a few more weeks flew past and soon, it was christmas. however, it's also been a few weeks since the park gang had attacked the city at the western borders of the choi kingdom. the king was starting to get skeptical of their strategy and almost urged for them to strike immediately a week ago. but one of the young military generals who was also the nephew of the king, jongho, suggested otherwise.
"it wasn't the right time," jongho simply said, his gestures relaxed and at ease, "if we attack them first, we would look like the bad guys. forgive me for my simplicity, uncle, but we all know that's true. and we would not want to be fighting when even our own people would be thinking that we're the bad guys."
so they've stayed put ever since. san and wooyoung, on the other hand, were busy, well, just spending time with each other. san kept his promise of courting wooyoung and now, the two were at the stage where they'd share little kisses here and there — mostly in the kitchen since yeonjun and felix knows — and they'll try to spend as much of their time together as possible. san would write poems dedicated to wooyoung and wooyoung would play some of the musical instruments he learnt back at the academy.
it was almost like the war was forgotten. almost like for a moment, there was just peace and quiet and nothing else. that they were the only two in the world that mattered to each other and no one could change that.
now, the pair of soulmates were sitting in one of san's studies, the older doing some palace prince-y work and wooyoung was sitting on the balcony outside, playing different pieces on the guitar. he started with a few christmas carols in celebration of the upcoming festival, but then he changed to some of the songs he learnt at the academy and some of his own works.
hongjoong gave him a few of his own scores too after hongjoong learnt that wooyoung played the guitar. hongjoong was a composer himself, writing and composing songs whenever he had the time to do so. however, he didn't really have time to play them since he was, after all, the royal sorcerer and therefore had a lot of duties. so, every once in a while, when the two just finished training and stumbled (they say stumble but we all know they go there purposefully) upon the room with musical instruments in them, wooyoung would play the guitar while hongjoong sung, the two in their little music paradise.
"that's beautiful," san muttered when he arrived at the balcony. he sat opposite to wooyoung, smiling when the younger just hummed and continued his music, "is that one of hongjoong hyung's?"
wooyoung shook his head, "no. it's one of mine, actually."
"oh?" san raised an eyebrow, "well, it must be dedicated to someone if it's that beautiful."
wooyoung chuckled, "if you think it's dedicated to you," he leant forward and smirked, "you're wrong. it's actually dedicated to my best friend."
san felt jealousy boiling at the pit of his stomach. he knew, oh, he knew he definitely shouldn't be jealous of wooyoung's best friend, but something in him didn't like the idea of wooyoung having a song dedicated to his best friend and not him. besides, who was wooyoung's best friend anyway? perhaps it's just a code name for-
"if you start thinking that somehow this is related to you, well, sorry to break your bubble, your highness, but you're wrong." wooyoung grinned. his giggled when he saw san's eyes stern, a glimmer of slight jealousy behind his eyes, "sannie, calm down. when i mean best friend, i do mean best friend. his name is yeosang and i've known him since i was five. if there was anything between us, it would've happened. also, he has a soulmate and i can assure you, it's not me."
san rolled his eyes, crossing his arms in front of his chest as he glared at wooyoung, "you never know. he might have feelings for you that you never knew about."
wooyoung faked gagged, the older cracking a small smile at the sight of that, "ew. yeosang having feelings for me? never. even if he did, i'm going to reject him hard because i am not dating that little piece of shit."
san got out of his chair all of a sudden and stood in front of wooyoung and his guitar, the moon dust glancing up at him, "and if i confess to you? will you reject me?"
wooyoung opened and closed his mouth. he found himself doing this quite often lately. it just always seems like he could never make out whole sentences in front of san. like his tongue just refused to untangle itself when san was in front of him and staring at him like — like this. wooyoung didn't know how to explain or even start to describe the way san always looked at him like wooyoung just meant the entire world to him. maybe wooyoung did, but wooyoung didn't believe that. he didn't believe that anyone would mean worlds to someone since it's always just used in romantic books to make everything seem prettier and nicer and less like the world they live in.
"i-" wooyoung started, eyes flickering down to san's lips before focusing them back on san's two pretty eyes, which the older definitely noticed and smirked at, "i don't know."
san scoffed, "well then, let's find out, shall we?"
wooyoung was about to protest, but san beat him to it and held onto his hands, gazing into the younger's eyes, "i've told you a billion times already, wooyoung, but i genuinely love, no, adore you. you are the most precious person in my entire life and i'd do literally anything to protect you from harm. i know you've already told the moon goddess to change my soulmate to someone else but i will only ever love you. i don't want anyone other than you. you will forever be my soulmate, the one that completes me, regardless of that damned red string of fate.
"so, jung wooyoung, will you be kind and consider me as your boyfriend, perhaps?" san ended with a huge, dorky smile on his face. wooyoung chuckled. honestly, he should be the one crying, and yet san was the one in tears. wooyoung quickly wiped off the tears on san's face and nodded, a huge smile on his face, too.
"words, cinnamon, i need to hear it." san whispered, the air between them trapped like they were in their own little bubble.
wooyoung laughed, "you're such a poet. yes, choi san, yes, i'll be your boyfriend."
san laughed with him, interlocking his hands behind wooyoung's waist and pulled the younger flush against him, kissing wooyoung softly and with a thousand different emotions written in that kiss. it was magical, it was genuine — it was everything they wanted to say to each other, connected in one kiss.
in that moment, they were one.
in that moment, they belonged to each other, truly and rightfully so.
—
a/n: yeah all those kissing n affection before were not boyfriend-kissing LMAO. also sorry if this seemed rush i just rush through it bc i've been putting this chapter on hold for like three days so i felt like i need a move on.
edit: i finished writing the second to last chapter~~ might start publishing two chapters at a day when i finish writing the entire thing (tmr) so look forward to it!!
