Prologue

A golden-blonde pixie -- no taller than a billiard ball in height -- sat alone on the stamen of a giant flower. His name was Seobie. He contently nibbled on a piece of honeydew -- breakfast. It was sticky with the nectar of a wild forget-me-not, cross pollinated with a cream-colored tulip. It was the pixie’s most favorite flower in the entire vicinity of the Great Garden. Was it because of the one-of-a-kind nectar it provided that he so happily consumed? Or was it because of the beautiful tulip matched the hue of his wings. Nevertheless, this special, rare flower has always been his home. It gave birth to him, sheltered him, and it secreted the most delicious nectar in the entire pixie realm. And that was good news for him.

The golden-blonde loved to eat.

Next door, just a flutter away from his home flower, resided the next pixie. His name was Kiki. His flower was a beautiful, coral carnation cross pollinated with a rose. Being one of the Roses made Kiki an instant celebrity amongst the pixies the minute he was born to it. Roses of all colors had become diseased and therefore erased from the Great Garden generations ago by an unknown epidemic that only affected them. It was said, however, that all but one remained. Every generation of sprung pixies bore that one pixie in the midst of the thousands that was born of the Rose. Kiki was that one pixie. Though he was famous for this, he was the most modest pixie one could come by. And the most handsome. Coral agreed very much with his character.

Kiki folded back a rosy petal to create his view of Seobie from his towering flower.

“Seobiiiie~!” he sang melodically. Seobie looked up to the periwinkle sky and to the rose-carnation in his view. He saw Kiki wave his hand and leap from his flower above. He made a graceful descent, only fluttering his wings twice. His feet lightly tapped the tip of the ivory petal.

“Good morning~”

“Good morning, Kiki.”

“I see you are filling your face already. I tried eating, but I am exhausted. I didn’t get a wink of sleep. Are you excited about today!?”

He should be. Today was the day of Departure. “Departure?” you repeat. Yes. Pixies do not sparkle and laze about in their own realm day by day, being pretty and going about their simple, pixie lives. Have you ever heard of “guardian angels”? Of course you have. Perhaps you’ve experienced a near-death moment and by some interference by a higher power you were spared from a dismal fate?

Your life was saved by a pixie, a pixie given to you since birth. The creature studied and protected and aided their mortal for a period of twenty-five years. They are unseen little things, for mortals and pixies are of different realms.

Unbeknownst to him, Seobie was bound to a mortal by the name of Yoon Doojoon, a futbol superstar!

Kiki’s bound mortal went by Son Dongwoon, a very studious young man in pursuit of cinematic dreams.

They were to meet their first baby mortals for the very first time today, and Kiki and Seobie were joyous about the occasion. All of that hard work, training, and listening to their droning teachers would finally be put to the test.

Oh yes, there was another pixie that made up this trio of friends, but he -- or “she”, as he would like to be referred to -- was still sound asleep in his little flower. That “she” concept will be explained shortly.

“Where is Haseon?” Kiki asked, peering high and low for any sign of their friend that completed their trio. Seobie shrugged.

“I haven’t seen him. Usually he is here at my flower early.”

“He knows we cannot be late for the Departure. Especially our first one!! If he does not come during the next petal drop then we will be left with no choice but to--”

“--Leave me behind?” finished a new but instantly noticeable voice. Kiki and Seobie’s eyes shot for the sky. Their friend, Seungie, fluttered from high above with his arms stretched at either angle while he released a big yawn. The tips of his feet touched Seobie’s tulip, and his yawn was over.

“Don’t worry. I’m here now.”

Seungie was… a special pixie, in a sense. The flower that gave him life was the simple, violet daisy. He was one of simple beauty, but he did not find that beauty in his “true form”. You see, Seungie was born of the male species, but -- after an incident where his feelings were crushed by a male pixie he loved because he was a male too -- he found being a female suited him best. He used close to half of his energy to conceal his true self. That is why he was sleepy all the time. It drained him. He said to others to address him as “Haseon”, too. Kiki did; Seobie hated it. He hated how his friend changed his entire being just for some jerk who refused to love him just the way he was. He could not remember the last time he’d seen Seungie as a boy. A man, at that. He didn’t call him “Haseon”, either, and Seungie hated it, but Seobie said he grew up calling him “Seungie” and “Seungie” he would remain.

“Did you have breakfast?” Seobie offered a piece of his honeydew, “You can have some of mine~”

“Aw, no thank you, Seobie. I ate. I’m just so tired…” he replied.

“Is it because you are excited…!? The day of Departure has come! We finally get to see the mortal realm for ourselves! No more books and dreaming of it!” Kiki questioned, bouncing a bit on the petal.

“I just hope I get someone interesting. I don’t want to be bored for twenty-five years,” Seungie said, fixing the ruffles in his purple dress.

He got someone interesting, all right. His mortal was Yong Junhyung, a man of fiscal, coporate importance.

“I hope I get someone talented and dedicated. I have been praying for someone like that all night,” Kiki said with a hopeful gleam in his eyes.

Seobie finished off his last piece of honeydew. “I just hope they have good food.”

“I feel bad for your mortal, Seobie. There won’t be a thing to eat in their poor house,” Seungie said, patting his friend’s tresses. A common laugh was shared between them all.

“Do you think there will be a lucky set today?” Kiki asked his friends, and by “lucky set” he meant those pixies that were seen by their mortal, and vice versa.

Seobie cleaned his hands.

“Maybe. Who knows. The lucky set was probably chosen ages ago. There is no way of knowing if they’ve already been chosen unless the chosen pixies that were sent to the human world never came back. And as far as we know, all the pixies that have been sent since we were alive have all returned. Maybe the lucky set had already been sent, we just don’t know it yet.”

That was true. It had been several centuries since the last set of pixies were never heard from again; so it was a rare, rare occurrence! So when they were seen by their mortal -- inevitably developing an even deeper bond with him or her -- the pixies are given a choice to either stay within the human realm, or return home. If choosing to stay, they could not return to the pixie realm, and they could not retain their powers. They became a regular mortal like their partner. This was a difficult decision to make, and even if the pixie did choose to stay, the love existing between the said pixie and mortal must be strong and true. If not, they would return to the pixie realm regardless.

Would this be their fates?

The three friends did not have time to waste. They approached the grand sunflower, where the departures took place. Millions of little pixies were already gathered ‘round, listening to the instructions regarding entering the human realm and last minute advice on tending and catering to their very first mortal. Father Hong stood amongst the anxious jittering first-timers. All was quiet when he took his stand…

“I will make this short. To some of you, this will be your first mortal. To others, this may be your second, third, forth… the list continues. Whichever circumstance you fall under, you know your job. It is a tedious, prevalent, and dear one. You have spent your whole lives preparing for this moment, and I trust that each and every one of you know what to do. Now go. Fulfill your destinies.”

The face of the sunflower glowed with a multi-colored light fizzing from it. The portal was opened. Pixies began jumping in.

The trio turned to each other.

“Well. This is good bye, then…” Seungie quietly muttered to them.

“Not really! Just for twenty-five earthly years!” Seobie cried.

“That’s a long time, Seobie,” Kiki commented with a frown.

Seobie looked down… It was. “M-Maybe we will see each other again.”

“But what are the chances of each of us getting a mortal that lives in the same area?” Seungie asked.

“Very small, Haseon. Very small. There are millions of babies born every day -- we could be placed anywhere in the world -- but I still wished that we would all somehow be close to one another the night before I went to sleep. Hopefully it will come true. If not,” Kiki rung his arms about his best friends and squeezed them tightly, “I will see you all when our jobs are done!”

“Unless we’re one of the lucky ones!” Seobie reminded.

Their embraces continued until Father Hong himself authorized them to go on ahead and enter their new realm before it closed.

Kiki, Seungie, and Seobie stepped up to the gaping whiteness.

They held hands as they leaped into the threshold of fate.

Conditioning is the stuff of death. Yoon Doojoon hadn’t sat down for twelve hours plus; he’d been dribbling a ball between his feet for that time. He was used to such a reality: Doojoon was the most valued soccer player in all of Seoul, and he would remind you of it -- his greatness -- in a heartbeat. As he should! He worked tremendously hard to get where he was, though he always, always seemed to have luck on his side. He was the luckiest man in the soccer game. Some of the goals he made were ridiculously lucky shots, but Doojoon just brushed it off, saying it was because he was just that good. Whatever it was, this man was a restless prodigy.

A restless prodigy that loved to eat.

If it was one thing that could put a smile on his face, it was his pantry full of food and his refrigerator. He couldn’t make time to cook -- that’s what cooks are for, and he was rich, so he had lots of them -- but little snacks here and there did him just fine. Without food, Doojoon would be nothing. In actuality, humans would be nothing without food, but with Doojoon, it was another story. His brain had only two halves: one for food and one for soccer, and he wouldn’t want it another way. He was either seen with a ball or placed in front of a mound of food.

In fact, this afternoon he was going to look for a morsel to eat from his pantry, when suddenly………

“YAAAH!”

Doojoon stumbled to the floor as he watched a white fuzzy light fly zip behind his various boxes of various cereals. A marshmallow dropped; Doojoon noticed that it had been nibbled on quite a bit. Then he took heed at his entire bag of marshmallows that was once upon a time full. They’d been torn into and feasted on for what appeared to be days at a time. So there was something eating his food! First his fruit seemed to vaporize, then his sugar cubes. His marshmallows were this thing’s next victim.

No one compromised Doojoon of food. No one.

If the insect or bug or whatever it was was attempting to hide, it did it no good. The light it emanated gave away its location. The player stared and stared at this unearthly light… He knew not of an insect or anything that glowed that brightly. Not even a flashlight… Whatever it was, it was different. Doojoon wanted to see just how different.

Doojoon carefully dug his fingers into the tiny hole that had been cut through by the glowing object, fumbling around for a marshmallow. He got one, and waved it at the area illuminated by this bright light.

“Heeeey. Look what I have~ This is what you want, right? Here, take it--”

Before he could get the final syllable out, the white light zipped towards his hand and zipped back. The marshmallow had been snatched from his fingers. Doojoon pulled his hand back and saw this for himself. It happened rapidly!

“Wow… Impressive. You’re a fast little thing.”

He didn’t know why he was talking to it, but that sort of thing was natural for someone like him. His want to know what this thing was increased very, very much. It apparently wasn’t going to show itself to him, so he would have to be the one to take the imitative. Doojoon grabbed a stool to stand on. He elevated himself with it so he could see the whole row of cereals without a problem. The light told him the thing had hid back in its hiding spot.

“Yah. I’m gonna get yoooou~”

Doojoon started gingerly spreading the boxes apart; the light moved with them.

Doojoon started throwing the cereal to the ground. He left the ones the light hid behind untouched. Then, when he had his hand prepared, he yanked away the light’s final barriers. The thing came flying out, but ah-ha, Doojoon’s reflexes were quicker. He grabbed the light in his hand and cupped his other hand over it. He felt something shaking and moving about on his palms frantically. It tickled.

“Hey, hey, settle down! It’s okay… I won’t hurt you…” he shushed with laughter, and it proved successful. The thing in his hands ceased its fraying. It listened. Now that was interesting. Interesting and scary… Doojoon swallowed and lifted his palm. What had he caught?

In his hand stood this little, itty man with very, very bright yellow hair. He was dressed in a white whiter than white, and the light draped about him shone even brighter than that. He had wings, too. They were translucent and little for his frame.

Doojoon’s weighty stare scared Seobie. He was looking at him so hard, but he could understand why. He was holding a pixie in his hand.

His pixie.

“Whoa…”

Seobie nervously fluttered his wings. He wanted to fly away.

“Nonono, don’t go anywhere! It’s alright. I won’t hurt you, I promise!” Doojoon sat on the stool and continued eyeing this newfound being in his hand.

“You are so small… Are you like a fairy or something?”

Seobie nodded.

“Whoooaaa… Daebak. Do you have a name, fairy?”

Seobie shot his hand up in the air above him. Bright white sparkles flowed from his appendage, spelling the fizzing characters “Seobie”. Doojoon watched, allured. They disappeared five seconds later.

“Seob… ie. Seobie,” Doojoon smiled, “Hi Seobie. I am Yoon Doojoon. You’ve been here for a long time, haven’t you? So you’re the one who’s been eating all my food.”

The pixie slowly looked down in embarrassment. He wanted to fly away again. He had to catch me like this…?

“Heeeeey, that’s okay. We all gotta eat, so I can understand that. Are you still hungry, Seobie?”

Doojoon reached up blindly for the marshmallow bag. He searched for the hole -- found it -- and pinched a marshmallow out of it. He showed it to Seobie.

“You like these, don’t you? Take it. You can have it.”

Seobie blinked at the giant, white plush he’d grown to love over the years.

“Yeah. It’s yours. Eat.”

Seobie grabbed the marshmallow with his little hands, sat down, and started to nibble, looking at Doojoon with observant eyes.

Doojoon smiled at him while he ate…

“You’re the littlest thing I’ve ever seen.”

…and Seobie blushed.

Dongwoon couldn’t get these lines memorized for the life of him.

Kiki watched his mortal struggle from his point on the man’s high armoire.

It was very deep into the night, but Dongwoon was charged with energy! Dongwoon had gotten a callback from an agency of a promising, upcoming drama. He had done stellar on his first audition, immersing his soul into his given role as a heartbroken man driving himself into insanity with his thoughts. They loved his performance so that they invited him back for a second audition, and this time, with another person also hoping to get a role in the drama. They were searching for those with versatile talent, and that was definitely something Dongwoon could prove that he had.

Presently, he was practicing, tackling the role of a pushover man doting on his hard-to-please girlfriend.

To play as his “lover” in this case was an orange teddy bear that sat on the edge of his bed. In the scene, he was supposed to hand her different items, waiting on her hand and foot.

“D-Did you say water or soda? A-And I-I couldn’t find a pink one anywhere, but I did the best I could. I hope the red cup is alright. I put soda in it, too. That’s alright, right?” Dongwoon paused, because this is where the female would scold him and slap down the cup in his hand. He pretended to drop the invisible container and pretended to listen to the girl bark at him to fetch her another beverage, “…S-Sorry, sweetheart. O-Okay, I hear you. I-I will just go and get you your soda--water now. I will go get your water now.”

Kiki sighed with a smile, watching his human pace back and forth, acting out the lines and bringing them to life with that unique Dongwoon style. He smiled when he smiled, laughed when he laughed, and felt his frustration when he would trip over his own tongue. Though sometimes that was a funny thing to the pixie. Dongwoon would be so cute when he stomped his feet in anger. Of course Kiki could help him out, just a zap of his pixie magic would have him remembering all the lines in one go, but it was far more entertaining watching him learn for himself.

At this point, Dongwoon had gotten his lover’s water, but tripped and fell, splashing the water all about her dress. He pretended he was grabbing paper cloths for her to dry her dress with, his arms and legs moving about frantically. “H-Here!! Dry off with these! I’m so sorryyyy~~!” Kiki loved overseeing practice sessions with his mortal. He couldn’t stop laughing at how he was being so energetic over this orange teddy, but it was expected. It was cute. It was hilarious.

Kiki kept on laughing and laughing and laughing throughout the whole session.

Dongwoon stopped frequently, too. He took some seconds to look left and right. There was a little noise buzzing in his ears. He did not know what it was, but it was always present whenever he began to speak, especially when he said a line that would supposedly evoke laughter. The noises sounded like… little jingling trinkets, and he heard it stronger than ever just ten seconds ago. He stopped his practice to look around again.

Dongwoon listened, his ears following the jingly sounds. The sounds seemed to be coming from above. He looked to his ceiling, his curiosity deepening… What was the maker of these sounds?

…He saw a bright, pink light flashing from the tops of his armoire. It was very, very vivid, and Dongwoon had nothing in his possessions that created a beacon of light such as that. It was entrancing, and it was moving about. Dongwoon quietly neared it…

Kiki noticed how deafeningly silent it had gotten. He stopped laughing. Did Dongwoon leave? Where was he? He was to be with his mortal at all times!

Kiki scrambled to the edge of the armoire to look out for his human.

A pair of human eyeballs stared back at him.

Dongwoon gaped at this teeny, fluorescent human figure leaking coral light. That is all he could do. Wouldn’t you if you found a pixie in your home?

Kiki couldn’t breathe, but he couldn’t seem to turn himself away. Was Dongwoon really looking at him? He could really see him? He decided to answer those questions with his own actions. With grace, Kiki flew down from his safe haven until he was eye level with his mortal. Dongwoon’s eyes followed without hesitation. When Kiki moved left, Dongwoon’s pupils moved left. It was the same with right.

Dongwoon saw him, watching those little, coral wings of his vibrate as he levitated in midair. They were super fast.

“It was you, wasn’t it…?” Dongwoon quietly asked, “You were the one making those noises.”

Kiki bobbed “yes”. He was thoroughly surprised, too.

Dongwoon blinked. He could understand him. The man held out his hand underneath Kiki. Kiki took the kind invitation, making a sweet landing on his mortal’s soft hand. Dongwoon cradled him slightly and held him very close. Kiki was blushing, though Dongwoon would not tell with the pink light gleaming.

Dongwoon analyzed the little creature in his hand: He had honey-brown locks, two of the most piercing eyes, a delicate stance, stout lips, and the calmest of lights. And his wings. They were curved at the tips, translucent, but coral. Dongwoon could already tell there was something very special about him. Something very extraordinary, aside from him being a pixie. Is that what he was? A pixie?

Dongwoon raised the finger of his other hand and cautiously touched the thin wings. Kiki giggled -- pixies’ wings are sensitive to touch, so it tickled -- and that is when Dongwoon heard the jingly sound again! The jingly sound came from the pixie’s laughter!

“Ahhh! That’s why I heard you! You were laughing at me!”

Kiki nodded “yes” again.

“…Was I that bad?”

Kiki shook his head really fast. No!! You were excellent, Dongwoon!!

Dongwoon smiled at the being’s nonverbal response… “This is crazy. I’m talking… to a fairy. And you actually understand me… What’s your name? Do you have a name?”

Kiki summoned a thick, sparkly cloud of pink from a small wave of his hand. He snapped, and the sparkles all grandly condensed to form his name. Dongwoon was extremely amazed at such a show.

“Kiki? That’s your name?”

Kiki took flight at Dongwoon saying his name for the very first time. He was so excited!! He was a lucky one after all. A lucky Rose!

“I’m Dongwoon, Kiki. Nice to meet you!”

And he bowed his head respectfully. Kiki bowed, too.

Then, an unignorable sensation pulsed from his little wings. It had him crippling down into laughter. Dongwoon was feeling his wings with his finger again, and for a few, enjoyable seconds. But truth was, he loved the jingly sounds… They were relaxing.

“So you’re ticklish on your wings, huh?” he asked, finally stopping, “That is so cute.”

…Kiki blushed.

Accountant Junhyung backed away from his spreadsheet. He took off his glasses, rubbed his eyes, and stared at the several columns and rows of financial figures as if his stare along could conjure a fire upon the sheet. It was tax season. The corporate tax report as well as additional expenses for the major corporation he worked for was due the next morning. There was to be no sleep until he got these numbers the way he needed them to look.

Something had gone totally, totally wrong in his calculations. He did not know where he made the error -- or how, since he had taken the most advanced classes a practicing accountant could take -- but he needed to find it.

Or the appropriate taxes would not have been paid. What would that make him look like? An untrustworthy accountant? Junhyung was the best around in his profession: Attentive, sharp-minded, and a real troubleshooter. Those were all the traits for a successful accountant, and he very much was. His drive to figure out where his recordkeeping went wrong was his fuel to keep striving to find the miscalculation. That, and his need to save his very own neck. He could easily get into trouble with the tax collectors and his superiors, and Junhyung tried to avoid that as much conflict as feasible.

So, with coffee in hand and a pen tucked away behind his ear, Junhyung trucked along in his capacious office space, a retina-burning lamp his only source of illumination. He tried his lucky, pinpointing areas in his calculations that looked a little off to him. It was like a puzzle, except the end pieces all looked the same, yet they did not fit with the entire picture.

Seungie was getting so anxious. He was working hard to find the human error, too, but now he knew where the mistake was… and he desperately wanted to fix it for Junhyung. It was a simple one, too -- he innocently counted another expense that he shouldn’t have -- and it brought him so much frustration. He’d been looking for the mistake for at lease three days in a row.

Junhyung slammed his pen down.

“I don’t see it. I just… I can’t find it. I cannot find it. This makes no sense.”

Eventually, Junhyung rose from his chair. He searched in a filing cabinet for other previous fiscal records that could usher him along in getting the problem solved.

Seungie took action. He quickly descended from the bookshelf he watched Junhyung from, landing on top of the spreadsheet. He pointed to the pen, and a rush of violet sparkles poured from his finger and enshrouded it. The writing utensil rose, commanded by Seungie’s power, and he hovered the tip over the area where Junhyung’s blatant mistake lay hidden, but it was not hidden from his eyes! Now that this would be solved, his Junnie could get some well-deserved rest.

THWACK.

…Seungie didn’t know what had just happened, but he had the most strongest aching in his head, and he’d found himself on the hard floor with the pen beside him.

Junhyung blinked several times at the violet, glowing thing he just struck. Did he kill it? He didn’t mean to! He didn’t know what it was, but he just witnessed a pen floating on its own accord and he saw a purple light, and that was unnatural and impossible. Nothing in his office emitted a purple light. He got closer to the thing on the floor.

Assigned mortal or not, Seungie did not tolerate such rough treatment. He got so angry that he did not even realize that Junhyung could see him. Seungie abruptly flew up to Junhyung’s face and practically blinded him with vibrant purple sparkles in retaliation. It sent the man fumbling onto his bottom, cringing and rubbing his poor eyes. He thought whatever that thing was, he’d apparently pissed it off.

“Yaaaah… What… was that--”

Junhyung removed his hands from his face, hoping he could get a better close-up of the purple little thing.

Seungie struck him again with a stronger dose.

“YAH! Would you quit it!? Just let me look at you!”

The word “look” snapped Seungie out of his fit. Junhyung said “look”, then it registered in his head that his human could see him. He flew up to Junhyung’s face, but not to zap him again. Junhyung, wary, slowly moved his fingers from his visage…

In front of him floated a small human figure -- a woman -- in a pretty purple dress. To Junhyung, she appeared very apologetic, but he was the one who was supposed to be apologizing. He smacked her with a wad of papers! But Junhyung was mystified by her presence with a violet light painting his face. He was gazing at a fairy… the most loveliest little thing he’d seen that size.

“Oh… I-I’m sorry, Miss,” Junhyung brought Seungie into his hands, “Did I hurt you?”

Seungie motioned his head in the “yes” fashion. You smacked me with a paper, pabo.

“I’m sorry… I didn’t know what you were. I saw a pen moving and I got… Wait. Was that you moving my pen?”

Rather than respond, Seungie demonstrated his ability to move inanimate things. He used his magic to bring the pen from the floor and back to the desk where he then flew up to. The pen’s tip hovered over the paper, and this time, Seungie got the chance to encircle Junhyung’s mistake with it. Junhyung sat in his chair again, now focused on the red circle encasing a cluster of suspicious-looking numbers. Was that his mistake?

Seungie gave the pen to Junhyung and took a seat on his shoulder. They both smiled to one another.

Junhyung tried redoing his calculations in that particular area, and behold, everything fell perfectly into place! All was accounted for!

“You found my error. That’s what you were trying to show me with that pen…”

Seungie nodded. Junhyung smiled with gratefulness. “You’re pretty smart. You’re a lifesaver too. Thank you……… um…”

Seungie wiggled his fingers, producing streams of glittering violet. They came together to spell his female name… “Haseon”.

“Haseon,” Junhyung read. He turned to the pixie on his shoulder, “Thank you, Haseon.” Everything on his face was beaming at Seungie.

Seungie blushed and fluttered his wings.

"Les Billets Doux" is French for "LOVE LETTERS".

Yoseob is a fairy from a forget-me-not flower, which is symbolic for a lover never forgetting the one that they love. It represents true love and fond memories. He is also part cream tulip, which symbolizes this simple statement: "I will love you forever."

Kikwang is a fairy from the rose and the carnation. The carnation is named after the color of flesh, and flesh is sensual. It is also considered the "flower of love". The rose he is from his pink, and pink roses mean gracefulness and joyfulness. Pink roses were also the first to be cultivated in the past, so they actually came first before all of the other colors of roses were made. So Kiki is extra special~ BIASSSS.

Hyunseung is a precious daisy fairy. And a purple one. Daisies represent simple beauty, but Hyunseung is anything but simple. He doesn't like his true self, so this conflicts with his flower. Daisies also represent innocence, a love that is loyal and will conquer all, and purity. The purple color is the color of passion, so he is very passionate, too. (He will become a boy again, you will just have to see why~)

All of those traits are very important for the later bits. So there you are~ :D