It would be better to listen to this song. *****

It was summer, sun glazing the stone bricks, speckles of dust floating in midair freely without a course and also beads of sweat forming on the kid’s forehead. Chanyeol wiped it before his lips curved into a grin as he stared at the high towering trees in their backyard.

Feeling a bit mischievous, he went directly to a place where his grandparents have always warned him about, a forest filled with mysteries and stories of which about a mountain spirit that takes a form of a human residing deep inside those mountains.

He has always been a curious kid. Trying to understand things that he couldn’t understand, making decisions base on his guts than what his mind tells him and also his favorite thing to do, spending the whole day goofing off.

He passed an old rundown house with rotting fences and a broken water mill on the river. The river was clean and gently flowing downstream, he followed it, eyes focused on it than the road itself. When the stream turned he followed it, when the river went inside a forest, he still followed it not caring if the whole forest gives out an eerie feeling.

He didn’t remember how or when or why, but when Chanyeol snapped out from his childish fantasies he found himself deep within the forest with a branch on his right hand. The trees were much bigger than what he saw in their backyard, the grasses were tall and kind of sharp as the roots were too big that most of them had resurfaced from the ground.

He couldn’t hear a chirp of a bird nor something that’s alive inside it but he felt the feeling of being watched. He turned and saw nothing but rustling of leaves of the trees, he turned again and as what he expected he also saw nothing, nothing at all.

The fear has started to settle inside his chest. Chanyeol turned after turn, hair covered with his sweat as the feeling of being watched continues. He ran towards a random place when he heard a snap of a twig, it scared him, it really did.

He ran and ran blindly towards the denser part of the forest, branches scarring his knee, arms and cheeks, it was small cuts but it was still cuts and it stings. When he finally reached a much wider place than before, he knelt down and cried helplessly.

What can he do, he’s just a kid. He cowered in fear as his arms tightly hug both of his knees, he cried like how he cried when he lost his toy. “Mother …. “ he murmured as he wipe his streaming tears with his clenched small hands that were always covered with his mother’s touch. “Father …” he whispered once again as he somehow missed his father’s guidance.

He’s lost, deep inside the forest without anyone to help him. For a mere child to be in this kind of situation, Chanyeol was really scared.

But, when a voice echoed behind him, it quickly hushed him like how his mother stopped his cries or how his father comforted him. He turned and there he saw a golden haired boy, much older than him, with a face covered with a mask that resembles a fox of some sort that he saw in pictures inside his grandparent’s house.

“F-finally! Help me!” The kid shouted suddenly running towards the stranger. His tears dispersed as he ran with all his might towards him. All the weariness and sadness that he felt a few moments ago completely disappeared upon seeing someone that might help him.

“STOP!” The man behind the mask shouted making Chanyeol stop from his tracks which eventually ended up him rolling on the ground. When the roll finally stopped, Chanyeol slowly sat on the ground, nose wrinkling while his hands were cleaning his dirt and leaf stained face.

“Help me! I’m lost!” he shouted three times before whining like a kid he is. “HELP ME!” He shouted once again but now with an angry scowl. He raised his hand filled with dirt and grass from the ground and started throwing it on the white clothes of the man in front of him.

“Can you calm down first?” The man said before backing up a few steps and crouching in front of him.

Chanyeol stopped, pursed his lips, brows curved in annoyance and small little arms pressed against his chest. He didn’t say anything but he had finally stopped crying.

 “Help me, I got lost in the forest…” He whispered softly.

“It’s dangerous here… I will guide you back to the entrance.” He said before standing up, picking the tossed branch on the ground and pointing it at him. “Hold onto this and I will lead you out.” He said softly while waving the stick in front of him.

Chanyeol followed it with his eyes like a puppy eyeing a branch that waits to be thrown. After being in a daze for a bit he shook his head, slapped both of his cheeks softly before frowning again. “Why should I take the branch? I’ll just hold you!” He said before trying to reach out for the man in white.

But when he’s about to touch him, the man swatted it with the branch making Chanyeol lean back again with a grunt. “YAAH! Why did you do that! You big meanie!”

“I’m sorry, but you can’t touch me.” He said before waving the stick again. “Now hold onto this and I’ll lead you to the entrance, follow what I said or I will leave you here, alone. Pick one.” He sternly said.

Chanyeol glared at the masked man before him. “Why can’t I touch you?” Despite his question and wheezing he still took the branch and slowly let the stronger man pull him up to his feet. He wiped his pants with his free hand, fixed his hair a bit before wrinkling his nose. 

“I will disappear if you touch me.” He said behind mask, face facing an unknown region of the forest that Chanyeol didn’t went through earlier.

“You’ll disappear? Like a smoke?” Chanyeol tried his best to decipher the meaning behind his words but being a kid didn’t helped at all, hence, why he just compared the guy to a smoke that disappears.

“Yes … like smoke. I will disappear like smoke, so don’t touch me okay?” Chanyeol just gave a curt nod from the masked man’s words.

The walk towards the entrance was quiet. Chanyeol sometimes found himself staring at the man holding the other side of the stick, eyes peeking on what’s behind the mask but unfortunately he couldn’t see that much since the man was really tall.

He started asking himself, did the mister meet an unfortunate accident? Or do he just like wearing masks? He asked himself about what he heard earlier, can a human disappear like a smoke? He can never understand the meaning behind those words, he was just a kid, a kid who only knows how to play.

Time passed by like a breeze, he didn’t felt the long walk they just did, all Chanyeol did was stare at him, other than breathing and walking. They did arrive at the entrance. There were steps leading towards the civilized area of the mountains. Chanyeol tiptoed trying to see what’s beyond the hills, he pursed his lips when he felt the other side of the branch lighten up. He turned and saw the man had already left his spot.

Chanyeol ce again, he looked behind him, behind a tree, behind the stone pillars, under the bush and also the large branches of the trees thinking that the man might’ve hidden there, but he saw nothing. “Where are you?” He asked once again. “You left again …” He continued. “Where are you?” he ended.

“Go home now.” The stern voice echoed around the area. The trees waved, birds flew away from it and a small twister formed on the ground but it disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

“Tell me your name first.” The child muttered cautiously. When he didn’t receive any answer, he sighed and placed both his dirty small hands inside his pockets. “Fine you old man. My name is Chanyeol, Park Chanyeol.” He said with a huff.

1 … 2 … 3 … Another silence answered him. Feeling a bit annoyed, Chanyeol turned around and was about to run away when the same manly voice echoed behind him, it was near yet far at the same time. “Yifan.” Was what he said.

Chanyeol grinned before he turned around and there he saw him sitting on the stone stairs. “You’re back.” He smiled, eyes forming two crescents as he rocked his heel back and forth. “I’ll be back tomorrow, can we meet here again?” He said, voice filled with hope that the man wouldn’t be too cranky and would allow him to play with him, fortunately everything fell on its right place. Chanyeol got his approval, and after that he sped off.

A lot of things happened to him that day, he got lost, he was found, he gained a new friend, he got his name and most of all, and he will see him again tomorrow. When he arrived at their house he was questioned about his whereabouts by his grandparents, he answered a lie forcefully and said that he was just playing on a patch of flowers and dozed a bit, they took it or rather played along with his lie and let the kid take a bath.

Tomorrow arrived. Chanyeol’s eyes flickered as his fingers rub it continuously. He sat up, sheets falling to his lap, a yawn escaped his tiny lips. His hair was completely sticking up as if he was shot with electricity. He tried to pat it down using his small hands but it kept on sticking up. He huffed and kicked the sheets away before running towards the bathroom to wet it.

He took a small chair and aligned it at the sink. He stepped on it, leaned forward and tapped the faucet to let the water run from it. He put both of his hands closer to it, scooped a handful of water and splashed it on his face and hair. He smiled as he looked at his wet face on the mirror, he’s excited today, excited to meet his new playmate.

“Chanyeol! Breakfast is ready.” His grandmother shouted, echoing inside the old house. Chanyeol nodded in front of the mirror and replied a shout yes to them. After that he tapped the water off, kicked the small stool back to its previous place and ran as fast as he can towards the small dining area.

When he got there the food was already prepared and his beloved grandparents were already seated on the chairs, waiting for their beloved grandchild to arrive. “Waahh! This looks delicious grandma!” Chanyeol beamed as he sat on his own chair, hands grabbed the utensils and was about to dig in when his grandfather coughed.

“Chanyeol, let’s pray first.” He said before clasping his hands with each other. The grandmother smiled, nodded then followed what he did, Chanyeol followed suit after placing the spoon and fork back to his plate.

After a short prayer about thanking the heavens for the food that they harvested and cooked, and also that they still lived a day without any problems, they finally ate the food in front of them.

Chanyeol kept on stuffing his mouth with his breakfast, his grandparents were conversing about some adult stuffs that’s happening in their village. Everything was normal, but that was until Chanyeol asked a question. “Grandma, can I pack some of this in a lunch box?” he asked.

The elder female looked at him first. “Why deary, are you going to give some to someone?” She asked, voice so sweet and soft, so mother-like.

“Yeah, I met a friend yesterday and I want to share my food with him.” He grinned before rushing to his grandmother, “Please grandma~” He pleaded matching it his eyes fluttering so beautifully.

“Okay okay, just wait for me and I’ll pack lots of it for you.” With that she stood up, took a few plates and went towards the kitchen. Chanyeol couldn’t hide his excitement around that time, his eyes shining as if thousands of stars were compressed inside his eyes providing its bright. After few minutes of waiting, she came back with a packed lunchbox on her hand and pairs of spoon and fork. “Here deary.” She said as she stuffed the utensils inside the packed lunch before placing it on the table.

Chanyeol nodded, kissed their cheeks and rushed out of the room with big grin plastered on his face, he’s excited right now because he’s going to see his new playmate.

He was running as fast as he can, passing through every house, every farm and every lake of the village, ignoring those sweet greetings of the friendly neighbours and lastly those snarky barks of brown, black, and white colored dogs from each house.

When he finally reached the entrance of the forest he was already covered with sweat. He flapped the end of his shirt, letting breeze in it to cool his body off. “He’s still not here.” He huffed and puffed, chest heaving and inhaling as much air as he can to replace what he just let out earlier. “Or maybe I just came too early.” He muttered next before walking towards the stone stairs.

He placed the packed box on the ground and sat beside it. He pulled the box closer to his body before resting both of his hands on his lap. The area wasn’t that scary anymore was what Chanyeol thought as he surveyed the area. At first, one would really freak out to be left alone in this kind of area, the place was completely abandoned by both time and people and it was quite evident in the place. The steps has cracks on it, the stone gate of the entrance has moss all over it.

“You’re here.” A voice startled Chanyeol making him squeak a bit. He turned and saw the same masked man from before, a smile marking on his face. “Of course, I promised you remember?” He proudly said before taking the box on the ground, standing up and walking towards him. “Promised? You promised? I can’t remember it.” Yifan said before turning around. Chanyeol followed him with a huge smile on his face.

They were in the same position again, hands linked by a branch, steps matched with each other and an expression of curiosity on Chanyeol’s face. “Old man, why are you wearing a mask?” He dared to ask. “It’s because I’m a spirit.” He answered back casually. Chanyeol seemed to be unsatisfied with it so he asked again. “Why are you here alone? You should come with me, let’s play in my grandparent’s house!” He beamed. “I can’t, I will disappear if a human touches me.” Yifan’s words confused the kid Chanyeol again, making the latter purse his own lips.

“Why would you disappear when a human touches you?” He asked again.

Yifan didn’t answer; instead he continued walking straight until they finally stopped. Chanyeol pursed his lips for a moment before looking what’s lying ahead of him, when he turned a gasp escaped his lips. “Wow …” was what he can only say after witnessing that glorious place.

It was a huge plain, grasses filled the spaces of the ground, small shrubs on the sides and behind it were trees nourished and was b in life, it was like a place untouched by man. The most beautiful point of the place was the two trees standing proud at the center of the plain. Chanyeol ran as quickly as he can after placing the said lunch box on the ground. He ran to the bigger space in front of him, small arms spread like wings as he made small circles before lying down on the ground. Yifan followed him, with cautious steps, a much refined posture and curiosity about the box that Chanyeol left.

When he finally reached Chanyeol, the kid was already exhausted. “Hey, you left this.” Yifan noted before raising his hand which was holding the box. Chanyeol  noticed it, he grinned before mustering all of his remaining strength to sit up. “Yes, my grandmother cooked it, it’s so delicious so try it!”

Maybe it was curiosity that led Yifan to wait for tomorrow, curiosity that that was triggered by a kid named Chanyeol. Before, he never sought tomorrow so hard like this. Before, he lived his life in the present, never looking back at his yesterday or looking forward for what tomorrow had planned for him, he was just living his life without any kind of regret or expectation but now, now it was changing.

But what should’ve been making him happy since a change was happening, instead it scares him. He’s changing, changing to what?

He eyed the child once again sitting on the ground, he was smiling, he was pure, he was a human that can be a reason for him to cease from existing. That scared him; he once thought and asked himself how can he be so close with a human? No matter how hard he pondered for an answer, nothing came and because of that he just let the thought fade away from his mind and just enjoyed what’s in front of him, and also this was what he had desired in the first place, an interaction with a human.

He lied down after he finished the food that Chanyeol gave him, hands behind his head, legs crossed and his body relaxing on the soft breeze and the nice grass beneath it. Slowly, second by second he felt his eyes starting to get heavy, he was getting tired, something different, something he had never felt before. But, before he can finally feel how to sleep, he felt his mask being carefully taken off. He opened his eyes and heard a small squeak before his mask fell flat against his face.

Chanyeol backed off a bit, arms on his front arched as if copying a stance from some kind of martial arts. “S-sorry.” He muttered next before relaxing a bit.

Yifan shook his head, placed his mask on his face again before fully turning his face to him.

“You look … normal.” Chanyeol whispered before walking towards him, back to his original place.

Yifan frowned beneath his mask. “What do you expect my face would be?” He asked, interested on what’s going inside the child’s head.

“I don’t know, not human-y?” he pursed his lips trying to think once again for better words to suit what he wanted to say.

And with that, Yifan shook his head before lying down on the ground again. “You think too much for a kid.” He muttered.

“I like using my brain, it makes me smart.” Chanyeol beamed, proud on what he heard from him.

The sun was about to set when they finally made out of the forest again. Yifan stood on the stone walls and gate, looking at Chanyeol as he walks down on the stairs. When the child finally reached the first step, he turned and placed both of his hands behind him. “Tomorrow, I have to go home.”

Yifan didn’t moved nor spoke, he just looked at him as if he’s waiting for him to continue what he was saying.

Chanyeol furrowed his brows and huffed. “I said I have to go home tomorrow!” He shouted.

“I know … I heard it.” Yifan finally answered, his back leaning on the stone gates, eyes looking at the sky above with orange as its color.

“Then why are you not saying anything?” Chanyeol mumbled and his hands were clenched behind him.

“What am I supposed to say?” Yifan asked which made Chanyeol to frown as if God just bestowed him the hardest question ever.

“I don’t know … but … don’t worry, I’ll be back next summer. Wait for me okay?” He grinned before waving at him. “Wait for me okay!” He repeated again.

Yifan just gave a small nod, and after that Chanyeol went off. Yifan looked at him as his figure continues to get smaller. Yifan took his mask off, a gust of wind came from his side, making him close his eyes for a bit, when he opened them again Chanyeol’s figure disappeared. And before Yifan could realize, his hand was already stretched towards the direction where Chanyeol went off to.

Days passed, summer ended then came autumn. The leaves were falling from the trees, red colored leaves coloring the ground with its blazing hue. Yifan lived his life walking inside the forest, having casual and short conversations with the other spirits living within the mountains, but after meeting Chanyeol, he became more animated with his life, the other spirits noticed it.

He became a bit into conversations these days, the other spirits noticed it.

He spaced out more, just staring at the sky with his mask on the side of his face, the other spirits noticed it.

After that red fantasy which was called Autumn, the white sheet of snow came, it was now winter. Yifan thought it was fast, it was too fast, tomorrow was coming too fast. He stared at the snow covered mountain from the top of a hibernating tree. He would like to show Chanyeol this scene, the scene where everything was covered in white, which made the whole mountain look like a place of clouds.

“He will surely like this.” He muttered before hopping down from the tree.

Flowers bloomed strongly through the disappeared sheets of white. The sun had finally regained its warmth, warming everything in and on the mountain. Patches of flower bloomed simultaneously, trees finally had their leaves slowly covering its branches, everything was coming back to its previous state, and also the promised time was nearing.

And then, when the heat of spring intensified, summer came. He walked towards the gates again, tracing that familiar pathway that he had took around that time last year. He felt nostalgic for a moment, imagining the kid Chanyeol next to him, holding the other end of the branch giggling or laughing, either way it was a sound from Chanyeol.

The same child he was thinking about earlier came running to their meeting place, a band-aid on his nose and a paper bag on his other hand. “Old man!!” He shouted, making Yifan unconsciously huffed.

“You’re here again.” He mumbled.

“I promised that I’ll be here again remember? I am a man who keeps his promises!” The kid said before huffing his chest, fist clenched and placed on his heart, with a proud and bright smile coloring his clear face.

“…. Promises eh? …” Yifan was lost in his thoughts once again. Promises, a human made a childish promise and to his surprise Chanyeol really kept it. He was expecting to be forgotten, he was expecting to wait here and have the reality hit him that Chanyeol would really forget about him, that he wouldn’t be standing in front of him.

He was ready to let go of Chanyeol, he had already accepted the truth, but he still gambled by going to their meeting place, thinking that by doing that, Chanyeol might not appear and  because of that it can make the transition from having a life with Chanyeol to a life without him much easier, but no, the kid had proven him that, that he shouldn’t be afraid to be left alone again, that he shouldn’t be afraid to change, to be someone who he didn’t expect him to be, a totally new Yifan, a new him.

When he finally stopped daydreaming, Chanyeol was reaching for his hand. He took a step backwards, eyeing the kid again now with a sheepish smile. “I don’t want to hold that branch anymore, it’s too prickly.” Chanyeol whined and swayed his body sideways making his hands flail on his sides.

“So? What’s the connection of that and the thing you’re about to do?” He asked him.

Chanyeol snickered first, smirked then raised his hand holding a wide thread of red, it was long and glossy. It was from a ribbon, was what Yifan concluded after he watched Chanyeol twirl it in front of him. “What’s that?” he asked once again.

This time Chanyeol furrowed his brows, lips puckered out with his arms now folded on his chest. “You’re a spirit! You should’ve known something about this!” He grumbled before stretching the thread once again as wide as it can. “It’s red, and it’s a string! Our teacher told us about this.” He said before throwing the other end to him. “Tie it around your pinky …” he muttered as his eyes were focused to his own pinky while tying the thread around it.

“Why should i?” Yifan asked again.

“Old man, don’t ask, start doing it.” Chanyeol huffed in annoyance as he finally tied his own and was now waiting for the other party to do the same. “Do it!” he shrieked childishly.

And because of that Yifan followed what he said. He took the end, tied it around his pinky and traced the other end of it with his eyes. Chanyeol was looking at him with those big eyes of his. “This is like the red thread of fate right?” Yifan raised a brow.

“So what if it is?” Chanyeol snarled, not liking how Yifan responded with what he did.

“You should be tying this to a girl, not me.” Yifan sternly stated as he started to tug the end of it. As he was about to fully untie it, he felt a tug from the other end of the thread, Chanyeol’s end.

“I don’t care! My teacher said that the red thread of fate will make the two people stay together forever! I wanted to be your friend, so don’t take it off!” Chanyeol whined, tears on the edge of his eyes, it was glossy, it was the first time that Yifan saw him like this, and to be honest it made him feel something new again.

“Okay … fine, if that would stop you from crying.” Yifan sighed before letting his hand drop to his side and a sigh escaping his lips.

Despite Yifan’s actions, Chanyeol on the other hand smiled brighter than before. His tears had finally disappeared from those eyes, it was still glossy but now he can see a faint shine in it, it was fresh, it was …. Nice.

“Yey! Me and Old man will forever stay as friends! Old man, promise me that you’ll never leave me okay?” He asked with his little finger raised in the air which caused the other end of the string to be tugged upwards. 

Promise, when was the last time did he made one? Yifan tried to remember if he did made a promise with someone, he tried, and tried and tried but nothing came up, then it finally struck him, he never made a promise with anyone else before, which only means that this kid in front of him will take another first from him, Chanyeol took his first promise. “I promise.”

Days passed too quickly for them both, before they knew it, it was about time to bid their goodbyes. Chanyeol’s vacation has once again ended, it was about time for him to leave again for school, and also the time for Yifan to ponder in deep thoughts and realizations and live alone once again.

Yifan had wondered Chanyeol’s reason for coming back, is it because he’s having fun or was it because there’s nothing to do here, and he’s just using him as a way to pass time, but Chanyeol was just a kid, he will never think like that, Yifan, because of this thoughts, felt that these few months after Chanyeol’s last visit, everything moved slowler than normal.

Was it still right to talk to him? What if he accidentally touched him, he will disappear, and will he get mad at him? The mere thought of getting mad at him never crossed in his mind, but when he asked himself that question, he just shrugged it off all because he had already promised that he will forever stay beside Chanyeol, and Chanyeol himself, who made that promise, will never do anything to break it, and because of that, he trusted him, another first that Chanyeol took away from him, The first person Yifan ever trusted was Chanyeol.

For Yifan, Chanyeol was a pure kid, a very innocent one that needs to be guided constantly, but sometimes Chanyeol was a kid that spoke big words. He could still remember the time when Chanyeol asked a simple question yet it was unanswerable. I wanted to touch you, do you want me to touch you? He asked that question when they were watching ducks float on the river. Yifan remembered how Chanyeol just looked straight at the ducks, eyes glistening along with the river being shined by the afternoon’s sunset. The silence was quite light and soft, but Chanyeol’s question bothered him more than he expected it to be. Before he could even answer Chanyeol had already stood up, shrugged the thought away, smiled then bid farewell.

Maybe there’s something between them changing as time passes by, but Chanyeol’s just a kid, and also he’s a human, he age while Yifan doesn’t, he can enjoy his life away from that mountain and he himself couldn’t. They were both different, completely opposite with each other but for some reason, he had finally believed in the saying, opposites do attract.

Yifan took his mask away, placed it on the side of his face then watched as a butterfly lazily landed on his nose. Its wings were beautiful, too beautiful for his taste. He tried to buzz it away by waving his finger on his nose, but whenever the beautiful insect flies away, it will eventually come back to land on it again. Yifan sighed when a random thought crossed his mind, the butterfly was like Chanyeol, the kid, no matter what he do and what he say, will always go back the other day just to play with him. And because of this thought, he had finally realized how hard he missed Chanyeol.

Then when Chanyeol once again filled his mind, a thought popped up. I want to touch Chanyeol. Another first was taken away by Chanyeol, it was his first time to desire something so hard like this. When those words popped up and took so much space in his thoughts, he felt his heart ached so much, he was in pain, not physically but rather emotionally, a pain that he had never felt before.

Chanyeol left the red thread to him when he left after his summer vacation. He twirled it all around his left arm, it matches his never ending white clothes, the thread somehow made his own clothes livelier than normal, and it became completely different. It was the same for himself, when Chanyeol attached himself to him, his life became much alive than ever, it changed him, he changed him.

He remembered how dull his life was before Chanyeol arrived. Every day he will only walk around, lips moving but not to speak but to breathe, he lived a life of recluse, alone without anyone bugging him, alone without anyone changing him, alone without gambling his own existence for that color or splash of life. He never asked for something like that, just the fact of existing was enough for him, he knew why he should be happy with that, some other spirit told him the whole story, and because of that he realized that asking for more was just a waste of time, existing was enough for him.

Whenever he felt like it, he will walk towards the edge of the mountains, eyes hidden deep in the bushes as he looked at the civilization settled in the foot of the mountains, they were nice, they talked whenever they can, they enjoy life as much as they can, they smile, they laugh, they fall in love. It would be hypocrisy if Yifan never felt jealous about how humans live their life, but because of his situation that mere jealousy always dissipates like a smoke. He doesn’t have the right to ask for more, he’s satisfied by just existing like this.

But right now, his heart seeks more. He wanted to live like them, he wanted to laugh like them, he wanted to dance like them, he wanted to eat like them, and he wanted to be … like them. Maybe he’s now asking more than he should, maybe he had became a selfish guy, a greedy guy, but after so many years of not asking, of being just satisfied by existing, of keeping those desires inside his body, it burst like an explosion from a dynamite when he met Chanyeol, the kid triggered something inside him, he had now asked to be normal just like him.

A year had passed again, it was now summer again.

He sat down on that concrete steps again, knees a bit parted from each other, his arms crossed in between those legs which made his hands slightly grazing on the floor. He raised his chin up to look at the sky above, it was nice, the clouds were floating quite nicely across the blue hued sky, birds were flying from one point to another and made small circles along with it. Everything was nice, but when a voice, much deeper than he normally hears, called out for his name he never expected that his day will become so different from before.

When Yifan looked down, he saw a tall lanky man, as tall as himself, running towards him with that familiar grin on his face, those crescent eyes formed from smiling too much and that soft curly hair bouncing up and down as he ran towards him. Yifan furrowed his brows and asked himself if he knows the guy who was swiftly approaching him. He has this aura of familiarity but Yifan dismissed it since he doesn’t know someone as tall as him and someone with that kind of voice, but then there’s something deep within his mind kept shouting that this guy, this tall handsome guy who was running towards him, was someone important to him.

“Hey old man, it’s me!” The man grumbled, his deep voice sending chills inside Yifan’s body.

“Chanyeol?” He asked.

It took half a year for Chanyeol to change so much like this, maybe this was what they call “Puberty doing its thing right”. Yifan stared at him for the long span of time, he couldn’t believe how Chanyeol changed so much. From being a small wimpy kid with small reddish soft cheeks into someone like this, a man … a very handsome man.

“Of course it’s me! Who else will go here beside me,” Chanyeol huffed pounding his own chest with his own finger and eventually coughing a bit because of the pressure he put in his finger. “Unless you’re seeing someone else, Old man you’re cheating on me!”

Yifan scoffed a bit before turning away. A human age, a human grows, a human changes, but a spirit don’t. No matter how many times Yifan looked at the now huge Chanyeol, he still couldn’t believe how big the changes are. Chanyeol had become much taller than before, his voice deepened as low as his or maybe deeper than his own, his small frame stretched and was now a man’s body. His desire to at least touch Chanyeol worsened, he wanted to hug him, to feel if he’s warm or not, to hold him closer.

“Where’s the red thread old man? Let’s use it already!” Chanyeol whined. Yifan smiled because of this, despite the changes physically, that man Chanyeol was still the kid Chanyeol that he met a few years ago.

Yifan took the thread out of his pocket and threw the other end to Chanyeol, he took it and tied it around his own little finger as Yifan did the same with the other end of the thread. After securing both ends, they walked towards the same path again, smiles plastered on each other’s face.

Chanyeol looked at him, he’s still wearing that mask.

“Why do you even wear that mask? Can you still breathe with it?” Chanyeol asked.

“I’m already a spirit Chanyeol, spirits don’t breathe.” Yifan answered.

“Oh … you’re right!” Chanyeol laughed, his voice boomed all throughout the area. “Then take if off! Whenever we play you always have that mask on your face, can’t you at least take it off when we’re walking like this, why you even have to wear that?” he said with only breathing once which caused him to chase his breath after saying his own thoughts.

“Do you remember the first time you saw my face, I don’t look like a spirit right? If a human gets lost here again just like how you ended a few years ago, and if that human saw that I look like a human, he or she might touch me.” Yifan explained, his eyes fixated on the road completely ignoring Chanyeol’s eyes as it looked at him.

“There’s no one here right now, take it off.” Chanyeol whined matching his whines with his hands flailing around his sides.

Yifan sighed, he stopped from walking took his mask off and tied the string around his neck. “There, happy?” Yifan sternly said before looking at Chanyeol.

Chanyeol’s eyes grew wider, two times wider than normal. Yifan swore that he saw a faint color of pink splashed on his cheeks before he turned away, was he sick? “Hey, are you okay?” Yifan asked, he was expecting an answer but he only got a nod before Chanyeol started walking once again.

As they walk towards their favorite spot – which was the lake deeper inside the forest – Yifan realized that Chanyeol stopped talking right after he took his mask off, he also stopped looking at him, he suddenly wondered if he did something that made Chanyeol mad at him, but if Chanyeol was indeed mad at him, he will say it since it was his personality to voice out everything.

Yifan wanted to ask him, but then doubts chained it down and ended up not asking about it at all.

When they both settled down, legs in the lake letting the cold water flow around their legs. Chanyeol looked straight at the ends of the lake as Yifan looked down straight at the water itself. No one was still talking around that time, Yifan looked at Chanyeol with his eyes and caught him staring at him. When Chanyeol noticed it, he quickly turned away and started moving his legs swiftly.

“Hey what’s wrong with you?” Yifan asked making Chanyeol flinch from his own position.

“N-nothing … I don’t want to stay here anymore, I want to go home now.” Chanyeol muttered.

It was the first time that Yifan heard Chanyeol say something like that. When he ushered Chanyeol to go home before, he will always retort, throw a fit saying that Yifan hated him or something like that, Yifan would always say no he did not and that he was just concern over the child’s safety, but Chanyeol doesn’t get that, he never wanted to go home, and because of that he always ended up staying till he was already tired or when his grandfather started searching for him.

Even though Yifan doesn’t want him to go, seeing how serious Chanyeol’s face was, he had convinced himself that the younger was experiencing something that he didn’t know, maybe a wound or maybe he’s dizzy , he didn’t know. He doesn’t want to him to go, he wanted him to stay beside him, look at the sun setting leaving the sky in orange and also to welcome the moon along with its stars. But, it was not the time to be greedy, Chanyeol was his top priority before his own desires.

Chanyeol stood up from the lake, half of his legs were still soaking but he continued to walk with Yifan trailing him behind. “Wait, I will lead, you still haven’t memorize all the paths here.” Yifan muttered behind him. Chanyeol stopped before turning to him, watching Yifan move from his back to his front. He had always admired how broad Yifan’s shoulders are, when he daydreams about Yifan in his school, he always dreamt about those shoulders being so warm and comfortable. He raised his hand as if trying to reach for Yifan who was still walking, leading him out of the forest. When Yifan made a shortcut by climbing an elevated rock formation, Chanyeol slipped from the second largest stone because of his wet feet.

Everything became black and white in Chanyeol’s eyes. It was slow, as if seconds had became minutes as minutes became hours. He was slowly falling to the ground, he saw Yifan reaching out for his hand, he’s going to touch him, was about to touch him when Chanyeol snapped from his black and white world and pulled his hand as fast as he can. He fell down on the ground, the ground was rock hard but the grasses on it made the injuries minimal to only a back ache and a few scratches. His body arched when it hit the ground, it was still painful as hell for him.

Yifan rushed towards his side, and was about to touch him when Chanyeol, all of a sudden, shouted. “Stop!”

Yifan froze on the spot as he watches Chanyeol stubbornly forced his self up, using his own knee as support. When he finally got up, he quickly staggered towards the large rocks to lean himself. He placed his right hand across to his body to his left arm as if he was cold. His back was still aching and Yifan was still frozen by Chanyeol’s words when the latter started to speak up. “Don’t touch me.”

The older male furrowed his brows, he couldn’t understand what was happening to Chanyeol around that time, he changed, he changed too much and he does not like this kind of change of him. “What’s wrong, why are you acting like this to me!?” Yifan was frustrated for the first time, frustrated by the fact that there’s something bugging Chanyeol and he doesn’t even know anything about it. He had thought that he had gained the male’s trust but seeing Chanyeol like this really made that assumption crumble down.

“D-don’t touch me, just please don’t!” Chanyeol whimpered, both physically and emotionally in pain. The pain in his back was starting to spread now, he was still hugging himself scared as not because of the fall but because of the fact that, “You almost touched me!” Chanyeol screamed once again.

Birds flew out from their nests, surprised by Chanyeol’s sudden shout.”If you touched me … if you touch me, you will disappear … I don’t want that!” Chanyeol confessed.

“But you hurt yourself! Look you’re in pain right now!” Yifan took small steps forward but stopped when Chanyeol looked at him.

“I don’t care, I don’t care! It’s just a scratch but … but if I touched you, you will disappear permanently!” Tears remained at the edge of his eyes.

“But … Chanyeol!”

“I don’t care! Don’t you ever touch me, whatever happens never touch me, don’t, please Yifan promise me, promise me that you’ll never touch me that you’ll never disappear, that you’ll never leave me alone.” Chanyeol tried to sound happy since that’s what he was feeling, he was happy that he had pulled his hand back to his body before his and Yifan’s hand touched, he was happy that he didn’t disappear.

“You asked me before if I wanted to touch you, now I will finally answer you.” Yifan looked at him straight in the eyes. “I do wanted to hold you, I wanted to touch you, I wanted to know how warm are you, I wanted to be a human Chanyeol, and it’s all because of you.” He walked towards him and when he reached him, he placed the mask on Chanyeol’s face before placing a kiss on it.

When Yifan leaned back, Chanyeol was still wearing the mask, stupefied by what had just happened. “Don’t take it off, wear it until we get out of the forest.” Yifan quickly said when Chanyeol tried to take the mask away.

“Okay …” was just what Chanyeol had managed to say as he was being led once again out of the forest.

Two days after that, Chanyeol didn’t showed up in their meeting place, Yifan waited for two whole days on that same spot, Chanyeol never did showed up.

When the third day came up, Chanyeol finally appeared with an expressionless face which was really unnatural for him to have. Although it was night the place was bright because the moon had shown its most brilliant shine right towards the mountains. Yifan was looking at the sky when Chanyeol came, him and his stoic face.

When steps echoed from the ground to his ear, Yifan quickly turned and spotted Chanyeol walking towards him. He stood up as he waited for him to move closer, his steps were painfully slow but he can wait, he will wait just for him.

Chanyeol raised his head as he stopped a few steps lower than where Yifan stood. “I have something to tell you.” He muttered.

With an acknowledging nod, Yifan lead Chanyeol to the most beautiful place he could ever see.

The place was the same plain Yifan had led him into before. The place was majestically beautiful; it was as if a place that just came out from a fantasy book. The place was b with force that no one can understand, for Yifan it was just a place that he had taken a liking right from the start, but for Chanyeol it was a place where a confession should be made.

“Yifan ..” he muttered making the male being called out turn around.

His heart was beating mad, he never felt like this before, maybe he did when he had some fluttering puppy love before, but now that he had grown up and had now finally able to process the tiny bits of hints inside his head, he had finally realized that he will only give his love for a single … being only.

“I love you.” And there, he finally said it. Chanyeol’s eyes were closed tightly as he waited for his answer. Every single time was moving too slow for him, every whiff of wind that caressed his skin had became too cold without Yifan’s voice responding to his every word, the wait was long, but Chanyeol knew that things will finally start after this, no matter what Yifan will answer, everything will start from here, be it as a start for a new chapter of his life without seeking for Yifan’s love, or a start where he will spend his days with Yifan beside him.

“Thank you.” Yifan answered back.

That simple question was enough for Chanyeol to let his tears fall freely. He raised his head, eyes in its crescent shape and tears drenching both of his rosy cheeks, his hands were clenched in front of him, his lips showed a smile but it was a bitter kind of smile. He had already tasted his tears as it keeps on drowning him. He wanted to disappear, to regret what he just did, and to return back to time and think more about his confession, but he knows that fate and time wouldn’t give him that kind of treat to him.

He smiled, forced a smile and drowned everything while chanting a Chanyeol, everything will be alright, Inside his head. But when he felt lips touched his own, everything became too intense to him. Yifan was kissing him, he had finally tasted how sweet Yifan’s lips are, it was as soft as he had imagined. Yifan’s hands worked its way to his waist, pulling him closer which made the kiss deepened more.

Yifan was the first one who let go and after that, he looked at Chanyeol’s eyes for a moment before hugging him tightly. “I love you too Chanyeol.” He whispered.

Yifan leaned away a bit, hands spread widely as possible. “Come here, Chanyeol.”

Thousands of fireflies lingered around them, every one of them becoming brighter and brighter than before; it was beautiful, really beautiful indeed, Chanyeol was fascinated to it. Then when he heard Yifan’s words, he quickly looked at him, his body was slowly being engulfed by that same beautiful glitters of green. He quickly lunged towards him, tears sparkling in the air.

“No … no no no no no!!” Chanyeol’s hands tightened around Yifan’s waist, no this couldn’t be happening right now, no Chanyeol couldn’t believe what he had just did, what the both of them had done.

“NO! YOU PROMISED YIFAN! PLEASE DON’T GO!” He clutched at Yifan’s body closer, his warmth was there but it was not that strong anymore he couldn’t feel it that much anymore.

“Chanyeol, please forget about me, it’s okay to forget, move on and leave everything behind, leave everything about our days here and move on. Please forget about me, okay?” Yifan whispered, his voice slowly becoming much softer than a whisper.

“No … please ---“

Chanyeol fell on the ground, hands clutching on what’s left of Yifan, his clothes. His tears drenched the chest part of the clothes, he was crying so hard that it started to become painful.

A few minutes after that, Chanyeol had somehow recovered from the loss, he was sitting on the ground eyes staring at the two large trees in front of him. A red thread was inside Yifan’s pants, he took it, stretched it a bit before he smiled after remembering the times they had spent with that same thread tied around their wrists.

He stood up from the ground and walked towards the trees in front of him. He reached out for a branch that’s were almost overlapping at the other tree’s area, he tied the red thread around those two branches making it looked as if the two trees are connected by that one same thread that once connected him and Yifan before he disappeared like a smoke.

Without muttering anything, he left the place with tears finally wiped away from his cheeks, a small wavering smile, hands covered with dirt. He turned around and saw Yifan’s clothes that he just folded and placed right on the foot of the trees, this place was the start where his feelings grew, and now in this place as well, he will bury all of those sweet memories and will try his best to do what Yifan had said before he disappeared. Move on and forget about him. But despite those words, Chanyeol knew best that he can never, and will never, no matter what, forget who Yifan was, He was Yifan, He was a spirt, a man who lived inside the forest, a man who was afraid to be touched by a human, a man with a stoic expression, a man with a mask covering his godly face and lastly, a man that he had fallen in love for the first time.