Chapter 30 : Interlude

~ Any day spent with you is my favorite day. ~

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There was a place, hidden away on the north side of the forest, where most creatures didn't like to go. Aside from animals, it was rare to see any non-spirit species enter that valley. There, the forest always seemed disconcerting and eerie. Even Jinki was wary when he flew around the valley to go annoy the pixies who lived on the other side.

The ground there rose higher and sank deeper than in any other part of the forest; it formed small mountains and high, dangerous cliffs. Every aspect of nature somehow looked wilder there, denser than anywhere else in the forest.

This place was the home of the most peculiar spirits that the forest brought to life: the fauns. Or, as most fairies would describe them: the evil spawn of darkness.

Unlike the nymphs who came to life anywhere and everywhere in the forest, forever linked to their place of birth, fauns all awoke in the same valley. They were the spirits of music, joy, and amusement, but they were better known as the embodiment of slyness and mischief. Though they all wandered through the forest, lurking in dark places and bewitching naive creatures with their enchanting music, they always came back to their home, at some point.

Thus, considering how immense the forest truly was, it wasn't too difficult to avoid those devious spirits, provided that one paid a little attention to their surroundings and flew away at the first sound of suspicious laughter ringing in the air.

Chanyeol had once told Kyungsoo that fauns definitely suffered from a bad reputation and weren't as awful as the rest of the forest made them out to be. The fairy had wanted to protest, but seeing Chanyeol's sad little face had discouraged him from doing so. According to the faun, only a few of them were truly mean and impish. But since those were the ones who traveled the most and had the most interactions with other species, no one could truly appreciate the fauns like him, only interested in playing music and dancing around.

Still, knowing that didn't make Kyungsoo feel any safer as he flew through the valley as quietly as he could. He had been there a couple of times, some decades ago, but he had never wandered so far into the fauns' territory before. He had never wanted to.

He shivered when he heard acute, creepy laughter not too far away from him, and he tried to calm himself down. He hadn't said anything to Chanyeol, to spare the spirit's feelings, but he suspected that the terrible notoriety of fauns also came from their spooky auras and intimidating eyes. And horns. It was definitely because of their horns.

Kyungsoo sighed and landed softly on the branch of a tree, his eyes gazing at the breathtaking landscape that extended before him. He could hear the strong current of a river running deep below the cliffs, and when he twisted himself around, he noticed strange little burrows scattered about, forming bumps on the ground. He had absolutely no idea which one was Chanyeol's. He wasn't even sure how wide the valley was nor how many fauns lived there.

He suddenly felt a little bit helpless and wondered why he had even bothered to come all the way there. It had to be some kind of mistake. He didn't know what he was doing anymore, which really wasn’t like him. He thought of maybe just going back home, or to Jongin.

"Hi there."

Kyungsoo was startled by the voice coming from just below him, and he looked down, eyes widening. There, stood a faun. He seemed quite young, even younger than Chanyeol. He had bright-blond, curly hair with the very tiny beginnings of horns peeking out. The spirit tilted his head and smiled at him.

"Hi," Kyungsoo whispered suspiciously.

"Are you a fairy?" the faun asked.

Kyungsoo tentatively moved closer, flying just a little lower.

"Yes, I am."

The faun's face brightened in happiness, and his smile grew. He had a toothy grin, just like Chanyeol. The kind that looked adorable at first but became creepier the longer Kyungsoo stared at it.

"There aren't many fairies around here... Do you want to hear me play, perhaps? I just learned a new song on my Pan flute!"

Kyungsoo blinked in surprise but shook his head slowly.

"It's nice of you to offer," he said as gently as he could so as not to hurt the spirit's feelings, "but I'm searching for a friend right now..."

The young faun pouted, his ears drooping in disappointment.

"Oh, I see... Is that friend another faun?"

"Yes, he is. But I don't know how to find him," Kyungsoo admitted. "Could you perhaps help me?"

The spirit next to him was silent for a moment, and the fairy felt a chill creep up his spine; he wondered if maybe he had made a terrible mistake by refusing to hear him play. Maybe the little faun was about to give him hell in retaliation.

"Sure," he finally said, pinching his lips together. "What's his name?"

"Chanyeol," Kyungsoo said, rubbing his forehead awkwardly.

The faun bounced on his hooves and clapped his hands together.

"You're Chanyeol's friend!" he said, excitedly. "Alright, alright... then, you need to go to the other side of the cliff. Keep going until you see an apple tree leaning to the right. That's where he lives."

"Oh, thank you..." Kyungsoo stammered.

The faun wasn’t listening. Instead, he hopped away, pulling his Pan flute out of his belt. He started playing as he disappeared down a path through the rocks. Kyungsoo didn't move for a couple of seconds, but then a small, shy smile spread over his lips.

It hadn't been that bad, he thought. Maybe Chanyeol was right.

He took off, flying over the terrifyingly high cliff, and looked around, searching for the specific tree that the faun had mentioned. He still tried to move as discreetly as he could, not wanting to meet a faun who would shatter his improving opinion of them.

He looked right and left, squinting his eyes, trying to detect a tree tilting to the right, but he couldn't find one. As he continued flying forward, he became scared for a moment, thinking that maybe he had missed it. Maybe it only bent a little. Maybe Kyungsoo had been wrong, and the tree he had passed by earlier really was an apple tree. He was quite certain that it wasn't, though. Kyungsoo was quite knowledgeable about trees. That was one of the perks of taking care of Jongin.

Just as he, reluctantly, started to think that maybe the faun had pranked him, he saw it. Right at the edge of a precipice, its roots anchored in rocks, was an apple tree leaning to the right. It looked especially leafy.

Kyungsoo landed on a stone next to it and glanced around. A bit further away, he saw a large hole carved into a small hill that was surrounded by stones and tall grass.

Kyungsoo half-flew, half-trotted towards it until he stood right in front of the dark entrance. The fairy swallowed with some difficulty at the lack of sound coming from the opening.

"Chanyeol?" he called. "Are you here?"

He trembled when he heard his voice resonate through the hollow.

"Kyungsoo?"

The fairy choked and jolted around, coming face to hooves with Chanyeol. He tilted his head back to look up at the faun's face, which was smiling brightly at him.

The spirit let himself fall to the ground, kneeling in front of Kyungsoo.

"Kyungsoo! Hi! What are you doing here? I'm so happy to see you! Were you looking for me?"

Chanyeol held out his hand to catch him, and Kyungsoo gasped from between his fingers.

"Well... yes, I'm here to see you."

The faun brought Kyungsoo closer to his face until the fairy was practically crushed against his nose, and Kyungsoo huffed and puffed.

"What are you doing? Oh, bother."

"This is the first time you’ve come to see me!"

"Don't make me regret it," the fairy mumbled pitifully.

Chanyeol only chuckled at that and finally loosened his hold. Kyungsoo took a long breath and gave him a stern glance from the corner of his eyes.

"Why did you come, though?" Chanyeol asked. "Do you want to come inside my house? Are you hungry? I have some apples-... and almonds too... If you want."

Kyungsoo brought his hands to his head, massaging his temples for a second.

"I'd appreciate that, yes... To go inside, I mean."

Chanyeol stood up abruptly, with a little bounce, and immediately dived into his burrow, making the fairy in his palm squeak. It was so dark inside that Kyungsoo shivered, blinking like an owl to try to perceive something, anything.

Then he heard Chanyeol whistle. It was very low, a slow little melody of five notes, and under Kyungsoo's surprised stare, small lights appeared along the path, gradually growing brighter. Chanyeol finally stopped walking, and the fairy looked around, almost in awe.

Chanyeol's home was far larger than Jongin's. There was a little hole on the side, a bit like a window: too small for Chanyeol to crawl through but big enough to bring in light and fresh air. Most of the lighting, though, came from the glowing specks that the faun had summoned with his voice.

Chanyeol sat on the ground, letting go of the fairy to let him explore. In one corner was a large mound made of grass, brushwood, wheat straw, and flowers; it was probably the faun's nest. When Kyungsoo turned away from it, he was surprised -though he really shouldn't have been, he should have expected it- by the dozens of instruments lying around everywhere. He saw the small harp that he had seen the faun with before, every time they had met, and a much larger one, placed near the nest. There was also a lyre, at least five different flutes, drums, and a few instruments that Kyungsoo couldn’t even recognize. He even saw, in a corner, something that looked like the beginnings of a shamisen. It was half carved, just waiting to be worked on and finished. The fairy also noticed something that resembled a knife laying on the ground next to it.

"Did you make all of these?" Kyungsoo wondered aloud.

He turned back to see Chanyeol lower his head in shyness as if attempting to hide himself in between his shoulders.

"Almost," he said. "I was offered a couple of things... Some creatures, in the forest-... they like to gift us instruments."

"And you can play them all?"

"I try to."

Kyungsoo walked back to him and sat next to the faun's left knee with a little sigh.

"That’s really impressive. I'd like to hear you play each one, someday..."

Chanyeol's eyes twinkled with interest, and his large grin was back.

"Anytime! Anytime you want! Just tell me!"

Kyungsoo chuckled, nodding gently. They fell into silence. It was comfortable for the fairy, but it filled the spirit with a strange nervousness. He wasn't used to having guests in his home, and as delighted as he was to see Kyungsoo, he had to admit that he had never imagined that the fairy would ever come to the valley by himself.

"So... hum-... do you want apples?" he offered, blinking his eyes anxiously.

"Yes, please."

Chanyeol scooted over to the small wooden chest where he kept all of his food. He took a couple of apples out of it and went back to Kyungsoo.

"Here."

"Thank you."

He sat back down and watched the fairy stand up to bite directly into the fruit. It was quite a funny sight. Kyungsoo was barely taller than the apple and definitely not as large.

"Chanyeol..."

"Yes?"

Kyungsoo sighed. He didn't dare look at the faun directly.

"I have a favor to ask."

Chanyeol perked up. Kyungsoo had a favor. Which meant that Kyungsoo needed him. Which was wonderful.

"Yes, what can I do?"

The fairy was playing with his apple's stem, and he coughed lightly.

"Can I stay here for a little while?" he asked with a pout.

Chanyeol's jaw fell to his chest as he stared at his little friend in utter shock. Kyungsoo stole a glance at him and frowned.

"Just for a few days... Ah. I don't know. I won't bother you, I promise. I'm rather quiet."

Chanyeol blinked back into reality and squirmed on his , trying to contain the sudden burst of joy that went through him.

"You mean it? You want to stay here with me?"

"Well, yes. I'd like to." Kyungsoo mumbled. "I kind of need to."

"Why?"

Kyungsoo twisted his fingers together and scrunched up his face.

"There's a fairy-... He was absent for a while, and now he's about to come back. And I know, I just know, that he will come for me as soon as he wakes up. And Chanyeol... He's such a bother. He's going to cackle in my ears for days on end, and I can't have that. He drives me crazy. So, well... I thought-... I'd much rather be with you. He doesn't know you; he doesn't even know that we're friends. He won't even think about coming here to look for me, you see... He'll go to my house and then to Jongin's, but there's no way he'll figure out that I'm here. Which will buy me some time to come up with a better plan on how to avoid him or find someone else for him to obsess over."

"So, we're friends?" Chanyeol exclaimed, euphoric, interrupting the continuation of Kyungsoo’s rant.

The fairy stiffened, tilting his head.

"That's all you got out of that?"

The faun nodded energetically, his grin reaching an incredible width. Kyungsoo sighed, the shadow of a smile on his lips.

"Of course, we are. I thought that was obvious by now."

Chanyeol threw his hands in the air with a joyful yell.

"This is going to be wonderful. You can stay as long as you want! I'll play music for you anytime! We can play together, and you can sing again. What do you need? What can I do? Is my home comfortable enough?"

The spirit got up, walking around and moving his instruments as if he needed to make more space for the tiny fairy.

"I can make you a very comfy, little nest if you want. Or... I can come with you if you want to get your own stuff. I can carry it here for you. What should I do? Will it be warm enough?"

Kyungsoo couldn't help his sudden laughter as he watched Chanyeol getting so agitated. The faun stopped to look at him with big, round eyes.

"Oh, I'll be quiet too if you want. You just tell me, okay?"

The fairy smiled at him, and Chanyeol blinked. He had never seen Kyungsoo smile at him that way before. The fairy squinted his eyes, his cheeks growing chubbier as his heart-shaped lips stretched across his face.

"Thank you, Chanyeol."

The faun scrunched his flat nose, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

"You're welcome."

Kyungsoo was going to live with him for a while. He was going to have company. It filled Chanyeol with an indescribable euphoria. He wondered if the fairy would agree to bake those little apricot cakes Jongin once told him about. Maybe if he asked nicely enough...

The forest was still dark, and Lord Baekhyun sighed softly, his nose raised in the air as he watched the sky slowly brighten. He had been waiting for dawn all night long, and now that it was almost there, he had to pull himself back from the whirlwind of his thoughts. He couldn't miss the first rays of sunshine again.

When the sun started to peek out from the horizon, bathing the treetops in gold, Baekhyun hopped off the branch he had been lying on and landed a bit lower on his majestic tree. Walking on the tips of his toes, he made his way to the trunk of his giant wisteria and the wood gently. He stayed next to it but made sure not to obstruct the light slowly descending on his tree.

His eyes never leaving the trunk or the little circle faintly drawn on it, he waited ever so patiently. He started to hum lowly and smiled when sunlight finally slid down over the branches and leaves. He waited until the entire mark was bathed in light before lightly blowing on it. His tree shivered. He heard its leaves giggle as if they had been tickled, and it made him smile. The wood inside the circle faded, and Baekhyun peaked inside the dark, little hole. It was silent inside.

The nymph brought his hand to the opening, emitting a very soft, low light from the tip of his fingers as he searched around. Finally, he found the pile of leaves, flowers, and cotton he was looking for, and he poked at it as tenderly as he could.

"Good morning," he sang cheerfully.

He didn't get an answer. It was still quiet and calm inside the hollow, and Baekhyun sighed. He tapped his fingers together, and a couple of tiny balls of light started to float around. He withdrew his hand to move his face closer to the hole.

"Heechul," Baekhyun called. "Heechul, wake up..."

He could see the heap of blankets and flowers move just a tiny bit, and it made him smile.

"Heechul," he whispered again. "Come on, it's time to wake up."

He heard a low, loud groan and laughed. The pile of leaves grew taller, then fell over, and Baekhyun saw a tuft of entangled hair appear. Then, he heard a long, drawn-out yawn.

The tiny fairy raised his arms over his head and stretched for a while before he finally wiggled himself around, turning to glance at Baekhyun. His eyes were still half-closed, and he rubbed at them with his hands.

"Hi there," Baekhyun cheered.

Heechul blinked lazily, scrunched his nose, and coughed a bit.

"Baekhyunnie," he croaked and then scratched his head. "Hi."

"Did you sleep well?"

The fairy yawned again, chewing on nothing, and scratched his chest leisurely.

"I guess so..."

"Was it enough?"

"I don't know yet," Heechul answered with a frown. "Let me wake up a bit before you start asking questions."

Baekhyun beamed at him, nodding a couple of times. Heechul sighed and finally got up. He had to fight his heap of blankets first, but he finally managed to squirm away from his bed and closer to his nymph.

"What's for breakfast?"

"I prepared a lot!"

"Good."

Heechul came to the hole’s opening, peered at the slowly rising sun, and furrowed his eyebrows a bit. His hair was still a terrible mess, and his whole face was swollen with about 50 years of sleep, but he didn't seem to care in the least. He stretched his waist a bit and tried to unstick his wings from each other, flapping them carefully a couple of times, before he looked over at Baekhyun.

"Can you carry me down? I feel a bit too drowsy to fly... It would be bothersome to break a wing now."

"Of course. Come here."

Baekhyun presented him a hand, and Heechul climbed onto his fingers. Then, Baekhyun led them down his tree and to the small feast he had prepared for his fairy's return. There were pastries and plants from all over the forest, prepared by all kinds of creatures, and Heechul started to bounce on his in delight. Baekhyun put him down on the rock where most of the food laid.

"I'm going to make some mint tea."

Heechul straightened up, his face glowing in happiness.

"Fresh mint?"

"Yes. I saved you the biggest, most beautiful leaves to eat."

Heechul started cackling as he walked around the food, in search of said treasure.

"Maybe you should eat something else first..."

"What? Why?!"

Heechul frowned at Baekhyun, who simply smirked at him.

"I don't know. It's been a while since you last ate mint. Maybe you'll go all nuts because of it."

The fairy snorted loudly, then sat right next to the fresh leaves of mint, looking Baekhyun right in the eyes as he munched on one. The nymph burst out laughing.

"I had almost forgotten what mint does to fairies, you know... I gave some to a few friends, a little while ago. They went completely wild. I felt terrible."

"A bunch of delicate flowers, I suppose."

"One of them was very young, another was Junmyeon..."

Heechul cackled as he continued munching on his mint.

"… But I wouldn't call Kyungsoo a delicate flower."

At that name, Heechul froze. He slowly rose his head to look at Baekhyun and squinted his eyes.

"Kyungsoo?"

"Kyungsoo."

Heechul let go of the mint he was still holding.

"How is he doing?"

"He's alright."

"He didn't do anything stupid while I was gone?"

Baekhyun laughed at that and handed his fairy a little cup of tea.

"No. I think he felt better after Jongin's birth. I kept a close eye on him since you asked, but really... he's alright."

"I'll have to make sure of that myself."

"If you can find him."

Heechul drank a bit of his tea and walked around to reach for a little pastry that smelled like roses.

"Wha'tchu mean?" he asked, his mouth full.

"He's not that happy about you coming back. He went somewhere to hide..."

Heechul started cackling again, bouncing around as he rubbed his hands together.

"I'll hunt him down then!"

Baekhyun shook his head slowly and began to eat as well. Heechul was now running his hands through his red hair, trying to tame it and keep it away from his mouth. He grumbled when the rebellious strands kept coming back to tickle his nose. He finally snapped his fingers and grabbed the hair band that fell onto his lap, tying his hair into a bun.

"Anyway, how's the little munchkin?"

"Who?"

"Jonginnie."

Baekhyun clapped his hands together with a loud laugh.

"He's not a little munchkin anymore. Ah! So many things happened while you were gone... I’ve only now realized. Jongdae was right, it was time to wake you up."

"Oh, really? Who's Jongdae? How much time did I sleep in the end?" Heechul smirked.

"Jongdae is a very young fairy, he's absolutely tiny. And adorable. There are so many things awaiting him. I've been really excited since he came to life. He was-... I think it's-... Things have been slowly building up for a few decades now. Exciting things. I think Jongdae's birth was the last stone that built the foundations of what is yet to come..."

Heechul squinted his eyes at Baekhyun, slowly and quietly chewing on a honey-filled puff.

"So... it's finally gonna happen?"

Baekhyun's eyes glowed for a second, and he tilted his head towards his fairy, a mysterious smile on his lips. There was a knowing glint in his eyes.

"At some point. I can feel it," Baekhyun chirped, tapping his nose with his index finger. "Everything's working up to it."

"Great."

"Anyway. I don't know how much time you slept. I lost count. But Jongin is all grown-up now. He has a lover, you know. And a new nymph was born. Really strong, really cute. You're going to love him."

Heechul kept nodding at Baekhyun and stuffing his mouth with various pieces of the diverse selection of food while the nymph began to recite all that had changed since he went to sleep a couple of decades ago. There had been a storm, which gave birth to little Sehun, and two nymphs had mated together, and there had been lots of things going on for the pixies up in the North. Baekhyun was babbling happily, trying not to forget anything, but he kept interrupting himself to comment on every single thing he listed until Heechul coughed a bit, hinting at him to take a break.

"When did you become so talkative? It feels like you're 200 years old again."

Baekhyun stopped and looked down at him with a soft smile.

"I haven't had someone to talk to in a while, you know. I missed you. It's been lonely, these last few decades."

Heechul's shoulders dropped, and his wings sagged.

"He hasn't come back, has he?"

"No. He hasn't."

Heechul smiled bitterly, his eyes falling to his palms, and he balled his hands into fists.

"All of this for nothing," he whispered.

"I'm sorry."

"I think I slept enough to recover all of my magic, though. Once I've completely woken up, we can try again."

Baekhyun scooted forward. He leaned closer and picked Heechul up in one of his hands to bring the fairy up to his face. He placed a small kiss on the top of the fairy's head.

"No, we can't."

"I'm pretty sure I got it all back, I can feel it..."

"I don't want to tire you out like last time ever again. Even to get him back. So, we won't. I'm too lonely without you. Please, let's not try again. Just stay with me. I'll be alright."

Heechul opened his mouth to protest but closed it when he saw the look on Baekhyun's face. There was a profound forlornness in his eyes, a deep solitude that made Heechul grit his teeth.

"Alright."

"Also, I know for a fact that someone else has felt a bit lonely without you..."

"I have a feeling that you're not talking about Kyungsoo."

Baekhyun sniggered with a shake of his head.

"I'll go see Jinx after breakfast," Heechul chirped before he went back to gnawing on some nettles.

Baekhyun gave him a gentle smile They didn't talk about all of the melancholic feelings that Heechul could feel surrounding the nymph. They didn't mention the wizard anymore; they didn't allude to the causes of Heechul's nap; they didn't bring up anything that could deepen the wistfulness lingering around, attempting to revive old wounds. Instead, Baekhyun told him more about all of the things that Heechul had missed: the way the forest acted nowadays, how it had been impossible to set foot around the Misty Lake for a whole decade once, what the elves had been up to lately, and other such things.

They talked all morning until the sun had risen high up in the sky and Heechul had brought back the lovely, familiar light twinkling in his nymph's eyes.

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Hi there,

I hope you liked this small interlude. It was really nice for me to write.

Don't forget to smile, & please take care of yourself.

Oh, the title of the chapter is a quote from Winnie the Pooh.

Find me on twitter & tumblr @moonyki to talk about Magnolia Boy ♥