“I do not wish to remain in this place any longer, Kyungsoo. However, you were already aware of that, weren't you?” Jongin’s words would easily pass as harsh and rude to someone who heard him for the first time. Kyungsoo was a different case though.

~~

Jongin belonged to the Fair Folk and this kind of speech was the only one he knew, was the only one he was ever taught to speak in the many years that he existed. One that didn’t know how to lie. One that didn’t justify mercy to any mistake, insignificant or not.

Ever since the Dark War ended, almost six years ago, the fey people have been outcasted and everyone kept their distance when a meeting with any of them occurred. Of course, random meetings were not always peaceful and that’s why the Faeries stayed mostly hidden in the security of their Court.

The Clave had created the Cold Peace and since the Fair Folk weren't represented, they had to comply with what the other tribes chose as a worthy punishment. The Clave's sanctions against the Fair Folk included the following: the faeries would pay reparations for the loss of Nephilim and Downworlder life as a result of their attacks on the Institutes and the Praetor Lupus; they would no longer be allowed to have armed fey warriors or armies, and any of the fey who were seen bearing weapons without Clave approval would lawfully be killed; and, they would no longer be directly protected by the Clave under the Accords.

At first, Kyungsoo supported the hatred between the Fair Folk and the rest of the Downworlders and Shadowhunters. His father had died in the war after all, which was caused by the Seelie Queen and her people’s betrayal.

His people were known to be selfish and cruel towards the downworlders, so for a long time he had an excuse or two for not being forgiving towards the matters regarding the Fair Folk. Kyungsoo was always a little rough on the edges so no one thought of his behavior as bizarre.

When he had found Jongin, though, one of the Faeries, one of the people he hated the most in the whole entire world, barely alive after a werewolf attack, obviously left behind by his own, something inside him snapped and made him reconsider his decisions. He had gone to the site of the attack in secret, knowing that he wasn't allowed to interfere, however it was the first one to happen after he was officially assigned to guard the Seoul Institute. The wolves shouldn't have attacked in the first place and they were going to face the consequences of this attack in the end anyway.

Seeing that young and beautiful boy lying on the ground unconscious, his heart beating so slowly that he almost couldn’t feel his pulse, his body bruised up and swimming in his own blood, abandoned and thought of as dead weight, made him realize that maybe he had been cruel for a long time without a substantial reason. Not every Faerie was responsible for what had happened.

He had acted fast and without thinking. Carrying the boy was not very hard as he had a great amount of muscle on his shadowhunter body and the hurt boy had a frail built.

Kyungsoo knew that they wouldn’t let him bring the boy to the Institute so he had to sneak him inside. There was a room in the Institute that was meant to be used by downworlders that seeked refuge. If anyone caught them, he could somehow twist the truth and present it as such a case.

Said room was rather small compared to rest of the rooms on the multiple floors of the Institute, and considering it's purpose it's rise was barely adequate. It contained of two hospital-like beds, a table and a couple of chairs next to it. He layed the Faerie on one of the beds and started examining his wounds.

The shadowhunter was not great at healing wounds, especially the wounds of any other species’ other that his fellow shadowhunters. Their bodies couldn’t bear the power of an iratze drawn by his Stele. However, the mundane movies Baekhyun had shown them, came in handy. Who could have thought?

Slowly but steadily he managed to clean all of the boy’s wounds and dress them with pieces of one the bed sheets. A cloth drenched with cold water was resting on top of his forehead, in hopes of getting him a little cooler. He had started to feel a little hot as Kyungsoo worked on him and he thought that his wounds could have gotten infected. He didn’t know how long he had stayed there, waiting for someone to save him or to simply die, in agony and in pain.

When he was done, and after contemplating on it for a long time, Kyungsoo sent a fire message to Joonmyun telling her to get there as fast as she could, with medical equipment and without telling anyone about it. She was better at treating the injured and the only one he trusted with that kind of matter.

She had not said anything until she was sure that the fey boy was stable.

“I hope you have a plan about this.” She had said, sitting on the chair next to his.

“And what if I don’t?” he had replied, felling more tired than ever.

“Then the others and I will help you deal with it. Trust me, everything is going to be okay.” With these words, she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek and then exited the room in the same quiet grace that she had entered it.

He had fallen asleep next to the bed in which the fey boy was laying, his head resting against the cold, rock wall. The coolness of the stones relaxed him and it almost made him forget that he was holding an iron sword in one of his hands and what he would do with it if things didn’t go smoothly. One could never be too careful.

After Joonmyun’s care, Kyungsoo was able to see more of the boy’s characteristics. His barely-there attire didn’t leave much to the imagination. His hair was a pale blonde and it matched perfectly with the paleness of his skin, which had a dark undertone (maybe blue, the shadowhunter thought). There were faint freckles all over his arms and chest, too, in some short of iridescent color that changed shades depending on the light. ,The pointy ears were no surprise but he had never seen them that close. His lips, though, were the best point of his soft face., They were full and oddly inviting and Kyungsooo wanted to place his own lips on top of them so bad.

But that must have been the magic of Faeries, trying to enchant him.

The fey boy woke up two days after Kyungsoo brought him to the Institute. The iron sword was immediately placed close to his neck, preventing him from any further movements.

The boy’s eyes were equally fascinating as the rest of him. They were the bluest blue he had ever seen, matching the color of the rough sea during the cold, hostile months of the year.

“What’s your name?” The shadowhunter asked with a steady voice.

“Clever move, shadowhunter. However, I don’t own anything to your kind. Not even my name.” The fey boy replied.

His voice was as charming as he expected it to be but that didn’t stop him from getting surprised by how much he wanted to hear the pleasant sound again.

“I saved you and I healed you. You are under the Seoul Institute’s care. My care.” ,He explained. “And trust me, I can take my kindness away as easily as I offered it. Tell me your name.” Kyungsoo demanded, slightly pressing the iron against the boy’s neck for a second.

“I am Jongin of the Seelie Court.” The boy said, through tight teeth. He didn’t even flinch from coming in contact with his sword.

Kyungsoo lowered the heavy object. “You are free to do anything you want. You can leave whenever you feel like doing so. You can stay for as long as your condition doesn’t allow you to move. I didn’t bring you here to gain something from you.” He admitted after a couple of silent, electrified moments.

“You speak to a man who cannot lie, shadowhunter. The least you could do is speak the truth.Why should I believe you? It is forbidden for you to offer any kind of help to me and my people.” Jongin replied, making himself comfortable at the hard bed that he laying on.

“Our people may be at war, but you never did anything to me.” He answered and the sincerity of his choice of words scared him a little. “My name is Kyungsoo, by the way.” He added.

The fey boy stayed silent for many moments after that and Kyungsoo didn’t push any further. He knew everything that he needed to know. His presence put him at ease rather than getting him nervous for what was to come.

But that must have been the magic of Faeries, trying to enchant him.

Jongin had vanished from the small room when Kyungsoo came back with food later in the night. The shadowhunter couldn’t say that he didn’t expect it but he couldn’t say that he was happy with the outcome either.

When he finally told the others at the Institute about that small adventure of his, he received a mixture of different responses. The most memorable was Baekhyun’s of course.

“You little ! I knew it! I knew that you were hiding something! Chanyeol, I told you, see, I was righ-“ He had started yelling but thank the Angel, Chanyeol had closed his mouth before the entirety of Seoul had heard him.

Minseok had looked at him with eyes that were fool of confusion and surprise but he had not voiced out his thoughts. The two shadowhunters were always close and they could communicate perfectly without words. Kyungsoo was waiting for that kind of reaction. It was justified.

The young shadowhunter saw the fey boy two months later, sadly after another attack. After their first encounter, Kyungsoo was always on edge when he heard someone mentioning the Fairies and, thus, after the news of the attack reached his ears he had ran to the site.

That time, luckily, Jongin wasn’t in the brink of death.

“I hope you realize soon that I’m not a damsel in distress, young shadowhunter.” He had told him after letting him clean his minor wounds.

“I hope you realize soon that my name is Kyungsoo.” He had replied, his voice sweet and filled with a caring tone that he had never used before.

“You are too good to me, Kyungsoo, and this is going to end badly.” Jongin had whispered in his ear and after kissing him on the lips, he had vanished in the blink of an eye.

Kyungsoo found flowers in his room in the Institute every night for a month. And after that the flowers got replaced by a tall, fey boy with pale, blonde hair and dark blue eyes.

It was a true challenge to get Jongin inside the Institute as only shadowhunters were able to open the boors that connected the place with the outside world. However, Kyungsoo didn't care as long as he was inside Jongin's arms at the end of the day. The fear of getting caught was also always under his skin, for the consequences would be horrible, but as long as he was kissing Jongin breathless at the end of the day, Kyungsoo didn't care.

Not even the shadowhunter himself could believe that he had found the courage to approach Jongin. He never knew that he was capable of such thing. Kyungsoo was always the quiet one, the one who thought that no other was worthy enough of knowing the things that went through his mind.

Jongin had wakened something within him that he had never felt before though. Kyungsoo felt like he could show his weak side to him and not get judged for it, like he could finally show how much love he hid underneath the tough shadowhunter image and actually get the same amount of love back. Not that the others weren’t loving towards him, however Kyungsoo was at a certain age that friendly love wasn’t exactly what he was seeking.

The time they spent together was always time well spent. Both of them found it rather hard to say goodbye to each other when it was time to get separated but underneath the desperate kisses and the heated touching there was always a promise that yelled ‘later’. The was never an end to them.

And at last, Kyungsoo knew that it wasn’t the magic of Faeries, trying to enchant him. It was Jongin. Jongin who liked him for what he was and not what he was portraying as a shadowhunter. Jongin who didn’t even have to try to become a part of his life. It was like he always belonged in his heart and it was finally time for him to claim his rightful place.

If they could, they would have kept their relationship secret forever. However, a certain Byun Baekhyun didn’t allow them to do so. It was really their fault as sneaking Jongin inside the Institute every now and then was risky but the fellow shadowhunter wasn’t known for his manners. Thus, their secret was no longer a secret after Baekhyun barged inside Kyungsoo’s room one night. Jongin’s dislike for the place was even more justified after that incident.

,~~

“Yes, I do know that you hate it here, but this is the third time this is happening. This is no coincidence and there is nothing you can say to change my mind. We should tell someone.” Kyungsoo replied and sat down on the hard bed in the Institute’s basement that Jongin was laying on once again. A certain pack of werewolves was obviously looking for a fight and he wanted so much to give them exactly that. ,

He wasn’t as hurt as the first time but significantly more hurt than the second one, and all Kyungsoo could do was,worry and simply patch him up.

“This is never going to cease! With the Cold Peace, we are powerless and if the Clave finds out about us they are going to kill me and strip you of your runes. Just let it pass.” The Faerie exclaimed, rising from his laying position and placing his arms around the young shadowhunter.

“I can’t do that.” Kyungsoo muttered. “I don’t like seeing you like that.” He added, his hand caressing Jongin’s bruised cheek. Jongin looked good in all colors, but he come to hate the purple and black hues on his body.

"What if a Centurion finds out about all this and actually hurt us?" Despite his efforts in trying to stay calm and calm Kyungsoo down as well, the shadowhunter knew that the fey boy that he loved so dearly was fed up with the situation.

“Just promise me that you’ll not do something stupid about this.” The fey boy knew what he was bargaining for.

It was really hard for him, to promise such a thing. The demon hunter wouldn’t consider any of his actions ‘stupid’ over something so important to him however Jongin was right. That wasn’t the time to add more fuel to the fire that was burning among the different species.

“I promise.” Kyungsoo replied with a sigh, sealing the deal with a kiss on the lips. He also promised himself to not actually keep this promiseof his for too long.

A knock on the door had them both startled and moving away from each other. When Chanyeol opened the said object, though, with Baekhyun, Minseok and Joonmyun following right behind him, they released a breath that they didn’t know they were holding.

Joonmyun was of course the first one to know of the incident and she was ordered to tell the others. Kyungsoo was ready to fight and his friends would be next to him to everything he did. Much to his , there wasn't going to be a fight after all, but his closest people had the right to know anyway.,

“Is everything alright? Should I get the Seraph blades ready?” said Chanyeol with equal parts of worry and sarcasm in his voice.

“I don’t think that this will be necessary.” It was Jongin who answered, much to everyone’s surprise. He must have really wanted to keep everyone out of trouble.

“At least not yet.” Added Kyungsoo defeated, not missing the side eye look from his fey boyfriend.

Minseok could read him like an open book though and his sly smile indicated that he understood the situation.