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Jeno wasn't sure how to feel about his current task. He had been told by Princess Zelda that he had to guard the Kokiri Village and he just didn't understand why he had been picked out of all the guards at the castle. He felt slightly nervous as he approached the village's entrance, a voice above him yelling abruptly for him to stop.
“Stop! Who are you?” Jeno looked up startled, trying to figure out who or what the voice was coming from. He saw an owl sitting on a branch glaring at him and he could safely assume that this was what was yelling at him, “Beings other than Kokiri are not allowed into this forest.”
“I have orders from Princess Zelda saying that I have to be here.” Jeno reasoned. Pulling a letter out from his bag.
“I simply can not let anyone in who could potentially be a threat to the Kokiri people.”
“I am here to guard their village.”
“I suppose I have no choice than to let you in as you have orders from the princess; this does not mean I trust you though human.” the owl said, scowling at him before leading him into the village.
Jeno was greeted by homes made of nothing but trees when he walked inside. This village was small and very underdeveloped compared to the castle, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. There was an air of innocence and purity to the village, it was obvious that the Kokiri has never faced very troubling hardships.
The owl yelled loudly that there was a visitor which resulted in the small Kokiri sticking their heads out of their homes to see what was going on before hurrying over to the human, large eyes staring up at him in amusement as Jeno found himself surrounded by eight adorable Kokiri, each one with pointy ears like a Hylian and standing at various heights; the shortest once was a boy with bright red hair who only reached Jeno's waist and the tallest was a boy with pink hair who barely reached Jeno's shoulder.
“Why are you here?” asked a Kokiri with bright red hair, all eight of them staring up at him with looks of confusion.
“I was sent by Princess Zelda to protect your village.” Jeno explained simply, watching their confusion only grow.
“Princess Zelda has never protected us before, why would she choose now to start?” the boy with pink hair questioned, standing with his hands on his hips as the other Kokiri began to sit down as if they were ready to have a book read to them.
“I'm assuming that you all have noticed that Link hasn't come around in a while, well he'll most likely never be coming back.” Jeno started, watching their eyes grow wide.
“Is Link dead?” a Kokiri with black hair asked, the rest of them concerned and scared.
“No, thankfully Link isn't dead, but he won't be able to protect this village anymore.” Jeno's words left the Kokiri in a state of confusion once again as he continued, “as you all have probably heard from Link's stories, the Zora Kingdom and Hyrule haven't exactly been on the best terms with each other lately. The fighting became too excessive and Hyrule called for a peace treaty in which the agreement was that they would stop fighting under the condition that Link was to be married to Prince Sidon. Everyone assumed that they would eventually grow to hate each other and divorce but the complete opposite happened and they grew to really care about each other instead, meaning Link will most likely never return.”
“I don't understand why that means that we need a guard from the castle, no monsters come in here anyway.” the pink haired one spoke up again, crossing his arms.
“The good news is that because of Link and Prince Sidon's marriage, the Zora people won't bother you or any of central Hyrule anymore. The bad news is that since Link isn't here to protect you anymore wild monsters will see your village as an easy target.”
“He has a good point.” another Kokiri spoke, looking nervous to even say anything.
“God Jaemin, just shut up you don't even know what you're talking about.” one of the others snapped, causing the Kokiri who's name seemed to be Jaemin, to cower back. “We don't need help from any Hylian other than Link.”
The Kokiri bickered amongst themselves for a few moments, Jeno sighing and plopping himself on the ground to rest his aching feet as they argued.
“Who do you think you are to come in here and change our way of living anyway?” asked the shortest of the bunch, glaring at the human from where he sat.
“I'm not trying to govern you guys or something, I'm a guard, nothing more and nothing less. I'm simply here to protect all of you, Princess Zelda has told me that your people are very peaceful and innocent and I will respect that.”
The group of Kokiri's eyes immediately softened. They still didn't fully trust the human but they finally decided to give in at his kind words and just give him a chance.
“Fine, we'll give you a chance, our houses aren't exactly big enough for a Hylian your size so you'll have to sleep outside until we're able to build something bigger for you. Unless you want to walk all the way back to the castle everyday.” The pink haired one said, slight traces of anger still left in his voice.
They all quickly introduced themselves and Jeno knew it would take him a while to remember all of their names. The three with blonde hair were Mark, Chen Le, and Jisung (the youngest). The one with black hair was named Jungwoo and the pink haired one was Sicheng. The brown haired Kokiri was Haechan and the red haired one was Renjun, the shortest of the bunch.
“Jaemin, you can show him around since you seem to like him so much.” Sicheng huffed, standing up and walking away as the other Kokiris followed and went to continue their daily activities.
“I'm sorry for their behavior, they've been on edge lately ever since Link went missing.” Jaemin said softly as they started their walk, there wasn't a whole lot to give a tour of when it was so small and every building and pathway had a sign.
“The princess and the king himself are very concerned for your people and only wish for your protection on behalf of Link.” Jeno explained, understanding why the Kokiri were worried.
“Sicheng doesn't think a whole lot about our safety, only his own pride,” Jaemin started, sighing quietly, “none of the other Kokiri will admit it but we're an endangered species, the eight of us you just saw are the only eight left, we can't reproduce so once the Deku Tree dies we're gone forever.” Jaemin's face fell at his own words, looking about ready to start crying.
“So that's why Zelda was so concerned...” Jeno mumbled, looking down at the upset Kokiri.
“Link wasn't even a Kokiri, he was a Hylian, but he was raised here and still protected us despite not actually being a Kokiri.” Jaemin suddenly stopped walking and stared up at the human with tear filled eyes, “Please, I know that most of the other Kokiri don't want you here but we need you to protect us... I don't want to die.”
Jaemin had tears running down his cheeks. The second Jeno saw this he crouched down and pulled the small boy into his arms, letting him cry there in hopes of providing some form of comfort, “I promise I won't let anything happen to you or the other Kokiri. Everything will be okay.”
Jaemin wiped his cheeks and eyes with his fist and pulled away from the human, “Pinky promise?” he asked innocently, holding his small fist up with his pinky extended out.
“Pinky promise.” Jeno replied with a warm smile, wrapping his pinky around Jaemin's much smaller one.
“You never told us your name Mr. Hylian.” Jaemin commented with a huff, looking up at him with wide eyes.
“My name's Jeno, I'm 18.” he replied simply as they continued their walk around the forest, “How old are you? None of you seem any older than 14 or 15.”
“I'm 17, Jisung's the youngest and he's 16, Sicheng's the oldest, he's 21.”
“Well, people definitely aren't wrong when they say that Kokiri are eternal children.” Jeno replied, smiling down at the boy who he would have never guessed was only one year younger than himself.
“That saying used to apply to more than just our appearances, we used to be protected from everything by the Great Deku Tree, we didn't know about anything going on outside of the forest but when the kingdoms started to become tense with each other and fights started breaking out Link and the Great Deku Tree started to teach us the history of Hyrule as well as everything going on outside. Our people definitely aren't as innocent and sheltered as we once were.” Jaemin said while plopping himself down in a patch of flowers, a smile on his face as Jeno followed.
“Is that why I was allowed in despite outsiders not being let in before? Because there's nothing to hide from the Kokiri anymore in terms of information about the world?” Jeno questioned as the Kokiri started to tie flowers together in a circular shape, nodding his head to say yes as he did so.
“The only other Hylian that has ever been allowed in here aside from you was Link since he lived by the same morals we do, despite being a Hylian.” Jaemin said as he finished the first flower crown by tying a knot with the stems of the flowers before placing it on his own head (which Jeno found adorable) and starting on a second one.
“I'm not a Hylian, I'm a human.” Jeno said, smiling softly as the Kokiri paused, face red as he uncrossed his legs and stood on his knees to tuck the elder's black hair behind his ear, finding that he in fact, did not have pointy ears which was really the only thing other than height setting Hylians apart from humans.
“Oh... I'm sorry, I'm a bit slow, that's why the other Kokiri don't really trust my judgment, they say I'm too dumb to even know what I'm talking about.” Jaemin said with a slightly upset expression as he placed the second flower crown on top of Jeno's head.
“I don't think you're dumb, from what I've heard you're actually very well spoken and smart. It just takes you a bit longer to figure things out.” Jeno replied with a smile as Jaemin blushed at the praise.
“Can I sit on your lap? It looks comfy.” Jaemin asked, his eyes sparkly as he waited for Jeno to answer him. The second Jeno nodded his head Jaemin was sitting on one of his thighs, cuddled against his broad chest. “Are all humans this tall?”
“No, I'm a bit taller than most, there are still some taller than me though.” Jeno answered, smiling at the adorable boy on his lap.
“Really?” Jaemin asked, looking at the human with those wide curious eyes again, “That's so cool! You're my favorite human.”
“I'm the only human you know, though.” Jeno replied with a chuckle, finding the Kokiri's amazement cute.
“Well that just makes you more qualified to be my favorite. I like you a lot better than some of the Kokiri here, that's for sure. They don't even let me make them flower crowns.” Jaemin pouted as he crossed his arms and leaned against the arm that was wrapped around his waist.
“Jaemin! Stop cuddling with the Hylian and come help at the shop.” Sicheng said as he walked up to the two sitting in the patch of flowers.
“He's not a Hylian, he's a human.” Jaemin stated, sitting up and pushing the elder's hair back to show off his ears, “See, they aren't pointed.”
“That's not important right now, just go to the shop.” Sicheng practically ordered, watching as the younger Kokiri whined and got off of Jeno's lap, pressing a kiss to the top of his head and waving goodbye before leaving. “You should probably switch between guarding the entrance to the Deku Tree and the one to Hyrule Field since monsters come out of both every so of. Definitely spend more guarding the field entrance though.”
“So are you like... their leader or something?” Jeno asked as he stood up, following Sicheng to the entrance to Hyrule Field.
“Not exactly, I'm just the oldest and since none of us have parents or anything someone has to be responsible around here. With Link gone my job is going to be even more difficult.” Sicheng answered as they stopped in front of the large log leading out of the forest, “Just stand guard right here for a while, I would suggest going over to the Deku Tree entrance if you see anything suspicious.”
Jeno nodded in understanding, moving to stand to the side of the entrance so he could see the Deku Tree entrance but could still hear if something were to come in next to him. Sicheng left with a smile, being the only Kokiri other than Jaemin who had shown him any hospitality. He let out a sigh and leaned against the log, knowing it would be a long day.
~
Not many monsters came in throughout the day, mainly just wolves and keese, other than that the day was relatively calm. Every so of he would look up and see Jaemin doing something outside of the shop, staring at him from a distance.
Jeno noticed Jaemin walking towards him and looked up at him in confusion, “Shouldn't you be working?” Jeno asked, smiling at the small boy.
“I just got off, I get the rest of the night to myself.” Jaemin said with a wide smile.
“Just come by to say hi then?” Jeno asked, smiling as sat against the log they used as an entrance in boredom. He made a mental note to bring some books back with him next time he went back to the castle to give updates to the princess.
“No, I wanted to sit with you, you look awfully lonely out here.” Jaemin said as he plopped himself down on Jeno's lap.
“It's been a bit lonely but I've enjoyed observing your village, it's interesting how different your people are, especially considering the fact that the furthest I've ever been out of the castle was to Lon Lon Ranch and that was only last week.” Jeno commented, looking around the village at what all the Kokiri outside were doing. Jisung and Chen Le were sitting on top of the shop talking to each other happily while and Sicheng stood in the training area holding wooden swords. “I've been wondering, why do you guys have a shop? You don't really have anyone to sell to but yourselves.”
“We built it for Link to buy food and bows and arrows and stuff but since he's gone I guess we can sell all of that stuff to you now.” Jaemin replied, staring at Jeno's lips. He realized that his gaze lingered for just a bit too long and he turned red, quickly deciding to be straight forward with what he had meant to ask Jeno earlier, “Can I kiss you?”
Jeno was taken aback by the extremely forward and out of no where question but slowly nodded his head, not wanting to upset the small boy. He put his head down slightly and allowed Jaemin to lean up and press a soft, short kiss onto his lips. The Kokiri pulled back and held his face in his hands, a bright red blush on his face.
A soft smile spread onto Jeno's features as he looked at the unbelievably adorable boy, “what was that all about?”
“I really really like you and I want you to be my boyfriend.” Jaemin said timidly, moving his hands down a bit so that just his eyes were showing.
“You've only known me for a day.” Jeno said with a laugh, slowly finding himself falling for the Kokiri.
“Yeah, I know, but you're really nice to me and I like you. Can we at least try it?” Jaemin asked, moving his hands away from his face.
“Of course we can.” Jeno answered, placing a longer, sweeter kiss on Jaemin's lips.