The afternoon sun was bright but the wind blowing through the temple's veranda was cold. Kai-Se stared out at the fog-covered horizon, the silhouettes of the mountains and forests making him feel smaller than ever. He blew a breath, leaning closer to the lower rungs of the balcony's balustrade.

Shin-Ki, the strict shaman who could totally flatten him without really trying, had insisted he couldn't see Nao-Zai. So, without much to do, he instead explored the Trahn-gwok-tan and discovered the stairs leading to the second floor. Then, he stumbled into this magnificent view of the world around him right after he pried off a crinkly, yellow sheet of parchment plastered into one too many spots all around the temple. What had that been about?

He sighed, kicking his legs dangling over the open edge of the balcony. Blame the balustrade for having huge spaces between the floor and the rungs. He rested his elbows against the higher rung, having them almost perpendicular to his head. The wind rose from the east, shuffling his already-tangled hair.

His hand flew to the earring by his right lobe. Its unfamiliar clink as the wind disturbed it from its stasis rang in his ears. With deft fingers, he pried it off and laid it over his palm, as he had been doing again and again for the past hour.

What greeted him was a small hourglass with green sand sloshing inside. It's gilded with gold, going all the way from the top, past to the legs, and down to the base where a teardrop-shaped jade stone was attached. In short, it was another addition to the three piercings on his right ear, leaving his left one lonely and boring.

Like how the necklace harnessed old An-Ri's essence, this new jewelry seemed to be the one holding all of the remnants of the other ancestral spirits. He could only guess, though, since it appeared in his ear as soon as he stepped out of the gate and emerged back in the mortal realm. With him breaking the necklace, it's safe to guess it was just being replaced.

"So this is where you've been," a voice said somewhere behind him. He flinched, bringing his arms down from the rungs to face the source of the footsteps thumping against the balcony's wooden floor.

Kai-Se chuckled as Nao-Zai dropped next to him. The soldier didn't slot his legs through the gap between the balustrades and let them hang in the air though. "Yeah," he said. Seeing Nao-Zai outside of his armor and his formal fenhai made him look younger and more...friendly. "You found me."

Nao-Zai leaned back on his palms, a carefree smile plastered on his lips. It's something Kai-Se didn't see often in any world they both operated in before. Now, he could stare at it all he wanted. There's no one around to stop him. "What are you doing here?" Nao-Zai asked.

"Admiring the view," Kai-Se said, never really taking his eyes off him. He didn't really know how his words were sounding to anyone listening. Outside the Imperial Palace, he wouldn't have to worry about unwanted ears joining his conversations.

"The view is out there, Your Highness," Nao-Zai pointed to somewhere behind Kai-Se with a somewhat cocky smirk. When had he learned how to do that, anyway? "Has Shaoryeong altered your sense of direction?"

Kai-Se snorted but he directed his gaze towards where Nao-Zai was pointing. He didn't even want to look at the man after doing...that. He shook his head just to bury the memory at the back of his head. "Listen. I'm sorry for leaving you like that," he said instead. "Shin-Ki told me everything. About how you had to fight off soldiers, go through mountains and stuff just to get me to Chaebeon."

He pursed his lips, his gut swirling with regret. "I shouldn't have left Xuijae," he said. "I'm sorry for putting you through all that trouble. Getting hurt because of me..."

His voice died off as he noted the silence thickening with every passing second. "Why aren't you saying anything?" he asked. Usually, Nao-Zai would be firing off counter arguments and counter arguments to Kai-Se's counter arguments. "You're scaring me."

To that, Nao-Zai rested his head against the balustrade and smiled up at him. "I'm just glad you're alive, Kai-Se," he said.

Something halted inside Kai-Se's system. He was quite certain it had been his heartbeat. His cheeks felt hot despite the cold air billowing around them. He ducked his head, letting his dark hair fall over his face. "T-thank you," he said. "For everything. I mean it."

Nao-Zai hummed. "It's an honor, Your Highness," he said. "Serving the Empire is an absolute one."

A bitter laugh escaped Kai-Se's lips. "I suppose the Empire is still standing?"

"I don't have any news after Jang-Ho was deposed," Nao-Zai tapped his chin in thought. "But from when we left Xuijae, I know that the Najizaki line has been accused of consorting with dark arts and shaman magic. It'll be hard to dispel that considering we're literally in Tranh-gwok-tan right now."

Kai-Se didn't speak, just folded his hands together. He missed his wide sleeves seeing as the fenhai he was lent with was just like the one he wore in Shaoryeong, just looser and bigger. After spending months in sick bay, he wasn't exactly the leanest person around

"It's also going to be tricky with Pyeongjeon Jang-Ho, the one who was supposed to take over after the uprising was discovered to be involved in the same thing," Nao-Zai continued. "This theoretically leaves the throne up for the taking and the Empire without a ruler."

Kai-Se's fists clenched over his lap. An empty throne was a chance a lot of the ruling clans had been waiting for all this time. It's a free throw, with an equal chance of being awarded to an aspiring clan. Without a dynasty to challenge, it's going to be a bloodbath—one where every ruling clan in the face of Xuijae would be participating in.

What's worse, to prevent the previous line from taking back their power, the other ruling clans would also be out to get them. Not just the Najizaki line, but the whole Tarakure and Noryeong clan. Those two ruling clans were powerful in their own right, but together? They'd be unstoppable. That's why the Noryeong clan had been amicable with the Tarakure clan for so long. Now that the alliance has stopped, now that both of them were no longer in power, would they turn on each other and vie for the throne as two, separate entities?

Where would that put Kai-Se and his family? What of his mother and sister? His father? The last thing his father said to Kai-Se was to pick his battles, to learn when to run and when to face it head-on. Getting back to the throne would be suicide for him and everyone he cared about. But that didn't mean he'd stop moving. He would need to get his family out of Hankuure before the ruling clans there would turn on them. If not either clan, then at least his mother and sister. He'd have to find his father somewhere in Dangrao as well, and that could prove to be tricky. If his father didn't want to be found, he had the means to do so. So how—

"I know that look, Kai-Se," Nao-Zai's voice slammed into his fragile thoughts, shattering them into a million pieces.

Kai-Se raised his head to meet Nao-Zai's eyes. "What?"

Before he could react, Nao-Zai reached out and laid his fingers in between Kai-Se's eyebrows. "Your forehead creases whenever you're spiraling down into your worries," Nao-Zai was saying. His words flitted in and out of Kai-Se's ears, though. All he could think of was that Nao-Zai was close. Too close. That, and the fact he was touching Kai-Se's face like it was a normal thing between them.

"Kai-Se?" came Nao-Zai's question when he had stared and froze too long.

He snapped back to reality and blew a breath. Nao-Zai's hand had brushed most of Kai-Se's hair off his face. "I'm sorry. It's just..." he closed his eyes. "It's a million different things—all at once."

Nao-Zai tilted his head to one side. Seeing as how he had sheared his hair to that straight bob just above his shoulders, it made Kai-Se forget he even served as a soldier and an Imperial guard. He was just Nao-Zai. Just...him.

"You don't have to do everything on your own," Nao-Zai said. His hand moved down the side of Kai-Se's face. Such contact would have sent him reeling, but with Nao-Zai...it was fine. Comforting, even. He wanted more of it. "We're here. I'm here."

If there was anything Kai-Se learned about this whole adventure, it was that he shouldn't be bearing everything alone, suffering alone, and solving things alone. There were people around him willing to help. People like Kaname, Nishi and the Dansarun court, Shin-Ki, Chi-Sae—Kai-Se wouldn't be here without all of them, anyway. Together, they overcame obstacles way larger than any of them and it's through each other they were able to survive.

And Nao-Zai...

Just from the way he was looking at Kai-Se, combined with the fading sunlight turning the sky a bright shade of orange, made him want to just lean over and finish that thing they were doing before Nao-Zai lost consciousness due to his injuries. How...how could he just spout those things like it was nothing? Make Kai-Se's heart and head pound like it was nothing?

I'm here. Those words sent shivers running down Kai-Se's spine. Of course. During the hardest parts of his life, Nao-Zai had been there. The man has found every single opportunity to invade Kai-Se's mind, actions, and heart. He had always been there. And there's no way in hell Kai-Se was going to let him go. Not when he's already roped into whatever charm Nao-Zai was using. He's roped in. Deeply.

The air picked up between them. A surge of energy flickered inside Kai-Se as his earring warmed. Light flashed and a figure formed in its core. Soon, An-Ri was cooing and gurgling in his arms. She looked just like a normal, human baby, just with the ears, the blunt claws, and the fangs growing out from her gums.

"An-Ri!" Kai-Se picked her up from under her arms. "What did I say about coming out at odd times? You've got to learn to wait for my call."

He froze. Ever so slowly, he turned to Nao-Zai who blinked at the whole scene in confusion. He opened his mouth, an explanation scrambling inside his brain. Instead, Nao-Zai slapped a hand to his forehead and laughed. Just...laughed. And damn, how good that sounded in Kai-Se's ears.

"I'm not even going to ask," Nao-Zai said, laughter still thick in his voice.

An-Ri turned to the sound of his voice, her purple eyes widening. Before Kai-Se could hold her back, she flew straight towards Nao-Zai, shrieking in delight. Instead of recoiling or running away in fright, Nao-Zai gently held An-Ri close, letting her wrap her meaty arms around his neck.

"I'm sorry!" Kai-Se reached out to retrieve the rogue spirit but the girl had the nerve to snarl at him. Snarl. A growling baby was the last thing Kai-Se wanted to show Nao-Zai. "An-Ri, get back here!"

Nao-Zai chuckled, rubbing An-Ri's back. "It's fine," he said. "I used to take care of my cousins so I know how to handle them."

Kai-Se blew a breath. "She's an ancestral spirit," he said. "She's not supposed to be an infant!"

Then, it all came pouring out—the reason why he had to go to Shaoryeong, his encounter with Waejeon and Jangseok, how he ended up in the Spirit Palace and met Amatesu, how he befriended Kaname and saw Nishi and the others again, and how he revived An-Ri in hopes of someday putting Shaoryeong back into order after Amatesu's reign.

Although Nao-Zai never asked, he listened, never taking his eyes off Kai-Se the entire time. It made him feel both self-conscious and happy at the same time. Then, Kai-Se had to admit the truth. "I'm not human, Nao-Zai," he said. "I'm born from the remnants of the ancestral spirits gathered together. And when I revived An-Ri...I triggered the revival of all of them. So now..."

"Now, we'll be dealing with a lot of these in the days to come," Nao-Zai finished for him, giving An-Ri's back another gentle pat.

Kai-Se met Nao-Zai's unwavering gaze, even though he wanted to shirk from the sincerity and warmth he always found in it. "How come you're not panicking or screaming your lungs out?" he said. "You're taking this really well."

Nao-Zai rocked An-Ri some more, resting her head against his uninjured shoulder. "I don't expect something normal from you, Kai-Se. It's always the unpredictable, the unknown, but most often the most amazing things, when it comes to you," he said. "That's one of the things I love about you."

Kai-Se's eyes widened. Love...

Love.

Nao-Zai had what?

Suddenly, An-Ri's body glowed a bright, orange light. Kai-Se felt another warm surge from his right ear. Like a greedy hand, a beam of light sucked the spirit's form from Nao-Zai, dragging her back inside the earring. Kai-Se wished it wouldn't happen now, leaving him alone with Nao-Zai like this.

What Nao-Zai said—so casually, might he add—stirred up something Kai-Se had been shoving deep within his gut for a long time. Ever since Nao-Zai had gone back to Dansarun even though Kai-Se had sent him back, he had been having these...bouts of unusual thoughts about him. He did his best to ignore it and to never let it show during their long trip back to Dangrao. But now...

Kai-Se couldn't hold it back further.

"Nao-Zai, I..." he cleared his throat as his nerves frayed and snapped. The memory of Nao-Zai's lips touching his, the softness of them against his, flashed in his mind and stayed there. It didn't seem like it was going away any time soon. "I'm..."

"I can't lose you, Kai-Se," Nao-Zai said, stopping whatever was coming out of Kai-Se's mouth. He said it with such a straight face Kai-Se began to wonder if the gate had dropped him into some other alternate world and not the actual mortal realm. This...what was this he was hearing?

Nao-Zai blew a breath and mussed his already messy hair. Unlike the rigid hairstyles he always wore when he was on duty, this look suited him more. "What this whole thing taught me was that you're someone I can't imagine losing," he said. "I don't know when it happened, but you changed me. You made me see life beyond just following orders and completing missions. Your stories, your passion, your courage—they made me aspire to be better, to have an ambition of my own. You made me think about what I wanted out of the world."

Kai-Se opened his mouth but no words came out. This...

"That's why I kissed you back then," Nao-Zai averted his eyes, his cheeks burning pink. That must be from the setting sun. Right? "Because I want you to stay. To not...leave me again. Because without you, the world becomes dull. It becomes...ordinary."

He turned his attention towards the setting sun. The sky had turned from orange to a pale purple. It's going to be night soon. "It's fine if you don't feel that way," he said, a wistful look passing across his face. "We can still be friends, right?"

"I don't want to be friends," Kai-Se blurted.

Nao-Zai turned back to him, not being able to mask the look of hurt clouding his face. Kai-Se clenched his jaw, took a shaky breath, and met Nao-Zai's gaze. "I want to be something more," he said.

Before Nao-Zai could even react, Kai-Se ducked his head at him, like he hadn't been a prince of a fallen Empire and Nao-Zai hadn't been someone under his authority once. Now, it seemed like the tables had flipped. "I like you, Paekdora Nao-Zai," he spewed out. "I can't imagine a world without you either, so please..."

A hand touched his chin, forcing him to tilt his head up. His eyes landed on Nao-Zai's face, drawing closer by the second. "Please stay and be with me," his voice had dwindled to a whisper now that their noses were literally inches apart. "Forever."

That's the last word out of Kai-Se's lips before Nao-Zai claimed them with his own. The world faded and silenced all around him, the deepening dusk in the wide sky becoming forgotten. Kai-Se tilted his head and opened his mouth, letting Nao-Zai have everything. Every piece of him, there's no other person he'd rather have them than the one holding him like he was as fragile as glass.

Nao-Zai's hand slipped from Kai-Se's chin to the back of his neck as their kiss deepened. Kai-Se leaned forward, wanting more. This led to Kai-Se pressing Nao-Zai against the balcony's balustrade, his own hands resting on his chest, feeling every single heartbeat underneath his fenhai. Nao-Zai's other arm snaked around Kai-Se's waist, locking their bodies against each other's warmth. It was...

"How many times do I have to remind you that this was still a temple?" Shin-Ki's annoyed voice rang from behind Kai-Se. Nao-Zai drew away from him, breaking their kiss. Kai-Se turned to find the shaman standing by the door leading to the balcony, their arms crossed over their chest. "Or do you plan on desecrating this sacred place dedicated to the ancestral spirits?"

Kai-Se smirked. All of them were inside him and he was certain they wouldn't mind if he kissed Nao-Zai one more time, and many more times after tonight. And that's what he did—just started nibbling on Nao-Zai's lower lip until he gave in and let Kai-Se explore deeper. Behind him, Kai-Se was vaguely aware of Shin-Ki throwing their arms in the air and striding out of the room, muttering under their breath, "Young ones these days! So rowdy!"

Being prim and proper was the last thing Kai-Se wanted that night, as he was drowning in the pleasure of being able to touch and taste the only person who made him experience freedom in the simplest ways possible. When he acknowledged Kai-Se's wish to keep being a piper, when he looked at Kai-Se like he was the only person in the world, and now, when he told Kai-Se just how much he meant to him.

They broke apart for the second time. Both of them were breathing heavily, from the lack of air after kissing for so long or just from the plain wonder of this particular moment. Kai-Se closed his eyes just as Nao-Zai rested his forehead against his. "I'm not going anywhere, Najizaki Kai-Se," Nao-Zai whispered against his lips, his breath hot enough to sear through Kai-Se's insides. "I promise you that."

With that, Kai-Se pressed his head against Nao-Zai's chest. As if on autopilot, Nao-Zai wrapped his arms around him. Safe. He was safe so long as he was inside this embrace. Kai-Se might not have a palace to get back to or even a clan to call his own, but as long as he stayed with the man who loved him more than Kai-Se loved himself, everything was going to be alright. Everything...was going to be fine.

And even if some things were not, when it was with Nao-Zai who went through hell and back just to save him, who was Kai-Se to complain?