“Wait...so you’re an elf?” Jonghyun asked, still in shock.

                “Half elf.” Key corrected.

                “Why are you so tall? Is the height from your human side? Wait a minute…does this mean Santa is real?” Jonghyun asked as his mouth formed into an o shape.

                “What?” Key half-laughed and half-scoffed. “I don’t sit around in the snow making toys all year. I live in the woods. I help to protect Alvarie from evil. Plus, elves aren’t actually short. That’s just a story someone made up…elves are of normal height. Also, we’re beautiful and graceful. Some human must have met an elf, became jealous, and spread that rumor about elves. You must be really stupid to believe that story.”

                “WHAT?” Jonghyun said as he grabbed Key’s wrist, pulling him face-to-face. “I dare you to say that again you-“ Jonghyun was distracted by a giant fireball flying past his head.  Key rolled his eyes.

                “Minho,” Key called without even bothering to turn around, “Stop shooting fireballs.”

                “Only if he lets go of you.” said an extremely tall elf that emerged from some nearby bushes. Jonghyun immediately dropped Key’s wrist and slowly backed towards the tree. The tall elf started towards Jonghyun, but Key put a hand up to stop him.

                “Don’t.” said Key. “He’s human.” Minho’s eyes widened and he stared at his friend in shock.

                “Are you serious?”

                “Very.”

                “Guys, did you hear that?” Minho shouted towards the nearby trees.  Jonghyun watched as two more elves emerged from the trees. In his hurry, one of the elves tripped over his own feet , falling flat onto his face. No one bothered to ask if he was unharmed, and he recovered immediately, dusting off his knees and acting as if nothing had happened. The second elf looked slightly younger than the others. He seemed a bit shy and he looked so adorable peeking out from behind Key that Jonghyun was tempted to run over to him and give him a big hug.  

                “Hi! I’m Jinki!” the clumsy elf said with big grin.  

                “And this is Taemin.” Key said as he gently pulled the boy out from behind himself.

                “Hi.” Taemin said as he waved shyly.

                “Are you really human?” Jinki asked excitedly.

                “Yeah.” Jonghyun said. He was beginning to feel like he was special just for being human, and he really liked the feeling.

                “Can you tell us about the outside world?” Taemin asked with shining eyes.

                “How can I so ‘No.’ to that cute face?” he wondered.

                “Well, I can,” Jonghyun began, “but why don’t I just show you instead? Haven’t you ever left this place before?” The elves’ eyes filled with sadness.

                “We can’t leave Alvarie.” Said Minho.

                “Why not?”

                “If we leave Alvarie, we’ll die.” Said Key gravely.

                “What? You’re joking, right?”

                “No…this place is-“Key was interrupted by the sound of Jonghyun’s stomach rumbling.

                “Sorry.” he said as his face turned red.

                “It’s okay,” Key said as he and the others chuckled, “Let’s go back to my cottage. You can eat and I’ll tell you the whole story.” Jonghyun thanked his new friends and followed them through the beautiful forest into what looked like a little village from a fairytale. He was certainly impressed with this Elven kingdom, and the elves were excited that their new human friend liked their home.

                Key opened the door to a small, yet cozy, cottage and indicated for Jonghyun and the others to sit down as he began to prepare some food. As Key started cutting vegetables for some stew, he began to tell Jonghyun the story behind Alvarie.

                 “About one hundred and thirty years ago,” Key began, “an evil advisor worked for the king of Alvarie. He wanted all the power in Alvarie and wanted to use the king to his advantage, but the king was wise and realized what was happening. So, he banished the advisor to the farthest edge of the kingdom which is now known as ‘The Dark Side’.  The evil advisor was so angry that he put a curse on the kingdom, saying that any elf who tried to leave Alvarie through the cave’s entrance would die. The advisor gathered minions and started a war between The ‘dark’ and ‘light’ sides of Alvarie, and that war has been going on for about one hundred and thirty years. Anyway, about thirty years ago, our fathers-who were also human- came to this area to spend a week camping. They accidentally stumbled upon Alvarie and were fascinated with the kingdom. They met our mothers, fell in love, and a short time later were married. When we were little, we loved to sit and listen to our fathers tell us stories about their world. They told us about things called skycrapers, cars, and computers. They told us how at nighttime, if you were to go up to a place called Seoul Tower, you could see thousands of lights twinkle all around the ground for miles and miles. They promised that someday they would find a way to remove the curse and they would take us to see the other world where they grew up.  Sadly, the war took a sudden turn for the worse. One night, members of the dark side set our entire village on fire. Our fathers tried to gather everyone in the town square, and then they went back into houses that still had people inside to try and rescue them.  They saved so many people that night, but sadly, one of the houses collapsed on them and they…they didn’t survive.” Key blinked back tears and continued, “Now, the four of us fight for our fathers and for the injustice that was done to them. Though they were not elves, they loved Alvarie as much as anyone, and they did so much for our kingdom. We want to break this curse so that their wishes of saving the people of Alvarie can come true, and so that we may see the world where they grew up.”

                “I want to help.” Jonghyun said as he wiped tears from his cheek.

                “What?” the other four asked in surprise.

                “I-I haven’t done anything very admirable in my life. I am stupid and I mess things up a lot, but this is a chance for me to not only prove to myself that I am not a failure, but a chance to help you as well. What do you say?” Jonghyun asked nervously.

                Key looked at the other four who all nodded in agreement. Jinki walked to one of the small cottage windows and Minho to the other. They drew both sets of curtains as Taemin lit a lantern. Key flipped over the table to reveal what appeared to be a giant map of Alvarie.

                “Here’s our plan.”