Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

Park Sunghoon.
Age: 19.
Human.

Heeseung Briarfell.
Age: 21.
Nature Fae.
Crown Prince of the High Court.

Jay Silverflare.
Age: 21.
Fire Fae.
Crown Prince of the Firetrail Fire Court.

Jake Icewalker.
Age: 19.
Ice Fae.
Prince of the Snow Courts.

Sunoo Silverflare.
Age: 19.
Fire Fae.
Prince of the Firetrail Fire Courts.

Jungwon Briarfell.
Age: 18.
Nature Fae.
Prince of the High Court.

Riki Briarfell.
Age: 11.
Human.
Prince of the High Court.

Yudai Icewalker.
Age: 22.
Ice Fae.
King of the Snow Court.

Fuma Icewalker.
Age: 21.
Ice Fae.
Prince of the Snow Court.

Nicholas Briarfell.
Age: 19.
Nature Fae.
Prince of the High Court.

Euijoo Briarfell.
Age: 19.
Nature Fae.
Prince of the High Court.

Yuma Icewalker.
Age: 18.
Ice Fae.
Prince of the Ice Court.

Jo Riverbreeze.
Age: 18.
Ocean Fae.
Crown Prince of the Undersea Court.

Harua Icewalker.
Age: 17.
Ice Fae.
Prince of the Snow Court.

Taki Icewalker.
Age: 17.
Ice Fae.
Prince of the Ice Court.

Maki Briarfell.
Age: 17.
Nature Fae.
Prince of the High Court.

Chapter Text

"Do you know where we are?"

"Yes."

"Can you tell me?"

"No."

"Can you tell me why we're here?"

"Also no."

"What can you tell me?"

"Not much."

"You're no fun."

"I try not to be. This isn't supposed to be fun."

"So this is a punishment."

"Of sorts, yes."

"Why are you here then? Did you do something bad?"

"No, I'm here to make sure you stay here."

"Did I do something bad?"

"Yes. Something terrible."

"What was it?"

"I can't tell you that."

"Bummer."

"Would you like to hear a story?"

"A story?"

"Yes, a story."

"I didn't peg you as a storyteller."

"I've never been anything but a storyteller."

"Is that so?"

"I was a poet."

"Ah, a poet. That makes sense."

"Would you like to hear it?"

"Hear what?"

"My story."

"I guess so. Tell away, my friend."

"I'm not your friend."

"Yes you are."

"Whatever. Just listen. This is the story of a boy’s icy heart and the only person who never sought to possess it."

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

In the beginning, there had been more humans than faeries. Because of their majority, humans had the upper hand. However, in the beginning, humans and faeries got along well. They were friends.

It was a very shaky friendship. There were thousands of years of history of faeries tricking humans. Humans regarded it as their own stupidity that caused them to fall for faerie tricks.

The friendship shattered when a faerie tricked a human king's son and stole him away. The human king retaliated and tried to war with the faeries.

It resulted in the massacre of millions of humans, dwindling the numbers. Soon, faeries far outnumbered the humans, and humans started to fear the faeries.

They built tight-knit communities and hid themselves away from faeries. Still, the faeries were a persistent threat as more and more humans went missing.

So the humans banded together to figure out a way to keep faeries away from them. A few humans volunteered to find a faerie and learn all they could, even if it resulted in death.

What they learned was that faeries could not touch iron. They couldn't be anywhere near it or they would become extremely ill.

So humans built their buildings and tools out of iron to ward away faeries. And it worked.

The world became so full of iron that faeries could only be safe from it behind the circles of flowers that served as entrances to their world.

From inside these circles, they were still able to use their usual trickery, but only if the human was stupid enough to give them their name, make a deal with them, or step inside the circle.

Children were taught many things about faeries, but three lessons were drilled into their heads.

Never give a faerie your name, never make a deal with the fae, and under no circumstances, ever step inside a faerie circle. 

Chapter Text

Sunghoon was sick. No doctors could tell him what his sickness was. He'd been sick all his life. He'd been weak all his life because of his illness, and because of that, he was outcasted by his village.

He was too weak to do any physical work, like most boys his age would be doing. The other kids in his village tormented him and the adults did nothing to stop them.

Like now, he was just minding his business, doing some shopping at the market for his aunt.

Before his tragic life had even begun, his father had died in war and his mother died in childbirth.

His only living family was his Aunt Caroline and Uncle Mitchell, who frankly weren't much better than the other adults in the village. They were neglectful. They paid for the useless medicines that doctors would give him, but not much else.

As Sunghoon walked through the market, he grew fatigued. He had to sit down and when he did, he heard the stupid giggling of the other kids in the village.

"He's only been here for half an hour and he's already tired? He's so weak."

"He's never going to get anywhere in life. His uncle may be our farmer, but no one is going to want to marry a sick man."

"Nineteen and already this close to death? What a shame."

He thought he'd escaped it since he wasn't going to school with them anymore, but he'd never be able to escape it.

He thought he'd gotten over it. That it wouldn't affect him anymore, but he knew he'd thought wrong when his eyes filled with tears.

He left the market as soon as he'd gotten everything he needed. He dropped the groceries off at his aunt's home and immediately went into the forest, crying the entire way.

He was always told as a child to never go into the forest alone, but he never listened. At nineteen, he was rebellious in every way possible.

The forest was beautiful. He felt connected to nature when he was laying in the grass, looking up at the canopy of leaves.

Oftentimes, he would find himself looking at a ring of flowers or mushrooms or saplings. These he was also told to avoid, but he never listened.

Faerie circles were "dangerous". If a human were to enter a faerie circle with a faerie in it, they could be dragged to the Land of Faerie, a place full of magic. No human who entered Faerie ever returned.

He always wondered how something so beautiful could be bad. He never went inside the rings, but he'd also never seen a faerie either.

So when he found himself crying outside a circle of black lilies in a clearing, he didn't think anything of it. He just laid himself on the grass and sobbed.

This time, however, he heard the tinkle of bells.

There was a faerie here.

Sunghoon didn't look up. He knew the faerie might think that rude, but Sunghoon didn't have the energy to care.

"Oh, a human? Why are you crying so hard?" The faerie asked.

Sunghoon replied weakly. "It's got nothing to do with you."

"You don't sound well." The faerie pointed out.

Sunghoon shook his head weakly. "I'm sick. I've been sick all my life, but it's been getting worse."

Sunghoon could hear the faerie grin. "I could help you with that, you know."

"I do know that," Sunghoon said, "and you should know I'm not stupid enough to fall for that."

The faerie sighed. "Oh, well, of course. Very smart of you."

Sunghoon found himself smiling sleepily through his tears. He turned slowly, laying on his side instead of his back so he could finally look at the faerie.

This faerie looked nothing like the stories he'd heard as a child. He looked almost human if it wasn't for his inhuman green eyes, sharp ears, and the shimmering green wings on his back. His long black hair was filled with different precious jewels that Sunghoon had never seen before. He had an air of regality about him, and judging by the jewels covering his skin and the cloak draped over his shoulder, he was a noble of one of the faerie courts.

"Can I at least have your name?" The faerie asked, a mischievous look in his eyes.

Sunghoon shook his head, wincing when that aggravated his headache. "I'd rather not."

The faerie's face fell and he then asked, "Well, then at least something I can call you other than human?"

Sunghoon thought about it for a moment. "Sunghoon." It may be a stupid idea to give the faerie the name he used every day, but it wasn’t his real name. He doesn’t know how he knew that, but his real name had been whispered to him on the wind when he was a child. That was the name that this faerie couldn’t have.

The faerie smacked his lips, tasting the name, and Sunghoon held his breath. It seemed to be to the faerie’s satisfaction when he turned his eyes back to Sunghoon with a smile. He didn’t immediately whisk Sunghoon away into Faerieland, so the boy had to assume that it was true and Sunghoon wasn’t really his name.

"Wonderful. You can call me Heeseung." The faerie offered.

Sunghoon knew the faerie would never give him his real name. Names held power, and no faerie would give their full name to anyone unless they trusted that person with their life. Humans, however, were not that smart. Most got tricked into giving up their name and then were stolen away to Faerie, never to return. Faeries could control a human with just their first name, but for anyone to control a faerie, they had to have the faerie's full name.

Sunghoon wasn't stupid enough to give up his real name.

"You are a peculiar being. Sick humans tend to stay home, don't they?" Heeseung asked curiously, sitting down in the middle of his circle of flowers.

Sunghoon nodded, wiping away his tears. "They usually do, but I've been sick for as long as I can remember. I'm not just gonna sit at home wasting away."

Heeseung hummed in understanding. "Do you know why you're sick?"

Sunghoon shook his head. "No doctor has been able to tell me. It's something none of them have seen before."

Heeseung looked at him with a thoughtful look. "I was serious when I said I could help you."

"And I was serious when I refused. I know what happens when a human makes a deal with your kind. Plus, I don't need help. I've lived with this my entire life, and if it kills me before I even turn twenty, so be it." Sunghoon said, shaking his head.

Heeseung frowned but didn't say anything.

"Either way, I'm not scared of death. Anything would be better than this miserable life." Sunghoon said, turning back so that he could lay on his back in the grass.

"Human lives are usually miserable, I've found."

Sunghoon laughed, sucking in a breath when it hurt his ribs. "I've been sick my entire life. What do you think that does to my social life?"

"I can't imagine it helps." Heeseung said.

Sunghoon shook his head. "I can't work like most boys my age, which means the entire village looks down on me. No one wants to get close to the boy who is sick, afraid it'll spread to them. I'm tormented by the other village kids because I'm an easy target. I couldn't get up enough energy to fight back."

"Humans are cruel little creatures." Heeseung pointed out with a tone of fascination in his voice.

Sunghoon shrugged. "Some are. There were a few people who were kind to me, but only when no one else could see."

Sunghoon listened to Heeseung rustling around in his faerie circle. The boy ran his hands through the grass surrounding him, a teary smile gracing his expression when his fingers caught on the dirt below it. Even with a dangerous being sitting only twenty feet away from him, there was something so peaceful about the forest at that moment.

Despite the stories about faeries, Sunghoon felt safe with Heeseung. He knew the faerie couldn't leave his circle, lest he wanted to be poisoned by all the iron in the air.

"What is iron sickness like?" Sunghoon asked curiously.

Heeseung looked up at Sunghoon in surprise, as if he never expected Sunghoon to ask that question.

"Fortunately, I've only had to experience true iron sickness once. But it's nothing like human illnesses. It's horrible. When we are sick from iron, we lose our magic. We are unable to connect with our sources, whether that be earth, fire, water, or air. It isn't fun." Heeseung explained, a sad look on his face.

"Can it kill you?" Sunghoon asked softly.

Heeseung eyebrows creased as his expression changed into a frown. "If we are exposed to it for long enough, yes, iron can kill us. Although it takes a lot longer than you might think. We have to be exposed to it consistently for more than two human decades for it to kill us. The only way to kill us quickly is by touching us directly with iron. Just being around it makes us slightly weaker."

Sunghoon nodded in understanding. "Time works differently in Faerie, though, doesn't it?"

Heeseung nodded. "Time is barely a concept in my world. To a human, an hour in Faerie could be five minutes or five years."

The two of them lapsed into silence, and Sunghoon just observed Heeseung. He watched the way the faerie's wings shimmered in the evening sunlight. He noticed the way Heeseung’s wings fluttered involuntarily. He could tell that Heeseung knew Sunghoon was watching him, but the faerie didn't say anything more.

Sunghoon had a million other questions but his brain decided he was going to ask, "Why do you talk so formally?"

Heeseung stared at him in disbelief and said, "Because I literally don't know you?"

Sunghoon laughed. "There it is. I was wondering whether you were going to be stuffy and formal the entire time."

Heeseung looked offended but not angry and Sunghoon just sat there laughing.

"You are the most idiotic human I have ever met. You'd willingly speak to a faerie like that? I could've taken you a long time ago." Heeseung said, looking at Sunghoon like he was crazy, and maybe he was.

Sunghoon shrugged. "If you wanted to kidnap me you'd have tried harder."

Heeseung looked exasperated. "You would get along very well with my brothers."

"You have brothers?" Sunghoon questioned.

Heeseung nodded. "I have four of them."

"Are they cute?" Sunghoon asked, cackling loudly when Heeseung’s jaw dropped. He probably shouldn't antagonize a faerie, but he honestly didn't care at this point. This was the first time he'd had an actual conversation with someone who looked close to his age.

"You are insufferable." Heeseung huffed, crossing his arms and leveling Sunghoon with an annoyed look.

"I know you find me amusing, though. You can not hide your smile from me." Sunghoon said with a smug look on his face. The next moment he devolved into a fit of violent coughs. He could hear Heeseung’s worried gasp.

The faerie was about to leave his circle when Sunghoon held his hand up, still coughing. A second later, the coughs stopped and Sunghoon laid there panting.

Heeseung looked worried. "Does that... does that happen often?"

"It was worse when I was a child and this unknown disease was new. Now it only happens when I overexert myself. Although sometimes my body attacks itself for no reason." Sunghoon said with a sigh.

It was quiet for a moment before Sunghoon asked, "Why have you not tried to trick me after the first time? You've had plenty of opportunities."

Heeseung sighed softly. "You're sick. Contrary to popular belief, we don't trick ill humans. We don't need sick ones. Most humans don't last long in Elfhame, but sick humans won't last a second."

"And," Heeseung added, "You would be insufferable the whole time."

Sunghoon laughed weakly. "I'd be so insufferable you'd send me back the second I stepped foot in Faerie."

Sunghoon then asked, "Elfhame? Is that what you call Faerie?"

Heeseung nodded. "Yes. Elfhame is what our world was named by the first faerie and her daughter, Queen Sorena and Princess Nyvendra. At least, it’s the name Elfhame gave itself according to some passages from a lost journal written by Nyvendra."

"Gave itself? You're saying your world named itself?" Sunghoon asked in confusion.

"Unlike your world, Elfhame will speak to us when she wants to." Heeseung said, his wings fluttering when a breeze blew through the clearing, as if the Earth was responding to the mention of Elfhame.

Just then, an angry voice and a whistle came through the air. "BOY? You better get home right now!"

Sunghoon's eyes widened. "That's my Aunt Caroline. I should go."

Heeseung frowned softly. "She sounds angry. Why would she be angry at you?"

"I'm never supposed to come out here. Your kind is the reason that the forest is off limits for the kids of my village. No one ever looks for me out here, so I come out here despite the rules."

"BOY!"

Sunghoon scrambled upwards, wincing when his head pounded. Heeseung watched him go with a worried look.

Something was off about that human. 

Chapter Text

Sunghoon had no clue why, but the next day, he was drawn back to the same circle of black lilies he had spent hours at the day before.

Soft bells sounded out through the clearing and he heard a soft voice say, "You've come back."

Sunghoon nodded, not looking in the faerie's direction.

"Couldn't get enough of me, could you?" Heeseung taunted. Sunghoon could just hear the smug smirk on his face, but after he took the energy to walk all the way here and lay down, he didn't even have the energy to turn his head forty degrees.

Sunghoon scoffed. "Who says I came here for you? Maybe I happen to like this clearing. You came back here today as well."

Heeseung smiled softly. "I was hoping you'd come back."

Sunghoon looked confused. "Why?"

"You're intriguing." Heeseung replied.

Sunghoon laughed, turning slowly to face the faerie. "So you just want to study me?"

Heeseung tilted his head, observing the boy in front of him. "Yes, exactly. You're the most peculiar human I've ever met."

"Tell me more about Faerie." Sunghoon demanded, pointedly ignoring Heeseung’s comment.

"You really want to know about Elfhame?" Heeseung asked in disbelief.

Sunghoon nodded. "I'm curious."

Heeseung smiled softly. "Well, Elfhame is beautiful. I'm a nature faerie, so I'm in charge of keeping Elfhame’s wildlife in balance. There are so many plants and animals that do not exist in your world."

"Is Elfhame better than Earth?" Sunghoon asked curiously.

Heeseung tilted his head, thinking for a moment. "Well, of course I'm a little biased, but yes. Earth pales in comparison to Elfhame.

Sunghoon chuckled. "You do sound biased. I'm more inclined to not believe you."

Heeseung rolled his eyes. "No place will ever compare to Elfhame." He sounded very indignant.

Sunghoon laughed. "I believe you, Heeseung. Anywhere would be better than here."

Something about the way Sunghoon said that was concerning to Heeseung. The faerie tried his best not to show that concern. He'd only known this human for less than two days and he was already attached.

Sunghoon continued, "Is it beautiful?"

"Huh?" Heeseung replied, not paying attention. "Oh, yes, it is."

"You said something yesterday about Elfhame speaking. Your world can actually speak to you?"

Heeseung nodded. "Yes, she does speak to us. Not in the way you think, though. She doesn't speak like you or I do, but she communicates in her own way."

"That sounds lovely." Sunghoon whispered, sounding slightly dazed.

"Sunghoon?" Heeseung asked worriedly when Sunghoon went silent.

Sunghoon didn't respond for a while, and when he did, it was sluggish and slow. "I... what were we talking about?"

"Are... are you sure you're okay?" Heeseung asked, worried when the human didn't answer him at first.

"No... I don't think I am. God, my head hurts." Sunghoon groaned, bringing a hand up to his head.

"Does this happen often?" Heeseung questioned quietly.

Sunghoon nodded slowly. "It's not usually as bad as this, though."

Heeseung hummed, an indecipherable look on his face.

Sunghoon was quiet for a moment before he demanded, "Tell me about your favorite flower."

Heeseung looked confused and worried but he relented, looking down at the ring of lilies surrounding him. "Black lilies." He replied in a soft voice.

Sunghoon smiled softly. "A flower from my world is your favorite?"

Heeseung nodded. "A human child picked some for me many years ago."

Sunghoon tilted his head, looking at Heeseung with a confused expression. "A human child?"

"Yes. He was the first human I'd ever met." Heeseung replied.

"Did you...?" Sunghoon trailed off with a look of horror on his face.

Heeseung shook his head. "I didn't trick him. Unlike other faeries, I prefer not to take children."

Sunghoon let out a sigh of relief. For a second, he had forgotten that Heeseung was a faerie, and there was the entirely real possibility that the faerie had taken humans before. Sunghoon didn't want to know.

"I have another question." Sunghoon said after a quiet moment.

"Ask away." Heeseung offered.

Sunghoon's brow furrowed as he looked down at the faerie ring. "Can you leave that circle? I know I'm not supposed to go in, but can you come out?"

Heeseung nodded. "I can, but only if you invite me."

Heeseung’s eyes widened as Sunghoon spoke, "You can come out here. If you want."

Heeseung looked confused as he asked, "You'd willingly invite me out?"

Sunghoon nodded, a small smile on his face. "You've had plenty of chances to really hurt me and you haven't. I trust you."

Why do you trust the most dangerous things around you?

Heeseung nodded, not really understanding. He leaned down and picked one of the lilies, putting it in his hair.

"What's the flower for?" Sunghoon asked curiously.

"As long as a faerie has a flower from their circle near them, it will take longer for any iron around them to affect them." Heeseung answered. Something about the way he said it was strange, but Sunghoon couldn't figure out why.

Sunghoon chuckled softly. "You'd be hard pressed to find much iron in the forests around here. I'm pretty sure my village is the only one around for miles and iron is expensive. Only the foundations of the important buildings are made with iron."

Heeseung just shrugged, knowing that was unlikely. Iron may have been expensive, but fear of faeries was bigger than the fear of being penniless. Most human settlements built their entire city foundations with iron.

However, he was right about the forests. Because forests were where faeries resided, humans avoided them altogether, so there was little to no iron in these forests. That's why humans were so afraid of these huge landscapes.

Heeseung took a step out of his circle, sighing in relief when nothing happened. He'd only ever tried to leave his circle without invitation once in his life, and the pain was so overwhelming he never tried again.

This time, he felt nothing. Sunghoon had invited him out for some unknown reason.

This human was strange. That's all Heeseung could think about. What kind of human would trust a faerie?

A flash of dark hair and the giggle of a child appeared in Heeseung’s head. Mr. Faerie, play with me!

"Are you like a prince or something?" Sunghoon asked curiously, pointing to the crown on Heeseung’s head.

Heeseung reached his hand up and gently touched one of the spikes on his crown. "Something like that." He replied.

"Dance with me." Sunghoon demanded, slowly standing up.

Heeseung watched him with worry, noticing the way the boy wobbled.

Sunghoon held his hand out to Heeseung.

Heeseung hesitated for a second, before Sunghoon stumbled, about to fall.

Heeseung leapt forward, catching the human before he could fall.

"Let me give you some strength." Heeseung offered, worry evident in his tone.

Sunghoon shook his head weakly. "No... no... deals..."

"Free of charge, Sunghoon. Please." Heeseung promised.

Sunghoon looked up, searching Heeseung’s face for lies even if he knew the faerie couldn't lie.

However, faeries could bend the truth. "Free of charge?"

"Yes. I just don't want you falling."

Sunghoon felt slightly apprehensive, but for some unknown reason, he felt as if he could trust the faerie.

He nodded, and Heeseung let out a sigh of relief. The faerie's eyes glowed bright green and suddenly Sunghoon felt stronger. Not completely, but enough that he could move for a while without getting tired.

"Dance with me." Sunghoon demanded once again.

Heeseung looked confused. "You want to... dance? With me?"

Sunghoon nodded, making an affirming sound.

"There's no music." Heeseung pointed out.

Sunghoon smiled. "Yes, there is. Listen."

The two of them went quiet and Heeseung watched as Sunghoon closed his eyes, listening to the sounds of the forest around them.

Faintly, Heeseung could hear a soft singing coming from all around them and he realized.

The forest was singing.

Somehow, the forest was singing to Sunghoon and he could hear it. How, Heeseung had no idea. Some humans were more in tune with the Earth, so maybe Sunghoon couldn't really hear it singing, but somehow he knew it was singing.

"Will you dance with me now?" Sunghoon asked, holding out his hand.

Heeseung nodded softly, still starstruck by the sound of the forest singing for this human boy.

Heeseung took Sunghoon’s hand and the faerie led them into a slow waltz. It was peaceful in the forest and for the second time in his life, Heeseung felt free.

It shocked him that the only times he'd ever felt calm like this were with a human. 

Chapter Text

“Do you all make malicious deals? Like do you all try to make deals with humans just to take control of them?” Sunghoon asked curiously as he and Heeseung continued to dance.

Heeseung hummed. “Not always. I remember I heard this story. One of the nature faeries met a human child who was a different gender than they were born with and had not decided on a name yet. When asked what the child’s name was, the child gave the faerie three different names, all descriptions of the things the child was surrounded with. Leaf, Stick, Moss. The faerie, recognizing that the child no longer had any true name, asked the child to give them the name they had before. The faerie gained nothing from it, but the child benefited because the person that the child had been when that name belonged to them no longer existed. They were free to choose whatever name they wanted and be whoever they wanted to be.”

Sunghoon smiled softly. “That’s sweet. Are there any other stories like that?”

“None that I can tell you myself,” Heeseung said, “Although, this deal I just made with you wasn’t malicious.”

Sunghoon nodded. “I guess you’re right. But why can’t you tell me the stories?”

Heeseung frowned. “To the fae, stories are very similar to names. You cannot tell a story that you have not first been given. Giving someone a story does not have the same repercussions as giving them your name, but it still holds weight.”

“That child, do you know what name they finally picked?”

Heeseung smiled softly. “I do. I see him often.”

Sunghoon’s eyes widened. “You made the deal with him.”

Heeseung nodded. “He has had a happy life. And less than a year ago in your world, he asked to join me in Elfhame.”

“Did he join you?” Sunghoon asked curiously.

“I gave him a month in your world just in case he wanted to change his mind, but he was adamant, so yes. He lives in my palace with my siblings and I.”

Sunghoon smiled. “Do you normally find yourself speaking to children?”

Heeseung laughed quietly. “Children are the most likely to break your human rules, but no. I’d only ever met one other child before, and it was when I was a child myself.”

Sunghoon tilted his head and his brows furrowed in confusion. “You were a child once? I thought faeries were just born like this,” he said, gesturing to Heeseung’s everything.

Heeseung frowned. “Not sure if I should be offended by that tone. Are you insinuating that my this is unsightly?” He asked, gesturing the same way Sunghoon did.

Sunghoon laughed quietly. “No, of course not. I just mean that I can’t imagine you as a child.”

Heeseung huffed softly. “I was a child once. All faeries are children at some point. We just live a lot longer than humans, so most of us don’t remember their childhood.”

“And you do?” Sunghoon asked, one eyebrow raised.

Heeseung rolled his eyes. “I’m not that old, yet. I’m about the same age you are.”

“Sure, you don’t look that old,” Sunghoon said, giving Heeseung a once-over, “but how was I supposed to know that? I know that even the most ancient faeries can be very beautiful, so you could be a million years old for all I know.”

Heeseung smiled, shaking his head. “Yes, we do have long lifespans, but no faerie has lived that long. The oldest faerie in history lived to be about two thousand years old, but she’s been dead for a very long time.”

The conversation lulled, and Sunghoon gazed at Heeseung curiously. “You’re nothing like the faeries I was warned about.”

Heeseung laughed. “Not all of us are as vicious as humans believe us to be. Although I suppose it depends on what court you encounter.”

“Court?” Sunghoon echoed, curious.

Heeseung nodded. “I am from the High Court, home of the Nature Fae, and with my people, it could go either way. Nobles are usually very cruel, but some of the commonfolk are naturally very lovely people. My brothers and I are the only exceptions to the cruelty of nobles, although some of my brothers can get kind of mean when they want to be.”

“What about the other courts?” Sunghoon asked.

“If you encounter a fae from the Ice Court, it is usually better to avoid them altogether, as they are almost always vicious. There are some who are passive, but most of them will not hesitate to rip you apart for sport. Then you have the Fire Courts, and like the High Court, it can go either way. It is usually a good idea to avoid fae from Blazecourt and Eastwind. They are terrible. I once watched a prince from Eastwind rip a pixie’s wings off just so he could pin them on his wall. But Firetrail is not so bad. Some of them are vicious, but two of my best friends are from Firetrail. And last but certainly not least is the Undersea Courts. They are the worst of any court. I have only met one fae from the Undersea who wasn’t horrible, and that is only because we’re not sure he’s fully Undersea.”

“It sounds… complicated,” Sunghoon mumbled.

Heeseung nodded softly. “It is a little. But I have lived in faerie all my life and I’m the crown prince of the High Court. It would be a problem if I didn’t know all of this.”

Sunghoon pulled away from their little dance, and Heeseung was surprised to find how disappointed he was. That was strange.

“It’s getting dark. I must go,” Sunghoon murmured.

“Goodbye, then,” Heeseung murmured back.

Sunghoon turned to leave, but just before he went out of view, Heeseung called his name. He turned around, curious.

“If you need me, call my name. I will come.”

Sunghoon’s brows furrowed in confusion. “Why would I need you?”

Heeseung shrugged. “You never know. Goodnight, Sunghoon.”

Sunghoon nodded softly, a small smile on his lips. “Goodnight, Heeseung. Thank you for dancing with me.”

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

Sunghoon heard their whispers. They all said it was a miracle that he'd survived this long. He'd lived nineteen years but he was still sick? They claimed it was the work of the devil. The work of a witch. Something supernatural was keeping him alive.

He knew they were planning on sacrificing him. It was coming upon the Moon Festival. On the last night of the festival, one person from the village would be sacrificed to the faeries to satisfy them. This way, they wouldn't attack the whole village. The people believed that the faeries would be sated with one single person.

Sunghoon knew that wasn't true. The faeries would just curse their crops, causing the village to have to sacrifice more humans. Sunghoon knew this time he was going to be the sacrifice. There would be no name other than his in the bowl come time for the full moon. He should have left, but where could he go? He was nineteen with no job of his own, as he was too sick to work anywhere.

On the last night of the festival, he tried to fight when his aunt and uncle dragged him to the village center, but he was too weak. He watched as the village elders brought out a bowl supposedly filled with the names of every person in the village. Sunghoon knew, though, that only his name was in there. The head elder reached into the bowl and pulled out a name.

"Park Sunghoon!"

The crowd gasped in shock and the elders looked sad but it was fake. Village guards came down to take him to the stage, but he resisted. "No! Let me go! Aunt Carol, please! Don't let them take me!" Aunt Caroline had the decency to at least look guilty, but it did nothing as she didn't speak up.

"No! Help! Please!" Sunghoon pleaded as he struggled. The guards dragged him to the stage where there was an altar. He was chained to the altar as the village priest started a speech.

"For years we have been plagued by the faeries, and all that they've demanded from us is a sacrifice each full moon! This sacrifice will provide us with safety from them!" Except Sunghoon knew the faeries never demanded a sacrifice. If they wanted a human, they'd take a human. This annual sacrifice was just an excuse for the town elders to get rid of anyone they didn’t like.

"Let me go!"

"Tonight, we sacrifice this young, sick boy." Sunghoon struggled against the chains, desperately trying to escape. What could he do? They were going to call upon a faerie who would kill him. He had run out of options. He started coughing violently. His lungs hurt and he could barely even scream anymore.

Except... wait.

"We call upon the greatest faerie of them all, Yud-"

"HEESEUNG!"

Just as Sunghoon’s vision went black, there was a burst of green light.

"Who dares call upon me?!" The people stared on in disbelief and fear as a faerie stood right in front of them. Usually, when they made sacrifices, the faerie never appeared, the sacrifice just disappeared in a flash of light. This faerie had bright green wings and was dressed in a green cloak. His clothes were made of only the finest fabrics, and on his head was a circlet of emeralds. This was a prince.

"Your... your highness! We never meant to disturb you... we were only performing a sacrifice to your people."

Heeseung Briarfell, eldest Prince of the High Court, looked over at the altar. When he recognized the boy passed out on the white marble, an angered look took over his expression. "A sacrifice? You think that what we want is sacrifices? If we wanted a human, we would take a human ourselves. Your sacrifices are needless, and frankly pathetic. If you really wished to appease us, you wouldn’t send us such weak and sickly humans. You are only sacrificing humans to get rid of the weak links, and we do not take kindly to you giving us your trash.” Heeseung’s voice was filled with venom and he felt a sick sort of satisfaction when most of the crowd before him flinched.

“We do not accept your sacrifices. And the next time you decide to sacrifice someone, think twice before giving us dead weight.”

Green light radiated from the faerie's body as the plants surrounding the crowd started moving wildly. People screamed and tried to escape but walls of plants surrounded the crowd, making them unable to leave.

"I do not want your sacrifices, nor does any other faerie. You have angered me far too many times. One more offense and I will burn this village to the ground with you in it. And never believe that I will offer you mercy again. Unchain him," Heeseung said angrily, pointing to the altar.

"I will set him free, your highness, I promise." The priest made a gesture and one of the guards took a step forward, however, instead of going to unchain Sunghoon, the guard lunged towards Heeseung as if to attack him. In a single second, the guard’s neck had been snapped. The crowd screamed again, uselessly trying to escape from their vine prison.

"You dare try to attack me with my back turned? I can taste your lies, human, and they are disgusting." Heeseung spat.

"I warned you what would happen if you crossed me again." In one second, everything was quiet, and in the next, chaos had descended on the village. Vines and trees shot out of the ground, smashing into homes and causing fires. Heeseung flew into the air, smiling at the sight of the village burning. The faerie cackled from the air as the Earth around him destroyed people's homes and killed anyone who tried to run. The sound of these people screaming was like music to his ears. He let out a growl when he saw the priest lifting a knife over Sunghoon’s head.

Heeseung’s eyes glowed and suddenly a thorned, flowering vine was wrapped around the priest's throat. Heeseung lowered himself back down to the stage. "Please, please! Mercy, I beg you!" The priest begged, clawing at the vine around his throat. “He is sick and useless! I am only doing what should have been done the moment he was born! What use could you have for a cursed child like this!”

Heeseung’s glare hardened. "I do not have to explain myself to you. Did you not hear me before, foolish human? You lost any chance for mercy when you decided to not heed my warning and try to kill that boy. You will die and I will not feel any pity for you." Heeseung closed his hand into a fist and the vine tightened around the priest's throat, snapping his neck in less than a second. Heeseung turned to the altar. "I'm sorry that I couldn't get here sooner, Sunghoon." He whispered. He gently picked the frail boy up, carrying him as gently as he could.

There was a flash of bright green light and the twinkling of bells as Heeseung disappeared with Sunghoon in his arms.