monsta x hyunwoo (shownu) x kihyun

losing focus 

the only thing hyunwoo needs to do is focus, simple right?

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   The son of Artemis cocked his bow, the flint arrow grazing the nail of his thumb, keeping him grounded among the melody of the trees, a song luring him to drift away just like the birds who fluttered by his head. His arm jerked back, and in one swift motion, the arrow sheathed itself inside the stomach of a wooden fox.

   "Damn it."

   His head of golden orange hair bobbed as he stomped across the shallow creek; his bare feet fissured the water as he walked, fish circling his ankles like happy dogs, eager to lap at his ankles, the sun tilted in just the right direction to crack his face in two: the shadowed and the glittering. It was such a perfect metaphor that the man smirked as he wrenched the arrow free.

   Kihyun discarded the wooden fox at his feet and turned to survey his claimed glade, for it went too quiet. Plush trees that overflowed with waxy leaves and ripened fruit skirted the edges of the clearing, surrounding him in an element he relished since childhood. A stream of diamond water split the fluffy grass and trailed itself deeper into the forest, looping and swirling like an elated child with a kite. Flowers opened themselves to wave a greeting, deer eased closer to nibble at the foliage touched by the divine man as if the greenery was blessed by the mere presence of him, squirrels scurried down their trunks to wind themselves between his legs.

   It was as if the whole forest was leaning to see what the man would do next, what sacred thing he would bestow upon the land for mortals to admire, to cherish. The forest seemed to admire him too, Kihyun noted as he gingerly stepped onto a large, moss-covered boulder, and it unnerved him greatly.

   His team of nymphs was nowhere to be seen; odd, since not moments before the gaggle was weaving flower crowns for his uncle's performance tomorrow night and teaching chipmunks tricks to earn a salted walnut. Now, the glade was empty apart from the goddess's son and the figure lurking just beyond the outline of trees.

   Kihyun straightened as if he were trying to peer over a canopy of orange trees, all the while keeping a keen eye on the large man that inched closer and closer to the fine line of foliage that flanked the clearing. Kihyun knew of his presence long before his silhouette caught the shadow of the sun, shrouded in pollen-polluted shade; the godson didn't feel as though he was a threat until he saw the expertly crafted oak bow, its adornments a dead giveaway of the man prowling the shrubs twenty feet away. Kihyun leaned forward on his toes, flapped his hands so as to not topple into the creek, and scrunched a handful of twig-twined hair before the silent whoosh of an arrow sailed through the afternoon air. Kihyun merely bent backward and watched the arrow drive itself into the tree closest to him.

   "You'd think being the son of the great Hephaestus would garner you better aim."

   The man draped in thick shadow stepped out with a defeated groan. "You and your animals senses trump whatever magic I was bestowed at birth." The large man trudged over to the rock Kihyun was standing on and thwacked him with his bow. "You should be burned at the stake, witch."

   "I'm delighted to see you too, Hyunwoo."

   When the man dipped down to retrieve his arrow, the swathe of cloth concealing his chest hung ajar, and Kihyun shamelessly admired the sculpted expanse of skin, following in tow with the forest as it once did with himself.

   Hyunwoo felt chocolate eyes on him, like weighted bronze coins, and stole a glance at the beautiful godson; his golden hair lifted with his eyebrows as the iron point of the arrow pressed itself against the base of Kihyun's chin.

   "My dearest poppy, I would rather you use words."

   "Firstly, I'm not a desperate soldier swooning over someone as foolish as Hephaestus' son, though I appreciate the compliment, I am quite skilled with my bow. Secondly," Kihyun hopped down from his perch and hooked the string of his bow around Hyunwoo's neck, pulling him close until his helmet pierced the delicate skin of the younger's forehead. "You couldn't kill me if you tried."

   Hyunwoo had his breath glued to his throat, eyes roaming the hills and valleys of the other's face before Kihyun clicked his tongue and strolled away, twirling his fingers through the air twice and leaving Hyunwoo gawking at the family of blue jays that landed on his shoulders.

   The older dropped his arrow in disbelief; the moment Hyunwoo thought the son of Artemis couldn't get any more tantalizing, the gorgeous man knitted weeds into his hair and painted mud across his skin, bathed in crystal water and danced in glass rain, nurtured the saplings with chaste kisses and eased the wilderness with fleeting touches. Kihyun was a beautiful warrior, a poisonous beauty, a deadly flower; and Hyunwoo wanted nothing more than to drink Kihyun's lethal dose.

   Kihyun spun and Hyunwoo nearly gasped at the way his flowing shirt rippled behind him like spring water.

   "Bring me my bow, craftsman. I would like to teach you a lesson."

   Hyunwoo cleared his throat and walked over. He hesitated before stepping into the steady current of the creek, the chill of the water almost like a shot of adrenaline making every nerve end crackle with electricity. The water rushed over his feet and between his sandals, as if it was pleading with the man to relax and float away, allow the creek to take him wherever it chooses.

   Kihyun took his bow back and loaded an arrow, keeping the string taut, and brought both down to his hips.

   "Today I want to teach you something that will fix all the wrongs in your life, starting with your horrendous attempt at an ambush." Kihyun slanted his head at Hyunwoo. "Cock your weapon, Woo."

   The nickname erupted a firework of emotions deep within his chest, but the burly man did as he was told.

   "Ease up, there's no need to strangle the bow. This weapon has a mind of its own; it controls you whether you believe it or not. You of all people should know this, mighty Hephaestus godson."

   "I give it its soul, its runes, its eye into the world. It observes and acts all within a second, a servant to no one but the master who wields it."

   "That's the Hyunwoo I know." Kihyun smiled and lifted his bow. "We aim for the wooden hare at the base of the stream. The heart is the only target."

   Kihyun cast a sly glance at Hyunwoo, who was so tense and rigid that a gust of wind could have shattered him into jagged, steel pieces. The younger swept his foot along the bed of the river, upturning pebbles and stepping closer to the older.

   If the man noticed, Kihyun didn't see a reaction.

   "So far, your marks are good. Almost as perfect as the image before me." He blinked, and Hyunwoo's fingers turned slick; he just now was aware of the man behind him, just out of his line of sight.

   'Perfect' the older thought sourly. 'Just what I need right now. A distraction.'

   "I can't help but indulge in some rumors, but are you truly Hephaestus's son? A man like you, nearly equivalent to Zeus himself, born from a man cast away for his looks. Someone as ugly as him has made someone as incredible as you, darling Hyunwoo, who's to know if you're illegitimate, or yet another wondrous creation from the legendary blacksmith himself."

   Hyunwoo drew in a labored breath; his internal battle of wrath and adoration was taking on toll on him. He was losing his aim, his focus, his clear mind.

   All he could think of now was-

   "I never took you as a gossiper."

   "There are a lot of things I do that will surprise you, Hyunwoo. I'm no Aphrodite."

   A suspenseful chuckle, and a steady exhale.

   "Do you believe any of those rumors?" A beat of silence, of birds chirping and water gushing. "Please excuse my bluntness."

   "No more excused than it is welcomed. I enjoy some repartee, especially from someone as fiery as you."

   Kihyun's voice was just beyond Hyunwoo's ear; he could feel the tendrils of his breath snaking around his shaggy hair. What was Kihyun trying to accomplish? He offered the idea of a tryst in the woods several times, each of them kindly denied with a flirty retort, but this act the younger was playing, this game, this lesson, it all felt so different than past altercations.

   "No, I don't believe the rumors." Hyunwoo heard the stretch of Kihyun's bow; he tried to convince the younger to let Hyunwoo craft him a new one, one made of birch and gold trimmings and dyed the colors of spring, but the godson declined every time. "However, the ones depicting your divine beauty do pique my interest, as each nymph who recounts their interaction with you never gets your description just right."

   Silence was spread thin between the godsons, like a pearly veil that cloaked their senses and dulled their movements.

   "Fire."

   Two arrows flew through the air, yet only one struck its target; the other soared into the hare's thigh, knocking it clear off its feet.

   Kihyun reeled around and sprayed water across Hyunwoo's tunic, a splatter akin to blood.

   "That is what this lesson is about," Kihyun declared, the curved end of his bow pointing at the overturned wooden animal. "Focus. Tranquility. The eye of the storm."

   Hyunwoo huffed and snatched an arrow from the leather satchel strewn across the bank. "Kind of hard to do any of that when you have another person breathing down your neck." A person you adore, at that.

   "You're training to be a warrior, Woo, a mighty soldier to fend off the Titans, to save pretty women is danger, you know, like the children's books depict. This shouldn't come as a surprise."

   "Those books are so glorified it's all false," Hyunwoo grumbled, aligning his arrow against his bow and suctioning his palms to the weapon; he doesn't need to be made a fool three times in a row. That would be practically dishonorable.

   "I could say the same when my nymphs call you a 'sculpted marble statue, crafted from the blacksmith himself'. It's all so glorified," Kihyun mused, pulling an arrow from the stream bank. He positioned himself abreast Hyunwoo, so close that their bare arms were touching, like the gentle caress of a rose petal.

   The older gulped. "So, what are the rules for this round?"

   Kihyun giggled and raised his arms, bow perched on his fingertips. "You make this sound like a challenge. The warrior in you can never be abated."

   "I would greatly enjoy a warning before you saddle up beside me and whisper sweet nothings."

   "If you wish; I will be testing you again, yes, but I won't disclose the content of the exam."

   "Oh, so this is an exam now."

   Hyunwoo turned his sly, slitted eyes on Kihyun, who merely returned the disguised glare with a warm, sickly sweet grin that left the former's knees weak.

   "It's always a multi-layer investigation with you," Hyunwoo mumbled, angling his feet towards another wooden hare resting against a mossy log.

   Kihyun said nothing; he sounded as though he stopped breathing, the swallow outburst of air nothing but a calm breeze from his nose. It was almost eerie how similarly the godson resembled a deer, with twiggy limbs strong enough to carry him across vast meadows that touched the horizon, senses that rendered him immortal and eyes like large pools of stars, deep enough to drown in.

   Hyunwoo only then noticed their toes overlapped in the water.

   "My nymphs can never get you quite right," Kihyun said, snapping Hyunwoo from his rose-colored haze.

   "How so?"

   The godson could already feel himself drifting out of focus, leaning towards the slight lilt in Kihyun's words just like how the forest bent to his will, succumbed to his glory and mastery. However, Hyunwoo decided, in a fit of nose scrunches and neck stretches, that he would allow himself to fall into the younger's endless well of charm and beauty; he lost focus last round because he was too wrapped up in trying to ground himself, but this round, he eased the tension between his shoulder blades and relaxed the white-knuckled grip on his bow.

   He needn't strangle the weapon, for it controls him,  mind and body, and who is he to take that power away from it?

   When the time comes, his bow with guide him to land true.

  "It's all slightly off. They can never get the descriptions just right, adjectives a hair off."

   "I can't be described with words, I know, I've been told."

   "Cocky this round aren't we?"

   There was something playful about Kihyun's tone, something that nearly buckled Hyunwoo's knees. If the divine godson would permit it, Hyunwoo would faze through time and space right here.

   "Just satisfied with the fact that I will beat you."

   Kihyun wore a saucy smirk. "Arrogant and self-righteous, what a perfect duo. See, another thing to add to my list."

   "Tell me, what do the nymphs get wrong?"

   Kihyun inhaled, then exhaled. A mediating breath, one Hyunwoo knew would settle the tremors in the godson's chest.

   "A sculpture puts your name to something stagnant, something cold and hard and accentuated. Comparing your beauty to carved marble crafts a wall to hinder any more discussion, any more growth and maturity. A statue cannot change, cannot be morphed into something magical. It was once a slab of stone, and is a slab stone, with a few adornments to liven the atmosphere."

   Hyunwoo felt Kihyun's silk cape kiss the back of his calf, worm its way around his waist; the man returned it with a fluid swing of his leg, caging Kihyun's right leg between his own.

   "Go own," Hyunwoo nearly purred, relishing the way visible chills traveled across Kihyun's arms.

   "I would compare you to an angel, a messenger of Cupid, a graceful Athenian warrior, for no beauty quite as yours can be captured by anything manmade. You're agile like an angel, quick on your feet and tongue, and ever so greedy like they are, never the ones to give up something they've claimed their own. A messenger from Cupid so much so that your arrows pierce through the skin of anyone tracking you down, as swift as a heartbeat, and as painless as a kiss. You send sweet notes, lovely baskets of bread and scented oils, a bunny welded from bronze, that it's almost hard to realize the toughness of your exterior. A man built for battle, forged from the charcoal flames and spitting fire stars of steel blades."

   Several moments of silence passed between them, and when a fish wiggled through Kihyun's legs, the men broke from their tense stupor.

   "You failed to mention my physical attributes," Hyunwoo said, flinching as the godson turn his head to gaze at the older. Hyunwoo flashed a pearly smile. "Aren't I a divine godson?"

   "What makes you so alluring is not your face, nor your body - though I do admit, I enjoy a good amount of muscle - but who you are, Hyunwoo. How you carry yourself, how you interact with yourself, when no one is around. The Hyunwoo I know, not Hephaestus's son that Olympus knows."

   The godsons held each other's stare. Some force was drawing the two together, they could feel it in the way the water weaved around them in fervid currents, almost shoving them to the side and into each other's embrace. The forest pressed in on them on all sides, like nosy children spying on their parents, practically bending into a dome of leaves, trapping the sons and granting them an area to be themselves, unafraid and defiant.

   With brown eyes still searing holes into Hyunwoo's jaw, Kihyun flexed his fingers and muttered, "Fire."

   Both men released their arrows; the spears cut through the air and dove into the wooden hare, first the hard pierce of a steel tip, second the delicate sheath of a flint mound. Both arrows quivered from the hare's heart.

   Hyunwoo blinked up and smiled.

   He did it. He tamed the lion within. He bated the storm. He regained focus.

    "I will say, that was very impressive," Kihyun commented, turning completely and busying himself with the crooked slate-colored sash across the older's chest. "Even someone as skilled as myself has to work on that."

   "Finally found something I'm better at than you."

   Hyunwoo looked down at Kihyun and smiled warmly. He plucked a twig from the younger's hair and twirled it between his thumb and pointer finger.

   "My uncle is having a little performance after-party following his symphonic concert, and would love it if you could show." Kihyun looked up and blushed; now he was the one losing focus.

   "Are you playing this time, precious lily?"

   Kihyun chuckled. "Yes, actually. I'll be on the harp, stage left. Do not have your mind made up on taking me away either, at least not soon after we finish."

   Hyunwoo smiled wider, leaning down and pressing his helmet against Kihyun's forehead, earning the godson a melody of chirps and titters.

   "Let's hope you don't lose focus the moment I sit down," Hyunwoo's smile morphed into a smirk, a triumphant slash across his face.

   "Oh don't you worry, for I will be making your night spiral out of control before you even step foot in the arena."

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shit slaps im so happy with it!!!

sorry i havent posted in ages, i have like a month left of high school,,,

till next time <33