Chapter Text
☽━❦❀–·𝓹𝓾𝓻𝓹𝓵𝓮𝓲𝓬𝓮𝓬𝓪𝓷𝓭𝔂·–❀❦━☾
Prompt: Your love’s leaving me loveless.
Prompt credits:. https://jaskiersbrokenlute.tumblr.com/post/646575036303589376/lutes-200-follower-prompt-list
☽━❦❀–·𝓹𝓾𝓻𝓹𝓵𝓮𝓲𝓬𝓮𝓬𝓪𝓷𝓭𝔂·–❀❦━☾
Where did it all go wrong? It’s a tale as old as time, the Beast trapped Beauty, Flynn Rider fell through Rapunzel’s window, Patrocles died and Achilles went mad, all of them were lost in love and lost their love. PhuPha isn’t talking and now Tian feels lost. If they both know that they’d do anything for each other, why must the Chief ask him to leave? Why can he not fight for them? Why can he not let Tian fight for them?
Some days, Tian still doesn’t believe this is all a true incident in his life. His life now has two parts, one before his near death accident, and one after coming to Pha Pun Dao. Or maybe he was actually dead before coming to Pha Pun Dao, because all he’d done was while away time in bars and cars, spending money like running water and generally being a rowdy rebel with no direction to go in. If he was slated to die soon, he might as well do as he wished, was how Tian had justified his behaviour. Yet it was after his death that he understood how precious life can be, if only one tried.
Here in Pha Pun Dao, where electricity was all but a dream, where hard work was the only way to survive, where dreams could easily be crushed by nefarious businessmen, was where Tian had learned how to live. These people had no luxury to complain, so they went on, doing what they could to survive and be happy. A simple drinking party with strong homemade alcohol could bring forth a cheery atmosphere, a kite flying session was one of the few leisurely past times the children could afford to indulge in. It was all so alien to Tian, who had been born and raised in luxury. Yet he clung to it like a fish to water, because Pha Pun Dao gave him what he had been craving for so long- meaningful relationships and a direction to walk in.
It was a painfully laughable concept. He was living at the cost of someone’s death. When Tian was dying, he was already hopeless. He had been living on borrowed time anyway. When Torfun had died, she had countless dreams and hopes. All wrecked by Tian’s car. And now Tian lived, still as lost and hopeless as ever, while Torfun could no longer dream of living her dream.
Tul had been right, he should have never found who donated him their heart.
As happy as Tian was to have found Pha Pun Dao, he was still unhappy. Before coming to Pha Pun Dao, before meeting the kind villagers and lively children, Tian’s world had been so different. Sure, it was still fraught with loneliness and isolation, but he hadn’t yet tasted happiness. After coming to Pha Pun Dao, after meeting that person, Tian could no longer go back to a life spent in a room too wide in a house too lonely. After spending his months in such close proximity with someone who set his mind in a tizzy, sent his heart racing, filled his life with all the greens and blues of unfiltered nature, he could never go back to the muted blues and greys of his room.
Still, he had not come here to cry over his life. In the end, it did not matter if he had someone else’s heart beating for him inside his chest. He had already promised he would do all that was possible to ensure Torfun’s wishes were fulfilled. It was the least he could do in return for all she had given him.
With that resolve in his mind, he set off for the cliff. Before this night was done, before he had to bid goodbye to the place he called his home, he would count a thousand stars and make sure Torfun had what she wished. If he could not stay with the Chief, it was because their fate had never meant to entangle with from the beginning.
☽━❦❀–·𝓹𝓾𝓻𝓹𝓵𝓮𝓲𝓬𝓮𝓬𝓪𝓷𝓭𝔂·–❀❦━☾
“ Just be honest with me. Do you take care of me just because it is your duty, and nothing else?”
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“It is impossible, Tian.”
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“Leave the reasons aside, Chief. What I want to know is...what you feel for me.”
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“You were always meant to leave this place, Tian. If what you want is my happiness, then I want you to leave and go live your life, as it was meant to be instead of giving everything up to be with me.”
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“I want our tale to have a fairytale like ending.”
“You have already made our tale the happiest one.”
☽━❦❀–·𝓹𝓾𝓻𝓹𝓵𝓮𝓲𝓬𝓮𝓬𝓪𝓷𝓭𝔂·–❀❦━☾
“Chief.... even if I made our tale happy, why can’t our ending be happy?” Tian asked, his voice a soft whisper as he leaned back against PhuPha’s chest.
“Not all fairytales have happy endings, Tian. You and me, we were meant to be together for only so long. But that doesn’t mean our feelings are lesser than anyone else.” PhuPha said, stroking Tian’s hair. Around them, the night was calm as ever, only the sound of the wind whistling by rang over the quiet atmosphere.
“Then, will Chief also wait like the hornbill? I don’t want that.” Tian asked.
“I don’t want that either, for both of us. I want you to go back home and be happy. I want you to live your bright future. I want this lovely and warm Tian to always be happy and healthy. If I am meant to be around for just this long moment in your life, so be it.” PhuPha said. His voice was soft yet tone firm.
It was always like this, Tian thought to himself. This man, just like his name, was like an unmoved mountain, strong and firm. He had strong moral values and he worked according to them, unwilling to yield to the villainous people that surrounded his job. Tian both loved and hated this side of the Chief. He could be so firm when scolding him, yet he tried his best to indulge him, doting over him. Those moments had a special place in Tian’s heart. When someone who was known to be tough and harsh was secretly indulging you and caring for you, it was easy to be swayed. It was easier to be swayed because it was the Chief, whose actions always meant more than his words. It had filled Tian with a little bit of pride and immense joy to be considered important enough to the Chief that he got away with so many things.
When Tian had thought it was all in the name of duty, he had felt betrayed, like the ground beneath his feet had been snatched away. The Chief that protected the village with his hands, the chief that let him wear his t-shirt and shared his room with him, the chief that scolded him over his temper, the chief that took care of him when he was drunk, the chief that made a kite for him, all versions of him were equally loved by Tian. Because that was all it was, in the end.
It was love that led the Chief to act for Tian. It was Tian’s love that made him want to stay. It was the Chief’s love that made Tian leave.
“Your love has left me loveless, Chief. no longer know how to love more, nor can I bring myself to love you less. You make me cry, you make me sad. Yet all you do is for me to be happy. So why am I not happy?” Tian asked, voice cracking as he swallowed a lump in his throat, tears clouding his vision.
“Oh Tian.....don’t cry, please? It will be fine. You had a life before you came here, remember? Once you go back, slowly, you will get used to your routine. Plus, you will be healthier.” PhuPha spoke gently, warm hands coming up to wipe Tian’s tears away.
And yet, I was not living until I came here. I was passing my days, running for nothing. I came here and found my purpose. Now it all feels like I grew a flower that will not blossom in dream that will not come true. Tian thought to himself, clutching on to PhuPha. If they had nothing else, he could at least hold on for the small amount of time that he did have.
In the dead silence of the night, on a solitary cliff, two men sat still, one shaking with grief as the other tried to calm him. There were no more words that were said, because there was nothing that could be said.
☽━❦❀–·𝓹𝓾𝓻𝓹𝓵𝓮𝓲𝓬𝓮𝓬𝓪𝓷𝓭𝔂·–❀❦━☾