White Sand Hourglass; Yeonbin

9

(UNEDITED)
The cold once again surrounded them, their legs felt heavy as they took steps on the thick snow layers. The wind was quiet and calm, it felt so peaceful and beautiful outside. The trees and ground were covered with a perfect sheet of snow. These were a few of the days when Yeonjun could admire this wonderland, where it showed its serene eyes to the prince.

Valanea would be snowing on its winter days but never as beautiful as this.

Yeonjun was walking behind the rest when he crouched down and reached to feel the cold snow between his fingers. It almost looked like the snow was fake, it was glistening like small crystals packed together.

"It's beautiful right?"

Yeonjun looks up and sees Soobin looking down at him. The rest were already way ahead, he didn't notice he had been staring at the snow for that long. The prince nods his head getting up and smiling at Soobin. The two continue to walk a few feet behind the rest.

Beomgyu was holding onto Taehyun's arm, their arms interlocking while Kai was in front of them swinging a stick back and forth due to boredom. Yeonjun could remember Beomgyu's words clearly.

"Yeonjun..."

Beomgyu said he saw a vision, and Yeonjun was in it. The boy never got the chance to share it before Soobin quickly shut Beomgyu off and pulled him away privately. Yeonjun was a bit hurt that he didn't get the chance to understand what Beomgyu meant by that, but he trusted Soobin. Soobin was only doing it for the best.

"how...how is it back where you live?" Soobin asks randomly breaking the long silence of the atmosphere. Yeonjun looked over at the boy, "It's nice...but I can't say it has the same sceneries as here" the older boy said.

"It's a large village surrounded by a forest and a mountain range on the side, but you really can't see it unless you are in the highest room of the castle. The people there are also nice, everyone has manners and is happy" Yeonjun continues his eyes gleaming just by remembering his home.

Soobin stays silent for a moment, taking in all the details from Valanea, it seems to be a nice place.

"Do you want to be a king?" Soobin asks his voice becoming low as he asks the question.

"I never wanted to be a king when I was younger but I guess once I started to grow and become more mature, I realized that was my duty after my father. Everyone depends on me and expects that from me" the black-haired boy answers. His expression was confusing, it was almost like watching a see-saw go from one side to another, Soobin couldn't tell if he was sad or happy mentioning becoming a king.

"Did you always want to be the forest guardian?" Yeonjun questions, his eyes scanning Soobin's pale face. The prince quickly noticed a small smile form on the forest guardian's face. The boy nodded, "I did, I trained my whole life for this. When I was younger I would always look at the guardians and always wanted to be just like them" Soobin tells.

"There were others?" Yeonjun asks confused.

"Yes, before us"

"What happened to them?"

Soobin looks up into the cloudy and dense sky blocking the glowing sun. "They retired after their term was done, once you finish you receive a place next to the gods and one last wish," the winter guardian states.

"Will you also get a place?" Yeonjun asks.

The prince could see a change in Soobin's eyes. It was almost like a thunderous cloud had covered his face.

"No..." Soobin says quietly, "I'm afraid this might be the last era for the guardians" The boy continues his voice expressing the sadness of the situation. "Aren't gods supposed to be superior? Can't they deal with the narculises?" the black-haired boy questions.

Soobin shakes his head, "They have been silent, they can't do anything about the situation down here, all they can do is watch" the white-haired boy responds.

"If they picked you I'm sure they had a reason for it" Yeonjun reassures the deer-like boy. Something about those words felt quite comforting for Soobin, he never heard anyone say it that way.

Without noticing, the hiding sun hid behind the mountain horizon. It was getting dark quickly once again, the mountain was becoming more steep and getting harder to climb up. "Let's rest here, Beomgyu and Kai need some rest," Taehyun says still holding onto the bear boy. Soobin nodded his head looking at Kai who dropped his tired body on the floor to sit down.

——-

Yeonjun bit into the cooked hare meat, the flavors melting into his mouth. The fire in the center illuminated the place, while Taehyun was still taking care of Beomgyu who was still trying to stabilize his body temperature. Kai was sitting next to the pair, eating his piece while aimlessly staring at the fire blazes. Soobin was more afar, he was sitting on the edge of the path looking down towards the trees and snowy fields.

"Are you just going to stare at him or walk over there and talk to him?" Kai asks looking at Yeonjun with a raised eyebrow. The prince gets flustered for being caught, he didn't even notice he was staring at the boy. "What happened to him?" Yeonjun asks.

Kai lets out a sigh before getting up and walking towards the boy sitting down next to him while looking at Soobin. The dim moonlight shone on him, he looked so majestic when the light shined on the gold chains wrapping around his antlers.

"When the narculises became too powerful to fight off, they tortured him to use his powers to spread a curse over this land for eternity. They took his wings and placed a curse of their own on him." Kai answers his voice becoming soft and quiet.

"He is the most important out of all of us, so they knew that this curse would potentially end all of us. His remaining days are counted in an hourglass in their possession, once the last drop of white sand falls to the bottom Soobin will take his last breath and everything that you see will disappear. We will all be gone." Kai continues.

"We will all be gone..."

These words got stuck in Yeonjun's head throughout the whole night. He couldn't go to sleep, he could only stare at the starry night. The prince hears a crackle making him lift his head up, but fortunately, it is only Soobin walking toward Kai who was sleeping. The winter guardian lifts up his blanket and gently covers the younger boy with it making sure that he was tucked in well and no gaps were left open for the cold air to sneak in.

"Soobin...what are you doing?" Yeonjun calls out softly.

Soobin looked over at him taken back that Yeonjun was still awake this late, but he just assumed the boy couldn't go to sleep, "Taehyun and I are the ones that can resist the cold more, but Beomgyu and Kai...they can't. It's better if they are warm" he says stepping closer to Yeonjun who was looking up at him.

"Can you...-" Yeonjun felt hesitant about his words since he barely knew Soobin, but his brain was telling him to spit out the words.

"Can you sleep with...me?" The prince splatters out. Soobin seemed a bit shocked by the boy's words but just nodded before walking towards the boy and lying down next to him. Yeonjun shared some of his blanket for Soobin, but the forest guardian didn't want him to. "Keep it for yourself I'm fine" Soobin protests quietly almost in a whisper to not wake the others up.

Yeonjun suddenly pulled his body closer to Soobin, covering the boy with his blanket. Their faces were just an inch away and Yeonjun could feel Soobin's heavy breathing against his cheek. "Do you mind if I..."

Soobin shakes his head already knowing what Yeonjun wanted to do, but he didn't know why he agreed so fast.

Yeonjun leans closer to the boy burying his face in Soobin's neck. His breathing was heavy at first but after some minutes, his breathing became quiet and calm. Soobin's eyes began to get heavy, but for some reason, he had a weird feeling inside his chest. It felt quiet...nice.

He never felt this feeling before but it was something that felt..warm and cozy. This was the first time his body ever felt warm.

And it was nice.
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