Morning found us calmly unaware.
Noon burned gold into our hair.
At night, we swam the Laughing Sea.
When summer's gone,
Where will we be?

“So … I’m the only human who’s ever seen you?” Baekhyun asked, pausing in his work to wipe dirt off his knees.

Chanyeol nodded, the motion nearly sending him toppling off from where he was balanced precariously on top of the fence outside Baekhyun’s house. It was a beautiful summer day – courtesy of him – and Baekhyun had insisted on spending time in his garden before he had to go to work.

“I have to pay my bills somehow,” He’d said when Chanyeol had asked him why he needed a job.

Thunder suddenly rumbled off in the distance, pulling Chanyeol out of his thoughts as Baekhyun glanced up at the sky. There were storm clouds gathering off on the horizon, dark and angry looking even from there, and a frown creased Baekhyun’s forehead.

“Is there any way you can stop it from storming?” He asked, raising a hand to shield his eyes from the sun.

“I could,” Chanyeol said, “But I won’t.”

“Why not?”

“I’m not like Jack,” the summer spirit said a bit defensively, “I can’t just go around and keep it hot and sunny all the time. The earth needs rain, Baekhyun. Ever heard of a drought?”

“Yeah, but it’s just one storm …” Baekhyun pouted.

Chanyeol grinned and squatted down on the fence, plucking absently at the leaves of the vines that had woven themselves in-between the wooden posts, “I don’t like to mess with the weather any more than is absolutely necessary,” he explained. “But if I could, I would make it eternally summer just for you.”

Baekhyun blushed at that, looking away, and Chanyeol’s grin widened.

Progress.

“Oh, hey, Baekhyun!”

As quickly as it had come, Chanyeol’s grin faded, his eyes narrowing a bit as one of Baekhyun’s friends – was his name Joonmyun? – suddenly walked through the gate to Baekhyun’s backyard, smiling widely.

“Hey, Joonmyun.” Baekhyun replied with a smile, “What’s up?”

Joonmyun shrugged, “Not much. It’s just, uh … we were all going to go out tonight, and we thought maybe you’d like to come?”

Baekhyun’s expression visibly tensed. “Will Tao be there?”

“… Yeah.” Joonmyun said slowly.

“Then no.”

Joonmyun stepped forward, his expression desperate, “Baekhyun, come on, you can’t hate him forever –”

“I don’t hate him, Joonmyun,” Baekhyun said softly, “I could never hate him. I mean, it’s – it’s not his fault that he doesn’t feel the same way.” He cleared his throat, obviously on the verge of tears. “I just … I need to pull myself back together, alright?”

“Hey,” Chanyeol said, grinning as he remembered that Joonmyun couldn’t see or hear him, “If you want, Baekhyun, I can get revenge on Tao for you to make you feel better. I’ll use the wind to blow his shirt over his face and have him run into a tree or something.”

Baekhyun suddenly spluttered, his face going red as he laughed, and Joonmyun stared at him.

“Uh, Baekhyun? Are you alright?”

Baekhyun nodded, still laughing, and straightened, “Yeah, yeah. Sorry, I just – remembered something.” He threw a subtle glare at Chanyeol and shook his head, sobering back up. “I’ll be fine eventually, Joonmyun. Honest. Just give me a bit of time, alright?”

“If you’re sure,” Joonmyun said, glancing down at his watch. “I’ll let the others know you’re not coming. And … Baekhyun, don’t hesitate to call me if you need anything, okay? Even if you just want to talk.”

“Okay. Thanks, Joonmyun.”

The elder man nodded and walked back off down the path, confusion still twisting his expression even when he turned the corner and disappeared behind another house.

The moment he was gone Chanyeol just couldn’t hold back his laughter anymore, and laugh he did; so hard, in fact, that tears came to his eyes and he finally toppled off the fence, landing on his back in the dirt. 

Baekhyun glared at him, looking like he wanted to attack the summer spirit with the hoe in his hands. “Chanyeol, you can’t just say stuff like that when I’m talking to people! He probably thinks I’m insane now!”

Chanyeol grinned, sitting up and shaking leaves out of his hair, “Oh, come on. It was hilarious.”

Baekhyun sighed. “You’re a child, I swear.”

“Two hundred years old and counting,” Chanyeol quipped, using a gust of warm summer wind to lift him back onto his feet. “But hey, think about it. Wouldn’t you like to see Tao flailing around with a shirt stuck over his face as he ran into a tree?”

Baekhyun grinned, “While that would be pretty great, I’d be more worried about him getting hurt.”

Chanyeol gave a frustrated huff, pouting at the shorter man. “I don’t get it. Why do you like this guy so much, even after he turned you down and broke your heart?”

“Have you ever been in love, Chanyeol?”

Chanyeol’s mouth went dry. “O-once or twice,” he stammered awkwardly. “Why?”

“Well then you should know that it doesn’t go away just like that. If it did, there’d be no such thing as heartbreak.” Baekhyun frowned at him, “Have you forgotten what it’s like to be human?”

A sudden hollow ache rang through Chanyeol’s chest at those words, bringing with it a terrible pain as he remembered his family and his life and everything he’d had before. Yes, he’d forgotten his humanity. But he’d done it on purpose. It was easier that way. It was easier to ignore the pain of knowing his family was long dead and gone, it was easier to ignore never being seen, it was easier to ignore his loneliness, and, in the end, it was easier to forget.

Losing his humanity had been the best decision he’d ever made.

But with just a few words, Baekhyun had brought it all crashing back down around him, and suddenly Chanyeol felt like he was drowning.

“Chanyeol?”

Baekhyun was staring at him, his forehead creased in worry, and an anger unlike anything Chanyeol had felt in all his years as the spirit of summer bubbled up inside of him as he stalked towards the shorter man, his hands clenched into fists at his sides.

“You know nothing, Byun Baekhyun,” He snarled, spitting sparks. “You know nothing of pain or of loss or of heartbreak, so don’t you dare pretend like you do.”

Hurt flashed through Baekhyun’s eyes, but Chanyeol ignored it. Then with a thought he was off, the wind carrying him up into the air. And, despite the aching in his chest, he disregarded the way Baekhyun called after him; his voice cracking as he desperately shouted Chanyeol’s name.

You know nothing.





Baekhyun stared off at where Chanyeol had disappeared into the sky, confused and worried. There had been a terrible pain in Chanyeol’s voice, and suddenly he wondered what the summer spirit wasn’t telling him. What had happened in Chanyeol’s past that he had gotten so sad and so angry all at once?

Baekhyun had never seen anything like it. And that meant that Chanyeol was right, because he really had no idea.

But it killed him to know that Chanyeol did.

Baekhyun looked up at the sky that still roiled with storm clouds, resisting the urge to shudder as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed his boss’s number, biting his lip while he waited for her to answer.

“Yes, hello, Mrs. Kim? I have a favor to ask of you …”





Nighttime found Chanyeol sitting underneath a tree in the nearby park, coaxing a dying plant to life as he tried to forget. He’d done this a long time ago; buried all his fears and his dreams and his hopes and his pain underneath a thick, solid wall and turned his back on them. But how easily his defenses had crumbled.

Chanyeol wanted to hate Baekhyun for dragging him back down so far.

He wanted to hate him.

But he couldn’t, for he’d said it himself that Baekhyun knew nothing. He hadn’t known of the pain and the loss in Chanyeol’s past, so it wasn’t his fault; it wasn’t his fault that he’d said something in complete innocence, entirely unaware of how much the words would hurt. And yet still, Chanyeol couldn’t bring himself to go back to the boy. Not yet.

Baekhyun had probably already forgotten him anyway.

Thunder rumbled through the evening air like the growl of some feral beast, and Chanyeol sighed. That one had been a lot closer. Any moment now and he was sure the clouds would break. It wasn’t like he really needed to worry, though. So, ignoring the weather, he leaned back against the thick trunk of the oak tree behind him and closed his eyes, wishing yet again that he could sleep.

In all of his two hundred years, that was one of the things he’d missed the most.

Sleep.

Finally the storm reached its , the clouds opening up to let the rain flow free, and Chanyeol tilted his head back, liking the feeling of the water running through his hair and down his face, dripping off his chin and down his neck. He’d always loved rain, and now was no exception.

“Chanyeol!”

The summer spirit perked up, his eyes flying open as he held his breath, unsure. Had he just heard someone call his name?

Lightning flashed across the sky, followed by a loud clap of thunder, and Chanyeol shook his head as he realized that no, it couldn’t be. No one would be calling his name.

Just my imagination, Chanyeol thought, leaning back against the tree.

“Chanyeol!”

He’d definitely heard something that time. Frowning, Chanyeol got to his feet, trying to discern which direction the shout had come from and simultaneously trying to figure out who was calling his name as he turned in circles, his eyes narrowed.

Some part of him hoped it was Baekhyun, but he wasn’t going to let himself be disappointed again.

“Chanyeol!”

There, to the east!

Now that he had a direction to go in, Chanyeol quickly lifted off the ground, dodging the trees as he sped through the air. His mind was swirling with questions, his chest with hope, but he stamped it all down and focused instead on finding whoever was calling his name. Right now that was his first and only priority.

He cleared a thicket of bushes and a clump of close-knit trees that were too tight to cleanly swerve through, only to come up short as he saw Baekhyun standing in the middle of a small clearing, soaked to the bone with tears running down his face as he hugged his arms around himself. He looked terrified, standing there drenched and trembling, but still he cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted.

“Chanyeol!”

And Chanyeol’s heart stopped in his chest.

“Baekhyun?” He gasped, landing softly on the ground and approaching the shorter boy.

Baekhyun gasped and spun around, relief flooding his eyes. “Chanyeol!” He cried, rushing forward and embracing the summer spirit. “Oh, I’m so glad I found you!”

“Wh-what?” Chanyeol stammered, “No, I … I don’t understand. Why were you looking for me?”

“I-I was so worried.” Baekhyun explained, his teeth chattering. “You f-flew off so suddenly, and I just – I wanted to apologize for what I said. I didn’t mean anything by it, r-really, I was just sort of testy from the whole thing with Joonmyun and Tao and all that, and I … I had no idea it would hurt you so much.”

Something swelled in Chanyeol’s chest at those words and he stepped forward, wrapping the younger boy up in his arms and shielding him from the rain. “Baekhyun, it’s not your fault. You didn’t know.”

Baekhyun buried his face in Chanyeol’s shirt, inhaling the smell of grass and earth and growing things. “But I still want to say I’m sorry,” he murmured, his voice muffled, “Because I am. I’m so, so sorry.”

Chanyeol smiled, holding him close. “I forgive you.” Of course I do. “Now, let me take you home. We need to get you out of this rain before you catch a cold.” He bent down suddenly, picking Baekhyun up bridal-style and ignoring his squeak of protest. And then they were flying, Chanyeol laughing as Baekhyun latched onto his neck and cried out in a mix of surprise and exhilaration when they emerged above the clouds to soar through a clear night sky, making it back to his house in record time.

“Chanyeol …” Baekhyun murmured as the summer spirit set him on his feet just inside the door of his house. “You won’t leave me, will you?”

Chanyeol froze, staring at the boy, and then shook his head. “No.” He murmured, reaching out to gently brush a lock of hair out of the boy’s eyes. “Never.”