Almost running down the mountain, Junho did his best to follow Chansung. It was still early when they came down, finally stopping in front of the train station.

"Where do you want to go?" Hesitantly Junho asked, not fully understanding the sudden urgency.

"Hmmm." For a moment, Chansung stood completely still, staring up to the sky, almost like he was reading something, and then suddenly exclaimed: "Daejeon!"

"You want to go to Daejeon?" That seemed totally random and out of the blue, "Why?"

"We need to meet him."

"Who?"

"Hyung."

"Someone you know?"

Immediately Chansung nodded, seemingly happy that he understood. But frankly, Junho didn't understand anything at all so he hesitantly tried asking:

"How do you know he is there?"

"He told me," Chansung answered matter-of-factly.

This was simply getting weirder and weirder and didn't make any sense. Perhaps this friend had talked to Chansung before he came to Junho's house, but then why the sudden urgency? Though for all Junho knew, there could have been a magical phone call during the night, using a straw and a bean.

Sighing, he gave up on trying to figure this out. It truly was frustrating never knowing what was going on, but everything Chansung had told him so far had turned out to be true. So probably he should give him the benefit of the doubt and believe in him.

Unfortunately, the next train to Daejeon was more than three hours away, so they had to wait. Although actually, this was a good opportunity to get basic necessities, like money. Going into town, they found a bank, and with the help of some fake IDs, drawn with a pencil on a piece of paper, and Chansung's magic dust they were able to access Junho's bank account, and he withdrew enough money to last them for a while. Then they were able to have breakfast, the honest way, and pay for the things they had ´bought´ the previous day.

Eventually the train arrived. Struggling to get their luggage up to the overhead compartment, Junho suddenly felt a warm body pressing up behind him, as Chansung helped him lift the weight of his bag.

"I-I can do this myself," Junho objected, red in the face over their sudden closeness.

"Of course you can," Chansung answered casually, "It's just easier if we do it together."

Completely not bothered by their closeness, Chansung then sat down by the window, and sheepishly Junho sat down next to him.

Because he was curious, and had nothing better to do Junho picked up his grandfather's book from his backpack. Looking through the pages, he could see that they were empty, but somehow, it felt like they were not.

"What are you thinking?" Chansung asked curiously.

"I don't know," Junho started hesitantly, not sure how much he should share. "Somehow... it feels like there is more to these pages that meets the eye."

"Maybe it's a spell?" eagerly Chansung suggested.

"A spell?"

"Yeah, if there is something important written there, maybe your grandfather didn't want anyone to be able to read it?"

"But then how can I read it?"

"Uhm... I don't know... Maybe there is some really simple spell that only wizards can do?"

"And how will that help me?"

"Well you're a wizard, obviously," Chansung replied like he didn't understand the problem.

Sighing deeply, Junho decided to let it go this time. He did not feel like fighting this ridiculous wizard-theory right now. Still, the book kept him hypnotized, and he tried to find more clues about its content, or whether it had any at all.

But it was difficult to focus, because next to him, Chansung was being extremely fidgety, and barely stayed still in his seat more than a minute at the time. Like that wasn't enough, every five minutes or so, he kept asking: "Are we there yet?", "How far is it left?", "Do you think we will be there soon?"

All these questions made Junho feel like he was traveling with a five year old, and he put away the book, figuring he'd need more quiet time to be able to concentrate.

"So... You are really looking forward to meet him, huh?" he asked after Chansung had nagged him for the fiftieth time.

"Of course!" he exclaimed, "I didn't even know hyung was here!"

"In South-Korea?"

"In humanland," he answered matter-of-factly.

"This friend of yours..." Junho tried hesitantly, "Is he a fairy too?" Feeling a bit silly for having a conversation where it was believed that fairies were real, even though he had seen it with his own eyes.

"Mmh." Chansung answered simply.

"A-Are you very excited to see him?" Not knowing exactly why he was asking, Junho simply needed to know the answer.

"Of course," Chansung answered casually, looking out of the window, "He's one of my favorite hyungs."

For some reason, that answer did not make Junho especially happy. Slightly blushing, he remembered what the fairy said the first time they met, how he had physical relations with other men. And Junho started thinking that maybe this person they were meeting was that kind of hyung.

Even if he was, of course that was not Junho's business. Still, he couldn't help wondering.

The rest of the trip passed peacefully, apart from Chansung occasionally asking how long they had left. When they finally reached Daejeon, Junho felt a bit dazed. Too many things had happened, least of which he perfectly understood. And now he was standing in the middle of some train station, in a foreign town, with no plan of what to do next.

"So..." he started hesitantly, "...have you any idea how to find this friend of yours?"

"Nope."

"No!?!" This was not exactly the answer that Junho had been hoping for.

"Wait." For a moment Chansung stood completely still, and then blurted out happily: "Paradise Hotel!"

"A-Are you sure?" Honestly, none of this sounded especially convincing.

But he was met with a big smile, and before Junho could voice out his worries, Chansung grabbed his wrist and dragged him along.

In front of the train station, Junho asked for directions, but the strange thing was that Chansung seemed to know the way, and led him through the streets of Daejeon.

After more than 20 minutes of walking, they stood in front of a big, very glamorous hotel, and on its top 'Paradise Hotel' was written in golden letters.

"Are you sure this is it?"

"Mmh," Chansung replied confidently, "Room 616," and then he dragged Junho inside.

It was almost painful how badly they stuck out like sore thumbs. With wrinkled and dirty clothes, and a cheap backpack, Junho felt like everyone was watching him. Desperately he tried to fix his hair a bit, but it was no use, it curled up in the most impossible ways.

They didn't stay in the lobby for long because Chansung almost ran to the elevator, impatiently tapping his leg until they reached the sixth floor. As soon as he found the correct room, he simply opened up the door without so much as a knock and awkwardly Junho followed him inside.

"Nichkhun hyung!" Chansung immediately shouted, dropped his bag to the floor, and jumped onto the bed, hugging a man that was lying under the bedcovers.

The intimate greeting was making Junho feel very awkward and out of place, and he wasn't sure how he felt about the whole thing. But what made him even more uncomfortable was that on the humongous bed with Chansung's friend were two girls, one on each side, neither of them wearing much of anything. The girls however, seemed to know as much about the situation as he did.

Laughing heartedly, eventually the guy on the bed seemed to get enough of the excessive hugs and kisses, and gently pushed him off. Sitting on the edge of the bed, Chansung was still smiling like an idiot.

"Ladies," the stranger said smoothly, "Thank you very much for last night." Leaning in, he gave one of them a kiss passionate enough to make Junho blush, and then he added: "...and this morning... and the rest of the day," before he gave the other girl the same treatment while the first one was giggling.

"I hope you don't mind, but now I have an old friend I really have to catch up with." Accepting this gladly, both of them stood up, and started to pick up their clothes from the floor.

Blushing even deeper, Junho turned their back to them when he realized that they were only wearing see-through bras and skimpy underpants that hid next to nothing. Of all the situations he had thought he would encounter, this was not one of them.

Although he tried to give them privacy, Junho couldn't help hearing more giggling, possibly some , and definitely more kisses, before they left the room and the stranger closed the door behind them. Only then did he dare to turn around again.

"Well I am glad to see you Chansung-ah," the man said happily, giving him another hug, "Even though I do wish you could have skipped this little trip of ours."

"Same," Chansung answered briefly. Apparently he wasn't more of a wordsmith next to his friend, than he was around Junho.

"Now, what do we have here," the stranger said while looking at Junho like he was only noticing him now for the very first time. "Hello, I'm Nichkhun, nice to meet you." With a big bright smile he held out his hand.

"Ehm, hi... I'm Junho" he replied awkwardly, taking his hand.

"Wow, a wizard you say?" he added impressed, looking back at Chansung. Except that he hadn't said anything at all, but now he replied:

"He’s the son of Master Park's daughter."

"Impressive," Nichkhun said with a smile, but then he added more seriously: "I’m really sorry for your loss."

Not really knowing what to say, Junho broke the handshake and stared down at the floor. He wasn't comfortable talking about his grandfather's death, especially not with strangers.

Putting his arm on his shoulder, Nichkhun added with the sweetest part of his voice: "Thank you, for what you did for Chansung, bringing him to the magic lake."

"No problem," Junho said feeling uncomfortable. It was not like he had done any of that for Nichkhun's sake, so there was nothing he should be thanking him for.

To tell the truth, Junho wasn't really sure how he felt about this guy. He was very handsome and certainly charming. But he was almost too sweet somehow and what kind of person would have two girls in his bed in the middle of the day? That definitely felt more than a little sleezy. The fact that he was wearing nothing but a bathrobe did not help his image.

But that was not the only thing bothering Junho, so he blurted out slightly irritated:

"How do you know all of this?" Because he was very sure that Chansung had not made a single phone call since they first met.

For a short moment, Nichkhun stared at him, eyes wide open, like he had just asked the most ridiculous question of all. But instead of answering like a normal person, he looked back at his friend who was still sitting on the bed, smiling at them happily.

"Yah," he snapped at him in a slightly nagging tone, "You didn't explain anything to him?"

"I-I explained," Chansung replied defensively, "...a lot"

Questioningly, Nichkhun looked back at Junho, like he didn't completely trust his friend's answer.

"Maybe not a lot" Junho couldn't help admitting, ignoring the hurt look of betrayal that Chansung sent him.

Sighing deeply, Nichkhun shook his head. Though honestly, in Junho's opinion, he should have just explained himself whatever needed explaining, instead of spending energy on being so unimpressed with his friend.

Eventually he muttered curiously again:

“A wizard, huh?”

Not sure how to answer that, Junho simply looked at him. Suddenly there was a slight glint in Nichkhun’s eyes, and while still staring at Junho, he asked Chansung, “So you brought back some magic water from the lake?”

“Uhm, yes,” Chansung replied, standing up, going to the entryway to fetch a bottle to show his friend.

As soon as he turned his back on him, within seconds, Nichkhun had reached for something on the desk next to him, and then threw glitter all over Junho, but unlike Chansung’s glitter it was almost pitch black.

For a moment, Junho wondered if something would happen, but nothing did. But before he even had the chance to react and say something, Chansung turned around in his footprints, angrily looking at his friend:

“Did You Just Black Dust Him?” Glaring at Nichkhun, he came closer to Junho, and then randomly started to sniff his neck, and his shoulder. “You did, didn’t you?”

Feeling completely embarrassed, Junho had no idea what was happening, and why Chansung was suddenly sniffing him.

“I just wanted to see if it worked,” Nichkhun admitted innocently, “See if the legends were true!”

“I already tried to dust him, you saw that!”

“But I just wanted to check if it worked for black dusting too.”

“What is the matter with you? What if it would have worked?”

“Well, then we would have dealt with it.”

“Ugh…” For the first time, since Junho had met him, Chansung seemed genuinely angry. But suddenly his expression turned into terror, and he looked down, and then up again at the two of them. Then once more down, and then he bit his lips nervously, “. It’s working.”

“Of course it’s working, silly.” Nichkhun sighed deeply. “You find out I’m black dusting him and you decide to sniff him. How is that a good idea?”

“I-I wasn´t thinking.”

“Clearly not.”

“What do we do?” Chansung asked nervously biting his lip.

“Well, I’ll just take him down for dinner, while you handle things…” But then a devious smile appeared on Nichkhun’s lips: “Unless… you want me to leave him here to help?”

For a moment, Chansung seemed to contemplate this idea. Suddenly both of them were staring at Junho, Chansung pleadingly, and Nichkhun with a mischievous grin plastered across his face, and it felt like he was being asked a question, but Junho had no idea which one, so eventually he desperately muttered out:

“W-What?”

Apparently that was the wrong answer, and Chansung sighed in deep disappointment:

“You better take him.”

Dropping his bathrobe to the bed, Nichkhun was suddenly standing completely in front of them, making Junho believe that fairies weren’t particularly shy about showing skin. Picking up some trousers from the chair, he put them on, and even though Junho tried carefully not to look at all, he couldn’t help noticing that Nichkhun didn’t put on any underwear. Within a couple of minutes, he had put on a shirt and some shoes and was all but pushing Junho out of the door.

Helplessly, he stared back at Chansung, but he simply stared pleadingly back at him. This was too strange, Junho had no idea what was going on, and why he suddenly had to go away with this man he had just met. But with a gentle, but firm hand on his lower back, Nichkhun pushed him out of the room, saying reassuringly:

“No worries, Junho-sshi, I will explain everything.”

Hello babies!

Yay! Nichkhun appeared!

Hopefully his explanations will start to shed light on some things, both for Junho and the rest of you too.

Thanks for reading ♥♥♥