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The stars warn Wonwoo first.
It’s quiet, in the beginning. Simple patterns, repeated over months. Something about it scratches the back of his mind, like an old song he’s forgotten the melody of, so he writes down their warnings and hands it off to Xu Minghao to relay to the Crown Prince.
The stars get louder, though. Storms come, and although they’re nothing like the dark storms that plagued the kingdom during his youth, they’re still enough to send a message. A week of rain, a week of lightning, a week of thunder. Wonwoo knows enough to go to the Crown Prince himself, this time.
“The stars are converging, Your Highness.” He says. “Whatever is coming will come on the day of your coronation.”
Jeonghan shrugs, and smiles wryly, looking exactly like his Queen mother who came before him. “I suppose nothing can ever truly be easy for us, huh.” He remarks. Wonwoo knows better than to agree out loud.
“Is it dangerous?” Jeonghan’s personal guard asks. When Wonwoo doesn’t reply immediately, rolling his answer around in his mouth like a piece of sugar, Jeonghan’s main advisor raises his eyebrow.
“No, sir.” Minghao says, two steps to Wonwoo’s left and one step behind him. “Your Highness, whatever is coming, it is a warning. Not a tragedy.”
“So you’re warning us about a warning, then.” Jeonghan doesn’t sound impressed.
“No.” Wonwoo picks up what Minghao was unwilling to share. “It is a warning, yes, but the stars speak in mysterious ways. Whatever the message is, it may not be something you want to hear. The stars may ask for something you are unwilling to give.”
Jeonghan raises an eyebrow. “Is that all?” He asks. “There is nothing I would not do for this Kingdom, or her people.”
Wonwoo looks to the left, where the guard stands, and to the right, where the advisor sits. “You’re right.” He says, and bows low in supplication.
Jeonghan clears his throat. “Head Sorcerer Wonwoo, Sorcerer Minghao, thank you for warning me. I will take the message of the stars into consideration.” It’s a dismissal clear as day, so Wonwoo bows once more and exits the throne room, Minghao at his heels.
He makes it halfway down the hall when Minghao stops him. “You know what’s coming, don’t you?” He accuses.
Wonwoo and Minghao have never gotten along. They work fine together, as the head sorcerer and his second, but that is the extent of their relationship. Minghao is volatile, like an ocean, his magic fluctuating despite its strength. It’s steady only when reinforcing the wards that surround the castle and the main city, a solid wave of blue rising above the city. Wonwoo’s purple is everything but— predictable, constant, and boring.
“I told the Crown Prince everything I know.” He replies.
Minghao scoffs. “No, you didn’t.” He says. “I know the stars speak to you. They must have told you something, with how many hours you spend locked up in your observatory.”
Wonwoo shakes his head. “They warned me of the harbinger, and when he will arrive. Whatever else they have to say will come on that day.”
“Whatever.” Minghao says, and continues walking. He’s in front of Wonwoo now, but outside of the Crown Prince’s eyes, Wonwoo has no opinion on hierarchy. “I know you’re hiding something from me, but I’ll figure it out eventually.”
Wonwoo wishes this was true. Sometimes, he wishes there was someone who could just reach into him and rip out all his secrets. Hang them up on a hook to dry, perhaps, like one of the butcher shops in the village when they come across an especially large piece of cattle.
“I look forward to it.” He says honestly, despite knowing Minghao’s words are meant to be a threat. Ignoring the strange look Minghao gives him, Wonwoo heads for the stairs to shut himself in the observatory and do what he does best: listen.
---
Wonwoo dreams that night of standing in a dark cave in complete silence, save for the sound of his own heavy breathing. The entrance is right next to the roaring water, and storms rage outside and above him, but all he can hear is the sound of his own heartbeat, thundering in his ears.
He dreams of fear, maybe. Of pain. The wretched sensation of pure and utter loss.
Wonwoo wakes up to the sight of hundreds of stars above him, twinkling in their constellations. The stars do not forget and rarely forgive, but they apologize with sincerity. Wonwoo lets their chorus wash over him and remembers that no matter what may have passed, whatever dreams he may have dreamed in this moment are just that: dreams.
---
The day of the coronation comes swiftly. Jeonghan has been in line for the throne his whole life, unable to accept his birthright even after both the Queen and her lover had passed. One cannot be a King without a Queen, the elders had demanded, and the people love a good love story. There is an engagement set for the fall, to a perfectly lovely girl from one of the duchies, and two broken hearts that Wonwoo knows nothing about.
He hates summer. Even though Wonwoo is perpetually cold, summer means it’s too hot for cloaks, and too bright. The sun stays up for hours, drying out the land, and chasing away the stars. It means more work, traveling from place to place to try and keep the villages alive, pouring out from an endless well of magic to ungrateful people. Minghao lectures him day in and day out, about how this is their duty to the citizens of this land, and the oath they swore to the throne. Wonwoo simply doesn’t care.
But this is Jeonghan’s coronation, and Jeonghan is the beloved Crown Prince of the kingdom, so Wonwoo dons his cloak and his hat and prepares to endure the long ceremony. The throne room is hot, with plenty of windows to let in the sunlight and packed with people Wonwoo has never seen in one place before. The entire court, along with their extended friends and family make up the majority of the crowd, with the city's citizens squeezing themselves into the back of the hall to try and see.
Wonwoo takes his place two steps to Minghao’s right and one step in front of him, behind the throne. It’s shadier here, away from the crowd. Wonwoo has never been more thankful to be part of the Prince’s personal court until now.
The ceremony drones on. The elders speak of Jeonghan’s responsibility, to the Kingdom and to his wife. The duchy girl is in the front of the crown, face bright red with what could either be shame or excitement. She’s dressed head in expensive finery and Jeonghan’s favorite purple, but it doesn’t suit her well, the color washing her out and the intricate jewelry making her look frail. Wonwoo does not care.
Another elder brings out the crown. It’s a beautiful thing, made of gold and silver and iron, heavy in both weight and responsibility. There are diamonds set into the metal, beautiful stones that glitter like stars, and it takes a moment for Wonwoo to realize that they are in fact stars. The convergence is happening right now, right in front of him, right at the most important part of the ceremony.
“Hello.” Wonwoo would know that voice anywhere. The man stands in front of the crowd, without shame, despite appearing from thin air. The stars around him glitter and settle into his hair and clothes, which are both a shimmering gold. He’s beautiful in an otherworldly way, his clothes flowing around him like water, wearing no jewelry except for a single ring on his left hand.
“Terribly sorry to interrupt.” He says, voice like chimes. “My name is Jun, and I am a messenger from the stars.” He dances over to the elders and plucks the crown from the pillow as though it weighs nothing. The stars in his hair and on his clothes twinkle apologetically, but no one except Wonwoo is able to understand.
“Greetings, Jun.” Jeonghan, who kneels before his throne, lifts his head. “Do you have a message for me?”
Jun laughs. It’s like a chorus of angels. “You’re clever, aren’t you?” He asks. With careful steps, he steps between Jeonghan and the throne, kneeling in front of him so they can see eye to eye. The stars apologize again, and Wonwoo nods as subtly as he can at them in acknowledgement.
“Yoon Jeonghan.” Jun says. “The stars have seen the king you would become. They have seen your struggles and failures, your successes and joys. You would change the kingdom to something unrecognizable, something your ancestors could only dream of accomplishing. There is nothing you would not do for this kingdom or her people.”
Jeonghan only nods. “This is true.” Those are the exact words he had said to Wonwoo and Minghao.
Wonwoo stares at the back of Jun’s head. The stars in his hair are apologizing again, for the third time, more profusely than every time before. Wonwoo knows what Jun is going to say before he says it, and braces for impact.
“This is true.” Jun agrees. “You have won the favor of the stars. And that is why you can never have this crown.” Jun’s voice is soft, but it echoes throughout the throne room. Various members of the audience gasp, whether in fear or awe, as the crown simply disappears from Jun’s hands. The duchy girl covers her face with her hands.
Jeonghan is still. His advisor, who stands to Wonwoo’s right, stops breathing. His guard steps forward, hands clenched into fists.
“Where did it go?” Jeonghan doesn’t sound offended, or scared. Instead, he just sounds faintly resigned. “That crown was an heirloom from my great-grandfather.”
“Don’t worry.” Jun says. “Tomorrow morning, a young man by the name of Lee Chan will find it in his room. He will recognize it and bring it back to the castle, and when he arrives, you shall crown him as this land’s new king.”
Jeonghan sits still for another moment before he nods. “Okay.” He says. Wonwoo hears the tears in this voice, but he is far too well trained to cry at his own failed coronation ceremony.
The stars are still apologizing. Jun lays his hand on the top of Jeonghan’s bowed head as he stands. “It will be okay, my Prince.” He says, warmly, like a promise.
“Can you let go of me?” Minghao whispers harshly from behind Wonwoo. Wonwoo jerks, and turns slightly. Minghao’s hand is caught firmly in Wonwoo’s grip, white with blood loss. He doesn’t know when he grabbed him.
“Yes, sorry.” Wonwoo lets go. Jun, who stands boldly in front of the horrified crowd as a harbinger of change, flinches when Wonwoo speaks.
It’s outrageous. The man who spent his entire life preparing to become king having his crown stolen from under his very nose. But there is no arguing with the stars, and while Wonwoo might know this better than most, even the common people know not to fight.
The crowd clears quickly. Well, quickly for a crowd of this size. Jun stands and stares and eventually the elders get the hint and begin to chase the people out of the throne room. The duchy girl is crying. Wonwoo wishes he remembered her name, for no other reason than that it’s bothersome to constantly have to refer to her as the duchy girl in his mind.
Soon, it is just them. Wonwoo and Minghao, Seungcheol and Joshua, and Jeonghan. The throne room seems so very empty without the crowd. Joshua moves to help Jeonghan stand, and Seungcheol steps between him and Jun, his guardian until the very end.
“If His Highness has won the favor of the stars, then why are you taking his throne away from him?” Seungcheol asks. His voice echoes in the empty room.
“In the world where Yoon Jeonghan becomes King, the kingdom thrives in a way the history books have never seen before. In return, Yoon Jeonghan is the most miserable King this kingdom will ever see.” Jun smiles, and it’s filled with heartbreak. “There are so very many unhappy men in this world. Lee Chan is a good man, and will be a good king. To have one less unhappy man, in the eyes of the stars, is worth any sacrifice.”
Jun’s eyes are watching the way Joshua holds Jeonghan. Wonwoo knows this, because he is watching Jun. The stars are just as excited to see him as he is to see them. They reach out towards Wonwoo, racing up his arm and dancing around the ring on his finger, whispering hello, sharing all of the innocent secrets they aren’t allowed to share from the sky. Wonwoo basks in their silent chatter.
Joshua stares carefully at Jun, in all of his glory, and the home the stars have made in Wonwoo’s cloak.
“You’re human.” He remarks.
Jun laughs. “Sorry, was it not obvious?” He asks. “Yes, I graduated from the academy almost twelve years ago, but my family has owed a debt to the stars for generations.”
“I remember you.” Minghao says, sounding shocked. Jeonghan, Joshua, and Seungcheol all flinch, as though they forgot Wonwoo and Minghao were there. Jun’s face does not change.
“Wen Junhui, right?” Minghao asks. Wonwoo knows what he’s imagining: a younger Jun in the academy blues, hair two shades darker, moles dotting his face instead of stars. It’s a picture Wonwoo couldn’t forget, not even if he tried.
Jun laughs, and nods. “That’s me. I remember you too, Xu Minghao. It’s good to see you here, in the service of the Prince.”
“This sounds like a story worth telling.” Jeonghan says, sounding more normal than he has since before the ceremony began, falling back into the princely persona. “There’s not much to celebrate now, but the kitchen is prepared for a feast, and it would be cruel to waste their efforts. Do you perhaps have the time for a meal and a tale, Sorcerer Junhui?”
“I’d be honored.” Jun replies, bowing slightly. “With your permission, I’d like to stay until Chan arrives from Tiger village.”
Tiger village is on the very outskirts of the kingdom, a three days of travel by horse, and a week by foot. Wonwoo has never been there, and will never go there.
“Sorcerer Junhui,” Jeonghan says, “With my permission you may stay as long as you desire. I wouldn’t dare offend the stars by implying otherwise.”
Jun smiles the same heartbroken smile he smiled before. Wonwoo clenches his hand into a fist to resist doing something stupid, like reaching out to grab Minghao’s hand again.
“Just call me Jun.” He says. “And don’t worry about offending the stars. It’s I who owes them my life, not the other way around.”
---
Wonwoo does not attend the dinner, despite the temptations of a decadent feast. Instead he hides in the observatory, drowning in the chorus of the stars. The stars have always been his best friends, ever since he was a child. Even before he knew what magic was, the stars were there, keeping him company when the other children his age played with each other in the streets.
At the academy, the stars became something of a challenge. A constant, yes, but also a purpose. A goal to reach. A princess to save, a dragon to slay.
Wonwoo doesn’t know when he falls asleep, but he awakes to the sun shining in his face and the sound of human voices. It’s Minghao, outside the door.
“This is the head sorcerer’s observatory.” Minghao is saying. “None of the sorcerers can enter without Head Sorcerer Wonwoo’s permission, and he’s the only one with the key.”
Jun hums in reply. Minghao must be giving him a tour.
“And where is he?” Jun asks. “We’ve been walking through the sorcery wing for hours, and we haven’t once seen him.”
Wonwoo imagines the shrug Minghao must give Jun. Maybe he even rolls his eyes. “He’s inside, probably. He never really leaves the observatory unless there’s something dire going on, or His Highness thinks he needs to socialize more and sends him to fulfill one of the local village’s requests.”
“Huh.” Jun remarks. “What else haven’t you shown me?”
“That’s it.” Minghao replies. “We could get lunch now, I guess, if you want.”
“Oh, alright.” Jun says, and starts knocking furiously on Wonwoo’s door.
“What are you doing?” Minghao sounds scandalized.
“Inviting Head Sorcerer Wonwoo to lunch.”
“He doesn’t want to eat lunch with us!”
“Does he not want to eat with us, or do you not want to eat with him?” Jun asks knowingly. He continues knocking. “You can go, if you want. I remember how to get to the kitchens from here, so you don’t have to worry about me.”
“I’m not worried about you—” Minghao is saying, when Wonwoo opens the door.
“Jun.” He says. Jun flinches.
“Wonwoo! It’s good to see you.” Jun’s reply is slightly too excited, too exuberant. Wonwoo wonders what he told the crown prince last night at dinner, and if he mentioned their years at the academy together.
Wonwoo turns his gaze to Minghao. “You can go.” He dismisses, well within his rights as head sorcerer, and allows Jun into the observatory, closing the door behind them.
Wonwoo sits, and doesn’t listen to the sounds of Minghao huffing in frustration for a moment before leaving, presumably to get lunch. Instead, he watches the way Jun flits around the room curiously, touching something here, peeking his head into something there. He moves with the grace of a dancer, of someone not confined by the weight of gravity. He leaves traces of magic on everything he touches, and Wonwoo would tell him to stop, but there’s no point in telling Jun what to do, even before he became a messenger of the stars.
“You didn’t say goodbye.” Jun says, flipping through Wonwoo’s book of constellations. He wrote it himself, five years ago, and wonders if Jun is in it somewhere, just another bright light in the night sky.
“Was I supposed to?” Wonwoo replies. “We all knew you were leaving. You owed a debt to the stars.”
Jun sighs, looking uncomfortable. He’s changed out of the glitter and sparkle from yesterday, the stars he came with having gone back to where they came from, and while the plain clothing he’s wearing isn’t gold, or the academy blues Wonwoo remembers seeing him in, it does nothing to hide his good looks.
“It just would have been nice, I guess. Soonyoung and Jihoon came to see me off, and I thought maybe you’d come with them.”
Wonwoo hasn’t thought about Soonyoung and Jihoon in a very long time. He dreams of them every night.
“I just want to know why you started pulling away.” Jun continues. “What happened in the cave? Where’s Jihoonie? Why has nobody in this castle heard of him, the most powerful sorcerer in the kingdom?”
Wonwoo stands abruptly. It’s been more than a decade, and every word that leaves Jun’s mouth still hurts like a knife.
“I am the most powerful sorcerer in the kingdom.” Wonwoo says. The endless well of magic in his veins can attest to this. He knows Jun feels it too. “This was a bad idea. Maybe you should go get lunch with Minghao, now.”
Jun takes a step towards Wonwoo and brushes a hand across his face. There’s a smear of magic where his hand touches, warm like the stars.
“Wonwoo.” He sounds mournful. “What happened to you while I was gone?”
Everything smells like sunshine. There’s a warmth in the observatory that Wonwoo has never felt here before. It tastes like fire.
Wonwoo walks as fast as he can to the door, and opens it without looking at Jun’s face. “Go.” He demands.
Jun goes.
The stars won’t come out again for hours. Wonwoo hates the summer.
---
Wonwoo makes it a point not to leave his observatory for the rest of the week. He watches the stars by night, as they apologize to him over and over again. During the day, he sends his blessings over the kingdom, sending rain to the east and clouds to the west and extra sunshine to the north.
Jun doesn’t come by again, but Wonwoo is reminded of his presence anyway, traces of the magic he left behind melting into everything he touched. The scent of sunshine sticks in the back of Wonwoo’s throat like a cough that never quite goes away.
The observatory is high in the sky, the tallest tower in the castle, with windows facing in every direction. Thus, it’s Wonwoo who sees the arrival of Lee Chan first, a single horse in the distance, with one rider and two friends alongside.
“He’s coming.” Wonwoo whispers into the wind. Minghao will hear him.
Sure enough, a greeting party gathers at the gate of the castle. Wonwoo sees Jeonghan with his guard and advisor, and Minghao, who stands in his place. Behind them is Jun, whose hair shines like a beacon in the sun.
When they get closer, Wonwoo can tell who Lee Chan came with too. Wonwoo’s eyes are ruined from too many dark nights glaring at sheets of paper in the dark, but he would recognize these figures anywhere.
Jun, the harbinger of change. Jun, the harbinger of the past. Wonwoo lets down a stream of magic that curls around Minghao gently, giving him Minghao’s eyes and ears. Minghao allows the intrusion with practiced ease.
Chan nearly falls over himself at the sight of Jeonghan and his court. He’s apologizing, because that’s all anyone ever knows how to do when they meet the Crown Prince. He’s not the one on the horse, but he’s holding the crown carefully in his hands, like it’s made of precious glass and will shatter with one wrong move. Wonwoo wonders if he held it like that their entire journey.
Jeonghan holds up a hand to stall his apologies while Jihoon gets down from the horse. Soonyoung, who had been holding the reins the entire time, gives the horse a pat on the nose. The horse is remarkably well trained, and nuzzles Soonyoung’s face in reply.
“Lee Chan.” Jun says, and Wonwoo watches as both Soonyoung and Jihoon’s faces jerk towards him in shock. “The stars have found you worthy.”
“Worthy of what?” Chan almost shrieks. “Treason against the King? Robbery?” Whether he knows it or not, his hands are gripping the crown tighter and tighter, turning white with pressure.
“Relax.” Jihoon says. “Junhui owes a debt to the stars. There’s a reason why he’s here. He’s probably the one who sent the crown to you, too.”
“I am!” Jun says, walking forward and taking Jihoon’s hands gently. “Jihoonie, it’s good to see you again.”
“You two know each other?” Jeonghan asks.
Jihoon takes his hands back and bows low. “Your Highness, my name is Lee Jihoon, and I am an honorary graduate from the academy.” He gestures to Soonyoung, who has gone back to nuzzling his horse. “This is Kwon Soonyoung, and he graduated with Junhui and Wonwoo.”
He turns and places his hand on Chan’s shoulder. Chan, who is still pale with fear, holding onto his crown like it’s the one thing that can save him. “This is Lee Chan.” Jihoon’s voice is more serious than Wonwoo had ever heard it before. “He has been in our care since we graduated, and when we found the royal crown in his bedroom, we thought we should accompany him in returning it. We thank the stars for finding him worthy, and submit to the desires of those above.”
“Honorary graduate?” Jun asks.
“You’re the one who lost his magic.” Jeonghan is smart. He really would have been a great king. “The one who fought the dark storms alongside our esteemed Head Sorcerer.”
Jihoon nods, clearly uncomfortable with the attention. Jun reaches forward again, shock radiating throughout his body.
“You lost your magic?” He sounds small and confused. Wonwoo lets go of Minghao and turns away from the window. He doesn’t need to know what happens next.
---
According to the rumors spreading around the courts, Lee Chan will be crowned King in one month. Until then, Prince Jeonghan will teach him everything he needs to know. He has his own personal guard and advisor, Vernon and Seungkwan, who will take their own lessons from Seungcheol and Joshua respectively. It seems that almost everyone has their own opinions on Chan’s future kinghood, from snide comments whispered behind his back to direct face-to-face disdain.
Jun will stay until the coronation, before he goes back to who-knows-where. He spends his days with Soonyoung and Jihoon, catching up over the last ten years. Soonyoung and Jihoon spend their days with Chan, returning the scorn with twice the fury as it comes. Wonwoo stays in his observatory.
This plan lasts for a total of three days, before Jihoon storms up the stairs to Wonwoo’s tower and bangs on the door until Wonwoo lets him in.
“You really have to do something about those stairs.” Jihoon says. Minghao and Jun have magic to support them, but Jihoon is as fragile as a normal person, out of breath, legs aching. Wonwoo sets out a chair for him and sends a small healing spell down to his feet in silent apology.
“Not enough people visit for me to care.” Wonwoo says. He’s still standing, because there’s only one chair in the room, and he doesn’t think Jihoon will stick around long enough to make inviting him to his personal room worth the effort.
Jihoon raises an eyebrow. “You mean you’d care, if a member of the Prince’s court complained about the stairs to the observatory?”
Wonwoo bites his lip hard enough to bleed. “If they kept bothering me about it, then yes. It wouldn’t inconvenience me to add a little bit of magic to the stairwell.”
Jihoon closes his eyes and sighs. “Of course.” He says.
Wonwoo doesn’t know what to do with himself. The east window faces the Queen’s garden, and normally he would spend his afternoons making the flowers bloom, but Soonyoung and Junhui are in the gardens right now. Without looking, Wonwoo already knows that the stable cats are all curled around Jun’s body like he’s an especially warm sunbeam, and that the flowers are turning towards Soonyoung instead of the sun. That’s just how their magic works, the same way Wonwoo talks to the stars and Jihoon finds himself winded after seventeen flights of stairs and cannot make the journey from Tiger village by foot.
“I wish I could be surprised that you didn’t tell Junhui what happened, but I suppose you wouldn’t really have had a reason for that either.” Jihoon breaks the silence.
“You’re right.” Wonwoo agrees. After the dark storms passed, he never thought he’d see Jun again. What would be the point in telling him about the caves, or about what he did to Jihoon? Or what he did to himself, for that matter.
“There’s only so long I can keep the truth from him.” Jihoon warns. “If we’re gonna be here until Channie becomes King, Soonyoung is bound to let it slip at some point.”
Wonwoo nods, because it’s true. Soonyoung has never been able to keep a secret, and in the years they’ve been together, Jihoon has probably already told him everything. Wonwoo remembers a time when he used to do the same, when all of his secrets became their secrets. But those days are long gone now.
“It makes no difference to me whether Jun knows or not.” Wonwoo says. “I just don’t want to be the one to tell him.”
“He’ll ask you about it.” Jihoon says.
“He already did.” Wonwoo counters. “It doesn’t matter.”
Jun can ask as many times as he wants. Sooner or later, though, the stars will call him back, and he will leave. Wonwoo doesn’t have to tell him anything.
---
“Have you decided what you’re going to do when Lee Chan becomes king?” Wonwoo asks.
He’s eating dinner alone with the Prince. Sometimes, Jeonghan will send Seungcheol or Joshua up to the observatory to summon him for a meal. There is no rhyme or reason to it, and Wonwoo cannot disobey a direct order from his Prince, even if he no longer is in line for the throne. They sit side by side at the longest table in the dining hall, the only two people in the entire room, eating the finest food the Kingdom has to offer without any of the manners that normally come with such affairs.
“Why Wonwoo, I didn’t know you cared.” Jeonghan laughs. In these moments, they are not Prince Jeonghan and Head Sorcerer Wonwoo. Instead, they are just Jeonghan, the man with no future, and Wonwoo, the man with no past.
Wonwoo doesn’t care. Not in the way Jeonghan wishes he does. He is curious, though, about whether or not Jeonghan will take the chance the stars have so generously offered him at no cost.
“Chan and I have agreed that I may stay in the castle for as long as I wish.” Jeonghan says, when it becomes obvious that Wonwoo will not reply to his jest. “I suppose I will take him up on his offer, since there is nowhere else for me to go. Maybe I’ll become part of his court, as a secondary advisor.”
It’s a reasonable plan. Jeonghan is a smart man, whose personal aspirations seem to be nothing more than living comfortably and happily.
“And what of your guard and your advisor?” Wonwoo asks.
Jeonghan hums in consideration. “Shua will stay by my side no matter what, but Seungcheollie might join the army. Put those muscles to good use.”
Wonwoo nods. It makes sense. “So you’ll marry Joshua, then, since the engagement with the duchy girl has been cut off.”
“Marriage?” Jeonghan drops his cup, wine spilling along the table like blood soaking into cloth. “Who said anything about marriage?”
Wonwoo raises an eyebrow. “You love him, don’t you? You love them both.”
Jeonghan takes a shaky breath. “Sometimes I wonder if you really do care about us, somewhere underneath whatever cold-hearted facade you put up.” He sounds hurt.
Wonwoo’s lip is bleeding again. “The stars see everything, and I hear it from them.” It’s the kindest reply he can think of.
“I do love them.” Jeonghan admits. “Are you ever going to clean up the wine I spilled?”
The subject change is abrupt, but Wonwoo knows all about refusing to acknowledge the truth. He clears the stain with a wave of his hand, and goes back to his meal.
---
Two nights later, Wonwoo sees the duchy girl taking a walk in the gardens. She steps lightly among the flowers, cloak wrapped tightly around her body, fingers trailing along the petals. Behind her is one of the castle guards in civilian attire, blushing at something she is saying, racing along the path to keep up with her.
On the path next to them, a mere bush away, is Jihoon and Soonyoung. Soonyoung is singing to the flowers and Jihoon is laughing, wrapped up in each others’ arms like they haven’t spent the past ten years together, blind to everything else in the world around them except each other.
The people love a good love story. Wonwoo sends a blessing of warmth to both couples before turning away from the window.
---
The only type of weather Wonwoo hates more than the summer sun is when clouds come in and settle down for days. They don’t clear at night, which makes the stars impossible to see, and his already cold hands turn to ice when he sits still for too long. Moving the clouds with magic and changing the course of nature requires a consequence Wonwoo is unwilling to pay, meaning that the day of Lee Chan’s coronation is cloudy in the worst way possible. It’s four days into the clouds’ extended stay with no sign they’re to leave any time soon, and without the chatter of the stars to lull Wonwoo to sleep, he finds himself cranky and exhausted.
It doesn’t help that Minghao seems to be on his worst behavior. He stands in his place, two steps to Wonwoo’s left and one step behind him, but his presence is almost acidic to Wonwoo’s sensitive shields, making the pounding in Wonwoo’s head even worse.
“Stand up straight.” Minghao hisses, when they get into their places. “You look like you’re about to fall over.”
Wonwoo is about to fall over. He’s tilting dangerously to the right, the side Minghao isn’t on, his knees threatening to buckle. Everything feels wrong— his shoes don’t quite fit right, his cloak is too heavy, the hat sits too low on his face. The world is blurry and Wonwoo just wants to go back to his tower and see the stars again, even though all they do is apologize.
He stands with Minghao behind the throne, with Seungcheol and Joshua and Vernon and Seungkwan to his right. In front of the throne kneels Lee Chan, with Soonyoung and Jihoon behind him, his surrogate parents. In front of him is Jeonghan, between him and the throne, who holds the crown instead of the elders. Jun is there, too, overseeing the ceremony, and even though Wonwoo can only see the back of his head his presence only serves to make him feel even more sick.
The throne room is packed, just as last time, but the room is deathly silent, no one willing to speak in the presence of the stars and the horror they’re all witnessing right in front of their eyes. There is no duchy girl in the crowd for Chan, no epic love story to send the kingdom into a new era. It’s just Jeonghan, son of the late Queen, passing his crown down to a lone farmer boy from a far off village.
“Lee Chan.” Jeonghan is saying. “Do you accept the responsibilities of this crown?” The diamonds are just diamonds, this time. Wonwoo hasn’t seen a single star in days.
“I do.” Chan replies solemnly.
Wonwoo hardly dares to breathe when Jeonghan places the crown of his ancestors on Chan’s head; the same crown that he was never permitted to bear. They all watch as Chan’s head dips with the unexpected weight of the crown, like the gold and silver and iron weigh so much more when they come with the actual responsibilities of monarchy.
Chan stands, moves toward the throne. Jeonghan steps to the side, allowing him to pass, and Wonwoo watches the expressions flash across his face. Jealousy, regret. Relief.
King Chan takes a seat on his throne. The entire throne room falls to their knees, completely silent. Not in joy, or in celebration, but sorrow.
There is a hand, wrapped around Wonwoo’s. Or, more accurately, Wonwoo’s hand is wrapped around someone else's. He turns his head slightly to see Minghao, bowing low like the rest of the Prince’s court, hand turning white with pressure.
He doesn’t say anything this time. Wonwoo doesn’t let go.
---
Wonwoo leaves his observatory to see Jihoon and Soonyoung off. It’s the least he can do, after they came all this way and stayed this whole time and only once infringed upon his space and his privacy.
“We would stay a little longer, but it’s probably not the best idea to leave Seokmin to manage the farm by himself.” Jihoon explains apologetically. “Especially now that Chan’s gone, we might actually have to hire someone new to help out soon.”
It’s just Wonwoo and Jun saying goodbye today. Chan is busy doing his kingly duties, picking up more and more responsibilities, and Minghao had never been close with the four of them when they attended the academy together.
Soonyoung wraps his arms tight around Wonwoo, while Jihoon gives him a friendly nod from behind Soonyoung’s back.
“It’s good to see you again.” Soonyoung says, pulling away slightly. “You look a little skinny from the outside, but I’m glad you’re healthy.”
Soonyoung’s magic traces through Wonwoo’s blood like an old friend, taking a peek from inside his bones. It leaves green traces in Wonwoo’s peripheral vision, so Wonwoo lets their magic meld together and returns the favor.
“The flowers were beautiful in your presence.” Wonwoo replies. Soonyoung laughs like it’s the funniest thing he’s ever heard, and pulls Wonwoo in for another hug.
“Come visit us sometime.” Soonyoung says, when he finally lets go. “You and Junnie, make a whole vacation out of it. You can meet Seokminnie and take naps in the orchard with the cats.”
“That sounds lovely.” Jun says. He doesn’t look at Wonwoo. “We might take you up on that offer, so you better mean it.”
Jun hasn’t said a word to Wonwoo since that day in the tower before Chan arrived. Wonwoo expects this to change very soon.
“Stay safe.” Wonwoo bows politely.
“You too.” Jihoon replies. He hesitates for a moment, before continuing. “It made me happy to see you, even if we didn’t spend much time together. The both of you.”
Jun lights up like the sun. “You too! Oh Jihoonie, that’s so sweet.”
Wonwoo makes eye contact with Soonyoung. He’s smiling. So is Jihoon, without a single trace of anger or regret in his expression.
He doesn’t know how to reply. There’s an endless well of magic choking him, a ball of fire that sits in his throat and burns until nothing is left. Soonyoung and Jihoon leave, and this time, Wonwoo stays to watch them go.
---
That night, Wonwoo wards every single window in his observatory with impenetrable magic and cleanses Jun’s presence from the entire room until everything smells like smoke. He falls asleep with his magic unleashed, whipping around the room and making everything glow a dark purple.
Wonwoo dreams of a pool of water in front of him, reflecting the lights from hosts of constellations that aren’t there. He dreams of a bright red light that illuminates the whole cave, dipped into the water. There’s a ring on his finger, and the worst pain he’s ever felt in his life right where his heart should be.
When Wonwoo wakes up, the night is completely dark, save for the stars twinkling in the sky above him, shining through the clouds.
---
Wonwoo leaves the observatory.
He can’t stand it, spending another second in this cold room when the stars are right there. He races down the stairs, with neither cloak nor shoes, and doesn’t stop until he’s outside in the Queen’s garden, breathing in the scent of flowers, overwhelmed by just how loud everything is.
Wonwoo takes a walk around the garden, following the same path Jihoon and Soonyoung took the night he watched them from the window. He has to step carefully, and slowly, but it’s worth it, magic thrumming in the earth beneath his bare feet. The stars are apologizing profusely for their long absence, complaining about the clouds and how they wouldn’t go away, no matter what. Wonwoo basks in their chatter, and traces his frozen fingers along traces of magic Soonyoung left behind.
When he gets back to the observatory, his feet are sore, the sun is just barely rising, and there is a figure slumped over at the foot of the locked door.
Jun raises his head when Wonwoo stops in front of him. The stars in his hair and on his clothes are back, turning Jun from an unfairly beautiful man into an ethereal being sent from the heavens. Even with how sleepy he looks, Wonwoo thinks he is the most beautiful thing he has ever seen.
“Can we talk?” Jun asks. Wonwoo was right.
“Come.” Inside the observatory, there is a door that connects to a smaller room on the side. Despite Wonwoo’s unfortunate habit of falling asleep on the hardwood floor while listening to the stars, this room contains an actual bed. And another chair. Jun follows silently, and doesn’t say anything about the cold emptiness of the room, or about the way Wonwoo cleansed the room of his presence entirely.
“Jihoon told you what happened in the cave.” Wonwoo states, sitting on the bed. Jun takes the chair.
“Was he not supposed to?” Jun asks.
Wonwoo shrugs. “He said Soonyoung might let it slip at some point.”
Jun sits, completely still. “Will you tell me, this time? If I ask?”
“Why should I?”
Jun laughs. It’s heartbreaking. Mournful. “Because I still love you. I never stopped, even while I was gone.” He says.
“Why should that matter to me?” Wonwoo asks. The words come from his mouth, unbidden. Perhaps the return of the stars have loosened his tongue. Perhaps he’s exhausted from not sleeping in the past week. Or, maybe, in front of him is the one person whom Wonwoo’s words may pierce and strike without care. Jun is going to leave anyway.
Jun nods. “It’s true, then. Jihoon sacrificed his magic to defeat the dark storms, and you sacrificed your emotions.”
It’s technically true, but… “I sacrificed you, Jun.” Wonwoo says bitterly. “You know better than I that magic always comes with a cost. To change the course of nature requires a sacrifice, and the stars demanded the one thing we loved most, so Jihoon gave up his magic and I gave up what you meant to me in my life. But you meant everything to me, tied so tightly to my own being, that when that connection was severed it was hard to feel anything at all.”
Wonwoo doesn’t want to say these words right now. He doesn’t want Jun to know what he did, the horrors he caused. The rising pit of something in his stomach, twisting his organs into something unrecognizable.
“What was it like in the cave?” Jun asks softly.
The birthplace of the stars, a cave that sits right where the land meets the water, where one might go to beg for the future of humanity.
“I remember thinking that this is the worst thing that will ever happen to me. I am in so much pain right now. They’re going to hate me forever.” Wonwoo gives up. His voice is dull and lifeless. He remembers this moment like it was just yesterday.
“Did it hurt?” Jun’s pretty face twists with horror.
“I don’t remember.” Wonwoo says. “I don’t remember what anything felt like at all.”
Guilt. It’s guilt, twisting its way up Wonwoo’s bones. A new friend, but familiar nonetheless, forcing words out of his mouth that he doesn’t want to say.
“So you can’t feel anything at all? What about your parents, and your brother?”
“I send them a portion of my paycheck every year, as is the duty of the oldest son.” Wonwoo replies. “Sometimes they send me letters, but I’ve never touched them. I don’t think about them much at all these days.”
Jun is crying. Fat tears rolling down his face, the liquid reflecting the light of his own stars. The last time Wonwoo saw Jun cry was at the academy, when one of the barn kittens didn’t make it through the winter. He had brushed the tears off Jun’s face, then, and had held him like something precious. Now, he just sits on his bed and waits for Jun to speak again.
“It’s unfair, isn’t it.” Jun says through his tears. He makes no motion to wipe them away. “Nothing has changed. You still send money to your parents, only instead of love you justify it with responsibility. You can’t fall asleep when the stars aren’t out, yet you stay up into the early morning just listening to them chatter. You’re still the same person you were before, and the only difference is that you don’t love me anymore. And yet every time you say something or do something I keep finding myself falling harder and harder for you every day.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I’m selfish, aren’t I?” Jun continues. “You’ve made a life for yourself like this, with your own friends and coworkers, all I can think about is how unfair it is that you don’t love me back. That you can’t love me back anymore. Isn’t that selfish?”
“I’m sorry.”
“You still wear the ring you bought us.” The only jewelry Jun wears, with its twin sitting on Wonwoo’s own finger.
“It reminds me of you.” Of what could have been, and what used to be, years of dancing around one another, waiting for the apocalypse to pass before confessing his undying love. Wonwoo didn’t think that Jun would ever come back to see the ring still on his finger.
Jun smiles wryly. “But you don’t love me anymore.”
“No.” Wonwoo can’t. “I’m—”
“Stop apologizing.” Jun says sharply. “Just stop, okay?”
You were the one that asked, Wonwoo does not say.
“Okay.” He says instead.
Jun is still crying. Wonwoo counts the constellations of moles on his face, and struggles to remember a time when he knew that number by heart.
---
Minghao is a very capable sorcerer who excels in many different genres of magic, so when he asks for Wonwoo’s assistance in a “non-urgent matter”, Wonwoo leaves the observatory of his own volition.
He goes down the seventeen flights of stairs and through the sorcerer’s wing of the castle to find the library. It’s a vast space, filled with books on history to tomes of magic to stories the Queen used to read to Prince Jeonghan when he was small. Wonwoo follows the call of Minghao’s magic and finds him sitting at a long table in a well-lit area of the library, blowing dust off of books about stars.
“Did you bring your maps?” Minghao asks, without looking up. Wonwoo did, in fact, bring his maps. “Oh, good.”
Wonwoo’s specialty lies in the stars. This is no secret to anyone, with how much time he spends in the observatory listening to them. He knows the constellations like the back of his hand, and once spent an entire year mapping how they moved and danced.
Minghao’s specialty does not lie in the stars. He’s like the ocean, a wave that beats back and forth, high and low. His magic is calm today, and feels soothing against Wonwoo’s skin.
Minghao has questions about the stars, because he’s the kind of person who is determined to be the best at everything. Questions about their placements, what each little marking means on Wonwoo’s maps. Wonwoo, who had spent his entire life speaking the language of the stars, struggles to answer his questions. He can feel Minghao becoming frustrated with his answers, but there’s no way to explain something that he’s known intrinsically since birth.
“Oh, Head Sorcerer Wonwoo. You’re here?” King Chan turns the corner, his guard and advisor behind him, each carrying a heavy stack of books.
“Your Majesty.” Wonwoo stands abruptly, and Minghao does the same behind him. “Let me get those for you.”
A wave of his hand moves the books out of their hands and safely onto the table. They’re books on history and policy and old traditions. Things Jeonghan would have spent his entire upbringing reading, Joshua at his side, already primed to become a good king. Chan will likely be catching up for the rest of his life, and Wonwoo can already anticipate how the neighboring kingdoms might try to take advantage of the inexperienced King and how the courts already despair for their future.
But then again, who are any of them to go against the wishes of the stars?
“I meant to tell you, I don’t know if Minghao told you, but you may stay as long as you want.” Chan is saying. His sentences are blurring together, like someone who has too many thoughts but no coherent way to get them out. That’s another thing that will have to change. “I know you originally came to serve Prince Jeonghan, but I’d be honored if you stayed to become my Head Sorcerer.”
Minghao did tell him. He had sent it along the line of magic that connects the both of them, and Wonwoo had sent back his affirmative, and he thought that would’ve been the end of it. Most people know better than to try and wait to reach him themselves.
Still, this is his King. “Yes, I was informed. I thank you for your generosity, as I am comfortable here in this position. If you ever need magical assistance with anything, I am yours to use as you please.”
A formal reply. Chan’s entire face lights up, his emotions so very visible with every word he speaks. Jeonghan would never have let himself be so easy to read.
Chan is young. He will learn.
“Thank you!” Chan says. “We’ll go find another section of the library to study, I wouldn’t want to interrupt anything magic. I hope we didn’t bother you guys too much.”
It’s Chan’s right as King to bother whomever he wishes. Still, discussing the stars with Minghao would be a lot easier without the king peering over his shoulder. “Would you like help moving your books?” Wonwoo asks, gesturing to Minghao behind him. “It would be easier if we helped.”
Sometime during their conversation, Minghao has moved to his spot at Wonwoo’s side, one step behind and two steps to the left.
“Don’t worry about it.” Chan says, as Vernon and Seungkwan pick up his books again. “They need the exercise, anyway.”
Wonwoo looks at Chan, who grew up in a village on the border of the kingdom, who spent ten years under Jihoon and Soonyoung’s care on their farm. Behind him is Vernon, who comes from a diplomat’s family, and Seungkwan, who came to the castle at a young age with his older sisters.
Yes, Wonwoo understands.
Chan leaves, and Wonwoo and Minghao sit back down at their table. The wood is warm, and so is the bench beneath them. Wonwoo can feel the afternoon air around him turning sour, the sun shining just a little too brightly. He didn’t sleep well last night. Hasn’t been sleeping well for the past twelve years.
“I think I’ve figured it out.” Minghao says.
“Huh?” Wonwoo looks up from the map he was staring at, fingers still tracing along the stars. “The stars?”
“No. Well, maybe.” For once, there is no attitude in Minghao’s voice, no sarcasm, no acid. “The stars did something to you, didn’t they? When you disappeared for a year in between graduation and coming here.”
Wonwoo flinches. He doesn’t mean to, but he can’t help it. It’s an instinctual reaction when he thinks about that year, the overwhelming darkness, the way he had never felt closer to the stars in his entire life.
“You’re close.” Wonwoo says. His voice is dry, and he coughs twice to try and clear it. “But what happened to me happened in the caves, when Jihoon and I were fighting the dark storms.”
Wonwoo internally debates the pros and cons of Minghao knowing the truth, or at least part of it. Minghao’s magic is soothing, a balm against the sun and the light. It tastes clean, like a breath of fresh air, and Wonwoo leans into it to calm the fire underneath his skin. He has no personal stake in this, not like Jun or Jihoon or Soonyoung. Somehow, that almost makes it worse.
“That’s why you didn’t go see Junhui off, when he left for the stars, even though you were all so close.” Minghao says knowingly. “We were all wondering why you didn’t stick around to see Jihoon and Soonyoung off either, and just up and left one night with no warning.”
Wonwoo nods.
“So it was the storms, then, that fucked you up. Made you all apathetic and mean.” Minghao confirms.
Wonwoo shakes his head. “You were right the first time.” He says. Fuck it. “Look.”
In front of them are the hundreds of maps Wonwoo has written over the past ten years in the service of the Prince. He’s marked their placements and their meanings but there’s a subtle pattern that runs throughout every single constellation, a message from the stars that remains immortalized in Wonwoo’s careful script, only there if one seeks it out.
Minghao studies the maps carefully, fingers tracing the lines on the paper. He references the tomes just as every good student should, and Wonwoo can feel it in his magic clear as day when he realized what Wonwoo wants him to see.
“They’re apologizing.” Minghao says in wonder. “The stars are apologizing to you.”
“They’ve been apologizing nonstop for ten years.” Wonwoo replies wryly. “That year, I went back to the cave where the stars were born. Instead of fighting the storms, I went to bargain for Jihoon’s magic back. And instead of returning his magic to him, after a year of begging, they gave it to me instead.”
Wonwoo’s magic is an endless well of purple fire, but there was a time when it was only a drop. A thin stream, not good for much more than listening to the stars and interpreting their cryptic messages. He was never the strongest, back at school. He barely had enough magic in him to get into the academy in the first place. It was only his communion with the stars that passed the test and got him a place in the classroom.
Minghao leans back, shakes his head in wonder. “I hated you, you know.” Wonwoo knows. “You showed up out of nowhere when I was next in line to become Head Sorcerer and asked Prince Jeonghan to build a tower for you. And he did, because he couldn’t say no to the Storm Killer. And you were mean, too. Nothing like the guy you were at school, always laughing with your friends and encouraging their antics.”
“I couldn’t give Jihoon his life back, so I thought I should accomplish his dreams for him.” Wonwoo says. Jihoon was the most powerful sorcerer at the academy by far. Minghao was second place, yes, but the gap between them was laughably insurmountable. Prince Jeonghan visited the academy, once, two years before their graduation, to talk to Jihoon about his future position as Head Sorcerer. Wonwoo knows that somewhere in this castle is a room that was set up just for Jihoon. Before the dark storms came, Jihoon’s future was pretty much set in stone.
“Also, I hate that nickname.” The Storm Killer. If losing half of his soul is what it takes to kill a storm, next time, he’d rather just let it kill him first. Wonwoo can’t feel much these days, but he thinks that’s what hate would feel like.
Minghao nods, like it makes sense. And maybe it does, to him. Despite all of their bickering and arguing, Wonwoo feels like Minghao is one of the people who understands him best in the world. Or maybe it’s because of their bickering and arguing.
“Is it bad that I just feel sorry for you now?” Minghao asks. “Like, you don’t really have friends, do you? You have dinner with Prince Jeonghan sometimes, but other than that, I think Junhui being here is the most social interaction you’ve had since you arrived.”
Minghao, Wonwoo knows, has friends outside the castle. There’s a family who owns the store that sells the best noodles in the city, and sometimes, when Minghao isn’t busy, he’ll go and hang out with their oldest son. Wonwoo can feel it, when Minghao’s cool blue magic melds with the dull gray of Mingyu’s plain humanness.
“That’s okay.” Minghao is entitled to feeling however he wants. That’s well within his rights as Wonwoo’s right hand man. “We work well together when we need to, and that’s enough for me.”
Wonwoo’s magic has a magnetic pull to Minghao’s, and vice versa, something they both noticed when Wonwoo moved into the castle. It’s why he can whisper into the wind and Minghao will hear it from across the castle, or why Minghao will act as Wonwoo’s eyes and ears when he refuses to leave his observatory. For all that their personalities clash, magic is the one thing that has never really been an issue between them.
Of everyone who might have dedicated time to try and figure him out on their own, Wonwoo is glad it was Minghao. There’s something strangely freeing about being cut open and examined head to toe by someone whose body feels like a second skin.
Minghao’s eyebrows scrunch together. “Damn, you’re right.” He says. “I might just be your best friend after all.”
Wonwoo said nothing of the sort. But for the kinds of people they are, Minghao might not be too far off.
---
Jun keeps coming back to the observatory. Night after night, he’ll spread his magic across the room again purposefully, leaving traces on everything he touches. The scent of sunshine sticks to everything in Wonwoo’s sight, and no matter how hard he cleanses the room when Jun leaves, he sees gold in the corners of his eyes every time he turns his head. His hands are never cold anymore.
Jun isn’t leaving. Wonwoo waits for it, for Jun to appear one night and tell him that he’s leaving the next morning. Instead, he keeps coming with dinner, and he’ll sit on the floor while Wonwoo sits in his chair and they’ll eat together, like at the academy when Jun used to cook late night meals for them during exam week.
Wonwoo doesn’t know why he keeps letting Jun in. Maybe it’s because he wants to be the first one to know when Jun leaves. Maybe it’s because he’s attached to the stars that follow Jun around everywhere he goes. Maybe it’s because he likes torturing himself with what neither of them can have, memories of a time when things weren’t so dark.
In the beginning, they talk about the time they spent apart, about what it was like with Jeonghan as Crown Prince or the kinds of journeys Jun went on at the behest of the stars. After they run out of things to talk about, they just eat in silence.
The stars blink heavily when Jun arrives one night, two weeks after Chan’s coronation, and Wonwoo knows that this is it. Jun will leave tomorrow.
But Jun comes bearing a tray with food on it for both of them, something soupy and spicy that the cook Jeonghan hired would never cook of her own volition. He sits and eats in silence, and it’s like every other night that had come before.
“If I told you I figured out a way to get you your most loved thing back, would you accept it?” Jun asks. The words would have come from nowhere, had Wonwoo not caught the warning from the stars the second Jun walked into the room.
“No.” Wonwoo replies. “Not unless you can give Jihoon his magic back too.” He amends. He doesn’t want to know why Jun is asking, but marvels at his daring anyway. Defying the stars is not something to take lightly. This must be what the stars were trying to warn him about.
Jun must sense that he’s treading on sensitive ground, one wrong move from getting kicked out of the observatory, because he’s quiet for a moment longer.
“You know he’s happy now, right?” Jun asks. “Jihoon told me himself. He’s moved on and is happy with Soonyoung. He doesn’t blame you for what happened. You both lost something pretty big in the cave, after all.”
Wonwoo shakes his head. Of course Jun wants to jump right back into the heavy stuff. “It doesn’t matter whether he blames me or not. I was the only one the stars warned, and it was my own cowardice that didn’t believe in the stars. It was my fault he was even there to begin with, which means I owe him his magic back.” The rising pit of guilt in his stomach is back. Somehow, it tastes just like the meal Jun cooked for the two of them.
“You were a student!” Jun exclaims. “We all were! Why do you insist on blaming yourself for something out of your control?”
Wonwoo hums in acknowledgement. “You know it’s my fault why you were gone for so long too, right?”
Jun startles back. “What?”
“Your family has owed a debt to the stars for generations. Normally the debt is something simple, like a single quest, or an offering. And yet you were gone for ten years, unable to see your friends or family.” Wonwoo’s wrists ache. “And it’s my fault, for sacrificing you in that cave.”
Jun’s expression is almost unrecognizable. “Do you think I blame you for that?” He asks in derisive wonder.
“No.” Wonwoo says, because Jun is far too kind. “But you should.”
“Wonwoo.” Jun says slowly, like he’s talking to a child. “Your sacrifice gave me the opportunity to pay off my family’s debt. My entire family, forever, will be free. I didn’t realize it was you at the time, but if what you’re saying is true, then I should be thanking you. The stars won’t ever get to claim my little brother for a mistake my ancestors made all those years ago.”
“You paid off the debt yourself. That part had nothing to do with me.” Wonwoo is uncomfortable with the way Jun is staring at him, like a man in a desert who just found an oasis.
The gold of Jun’s magic is just one shade too bright. Wonwoo had always thought that it was a gift from the stars, but if what Jun is saying is true, then the gold is just him. Jun is just that bright naturally. Wonwoo finds himself strangely comforted by the thought.
“When will the stars call you back?” Wonwoo asks, because if they’re talking about all of the uncomfortable things then they might as well try this one too.
Jun tilts his head in confusion. “Didn’t you hear me? My debt is paid. I don’t owe the stars anything anymore. This was my last quest.” He laughs lightly. “Despite all the time I spent with His Majesty when Jihoon and Soonyoung were here, though, I think my welcome in the castle might be running out soon. I’ll probably go visit my family. Tell them the good news.”
Wonwoo nods. He knows Jun loves his little brother more than anything.
“Of course, if I had a reason to stay, I would.” Jun keeps talking. “I like it here. His Majesty is nice, and Minghao lets me run around the sorcerer’s wing doing whatever I want without yelling at me too much. It’s much less strict than the academy.”
Wonwoo puts down his bowl. He knows where this is going, but there is no Minghao to hold on to here.
“You should ask me to stay. I know you don’t love me but… Will you ask me to stay?”
The only thing worse than this would be if Jun were on his knees, begging. But no. He sits, legs crossed, mouth stained with spice.
“I won’t.” Wonwoo replies firmly. “Don’t ask me again.” He can’t. It takes every bone in his body to not apologize.
Jun nods, like it’s what he expected. Wonwoo bites his lip until it bleeds, staring at his hands as Jun collects their utensils and leaves.
---
Jun stops visiting, after that. It’s what Wonwoo expected, but he still finds himself waiting for Jun to appear the first night. And the second.
The third night, Wonwoo is visited instead by the former Crown Prince Jeonghan.
“I’m leaving tomorrow morning.” He says. It’s the exact phrase Wonwoo has been waiting to hear for weeks, coming from the wrong mouth. “I’m taking Seungcheol and Joshua with me, too.”
Wonwoo swallows the lump in his throat. It’s not his place to question Prince Jeonghan’s decisions. “Where will you go?” He asks instead.
Jeonghan laughs, more carefree than Wonwoo has ever seen him before. “Who knows?” He replies, a stark difference than the man who knew anything and everything. “Anywhere but here. I think it’s about time I figured out who I am, as Yoon Jeonghan, instead of Crown Prince Jeonghan.”
“An admirable goal.”
“I’ve been thinking about it a lot.” Jeonghan admits. “Plus, Shua wants to see the world. He’ll stay by my side no matter what, and I’ve decided that means that I have to go see the world too. You get it, right?”
Jeonghan is happy. Well and truly happy, despite the whirlwind that the past few months have been. Wonwoo is still shocked at how carefree Jeonghan looks, weight relieved off his shoulders, allowing himself to feel what he had never been allowed to show before. Joy. Emotion.
Wonwoo had thought they were the same. Cursed by life and by the stars, destined to live long and lonely lives, forbidden from feeling. As it turns out, it’s just him. He didn’t realize Jeonghan was hiding so much life beneath his icy facade.
“A true sacrifice.” Wonwoo responds, just a beat too late. Jeonghan doesn’t seem to mind, though.
“I love him, you know. Both of them. And I’ve been afraid of it for so long that I think it will be fun learning how to love someone without fear.” He’s a little wistful, a little sheepish, caught up in his own thoughts.
He’s leaving. Jeonghan is leaving.
“It won’t be the same without you.” Wonwoo says.
Jeonghan reaches forward and places one hand each on Wonwoo’s shoulders. He has no magic in his blood, but the sensation thrums through Wonwoo’s entire body regardless.
“Chan will be a good king. I know he’s young, and the old people around here don’t like change much, but he’s king for a reason. Trust in him, and in yourself. The stars put him in place for a reason, and you were right. I can see it now.”
The light reflects strangely from Jeonghan’s eyes, and it takes Wonwoo a moment to realize that it’s tears. Jeonghan is tearing up while saying goodbye. Wonwoo instinctively looks around for whatever is threatening his Prince, before he realizes that it’s him. Jeonghan is tearing up while saying goodbye to him.
“You’ll always be my Prince.” Wonwoo says. It’s the best he can offer, in this desperate moment. Jeonghan was the one who built this tower for him, the one who realized that Wonwoo worked best when alone and never once tried to fix him.
“Oh Wonwoo,” Jeonghan sighs, through his tears, smiling all the while. “I’ll miss you too.”
Early the next morning, Wonwoo feels it in the air when Jeonghan leaves. The cold castle becomes even colder, like a candle sputtering out at the end of its wick. Wonwoo looks to the sky and the three little figures walking along the road and pushes waves of blessings out the window until he can no longer feel Jeonghan’s presence in the distance.
His magic never once runs dry.
---
Seventeen flights of stairs. Turn left at the potions room, and turn right before he gets to the library.
Wonwoo’ feet take him to Jihoon’s room, left just as it was prepared for him. Ruby red curtains, the same color as his magic, dark wood furniture, easy to keep clean.
Jun’s influence is easy to see, though. It’s in the gold reflecting off the mirror, the soft rug on the floor. In the time Jun has spent here in the castle, he has made this room his own.
And now he’s going to leave.
“Do you want to know a secret?” Wonwoo doesn’t bother knocking. He just opens the door to a surprised Jun making his bed, uncaring of everything except the man in front of him.
“A secret?” Jun asks back.
“A secret.” Wonwoo confirms. “Something I’ve never told anyone before.”
Jun sits on his bed, face still frozen in an expression of shock.
“I’ll listen to anything you want to tell me.” He says. Jun gestures to the space on the bed next to him for Wonwoo to sit, but he can’t stop pacing around the room. If Wonwoo doesn’t stop moving he thinks he might just explode.
“Everyone keeps leaving me behind, first you, then Jihoon and Soonyoung, and now Jeonghan, but I’m terrified of being alone. I dream about the cave every night. I wear the ring that reminds me of you because I think a part of me still wishes I knew how to love you. The stars were my first love, the only thing I’ve known my whole life, and the only ones who have ever known me back, but I hate them because of what they did to me. What they made me do.”
Wonwoo’s fingers are pulling at his hair, the pain helping to keep him grounded. The words won’t stop coming out. This time, he doesn’t want them to stop. For once, he just wants someone to understand him for who he is. Jeon Wonwoo, mistakes and all.
“I thought I could do it, you know.” He continues. “I thought I could live out the rest of my life like this, living someone else’s dream out of guilt and literally nothing better to do. But I can’t, not if you’re going to come back and just leave me too.”
“You could ask me to stay.” Jun’s fists are clenched in his lap, but he doesn’t reach out. Wonwoo almost wishes he would, because at least then he might feel less alone.
“I can’t, though. You haven’t seen your family in so long. Your little brother’s grown up so much since you’ve been gone. I can’t ask you to stay just for me and miss more of his life. More of their lives.”
“I’ve missed so much of your life, too.” Jun counters. “Why are you here, if you won’t let me love you?”
“I can’t just watch you leave, but you deserve so much more than half of a person.” Wonwoo turns, and stops pacing. “I couldn’t even tell you I loved you when I wasn’t cursed. You don’t want to stay, not for me.”
He’s out of breath. Jun is too, tears in his eyes. They stare at one another, neither of them refusing to back down. Wonwoo starts to forget why he came here.
“If you won’t ask me to stay, then will you come with me?” Jun asks.
“What?”
“We can go see my parents together.” Jun says, eyes lighting up more and more with every word. “Now that Prince Jeonghan has left, there’s nothing really keeping you here except what you think you owe Jihoonie, right? We can travel like Prince Jeonghan is doing, and go visit Jihoon and Soonyoung in Tiger village like they asked us to. A direct invitation has to be worth more than the guilt you’ve been sitting on for the past ten years.”
Wonwoo shakes his head. “Did you not hear anything I said? You don’t want to be stuck with me.”
“If that’s the only thing stopping you,” Jun says confidently, “then maybe you should listen when I say that I’ve figured out a way to get your most loved thing back.”
It’s unfathomable. Wonwoo once spent an entire year begging on his knees for Jihoon’s magic back to no avail. He stares at Jun, eyes blank.
“The stars never forget and rarely forgive, but that means that sometimes they do forgive.” Jun says gently. It’s a phrase passed from generation to generation of all who dare to try and interpret the stars.
It’s ridiculous. This whole thing is crazy. “Do you think they’d forgive me?” Wonwoo asks.
“Wonwoo, does having a lifelong blessing from the stars mean nothing to you?” Jun laughs incredulously. “You’re their favorite. All you had to do was ask.”
“Then why wouldn’t they give Jihoon’s magic back when I asked?” Why would they make him live like this when the solution was there the whole time, right in front of him for the taking?
Wonwoo hates the stars. Well and truly despises them with his whole being. He cannot live without them. He loves them.
“Maybe you’re right, and it’s because he wasn’t supposed to be there to begin with. Or maybe they looked to the future and knew that he would be content with his path, with magic or without.” Jun shrugs. “Does it really matter? Shouldn’t the fact that he’s happy now mean the most? Can’t you let go of whatever guilt you’re holding on to and at least acknowledge that?”
The stars are converging. A week of rain, a week of lightning, a week of thunder, a warning that scratches the back of his mind, like an old song he’s forgotten the melody of. Maybe this moment right here is what they were warning him of from the very beginning, pointing him back towards Jun.
Wonwoo cannot go against the will of the stars. This time, he doesn’t even want to.
“Thanks to you, I’ve paid off my family’s debt. The stars like me now. They have to, with how much time I’ve spent with them. Come with me, and we can ask them together.” Jun pauses, like he’s only just realized how pushy he’s being. “Only… only if you want to, though.”
Jun is persistent, but maybe that’s just what Wonwoo needs. Someone to grab him by the shoulders and point him in the direction he’s been refusing to go and forcing him to march. And the idea of it is tempting. He could leave the Head Sorcerer position to Minghao, the way it should have been from the beginning. Wonwoo won’t have to sit still and watch Chan be king, forever comparing him to the king Jeonghan would have been. Not because Chan won’t be a good king, but because Jeonghan was the only person who understood Wonwoo enough to leave him be.
Jun won’t leave him. That’s pretty tempting.
“I haven’t wanted anything in a very long time.” Wonwoo says slowly. “But you’re right. I can’t stay here anymore, either. Does that make me selfish?”
Jihoon is happy. He told Jun himself.
“I’m selfish.” Jun replies immediately. “I’ve been wanting to be selfish with you since we were at the academy together. And if that makes me all the more selfish, then so be it. I don’t care, as long as you’re here with me. I love you, and I’m sorry I was too scared to tell you that when we were at the academy, but I’ll tell you everyday until you can say it back.”
“I just don’t want you to leave without me.” Compared to the horde of secrets Wonwoo has gutted himself to reveal to Jun, this is hardly anything at all, yet Jun lights up like Wonwoo had just confessed his undying love back.
“So you’ll come with me, then?” Jun confirms. “We’ll go get your love back.”
“The thing I loved most.” Wonwoo corrects. The realization hits him suddenly. “Junnie, you’re right here in front of me.” Dressed in gold, like they’re staring at each other from across the throne room in the middle of a coronation ceremony.
Wonwoo still doesn’t love him; still can’t love anything at all. Instead, he notices the way the morning light coming in through the curtains compliments the gold of Jun’s hair. The summer sun feels just a shade less abrasive than it did yesterday. Things have changed, without Wonwoo even noticing. When did he become the kind of person who gave away secrets without a second thought?
Perhaps things have been changing since the very day Jun appeared in the throne room, stars clinging to his clothing. His very presence, enough to undo the magic of the stars themselves.
Jun’s crying again. He’s smiling, though, and the tears flowing down his face only serve to make him look even more ethereal. “I missed hearing you call me that.” He says. The nickname came out of Wonwoo’s mouth without him even realizing.
Jun stands, and holds out his hand. “Come on.” He instructs. “First, we’ll go see the stars. After that, the world is ours.”
His palm is warm in Wonwoo’s hand. Somehow, it feels just like coming home.
---
Wonwoo dreams of a time when Minghao is Head Sorcerer, watching over the kingdom with a steady eye and blue waves of magic. Lee Chan is a good king— not the great one Jeonghan would have been, but a good one nonetheless, who uses his kind and honest nature to his advantage. The one the kingdom needs. Jeonghan takes his Shua and his Seungcheollie on an adventure around the kingdom, and they are happy.
The world is soft and warm. Not with the heat from a summer sun, but instead like a pair of arms wrapped around a man who is perpetually cold but hates summer anyway.
Wonwoo wakes up to the stars chattering in one ear, and a soft breath tickling the other. He falls back asleep with the blessings of the stars pressed against his back, and does not dream again.