(SOTD: Fantasy Theme - Kevin Krauter)

After her parents passing, Chaeyoung was taken in by her cousin’s family. They lived in the outskirts of Seoul, a dense forest as their backyard. In the forest lived many mystic creatures that Chaeyoung soon befriended and grew up with.

But there was one who seemed to shine brighter than the others. She was one who lived in the trees, coming by often to be with her.

“Dahyun unnie.”

She called out but received no response. The forest sprite looked at her, an apologetic smile tugging at her lips as she disappeared into the trees.

“I’m sorry.”

*

“How many years has it been?”

“Last time I saw her was when I was nine,” Chaeyoung says, “She just disappeared.”

Mina pats the younger girl’s shoulder, “She’ll come back around, don’t worry. We all have our reasons for disappearing sometimes.”

Chaeyoung pouts, her eyebrows scrunching together.

“Do you know why she left?”

“I’m afraid not,” Mina says shooting her an apologetic smile, “I remember coming back to hear the news of Dahyun’s absence.”

Chaeyoung buries herself deeper into the couch, “I…I just want to know.”

“I know, I know you do,” Mina says. She notices Momo floating outside Chaeyoung’s window, a small smile on her lips. “Tell you what, I’ll try to look for answers if you want. Our little Dahyun seems to be of great importance to you.”

“Please…I miss her.”

Mina halted in her steps, noticing the forlorn look in her eyes. “Don’t worry, I will.”

“What was that about?” Momo asks as Mina gracefully hops out the window.

“We have a little quest, and it’s to find out where Dahyun went.”

“Why don’t you use your tracking skills?” Momo suggests as their wings fluttered, hands tightly clasped together.

“It’s been too long since she’s been gone,” Mina says, “But we could always ask Jihyo.”

Chaeyoung stared out her window, the tree that she used to climb up so often still standing. At the time she was too young, too naïve to know what anything was. After several years of remembering and missing her she realized she was in love with the sprite.

“Was Mina here?”

She hums in response. Jeongyeon scrunches her nose as she sits down next to the younger girl.

“Still looking for her?”

Again, she hums in response.

“She’ll be back.”

“Mina unnie said that too,” She says, a sigh following after. “It’s been ten years unnie, do you really think she will?”

“It doesn’t hurt to believe.” Jeongyeon pats the younger girl on the back, “Why don’t we go to the lake? I’m sure Nayeon unnie has something weird to tell you.”

From a distance they saw two mermaids relaxing on one of the many rocks by the water. The one with pink hair lifts up her head, diving into the water almost immediately.

“Oh so look who came back,” Nayeon says, swimming up to them, “After just ditching me here all by my lonesome self.”

“Oh stop being so dramatic, you have Tzuyu,” Jeongyeon says.

Chaeyoung softly giggles at their bickering.

“Why don’t we just chill out you old married couple?” Tzuyu retorts. “I already hear enough of Nayeon unnie’s intense monologues.”

“Yah, I do not do that,” Nayeon says, “Only part of the time when you don’t pay attention to me.”

“Oops,” Tzuyu deadpans, swimming closer to the trio.

“So what brings you here today?” Nayeon asks, her eyes directed towards Chaeyoung.

“Jeongyeon unnie suggested that we come out here,” Chaeyoung says. Nayeon comes out of the water, her tail slowly morphing into legs, “Is that really it?”

“Well…”

“It’s her again, isn’t it?” Tzuyu asks, her dark purple tail now gone as she sat down next to Chaeyoung. “You know, I think I saw her a few days ago.”

“You did?” Chaeyoung asks, her eyes lighting up. “Where did you see her?”

“Coming down from one of those trees, she looked like she was leaving.”

The girl’s shoulders dropped, “She was leaving again?”

“I’m not even sure it was her Chaeng,” Tzuyu says, “But I’m sure she’ll come back soon.”

“I really hope she does…”

Jeongyeon pats the younger girl on the back, “Keep your chin up Chaeng, now why don’t we exercise those legs of yours.”

*

“Dahyun unnie,” She calls.

The older girl smiles brightly, “Yes Chaeyoung?”

“Will you ever take me further into the forest?” She asks, eyes wide with curiosity. Although young, Dahyun knew not to do that. They were still at such an early stage, not all humans were to be trusted.

“Maybe one day Chaeng,” She says, “But I promise you I will.”

“You really promise?”

Dahyun nods, her smile growing brighter, “I promise.”

*

Chaeyoung bolts up in bed, the sound of footsteps waking her up.

“What the hell are you doing here Mina unnie?” She asks not noticing Momo standing next to her.

“Oh hello to you too,” Momo says.

She didn’t even want to know how the two fairies managed to get into her room. Probably some sort of magic that they always have up their sleeves.

“It’s four in the morning,” Chaeyoung deadpans, “What could you possibly need at this hour?”

“It’s about Dahyun.”

This gets Chaeyoung’s attention quickly, “What about her?”

“We asked Jihyo and all she knows is that she was forced to leave,” Momo says, “And the last person to see her was Sana, so if you want more answers go to her.”

Chaeyoung hastily gets out of bed, grabbing a jacket from her closet, “Take me to her.”

They arrived at the satyr’s house, knocking gently on her door.

“Do you guys know what time it is?” Sana asks upon opening the door, her little horns peeking out from her hair, “And why the heck is Chaeyoung up?”

“I need answers,” Chaeyoung says, “They said you were the last person to see Dahyun unnie…”

Sana blinks once, twice, slowly processing the younger girl’s question. “Yeah…yeah I saw her a few days ago. She said something about visiting home again, never gave me a solid explanation. She was in too much of a rush so she just left right away.”

Chaeyoung lets out a defeated sigh, her shoulders dropping. “So she was leaving again…”

Sana slightly scrunches up her nose, “Did you see her?”

“I didn’t, Tzuyu thought she did.”

“Come on Chaeng, we should probably get you back home,” Mina says, her hand on her shoulder, “Jeongyeon is probably wondering where you went.”

By the time she got back, the sun was already high up in the sky. She heard the laug