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It’s 5 in the morning when Jaehyun is shaken awake by his cousin. He tries to sit up but hits his head on the ceiling. Jaehyun swears. Damn Jisung , he’s 14 and he’s still too scared of heights to take the top bunk. Even when Jaehyun insists he’s too tall, Jisung’s got his mother on his side. He moves in his sleep, she told Jaehyun. He could fall down.
“Hyung,” says the teenager whose head is peeking from the side of Jaehyun’s bed. The older boy turns his head towards him, falling back on the bed. Jisung is already fully dressed, wearing his explorer hat. “Hyung,” he repeats, “there’s a rainbow.”
Jaehyun frowns. The clock on the wall says 5:25. The light coming through the curtain is pink as the sun is rising.
“And?” Jaehyun asks.
“I want to find the end of it! Come with me, you know I can’t go that far on my own and dad said there are bears,” Jisung pleads.
Jaehyun sighs. He’s already awake anyway. Jisung’s almost jumping up and down from excitement as his older cousin comes down the ladder.
Once he’s dressed, Jaehyun meets Jisung outside the cabin. The air is cold at this time of the morning, pinkish rays of sun are peeking through the clouds. A rainbow stretches across the sky, its color brighter than any of the rainbows Jaehyun has ever seen.
Jisung is already walking on the forest trail in the direction of the rainbow.
Jaehyun could’ve been hanging out with his friends, going out drinking. Instead, he’s in the middle of the forest with his extended family, spending his days watching over his younger cousin and exploring the woods. He didn’t really mind; it was nice to be out of the city for a while and his friends would survive. His best friend was in China for the summer anyway, and Mark and Donghyuck would probably spend their days playing video games in Mark’s room.
Jaehyun crossed his arms, glad he had his sweatshirt on. The sun was slowly rising but it wasn’t enough to warm the air.
“I hope we can meet the leprechaun,” Jisung says and Jaehyun knows he’s joking because he’s 14 and he can’t possibly believe there’s a leprechaun and a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
There’s a camping site at the lake next to the one where their cabin is and Jisung insists on walking through it to get to the lake on the other side. They meet a few fishermen giving them weird looks; what could two teenagers be doing walking around at this hour.
They find another trail around the lake and the rainbow is slowly disappearing.
“We have to hurry! It’s fading,” yells Jisung before he starts running.
Jaehyun calls after him but Jisung is ignoring him.
The older boy swears. He can’t let Jisung by himself, not since he got lost playing Pokemon Go a few days before and didn’t find his way home until the sun was setting. His mom had been clear; if Jaehyun wasn’t with him Jisung had to stay close by enough for them to check on him from time to time.
He’s not sure how it happened exactly, but one second he’s running after his cousin and the next second he’s on his back, a sharp pain in his forehead. There are people yelling, he can hear Jisung crying out his name. When he finally opens his eyes, the sun is so blinding he has to close them again. The light he can see through his eyelids dims and when Jaehyun’s tries again to open his eyes there’s a head in front of the sun.
The first thing Jaehyun thinks is that he’s dead. There’s an angel in front of him. A halo is around the angel’s body, his features soft, big eyes filled with worry. Jaehyun thinks death must not be that bad, if angels look like that.
The pain in his head reminds him he’s alive. He stares at the boy, his funny ears and orange hair, and he finally understands.
“You’re the leprechaun!” Jaehyun says weakly and the boy laughs.
“You can talk, that’s a relief.”
It takes a few seconds for Jaehyun to understand. He tries sitting up, but he’s dizzy. The world is spinning around him. The fake leprechaun gives him his arm, letting Jaehyun hold onto him for support.
“What happened?” he mutters.
“The tree branch,” says the stranger, pointing up.
Jaehyun doesn’t look up. He barely can look in front of him, so up would be a bad idea.
Jisung is kneeling next to him, out of breath since he had to run back to him when he fell.
“I’m so sorry hyung I didn’t mean to-” Jaehyun raises a hand to stop him.
“It’s fine.” He looks to the other boy. “Can you help me stand up?”
“I think we should wait for a little longer,” he says, and Jaehyun hums in agreement when he feels the pain in his head again. He must’ve hit the branch pretty hard.
“Did I ruin vacation?” Jisung asks in a worried voice, and he’s pacing around.
“Shut up Jisung, you didn’t do anything” Jaehyun says, not in a mood to deal with him.
There’s another boy a few feet away. He’s standing closer to the shore, next to a canoe, a fishing rod by his feet. Jaehyun can’t look at him for too long because he’s next to the sun and it makes the pain worse.
“Johnny, I think I’m going to stay with him and help him find his way home, you can go fishing without me,” says the fake leprechaun to the tall boy.
Soon Johnny is approaching, kneeling next to them.
“It’s fine, there’s no hurry. Wow, there’s already a bruise,” he says as he looks at Jaehyun from closer.
Jaehyun groans. He’s possibly met the most beautiful angel slash leprechaun on the planet, and he’s disfigured.
“Can I help you find your way home? I’m Doyoung, by the way,” he introduces himself, and Jaehyun just stares at him, trying to remember what he’s supposed to say.
He stutters when he opens his mouth, and Jisung is laughing.
“He’s trying to say his name is Jaehyun,” he explain, and Jaehyun wants to glare at the teenager, but he can’t look away from Doyoung.
“Okay, let’s try to stand up,” the redhead says.
Jaehyun does fine until he’s on his feet and everything is spinning and there are suddenly arms around his waist, holding him.
“Fuck, I need to go to the hospital.”
Doyoung laughs, nodding. “Why don’t we try to get you home first?”
“Jisung, where’s home again?” Jaehyun asks, looking at his cousin. He can’t think for long enough to remember what way they have to go to find their cabin.
“We’re at the other lake,” Jisung reminds him, and Doyoung casts a worried look at Jaehyun.
“Why don’t we stop by our caravan, maybe you could eat something and call your family to come and get you? I’m not sure it’d be a good idea for you to walk all the way there…”
Jaehyun agrees. Doyoung helps him walk to the camping site, his arm around Jaehyun’s waist.
There’s no one in Doyoung and Johnny’s caravan. Johnny’s dad has gone fishing earlier, so they’re alone. Doyoung is looking through the fridge, choosing ingredients to make Jaehyun breakfast. Jaehyun is already feeling better, the slight pain in his head replacing the barely tolerable one from before and the world isn’t spinning anymore.
Jisung and Johnny stay outside to play a ball game together.
They start getting to know each other as Doyoung makes him fried rice. Jaehyun’s saviour is a year older and he’s in an education major in a university not very far from Jaehyun’s. He works at the library and he likes to talk about space.
When he slides the plate of fried rice in front of Jaehyun, the boy is so dazed he forgets to start eating.
Doyoung laughs, and it pulls Jaehyun out of his trance.
“I’m sorry, I’ve never seen a leprechaun from up close before, I didn’t know they were so good looking,” he says without thinking, and Doyoung chokes on air, coughing a few time before he can look at Jaehyun again.
Doyoung reaches forward to gently touch Jaehyun’s face with the tips of his fingers.
The younger boy winces.
“Your bruise is turning green,” Doyoung says, pulling a face at the state of Jaehyun’s face.
“Do I still look good?” Jaehyun asks, pouting. He’s not the type to be shy.
“I’m not going to answer that,” Doyoung answers, and Jaehyun is giving him puppy eyes.
By the time Jaehyun’s parents’ car pull up next to Doyoung’s caravan, Jaehyun manages to get Doyoung all flustered and there’s his number saved in his phone.
To: leprechaun
the doctor said it’s a minor concussion. i’m not going to die. apparently
From: leprechaun
that’s great, but you forgot your pot of gold here
To: leprechaun
aw, that’s a shame. we’re gonna have to arrange something for you to give it to me
From: leprechaun
how about a movie and some pizza?
To: leprechaun
sounds like a good deal :)