Archive of Our Own

"i could have SWORN that the path was this way." yedam grumbled to himself in the middle of the clearing, frustrated and letting out a huff. he turned the map around and backwards and forwards and around again, trying to find out which way this thing was supposed to facing.

and he thought being a boy scout might help him in this case but no mom, waking up early and going to boy scouts every saturday was not yedam's ideal weekend and he didn't learn jack shit. clearly.

he doesn't even have his maps patch, he now realizes a bit too late, eyes widening in shock. he smacks his forehead with a groan, plopping down on the space where he was standing.

where was yedam, you're probably asking? he was going through the hike, starting at the evening time after losing a bet. sort of.

haruto had actually lost the bet ("how was i supposed to know jihoon and junkyu were the ones who superglued mashiho's phone to the nightstand?" "who else would it be?!") but once he heard it was a walk on a path that started in the evening, lasted until the hours of one, two in the morning, and the only items he could bring were a flashlight and a paper map, the second youngest boy in the group almost pissed his pants.

he had thrown himself onto the nearest person at the lunch table—which was oh so conveniently yedam—and shook his head no aggressively, already beginning to tear up. "no no no i cannot go on that path i will DIE in the darkness pleasee someone take my spot."

yedam just wrapped his arms around haruto to steady the both of them and laughed at the younger's silliness. "okay, what if—god fucking damnit!" he slammed his hand on the table hard once he looked up, seeing all the other guys at the table touching their noses, doing a silent "nose-goes" without the knowledge of the other male. yedam was left last when he looked down to see haruto slowly touching his nose as well. the younger looked up and grimaced, a silent "sorry hyung" if he ever saw one.

being the wonderful older friend he was, yedam involuntarily took up the responsibility of going out in the woods in exchange for haruto giving him hugs for a week (because man, with the school work they were giving him, it was practically criminal how little affection he was receiving from all of his friends).

so now here he was. lost, at six in the evening, in the middle of the woods. sunlight was starting to cease quickly and he just really wanted to go home and smack each of his friends a few times in the face for making him do this.

yedam got up again and turned around to try taking a different path, using the river as a landmark because surely they had a fucking river on the map?

(no. the answer is no, there is no river on this paper map and it takes yedam way too long to realize that.)

eventually he just sits down, waits things out, hopes one of his friends will call on him and get him out. he takes a stroll around the woods and decides now that maybe he will admire all the beautiful yellow and orange trees around him, changing colors quicker than he can blink. as he walks further into the forest, he takes note of the final hour of sunlight, beams cast through the leaves, before it rapidly descends into darkness.

in less time than he can count, night has fallen. he finds a tree, somewhere that looks maybe safe (maybe not—he doesn't know or care anymore, if he's being honest), aaaand yeah he's out. just like that.

-

doyoung began making his rounds through the forest, searching for any lost animals and showing them the way home. there was a spring in his step tonight, happily receiving the news that he could finally take the day shift (the night time was scary, thank you very much) and tend to the nature then. his small oil lantern swung with every skip and he was grinning wide, running into a lost squirrel.

"hi! you need directions to go anywhere?" he asked, looking at the squirrel on the tree about to go up into the branches. the animal visibly relaxed when it realized that the large figure was doyoung, the awkward little forest elf that bumbled about during the night time, and chittered away. the small boy listened intently and nodded. "well, if you head straight down that path there then turn at the larger tree, there should be a stump. in there you'll find the tavern!"

the squirrel nodded, chirping a tiny thanks before rushing off in the direction doyoung pointed it to. the small elf waved it off, walking happily on the edge of the forest.

doyoung looked around before stumbling on...something, falling down face first onto the leaf-covered ground. the crunching noises startled the figure he tripped over, who immediately curled back into himself, afraid.

the elf shook his head slightly to regain focus before grabbing his lantern, re-adjusting the candle and closing the metal latch. he shone it over to where he tripped to find a human, wide-eyed and curious, staring right at doyoung, who only stared back in shock. neither of them knew what to say, the silence persisting for longer than either of them would've liked.

"hi!" doyoung exclaimed all of a sudden, breaking the silence and causing the other boy to jump from where he was leaning on the tree. if doyoung knew one thing, it was that it was his job to make sure the forest was calm for the night, and this—whatever this was—was not going to be calm. "sorry for scaring you, i'm kim doyoung. i, i tend to the woods here. are you lost?" doyoung made sure to go through all the steps he'd been taught when reviewing "lost human" protocol, having a bit of trouble remembering because usually humans found their way home and there wouldn't be any for him to guide. apparently not this one.

"you—your ears," the human pointed a shaky finger at doyoung's longer, slightly pointy ears. "and the glitter under your eyes."

doyoung just laughed, touching his ears and beneath his eyes. "yes, they're allll natural. i'm a forest elf, if that what you'd want to call me, or just protector of the woods, calming force of the tre—"

"i'm bang yedam." the other boy, now known as yedam, blurted, interrupting the smaller boy's rambling. he shut his lips immediately afterwards, shoulders up in fright.

"bang yedam, huh? i'm not gonna hurt~ you, y'know?" doyoung teased, bringing his lantern closer in a playful manner. yedam leaned away, scared that yes, the metal was going to hurt him somehow. there's fire in it after all. was this just a larp-er or was this dude legit? "i'm here to get you out of this forest!"

now curious, yedam moved in closer, looking intensely at the details on doyoung's face. he hovered a hesitant finger over doyoung's cheeks, looking at him, before the elf nodded and yedam swiped the index across, glitter appearing on the small limb. a little "woah" escaped his lips as he examined it closely, the tiny specks of glitter shining even without the light of the lantern.

so he's real, yedam thought to himself, and he must've said it out loud because doyoung replies with a cheery "sure am!" that shocks yedam out of his daze. "i'm as real as elves come yedam—yedam?" said boy nodded an affirmation, at this point simply in awe at this point rather than any sort of scared.

a few seconds passed before doyoung snapped his fingers in front of yedam's face, and only then did the other boy realize he was staring right at the elf for a bit too long. "helloo? don't you wanna get out of here?" yedam shook his head with surprise and nodded, beginning to get up and dust the leaves off his legs. doyoung followed, grabbing his lantern. "follow me!"

the elf held his hand out behind him and yedam took it, gently holding onto the tips of doyoung's fingers. "so where are you from?" doyoung asked, maneuvering his way through the woods. yedam stumbled over a branch trying to catch up.

"a twenty minute walk away from here, actually. i, well, my friend lost a bet? so he should've gone into this forest with a map and a flashlight, but he was too scared," yedam rambled nervously. doyoung paid no mind, knowing how humans could get when nervous, and kept moving on his way. "so i took his spot. but then i remembered i can't read maps so now i'm lost."

"well it's good i found you, hm? look! we're already at the main road!" doyoung pointed to the familiar sidewalk proudly, smile beaming even in the night time. he's done it again! doyoung narrated to himself in his head, fist pumping with a celebratory click of the tongue. doyoung - 1, hyunsuk - 0.

"oh, thank you!" yedam said, letting go of doyoung's hand reluctantly and bowing to show his gratitude. "if it isn't a bother to ask...will i see you again?"

doyoung tilted his head in confusion, wide eyes blinking back at yedam. he thought for a bit, trying to figure out what he was saying, before finally nodding, light curls bouncing with his movements. "i'll be here every night, yedam."

-

"i fell in love at first sight."

haruto spit out his food, earning whines from junkyu and jeongwoo in front of him. "you WHAT?"

"hear me out," everyone groaned at that, knowing that line. yedam would not stop his talking for a good minute or so whenever he said that. "no—wait c'mon guys, really! listen, when i went on the walk, right? yesterday night? i got lost, because whoop-de-doo, i can't read maps—"

"what? you can't read ma—"

"hush!" yedam held a finger to jeongwoo's lips, the younger crossing his eyes to look down at it and licking it. yedam yelped, taking his finger back and wiping it on his shirt before shooting a glare at jeongwoo. "let me finish. so i just sat there and tried falling asleep on the tree so that maybe one of you guys could like find me or whatever—"

"i would leave you to di—"

"shhh! when this elf tripped on me, obviously i was scared for my life but he was so...so pretty. there was just something about him..i don't know, maybe it was the glitters on his face and his smile and his little lantern and his laugh and—"

"okay we get it you're in love," jihoon mocked, rolling his eyes and interrupting yedam's little monologue as the younger sighed dreamily, a light blush creeping on his face. "are you sure this little...elf creature didn't have some lovestruck sauce on his glitters or some other shit you inhaled to make your eyes dilate like fifty times their size?"

yedam was about to speak before haruto looked at yedam, slightly tilting his head in confusion and suddenly bursting into laughter. "are you, are you blushing, hyung?"

yedam gasped, offended, and shoved haruto off the edge of his seat, the youngest falling with a high-pitched squeal. "besides...him," yedam waved to haruto with a dismissive flick of the wrist, the younger pouting and scrunching his nose with a glare. "i'm going back to the forest in a few days, if any of you want to come. i'm going to try to see him again."

everyone collectively sighed (even haruto, who was still on the floor), all of them gathering their things and fully prepared to desert yedam at this lunch table.

"just remember to bring your phone this time."

-

"why did you have to take me, yedam ahh~" junkyu whined, complaining but allowing himself to be dragged along by his younger friend.

"you're tall, so i can use you as a shield if anything tries to hurt us." yedam said firmly, looking down at his phone to follow the arrow (because no, he still can't read paper maps, but an arrow on a screen works, somehow) then straightforward again to find the forest.

"but what about ru—"

"haruto would be in tears as soon as the the sun was down, you know that hyung."

junkyu sighed, knowing there was no winning in an argument with the younger who was so determined to find this "elf", if there even was an elf, again. this wasn't exactly how he wanted to be spending his thursday night but he didn't exactly have a choice, did he? besides, he was curious, although he'd never tell yedam that. can you blame him? "if i get murdered, it's on you, bang yedam."

-

the pair wandered around for a bit longer before arriving to the clearing yedam had recognized was the one he had been at before. it was nearly night time now, which meant that it was nearly the hour doyoung had seen him last time. perfect.

"yedam ahh," junkyu messing with yedam's fingers that the other gladly gave. the older was leaning against a tree trunk, yedam laying down on his lap and scrolling through his phone (the settings app, fifty times over, because there wasn't exactly signal where they were). "when's the elf coming out?"

"doyoung?"

"the elf."

yedam glared up at junkyu, the older sticking his tongue out back at him. "doyoung should be coming out soon. look, the moon's already out!" yedam pointed up to the glowing white moon, stars slowly beginning to make their appearances in the sky. junkyu looked up too fast and accidentally hit his head against the trunk, groaning in pain.

yedam looked at the older, astounded and so...done, scoffing in disbelief. "you didn't have to do that?!"

"i didn't mean to!" junkyu retorted, pouting and rubbing the part of his head that was hurt. "this trunk is hard."

"you think?" yedam said matter-of-factly, hitting junkyu with his phone. "just be careful."

-

the crinkling of dead leaves and the small metal creaking of doyoung's lantern could be heard from a few feet away, the metal piece swinging back and forth with the skip in the elf's step as he kept checking up on the condition of the forest. junkyu froze, slowly wrapping an arm around yedam's torso and holding the younger closer to him.

"yedam," junkyu quietly hissed, sitting the said boy up and placing him in the front as a shield even though they'd agreed on the opposite. "that was noise."

"yeah hyung, that was noise. several noises, actually." he looked around, seeing the shine of the lantern and cupped his hands around his mouth. "doyoung!"

the elf turned around to spot the silhouette waving its arms and shone the light in that direction, smiling wide and skipping over. "bang yedam!" he yelled, placing the lantern on the ground and running to hug the older boy but abruptly stopped in his tracks once he saw the taller figure behind his newfound friend. "bang yedam and...?"

junkyu stared at doyoung with large eyes and an open mouth, unmoving from behind yedam. the younger turned around and lightly elbowed junkyu in the stomach, beckoning him to speak.

"y-you, you're..." junkyu stammered, unconsciously pointing a finger at the elf who only laughed. the odd aura around doyoung, like he was some ethereal being when all he was is a small lanky boy with slightly longer ears and a creaky lantern, didn't exactly help junkyu form words. of course the older boy knew that it was because he was an elf but the unfamiliarity threw him so wayward that he was at a lost for words.

yedam sighed. "he's kim junkyu." yedam responded for the said boy, pushing his finger down and placing a hand on junkyu's other shoulder. he gave doyoung a i am so sorry my friend here is so awkward and dumb smile to which the youngest only smiled and waved it off.

"there's no worries! i'm just glad to see you tonight because we don't really get many lost humans often. most of them usually find their way out, you know?" doyoung laughed, embarrassingly hard, at the half-joke (was that a joke? junkyu thought to himself, because it certainly wasn't funny.) and yedam followed suit. junkyu turned to yedam with raised eyebrows, in disbelief that he was actually laughing at the awful little comment and almost positive that that was yedam's fake, a little bit too hard laugh, but gave a light chuckle nonetheless, to keep their spirits up.

"it's a good thing i got lost then, right? i wouldn't have met you if i didn't." yedam nudged the youngest and junkyu almost keeled over at how godawfully cheesy that was. unfortunately for the oldest there, this went on for another...few dialogues.

"how could i resist helping someone as beautiful as you, eh?"

"glad to be helped by someone like you, with your shining cheeks and your lantern and—"

"well that doesn't compare to someone like you who's got such a pretty face and a wonderful smile, not to mention you came back here today to see me, right?"

"you know why i came back to see you doyoung, i mean look at yo—"

"please," junkyu finally interrupted after half an hour of this back and forth (yes, a half an hour, no, junkyu does not know how he stood it for so long) "please just kiss already."

the pair froze, whipping their heads around to look at junkyu with wide eyes. "w-what?" yedam stuttered out, surprised by the sudden words.

"you guys are quite obviously in love—wait. have none of you heard yourselves speaking?"

they grew quiet, staring at each other for a painfully long while before turning back to junkyu who simply sighed. how are they so oblivious? he thought to himself. they just flirted for thirty minutes straight and they don't think they've fallen in love after a few days? sure it's a romeo-and-juliet-type love story but i'm not determined to let them die on me like all those damn characters did and besides, they're cu—oh, they're still staring at me, let me answer them.

"think about it."

-

doyoung paced around his room, finger on his chin and tapping anxiously. he hadn't stopped thinking about the encounter with yedam earlier that night and, not comprehending his feelings, was letting out this confusing energy through walking in circles.

hyunsuk, doyoung's room mate and older elf friend, watched on from his side of their shared room, following the younger elf with his eyes. "still thinking about ye—"

"YES," doyoung exclaimed exasperatedly, hands splayed out in insistence. hyunsuk jerked back a bit instinctively, looking off to the side mock-offendedly, holding his hands up in defense. "yes, i'm still thinking about yedam and no, i don't know what to do about it. do i have feelings for him? it's only been a couple of days, hyung!"

hyunsuk pursed his lips and sighed, not understanding how someone so smart could be so unaware of something that's right in front of him. "young ah, you have to admit you do, it'll make things easier, okay? look at you—yah, not literally!" he squeezed his eyes shut and sighed again once doyoung looked down at himself, close to losing it.

"look, you think he's cute, right?" the younger elf nodded. "he's nice?" another nod. "then you'll be okay! and i'm sure he feels the same. it's been a long while since anything like this has ever happened. hey, when's the last time you were this worried about someone not liking you, hell, when's the last time you felt this way about someone?" doyoung looked up, thinking a bit, before shrugging. "see? it's a fresh new opportunity for you, kiddo. who doesn't like you?"

"maybe he doesn't? look at me!" doyoung gestured up and down like he was pointing out the obvious.

"a little birdie, and before you ask, it was hanji, told me that you flirted with yedam for a half an hour straight. thirty minutes, doyoung ah. if he wasn't in some sort of love before, he's definitely in love now."

"HANJI WAS THERE?"

"NOT THE POINT, doyoung!" hyunsuk interrupted, imitating doyoung's splayed out hands from a few moment prior. "the point is that you're in love with this yedam guy. this yedam guy is in love with you. maybe it isn't what you think is 'love' yet but you guys are pretty star-struck by each other as far as i'm concerned."

doyoung plopped down on his bed, hyunsuk's words settling into his brain with downturned lips. "i'm in love." he whispered to himself.

hyunsuk pinched the bridge of his nose and cursed under his breath, wondering how he ever ended up watching over someone like doyoung. "yes. yes you are."

-

a few more nights of long awaited yearning passed by before doyoung mustered up the courage to ask around the area, looking for anyone who knew a "bang yedam" the high school student. his ears were hidden under his hoodie, lantern left behind in place of a phone (that did function properly, he just never had a purpose to use it until now).

doyoung set out early in the morning, predicting far into the future how long it'd take to find yedam. surely it wouldn't be that long, right?

"he lives up the street, lovely boy he is with a fine family.": this young man was thanked nicely, multiple bows from either side of the exchange before doyoung continued to walk up the hill.

"he might be in school now? why aren't you in school, young man?": this woman poked doyoung a little bit with her cane and doyoung quickly scurried off to avoid further questions, a light blush creeping onto his cheeks and he pulled his beanie down even further.

"lookin' for him? school's almost over kiddo, the high school is over there.": this man definitely had something to hide...but he did lead doyoung closer to yedam. you win some, you lose some.

doyoung waited patiently at the small diner across the school gate and ordered a burger, resorting to paying with his phone since he'd realized he'd never collected any cash in his life. the cashier definitely looked at him oddly as he fumbled with his phone to try and work the payment app but he paid no mind, smiling widely instead once he got it to work.

high school students started filing out of their classes to head to their after school activities, yedam walking out and dispersing with his group of friends. doyoung immediately got up once seeing the other boy, thanking the cashier and running out across the street, catching up to yedam who started to make his way back home.

"bang yedam!" doyoung called from behind, waving. the said boy turned around at the sound of his name and his eyes widened at doyoung in the crowd, standing out with his beanie and odd choice of clothing (a plain brown t-shirt and green pants, which matched who doyoung was but was a stark contrast to the students with uniforms on coming out behind him).

"doyoung?" yedam walked down against the current of students and took hold of doyoung's hands, pulling the younger to the side away from the crowd. "w-why, how, wha—"

"i like you."

yedam immediately dropped doyoung's hands in surprise then grabbed them again, not wanting the other to get upset. "y-you what?"

"i like you, yedam," doyoung repeated, now insistent and newfound confidence shining through as he hears hyunsuk cheering him on in his head with the most trustworthy reliable support of an older brother figure. "i-i think you're cool, and you're very nice to me! not to mention you're very handsome. a-and i'd like to get to know you more? if that's okay with you?"

yedam stared at doyoung for an uncomfortably long while, the younger shifting between his feet nervously under yedam's gaze, a striking difference to the more excited doyoung yedam had been used to seeing.

"i-i like you too," yedam finally whispered after a while, looking down at the ground and smiling, tongue peeking out his mouth shyly. "and i'd also love to get to know you more. if that's okay with you."

doyoung blinked a bit, squeezing his eyes and opening them again to make sure this was happening. "you do?"

yedam chuckled and nodded, the both of them now looking down and blushing at the confessions from either side. "i do. if we move out the way then maybe you can come to my house to talk, if you'd like?"

"that'd be...great, yeah! my shift doesn't start until you know when so... i have the time."

"so do i. well, maybe i'll finish my homework first and you can watch or something. but then i'll have all the time for you."

"how cheesy!" doyoung poked yedam teasingly, the usual twirl in his voice finally returning.

"we literally flirted for half an ho—"

"i know we flirted for half an hour straight, no need to keep reminding me, everyone else already does that," doyoung interrupted, clasping his hand over yedam's mouth. the younger smiled, a large one, and removed the hand once he deemed it was good enough, placing it on yedam's shoulder. "can't wait to see your house, yedam!"

-

"favorite color?"

"yellow, like the sun. although i guess you're my sunshine now, so maybe it's like you."

yedam hit doyoung playfully, delivering a light slap to the younger's arm. "IT'S BEEN FIVE MINUTES SINCE YOUR LAST COMPLIMENT, DOYOUNG."

"wanna make it two?" doyoung chuckled smugly, leaning back on his chair with a proud face.

"not if i don't compliment you first. my favorite color is purple, like royalty, and you're my king now, so maybe it's like you."

doyoung shook his head in shock, trying to process the words yedam threw at him. "does, does that even make sense? how did you do that? how am i your king when, when we..." yedam smirked, watching as doyoung blubbered his way through strings of fragments of sentences, flustered.

"two can play at this game, you know. the game of love~"

doyoung unpocketed some glitters and threw them in yedam's face faster than the boy could blink, yedam sputtering out some that landed on his lips and in his face.

"where did that come from?!"

"i'm an elf, yedam. oh, and the glitters are biodegradable!"