Matter of Desire || Oneus Xion

The Sun and a Spring Breeze (23)

Xion's PoV

I sleep in peace for the first time in a long time that night. I dream of a future, a beautiful one where my heart is free of its burdens... The sun shines bright as birds chirp and I stop to enjoy the soft spring breeze. It sings me sweet melodies and I cry all the poison trapped inside me.

I can't wrap my head around how things turned out. But I don't get to dwell on it for long as I remember that I need to pick Yuri up from her house.

She's already outside when I arrive, wearing a lavish pink dress. She opens the door and pulls me out of the car. I just let her. I don't know what else I can do. She pushes me against the car and kisses me shamelessly. It's not like her, but maybe it is. I can't gather my wits enough to say or think anything coherent enough.

"So," she smiles running a hand through my hair. "I will, of course, need to punish you, for running away." "What did you have in mind?" "I'll need to teach you how to love life. And to love me... My gut is telling me that this time you'll get it." She points to the basket she left on the ground "Take that, and keys to me please."

Yuri's PoV

I tell him that I am mad at him but truly there wasn't a second my feelings for him wavered. Being able to see him again, to be close to him and to touch him... I am completely unable to hide how happy I feel. I keep stealing glances at him during the drive to the flower field. It's the perfect day to have a picnic date. I don't tell him where I am taking him, we both know the rules of the game by this point. Before we get too close I pull the car to the side of the road and after a little discussion convince him to put a blindfold on.

The pink cosmos flowers are even prettier than I remember them. I make him walk with the blindfold on just for the fun of it. And also because I can enjoy the clueless look he has on his face freely. I have my camera ready when I tell him to take the blindfold off.

Xion's PoV

She insists the blindfold is part of my 'punishment', it's not like I can resist the pleading look in her eyes for long, so I comply grumpily. I know we traveled out of the city but I don't get to make a lot of guesses before we arrive. She takes both of my hands in hers and we walk. I trust her, I realize. I trust her with finding the way and I trust that she'll teach me to find it too. She'll be there to help me navigate as I stumble around, knee-deep in my suppressed feelings.

My eyes take a moment to adjust after I undo the knot. I am in the middle of a sea of flowers. It's breathtakingly beautiful under the bright rays of the day. Yuri snaps a few photos before I register what's happening. I can't take my eyes off of her, she puts the flowers to shame with her smile. The wind pulls her long flowing hair. She laces her fingers with mine and leads me through the field. We stop and sit down on a small smooth hill overlooking the field. I only notice she brought the basket when she starts to lay down a spread.

We clink our wine glasses and I'm more than a little impressed how she managed to put this together on such short notice. We talk about mundane things, she tells me about her last weeks of shooting and how she came to be friends with Ravn after all. I tell her how I met him and how Mrs. Lee is doing. We reminisce about our childhood: the pillow castles we built, the silly drawings we made of each other, the mud soups we prepared in the garden... A serious look takes over her face suddenly. She scoots closer to me and I can't help but notice the way my heart skips a beat.

"I'm sorry." She says, taking me off guard. "What? Why would you be sorry?" Her hand finds its place on my cheek. As if it's the perfect fit, as if it never left. "I'm sorry for forgetting about you, for not recognizing you..."

"It's fine.." I whisper, I don't know if it's fine yet, but I know I've done so much more damage to her, it would be unfair for... "It's not fine." She keeps looking into my soul with her piercing eyes and I know she can read whatever I'm feeling better than I do at that moment. "I know you're thinking how you were towards me is messed up and that you don't deserve to be upset with me anymore, but that's not how things work. You can't think of emotions in terms of the eye for an eye philosophy you've got going on. It's not a competition and it's certainly not a game. It's normal for you to be angry and heartbroken. If you don't let yourself live and express your emotions it will only hurt you.

I won't offer excuses, just know that it won't ever happen again. What with the amount of love I have for you now, it'd be quite impossible to forget in any case..."

I only take notice of the tears staining my cheeks as I kiss her. The sun shines bright as birds chirp and her touch feels like a soft spring wind. It sings me sweet melodies and all the poison trapped inside me turns to a weightless feather that the wind blows away.

Yuri's PoV

Although I didn't drink more than a glass of wine I feel drunk on the day's happiness. The sun is setting as we walk through the various stalls in the small town market. Xion looks much more relaxed as well, he swings our joined hands and points to a stone staircase leading up to an old faucet. He takes a few steps up and stops abruptly, I barely avoid running into him. His head falls on my shoulder and his hand clasps my arm as he leans on me. I only get a chance to look at his face after I balance myself. "Xion..?" I ask, noticing that his face has gone white as a sheet. It takes him a while to gather himself. I just wrap my arms around him and wait as I can't come up with something better to do.

He sits down on the stairs and I bring him water to drink. "What's going on?" I ask as I sit beside him "Are you feeling sick?" he nods. I wait for an explanation but he doesn't say anything else. "I'll get a room in the motel we just passed by.." "Don't you think it's a bit inappropriate given my state..." it comes out in a huff even as a sly smile finds its place on his face.

I swat at him softly "So that you can rest. How can you joke in this state," "Worth it." "You can walk if you can joke." I look at him questioningly waiting to see if he'll refuse before I wrap his arm around my shoulder and stand up.

The innkeeper helps to get him up the stairs. I notice his temperature's going up but he doesn't give me a proper answer when I ask what I should do. I tell him to take his clothes off before he lays down. "I thought you said I was gonna rest." "Gee, you're still going on about that. Stop being a smartass and tell me what medicine I should get for you."

He shakes his head as he unbuttons his shirt as instructed. I clear my throat and tear my eyes away from the view. "Call my doctor and give him the address." "And he'll just come?" he holds the phone out to me. I approach trying to look anywhere but him. "I must have forgotten a lot about the rich life," He pulls the blanket over himself and pulls on my arm to make me sit on the bed beside him "I don't understand why you're being so shy about this, didn't you undress me in Jeju when I got sick?" "No that was Leedo." His expression turns to one of horror "Oh no..." I don't ask anything for the time being. That should be a fun story to listen to on a better day.

The doctor picks up after a few rings. The sunset paints the room red, and although I am worried about his health I feel at rest as I watch him fall asleep. Gratitude fills my heart, because of the wonderful day we had, because I can trace the perfect features of his face as he lays beside me, because he came back to me, because I get to be the one who worries about him when he's sick and the one who can get happy when he's happy.

End of Book 1!