HAPPY ENDING | svt ✓

⁵⁶ : with me

the trio sat staring at the green flames dancing.

despite the fact that dino knew he would third wheel anyway, he quite enjoyed watching the pair and their quiet intimacy from how joshua kept a hand over dokyeoms' to how dokyeom would constantly put his head on joshuas' shoulder as if compelled by some magnetic force of attraction.

observing them made dino realise just how in love they were and although he never sought love for himself and had no care for a relationship of his own, knowing that his closest friends had found each other was enough for him.

that was when he realised that for someone who was supposed to be the next god of mischief, he cared an awful lot for the people around him.

"you okay dino?" joshua asked.

dino nodded, smiling at the pair and moving closer to them when joshua had scooted over to make space for him on their log.

as powerful as dino was and despite how strong his will was to change the stories, the thought that he couldn't do a thing in the end always frightened him.

it nagged at him day and night and the more time he spent thinking about it, the more he wished he could at the very least extend their time with one another even for just an extra week or two.

"i can feel you're stressed about something - your magic is somewhat unstable right now," dokyeom commented, his fingers touching the magic locks on his wrists and flinching when they fought back. "am i right?"

"your detection is getting better kyeom," dino said, smiling at him as he leaned his head against joshua and sighed. "i want to change our stories so that we can all be together and share memories like these for a longer time but i don't think i'm strong enough to really do anything-"

"but you're not alone," joshua remarked wrapping an arm around dino and patting the youngests' head. "i'm sure all of us want to change the stories so you don't need to ever fight alone dino."

for so long, dino had wanted to prove his worth to others. he wanted to show them just how strong and capable he was on his own that it kept going over his head that he wasn't fighting alone anymore.

he didn't realise just how badly he wished to hear that from someone until dokyeom was kneeling in front of him and giving him a tight hug with joshua patting his back as his tears fell onto dokyeoms' sleeve.

it felt as though a huge burden had been lifted off of him as he clung onto dokyeom and cried to his hearts' content, the two older boys comforting him and making it known that they were there for him.

sure, he had no care for romantic relationships but what he had with his friends mattered so much to him that if he had to, he'd find a way to bring all the gods back down onto earth.

"thank you," he muttered, wrapping his arms around both dokyeom and joshua. "thank you for being here with me."

---

joshua lay his jacket over dino, the god having had fallen asleep after crying his eyes out.

"aren't you cold shua?" dokyeom asked, joshua sitting down on the grass by his feet as he shook his head. "are you sure?"

"don't worry about me. besides, we have this fire and a good view so it really isn't that bad you know?" joshua said, reassuring him as he took his phone out to take a photo of the sky.

dokyeom hummed, looking up at the sky as well and completely unaware of joshuas' camera facing him, the older snapping a candid shot and smiling at what he had taken.

as cliche as it was, joshua knew that he had fallen at first sight the very moment his eyes had landed on dokyeom all those years ago. and yet, despite having seen him for so long, just looking at him always gave him an adrenaline rush.

"i'm sorry by the way," dokyeom said, breaking the peaceful silence between them, his eyes following the clouds overhead. "for acting out when you were with minho."

"honestly? i forgot all about that already. i'm just...i'm just really happy you're back." dokyeom turned to face joshua but immediately looked away when he found the older already looking at him with a gentle smile on his face.

a laugh escaped joshuas' lips as dokyeom continuously gave his cheeks a pat as if it would snap him out of his embarrassment.

joshua looked through his photos and broke out into a bigger smile when he saw one he took earlier of dokyeom as they were making their way up the trail.

it was a simple photo, the background that of a typical forest and dino attempting to photobomb by placing a peace sign in the corner of the frame. but it became especially special to joshua since he couldn't keep his eyes away from dokyeom who wore a bright smile on his face that made his eyes become crescent moons.

if he had to describe dokyeom in a word, he already knew that he was his sunshine.

days without him felt dull and monochrome but whenever he was around, joshua felt as though everything became more vibrant. and even the things that were mundane suddenly became exciting when it was dokyeom doing it with him (even if it was just short conversations).

dokyeom, in his own ways, had made joshuas' life a lot more lively than it once was and a part of joshua knew that he had found his perfect match.

"hey minnie," joshua started, switching his phone off and turning to face dokyeom who had his hands on his cheeks. "would you want to spend the rest of your life with me?"

dokyeoms' eyes widened but after a while, he nodded, sitting down beside him and giving him a hug, nuzzling his head into the crook of his neck.

and when joshuas' phone screen turned on, his lockscreen was none other than the boy he now held tightly in his arms, wishing that they could stay that way forever.

---

vee talks!
...this is not yet the confession :D

anyways, sorry for the late update! my hands/wrists suddenly got worse again so i could barely type a sentence much less a whole 1000+ word chapter ;-;

anyways, how was this chapter?
and hows everyone doing! :D