Chapter Text
01
A tree house, a free house,
A secret you and me house,
A high up in the leafy branches,
Cozy as can be house.
A street house, a neat house,
Be sure to wipe your feet house,
Is not my kind of house at all,
Let’s go live in a tree house.
(Shel Silverstein)
Leaves rustle. Branches crack. Birds sing.
Other than that: blissful silence. The sun was slowly starting to go down, painting the sky into a splendid piece of art made of orange, cyan and lilac colors. Magnificent. A sight that would take away everyone’s breath who would take even one second away from the stressful everyday life to admire it.
In the middle of a small forest, at the edge of a clearing in the crown of a little tree, was the home of a tiny tree house. It was carefully built of light wood. A knotted beige rope ladder led up to the narrow opening. If you had not known its location, you would have walked straight past the well-hidden treehouse unsuspectingly, without ever noticing anything about its existence.
At the very top, on the creaking wood there lay two worry-free, young figures, their gaze directed upwards to the pretty artwork of clouds. No older than thirteen and fourteen years. Their hearts, their breath, everything seemed to be in unison. They enjoyed the mere presence of each other while the last rays of sunshine warmed their faces.
One face turned thoughtfully to the other.
“You know what we should do when we grow up, Yeonjunie Hyung?”, the young soul chirped, voice laced with an innocent excitement, so white and pure no devil would dare to touch it. His friend faced him with a questioning look, flawless skin glowing in the warm, orange autumn sun. “What?”
A brief pause. Chocolate eyes meeting.
“We should build a bigger treehouse, move in there and live together forever. Up in the trees. Would be pretty cool, right?”, little Soobin eventually proposed with a dreamy smile adorning soft lips. Yeonjun couldn’t help but mirror it.
“Sounds good, Binnie. Let’s do it.”, he replied enthusiastically, grinning so broadly that his eyes shut for a second.
“Yeah? You promise?” Soobin sat up and Yeonjun followed his lead without thinking.
“Of course! Pinky promise.” The two smiled at each other, overflowing with joy. Their eyes sparkled with excitement for the far away future. Living together sounded fun. They already spent most of their waking hour with each other anyway.
With a smooth movement Soobin reached out to Yeonjun and tucked one of his black strands of hair behind his right ear. The two boys didn’t have to explain to each other how much they cared about them. No words were needed. No words could ever describe. They knew it deep in their hearts, could feel it. It was undeniable.
Yeonjun softly wrapped his arms around the giggling Soobin and pulled him into a bone-breaking cuddle in which the two remained for a while. With Yeonjun’s hand buried in his own dark-brown hair, the other one running soothingly up and down his back Soobin could stay here forever. With the other he could be himself. No secrets, no shame. He was welcomed and accepted by the other, with all his faults and imperfections. No matter the stupid shit he would sometimes get himself into, Yeonjun was always there. They could always rely on each other.
So, they both enjoyed the other’s warmth and tranquility and were as happy as one could be in that moment.
It was perfect.
All the more heartbreaking it was, when only one year later full of tears their lives would be separated seemingly forever.
Farewell words too often part,
and cleave with sorrow to aching hearts,
with a final wave, all disappears,
beneath the rush of silent tears.
Saying goodbye was the hardest thing to do,
I never thought I would, especially not to you.
(Gregory K./ Stepanie Beaudette)