Chapter Text
"Kyungsoo," A voice spoke softly yet loud enough for the small spirit to hear and allow him to hum in response but never broke his gaze away from the small pool of water, which allowed him to take a look into the human world.
“Still looking over that human, I see..” The voice sighed, and Kyungsoo knew that the goddess to whom the voice belonged, had gotten closer, and eventually he saw her sitting right in front of him, on the other side of the puddle.
They were currently under a beautiful and grand willow tree, whose branches touched the floor underneath it, which was covered by dirt and a few patches of grass here and there compared to the flower-filled meadow that surrounded the tree.
While the deity kneeled down, she fixed her long, flowy blush pink dress to make sure it covered her bare feet but also made sure none got into the small body of water. She fixed her sight on her made spirit, who clearly didn’t mind if his white clothes got stained by the dirt as he only cared about the one thing he’s been looking at for days now.
“He’s just-- so handsome…” He whispered honestly, but was saddened by the image in the water, “even when he cries.” A pout formed on his lips as he wished he could do something to stop those tears.
The Goddess kept quiet for a few seconds as she observed the small spirit in front of her. This was his usual routine. He sat in front of a puddle that forever belonged under the beautiful willow tree, and watched the life of one specific human. She didn’t understand why he was so interested in that mortal or how the interest even began, but she could tell that her dandelion really cared for him.
Maybe it has to do with their reincarnations, that was her only theory. It was the only reason that made sense to her for why a spirit was so fixated on a mortal. She liked to believe that maybe in Kyungsoo’s past life, the mortal he kept observing was his partner, his lover, his soulmate.
At first, she was pretty displeased by the amount of attention her dandelion spirit would pay to this one being that had wished upon a dandelion so long ago. His job as a dandelion was to grant wishes to people who wished upon the small plant; however, he ended up caring for one of these dreamers too much, which caused him to at times ignore some wishes from other mortals. He was no longer paying attention to his duties as a spirit, and though there were other spirits that could answer the call of a dreamer, it was still irresponsible. Sooyoung would get mad, but when she saw how much her dandelion cared for the mortal, she couldn’t help but feel saddened.
He truly cares for him, and there’s nothing she could do to change that. He was his own being who was capable of feeling and thinking for himself, and she is only goddess who could advise and guide him.
“I wish I could hold him, Sooyoung. That girl really didn’t deserve him.” He mumbled, his voice slightly trembling while his sight blurred with tears as he watched the human go through another messy breakup. That was the second one that year. He fell in love too fast, that much the dandelion could see, but he always got burnt at the end.
She kept quiet again as she watched the scene the other was gazing upon. He cared deeply, it was a bit endearing yet so troublesome. It put her in an uncomfortable situation, but she already knew what she had to do.
The soft, never-ending summer breeze rustled the leaves and occupied the quietness that was present. There was a certain tension in the air, but it wasn’t long until the silence was broken.
“Do you remember the stories I’ve told you about the spirits who fall for a mortal?” Her voice was always soft and gentle as if talking to a child or maybe a frightened animal.
Kyungsoo nodded and allowed her to continue, “Do you remember Yuqi?” Another nod followed, his gaze not breaking away from the small body of water.
“Whatever happened to her?” He questioned curiously since it’s been a while since he last had seen the other spirits, but he never bothered asking where she had gone, thinking that maybe she just found a comfortable place on the other side of the meadow.
“Well,” Sooyoung took a deep breath and gently touched the pool of water letting ripples form and distort the image just a bit, wondering if she should even tell her spirit about the offer, but she had stalled so long, it was time to let him make a choice, “Yuqi is living in the human world now.” She confessed.
This caught Kyungsoo’s attention, finally taking a break from the puddle to look at her with eyes full of questions and curiosity, “How?”
“She, like you, had fallen in love with a human dreamer.” A small sigh escaped her lips as she recalled such a memory that was certainly giving hope to the dandelion spirit.
“One day she came to this willow tree, begging me to let her go to the mortal realm. I had denied her at first, telling her that it was too dangerous, too risky, not worth it. I told her that mankind was bad and that she was safe up here as a spirit, but she didn’t care. Yuqi had always been a bit stubborn, and I knew I couldn’t change her mind, so I granted her wish, despite all the downsides of the Dandelion Deal. She just wanted to meet her beloved dreamer, even if it was only for a second.” This was enough to get Kyungsoo to ask the question she had been preparing for.
“The Dandelion Deal?” He asked, tilting his head to the side, wanting more answers.
The goddess fixed her sight on the high branches of the grand willow tree, which only allowed her to get a small peek of the clear blue skies, as the breeze softly hit her cheeks.
“Every spirit has a different deal. The stars reincarnate into the human world again, once they find their soulmate from their previous life and wish to be with them again. A whole life is set and prepared the way they wish to re-encounter their significant other.” Her gaze settled back onto the smaller spirit seeing as there was a bigger gleam of curiosity in his eyes. She gently smiled as she picked a small daisy from one of the patches of grass.
“The flowers, unlike stars or dandelions, get sent immediately to the human world, they don’t get a chance to make a life for themselves, having only their beauty and grace. It can be quite cruel and painful for them, having only a limited time to complete what they had gone to the human realm to do.” The goddess leaned over the puddle and placed the flower behind her spirit’s ear.
“Lastly, dandelions, they are sent to the human world with a life basically set up for them: a job, a name, a background.” She smiled softly, going back to her original spot, “Of course, all these come with a price. Stars, if not accepted by their soulmate, will turn into stardust. Flowers only get six months before they wilt away if they are not shown the action of love.” She gently touched the puddle, showing scenes that went along with her explanation. The display surprised Kyungsoo, making his heart race with mixed emotions.
The stars, while having a painless death, would simply turn to ash; the flowers suffered and cried in agony as their bodies wilted away into nothing but petals. It broke his heart how many of these spirits had risked it all to see just one being. One mere human ended up rejecting them, causing them to return to their original form without being able to become spirits again that can roam around freely through their own realm. They would have to wait hundreds if not thousands of years once again to regain their spot as a spirit, in Sooyoung’s heavenly garden.
“Finally dandelions, listen closely to me, spirit,” She sat up straight and made a dandelion appear in between her index finger and her thumb, “you are given a limit of three months. Within those three months, you need to get a verbal confession of love. If not given one, every trace of you will disappear so it seems as if you never existed. Memories, physical evidence, and everything will begin to disappear. Slowly you will also slowly begin to fade away.” She crushed the dandelion, turning it to nothing but seeds, and kept them in her closed hand.
“If this is truly what you wish for my dandelion, then I will not stop you, but I can’t promise you that it will be easy or painless. So are you sure you are willing to take this path?” All she wanted to do was protect him from harm, but the more she kept him here, the more he was hurting.
“Yes, my guardian.” His words were said in a small voice yet they held so much confidence, “I would choose this path no matter how many times I have to suffer because he is worth it.” Kyungsoo spoke with a soft smile playing on his lips as he looked down at the puddle again to gaze at the once crying man, who was now smiling due to the comfort his friends were giving him.
The goddess kept her gaze on the small spirit, saddened by the choice but wasn’t going to go back on her word. She wanted her spirits to be happy, even if it hurt them in the long run. She just never could understand how they could possibly fall for someone they didn’t truly know. They only knew certain parts of the big picture, but maybe this would help them figure that out on their own.
“Then, I will grant your wish.” A smile was apparent, but it was minute despite seeing how the spirit looked at her with wide eyes, and he gleamed with happiness.
Opening her hand, she blew the dandelion seeds that were resting on her palm so they would surround her small spirit. She only hoped he would continue to glow the way he was doing just now. She hoped that he would only feel good emotions and gain lovely memories. All she wanted was for him to be happy.
“Thank you, my goddess.” He closed his eyes, allowing the dandelions to take him away.
Sooyoung sat there and watched as another one of her spirits vanished from the meadow to be written into the human world.
It was quiet again as she waited for him to completely disappear along with the seeds, and she let out a small breath she felt like she had been holding for a while. She turned her attention to the mirror like a puddle, and let one of her hands run through her long dark hair.
“Please, please love him back Kim Jongin. That’s my only wish.” She mumbled as she was once again left alone under the willow tree. The goddess did not want to witness another one of her spirits suffer because a simple mortal was too blind to realize their own feelings, but for once she truly felt like it might be different this time.
When Kyungsoo woke up, he was in a strange place. White walls surrounded him, causing him to feel discomfort since he had always been used to being out in the open and free. Now he felt suffocated and boxed in.
He sat up, running his hands through his dark hair, and rapidly blinked his eyes as he tried to get used to the bright sunlight beaming into the room through an open window, letting the wind play with the white curtains. Everything was still a bit blurry. It felt like he had been sleeping for far too long. He rubbed his eyes until he eventually could see a bit more clearly, but it still wasn’t any better. He found himself squinting in order to get a better look at things.
The white walls had wooden shelves which were decorated with small cacti, a camera, and picture frames here and there. Pots hung from the ceilings, each having a different kind of plant or flower. It would seem that the whole room had the repetitive white, brown, and green color scheme, not that he minded. It made him feel at peace.
After he was done checking out the room, Kyungsoo stood up to close the window. Slowly he was starting to take it all in as his fingers touched the window sill. He was really here. This wasn’t the spirit realm anymore.
“Oh my gosh--” He whispered before a big smile parted his lips.
“Oh my gosh!” He said a bit louder and covered his mouth as he looked at himself in the mirror that rested on top of his wooden desk.
He glanced at the contents on the desk, wondering if it would tell him anything that he needed to know about his mortal life.
“Glasses?” He mumbled as he gently picked them up by one temple and examined the item before he tried it on.
“That’s much better.” He mused and was left in awe as he could finally see things clearly.
Kyungsoo continued to curiously look around, picking up random objects, and tried to figure out a bit more about his human life.
He slightly ran his fingers against the edge of a big book that had his name written on it, slowly starting to open it. Pictures filled the pages, but none were of him and none seem to have someone specific. They were beautiful scenic pictures, with dates and locations written on the bottom of each one. Maybe this was his job or hobby. It would explain all the cameras and lenses.
The petite boy continued on his curious search, turning on the computer and viewing an editing program open as if he had been working on it just a few hours ago. He skimmed through the pictures that were currently opened in a file waiting to be edited, before searching for something else.
Right next to his keyboard was his phone. His phone wasn’t very interesting in itself. It had a black case, the lock screen was most likely a picture he had taken, and there was no passcode since he so easily got access to the contents where he noticed that the home screen matched the lock screen. Scrolling through he took note that he had various notifications, and it was all too interesting.
The phone contained a lot of information he needed. He had learned that he was indeed not only a photographer but he worked for a popular magazine company as a staff writer. He was the company’s travel journalist, most likely in charge of providing great travel tips and the best places to visit for a summer trip.
It would seem that his current article was to be about the best spots for dates, which gave him the opportunity to roam around Seoul.
“I would be stupid to let this beautiful day go to waste.” He hummed to himself and grabbed one of the black cameras from its spot on the wooden shelf.
“Maybe I can run into him today.” The dandelion whispered with hope in his voice, wishing that he could at most find the other that quickly, but he also just wanted to roam around the modern human world. It all seemed so interesting, he was quite excited and quite curious.
He shrugged his shoulders lightly, smiling softly at the thought of seeing and learning new things. It made him happy and also a bit anxious as he recalled the deal. The more he thought about it, the quicker he wanted to leave the small place he now calls home, which started to make him feel suffocated once again.
“I can do this. Everything will be okay.” He continued to quietly talk to himself as he reached the outside of the building and was greeted by the loud noises of the city.
This was much different than what he was used to. He was used to the calm and quiet sounds of the meadows, where the most noise he would get besides those that came from a few birds, was the wind rustling through the tall grass and the willow tree.
He looked around and started feeling overwhelmed until he spotted a small dandelion growing from a crack on the street. It was strange but he didn’t question it as he bent down to pick it up.
“I’ll be okay.” He cheered himself on while standing straight again, looking up at the sky.
He wasn’t sure what would happen, but he was prepared for anything. This was his choice, and he wasn’t going to regret it.