"what is taeyong doing here?" jaehyun asked as soon as he caught a glimpse of his best friend with his boyfriend's best friend and his ex-boyfriend.

"he has a few things to tell you." sicheng said. "and doyoung too."

jaehyun raised a brow, taking his boyfriend's hand in his and approaching the three other males.

"is this serious?" he asked, looking directly at taeyong.

the demon shyly looked at his ex-boyfriend, nodding slowly.

"well, well, well..." yuta clapped his hands once.

"yuta and i have a date planned, so, we need to leave!" sicheng announced.

"it was a pleasure to see you!" yuta added.

"bye!"

the two hyperactive lovers disappeared of the room, leaving a cold atmosphere behind, despite the two demons warming up the temperature of the room.

"they mentioned that you had something to say?" jaehyun asked after a while, looking down on taeyong.

the demon that used to be his best friend broke down in front of the heirs, surprising both of them.

he told them everything that had happened to him.

all his miseries...

the way his family wanted the power.

the way his father forced him to do things he didn't want.

the way he was starved.

the way he had been mistreated.

the way his family had thrown him out.

the way he had lived clandestinely.

the way someone had finally come to help him.

his story was miserable.

his sobs were swallowing some of his words.

his hands were shaking at the thoughts of the past.

he looked as miserable as his story.

and as much as doyoung and jaehyun didn't want to believe his words, they couldn't help but trust him for once.

the boy was broken to the core, and trying to collect the pieces of his sanity to recreate himself. but it was something hard to do for him.

"taeyong..." doyoung spoke, kneeling down next to the demon that had fallen to his knees in the process of telling his horrible story.

the demon continued sobbing, barely lifting his head to face doyoung.

the human heir decided to place a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder, which caught his attention for good.

"taeyong, i'm very sorry that all those horrible things happened to you. i know that no sorry will heal all those wounds, but you have to know that what you lived isn't normal." doyoung spoke clearly, trying to reassure the demon the best he could.

taeyong nodded, biting his bottom lip to prevent any other sob to escape his mouth.

"i haven't been very kind with you, taeyong." jaehyun said. "i didn't know the background of the story was like this. but now that i know, i promise that justice will be made. your family will get arrested for mistreatment of their children."

tears fell from taeyong's eyes again, this time showing his relief, and surely, the beginning of his happiness.

"t-thank you..." taeyong said, repeating these words a few times.

"it's the least i can do." jaehyun smiled. "but you have to promise me something in exchange."

taeyong looked at his ex-boyfriend, gulping down the lump in his throat as he imagined the worst things jaehyun could ask him.

"start a new life, the way you want it to be, and please... never treat others like your family treated you."

♨/❄

"can i open my eyes?"

"not yet, babe." jaehyun said, making sure that his boyfriend didn't try peeking at the landscape.

today was a special day.

first of all, it was their three years anniversary.

second of all, it was exactly one month before their coronations.

and third of all, it was the day jaehyun would ask doyoung's hand.

"what about now?" doyoung asked with a smile.

"not yet!" jaehyun scolded.

"it's been so long... i'm tired to walk with my eyes closed!" doyoung whined.

"trust me, it will be worth it." jaehyun said, his hand reaching for the little black velvet box holding their rings.

doyoung sighed, tightening his grip on jaehyun's hand as he continued following the demon across god-knows-where.

"you know that i can feel the hot temperature, right?" doyoung spoke.

"and?" jaehyun asked, looking around to make sure they were in the good place.

"and i know we're in the demon realm."

"it's not that important." jaehyun smiled, using his hand to caress doyoung's cheek lightly. "you can open your eyes."

doyoung didn't need to be told twice.

the human's eyes fluttered open, falling into jaehyun's loving orbs immediately.

jaehyun kissed his boyfriend's lips quickly before allowing doyoung to look around at the landscape.

the human didn't expect such a scenery, making him gasp in awe.

they were on top of a mountain, surrounded by other deep red hills and mountains in every direction.

doyoung could catch a glimpse of the king and queen's castle, far away from them.

and the best part of it was that the sun was slowly setting in the horizon, making the red sky take tints of orange and pink.

"it's wonderful..." doyoung let out, looking around.

"my mother showed me this place when i was young." jaehyun explained. "she told me to bring my special someone there."

doyoung smiled brightly, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend's neck as he kissed him passionately.

everything was so beautiful, and so perfect.

he couldn't even realise that this wasn't a dream.

even doyoung's best dreams weren't as good as what he was living right now.

three long years by the side of jung jaehyun...

this was the best thing ever.

"it's a perfect idea for a three-year anniversary date." doyoung said once they pulled away from the kiss.

"i have something more for you." jaehyun said, his hand suddenly starting to shake of both nervousness and excitement.

"really?" doyoung asked with a beaming smile.

jaehyun plunged his hand inside his pocket, picking the black box as he slowly got on one knee under doyoung's confused stare.

"kim doyoung, those past three years have been by far the best of my life, and i'm ready to assume whatever our union means in the eyes of our family and of our realms. but i need to know if you're ready to take this step with me. if yes, it's very simple. you just need to answer this question... kim doyoung, will you marry me?"

doyoung's eyes got fixed on the black velvet box in which were sittign two golden rigns, one surmounted by an ice blue gem – an agate for jaehyun, representing cold – and the other by a red one – a ruby for doyoung, representing warmth.

his mouth hung open as tears of joy started to escape his eyes.

he didn't need to think twice before answering this question that he had been waiting to be asked for so long.

"y-yes, jung jaehyun! yes!"

♨ the end ❄

and we reached the end of "hot and cold"!
thanks to all of you for your support and love, i really hope that you enjoyed reading this story!
it was a tough one to write for me since they aren't people that i usually ship together, but anyway, i had a great time writing and imagining everything that could happen!
there will be a short epilogue posted tomorrow (and at the same time, the new markhyuck story), so stay tuned!

thanks again for all the support
love y'all <3<3<3