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"to the love that never bloomed;"
there was a tale that humans would tell the young, a tale which teaches them about friendship, love, and life.
a thousand years ago, when gods lived among mere humans, a god stood out of the crowd.
he is not like any other gods, he was simply himself. he was the god of dust who is known to have emphatized with his people.
there exist gods who are powerful and there are those who are not. he is one of them but despite that he is known to be a great engineer, he created mechanisms that saved his people from danger.
his people loved him, for his beauty was like the sun after a big storm.
his voice— oh his voice was like the breeze by the shore that soothingly flows through.
he was loved, admired and cherished by them.
including me.
one day, one of my brothers asked me to run some errands for him as he was busy with something more important and so i visited the place where blue flowers that blooms upon hearing pure, beautiful music grew a bunch.
there i did not thought i'd see someone even more beautiful than the blue garden that sparkles under the sun.
"does the scent of these flowers is making you dazed?" yeosang asked as he carefully walked towards me.
"and who are you, if i may ask?"
"i'm the god of dust, kang yeosang and it is my pleasure to finally meet you song mingi." he said.
of course, i knew. i just wanted to hear his voice even more. the gods and humans would talk about him alot and i have heard nothing but good things about him.
"nice to finally meet you, yeosang. yunho sent me in his stead as he is busy."
"i see but i think you arrived a bit late as the council meeting had just finished." yeosang said.
"would you mind telling me what it was about? i still need to give yunho a summary of today's agenda." he asked him, and he smiled. "of course and as i tell you, can we head back to the quarters?"
and so we did, walking through the fields of glaze lillies. "i heard that you were the one who specifically asked for this meeting to be held here."
"oh, yes."
"and is there any reason?"
"nothing much. i just wanted to see how these flowers are doing." he answered and added, "you know one thing that i treasure the most is this place as it is the only land where glaze lillies blooms."
he was like the glaze lillies he treasured the most, people thinks of him as a gem.
yeosang told me everything about the meeting i accidentally missed and would tell fascinating stories about him in between.
despite having such role among us, he was quite fun to be with. "would it be fine if i show you something?" he asked, in a way you can't decline as his eyes sparks with excitement and so i nodded.
"i have engineered something great and i have been waiting for someone to see it."
"and that person was me because?" i asked him, and his reply was something i remember up to this day.
"because i know that what lies inside is meant for you to keep." he looked me in the eye and i felt it and with that i knew.
"but you need to solve it first so do your best." he chuckled.
he handed me a dumbbell designed like a burr puzzle and he named it as the memory of dust. "this may take me some time to unlock but do look forward to the day that i'll unlock it."
[the memory of dust was a mechanism or a weapon for catalyst characters in genshin impact. a burr puzzle is also known as the kongming/luban lock. the weapon's chinese name is mortal world's lock and the stone "dumbbell" is called a lock in chinese.]
by that time, we arrived back to the quarters. "perhaps i have told you everything yunho needs to know and this is where i am going to spend the night so thank you for accompanying me, mingi."
"it was nothing and i should be the one thanking you, kang yeosang. for the small tour around the gardens and this dumbbell" i said.
when i arrived back, yunho have told me that yeosang personally asked him to lie to me about being busy so that i will have to attend the meeting at dihua marsh.
"he wanted to see if you were up for anything unexpected and he wanted you to be his partner in building the assembly for the people."
from there, yeogi assembly was founded. we cannot think of a name until yeosang's playful mind came up with the idea of combining our names together.
"what do you think? it also means 'here' anyway." yeosang said.
"i will let you decide with that."
yeogi assembly was something yeosang has been planning for a long time. he wanted a place for people to feel safe and protected.
"you see all these people, they are as small as dust and so they are fragile and needs protection and the only ones who can do that is us."
i started to understand why people loved him. he was brave mentally and that's someone a physically strong person cannot do at some point. he uses all his might to be as strong as them through his wit.
yeosang is the brain to my brawn, as people say.
we became great friends and shared so many memories together. yunho also led the assembly with us but is often absent to do some errands in another region.
i suddenly remember the time when two of yeogi resident were fighting over an apple tree and yeosang called me over.
"the tree's branches is over my lot. i sweep its fallen leaves every morning and i can't have any of its fruits?"
"but the roots is on my land, sir. it is still my apple tree."
yeosang can't fight the urge to groan from all the bickering and i find it cute when he smile awkwardly, trying to keep his composure.
"to settle this matter, i suggest that the two of you share the fruits of this tree as the both of you exert the same effort in keeping it in order. i believe that the people of yeogi assembly knows how to humble each other as we live as one, in peace and order." i calmly explained. a finnger crossed, hoping the problem was solved.
the two looked at each other then looked at yeosang. "of course, we will share starting on. we are sincerely sorry for the disturbance, our lord. we will not cause any more trouble."
after we walked a few meters away, he said, "i thought they'll fight over the goddamn grass between their houses."
that was the first time i heared him swear which made me laugh.
upon my arrival one afternoon to ask him something, his court lady was crying, saying he went missing.
everyone at his abode went hysterical and was looking for him everywhere.
i also looked for him and knowing him, he might have went somewhere quiet. that is when a specific place popped in my head.
"do you know that your people at the quarters is this close in flipping the building just to look for you?"
there he was, having his afternoon tea under a sandbearer tree in the middle of a pond.
"do you like it? cloud retainer helped me set this up." yeosang proudly said, fixing his bowl and chopsticks aside.
i joined him but before i could sit down, he stops me and points over the sit.
"that is not your seat, mingi. kindly read what is carved" yeosang giggles, sipping his tea.
'here sits retainer' that is what is carved on the stone chair on his left while the right one is mine.
"here sits rex, huh" i teased him. "your name is too long to carve." he stated.
whenever he thinks of it, he would come up here and join cloud retainer to have some tea. sometimes he would feed the fishes in the pond on the left side. he didn't like fish so he frees them after saying they're too cute to eat.
"i suppose by now you already know why i have chosen you" he spoke as we watched the sun rest for the day.
for a minute, i did not responded because it made me think about a lot of things.
i do not want to assume because i may be making a fool of myself but there is always a small part of me that believes...at some point, this was love.
everyday, i feel the urge to ask him what is all of this because time is not on our side and we both know it but i am afraid.
he is the love that came without warning...
"do not leave me talking to myself, song mingi." he hits me lightly on the arm.
and he had my heart before i can even say no.
but as we thought things will go smoothly, unexpected things happened.
this time, it wasn't something like the ownership over an apple tree that i can handle easily.
monsters and evil gods emerged in the whole region which powers were too strong for mere mortals to defend.
our goal was to save as many humans as we could and yeosang knew this day would come, that is why he had made enough mechanism that will help defend the people.
the guards starts to assemble and so we did.
yeosang, so wasn't that strong like us, grabs his sword. our eyes met and he smiled so calmly.
"are you ready rex?" he asked me.
"of course. please don't overdue yourself, yeosang"
he chuckles, "you know, i won't hold back right?"
his braveness despite his weakness scares me a lot but i can't stop him to do what his heart desires.
i remember reminding myself that time that i am doing this for the people and not for myself.
together with the other gods, we fought the war that sparked for unknown reasons.
we lost a lot of territory and won some as guards stood still their posts. many people volunteered despite having little to none battling experience just to show their loyalty to their land but sadly, most of them did not made it back.
"morax, we have failed to claim the west and east gates. i am devasted to say that dihua marsh is what is left for us." cloud retainer reports back after flying over the west ad south gates to see that it has fallen.
i looked over my shoulder to see yeosang guiding the people to higher grounds but a child seemed to lost his parents beside the river and he went to get him. the child was obviously shaking from fear and yeosang knelt down to convince him to come with him.
yeosang, being too focused, did not realized a evil god has spawned near them.
"YEOSANG!"
i remember screaminng his name so hard, i felt light headed and my legs moved by themselves.
yeosang was able to turn his head and wielded his sword but it broke. he pushed the kid away and i caught him, making us both fall into the ground.
the guards were running towards them but
it was too late.
the guards have slained the enemy but yeosang slowly layed himself on the ground, holding his right waist. before he lost balance, i caught his head and layed it on my lap.
he looked at me before looking around him.
"these will be their last bloom." he said while reaching out for a glaze lily.
"yeosang, let me carry you to the quarters." i asked him. god, i felt like i will explode that moment as i refrain from letting my tears out.
"no, it's okay. i want my last moments to be here, together with my glaze lillies and with you." he smiled.
his smile didn't lose it's allure even though he was bleeding so much that i can feel it stream beneath us.
i have never thought that i've met him amongst the glaze lillies and now i'll lose him in the same place.
"song mingi, forget about the dumbbell okay? i know it kept you up all night." he spoke.
"it contains all of my wisdom and if you unlock it—"
many years passed and still, i haven't been able to unlock it and everyday i think of what could have followed his last sentence.
kang yeosang, the god of dust and the humble leader of yeogi assembly past, dissolving into dust.
yeogi assembly was washed off by a flood making it uninhabitable and so we moved south to finally found a great land by the sea where people can start again.
one thing that i regret is that i was not able to give you the sword i have carved for your birthday. it could have saved your life at that moment. i know you would be so happy as you enjoy to wield a sword during your daily training. it would be a wonderful sight to see.
i also have written you this to tell you that people started to grow glaze lillies again. it was not like the ones you always admired but it still blooms majestically.
yesterday, the guards had been able to use the mechanism you built a thousand years ago. me and cloud retainer had helped in restoring it for their own good.
speaking of cloud retainer, she still leaves your bowl and chopsticks by the table. i have brought a friend of mine from the parlor at our spot and she really liked it up there.
we're going to celebrate this year's lantern rite festival soon. you would really love it for sure and i hope the lanterns reaches you.
i could have done something that day but i let my feelings get in the way. i could have asked you before but i didn't.
now i'm here, loving you without knowing if you love me back.
but what am i thinking? you would be disappointed with me if i keep on thinking about regret and sadness and so i shall forget about it. i know our story did not end well, but it is still the best one i know and forever cherish.
sincerely, rex.
————
"hey byeol! what are you reading? what is that old dusty book? where did you get that?!"
"i saw it above madame ping's table."
"what?! you shouldn't be sneaking into her office like that! let's go before someone sees us here."
"goodbyes hurt when the story is not finished and the book has been closed"
— unknown
give it back (there's nobody but you) — a minsang genshin impact au © 1st September 2022 ccelestial