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Hongjoong didn’t know what to do, it’s been a thousand years since he saw another living creature, a thousand years of loneliness.
Countless years of studying the inscriptions and the reliefs on the walls, countless years of writing and studying the alien science and the magic of the Great Old Ones.
He sighed and took a look at the man on the bed.
He was badly injured, must have been a battle between mortals, when he found him, he was wearing metallic clothes.
Heavy, mistreated and rusty.
But Hongjoong took them off. It wasn’t easy but it was an interesting task.
A new thing to him. Discovering how to take the metallic parts off.
He cleaned him thoroughly, no one gets inside the temple dirty.
And he dressed him with his clothes, he chose pretty ones for him.
Hongjoong thought he deserved to be dressed pretty.
The black haired man was beautiful.
He was now sleeping.
Hongjoong couldn’t remember how many days he has been that way.
He didn’t mind in the beginning.
He watched him breathe, he watched how his lips moved when he saw dreams, he watched his chest going up and down.
He watched his brows frown and his eyelids move sporadically.
The man was dreaming.
What was he dreaming?
Hongjoong’s Master was dreaming too, a never ending dream that seemed like death but yet it wasn’t.
No, his Master couldn’t die.
He was eternal.
He will awaken when the stars are right.
Hongjoong had calculated that this would take many, many years, so many, many years.
It was a tricky equation and he always got flustered while doing the math.
But one thing that Hongjoong had plenty, was time.
He had all the time he needed to be there when his Master would rise from his sleep.
He would be the first to greet him and worship him.
And he would be there when the gates would open for the Legions.
He had to clean the east wing of the temple because they would need a lot of space.
So many Gods, he wasn’t sure - but he hoped that R’Lyeh would be able to accommodate them all.
Hongjoong wondered how it would be.
The end of the world.
Well, the end of the human world – not the world in general.
Being a creature of reading and studies, he understood that it would be a violent moment.
But it wouldn’t last for long.
Maybe one human year? At most?
Maybe a little more?
As the Great Old Ones will have other matters to attend to, except claiming the earth back.
But still, it would be a pity to wipe the earth from such beautiful creatures, just like the one that was sleeping now on his bed.
So, Hongjoong didn’t mind in the beginning. But now he was getting impatient.
He was a little excited, he had years to feel excitement.
Or maybe he never felt it before.
Wait…no he was excited when he watched the monstrous creature -like underwater lizard roaming the sea outside. Outside his protected city.
But it was such a long way back. He barely recalled details.
So long ago.
Still, he remembered clearly when he saw the whale, one thousand years back.
He was very excited. The last living creature he saw -apart from fish, but he didn’t count the fish. They were so small.
The other creatures were incredibly big.
As R’lye was never static, but a city that moved inside its alien dimension Hongjoong saw many underwater locations.
But he never saw a human before.
Now he not only saw but he saved him too.
When would he wake up?
He hoped he would wake up.
But what if he didn’t? What if he remained asleep like his Master?
Hongjoong sighed in the idea. He wanted to see him wake up.
Awake, the man would be very handsome.
He was certain.
But what would he feed him? Hongjoong knew that mortals had to eat while he, didn’t have to. The temple nurtured him with energy.
Maybe the temple could provide the mortal as well?
He hoped so.
All that if he woke up.
Then Hongjoong left to continue his reading, he still had endless corridors to read in the labyrinthic library.
But he got plenty of time.
At one point he sensed motion. His senses were beyond the human understanding.
His guest was awake.
Hongjoong incredibly excited went to him, to greet him.
He found him sitting on the bed, very weak.
He was sick.
Hongjoong went close to him, smiling, he taught himself to smile when something made him feel nice.
And the man’s presence made him feel nice.
A warmth inside his chest.
Yes, Hongjoong was like a human but he wasn’t exactly human and definitely not a mortal.
The black haired man managed to lift his head and look at him.
Hongjoong paused on his spot. He felt peculiar.
Unlike anything he ever felt before.
His guest was handsome, incomparably more to what he expected him to be.
He opened his mouth and talked, Hongjoong could understand his language, he could speak many languages of the world. Both human and alien ones.
“You saved me.” The man said. His voice was the most beautiful thing Hongjoong had ever heard. Even more beautiful than the whale’s song.
He smiled.
Hongjoong imitated him.
A smile would make the human feel better. Hongjoong may not be human but he had high intellect.
“How do you feel?” he find it proper to ask him that.
“Like I died and returned to life.” The man held his face inside his palms. “Am I still in one piece?”
Hongjoong sat next to him, unable to stay away from this miracle of a man.
He watched him carefully. Every detail of his, Hongjoong took in.
“I suppose everything is at place. What is your name?”
“Seonghwa and I am a Knight.”
“A Knight?”
Seonghwa looked around, he understood that Hongjoong may not knew what a knight was.
“A warrior. I was in a battle on a ship, fighting for my King. But I can’t remember anything else.”
“Seonghwa… Interesting name…”
“Why?”
“In my language it means… to be a star. I am…very fond of stars. I study them.”
Hongjoong blushed. He didn’t know it though. He just felt blood rushing to his cheeks.
Interesting feeling, that and the warmth inside his chest.
He had the impression that the warmth was spreading throughout his body.
Very interesting how his interaction with the man, altered his whole biology.
And chemistry.
He had to study it and keep notes.
Well, he had plenty of time to do that.
“May I please know the name of my savior?”
“Hongjoong.” he said, with a sweet voice.
It came out sweet, but Hongjoong wouldn’t have known.
He didn’t hear his voice much through the years.
Except the times he read out loud the inscriptions.
Or when he talked to the statues of his Gods.
They never listened of course.
But other than that, no.
It was just Hongjoong and the silence of R’Lyeh.
He liked the sound of his voice and Seonghwa’s voice as well.
Maybe he should talk more in the future.
And then something unexpected happened. His guest stood on his feet.
The beautiful fabrics of his dress fell around him. Hongjoong was intrigued by the little details.
Then the man went on his knee and bowed to him.
“Thank you, honorable Sir, for saving my life, I swear I will protect your life with my sword as long as I live.”
Ah, his sword? Hongjoong didn’t find a sword in the sea but he urged him to stand up.
“Please, you are weak, you must rest, I just did what I thought was right.” Because you were so beautiful to let you perish -he would like to add but he kept it for himself.
Seonghwa instead sat there, on the white tiles, before Hongjoong’s feet.
“I feel much better, actually I’m getting stronger as time passes by.”
It must have been the city.
“Are you…hungry?”
Seonghwa stopped a while to think.
“No, not at all. Is it strange? I should have been hungry, right?”
“Maybe you’ll get hungry later.” But I don’t know what to feed you.
“What is this feeling?” Seonghwa closed his eyes, his hands touched the tiles. “A warmth, a sound, an…energy…coming from bellow…I can’t explain it. It makes me…stronger?”
Hongjoong was smiling.
Yes, the city was feeding him now.
“Everything will be fine.” He told him. “You’ll see.”
As the knight felt stronger by the hour, he started to ask things about Hongjoong and his life there.
Human nature, always curious, always asking why’s.
First question was of course: “Where am I?”
Hongjoong looked at him.
Such a beautiful creature, so soft his gaze was, his skin, his dark eyes.
Such a fine example of his species.
Hongjoong felt comfort that the man wouldn’t be alive when the gates open.
He would be long dead.
Now he thought about it though…the thought that the man would be dead, made him sad.
Death didn’t deserve him.
Seonghwa was looking at him, waiting for an answer.
“Someplace safe.”
The knight looked at the enormous place.
“What is this…structure? I’ve never seen something like this before.”
True, there was nothing like this, anywhere in the world.
Hongjoong wondered if he could tell him the truth.
Would he be able to handle the truth?
Maybe, but not just yet.
But he had to give him an answer.
“Seonghwa, it might be difficult for me to explain and hard for you to understand. But what you must know is, that you will be safe here. You will never get hungry, you will never grow old, you will never…die.”
Seonghwa froze where he stood.
“How…how can this be possible? Everything dies. Is this…magic?”
Hongjoong thought that yes, that was a good answer but yet again…
“This is a place of immense power. Unlike anything you know of.”
“Ah…I see…” Seonghwa stayed silent for a while. “How long have you been here?”
It was impossible for Hongjoong to know but it was a lot - not only compared to the human years - but in general, at the end he smiled.
“I can’t remember a time where I wasn’t here to be honest with you, my knight.”
My knight, he wondered why he called him that.
Seonghwa leaned towards him, he extended his hand to his hair.
Hongjoong held his breath.
“You had something on your hair.”
“Oh…”
Seonghwa smiled.
“All this time, you spent it alone?”
Hongjoong opened his mouth but no sound came out.
He was feeling awful, a burden on his chest, an unbearable sadness.
He never felt like this before.
What was happening to him?
He looked back at Seonghwa, he noticed his eyes, his eyes had water inside them.
Now the water rolled out of them and on his skin.
He felt a knot on his throat, a pain unknown to him.
Hongjoong face must have changed dramatically because Seonghwa seemed concerned.
“Are you feeling alright?”
“I’m feeling…peculiar…why are your eyes…watering?”
Seonghwa was sad. “It’s tears, you haven’t cried before?”
“Tears…No. Can I touch them?”
“If you like.”
Hongjoong touched his skin and then he brought his fingers to his lips. He tasted the salt.
“Why do you cry?” he was trying to understand things strange to him.
“I think that…it must have been hard for someone to spend so many years, alone.”
Hongjoong felt that overwhelming feeling again.
He panicked.
He was hyperventilating.
He didn’t know how to handle it.
Seonghwa held him from his palms.
“I am here, don’t be afraid, I am here Hongjoong. You are not alone anymore.”
“Why do I feel different, I’ve never felt like this.”
“What do you feel?”
“Sad, so impossibly sad, and my throat is aching and my head is aching too and my chest is heavy. And I can’t breathe right. There are words I want to say but…I just can’t say them.”
Seonghwa came closer to him, slowly expanding his arms around him.
“Don’t be scared, I feel like that, all of the time. it’s sadness, it’s fear. But you are not alone anymore, let me comfort you.”
Hongjoong was having trouble dealing with everything.
Everything was new and foreign to him.
And too much.
Now that the knight wrapped his arms around him, he felt uneased, he wanted to go away. He breathed deep and exhaled, the embrace was warm and steady and he could hear his heart beating, he could feel his skin emitting heat.
It was scary.
“I won’t harm you, close your eyes and relax.”
Hongjoong must have left a sound slip from his throat.
Hongjoong felt so many feelings rushing out of him, just like water, rushing up and out of him and for the first time in history Hongjoong cried.
He cried inside Seonghwa’s arms as they stood there, inside the temple, in that alien gigantic city.
**
Hongjoong opened his eyes, first thing he saw was Seonghwa, smiling.
“What happened?” Hongjoong palmed his temple and made a grimace of pain. Pain… he wasn’t fond of pain.
“You lost your senses.”
“I-I’ve never lost my senses before.” Hongjoong tried to move and Seonghwa opened his arms to give him space. He was holding him, they were both sitting on the tiles.
“It happens when we are overwhelmed. Don’t worry, it’s nothing.”
His eyes warm and kind.
Seonghwa must have recovered completely from his sickness.
His skin had a healthy color and his eyes shined like stars, his lips red and smooth.
Hongjoong couldn’t help but stare at him.
“You stayed here while I was unconscious?”
“Mm yes.” He smiled and looked all over the enormous structure.
“I couldn’t go anywhere, this place intimidates me.”
Hongjoong felt a little better and he told him, Seonghwa set him free from his embrace.
“It can be intimidating when you are not familiar with it. Would you like me to show you around?”
Seonghwa was curious, he agreed immediately.
But he didnt expect that it would take them days.
Not that they had something else to do though.
Time was plenty and they didn’t need to eat.
Hongjoong rarely slept and when he did was because he liked the feeling. Shutting his mind down. Drifting away and dreaming of other dimensions.
The knight was amazed by the size and the odd architecture.
Everything was out of the world he knew.
Far away from his human understanding.
Everything in the city was a challenge for him.
Everything except Hongjoong.
Hongjoong tried to do his best and show him a lot of things, because he couldn’t show him everything.
They would need a human lifetime for that and it might be very boring for the man.
Seonghwa was terrified when he entered the room with the statues depicting some of the Great Old Ones. Hongjoong’s deities.
He watched Hongjoong polish their ebon silhouettes with a kind of an oil that smelled delightfully.
Well he only did that for the small statues, because the others were of titanic proportions.
When Seonghwa asked him, Hongjoong couldn’t tell him their names.
“Names of power that can kill you.”
He showed him the gate that led to the underground tomb of his Master.
But that was as far as he went.
He couldn’t take him there.
It wasn’t allowed.
**
One day Seonghwa asked him to show him outside.
“Why you want to see what’s outside?”
“I am meant to be outside; I love to be outside, riding my horse, feeling the sun on my face, listening to the birds singing.”
Hongjoong simply watched him. He didn’t understand the point of that.
He never felt the urge to be outside of his bubble. Because it was a bubble, around the sunken city. A protective alien bubble.
Hongjoong took him there where the transparent walls separated the city from the water. It was very dark and they couldn’t see anything.
Seonghwa stared at the abyss but nothing stared back at him. He turned around and faced Hongjoong.
“Is it always so dark?”
“Sometimes I can see the rays of the sun passing through, other times I can see the fish as well.”
Seonghwa went sad. He sat on a fallen pillar. His chin leaned on his fist; he was skeptical.
“Is this the life that you want Hongjoong?”
Hongjoong didn’t understand the meaning of that question.
It was his life, the only life he knew. His duty was to be there and prepare the path for the Return.
Seonghwa realized that he wouldn’t get an answer so he rephrased the question.
“You never wanted something more than this?”
Hongjoong confused, sat next to him, letting him continue.
“To travel, to see the world, to meet people and places, to eat, to laugh, to…”
Hongjoong was listening carefully.
“To love.”
“To love?”
“Yes.”
Hongjoong searched his mind for examples corresponding to that word, well he loved to read the inscriptions, didn’t he?
Did he?
Hongjoong pushed himself to think harder. He could understand the concept but he couldn’t find something that he loved.
Then he found it and smiled.
“But I do love.”
“Hongjoong, you are alone here, how can you love?”
“There are things I love.” He smiled at him like a child that was proud of himself.
“I love the sound of your voice. The most beautiful sound I ‘ve ever heard.
Seonghwa was taken aback.
“I love your smile and the way your eyes light up when you talk. I love them. Your eyes. They are so warm; I love them even when they water.”
Seonghwa chuckled with joy.
“There, I love that, your laugh. It’s…like a gate opens and light comes out. Yes, and the sound, makes my chest swell.”
Seonghwa rubbed his nose and watched him smiling.
“And I love your presence here, with you I am not alone. Before you, I never cared, but now, I do. Even when you sleep you are present. It makes me feel, happy.”
The knight remained at his place, silent.
“So, you see, I know of love.”
“Yes, I can see you do…” Seonghwa whispered and then stared at the abyss. “Can we go back? I don’t like the darkness.”
Hongjoong was already on his feet and they slowly walked to the temple.
Their footsteps led them to the labyrinth that Hongjoong knew so well.
Seonghwa touched the inscriptions at the walls while listening to Hongjoong’s stories.
He watched the reliefs, the paintings on the walls.
Hongjoong didn’t tell him about the end of it all.
Then they returned to that part of the temple they spent most of their time there.
Seonghwa stared at Hongjoong who smirked and stared back.
Then Hongjoong noticed a change between them, something in Seonghwa’s aura was different.
An amount of power he never felt before, now coming from him.
A different kind of power unlike nothing that Hongjoong had ever felt.
Seonghwa climbed on the bed and there he stayed, looking at him.
Hongjoong prepared his bath as he always did and then got undressed.
The way though Seonghwa watched him made him wonder.
“Would you like to have a bath now as well?”
Usually they bathed at different times, alone, but it was the first time that Seonghwa happened to be there, right at Hongjoong’s bath time.
“Yes.” He replied and took off his clothes.
Hongjoong saw him naked once, when he first found him and took care of him.
Now it was the second time.
But something was different on him, Hongjoong was good with details.
He easily spotted the change but he couldn’t comprehend the reasons.
And he couldn’t understand why that change had impact on his own body.
Hongjoong was confused and when he saw him entering the tiled pond, he felt overwhelmed.
His heartbeat increased. His breathing as well.
He felt hotter than the water. He went at his side of the pond and started to wash himself as usual and Seonghwa did the same but he continued looking at him, relentlessly.
He couldn’t combine the facts; he got a headache from the effort and he was annoyed that his body reacted the way it did.
Why did his body do that?
It never happened before.
Seonghwa had finished with the soap and was resting at his side of the water, eyes steadily hooked on Hongjoong, waiting for him to turn around, but he kept scratching his skin, like a maniac.
Hongjoong was nervous.
But he didn’t know why he was.
“You will hurt yourself that way.” The knight warned him.
“What if I want to hurt myself?” he replied.
An unexpected answer. Hongjoong was angry.
“What’s wrong?” Seonghwa approached him a little.
“I-I don’t know anymore!” Hongjoong felt the water again rushing to his eyes. “I don’t know! I am changing, even my body is going against my will!” he cried.
“It’s not your body Hongjoong, it’s your heart.”
Hongjoong stopped, he swallowed hard.
His face needed answers.
“Your heart feels.” Seonghwa moved his head in understanding.“And your body responds. It is natural.”
Seonghwa was so close to him now, he took away the soap from his hand and toss it outside.
He touched his cheek, Hongjoong arms fell inside the water, lifeless and numb - as numb was his mind.
The number of feelings that rushed over him through that simple touch were enormous.
“D-does your heart feels too?” he asked him, low like a whisper.
“Very much.”
“Oh…” Hongjoong realized then. “Is that’s why your body…responds? Like mine?”
“It is exactly the same.” Seonghwa framed his face with his hands.
“Oh…And…and why my heart is ready to explode right now? It hurts.”
“I can show you why, but I may do it worse…”
“Worse?…I’m afraid…”
“Don’t be afraid, let me show you why.”
Hongjoong watched him with teared eyes.
“S-show me.” He decided.
And Seonghwa embraced him softly and kissed him.
**
When Hongjoong returned to his senses, he was on his bed. That gigantic shell with the soft mattress.
Seonghwa was next to him, caressing his naked skin, patiently waiting for him to wake up.
“Did I lose my senses?”
“Yes.” Seonghwa smirked.
“What did you do to me?”
“I kissed you.”
Hongjoong maybe have read somewhere about the kiss. But he couldn’t recall.
“How was it?” Seonghwa asked him amused, but curious.
Hongjoong blushed, he hated that he couldn’t control his body reactions anymore.
But at the same time…he loved it.
“I…can’t remember.”
Seonghwa went serious, almost offended.
“Can you do it again?” Hongjoong asked of him.
Without saying anything the knight lowered his head until their lips met.
Seonghwa slowly pressed his lips on his.
Then he used his tongue to conquer his mouth.
Hongjoong was losing his mind.
All he could feel was heat, a spreading, overwhelming heat.
“Oh Gods!” he cried out as Seonghwa kissed him fiercely. “What is this!”
“This is love.” He told him through their lips.
Hongjoong learned how to kiss back, Seonghwa lay on him and they just kissed for what seemed like forever.
When their lips got tired, they stopped.
Hongjoong jaw hurt.
He was mesmerized as he looked at Seonghwa, his eyes followed him dizzily.
“How do you feel?”
“I feel…amazing, my heart though… aches.” He told him trying to explain his emotions. “Do humans… do that often?”
“When we love, yes.”
“Oh…” Hongjoong felt warmth but the next minute he felt sad.
When the gates open, there would be no love left.
He felt a bitter taste on his tongue.
But then Seonghwa kissed him on his neck. He hovered his lips there making all of his body hair, rise like a wave.
Hongjoong moaned.
He never heard his voice like that before, but generally Hongjoong had a lot of firsts from the moment Seonghwa appeared on his path.
But how did he found Seonghwa is a story we never shared.
Hongjoong saved him from drowning. His body kept sinking from the weight of the armor and he would be dead in a few minutes but Hongjoong made the bubble receive him with his magic.
Now Hongjoong shivered as the knight kissed and licked all over his neck and his collarbones.
“Do you like this?” he whispered.
“I-I do…”
“Do you want me to stop?”
Hongjoong was puzzled, why would he stop? Everything felt so good.
“Please, no. I would like more.”
Seonghwa smirked and did as he was told, slowly moving further down on his sensitive skin.
As his tongue ran over his nipple, Hongjoong tossed his head back and hissed. Then he felt the knight’s fingers on his other nipple.
No matter how hard he moved he couldn’t escape the sensation.
Nor did he want.
He just wasn’t used to it and it was too much.
Seonghwa returned up to kiss his lips and he slowed down.
Hongjoong opened his eyes as if he was drunk.
“You liked it?”
“I loved it.” Hongjoong hugged him.
They kissed.
Unintentionally Hongjoong moved his hips towards Seonghwa.
He paused; their lips were still locked but his brain treasured the new sensation.
He did it again, his arousal grinding on Seonghwa’s firm skin.
Hongjoong shivered again and tilted his head, their lips parted.
The knight watched him indulge himself.
Hongjoong didn’t dare to ask, he just moved his body.
Like an itch he couldn’t scratch, he kept doing that until Seonghwa went back and down on him.
Without saying anything he took him inside his mouth.
Hongjoong pressed his back on the mattress and watched him doing whatever he was doing, but he didn’t watch for long.
An unbelievable feeling of euphoria, a pleasure without comparison rushed through his veins to end up to a specific spot between his legs.
One minute he felt like a particle of sand and next minute he expanded like the Universe.
Something poured out of him.
A heartfelt moan left his throat and he stayed there, looking at the alien ceiling of the temple.
Nothing made sense any more.
His existence through the eons, the things he learned all his life, his worship to the Gods.
None of that mattered.
Not anymore.
He realized that his knight was staring at him with the brightest eyes.
Hongjoong opened his mouth and a sob came out.
He cried as Seonghwa held him tight.
So many things he wanted to ask him but he couldn’t.
The knight held him and caressed him until he ran out of tears.
“Is this…love?”
“A part of it, yes.”
“A part? Does it have more?”
“Yes. It does.”
“Can you…give me more?”
“Yes…”
Seonghwa kissed him, he took the oil Hongjoong used on the statues and he did something on his hands that Hongjoong didn’t pay attention.
“Tell me if you want me to stop.”
“Why should you stop? Oh!” he felt it there, such a weird sensation on an area he would never expect.
A finger there, caressing him, Hongjoong remained still - waiting.
Very slow the finger slipped inside making him lose control of his body.
The muscles of his body hardened.
And the muscle there as well. He was anxious.
“Kiss me…give me time to make you feel good…” Seonghwa said.
Hongjoong trusted him and he gave him time.
What he got in return made him melt.
Such a raw pleasure he was unable to think anymore, he could only move his body on the finger and moan.
And with every moan Seonghwa rewarded him with more thrusts.
A little stingy but so pleasurable.
And then the pain was forgotten and Hongjoong didn’t know what was happening to his body anymore, he just took and took and took, abandoning himself into Seonghwa’s hands.
Hongjoong realized that he needed more. He looked down on Seonghwa and he dared to touch him.
“Oh…” Hongjoong whispered.
He saw Seonghwa’s lips parting, of course he liked the touch, but was the touch enough?
Then Hongjoong’s fingers traveled on the thrusting hand. He counted the knight’s fingers, he had three inside his body.
Seonghwa kissed him impatiently.
And Hongjoong understood the mechanism of this.
Seonghwa looked at him in question.
“Yes…please…” Hongjoong answered without being asked.
“If it hurts-“
“I will tell you.”
The oil again and Seonghwa pressing his hard masculinity inside his body.
Such a strange thing.
Hongjoong could never expect… not in his wildest dreams- if he had any.
A buzzing sound in his ears and Seonghwa’s beautiful voice asking him with concern.
“Please, I’m fine, I’m fine. Oh…”
The moment that it happened was a violent one, but the pain lasted only for a fragment of time.
And it worth it.
Because after that Hongjoong was in ecstasy.
Seonghwa cared for him, asked him, held him.
But he was in a different dimension. Another world. He held on Seonghwa as if his time ran out. He, who was eternal.
Seonghwa’s hands caressed him everywhere, bringing him closer and closer with every move, his fingers slipped inside his hair.
The knight kissed him so deep, he moaned on his lips, he sucked his tongue.
The knight begged him and loved him and worshipped him.
Hongjoong learned from his rhythm, synchronized with him.
He pleaded, he thanked, he cried.
And Seonghwa gave him more and more.
His stamina was fueled by the temple.
Time had no meaning.
Just the two of them, so far away from anything.
Body on body, skin on skin, taking part to a dance as ancient as the universe, a dance that Hongjoong didn’t know of.
Because if he knew he wouldn’t spend his time worshipping Gods unknown to him.
If he knew he would spend his whole life doing that. Making love.
Every thrust of love and desire - milked more tears out of him.
Seonghwa turned him around bringing him on top of him.
Praising him all along.
Telling him words of adoration and love.
Oh, so much love.
Hongjoong felt it all over his existence, he felt loved and complete and nothing could ever compare to this.
He focused on the pace Seonghwa gave him from beneath.
He followed his lead, he felt the pleasure building up steadily, he had to retain the pace because he loved it there.
And he sped up the pace because he felt he had to.
Everything led to that point, he understood.
Their gazes were locked together and his lips opened.
But he wanted to close his eyes.
“Look at me, look at me, I want to see you.” His knight whispered.
Hongjoong moaned as extreme pleasure swept him away, even better than before, more intense than before.
He moved his body to the rhythm of life and he tried not to avert his gaze from the man that he loved.
Because he could understand what love meant.
And he loved him.
Completely.
He fathomed his beauty; he saw a thousand suns burn within his eyes.
He heard the song of the universe when Seonghwa moaned.
He watched the knight reaching his highest pleasure and he felt his body arching underneath him.
Hongjoong collapsed on him and stayed there, on his chest, savoring everything.
Taking all the small thrusts his lover gave him until his flesh hardened and they danced again.
**
When Hongjoong opened his eyes, he saw the alien structure.
It seemed ugly now.
Hostile.
Inhuman.
But why did he care?
He wasn’t human after all, he just had the human biology.
Why did he care?
Because…because he…
“Seonghwa?” He wasn’t there. Hongjoong’s heart bounced inside his chest.
He went on his feet, naked.
“Seonghwa!” he shouted.
“Seonghwa! Seonghwa!”
He cried out and ran to find him.
He did find him in one of the corridors, looking at the wall paintings.
A story he noticed before.
A story about the end of the world.
Seonghwa was clever for a human.
The moment he saw Hongjoong he hugged him and kissed him passionately, he too was naked and he was hard for him in seconds.
He pressed his body on his and whispered to his ear.
“Your gods want to kill us…” he bit his neck while Hongjoong wrapped his leg around him.
“Is this what you want, too?” He helped him wrap his other leg and he pressed his arousal on him.
“Humanity to perish?” He breached him slowly. Holding him by his hips, so tight. Kissing him so deep.
“I did not know…I did not care about humans.”
“But you saved me. Right? Why did you save me?” he thrusted inside, filling him to the brim.
They both breathed deep closing their eyes and savoring an open mouth kiss.
“It was impossible for me not to save you.”
“And how about now? Would you save me again?”
“I won’t let anything happen to you!”
Hongjoong’s back rubbed on the reliefs but he didn’t care.
They both moaned.
“Why! Tell me why!” Seonghwa gritted his teeth.
“Because - because I love you! I-I love you.”
Seonghwa thrusted so deep, pinning him on the wall, Hongjoong opened his mouth to a soundless moan.
Their eyes locked.
“How can you love me; you are one of them!” he pulled out completely just to push in again.
“You taught me love!”
“Can you understand what love is?” he rolled his hips on him making him weep.
“Yes…” Hongjoong teared.
Seonghwa teared.
“W-why are you crying?” Hongjoong asked.
Seonghwa kissed him.
“How can you know? You are not human.”
“But I-I know!”
“Tell me then! Tell me what is love!”
“It’s…that without you, I can’t live.”
Seonghwa cried while he held him, they didn’t move.
Until he kneeled down, taking him with him.
Embraced they wept together, inside that cursed corridor.
“Let’s leave this place…”
Hongjoong stared inside his eyes and smiled, he kissed him.
“Yes, let’s leave.”
“Together.” Seonghwa demanded.
“…Together…” they kissed and their bodies found their rhythm again.
Hongjoong tears ran free because of the emotions that flooded him, because of the pleasure that was beyond his understanding and because - he knew, that if he left the city, he wouldn’t survive a day on earth.
He also knew that if he left, the gates would never open for the Gods.
No one would be there to prepare the Return.
It was in his hands.
Humanity would live on until - inevitably - would perish by its own hand.
As Seonghwa gave him all his love, deeper and stronger, Hongjoong thought about how stupid he have been.
How naive.
How empty.
He spent so many lifetimes by himself.
Caring about macrocosm without caring about microcosm.
The microcosm that was him. His very own self.
Only when he lost himself in Seonghwa did he found himself.
A world within a world.
Did he discovered love just to lose it?
Did it worth it?
“I love you.” The knight whispered to him, softly like the wind, even if Hongjoong never felt the wind.
But he felt Seonghwa and that was all he needed.
**
He knew what he had to to do. He would use the complicated thing that some called magic and other called science.
Hongjoong learned to harness it through his long lifetime.
He just needed a moment to look at the city.
Surprised with himself that he felt no attachment to his Master, to the Great old ones and to R’Lye, he set the wheels in motion, there was no turning back.
The magic would send them in Seonghwa’s era.
But he couldn’t know at which part of the world.
He hoped it was a good one for his knight because he had to be safe.
Above everything, he had to be safe. That’s all that mattered.
“Are you ready Seonghwa?”
“I am, my love.”
Hongjoong smiled and focused, it began.
It was brief and unpleasant. He felt his skin turning inside out. but he survived.
He knew though, he wouldn’t survive for long.
Hongjoong opened his eyes.
It was a vast land, grass was under his feet, he touched it. So soft.
Hongjoong felt as if he was in a dream.
Then he felt a hand on his shoulder and then a hug.
“You did it! We are free! You are free!”
“Free…” he whispered, he wished he had time to understand the meaning of the word.
Then the wind blew, he felt it on his skin.
He looked at the bright sky, the sun was hiding behind a white veil.
A cloud.
Amazing. How beautiful was it?
Seonghwa grabbed his hand and started to run. Hongjoong followed him, they ran to the nearby forest. A bamboo forest, but none of them knew about such trees.
Hongjoong knew nothing about trees but he felt them under his fingers like a new born.
And he touched the soil, the rocks, he saw the ants and the grasshoppers.
And he heard the wind howling through the trees.
They saw a man carrying a heavy load of wood on his back and Seonghwa went to help him.
The man was old and tired.
He looked at them surprised, he talked a different language.
Hongjoong could understand him.
“Let us help you.”
Seonghwa and Hongjoong carried his heavy load until a hut.
They dropped it where he showed them while bowing to them.
An old woman appeared, her skin so wrinkled, just like paper.
The old man talked to her and she smiled and nodded, she made a gesture with her hands, a welcoming gesture.
Seonghwa nodded back and dragged Hongjoong inside the hut, following the old lady. A fire in the middle right inside the floor, but on a lower level than the rest of it.
A cauldron bubbling and smelling nice.
Hongjoong felt his belly hurt, he heard a noise coming from it. He was surprised.
“You are hungry, its natural.” Seonghwa told him and giggled.
He didn’t have the temple to nurture him anymore. He had to feed on his own.
What he tasted brought tears to his eyes.
He thanked the woman and the man so many times, he bowed to them and he ate to his heart content.
He drank water and he felt grateful for it.
Everything was new to him.
Hongjoong was overwhelmed by everything.
After they finished, he talked to the old couple and he thanked them, when they turned to leave they stopped them.
“You can stay here for the night. Come.”
The old man took Hongjoong by the hand to a small room that seemed to be added after the hut was built.
Hongjoong watched the sun setting fast from the window.
Time flew for humans.
But he didn’t linger on it.
He would cherish every moment until the end.
The old man asked Seonghwa to help him and they went outside.
While the old lady brought fabrics and covers for them to sleep on, Hongjoong took them and thanked her.
Seonghwa returned carrying wood to light a fire.
Hongjoong watched him with interest and a subtle smile.
But then the lady returned and took him by the hand, out of the house to what appeared to be the toilet. And a few meters away a pond with water.
“You can wash yourself.”
You may wonder now if Hongjoong had all the human bodily functions.
Hongjoong had them.
All of them except the need for food, because he was fed with energy. When he was in the sunken city.
Apart from that, his body processed everything like any other human.
Hongjoong prepared himself for sleep and returned to the small room to find a small fire lit.
He was familiar with fire and he loved the warmth, he used to light fires for his Gods but honestly, he didn’t want to think about them anymore.
Not now, not ever again.
His Gods would destroy everything he loved.
Seonghwa went to use the toilet as well. Hongjoong fell asleep.
He woke up by a warm, naked body and a pair of hot lips on his skin.
A small moan left his own lips. He knew he had to be silent and he wasn’t sure if he could do that as his knight kissed him so passionately and touched his body this way.
Turning him very quickly to a mess.
He saw him smirking cunningly holding a small vial in his hands.
“I stole their cooking oil, for the night.” He chuckled and spread some on his fingers and some dropped on Hongjoong’s chest.
“Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?”
“No, you haven’t.” Hongjoong lied, Seonghwa told him, many times, but he loved to hear it.
“I want to love you all night.”
“Please, I want it so much.” Hongjoong didn’t allow himself to tear, if he had to die, he would die happy and full with love.
He doubted that he would be able to greet the morning sun.
But they had the night and as he felt Seonghwa’s fingers deep inside him, he breathed in, trying not to make noise.
They made love under the covers and when the fire died, they didn’t need to hide anymore. The room didn’t have a door but a heavy fabric hang from the low ceiling.
They tried every position they could think of, Hongjoong wanted to taste them all.
And he did as much as he could.
He didn’t have the supernatural stamina anymore and nor did Seonghwa, but their passion fueled them to their human limits.
They collapsed just before dawn.
Hongjoong held him so tight, their skin seemed like one.
And Seonghwa kept him inside his arms never letting him go.
Hongjoong felt guilty that Seonghwa was unaware of what would happen.
But he couldn’t tell him.
If he did tell him back then they would have never left R’Lye.
Seonghwa would forever remain a prisoner.
Even if Hongjoong couldn’t grasp the meaning of imprisonment before, he knew now, as he was now, free.
And happy.
And in love.
And even if he would live a very short human life, he was content.
He kissed Seonghwa as he was asleep and so innocent, he kissed him all over his face and all over his body.
The rays of the sun fell on his skin painting it gold.
Hongjoong simply watched him, then he covered his naked skin with the fabrics and he kissed him again whispering I love you.
Hongjoong looked outside the window, the sunrise.
It took his breath away.
**
Seonghwa woke up by the noise, he looked around but Hongjoong wasn’t there.
Something didn’t sit well with him, he dressed up fast and went outside.
It was the old lady, shouting and crying, she held his hands and pointed outside.
Seonghwa was flustered, what happened? He couldn’t understand her language.
Where was Hongjoong?
He rushed outside and searched for him with his eyes but Hongjoong was nowhere to be found, the old woman was crying behind him covering her mouth and pointing at a certain direction.
“Hongjoong!” he shouted, repeatedly, but he got no answer.
He ran inside the bamboo forest, he was extremely worried.
Something very bad had happened.
Where was his love? What if his Gods punished him and killed him?
So powerful and cruel they were, to kill him it would be nothing for them.
Seonghwa felt a knot forming on his throat.
“Hongjoong!!” he screamed, desperate.
If he was alive why didn’t he answer?
“Hongjoong where are you!” Seonghwa was losing his mind.
If Hongjoong was dead there was no meaning for him left.
He shouldn’t have persuaded him to leave that cursed place, that tomb.
What if he was dead?
Seonghwa’s heart was holding by a thread, he heard sounds coming from a spot inside the forest and he ran there, first thing he saw was a body laying on the pile of leaves.
And then a man hunched on his knees in shock.
“Hongjoong!” he cried out and went to hug the man.
“Why didn’t you answer me! I was so scared!” Seonghwa held him so tight inside his arms.
Hongjoong was staring at the old man’s body in shock.
“I-I never seen someone die b-before. Forgive me, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay…it’s okay now…” Seonghwa kissed his wet eyes. “What happened?”
“I heard the woman scream and I rushed here, the man was holding his chest and he was in pain. His body jolted back and forth. It was terrible, I couldn’t help him, I held him and his life slipped away.”
Seonghwa kissed him.
“I thought I lost you.” He whispered with broken voice.
Hongjoong realized then, he was still alive.
He was now afraid that it could happen any time.
But it didn’t.
The day passed with both of them trying to comfort the old woman after they buried her husband.
And the night came and when she finally slept, they held each other in the dark and inevitably they made love.
The morning found them alone in the hut, the woman was nowhere to be seen.
They spent the whole day searching for her but they never found her.
Exhausted they returned to the wooden hut and Seonghwa cooked whatever he found in the pantry.
Hongjoong was surprised he was still alive.
He relaxed a little.
And later, when his handsome knight held him close to him, he didn’t care anymore about death.
They made love the whole night.
And they made love the whole day.
Until they starved and they ate the last supplies.
But they were happy.
So happy.
The next morning, they made plans.
They had a home now.
So many things they could do.
They would cultivate the land.
They could sell the goods.
They would buy two horses.
They would ride against the wind.
So many things awaited them.
Yes, they made plans of their new life and they began living it.
Together.
yjsinner Sun 30 Oct 2022 02:37AM UTC
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Daisukekuroneko Sun 30 Oct 2022 09:11AM UTC
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