Chapter Text
Kim Taehyung, 5; extremely naughty and extremely powerful among the fairies.
Jeon Jeongguk, 5; introvert and a fairy with one of the unique powers.
July 9th, 5:28 pm, Seoul.
The city was buzzing with an unknown energy that day; nobody could decipher what it was. The forest had been restless too. The fairies were worried that something was coming their way. They had prepared for the worst when the most unexpected events occurred. It was a hot summer day. But suddenly, the cherry blossoms were everywhere on the streets. Colourful flowers adorned the sidewalks. And just as unexpectedly, it had started snowing a few seconds later. Nobody knew what was happening. The snowflakes descended and graced the earth with sparkles of white against the bright summer sunshine. People stood shocked in the middle of the streets, confused and worried. A few minutes later, the Seoul city Mayor had released a notice -
"As you all see, it is a strange phenomenon and this has never happened before. The scientists are yet to figure out the reason behind this. They are currently focused on figuring out the weather condition of the city for the coming hours. As suggested by them, I'm requesting you all to return to your homes. Please find some place to stay over and don't step out into the sunlight. If their suspicion is correct, we might experience heat strokes in the next few hours. It is an emergency situation. Do not step out and stay covered."
The announcement had caused havoc in the city. People ran up and down the streets, cars honking relentlessly, police forces were dispatched to help the transportation facility in the city, but panicked people refused to adhere to their instructions.
Two boys were staring at each other, hands interlocked and eyes wide open with wonder, snowflakes melting over their hair and eyelashes.
Unaware of the chaos going about in the city, they had just been running about in the confines of their gated community. Their wings on full display, fluttering and spreading their fairy dust everywhere they went.
Nobody expected it.
Jeongguk was sitting on the compound wall of his house, his mother begging him to get down while Taehyung had been playing with his group of friends. The ball that Taehyung was supposed to catch had hit him hard on the face and bounced off towards a bush. After recovering from the shock of being hit with a ball, Taehyung had run to retrieve the ball, only to collide with Jeongguk who was in search of the said ball and land on his ass. Jeongguk who had come down to give the ball stumbled at the force of the collision and fell forward. Jeongguk blinked at him from his spot and Taehyung did not hesitate to help the other boy by offering his hand to help him stand. Everything seemed to be normal until their little hands touched and a strong thunderbolt resounded.
The flowers had bloomed when they were not supposed to. The cherry blossom trees were alight with pink colour of the blossoms. A moment later snowflakes had appeared, glinting gold and silver, catching the evening sun and slowly melting over the flowers.
The soulmates had finally met. The protector had finally found the missing piece of his soul.
[Present - July 16th]
"AHHH!" A loud animalistic scream of a male resonates through the walls of the room, illuminated by oil lamps and whatever little sunshine that graced that part of the forest. The plasters hanging loose on the ceiling best indicate the haggard state of the building, painfully evident that it is old and ruined. Dry dust permeating the air, dirt scattered all over the floor, wooden chairs hardly holding up against the weights of the metal boxes placed over them and some metal chairs around the corners full of rust.
"Tell me, where the book is. I'm not in the mood to argue or shout. Tell me where it is, and I'll let you go." A seething voice is heard from one of the dark corners.
"I don't know! I told you, I have no clue about it!" The same voice that had screamed earlier replies, tired and shaky. The man is on his knees, hands tied up and dusty wings bunched up together painfully, held in a bundle by another rope, no signs of glimmer in them. His forehead sporting a wide gash, oozing with blood and smeared in dirt. His shirt is shredded, lean torso lined with variously sized wounds.
A dark, veiny hand appears before him, fingers long and rough, nails dirty with dried blood and fairy dust. The long fingers wrap around his neck, and the man bends forward, bringing his scarred face under the light from the oil lamp. He starts squeezing the fairy's neck, snarling at the fairy's determination to protect his kind, his dirty fangs on full display which extends past his lower lips.
"I know you cherish your family, the fairy community. But I also know you cherish a specific little girl. You wanna see her for the last time, hm?" The vampire says, eliciting a choked gasp from the fairy, who starts fighting against the fingers around his throat. He struggles and tries to use his power to weaken the enemy's strength, but there are three more hands holding him from behind, rendering him motionless.
The creak of the door opening is loud, echoing in the room. "Bring her here!" The vampire commands and immediately the girl is pushed to stand in front of the tied down fairy, who is watching her with wide eyes, face etched with terror while the little girl starts wailing looking at him, begging for him to take her away from the nasty people.
"How..." The fairy is still under shock, eyes wide and frantic, desperate to protect the little girl that he had been taking care of.
"NO!" He shouts when he sees the little girl being pushed onto the floor. His heart clenches at the sight of her bleeding knees and scraped elbows. His secret, his little human child, was being punished.
He could do only so much when posed with such a difficulty. So he gives in. Gives in to the urge of protecting the girl from all the harm. So he lets out the secrets that the fairies had been hiding for a while now.
When he is finally free from the bindings, the fairy hugs the little girl to his chest and mumbles "Kill him. Kill the Protector. The book can't help you if the Protector is alive..."
The vampire's face contorts into a cruel grin. "We attack the Kim family tonight."
Everything is a complete wreck. The house overlooking the dense forest is completely destroyed. Dark and thick smoke rising up from the midst of the forest strikes a fear in the fairy community. The Parks are in the front lines, defending the community while the Jeon family is trying their best to gather their emotional stability. It was devastatingly painful to know that the community's head, the Kim family had been eradicated by a bunch of rogue vampires. It was clear to the fairies that the attack was done based on precise information about the Kim family, which could only be a work of another fairy.
Together, the community fights and pushes back the vampires, out of their territory. The destruction left behind by the vampire attack will take them an immense amount of time to recover from. But the community is currently mourning the loss of their leader and the Protector.
The vampire drops the limp fairy on the dried leaves, rubbing at his chin to clean up the mess created by the glistening blood. His eyes dart to the left where he notices a half torn wings fluttering slowly, trying to get out of the area and escape the inevitable death. In a flash, the fairy's neck is punctured, face pale when the blood drains out of his body.
"Nobody is allowed to stay alive! No one! Kill every fairy that you see!" The head vampire throws the limp body away and shouts out his command. He seethes and scans the area for any fairy that might be alive, his ears focused on the smallest of the smallest noises.
"Master!" A frantic voice calls out to him. "The witch..." The vampire pauses, a little unsure, and a lot of fear weaving through his shaky voice. "The witch has escaped..." He gives yet another pause. "... along with that little boy..."
A second later the vampire's neck is snapped and his body falls limp on the bed of dry leaves and wet grass of the forest ground.
"FIND THEM! KILL THEM! NO MATTER WHAT!"
Everything is in hues of blue around him. The flowers, the leaves, and the entire forest seemed to tint with blue shade. He feels himself floating in the mid-air, wind rushing past him roughly resulting him to squint to prevent the dust particles from getting into his eyes. He is puzzled as to what is happening, where he is, and why he is floating in the mid-air despite not commanding his wings to do so. He feels a jolt of pain rushing through his neck and limbs aching and tingling strangely. He tries to concentrate on his wings, to control them and stop for a moment and assess the situation with his little brain.
"Do not resist, little one. I am in control of your wings. You need to trust me. I will take you to a safer place. Sleep now..." The voice trails off as his eyes slowly close and he lulls to sleep, lost in the dreamland.
The next time he comes to, he is nestled deep in a cave, warm and cosy, covered in the woollen rug and the softest of cotton pillows beneath him. The place is glinting with silver and blue fairy dust, which he identifies as his own.
He looks around to locate someone who must have brought him into the cave. He looks for a particular lady, whom he had heard whispering whilst floating in the air. He is panting, for no reason, he notes. His thoughts are out of control. He feels the strong urge to shout out and call for his mother. His mind wanders off to his best friend back at home, who might be waiting for him at this moment. Panic strikes him slowly, like an approaching thunderstorm. His eyes are lined with unshed tears, gleaming in the darkness of the cave and his fingers tremble. But before he could start bawling, a figure appears at the entrance of the cave, shushing him as if sensing his inner turmoil.
"Do not cry little one. You are safe here. I will never let the darkness reach you." The lady mumbles softly and gathers him into her arms. She has cat-like green eyes, he notes. Her nails are long and a little scary, while her tresses fall past her shoulders and are left open. He feels her surprisingly soft fingers caressing his hair and tucking them away from his eyes. When their gazes meet, he senses an unknown energy tingling at his fingertips.
"Relax little one. The world needs you. Calm down and recover. Forget your pain; forget your loved ones... The time has come for you to move on..." She mutters into his ears. When his eyes start watering again, she moves her thumb across his cheek and looks deep into his eyes. "You are Kim Taehyung. The Protector of this universe. You cannot afford to be weak. Let go of your attachments... Nothing should matter to you more than the wellness of this world, YOUR world... your people." She pauses and continues after a few seconds - "Your soulmate, he will come around. Your life is dedicated to this beautiful world, which blooms under your watch. Protect this world and cherish whatever this world has to offer for you in return..." and just like that Taehyung welcomes the blanket of sleep, face relaxed and a serene smile taking over the frown and his memories slowly fading at the back of his mind into nothingness.
That is how Kim Taehyung forgets his identity, as the Protector, as a fairy and as the Soulmate of Jeongguk.
[A few weeks later]
"Mom! It doesn't feel right. It is itching... And my wings feel weird..." Jeongguk cries. He hiccups in between and buries his head deeper into his mother's embrace, trying to find solace.
"You are fine, Guk. Don't worry, you will be fine." Mrs Jeon sniffles and tightens her grip around her little boy, trying to console him and failing repeatedly.
Jeongguk sniffles some more and hiccups before asking, "Mom, wh-where is Taehyung? Why didn't Tae co-me to meet me?"
He is met with a long silence and he fidgets to get out of her arms. "He is sick..." She answers a little unsurely. "He is sick and he can't come to meet you for a while okay? Don't worry, baby. Everything will be fine. You will be fine." She reassures him to her level best only to shed tears silently.
Her son had lost his mate. His soulmate was no more alive and she knew her little boy would never find anyone else in the future.
Oh, Jeongguk!
She cries to herself.
[A year later]
Taehyung is sitting on his brother's bed, eyes glowing blue while his elder brother looks at him with horror. He does not understand what has his dear brother so terrified. He wants to reach out and hug his brother, cuddle up to him while sleeping. But all he sees is his brother freaking out on him and running out of the room, shouting for their parents. Taehyung curls to himself, eyes dimmed and back to their normal brown hues.
"Dad! Taehyung is weird. He looks like a ghost. No, he IS a ghost!" Namjoon whisper-shouts at his father who is sitting at the dining table, whilst looking behind himself to make sure Taehyung is not here.
"Namjoon, he is your brother. Don't call him that!" His father reprimands him, without looking up from the book held open on the table.
Namjoon is still sceptical, fidgeting with the end of his sleeve. He mutters, "B-but then hi-his e-eyes-" he is cut off in the middle. "Namjoon." He looks up at his father with wide eyes. "You should know this. He is your brother. So it is a must that you know." His father sighs. Namjoon blinks, not quite understanding what his father was implying. But he nods his head when his father asks him to sit down and concentrate on his words.
"Namjoon, listen to me. Taehyung is..." he trails off for a moment, wincing a little at the thought that crossed his mind before continuing - "Taehyung is special. You have to understand this. He is not weird but is special." He pauses, eyeing his son to comprehend if his words are being grasped. He knows his son is smarter than other children of his age. For an eight-year-old, he was too intelligent and he knows Namjoon will understand him no matter what.
And this is how Namjoon comes to know about how his baby brother is not quite human and was left behind at their doorstep with a small note.
Kim Taehyung. 5 years old, a fairy.
Please protect him.
The forest is humming as the moon shines through the canopy of trees, making it easier for human sight. He walks further into the forest, enjoying the soothing sight of the array of the trees stretching over an even ground for as far as he could see. The soft sound of the chilled night air whispers past his ears, as he makes his way towards the river which flows gently over the bed of rocks, rounding about a patch of high-land. He glances at the glistening water and for a moment he forgets where he was headed to. His lips curve upwards, a beautiful smile lighting up his features. On reaching the river, he perches on top of a flat rock, letting his legs to hang down and submerge in the cold water.
The sound of the crickets is steady around the forest, which strangely calms his heart and a satisfied hum leaves his mouth. His legs are still under the water; head tilted upwards facing the sky and eyes closed as if enjoying the brush of wind over his face, hands on either side holding onto the rock that he is currently perched on. He feels a shoal of fish swimming past his legs, a tickling sensation making him giggle. He feels some more of them swimming by his legs and the tickling sensation throws him off balance when he moves his legs around to lessen the sensation and accidentally moves to edge of the rock. He knows he is about to fall into the river. So he flails his limbs in his desperation to regain balance to no avail. He holds his breath, preparing himself, but in the next second, he is pulled up and off the rock by warm hands gripping his own.
He feels like he was punched in his lungs and gasps loudly to recover from the breathlessness he is feeling. He feels the arms pulling him closer and holding him around his waist tightly. He feels someone's hot breath ghosting over his neck. Goosebumps erupted all over his skin and he slightly shivers. He realizes a few seconds later that his eyes are closed. He opens them slowly, anticipating the view he will be greeted with, mind a puddle of million spilt thoughts about the warm arms around him and the ghost of a hot breath.
All his thoughts are abruptly silenced when he finally opens his eyes. What he sees is something that he can never even dream of witnessing. He is staring at a pair of beautiful almond-shaped eyes, half-lidded. They are deep and he feels like he is drowning in them slowly, but strangely the thought of drowning does not scare him as it did a moment ago when he was about to drown in the river.
But what surprises him the most is the colour of those eyes. The beautiful pair of eyes is glinting in hues of silver and blue, shining and reflecting the moonlight. Seconds later, colourful fireflies start swirling between them.
It happens in a flash, he is distracted for a few seconds, lost in the beauty of fireflies. There is a strange touch on his lower lip. And before he could process the touch, his lips are encased by another pair of soft lips, his eyes going wide with surprise and a shriek that was about to make way from his mouth getting muffled. The current that flows through his skin at the simple touch of lips is what he supposes is the best feeling. He feels his lower lip being licked and nipped which pulls a loud gasp and a small whimper from him. He is sure; he is going to lose his mind because he can no longer remember where he is and what is happening. His brain is close to short-circuiting, heart thundering its way out of his ribs. His stomach is a mess of butterflies and all he can do is savour the feeling.
The feeling of being touched, the feeling of being loved.
Jeongguk wakes up with a gasp, chest moving up and down, eyes wide open with surprise and a little confusion. He feels hot all over, stomach still fluttering with butterflies.
"Damn! It's the same dream again!" His hands are shaking while running through his messy hair. His heart refuses to settle down and so does his stomach.
"FUCK! WHO ARE YOU!"
Jeongguk's angry voice only resonates through the walls of his room and echoes right back at him. He wants an answer. Unfortunately, he never receives one.