yet sometimes I feel like when I look in his eyes, he is so full of knowledge and understanding. I wish he did know, and could make this decision for me. Continue on and we both age and eventually find our ends. Separate now and continue to live as we have for centuries and centuries. Or either of us could end the life of the other.
Kikwang's knuckles were white from gripping the diary so hard. It took him several minutes before he was able to place the journal aside. Then his hand moved to the dusty book on the shelf to the left of the empty spot where Junhyung's journal had been kept. He pulled the book free, only to find it, too, was simply being used to cover up another black leather-bound journal. Moving to the book set to the left of that journal, Kikwang found yet another hidden book. Soon, he was pulling dozens of fake books from the shelves, revealing rows and rows of old diaries. Desperately, he pulled out a book at random and opened to the first page, reading the dates written.
Volume 198 - Dates 19 July, 1671 through 01 May, 1675
Kikwang forcefully shut the book and shoved it away from himself. He grabbed another off the shelf and read the first page again.
Volume 134 - Dates 30 December, 1399 through 21 June, 1402
His hands were trembling. He flipped through the first few pages, not reading any of the words, simply taking in the familiar handwriting. These pages had been penned by the same hand that had written the journal he had been reading before. There was no mistake, this wasn't a farce. The pages were aged and frail, the writing was the same.
Kikwang shut the book more carefully than he had the previous one and set it aside. He closed his eyes and thought over what he'd read. Who was Junhyung? Who was he? What did any of this mean?
Then, triggered by all of this seemingly new information, memories began to form in his mind like a story he'd been told as a child. Suddenly he could remember a time before this. He recognized his memories of his childhood as a farce, something made up and put in his mind to cover the truth. He was not supposed to know any of this; he was supposed to have found Junhyung and fallen in love and ended his immortality, even at the cost of his own.
Kikwang could remember a place outside of this world. He recalled the place he was from. It was a place of indescribable beauty and pureness. He, himself, belonged in such a place. He was an Angel - as loosely as he could apply that term. He was a warrior on the side of light. He was not a man, not human at all, but something made of pure innocence and love. He had existed for over a thousand years, working against the dark forces that would run rampant and overtake the Earth if they were allowed to do so.
This had been his final mission. To take out one of the First Created, one of the first dark entities the Old One had sired. Wherever Junhyung went in this realm, he spread hate and deceit and destruction, simply by existing. It was Kikwang's responsibility to end him. Kikwang was not supposed to know, because to end him, he had to love him, and that love would make it impossible to want to destroy him.
Kikwang could feel his heart breaking. He felt dizzy and overwhelmed. No matter the reason for their love, it was something true and real. The man he loved - no, the creature he loved had a black heart. He wanted to change that, to make him as full of love as he was himself. But he knew that that was the end goal, to take that darkness from his heart, and that when he managed that, Junhyung would no longer be a dark entity but a man. The trade-off was that Kikwang would take part of that darkness into his own heart, and would become mortal as well.
"Angel?" Kikwang heard the call from the front room, followed by the sound of the front door closing. Eyes widening, Kikwang attempted to put the books back on the bookcase. His vision was blurred by tears and his hands were trembling. Books tumbled to the floor around him as he scrambled to cover up what he'd found.
"Kikwang?" Now Junhyung's voice had a note of worry in it, and he sounded closer. His footfalls against the floor of the hallway drew closer to the library. Kikwang gave up his attempt to replace all the books and sank back down to his knees amidst the journals.
Junhyung had stopped walking as soon as he'd reached the doorway of the library. He was unmoving and silent. Kikwang tried to slow his breathing and stem the flow of tears that leaked from his eyes, but a harsh sob escaped him. At the sound Junhyung seemed stirred into action, and he moved forward quickly, dropping to his knees behind Kikwang. "Kikwang..." he breathed the name quietly, not knowing what to say.
Slowly, Kikwang turned to face Junhyung. Seeing Kikwang's tears, Junhyung reached out and wiped them away. "I'm so sorry," Kikwang whispered. Then he leaned into Junhyung's chest, wrapping his arms around him. Junhyung returned the embrace, his fingers sliding through Kikwang's hair. "I didn't know," Kikwang's words were muffled.
Junhyung brough his lips to Kikwang's hair, kissing him gently. "We can end this now," he told Kikwang. "I don't have to take you with me."
Kikwang pulled away to look at Junhyung. "You would have me kill you?" he asked incredulously.
His own eyes swam with tears as Junhyung nodded. "I should have left you. You would have never known. But now that you do... we can't both leave this. We can't both make it out alive."
"Then we'll go together," Kikwang insisted. "I won't end it like that. I won't kill you. I need you." He put his hands on either side of Junhyung's face, looking him squarely in the eyes. "I love you."
"Why?" Junhyung asked.
Kikwang shook his head. "I don't know. I'm compelled to stop you, Junhyung. I can't just walk away from this. I don't want to hurt you."
Junhyung closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against Kikwang's. "The only other way is to live as mortals."
"It's what they wanted from me when they sent me here."
Junhyung pulled away and looked at Kikwang. "They sent you to your death?"
Kikwang nodded.
"The Old One... he told me when he sired me exactly how to kill you. He never wanted me to sacrifice myself to stop you. But I can't do it."
"We're fools, the both of us," Kikwang told Junhyung.
Junhyung couldn't help but chuckle softly. "Then a fool I'll be if it means I can be one beside you."
"Would you be a foolish mortal beside me?" Kikwang asked.
Junhyung kissed Kikwang then, slowly. When they broke apart, he answered, "I would rather be mortal and live my life with you than live forever if it meant you were not here."
Kikwang slid his arms around Junhyung, pulling him into a strong embrace. "If we choose this, we could die any day. We could live to see morning and die tomorrow."
"Or we could grow old and get wrinkles and aches and new plastic hips and sixty years from now pass away quietly beside one another in our sleep knowing we lived, really and actually lived, and loved, and enjoyed the end of our lives."
Kikwang found himself crying again, tears falling onto Junhyung's shoulder. "I'd like that."
Junhyung placed his hands flat against Kikwang's back. "So would I."
"Lie to me, Junhyung," Kikwang insisted. "Tell me it's always been like this, that we're just two people, two regular people in love."
"You were born in 1990," Junhyung told him, "and I was born the year before. We had average childhoods. We met last year in January and fell madly in love. Just two regular people in love. We'll make plans for our future. We'll fulfill childhood dreams of a happily-ever-after."
Kikwang turned his head to kiss Junhyung on the cheek, telling him, "I love you."
Knowing that after tonight there would be no turning back for either of them, Junhyung replied, "I love you, too."
~끝~
Author: dracoslovebunny
Pairing: JunKwang
Status: Oneshot
Genre: Romance, AU, Fantasy
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Slash (not graphic)
Word count: 2,736
Summary: In which Kikwang finds Junhyung's diary, and not all is as it seems.
A/N: Written as part of my ongoing ALL-PAIRINGS 15-fic self-challenge. Each fic is a standalone (not part of the same storyline as the others). Fics are prompted by A Little Left of Logical. Title is the prompt.
Previous Installments:
Accident/KiWoon // Imitation of Life/JunWoon // Passing Flame/JunSeung // The Moment/KiSeob // Crave/DooKwang // Massage/DooWoon // Burn/KiSeung // Snack/DongSeob // Letters from Nowhere/2Jun
"I love you."
Kikwang accepted the long, loving kiss that was placed on his lips. His eyes fell shut at the contact, feeling strong hands caress his back. Then the kiss was broken, and Junhyung looked into his eyes with a deep passion. "I love you, too," Kikwang returned.
Junhyung ran his hand gently along Kikwang's jawline, then brought their lips together again before stepping away. "I've really got to be going, though, or I'll be late."
Kikwang pulled him back for another lingering kiss. "Let your students have a few minutes of playtime, then..."
Junhyung chuckled, taking a step back again. "You know I'd love to, but I can't."
Releasing a small, childish whine, Kikwang adjusted Junhyung's tie. "Fine. Go whip those university students into shape, History Professor Yong."
Junhyung planted a kiss on Kikwang's cheek before saying, "Love you, Angel." He opened the front door and stepped out.
"Love you too." Kikwang waved as Junhyung walked to his car, then shut the door behind him.
Kikwang turned to observe the large front room of Junhyung's old house. He figured the older man must have inherited it from family, since a professor's salary could never afford such a luxurious place. It was spacious and kind of old-fashioned, but absolutely full of antiques that looked more expensive than everything Kikwang owned combined.
He wadered lazily through the rooms of the house. He'd been through the place a number of times, but it seemed he was always finding new things to look at. His boyfriend's affinity for history must have been the reason he owned so much old stuff. Still, though a lot of the items in the house made him feel like he shouldn't touch them out of fear of breaking them and being eternally indebted to Junhyung, there was something very comfortable about the place, a very lived-in feeling.
After making his way through most of the rest of the house, Kikwang found himself in Junhyung's personal library. The shelves lining the walls and crammed full of book dating as recently as that year and as far back as... well, Kikwang didn't really know how old some of them were, seemed kind of imposing. But he liked to thumb through some of the older books, being careful with their aged pages, and see the way the world was seen years and years ago.
Kikwang ran his fingers gently over the bindings of the books on a shelf set back in the furthest corner of the room. Most of the books on that particular shelf looked like they hadn't been touched in years, but his hand found one that had no dust on it at all, and he reached out to pull it free. Instead of a book, though, he received just a binding with some false pages about two inches in width. Kikwang stared at it curiously before looking deeper on the bookshelf and realizing it was being used to cover another book. He took out the black, leather-bound book and looked at the outside carefully. There was no title, no author. Nothing was printed on the outside of the book. Kikwang opened to a random page toward the end, and saw written in flowing handwriting,
"- spending a lot of my time these days with him. He is funny and cute, with a bright smile that warms my heart in a way I have never felt before. I fear I may be falling in love with Lee Kikwang, and I don't -"
Kikwang shut the book with a snap. He realized then that he had found Junhyung's personal diary. He really shouldn't be looking at it; it had the man's most inner thoughts and private feelings. After staring at the book for a long time, Kikwang cautiously reopened it, his curiosity getting the better of him.
On the first page, all that was written was, "Volume 314 - Dates 12 October, 2006 through _____"
Kikwang was confused by the "Volume 314" part, but turned to the next page to read what his lover had written.
Most of what he read was the same thing he would expect to find in any journal, inner musings and the kinds of feelings one was usually only comfortable expressing to themselves, or in this case to a book expected not to reach others' eyes. The entries were spaced about a week apart, and some were very short. In fact, none surpassed two pages in length, until he reached the first entry of 2011.
It was the first time his name was mentioned, and it described the first time he and Junhyung had met. Based on what he read, he had left quite an impact on his boyfriend even with their brief interaction. He felt a little ashamed as he read about Junhyung's private feelings toward him from that time. Still, he kept going. Then, in an entry written a few months later, he read a passage that left a strange sensation in his chest.
14 April, 2011
He has me captivated. I am unable to resist the man's charms, no matter how I try. I have avoided this very feeling for as long as I can remember, and yet every time I see him, every time we are together, I cannot resist him. I want to touch him, hold him, kiss him, take him to my home and lock him away in my bedroom and never let him out so that I alone may live with his radiance and beauty for the rest of my time.
I fear this is the feeling the Old One foretold all those years ago. I always took his words to be something of a joke, not a thing to actually put any worry into. And yet, as I feel myself grow weak in the chest around that man, that Lee Kikwang, I find myself wondering, Was he right? Will this be my undoing? Is my immortality coming to an end here in the 21st century?
Kikwang stared at the page for a long time in confusion. Immortality? he thought to himself, reading and rereading the word. Finally, he timidly reached out and turned the page to read the next entry. There was no further mention of any Old One, any immortality. Kikwang felt unsettled. It was such an odd thing to have read, to have seen written in Junhyung's own handwriting, but something felt vaguely familiar about the words as well. It nagged at the back of his mind as he continued to read. Then another entry made him stop and take notice.
20 September, 2011
I feel myself aging as I never have before. This would have been something to mention in previous entries, but it is something I feared so greatly it has taken months to allow myself to admit what is happening. My muscles and bones have begun to grow weak. My strength is waning. Even my vision and hearing have dropped off significantly. I am almost human.
I hold back when I am with my Angel. I hold back for his sake as well as mine, fear halting me from carrying forward as I would like to. Yoseob has suggested I end things the right and proper way, the way the Old One instructed so soon after my transition. But I will not have his blood on my hands; I will not trade his life for my own existence. In one thousand years, I have never felt the way he makes me feel. I know that even if I lived a million years, I would never feel this way again. He makes me know that at some point I was a normal man, that I could be human again and age as they do, live as they do. Die as they do. The idea of death has frightened me for centuries. The idea of death alongside my Angel fills me with a sense of completion, fulfillment, as though my whole long life has led to this. And perhaps it has.
Does he know why I have held back? Is my Angel aware of the power he holds over me?
The Old One said he would not remember why he was sent to me. Yet sometimes I feel like when I look in his eyes, he is so full of knowledge and understanding. I wish he did know, and could make this decision for me. Continue on and we both age and eventually find our ends. Separate now and continue to live as we have for centuries and centuries. Or either of us could end the life of the other.
Kikwang's knuckles were white from gripping the diary so hard. It took him several minutes before he was able to place the journal aside. Then his hand moved to the dusty book on the shelf to the left of the empty spot where Junhyung's journal had been kept. He pulled the book free, only to find it, too, was simply being used to cover up another black leather-bound journal. Moving to the book set to the left of that journal, Kikwang found yet another hidden book. Soon, he was pulling dozens of fake books from the shelves, revealing rows and rows of old diaries. Desperately, he pulled out a book at random and opened to the first page, reading the dates written.
Volume 198 - Dates 19 July, 1671 through 01 May, 1675
Kikwang forcefully shut the book and shoved it away from himself. He grabbed another off the shelf and read the first page again.
Volume 134 - Dates 30 December, 1399 through 21 June, 1402
His hands were trembling. He flipped through the first few pages, not reading any of the words, simply taking in the familiar handwriting. These pages had been penned by the same hand that had written the journal he had been reading before. There was no mistake, this wasn't a farce. The pages were aged and frail, the writing was the same.
Kikwang shut the book more carefully than he had the previous one and set it aside. He closed his eyes and thought over what he'd read. Who was Junhyung? Who was he? What did any of this mean?
Then, triggered by all of this seemingly new information, memories began to form in his mind like a story he'd been told as a child. Suddenly he could remember a time before this. He recognized his memories of his childhood as a farce, something made up and put in his mind to cover the truth. He was not supposed to know any of this; he was supposed to have found Junhyung and fallen in love and ended his immortality, even at the cost of his own.
Kikwang could remember a place outside of this world. He recalled the place he was from. It was a place of indescribable beauty and pureness. He, himself, belonged in such a place. He was an Angel - as loosely as he could apply that term. He was a warrior on the side of light. He was not a man, not human at all, but something made of pure innocence and love. He had existed for over a thousand years, working against the dark forces that would run rampant and overtake the Earth if they were allowed to do so.
This had been his final mission. To take out one of the First Created, one of the first dark entities the Old One had sired. Wherever Junhyung went in this realm, he spread hate and deceit and destruction, simply by existing. It was Kikwang's responsibility to end him. Kikwang was not supposed to know, because to end him, he had to love him, and that love would make it impossible to want to destroy him.
Kikwang could feel his heart breaking. He felt dizzy and overwhelmed. No matter the reason for their love, it was something true and real. The man he loved - no, the creature he loved had a black heart. He wanted to change that, to make him as full of love as he was himself. But he knew that that was the end goal, to take that darkness from his heart, and that when he managed that, Junhyung would no longer be a dark entity but a man. The trade-off was that Kikwang would take part of that darkness into his own heart, and would become mortal as well.
"Angel?" Kikwang heard the call from the front room, followed by the sound of the front door closing. Eyes widening, Kikwang attempted to put the books back on the bookcase. His vision was blurred by tears and his hands were trembling. Books tumbled to the floor around him as he scrambled to cover up what he'd found.
"Kikwang?" Now Junhyung's voice had a note of worry in it, and he sounded closer. His footfalls against the floor of the hallway drew closer to the library. Kikwang gave up his attempt to replace all the books and sank back down to his knees amidst the journals.
Junhyung had stopped walking as soon as he'd reached the doorway of the library. He was unmoving and silent. Kikwang tried to slow his breathing and stem the flow of tears that leaked from his eyes, but a harsh sob escaped him. At the sound Junhyung seemed stirred into action, and he moved forward quickly, dropping to his knees behind Kikwang. "Kikwang..." he breathed the name quietly, not knowing what to say.
Slowly, Kikwang turned to face Junhyung. Seeing Kikwang's tears, Junhyung reached out and wiped them away. "I'm so sorry," Kikwang whispered. Then he leaned into Junhyung's chest, wrapping his arms around him. Junhyung returned the embrace, his fingers sliding through Kikwang's hair. "I didn't know," Kikwang's words were muffled.
Junhyung brough his lips to Kikwang's hair, kissing him gently. "We can end this now," he told Kikwang. "I don't have to take you with me."
Kikwang pulled away to look at Junhyung. "You would have me kill you?" he asked incredulously.
His own eyes swam with tears as Junhyung nodded. "I should have left you. You would have never known. But now that you do... we can't both leave this. We can't both make it out alive."
"Then we'll go together," Kikwang insisted. "I won't end it like that. I won't kill you. I need you." He put his hands on either side of Junhyung's face, looking him squarely in the eyes. "I love you."
"Why?" Junhyung asked.
Kikwang shook his head. "I don't know. I'm compelled to stop you, Junhyung. I can't just walk away from this. I don't want to hurt you."
Junhyung closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against Kikwang's. "The only other way is to live as mortals."
"It's what they wanted from me when they sent me here."
Junhyung pulled away and looked at Kikwang. "They sent you to your death?"
Kikwang nodded.
"The Old One... he told me when he sired me exactly how to kill you. He never wanted me to sacrifice myself to stop you. But I can't do it."
"We're fools, the both of us," Kikwang told Junhyung.
Junhyung couldn't help but chuckle softly. "Then a fool I'll be if it means I can be one beside you."
"Would you be a foolish mortal beside me?" Kikwang asked.
Junhyung kissed Kikwang then, slowly. When they broke apart, he answered, "I would rather be mortal and live my life with you than live forever if it meant you were not here."
Kikwang slid his arms around Junhyung, pulling him into a strong embrace. "If we choose this, we could die any day. We could live to see morning and die tomorrow."
"Or we could grow old and get wrinkles and aches and new plastic hips and sixty years from now pass away quietly beside one another in our sleep knowing we lived, really and actually lived, and loved, and enjoyed the end of our lives."
Kikwang found himself crying again, tears falling onto Junhyung's shoulder. "I'd like that."
Junhyung placed his hands flat against Kikwang's back. "So would I."
"Lie to me, Junhyung," Kikwang insisted. "Tell me it's always been like this, that we're just two people, two regular people in love."
"You were born in 1990," Junhyung told him, "and I was born the year before. We had average childhoods. We met last year in January and fell madly in love. Just two regular people in love. We'll make plans for our future. We'll fulfill childhood dreams of a happily-ever-after."
Kikwang turned his head to kiss Junhyung on the cheek, telling him, "I love you."
Knowing that after tonight there would be no turning back for either of them, Junhyung replied, "I love you, too."
~끝~