Kris was, to put it politely, an idiot. He was brilliant, yes, but he was also a complete and absolute idiot who, on this particular night, had foolishly accepted every one-shot glass that was offered to him at his celebration party and had ended up wandering off into a meadow where he had subsequently fallen asleep. Lying unconscious in the middle of a flower field was not exactly the most desirable of circumstances that a future doctor would like to be found in. Nonetheless, it was exactly how Luhan found Kris and the former would never have guessed that the intoxicated idiot lying peacefully on the grass below the ink-coloured sky was someone who was actually rather bright and would soon be a student of medicine at one of the best universities in Guangjing.

The fact of the matter was that Luhan was not accustomed to finding drunk humans in his meadow but then again, he was not accustomed to finding humans at all. Luhan was a spirit who had emerged from within the flowers after a long, sunny day of caring for the meadow he lived in with several other flower spirits and nightfall was his time to relax. He had expected to be completely alone while the others had run off to play but having a human boy sleeping in his meadow changed things.

“Hello? Are you…alive?” asked Luhan cautiously, crouching down beside the unconscious boy as he prodded him a few times on the shoulder.

The lack of response worried the flower spirit and without any other clue as to what he should do, Luhan swiftly and very suddenly crashed his lips against Kris’. His eyes flew open at once when he felt a mouth pressed against his and Kris stiffened when he saw a pair of sparkling eyes bore into his. He was being kissed by a stranger with sparkling eyes. A beautiful stranger.

No way. Kris didn’t do things like this. He didn’t get wasted and pass out in flowery meadows. He didn’t wake up being kissed by beautiful strangers with sparkling eyes. But before everything else, Kris could not and did not drink.

That was probably why, even though he should have been worrying and panicking, he was far too drunk to act rationally. Instead Kris found himself sitting up and wrapping an arm around Luhan’s neck, pulling the other in closer to prolong the dreamlike kiss, there in the tall grass, under the light of the twinkling stars. Perhaps if Kris had been sober at all, he would’ve realised that there was nothing at all romantic about his current situation because first and foremost, he was drunk as a sack.

The brief kiss was put to an abrupt halt as quickly as it had happened when Luhan tossed Kris unceremoniously back onto the grass, causing himself to fall backwards in the process, and the next thing Kris knew when he sat up again, a hand as soft as flower petals was at his neck.

“What, in the name of weeds, do you think you’re doing?!” hissed Luhan.

Kris gazed at him with adoring eyes and smiled as he whispered, “I think I like you.” He winced in pain when he received a sharp blow to the head.

“Do you have a death wish?” Luhan snapped in a fierce voice, clearly unaffected by the other’s sad pout.

The previously love-struck expression returned to Kris’ face as he excitedly pulled Luhan’s hand with both of his and placed it on the area of his chest above his heart. “Can you feel it? My…feelings for you…”

Luhan frowned and snatched his hand back. “What are you talking about?” He rolled his eyes when Kris began to giggle. “Do you know how to find your way back home?”

“Are you coming home with me?”

Luhan looked down at his palms which were clenching in anger, forming fists with which he was ready to punch Kris in the face but when he turned to the other, he saw that the latter was on his back and fast asleep once more.

Leaving a disoriented human boy on the edge of the fantasy world was a cruel and unwise decision, therefore, Luhan decided to stay with him to ensure that when Kris woke up, the latter would be able to find his way back to the human realm. They were beside one another in the tall grass, both of their faces directed up towards the starry night sky, however, the direction in which Luhan lay was towards the north whilst Kris lay southwards. Fireflies fluttered around them and the flower spirit had almost drifted off to sleep along with the human boy when he heard a light grunt. Luhan turned to see Kris stirring and watched as the latter’s eyes flitted open. Neither of them spoke a word, remaining quiet and still as they gazed curiously at one another.

It was Kris who finally broke the silence with a whisper. “What’s your name?”

“Luhan,” the other breathed back. “What’s yours?”

“Kris,” he answered.

At this point, Luhan was mentally trying to figure out whether Kris had come to his senses or not without having to ask him when another question sprung to mind. “Why are you staring at me, Kris?”

“Why were you kissing me, Luhan?”

“You were unconscious!”

“I’m still not in my right mind but…there’s something more interesting now…” Kris propped himself up on one elbow and rested his sharp jaw on his palm as he smirked at Luhan. “I’m not Sleeping Beauty. And surely you must know that waking people up with a kiss is generally frowned upon especially when those people happen to be strangers. You had an ulterior motive, didn’t you?”

What Kris did not expect was when he received a scoff in return. Luhan sat up with his left leg bent upwards at the knee upon which he rested the side of his left elbow whilst he placed his right hand down on the grass behind him. He then looked down at Kris with an unimpressed expression which showed that he was visibly tired of being hit on.

“You’re a human so you don’t know how to show your gratitude properly. I didn’t kiss you because I wanted to; it was to revive you. Don’t you know that a kiss from a flower is special? You should consider yourself lucky because every flower in this world is throwing themselves at my roots to be kissed by me,” Luhan told him in a tone dripping with an infuriating amount of overconfidence.

Kris shyly chuckled as he inched himself closer to Luhan causing the flower spirit to stretch out his legs in preparation to flatten himself and roll away from the human boy but before the latter could fight him, Kris quickly lay his head down in Luhan’s lap and happily beamed up at him. “Luhaaaaaan, I like you so much! But…you say a lot of weird things. Aren’t you a human too? Or is this the part where you reveal yourself to be a vampire?”

“Vampires live in the mountains, Kris,” Luhan replied with an amused shake of his head. “I’m a flower spirit.”

The named boy who was still cheerily grinning up at Luhan did not seem particularly fazed by the revelation. “Oh, really? That’s brilliant… I bet you can tell a story or two.”

“You should leave,” Luhan told him firmly. “This isn’t your world, don’t you know that? The fantasy world is not a safe place for a human especially not one who’s…”

“So incredibly irresistible?” interrupted Kris, sitting up again as he waggled his eyebrows suggestively at the other. “Overflowing with charm and charisma?”

Luhan lightly shook his head, not knowing whether to laugh at the boy or whack him in the stomach. “Alone,” he said, putting as much emphasis on the word as he possibly could, complete with raised eyebrows and a worrying tone.

“But I’m not by myself, flower boy. You’re here, aren’t you?”

“I’m not always here.”

A light tint appeared across Kris’ cheeks and he hugged his knees as he prepared to say his next words. “So stay right here by my side for as long as you can.”

“I have till just before daybreak,” Luhan quietly replied with his gaze downcast. “Flower spirits have duties, Kris.”

With a deep sigh, Kris lay himself down on the dew-covered grass and gazed up at the dark skies above. “Duties and responsibilities… I’m sick of it all, Luhan, I really am. Is this how things are supposed to be? Whether a human or a spirit, there will always be things that are inescapable.”

“Hearing that from you is pretty relieving,” said Luhan, lying down beside Kris. “Some humans actually believe that nature spirits are free and live without laws but that’s not true at all.”

“Living without law…” Kris repeated slowly. “Is that what people call freedom nowadays?”

A purple butterfly majestically flitted past and whilst Luhan answered Kris’ question, his sparkling eyes followed the trail of the little creature with mild interest until it decided to perch itself amidst the blond strands of Luhan’s fluffy hair. “There is no such thing as total freedom and you know what, I’d rather live with rules than be free to do as I please.”

“Exactly,” agreed Kris with an approving nod. “The concept of freedom doesn’t even make sense to begin with.”

Together they watched as the purple butterfly ascended up into the cool night air where fireflies aimlessly floated by. Fluttering its colourful wings, the purple butterfly hovered in mid-air before it caught sight of another of its kind – a fellow adorned with pleasant shades of blue. The two bright wisps of colour encircled one another, almost as though they were forming a bond of the mutual emotions that the two of them had felt from the moment they met. The butterflies certainly seemed to feel the freedom of a shared love that knew no boundaries.

Luhan’s eyes had begun to water at the sight and when he took a moment to blink, a single tear trickled down his cheek. And when his eyelids fluttered open again, the butterflies had disappeared. “How would I then be able to distinguish between right and wrong?” he questioned. “What is there to say that having laws even in nature forfeits one’s freedom? Does anyone truly know what freedom is?”

Kris turned his head to peer over at Luhan who was laying right beside him and that was when the puppy expression returned to the former’s face as he admired the flower spirit’s ethereal beauty. The gentle moonlight shone so beautifully on his fair skin and albeit breathless, Kris wished that he could gaze at Luhan forever.

“Do you have a boyfriend?”

“Kris, seriously.”

“A girlfriend, then?”

“Well, I guess I do,” answered Luhan, wiping away the glistening trail that the lone tear had left along his flawless face. “A fiancée, actually.”

Kris didn’t even bother to conceal his disappointment, groaning like a spoiled child as he tore his gaze away from the other and instead set his dark eyes upon the starry night sky above. This couldn’t possibly be the end of his pursuit, could it?

“I’ve never met her,” the flower spirit added.

The grin instantly returned to Kris’ face. “Oh, you’re one of those people.”

“Those people?” repeated Luhan curiously, his eyes twinkling almost as brightly as the stars. “You don’t think I’m mad, do you? I really am engaged to be married and she isn’t imaginary.”

“I meant that you believe in fated love,” said Kris, smiling at the fireflies above them which flew here and there and a small part of him believed that they were smiling back. “That’s it, right?”

“No, you prat, our marriage was bestowed by the lords of nature. It’s an arranged marriage.”

But Kris wasn’t listening and continued on. “You love a person that may or may not exist.”

“She does exist. She’s the princess of Flower Mist Gardens,” argued Luhan with a faint frown.

“Even though you haven’t met her, you love her because she’s your soulmate. When you see her, you’ll know that she’s the one and you’ll fall for her right away,” Kris finished as his smile faded.

“What?!” spluttered Luhan, as though the other had just declared himself as the flower spirit’s soulmate. “How surprisingly naïve you are…”

Neither Kris nor Luhan had yet noticed but as it grew later and later, the night air became chillier and from a distance, a looming fog was gradually approaching them.

“Love at first sight – I laugh at it,” said Kris bitterly. “How can anyone believe in anything like that? That sort of thing… It doesn’t even exist, does it? It’s nothing to believe in.”

Luhan turned to catch a brief glimpse of his companion – there was ambivalence written all over the human boy’s face. “I suppose I’ll just have to see what I think of her when we meet on our wedding day. But you know what, Kris? I sort of agree with you. Love is indeed not the answer to everything.”

“Yet I wonder why it is that love is so glorified,” Kris muttered. “Everyone I know depends on romance, yearning so deeply for it but is it truly as perfect as it seems?”

“I like to think that it is,” Luhan told him, smiling a charming smile in the hopes that the other would see it and reflect his expression. “I also like the fact that you’re getting deep. This is…nice.”

“I’m an independent guy doing fine…but why do I still feel lonely?”

The flower spirit’s face fell at that. “Maybe because today is Singles’ Day.”

And then Luhan elbowed Kris on his side, causing the latter to lightly grunt in pain and glare over at Luhan as flickers of hurt appeared across his features. Luhan said nothing and continued to lay there beside him amidst the tall grass and unless Kris was mistaken, he thought he could hear the sound of faint giggling but they were not from him nor from his flower spirit companion.

“What firefly is capable of laughter? Disguised fairies, leave this instant!” Luhan suddenly snapped, waving his arms around as the fluttering fireflies above them dispersed