Spring is Jungsoo's favorite season. It's the start of life, of sun, of everything. The wind starts to thaw, and the birds come out singing.

Jungsoo likes late spring, when the sunshine turns warm, when the leaves shine bright green, when the sky shows deep blue.

Jungsoo looks for the fluffy dandelions and their bright yellow flowers. He picks the feathery balls and blows them away in one breath. He makes a wish with each one, knowing that they'll never come true anyway.

Except one does.

Jungsoo wishes to meet a fairy, an actual, tiny, winged fairy. He wishes out loud, and a small voice answers him.

"Rare to meet someone who believes." Long brown hair flies under Jungsoo's soft breath. "Hey, watch it!"

"Sorry!" Jungsoo immediately pulls back. The fairy emerges from behind the dandelion stem, smoothing back his hair. He has big eyes and pale skin, and his features are sharp but delicate.

"I'm Heechul," the fairy says, holding out a tiny hand. Jungsoo touches his finger to it.

"I'm Jungsoo, glad to meet you," he says softly. Heechul nods.

"Why do you still believe?" he demands, settling on top of Jungsoo's hand. Jungsoo thinks for a while.

"Does there need to be a reason?" he asks back. Heechul starts, taken aback, then laughs.

"I like you," he decides, fluttering up. Jungsoo notices that his wings are a shade of sunshine, rippling as he flies.

"I like you too," Jungsoo answers without thinking. "You're very pretty."

A flush rises on Heechul's cheeks, and he throws back his hair, flustered. "Why, thank you..."

Jungsoo doesn't notice; instead, he eagerly asks, "Is there any secret place in the forest that no one else knows about?"

Heechul thinks for a while, searching through his memory. "I believe," he finally says. "That there are. However," he emphasizes, seeing Jungsoo's excitement. "I am not one to take you there."

Jungsoo's entire face falls. Heechul's mind whirls, not really wanting to see this human disappointed.

"I know somewhere we can go," he tells him, leaping into the air. "Follow me."

It's not very easy keeping up with a fairy the size of your finger, but Jungsoo follows the glittering trail that Heechul leaves behind and somehow manages to get through the forest.

He emerges into a circular clearing that shines with golden fairy dust. Heechul hovers in the air. Sunlight strikes his wings, illuminating him, and Jungsoo never wants to leave.

"Do you like it?" Heechul asks with a hint of pride. This is one of his places, but he doesn't mind showing it to this particular human.

"Yes," Jungsoo breathes, wonderstruck. He dares not talk loudly in fear of disrupting this gorgeous perfection.

Heechul smiles gently. "This is where I come when I need to calm down. You can come here too, just don't bring anyone with you."

Jungsoo looks up at him, twirling through the leaves. "What will happen if I do?"

"I will leave," Heechul responds simply. "And this place will lose its magic."

"That's a pity," Jungsoo murmurs, carefully sitting down on the grass. "I wanted to show my friends how beautiful it is..."

Heechul alights on his knee. "To be able to see fairy magic," he says softly. "One must earn it."

Jungsoo nods. "And I have?"

"Obviously." Heechul snorts, as if that was the most obvious thing on Earth. "Come on, let me show you more."

---

Jungsoo learns that fairies are born from nature, that Heechul was born of a blossoming dandelion, and that they are reborn every year.

"Does that mean you'll disappear once fall comes?" Jungsoo asks quietly, not wanting his friend to go. Heechul nods, shrugging.

"It's the way of life," he says. "Everything dies and is reborn. Don't worry, if you still believe, you will see me again."

Jungsoo's spring and summer pass quickly amidst sparkling leaves, gleaming sunshine, and bell-like laughter.

Then, the crisp wind blows in, staining the leaves all red and orange. More fairies appear, their wings glowing crimson and amber, but Heechul grows weak.

"It's time," he says one day. Jungsoo swallows hard, putting out one shaking finger. Heechul takes it in both of his.

"Next spring, I promise," he says with a small smile. "Please don't try to follow me this time."

Then he spins around, wings shining, and flies away into the forest.

Jungsoo doesn't follow him. Instead, he stands among the fairies of autumn and cries.

The autumn fairies disappear into blinding silver and white as winter arrives. Jungsoo watches the winter fairies conjure snowflakes, and he wishes that his friends could see too.

Finally, with the arrival of March and April, the snow begins to melt. Winter thaws into spring, and Jungsoo prowls the fields, looking for dandelions.

When the first one pops up, he bends down on his hands and knees, calling softly for Heechul.

Jungsoo doesn't pick dandelions anymore. To him, they symbolize a promise of eternity, a cycle of life and death, a friendship to be treasured.

And one day, a small head pops out from behind a dandelion leaf.

"Jungsoo!" Heechul exclaims excitedly, leaping up. "You remembered!"

"Of course," Jungsoo says softly. "A dandelion once promised me that I would see him again."

Ehhhhhhh I'm so sorry for not updating in a while although I did warn y'all lmao so I guess I'm sorrier for not updating Sun King... But um yeah this was the picture I could not load in China and when I came back to America it slipped my mind in the chaos of school... So yeah hope y'all liked this!