“You okay?”

He looked up to see one of the fairies. She was tall, with long, brown hair that cascaded over her shoulders. Hey eyes were wide and innocent, like those of a doe’s, and she had a mild look of concern on her face, even though it didn’t seem as if she were using any muscles to emote at all.

Woohyun nodded, stuffing his hands into his pockets to hide his sweat. “Yeah. I just, um, got distracted by the painting.” He tilted his head towards a painting of a giant waterfall with a glowing rainbow soaring over it in the sky. “Um. I’m Woohyun. And you are?”

“Tzuyu,” she said, “It’s nice to meet you.”

Woohyun laughed, “Is it really?”

Tzuyu smiled knowingly, “We don’t have formalities here. I wouldn’t say it unless I meant it.”

“Why?”

Tzuyu blinked and shrugged. “Well, it’s not often we get to meet new people. And most of the people who do come by don’t tend to have the most benevolent intentions. Your friend is a gatekeeper, right? Have you two been travelling together long?”

Woohyun shook his head, “I wouldn’t say so. We’ve been to...two? Maybe three worlds? Well, I think this one is our third one.”

“Would you tell me about the worlds you’ve been to?”

“Um. Sure. Well, the last place we closed a portal was kinda a seaside situation. It was really hot, and I broke my phone…”

Woohyun explained as much of the worlds as he could remember - the place where they dealt with the mermaids, the world with the cafe and dragons, and even his own - and Tzuyu nodded along with the same curiosity and entrancement as a cat watching the birds outside the window. He even forgot that he was standing the entire time, oblivious to the slow ache that was beginning to form in the backs of his knees.

“We never get to go very far,” Tzuyu said, “I want to see a waterfall like that someday.”

“Why not? The princess doesn’t let you?”

“Well, she doesn’t, but it’s not really her fault,” she sighed. “Listen. You guys need to find something to trade us, right? I have something, but it’s big. Worth way more than just closing a silly portal. We’ll owe you a debt. And trust me, the debt of some fairies can go a long way.” She smiled. “We have magic powers,” she said, in a tone that was far too bemused for such a plain statement.

Woohyun blinked. He certainly didn’t think it would be that easy. He didn’t need to do three of anything!

“Before I ask what it is,” Woohyun said hesitantly, “Why can’t you guys -=====9pcdxdo it? What could Sunggyu and I possibly do to help?”

“Jihyo doesn’t want to put us in danger. Random strangers going in danger for us, she can probably get behind.”

“Okay. Well, then, what is it?”

“Jihyo’s dad is the king of fairies. He has a very strict code on how his royal family should behave that Jihyo refuses to abide by. So, he’s locked us - Jihyo and her ladies in waiting - in this corner of fairyland until she learns his etiquette and apologizes for her behavior.”

Woohyun frowned, “All of you have to be here to pay for Jihyo’s choices?”

Tzuyu shook her head, “No, we all stood by her. His code - it’s ridiculous. We can’t eat in public. We can’t each much at all, really. There are topics we can’t talk about, words we can’t say, and we have to spend every waking hour preparing for the next big event he’s planning. We’ve never been able to see much of the world. This is an upgrade, but…” She looked wistfully at the painting, “Is it selfish of me to want to be free?”

Woohyun wasn’t sure if it was her big, wanting eyes, her pleading tone, or the faintest of cracks in her voice when she said the word ‘free,’ but he was already firing himself up to march right on out of there and give this fairy king a piece of his mind.

“Woohyun.”

He looked up to see that Sunggy had emerged from the room he had been meditating in. It had barely been half an hour, and Woohyun’s stomach sunk as he considered the possibility that Sunggyu had already found the portal, and the two of them would be leaving the fairies to fend for themselves.

“The portal isn’t within a fifty-mile radius from here. I’ve gotten a general direction, but it’ll take too long,” he nodded at Tzuyu, “I hope you’re doing better?”

Woohyun nodded, “Tzuyu said that we should beat up Jihyo’s dad!”

Sunggyu closed his eyes, pinched the bridge of his nose, and took a few deep breaths. “You want...to fight...the fairy king?”

“Well, not exactly.” Woohyun gave Sunggyu the summary, “So we really just need to convince him to stop being an !”

Sunggyu closed his eyes, planted his face in his hand, and let out a low, long whine before shaking his head. “You really think we’re going to be able to convince this dude to change his entire worldview in less than three hours? People don’t change. This dude’s a fairy. They’re even worse!”

“But we can’t just leave them here in this weird ice castle forever,” Woohyun protested.

Sunggyu looked at Tzuyu. “I’m sorry for what I’m about to say, but…” he looked back at Woohyun, “ happens. We can’t save everyone. That’s not our job.”

“Well, saving them will help us accomplish our job. If we’re going to be saving the world we might as well try to do good along the way.”

Sunggyu let out one last, long sigh, before facing Tzuyu. “Fine. We’ll talk through it with Jihyo, but no promises. Can you take us to her?”

The corner of Jihyo’s mouth curled into a smirk as Sunggyu and Woohyun finished off their proposal. “The two of you...want to save us?” she let out a hearty laugh that could almost be considered a cackle, weaving a jovial, if a bit malignant, tune. “I can promise you that the last thing we need is for a couple of men to free us.”

“But Jihyoooo, I wanna go outsiiide,” Tzuyu whined, looking up at the princess with a puppy face.

“Oh baby Tzuyu,” Jihyo walked over and hugged, “I’ve been planning something with Jeongyeon and Nayeon. Don’t worry, your unnies will take care of everything. As for the two of you…”

She lifted her hand and started a dismissive wave, but paused with a couple of blinks. Soon, she turned to look at them, eyeing them up and down. “Actually, I guess I could use you. The plan is perfect but...we could use a jumpstart.”

With that, she and Sunggyu worked out their deal - she would show him the location of the portal and grant him whatever he needed to access it, but he had to help her with her plan before he could close it - and she explained her plot to the two of them.

With that, Jihyo called a meeting for all of her ladies-in-waiting in thirty minutes, so they would have time to get ready. She and Tzuyu left the two in the dining, room, where they had provided supple fruit and a menagerie of snacks for them to choose from. The two male fairies they had met on the ship passed by to ask where they all were, but Sunggyu advised Woohyun to use discretion about the plan that they were about to put into motion.

Soon, the company filtered into the room, each of them wearing a beautiful gown of a different color. Their dresses were similar to would be considered a Victorian style in Woohyun’s home world, though a bit more modern and functional - thinner and lighter than most full-blown Victorian ball gowns. They had pinned up their hair with fine jewelry and each had a small hat with a piece of fishnet fabric hanging from it to cover up the top half of their face.

Sunggyu opened a portal for them, and Jihyo, dressed in a sparkling white dress with gold floral embellishments, nodded at him in thanks before turning to face the girls.

“Alright ladies. Are you ready to smash some old guy’s faces?”

“What? That wasn’t in the - “ Woohyun started.

“She’s being facetious,” Sunggyu explained with a roll of his eyes.

The girls cheered, magical sparks flying through the air as they let their magic go uncontrolled for the moment of motivation. Tzuyu, in a royal purple gown with a lighter purple layer underneath, gave Woohyun a grin and a thumbs up, which Woohyun responded to with the same.

“Alright, ladies and germs, let’s get this show on the road.”

With that, the fairies each filed into the portal, and Woohyun followed after Tzuyu, who was last. Sunggyu followed him, taking one last look around the room before entering the portal.

Upon arrival, he first turned backwards to close the portal behind him. Once it was sealed, he turned to see what was surely a debacle behind him.

He turned to see the portal, sitting happily on the ground in a clearing of a forest of evergreens. Instead of pine cones growing from the trees, though, there was an assortment of brightly colored fruits that looked either incredibly delicious or incredibly poisonous. Standing in front of the portal were two men, one with light brown hair (Sunggyu was beginning to wish the culprit didn’t have such an in-fashion hairstyle) and a serene face carrying a staff very similar to Sunggyu’s own, the other with black hair and a cat-like expression. With them was a tall fairy, with an aged face and short, spiky black hair. He was wearing some pretty extravagant robes, but what really caught Sunggyu’s eye was the tall, golden crown atop his head.

“What the heck, why are all you gatekeepers so pretty?” Sunggyu heard Woohyun mutter.

The one with the lighter brown hair smiled at the posse. “Oh, hello, Sunggyu, nice of you to drop in. We won’t be needing you, though, so why don’t you and your little dance troupe flutter along now?”