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The sunset paints the landscape golden as the light fairies run though the forest, fiery wings keeping the dark at bay as the smallest fairies follow the lead of the one humans call Sun. The fairies have light steps, barely leaving any marks on the moss covering the ground. They’ve all been doing this for centuries and they know how it goes. They are not supposed to step off the path or lose the sun from their sight because too many young, curious fairies have gotten lost in the dark, the coldness quickly stealing the fire from their wings.
The last fairie of the bunch, Jimin, has bright orange hair and fireflies dancing around his wings. He trips on a fallen tree and falls behind, his absence going unnoticed by the other fairies. Jimin groans and pulls himself up to inspect the damage. The tree is fine but his knees and palms are all scraped up and bloody and covered in dirt. With a grimace, the fairie wipes his hands on his shirt and looks around, mouth open but the words die on his tongue as the realization hits him.
He managed to do exactly what he was under no circumstances supposed to do.
Jimin whines and lies back down, wondering how he’s going to explain this to Hoseok. The leading fairie has a soft spot for Jimin but that doesn’t mean Jimin isn’t going to get his sorry ass scolded all the way to the next century. The last time Jimin got lost, Hoseok came back to look for him which was very nice and unusual of him. If a fairie stares at the landscape and forgets how to get home, they’re on their own. It happens so rarely that Hoseok can hardly be called cruel. He still makes exceptions when it comes to Jimin.
Jimin, who specializes in getting distracted and lost. Hoseok laughs and says that’s why the fireflies are so attracted to him. According to him, they’re both small, sources of light and they need to be rescued more or less often. Jimin pouts. It’s not like he does it on purpose. He’s young and curious, asks too many questions and gets way too few answers so naturally, he has to find out the answers by himself.
He didn’t plan on getting lost in the woods, though. Now that Hoseok and the other fairies are gone, it’s cold and dark. Jimin can feel the coldness working its way into him, trying to put out the flames licking his delicate wings. He scrambles to his feet, the tips of his wings already threatening to burn out, and he hiccubs a sob.
No one tells him stories about the dark fairies – not because they would be evil but because no light fairie has ever seen the darkness and survived to tell the tale. It’s just how things are. Light fairies feed on sunlight and warmth, eyes shining with golden light, while dark fairies belong to the night, bathing in the silver light of the moon.
Jimin shouldn’t be here, not when the darkness is already creeping up on the woods, wrapping the trees in its nets. He presses his wings against his back, desperately trying to protect the light as the darkness approaches. It’s like mist but not the same mist that covers lakes at dawn because at dawn, it’s soft and gentle and dances in the wind. The darkness is something else, like a wall of smoke that descends from a volcano. Here and there, Jimin can make out human-like shapes.
Dark fairies.
His heart jumps to his throat and he lets out a pathetic squeak before he turns to run, almost tripping on his own feet as his wings refuse to open. A soft laugh makes him stop dead in his tracks, eyes landing on a dark fairie standing in between the trees, shielding his eyes from Jimin’s light.
“Hoseok should keep you on a tighter leash, Minnie. This is the second time I’ve found you here all alone.”
The words fall gracefully from pale lips, the rest of the face hidden behind a hood but it doesn't matter because Jimin would recognize that voice even in his sleep.
"Y-yoongi? I... I thought I'd never see you again."
The lips curl into a smile, shadows slowly falling to reveal black eyes observing Jimin from under his black hair. The darkness pools at his feet, and even with the space between them, Jimin can feel the coldness radiating from the dark fairie. From Yoongi, who was supposed to be gone. Light fairies aren't supposed to survive in the cold, that's why they're not allowed to stray from the path.
"Did you really think something as simple as the darkness could kill something like me? I'm offended", Yoongi drawls. He flicks his wrist and Jimin watches as if hypnotized as the shadows follow, twirling around Yoongi's arm like a snake. They bend easily to his will, never coming close enough to touch Jimin.
No matter how powerful a light fairie is, it can't bend the light to its will.
"Isn't it beautiful? I used to be scared of the dark, too, and it hurts at first but you get used to it. It's strange not being able to fly but I'm learning to live without it... There's one thing I never learnt. I never knew how to live without you, Jimin."
Despite the coldness, Jimin's cheeks burn when Yoongi smiles shyly at him.
"It sounds like you're trying to convince me to stay", Jimin whispers, voice barely audible, like hearing the words would make it reality. He wants to stay, has always wanted to stay by Yoongi's side and be his dazzling sun, like Yoongi had called him ages ago in a different place filled with light and warmth.
"I don't think we should wander away without Hoseok..."
Jimin chewed his bottom lip, wings fluttering nervously as the older fairie turns back to look at him. Yoongi's eyes burned brightly, so brightly it almost hurt to look at him in the eye for long but Jimin still did it, fascinated by the light and the way Yoongi never really managed to stay still, always tinkering with something or tugging at Jimin's sleeve, asking him to follow without a question.
Yoongi sighed softly, walking back to pet Jimin's hair, scaring off some fireflies in the process. Jimin giggled cutely and inched closer as Yoongi played with the short hairs at the nape of his neck.
"Do you love your fireflies more than you love me?" he asked, a teasing smile on his lips as Jimin blushed, cheeks turning to an adorable shade of pink.
"Of course not", he managed, offering Yoongi a smile, "You know I love you the most."
Yoongi smiled.
"And you're my sun so what do we need Hoseok for? C'mon, take my hand and trust me. I’ll take you on an adventure you’ll never forget but I promise to bring you back in one piece. Have some faith, won’t you?"
A sharp pain and a wave of coldness have Jimin on his knees, memories fading to black as he gasps for air. He looks up at Yoongi and his eyes well up with tears. The shadows dance around them, other dark fairies slowly approaching, attracted to Jimin like moths to light. Yoongi kneels in front of Jimin, hands clenching to fists as he resists the urge to reach out to the fairie.
"Yoongi, it hurts", Jimin sobs, gripping onto Yoongi’s shirt and missing the pain in black eyes, the way his touch burns the dark fairie. The shadows crawl up his back, curling around the base of his withered wings and he slumps against Yoongi. His light slowly dies, like a persistent little candle drowning in the night, and the burn of his touch dulls to a comfortable warmth nestled against Yoongi’s chest.
“C’mon, take my hand. I’ll take you home.”