blur | jaeyong

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h a z y ;

it's his safe haven, hidden in a forest of looming everests where green grow galore and beautiful flowers flourish. sweet smelling creeks and a makeshift waterfall flow throughout the mass of nature, animals scamper around peacefully and birds sing into the lavender blue skies.

on days when heaven's water would pour down onto the earth and the soil would become soft, when the creeks would fill to the brim and the clay would crumble into a dangerous trap yet form into a beautiful sight; taeyong would travel through the woods with a small bag of clothes and make his way onto a path to a brighter day.

follow the small creek, pass the large rock, step over the rusty shovel and walk past the cardinal's nest; there stands a large tree, thick vines adoring its maroon bark. nothing special once explained, but a sight to see instead. this is taeyong's heaven, his secret place, a place of memories. the place where his heart belonged; a tree house.

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taeyong is a slim boy, thin form often thought of as useless until he slinks up the tree in cat like movements, hands gripping the slick vines as he eases up and hops into his small wooden house.

he remembers when he built it, back in his second year of highschool with his best friend. they'd escape the hellhole called school with planks of wood and nails in their pockets, always returning to their classroom with stained clothes and dirtied hands. it had taken them to the very last day of highschool to finish the treehouse--but memories still seeped into the wood when they were still working on it.

he'd close the small door with trembling hands--it was something he did even in summer.

jaehyun, what the lanky boy had called himself with a confident smile. that was who taeyong spent his days with; lazing around and living out the days of youth with not a single care. many memories fight their way into his head and he accepts them all.

there was a piece of wood they'd painted red, and another painted blue. jaehyun slept on the blue side, taeyong slept on the red. he had never understood why the younger male had split them up, leaving them both cold at nights, but he found out soon.

a mason jar sat lonely in the corner of the room, filled with paper hearts and promise rings, brought the thought of how one day jaehyun had pinned him to the floor of the small treehouse and confessed the strong feelings he held for him. "I love you"s were shared. fears were confessed and heartbeats fastened in fear of rejection. taeyong had accepted it wholly.

the scratches on the floor were embarrassing reminders of the results of his acceptance of love, of how he'd lost his virginity to his best friend. breaths were mingled, lips were molded together and bodies made heated contact, rain fell unnoticed outside the wooden heaven as young love bloomed in the form of a kiss. words were exchanged to be forever remembered.

an empty flower vase pressed the promise of growing old together onto the tip of his tongue, forced tears to brim in his eyes and for pain to sting at his heart. inside the vase sat a ring--different from all the smooth ones locked away with colourful hearts; this one was beautiful and held a bright stone in the middle. it was breathtaking, a gorgeous ruby sitting pretty on a silver ring--the stone meant for him and him only, it was his birthstone of course.

there was the memory of when they first started college, when they had drunkenly escaped to the treehouse with thoughts of confessing newfound fears for their relationship. jaehyun fearing judgment, and taeyong a loss of love. he knew of jaehyun's recent flings and he didn't agree with it.

and then he remembers from the empty picture frame with cracked glass, hanging crooked on the wall, the first time they'd gotten into a fight; things had been thrown, tears had been shed, wounds had bled and hearts had been broken. taeyong remembers how scared he was, how he thought he'd lost the only person he loved, how he didn't know how to get back home--how he would be alone once more. jaehyun had come back for him, apologizing over and over that he never meant to hurt him, he never meant the bruises nor the screams or lies.