A/N: hello everyone~~~ this is the third and the last chapter! It’s the longest chapter I’ve ever written, about 30,500 words long (even longer than the 28k word bonus chapter on my story OSD) so make sure you have enough free time before you read this! x)


Warning: this chapter contains a little bit of quite sensitive contents, just on a few parts, so I didn’t give the “M” mark on it haha the rest of it should make you smile instead (I hope so) xD just like other authors I don’t wish my story to be reported, so I tried not to write too many details on those parts and everyone is of legal age here (even Sehun too) so I hope everything’s fine!


This should get interesting later, so… enjoy! ^^

 

As a soft-hearted creature who had used to live happily in a land full of rainbows and unicorns and colorful mushrooms, never once had Luhan imagined himself being in such a horrifying crime scene. To make it worse; the victim wasn't himself, but his loved one and he could barely do anything to help.


This one big guy had been coming to Sehun's teeny tiny house to take all money he had ever since many years ago, when the neighborhood had just been about to be built. He had been the landlord, a very rich one, yet he had sold his land to a big corporation for the money due to bankruptcy. However, the young Sehun had begged him to spare the very small patch of land that he had been living on because he had had nowhere else to live. Hence, he had excluded Sehun's area from the deal with one condition; he had to pay every month with no exact amount determined by this man, depending on how much he felt like taking from the poor boy. No matter how expensive it was, he had to pay it and if he couldn't, that was when he had to leave.


Sadly, this previously rich guy was then broke. He took advantage of Sehun's existence by snatching whatever he wanted from him; not just money, but it could also be stolen clothes or jewelries. This time, though, he actually went over the limit; the drunk man came with a bad intention of hurting the innocent boy mentally and physically, all just to please his drunk self.


"Oh Sehun, you know what? I'm all fed up with your already. I guess... I don't want your money anymore."


"No! Please- W-What are you doing?? Let go of me!" As if Sehun's body were as light as a paper, the man flipped him easily and made him get onto his palms and his knees in a doggy position. He ripped Sehun's clothes off of him until there was nothing on him but his precious necklace, hanging and swinging back and forth under his terrified gaze, reminding him of his deceased loving mother who wasn't able to come and save him. When the drunk man pressed the tip of his gun on the back of the teen's head, Luhan's boiling blood rapidly raised to his head that he thought he might explode in his globe any second. But weird... his body; he couldn't move a single muscle! It remained still like the tiny statue he was.


NO! Sehunnie! Papa, I have to help him! Let me move!


"You dare move a muscle or make a noise, I'll blow your head off." The drunk former landlord tried to take off his own pants clumsily but gave up anyway, failing to do so, he just let them slide down to his thighs. Unfortunately the little deer couldn't move his hands nor his head; he mentally shrieked as his innocent eyes were scarred to life by the sight of the hairy . Yet, his inaudible shriek was nothing louder than the shrill that broke into the air the next second, as the drunk man shoved into Sehun's rear opening by force without even bothering to prepare him. Just then did Luhan realize, his dear owner was being .


"It hurts! Stop! P-Please!" tears streamed down the poor teenager's face as the big man rammed into him continuously like some sort of a wild animal. He tried to crawl away, but each time he moved, the grip on his hips only became tighter until he winced in pain. He was too weak to fight back.


"H...Heeelp! Help me!" It hurts. The stinging pain on his rear was nothing compared to the pain in his heart, realizing that he was actually all alone. He knew no matter how hard he shouted, no one would come to help him. His parents were too far up there to hear him, and his only human friend, Lu; he didn't even know where he lived. While his little friend... Luhan, he must be watching him with the usual same smile on his face.


Don't look at me, Luhan. Look away.


Sehun's head dropped to his pillow and his fingers gripped the blanket beneath him hard until his knuckles turned white, his teeth clenched as he tried to hold back his sobs, but to no avail. His shoulders shook as he sobbed hard in pain. Luhan was disgusted at himself for smiling at the heartbreaking sight.


"," the man cursed when he accidentally placed his knee on his gun that he had dropped to the bed. Angrily he picked the gun and threw it onto the desk, and after spinning twice across the surface, it stopped right in front of the glowing snow globe. The deer mentally widened his eyes and held his breath. This... This is my chance, isn't it? D-Do I have to shoot him? Perhaps in the balls? That was when Papa Beard finally allowed him to move; his smile flew away into the air as he dropped his violin to the artificial snow and ran towards the crystal wall.


"Sehunnie!! Wait for me, I'm coming-" Dunk! "-Ow!! Hey!" Luhan held his reddening forehead and frowned at the wall of his globe. He began to pound his tiny fists onto it, but finding out that he could no longer go through it, beads of tears started to pour out of his beautiful big eyes. "No, let me out! LET ME OUT!"


An evil smirk grew on the drunk bulky man's face as he eyed Sehun's stretched opening while continuously ing into it. ", you're bleeding." Both the human boy and the deer cried even harder.


But then as if Papa Beard were directing his attention, Luhan's eyes shifted to the gun laid in front of him. A surprised gasp immediately slipped out of his tiny mouth when he found a familiar brand name printed on its side.


It was a toy gun.


Gosh, I should've known! Civilians here are not allowed to carry guns around. Then that he had figured out the weapon was a fake one, how would he make the guy stop his savage act? Knock his head with it? He might get strangled to death before he could do that.


A cute scowl formed on Luhan's face as he tried to work his smart brain in an angry way. When the light bulb in his head finally , though, his face brightened up and he ran to his mini house immediately. That's it! This will get him in trouble. Well, maybe he himself too would get in trouble, but... This is for Sehunnie!


Sehun's head was spinning that he thought he was about to pass out soon, but then something prevented him to do so.


"Hey bulldog guy, let go of him!" Sehun's eyes widened to the maximum and his tears stopped abruptly. He didn't have to turn his head to know whose voice it was.


Snap! A flash of light went off right at the same time when the man turned his head towards the source of the voice. There, Luhan stood with a polaroid camera in his hand and a smile of victory on his face, had completely forgotten that he was still in his white outfit. He took the picture that came out of the camera, waved it in the air and showed the forming image to the shocked man.


"Let go of him if you don't wanna go to jail, you ."


"Lu- Lu hyung!" Sehun freed himself from the shocked man's hold and quickly hid under his blanket out of shame, while the man practically growled at Luhan as he pulled his pants up and pounced off the bed to catch the uninvited witness.


"Sehunnie, go to sleep!" Luhan shouted before turning on his heels and dashing out of the house as fast as he could. On his way out, the mad gorilla snatched his toy gun along with Sehun's violin and angrily smashed the instrument onto the door until it crashed into tiny pieces, leaving only the neck that he carried along to beat Luhan up. Under his blanket, the fragile boy curled into a ball and trembled hard, traumatized but even more terribly scared because his only friend was in danger. He closed his watery eyes and silently prayed for his safety.


Meanwhile, while running into the darkness of the night, Luhan chanted to his Papa repeatedly, "Papa, I wish Sehunnie would forget what happened tonight! I wish he'd forget the pain, erase it all from his memory! Let him sleep peacefully and... M-Make him forget I was there!"


Luhan yelped when the man made it to catch the back of his white suit and yanked him back. With a swing of his fist, Luhan's body was thrown to the ground. The camera that he had been carrying along fell off his grip and the man stepped on it until it was broken, but the deer didn't let go of the piece of picture in his hand, even when the man kicked him and stepped on him mercilessly. His gaze was slowly turning blurry because of the tears pooling in his eyes.


This is for Sehunnie. When the man gripped the collar of his suit and pulled him up by force, Luhan put the picture between his lips and in a blink of an eye, he shrank into a cute little dog with fluffy white fur. The man was so surprised that he let go of the dog involuntarily, letting him run away with the picture in his mouth without doing anything to catch him back. He stood there with wide eyes like a statue for what seemed like forever, until a woman passing by shrieked seeing his ed pants drop to his feet. With that, Luhan the puppy was safe.


Still in form of a puppy, Luhan limped his way slowly back to Sehun's house. His floppy ears were hanging sadly and his cute button nose was making sniffing sounds, his sad round brown eyes were glassy and wet and sad whimpers kept coming out of his mouth. When he finally reached the door, he laid himself there to give his sore body a little rest and closed his eyes for a bit. He had never been in so much pain before... But he knew the boy inside was in a much bigger pain.


Yet, when Luhan peeked inside, surprisingly he found the human boy sleeping soundly in his bed. His second wish really worked; that means he only had one wish left. No, he didn't regret using it at all, if it meant he had just helped his dear friend forget that hurtful night.


Luhan, in form of a human, slowly approached the bed with his tears threatening to fall all over again. Sehun was still , the lower half of his thin body was only covered by his old worn out blanket. In his hand was a piece of polaroid picture; the picture of Luhan laughing heartily with his funny yet beautiful big smile. In that picture his face had been flawless like one of a baby's, but then, he had a very noticeable bruise on his cheek because of the drunk man. Not just on his face, but also on his body, all hidden under his clothes. But Luhan couldn't care less about those wounds.


While crying like a mother seeing her baby hurt, he held the sleeping boy in his arms, kissed his head and gently rocked him back and forth. "It's okay, it's okay," he whispered, "you're safe now, you'll be okay."


Luhan rolled the young boy onto his tummy carefully, making sure to turn his head to the side so he could breathe while he went to the bathroom to get a wet towel. He hesitated for a bit, Would he be mad if he knew I touched him? But... But I need to nurse his wound! Yes, it's really okay to touch him a little bit. He assured himself once again before pulling the blanket down, revealing a pair of very tempting round white buns. Luhan forgot to breathe for a few seconds. They're... I didn't know they were this chubby. However when he spotted the bluish marks left on Sehun's hips, his common sense jumped back into him and he began to cry again, trying hard not to think how cute those buns were.


"Sehunnie... Poor baby," he sniffed while dabbing the towel gently onto the boy's rear, cleaning the bleeding cut that the insane bulldog guy had left on him. "This must hurt a lot. I should have asked Papa to heal you too. Should I use my last wish?" But what if later he needed it for something urgent? No, he couldn't be that careless.


Luhan went over to the pile of clothes in the corner and picked some warm clothes to replace Sehun's torn ones. He dressed him up carefully and wrapped him up with the blanket like a baby, and before he returned to his globe, he caressed Sehun's hair and gave him a soft goodnight kiss on the temple once again.


"Sleep well, Sehunnie. This is only a really bad nightmare, tomorrow you'll be fine again."


For once he thought, How would it feel like to sleep next to him? It would be really nice if he could hold him until the morning came. But no, he thought, I can't risk my mission just for that! M-Maybe... Maybe later, on my last day. With a sad and hesitant sigh, he returned back to his spot inside the globe, with the evidence of the landlord's crime still secured in the pocket of his suit. The moment he fell into deep slumber, his body hardened and froze into a statue, yet a tiny bit of the fade purplish mark still remained there on his smiling face.


That was one of the things that made Sehun greatly curious and suspicious the next morning.


"This is so weird- O-Ow! Ouch, it really hurts... Did a bug bite my butthole? Such a shameless animal. No, no, it can't be. This is much worse than that. Oh- W-What's with these bruises on my hips?? This is bad. This is really bad. Oh? M-My violin! Oh my goodness, who broke my violin??"


Sehun kept on panicking as he discovered more surprises on his body and around the room, restlessly squirming around in his bed because he could barely walk with the sharp pain in his bottom. At the sight of the broken pieces of his precious violin, he practically cried as he crawled his way to it. "What do I do? Lu hyung is gonna be mad at me."


He took Luhan's globe and brought it to his bed, crying while clutching it to his chest, scared because he couldn't remember a thing about what had happened the night before. Had he been robbed? Had someone done something bad to him? Who could it be and what had they done? Because the boy thought the pain and the marks on his lower part were really suspicious, and he could only come up with one possibility.


"Luhannie, did I... get ?" And when he saw the faint mark on Luhan's face, that was when he actually got lost in his deep suspicion and endless assumptions. Especially after he could walk again properly, when he searched for his only human friend, he was nowhere to be found.


Sehun did force himself hard to remember about that night. Of all scenes, the faint image that flashed in his head was his friend Lu, standing in the middle of his house, wearing the exact outfit like the one his little deer had. It was really weird, he couldn't figure out whether it was a memory from his dream or the real life. The more he thought about it, the more he felt like his head were about to explode, so he always ended up giving up. But still, he was curious about one thing, as he had always been since the first time he had known his older friend. Lu... Luhan. Lu. Fishy.


Luhan had decided that maybe he should wait for a few days until his bruise faded away before he could meet Sehun in his form of a human. He just hadn't expected himself to long for the boy so much, he really missed having a two-way talk with him and spending the day with him outside, helping people out or just practicing the violin at the park. Sehun too felt the same; he then spent more of his time at home, staring at the pictures of the pretty doe-eyed man and himself with a pout on his face, sometimes with glassy eyes.


"Where are you? Why did you disappear? I miss you, dummy hyung. Could it be... it was you who me? I can't remember anything but you. If you really did... I guess, I-I won't really mind. But you should have asked me first. It really hurt, you know. A-And you shouldn't have run away."


Luhan couldn't believe his ears. What nonsense are you talking about, Sehunnie?? I-I didn't you! I wouldn't even if you don't mind! if he had been in his human form, he would have probably turned into a tomato-man.


Therefore, to clarify the truth, when Sehun was away Luhan left a piece of paper at his door with a message: Meet me at the park tomorrow afternoon, 3 PM. - L.


It would be quite underestimating if it was said that Sehun was happy when he found that message; he was like a wife getting a letter from his husband who had gone to war since centuries ago. "Yes, finally!!" he even kissed the paper, making Luhan mentally blush at his act.


So the following day, the two finally met again after a week had passed without them seeing or contacting each other. The first thing that Sehun did was squeezing the life out of the older male, and then staring at his face with a surprised look for almost a good minute, and then asking with a thick curiosity dripping in his voice, "What happened to your face, hyung?" The shape and the position of his bruise was exactly the same as the mini deer statue's, obviously, only the color was a tad bit bolder.


"I... ran into a pole," Luhan laughed awkwardly. To his dismay, Sehun was fast to spot another faint bluish mark and a scratch on his arm, and before he knew it, the lanky teenage boy flipped his shirt up and shoved his head into it. Luhan froze and shut his eyes. I'm so dead.


"You ran into a pole? Or did you get hit by someone with a pole?" Sehun pulled his head out of Luhan's shirt and narrowed his eyes. "Or was it really a pole?" Luhan's mouth remained shut. "Hyung, please don't lie to me. Now tell me, did you get into a fight?"


“I didn’t.” Luhan looked away and pouted. I didn’t fight, I got beaten up and then ran away.


“Did your parents hit you?”


“Nope.” I wouldn’t have been alive now if Papa had hit me.


“Aish. Did someone hit you??” Sehun started to get impatient.


“…Yeah.”


“Why?”


“Because I made him angry.”


“Who was he?” Luhan contemplated to tell the truth. The photograph in the pocket of his pants seemed to be burning into the fabric, tickling his skin with the heat. “Do I know him?” Sehun asked again, with more urge in his voice. Luhan knew he was supposed to bring the evidence to the police, yet something had been holding him from doing so; he was worried about how Sehun would feel about it. People would find out about what had happened and they would look at him with pity, as if his life itself weren’t pitiful enough. Would he be able to bear that much disgrace?


“Hyung… Was it me?”


“…W-What?”


“Did I hit you?”


“No- No! Of course not, why would you think of that? You don’t have any reasons to hit me, do you?”


A frown formed on Sehun’s forehead. “Didn’t you come to my house last week? Didn’t you…” Sehun’s question was left hanging in the air, being a cue for Luhan to finally understand the scenario he had in his mind. According to Sehun’s assumption, he had probably hit Luhan blindly when the latter had been trying to get into his pants; that was how both of them had gotten the bruises.


“I guess we have a little misunderstanding here.” Luhan cleared his throat awkwardly, his face slightly flushed. “I don’t… remember doing anything that could cause you to hit me. Whatever it is. I got these bruises from someone else, definitely not you- Maybe you’ll find out later, but not now. I’m not ready to tell you, okay? Now don’t be nosy on your hyung.”


“B-But, your wound-“


“What is it again?” Luhan snapped softly in attempt to brush off the topic.


“It’s… It’s the same as Luhannie’s.”


“…Your Luhannie can’t have wounds unless you break him.”


“But he really has it! On his right cheek, just like yours! Do I have to bring him to you so you can see it by yourself? It’s... It's all really weird, all the common things you both have! No, no, not just that. Ever since the day I found him in the snow and took him home, many weird things have happened to me and until now I really have no idea if it all has anything to do with him. First I came home to find food and money on my desk almost every day, and then my Spongebob boxers were gone, and then suddenly the food and money stopped coming to me and finally I found you not long after that! We became friends and I still talked to Luhannie every day, and you know what, talking to him somehow feels like talking to you. It's like, we're together during the day, and then I go home just to meet you again, but the mini version of you. I thought that was ridiculous of me to think that way, until just now, when I noticed your bruise. Well not really just now actually, but since that mark appeared on his face, can you even tell where did that mark come from?? There isn't even a single crack on his globe, not to mention he isn't even alive, like you said. I too can't believe he has a wound, but it is there. It's even weirder that on the same morning when I first found him like that, there were many other suspicious traces left on my body and around my house, and I can't even remember what happened the night before! My... My bottom really hurt and... my violin, it was in pieces."


Sehun trailed off and bowed his head in guilt. "I can't practice with you anymore. I've wasted our energy and the money we collected together."


It was all too clear that the poor boy was lost in his own head, Luhan really wanted to hug him so bad but he was too scared to do so. Sehun's deep suspicion made him feel so insecure that he didn't even dare move a muscle, what he did was only sitting straight with his eyes locked on his hands that were tightly clutching each other. Sehun misinterpreted his silence and awkward body language as something else, though.


"Hyung, I'm so sorry, please don't be mad at me. I will find more money-"


"It's okay," Luhan cut abruptly, "don't apologize to me, it's not your fault. Um, does... your bottom still hurt?"


"Oh, n-no. It's okay now." The two young males averted their gazes away from each other shyly. Sehun continued, "I could only get an image of you when I tried to remember that night. So I thought... I thought you really came and... did something to me."


"I didn't. Really."


"Maybe it was really just a dream," Sehun sighed sadly, "because I saw you in Luhannie's clothes. But the image, it was so real. I don't know what happened to me that night, maybe someone came and me, broke my violin and ran away, it's all I could think of. Maybe I'm not even a anymore-" Sehun paused to calm his shaky breath, "that idea really scared me, I'm still afraid you'd be disgusted at me."


"I won't be," Luhan furrowed his eyebrows at the ground, suddenly feeling angry as he recalled the very ugly scene. "If- Even if it's true, it doesn't change anything. You're still my friend."


Luhan's head lifted up in anticipation when he felt Sehun's soft touch on his hand. "Thank you, it really makes me feel better." Sehun's lips quivered forming a small smile that lingered only for a second. "But I'm still lost, hyung. I sometimes think you are really him, but how come? Tell me, hyung. Tell me it’s not true and you’re not him. I’m really going insane because of this. I need you to reassure me. Please?"


Luhan’s gaze gradually became blurry because of the tears coating his eyes. He didn’t want to lie no more, how he was desperate to say yes, I am him! He wanted Sehun to know that he was the one whom he had been talking to every day in the last two months, but wouldn’t that be a suicide? What about his mission and his promise to his best friend Kyungsoo to meet again?


"Why aren't you saying anything?"


"You're weird." Luhan looked away to secretly blink back his tears. "Of... Of course I'm not him. Like I once told you, maybe someone saw me and then created him and made him look like me. He's... He's inanimate, I'm alive. Of course we're not the same. You're a really strange kid, you know that?" The emotional deer stood up and turned away, but before he could even take a step, a pair of skinny arms caught his waist and held him still. He could feel Sehun's hard chest pressed against his back and his pointy chin rested on his shoulder, the hot breath blowing behind his ear and the warmth enveloping him instantly making him melt into goo. It was a whole new feeling to the deer; suddenly his heart made a leap and his body turned rigid like it did in his globe.


"Where are you going? Please don't leave me again, Lu." Sehun's deep yet gentle voice sent chill down Luhan's spine, and the way he called his name; it was so loving that Luhan would probably cry if Sehun said it one more time. "Don't leave me because I'm weird. I know you're different, you're not like everyone else who left me alone. Now that you've entered my life, been the only light for me, I think I won't be able to survive without you. I have no other purposes in my life, if you leave, then what am I going to live for? I guess I'm still alive now because of you. It's because I found you and Luhannie that I decided to continue living my pointless life, I was about to end it, but I changed my mind. That's why, I really need you. Just- Just forget my stupid thoughts earlier, please stay with me. I really missed you."


"...You're wrong, Sehunnie." Luhan's sad gaze traveled down to the arms hugging his waist. "You're still alive now not because of me, but because your creator still lets you to live." Sehun's eyebrows knitted together in confusion, not really understanding the other's somewhat weird talking. "You've done lots of mistakes in your whole life, it could have made your creator angry and maybe punish you by taking you back, but now you're still alive anyway. You're still allowed to breathe, wake up this morning and meet me today. You see, Sehunnie, everything around you is temporary." The deer's breath hitched and his lips trembled slightly. Closing his eyes, he inhaled a deep breath before turning around to cup Sehun's face in his hands and stare sharply into his eyes. "I am temporary. Don't make yourself dependent on me. Like I've told you before, I-I can't promise you I'll stay forever with you, someday there will be the time when I have to leave." Which was in less than a month. "But I'm thankful because my creator still gives me a chance to see you again. I'm very thankful that he let me encounter someone like you. I want... I want to use this chance to be happy with you, so please don't doubt me. I might have not told you every little bits about me like you've done, maybe I'm not the most trustworthy person either, but while I'm here please trust me. It's only a matter of time you'll know almost everything about me. We're... We're best friends after all, aren't we?"


Sehun blinked once and his sad puppy eyes were glistening with tears. "B-Best friends...?"


Luhan nodded and smiled. "You're my best friend and my only friend here." Luhan's smile then turned into a small circle and his eyes rounded as Sehun tilted his head and pressed his lips softly onto his cheek, letting the kiss linger and burn his heated reddening skin. Gently the younger boy wrapped his arms around the other's body and hugged him lovingly, closing his wet eyes as he let his cheek rest on his shoulder.


"I love you, Lu." At that, the deer's clenched muscles loosened up as he returned the hug. A shy smile was only growing bigger on his flushed face; those simple words mumbled by the human boy had just done wonders inside him.


"I love you too, Sehunnie." Let's be best friends forever in our hearts.


"Is this okay? Me calling you by your name?"


"Oh, o-of course." I've been waiting for that!


"...It was my birthday."


"H-Huh?"


"That night was my birthday." Sehun pulled away and smiled. "I'm eighteen now."


Luhan could show no other reactions other than gawking at the slightly taller boy in disbelief. "But... But you said it was in April!"


Sehun grinned sheepishly and scratched his head. "I thought I shouldn't let you know just yet, because we were still collecting money to buy my violin when you asked about my birthday. I just didn't want you to do anything for me."


Luhan yanked the boy back into his arms and squeezed the air out of him. "Happy birthday, Sehunnie. I'm sorry, I really didn't know." His heart clenched when he realized what kind of gift Sehun had received on his birthday, or if it could even be considered a gift. He had lost something instead. But thanks to Luhan’s wish, the boy could barely feel any mental pain from the hurtful event. Could that wish be considered a gift? "I should have stayed with you that night, we could have been outside eating something delicious. You... You wouldn't have gotten hurt. Please let me do something to make it up to you!"


"You can do one thing for me," Sehun said solemnly.


"Just tell me, I'll do anything."


"I've told you. Stay with me. It's okay that you couldn't be there on my birthday, I've always celebrated it alone anyway, but on every other days you have to be there for me. That's how you can make it up. Is it too hard? Can you do that for me?"


Luhan knew he couldn't, but he nodded anyway. "I'll be there." About how to make it possible; he'd try to figure it out later. He didn't want to be all cheesy by saying that he'd always be there in Sehun's heart, he wanted to actually stay with his Hunnie and he would make it come true. Somehow.


"Should I get you a new violin too? At least let me give you an item that you can keep."


"No, I only want you," the teen giggled, making the deer blush. "You're already a perfect present for me."


“Ah, that’s so cheesy.” But since Sehun himself said so, he just did what he could at the moment; he stayed with him the whole day. First he took him to a small restaurant for a more decent lunch, since he still had some money left on him after buying the camera. That alone was enough to make the happy boy thank him countless times. Once their tummies were full, they returned back on killing the time at the park. Luhan sat on a bench with Sehun’s head in his lap, listening to his stories about the last one week he had spent alone without him. Sehun would pout cutely and mumble like a sad kid whenever he told the other about the sad parts. Luhan was quietly smiling to himself enjoying the expressions the younger boy was making. While staring lovingly at his face, unconsciously he cupped and the boy’s pointy chin with his other hand caressing his thick black hair. Sehun found himself almost purring at the touch and for a moment he stopped talking to flash a happy eye smile at the deer. Luhan’s mouth formed a tiny circle when his eyes fell and stuck on the other’s lips; he thought they were really cute.


“Are you staring at my lips?” Sehun asked blatantly, catching the other off guard. He laughed noticing the tinge of pink spreading on the flustered deer’s cheeks and cracked a cheeky grin. “Don’t do that,” he whispered, “I might kiss you.” Luhan was surprised and he laughed even more.


Luhan had never kissed anyone on the lips before. He hadn’t seen his fellow Inchlings kiss a lot, mostly just on the cheeks or on the forehead, like Kyungsoo had done to him quite often. But he once had seen a human couple kissing and making out wildly and it had given him the idea that the humans were the wilder type when it came to ual matters. The very example was that wild scene that had happened to this owner of his a week earlier. It was just so horrific. He knew Sehun was only joking about the kiss, yet he couldn’t help but wonder about human kisses. He really thought about that a lot. Like, more than necessary. Is it that good to kiss on the lips? Do best friends kiss on the lips? Do human boys kiss each other too? Or…?


When Sehun was asleep at night, the little deer boy went over to the wall of his globe and placed his palms on it as he gazed at the human’s adorable sleeping face from his spot on the desk. Ever so shyly he puckered his lips and pressed them on the crystal wall, all the while his big doe eyes kept on blinking innocently at the lanky figure curling in the bed. Kiss. Luhannie wants a kiss, he thought childishly, but as soon as he realized how ridiculous he was acting, he plucked his lips off his globe and quickly returned to his spot with a pair of flushed cheeks. It didn’t happen only once; the closer he was to his last day with his dear human friend, the more he dared to get even closer to him at nights in his sleep.


On the eighty-fourth night he had wasted his time abandoning his mission, Luhan went over to the giant, climbed his body and curled on his shoulder. His petite body moved up and down along with Sehun’s breath, his lovestruck smile not leaving his lips any second as he watched his sleeping handsome prince. Then at one point, his curious side encouraged him to go peck those lips, yet the shy side of him prevented him to do so like it had done the previous nights. He scooted closer to the face carefully and reached out his small hand to caress Sehun’s cheek instead.


“…I’ll do it tomorrow night,” the deer whispered, promising to himself. So as usual, that night’s goodnight kiss was just on the human boy's gaunt cheek.


The next night, Luhan waited for his owner to come back home nervously, once in a while pursing his lips cutely for a bit of “practice”. “You can do it, Lu,” he encouraged and patted himself softly on the cheeks, “Just this one so you won’t be curious anymore! Tonight's goodnight kiss shall be on the lips!” He even hopped around to relax his muscles and pretended to play his toy violin to calm his mind. Like an unstable teenage girl, he giggled and blushed imagining himself in his human form kissing Sehun like those couples at the park, and then the next second he clutched his horns and panicked around because he thought his innocent soul wasn’t ready at all for something like that. Should he change into a human first? Or should he stay small? What if Sehun woke up when their lips were still touching? Well that should be romantic, like in Sleeping Beauty, but could also be the death of the deer.


Luhan was too busy with his own thoughts that he didn’t realize it was midnight already. Sehun hadn’t come home yet, it was something that had never happened before. His worries eventually changed; where was he? Had something bad happened to him? Suddenly he realized how silent it was, and if it was not because of his shining globe, the old small house would have been really dark. The deer shivered because of the goosebumps creeping up his back and hugged himself. But suddenly…


Creeeak. Luhan turned his head quickly towards the door as the faint bluish light from the outside crept in. His eyes widened and his heart began to drum against his chest loudly as a very familiar figure limped his way in, but just after the second step he took, his body collapsed onto the floor with a loud thud. The glowing light of Luhan’s snow globe was enough to let him see that the boy’s hand was clutching his stomach. That fragile hand and his worn out shirt; they were covered in blood.


“Se-Sehunnie!!” Luhan covered his mouth and practically broke into tears. He ran back and forth in his globe not knowing what to do, but when Sehun crawled towards him slowly, he rushed back to his spot and grabbed his violin. He found himself not able to freeze into a statue, when Sehun struggled to stand up and take his snow globe with his blood-covered hands, Luhan’s legs wobbled weakly and his hold on his violin trembled hard. He kept on sobbing until Sehun made it to crawl and climb up his bed. The teen covered his own body with his blanket and hugged the snow globe with his shaking arms.


“I-I’m safe now, mom… dad,” he whispered between his tears and heavy breath, “I’m going to sleep… in my own bed.” He gasped to catch more air into his lungs and brought his weak hands up to the back of his neck, struggling a bit more until his necklace came off. He put it around Luhan’s globe and gave the deer his quivering smile. Maybe the tears flooding his vision were tricking his eyes, or maybe he was starting to hallucinate, because he thought he saw his deer crying and trembling like himself.


“I told you… I would give it to you… w-when I die.” He closed his eyes and enveloped the snow globe in his arms, not allowing Luhan to see his face. With the remaining of his breath, he explained in slurred words, “H-He came out of nowhere… and stabbed me… with a knife. I wish… I wish I could see him once again… m-my only friend. I love you… Lu.” He sobbed weakly and in a deep breath once again. “Let’s… sleep now, Luhannie.”


His arms loosened, his chest stopped rising and falling, and for the last time in his life, a soft sigh flew out of his parted lips as his very last breath. Inside the snow globe, the deer screamed louder than he had ever screamed, but it was left unheard even by the lifeless body of his only human friend.


Wailing hysterically, Luhan dashed out of his globe and clutched Sehun's shirt, shaking it back and forth furiously while shouting, "Wake up, wake up!! Don't leave me! Don't do this to me! You asked me to stay with you, but you're the one leaving me now!" He dropped onto his knees sobbing into Sehun's chest. "I haven't even kissed you."


He glanced at the shiny black stone leaning on his globe, but then he averted his face away from it. What he had to do was only bringing that necklace into his globe, and the next morning he would be seeing his Papa again at home. There was nothing stopping him this time. But could he even think of that at a moment like this? Could he leave Sehun's body just like that? The kid had grown up alone, he couldn't be alone even at the end of the road. No, he had asked Luhan to stay with him.


Luhan's cries stopped abruptly when something came into his mind. M-My last wish! He had another last wish to change everything. He wiped his tears away with his arm and exclaimed to his Papa unhesitatingly, "Papa, I wish Sehunnie were alive! I wish he were alive and didn't have to die!" Luhan stared at Sehun's face expectantly, even reached out his hand towards his nose to wait for his breath to come out of it, but nothing really happened. The deer became furious and stomped his foot. "Just because I can get what you want easily now, doesn't mean you can abandon his life! I-I won't bring the necklace to you if you don't revive him! Now wake him up! I wish he would wake up!"


Still, nothing happened. The desperate little Collector kept on throwing out many forms of wishes just to get his beloved friend to breathe again, but not getting any responses, soon he stopped shouting at his Papa and just cried in defeat.


"Is it too hard for you to bring him back? I thought my Papa could do anything." he muttered weakly between his rushed breath. Or does he not want to? Luhan closed his eyes and thought deeply. "Then... I'll change my wish. Sehunnie doesn't have to wake up now, but please make him sleep. Sleeping like he said, not dead. I will wait for three days and he has to wake up after that, with his wound healed perfectly. Please grant this wish if you really love me, Papa."


He let his eyes remain closed and counted for ten seconds in his head, and when he still couldn't feel any changes, with a broken heart he finally decided to give up.


"I'm so sorry, Sehunnie. I love you." Although slightly shaking, at last the crying deer finally made it to press his lips onto Sehun's, instead of the crystal wall of his snow globe like he had done many times for practice. Sadly when he finally got to do that, the person he kissed was no longer alive. He closed his eyes and let his lips linger there to his heart's content, which could never be satisfied, yet it didn't take long for him to break his little kiss; when he felt a bundle of hot breath blowing above his fluffy hair, he froze and his eyes opened wide comically. He plucked his lips off Sehun's and stepped backward cautiously, and when he raised his head to see Sehun's face, he found a sweet smile growing on the human's lips. Soon his shoulders began to move up and down constantly as the air once again filled his lungs and the life came back to his fragile body. The relief Luhan felt was like a big bucket of cold water poured onto his head and washing over him after a hot, tiring day. Crying in joy, the tiny Inchling opened his arms as wide as he could and buried himself into Sehun's chest.


"Thank you, Papa. Thank you so much." With that, his last wish was granted and Luhan the deer had no wishes left. "I love you so much, Sehunnie."


With a big smile on his face, Luhan transformed into his human self and began to fix all the mess around the house. He lit up the lanterns hanging on the wall with a matchstick, wiped away the trails of blood left on the floor, and then took off the blood-stained bedsheets and the blanket and carried them to the bathroom to be washed the next morning. Done with the mess, he then took care of the sleeping boy, taking off his dirty clothes and cleaning up his wound. It had magically stopped bleeding, leaving a rather thick line of the open wound that was closing slowly. Luhan covered the wound by wrapping an expensive-looking stolen scarf around Sehun's belly tightly, but not too tight for him to breathe. He wiped his body and his face with a wet towel to clean him up, put on some clean clothes on him, and finally laid some more pieces of clothes over his body to replace the blanket. He didn’t forget to put the necklace back around Sehun’s neck; it wasn’t the time yet to take it off.


"There you go," Luhan smiled and kissed Sehun's temple softly. "You must be really tired. Are you thirsty?" He scratched his head and looked around, perking up when he spotted a half-full bottle of water on the desk. "Let's see... How are you going to drink this? There are no straws around here."


Luhan shifted his gaze back and forth between Sehun and the bottle. The idea he got made his own face turn pink. "I'm not stealing a chance, okay?" Blushing hard, he poured the water and kept it in his mouth, carefully pulled Sehun's body up and opened his mouth slightly so he could move the water in his own mouth into it bit by bit. Their lips were pressed together and Luhan found himself enjoying it a little bit too much.


That was how he got the excuse to kiss his sleeping prince every day during those three days.


Losing Sehun once had scared Luhan to the point that he thought he'd do anything so it would never happen again for the second time. He promised to himself he would give his all to take care of the boy until the very last day, and that including taking care of his feelings; he would lie to him no more. Luhan was determined that once Sehun opened his eyes, he would tell him everything that he had been hiding since the very beginning. It wasn't that he could spit everything out easily, in fact, he was really scared that Sehun would hate him for lying to him for so long. But he would rather be hated than filling Sehun’s “second” life with more of his lies.


Keeping his determination in mind, Luhan did try to eliminate every boundaries that had been keeping him away from the human boy in order to prepare himself for the time when Sehun would finally wake up. Starting from that night; after taking care of Sehun, ever so timidly he lied down next to the idle body on the same bed and covered him within his arms. Usually it was Sehun who had initiated their one-way talk, but this time Luhan was the one who told the other about the wonders back in his homeland. With that he could get used to tell the truth. He told him the stories like a mother telling his son fairy tales and bedtime stories, with a soft voice and sparkling eyes as he recalled the happy moments in the earlier phases of his life. When he himself began to feel sleepy, he would end his story with a soft kiss on Sehun’s forehead and gently placed his hand over the boy’s wound, closing his eyes as he silently wished for it to be healed really soon.


In the morning, Luhan would go to the water well at the small backyard behind the house to collect some water, and then took Sehun to the bathroom to bathe him like a baby. He would sing some happy songs from his land while wiping Sehun's face gently, at times earning a smile from the sleeping boy. During the day, Luhan would move Sehun out of the bed and sit him on the chair, while he himself knelt next to him on the floor with his arm rested on the desk and his other hand busy scribbling silly doodles on some used papers. Like what Sehun had done on their first day together, he told more stories about himself excitedly while drawing what he was describing on those papers, once in a while reaching his arm around Sehun’s shoulders to straighten his sitting position and prevent him from falling off the chair. When he wanted to go out and get the laundry from the backyard, he moved Sehun back to the bed first so he wouldn’t find him sprawled on the floor when he came back.


Just on Sehun’s first day as a sleeping prince, as Luhan would address, a familiar grandma passed by in front of the house with his son’s car. When she saw Luhan carry a broken rattan basket full of sheets and clothes into the old house, she asked her son to stop the car and hurried to get the deer. She was the nice grandma who lived alone nearby and whom Sehun and Luhan had helped a lot with her daily tasks, the one who had given them clothes and food. She was really surprised to see how poor they actually were, especially after she had seen Sehun’s condition. Considering her as a close relative, Luhan willingly told her what had happened to the poor teen.


“He was attacked by someone, but I don’t know who it was. He said he was stabbed with a knife. I’m still waiting for him to wake up so I can look for that person.”


“Are you sure he’s not in coma?”


“No, granny, he’s just sleeping. He will wake up soon.” What’s coma anyway?


The grandma’s son joined them and offered to help. “We can call the police if you want. Can I see the wound? He should have been brought to the hospital.”


“Oh, we don’t have enough money for that, Sir,” Luhan said regretfully as he untied the scarf around Sehun’s stomach, revealing the wound that had closed completely, but hadn’t really dried yet. “He’ll be okay. We don’t want to trouble you.”


The man and the grandma insisted a bit more, but in the end Luhan still politely rejected his offer anyway. He believed the miracle didn’t require any help from the hospital. Giving up, the man gave Luhan his phone number and said, “Just call me if you need anything. My mother talks about you a lot, I really want to thank you for helping and accompanying her. Now I’m taking her to my house, I asked her to stay with my family because I was worried about her living alone on her own. Really, we’ll help you catch whoever it was who hurt your friend. Don’t even be hesitant, I have a close friend who is a police. Oh, just call me Mr. Kim, by the way.”


Luhan thanked and bowed at the two kind persons many times before they left. Clutched in his hand was a piece of paper with a scribbling of the man’s number. Later on the same day, much to his surprise, they both came back bringing some luscious-looking food for him - chicken, soup, veggies and some healthy fruits - and some liquid one that could fill Sehun’s empty tummy. Just after the inviting smell entered his nose did Luhan realize that he himself was terribly hungry. They told him to just eat and enjoy the food while they helped feeding Sehun - this time not mouth to mouth, but with a baby spoon. Receiving that much of kindness, the deer became emotional and had to shed his manly tears once the food entered his mouth. After not eating for a few days, it was like eating food from heaven. He couldn't help it, he ate while crying and sniffling and trying really hard to stop his tears. The grandma and her son felt hurt just by watching him that they also teared up a little bit.


"I-I'm sorry," Luhan stammered, " the food is just too good. T-Thank you so much, you're so kind to us."


The man wiped his own tears in a cool way and looked away. "You really remind me of my own son."


"You mean Jonginnie?" the grandma asked softly. "Is he still having a hard time adjusting to his brother and sister?"


Interested about the said boy, Luhan got rid of his tears and paused his meal to listen to them. "It's been thirteen years but it's still hard for him. You know, mother, since the last time I grounded him the other two always threaten him. If he does this they will tell me, if he does that they will tell me so I'll punish him again. I don't understand why they can't be nice to him. It really makes me feel guilty because I adopted him but I can't show enough love to him. My job is really taking me away from my family." He sighed heavily. "I hope with you staying with us, Jonginnie can open up more, mother. He's been acting really weird these days, he likes to talk to this one snow globe we bought at the last Christmas expo. There's a little guitarist inside named Kyungsoo and he insisted that Soo could talk to him. He said Soo would listen to his stories and cheer him up."


Luhan almost dropped his food to the floor. Just then did he realize that the man looked quite familiar, and then he remembered, he had seen him walking around at the expo with his wife and his two young children! So apparently they had bought Kyungsoo's snow globe, and this grandma he had been helping in the last three months was the grandma of the family. He had never been that far from Kyungsoo after all!


"Oh, a snow globe? Like that?" the grandma pointed at Luhan's empty globe at the corner of the desk. "That one is really pretty."


"Yes, exactly like that, but that one's empty. Hmm, that's weird. There's a name on it though... Oh, Luhan? Isn't it your name, young man?"


Luhan panicked slightly, but before he could say anything the grandma saved him unintentionally, "No, his name is just Lu. Cute name, isn't it?"


In all honesty Luhan didn't want to lie anymore, but would they even believe if he said he came out of the globe? They'd most likely think he had a little problem with his mentality. So he just chuckled and nodded awkwardly.


But he had become restless ever since the mention of Kyungsoo's name. He really wanted to see him, he missed him so much! The owl seemed to be doing fine with his own mission though. Luhan hadn't expected him to be that daring, talking directly to his owner in his original form from the inside of his globe. But wait... If Luhan thought about it again, what Kyungsoo did was what he had been worrying ever since his very first day; if he talked to Sehun like that, wouldn't it automatically fail his mission? Papa Beard had told them to be careful not to let their owners find out about their mission to steal... But talking to him doesn't necessarily mean I'm letting him know about my mission! Luhan mentally smacked his forehead. Great, so all this time I actually don't have to pretend to be a statue. And he didn't have to tell a bunch of lies to Sehun either. Luhan had never felt so stupid before.


Nevertheless, this only strengthened his determination to tell everything to Sehun. He had told him almost everything while the boy was asleep, actually, but that was just for practice! He'd do it once again and Sehun had to hear everything while he was awake. It would do no harm to his mission, unless Sehun got angry and decided to kill him. But Luhan had faith in his one and only human friend.


On the second day of Sehun being stuck in the dreamland, the granny came again to bring more food for the two. She told Luhan about her stepgrandson's worrying condition; the teen Sehun's age was having a serious problem with depression because he was bullied by his siblings and schoolmates. The previous night he had had a great fight with the two younger kids at home because of their snow globe, he had wanted to keep it in his room for just one night, but they had hit him and scratched him like some untamed sensitive wild cats until he had run away to his room without the globe. It seemed like the kids were really wild and naughty, Luhan wished they hadn't hurt his old friend one way or another. Yet, listening to the stories about Kyungsoo's owner, Luhan couldn't help but wonder if Papa had intentionally let them fall into problematic people's hands. How were the other fourteen Collectors doing, though? Luhan remembered Kris the wolf; did he even know how to do the mission? Recalling them and their very long training made him miss his home. There were only twelve days left until he could go home, that of course if he could complete his mission.


Later while thinking about all of that, Luhan entered his globe and sat down on the snow, pouting while playing with his toy violin that couldn't even make any sounds. And then a random idea popped out in his head; if he brought the instrument out of the globe, would it also turn big like himself? Right, he had never tried that before! So he stood up and went out through the crystal dome, turning into his human self as soon as he touched the floor. The teeny tiny violin was nowhere to be seen, but in exchange, there was a beautiful white violin - a real one - in Luhan's grip.


"Woww, it works!" Luhan pumped his fist in the air and exclaimed a "Yes!" as he did a silly dance happily. He paused for a bit, tested the musical instrument by playing a few notes, and the sound that flew into the air was more beautiful than any violin's sound he had ever heard. He continued his funny happy dance and waved the violin before the sleeping boy's face.


"Look, Sehunnie, I got you a new violin! Hurry and get out of your sleep, you have to try playing this." Luhan grinned shyly to himself. "You'll look really handsome playing it."


On the third day, Luhan spent his time waiting for Sehun to wake up while sitting on the chair that he had moved next to the bed, playing the songs he used to "play" in his snow globe with his violin. Once in a while he also let his own soft voice flow out of his throat, entering Sehun's ears and filling his deep, long sleep. A small contented smile would creep up on his lips each time Luhan began to sing. That sign was what encouraged Luhan to keep on talking to him; he knew his Sehunnie could hear him.


It was afternoon already, Luhan had been waiting for the granny to come again as she had promised, but so far he hadn't heard any sound of an expensive car's engine stopping in front of the worn out house. Maybe she's tired of helping us already, Luhan thought sadly. The rumble in his tummy that came a second later just supported that idea.


"I'm hungry," the deer whined and held his belly. "Should I go get some food?"


Actually his intention going to the door was just to look around outside, but he hadn't expected to find a familiar car approaching from afar and stopping right in front of him, followed by the grandma that came out of it with a crumpled tissue in her hand and her face flooded with tears.


"G-Granny, what's wrong?" Luhan asked in panic.


"Jonginnie ran away! He ran away with the snow globe! We've called the police, but we couldn't find him anywhere! He left no traces!" Luhan hugged the old lady and let her cry into his chest, but he himself could barely think of anything. He had a blank stunned expression on his face as his wide eyes were locked on Mr. Kim, the woman's son who was leaning on the car, shaking his head and massaging his forehead in frustration.


But what about Kyungie? was the first question that appeared in Luhan's head. And then another big question came up, Are we really going to meet again soon?


Luhan cheered them up and managed to stay calm in front of them, but later that night, thinking of what might happen to his lifetime friend finally brought his tears out. That problematic boy called Jonginnie; Luhan didn't know how he was like and what he might do. He just wished the human boy wouldn't do anything that could break their promise to meet again.


The deer had too much to feel that night, indeed he was worried to death about his owl friend, but he couldn't ignore his excitement and nervousness because Sehun was about to wake up soon. When the sky outside turned dark and the night finally came, Luhan took off the cloth covering Sehun's wound, which had magically been healed and faded into a thin faint line. He got rid of his own clothes that he was wearing and put on his usual white outfit before settling himself in bed, next to the boy who was still sleeping soundly. Although extremely nervous, he took the younger boy into his firm hug, his eyes closed as he inhaled deeply and exhaled through his mouth slowly to calm his racing heart. This is it. I'm going to tell him everything. It's now or never.


"Ngg." Luhan froze when he felt the other's body move slightly. Soon Sehun began to squirm around, stretching his body and his limbs until his eyes finally fluttered open after three days they had been closed. Luhan held his breath instinctively while the other blinked at him several times with a completely lost and clueless look. All of a sudden Sehun jolted up to a sitting position in panic, but the pang and sudden pain shooting in his head brought him back down onto his back immediately.


"Ow!" he winced and clutched his head, while the older male sat up and squirmed restlessly, not really sure what to do.


"Sehunnie, are you okay? D-Don't get up too fast, you've just woken up." He hurried to get some water and helped Sehun wet his dry throat.


Still cringing in pain, Sehun asked with a dry voice, "Who are you? What happened?" Luhan gawked in disbelief. Who am I? Why did he ask something like that?


Not getting any answers, Sehun sat up slowly and eyed the other with narrowed eyes. Slowly but sure though, as his memory was recovered again, his sharp eyes grew wide and the recognition was apparent on his handsome but dull face.


Luhan's lips quivered and he gulped down all his emotions as he cut Sehun's attempt to speak first. "I'm Luhan."


"...No, you're Lu hyung," Sehun frowned in deep confusion. What had happened to his head really? But whatever, maybe his hyung was only joking around. It felt like years he hadn't seen his older friend, he missed him way too much! His adorable eye smile was finally back again as he leaned forward and caught the stunned deer in his arms. "I miss you, hyung!" But wait... "Uh, how did you find my house? It's really messy here, I'm sorry- Oh?"


Sehun's eyes almost bulged out of their sacks when they accidentally fell on his snow globe on the desk; it was empty!


"Lu-Luhannie!" Sehun was about to fly off his bed, but Luhan held him still. "Luhannie's gone, hyung! The snow globe is empty- Why are you holding me? Let go, I have to look for him-"


"He's right in front of you!" Sehun's mouth was shut by Luhan's soft snap. He blinked dumbly finding all the emotions written on the pretty young man's face. Sighing, Luhan bowed his head and let his hands slide down weakly from Sehun's shoulders to his slender fingers. "D-Didn't you hear me? I said I'm Luhan. P-Please... Let me explain."


Sehun examined the other's expression silently to seek for the usual playful glint in his eyes. He found none, though, the deer looked trully sad. When his eyes travelled down, he had just noticed that the clothes the other was wearing were little Luhan's clothes; exactly like the blurry image that had appeared in his head after that night, on his birthday. So it wasn't from his dream after all!


"Okay... I'm listening."


"I..." Luhan in a deep breath and bit his lip. He had prepared his words since three days before, but why was it still so hard? "Y-You asked me a few times if I was him or not, but I said you were weird for having that idea." And suddenly, poof! Sehun gasped and scooted back when the pretty man disappeared from his sight. When his gaze dropped to his lap though, his eyes grew as wide as saucers because his little deer friend, Luhan, was there. Moving and alive, complete with his white suit and cute horns, timidly climbing his knee to sit on his thigh. The slightly trembling deer fidgeted with his fingers as he slowly lifted his head to meet Sehun's eyes with his scared big ones. "I-I'm sorry, I lied to you."


The first thing Sehun thought after that confession was, his voice is so cute like this!; and then, no, everything on him is cute; and then it turned into a simple conclusion, he's a cute liar. He pinched the back of Luhan's suit and lifted him up to his eye level. His unhappy gaze made the tiny one tremble even harder he thought he might piss himself, but the water came out through his eyes instead.


"I'm so sorry, please don't kill me," Luhan begged and cried, beads of tears slipping down his flushed cheeks. "I've liked you since you found me in the snow, I-I was just scared something might happen if you knew I was alive! I liked it when you talked to me, you... you really treated me like a friend, a-and you've always been nice to me... I-I love you and I still want to be your friend, p-please, please forgive me and let me live." His planned words ended up coming out as random blabbers mixing with his sobs. "Yes I did it all, I was the one who put the money and food on your desk every day. I was the cat who scratched your arm until it bled, I was here that night on your birthday, I wore your Spongebob boxers but I washed them already! I did it all, I'm so sorry!" He wailed even louder.


"Hmm. So that's how it was." Sehun opened his mouth widely and hung Luhan above it, making him shriek in panic. "Don't eat me, don't eat me!" he shouted and flailed his limbs frantically, his voice rising even louder and higher the closer he was into the awaiting giant hole. He covered his face with his tiny hands and cried helplessly in defeat. So that was how his life was going to end; in his own beloved human friend's tummy. Goodbye, Kyungie. I've failed, I'm sorry.


"Gee, you can stop crying now." Luhan couldn't stop crying even when he felt himself being seated on Sehun's palm. He shut his flooded eyes tightly and rubbed them with his fists like a child. Secretly smiling to himself, the human boy helped his little friend getting rid of his tears with the tip of his finger carefully and gently his fluffy hair. "Can you turn big again?"


Sehun put Luhan down on the bed and the latter was back in his human mode immediately. "Now get out."


"H-Huh...?"


"Get out of my house, I don't want to see you anymore."


Those words hurt Luhan like a dagger. Despite the pain in his chest, though, he pulled himself together and stood up on his jelly legs. "I'm really sorry," he managed to mumble shakily, "I still love you, Sehunnie."


He dragged his heavy feet ever so hesitantly towards the door, passing his glowing snow globe that was still sitting on the desk. Where am I going to stay? He had no idea.


Luhan opened the door and the chilly night air hit him on the face right away. He had never felt that hurt before. That was what he got for being honest after creating a mountain of lies. He had thought that there would be no goodbye before his hundredth day with the human, but then there he was. Standing at the door, Luhan hugged himself and sadly turned his head back to say goodbye.


Smooch!


He had never expected to be attacked on the lips in that sort of situation.


Sehun had thrown himself towards the older male and squeezed his lungs out, their lips crashed together in a quick yet deep kiss. Panting slightly, he gripped the stunned deer's shoulders tightly and stared into his watery eyes.


"I thought I could hold it, but I couldn't." This time his hug was a gentle and loving one as he pulled the other back inside and closed the door with his foot. He caressed Luhan's hair and whispered gently, "Don't cry now, I'm sorry. Stay here with me. I've never really wanted you to leave, I just wanted to see your reaction... well okay maybe mine too. Stop crying now, okay? I forgive you. I love you too. There, there." In fact, whatever he did, Sehun just couldn't get mad at his deer.


Getting the forgiveness just brought out more of Luhan's tears, but in the end, that night they somehow found themselves cuddling in the small bed. Sehun had his arms around the other all the time as he listened patiently to the rest of his confession, which he was pointing out much more calmly.


"I come from a beautiful land called Peeweeland. It's still on this planet, not really that far away, but it was created by a human. Everyone there are very small like me, we're called Inchlings and we all call our creator 'Papa Beard'."


"Papa Beard?" Sehun's eyebrows went up. "That Papa Beard?"


"Which one is that Papa Beard?"


"You know, the one people talk about. In the old days parents used to tell their kids not to play in the woods because Papa Beard might kidnap them. But most people believe he's just an old folklore and doesn't really exist because no one has ever seen him since hundreds of years ago. So he's still alive?"


Luhan was beyond surprised. "Of course he is! He's still as fat and healthy as ever. He creates one of us Inchlings every six months, sometimes many could come together in one year and now there are thousands of us! Just imagine how long he has lived. He can't die, he really exists. Why would people think of that? He doesn't kidnap children either! Papa wouldn't be happy knowing about this."


"And you're the proof he exists," Sehun whispered in awe. He fell silent and sank into his curiosity. "Then... Why did he send you away? Why are you here now when you could be at home? I mean... What's his intention, really?"


Luhan could sense the insecurity in the younger boy's voice, so he took his hand and offered a doubtful smile for a little reassurance. Does this question need to be answered now? Luhan sighed inwardly and gripped Sehun's hand a bit tighter. I've promised myself I would tell him everything. If telling about his mission literally meant failing it, then maybe he would be pulled away by his Papa after he spoiled it. With Sehun's hand in his, he wished they wouldn't be separated no matter what would happen.


"He gave me a mission." Luhan closed his eyes and gulped. "He put sixteen of us each in one snow globe and sent us to be sold at the expo last Christmas. After we were bought, he wanted us to... s-steal our owners' most valuable thing and bring it to him. We're given a hundred days and three wishes to complete this mission. You are my owner, I have to take something from you in order to go back home. If I fail, on the hundredth day he will still take me away from you and send me to a new owner for another a hundred days. I believe what my Papa wants is your necklace because you said it was your most precious thing. I could have taken it long ago, but I'm holding myself back until my last day here. I've promised to stay with you as long as possible."


Done with his most honest confession, Luhan kept his eyes remain shut and mentally counted until ten. It was silent, but he could still feel Sehun's hand in his. Had something happened to them?


"...But my most valuable one is you." At that, Luhan opened his eyes to find the sad face of his handsome owner. Nothing had happened to them, he hadn't failed yet! He was so relieved that h