molten silver ─ hyunjeong ✓

eighteen

the sand was falling.

he was scrabbling through the dirt, his knees scraping against the uneven ground. he played it no mind, it wasn't important when the sand kept falling. he grabbed at the elusive grains, desperately pressing his fingers into his palms to keep them in. but no matter how much he tried, it was slipping through his fingers. so fast, too fast.

the sand pooled around his knees, climbing up higher and higher. he let his hands fall to his sides, staring helplessly; he could do nothing to stop it.

jeongin woke with a start, a startled squeak leaving his mouth as he registered his surroundings. it seemed they had fallen asleep on the couch again, although hyunjin was currently nowhere to be seen.

wincing, jeongin realized that his nails had been pressed to his palms, and he gently pried his hands open, looking at the small red crescents blooming. despite the sun that shone sweetly through the window, jeongin could only note the unpleasant feeling of flour sticking to his damp, sweaty skin, and the twinging pain in his hands.

another night gone.

he sat up, leaning on his knees and looking around. hyunjin wasn't anywhere to be seen, and jeongin looked around, confused and slightly disoriented. just as he was about to stand up, he heard the front door opening and soft footsteps pattering their way to the living room. hyunjin rounded the corner, and jeongin lept up to meet him halfway, a relieved grin on his face.

however, his smile fell as he saw hyunjin's desolate expression. the nymph hadn't realized the boy was awake and, when he saw him, tried to belatedly plaster a bright smile onto his face; but the damage was already done.

"what's wrong?" jeongin asked, stepping forward to press his fingers against the crease of hyunjin's brows, trying to smooth away the frown.

hyunjin watched him, his eyes flitting from his eyes to whatever was behind him, not being able to look him in the eyes for longer than a second. finally, he sighed, taking jeongin's hands in his.

"i received a letter," he started, and his voice wavered, "my family is to be returning soon."

he stopped, not sure how to continue. but he didn't need to.

jeongin let go of his hands, taking a step back to clear his head. hyunjin didn't follow him, knowing not to overstep his boundaries.

"i have to leave soon, then." jeongin hated the way tears began to well in the corner of the nymphs' eyes, unwanted visitors feeding off sorrow to quench their thirst. "we both knew it was going to happen eventually."

"i had just wished for the gods to give us more time," hyunjin replied, staring at the ceiling. a strange sort of silence had fallen over them, unlike the usual soothing quiet that sometimes came around them. the realization that he had to leave had settled deep in jeongin's stomach, a boulder pressing against his gut, heavy and uncomfortable.

hyunjin refused to look at him, sullen and silent. not angry at him, but angry at the world. the same world that had brought them together, put them on the path to healing together, now sought to rip them apart like the forceful hand of a god tearing paper into shreds.

but maybe it wasn't forceful, nor was it trying to wrench them apart out of cruelty. perhaps this was where their paths separated, that this path of healing branched out now that they had helped each other how much they could. it didn't mean the end. even if they took different paths at this fork, it wasn't the end. because jeongin knew that he would walk through the unwalked path, through brambles and thorny bushes, to meet hyunjin again.

it wasn't the end.

he breathed in deeply, steadying himself and moving forward to take hyunjin's hand in his. "well, then we should probably make the most of the time we have, shouldn't we?"

hyunjin begrudgingly looked up at him, and jeongin pasted a cheesy smile onto his face. it did the trick, and hyunjin struggled to keep the smile from his face, eventually giving up and pulling jeongin into a quick kiss. he then grimaced,

"you still taste of flour."

"i feel like i have flour in places flour shouldn't be," jeongin agreed, frowning down at himself.

hyunjin shuddered, "let us go and bathe. the lake mustn't be too cold today."

"bathe? in the lake?" jeongin asked hesitantly, "you don't have a shower or something?"

"shower? as in rain?" hyunjin's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and he glanced out the window at where the sky lay clear and blue, and jeongin held back an unbelieving laugh.

"you guys have ovens, but you don't have shower stalls?" jeongin waved off hyunjin's baffled look, and gently pushed him toward the door, "let's just go, we have no time to waste!"