When Donghae was a child, he loved the magic folk. More than all of them, though, he loved the pixies. The mischievous little creatures, with their clothes of ragged green had never failed to fill him with awe, his little childish mind wandering after them through the woods in murky daydreams.

He’d find himself sneaking out of his house’s back door and chasing after a flash of green that he’d taken for a playful pixie, only to return home dejected after losing the trail. And the next day, he’d do it all over again, just to catch a glimpse of a real pixie.

Like all childhood dreams his faded away, and he never thought of sparkling wings or pointed ears again till he was much older.

SPRING

The door is hanging wide open when Donghae arrives back home. What the hell? His mind flashes to thieves, robbers... murderers?

Honestly, what are the chances that a robber would find a cabin out in the middle of the woods and break into it? Wasn’t the whole point of renting a bunker in the middle of the woods to stay away from the city drama? How could a burglar even find this forsaken place, let alone break into it? He walks cautiously to the door and peeks in, hoping desperately that it was nothing, that the wind had blown it open.

It doesn’t seem disturbed or ransacked in any way, and the wallet he had left for anyone to see was untouched. (To be sure, he still goes to check inside it, but his money and cards are still there.) What kind of burglar breaks into a house and doesn’t take anything?

“Oh, you’re home!” Donghae looks up, preparing to attack the source of the sound.

Bare skin, bruised knees, wet limbs, a shock of red hair. Donghae doesn’t have a chance to cover his eyes before a body walks out of the bathroom and makes its way into his sight. Donghae yells in surprise, jumping away immediately.

“What the hell?” He gasps. The intruder has the nerve to grin at Donghae as if he hadn’t broken into his house.

The intruder walks over to him, turquoise wings spread out behind his back.

Wait. Wings? A pixie?

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Donghae dreams that night of sparkling hair and flowery crowns and ragged clothes the colour of leaves in the spring, of pointed ears and glittery wings and of the pixies’ tinkling laughter echoing strangely through the woods. (A particular red-headed pixie’s face is familiar but he flits away, into the shadows before Donghae gets a good look.)

He wakes up to the smell of flowers wafting through the bunker. He has a nice breakfast, with fruits and jam, and a foamy cup of hot chocolate. He doesn’t even realise his lights aren’t on, with all the natural sunlight streaming in through the curtains. Now this is actual peace and quiet. A good day without mosquitoes buzzing around making him itch, without pixies––

Until he opened the door.

What the hell? Donghae hears the slish-slosh of legs dropping into muddy water before he feels the sudden wetness. Water flooded every inch of the garden outside, drowning the painstakingly placed plants.

He looks around the place for a culprit and just manages to catch a glimpse of glittering turquoise wings before they disappear out of sight.

SUMMER

Pixies, Donghae soon learns, are much better in theory. At least, this one is.

He calls himself Eunhyuk. Donghae calls him off and never come back again.

Ever since the day Donghae had chased him out of the house, Eunhyuk seems to have made it his lifelong passion to prank Donghae to the death. But honestly, who randomly walks into someone else’s house to take a shower, and when confronted asks why the owner’s hair is blue?

Of all the piles of books of pixie lore that he’d read when he was younger, none mentioned how annoying the pixies can be. Or how long they hold on to grudges, for that matter.

Day 36 of hell, Donghae wakes up with bees swarming his house. The pixie flits out of sight as he always does, fading away in the light just before Donghae can confirm who it is.

Pixies are definitely cooler in theory.

AUTUMN/FALL

“I swear, I meant no harm, sir!” The pixie’s face is a mask of innocence. He has a million excuses, like i didn’t know how much water plants needed! and i thought humans liked honey? but his apology (that comes all the way at the end of the excuses) seems sincere enough.

The minute he’s forgiven, the pixie’s face breaks into a child-like smile. Donghae swears his heart has melted.

It’s surprisingly easy to get along with Eunhyuk after they clear up the miscommunication(s). A pixie is a pixie is a pixie, and Donghae is predictably awestruck.

The pixie is like a star; bright and blinding and beautiful and celestial. And far, far off. His pointed ears are that of an elf, his wings are those of the faer, his mischief that of imps, and he himself is of the myths and tales that Donghae used to read of in his books. Some nights the pixie steals into his house and sits next to him on the bed, and still Donghae feels like they’re worlds apart.

One night he asks, “Why do you call me sir?” And the pixie asks in return, “Isn’t it polite?” And Donghae says, “You’re strange.” Eunhyuk only shrugs.

Another night they kiss, and Eunhyuk’s lips taste like strawberries and apples and Donghae’s black coffee. Donghae locks their lips as long as he can because it feels like once this is over Eunhyuk will be gone. They end their kiss, and Eunhyuk is still there, perfectly built and glowing and still grinning his impish grin. Donghae closes his eyes and Eunhyuk is still there, wings still and closed behind his back, ears alert like always.

Donghae learns after a while that Eunhyuk won’t disappear, because Eunhyuk isn’t a story, isn’t a childish fantasy, because even though he is beautiful like the stars he is closer and even though sometimes Donghae feels like he can see right through Eunhyuk he is not mist. And also that kisses make Eunhyuk even less reluctant to stay.

WINTER

Eunhyuk ponders for a while when Donghae asks, “Have you had lovers before?” Donghae waits for the answer while convincing himself he wasn’t nervous.

The reply is a shrug and the comforting feeling of wings wrapping around him. Eunhyuk pecks him on the lips, but that’s the end of the answer.

Eunhyuk tells him maybe the pixies got it all wrong. Donghae listens with wonder at tales Eunhyuk tell, of pixies that could never get souls because they never understood love, of pixies that fell in love by accident and got souls…

He thinks he understands what the answer is, but it still feels good when Hyukjae says “None that I’ve loved until I met you, really.”

When Donghae leaves to return to the city, Eunhyuk doesn’t cry.

Donghae still dreams of sparkling wings, and impish grins, and pixies. Just one pixie, particularly.

But Eunhyuk isn’t a dream, and he isn’t a fantasy. Donghae is reminded of that when he finds pixie dust in his hair and on his clothes, and then a green clad pixie in his bed.