Kyungsoo didn’t know what to think when he found a tall, lean yet muscular half- man lying crumpled and unconscious on the dark green forest floor. He crouched down next to the stranger, his large eyes staring warily at the unmoving form of the bronze-skinned, long-limbed man who seemed to have fainted. The only article of clothing that covered the comatose male was a tattered pair of khaki shorts, the ripped legs ending just above the male’s bony kneecaps. The stranger’s chiseled face was smudged with dirt and his messy light brown locks were tangled with strands of various foliage. Long, deep bloody scars covered his broad chest and Kyungsoo almost trailed his fingers along the injuries before quickly drawing his hand back, remembering that carelessly touching the wounds might hurt the stranger.

The traveler didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t leave the man just lying there, but he also knew that he wasn’t strong enough to carry the stranger all the way out of the forest to the nearest edge of civilization by himself. Kyungsoo had been hiking in this wilderness for several days now; his cell phone had lost reception within a mile of entering the forest so he wasn’t too hopeful of being able to reach anyone who could help him transport the injured man to a safe area. And considering that he still had a long way to go before reaching his destination, Kyungsoo was stuck in the middle of nowhere with this lifeless man sprawled on the mossy ground.

With a brief look up to the overhanging fronds that covered his view of the sky, Kyungsoo heaved a deep sigh before lifting his gigantic backpack off of his thin shoulders and placing it on the floor beside him. He ped the middle pocket and dipped his hand into the seemingly bottomless pouch, maneuvering around as he felt for his first aid kit. When his fingertips finally brushed against the familiar plastic box, Kyungsoo deftly pulled out the kit and carefully set it on the dusty floor. He undid the clasps and rummaged through the different compartments until he finally gathered together a pair of plastic gloves, several cotton swabs, a pair of metal tweezers, and a roll of bandages.

After slipping his hands into the gloves and pouring cold water from his canteen onto one of the cotton balls, Kyungsoo gradually inched towards the motionless man with the tweezers holding the wet cotton swab in hand. He carefully pressed the cotton against one of the scars on the tall male’s torso and began dabbing away the crusted blood, praying that he wasn’t hurting the man in the process. But the stranger was too far gone to feel anything and continued lying there; the slight rise and fall of his chest was the only indicator that he was even alive. So Kyungsoo kept cleaning his wounds, humming softly to himself as he rhythmically slid the cotton swabs up and down the man’s stiff upper body.

He had to admit that the guy was undeniably attractive. It was hard not to when those defined abdominal muscles, pectorals, biceps, and triceps were right in Kyungsoo’s face as he diligently wiped away the dried blood on the other male’s body. Tiny little sparks traveled up his arm as he swirled a cotton swab along the lines of the stranger’s muscular body, tracing every dip and ridge that existed on that expanse of sun-kissed skin. Kyungsoo’s dark brown fringe lightly touched the man’s firm stomach as the small male leaned forward to get a better angle while he worked on cleaning up this handsome fellow. The man was a work of art and when the traveler realized that he had been staring too closely at the wounded male’s washboard abs, Kyungsoo immediately slapped his free hand against his cheeks and tried to focus on the actual cuts instead of those defined muscles.

Once the cuts were all clean, Kyungsoo grabbed the roll of bandages and carefully lifted the male’s body, pressing it against his own for support while he used his teeth to take hold of the end of the roll. He felt his cheeks begin to burn now that he could feel the outline of the man’s upper body and Kyungsoo almost fumbled as he slowly began wrapping the wounds. Even though the forest had been pleasantly cool throughout his travels, the temperature was suddenly rising and the traveler felt the back of his neck begin to bead with sweat droplets. He gulped audibly as his eyes continued feasting on the male’s amazing physique and he had to internally berate himself when he found his eyes wandering too far.

Kyungsoo didn’t know how long he had been sitting there and tending to the injured stranger, but once he finished securing the last bandage, the traveler carefully laid the passed out male on a thick blanket he had fished from his backpack. After standing up and stretching his limbs, having crouched by the stranger for so long, Kyungsoo checked his watch for the time and saw that it was now late afternoon. But since he couldn’t progress any further with the unconscious stranger, he decided to set up camp in the small clearing.

His stomach rumbled with hunger, so Kyungsoo gathered as much wood as he could without straying too far from his new charge and made a small fire pit about three feet away. The moss was easy to remove from the forest floor and soon, the traveler had a warm log fire crackling in the middle of a circular patch of dirt. Since there was no stream nearby, Kyungsoo was forced to empty one of his emergency canteens into his little metal pot so he could cook a packet of instant noodles he had extracted from his backpack. There was no way he could just leave the man unattended in order to search for water. Nor did he particularly want to leave his new companion anyway.

Once he finished devouring the piping hot noodles, Kyungsoo dug out his tent case so that the two of them would have shelter for the night. It was much more difficult to construct his one-man tent to fit two people, especially since the comatose male was much taller than Kyungsoo was. But the traveler managed to enlarge the tent enough so that if he tucked himself against the stranger, the two of them would be able to fit snugly inside. Even though he felt his heart begin to race at a thousand miles per hour when he cautiously lowered himself next to the good-looking stranger, Kyungsoo bit his lower lip and forced himself to drift into sleep while ensuring that there was space between the two males. He didn’t think he’d be able to sleep at all if even one hair were touching the other man.

--

Kai’s head was pounding with pain as he finally regained consciousness. He blinked groggily, trying to make sense of his surroundings, but there were too many unfamiliar smells surrounding him. They were overpowering him and caused the buzzing sensation in his head to heighten. After a few moments, Kai became aware of the comforting warmth that covered his chest. He tilted his head to the side to get a better view of the thing that was latched onto his body and let out an involuntary yelp when he found the most adorable man nestled against his bandaged chest.

And with that noise, the small male began to stir, burrowing his face against Kai’s chest even more since he didn’t feel like getting up just yet and it was just so comfortable. Kai began to panic since it had been ages since he had last seen a human, much less interacted with one, but as he tried to angle his body away from the other man, he felt his upper body burn like fire due to his injuries. He howled in anguish as the fiery sensation grew, causing the sleeping male to jump awake, his large owlish eyes blinking rapidly as he found his bearings.

When Kyungsoo registered that the stranger had successfully woken up, his heart-shaped mouth stretched into a wide grin as he softly said, “Hey, it’s okay. You’re safe with me. Let me rewrap your wounds.”

Kai eyed the younger male warily, using the blanket he had been sleeping on to cover his exposed chest, but then he hunched over as another spike of pain shot through his body.

“Try not to strain yourself,” Kyungsoo cautioned as he began unwrapping the soiled bandages from the tall man’s body. It took every ounce of Kai’s willpower to not push the other male away from him with the pain searing every inch of him. His breathing shortened and became more raggedy, which Kyungsoo noted with a worried expression. The traveler tried to work as fast as he possibly could without further injuring the stranger. “It’ll be all better soon, I promise,” the traveler murmured reassuringly while he deftly wound new bandages around the scarred tissue. “Just breathe slowly for me, okay?”

Kai grunted in response, attempting to even out his breathing although it was painful to do so. He tried to focus on anything but the pain and with his heightened senses, a light woodsy smell aded his sharp nose. The calming aroma began to wrap around him like the bandages were and Kai surrendered himself to these comforting pheromones that drew him in like bees to sweet honey. It was almost too soon when the scent lessened as Kyungsoo pulled away, smiling with satisfaction after rewrapping Kai’s wounds. “Wh-who are you?” the injured man asked, his low voice rough and scratchy from disuse. His eyes briefly flashed red.

“I’m Do Kyungsoo,” the smaller male introduced while maintaining that bright smile of his. “I was hiking through this forest when I found you unconsciously lying here. I hope it wasn’t too alarming to wake up next to me. I only have this one tent and it’s a bit too chilly around this time of year to sleep without shelter,” Kyungsoo explained while gesturing to the small black tent that surrounded them. “What’s your name?”

It had been so long since anyone had last asked him that. Since he didn’t remember his mother ever giving him a name, he had just picked a word he had heard many times as his name. “I’m…Kai.”

“Kai,” Kyungsoo repeated in his rich, musical voice that sent shivers down the taller male’s bony spine. Not even the sirens of olden times could say his name so beautifully. “Is it okay if I ask how you got those scars?” the traveler asked hesitantly.

But the injured male immediately shrunk back again, because he remembered recognizing that this man’s scent, enticing as it was, was also human. And from the stories his mother had recited to him before her untimely death, humans were absolute terrors. Not to mention, his mother had been slain by a human as well, so Kai suddenly pulled up his guard, not wanting to meet the same fate that she did.

Kyungsoo noticed how uncomfortable the stranger suddenly became and decided to drop the subject, instead pulling out a packet of beef jerky from one of the many pockets of his giant backpack and offering a piece to Kai. The other man silently accepted the morsel of food and began chewing it, trying to avoid looking at Kyungsoo because looking at the youthful man brought about inexplicable flutters in his stomach.

--

It took a lot of patience and prodding, but Kyungsoo managed to get Kai to agree to travel with him so that the shorter male could continue treating the stranger’s injuries. The bronze-skinned male had tried to insist on sleeping outside from then on, since the thought of sleeping next to Kyungsoo for an indefinite amount of time made his palms feel cold and sweaty. But Kyungsoo refused and instead offered to create a makeshift barrier in between them while they slept, so it wouldn’t be awkward for them to sleep next to each other and Kai wouldn’t freeze in the chilly night weather.

But despite the traveler’s efforts, each morning they found their limbs tangled together while Kyungsoo’s nose was buried in Kai’s firm chest whenever they woke up. It was quite reminiscent of that first night. Kyungsoo had woken up first after their second night together and he had immediately jumped away, tongue-tied as he stammered out an apology while Kai sleepily rubbed his eyes after being woken up by the sudden loss of warmth next to his body. A light pink color had painted Kyungsoo’s round cheeks and several stutters had escaped him as the traveler got up quickly, dashing out of the tent so that Kai couldn’t see how embarrassed he was over instinctively clutching onto the taller male while they rested.

As the days passed, the two of them got used to waking up in each other’s arms but never said anything about it. They just wordlessly agreed to not comment on their sleeping arrangements, which made facing each other during the day much easier. And truth be told, both males grew to enjoy the sense of intimacy that they shared with a slow transition to Kai patting the spot next to him before Kyungsoo sank down and wrapped his arms around the taller male before they slept each night. And although the nights grew more frosty and frigid, the traveler didn’t feel the cold as he slept in Kai’s naturally warm embrace. It was like being swathed in a bundle of toasty blankets by a crackling fireplace; Kai never seemed to be cold and he was like Kyungsoo’s personal heater.

Kai’s injuries were also slowly recovering and after breakfast every morning, the two of them would sit down so Kyungsoo could change the bloodstained bandages for fresh ones. The traveler felt like blushing whenever he was face-to-face with Kai’s well-defined chest, but he forced himself to pretend that those curved muscles didn’t exist and instead focused on doing the best that he could to bandage up the poor fellow. It was difficult, but he somehow managed to keep himself in check.

One night, the two of them were snuggling together in Kyungsoo’s tent when Kai dragged his hand through the smaller male’s soft dark brown locks and asked, “Why are you in this forest anyway, Kyungsoo?”

The smaller male removed his head from Kai’s broad chest and tilted his face up towards the other male’s. “Why do you ask?”

“Well, it’s just that this forest is pretty dangerous and I don’t see why someone like you would come here,” Kai explained, still mindlessly combing through Kyungsoo’s fluffy hair.

The traveler reached up to place his hand over Kai’s, stopping the taller male’s ministrations, before sitting up and reaching for his backpack. Kai propped up his upper body as he curiously watched Kyungsoo root through the giant mass that contained all of the small man’s belongings. Soon, the traveler let out a noise of happiness as he pulled out a worn out journal. Its previously pristine white pages were now yellowing with age and the weather-beaten ends were slightly curled up. Kyungsoo carefully thumbed through the pages before stopping and turning to show the book to Kai.

There was a picture of a blue gemstone that was masterfully drawn in colored pencil on the beige page. Surrounding the picture were notes written in Kyungsoo’s cramped, tiny handwriting that Kai couldn’t discern unless he brought the book closer to his face. “What’s this?”

“It’s a blue garnet,” Kyungsoo answered, a serene smile on his youthful face as he gazed at the picture. “The scientific term is pyrope-spessartine, but most people just call it the color-changing garnet since it can transition from blue to other colors like purple or red in different lighting conditions. It’s very rare and the one I’m looking for in particular is magical,” the traveler added, his voice sounding even smoother than usual, as if he were narrating a story.

“Magical?”

Kyungsoo bobbed his head up and down excitedly. “It’s hidden in a grove in the middle of this forest and according to rumors, it will grant a wish to whoever finds it.”

“And you want it?”

“Yup.” Kyungsoo glanced tenderly at the picture once more before closing the dog-eared journal and placing it back in his backpack. Once he finished zipping up his backpack and tucking it back in its corner of the tent, he crawled back into Kai’s embrace and nuzzled the space between the taller man’s collarbones. “That’s what I do. I travel around the world and find rare trinkets to bring back to my home in South Korea.”

“Ah, so that’s why you’re all the way here in Greece, little one.”

“I’m not that little,” the traveler retorted with a huff.

Kai smiled at Kyungsoo’s reaction to his comment and hugged the smaller male even closer to him. “What are you going to wish for when you find the blue garnet?”

“I’m not going to wish for anything. That’s going to disrupt the balance of the universe.”

It was such an innocent answer that was so like Kyungsoo. Kai playfully pushed the end of the other male’s cute nose before saying, “You’re a good person, Kyungsoo. I wish I had met you a long time ago.”

“Me too,” Kyungsoo replied with a loud yawn, snuggling closer to Kai’s chest so he could hear that comforting heartbeat as he gradually drifted off to dreamland.

Kai grinned, his eyes turning sky blue for a fleeting moment, before he tucked his chin above Kyungsoo’s head and inhaled the aromatic woodsy pheromones that the smaller man gave off. Its familiarity wreathed around him and he fell asleep with a content smile on his face, his nose buried in Kyungsoo’s hair.

♈♈♈