These Days of Summer
Description
It's been nearly two hundred years, and Chanyeol hasn't been seen by anyone besides the Guardians and his fellow spirits since he was chosen by the Man in the Moon as the spirit of summer.
But, thanks to a little advice from Jack Frost, all that's about to change.
Foreword
The first thing Chanyeol remembered was heat.
It wasn’t the oppressive, sticky kind of heat that made you want to go home and take a nice cold shower, though. This was a soft heat; gentle and soothing. And though Chanyeol had no idea what was going on, he couldn’t quite bring himself to care thanks to the warmth settling over him like a blanket, lulling him to sleep.
When he woke up again he was cold, and there was a boy with hair like moonlight standing over him, grinning widely.
“I’m Jack Frost,” he said, “And you’re the spirit of summer.”
That had been the end and the beginning of his life.
Chanyeol still remembered his old life, mostly. Sometimes he felt it slipping away from him, dissipating into the heat of the season he called his own. And if he really thought about it long enough, it bothered him that he couldn’t remember his sister’s name but he could still acutely remember the twinkle in Jack’s ice-blue eyes when he’d first woken up in his new life nearly two hundred years ago.
But when Chanyeol thought of Jack he couldn’t help but think that Jack was so much more important than him. Jack was winter, Jack was a Guardian, and Jack had a job to do, protecting little kids from the Boogeyman and watching over them and keeping them safe.
But Chanyeol … Chanyeol was just summer.
Sure, he told himself, summer was important, right? Summer was the reprieve the world got in-between the rebirth of spring and the death of fall and the frost of winter. But summer was also just that – a season. So Chanyeol was just a season; the spirit of summer and nothing more.
“Why you so hard on yourself?” North had asked him once, “We’re all important, Guardian or not.” Then he’d given Chanyeol a glass of hot cocoa and had told him he could visit the workshop whenever he wanted. Chanyeol knew it was a very big privilege, because according to Tooth it wasn’t something North just let anyone do, but all he could think was that North had just done it because he felt sorry for him.
Chanyeol supposed North had good reason to feel sorry for him, though. All the Guardians knew – thanks to Jack – how hard the first few years of Chanyeol’s new life had been. The thought of immortality and of never being able to see his family again was a very new concept, after all.
Thinking it’d help, Chanyeol had watched his family work and play from afar in the beginning. But after he’d realized that they were getting older and he wasn’t, he’d stopped; afraid to watch them die and not be able to do anything about it.
After that, it’d gotten a bit easier.
Besides, summer had always been his favorite. He supposed that was why the Man in the Moon had chosen him to be the summer spirit, and for that he was thankful. It was easy to lose himself in the warmth of those easy summer evenings and lazy mornings, the humid afternoons and soft twilights. He wouldn’t give it up for anything.
Except to maybe be seen again.
The others – the Guardians, that is – were visible. Well, they were only visible to kids who believed in them, but after looking at the map of lights in North’s workshop he’d found himself inexplicably jealous. All of those kids could see them, and yet no one saw him.
“Someone will see you,” Jack told him with a smile so sincere it had warmed Chanyeol’s heart, “I mean, it took me nearly three hundred years, but I doubt it’ll take you that long. The Guardians could spread the word and kids everywhere will believe in you in no time.”
Chanyeol shook his head. “No, Jack, it’s alright. I don’t … I don’t think that’s really what I’m looking for.”
“Then what are you looking for?”
Chanyeol glanced at him, “You have Jamie. I think you know what I mean.”
Jack suddenly looked embarrassed. Jamie Bennet, the first person to ever see him after he’d become Jack Frost, had remained his best friend for many years as he’d grown up, never wavering in his belief for even a moment. Then one year, after Jamie had graduated high school and everything had changed, he confessed to Jack, and since then Jack just hadn’t stopped smiling.
“So … you mean you want someone like that,” Jack said, “Someone like Jamie.”
Chanyeol nodded. “I don’t want to be seen by kids everywhere if it doesn’t mean anything. Besides, who cares about the spirit of summer?”
“Kids,” Jack said dryly, “Seriously, summer is every kid’s favorite because then they don’t have school and they get to play outside every day!”
“Really?” Chanyeol laughed aloud, but the sound was devoid of humor, “Because I don’t know about you, but I haven’t seen many kids playing outside in the summer anymore, not since all those huge technological advancements. The kids I’ve seen are all inside playing video games. They only come out when there’s snow.” That last part might have been more than a little bitter, but if Jack noticed he didn’t say anything about it.
“I think you’re looking in the wrong places,” Jack said, leaning against his staff. “This summer, why don’t you try going out into the country? There, where the internet connection and video games are less enticing than the open air and rolling fields, lots of kids play outside. And who knows? You might just find that you like it better out there.”
Chanyeol stared at him. “Since when have you been old and wise?”
Jack laughed. “Hey, just because I’m the guardian of fun doesn’t mean I’m stupid. I’ve been in this business for a long time. I know my stuff.”
Chanyeol smiled, “Alright, alright. I’ll take your advice. I think I could do with a little wandering outside my normal territory anyway.”
“Exactly,” Jack grinned.
“Stop looking so proud of yourself, you’re still an asshat.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Asshat.”
And so, in the midst of my longing for summer and my fangirling over Jack Frost and the Rise of the Guardians movie, this happened.
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