Chapter Text
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Clouds reaching for the moon. His neck stretched back, watching some wanting to cover her silver light. The sound of the leaves being swayed by the wind, the tree behind him. Sitting in the chair from the terrace, in front of his apartment, because he lived on the top floor and had the advantage of that space just for him.
The breeze itself stirred his dark strands, it was so strong that it overturned the already empty beer bottle, and for a few moments there was only the sound of glass and nothing else.
The moon conjured a veil, when the clouds reached her. It would rain. The mountain on that side was full of nighttime clouds full of water, about to burst over him.
It was for the best, to drown those feelings. The wind blew harder, moving the leaves so hard that more shadows danced reflected on the bare skin of his pale legs, for he was wearing shorts.
Wonwoo sighed. Was that how it felt to be heartbroken? A hopelessness as great as looking at the sky in solitude? If he could admire the sky with someone else, he would feel a little better. But the person he wanted next to him couldn't be.
It had been a gentle rejection, at least. And he was already expecting it. He will never fall in love with a person who already belongs to someone else. New reminder added to his heart not to wear the same scars. But the feeling was raw. Wonwoo just wanted his heart to stop beating for that person. He would never forget her, he would always be fond of her, he only wanted to sigh that feeling.
He felt the lump in his throat and cleared it in an attempt to erase the pressure. At least the moon kept him company that starless night. Although the clouds covered her at all times. When would they catch up with him?
“Leave my moon alone, let her shine,” he said with words drawn in by his deep voice.
He placed his head in his hands, his elbows resting on his thighs. He laughed awkwardly. It came back to him in waves, heartbreak on every nerve. He wanted to get rid of that feeling once and for all.
Why did love hurt so much? His shoulders trembled gently, his tears feeling warm in the cool May wind.
He was so overwhelmed that he almost stumbled out onto the terrace, sat on the ground, and lay on his back, arms outstretched. He inhaled and exhaled. Again it had come like a cruel swell. He saw an image of the person for whom he mourned his wounded heart. He closed his eyes on the last shaky breath, wanting to calm down.
He opened his dark eyes. The clouds were such a thin blanket that they didn't cover the moon as such, they only blurred her, with its faint halo.
“Hello, waning moon.”
It seemed that she was smiling at him. At least she was always there and he could see her. He brought his hand to his chest. How much longer would it linger? How stubborn would that feeling be to bury itself like a thorn? Would it be perpetual?
“I just want to forget…”
Again, like every night, he went out to the terrace for a while, after arriving from work and having dinner. He felt like he was a stupid teenager reacting like this, being affected like that by a rejection. He knew the risk of love. And he had taken it.
He heard a plane clearly. It seemed to brush the moon. He laughed at the thought.
“That cannot happen, no one can touch you, right?,” he addressed her as if she were listening. “You are unreachable…”
He moved the contents of his glass full of soda, had his elbows on the edge and admired the city for a while. Wonwoo felt that little had happened since that day. Actually almost a month, as it was already the end of May, and he had bestowed his heart on the early days. He kept talking to that person, he was still so fond of her. At least they had been on good terms. But pretending that his feelings were gone just like that was what cost the most.
“Love sure does suck, when you're on the side that yearns for and is empty-handed at the end.”
Usual monologue. At least that habit allowed him to reflect. The moon, his great companion. He looked at her again.
“Hello again, waning moon,” he greeted her with a wave of the hand and a smile. It was dumb, but he liked to do it. “You're beautiful as always, thank you for shining, you help me a lot, even if you are just a celestial body, I feel that you comfort me.”
He was destroyed, but for a few brief moments, she could soothe his heart, as if the silver light were an embrace, a hope that love would be kind to him one day.
To the night that always embraced her.
“You are suffering again. If it's not you, it's me.”
To the moon that took him by the hand.
“I guess fate likes to play in such way.”
“I can't let you suffer.” Quiet silver.
“But humans suffer that way. It's normal, love hurts like that.” Dark firmament.
Selene and Nix. Mond and Nacht. Moon and Night. Luna and Noche.
They say that the Sun and the Moon are lovers. It is not true. Since that would be a tragedy, and the reality was that the moon was surrounded by night, her rightful lover. The two of them, when the sun went to sleep with his birds, rose in the sky, the reigning of everything barely visible, due to the dark and the silver light.
The stars were the true daughters of the night and the moon.
“But I can't just let you suffer like this.” A quiet, soft, and blessed voice. Like silk being dragged by warm skin.
“You know our past and future lives, they all went through something like this.” Another deep and pleasant voice, like an onyx rock being caressed.
“I'm sorry, but this time I can't stay to watch you suffer alone. Every day you greet me, and I can't return your greeting, just smile, but I want you to know that I am here, listening to you and accompanying you.”
“I already know that. He senses it. You know me, in all my ways I will always look to you for comfort. I will love you even without knowing your face.”
The spirit of the moon and the night, swimming on the waters, the black carp, the silver carp. Following each other. Always in unison.
“But I want to…” The stubborn moon, which watches over humans to give them a light, something to love the night for; the night that she already loved with all the fullness of it.
“I can't stop you, can I?” And the night that gave her everything, gave him a kingdom, a home. He held her at all times, his love so great to give her all of his being, to give himself completely.
They were so close, those their spirits, that the night did not need to question that, he knew the answer.
“You know my name, right?”
“It is the same in every life, my beloved. And I will never forget it.”
“Give him comfort as long as you come to him in this life then, only you can calm me, only you make me whole.”
The waters rippled in a silver glow so strong, so blinding and beautiful.
“Until we meet again.”
“Until we meet again…”
And in the pond only a dark carp swam.
Wonwoo went barefoot out onto the terrace. The day had been so busy that he paid no attention to anything but his job and to keep away any distractions.
The only light came from the streetlights, he headed towards the edge, where he could see better, at least a little lighting was enough to read the pages of the book in his hands. He had been home late, so he didn't get a chance to do his routine of sitting and reading until sundown.
He rested the book on the edge and leaned over it. He adjusted his glasses to see better, but the lighting was so dim that he read slower than normal. Still, Wonwoo was stubborn. Anything to distract him was enough.
Then he realized the main reason why everything was darker than normal despite having the light from the street lights. He turned to the black sky and it was desolate. Just one or another star. Venus out there. But Wonwoo frowned, lowering his eyebrows at once.
Night of the new moon. The cycle was like that and that phase had to come. But he felt a strange melancholy. He wanted to laugh at his childish feeling, but he had been sensitive lately and felt more hopeless than usual.
“Maybe Shakespeare was right and the Moon influences us humans so much. Maybe I am a lunatic” he thought.
“Luna... You've abandoned me today,” he said, his lips puffing out as if he were a bitter child.
“Is not true. I would never do something like that.”
He snapped his head around at the sudden voice. It was from a stranger, not his, because it sounded softer, like silk would sound on a person's vocal cords. He almost loses his heart from the shock, for on the edge of the terrace, sitting with one knee bent and his elbow resting on it, was a man with an aura of singular calmness.
But he was very peculiar. And not for the reason that he had come to his terrace without making a noise and being so calm on the edge as if the wind was not able to push him and throw him towards the street below.
Wonwoo stepped back a bit. The man had unusual hair. It was very light, pale silver, almost white. His eyes were big, like those of a night owl, like two full moons, for they were also clear in color, like the waters of a crystalline sea, as if they were a cloudy sky and behind lay a peaceful kingdom of celestial tone.
His skin seemed to give off a fine glimmer, just as suave silver; he looked like an ethereal being. Wonwoo pinched the skin on his forearm, tried to blink several times to lose that vision, but the strange man was still there, looking at him with eyes that seemed amused all of a sudden.
“Who are you?” He could barely summon his voice.
The man shrugged and turned to sit with his long legs dangling, not over the edge, but toward the terrace.
“I have many names.” He smiled.
Wonwoo took another step back, he was very confused and alarmed. He reached into his pants pocket for his cell phone, but he left it in his room. If he started running...
“Wonwoo, you shouldn't read at night and in such low light, your eyesight is already bad…”
“Pardon me?” The feeling was more disturbed when hearing his name leave the lips of that man. He jumped off the edge until his feet were on the ground. His clothing was strange too. He was wearing a long-sleeved shirt, almost covering his hands, but the fabric seemed to shine too, as if it wasn't tangible and was woven with albino dust, like snow itself. His pants were the same white color and his feet were barefoot.
He moved towards him a little and the warm light from the street lamp illuminated his profile, casting shadows on the other side of his face. His face had a dark side that gave him an aura of mystery, and the other side was visible in the light. The stranger moved closer, Wonwoo felt his breath catch in his throat. As unknown as he was, as eccentric and out of place, because of the dangers that he might entail, there was one thing that left no room for doubt: the beauty of him.
Wonwoo had seen so many beautiful things, many beautiful people that he had admired. But the person in front of him was unmatched. His innocent smirk, his intense round eyes, his almost marbled nose, seemed chiseled.
He didn't seem real. He was a perfect muse for anyone. Then Wonwoo widened his eyes.
“What's your name...?” He took another step back. The man smiled fondly.
“You never change, you have those same dark eyes in each of your lives. You always said they weren't as expressive as mine, but I think you're wrong.” He started to walk around him and Wonwoo froze. He either went nuts or was so dumbfounded that he couldn't do anything, just receive the words and become more confused. “The night has always been so beautiful, hasn't it, Wonwoo?”
Despite being in a mishmash state, his voice spoke before he could stop it.
“The moon is more beautiful.”
The man laughed softly. That sound was nice, but Wonwoo was still holding his defenses up and was on guard.
“Of course you would say something like that.” He made a complete turn around him and was facing him again. He leaned forward and Wonwoo had to awkwardly back up. The man was his same height and had a slender body despite his slightly baggy clothes.
“Maybe I'm hallucinating, it must be the stress and all the accumulated feelings”
“My onyx, have they broken your heart?” Now his expression changed to a sad one.
Wonwoo blinked, confusion and curiosity intermingled, he no longer knew what state he was in, he frowned, not in annoyance, but in genuine doubt.
“What? How do you know that?”
The man straightened up.
“Wonwoo, I know everything about you. Or well, I know what I can see, but I have known your heart for so long that it is easy to know what you feel and think.”
The bespectacled man raised both hands in front of him, already fed up.
“Okay, tell me who you are, this is very-
The man smiled and raised his index finger. Wonwoo leaned his head. Was he pointing at something? Was he asking for silence?
“What?”
The man sighed and closed his eyes. Then something happened that he never expected. He felt himself suddenly in a dreamlike reality, or in a surreal painting drawn from the mind of Remedios Varo. For the man in front of him gave off a light between white and silver, completely enveloping him, and a shape appeared above his head. A waning crown. The moon in her smiling phase, resting on his light hair.
The terrace was lit by his body and his light. Wonwoo opened his mouth in shock. It was a beautiful image, despite being so unreal. The man opened his eyelids and looked at him with complete adoration.
“You already know my name, Wonwoo. Every night you say it when you greet me, don't you?”
The jet-haired really felt like a dream. All logic fell overboard. Maybe he had gone outright insane.
“It can't be true…”
The man looked up at the night sky reproachfully. “Always so skeptical in all your lives.” Then he turned to Wonwoo. “You said I abandoned you, but no, I would never do that, keep that always in mind. I would never abandon you. To no human, but you are special, my beloved onyx.”
That smile and that gaze, so warm, as if Wonwoo was the most precious being for him.
“You are…”
The man tilted his head to the side, waiting for Wonwoo to say so. If he said it out loud, wouldn't it be like giving value to his hypothesis that he had gone nuts?
“I am...? I already told you that I have many names. Many epithets.” The man rocked back and forth on his heels, hands clasped behind his back, “They are all very pretty, I appreciate the admiration humans have for me, I love them the same, so I watch over all of you with my beloved night so that your dreams are pleasant and you do not feel the absence of the sun.”
Wonwoo felt his knees suddenly weak. Was he suddenly delusional? Was that a hallucination fantasy manifested by so much stress? He didn't have a drop of alcohol in his system.
“Wonwoo?” The man looked at him with concern.
There was no way. Or was it?
Then he touched the man. He was so close that when he reached out his arm, his fingers landed on the stranger's chest.
He could feel him, as tangible as everything, and yet it was as if he was touching light, if it could be perceived by touch receptors in his skin and not by heat receptors or photoreceptors on his retina.
He inhaled deeply and let out a heavy, shaky breath. It was real. If in itself having a visual hallucination was unlikely, the fact of being able to touch it was almost impossible, he was not sick and all the stress in the world would not cause him that. The only explanation remained and his skepticism wavered so strongly that he felt he would fall at any moment, but the man (he really wasn't a man, he could tell by now) held him by the shoulder to keep him on his feet.
“Hey, come on, have a seat, you look very pale, my onyx.”
He allowed himself to be guided in his stupor to the chairs around the small table on the terrace. He sat down and his companion leaned against the table by his hips.
Wonwoo leaned forward, his hands on his head between his legs.
“How is it possible? You really are...?” He looked up. He couldn't keep running from those eyes. Oh Mare Nubium.
His companion nodded.
“I came to see you, after all I could afford it today, it is the right phase.”
Wonwoo looked up at the sky. Only night and nothing else.
“Moon,” He said, “Today is the new moon.”
“That's how it is. But look how beautiful the night looks.” He was looking at him and not at the sky, at Wonwoo.
Having finally realized who was before his eyes, Wonwoo did not know how to react.
He always had a special devotion to her and he admired the moon like no one else. He even dedicated a full ode to her for that poetry competition he had in high school. He felt sheepish and nervous. The moon was beautiful in all its forms, there was no doubt about it. His heart pounded, but that feeling filled him with melancholy.
Moon seemed to notice and he stroked his jet black strands gently.
“I came because I don't like to see you suffer. It is not that it is well allowed, it is not that it is forbidden either. But since we made that pact, at least once every 100 years…”
Wonwoo saw him waiting for answers, as he didn't understand anything. The melancholy faded, as if Moon's touch was a comfort. Of course it was, Moon had always been there for him. He wanted to sink into her light that contrasted with his own darkness.
“What do you mean?” He said barely in a whisper, enraptured by the silver touch. Moon sighed and then smiled, like someone who smiles at beautiful memories.
“It's a long story and the night is not eternal, to our misfortune.” He leaned forward and with one hand on Wonwoo's cheek and looked directly at him. The light grew brighter, so blinding, it enveloped Wonwoo and he felt himself suddenly fall into a dream. The sweet drowsiness, and he was carried away by the oniric waters.
Moon fell into a spell, from a powerful warlock who wished her only for himself.
Moon fell ill, her light became so dim, like the cloudy reflection on the pond.
Her lonely spirit stopped swimming in it.
Moon fell from the sky, and it sank into the lonely mist of the empty night.
That warlock searched desperately for her. For Moon was not invoked before him.
She did not belong in his corrupt arms, someone as immaculate as she was.
Moon fell into a dream, almost eternal.
Humans began to miss her. They began to need it.
Until an alchemist found her, as Moon appeared before him, near the pond, out of her spirit. Moon in her earthly body. A mortal. A man.
He did his best to wake Moon up from that endless dream.
It seemed there was little hope that she would open her eyes again and bring her silver light back to everyone.
The alchemist, a man without magic, but with a pure heart and great knowledge, so different from the warlock that poisoned Moon, did everything he could.
With his knowledge, he managed to prepare a concoction with the ability to awaken Moon. But something was missing that was hard to come by. At least something he couldn't find on his own.
He sought the help of a human who possessed the magic that he lacked.
His dear friend who hated that gift he was born with, he accepted for Moon.
So he looked for the last ingredient, that feather of fire, of passion, of rebirth, of new life and vitality.
He searched for the Phoenix that seemed impossible to find, as no one had ever laid hands on him.
But that man with the magic that he had rejected all his life, was finally able to come to terms with it and convinced the Phoenix to grant him one of his feathers.
And that the Phoenix did. The Phoenix and the wizard fell in love, so that feather of fire was so powerful that Moon instantly woke up from her sleep.
The alchemist, relieved to finally have Moon back, helped her overcome the spell she had fallen into, gain back her light. But Moon's spirit had to swim again in the waters of the pond where she was protected, but the warlock had conjured a barrier that did not allow Moon to return, because Moon alone could not against him.
The alchemist did his best again so that Moon could shine in the sky like before.
It couldn't be helped. The alchemist fell in love with Moon at that time. His heart was captured by her silver beauty.
And Moon fell in love with the alchemist in the same way. But he was a human, and Moon a spirit that did not belong to the mortal world.
Their love was impossible. Moon had to go back to the firmament, and the alchemist was tied to the land like a tree by its roots.
Still, their love was so strong that they managed to make a pact, a negotiation with God. Moon reigned alone in the sky. The only living spirit after the sun went to sleep to grant her his place to keep over the humans from above.
So, as a reward for saving Moon, God offered a choice for the alchemist. Staying in the world with humans like him, being a simple mortal in love with Moon, whom he would never touch and could only admire. Or let his spirit swim in the waters, turning into the night, to take care of Moon so that no one else dares to enchant her and not take her away from humans, that her light could be perpetual.
The alchemist accepted with great conviction. The pact was formed. Moon and Night, those eternal lovers. But it was not all, of course, for their spirits swam in the calm waters, but the rest of their souls needed a mortal vessel that could carry it for them. Well, Night had been human and Moon also had to give a part of herself, since she would no longer have her own brightness, but Sun would lend her his light, this being less than before.
Their union required sacrifices. Each new life, each cycle that came, two people would be born who would carry their souls. The Night and Moon. In two humans, destined to meet. Soulmates in a special way.
Always being born and dying together.
When Wonwoo opened his eyes again, his head was resting on something soft. He looked up, the jaw chiseled, the glow dimmer now. He was in Moon's arms. Being cradled in the waning curve.
“Oh, you have woken up, my beloved onyx.”
Everything had felt like a dream. It was still night, the wind was calm. Those images were repeating themselves in his head. Himself, in a past that he did not remember, but that was part of him. It was true.
“So I am…”
“Wonwoo, as you always have been.” Moon smiled at him. “And my precious Night too.”
He was embarrassed. It was strange, but he just accepted it all. It was not a fairy tale anymore to him. Perhaps in that modern life he still could not find Moon's container. Was it similar? Would that body look like this Moon too?
To have the honor that Moon loved him that way even if he was only the recipient of his lover's soul. Wonwoo felt so overwhelmed and happy.
He had cried for a person he thought to love as if she were the only one destined for him, for that broken heart that was not accepted. The reason was that Wonwoo couldn't be with that person he loved so much, because his heart had to beat for someone else.
“You know, I do not like to see you suffer. I could not leave you like this. I don't know when you will find me... Or find him. Night has seen him more than I have, he recognizes me better than I do, but we don't know when we will meet in this life.” He spoke to him softly, while he stroked his dark hair, as Wonwoo was still in his arms.
“So they let you come down to see me?”
Moon smiled again.
“As I said before, only once every 100 years can we come to Earth. Night did not object. After all, it's you. It's confusing, I know. We have both come down together in the past, but we will have to wait 100 more years for that.” Wonwoo made an alarmed gesture. Moon soothed him, stroking his sharp cheek. “But what are 100 years compared to eternity? Night and I are happy together up there, taking care of you. We don't need to be tangible for our love to be worth it. You already do it for us. You are the ones with a beating heart... But human hearts are so fragile and can easily be hurt.”
Moon looked at him sadly. Wonwoo dared to touch his cheek. Oh, Moon, the most beautiful thing his eyes could see.
“I'm better now. I just wanted to forget. Affection is something that doesn't go away completely, but I wanted to stop loving, because it caused me a lot of pain. But if the moon itself loves me, how can I continue to be stubborn and suffer for someone else?” he chuckled softly and that seemed to cheer Moon up, who smiled at him again.
“Right? Besides, when you meet me in human form, you'll see how handsome I am, ” he teased.
And Wonwoo was not going to contradict him, as a human remotely similar to Moon in front of him must be the most beautiful. What had he done to deserve that?
“Ah, well, I saved the very Moon from a spell”
Remembering that, he was curious.
“What about the wizard who sought out the phoenix to help you wake up?”
Moon smiled broadly.
“The fate of the four of you follows the same path. The wizard who found the phoenix was the alchemist's best friend. Yours. And he always has been and will continue to be, in all lifes.”
Wonwoo's eyes widened in surprise.
“Mingyu.”
Moon nodded slightly. He looked beyond, to the horizon, which seemed to be changing color, it was dawn.
“Sun, also a great friend of mine. Did you know that the phoenix is a fire bird, and that only the sun can be near him? They are so closely related. The phoenix needs the sun, and he has always been very protective of his birds, especially the king of them all.”
The jet-haired began to understand.
“Mingyu is Sun. Well, that suits him.” He smiled sideways at the thought of his friend. “I guess he hasn't found his phoenix in this lifetime either.”
“They also made a pact similar to ours. Also soulmates destined to meet. Someday they will, as you will find me too.”
“Won't you be the one who finds me?” He noticed the crown of the sun appearing between the hills, the night gradually disappearing.
“This time it's your turn, Wonwoo, to find me. I trust you will. But please, I do not want you to be sad. Maybe that person does not love you, but there is someone who is going to love you as if you were the most special thing in the whole world and the universe.” Moon frowned childishly, it was curious to see him like that considering who he was, “Besides, I am always watching over you and Night also wants to see you happy.”
Wonwoo looked at the night sky, hence his affinity for the night, hence his love for the moon. All of that made sense now.
“No, not anymore.”
He could not believe that the same Moon had come down from the sky to tell him to overcome an unrequited love. He wanted to laugh at the situation, but for the first time he was genuinely happy. That convinced Moon and he patted his head gently.
“I like it that way, you look more handsome when you smile, my beloved onyx.” He looked up and sighed. “Night has to go, we have to give the care of you to Sun. Say hello for me and say thank you too. After all, God also granted him a special favor for helping me. Tell him to keep his eyes wide open for when he meets his stubborn Phoenix.”
Wonwoo nodded, already with the hollow of the goodbye that Moon was giving him. He didn't want him to leave, but he had to go back to heaven where he belonged. He had to go back to Night.
“Of course I will.”
Moon looked at him one last time. Beautiful blue eyes full of affection towards him. Wonwoo felt very loved. Truly, the moon had always been his greatest comfort. His greatest love. And it was something literal.
“Find me, Wonwoo. And be happy.”
He stroked his hair once more and then he leaned over. He brushed the dark strands from his forehead and Wonwoo closed his eyelids, feeling warm lips against the skin of his bare forehead.
The warmth lingered a little longer. Until he opened his eyes and the sky had a pale color of light, he looked up at the hill and the sun was rising, with the east a light blue and a faint gold. The west had remnants of the night and thanked internally.
“Thank you for lending me a little time with your dear Moon”
He sighed and devoted himself to watching the sun fully rise. He was relieved, like a new person.
His broken heart was repaired by a silver thread.
“Hello, waning.”
He went out on the terrace and looked at the full moon.
“I know you're not in that phase today, but it's better than calling you "full". Although I will always say, you are beautiful in all your shapes.” He stirred the ice from his glass of water, leaned the elbows on the border, and smiled.
“I'm never going to thank you enough, but I'll do it every night if necessary. I know you listen to me.”
Her light was greater, for it shone in all her splendor. Wonwoo decided to move to a place where he could see her better, because in the big city where he lived, the night sky was covered by the artificial lights of the human.
He wanted to appreciate the stars, the darkness of the night accompanied by the silver light of the moon. A place where the sun would rise more closely and the birds would sing in the morning with the departure of it.
He had already made up his mind.
“I'm going to find you, my waning. You'll see, I will.”
He raised his glass of plain water as if he were toasting, and he could swear that for a few moments, the moon smiled at him.