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The air in the room was stagnant, heavy with the metallic scent of medicine and the sharp, lingering salt of sweat. Ilay looked down at where the bandages were white against Taeui’s tan skin, a stark contrast that made his stomach churn. It felt as if his own insides were showing through, exposed and raw to the cooling night air.
Ilay shook his head, the motion slow and pained. Even speaking felt like his throat would tear, as if he had been swallowing glass for days on end. Every breath was a conscious effort, a mechanical struggle against the weight crushing his chest.
“No. I cannot stop now. I am too scared… scared of losing you again.”
His voice was a ruined thing, a jagged edge of its former self. He looked at Taeui with a gaze that was no longer that of a hunter, but of a man who had seen the end of his world and was still standing in the wreckage.
“Ilay, slow down… just slow down.”
Thrust
Taeui’s voice was a fragile thread, but it was the only thing keeping Ilay tethered to the floor.
“Ah… damnnit …”
Ilay leaned his forehead against the edge of the mattress. That memory kept burning behind his eyes like a white hot brand. It would not fade. It would not dim. It played on a loop, a reel of film that refused to stop.
***
Just a few days ago, the world had blurred with terror. Shadows had descended upon their lives, and with a curled up scream, a stranger’s hand had snatched Taeui away like cold steel. Taeui was badly injured, trying to shield Ilay from the sudden attack. Ilay had watched it happen in a fraction of a second, a moment that felt like an eternity. He had chased them through the labyrinth of the city. Running through the biting cold, his lungs burned and his heart thrashed in a state of pure, unadulterated panic and desperation. He had kicked the door open, the wood splintering under his boot, and threw himself into the chaos.
His fists struck out, driven purely by instinct and a primal fear that he had never known he possessed. All that existed in him then was the animal need to protect Taeui, to claw him back from the edge of the void. When he finally pulled Taeui into his arms and collapsed among the debris, the world shattered into a thousand jagged pieces—and somehow, miraculously, it came back together again in the shape of Taeui’s heartbeat.
But the hospital was another nightmare entirely. The sterile white walls felt like they were slicing into his skin, cold and indifferent to his agony. The constant, rhythmic beeping of the machines echoed endlessly in the hallways, a countdown that Ilay could not stop. Taeui lay in the bed, pale and ghost like, his strength drained away by the ordeal. Ilay never left his side. Not for what felt like days. He became a fixture of the room, a shadow that refused to move. His eyes were bloodshot and heavy, the lids feeling like lead, but he never once closed them. He held Taeui’s hand, tracing quiet patterns over the back of it with his thumb, memorizing the map of his knuckles.
How long has it been, Tae. Will you open your eyes? Do not leave me in this silence.
***
The memory finally began to recede, leaving Ilay gasping in the present.
“I will never let you go again,” Ilay swore under his breath, the words catching in his dry throat. “Never.”
In this quiet darkness, that vow was no longer just words. It was a desperate prayer uttered by a man who did not believe in gods. It was a final hope.
Ilay’s lips moved slowly down the column of Taeui’s neck. Each kiss was slow, reverent, and trembling with the residual fear of losing him again. His fingertips moved with agonizing care, slipping beneath the thin fabric of the shirt and tracing over the skin he had almost lost. Bruises and scars left behind by the struggle—dark blossoms of purple and yellow—he memorized them all. He touched them as if he could absorb the pain into his own body through memory alone.
“You are here,” Ilay whispered against his skin. His voice was thick with emotion, vibrating against Taeui’s pulse. “You are safe now. I am the wall between you and the rest of the world.”
Taeui’s breath caught, a soft hitch in the quiet room. Beneath the trembling of his body, Ilay’s fingers gripped him tighter, holding him in place, refusing to let even a millimeter of space exist between them.
“Do not leave me,” Ilay pleaded softly, his pride stripped away until only the core of his need remained. “Please…”
Taeui slipped his fingers into Ilay’s hair, the touch grounding and warm. He began to calm the man who clung to him in such frantic desperation. In a low but steady voice, he spoke into the hollow of Ilay’s shoulder.
“I am here. I am not going anywhere. Ilay… I want to live a long, long life with you. If possible, until the very day I die.”
The room felt smaller then, the walls drawing in as if their closeness had erased the distance that nearly tore them apart. Ilay pressed his lips to Taeui’s. The kiss was possessive, a claim staked in the dark, yet it was gentle enough to be a healing thing. It was fierce, yet breakable. All the emotions they had been suppressing—the bone deep fear, the staggering relief, the love that felt like a wound—poured out in a flood.
Ilay pressed closer, his weight a comfort rather than a burden. His breath skimmed Taeui’s lips, rough and hot. His hands, still trembling with an urgency he could not quell, slipped under Taeui’s shirt and met the heat of his skin. Every heartbeat beneath his fingertips was a vow fulfilled. Every soft gasp shared between them was a wordless confession of a bond that went deeper than blood.
“I cannot lose you,” Ilay murmured between kisses. The words were barely audible, a secret kept between them. “Not after all this… never again.”
Taeui gripped Ilay’s wrist tightly, his pulse drumming against Ilay’s palm, anchoring him to this world and this moment.
“You will not lose me,” he whispered back, his voice a steady anchor in the storm of Ilay's grief. “I am not going anywhere. We are woven together now.”
***
They moved slowly, carefully, as if they were made of glass. Every kiss and every touch acted as a balm over their shared wounds. Ilay’s hands were gentle but desperate, exploring Taeui’s body like it was something sacred, a relic he had recovered from a fire. As if remembering the curve of his ribs and the heat of his breath was the only way to keep him safe from the shadows.
When Ilay pulled back a little and looked at Taeui’s face, his eyes were wet. There were tears of fear, of love, and of a relief so profound it felt like a physical weight being lifted.
“Say it,” Ilay breathed, his voice quivering with the intensity of his demand. “That you will stay with me. Even if you die… wait for me in the dark.”
Taeui, exhausted but absolutely certain of his heart, smiled. It was a soft, luminous thing.
“I will. I have already decided to spend my life with you. There is no other path for me.”
Ilay’s lips quivered into a small, broken smile. He leaned in and kissed Taeui again—deeply, slowly, sealing the vow with the salt of his tears and the warmth of his breath.
The night continued like that, a slow passage of time marked by whispered confessions and trembling touches. They built a world within the four walls of the room, a love strong enough to drive away the dark that had tried to claim them.
And when dawn finally came, a pale and hesitant light pouring through the window onto the crumpled sheets and their entwined bodies, Ilay held Taeui close. He watched the light touch Taeui's face and made his vow once more, silent and absolute.
Never again. Never.
***
An:
Originally, I wanted to write a full, intense NSFW scene… but I got too shy and ended up deleting most of it. Mental defeat won this time, haha.
Honestly, I don’t have much to say about this one. Oh, wait. This is a kidnapping episode.
Our poor Taeui… how does he keep getting kidnapped like this? (But honestly, who wouldn’t want to kidnap him? Even I would. Seriously.)
One day, I swear… I’ll write a truly satisfying NSFW scene. But until then, I’ll quietly exit with this one.
I hope this story brings at least a little comfort in the meantime. :’)
Thanks for reading! Wishing you a lovely day ❤️