wooyoung heard of the news before san came to him. he knew he had to go to the neighbouring kingdom with seonghwa and report back to the kingdom every few days. wooyoung knew it was a tough job, but he knew that he could bare it. he'd be capable of it. he must be, or else why would the king himself come notify him of such news?
wooyoung was packing when san came bursting into his bedroom. wooyoung looked over his shoulder at the opening of the door, smiling when he saw san panting and turned his attention back to packing his stuff. with the red thread between the two of them gone, wooyoung couldn't feel what san was feeling anymore. was the prince anxious? sad? wooyoung didn't know.
he felt, however, when san crashed himself onto wooyoung's back and the silent sobs he heard coming from san's mouth. wooyoung turned around and cupped san's face in his own hands. they kissed. and they hoped that it would last forever. that they'd never had to let each other go. that they'd never had to say goodbye. that they could look forward to the next morning, where they would wake up next to each other.
"i'll be okay, sannie," wooyoung muttered against san's mouth, pecking it before darting his eyes upwards to meet with the prince's caramel ones, "i'll be back before you know it."
san shook his head. the arms around wooyoung's waist tightened and he pulled the younger closer to him, "no, stay, wooyoung, please."
wooyoung laughed softly, his laughter earning its own place in san's mind. it was like wooyoung's melodic laugh just carved its own throne in san's memory, it'll never leave his mind until the day he dies.
"you know i can't." wooyoung replied. "really, i will be back before you know it. a blink of an eye later, i'll be here, in your arms again."
"wooyoung, please." san begged. he placed his forehead against wooyoung's and closed his eyes, "i-i slipped. my mouth slipped and moved on its own. i accidentally slipped that you're my boyfriend in front of my father. if i-if i somehow convince him that you're not my boyfriend, then you can stay here. you can stay here with me! please, wooyoung, just stay."
wooyoung raised one of his hands to stroke san's hair gently, a small smile still on his lips when he kissed san's cheek, "it's okay, sannie. i'll go. plus, seonghwa hyung will be going, too. he'll protect me like how i'll protect him. we'll look after each other, sannie, it's going to be okay."
"no! you don't get it, wooyoung!" san was crying now, streaks of tears flowing down his cheeks when he intertwined one of his hands with wooyoung's, "you can—you can get out of this! please. i've already allowed you to fight alongside with me, so please, just stay here until we strike the park kingdom. you're—you're going to be on my side! i wouldn't let you out of my sight! just—i just need you to stay."
wooyoung sniffed, his eyes watering a bit, too. he wiped san's tears away with his other hand and chuckled, "so you're saying you're okay with seonghwa hyung going into that mess by himself? i don't know about you, your highness, but i'm not okay with that. i'd much rather have me by his side than to have him go into the kingdom by himself. i'll protect him, like i said. and i'll be by your side to fight with you when everything is done. then we can live our lives together. like you said, i don't give a fuck about what the moon goddess thinks anymore. we'll—we'll go against the rules. we'll get married, and we don't have to give a flying shit about what the kingdom thinks! if they say no, then they say no. it'll just be you and me, sannie, and we'll be okay. you'll be okay; i'll be okay; we'll be okay. just let me go, okay?"
san shook his head, "no. i've lost you as my soulmate already. i can't let you leave me again. wooyoung-"
"cinnamon." wooyoung said softly. san opened his eyes, tears still streaming down his face but he calmed down a bit when he saw wooyoung's sweet smile. san scoffed, more tears pouring out as he nodded.
"cinnamon, stay. stay for me. stay with me." san said firmly. wooyoung looked up with his doe eyes and san almost wanted wooyoung to cast some sort of spell so that the two would be excluded from the outside world forever. so that they could live in their own little bubble with no one disturbing them ever.
wooyoung understood san's pain. he really did. and wooyoung would love nothing more than to stay here with san. but he knew the decision had been made and that there's no changing it now. that even if san somehow managed to convince his father to take wooyoung off the mission, wooyoung knew that he would still be the perfect candidate to perform this with seonghwa. one with extraordinary magic and the other with remarkable fighting and strategy skills. they were the perfect people to do this.
"sannie." wooyoung warned, "you really do know that no matter how hard you try to convince your father to get me out of this, i'm still going to do it, right? i'm not letting seonghwa hyung go into the lion's den alone."
san groaned, "you're too nice, cinnamon. please, just stay. cinnamon, cinnamon, cinnamon, cinnamon! cinnamon, cinnamon, cinnamon-"
"stop!" wooyoung giggled, the two falling onto wooyoung's bed with san hovering over wooyoung now, the two laughing at san's silliness and just enjoying the time they have left with each other. they just stayed like this for a while, before wooyoung pushed san off with san landing on the soft rugged floor with a thud.
"goddamn it, why are you so strong?" san muttered, but wooyoung only laughed and replied, "it's magic, sannie."
wooyoung walked over to his desk and grabbed an envelope with san's name written prettily on it. san just stared at it, thinking of what it could be.
wooyoung threw a smile, "sannie, i-" he paused before starting again, "if i don't return, open this. if i don't come back and the news of me, y'know, missing or, um, dying, then you open this, alright?"
wooyoung was crying now. san stood up slowly and engulfed the moon dust in his arms, "i'm never opening this, cinnamon, never. even when you're gone, i-"
"no, sannie, please!" wooyoung pleaded, his sobs coming out louder than usual, "please. just open this if i'm gone. i need—i need you to read this when i don't return, okay?"
san looked at wooyoung and stroked the younger's head affectionately. he buried his head in wooyoung's neck and inhaled wooyoung's still-prominent cinnamon scent. it really did calm him down and allow him to breathe and just think. it grounded him and allowed him to focus on wooyoung and wooyoung only, and that's something san would like to do for the rest of his life.
"okay," san muttered against wooyoung's neck, placing a soft kiss against it before raising his head again. this time, he was tucking a bit of loose hair behind wooyoung's ear, smiling at the younger, "okay."
wooyoung let out a soft chuckle, more tears spilling out of his eyes, "okay."
san leant in and kissed wooyoung, a thousand emotions evoked through the simple touching of lips. it was like sparkles were erupting, fireworks were booming, two souls intertwining once again. they don't need the red string to be soulmates. they'll be soulmates either way.
—
a/n: idk. this chapter was so unnecessarily sad but its like its bc im sad lol.
