Birds singing

Water trickling

A soft glow of pink sky when he looked up.

Dark green ground drizzled with stars when he looked down, as far as his eyes could see.

And there was this weird humming coming from the trees.

It was a loud quiet. All sounds and colours pushed at him from everywhere, made him want to close his eyes and hopefully drift off to sleep. Maybe then he would wake up to find all of this a faded memory of a wicked dream. None of this had never happened, not Astrid, not Baekhyun or diving into the pond. Most important, he certainly wasn’t left alone on the banks of a crystal clear river in the middle of the weirdest forest.

As he tried to smack one of the bugs buzzing around him, he startled realized they were not bugs but tiny fairies. All kind of colours, like beautiful butterflies, just that they were not butterflies at all. Chanyeol could tell they were surrounding him. Not close enough for him to grab, moving too fast for him to have a proper look. Like hummingbirds, only, they were not birds either.

More than once he snapped his body around, feeling he had someone’s eyes on him. If it wasn’t for how that was beyond crazy, he would have said he heard high-pitched laughter in the grass every time he threw his body around to try have a look.

In the river a shoal of silver- and gold patterned fish were passing by. That was when he noticed how he was not anywhere close to a pond. How could you dive into muddy water and end up here?

Chanyeol felt his head starting to spin, on the verge of passing out. To prevent it, he curled his long body together in the sand, rested his forehead on his knees and closed his eyes. Focused on breathing, he repeatedly told himself “it’s just a dream, it’s just a dream”.

“Hush! Off you go. Leave him alone”

A bright and familiar voice pulled Chanyeol out of his slumber. The previously painfully noisy forest turned completely silent around him.

“Chanyeol! You are here for real”

Baekhyun sat down on his heels and curled his arms around Chanyeol’s upper body from behind, pushed his chest onto his back and buried his nose in his hair.

Chanyeol grabbed those hands circling him, pulled them tighter, as if his life was depending on them. Finally he felt his body relax and he could breathe normally, his brain cells rocking back and forth to a soft melody in his heart. Baekhyun was here, they were good. Everything would be fine eventually.

“I was so scared” Baekhyun spoke against his neck. “I mean, it was my only chance, and I never thought you would follow. But now you are here and it’s amazing.”

A wave of powerful coughs ran through Chanyeol’s body as he tried to open his mouth to speak. He had swallowed a lot of water and it still burned. The smaller boy quickly pushed him around so that he could face him, never letting go of the touch on his skin.

“You’re in pain. Please let me help you” Baekhyun gently held Chanyeol’s chin in his hand and lifted it enough for their gaze to meet. Chanyeol had no idea of how his friend was going to help him. He had no strength to ask but closed his eyes and nodded faintly.

With his eyes still closed, he let the other arrange his body the way he wanted. His legs pushed down so he sat with them crossed in front of him rather than bent up against his chest, arms detangled and dropped down by his sides.

Slowly a pair of warm hands started to slide over his skin, starting from his neck and down both his arms. It felt a bit like a massage, a very weird one. His skin tickled under the touch and muscles felt warm and soft. The treatment continued down his sides and over his thighs, and the same way back up.

At his waist he felt them search for the hem of his shirt. All of him felt warm as those hands slid over his stomach and landed on his chest.

“Look at me”

Blinking a couple of times, to get used to the golden light around them, Chanyeol lifted his head and did as told. A pair of ice blue eyes were looking at him, soft but insistent.

“How do you feel?”

Chanyeol didn’t know how he felt, he had never before felt anything like this. He felt dizzy, but it was a pleasant fog. He felt heavy, but rested, warm and bubbly. Lost in the blue, all he could do was smile. A bright, toothy grin.

“Happy, I think I feel happy.” His voice bright and crisp, not showing traces of mud or fighting for air.

Tentatively he stretched his body, inhaled deeply, making the golden boy laugh.
“You look like a cat that just wake up, stretching like that” his voice light and smile wide.

“How? When? I mean… How did you do that?” His words tripped over each other on the way out. He had so many questions.

“It’s something my grandma thought me, to master my powers. Light is a powerful one, given by the sun and stars, and it’s healing. That’s what I did to you”

Chanyeol stared at the boy in front of him, trying to understand stuff that was not meant for humans to understand. When his words were stuck, Baekhyun helped him out. A slight tickle on his upper arms made Chanyeol drop his gaze to where fingers touched and forgotten was everything about healing powers.

His skin was drizzled with tiny stars. Wherever Baekhyun’s fingers had touched his skin, there were traces of cristals. Chanyeol jumped up from the ground, twisted his body, waved his arms, tried to get a look of all parts at once. His skin was gorgeous, reminded him of that Jongin- boy that saved him.

When done examining his own body, he bewildered turned to a patiently waiting Baekhyun.

“I take it back” his friend chuckled.  

Chanyeol pouted slightly and narrowed his brows a bit confused. “Take what back?”

“You’re not a cat, you’re a happy puppy chasing your tail”

Chanyeol was pulled into a tight hug while Baekhyun spoke, the smaller boy wrapping him in by arms and tail. Then he looked up and those eyes sparkled of silver again. “I still can’t believe you’re here.”

He felt dizzy again, his heart spinning in his chest. He had no words, didn’t understand anything of what had been going on. Nevertheless, this was right, them being together was how it should be. Therefore, he did what he had wanted to do for too long, what his heart had been waiting for. He gently cupped the pretty face in front of him and leaned down to kiss Baekhyun. They were no longer friends, they were a lot more.

Something tickled like crazy and he had to end the kiss too early, his body twisting to avoid what caused it. His eyes followed a bundle of hair resting on his neck, just under his air, down to where it was attached to the other. How had he never seen that one before?

“I’m sorry” Baekhyun quickly pulled back his tail. “I felt a bit excited and well, a happy tail has a life of his own it seems”

The beautiful boy looked down shyly, a blush colouring the tip of his ears. Chanyeol stretched out a hand to touch it. Strong and soft, hard underneath, like silk on the surface. It was nothing like a cow’s tail.

“It’s beautiful,” he whispered. “Beautiful like you”

Before wrapping Baekhyun in his arms and demanding another kiss, he added “I’m sure I will get used to it” It was a smiling kiss, giving away how he felt on the inside. So very happy.

Walking hand in hand under majestic trees felt like home. Baekhyun was his bubbly self, chatted away about everything in sight. He pointed out where everyone lived, told stories about unlucky trolls turned to stone when they had been too slow to hide for the sun. On cloudy days, they dared go hunting in daylight. As someone bored, that also held the powers of the light, Baekhyun was a threat to the stupid long-nosed creatures. Chanyeol was not even surprised.

The more Baekhyun showed him, the more questions popped up in his head. This was such an amazing place. Books would have to be rewritten. He wanted to take photos, or starting painting. This place was beyond beautiful and the prettiest part of it was walking close to him, holding his hand, leading the way, over a bridge, under a waterfall, a tail of colourful fairies following them.

Anyone they met greeted him warmly. No one asked any questions, they just knew. Like he belonged here, had done for a long time. Aware of the stars drizzled all over his skin, he felt like he did too.