Work Text:
There are great love stories to mark every era.
Helen and Paris.
Dante and Beatrice.
Cleopatra and Mark Anthony.
Romeo and Juliet.
For the rouge demon hunters travelling from village to village banishing resentful ghouls, they hear the stories that will come to mark their era.
Jaehyun and Doyoung.
Although, it should be noted that these stories were told to them by none other than Jaehyun himself.
—
It starts when Jaehyun learns that for years their township has been receiving monthly correspondences - no, rather - monthly missives begging for an ear, for help taming the vengeful demon spirits terrorizing their people.
Except they go unanswered.
Because the township is burdened by woes of its own that they have neither the time nor the resources to send out official hunters to tend to every request.
So, Jaehyun does what Jaehyun does best. He bribes Doyoung into stealing the letters during one of his advisory visits. Doyoung who glared and huffed and puffed into agreement but was secretly pleased with Jaehyun’s decision to help. And Jaehyun knows Doyoung doesn’t like saying no to him although he’s careful with being trusted like that, never taking advantage.
But being away from Doyoung for years was no easy decision to make but both he and Doyoung knew it was the right thing to do.
Doyoung always had the strongest moral compass known to man. It drove Jaehyun insane, ever since he was a snotty child chasing around the slight boy with glasses and a frown on his little face. Doyoung had always been so stern, even in his youth but as he matured, as they both did, the lines on his face softened. Fondness replaced exasperation. Tenderness replaced sharpness.
Soon Jaehyun couldn’t remember a single significant life event that didn’t involve Doyoung.
They spend years tucked studying under shaded trees, sharing meals and trading time together. Doyoung sought him out first when he received news of being accepted as an advisor. Jaehyun remembers hearing his name called by a familiar voice in an unfamiliar tone. He remembers turning and seeing Doyoung beaming and running towards him and colliding into his outstretched arms.
“I did it,” he whispers into Jaehyun’s shoulder.
He’s confused, but does not complain about holding him between his hands, “did what, Doyoung?”
“I got the job.”
Jaehyun gasps, he had watched Doyoung pour over texts in preparation, every motivating force growing up was bound around one day being an official advisor.
He can’t help it and lifts Doyoung into the air with a scream. Doyoung is by no means small. He is only a few inches shorter than him with broad shoulders and lean, dense muscle but Jaehyun cannot find it in himself to care. But Doyoung just grips his shoulders and laughs loudly and it’s the most wonderful sound in the world.
This is why he trains his body, to be able to carry Doyoung and the weight he bears.
Jaehyun knows his fascination with Doyoung started more as a need for attention, especially from Doyoung who rarely gives it out but it morphs into something sweeter and deeper. Jaehyun knows now that Doyoung is firmly a part of him.
He cannot imagine a world where Doyoung isn’t integral in his life. He cannot fathom not working hard to make those tired eyes brighten or make those downturned lips twitch.
And while Doyoung still rolls his eyes or glares at his antics, there is something like endearment that swims in them.
So, when Doyoung delivers a stack of untouched letters to him, Jaehyun tears through them with hunger before packing a bag and taking off across the land. He was a skilled demon hunter, perhaps better than the ones who wear the township’s seal but politics never interested him.
Jaehyun is too talented to worry about being on his own and the first few months of his journey were manageable. The demons he’d faced weren’t too difficult to subdue on his own but it was only a matter of time before the solitude started chipping at him.
So when he ran into a small clan of underdeveloped rouge hunters, he was quick to take them under his wing, teaching them to hone their skills and give them the guidance they lacked. It made going through the letters faster, they could split off and take care of multiple demons at once, cutting Jaehyun’s expected time in half.
They bonded through battling, the young hunters flocking around Jaehyun like baby birds. Their little sparkling eyes soaked up any piece of knowledge he departed to them. They remind him so much of himself when he was young and fascinated with the magic of taming cursed souls, except he had Elders who shared ancient traditions and taught him well.
These kids did not.
They came from varying townships, running away after their families died off from poverty and famine while others were abandoned. They were good kids, smart and talented ones too. With such little formal training, they still had a high understanding of how to trap demonic forces.
He knew it was presumptuous and he still had months left before he could return home but he was sure Doyoung would help him migrate these kids into their township and help care for them. Maybe enrol them in training to become official hunters.
Doyoung always commented on his bleeding heart.
Tucked in the corner of a tavern, nursing an icy glass of frothy beer, he watched as one of his ducklings come bounding up to him with talisman papers clutched in his fist.
“Look! Jaehyun, look at this talisman I drew up. It’s self-warming for night hunts in the winter.”
Jaehyun hums and holds the talisman up, scrutinizing the ink stroke marks, “hmm, not bad, but you need to be more careful. See this line here?”
He points to a slanted line, “This won’t warm you up, it’ll set your clothes on fire.”
He rolls the talisman paper and lightly smacks the boy on the head with it, “be careful, will you? These spells need to be precise.”
The kid pouts and slouches, “I can never get my spells to look like yours! How do you even get your brush strokes to look like that?”
That was the first time they heard the name.
“You’d have the same penmanship if you grew up around Kim Doyoung, little duckling,” Jaehyun says with a small smile as he leans back in his seat and tips his head back.
He doesn’t notice his ducklings waddling closer from where they were scattered, abandoning their meals and conversations to overhear.
One of the other kids wiggles up front, “who’s Kim Doyoung?”
Maybe the aged ale was doing something to his brain or maybe he just desperately missed him after years apart, but his mouth moved freely, “Kim Doyoung is the most intelligent, beautiful, cutthroat man I’ve ever seen.”
—
After that, Doyoung becomes a household name among their travelling group of demonic hunters.
They notice it when his name becomes woven into all his stories and lessons.
“Doyoung was the one that taught me how to make such flavourful meals without any meat. Eat up now, this is all good for you.”
“Tilt your sword down more, Doyoung would always be on me about how much harder it is to dislodge a sword when you stab straight ahead.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll patch up your robe, Doyoung showed me how to backstitch.”
They try hard not to push and badger him with questions because Jaehyun is relatively private and there’s a little bit of fear in the respect they have for him. One flick of Jaehyun's wrist is more powerful than most official hunters hold in their whole body.
But they begin to piece together an image of Doyoung and Jaehyun through his little anecdotes alone.
Doyoung is slender with glossy black hair that falls over his sharp eyes. Jaehyun says that people travel just to catch a glimpse of him - he’s that beautiful.
He resembles a bunny except for a permanent scowl on his mouth.
He works as an advisor to the township which was ironic since Jaehyun wasn’t too taken with bureaucracy.
He is kind but firm in the values and principles that guide him. He is sharp-tongued and despite being younger than other advisors and looked down on for his youth, he is determined, and strong. He has integrity in spades and only works hard when it’s something he believes in.
And they were almost certain, he is Jaehyun’s betrothed.
—
They start suspecting Jaehyun being a kept man when they watched a young maiden they rescued, flirt with him.
She was a timeless beauty that likely had the pick of any eligible man available to her but her eyes were set on their leader. She rested her hand on his arm, sighing out how thankful she was for his help while batting her eyelashes.
Any other man living and breathing would be completely at her mercy but Jaehyun just scratches the back of his head, “it was all of us really. I have to say, I was surprised to see such an angry spirit lingering in such a small town. It really looks like these spirits are evolving, they don’t need as much fear for sustenance as they used to.”
It makes the rest of them want to look away in embarrassment. How could he be so oblivious to her intentions? The maiden did not care about the evolution of vengeful spirits.
“Oh, but the way you suppressed the spirit. Please, I must show you how grateful I am. I’d do anything, anything to show you.”
They see Jaehyun’s polite smile stiffen as the realization dawns on him, “ah, perhaps another time. This is a beautiful town, I’d like to back one day, with my partner. He’d love the water.”
The poor maiden recovers well enough, turning the touch on his arm into an amiable pat, “this town will welcome the both of you with open arms, then.”
Jaehyun doesn’t talk much the rest of the night, his eyes spacey and distracted. It isn’t hard to know who he was talking about, as only one other person’s name ever leaves his mouth. They let him stare off wistfully the rest of the night.
Whenever Doyoung would be brought up, his face would melt into a combination of longing and affection.
They’ve learned to let him be.
—
The next time their suspicions are further confirmed is when a few of the hunters barge into Jaehyun’s room at the inn they spend the night between towns.
They’re running late and if they want to make it to the next township before sunset, they need to leave soon. They probably should’ve knocked but they really are running late and he hasn’t even had breakfast.
When they find Jaehyun, he’s sprawled out on his bed, dead asleep with his jaw hung open with soft snores. They’re a little embarrassed at the sight of his bare leg poking out of the pool of blankets but the open collar of his robe distracts them.
There are two rings strung around his neck on a thin chain.
“But…why would he have both rings? Wouldn’t Doyoung have the other?” Someone whispers after a long stretch of silence pass.
It’s enough to make Jaehyun stir, he blinks slowly before he sits up bleary-eyed. He squints and looks around the room before spotting the small puddle of ducklings by the door. He shrieks, clutching his robe closed and yanking the blanket up to cover the rest of himself.
“What are you all doing in here?!”
They all straighten up and flounder before one of them shouts, “we came to wake you up, we’re leaving in half an hour!”
Jaehyun is left dumbfounded, fingers absent-mindedly playing with his chain.
Odd.
—
They stop by an outdoor market on a warm sunny day and spend some time wandering around, swapping silver coins for candied fruit and skewered meat. His ducklings split off, only recognizable by the silver hair pieces Jaehyun had purchased for them after their first successful hunt as a group.
They were no longer rouge hunters, they were represented by a township, whether they knew what it meant or not.
Jaehyun leaves them to their own devices and browses the stalls in vague interest, making idle chit-chat with the vendors.
“Young man, looking for a gift for your special someone?”
He blinks at the old woman waving him over, “hello.”
“A handsome man like you, you must have a special lady or fella waiting for you. Why not get them something to show much you love them?” She has such a warm smile as she waves her hand over her booth.
His eyes drop down to her selection of products, a range of opulent jewellery and hair pieces. There are ornate bottles of makeup and fragrances as well. All more than suitable gifts.
But who would he buys gifts for and what would they wan—oh.
Jaehyun’s fingers trail over a beautiful pale blue comb with gold on the tip of the teeth. There are small stars and a moon engraved on it.
Doyoung would love this.
“I need to cut my hair.”
Jaehyun looks up from where he’s seated on the edge of Doyoung’s bed, flipping through one of the many books he’s been memorizing.
His mouth dries when Doyoung pads in from his bathroom in a thin dressing robe. His hair is still damp, stuck to his neck and dripping against the fine white linen. It’s clinging to the shape of his body. It’s late and only an oil lamp illuminates the room outlining Doyoung’s figure in gold. Pure torture.
“It looks nice, like that.”
Doyoung’s eyes flick up to him, burning in curiosity, “but it gets tangled and falls in my eyes when it dries.”
“C’mere, bring your comb.”
Doyoung dutifully drops the comb on Jaehyun’s lap and sits between his spread legs. Jaehyun picks it up and stares at the frail bamboo, “no wonder it’s getting in your eyes. No amount of hair oil is going to keep your hair back if you don’t get a good comb.”
“I don’t have time to go into town to get a new one. This one works just fine.”
Jaehyun catches Doyoung’s glare with ease as he slowly works the comb through his hair. He can feel Doyoung’s muscles soften as he melts against him. Doyoung rests the side of his face against his thigh, his eyelids heavy.
“You’re working too hard,” he murmured softly to Doyoung.
Doyoung just hums in response and slides his palm up Jaehyun’s calf, “It’s been my dream to be an advisor.”
“And you will,” Jaehyun has never been more sure about something in this life, “but that’s no reason to push yourself to the brink.”
Doyoung’s grip tightens, “I have to work hard. If I don’t get chosen…Jaehyun what will I do?”
“Stop that,” Jaehyun mumbles while squeezing the back of his neck, “there is no one more suited to be an advisor than you. Don’t get in your head about it. But you need to take care of yourself. Sleep a full night, eat all three meals. You getting sick will not help you.”
Doyoung quiets down but doesn’t agree before he butts his head against Jaehyun’s knee, “keep combing my hair please.”
“A lovely selection, sir. Would you like me to wrap it for you?”
Jaehyun gulps, his throat tight, “yes, please.”
The woman takes the coins he hands her and busies with packing up his purchase.
“For your betrothed?”
He flinches when one of his ducklings appears over his shoulder, peering at what the vendor was handing to him, “My…sorry my w—“
“I mean, your partner?” He says with a smile.
Jaehyun holds the velvet pouch before tucking it under his robes, “yes.”
“Doyoung?” He asks while feigning nonchalance.
Jaehyun hesitates, it seems like his ducklings have grown into adult ducks with awful barbed beaks, “maybe.”
“I’m sure he’ll love it.”
Jaehyun thinks about how he hasn’t received a letter back from Doyoung in weeks and that it’s likely that without him hounding Doyoung about his health, he’s let himself run ragged.
He doesn’t know how much longer he can do this - be away from Doyoung for months and years. He’s tired and not sure how many more of these extended hunts he has left in him.
“I’m sure he would,” Jaehyun says softly, “I simply just miss him so much. With my whole being.”
He walks off after that and his duckling only stares after him with a worried look on his face.
—
It’s only after the ducklings start whispering about the cloud of grey that seems to hover over Jaehyun that their observations start to turn dark.
Jaehyun talks about Doyoung in the past tense…a lot.
Admittedly, he only brings up Doyoung to relate it to past memories but he rarely talks about seeing Doyoung in the future. Which makes them all think.
Why would an incredibly talented hunter be wandering around hunting demons across the country for an indefinite amount of time when he had a whole life back home in his township? By their calculations, they could be at this until the lunar new year.
The only reason someone would be okay being away from home for so long on their own would be if there was nothing waiting for them. If they didn’t want to be home.
If their spouse died and all that was left was their ghost.
A ghoulish silence falls over the group as they huddle around dinner. Jaehyun had left with a vague explanation of where he was going, leaving them alone to speculate.
“But, he told that maiden that he wanted to come back with his partner,” one of the ducklings points out.
Another shakes their head, “maybe he just said that to get her to leave him alone. He was sad the rest of the day, probably because if Doyoung was still alive, he would be visiting with him.”
“What about the comb?”
A younger duckling kicks their legs, “when my mom died, my dad bought her favourite snacks every time he went out. It made him think of her.”
“We should be kinder to him then, not bring up Doyoung as much,” someone suggests.
The eldest of the group stands up in a huff, “why don’t we just ask him? This is ridiculous.”
Before anyone can stop her, she storms out of the inn. It’s a small village and doesn’t take long for her to spot Jaehyun’s robes. She charges straight towards him, only faltering when she gets closer and sees him praying while holding the chain with both rings.
Her eyes trail to the altar he is praying at and feels her heart sink.
The God of the Afterlife.
Jaehyun’s eyes are closed, his lips moving in silent prayer. At the foot of the altar is a small worn out photograph, the corners creased and faded.
She recognizes it, the one Jaehyun looks at before each demon hunt night, a picture of him and Doyoung as children with their parents.
Tears fill her eyes as she thinks of Jaehyun, the man who took them all in, cared for them, protected them, teaching them the way a township Elder would. He buys them snacks, divides the reward money from the hunts so that they get more than he does, and sings them songs when the younger ones get scared. She thinks of him smiling and laughing and letting the kids tease him or braid his hair without imposing his seniority.
All while grieving the loss of a loved one.
—
Sometimes, when you see someone for all their strengths, you forget that the human body’s fragility is a weakness in and of itself.
And Jaehyun, a man whose instinct is to protect? His body becomes an even greater weakness.
It all falls apart one hazy night.
The fog rolls in thick and they’ve felt off all day. With the revelation of Jaehyun’s dead spouse and his unbearably positive outlook, they all feel out of sorts. None of them slept well and their joints feel achy.
When the demon appears in front of them, their blood turns cold.
This was not the demon they were warned about by the townspeople who likely didn’t know any better. They could feel its evil, resentful energy pulsing off of it in waves, suffocating them. They had not prepared for this, they aren’t even sure they have enough talismans to ward it off.
But worst of all, this demon on feeds off the energy of the young.
Jaehyun comes to the realization first, just as the demon locks eyes on its target. It’s a race as both the demon and Jaehyun shoot out toward the youngest duckling who is still finding his bearings in the fog.
A long blackened claw reaches out for the boy but before it can get grip on him, Jaehyun gets there first, pushing him aside.
And they watch in horror as the claw shoots through Jaehyun’s body.
The blood comes out in an overwhelming amount. Through his mouth, his chest, pouring through his eyes.
The horror is so visceral that no one can bare make a sound.
“Close ranks” the eldest whispers before raising her voice, “Close ranks and don’t let it get away!”
It launches them into action, they circle around Jaehyun’s body allowing two of them to tend to his wounds as best as possible. The magic in his body and the talismans he secured on his robes allow him to heal but they know they can’t keep him alive for much longer.
Their hands shake as they try to cast a talisman and it takes a few tries and Jaehyun’s reassuring guiding voice in the back of their minds to finally activate it. They need to get him to a healer but until then, they put him to sleep. They freeze his body, heart and blood included, knowing it’ll keep him at bay until they escape.
The others work fast and viciously.
This resentful demon has tried to take one of its own.
And Jaehyun’s ducklings have no reservations about showing this demon what real resentment looks like.
—
Doyoung doesn’t know how he’s still functioning, carrying out his duties with precision and grace.
The minute the doors close behind him? He crumbles.
He staggers around, forcing his way through bathing and bland meals before collapsing over his cot. Living has become so hard ever since Jaehyun took a stack of envelopes, gave him a long, lingering hug goodbye and walked away from him all those years ago.
But Jaehyun was a noble man to want to protect these lesser-equipped towns. Doyoung couldn’t be selfish enough to ask him to stay.
Doyoung had been chided for his severe and frigid personality which he found ironic because it would often come right after being told he was too naive and young to carry such a prominent title.
But they weren’t wrong, he was cold and immovable.
That’s why he had Jaehyun, warm, kindling, a smoky fire always within his grasp to melt him down and mould him into someone more human and forgiving. But Jaehyun’s been gone and his sharp edges have reemerged.
Doyoung aches in a way he’s never ached. There’s a need, a want for Jaehyun to be near again. He wants to be held again, to be smiled at like he centred Jaehyun’s entire world.
He frowned on greed but ever since he met Jaehyun, his best-laid plans would go awry. His lips twisted mournfully. It was ironic how, as a child, he wanted Jaehyun to leave him alone, to stop annoying him and following him around. He found his incessant chattering frustrating and the little spark of ‘maybe someone wants to be around me’ frightening.
Because who would genuinely want to be Doyoung’s friend? Jaehyun did.
And now Doyoung feels like half of his heart is outside his body and somewhere out there with his closest friend.
Both their parents had passed and Jaehyun, quite frankly, was all Doyoung had left. Regardless of how well-known he was in the township.
His limbs feel weighted down from exhaustion as he rolls over to the side of his bed to pick up the last letter Jaehyun had sent. He hasn’t written back in a while, usually, Jaehyun would stay in each town long enough for him to receive a letter but Doyoung hasn’t been as diligent.
Because how could he?
Every time he picks up a pen, his handshakes. How can he write an entire letter without telling Jaehyun to abandon his righteous duties and return back for Doyoung’s selfishness? He can’t get through a letter without asking Jaehyun why he never says when he’s planning to return.
Doyoung traces his fingers across Jaehyun’s sloppy writing, his chest warming. Jaehyun was magnificent at casting talismans but his regular penmanship was always rushed and messy, sometimes even illegible. It used to drive Doyoung up the wall.
A tired smile worked up his lips at another mention of Jaehyun’s ducklings. He doesn’t exactly know how he came to take care of a family of baby chicks or how he was travelling and hunting with little birds but it was the exact type of strange endearing antic he’d be capable of.
He squeezes his eyes shut and lets out a deep breath.
Everything would be okay. He just had to be patient, and Jaehyun would come back.
—
Doyoung knows he doesn’t wake up right away but when he does, it’s to his name being frantically called and someone banging on his door.
He stumbles out of bed and swings the door open to find one of the junior healers trembling, covered in blood.
His heart pounds as the worst flood his mind.
Were they under siege?
“Are you hurt?!” He shouts, reaching out to steady the healer.
Her hands are vibrating as she shakes her head, “no, it’s not mine.”
“Then who?”
She takes a breath and he realizes she’s bracing herself, “there are people here. Outsiders.”
“Soldiers?” He asks, tensed up and ready for a fight. He may be no warrior but he will defend his land.
She shakes her head again, “demon hunters.”
His brows furrow. Demon hunters shouldn’t be a threat, even outsiders, “then wh—“
“They’ve come with Jaehyun.”
—
Doyoung nearly kicks the door of the healer’s pavilion down, his face flushed with red rage, his heart pounding in his ears. Hell on his path.
“Where is he?” He doesn’t realize his voice comes out as a roar until he sees a bunch of unfamiliar faces flinch but pays them no mind. As far as he knows, they’re the reason Jaehyun was carried, covered in blood.
“Advisor Kim, please lower your voice. Follow me, Jaehyun is resting,” the head healer silences him with a glare.
He barely hesitates, just brushes past the onlookers to where the healer takes him. He hears a quiet whisper, “who is that?”
And tries to ignore it. Tries not to think about how or why Jaehyun was with these people, who knew his name and knew to bring him back here but apparently didn’t know who Doyoung was.
“He took a big hit, but with his magic, he’s recovering well and is stable. Those kids were smart casting a talisman freezing his body functions. If his heart was pumping, I don’t think he would’ve survived the night with all the blood loss.”
Doyoung thinks he can hear the words the healer is saying but they’re coming out muffled. All his senses are focusing on is Jaehyun, pale, grey, sweat-matted laying motionless on the cot while thick white bandages wrapped around his torso.
He almost died.
In some foreign territory, with strangers, without healers, far away from Doyoung.
His knees give out when he spots the pile of blood-soaked rags in the corner of the room and the healer is quick to gather them and whisk them out of the room.
The first thing he does now that they’re alone is place his palm on Jaehyun’s chest, sighing in relief at the steady beating under his hand. He needed to be sure.
How did this happen?
How?
“Excuse me?”
Doyoung feels every muscle in his body lock up as he turns to the voice behind him. He sees the unfamiliar faces with matching hairpins from before standing just outside the door peering in, faces ashen.
“I saw the healer leave. Is…will Jaehyun be alright? No one would tell us.”
Before his rage could even manifest, he came to a startling realization that these people were young. Teenagers, essentially.
“W-Who are you?” Doyoung whispers while standing in front of Jaehyun’s body ready to murder anyone who dares take him from him.
They all straightened up, shoulders back, heads up. Confident. Just like Jaehyun.
“We’re demon hunters.”
Doyoung grits his teeth and tries to remind himself that they are just kids, “that is not a sufficient answer.”
Their posture weakens a little and they glance at each other. It’s the smallest one in the group that chirps out, “we’re Jaehyun’s ducklings.”
“Jaehyun’s duck—you?!” He doesn’t mean to sound so shocked but…these are humans. Not tiny yellow birds.
One of the teenagers narrows her eyes at him as if she has the right to be suspicious of him, on his homeland, “who are you?”
“Kim Doyoung,” he answered back without thinking, “political advisor to the township.”
He’s taken aback by the utter look of confusion and disbelief on their faces. He hadn’t realized the youth of today cared so much about politics.
“Wait…you’re alive?”
—
He feels a stress headache creeping through his body. He’s seated next to Jaehyun’s sleeping body, one hand holding his and across from him are about 7 of Jaehyun’s ‘ducklings’ sitting on the ground or up on the window sill.
These rouge hunters had run into Jaehyun one night, both going after the same demon. Instead of trying to compete, they worked together to subdue it. They had been travelling through word of mouth, going from town to town seeing if anyone required their services but their youth was not a vote of confidence for the villagers they wanted to help nor in the reward they were given.
Jaehyun allowed them to tag along with him since he had specific destinations in mind and a reputation that proceeded him.
So all these years, these ducklings had been accompanying Jaehyun on his journey and had become a part of Jaehyun’s little family.
“We’re very sorry,” one of them says, “he was injured trying to save one of us from a demon. We feel awful. We…we couldn’t help him and just knew to bring him back home. If he didn’t make it, we thought he should at least be around family.”
Doyoung let out a long slow breath before rubbing the bridge of his nose, “the healer said that he only survived because of the talisman you cast. I suppose you’ve paid back your debt.”
They bow, some clumsier than others and it nearly makes him smile.
“But, Sir Kim?”
“Just Doyoung is fine.”
They shift awkwardly and smile apologetically, “Ah, Doyoung, we also are sorry for thinking you were, well, dead.”
“Right, I think I require more explanation. I don’t exactly understand how you came to that conclusion,” Doyoung says while massaging his temples.
They all share looks as if they’re having a silent conversation, and it’s starting to wear on his nerves. “Whenever he spoke about you it was in the past tense and he looks so melancholic when he calls you his partner and talks about his spouse. We saw him praying at the altar of the afterlife with your wedding rings and photographs…we just assumed.”
Wedding rings. Why in heavens does Jaehyun have wedding rings?
“His spouse,” he says more than he asks because Jaehyun has been telling people he was his spouse?
“He loves you so much that we thought the only reason he’d ever leave is if you weren’t around anymore which we now realize sounds incredibly rude,” Another one says quickly while the group slowly inches closer to him, “but I have to ask, why does he wear both your rings around his neck?”
Doyoung’s eyes fall on the little tray with all of Jaehyun’s accessories and belongings and spots a chain with two rings on them. Understanding dawns on him when he recognizes the rings as Jaehyun’s late parents’ wedding rings. He hadn’t realized that Jaehyun had taken them with him. Perhaps he just wanted them to watch over him.
Strange though, Jaehyun didn’t typically pray aside from auspicious or significant days.
Had these kids just assumed that it was his and Jaehyun’s wedding rings? That they were married.
Oh.
It throttles him, the thought of being Jaehyun’s husband . To not have to hide his longing or pair down his affection. To feel that phantom ache and be able to soothe it by pulling Jaehyun against his body or catching his lips with his, shamelessly indulging in his touch.
To know Jaehyun looks at a ring on his finger and immediately thinks of Doyoung who would have a matching one on his. To be betrothed, their souls united, to belong to one another, to have the world know that no one could make his ice melt but Jaehyun.
Oh my.
“He’s sentimental,” he mumbles, distracted. Something else catches his eye, and he reached out with his free hand to pick up a small photo of Jaehyun and him as children next to their late parents. He took this with him too.
“He looked at the photo every time we went off to hunt. I think he thought it brought him luck and kept him safe.”
That makes sense, it’s not like either of them has their actual parents around to look after them.
The smallest duckling tugs on another one’s sleeve and when they bend down, he leans up to whisper something in her ear. Doyoung watches curiously as her face splashes red as her eyes dart over to him.
“What is it?”
She looks positively embarrassed and covers half her face with her hand, "Um…well, he says that you are just as beautiful as your husband says you are, if not more.”
He doesn’t realize a smile is on his face or that the group is struck in awe of the sight of it. Oh, how his chest flut—his heart flutters. Because that’s what Jaehyun does, he makes Doyoung’s heart sing and dance like a siren to sailors.
“Really?” He says with a little laugh while looking over at Jaehyun’s slumbering body. He pushes his damp hair off his forehead and brushes his clammy cheekbone with his fingers, “What else has my dear husband been telling you about me?”
—
He’s blushing.
Doyoung’s blushing so hard that he thinks he’s struggling to breathe and that his face is hot enough to fry an egg.
Asking these kids to recount every single time Jaehyun sang his praises or waxed poetic about his beauty was a mistake. They had a memory of a vault and recited every word back to him, unaware of how flustered they were making him.
Jaehyun had always been kind to him but he had never said things like this to his face.
“One day, we walked passed this beautiful lavender field and he stopped and said it smelled like you. He stole a few stalks and tucked them against his robe so he could smell it for a few days.”
Doyoung lets out a stuttering breath and waves his hands, “okay, I think…I think that’s enough for today.”
“Oh,” they slowly stand up and shuffle around, “we should…we should leave then. Now that we know Jaehyun is okay, there’s no reason for us to linger. Maybe we’ll run into him on another hunt one day.”
They do not bother hiding their grief about the end of whatever sense of belonging they built over the last few years. They look a little lost and entirely too devastated for kids as young as them to look. And he knows Jaehyun, he knows exactly what his friend’s intentions were when he got them all matching hairpieces.
“Why don’t you stay the night?” Doyoung offers, “at least until he wakes up and sees you. Then it’ll give us all a chance to talk.”
Hopefully, it’ll give him enough time to draft the papers and enrolment documents required to make them citizens of this township.
They look hesitant, unsure if they’re overstaying their welcome but they eventually agree. They shoot him grateful looks when Doyoung finds someone to take the kids to a nearby vacant home large enough to house them all.
He drops back down on the chair and reaches out to brush back more of Jaehyun’s long hair.
How did he wake up with his best friend injured, a husband, and a gaggle of ducks adopted into their lives?
—
Jaehyun cracks his eyes open and shuts them right after the sunlight burned his retinas.
“Sorry, let me get that.”
His head feels like it’s filled with cotton but lets out a sigh of relief when the sunlight gets blocked. He opens his eyes again and this time he can look around.
“Where am I?” He murmurs while he tries to sit up but there’s a sharp pain in his stomach.
Cold hands touch him and gently lays him back down, “careful.”
Jaehyun looks over and his eyes widen at the sight of Doyoung leaning over to fix his pillow. He breathes out, “Doyoung.”
“Mm, how are you feeling?” He asks as he settles down next to his bed.
Jaehyun stretches a shaky hand out to him, expecting the image of Doyoung to evaporate before but instead, that same cold hand takes his, threading their fingers together. A gasp is punched out of him and he pulls their interlocked hands to his chest.
“How am I here? I was…we were in a forest.”
Doyoung looks peaceful, though his eyes are still a little tired, he just cords his fingers through his hair, “you were. Your little ducklings carried you on their backs and flapped their little wings over here so you a healer could save you.”
He tries to shoot up at the memory, “The kids!”
Doyoung presses him back down, “they’re fine. They’re resting. They were worried about you.”
“Good…good,” he says with a sigh.
Doyoung just hums, “you haven’t my question yet. How are you feeling?”
Jaehyun smiles at him, it’s hard not to, Doyoung looks like something even his magic couldn’t create, “better, now.”
“I’m glad.”
Jaehyun stiffens because his voice is gentle and sweet. Too sweet. The kind of tone he gets when he’s holding his anger back.
“Do—“
He lets out a shriek when a Doyoung smacks him over the head with one of his books, “are you mad?! Diving in front of a resentful demon like that? What would you have done if something worse happened to you? If those kids weren’t smart enough to cast an immobilizing talisman on you? What would I have done?”
Jaehyun’s mouth is hung open when he sees tears filling Doyoung’s eyes, “Doyoung, please don’t cry. Not for me.”
“If not for you, then who would I ever cry for?” He yells while fisting the edge of Jaehyun’s robes and pressing it against his eyes, “I don’t see you for years and when I do, I find out a demon impaled you. You call me your partner, you let those kids think of me as your spouse and yet you treat your own life, the life of my supposed husband so recklessly?”
“I’m sorry but I’m here, aren’t I? I’m okay and the kids are okay. I promise I won’t be so reckless again. Please stop crying,” Jaehyun begs. Though some of what he’s saying doesn’t make sense, he can’t focus on anything but the tears. He’s never seen Doyoung cry before, not even when his parents passed. Doyoung only gets quiet and still when he’s upset, and never sheds a tear.
“Make it up to me,” Doyoung’s voice falls soft, his head still dropped down.
Jaehyun nods and knows that all Doyoung needs to do is say the word and he’d make it happen, “anything.”
“Marry me.”
Doyoung’s head snaps up, his eyes wide as if the words weren’t meant to escape him, “I mean…I-I should go. Let you rest. I’ll check on your kids.”
He stands up and Jaehyun takes his wrist before he slips away. He can feel his heart in his ears and he swears that this had to be a dream. And if Doyoung leaves with a misunderstanding, Jaehyun will never get him to repeat these words again. Doyoung will pretend he never said anything and this precipice that they both stand on will be nothing more than a distant spot on the horizon.
And he can’t risk losing this before he has it.
“Doyoung, please. What are you talking about?” He forces himself to sit up and take both of his hands into his own.
He tugs Doyoung closer, “please.”
“I will say this once and only once.”
He nods without pause, “okay.”
Doyoung takes a deep breath and bravely meets his eyes, sparkling and alive. Because Doyoung has always had courage in his veins, “marry me, make me your husband, think about me when you go on hunts and let me be your reason to stay alive.”
Jaehyun wants so desperately to reach into his chest and hand Doyoung his still-beating heart, “Doyoung, if you’re saying this because you’re worried for my safety, I already promised you I’ll take better care of myself.”
“That isn’t the only reason,” Doyoung barks with a glare.
“No?”
Doyoung’s glare sharpens when he hears a shift in Jaehyun’s tone, “marry me because you are an imbecile and yet I love you, adore you and want to be your husband. You are my infuriating best friend, my soulmate and no one knows me as well as you do. So why don’t you take responsibility by actually making me your husband instead of just telling people I am.”
Jaehyun lets go of Doyoung’s hands to reach over to the table next to the bed and lift up the chain. He brings it to his lap and fiddles with the clasp until it unhooks and the rings spill into his palm. He hears Doyoung gasp and god, if it doesn’t feel like every moment of his life was building him towards this moment.
“How cruel,” he mutters while taking Doyoung’s left hand and sliding the ring on his finger, “for a man to call his betrothed an imbecile.”
He beams up at Doyoung who looks shocked as if there was a fraction of doubt that Jaehyun would tell him no. But this isn’t a surprise to Jaehyun, this feels like coming home. It’s right.
Doyoung is breathing heavily as he caresses the ring on his finger before picking up the other one and standing close, pressing his forehead against Jaehyun’s and takes his hand and slides the ring on, “we aren’t married yet. We have to go pray for our parents' blessing.”
He sounds breathless and Jaehyun feels his blood run hot, “it’s good I started the conversation, then.”
“Huh?”
“I prayed to the God of the After Life to ask my parents for their blessing to use their rings.” He thinks back to that night, kneeling in front of the alter holding their rings and the only photo of them altogether. He knew, if their parents were alive, they’d be so happy.
Doyoung lets out a stunned laugh as Jaehyun pulls away to pick up a velvet pouch next to where the necklace had sat and hands it to him, “my first betrothal gift to you.”
His eyes are shiny as he pulls out the comb, holding it with reverence, “oh, it’s gorgeous, Jaehyun. Thank you.”
“Only the best, for you,” he means it with every inch of his body. He would fight any number of demons to keep Doyoung happy and spoiled.
Doyoung stares blankly at Jaehyun, his breathing getting faster and more erratic. His heart shoots up his throat when his eyes darken and his tongue sweeps across his bottom lip. He sets the comb and pouch down carefully before grabbing the sides of his face and pulling him close.
“Let me,” he whispers into his mouth, heady and desperate, “please, Jaehyun. My love.”
Jaehyun shivers as heat curls through his body, his head tips back by Doyoung’s skilled hands, “how improper to proposition your betrothed before our wedding night.”
“To hell with propriety,” Doyoung growls but he waits, and watches Jaehyun like a hawk as a slow, dripping smirk curves up his mouth.
It’s Jaehyun who closes the gap, draws Doyoung’s mouth in and tastes him. A moan gets pulled from the depth of his chest when Doyoung dips his tongue into his mouth. Ambrosia.
Fingers grip his hair and he wishes he could reach over to hold him close.
Jaehyun rips his head away and slams it into his pillow with a gasp when a delicious pressure weighs down on his hips, just under his injury. Doyoung eases himself over Jaehyun’s waist and towers over him. Jaehyun always had a couple of inches on Doyoung but he’s learning that it’s better this way - with Doyoung looking down at him in hunger.
The sash around his waist loosened and the robe hung open, collarbones prominent. He thinks for a moment that he needs to make sure he feeds him better, but he isn’t any less breathtaking. Lips kiss-bitten, eyes glazed over, panting. He leans back and pushes his hair off his face.
A vision.
A God that walks humbly among lowly humans.
His future husband.
He holds Doyoung by the waist and rolls his hips up into his, the movement so fluid and intoxicating. Doyoung’s jaw falls slack and magic ignites through Jaehyun’s veins, he does it again, fully hardened when he hears Doyoung whine. Doyoung, strong, fierce, unyielding, Doyoung whining for Jaehyun’s cock.
“Good?” He rasps out.
Doyoung drops forward, resting his palms on either side of his head. He pants wetly against his ear and rocks his hips to urge him, “more, Jaehyun. I want more.”
And Jaehyun cannot deny an angel of its sins.
Jaehyun chokes when Doyoung rips his robe off and sits atop him in all the glory of his smooth skin. There’s so much, too much, that he thought he’d never get to touch. His hands slide up his stomach and graze past his chest so his thumbs can brush the peaks of his nipples. Doyoung’s eyes flutter shut as his body twitches and jerks against Jaehyun’s hands, urging him to do it again. His entire body twists and shivers as he pushes their hips together.
“Your poor husband is injured, my love,” he croons, just to get that wonderfully vicious glare through teary eyes directed at him, “how can I please you, take you the way you deserve when I’m so weak?”
Doyoung’s fingers slip past the opening of Jaehyun’s robe and dance across the waistband of his underwear, “I suppose, if he’s agreeable, my husband can lay back and take what I give him, like the obedient boy that he is.”
Oh, oh, Jaehyun is owned by this man. Completely at this mercy.
“I suppose that I can concede,” Jaehyun moans when Doyoung is already pulling his drawers down to his thighs. He doesn’t bother trying to divest him of his clothes, not when it’d be too difficult to move but the searing pleasure and parched want numbs the pain. Divine pain.
Doyoung sits up on his knees, and Jaehyun watches him lean over his cock, open his mouth and let a steady stream of saliva drip over his head. Doyoung holds his gaze the entire time and it’s damn near pornographic when he reaches back and slips two fingers into himself. Jaehyun’s back arches so far up that he thinks his spine will snap when Doyoung grips his shaft and twists his wrist in a tightening and steady rhythm.
And he still watches Jaehyun’s face in the studious way that he does everything.
Just as he begins to get used to the sensation, he wraps his lips around him and sucks him into the soaking velvet of his mouth. Jaehyun has to fist his hair and pull him off his dick, tongue out, lips glossy in saliva. He tries to catch his breath to no avail, “I won’t last and…I need this to be about us .”
“Where’s your stamina, demon hunter Jung?” His throat is wrecked but his eyes are wicked as he makes both his hands-free.
He is a vixen for sure, “test me another time when I haven’t been waiting for you for years.”
Doyoung just hums and sits up on his knees, giving Jaehyun a show as he slides his underwear down his legs until he can kick them off. Jaehyun sighs and strokes his palm up the side of Doyoung’s thigh. He leans over Jaehyun and their lips meet in something softer, gentler between the two of them. Setting the tone of their marriage to come.
“I love you,” Doyoung doesn’t whisper it, he says it clearly, certain and Jaehyun brushes a kiss back.
“I love you, too.”
Doyoung slides back up his body and slowly sinks down on Jaehyun’s cock. He holds onto his hips for dear life because there isn’t much else tethering his soul to his body right now. They’re both trembling, trading moans and sighs as they adjust and accommodate.
He can feel Doyoung’s muscles wind up, neither of them was going to last very long, “Doyoung, you-”
“What about me?” He hisses through clenched teeth.
Jaehyun cups the side of his face, and traces his thumb along his jaw, around his mouth before pressing down on his bottom lip. Doyoung parts easily and Jaehyun’s own mouth opens a little to imitate Doyoung as he slips his thumb in and pets down on his tongue.
“You’re so unbelievably tight and warm, so wet, soft,” he says while kicking his hips up to make Doyoung’s eyes roll, “husband, you feel like heaven. If only you could feel inside yourself.”
With his lips still around Jaehyun’s thumb, he moans in delight. Jaehyun smiles through the haze and guides Doyoung’s face down, “but I was told that I was supposed to just lay down and take what I was given.”
Doyoung scowls and bites down on Jaehyun’s thumb but doesn’t let him slip it out. Instead, he begins moving like the devil. The right rolling twist of his hips, bounce in his legs, tightening of his grip. Jaehyun ascends.
“Do you know what I’d do to you if my body was in full working order?” He grumbles out.
Doyoung makes a light inquisitive humming sound while rolling his hips in a way that can only egg him on.
Jaehyun pulls his face down to his and uses the last vestiges of his sanity to mutter, “I’d have you on your back, your wrists locked in my hand, your leg over my shoulder and I’d make you see stars. And I’d make sure every time you looks down at your legs, you’d see my teeth staining your pretty skin purple.”
“Yes,” Doyoung gasps, long and drawn out as his thighs begin to quake. He ruts faster into Jaehyun’s lap, clenching down hard on his cock to tear a moan out.
“That’s it,” he hisses out, “look at you, how hard you work for your husband. So good.”
They won’t last much longer, not when their rhythm begins to get messy but a well-aimed thrust is enough to send them spiralling. Jaehyun’s thumb falls out of Doyoung’s mouth with a groan as he comes, and Jaehyun isn’t too far behind.
They collapse onto each other, Jaehyun wincing when Doyoung’s weight lands too close to his wound but he doesn’t let him know. He just basks in the moment of closeness and the fact that he was now allowed to enjoy it.
“Husband?” Jaehyun nudges his nose against his ear after a while, “you need to bathe. As do I.”
“I’ve just made love to you for the first time, are you truly in such a rush?” Doyoung snaps before pressing a kiss to his neck.
“I supposed not,” Jaehyun says before wrapping his arms around Doyoung who burrows into his warmth. He cards his fingers through strands of his hands, letting time tick past by hiding kisses against his skin.
Doyoung twists the ring around his finger, “I missed you so much. I know—I know you were doing important work, but god I missed you.”
Jaehyun cups the back of his head and holds him against his neck, “I missed you too, like an arm.”
“It was too long,” Doyoung croaks, “years are too long. Next time, if you must leave, months, maybe? If not, weeks?”
Jaehyun strokes his hand soothingly down Doyoung’s back, “a year.”
Doyoung flinches in his arms but Jaehyun just kisses the side of his head, “listen to me. 1 year. I think if we put my ducklings through at least a year of training, the oldest ones could hunt on their own. And maybe, we can start working with more young rouge cultivators, fostering them, training them until they can hunt on their own, taking over the requests made by other townships.”
Doyoung sits up, eyes wide, “Jaehyun…”
“I can train them myself, it’ll be more educational than the training that the official hunters go through. I can join on the occasional hunt but other than that, I can be here, with you, living the life I was meant to - being a kept man,” he smiles when Doyoung frowns and flicks him on the forehead.
“I don’t want to make you give up what you love doing. You love hunting,” Doyoung says softly.
Jaehyun clicks his tongue, “I’d actually been thinking this for a while. I’m not giving it up. I’m still going to be going on demon hunts but the truth is, I won’t able to help these towns forever. We need to focus on training and bettering the next generation. I take great pride in doing that.”
“You would be a phenomenal teacher,” Doyoung breathes out, eyes wide as he props himself up over Jaehyun.
Jaehyun rolls his eyes and squeezes Doyoung’s cheek, “look at you, all eager to see me in instructor robes. You’re overcome.”
“Oh, you’d look devastating in instructor robes. Imagine the figure you’d cut. I wish I had a teacher like you, think of the grades I would’ve gotten to try to impress you,” Doyoung’s practically salivating and he’s sure if he wasn’t injured, he’d be rolling them over again.
Jaehyun can’t help but snort, “You already had the best grades of our year.” And Jaehyun is already so impressed by Doyoung’s entire existence. Always has been.
“Will you wear the robes in bed? Once? For me?” He asks it so softly that the lewd implications almost go unnoticed. Almost.
He imagines bending Doyoung over his desk and making him recite the township principles to the rhythm of his thrusts, his voice wavering and driven pleasure-mad.
Jaehyun is coming to terms that he’s unleashed a beast, he’d never think he’d ever hear such a request from prime and proper Doyoung. But he could say the same about himself.
Nonetheless, his hand moves down Doyoung’s spine, “anything for you.”
Doyoung smiles cutely to himself, pleased before snuggling under Jaehyun’s chin, “5 more minutes like this and then we’ll bathe.”
—
Jaehyun isn’t as sad and melancholic anymore.
They figure it’s because he’s reunited with his husband (who is alive!), but there’s something different in his smile, and his ducklings aren’t really sure what.
But they’re quick to get distracted as Kim Doyoung flutters into their temporary housing like a butterfly with stacks of papers detailing their citizenship into the township and lease on the house. His face is cold and serious but when their youngest gloms onto his leg and shoves the edges of his robes into his mouth, Doyoung just pats him on the head while showing the others how to properly fill out the forms.
He cares differently than Jaehyun but for a group of kids he only just met, he cares .
Once they start to get the hang of it, Doyoung hovers anxiously, watching over their shoulders to make sure everything is done correctly. It’s Jaehyun, who makes the excuse of preparing tea for everyone and pulls Doyoung along with them.
“Is this real?” One of them whispers in disbelief, staring at the papers in front of them. It had been a very long time since any of them had a place to call home. A township to protect them and stand by them during hunts.
The older ones look just as disbelieving, “it seems so, and…Jaehyun and Doyoung are our guardians. All of ours.”
They look at the couple and see Jaehyun drop tea bags into mugs while leaning on the cane he needed to help him walk. Doyoung follows with the hot water kettle. It’s not obvious, what with them being in front of company, but it’s visible in the slide of Jaehyun’s hand around Doyoung’s waist when he walks by or the gentle tug Doyoung gives Jaehyun’s elbow when he moves one of the mugs out of reach.
If Doyoung and Jaehyun are the best things to ever have happened to each other…
Then the both of them together were about to be the best things to ever happen to this group of ducklings.