The past was always relevant to Kim Taehyun. From birth, the mythologies of old world cultures was important to him. Imagining gods, fairies, creatures that existed outside of reality was everything to him. There was a weight to it, an importance, like Taehyun wasn't ever going to be able to understand the present of his life without knowing everything that people had come away from first. Dinosaurs didn't interest him, nor had the wars of history where men fought one another over nonsense, just to prove their strength. It was culture that called to him. It was language and words and the designs of their written letters to one another, things that had gone on to last even buried beneath the sands of time and the dirt of the ages.

Grade school grew the addiction: little story books and mostly picture filled books on mythologies. Middle school narrowed things down: learning the real history of places far off from the shorelines of his little Kiwi life. It wasn't his whole life, of course, because Taehyun was the kind of kid who seemed to get himself a hand in anything he could manage, but it stayed the most consistent. Even as he ventured through instruments ( piano and guitar and the recorder for fun ) and sports ( rugby was the only thing to stick ) he never swayed away from his studies. The balance was a delicate thing, social and studious, but Taehyun grew into someone who could manage it pretty well by the time he was a freshman in high school and already working toward a goal further off from home than he had ever really thought he could reach.

Because even with two successful parents it was hard to think he'd be able to get into a university proper for research one day. So when it happened that he actually found a way into University of Cambridge, Taehyun was shocked into a silence and stillness for nearly a week. It was the oddest few days for his family, coming home to their son in a kind of daze. But it all clicked again in good time; he was beyond excited for the opportunity and though tears were shed at the airport on his way to England they were good tears. Because he would come back home with stories to tell and grades to wear like badges of honor and, one day, he would be doing everything he'd dreamed of for his little life already. Reading old tales, telling new truths about people long since gone.

One day, he'd be the guy writing the little books that everyone read to understand where this all had come home.

University life was, well, everything. It came together in a manner that even Taehyun hadn't expected. Like the stars aligned just right, so that every exam clicked, every class made sense. The years trickled through like the men in his bed seemed to, never settling down because learning, learning was so much more important than trying to sit down and build a bond with anyone. Of course that began to give him a reputation. It made it easy for the guys who were like him to approach, for girls to ask questions and hope for the best results, because Kim Taehyun wasn't really there for more than just a quick fuck most of the time. Studies were where it was at. And, for the most part, Taehyun was willing to agree to it all. That became the trouble, a stupid youth trying to sneak in sex where it would be. The museum had seemed such a great thing for it, late at night when they were studying, and Taehyun still doesn't really regret it too much. When the totem pole unearthed a century ago began to fall onto him and his temporary lover, though, it was a bit of a mess. In the aftermath, by himself coming up from the crumble of the structure, Taehyun felt new. Different.

And the museum felt different, lacking.

A few of the artifacts had gone missing. The investigation was quick and sudden, a whimsical moment that seemed to fade as quickly as drunken memories. A professor wishing things were back where they had been left and suddenly — the whole room was gone. Shrieks of terror ran through the night with begging words trying to get everything back; in the blink of an eye the room filled with all its treasures again. Taehyun wished that he could have been anywhere else, any other night and suddenly — he was in his bed again, like nothing ever happened. It took a while to even try and go back but a couple of weeks later exams were on them and Taehyun needed the research. When he entered, when he found the artifacts all over again, things came to life in him. His hand burned away into fire and brimstone as he watched it touch a mask that did not melt.

Some part of him wondered why he didn't freak out but the rest, it understood. The same way it understood why he came back to his roommate freaked out and some guys in suits at his place. They stepped out for coffee to talk and Taehyun learned what he had to: about how the investigation had been handled, how he was still able to finish his education, to do his work, if he agreed to some tests and training. Experiments, he'd said, asking if he was going to get probed. There wasn't a laugh. Still, he agreed because that felt like the thing to do. And it was. The more training he balanced with his education, the better off things were. It took until graduation to really get the best of his strengths down pact but by then, things were extraordinary already. A djinn, immortal and true by that point, who could train and get help getting into whatever work he wanted there after.

Which of course lead to being able to get in on whatever digs he wanted. From Syria to Yemen, Taehyun began to find places and ways to dig around. Life, life was an exceptional gift, even when he got drunk one night in Amman and took home a bit of trouble. There were pills and liquor flowing enough that Taehyun didn't think twice about the way hands came for his own and the ring slipped off his finger. It looked good on his Iraqi friend for the night. But then the morning came and Taehyun felt drawn to linger. A first, at that point in time. Then came the realization when a simple phrase was spoken: "I wish we could just stay here and make love all day.". Twenty four hours later, Taehyun was stuck trying to figure out a way out. But he couldn't.

And people, it turned out, didn't really wish for things as often as he would have expected. It took six months of awkward and odd dating, distance and all, to finally get his ring back. And when it was done, Taehyun ran so hard and fast he never thought to look back again. Alexander was nice enough but not the one, not nearly close enough to being that. Instead it was staying in England except for digs and that, that was great for a bit longer. Because eventually graduation came and Taehyun had himself a degree and secrets to spill. Getting home to Auckland was unique after that but not quite as unique as explaining to his family the deep change in their oldest son.

It took some time and absurd questions but, they accepted. For Taehyun, that was amazing, a great thing. And from home base he got to start reaching out to try to get jobs. Teaching seemed best, like a little thing he could manage and keep his life afloat. Working toward his Doctorate, Taehyun landed a teaching position in Seoul and chose to go with it; there were a few professors he respected working there and the chance to build a focus from the ground up seemed too enticing to give up. Plus, Seoul had the night life he yearned for, a fun way to cut loose between travels. With his baby brother on his way over to write music and the ability to stay under the radar so people wouldn't track him down too easily, it all made sense.

But getting away from everything is never that easy. Trouble came Taehyun's way in the form of a duo he'd left behind in Cambridge after graduating. Yuta was the one that Taehyun ran into while out drinking one night, a familiar scent before the boy was grabbing at Taehyun and rambling. Taehyun was polite as he could manage before trying to dodge his way out; an excuse thrown about bathroom and being right back before he tried his best to hide his large frame behind a set of speakers. There, awkwardly trying to hide, he ended up striking up conversation with the DJ at the place and heading out for the night with him. What should and could have been a night of fun turned into something else, though, when more time was spent talking to one another than actually undressing one another.

That was October of 2014. The first date came on the 28th, a fun night at the movies that bloomed more. It didn't take but a few weeks after that for Taehyun to know how much was really, truly changing. Halloween was a night of texting Kim Sangbae instead of trying to flirt and get his groove on with someone else. By Christmas, he knew that it wasn't exams he was worrying about it was how much time he'd get to spend with Sangbae. So, he did a thing he'd never done before: he offered himself up to dating and being someone steady. Less than a year later, they were living together, confessed both of their natures and finding that there was some taste of "this just fits" between the two of them and the way that everything added up. And living together just seemed the logical choice when Taehyun could make their little place into a full on dream.