The shock of Jiyong becoming life-sized had Seunghyun frozen to the spot. He knew he shouldn't stare (it was rude, and his mother had raised him better than that), but the sight of the exuberant fairy prancing around the tile floor, gold chain in hand, already tiny skirt riding up his golden thighs, caused him to be little more than a drooling imbecile. Of course he found Jiyong attractive, in a novel sort of way. Who wouldn't? Even if he was a foot tall, he was still exotically beautiful with his cotton candy hair, tan skin, and clear, crystal blue eyes. But Seunghyun had never thought of him as fantasy material. Now, however, he had a five-and-a-half foot tall Jiyong to contend with, and that was a whole other matter entirely.

“Cat got your tongue?” Jiyong asked, clasping his hands behind his back and grinning up at the perplexed writer. He sighed when Seunghyun only responded by closing his gaping mouth. “Well, say something! I can only maintain this form for a few hours before my magic runs out.”

“Uhh… you’re big,” Seunghyun remarked intelligently, eyes wandering over a now very fantasize-able expanse of collarbone. Of course, now that his little fairy friend was not-so-little anymore, Seunghyun had turned into a huge, slobbering ert. He slapped a hand to his face and averted his lecherous eyes. Jiyong seemed to be onto him, however.

“Yes, I am,” he agreed, tiptoeing into Seunghyun’s personal space. When the still-larger man removed his hand from his face, Jiyong was mere inches from him, all white teeth and blue eyes. “Can things work out between us now?”

Seunghyun swallowed noisily. Suddenly the tables had been turned, and he was the blushing idiot in the situation. Jiyong swayed closer. Seunghyun inhaled sharply.

“I thought you visited for reading material?” he tried again, hoping to divert Jiyong’s attention from… whatever it was he was doing.

“Oh, I do. But I’m not interested in a story at the moment.”

Merciful gods above, Jiyong was flirting with him. No, not just flirting, the fairy was actively trying to seduce him. Seunghyun was so very confused as to how to feel about that. His brain was obviously not functioning properly, because it opened his mouth, and “What are you interested in?” came out of it. Seunghyun cringed. Jiyong lit up in triumph.

“You, of course. I did tell you I think you’re handsome.”

Somehow Jiyong had maneuvered him into the table. It hit the backs of his thighs, and he sat down out of reflex. The fairy reached out and cupped his face between lightly calloused palms.

“I’ve watched you work at night, sometimes,” he confessed, a thumb across Seunghyun’s cheekbone. “Or attempt to work. There are nights when all you do is stare at your writing machine. It’s happened more often than not, lately. Have you lost your inspiration?” he whispered, pink brows knit together in worry.

Seunghyun took a deep breath and closed his eyes. The sudden shift in the tone of the situation, to say nothing of the situation itself, had his mind spinning. Had he lost his inspiration? Yes. He thought it had come back to him with the poem he’d confiscated from Jiyong last night, but today he had sat down at his typewriter and done just what the fairy had said: stared into nothingness, and accomplished nothing. He nodded and sighed.

“Will you let me inspire you?”

Petal-soft lips grazed his own, and Seunghyun gasped. Jiyong pulled away, pink lashes fluttering. He smiled mischievously. “You can touch me, you know,” he said, nodding to Seunghyun’s hands, which had the table’s edge in a white-knuckled death grip. “I won’t break.”

Slowly, the dazed writer released the table. His hands came up to hover just over the golden skin that covered Jiyong’s chest. He grazed the fairy’s collarbone with the back of his knuckles, and watched with delight as the beautiful man closed his blue eyes, leaned his head to the side, and shivered. When Jiyong focused his eyes on him again, this time full of lust rather than mischief, Seunghyun felt himself flush. God, but he was stunning.

“Seunghyun, you’re blushing,” the fairy noted, leaning in to kiss the writer’s burning cheek.

“It’s natural to blush when someone you find handsome touches you,” he mumbled, repeating Jiyong’s own words from earlier with a tiny smile gracing his lips. The fairy giggled and kissed his other cheek. Seunghyun moved his hands to grip Jiyong’s solidly muscled shoulders and gently pushed him back. “But I feel like this is all happening very fast.”

Jiyong cocked his head to the side and gave him the most adorably confused look he’d ever seen on a man. “What do you mean? Don’t humans show their affection through intimacy, like fairies do? I’ve seen humans have , so you can’t tell me it isn’t part of your culture,” he pouted, crossing his arms.

“No! I mean, yes, we do, but… Jiyong, we’ve only known each other for a day.”

“So? Don’t you like me?”

“Yes, but-”

“I like you, too! If you were a fairy I would have already had with you by now,” Jiyong stated matter-of-factly.

Seunghyun balked. “I… you… but we can’t…” He took a deep breath and collected his wildly swirling thoughts before attempting to speak again.  “Humans don’t have to bond with friends, Jiyong. Intimacy is for couples; lovers. I don’t sleep with people just because I feel like it. Even if I really, really want to,” he added, noting that Jiyong had taken a step away from him and was chewing on a fingernail with a very sad look on his face.

“But you said you like me,” he protested. “You said you think I’m handsome.”

“I do,” Seunghyun agreed. He reached out and drew Jiyong’s finger from his mouth with a gentle hand, then placed his palms on the impossibly soft skin of the fairy’s back, just under his wings, and pulled him close. “I do like you, but I’m afraid that if we take this any further, I’m going to more than like you. I don’t think either of us is ready for that, no matter how much you adore the things I write, or however inspirational your visits might be.”

“So I used my magic for nothing?” Jiyong sighed, resting his forehead on Seunghyun’s shoulder.

“Did you only make yourself big so you could have with me?” Seunghyun asked. He felt Jiyong nod. The frazzled writer laughed and ran his hands down Jiyong’s arms until he could link their fingers together. “And I though I was the one being a ert.”

Jiyong pulled his head back and tsked at the dark haired man. “ isn’t erted! is natural and beautiful.”

“Yes, but the things I was thinking weren’t natural or beautiful,” Seunghyun said with a grin. The fairy’s eyes went wide, and then his cheeks turned a very charming shade of pink. The writer took advantage of Jiyong’s embarrassment and placed a quick kiss on his slightly parted lips. “But you know, your magic isn’t wasted. You can do other things while you’re big. Like use an actual cup to drink your tea, instead of a decorative thimble my mother bought as a souvenir on a trip to the Smoky Mountains.”

He separated their bodies and made his way to the stove, then filled a clean mug with tea that was warming on the stove. He added milk and sugar, and then handed the concoction to Jiyong, who took it with a little smile.

“Thank you,” he murmured, subdued. Seunghyun nodded.

They ended up in the library some time later. Seunghyun sat on the couch against the wall and finally cracked open that Dostoyevsky novel he’d bought who knows how long ago. Just as he was turning the first page, Jiyong something under his nose and shook his hands excitedly.

“Would you read this to me?” he asked, breathless. Seunghyun glanced down and squinted in order to make out the title. It was the murder mystery Jiyong had talked about earlier. Seunghyun was surprised.

“You were almost in tears just from an explanation of what murder is, Jiyong,” he said, frowning a bit. “Are you sure you can handle this?” The fairy nodded his head eagerly and climbed onto the couch. Or, more accurately, he climbed onto Seunghyun’s lap.

“I’ll be just fine as long as you’re here,” he said, curling his fingers around Seunghyun’s bicep and leaning his head on his shoulder. The larger man stiffened in his grasp, but Jiyong only curved his body further into Seunghyun’s warmth. “I’ve only got a little time left before I’m small again,” he whispered. The writer’s shoulders relaxed slowly. He brought an arm around the fairy and tucked him into his side, and felt his heart leap when Jiyong nuzzled his face into the crook of his neck. But he stilled afterward, and Seunghyun righted the stack of papers, securing the binder clip that held them all together.

“Alright,” he said, clearing his throat and making himself as comfortable as possible with 130 pounds of fairy on his lap. “Lights Out, chapter one…”