Work Text:
”You won’t dare.” Changbin cocks an eyebrow at Hyunjin, a little quirk forming to the the corner of his lips.
”Might want to consider taking that back?” he asks, glint of determination in his eyes.
”I’ll do your job for a week if you dare”, Hyunjin says, crosses his arms on his chest. Changbin glances at Seungmin, who’s grinning from ear to ear, a mischievous look in his eyes. The offer is a bit too good. All three of them know how much Changbin hates his summer job at the flower shop, which happens to specialize in forest flowers. And you need to pluck the flowers. From the forest. And it makes your back ache. And it’s tiring and the flowers smell and to be honest, they aren’t that pretty. Changbin doesn’t understand the romanticizing of wild flowers, or flowers in general.
”Deal”, he says before he has the time to doubt himself.
The thing is, the forest is really fucking scary. And not in a ”Oh no I might get lost”-way but in a ”Every third person who goes in to the forest alone disappears and is never seen again”-way. But Changbin isn’t some scaredy cat, and he knows the trail trough the forest, he’s going to be fine. Now, the bet, which was, and still is, absolutely ridiculous in Changbin’s opinion (Faeries, elves? Forest entities that might not want him to cross the woods? Pft.), had started from a simple argument. Hyunjin had claimed that the stories her grandmother told him were very true, and Changbin and Seungmin had thought they were complete and utter bullshit. Changbin had voiced his opinion slightly too eagerly, and Hyunjin had dared him to go to the forest. Alone.
”I mean, if there’s nothing there, then you will be just fine!” the younger boy had addressed, clearly irritated that the others didn’t believe him.
”At least Minho believes me” Hyunjin had muttered under his breath. Changbin had simply shook his head, but now they had a bet going on and he was not so keen on losing. A week’s worth of picking ugly flowers in the midst of all kinds of weeds for a simple walk in the forest? Definitely worth a shot.
The three boys arrive at the edge of the forest, at the end of the trail. The pines and bruces grow tall and proud and the sunlight filters through the branches, casting shadows on the ground. The forest looks tranquil, a squirrel can be seen running from a tree to another tree. Birds are singing, the treetops are slightly swaying in the warm and calm summer breeze. The forest doesn’t look that frightening. Sure, it darkens the deeper you go, but that’s just normal, right? A couple of brimstone butterflies fly past Changbin, disappearing in to the forest. He stares after them, and gulps slightly.
”Are you really sure about this?” Hyunjin asks, worry laced in his voice.
”Yeah.” Changbin simply answers. He isn’t gonna back up now. ”It’s just a forest, and the stories are just to keep children out of the woods.” His voice sounds determined, there is no fear in it. But he is just a tiny bit jumpy. A tiny bit. But then again, who wouldn’t be, going to any forest alone? You just have to be aware of you surroundings, right? So no animals can surprise you or something. Pft, no scary stories are gonna scare Changbin. He’s tough and cool. Definitely not a pussy. Definitely not.
Changbin steps on the trail, leaving the two boys behind. He can almost hear Hyunjin’s brain ticking, trying to come up with some excuse for Changbin not to go into the forest. Seungmin is just.. well, Seungmin. He’s not afraid for Changbin or anything like that, he’s more of just curious what is the outcome of all this. Changbin turns around, waves a hand at the boys after a couple of meters into the forest.
”See you at the other end!” he laughs, then turns around again and continues his walking. Soon the trail turns, leaving the two other boys out of sight. Changbin sighs, looks around. The day is beautiful, it’s warm and the sun is shining, even though you really can’t see it because of the thickness of the woods. The temperature is slightly lower compared to the temperature in the valley, but Changbin doesnt’t mind, he has a hoodie on anyway. Gotta keep up that dark vibe, you see, so no t-shirts, just hoodies. And hoodies are comfier anyway, and it’s not that warm out in the open air.
The forest is beautiful. A little darker than he had expected, but still quite enthralling. Changbin has been here before, it’s not his first time here. He knows that the trail goes through the forest surrounding the town he lives in, and the other end is in the other side of the town. What’s the point, then? Well, the forest supports quite a large amount of animals and berries and flowers and so on, and it’s a great jogging trail, so people come here often. Not alone, though. It’s kind of a urban legend, an unwritten rule not to enter the forest alone. Many stories, similar to Hyunjin’s stories surround the woods. Camping equipment being stolen. Laughter in the dark. Lost children that return a couple days later completely changed. Lost children that never return.
But Changbin doesn’t give a rat’s ass about any of that. Maybe it’s because he doesn’t have quite the same grip of the town and forest than before. About a year ago he moved to a bigger city, found himself some new friends and started college as a media student. He was only back for the summer, having promised his cousin to help around the flower shop, and it meant some cash so yeah, he was here again. It wasn’t easy to find a job in the big city anyways, being a student and all that jazz. And of course, he had missed his friends Hyunjin and Seungmin, who he had had to leave behind when he moved, even though he would never admit that outloud. So here he was, at the sweet little town again (sometimes a little too small, almost suffocatingly so) helping the same old ladies and pretending he didn’t miss the pulsing city and his two pals Chan and Jisung. The thought of his two other friends make Changbin smile a little.
Okay, maybe Changbin is exaggerating a little, the town isn’t that bad. Yeah, it is small, but in the small town by the seaside-kind of way. Slightly romantic, not that he cares about that, but dreamy people always do. The forest and a lake surround the town, making the only ways out the highway through the woods and the train. The town is pretty, just like any small town in the countryside. It has a couple of coffee shops, some smaller shops, two bigger ones, a couple of schools and so on. It’s basic and quite uninspiring to Changbin, though, he draws inspiration more from concrete walls, urban styles and the hustle of the nightlife in big cities. He also likes to refer to himself as a ’urban sorta kid’, when someone asks him why he doesn’t like his hometown. It’s not that he doesn’t like it, it’s just… not his style. And the thing with small towns is that they don’t change. Well, they do, but it takes a lot of time, and Changbin isn’t patient enough. So there’s nothing new for him to see or experience anymore. The fascination just rinses off.
But the fascination towards the forest stays, even if Changbin doesn’t admit it. The dark vibes the woods give off at the evening, even during the day if the sun isn’t shining or the growth is thick enough are interesting, the hues of different greens mixing up with browns, sometimes even grey and black. And here and there are bursts of colour, flowers, a little pond mirroring the sky, animals and bugs. It’s fascinating, even when Changbin tries to deny it. Right now he’s walking in the trail made for jogging, looking around, hands deep in his pockets. He’s fiddling with his key fob, deep in thoughts. He’s not completely aware of his surroundings, and he doesn’t have to. He’s walked the path many times with his friends and every day during summer with his cousin to pick some flowers. He knows a shortcut, how to get to the otherside a bit faster. Not that he’s in a hurry, the dark is just falling soon and… yeah. He’s not afraid, just… a bit wary.
Changbin walks past a sign that states ”Do not step outside of the marked trail” and on the bottom, scribbled with childish handwriting ”Faeries don’t like it”. He chuckles to himself. C’mon, would any logical adult actually ever believe that? And what are these faeries going to do, pinch him behind the ears? So scary.
Suddenly he halts to a stop. It was like someone had said something behind him, something along the words ”cute and dumb”. Changbin spins around, but nobody is to be seen. He’s alone, he hears no sounds except for the birds in the trees. Probably just a whim of air, he thinks to himself and turns back to the trail. He continues walking, but the ease and relaxation is now gone. A shiver runs down his spine, his senses a little more alert than before. Nothing. The only sounds are the rustle of the wind in the trees and his steps, with a bird here and there. Soon, he’s back to his thoughts.
Changbin remembers one of the stories he has heard about the forest very clearly. It’s an interesting little fairytale, and that’s about it, there is no real substance. It tells the tale of twin sisters, who enter the forest. The other sister has always liked the forest, felt drawn towards it, and the other despises it. However, she wants to be a good sister, so one day they go for a little hike. Long story short, the twins get separated, and the other one is eaten alive by some odd entity. The other one is actually a changeling, and she is the one who ushers the entity to her sister, just to return to his home crying and at night she kills the whole family. Yeah, a really nice story. The moral of the story is to warn parents not to leave their little children alone, since many of them disappear in to the forest. Well, it’s apparently worked, since not so many have gotten lost in the passing years.
Changbin turns to the shortcut. It’s a much smaller path, molded by nature. It should end up in the main trail, just a couple of hundred yards from the edge of the forest. It’s about a half an hour walk, Changbin thinks, he’s going to get home before dark. Just in time to watch some movies from the TV, maybe Hyunjin and Seungmin could join him. He has work tomorrow, so he has to go to bed quite early (quite early, as in before 3am). Though, since Hyunjin has basically already lost the bet, he doesn’t have to go to work tomorrow morning, so now he can stay up and watch some Netflix or sormething. Oh how life is smiling at him.
Changbin lifts his eyes from the trail, just to look around. He slows down, stops completely. Slowly, realization starts to set in. He has no clue where he is. The forest doesn’t look familiar at all. The path turns to wrong direction in the front, and somehow, the huge erratic is gone on the right. It should be right there, next to the tiny pond. And there should be blueberries next to the trail, but now there’s lingonberries. Changbin hates lingonberries, they’re too sour. Blueberries are nice. And now they’re gone. He spins around, maybe he just turned to the wrong shortcut? As in, there are many little trails molded by nature, maybe Changbin just turned to the wrong one and he should have walked the original trail a little while longer. Yeah. That must be it. The small panic lessens, Changbin almost laughs at himself. Dumb, the woods wouldn’t just lead him out of the trail, they aren’t alive and capable of thinking. He’s just in the wrong trail, and he should just go back to the original trail.
But he’s too lazy for that. Logically, if he would just walk into the forest for a couple of hundred yards, he would end up in the right path, yeah? Or the original jogging trail. Yeah, Changbin is clever enough, he’ll just cross the woods to the path. That’s what he’s going to. And that’s what he does, he steps out of the trail on the soft moss, and continues his wander. He pushes back the feeling of the forest laughing at him, and the small uneasy tingle about being watched.
The forest is much darker and harder to cross now that he’s out of the trail. The moss is swamp-like at some places and Changbin almost trips over a couple of rocks. The dark is slowly setting in, and the forest doesn’t look as inviting anymore. But it’s just a forest, right? Some green spiky trees and leafy trees and a bunch of other trees and a lot of green and what the hell was that? Changbin turns around, ready to fight or flee. It was laughter, eerie and high-pitched. Changbin was 100 percent sure of it. And it came from deep in the woods. But hey, maybe it’s just some teenagers on the path, making their way home? Yeah. Nothing serious. Nothing serious at all (except that no one would laugh like that from happiness). Changbin turns once again to the way he’s going to, continues his little trip. The birds have stopped singing, he notices. Probably because it’s going to be dark soon. He doesn’t get far, though, before he spots something almost glimmering on the right side. He turns his head. It’s a ring. A circle. Of mushrooms. A circle of mushrooms. A circle of almost glowing mushrooms. Changbin raises an eyebrow at it, before he remembers something his grandmother used to say when he was young.
”Never ever step inside a fairy ring.” He had never gotten an explanation for that. Was this a fairy ring? Changbin always imagined it as a bunch of dancing little faeries. Not… mushrooms.
Changbin snorts, rebellion kicking in. His grandmama isn’t here to stop him, is she? And what on earth would a ring of mushrooms do to him? It’s just a story, there is no real explanation. So Changbin walks near the ring. It’s around two meters wide, the mushrooms are small. Next to it is another erratic rock, bigger than the one before. Changbin is just about to step inside the faerie ring, other leg already on the air, and then someone speaks above his head.
”I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
Changbin squeaks, stumbles backwards and falls on the soft moss bed. The cap on his head falls onto his eyes and he is blinded for a second, before he gets it off and quickly searches for the source of the voice. And there it is, right above him, sitting on the fucking rock. Where the fuck did he come from? Changbin springs up, just to almost fall again before he regains his balance.
”What the fuck?” he mumbles. There is a boy. Sitting on top of the huge rock. A boy sitting on the top of the huge rock, and Changbin literally just seconds ago looked at the rock, and there was no one there. And now there is.
”I said, I wouldn’t step in the fairy ring, if I were you”, the boy says, looking straight at Changbin. Changbin can’t get a word out of his mouth. He just stands there, mouth agape, staring back at the boy. There is a silence between them, before the stranger opens his mouth again.
”If you do, it gives the faeries an excuse to drag you to their land.”
”Huh?” Smart, Changbin. The boy rolls his eyes, before sliding down the side of the rock to the ground. Once on the ground, he steps towards Changbin, but leaves a meter and a half between them. He’s standing on the ring. The boy is standing on the fucking fairy ring, why is he standing there when he just told Changbin not to?
”If you step inside one of these circles, you’re going to end up far from here. Are you deaf or just dumb?” Changbin finally snaps his mouth shut. Did this strange boy just literally call him deaf or stupid?
The boy’s voice, he heard it before. It just was so low he had thought it was the wind.
”You called me cute.” Changbin blurts out, before he clasps his hands in front of his mouth. Christ, Changbin, you really are dumb. The boy simply chuckles, and Changbin’s legs almost give out. That has got to be the most beautiful sound he has ever heard during his nineteen years of living. And the boy? He’s basically glowing. It’s like he’s radiating some kind of ethereal light. He doesn’t fit the atmosphere of the forest, everything else is dark and mysterious and then there’s this boy with sunlight emiting from him. Except that it’s not sunlight, it’s more of a moonlight. How does Changbin know? He just does.
The boy steps out of the faerie ring, the mushrooms have actually started to glow. Like literally glow. Just like the boy. Changbin is frozen to his place. The moonlight boy moves in front of Changbin. Moves, because he’s not quite walking and not exactly skipping, and definitely not striding. He’s just sort of… gracefully moving and Changbin is left in awe how can someone move so easily on the soft moss mattress. Suddenly the boy bends over, picks something from the ground before straightening himself. He hands something to Changbin.
”You dropped this.” he says. Changbin doesn’t move, he’s still way too bewitched. The moonlight boy is really close to him now, and he can see everything he didn’t notice at first.
The boy has flowers tangled in his orangish hair. Primroses and anemones, varying in size and color. Most of the flowers are light pink, but some yellows, reds and whites can also be seen. His eyes are warm brown in color, and his skin is … literally sunkissed. And he has freckles. Oh my god he has freckles. They’re like little constellations on his face. A small nose, contrasting the thick lips. He’s beautiful. Simply beautiful. Divine. And then the boy reaches out, takes Changbin’s hand that is still in clasped on his mouth and places the thing he was holding on his hand. It’s his key fob. He must have dropped it when he fell.
”No problem. I’m Felix.” the moonlight boy says.
”T-thanks.” Changbin mumbles a little late, finally having his voice back. He looks up at the boy again, and forgets to introduce himself when he realizes this Felix boy is staring right back at him. There is an awkward silence between them once again.
”Well, looks like the cat got your tongue so I’ll just keep on calling you cute. What are you doing in the woods at this time anyway?” The moonlight boy, Felix, whatever, asks.
”Uhh.. me, and my friend-s.. a.. bet.” Changbin stammers. Felix just raises his eyebrow at him.
”I- i- i said that t-theres nothing in-in these woods a-and my f-friend dared me to walkthroughtheforestaloneandifImakeithewilldomyjobforaweek.”
Felix bursts out laughing. Changbin is very, very confused right now and his heart is beating like crazy. Why is his heart beating like crazy? Probably because he was startled by the sudden appearance of Felix. Or because Felix is really, really close to him right now. And he’s really cute. The boy is a little taller than him, Changbin notices, before Felix speaks again.
”Okay, well, surprise, there is quite a lot of things in these woods.”
”I- i can see that.” Changbin says, heart rate still at max. His brain can’t keep up with all this. Why on earth was there a boy in the woods alone? And why did he have flowers in his hair? And why wasn’t he wearing any shoes? Changbin decides that Felix was bullshitting. About the fairy ring thing. The boy himself had stepped in to the ring and nothing had happened. And the glow was just moonlight illuminating from the mushrooms. Yeah. That’s gotta be it. Felix was still ethereal, though.
”What?” Felix asks, kind of surprised.
”What?” Changbin mimics confused.
”What?” Felix raises a questioning eyebrow.
”What what?” Changbin also quirks his eyebrow.
”What did you say?”
”About wha-” and then he mentally curses himself. He had said Felix looked ethereal. Outloud. Why on earth was he so out of himself and not in control and what the hell was happening?
”Oh nothing.”
”You said I look ethereal.”
”Well, I- yes. You have flowers in your hair and the moon is practically shining from your skin, you fit the word ethereal quite well.”
”Oh. Thank you.” And awkward silence returns.
Changbin takes a step back, his legs finally obeying him.
”I should probably go”, he says. Felix looks at him, slightly disappointed.
”What makes you think I’ll let you go?” Once again Changbin is startled.
”What do you mean let go?”
”You have no idea where you are, do you?” Felix simply says, and Changbin is getting a little scared. Surely this moonlight boy won’t do anything to him. He’s pretty but not in a deadly way. Felix looks around a little bit, before taking a couple of steps to Changbin. He takes the boy’s hand in his own, and starts to walk deeper to the forest. Changbin tries to refuse, but ends up following the flower boy. Why is he following the flower boy? He glances around him. The forest is completely dark. He looks to the left, then to the right, and he swears he sees a pair of eyes in the dark. Changbin sucks in a breath and stumbles but Felix is there to catch him.
”Don’t worry, they won’t kill you, you’re with me.” What? Kill? They? The hell? Not very comforting. Felix’s hand is very smooth and warm, and Changbin just stares for a while at their interwined fingers. This is so odd. Changbin still doesn’t quite grasp the reality of the situation.
Suddenly the pair steps out of the woods to the larger jogging path. Felix lets go of Changbin’s hand and the latter spins around. The other shortcut wasn’t there. It was just forest, they didn’t pass it. What the hell?
”Told you, you have no idea where you were”, Felix says with a mischievous grin on his lips. He’s right. Changbin isn’t even sure at what part of the jogging trail they’re at right now.
”The end is around that turn. I’m pretty sure your friends are quite anxious already.” Oh. Yeah. It must have been a while.
”What time is it?” Changbin asks Felix, completely forgotten that he actually has a phone with him.
”I don’t know. Time is just an illusion.” Felix answers bluntly and Changbin can’t help but raise his eyebrows at him. Felix is right, actually, but Changbin isn’t in the mood to get philosophical with this… odd one. The moonlight boy chuckles again. Suddenly small lights erupt from the nearby bush. No, not lights. Fireflies. They dance around Felix and Changbin for a while, before a couple of them land on Felix’s hair. Changbin has never seen fireflies up close, and now they’re landing on the moonlight boy’s hair, illuminating his face a little. It’s like they know Felix won’t hurt them or something. The moment is kind of magical.
”Wow.” Changbin whispers and Felix smiles at him. It’s the most beautiful thing Changbin has ever seen. Well, Felix is the most beautiful thing he has ever seen, he can’t even lie. He’s enchanting, almost divine.
”Well, see you I guess, cutie?” Felix asks, with a sad smile. It’s clear he doesn’t want to let Changbin go, and the other boy can’t really wrap his head around as to why.
”Yeah… see you...” Changbin mutters, before Felix turns around and starts to walk back in to the forest. Changbin almost turns around, too, before he freezes for the nth time of the night. The boy’s ears. They’re pointy. And he’s still glowing, and the fireflies are following him, and he’s wearing white yet there isn’t even the slightest dirt on him. And his ears are pointy. Ears aren’t normally pointy. What the hell?
”It’s Changbin, by the way!” he shouts after Felix when the boy disappears back in to the woods. Suddenly the forest seems a lot hateful and darker now that Felix is gone, and quickly Changbin turns around and jogs to the end of the trail.
Right after he runs out of the forest, someone tackles him from the left.
”OhmygodohmygodohmygodIthoughtyoudiedthankgodyourealive.” It’s Hyunjin, basically crushing Changbin in his embrace.
”Geddoffme.” Changbin pushes the younger boy off of him.
”What the hell took you so long, man?” Seungmin asks, worry in his voice.
”What do you mean? I was there like an hour?” The two his friends look at each other weirdly, then at Changbin.
”You were there like for four hours. Did you fall asleep or something?”
”No?” Four hours. What the actual fuck. How on earth did he spend four hours in there? He and Felix were together for like half an hour, no way he had spent four hours in the forest.
”Whatever, man, let’s go. You won.” Hyunjin says, clearly defeated. Changbin grins at the boy and jokingly elbows him in the stomach. Not too hard, but in a friendly way. The trio starts to walk away from the forest, back to the town which light pollution isn’t enough to keep the stars from shining. Changbin turns around, just to take a last glance at the forest.
And he swears he sees a figure there, glowing, but he’s too far away to make sure, and as soon as he turns completely around, the figure has disappeared. Changbin hopes it wasn’t just his own imagination.
”What?” Hyunjin and Seungmin have stopped aswell.
”Nothing.” Changbin shakes his head, turns around and continues walking. ”Let’s just go.”
That night he searches up everything about faeries.
~*~
A couple of days pass. Changbin can’t get Felix out of his head. He keeps thinking about the fireflies and flowers in his hair, the freckles on his face and the way he had smiled at Changbin. They didn’t even have that much of a conversation, yet Changbin keeps on thinking the way the boy’s face didn’t fit his voice and the way he had made himself a complete idiot in front of the other. This wasn’t like him at all. Usually he had this cold, unbreakable and unreadable facade, which had just completely vanished when the moonlight boy had spoken to him.
See you soon, Felix had said. When was soon? Changbin was anxious. He wanted to meet the boy again. He wanted to ask him some… questions. Like why wasn’t he wearing any shoes and why were his ears pointy. And about the fairy ring. Yeah, he had googled it all, but he just didn’t want to believe it. No way fae and elves and other shit like that could exist. But when was soon?
Changbin had been strolling down the town now that he had his days off. He tried to look for Felix, you know, maybe he was just some boy from the town and had moved in last year since Changbin couldn’t remember him from school. But he got nothing. No sign of the flower boy. He had even asked his cousin if he had ever seen someone with orange hair and freckles on his face, but his cousin either couldn’t remember or Felix just wasn’t from around.
He would have to go into the forest again, if he wanted to see Felix. Or that’s what he thinks, at least. It’d be worth a shot, though, wouldn’t it? There isnt’t much else he can do, except enter the woods once again and try to find Felix. He has to find him. Changbin doesn’t know why, but he knows he can’t get the boy out of his mind if he doesn’t meet him again. And somehow, he just… wants to get to know him better. Usually people are quite wary and shy around Changbin (mostly because of the bored bitchface he has), but Felix hadn’t been like that at all. He even had had the guts to call Changbin dumb (and maybe, Changbin wanted to take a little revenge and a reason to call Felix dumb back).
And now, here he is. At the edge of the forest once again. It feels like the forest is staring back at him. He’s alone again, Hyunjin was doing Changbin’s job for him, just as he had promised and Seungmin was probably at the library reading something. Changbin steps inside the forest. He listens to all the sounds around him. Last time, when Felix appeared, the birds were silent, and it was like the forest had held it’s breath. Changbin couldn’t understand, how that happened or why, but he wanted to find out. The woods were alive now, and there was all kinds of sounds surrounding him.
He passes the same sign as the last time. Behind the curve is the shortcut. The same shortcut that he had walked multiple times. And there isn’t any small trails before that trail, so what on earth was going on? Changbin walks past the pathway, turns around another curve on the jogging trail. Yeah, no, it was the same shortcut he had used a couple of days back as he usually did. So why the hell did he end up getting lost?
Changbin walks back, hands deep in his pockets. This time he’s wearing just a t-shirt, no hoodie. It’s a really warm day, and Changbin is glad the air in the woods isn’t as hot as in the valley. The shadows keep the temperature pleasant. He steps on the shortcut, keeps an eye on his surroundings all the time. He makes sure his mind isn’t wandering like the last time. And he ends up in his usual spot. There is the erratic, and there is the pond, and the blueberries, and the path turns to the right direction. What… what? Just what? Changbin walks around the curve, and is left empty-handed. The path remains the same as it has always been. He returns to the place he had last time wandered off. What if he wanders off now? What if the whole point was to get lost? Changbin sighs, a battle going on inside his mind. First of all, what the hell was he doing? Second of all, he could actually get lost and end up being dead in a ditch or something. Third of all, what even were the odds Felix would appear once again when Changbin got lost? Logically thinking, zero. But Changbin still steps out of the trail. Is he completely out of his mind? Yes, but he is also really desperate.
He ends up in the original fucking trail. And he is going to lose his mind very soon. He kind of wants to just flop down and wait for Felix to find him, but he’s pretty sure that’s not how this works. So instead he just turns around and wanders back to the same location. And then back to the trail. And he’s really losing all his hope at this point. He’s been wandering in the forest for a couple of hours now. He still has plenty of time before the sun sets, but he’s tired.
So he makes a really bad decision and just wanders off of the jogging trail in to the complete opposite direction of which he usually goes. Now the forest loses all it’s familiarity, but Changbin keeps on walking. He finds a small path, created probably by some deers and other forest creatures, and he continues. And then he steps off the path again, spins a couple of times, hopeless. He sits down on some rock and sighs, staring at the ground. He is really fucking dumb. Who the hell wanders in a huge and unfamiliar forest alone because of some boy that shines like the moon? Changbin, apparently. He runs a hand through his dark hair. What if he had just imagined everything? What if he had accidentally stepped on some poisonous mushrooms and they had emitted some gas and Changbin had hallucinated everything? That would make so much more sense.
Changbin lifts his gaze up and almost falls off of the rock. The forest around him looks… odd. And he feels weird. Like he’s being watched. Changbin stands up, takes a couple of steps, before he spots it. A circle of mushrooms, again. A fairy ring. Changbin doesn’t even think before he acts, almost runs to the circle, but stops just before it. He looks around. No one, absolutely no one in sight. He takes a step forward, a leg almost in the circle an-
”You could have just called me by my name, you know.” And there is a hand pulling Changbin back, out of the circle before he gets to step in.
”Why are you so suicidial anyway?” Changbin spins around, and there he is. Felix. Looking even more breathtaking than the last time. Today’s main color is apparently yellow, because all the flowers in his hair are yellow and his shirt is yellow, made from something a little sheer. And it looks holographic in the sunlight.
”I- i couldn’t find you.” Changbin mumbles. Felix smiles sweetly at him, still not letting go of his hand.
”Cute. But still no need to run into a certain death, dumbass”, Felix laughs. Changbin smiles. If being dumb meant Felix would smile at him, then Changbin was going to be the biggest clown ever. His eyes wander around the moonlight boy’s face, except that now Felix isn’t radiating moonlight, it’s clearly sunlight. And the ears. They’re still pointy, so Changbin didn’t just imagine them.
”C’mon, I want to show you something”, Felix says and turns around, still hand wrapped around Changbin’s wrist. Changbin looks at the hand, smiles to himself and follows Felix (his heartbeat is again at max and his hands are getting clammy and he doesn’t know what to do with himself and oh dear lord Felix is beautiful and why is he following him nothing makes sense anymore but oh my god he is beautiful).
After a while of walking (aka Felix pulling Changbin behind him because Changbin can’t keep up with Felix’s pace and he keeps on stumbling to every single rock and log and dip) they arrive to a small pond. At this point Changbin has no idea of his whereabouts but he trusts Felix not to drown him or something. The pond is, well, straight from a freaking fairy tale. A huge oak grows next to the pool, forming a pleasant shadow over it. The water is clear, probably coming from an underground spring. Some water lilies float on the surface of the water with some other plants which names Changbin can’t specify. Soft grass area surrounds the pond, and the whole area basks in sunlight. Felix included. He lets go of Changbin’s hand and sits down on the grass, patting the place beside him. Changbin follows and sits down next to Felix, knees almost touching. There is a silence between them, but unlike last time, it’s not awkward. Changbin is the first to open his mouth.
”What do you mean I was running to a certain death.” Felix glances at him before snorting.
”You can’t be that clueless. Surely your grandma told you about fairy rings and where they lead you to.” She did indeed, Changbin just didn’t want to believe it. The thought of fairy rings was so surreal. The tale tells that fairy rings are actually fairy graves. When a faerie dies, it is buried usually next to a tree, and a ring of mushrooms or flowers appear around it. Now, if someone not from the fae family steps inside that ring, they are taken to the faerie realm and, well, the rest depends on the storyteller. Some say you’re lost forever in the woods, some say the faeries kill you because they’re pissed at you occupying their space. Some say you become a faerie yourself. But apparently the killing part was the truth, if Changbin was to believe Felix. He shudders at the thought.
”Aren’t faeries supposed to be tiny and cute and mischievous creatures?” Changbin asks, with a slightly teasing tone. Felix looks at him, almost shocked before bursting out in that heartfelt laugh of his. Butterflies fly around the pond and Changbin’s stomach.
”No, they’re pixies. Faeries are almost like elves, but we don’t live as long and we aren’t as graceful or poweful.” Wait, Felix said we. As in, Felix and his, what, family? So, Felix is a faerie? A goddamn faerie, and Changbin wants to throw himself into the pond and yell.
”Pixies are part of the fae family and we do share a lot in common. They’re basically just tiny versions of faeries and they have wings.” Felix continues, completely ignoring the fact that Changbin is once again staring at him dumbfounded.
”So yes, we are cute and mischievous but not tiny. And we can’t fly.” The faerie boy turns to look at Changbin with a smile streched across his lips. That smile, oh my lord, Changbin thinks. Felix has a habit of scrunching his nose just a tiny bit when he smiles. And his eyes twinkle like little stars. And Changbin swears Felix’s skin also shines against the sunlight. What did people say about fairy dust again?
”So. You are. A faerie.” Changbin says, more to himself than to Felix.
”Yes.”
”But… but why, why are you here?” Changbin almost asks why Felix hasn’t killed him (yet), but decides not to. Maybe that is his plan? No, no it couldn’t. Felix was sunshine in a form of a huma-, no, a faerie, and he wouldn’t kill Changbin.
”Well, you wandered into my trap and and I thought you were cute.” Changbin furrows his eyebrows.
”A trap?” And Felix thinks he’s cute. Cute? Really? If someone was being cute, it surely wasn’t Changbin.
”Yeah, you know. When you were on the right path but everything looked different and wrong. And then you wandered off the trail and found the fairy ring.” Oh. Well that explained everything, like why Changbin couldn’t find his way out and the other trail and… wow.
”And earlier you got into another trap. When you were sitting on that rock, and suddenly you felt like something was wrong?”
”That was your doing?”
”Yup.”
”...Do people fall into these traps often?”
”Does the sign on the jogging trail say something about not stepping out of the trail?”
”So, yes?”
”Not as much as before, but quite often. We tend to let them go after playing with them for a while nowadays. The disappearings bring too much attention and then the whole forest is full of people. We just want to live our lives in peace, but you know, mischievous nature.” And then Felix has the audacity to wink at Changbin. Something stirs inside him.
”And what does ’playing’ mean?” He asks, curious. What if, what if he isn’t the first boy Felix has lured into his trap?
”Depends. Some actually interact with people, and some just scare them. And some just stalk and mess with their heads.”
”Oh. So… you meet a lot of people?” Is that a hint of envy Changbin’s feeling?
”Are you jealous?”
”Stop answering my questions with questions.”
”Yes you are. And for the record, you’re the first one I have ever actually had a conversation with. Usually they just scream and run away when they see me.” Who the hell would run away from Felix? He didn’t look the least bit scary. Anyway, Changbin is quite proud that he is the first one. It makes him feel kind of… special. Not that he would ever admit it to Felix. The boy has an irking tendency to read every single thing from Changbin’s face. He was good at controlling himself, so why did Felix just see through him? Maybe it was some faerie power shit.
”Don’t look so smug. If it wasn’t for your cute face, I would have just left you in the trap.”
”I’m not cute. And you wouldn’t have.”
”Not true and true. You’re way too interesting.”
It takes every ounce of Changbin’s willpower not to blush. Praises about his, well personality, have so much more effect on him than praises about his looks. And Felix had just hit the soft spot.
”Why are you so straightforward?” Changbin asks, trying to keep himself cool and calm. No, Felix’s words didnt’t affect him at all. Just some cute faerieflowerboy with the whole sun on his face calling him cute and interesting. No effect. At all.
”Faeries can’t lie.” And that’s it, Changbin blushes. He looks away, tries to hide the pink on his cheeks, but he knows Felix sees it. The boy giggles (and it kinda sounds like chimes in the wind).
They sit on the grass throughout the whole day. Changbin learns a lot about Felix. He has a family and a fearie friend called Jeongin. He loves flowers, especially wood anemones and chickweed wintergreens. His clothes never get dirty. And he’s pretty much the complete opposite of Changbin. He sees beauty in everything, he laughs at everything even slightly funny, and when he laughs, he laughs straight from the heart. He loves animals, and he can mimic a mosquito. He loves the stars. He loves books and art. (”Do you read like… our books?” ”Yeah don’t think all faeries live in the forest closed off from everything, plenty of us live in cities.”) He would like one day to move to a big city, but his parents won’t let him. They just say he’s better in their own little village. He’s quite sassy, and funny, and enthralling, and everything Changbin adores in a person. He’s curious about everything and wants to learn especially about the universe and outer space. Changbin just wants to learn everything about Felix.
The sun starts to set, unfortunately, and Felix stands up, pulling Changbin with him. Changbin doesn’t want to go yet, but he knows he has to. Felix reaches out to sweep Changbin’s bangs away from covering his eyes. Changbin hates it when someone touches his hair, but he lets Felix do it anyway. He would let Felix do anything at this point, to be honest.
”Your eyes are enchanting with sunset in them.” And there Felix goes again and Changbin flushes deep red. Why is he acting like a goddamn schoolgirl and why can’t Felix keep his goddamn mouth shut for one second and why does he keep blushing at the other’s words all the time?
”Thanks.” Changbin mumbles, taking a small step back. He’s still holding Felix’s other hand. He has a small golden ring around his index finger.
”See you again, I hope?” Felix asks, that little smile on his lips again.
”Yeah, see you.” Changbin answers, smiling too. He lets go of Felix’s hand just to watch as the flowerboy turns around and walks to the oak tree. Felix turns around once to wave at Changbin, and then he’s… gone. He just vanishes in a blink of an eye, and suddenly the odd feeling Changbin has had the whole day disappears and the forest doesn’t look wrong anymore. He was released from the fairy trap, now Changbin knows it.
~*~
They meet the next day, this time Changbin doesn’t have to find himself a faerie ring. They hang out at the same small pond, talk about things, get to know each other better. This time Felix learns that Changbin’s passion is music, and he’s very curious about it. He begs Changbin to show him some of his work, but Changbin refuses and gets a little shy. Well, he’s been shy the whole time but somehow Felix’s presence is very comforting and he’s able to coax the older boy out of his shell easily. Yeah, Changbin also learns that Felix is younger than him by a year. And fawns are his utmost favorite creatures on earth.
~*~
They start to meet almost every day. Changbin runs to the forest after work (his friends are questioning him about his little trips, Hyunjin a little more nervous than Seungmin, but Changbin just shrugs them off), and there Felix is waiting for him. Changbin can’t help it, but he’s falling for the flower boy before he even realizes it. And when he does, he tries not to go to the forest for a whole day, only to end up spending the whole night in there with the flowerboy (it’s quite scary, but the fireflies light their little stroll and Felix’s hand is comforting around Changbin’s own). Changbin knows he shouldn’t fall for Felix. He’s a faerie. And way too out of his league. And way too… everything compared to Changbin. But still, he finds himself fancying every single little detail of Felix from the primroses on top of his head to his toes curled against the soft moss bed. Inside and out. He’s perfect in the way that Changbin can’t still quite wrap his head around. Suddenly every single sappy love song in the world make perfect sense to him.
~*~
Changbin is laying on the soft grass mat, eyes closed, listening to the sounds of the forest. Sunlight caresses his skin, strokes it with sweetness. He’s slowly dozing off, the peaceful atmosphere lulling him into sleep. Felix is laying next to him, even more dozed off. They are actually drying their clothes in the sun. Felix had decided it was a perfect weather for a quick swim, and basically pushed Changbin in to the lake with his clothes on and followed after him. Never ever walk with Felix on the coastline at the water’s side, a mental note for Changbin. It was fun, though. They had splashed around like little children, pushed each other and laughed their hearts out. They had also accidentally scared some deer and Felix had been upset, naturally, so Changbin had had to comfort him. Aka he had hugged the flower boy and now he didn’t know whether to hide forever from Felix or continue like nothing happened.
”I’m bored.” Felix mumbles. Changbin is just about to fall asleep, barely in the border of dreamland and being awake.
”You’re cute.” Felix mumbles again.
”Hmmhm?” Changbin simply murmurs, groggy. He doesn’t actually hear what the other is saying.
”I talked to the moon yesterday.”
”Mhmm?”
”She said she admires you from the sky.”
”Mhmm.”
”You’re not listening to me, Binnie.” The nickname finally wakes him up from his doze.
”What?” Voice hoarse, Changbin opens his eyes and looks at Felix, who is surprisingly close to him and staring back with his starry eyes. He hates nicknames with vigor.
”Bin. I’m gonna call you that.”
”Fine. Then I’ll call you Lix.”
”Deal.”
”Deal.”
~*~
It’s a sunny afternoon. Changbin is sitting underneath an old linden tree in the lake brim on the forest side. He can see the town from his place, it’s about a couple of hundred yards from where he’s sitting, but far enough to not attract any other people. He has his headphones on, Chan had sent him the beat of their new track the same morning and now Changbin was writing lyrics. The beat’s powerful, as usual. Yet all Changbin can think for the lyrics are stupid love clichés. He sighs at the notebook laying on his lap and bites the butt of his pen, completely occupied by his own thoughts. He doesn’t notice Felix until he flops down next to him and steals the other earbud.
”Hey!” Changbin tries to snatch it back, since the song playing isn’t the beat anymore and it’s actually one already recorded. He fails, and Felix puts the earbud in his own ear, grin on his lips. Changbin watches fascination wash over the flowerboy’s pretty features. And then comes the part where Changbin raps and he is so ready to pull the bud out of Felix’s ear, but apparently Felix is one step ahead of him and grabs Changbin’s wrist. Now he can’t snatch the earbud back.
”Is this you?” Felix asks, grinning.
”No.” Changbin answers, tries to look anywhere but Felix’s face.
”Yes it is. Wow.” Wow? What does he mean wow?
”You’re good.” The compliments still make Changbin feel a little shy, even though Felix showers him with them almost every day. The song ends and Felix gives the bud back to Changbin, before snatching the notepad from his lap. The older doesn’t even try to pry it away anymore, whatever, it’s just a few lines of lyrics anyway.
”New song?” Felix asks, reading the notes, flipping a few pages.
”Yeah.” Changbin says, switching the song back to the original beat from his phone. Soon Felix gives the notebook back to Changbin, who places it back to his lap. The flowerboy pulls a book from his brown satchel. It’s one of Tolkien’s books. They’re Felix’s favorite. Because they have poetry and elves in them, Felix had explained a while back. The boy could probably cite all the poems in the trilogy and other Tolkien’s books. Felix snuggles near Changbin, shoulders and thighs touching, before he dives into the moors of Middle Earth. Changbin turns back to his notebook, trying hard not to come up with even more sappy lyrics. A comfortable silence falls between the two.
Changbin is deep in his thoughts, mind and eyes wandering. He doesn’t even realize it immediately, but he’s staring at Felix. However, the other boy is so occupied by his book he doesn’t notice Changbin ogling him. Felix is simply gorgeous. Today’s color is baby blue and he has blue anemones and harebells tangled in his hair. They contrast his sunkissed skin breathtakingly. His freckles are now even more intense than when they had met, sun has clearly done it’s job. Once, a couple of weeks back they had talked about the universe on a rainy afternoon and Changbin had ventured and asked Felix why he was so in love with the thought of the universe when he had a whole galaxy on his face. Felix had blushed and told Changbin to stop it. That was so far the only blush he had got out of the flowerboy. Changbins gaze moves from the little constellations to Felix’s nose, then to his plump lips that are always cherry red. Some faerie magic right there, probably. And then back to his eyes. God, he’s just so beautiful. Divine.
Suddenly Felix turns to face Changbin and the older quickly returns back to stare at the almost empty sheet on his lap. His face and tips of his ears are burning. Why did he have to stare at him like that? Changbin doesn’t notice the small smile on Felix when the younger turns back to his book. The silence continues, only noises being the birds. Changbin finally gets ahold of his inspiration, he knows exactly what to write. He falls into a sort of flow-state, doesn’t really notice his surroundings anymore when he writes. Usually when making lyrics, he quietly raps them to the beat to make sure they fit, but now he doesn’t dare, not when Felix is reading next to him.
Completely out of the blue, he feels something brush against his cheek. He turns to Felix, who’s already back at his book, a slight tint of pink on the apples of his cheeks. Changbin looks at his notebook, then at Felix, then at the notebook again and then he actually realizes what just happened. Felix had kissed him on the cheek. What else could he have done, blushing and all that jazz. Changbin doesn’t know what do with himself once again, he just fidgets with his pen and chews his lip and his mind is racing. There are probably a hundred butteflies in the depth of his guts. He has to brave himself right now. All the lovesongs always talk about some right moments, and this was it, Changbin knows it. He can’t just let it pass. So with his other hand he reaches Felix’s chin, gently turns the boy’s face towards him. Felix looks surprised. And then Changbin presses their lips together.
Felix’s lips are just as soft as they look like. Changbin’s head is spinning, he closes his eyes, he forgets how to breathe, and all he can feel is Felix. Felix. Felix. Felix. He notices, somewhere on the back of his mind that Felix tangles one of his hands in his hair and answers to the kiss. It’s soft, it’s small and experimenting, but there’s every word they have left unsaid. All the ”I really like you”s and ”I would fetch the moon for you”s. Changbin is the first one to pull back to catch some air, he’s blushing wildly. Felix is smiling, and blushing too. It’s not a small smile, his pearl whites are showing and his eyes narrow to tiny crescents. The flowerboy’s hand is still in Changbin’s hair, and just when the older is about to say something, Felix pulls Changbin to another kiss. It’s a little more demanding and daring than last time. The faerieboy abandons the book, lets it fall on the grass as he climbs on Changbin’s lap, who has just the time to discard his notebook somewhere beside him. Changbin wraps his other hand around Felix’s waist, other one still on his chin. Felix’s hands are on Changbin’s shoulders now, sliding down to his upper arms. The kiss breaks, only for the time to both of them to catch their breaths, and then they’re back. Butterflies have turned to fireworks inside Changbin. Felix smells like magnolias. The last kiss lasts the longest, it’s not fumbling anymore. It’s certain, both of them know exactly how they feel, and that the other one feels the same way too.
The kiss breaks to a smile. Felix presses their foreheads together, eyes still closed. He giggles. Changbin is smiling too, from ear to ear, happiness blooming inside him. He lowers his other hand and wraps it also around Felix’s waist, bringing the flowerboy a little closer.
”I thought you would never do that.” Felix says, giddiness laced in his voice. It’s such a Felix thing to say in this kind of situation.
”I thought so too.” And that’s the truth. Changbin couldn’t really believe he actually had the guts to do that. But he’s more than glad he did. Felix nuzzles his nose to Changbin’s neck, hiding his smile. The sun is setting. There they sit, in a peaceful silence, listening to the nature and their breathing, Felix on Changbin’s lap, wrapped in each others warm embrace. The water of the lake is rippling, birds are singing their last songs of the day. Felix raises his head and pecks Changbin on the lips once more.
”Your eyes are still enchanting with sunset in them.” The faerie whispers.
”Your eyes are always enchanting.” Changbin whispers back.
Changbin has finally chosen his favorite flower. It’s magnolia.