Jae couldn’t quite remember how he had met Wonpil; it may have been at the cafe where he worked, or possibly in the university library, perhaps even just on the street one day. Jae really had no idea. All he knew was Wonpil was his best friend and had been for some time now. Jae didn’t have many friends other than Wonpil either. There was Dowoon, the guy he worked with at the cafe. They chatted and got along well, sometimes they even went out after work for a few drinks. He had come to watch Jae play one night in a bar, so he supposed they were friends. But Wonpil was definitely his best friend.

It was normal for them to just sit around in Jae’s bedroom on a Wednesday afternoon talking and taking the piss out of one another. Wonpil’s favourite thing to do was annoy Jae about his love life, or lack there of. So this particular Wednesday afternoon it was no surprise when Wonpil began his usual teasing.

“Why don’t you just talk to him?” Wonpil complained, hanging his head upside down over the end of the bed to stare at Jae.

“Shut up,” Jae threw a ball of paper at him, missing hopelessly.

“Seriously, next time you see him at the cafe, you just say ‘You’re cute, let’s date’.”

“Can we just not?” Jae complained, not looking up from his assignment notes.

“I could do it for you!” Wonpil rolled over, eyes alight with glee as he caught hold of the new idea.

“No! No way!” Jae shook his head, glasses skittering down to the end of his nose as he did. He pushed them higher, glaring at Wonpil. “Just drop it, I’m fine. I’m too busy for dating.”

“What do you mean too busy for dating?” Wonpil scoffed, throwing his legs over the end of the bed to come and sit across from Jae on the floor.

“Work and university and my guitar gigs are picking up. No time.”

“More like no guts,” Wonpil muttered, stealing a sheet of lined paper and a pen from Jae.

“I have plenty of guts,” Jae’s voice was dark as he continued to flick through textbooks and scrawl out notes. Wonpil only gave a grunt in reply, focused on his new distraction of drawing pink swirly symbols on the paper with the filched pen.

Wonpil was easily distracted; it was the reason Jae could handle all the teasing, it only ever lasted a couple of minutes before Wonpil would spot something more shiny and his brain would skip off after that instead. Jae also found it endearing when he would watch Wonpil hop from one topic to another in a heartbeat, leaving most other people confused and uncomfortable. On more than one occasion Jae had also dragged him away from danger, he maintained that Wonpil needed a friend like him to keep him safe at least. If Wonpil noticed something interesting across a busy street, he would simply begin to step out into traffic to go after it. Jae was rattled in the beginning, lecturing Wonpil at length about it, now he was so used to it he didn’t even look up from his phone while he caught Wonpil’s arm and dragged him back onto the sidewalk properly.

Jae sunk into his world of data and statistics as he researched his assignment, barely noticing Wonpil still scratching away, now at multiple sheets of paper. He had three days to finish his oral presentation and present it to a lecture theatre of his peers. He was barely even started. He had spent the first 2 weeks after receiving the assignment sour at the fact that he had to do an oral presentation. This was university, he thought he’d left that class participation crap back in high school. Now, he realised that this was university and any and all ing he had would fall on deaf ears. This was a do-it-or-flunk situation.

Hours later, when his brain was sending his eyes an Error 404 - Brain Not Found code, Jae finally stretched his lanky arms above his head and set down his notebook and pen. Wonpil was long gone, having wandered off sometime in the afternoon. Jae was used to that as well, Wonpil appeared and disappeared on a mere whim. At times it felt as though he could literally materialise where ever Jae was.

Looking around his room he realised that while he had been busy so had Wonpil. His room was papered in the swirly drawings Wonpil had been intent on. They were stuck to his pinboard over his chaotic desk, stuck to the wall over his bed, even on the wooden divider of the window pane. The back of his door, the bookcase, Jae’s Maroon 5 poster (right on Adam Levine’s head), nowhere in the room had been spared from the Decoration of Wonpil. Jae sighed and rolled his eyes. It was pretty typical really, he would take them down when he found time. Right now he needed food and a shower, and maybe a nap.

 

Jae didn’t make it to his nap, he spent some time strumming out new tunes on his guitar before his parents got home and called him down for dinner. With that finished he returned to studying for a while; more notes scrawled out in his barely legible writing before he realised that it was no use if he couldn’t actually read them later. With an exhausted sigh, he left his studying things in a mess on the floor, turned out the light and climbed into bed.

Rolling over to find a comfortable position, Jae heard the tell-tale crackle of paper being crumpled. He squeezed his eyes shut, cursing Wonpil vehemently in his mind. As he sat up: more crackling of paper. He turned his lamp on to find that Wonpil had covered his mattress in the same swirly drawings, now with a distinct Jae-sized wrinkle in them.

“I get that you really like this pattern, but did you have to put it everywhere?” Jae grumbled, glaring down at his bed. As he bent to start sweeping the papers to the floor a different page caught his eye. “Tha mi a’guidhe ort Brian,” He read clumsily. Jae pursed his mouth in confusion, “Who’s Brian?”

Wondering just what was wrong with his best friend Jae proceeded to dump the papers off the bed. Wonpil had laid them three pages thick, Jae found two more copies of the weird nonsensical words. Each time he spotted them he wondered again who Brian was; Wonpil never really talked about anyone else and Jae would recognise a name like Brian. He shrugged, sing-songing the words aloud again. They had a funny ring to them, even though he was moderately sure he wasn’t saying it right.

“Tha mi” slight pause, “a’guidhe,” another pause, “ort Brian.”

Jae sung to himself as he worked, finally clearing the bed and climbing back in. With a content sigh, he flicked the light off. He would have to think of a prank to pay Wonpil back later, after his oral assignment was finished. Maybe he could wrap Wonpil’s room in tin foil, that would be apt.

He was slipping over the precipice of sleep when something dipped into the mattress by his feet. Jae muttered something and tried to kick the cat away. He didn’t own a cat though. With a yell and a vicious kick, Jae scooted all the way up to his headboard and tried to see through the thick darkness. It was a man. There was a person at the end of his bed! He screamed again, leaping from the covers and diving for the door. His feet tangled in the mess he had left strewn around from studying and he crashed hard against the carpet. Now he was dead, his only hope was that his parents had heard him and would come to save him from being axe murdered. He clenched his eyes shut and waited.

Nothing happened.

With shaky movements, slow and steady so as to not frighten his murderer into a homicidal rage, Jae turned. The man was still sitting on the end of the bed. Now that his eyes were fully adjusted to the dim Jae saw that the man was smirking a little, his face a beautiful symmetry with too-perfect eyes. His hair was dark and hanging on his forehead a little, his clothes plain and nondescript. He didn’t appear to have a weapon of any sort, no axe, no knife, no nothing.

“Are you ok?” He spoke, a quiet voice that actually gave Jae a slight shiver.

“Uh,” Jae floundered. What did one say to their potential stalker? Clearly he wasn’t there to murder Jae, but watching him in his sleep was definite creepy stalker action. He didn’t speak again, simply waiting for a reply. Jae’s brain came up with only one response and after an inordinate amount of time he gave up and said it.

“What are you doing on my bed?”

“You summoned me,” The man shrugged, spreading his palms to the ceiling, “So here I am.”

Jae’s eyebrows rose, coming together in concern for the mental stability of this guy. He finally pulled himself into a sitting position, hugging his knees reflexively.

“Uh, what?” Yet again his brain couldn’t seem to find more eloquent or useful words.

“You summoned me. So, can we get on with it?”

“Get on with what? Summoned? What’s wrong with you?!” Jae cried, scooting back away from this clearly deranged person in his room. Finally his brain lit upon a reasonable idea. Call the police, there’s a man in your bedroom! His phone was on the bedside table, not two feet from his intruder.

“You summoned me, I’m here to help you with whatever the problem is. So if we could get a bit of hustle, because I’d prefer to go back to my interment if you’re going to treat me like something you’ve found on your shoe.”

Jae’s brain turned up blank once more. He simply gaped. This man was definitely off his rocker.

“What the heck are you talking about? Just… get out of my house before I call the police!” Jae struggled to his feet and backing towards the door.

“Why are you being so weird?” The man asked, looking around the dark room. “You’re the one with all the summoning runes on the walls, why would you summon me and then tell me to get out?”

“What?” The word was a squeak as Jae’s jaw fell slack.

Wonpil.

“The summoning runes, all forty thousand of them you’ve drawn up. In pink, for bonus points?” He cocked an eyebrow at Jae before continuing on. “Why would you put them all up and then sing the little song if you didn’t want me summoned?”

Jae’s mouth moved up and down, trying to make words come out. There were none.

“Uh, OK, now you’re starting to freak me out,” The guy said, pulling his legs up to sit in a tailor seat on the bed.

Jae thought that was a little much, coming from the mysterious intruder, but his brain was far more occupied with the fact that Wonpil had papered his room in pink summoning runes. That should sound insane, that should have Jae sprinting downstairs and hollering for the police, but it didn’t.

“Wh-” Jae stopped, he didn’t know what else to say or do but ask this question, “What’s your name?”

He was given an almost surprised look in return and then an answer.

“Brian, Fae of Love and Attraction; at your service.” He jumped up and swept a flourishing bow to Jae. Jae started at the sudden movement and then whined as his theory was confirmed.

“You’re Brian?” Jae pointed, his stomach clenching, “From the gibberish and Brian?”

Brian nodded, eyebrows high with alarm as Jae pointed at him like a zombie.

“What gibberish?” Brian asked, “Are you OK?”

“The… The words! The gibberish, the only part I understood was Brian,” Jae burst, throwing his pointing finger around in exasperation. He crossed the room and snatched up a piece of paper, turning it for Brian to read in the dark.

“That’s the summoning spell! What is wr-” Brian petered out, his mouth forming a little O as things seemed to click in place. “You didn’t write that, did you? Or draw these?”

Jae shook his head, lowering his now trembling hand.

“My… My friend did, Wonpil,” That elicited a reaction from Brian, he hissed like a cat and his shoulders arched. Jae was sure if he had fur it would all be on end.

“Of course!” Brian cried, throwing his hands up aggressively, “Of course it was him! That scheming…” Brain’s voice wandered off into a dark mutter as Jae shrunk away from him once more. His eyes flashed and he pinned Jae with them. “Where is he? Take me to him now.”

“I…” Jae’s huddled body fell limp, head tilting to one side slightly, “I don’t know where he is. I’ve never…”

Why hadn’t he ever noticed that he didn’t know where Wonpil lived? He hadn’t ever realised that they never went anywhere but Jae’s place?

“Of course you don’t,” Brian’s voice was not acerbic, as Jae expected, but resigned.

“What the hell is going on?” Jae mumbled weakly, crumpling onto the floor. He stared around in the dark, there was nothing but summoning runes scattered everywhere.

“I’m Brian, I’m a fae of love and affection. Wonpil is also a fae, he’s mostly just an though.” Brian crossed the short distance to sit on the floor across from Jae.

“You’ve summoned me, albeit by accident, but it means that I’m here for the next three days to help you in you quest for love and affection.” His tone was soulless as he spoke. “I, a fae, will assist you magically in any way you require until your one true love has become yours.”

Jae managed a weak smile at Brian.

“Don’t sound so enthusiastic about helping me,” He joked before letting out a sigh. “Truth is, Brian, I don’t have a ‘one true love’. Wonpil just likes to give me about liking a customer from the cafe. I think he’s taken the joke a little too far though.”

“Wonpil doesn’t know how to do anything less than ‘too far’.”

Jae’s already tired brain gave up and he yawned for a long time before speaking again.

“OK, I can’t deal with this right now. Are you an axe murderer?” Jae asked, rubbing his tired eyes.

“No. I’m a fae.”

“Like a fairy?”

“I suppose,” Brain growled, Jae managed a smile.

“Prove it,” Jae shrugged. For a moment nothing happened and he began to panic again. Then the papers with the runes gathered themselves from the walls and floor, shifting into an orderly line in the air overhead. With a soft rustling that resembled trees stirring in the wind, the pages folded themselves until fifty paper cranes floated around. The cranes settled on every available surface except the bed as Jae watched in wonder.

“Ta da,” Brain muttered as the last crane came to rest on the bedside table.

“Wow,” Jae nodded, impressed. “OK, time for sleep. And when I wake up this weird dream will be finished. And I can kick Wonpil’s for giving me tripped out dreams with his prank.” Jae climbed to his feet and stepped past Brian. The fae’s face was amused as Jae climbed into the bed, pulled the cover over his back and rolled to face the wall. With a sad sigh he stretched his own self on the floor and tried to go to sleep. In the morning, when Jae realised he was really there, they would find Wonpil together and kick his .

 

Sunlight teased Jae’s eyes, prickling them until he was aware that he was no longer asleep. With a small groan he rolled his face into his pillow to hide from the light. As he moved he remembered his odd dreams. A fairy named Brian had come to help him find love. He snorted. What kind of a name was Brian for a fairy? All that studying must have affected his brain.

“Jae!” There was a hammering on his door, “Get up! You have class at 9!” His mother’s voice was loud through the door. Jae wanted to ignore her, pretend to go on sleeping. If he did that however, she would open the door and hassle him out of bed. She would discover the absolute state he had left his room in that night and then she would yell louder. It was too early for that much yelling.

“I’m up!” He called back, flopping over onto his back and staring at the ceiling.

“Good!” She moved on down the hall, footsteps fading down the stairs.

After another few minutes of procrastination, Jae sat up and rubbed his eyes. When he cleared the sleep away, he threw his legs over the side. On to something squishy. On to something that protested at being stepped on. On to Brian; the fairy of love and affection.

Jae knew he should be screaming, but his mind was yet again left blank with shock. Brian was scowling up at him from the floor, shoving Jae’s legs off and sitting up himself.

“Excuse me,” Brian snapped, “It’s bad enough I have to sleep on the floor. Could you please not step on me too?”

“You’re real?” Jae stammered, eyes wide as he took in Brian in the daylight. His hair was a plummy purple, the eyes less uncanny now Jae could see them in the light, his nose was strong and lips quite normal. But Jae got stuck on his cheekbones. He was a er for cheekbones, and Brian had them in spades.

“Real as you are,” Brian grouched, still scowling at Jae from the floor.

It was then Jae took in the rest of his room; every surface covered in small paper cranes, swirling pink lines covering each one haphazardly. The magic show from the night before was real too. Jae felt the blood drain from his head and his feet plonked back down into Brian’s lap.

There was a real, actual fairy sitting on his floor looking pissed. With purple hair and killer cheekbones.

“Do we have to go through all of this again?” Brian asked with a sigh, “Because if you don’t mind I might sleep through the pointless crisis part. Wake me up when you’re ready to put me to work on the one true love.” He stretched back out and closed his eyes once more. Jae spluttered, a million things whirling through his brain.

He had a fairy. How did one take care of a fairy? Also, why wasn’t he smaller with wings and a dress made of leaves? And was it just him, or was this fairy particularly cantankerous? Was that normal or was Jae’s fairy defective? And what ‘true love’? If he didn’t actually have a ‘true love’ would Brian be here forever? And what kind of a name for a fairy was Brian?

“Jae!” His mother’s voice cut through his thoughts. He jolted, stepping on Brian a third time.

“Ah, I have class first. Then I’ll work out how to feed and care for you,” Jae prattled, leaping over Brian and rushing to grab his towel from the back of the door. “Just stay here, don’t let anyone see you.” Jae told him before slipping out the smallest crack in the door he would fit through.

“I’m not an animal,” Brian’s voice called as Jae snapped the door shut on him.

 

Jae rushed through his morning routine, only pausing to stare at Brian for almost 2 minutes before he seemed to remember what he was doing. With a flurry of erratic movements Jae barrelled out the front door and headed for his bus stop. As his foot hit the sidewalk Brian caught his eye, leaning against the garden wall with a black fedora-style hat and dark glasses. Jae’s eyes narrowed behind his own glasses, that was his hat and sunglasses. Brian fell into step with him, face bored.

“Is that my shirt?” Jae had also noticed Brian had filched one of his shirts.

“Yup,” Brian’s voice was just as bored as his face.

“You know,” Jae said conversationally as they walked in the sunshine, “You’re pretty grouchy for a fairy.”

“I’m not a damn fairy!” Brian snapped, sneering at the ground.

“But-”

“I’m a fae. There’s a difference.”

“OK, my bad.” Jae nodded to show he understood. He was trying his best to be nice to the fairy… fae. He honestly felt kind of bad for Brian. The guy had been summoned in the middle of the night to someone that didn’t actually need them. It would have been mildly frustrating.

“So what kind of a name is Brian for a mystical being?” Jae tried again, swinging his arms childishly in the hopes to make Brian smile.

Instead he was given stoic silence and a particularly displeased stare. Jae heaved an internal sigh, so much for that idea. He moved on to his next problem instead, what was he going to do with Brian for three days. He had university lectures, work in the cafe and his hellish assignment to get finished; he did not have spare time for a fae. He didn’t even have a ‘one true love’ so he had no idea why Brian was even here, let alone what he would do for three days! Jae’s thoughts continued their tangled tracks until they alighted from the bus and headed for the university cafe. Coffee first and then cognitive thoughts.

The baristas at the uni cafe seemed to change weekly, Jae prattled off his usual order and stood with the other caffeine addicts to wait for his call. Brian pulled his glasses off and stared at Jae in amazement. Jae looked back, bemused by the offended look on the fae’s face.

“I’m sorry, did you want a coffee?” Jae asked, unsure what Brian ate or drank. For all he knew it could have been the nectar of daffodils on a Spring morning.

“Well, you could have at least offered,” Brain complained, rolling his eyes at Jae’s disregard.

“Sorry,” Jae searched his bag before handing Brian his wallet, “Get one for yourself.”

“I can’t,” Brian was seriously irritated now, Jae floundered once more. He couldn’t seem to get anything right with this guy!

“Why not?” Jae pushed the wallet at him again, taking a surreptitious glance around to see if people were staring at him. No one was paying any attention at all, everyone seemed to be zombified by their phone and lack of coffee.

“They can’t see me,” Brian muttered back, catching Jae’s flickering eyes.

“Wait, what?” Jae’s brows furrowed and he replayed their morning commute. “No, people moved around you to get on and off the bus.”

“It’s complicated. Please, can you just buy me a coffee?” Brian’s voice was almost a whine, but there was definitely more of a command in there. Jae’s eyes narrowed and he sighed.

“Fine.” He moved to line up again, when he reached the server once more he ordered another coffee. Her heavy eyebrows rose and he gestured vaguely towards Brian, “It’s for my friend.” Her eyes found Brian and she nodded before they slid off him as though he had disappeared. Jae watched with fascination. With the order done and paid for he returned to Brian once more. The fae was gazing across the lawns with his arms crossed over his chest. He didn’t acknowledge Jae’s return.

“You’re welcome,” Jae sniped, he was already getting a little tired of the moodiness.

“Yeah, whatever.” Brian shrugged, still not looking at Jae.

“Why can they see you but not?” Jae asked, doing his best to shake off the attitude.

“It’s a glamour, I wear it when I’m on assignment. Added a few years to the whole shebang by having someone else’s ‘one true love’ fall for me by accident.”

It was an answer, but Jae ended up with more questions than he started with. What was a glamour? What assignment? And what exactly was the “shebang” that Brian had “added years to”? It sounded like a prison sentence. He had opened his mouth to begin a new tirade of questions when his name was called. After a slight hesitation he turned to retrieve his coffee. As he raised it to his lips, he paused. Brian was still standing with his arms crossed, face bored behind the sunglasses. Jae’s face pinched and he sighed.

“Here,” He handed the coffee to Brian, “Have this one, I just ordered the same thing twice.”

The fae offered him a new expression for the barest moment. Brows flattening out and his mouth losing the lines of tension that had been present since they woke up. Jae let himself smile; so the fae did have emotions other than bored and annoyed.

“Thanks, I guess.” Brian mumbled, sipping the coffee.

“You’re welcome,” Jae ducked his head and stared at the ground for a while. He wasn’t sure how to deal with the fact that Brian was drop-dead gorgeous, no one else could see him, and Jae didn’t have a ‘one true love’ to be smitten by. If the guy would just stop being so grouchy, Jae might actually develop a little crush. Jae’s other coffee was ready and he collected that too. The pair of them moved on to his lecture hall. “Can I ask why people can see you but not see you? Are you going to get called on by my lecturers or?” Jae left the question hanging, trying to find a way to not set Brian off into a mood.

“I told you, it’s a glamour.” He huffed, Jae’s face fell a little. “Oh, right, you didn’t summon me. Do you know anything about this stuff?”

“This stuff being?”

“Magic.”

“Oh, then no.”

“Geez,” Brian’s mouth twisted as he thought a while. “So, a magic charm I can do is called a glamour. I can change my appearance, sort of. Basically people know I’m there but then sort of forget they saw me right away. It just makes everything simpler.”

Jae nodded, absorbing the information before speaking again.

“So glamours make you kind of invisible,” He stated. Brian huffed and shook his head.

“No, glamours change my appearance.” He corrected as they pushed into the lecture hall and climbed to their seats. “This charm makes people forget me.”

“What else can you do?” Jae wondered aloud, sitting and pulling his notebook out. Brian fell into the seat beside him and arranged his limbs around him nonchalantly. Jae watched with fascination as people stepped over Brian’s protruding ankle without realising they were doing it.

“Regular fae stuff,” Brian shrugged, he was yet to remove his glasses and hat. “Wake me when we’re done, or your OTL arrives.” He mumbled before settling down for a nap in the lecture hall.

Jae spluttered, trying to protest that Brian couldn’t sleep in here and that he didn’t have a one true love at the same time. It was obvious that Brian was already asleep though, so he gave up and did his best to pay attention to the lecture instead.

Except Jae didn’t pay attention in his lecture. He spent the time wondering what the heck he was going to do and how he could get hold of Wonpil. In the past Wonpil had always just shown up when Jae thought about going to see him, Jae used to joke that they were psychically intune. Now he wondered if it was actually literal magic. He had a number in his phone for Wonpil, but he would bet anything that it would just ring out if he tried to call it. If he couldn’t find Wonpil and make him fix it, what could he do?

Maybe Brian knew what they could do? Surely something like this had happened before. Jae hoped it would be a case of waiting out the three days with a prickly fae before everything would go back to normal. If he was lucky he wouldn’t remember anything.

 

When the lecture was finished Jae checked his watch. He had an hour before his shift at the cafe started. They should get some lunch and then head off for work. Cautiously, he prodded Brian awake beside him. The fae made some adorable squeaking noises as he woke, stretching and sitting up in his seat. Jae watched with a fond look until Brian caught him and scowled fiercely.

“The lecture is over, we should get some food and then I have work,” Jae stood and waited for Brian to move. “What are you going to do while I work?”

“I stick around and wait for your one true love,” Brian shrugged and pulled himself out of his seat. “That’s basically it. Until they show up, I’m just tagging along on your day. No matter how boring it is.” He added the last part in a dark mutter.

Jae began to descend the stairs, watching closely so he didn’t fall. When they reached the door to the lecture hall he glanced back at Brian.

“I already told you though, I don’t have a one true love,” Jae told him as they entered the flow of people in the hallway. He was once again fascinated as people avoided Brian without really noticing they were.

“Yeah, that’s a problem,” Brian agreed.

“What happens after three days if I don’t have a one true love?”

Brian gave a snarky shrug. Jae’s shoulders slumped and he focused on crossing the campus instead. They didn’t speak for the entire walk, or the lunch that Jae bought for them both. Even as Jae led the way back to the bus to head downtown there was stony silence between the pair. Three days couldn’t pass quickly enough. Although, Jae still had a huge assignment hanging over his head, and three days needed to drag into a week for him to get all the work done.

The fae followed Jae like a puppy, pushing into the cafe and crossing the space to the counter a few steps behind him. After giving the brightly lit cafe a cursory glance he perched on the bench tucked against the right wall behind the counter. Jae frowned and put his hands on his hips.

“Get down from there,” He waved a hand at Brian, “You’re dirty.” He ducked down and grabbed a bottle of spray and a cloth. He them both at Brian. “Clean,” He ordered, shaking the bottle of spray.

Brian’s deep eyes rolled but he took the bottle and cloth. Jae set about getting ready for his shift, a coffee coloured apron tied around his hips and a shot already pouring into a cup for himself. As Brian finished his cleaning another employee appeared from the back, giving Jae a high-five and cruising out the front door. Jae glanced up at the ornate clock on the wall, Dowoon was late again.

“Did you want a coffee?” Jae asked. Brian was now leaning against the coffee machine, watching Jae closely.

“Duh,” Brain replied, eyes wandering the cafe before returning to Jae. It was themed with an antique feel. An ornate clock on the wall, leather and brass couches, touches of dark wood as tables and chairs. The left wall was dominated with ceiling-high shelves, nick-knacks and books spread across them haphazardly. Brain begrudgingly admitted it was a pretty cool place.

“You could be nicer to me, you know,” Jae mumbled, finishing off Brian’s coffee and handing it over. He was given a scoff in reply. Jae’s eyes narrowed, his mouth opened to unload a tirade on Brian when the doorbell jangled.

“I’m here! Sorry I’m late!” The other employee scampered across the space, waving to Jae and a few regular customers sitting in the couches.

“It’s fine, Dowoon, it’s not exactly bustling in here.” Jae called back, glare still firmly on Brian.

Jae turned after another moment and retrieved an apron. He tossed it to the passing Dowoon easily. The younger guy tied the apron and glanced from Jae to Brian. Brian openly stared, unconcerned about being caught. The guy, almost still a boy, was a moderate height, with cute wavy hair, and overly kind eyes. Eyes that were lingering on Brian as he sipped his coffee.

“Who’s this guy?” He nodded at Brian. Directly at him.

Jae replied reflexively, “Brian.”

Then seemed to remember people couldn’t, shouldn’t, see him.

“Hi, Brian,” Dowoon gave a little smirk. “Your glamour needs work.”

Jae thought he might faint. He blinked several times, head slowly swivelling from Dowoon to Brian and back again. Was he still dreaming? Was he trapped in some weird alternate reality? What the hell was going on?

“Thanks,” Brian’s voice was acerbic, “But I don’t take tips from low-class witches.”

“Wizard,” Dowoon corrected, “And I never said I wasn’t low-class. Which means your glamour really does need work.” That shut Brian up. He simply sipped his coffee again and turned his eyes to the rest of the cafe.

“Wizard?” Jae finally asked, his voice a little wobbly.

“Yeah,” Dowoon nodded, he looked as though he was about to say more when the door jangled again and an actual customer entered.

As the shift rolled on Jae slowly teased the story from Dowoon. Brian stayed leaning against the coffee machine, looking bored and watching customers.

“My grandma was a witch, pretty powerful really. Mum and dad don’t believe any of this stuff though, so I’ve kind of had to work it out myself.” Dowoon explained between orders as they tidied. “My mentor reckons I’ve got heaps of potential but, I don’t know,” He shrugged in his cheerful way, “How much can you really do with this stuff?”

“So,” Jae nibbled his lower lip, “You’re magic?”

“A bit, I guess.”

“And you know about Brian?”

“Well,” Dowoon tilted his head at the fae, “I know he’s a fae. I guess he’s here to cause trouble. Did you annoy someone, Jae?”

Jae looked from Brian to Dowoon again.

“Uh, no more than usual?” Jae spread his hands to the ceiling in bemusement. Brain gave a small huff of actual laughter. Jae smiled at him swiftly before turning to serve the newest customer.

 

“See, the problem is I don’t have a one true love,” Jae explained to Dowoon as he locked the door to the cafe. Dowoon’s brows furrowed as he thought about it. “So, I’m just wondering what Brian is supposed to do for three days. And what will happen after those three days are up?”

The three of them began wandering along the street, moving with the flow of workers heading for their homes. The sky was bruised with twilight and streetlights offered yellow splashes in the growing darkness. As they moved beneath one of the lights Dowoon spoke.

“I have no idea,” He said blithely. Jae groaned with frustration and Brian let out a dark chuckle. “But I know someone that might. If you have time we can go meet him now.”

Jae wavered, he had so much work to do. Surely keeping Brian around for three days would be easy, then he would go… wherever he went. Then Jae remembered that he wanted to call Wonpil and ask him about all this too. As he thought of Wonpil he realised something so painfully obvious that he almost groaned aloud again.

Dowoon had never met Wonpil. Jae hadn’t found it weird until this very moment. The two of them had remained conspicuously separate for the last however long he had known them. If Wonpil was indeed a fae as well, Dowoon would have told him straight away. But Dowoon had never met Wonpil. Clearly for just that reason.

Knowing it was futile, Jae produced his phone and called the elusive fae. It rang out until the message bank picked up.

“Hey there Jae!” Jae almost greeted it in return, he caught himself as Wonpil’s recorded voice carried on. “How did the summoning go? Did you get the Gaelic pronunciation ok? I’m going to be away for a little while, I’m not Brian’s favourite fairy. But you! I know he’ll love you! Have fun. I’ll see you in three days.” There was a click and then the beep. Jae knew it would be recorded but he let out a long string of curses anyway. When his vocabulary ran dry he hung up and faced a rather shocked Dowoon.

“Let’s go now,” Jae grumbled, hefting his bag a little higher on his back. Dowoon nodded, eyes still slightly wide.

 

Dowoon rattled the door to the shop. A cursive Closed sign was in the glass pane, right beneath more curling script that Jae made out to be Ash and Yew Ecclectica. His eyebrows were so high his blond fringe swallowed them. He hadn’t been to a magic shop before. A laminated page in the window advertised their tarot card readers and something called aura healing. Dowoon knocked loudly on the glass and stood back to wait a while. Jae continued his inspection through the darkened window.

There was a collection of large crystals, purple amethyst and sparkling citrine beneath lights. Either side of the large clusters were literal wands, quartz points on them and leather wrapping around their shafts. Further in the darkness Jae could see bookshelves and what he thought might be displays of herbs. He glanced at Brian, the fae had a strange light in his eyes.

From the back of the store a door opened and a rectangle of light was cast across the shop. A man shuffled through, catching sight of his visitors he opened the door with a paternal smile.

“Dowoon, it’s a little late for business calls.” His eyes locked onto Brian, the smile didn’t waver. “But when there’s fae involved time doesn’t seem to matter much at all. Come on in and tell me just what has happened here.”

“Thanks, Sungjin.” Dowoon followed the man through the door. Jae waved Brian along next and then moved through himself. They didn’t pause in the darkened shop but proceeded into the back. There were boxes of stock on tables and shelves and a skinny stairway. They trooped up the steps and into Sungjin’s apartment. Jae noticed the air in the apartment felt a little different. With a mental shake he dismissed the idea, this was all ridiculous.

“This is Jae, I work with him.” Dowoon introduced him as Sungjin filled the electric kettle to boil. “That’s Brian.”

Sungjin turned and leant against his bench, brown eyes roving over Jae and then Brian slowly. Jae was busy examining the wizard’s apartment. It was disarmingly normal. No runes on the wall in red paint, no magic wands or pentagrams to be seen; just a well-loved couch, a coffee table covered in novels and empty tea mugs. Brian perched himself on the small table against the wall. Jae was sure he could see a light in the fae’s eyes now. Like he was glowing a little, or was it a small sparkle? He turned his head this way and that to see if the shimmer would move with the light.

Sungjin’s smile widened.

“Brian, fae of love and attraction,” Sungjin spoke as the kettle began to rattle.

“At your service,” Brain’s voice was still flat and dead.

“What do you need my help for exactly? Brian only appears when summoned, or at least that’s what all the spells say.”

“Well,” Jae spoke up nervously, scratching the back of his neck. “I think I did summon him. But it was an accident.”

“An accidental summoning?” Sungjin’s voice was even, no derision or incredulity. He poured four cups of tea. “How did that happen?”

“Uh, I think… I mean, Brian said he was but I don’t know… I think my best friend is a fae too?” Jae’s voice trailed off, the longer he spoke the more ridiculous all of this felt.

“That sounds like a lot of trouble,” Dowoon commented, taking his tea and sitting on the couch to spectate.

“Indeed,” Sungjin agreed, giving Brian his tea with a smile. “What’s your version of events?” He asked the fae.

“I was called, I answered. I found a strange human trying to run away from me like I was an axe murderer, until he worked out it was his fault I was there. Now we’re waiting for his one true love to appear. I’ll do my thing and go back to interment.” Brian spoke in a long flat tone, like a man tired of his life. Sungjin nodded along, eyes turning to Jae for confirmation.

“Yeah, that’s what happened. Except I don’t have a one true love. So we were wondering what’s going to happen after three days passes.”

Sungjin turned back to Brian. The fae returned a deadpan expression.

“Well, I haven’t read the stories in a long time but Brian is supposed to help you. If he fails, he returns to interment with an extension to his sentence.” Sungjin spoke slowly, giving the feeling of his words tiptoeing out of his mouth.

“Sentence?” Jae asked, eyes locked to Brian. The fae’s eyes fell to the floor, the shimmer seeming to move viscously with an aura of sadness. When it was clear he wouldn’t answer, Sungjin spoke again.

“The legend says Brian was a prince, he spurned a rival fae and was tricked into 100 years of servitude for humans. He’s summoned and forced to help them find love. When he fails another 100 years is added to his sentence,” Sungjin’s voice was still tiptoeing over the fae’s obvious dejection.

“100 years?” Jae’s eyes flicked to Sungjin to make sure he had heard properly before moving back to Brian. His shoulders were slumped and he stared at the floor. “How old are you?” He breathed. Brian ignored him.

“So I imagine if you don’t have a one true love then Brian will go back to his interment with an extra 100 years,” Sungjin finished, sipping his tea and sighing.

“But…” Jae struggled, his brain was trying to catch up with his mouth when he spoke. “But that’s not fair. It’s not his fault I don’t have a one true love! Can’t I like, complain to them that he shouldn’t be punished just because I summoned him by accident?”

Sungjin smiled with amusement, he glanced at Brian before speaking.

“I don’t think they particularly care. In their eyes Brian is being punished and this will be justice.”

“That’s… not fair,” Jae’s voice shrank as Brian finally looked up from the floor. His shimmering eyes pinned the human, stopping his words instantly.

“Well, if it’s all settled. Let’s just go,” Brian launched himself off the table, moving for the door quickly. Jae pursed his lips reluctantly. Sungjin’s face seemed to be offering Jae one more piece of information, but he couldn’t seem to decipher it in time. With slow movements he resettled his bag on his shoulders and turned to follow Brian back out of the apartment.

“Come back anytime,” Sungjin called after them. Jae wasn’t sure he would ever have a particular need to, but he shot a smile over his shoulder anyway.

 

Brian was eerily quiet on the walk to the bus. It was properly dark now and the moon was yet to rise. The fae’s eyes seemed to be the same deep black of the sky, all hint of shine vanished. Jae wondered what he could do or say that would help the fae. The only thing he could really think of was trying his hardest to find an OTL in the next two days.

“I’m sorry,” Jae said softly as they sat together on the bus, the city sliding around them in the dark. Jae could see his own face reflected in the window as he looked across at Brian, his eyes had slight bags from his late night, and his hair was a little crazy, but in his own eyes he could see determination. “I’ll find someone to love tomorrow. We can blow off class and see if we can find that customer Wonpil was talking about when he started all this.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Brian sighed, he leant back into the uncomfortable bus seat and looked at Jae from the corner of his eye.

“I want to,” Jae replied quickly, “I want to help.”

“Th… thanks,” Brian mumbled, turning to peer out the window instead.

Jae had been intending to go to the library after work, but instead they just trudged home.

 

“Is that why you’re so angry all the time?” Jae asked, unable to focus on his schoolwork. Brian was casually leafing through a textbook nearby. He looked up from the pages with a blank expression. “The punishment? Is that why you’re so…” Jae searched for the least offensive word, “Unapproachable?”

Brian gave a smirk and stuck a fluro pink sticky note to the page before speaking.

“Yeah, I guess,” He shrugged, Jae could see he was trying to play it down.

“What did you do?”

The silence was so long that Jae went back to work, forgetting that he had asked in the first place. When Brian’s reply came Jae found himself frozen in place, staring at the book and listening closely.

“It was more what I didn’t do,” Brian sighed, there was the crunchy noise of a page turning. “I didn’t marry the princess arranged for me. I refused her love and in retaliation her family cursed me. There wasn’t anything I could do about it. I knew when I refused her that something like that would happen. But,” another page of the textbook turned, “I think they overreacted just a little.”

Jae was inclined to agree, he gave a small subconscious nod. After a beat he spoke again.

“When did all that happen?”

“Somewhere in the 2nd century,” Brian’s voice was mild, he seemed preoccupied with the textbook once more. Jae spluttered.

“Excuse me? No, I’m sorry, the 2nd century? You’re telling me you’re over 1500 years old?”

“Your math is terrible,” Brian finally looked up at Jae, a real smile on his face. Jae smiled in reply without noticing he was. “I’m closer to 2000 these days.”

Jae squeaked, eyes raking over Brian closely. He looked like a 20-something-year-old, just like Jae.

“You look good for your age,” Jae commented weakly. Brain laughed, a wonderfully rich sound. Jae felt as though the laughter wrapped all around him, like a physical thing that made the lights glow a little warmer and his skin prickle slightly.

“Thanks,” Brian shook his head and marked the page with another pink sticky note. He passed the book to Jae with an insistent look. “Here, I marked the pages that matter for your assignment.”

“What?” Jae took the book and scanned the marked page. It was all completely relevant and useful information. “Thank you!” Jae looked up, a smile beaming straight at Brian. The fae gave another honest smile.

“What else am I going to do with my time?” Brian shrugged, trying to return to his prickly persona. Jae saw through it though, he wondered how many times in the last few summonings he had heard genuine gratitude. With a lingering look at the fae he returned to writing notes and studying the textbook Brian had given him.

Around midnight they called it quits, Brian was already dozing off as he leant against the bookcase. Jae stacked his books away and went to the bathroom. When he returned he shook Brian’s shoulder. As the fae’s eyes shuttered open Jae was greeted with the shimmer in them once more, it was like flecks of gold in deep water. He followed each little sparkle as it moved here and there in Brian’s deep eyes. It was hypnotising, calming; Jae felt his body relax completely and a goofy smile spread across his face.

Brian blinked and looked away.

Jae started, his exhaustion rushing back into his limbs suddenly.

“Uh, bed time,” Jae said dumbly, he couldn’t seem to stop thinking of Brian’s eyes.

“Can I have a pillow this time?” Brian asked, back to his usual snarkiness.

“Why don’t you sleep on the bed this time? It’s a double anyway,” Jae offered, moving over to the other side of the room. Brian didn’t reply. Jae changed into his pyjamas and turned to find Brian was still in the same spot, eyes deep and unreadable. “Brian?” Jae prompted, wanting an answer.

“Are you sure?”

“Well, yeah. I mean I can’t make you sleep on the floor after I got you into this mess, can I?”

“Uh,” Brian stood slowly, “Thanks then.”

Jae climbed into the bed and sighed, after a moment he felt Brian lay down beside him.

“Night then,” Jae mumbled, already beginning to drift off. Brian didn’t reply. He was too busy with his own thoughts.

 

It was bright when Jae woke the following morning. With no coherent thoughts he simply rolled over and stuffed his face into the nearest thing that would block the light out. It was made of soft cloth and warmth. It smelt of a forest after rain, earthy and calm. Jae snuggled himself a little deeper and drifted off to sleep once more.

Brain awoke to Jae snuggling his face into his chest. He was frozen in place as the human nuzzled against his body, letting out a cute little mew and a sigh as he fell back to sleep. Brian wondered if the erratic hammering of his heart would be enough to wake Jae or if he would have to do it himself. He raised a hand to prod Jae off him. His hesitation was definitely just indecision about where the best place was to both wake and annoy the human. He was certainly not enjoying the feeling of contact with another person. Especially this ditzy blond. Even if he looked so laughably cute with his hair all mussed from sleeping.

The hand was stuck in mid-air, seemingly unable to descend on Jae and wake him. Brian was saved by the alarm trilling behind him insistently. Jae gave a long groan of frustration and rolled back from Brian just slightly. His eyes opened reluctantly and he found Brian glaring down at him. The glitters were back and Jae smiled despite the fae’s thunderous look.

“Sometimes,” Jae’s voice was croaky from sleep and soft, “your eyes have glitter in them. Sparkly.” He gave a long yawning sigh.

Brian couldn’t seem to move or think. He was still poised with one hand reaching out to prod Jae away, but he was stock still. Jae stretched and sat up. He reached over Brian comfortably and turned the alarm off. Silence descended on the room and Brian seemed to come back to himself. The arm lowered to lie against his own chest. Jae flopped back onto the mattress with another sigh.

“Man, I’m so tired.” He clicked away on his phone, checking his SNS as he slowly woke. Brian watched his profile as the eyes flickered over the phone screen. He wondered what had just happened.

“Alright, so today we’ll head to work and hang out. The guy is a regular, he usually comes in around 11 for a coffee and food. I think he works in a building nearby.” Jae paused to yawn. “We’ll just take my assignment stuff and work on it there. I can kill two birds with one stone.”

He sat up and stretched again. Brain watched him, still lying in the same position. Without waiting or warning, Jae simply clambered over Brian’s body to get out of the bed.

“I’m going to shower, sleep as long as you want I guess,” Jae called with a smile before disappearing out of the room.

Brian rolled onto his back and stared at the blue sky in the window.

 

Jae and Brian took a table by the window, Jae facing the interior of the cafe while Brian sat across from him staring out the window. The fae was dressed in Jae’s clothes again but had left the hat and sunglasses at home. Books and papers were spread across the table, Jae’s laptop open before him as his fingers danced away on the keys. After a little while their breakfast and coffees arrived and everything was shuffled to make room.

Jae looked up from his work to find Brian’s eyes wide and a genuine smile on his face as he peered down at the food. A little skipping rhythm skittered through Jae’s chest as he watched the fae begin to eat. It was coupled with a small voice wondering just how often the summoners bothered to feed the fae.

“You have to eat it all,” Jae teased, sipping his coffee and continuing to type. “You’re costing me a fortune to keep.”

“Oh, I’m so terribly sorry,” Brain’s voice was catty but the effect was ruined by all the food in his mouth as he spoke. Jae laughed at him, eyes crinkling shut with happiness. Brian gave a huff of laughter as well and continued to eat.

They worked in silence for a long time, Jae’s fingers only pausing as he tried to find a word or phrase to use in his presentation. Around the two hour mark Jae pushed the laptop away and stretched. His brain was fried from the constant work and lack of sleep. His eyes fell on Brian naturally; he was so gorgeous. It made sense to Jae that Brian kept a glamour on to stop humans falling for him, he wondered how many more centuries he’d accrued from being that gorgeous.

“How do you know Wonpil?” Jae asked, turning his head this way and that to stretch his neck. Brian made a noise of irritation in reply.

“He and I were friends before I was punished,” Brain muttered, taking Jae’s laptop and reopening it before him. Jae wondered what the fae was doing but wanted to hear the story of Wonpil, so he didn’t say anything. “He is the reason I’m in this mess.”

“I am really sorry,” Jae replied, thinking Brian meant being here with Jae and his impossible task as “this mess”. “I shouldn’t have read those words aloud.”

“No,” Brian shook his head, eyes intent on the laptop screen. “Not that. This whole punishment is his fault.”

“What?” Jae’s eyes were wide with shock. One day, maybe, he would get used to the fact that Brian was almost 2000 years old, but Wonpil too? Daft Wonpil that occasionally almost walked into traffic? Uh uh, Jae couldn’t imagine it.

“Mm,” Brian mumbled, tapping at the keys for a moment before glancing at Jae. “He convinced me to refuse the marriage proposal. He also suggested my punishment be 100 years of using my magic to help others fall in love. I thought we were friends.” Brian gave a heavy sigh and fell silent. Jae pouted as he thought about the betrayal. He couldn’t imagine Wonpil doing that. Even with the fact that he had tricked Jae into thinking he was human and then into summoning Brian, Jae couldn’t imagine Wonpil doing something that hurtful on purpose. He opened his mouth to express that when the doorbell jangled and Jae caught sight of his customer-crush.

Brian’s head turned as though Jae had just shouted “There he is!”, his cat-like eyes sized up the crush quickly.

He was tall, without the lankiness that Jae had. His business pants were stretched tight across well-built thighs and his shirt strained a little over his chest and shoulders. Brian smirked at the choice of a lavender shirt with a purple tie. The man’s hair was swished back fashionably with gel and he had a little designer-stubble peppering his jaw. Something about him instantly irritated Brian. Perhaps it was the fact that his clothes looked intentionally half a size too small. Or it could have been the aura of arrogance and confidence that oozed from him. It definitely wasn’t the way that Jae was ogling him.

Brian’s lip curled as he thought of helping Jae catch this crush, it was actually the last thing he felt like doing. Jae was speaking to him again and Brian realised he should be listening for instructions.

“So, uh, that’s the guy,” Jae mumbled, staring down at the table nervously.

“Clearly,” Brian could hear the snarky tone, but couldn’t help it.

“Uh, yeah,” Jae’s eyes flickered to the man before darting back to the table like a frightened bunny.

“So, what should I do?” Brian asked, he couldn’t stop the nasty tone of voice, as much as he wanted to.

“I don’t know, isn’t this your, like job?” Jae looked across the table with panic.

“Ok, ok. I’ll help. He wont be able to see me or hear me, ok?” Brian stood, rolling his eyes in exasperation. After a moment of concentration he went sort of translucent in Jae’s vision. Jae stared, forgetting all about what they were actually doing as he watched Brian work some real magic. He almost fell out of his chair in fright when a voice spoke beside him.

“Hey there!” His crush said, standing by his table easily, “Working hard today?” He nodded to the books and papers spread around. Jae held his heart and floundered for words. “Sorry,” the guy continued, “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Oh, uh, yes, no,” Jae thought he heard Brian laugh at him and straightened in his chair a little. “I was lost in thought. I’ve got a huge assignment due this week.” There we go, Jae found his brain and put it into gear properly.

“Ask him to sit down,” Brian mumbled, leaning against the window behind Jae. Jae wanted to turn and see if the sunlight would stream straight through the fae. He resisted.

“Did you want-” Jae spoke at the same time as the man.

“Can I sit?”

They laughed a little awkwardly and Jae nodded.

“Sure, I need a break anyway,” He waved a hand to the seat Brian had been sitting in all morning. The guy took it with a smile. Jae smiled too, it was a little strained but he couldn’t seem to work out why.

“I’m Alistair.”

“Jae. Nice to meet you.”

“You too.” Alistair gave another megawatt smile. “I did actually know your name. I just didn’t want to be all creepy about it.”

Jae gave a polite laugh and nodded, behind him he heard Brian scoff.

“So, what do you do for work?” Jae asked, trying to find a safe topic to begin with. Alistair launched into a description of his job as a photocopier salesman. Jae tried his best to listen but couldn’t seem to forget the fact that Brian was standing right behind him. When Alistair was interrupted by a waitress bringing his coffee Brian leant down to whisper in Jae’s ear.

“Ask him if his shirt shrank in the wash or if he paid for it like that,” His breath actually tickled Jae’s ear and he had to put all his will power into not shivering violently.

Jae pressed his lips together and swung a hand backwards to hit Brian on the leg. The fae let out a chuckle.

By the end of their hour long conversation, Jae was conflicted. He had promised Brian to try and fall in love with his crush, he didn’t want to earn the fae another century of imprisonment. But Alistair was the most boring person he had ever met in his life.

He smiled and waved awkwardly as Alistair pushed out the door and onto the street. When he turned back, Brian was fully visible once more and sitting across from him. He laughed as Jae’s smile turned strained and his eyes pleaded with the fae.

“Oh my God,” Jae groaned through his terrifying smile.

“So? Are you head over heels yet?” Brain teased, eyes dancing with barely contained satisfaction.

“Brian, I know I said I’d try and help but,” Jae’s face was mortified, “Oh my God, he’s so boring.”

“Really? You’re not into going to the gym and selling photocopiers?” Brian teased a little more, laughing as Jae put his head on the table and gave a long groan.

“Aren’t you supposed to help?” He asked as the fae leant back comfortably.

“Hey, I help them fall in love with you, not the other way around,” Brian held up his hands in surrender.

“I’m sorry, Brian,” Jae sighed, pulling his head back from the table and giving Brian a sad look. Brian’s laughter petered out and he waved a hand at Jae.

“Nah, don’t worry about it. It is what it is,” He sighed heavily. The glee he had felt drained out of him as he thought of another 100 years in this slavery.

“Did you want to go anywhere? Do anything? It’s the least I can do,` seeing as…” Jae faded away sadly.

“No, it’s fine,” Brian shook his head and pushed Jae’s laptop back over to him. “You should keep working on this at least.”

Jae took the computer and nodded, a heavy weight in his heart. He reread his work from that morning, making it halfway through before realising it had been edited already. He looked over at Brian.

“Did you proof-read this?” He asked, eyebrows hiding in his hair again.

“Well, yeah,” Brian shrugged.

“Thank you,” Jae gave him a wide smile. “You’ve paid off the breakfast I bought.”

Brian scoffed and rolled his eyes. He looked away from Jae, trying to figure out why for the first time in 2000 years his heart was acting up.

 

Jae and Brian were stowing away all of the books and laptop when Jae’s phone rang. It was an unknown number and he answered it with the hope that Wonpil had reemerged. It was Sungjin instead.

“Hi, Jae? It’s Sungjin, we met last night.”

“Yes?” Jae shot Brian a questioning look, the fae shrugged noncommittally.

“I dug out the old legend of Brian. I was wondering if you wanted to come and have a look at it.” Sungjin’s voice implied that if Jae didn’t come he would regret it.

“Oh, uh,” Jae hesitated, he didn’t really think there was much more to be said on the matter. Something in the way Sungjin spoke gave him pause.

“I think it would be a good idea,” Sungjin said quietly.

“Ok, we’ll come now.” Jae nodded, not looking at Brian’s reaction.

“Great. See you soon.” The line disconnected.

“We’re going to head over to Sungjin’s magic shop.” Jae told Brian cautiously.

“Whatever,” Brain shrugged, turning away from Jae.

 

Ash and Yew Ecclectica was full of warm wood and glass; crystals and dream-catchers hung from the ceiling in no particular pattern. There were shelves of card decks, new-age books and an entire wall dedicated to bagged herbs. It smelt oddly familiar to Jae, an incense that was so common he knew it but had no idea what it actually was. The window display was still crystals and wands, but beside it was another glass cabinet of crystals. The less expensive ones were laid out on a table in the centre of the shop in baskets.

Jae had been expecting Enya to be playing but instead it was an indie rock band. Sungjin was standing behind the counter, labelling items and singing along. He smiled at the pair as they came in. Brian immediately gravitated to the crystals in the cabinets, staring intently at each one. Jae approached the counter.

“Hey Jae,” Sungjin smiled shrewdly, his eyes flickering to Brian for a moment. “I found this for you. I think it’s the truest version of the legend. But you could always ask Brian what he thinks.” Sungjin reached beneath the wooden counter and produced an old hardback book. The cover-art was a watercolour painting of a pointy-eared little man hiding in the hollow of a tree, a look of pure mischief on his face. Jae pursed his lips sceptically but took the book. He opened it to the marked page to find another watercolour. This one was a man with cat-eyes and violet hair. Jae felt himself smile, it actually looked like a cartoon of Brian.

The story on the opposite page was long and meandering, written in simple language for children. Sungjin pointed to the second last paragraph and Jae skipped ahead to read it.

Brian is kept in limbo when he isn’t helping humans fall in love. This is the meanest part of the punishment of all. Humans only call on him to help them capture their love, he can never find one for himself when his job is to help others.

Jae nibbled his lip as he thought about that. He glanced at Sungjin to find the shopkeeper was ignoring him, labelling his products and humming away. He set the book down on the counter and turned to speak to Brian.

The fae was gazing at a necklace in the cabinet, his face was open and wanting as he stared. Jae smiled to himself and crossed to stand by Brian. If he couldn’t help him, the least he could do was buy him the necklace. It was a weirdly clear crystal with flecks and specks of rusty red through it. Jae thought it looked a little morbid, like dried blood in glass, but Brian’s eyes were shimmering with glitter again so Jae caved easily.

“Can we have this one?” He called to Sungjin. The shopkeeper came over with a jangle of keys.

“Ah ha, Harlequin quartz,” He grinned knowingly and opened the cabinet. “Go on,” He invited Brian to take it himself.

As the fae touched the stone it gave a little flare of light and Jae thought he saw a snap of light pop over Brain’s far shoulder.

“How much is that one?” Jae asked, tearing his eyes from Brain’s radiance.

“On the house,” Sungjin shrugged, “It’s bad luck to charge fae for what they already own.”

Brian smiled at Sungjin and slipped the necklace on. The stone fell just below the neck of his shirt, only the silver chain was visible.

“Thanks,” Jae was completely distracted by Brian.

“Welcome,” Sungjin’s eyes moved from one to the other before he turned and went back to the counter.

Brian seemed to remember Jae was there and looked up into his eyes. The shifting glimmers were brighter than ever and Jae couldn’t help but smile as they stared at each other. He wasn’t sure how long they stayed that way but Jae definitely jumped as a new customer called a greeting to Sungjin. The pair waved to the owner and scuttled back into the street.

They had walked a few blocks in the warm sunlight when Jae finally spoke.

“Sometimes your eyes glitter,” He commented, face turned up to absorb the sunlight like a flower. “Is that normal?”

“I’m a fae,” Brian replied, his voice dry but devoid of the nastiness he had started with. “We do like things that glitter.”

“There was a picture of you in that book too. Does that mean the story is true?”

“What story?” Brian was looking down at his Harlequin quartz again, turning it this way and that. Making it shine and prism with his magic as they walked.

“That you can never fall in love?” The words fell out of Jae’s mouth so easily, perhaps it was the warmth of the sun making him so dozy and happy.

“Ah,” Brian gave a huff but stayed silent.

“Sorry,” Jae turned to glance at Brian. “Do you think it’s true though?”

“It’s not high on my priorities really,” Brian’s voice was flat and he dropped the stone back under his shirt.

“Oh.” For some reason that hurt more than Jae was expecting.

“1800 years of captivity leaves you feeling pretty hopeless,” Brian added in a voice so quiet Jae thought he hadn’t really spoken at all.

“Call me a hopeless romantic but,” Jae smiled at Brian as they strolled down a hill towards the riverside. “You’re never too old to fall in love.”

Brian’s face broke into a reluctant smile.

“Did you just call me old?”

“2000 years and you think you aren’t classified as old yet?” Jae teased, “You’re technically ancient, Brian. And what kind of a name for a fairy is Brian?” He added, grinning like a Cheshire.

“I’m not a fairy! I’m not old! And shut up, it was stylish when I was a free fae!” Brian cried making Jae cackle with laughter.

“So what do you want to do? We have one more day of freedom for you. What do you want to do with it?”

“We should really finish your assignment,” Brain replied. “I’m already doomed to extra time. You have a chance to get the project done and pass.”

Jae strolled along beside Brian, considering his words. It was true, he should finish the assignment but all he wanted to do was spend time with the fae. He wanted to hear about what the last 2000 years had been like, he wanted to know what Brian’s favourite food was, he wanted to see Brian smile so wide his cheekbones popped out of his face and his eyes glittered with flecks of gold.

 

With Brian lording over him Jae got almost all of his assignment done. Crawling into bed again at around midnight he curled up to sleep facing the window. Only to find sleep wouldn’t come. As exhausted as he had been only moments ago, it seemed to fade now he was actually ready to sleep. Instead he stared out the window. You couldn’t see the stars, the city lights drowned them out too much, but the moon hung just at the lip of his window frame, misty clouds scudding over it every now and then. Jae found his mind wandering to the fae sleeping peacefully behind him.

The customer, Alister, Jae mentally corrected, had been a bust. He was nice enough to look at, but that was all for Jae. The rest of the time in the cafe had been so much more enjoyable. It wasn’t like they had done that much, said that much to one another, but Jae felt even sitting in silence with Brian was so much more comfortable than anything else. He gave a light sigh and rolled onto his back, a cloud shifted out of the moon’s path. He may have developed a little crush of the fae, as grumpy and unapproachable as he was.

It was certainly problematic, they had approximately 24 hours left with each other and then Jae would probably never see him again. Ever. For eternity. He covered his eyes with a hand and tried to stifle another sigh. It would be painful to know that Brian was out there, somewhere, and Jae wouldn’t even see him if he walked by. It was depressing that Brian would go on helping humans fall in love and be left loveless himself.

At least he had the gemstone necklace, something to remember Jae by. With a swirl of hope and depression in his stomach, Jae eventually slipped into a light sleep.

 

Jae passed Brian his coffee and nodded down the crowded street. Brian followed, still confused about what they were doing and where they were going. Jae had refused to tell him anything as they left the house that morning. He carried the laptop and notebook but other than that, nothing. He wore a cap on his fluffy blond hair for once too, which might mean they were staying outside. Aside from that, Brian could glean nothing about where they were going or what they were doing.
They had stopped for coffee in the heart of the city, scowling business people passing endlessly and tourists meandering into their path. Inoffensive architecture loomed over them and weird street sculptures stood in the centre of the chic street of shops. Brian watched the crowds and felt a weird sense of deja-vu; it was true the technology had progressed and the fashion seemed to have shrunk in size, but essentially he felt the same as the last time he had stood here, almost 200 years earlier. As the thought wandered through his brain the Harlequin quartz around his neck gave him a little tickle. He gave a sighing smile. Ok, not exactly the same.

“Come on,” Jae called, hiking his backpack and leading Brian up the slight hill. Brian followed silently, he actually wanted to ask what they were doing and where they were going, but he couldn’t bring himself to show that he was interested. Almost 1000 years ago he had decided to give up on getting too invested in the humans he helped. He had given up on pretty much everything.

They moved through the city, following the mall for some time before they came to the river that wound through the city centre. Brian expected Jae to cross the footbridge over to the fashionable waterfront cafes and parks on the other side. Instead, he turned away from the bridge and descended a set of stairs that had seen better days. The railing was half-hanging off the edge, the concrete steps were crumbling and broken in places. Someone had laid yellow lines of spray paint over the broken edges but that seemed to be it. The sunshine faded into a light gloom as they reached the crude path below. It was alongside the river, rocks cemented into the edge of the path were the only barrier separating them from the muddy water.

“Did you bring me down here to murder me?” Brian asked as he tried to identify the smell. Rivers never smelt normal in cities.

“Ah, you’re onto me. I better not then,” Jae joked back, he waved a hand and continued walking. “Come on, it’s not too much further.”

They moved down the path, the endless noise of cars rushing overhead and a slight slap of water against the rocks as ferries and catamarans passed on the river. The hulking wall beside them, where the city sat all but ignoring the river, was covered in artworks. They began small at first, silly tags and stickers. Posters for underground bands and anti-government propaganda. Slowly, the chaos began to morph into large murals; the artist had taken the time to use the posters, stickers and tags and make them into something else within his painting. Brian smiled as he walked, eyes glued to the wall.

“Pretty cool, huh?” Jae called back, trying to get over the traffic noise above.

“Yeah,” Brain smiled broadly, eyes still on the art as they continued walking.

Slowly the light began to filter down more and more, and Brian realised they were standing on level ground again. The wall receded and opened out into a weird couldersac. There was a line of bicycles all chained to a bikestand, beyond that were two huge shrubs that flanked a path. Jae headed straight for it and Brian tagged along, feeling a glowing excitement as he realised where they might be headed.

As they passed the shrubs a sign could be seen, shiny silver letters across a piece of sandstone: City Gardens. Brian could feel himself glowing slightly but he couldn’t stop it, the rich sensation of nature all around him was divine. Jae led them further and further in, past the duck ponds and artwork gardens and over to the sprawling lawns. He took a place beneath a simply giant tree and drew his laptop out of his backpack. He smiled up at Brian sweetly.

“I thought we could work here today,” Jae smiled, tilting his head a little as he waited for Brain to sit. Brian beamed back and sprawled out on the grass, rolling over to face the sky he closed his eyes and seemed to fall asleep instantly. Jae thought he saw a small glow coming from the fae but the sunlight in the park was too bright to tell properly. He set his mind to the task of writing up the last bits of his presentation. It was slow going with a gorgeous fae snoozing next to him, practically oozing satisfaction and happiness.

It was around the time Jae was painstakingly entering his references that he felt his neck prickle. He could swear he was being watched from somewhere. He looked up and cast around. There, hiding just behind a dense bush in a garden was someone. Jae lay his laptop aside and stared harder, they looked familiar. As he crammed the computer into his bag again, he realised.

Wonpil!

He looked up to find the garden empty. He woke Brian and dragged him to his feet. Jae was sure it had been the other fae. They could get some answers. Brain protested as Jae tugged him over to the garden bed. A small path was trodden between tropical ferns and jungle undergrowth. It was thick and crowded by hanging leaves and draping branches. Jae pushed into the foliage, still holding Brian’s hand tightly. There! The flicker of a person pushing through that fern ahead of him! It had to be Wonpil! He gripped Brain’s hand tighter and pushed past the hanging leaves. The air seemed to thicken for a moment, seemed to grow more viscous around them as Jae pushed forward. Then the resistance was gone and he passed out the other side of the plants.

They were greeted with a panorama; wide green hills, rolling and huddling off into the distance. Beyond them were snowcapped mountains and a sky that was so blue it made his eyes ache to look at. Jae stumbled to a stop, completely confused. They were certainly not in the city anymore. He turned to Brian, still holding his hand in his own.

Jae’s eyes went round as he stared at Brian.

Long, filmy wings hung behind the fae, the edges just peeking out from behind his legs and throwing prisms of sunlight around. Dragonfly wings but so much prettier. His mouth dropped open and he was about to ask what was going on when Brian’s soft purple hair began to stir as if in a breeze. Small flower buds peeked out from the locks and sprang open all along the crown of Brian’s head. Vivid purple morning glory settled into place as a flower crown, a few curling sprigs of ivy winding around them. His eyes were now impossibly deep and the flakes of gold floated here and there in the liquid blackness. His skin was certainly throwing off a glow, as well as the gemstone necklace.

Jae two hands into his hair and almost groaned. He was unbelievably, inhumanly beautiful. He was so beautiful it hurt to look at him. The only thing cutting through Jae’s pain at Brian’s beauty was wondering where they were and what was happening. He tried to ask again when Brian smiled. It was like watching the sun appear from behind a cloud, his eyes sparkled and his face split with joy. Even when Jae noticed his teeth were not square and perfect, but sharp and pointed like a predators, the beauty wasn’t diminished.

“We’re in the Realm of the Fae,” Brain said, his voice warm and joyful.

“You have wings,” Jae said dumbly, still holding his own head.

The wings flickered and spread wide giving the crackle of a bug’s wings, they glittered with the sunlight. With a rush of air the wings beat and Brain rose a few inches from the lush grass.

“You can fly,” Jae’s voice was weak and he was rapidly feeling the need to sit down and place his head between his knees.

“Well, they aren’t just for show,” Brian replied archly, eyes bright with fun. He dropped back onto the grass with a thud, the wings folded back behind him easily.

Jae stayed silent for a long moment, eyes on Brian as his brain tried to catch up.

“Can- can I touch them?” Jae asked, knowing Brian was probably about to snap at him for being impossibly human.

Instead the fae shrugged, wings spreading out with a snap once more.

Jae moved, finally releasing his head from his hands. The hand hesitateded over a wing. He gave the hardened edge a light touch.

“Ahh!” Brian cried, making Jae jump and squeak in alarm. The fae crumpled a little with his laughter as Jae glared at him fiercely. “Sorry,” Brian gasped, “They aren’t fragile. You can touch them.” Jae scowled and laid a hand on Brian’s wing properly. It was smooth beneath his fingers but also tough, like rubber stretched over bone. Each section was a polygon and threw small rainbows onto Jae’s hand as it moved past them. He smiled, marvelling at the impossible display.

He moved to look at Brian from the back. Beneath the open edges of his singlet strong joints and muscles morphed seamlessly into his bug-like wings. Jae ran a hand down the wing to where it burrowed beneath a joint of skin. He traced the edge with a light finger. The wings shivered and Jae watched with fascination as Brian folded them back into place behind him; skin and muscle shifting in a strange way before settling into place. Jae touched the place between the joints, Brain gave a small contented sigh.

“Sorry,” Jae stepped back, “I didn’t mean to just feel you up.”

Brain laughed in reply, turning to face Jae.

“No, no,” Brain shook his head, still smiling in that achingly beautiful way, “I just haven’t had someone do that for a long time. I haven’t had wings for a long time.”

“Don’t you like, live here though?” Jae asked, now entranced by the flowers wreathing the purple hair. He reached up to touch one of the trumpets.

Brian jumped back and gave a feral snarl, his pointed teeth fully bared at Jae. Jae shrank away, pulling his hand in as though Brian had bitten him.

“Sorry!” Jae yelled, stumbling slightly.

“Sorry!” Brain replied, holding his hands up in a calming gesture and hiding his teeth behind his lips again.

“You should never touch a prince’s crown,” Came a new voice, mischievous and lilting. The pair turned to find Wonpil watching them from the tall grass, his dark haired head just peeking over the stalks.

“You!” The pair yelled, pointing at Wonpil as he sprung to his feet. Jae’s irritation screeched to a halt as he took in Wonpil’s strange appearance. His wings were long and moth-like, a moonlight sheen to them. His skin seemed to have mist rising off it, like a lake at predawn. Jae came a little closer, Wonpil’s eyes were swirling galaxies of stars.

“You!” Brian cried again; he sprung across the meadow, arms outstretched to take Wonpil around the neck. The fae took flight hastily, letting Brian skid across the grass beneath him.

“Predictable,” Wonpil smiled widely and set down on the grass beside Jae. Jae immediately began inspecting the soft looking wings. “If you’re finished acting like an animal, I have something important to say. It’s why I brought you here.”

“Something else to ruin my life with?” Brain snapped, crouching in a predatory stance again.

Without warning there were three Wonpil’s standing in a row, smiling at Brian in a satisfied way. Brian’s scowl deepened but he didn’t pounce.

The three Wonpil’s turned to Jae, star-filled eyes boring into his own human ones.

“In every magic there is a loophole,” Wonpil said, his voice throbbing like a bell. “You have to find the loophole.”

Jae wanted to ask questions, he had a thousand racing through his mind but his jaw wouldn’t unclench. Wonpil grabbed both his hands and his mind was dominated by the swirling galaxies of Wonpil’s eyes.

“Find the loophole.” The voice pressed in on him from all directions and Jae felt a strange rushing in his head.

He woke on the grass in the park, his backpack beneath his head and Brian sitting beside him frowning deeply. Jae cast around for Wonpil only to find they were sitting in the city gardens, the sun edging close to the horizon.

“Was-” Jae began, looking over at Brian. The sun was catching in his purple hair, sliding over his beautiful cheekbones and giving a slight glow to his black eyes.

“Yeah, it was real,” Brain said quietly, his face was soft with sadness. “He sent us back here right after he spoke to you.”

Find the loophole. Jae heard the echo in his ears and bit his top lip in thought. What loophole?

“What do you think the loophole is?” Jae asked Brain, hoping he might have an idea.

“Is that what he said to you?” Brian snorted, rolling his eyes and turning to stare across the lawns. “It’s ridiculous.”

“What is it though?” Jae pressed, his heart ached to hear the answer. He needed to know. He needed to set Brian free. To see him in his fae form again, to let him fly and live free like he should.

“Nothing. There is no loophole,” Brain stood and waited for Jae to get up too. The human took a long moment, remembering everything about the Realm of the Fae.

He wasn’t convinced, Wonpil had imprinted the idea in his mind and it wouldn’t shift. There was a loophole, and he had hours to find it.

 

Instead of going home they began wandering, Jae led the fae to the edge of the river, a different path to earlier that day. They followed the meandering water all the way out of the city and to the trendy suburbs full of bars and cafes. They didn’t stop to eat or drink though, simply wandering together and chatting. Jae found himself telling Brian about his childhood, his aspirations for the future and his family members. As the sky melted into a purple twilight Brain began to talk just as much. He told Jae random history points from the last 1800 years. They talked about the Realm of the Fae, the royal family Brian belonged to, and the history of changelings.

“You couldn’t live in the Realm of the Fae,” Brian informed Jae as they stopped to sit on a bench by the water. Jae had no idea what suburb they were in, but he didn’t care.

“Why not?”

“Only changelings can. Children stolen at birth and replaced by fae children,” Brian thought for a moment before adding an afterthought, "Or special cases."

“There are fae living in the human world?” Jae asked, eyes wide with amazement.

“Mm-hmm,” Brian gave a wry smile, “It’s not common anymore, too much technology. But there are still old bloodlines of half-fae. Some fae still come to the human realms to, uh… breed with the half-fae and restore the bloodlines.”

“Seriously? So I could be half-fae?” Jae wondered, staring at his hands as though they would give him the answer.

“Nope,” Brian smiled and stretched his long legs out. “You’re all human. Plus you know both your parents.”

“Oh. Right.”

There was a comfortable silence. The streetlights winked on overhead and Jae sighed, they should go home soon. He didn’t feel any closer to finding the loophole, despite being more desperate than ever.

“Brain?” Jae wondered as they stood to walk once more. “Why… What was… The flowers in your hair…” Jae couldn’t seem to frame the question properly.

“Uh, sorry about that,” Brian gave a slight laugh, Jae couldn’t help but smile. “It’s my crown. I’m a prince after all.”

Jae nodded, not really understanding.

“To be given the flower from a royal’s crown is a high honour. It’s a sign that the royal is in your debt. It gives you a special, unbreakable connection to that fae. They aren’t to be touched unless offered.”

Their steps were synchronised as they wandered in silence. Finally Jae spoke.

“Have you ever given a flower to anyone?”

“No,” Brian’s voice was so soft that it sounded like just another wave in the riverwater. Jae stared at the lights playing on the surface, a strange longing deep in his heart. Was it for the loophole? Or for a flower offered from a fae prince?

 

When they had returned home the silence was heavy, a physical thing sitting between them as Jae polished off the end of the assignment and cleaned his room. Brian sat and watched, steeping in a haze of gloom. He did not want to return to his limbo. It was pitch black and cold between the fabrics of the worlds. The thing he hated most was the silence, the complete lack of noise bearing down on his ears like pressure. As Brian was beginning to lose sight of the physical world around him something broke through his depression.

Jae was sitting on the floor strumming a guitar. Brian let a smile wander over his lips as Jae began to sing along quietly to himself. The weight of silence in the room vanished and Brian felt he could breathe again. He scoffed with amusement at the human. How had he known what he was thinking? How had he known what Brian needed the most?

The slightly fluffy blond hair, the bespectacled face, eyes closed with emotion as he sung along to the guitar, Brian wanted to take it all with him when he went. He wanted to remember forever the way Jae looked now, the way Jae looked standing beneath a streetlight by the water. The subtle feeling of Jae’s fingers on the film of his wings, and the strange scent that seemed to linger around the humans clothes and hair. Brian held back a deep sigh and toyed with the Harlequin quartz.

 

 When Jae had run out of songs he set the guitar against the desk and heaved a sigh. With no words they had both just crawled into bed.

“Brian,” Jae’s voice was barely a whisper in the dark as they lay in bed waiting for the hour to tick over and Brian would be gone again.

“Mm?” Brian’s voice was as deep as the darkness. Jae took a shaking breath, trying to steady his heart and sort out exactly what he wanted to say.

“I’m really going to miss you,” Jae mumbled. No, that wasn’t it. That wasn’t what he wanted to say.

“Well, I guess I’ll miss you too.”

Jae could tell it was a lie. Half a lie. Jae tried again.

“Brain?” He could do it, he could say it.

“What?” There was a laugh bubbling through Brian’s voice.

“I think… I love you?”

There was a tinkling noise in the distance, like a wind-chime swaying in a Spring breeze. Jae thought his eyes were playing tricks as a white glow rose from the darkness. He panicked, fearing that it was already time for Brian to go. There were snaps and small sparks, lighting and disappearing almost instantly all over the room. Jae watched as Brian came into view before the room went dark again. The two eyes that captivated Jae so often were glowing, shimmers in their liquid depths.

“Jae,” Brian’s voice was so full of emotion it didn’t even sound like him.

“What’s happening?” Jae asked, reaching out in the darkness to grab Brian’s arm. “Don’t go,” He cried desperately.

“Jae,” Brian tried again, hands coming to cover Jae’s. “I… You… You did it.”

More sparks crackled through the room, in the bright white flashes Jae could see Brian gazing at him. This time the sparks didn’t fade away, more and more snapped and lit the room. Jae was reminded of fireworks. Flowers were growing in Brian’s hair. He leapt out of the bed, tearing the shirt away so his wings could spring free.

The sparks were still snapping and cracking all around him, the harlequin quartz glowing brightly against his neck. With a final bright crackle of light everything stopped.

Jae took a moment to adjust to the sudden darkness. The room was empty. Brain was gone.

His heart shattered and he fell to the mattress with a horrible weight in his body.

 

A soft glow brought Jae around, there seemed to be moonlight in his room. It was strange moonlight though, moonlight shaped like the wings of a moth. Starry eyes forced themselves into Jae’s view and he moaned sadly.

“Wonpil!” He threw himself at the fae, wrapping his long arms over Wonpil’s neck and clinging to him. Wonpil froze, unaccustomed to such open affection from Jae.

“You did it,” Wonpil smiled, patting Jae’s back lightly. “I knew you could do it.”

“But he’s gone,” Jae cried, unaware that there were tears streaming from his eyes. “He just… left. I said I love you and he left.”

“Yeah, well, he’s always been an idiot with things like that,” Wonpil rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Come on, I’ll take you to him.”

With no time for Jae to protest, Wonpil had brought the almost familiar pressure back onto Jae’s body and they moved through to the Realm of the Fae. They appeared on the same rolling hills as that morning, but now it was night. The sky overhead was impossibly full, stars winked and shone from horizon to horizon. The knee high grass shone in the moonlight, extra bright where Wonpil stood. Jae felt he had lost the ability to see colour, everything was varying shades of pale and black.

Across the meadow movement caught Jae’s eye. Brian was walking towards them, one hand trailing through the grass tops. Jae felt fresh tears spring into his eyes, these ones were full of aching pain at Brian’s fae beauty. He was to die for. The extra light from Wonpil’s wings flickered and with a rush of air he took off from the ground and floated away in the distance, soon becoming just a glow among the stars.

Jae was stuck in place, waiting for Brian to reach him. He was a swirl of emotion, heady and confusing. Brian was still shirtless and had a definite regal air about him. He came to a slow stop in front of Jae, a slight smirk on his face. Jae stared back, dumbfounded.

Brian reached up slowly, hand shifting through his purple hair and plucking a flower. Another bud immediately grew and bloomed in it’s place. The fae twirled the trumpet flower between his fingers, still smirking at Jae. He offered the flower to the human with a flourishing bow.

Jae stared at the flower. Then at Brian’s doubled over form. And back to the flower. He didn’t move. A cool breeze rippled through the grass but all else in the meadow remained still.

“Uh,” Brian mumbled, trying to peek up at Jae. “Are you gonna?” He left the question hanging. Jae’s lips pressed together. “Jae?” Brian prompted again, confusion colouring his tone.

“I don’t want it,” Jae mumbled, putting his hands behind his back like a child.

“Excuse me?” Brian’s head snapped up and he stared at Jae in wonder.

“I don’t want it.” Jae’s voice was firmer now.

“I’m trying to do something nice for you here,” Brian straightened and glared at Jae. “Just take the damn flower.”

“I don’t want the damn flower!” Jae yelled back.

Brian floundered, spluttering with offence and incredulity.

“Now send me back, I…” Jae faltered, his throat beginning to burn with emotion, “I don’t want to be here anymore.” Tears prickled his eyes and he huffed, trying to will the tears back into his eyelids. Brian’s glittery eyes were wide, his mouth slightly slack as he watched Jae fight with his own emotions.

“Jae?” Brian asked, stepping forward slightly.

“Don’t!” Jae stepped away, raising a hand at Brian.

“What? What’s wrong?” Brian was still trying to offer the flower to Jae. Jae made to bat it to the ground but Brian moved faster, grabbing his hand and pressing the flower into his fingers. He clasped his fingers over Jae’s to keep him from dropping it.

The petals tickled against his hand, sending an electric shock up his arm as Brian closed the hand over the flower securely. Jae gave a startled cry, the tears slipping over his lids.

“You just left!” Jae cried, trying to wrestle out of Brian’s grasp weakly.

“I had something to take care of first,” Brian explained rapidly, “That’s why I sent Wonpil to get you. I needed you to come here and,” Brian gave a small laugh and pulled Jae closer, “Will you just listen, you silly human! I needed you to take the flower so I can do this!” The hand that wasn’t holding Jae’s cupped the back of his head and brought their lips together.

If Jae thought the flower gave him a shock, it was nothing compared to the sensation of kissing Brian. The flares of light were back, static lifting his messy hair away from his head and a crackling between their lips. Jae melted into the kiss, free hand coming up to cling to Brian’s neck. There was a slight snap as Brian’s wings spread and he lifted them a few inches from the meadow. Jae clung harder, breaking the kiss to squeak in alarm. Brian gave a soft chuckle, eyes dancing with flakes of gold in the moonlight.

“I offer you this flower, as a symbol of my station, I am forever in your debt and bonded to you for eternity.” Brain mumbled, pressing his forehead to Jae’s as he spoke. Jae felt a wave of delight crash through his stomach. “With this flower you are given haven in the Realm of the Fae and my household.”

Jae let a smile creep over his lips as they continued to hover over the grass. He closed his eyes and huffed.

“Don’t think it’s just that easy,” He grumbled, keeping his eyes shut so he could hold out against Brian’s beauty.

“What more do you want from me?” Brian was chuckling again, the sound wrapped around Jae like a blanket.

“You have to say it,” Jae whispered, eyes opening to stare into Brian’s deeply.

“I love you too,” Brian whispered in reply.

Jae’s lips twisted as he tried to suppress his joy. Brian moved to hold him around the waist, pulling their bodies flush together. The tone of wingbeats changed and they began to rise into the sky properly. Jae flung his other arm around Brian’s neck, still gripping the small purple flower tightly. Jae laughed as he realised they were flying. Brian’s own face was split with a smile, his cheekbones catching the moonlight and his purple hair dancing in the air.

“You know,” Jae started, laughing with his own giddiness, “You could have explained the flower thing a bit better!”

“I did!” Brian protested.

“You did not!” Jae argued back, leaning away slightly to scowl at Brian.

“I’m sure I did,” Brian nuzzled against Jae’s cheek, “You probably forgot, silly human.”

“You forgot! Old man!” Jae teased back, snuggling into Brian despite his antagonistic tone.

They flew in silence for a little while; Jae felt his heart might explode out his mouth if he opened it to speak again. He was convinced Brian could feel it hammering against his bare chest. The stars whirled overhead as Jae floated on his delight. His feet touched down on the ground and Jae cast around, completely disoriented. They were standing at the top of a waterfall, water rushing over the 100 metre drop barely a metre from where they stood on a rock. Brian’s arms didn’t loosen now they were on the ground once more but his wings folded away behind him easily.

“We should go home,” Brian mumbled, resting his forehead against Jae’s once more.

“Isn’t this your home?” Jae replied, fingers wandering along Brian’s and tracing the edges of the wings. Brian hummed with happiness.

“No, your home. You have the presentation tomorrow,” Brian replied, wings flickering a little.

“Oh,” Jae’s hand stopped and his voice lost it’s wonder. “Right.”

“You can’t fail now, we worked so hard on that,” Brain reasoned, twitching slightly to try and coax Jae to resume his patting. It worked and Jae returned to running his finger tips over the wing joints as he thought.

“But, are you coming back home with me?”

“Sure, it doesn’t matter now you have a flower,” Brian nestled into Jae’s neck with a content sigh.

“Well, then I guess we should go back. If the time zones match, I need to go to sleep.”

Brain gave a small laugh and pulled his face from its hiding place. There was a push of the air around them and then they were back in Jae’s bedroom. Brian was a regular human again, still shirtless however. Jae looked around in wonder and then brought his hands to the front. He gazed at the perfect purple flower in his hand. It should have been crumpled and ruined by his tight grip but it looked as though Brian had just removed it from his crown.

“It’ll stay like that,” Brian told him. “Just like you will stay like this.”

“Pardon?” Jae’s head snapped up, eyes wide.

“Mmm, immortality comes with the bond,” Brian shrugged, “With this specific bond anyway.”

Jae gave a long yawn, eyes scrunching closed as his jaw cracked.

“Ok, I can’t deal with that right now,” Jae shook his head a little, with a cheeky grin he spoke again. “Are you an axe murderer?”

“Not the last few centuries,” Brian replied, smiling back with sparkles in his eyes.

“Great, you can sleep with me then,” Jae grabbed his hand and pulled him over to the bed. They snuggled down together, Jae automatically pressing his face into Brian’s chest and sighing. Brian’s heart was galloping, tripping over every other beat as Jae slung an arm over his waist. After a moment the human grabbed Brian’s arm and placed it over his own body  in reply. “You’ll get used to it,” Jae mumbled into his chest, “Tomorrow night I’ll show you spooning.”

Brian gave a tsk and closed his eyes, unable to fight the smile on his face. The smile of a free fae. When the clock ticked past the time he was supposed to return to his limbo, Brian was already asleep.

 

Brian sat in the cafe, arguing with Sungjin over the benefits of wild-grown herbs vs farmed herbs. Jae watched from the counter beside Dowoon.

“He was pretty excited to hear that the fae was staying in town,” Dowoon was saying to Jae between customers. “He tells me that it’s a great resource for information and magic.”

“I still can’t believe you’re a wizard.” Jae sighed, his life was extra strange these days with wizards and a fae boyfriend, but he couldn’t help but miss his best friend.

Wonpil had been completely absent since the night he had broken the curse. That had been two weeks ago. Jae found himself sort of longing to see his friend again.

“I really can’t do much with it,” Dowoon shrugged, playing down the amazing things Jae had already witnessed him do. One of them being that Dowoon seemed to be able to stop difficult customers in their tracks, their anger and foul moods just dried right up and they became pleasant when Dowoon fixed his large brown eyes on them. Jae was convinced it was magic, Dowoon reasoned it was just his personality.

Jae sighed wistfully, causing the three others to stare at him in confusion. He waved them away. He honestly just missed Wonpil. The door jangled and he didn’t bother to look up from where he was cleaning. A weird hush had fallen over the cafe though and when Jae realised his head snapped up. In the door frame, a bit of a goofy grin on his face, was Wonpil. Except he wasn’t staring at Jae, or Brian. His eyes were fixed to Dowoon and Dowoon was staring right back.

Jae’s eyes met Brian’s and they pursed their lips in amusement. After a long moment, Jae cleared his throat and waved a little.

“Hello! Best friend here! Waiting to be greeted and apologised to!” He called, rounding the counter to stand in front of Wonpil.

“Hey Jae,” Wonpil tore his eyes from Dowoon finally, “Sorry, I guess. You can stop calling for me now. I’m here” A smile spread over his face and his gaze flicked back to Dowoon briefly.

Jae tried really hard to be angry, he worked to stoke the fire of agitation in his chest. But it was snuffed out easily by Wonpil smiling at him in the easy way he always had.

“Introduce me to the cute wizard,” Wonpil muttered, eyes showing a small sparkle of stars within them. Jae shook his head, eyes rolling with exasperation. Typical fae. Typical Wonpil.

“How about you explain yourself first?” Jae muttered back. “You know they whole, extreme blind date thing you put me through.”

Wonpil laughed, eyes crinkling closed and nose scrunching slightly.

“Oh! I suppose! Can I meet the cute wizard first?” Wonpil cried happily.

“No! No cute boys for you until you explain yourself!” Jae almost yelled back, bringing one hand down into the other with finality. Wonpil let out peals of laughter before holding his hands up in surrender. He moved to sit beside Brian at a table, clasping the other fae around the shoulder affectionately for a moment. Brian gave a small growl.

“Oh, come on, Highness,” Wonpil batted Brian’s purple hair lightly, “Get over it. I fixed it, didn’t I?”

“You caused it,” Brian argued back. Sungjin watched, face somewhere between amused and amazed. Jae moved over to the table, opting for Brian’s lap rather than the free chair. Dowoon checked the clock, 5 minutes until close. With a shrug and a weird tingle in his body he moved to take the last chair and listen to Wonpil.

“That’s true. I suppose,” Wonpil shrugged slightly.

“You suppose?” Brian scoffed, looking up at Jae with incredulity. “You told me not to do it and then suggested my punishment!”

“What really happened?” Sungjin asked unobtrusively. Wonpil smiled at him and then at Dowoon.

“Once upon a time there was a fae prince named Brian, he was arranged to marry a beautiful princess.” Wonpil began with flair. “He’s not really into that. Wasn’t sold on the eternity thing, or the princess thing. So I told him to just refuse.”

“Uh, you badgered me night and day until I agreed to refuse,” Brian interjected.

“Shut up, I’m telling the Myth of Brian,” Wonpil spoke without bothering to look, he seemed to have eyes only for Dowoon.

“Don’t call it that,” Brian grumbled quietly. Wonpil continued with his story.

“So, Brian refuses the princess. She gets mad. Her parents get mad. They want to go to war. War in the Realm of the Fae is such a waste of time. I suggested a little curse instead.”

“Little?” Jae interjected this time, “100 years is little?”

“It is when you live forever,” Wonpil shrugged, “Right Brian?”

“Shut up, it wasn’t 100 years,” Brian snapped back.

“You both need to calm down and let me tell the story,” Wonpil’s voice was full of laughter. Brian gave a loud tsk in reply.

“I wasn’t planning for the clause that they added, the extra punishments for every fail. I didn’t realise they were that angry. Although, I suppose if they were ready to go for war it made sense they were that angry,” Wonpil hummed thoughtfully, as though that realisation had just hit him. Jae shook his head and poked the side of Wonpil’s face to prompt him to continue. “Anyway, when I found that out I started looking. Every piece of fae magic has a loophole,” He told the two wizards.

“It took you this long?” Jae was amazed, not only by the fact that Wonpil had spent the last 1800 years looking but that he had spent the last 1800 years on one project alone without getting distracted.

“You’re just that special,” Wonpil’s voice was smarmy and he grinned at Jae. Jae pushed his face away with one hand, giving a noise of disgust in response. “So I fixed it. Eventually.” Wonpil shrugged as though that was all there was to it.

“Yeah, only 1800 years late,” Brian grumbled.

“Are you not happy with the human I chose for you? I combed through literally thousands to find this one!” Wonpil argued, joy in his voice.

“I’m not happy I had to choose one at all!” Brian replied in a rush of irritation. Jae protested, laying a firm whack on Brian’s head. “Of course, I am happy with you though, I love you.” Brian backtracked quickly.

Wonpil let out a long peal of laughter, getting up and turning a small jig in his joy. He extended his hand to Dowoon, a smile full of mischief.

“Would you like to see the Realm of the Fae?” Wonpil asked, eyes full of galaxies.

“We have to clean and close the cafe,” Jae tutted, climbing back out of Brian’s lap. “You can date Dowoon later.”

Jae shooed them all out of the cafe and locked the door. In comfortable silence they cleaned, balanced the till and reset everything for the next day. With their work done the two humans stepped into the darkening street and locked the cafe door. Brian and Wonpil waited on the sidewalk for them. They leant against the bricks side by side, a peaceful air between them. Jae felt a little ball of tension fade, clearly Brian had forgiven his old friend. Seems it was literally impossible to stay mad at the mischievous fae. Both fae turned, smiling expectantly as Jae and Dowoon turned from the door. With a shake of his head Jae hopped down the steps to take Brian’s hand. After a moment Dowoon took Wonpil’s and they vanished from the sidewalk.

“This is really my life now, isn’t it?” Jae commented as they strolled along together. Brian remained silent, swinging Jae’s hand slightly between them. Jae looked up from the cracked pavement to find Brian looking at him with pleading eyes. “Oh, fine.” Jae huffed, a smile spreading across his face. “But we are not flying around all night! I need to sleep at least a little bit!”

With a smile like a sunrise Brian pulled Jae to his chest and they disappeared from the human realm too.

 

 

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A/N: Tadaa!

I'm not completely happy with this, mostly because my life has been a mess of work and obligations lately and this was written in the stolen gaps between all of that stuff. Anyway,I hope you like my jaehyungparkian! I'll see whether the fancy takes me to write more of them in the future.