Eunjung wouldn’t necessarily call herself a stalker, but she could see how other fairies could refer to her that way.

She liked to say that she watched him from a distance, a very distant distance. Her world of fairies weren’t allowed to come in contact with any human boys, especially not talk to them or touch them in any way; Eunjung didn’t mind though, she liked the thought of being his hush-hush, his little guardian angel.

She would sit on top of tree branches and watch the hunter sit there against the same tree for hours and hours, waiting for the next deer to come running by for him to shoot and later take home. She wondered what was waiting for him at that home, if it was his wife or family; she hoped it was either just him or maybe him and his parents. She wouldn’t ever make a family with him but just the thought of him actually having one that wasn’t her made her upset, but she didn’t know why.

You could say Eunjung loved him; she was in love with someone she never met.

She loved everything about him, the way his eyes were naturally squinty, how deep his voice was when he would sing to himself, how much he cared about the forest just as much as she did. When his hair wasn’t under a wool, fitted cap it was black and fluffy, and when his red plaid coat wasn’t covering his body, it was a tight, button up flannel that accented his tall, lean frame.

Fairies weren’t known by humans in this world, and never has there been a fairy that fell in love with one. There were no male fairies, and the only thing a fairy has ever developed feelings enough for that would be considered love were the trees, animals, organisms, everything that made up the ecosystem.

Eunjung felt sorry for the others, though. Never would they experience the joy that comes with loving another being, the pure rush that comes with seeing their face walking down the oh-so-familiar path carrying the same long gun as always. The absolutely raw tension that came when he would roll up his sleeves, stand to his feet, point his gun at a distant deer and fire at it, making every muscle on his body tense as his own adrenaline increased with hers.

She especially loved when it was summer out, and the deer were much more plentiful, and he would come out and sit in the hot sun, his shirt completely off; sweat pouring down his face as his frustration level increased. Sometimes, when he would fall asleep in the heat, she would sneak up behind the tree he was against and blow cool air onto his neck; she always noticed the small smile that formed right after in his dreaming.

Some days, she wouldn’t go meet him at the tree, even though she knew he would be there waiting for his next kill, because the depression that hit her would be too much. She was content with watching him from a distance, but every now and then the need for more would be too strong and she didn’t want to risk anything; her love of humans got in the way of her real duties as a fairy. However, the next day she would instantly regret it and wish she went to watch him, knowing that looking at him from a distance and not talking to him is much better than ignoring him all together and she would run back to the tree.

Eunjung would sit atop her tree branch, fiddling with her exposed toes or pulling on her green dress, waiting hours to see if he would show up the next day, even though most likely he wouldn’t because he was just there the day before. She also felt sorry for him because of the type of life he had to lead; always working, and the only real rest he can get was when he was waiting for the deer to roll by.

Once, a bear started heading his way, but Eunjung quickly went up to him and explained there was a hunter with a gun there, so it’d be best for him to ignore that area. Really, she just didn’t want her man to get hurt. Another time a moose was walking by; Eunjung knew that a moose would be best for him because it would feed his household much longer than a deer and it would be a new taste, but she couldn’t bring herself to it because that would mean he would be away from hunting for longer than usual.

She knew she was very selfish about him; not letting any other fairy even get a glimpse at him, not letting any other human come into the area by whispering a magic spell and making them forget what they were there for. She couldn’t help it though, she was in love. People in love were crazy enough as it is, fairies in love apparently turned out to be obsessive.

She was happy, though. Happy that she at least got to watch him from that distance, happy that even though he had no idea of her existence they were at least on the same planet together. Even just breathing the same oxygen from the same trees made her happy. Just the thought of him enjoying his life and whistling throughout his day made her go home with a smile on her face.

Even though she didn’t even know his name, she was content with being nothing more than just his secret admirer.