twelve hours » jaeseong

[eight hours]

They lingered at the park for a little longer, but, like the wind, their attention shifted again.

"Have you ever been to Angel's Peak?" Inseong asked. Jaeyoon couldn't stop the blush that rose to his cheeks as Inseong's eyes focused on him. He shook his head. Angel's Peak made him think of Coelum.

"You haven't?" Youngbin screeched. "We have to go!"

"What is it?" Jaeyoon asked. Youngbin dramatically threw a hand over his eyes and fell back onto the grass.

"'What is it' he asks!" He cried. Inseong chucked a balled up napkin at him.

"There's this hiking trail on these lame, not-very-tall cliffs. It's really pretty, actually, if you know where to look," Inseong explained.

"Well, I don't know where to look," Jaeyoon responded. He didn't notice how they ever-so-slightly leaned towards each other as they spoke.

"Hope you don't mind getting naked, because we're taking you to Angel's Peak!" And with those baffling words, they were piling into the car and driving once again.

A short drive and a suspicious parking job later, they were exiting the car on the side of the road.

"Is this the right place?" Jaeyoon asked. On the other side of the road's guardrail was a gentle incline populated by dark green trees. He had no idea that there was a place this isolated. It was quiet, like the Chamber of Scrolls back at Coelum. The Chamber held records of every amorini, and Jaeyoon absently wondered what his looked like.

"Of course it's the right place! What do we look like to you, idiots?" Inseong joked, jarring Jaeyoon back to reality. His memories of Coelum were beginning to feel like dusty relics - something pretty and strange that you weren't allowed to touch.

"So we're gonna jump over the guardrail, which is totally legal and not weird at all..." Youngbin said. He looked both ways down the empty winding road before hopping over. Jaeyoon followed suit, and then before he could even turn around to wait for Inseong, the boy was crashing into his back and they were hitting the ground. Inseong used Jaeyoon's now aching body as a cushion for his own fall, and he pushed himself up on his elbows, looking down at Jaeyoon worriedly.

"Are you okay?" He asked. "I'm so sorry, shit, oh my God."

Jaeyoon found that he couldn't respond because his mind was too busy processing how close their faces were to send signals to his tongue.

"Inseong, you clumsy piece of shit, you're gonna kill Jaeyoon before we even show him Angel's Peak!" Youngbin laughed. The sound of his voice made Inseong roll hurriedly off of Jaeyoon, and they both stood up, faces red.

Jaeyoon found himself cursing (not for the first time) the fact that embarrassment existed on all planes.

Then Youngbin was taking the lead and walking between two trees. Inseong followed, then doubled back and grabbed Jaeyoon's hand to pull him after them. The trees thickened as they walked, and Jaeyoon reveled in the crunching sounds their feet made as they walked along a tramped-down path. The quietness of the woods was comforting; like a heavy blanket draped around him, muffling the rest of the noisy mortal plane and the silly worries and desires of the mortals themselves.

Of course, he also loved the feeling of his hand in Inseong's, and how Inseong would smile back at him on occasion, perhaps expecting him to tire from the uphill climb.

"The hill ends soon, don't worry!" Youngbin called from ahead.

"We're almost there!" Inseong exclaimed. The excitement in their tones kindled the same feeling in Jaeyoon's own heart. It was strange how people you cared for held so much control over your emotions. It was strange how readily you cared for others.

They finally crested the hill and the trees thinned out, the world bathed in complete sunshine once more. The other side of the hill was a sheer drop off to a basin that held a tranquil pond not far below, surrounded by trees and green. On the other side of the pond was what Jaeyoon assumed to be the real hiking trails, the ones open to the public.

"Start stripping," Youngbin said, "we're going swimming!"

He and Inseong wasted no time in stripping to their boxers while Jaeyoon just stood there.

"You guys are jumping?" He asked.

"Duh."

"Is that safe?" The drop, while not particularly dangerous, suddenly seemed a lot more menacing. Jaeyoon wasn't scared of heights - he could fly, why would he be - but he worried about his friends.

"Of course, we've done this a million times before!" Youngbin said, kicking his clothes into a pile. Inseong did the same and Jaeyoon became fixated on the blades of grass while he shed his own clothes, adding them to the pile.

"Fuck," Inseong muttered, and Youngbin hit him, looking angry about something other than the swear.

He hoped no one across the basin could see them.

Inseong coughed as Jaeyoon crossed his arms over his bare chest, shivering a little as the breeze whispered against his skin. It almost seemed to be taunting him, asking why he wasn't taking flight. His back began to feel itchy, and it took too much willpower to keep his wings hidden.

"We come here and jump off all the ti -"

And then Inseong was pushing Youngbin over the cliff. Jaeyoon let out an embarrassing shriek and rushed to the edge, where Youngbin had already surfaced from the rippling water with a huge grin on his face.

"I'm gonna get you back for that!" He yelled. Inseong snorted then turned to Jaeyoon, who suddenly became aware of how isolated they were. And Inseong's bare chest.

"You go next," he said, advancing on Jaeyoon, who had nowhere to run. Inseong leaped at Jaeyoon and then hands were pushing, arms windmilling, and Jaeyoon was back in the exhilarating embrace of the air. He forgot who he was supposed to be for a second and seemed to bounce upwards in the air. His exalted grin disappeared as he remembered and he let himself fall, too busy bracing for the impact of the water to notice the single feather that floated through the air.

He fell again and again, the huge smile on his face threatening to never leave. He loved this place, loved the laughter, the air against his face, the freedom.

He loved how the air sparkled with gold and pink.

He loved how reassuring the seconds felt even as they slipped away.

a/n: i havent updated this for eons lmao