Yesteryear

Nightly Visitor

A subtle tapping sound on his window startled Wooyoung awake. Within a moment, he had blinked his eyes open.

The moon had wandered, but it still shone through his window. Part of his body was submerged in its eerie glow that gave his arm a ghostly shine. He dodged the pale light as if getting it into his face would put a hex on him. Quickly, he pushed his cosy blanket back and hurried to the window. It opened with a creak to expose San outside clinging to the windowsill. He grinned at Wooyoung when the historian fumbled to open the second half of the window as well.

"Did you peek into every window to find out which room was mine?" Wooyoung kept his voice low so their ambiguous situation wouldn't get detected by the city guard. When he stepped aside, San swung his body in through the window. His cloak billowed behind him as he landed on the floor with a soft thud. While the man closed the window with quiet movements, Wooyoung sat back down on his bed. The moonlight was enough for them to see as San detached the bag that he wore slung around his hips on a belt. With a triumphant grin, he dangled it in front of Wooyoung's face.

"I did; it was too late to come in through the door. Didn't want the guard to snatch these before I got them to you."

Wooyoung snatched the bag and undid the soft leather pouch gingerly. What came out were two books bound in matching leather. Heavy, they laid in his palm as he set down the bag on the floor.

"Two?"

"I looked through some others we took that day and the second one had the same handwriting. I figured your friend would be happy about having both of them back," San grinned as he put his coat on Wooyoung's dresser. While his gaze wandered to the fireplace, Wooyoung stood to store the books in his own bag safely. Afterwards, he carried San's bag over to put it with his cloak.

"Do you mind if I make a fire?"

"Go ahead."

Wooyoung sat down on the bed again and played with his toes while San knelt in front of the fireplace. Soon, sparks flew and the beginnings of the first flames licked on the wood. San warmed his hands with a pleased sigh.

"I forgot to bring you food, but I could wake a maid if you are hungry?" Wooyoung suggested as he watched the man's broad shoulders.

San shook his head and stood to return to Wooyoung. Wooyoung leaned back on his hands to look up at him, when instead of sitting down, San came to stand right in front of him.

"No need; I ate before I left. I told my leader I had important business to do here. I think he believed I was meeting a woman," San snickered. His nimble fingers found their way under Wooyoung's knees and pulled his feet back down on the floor. Cold, the wood touched his soles.

"Are his assumptions about what you might meet a woman for and what you are planning tonight so far off from each other?" Wooyoung stabilised San's waist when the man threw one of his firm thighs over Wooyoung's lap. Comfortable, he settled down on Wooyoung and wrapped his arms around his neck. Wooyoung embraced his waist loosely just so they could be close.

"That depends on how much we get done before dusk. We always find the time to share a bed, but we rarely find the time to talk. Tonight, I would rather talk than hold you and be left with questions for many hundred years again."

Awed by his intrigue, Wooyoung hid his blush in the man's shoulder. Every time they met, it took San a moment to adjust to the idea of Wooyoung again, but his body always remembered their closeness after a while. Cuddled together, they shared each other's warmth until the room heated up. San's waist was small in Wooyoung's hands, and he could feel his wired muscles aching down his back.