Chapter Text
The quiet rhythm of the quartet was barely audible with the loud chatter going on in the large ballroom. The windy sound of ball dresses sweeping across the floor as a few ladies danced with some lords and princes echoed every other second, muffling the sound of music even more.
You took a look around, the ball room was filled to the brim with people. Men wore suits with as many badges on as they could to prove their importance, topped with at least one pocket watch, one mechanical hat and a cane that was embellished with little gearwheels and silver wires.
Women wore large, puffy dresses, adorned with many layers of fabric with different kind of laces and different colors, all of them had at least one necklace on that portrayed gearwheels yet again, and chunky earrings that looked like little watches. The trend of industrialization came through more than ever, you thought, and it was almost disgusting how little of the real world - mother nature - was left.
You looked over to the side. There were a few pixies sleeping on a large table filled with food, while two brownies stole a bit of cake. You wondered if they were sad that they couldn't get cookies and had to settle with cake instead, but you shook off the thought and watched the pixies once again.
This estate has been built only about a decade ago, and before there was a botanist residing here. Which meant that there was a large exotic garden where fairies like pixies were the most content. Now that their homes had been taken away, you could still see a few of them linger around in hopes that their home might return to what it had been before, but the longer they stayed, the more they realized that it would never be the same.
Your attention was grabbed by the brownies again, who were now trying to play a trick on a human that was about to grab a piece of cake as well. The little kettle with tea in it was just a few inches away from the hand that grabbed a plate and a fork and you hurried to the little buffet to stop whatever the brownies were up to.
Just as the two fairies were able to push the kettle far enough so the hot water would spill over the man's hand, you could catch it and put it back into its original position. The man stared at you shocked, but then quietly thanked you for your quick reflexes, before he hurried off.
“You can't just do that. That would've hurt the man”, you scolded the brownies, who only giggled and hid behind other objects on the table, making you sigh. Brownies were so hard to tame sometimes.
“There she goes again. What a weirdo”, you could hear two girls whisper to each other, chuckling at whatever was said afterwards. You sighed once again. Yes, this was nothing new for you, you were always the weird kid that talked to herself as if another person was there.
You were always the weird kid who watched things when there was only a white wall in front of you. You were always that girl that was around when something weird happened, like a glass fell over or the curtains moved even though the window was closed. Some people even started to think you were a witch or something like that, but there was nothing that supported that claim.
You patted down your dress that got disheveled in the act of scolding the little fairies, before you turned around and paced towards the balcony. You hated these balls with a passion, you didn't like the negative attention you got. It was exhausting to try to stand against all these mean words that were thrown your way, the stares and gossips about you. It was hard not to crumble underneath that judgment. You were so focused on reaching the balcony that you didn't notice how your brother Seonghwa followed you and grabbed your arm softly.
Seonghwa was a great man: He was the lord of an influential family name, was known as someone who was full of ambition, and above all, was very handsome and known to be kind. He was the best brother you could have, especially considering that ever other person would've distanced themselves from such a weirdo like you. But Seonghwa was always kind and nurturing towards you, he was always making sure that you were as content as you could be in the situation you were in and he tried to understand you.
Oh, but there's always a but.
No matter the effort, he just didn't understand you and you could tell that his patience was starting to run out. And it didn't matter that he was the most patient person you knew, some day even his patience would come to an end. You turned towards your brother, who resembled everything you didn't, as a touch of jealousy ran up your spine and settled in your heart. Lately, you have been feeling this way whenever you looked at him.
“What's wrong, Hwa?”, you asked him softly and fully turned towards him. You were only a few feet away from the balcony and Seonghwa pulled you with him, until the two of you were outside, just as a breeze washed by and disheveled your hair a bit. Your hand automatically patted the few strands down and held the rest in place as the breeze died down.
“Y/N”, he started, followed by a heavy sigh as he massaged his forehead with his index finger, the wrinkles between his eyebrows visible, “I know that we already talked about this and that you don't like the topic, but this can't go on. You can't just talk with the air in such public events. Do it at home if you feel like it, but don't do it somewhere where suitable partners are. You're the talk of the ballroom again!”. The way he became more agitated with each word made you shrink into yourself.
Yes he was right, you had already talked about this matter and you were still feeling uncomfortable about it. It has been already a few years since your coming of age ceremony, where you turned sixteen and since then, there was no sign of possible marriage with a lord or prince, which worried Seonghwa. And you knew that he only meant well, that he wanted to find a suitable partner for his baby sister, but his baby sister really didn't do him any favors whenever she started talking to herself out of nowhere. It started to embarrass him when people gossiped about you once again and when different men turned his proposal to marry his sister down.
“Just because you can't see them doesn't mean they aren't real”, you replied to Seonghwa, who heard this argument a thousand times already. He was sick of you telling him that there were magical creatures around that only you could see. It was all fun and games when you were younger and when he wrote it off as you having a really lively creativity, but now it became ridiculous.
“How come only you can see them? How come that I can't even though we are brother and sister?”, he asked, desperation taking over as he grabbed your shoulders and shook you violently, “When will your craze stop, Y/N, when will you start being like every other normal person in this world?”. He had enough and you could understand his reaction, but it still hurt.
How come nobody understood you? Why did you have to be so different? Why was it such a big deal that you could see fairies? Hundreds of years ago, people were offering some of their food to have a better bond with the fairies.
When did all of this change?
Tears brimmed in your eyes and you turned away from your brother. He already thought you were a hassle, he didn't have to see that hassle become pathetic as well. You wished yourself that you weren't different, but you were. And now it seemed like the only person who accepted you was turning their back on you as well. You could hear your brother sigh, muttering something under his breath, before he stalked off, leaving you behind. You took deep breaths to stop the tears from falling and tilted your head back, watching the little sprites dance around in the moonlight.
In the distance, the clock rang loudly twelve times, a sweet yet robotic melody echoing through the city and announcing midnight. You hadn't heard this melody for quite some time, since you didn't live in London but in the outskirts of England, next to the faerie forest.
Your brother had let you move there after an intense discussion about your future. Originally, he said no, but after you just fled to the small house your parents had inherited with no maids or servants and survived three months on your own, he let you stay there. He was smarter than to fight against your occasional stubbornness.
You were happy to live in a place that was surrounded by nature. Not only were there more happy fairies that brought you a lot of luck, no it was far more peaceful, since there weren't a lot of other people who could talk about you behind your back. It was just you and the fairies. And with the thought of your peaceful home, the urge to get back there and out of this horrible ball itched you in all the wrong places, so you abruptly turned around and readied yourself to hurry out.
“Ouch!”, you squeaked out as you ran into somebody and fell to the ground. Was Seonghwa back to apologize? You peeled your eyes open as you felt a pair of rough hands grab your arms to pull you up. With a quick jerk, you were back on your feet and taking in the person in front of you.
The small mole under the man's left eye quickly caught your attention and you wondered if you ever saw a human with such a perfectly placed beauty mark. Next were his large eyes, that were slightly elongated at the ends because of the makeup he wore. You were a little uncomfortable by how close this man's face was to yours and how intensely he was looking at your eyes with those dark orbs of his.
“Wow, I've never seen such pretty eyes in my life”, he whispered, his breath fanning over your nose and cheeks, a clear sign that this stranger was way to close to you. So you pushed him away at once and just hurried off to the carriage you had come in, ignoring all the stares and whispers that followed you along like your own shadow.
What did just happen?
“I'll be out then, brother”, you informed Seonghwa, watching him for a moment as he worked on some kind of document.
“You'll see Dr. Kim, right? What a pity that he's already married, he might be the only one who would accept to marry you. Maybe he can still change his mind?”, Seonghwa replied as he stood up. His words stung once again, but you knew he meant it only well. He walked over to you and hugged you tightly, before he put a scarf around you.
“You know very well, that Dr. Kim is about to become father, brother”, you reminded him as you took in his gentle stare through those feminine eyes of his. You didn't share a lot of traits. Your whole face looked different and after you were born, a lot of people wondered if your mother was unfaithful, because no one in your family had green eyes.
That was the most unique thing on you: your prehnite colored eyes; how your eyes shone in a unusual light green color and seemed so all-knowingly with the milky white film stretching over them. Sometimes you sat in front of your mirror and just looked at those eyes of yours.
“It's a little cold today, so be sure to drink something warm, yeah?”, he told you and you nodded, “Where will you meet up? Just in case something happens”.
“I think he wanted to see a jazz band, so we're going to a pub”, you remembered, “It was somewhere next to the Bulls Head”. Your brother nodded and took a step back, letting you leave for now. You hurried through the stairs and halls of the large mansion of your family, where you stayed for the weekend. Since it took you about a day to get to your home with the high speed trains, you usually stayed a few days at the mansion, whenever you visited London. You usually came around every other week, depending on how much you had to discuss with the doctor.
Yes the doctor, the man you were about to meet up with. He was a unique man, one of kind really. A doctor who specializes in herbal medicine in this day and age, something a lot of people already left behind.
But the power of herbs made him this successful doctor that he is now, beside his insane work ethic and discipline. You were happy to have found this gem of a human among all this trash at a ball. Your brother had celebrated a new law for hospitals, that included minimum wage for all workers there and brought you as his plus one. There, you were obviously stared and laughed at once again, but there was one man who got interested in you, when you strolled around the barely living garden. Mr. Kim had stopped you, you still remembered how the strong grip felt on your shoulder and how much you flinched.
He then asked you if the rumors about you living in the outskirts of London were true and if you grew plants and herbs like a witch. And you had scoffed, trying to push him off and leave you alone, but he was adamant about knowing, so you verified the rumors, though you made sure to explain that you weren't a witch. He heartily laughed at that, telling you that even if you were one that wouldn't change the fact that he wanted to form a working alliance with you.
“See, I've been trying to test out different kinds of herbs on different kinds of illnesses. And I have found a few cures, but nearly not enough. It's just so hard to grow all these plants in the middle of London, that is basically a block of metal and stone. Plants aren't going to survive here for long”, he had explained while you had crossed your arms and put on a judging look, “But you seem to have a hand for plants. Would you like to partner up with me? I'll give you money, when you grow the herbs I need for my researches”.
He had held out a hand for you, a large smile making him look younger than he was. The way his hair was ruffled up from hurrying towards you to speak to you made you reconsider your first impressions of him and you had reluctantly taken his hand. He then promised to reach out to you to talk about the details of your contract and bring an official document to sign. Then, he vanished into the night, getting out of your sight for the rest of the night.
And well, the rest is history. Since then, you had been delivering various kinds of herbs to the doctor, sending a load every week. And now you were on your way to chit chat with him, just to catch up on whatever he was doing.
You stepped out of your house and headed to the next train stop, where you could hop into one of those moving mechanical objects, that conveniently transported you through London without the need of a carriage. The multiple rails along the streets just showed how important those trains had become in the city itself and as you took a look around, you could see many businessmen and women wait for their own train home. It was funny to see all these people with almost identical clothing, which were mainly brown pants, beige button ups, maybe a leather vest on top for the men and a leather corset for the ladies and all paired with multiple watches, cogwheels and at least a hat, if possible a top hat adorned with more cogwheels and watches.
Compared to that, you felt like a sore thumb sticking out. You were content with a simple linen dress and a slightly bigger summer hat that you liked to wear while you plucked out the herbs for the doctor you were about to meet. You wished that not everything was so metal and industry oriented, but what could you change? You sighed.
In the distance, a small train slowly approached you, and with large metal letters, the destination was written on top of it, clearly telling you that you had to get into this train. You took out the letter the doctor had sent you, where your meeting destination was neatly described on, and made sure to not miss your station as you hopped onto the back of the train, grabbing the handrails with your right as your left grabbed the scarf your brother had put on you earlier to prevent it from being blown away by the wind, which now started howling as the train moved, due to the open built.
You decided that you would rather stand and watch the city than sit down on one of the benches, that were made out of copper that shimmered back in an orange hue due to the sun shining golden down onto the city, combined with the red cushions adorning it. A cold dust of wind made you nuzzle into your scarf, shuddering slightly. You took a look around, seeing the full streets of London. Not much has changed, there were big streets, specifically designed for small slow trains, but everyone used them as normal sidewalks, hurrying over them to get somewhere.
Since it was evening already, groups of men were seen entering different bars and pubs, all looking for a relaxing night to end the day. Looking to the side, there were small alleys leading into living spaces of workers, a few of the women were hanging their bed sheets on the ropes that were tied against the metal staircases that made their apartments accessible in the first place. Together with all the different small bridges, that led to the adversely built houses and buildings on top of each other, similar to what a young boy with blocks of wood might come up with as parts of concrete and metal were sticking out to the side, the crowded view immediately got to your head and you started to get dizzy. While the industrial London was a heavy view for anybody, since wherever you looked there was more detail than you could get in a glimpse, you were even more impacted by everything displayed to you in a short amount of time.
You were used to a natural terrain, with a simple wooden house, not a large city, that bustled with people and buildings, both of them conforming to the trend of cogwheels, leather and clocks. Closing your eyes and rubbing them with your cold hands, you focused back on what the train displayed when a female voice yells out the next stop: Finally, you can get out.
Just as you stepped off the metal moving object, a young boy ran past you, a large amount of newspapers tied together with thick rope on his back and few examples in his hands, as he screams about the newest headlines. In the process, his brown overall slips from his shoulder, but he hurries to push it back on. Another group of children were running around with toy guns, pointing at each other and playing some kind of secret agent game. You smiled as you watched them scream in joy, although the sound was a little harsh to your ears.
There were multiple sources of music around you, you figured each pub that you discovered as you started to move had another type of ambient, thus other type of music played. Mixed into the hurl of music and the screeching of children were laughter, deep and high voices and just the general sounds of crowds during a cold evening. Looking into the sky, you noticed that the sun was almost completely gone, only a few strays of it illuminating the city, although the many yellow lamps around you took over that job. Winter was getting closer and you were sad about the short days coming your way.
You looked onto the letter in your hands, that described the way to the pub, figuring out that you would have to walk down the main road a good mile, so with a little pep in your step, you wandered off. Passing more and more alleys, your curios nature got the better of you and you started looking around like a mesmerized child, kind of investigating the alleys as you were passing in a slow pace. You always did this, watching everything around you and more often than not you got lost pretty quickly, and in very rare cases, you would find a person in need for help or something similar. You once even found a lost dog.
But this time, it seemed like you wouldn't find anything unusual. Until you casually passed a group of cats that seemed to play with a small object, shimmering in a prehnite green color. With a closer look, you could make out a little field faerie and smiled at the cute interaction between the faerie and the cats, but then you were hit by reality and asked yourself what the hell does a field faerie do in the middle of London. So you took a few steps back and watched the whole situation for another second, before rushing towards it.
The cats seemed to shy off, but after noticing you could see the faerie, they halted and watched you move. You could now take in your small friend, he radiated green light and wore a large green and pointy hat, that covered most of built. There was a small stone attached to his belt, one that was shimmering in a prehnite green color. If not for your own eye color looking the exact same way, you would've overlooked it.
“Thanks”, you mumbled to the cats as you crouched down to be on eye level with the small creature, “What's your name?”. The field faerie didn't answer, he only looked around anxiously, when one of the cats propped himself up on two feet and started talking.
“Come on, tell her!”, he smacked the faerie with his tail and nodded towards you, “Sorry Madame, but it seems like this little guy lost his way. He was supposed to bring something back, but doesn't know how to get out of the city anymore”.
“It's just that there are no trees for orientation! I just need to get to the southern gates to be close enough to the forest to open a portal!”, he cried out flying around nervously like a bee, “How am I ever going to get back?!”. Now he actually started weeping a bit, hiding his face behind his small hands. You were about to coo, until you remembered that this was an actual serious situation and that you should take the little guy seriously.
“Okay little one, you're lucky I found you. I have to go back home and I happen to pass the southern gates. You can just come along with me for a day and then I'll get you there, hm?”, you suggested and smiled, making the faerie look at you through his fingers.
“You would really do that?”, he asked innocently, slowly letting his arms rest at his sides.
“Yes. But only if you want to. The other option is I tell you how you get to the southern gates, but I think that's a little hard to remember”, you told him the other idea you had.
“Okay then”, he agreed, “I'll follow you. My name is Poppy Parsleypond, by the way”. He pushed the large green hat out of his face and smiled at you. The typical traits of a faerie came through: pale skin, pointy ears, red cheeks and large eyes, holding a precious castelon green. Your friend specifically had a cute smile and combined with the obvious traits of a young faerie, the innocence and naive nature, you had to bite back another coo.
“Nice to meet you, Mister Poppy Parsleypond. My name is Y/N Park”, you replied and held out your index finger to shake for the little guy. He touched your finger, the familiar tingling sensation of a faerie touching you once again spreading from your finger through your body. You smiled back and invited him into your pocket, that was conveniently sewed onto your dress as you requested, though you didn't imagine it would be used to transport a faerie with you.
Staring at the pocket for a moment, Poppy quickly hopped inside and you bid goodbye to the cats, who each bowed on their two feet, which was still something you had to get used to since it looked so unnatural to you, before you left the alley. Then you continued your way to the pub.
“I apologize, Dr. Kim, I didn't intend to arrive late but I needed to help a soul in need”, you apologized as soon as you reached the table Dr. Kim already sat at. With a glass of whiskey in his hand, he turns in his seat and recognizes you.
“Ah, Miss Y/N! Didn't I tell you to just call me Hongjoong? I feel old if you call me by my last name”, he quickly greeted you as he stood up and pulled out a chair for you like a gentleman.
You slowly sank into the seat and he returned to his own, grabbing the glass of whiskey again and taking a small sip.
Dr. Kim had a similar interest in music as in being passionate about herbal medicine and you had often been surprised by his choice of bars that he invited you into, since they all played almost identical music, which was jazz. The genre was very popular among other noblemen, thus the bar was filled to the brim with guests who all seemed to have ordered a similar style of drink as the doctor in front of you.
You must admit that the bar impressed you more than the shabby one you were at last time, since this one seemed more sophisticated in total. Upon entering, you could spot the stage where five musicians sat on and played some slow background music, the tables in front of them made of dark walnut wood, the black seemingly sucking in the yellow-ish light that came from the many miniature versions of chandeliers. The chairs around the tables were also made of dark walnut wood, although there were black cushions softening it and making it more bearable to sit on for a longer amount of time. It gave off a lowkey and comfortable atmosphere and you were happy with your friends choice.
“I'm happy you could make it. I haven't seen you since forever!”, he recalled and you nodded along, a satisfied smile on your lips, “Who was the soul in need? One of your little friends again?”. You nodded as a waiter came up from the bar close to your left to get your order. Yes Hongjoong was the only person who seemingly didn't feel bothered by your crazy talk, or at least that's what people thought it was.
At first, he certainly didn't believe your words, though it didn't bother him. He argued that as long as you did your job efficiently, who was he to criticize your character? You only had to be compatible on a business level, not on a personal one. But after multiple meetings, the two of you clicked really well and you had found a friend in him. And ever since then, he had gotten one step closer to believe your words.
“You know, you would be able to take in their presence if you made my special cookies. Brownies love them”, you replied sighing, “But yes, I found a friend on the street, who got lost”.
“I see. Then your tardiness shall be forgiven”, he laughed heartily again, “Today is such a nice day, isn't it? It might be a bit cold, but perfect weather for a cozy night, at least in my opinion”.
“Are you drunk?”, you asked the man, his wide grin as infectious as always. You watched as his thin and long fingers set down the glass softly, the thud being drowned by the loud chatter of the pub.
“Not really, I'm just happy to see someone who is just being themselves. In the past weeks, I've been around snooty cunning people, who might as well just ask to get a role in the next theater”, he replied, sighing, before taking another sip of his whiskey. He then rested his chin on his palm, his almond shaped eyes glancing at you innocently, though you knew he was cleverer than he made himself out to be.
“How come you have so many visitors?”, you asked, mirroring his action.
“On one hand, I am about to release a work about herbs and their healing effects on common illnesses like depression, insomnia ect. People have been flocking around me to get into the limelight with me, but I don't plan to really become famous. On the other hand, I am about to become father and many people think that if they couldn't hang themselves onto me, they can take a hold of my child and maybe get a marriage contract. But that won't happen either”, he explained, sighing in annoyance at the audacity of some people.
“That sounds like a hassle. I would rather be in my current situation of people not bothering me”, you replied and he agreed with a sour mood, but quickly shook it off and refocused on you.
“But let's not focus on the bad news. How is life treating you these past weeks I haven't seen you? Is your brother still trying to pester you into a marriage?”, Hongjoong asked you and leaned back, as the waiter finally came with the darjeeling tea you had asked for. You weren't here to drink, you just wanted to meet up with Hongjoong.
“Let me tell you, just yesterday...”, you started and the two of you fell into a comfortable conversation.
“Alright, I'll hear from you then!”, you stood up from the chair you were on for the past two hours. There wasn't a single time you met Hongjoong when it didn't feel like time was passing by quickly. But it was late and you had to go now. You needed to bring your little faerie friend home after all. So you left the pub with a little more life to your steps, feeling a little better after that horrible ball.
As you exited the pub, you tried to make out the street you had come from to get to the train station to get back home. Although the pub was a little further away from the main street, it wasn't rocket science to find your way back. You just needed to turn to the left and then look to the right when you reached the fourth street, then you would be able to see the main road.
Passing two alleys, you could hear the laughter of a woman, similar to an innocent giggle out of said alley. Taking a look from where the sound came from, you could make out two people, a man and a woman, who were in the process of kissing and pushing clothing away to have intercourse. Deciding to leave these two lovebirds alone, you continued walking, the feeling of disgust spreading through your chest. Who wants to do it outside in the dirty alleys of a large metropolis? Not you. But Poppy seemed to have another thing in mind, when he suddenly left your pocket and made his way towards said alley.
“Poppy! Get back here!”, you whisper-yelled, as you tried to catch up to the quickly moving faerie. Poppy's green light shone brightly and you were thanking the Queen of faeries for giving them this ability. If not, you would've lost your new friend.
Hurrying towards the couple, you were determined to catch Poppy before he could do anything stupid, and you managed to catch up when you were still a few feet apart, but then something must've gotten tangled up around your shoes, because you could feel yourself tumble and- oh god you fell. Right onto the lovebirds.
“What the hell?!”, the woman shouted out, anger seeping through, “What is this bitch doing here?!”. She pushed the man who was all over her only seconds ago away and waited for his explanation.
The man in question was only staying quiet, giving off perplexed sounds, so the woman started to come up with her own ideas. “Is she your wife? Are you cheating on her with me?! I'm not a side chick, understood?! Ugh I hate guys like you!”, she raged and threw a slap across the mans face, before she stormed off, her corset still loosened up. Afraid to look at the man whose night you probably ruined with this incident, you stayed on the ground, your hands clasped around Poppy, whose light was slightly visible through your palms.
“Hey, stand up”, the man in front of you sighed, his hands clasped around your arms tightly to help you stand up. Once again, you stand in front of a stranger, whose nose is right in front of you and somehow that mole underneath his left eye was surprisingly familiar- wait a minute.
“Hey, it's you!”, the man yelled out, staring into your eyes with those dark orbs, reminding you of the black walnut wood in the pub, the same way he did at the ball, “What's wrong? Did you try to find me because you couldn't get my beauty out of your mind?”. He laughed heartily at his comment, agreeing with himself again while still holding you tight.
“What, no! I couldn't even see your face because you were so close, like- urgh- right now!”, you pushed him with your elbow off of you, tumbling a few inches back as well, before finding a solid stance. Then, you glared at him, as he rearranged his clothes.
Only now you had enough distance between the two of you to actually take in this man. Hovering over you with a few inches, the man in front of you was with no doubt well built. Broader shoulders smoothed out by the brown button up, a tight waist that was hugged by his beige pants comfortably, a neck vein that popped out prominently. He wore a watch on his left arm with delicate adornments, wheels that merged into each other with every second passing. He was also equipped with a leather arm décor, one that went all the from his right biceps to his shoulder and around his waist back to his chest and arm. It held place for a pocket watch, maybe glasses and a gun, which was what it was commonly used for.
He looked like a common man, one that didn't necessarily belong to the nobles but wasn't bad off either.
“Eyes up here, little bird”, he pushed his index finger against your chin and lifts your face up, smirking smugly, “I know that I have a nice body, but I think I could convince you easier with my face. What do you say?”.
“I say you're a hopeless playboy. I'm not interested”, you replied and turned to walk away, trying to get his face out of your mind. There was nothing good about remembering it anyways.
“Well, you took away a good night from me, so I think you have to pay back”, he grabbed you by your shoulder and turned you around, “Why did you even come here in the first place? This alley doesn't look like a place you women would visit without a solid reason”. He sounded genuinely confused as he raised an eyebrow while he waited for your answer.
“Well, you wouldn't believe me if I said that a fae- ouch!”, you suddenly let Poppy go, your finger stinging from something. The green light came back to your view, buzzing right in front of your faces.
“You interrupted my make-out session because of a firefly?!”, he asked incredulous, stemming his hands into his hips, “I have had pretty stupid interruptions, but this definitely tops everything. Ugh, I can't believe I missed out because of such a stupid reason. Are you twelve, or what?”. But you couldn't focus on his anger, rather you were watching Poppy's confused facial expression as he got closer to the man, and is he sniffing him? Your eyebrows furrowed when Poppy's facial expression turned almost ecstatic, making you wonder what exactly the faerie could sense.
But before the faerie could do anything unnecessary, you quickly caught him and with your eyes, you gave him a warning glare, then you responded to the man's stupid insult.
“For your information”, you turned back to the man as you spat your words out, “I'm not twelve and I am not crazy. Believe me or not, but you were just recognized by a faerie, so congratulations. I'm deeply sorry for ruining your night, but I have to go now”. You turned on your heels once again and walked off, leaving the perplexed man behind you. The way his face contorted into pure confusion lit up the feeling of happiness in you, although you felt bad for just dumping what normal people would call craze onto him in such a short amount of time. But screw him, he called you twelve!
“Wait a minute!”, he called out yet again. You slowed your pace as you looked back at him.
“At least tell me your name! What if I want to know more about faeries?”, he asked and you almost laughed at how ridiculous he sounded, though you tried to hide your surpise. Nobody was interested in your stories. But, you figured, you did ruin his night, so you could at least give something in return.
“Y/N. Y/N Park!”, you replied, turning around the corner, as you took another look at the handsome stranger. You pushed Poppy into your pocket as you hurried off to the train station, but there was one question that wouldn't stop bothering you even on the way back to the mansion and way into the night.
Why exactly was Poppy so drawn to him?