Now that he consciously knows there is -- for a fact -- a pixie in his home, Yoon Doojoon was uncertain on what was to come next. He had so many questions for pixie Seobie, but as of present, means of communication were limited to Seobie’s expulsion of gleaming letters. They were pretty and immensely fascinating, yes, but there had to be more… there had to be more to him. This little person was magical. He could glow and create sparkles and fly… He should be capable of many more things. And Doojoon needed some questions answered.

“Come on. Let’s go to my room,” Doojoon whispered to Seobie, who was still peacefully snacking on his marshmallow bestowed to him by the mortal. Doojoon stood up and safely cupped his hand over Seobie. He transported him gingerly from the kitchen to his domain. He lightly shut the door and boarded his grand bed. Doojoon sat, inhaling… exhaling.

“There is a fairy in my hand. I am holding a fairy. A fairy,” he chanted in mutters. He lifted away the hand that made the “ceiling” over Seobie slowly. Yes, he was still holding a fairy.

It had been a minute now… The marshmallow looked like it hadn’t even been dented.

“A tiny marshmallow must be a lot for you,” spoke Doojoon, “…or you just really have a small mouth. Well, duh, Doo. He’s like four centimeters… You are so… so little.”

Seobie paused indulging in his treat to look up…

Doojoon brought him closer to his visage so he could see him clearer.

Doojoon’s eyes are so big…

“Do those get you full, Seobie?”

Seobie nodded his head.

So, so far, he could only ask this little person “yes or no” questions. He could get most of the things that he wanted to ask him answered with a simple “yes” nod or “no” nod of his head, but there would be no elaboration. That was the most vital part when answering an inquiry. What was Seobie’s story? How did he come here? Where was he from? Doojoon needed, wanted to know.

“Hey. Sorry for interrupting your marshmallow eating, but can you talk? Just wondering, y’know. I was hoping we could talk to each other -- verbally -- but we are so… different. Do you know if we can do that?”

Seobie took his treat, flew out and off of Doojoon’s hand and made a safe landing on the bed where the latter sat.

There was an immediate flash of white that sent Doojoon’s hands flying in front of his eyes. The light, as said, was immediate, so a couple of seconds after the glare dismissed, Doojoon lowered his hands.

That same boy -- that same pixie -- was staring him in his eyes. Seobie was human sized. Doojoon couldn’t decide on what he should feel. Amazed. Dazed. Terrified. Alarmed.

He swallowed, “Uh. You’re definitely not four centimeters anymore.”

Seobie calmly pinched the marshmallow he was eating during his pixie form and simply dropped it right in his mouth. He crossed his legs on the mattress.

“No I am not. But yes. I can talk verbally. I can communicate with you in my pixie form, too, but only by creating words like you just saw, and that would be exhausting for me.”

…Doojoon remained fazed, blinking at the pixie that was no bigger than a glass figurine a mere ten seconds in the past. Now he was this large, lightly glowing, human-looking… boy. Was this real? For affirmation, Doojoon softly jabbed Seobie on his shoulder. Then his pink cheek. Confirmed: He had flesh. Yes, he was real. Doojoon scrambled in back of the other male to check out his wings. They were still little, but Seobie had wings protruding and moving from his backside in fan-like motions, nevertheless. Real, actual pixie wings.

“C-Can I touch your wings?” Doojoon asked Seobie, moving in front of him so fast it caused Seobie to flinch. And blush.

“You want to touch my wings?”

“Yeah. Just for a second.”

“Oh… Okay. P-Please be gentle. They are very fragile.”

Doojoon respected his request. As soft and dainty as someone of his nature could accomplish, Yoon Doojoon pointed a finger, braced, and tapped Seobie’s upper left wing. It was the thinnest, tangible thing he had ever touched. Nothing made of this world could compare with its texture.

Seobie tittered, shuddering. Doojoon swiped his fingers from him.

“I hurt you!?”

“It’s okay. I am fine. Pixies’ wings are sensitive. It tickles a lot when you touch them…”

“Ohhhh… that’s neat. They’re really cool, by the way,” Doojoon -- calmly this time around -- travels back to sit in front of the boy again, weaving his legs together as well, “Can you fly in this form?”

“I can, but, not very good. Only if I have a lot of energy. Pixies… we are weak in this form. I have to draw in a lot of energy from around me just to even talk to you…”

“So there are other pixies? Not just you?” inquired the man, a look of genuine interest coming over him.

“Yes. Billions of others, from a place in the pixie realm that we call the Great Garden. Everyone has a pixie. Your mother, your father. Your coach, your teammates… everyone. There is not a person in this realm that doesn’t have a pixie assigned to them. I… I’m your pixie, Doojoon. I have been your pixie since birth.”

Doojoon’s features went from tense with focus to soft with realization. His dark eyes looked into Seobie’s in silence. A warm connection was made.

“So you’re saying, you’ve been with me for almost twenty-five years?”

Seobie nodded, “I have been watching over you since you were an infant. That’s what pixie’s do. We look after and take care of the mortals we’ve been given. We never leave their side for anything. I know you through and through. You are passionate about soccer, and have been since you were a child. During those days as you practiced, you got hurt a lot. You broke many bones. That was mostly my fault… I was sent here to protect you from all harm, but back then, I was not so strong. Although you got hurt, I made sure to heal you quickly so you could get back to doing what you loved to do. Healing is my specialty.”

Doojoon’s gaze had fallen to his lap.

“That would kinda explain why the doctors couldn’t understand why my body regenerated so abnormally fast compared to other children. Even to this day, if I’m seriously injured, it takes only a few weeks for me to recover instead of months. Like that one time I fractured my ankle last season,” he raised his head to Seobie, “That was all you.”

Seobie smiled small.

“…That’s,” Doojoon chuckled, “that’s amazing. I have a pixie that heals me. My own healing pixie… I’m glad that I can see you and talk to you now, so I can say thank you for all that you’ve done for me… but… that doesn’t explain--why couldn’t I see you when I was smaller? Why can I see you now?”

“To be honest, Doojoon, I do not know. We’re actually not supposed to be able to see one another like this. This is a rare thing that has happened, but it’s not a bad thing. Back in my realm, pixies whose humans can see them are called the ‘lucky set’, and that hasn’t happened in centuries… until now.”

“‘Centuries’?” repeated Doojoon, baffled.

“Yeah.”

“Incredible. I understand now… I get it. But still, why now, I wonder…”

Yes, why now? Why just a month until your twenty-fifth birthday? A month before I leave you?

If I leave you…

Will I leave you?

Seobie’s innermost thoughts were loudly disrupted when Doojoon clapped his hands in summation.

“Don’t wanna think on it too long. You’re here -- and I can see you -- and that’s th--Wait,” Doojoon squinted, “can anyone else see you? No one else can see you, right?”

“No. Only you can see me, Doojoon.”

“Since you’re mine.”

“…Since I am yours.”

“Good. I don’t want anyone having any heart attacks or any press getting word about there being some winged boy hanging around me. That’d be disastrous.”

“Sorry about eating your food…” a tinting Seobie apologized.

“Ahh, forget about it. You’re my pixie. What’s mine is yours now. And you know, we’re very compatible. That’s one thing that we have in common: We both like to eat. Is that something that determines what person you guys get? Compatibility?”

“No. We are given mortals at random.”

“I suppose it’s just a coincidence. It’s still cool.”

Seobie chuckled along with Doojoon, “Okay… then um… Do you have any more questions for me?”

“Mmmm. Nah. Not as of right now. I’m sure they’ll come along again. ’Cause, I mean… You’re a fairy. A pixie… You have wings, and you can turn different sizes and you’re magic and… and… You want some more marshmallows? There’s a whole bag left.”

Seobie grinned and pursed his lips cutely, “I can have more?”

Doojoon smiled as he rose from the bed, “Gimme a sec.”

He hustled to his plentiful pantry, scooped up a handful, and jogged back to his room. Seobie was no longer on his bed…

“Seobie…?”

Seobie came flying up to Doojoon’s face, all white and shiny. Doojoon smirked at his pixie and held out the hand carrying the edible sugar pillows of white. The pixie sat on top of the mound, grabbed one and starting stuffing his little pink face.

“These should take you a while to finish. I guess I’ll have to carry some around from now on,” said an amused Doojoon, enjoying the privileged sight of watching his pixie literally eat from the palm of his hand.

 

Truthfully, I didn’t know how Doojoon would react to me. He found out that I was the one all this time that had been digging into his food and eating all that I wanted. Would he be mad at me for that…? I hadn’t prepared myself to face his wrath… As you saw, Doojoon didn’t treat me badly because of that. I should’ve known that he wouldn’t. He was more shocked with seeing me. I was, too. I forgot all about the food. When his eyes met mine for the first time, I was excited and thrilled and shaken and ashamed and flustered, all in one little body. But Doojoon assured me in a soft voice that everything would be okay. He would not hurt me. By his voice alone, I wasn’t scared anymore.

When I talked to him in what he calls “human form” now, he was warm and calm and nice to me. He did not find me to be strange at all. He accepted me, and what I was. I was afraid more than anything that he would look at me and think I was some oddity that he didn’t want to deal with. No, Doojoon wasn’t like that.

As the day went on, I followed Doojoon wherever he went as I normally do… as I am supposed to do.

But it is different now. So different.

He went training with his teammates on the field he’s used since he was a small boy that same day. When he made a goal, when he completed a spectacular move, he would grin and whisper things to me, like, “Did you see that, Seobie?” “Was that good, Seobie?” “Excellent, right?” “How did I do? Good?” “What do you think?”

I would produce my responses with my magic, and he would smile and his eyes would get so big at my sparkles, and I would fly and hover over him as he carried on with his match.

He’s able to acknowledge me now.

When bedtime came, Doojoon gave me one of his practice beanbags that he’d gotten signed by a football player he admired years ago. It was my bed, and I usually slept on the edge of his. Since he can see me, I am now sleeping on his nightstand, on top of his beanbag. It’s really comfortable. He cut off the lights. We talked a little more, but Doojoon was exhausted… He slept in the middle of a question!

It’s just been a day. I feel closer than I’ve ever been with him. I’m so glad to be a lucky pixie. I’m so glad he can see me…

 

 

“Seobie,” Doojoon called from the bathroom, fighting through a mouthful of toothpaste and foam to be heard. The morning was young; he was getting ready to tackle it. At his mortal’s call, Seobie came flying from the bedroom and into the bathroom where Doojoon was. Doojoon finds him twinkling in his peripheral vision.

“Ohh, I couldn’t find you on the bag this morning. I didn’t know where you went. Where were you?”

Doojoon would first see him there when he opened his eyes, but when he woke that morning, he didn’t find his little fairy there…

There was the blinding white light again. Seobie was changing.

“Please, warn me when you do that. My eyes are gonna explode,” Doojoon said, rubbing his eyes when he finished. Seobie was standing next to him now.

“Sorry, Doojoon! I’m sorry, I will remember to give you a warning! Hn, where was I? I went out looking for flowers. I’ve done it every morning for the past twenty-five years. It just took me longer today.”

Doojoon spit into the sink and wiped his mouth. “Flowers? Why?”

“I am a pixie from a dominant tulip and a forget-me-not. Tulips are what I get my energy from. I can draw energy from other flowers, too -- as well as forget-me-nots -- but tulips are mainly what I need to feel really charged. If I’m not charged, then, I won’t get to talk to you like this a lot. I will be too weak.”

And I like talking to you. I love it.

“Oh wow… I know what I have to do today. Let’s go out to one of those shops that sell flowers and get you some tulips. You’ve taken care of me, now I’ve gotta take care of you.”

Seobie thought that was an interesting way to think about it…

(Later at the shop)

Doojoon visited the nearest and closest floral arrangement shop he knew. Everything was yellow and pink and decorated in some fashion with flowers, but of course there were many flowers to choose from. Doojoon didn’t know where to look. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen a tulip.

“Alright, Seobie. Lead me to ‘em.”

Seobie felt the flowers’ energies tugging him to them from all directions; he departed from Doojoon’s shoulder and followed the invisible signals he was receiving from his native flower. He flew to an area situated in the rear of the shop. That’s where the drawing feeling was strongest and more distinct. The pull led him to the right area. There were rows and rows of vibrant, color-varying tulips, but of course, Seobie favored the cream ones. He went and nestled in one of his home flowers straightaway, glowing brighter and stronger as the abundant energy flowed into his tiny body. The flowers were smaller in this realm. That was fine. Flowers are flowers.

“I take it that these are the ones?” Doojoon asked him, bending over. Seobie didn’t answer. He was charging, but Doojoon didn’t know that. He simply saw the pixie hideaway inside that jungle of white petals.

He picked up the bouquet and peeked inside.

“What are you doing in there~? Seobiiiie,” he began to fold back the petals of the tulips, “Are you playing hide-and-seek with me?”

“Would you like help with anything, sir?” asked the smiley noona, the overseer of the shop.

Doojoon jumped; he stood straight up to respond. Maybe she did not hear him talk to himself.

“Oh uhm, no thank you. But these,” he handed her the bundle of flowers Seobie had chosen to lay in, “I would like to get these, I guess.”

“I will gladly ring you up. If you would please follow me to the front.”

She ushered him to the counter, where they made the money and flower exchange.

“What a lucky woman.”

“Pardon me?” said Doojoon.

The noona tied a yellow ribbon about the bouquet, “You don’t know about cream tulips!? Cream tulips mean that you will love your partner forever. So if she knows this, she will truly cherish these.”

“Oh. Uh, cool. Great.”

Seobie turned so pink he wondered why he didn’t glow that color. Tulips meant that? He did not know that… Flowers had meanings in this realm?

He burrowed further and further into his flowers…

“Would you like a card for your name and a message?”

“Umm, no thank you.”

“Okaaaay,” noona gave him the bouquet and his pixie back, “There you are, sir. Have a nice evening. Come again~”

Doojoon left the flower shop… “Seob. You still in there?” he muttered to the bouquet. He saw Seobie’s little head emerge from the tulip he was hiding in. Doojoon would never get over how tiny he was.

“Found you. Well, that sure didn’t take too long, did it?”

Seobie agreed with a headshake “no”.

“Feelin’ better? I see you’ve gotten brighter. That has to be good. So you constantly need a lot of these, then, huh?”

The other replied with a sparkly “Yes. Lots”.

“I will remember. Now that I’ve gotten your flowers, and you’re all good, let’s go to the field and get some practice in.”

Doojoon nearly practices the day away with his friends… Not only does he get some training in, but I do, too. I have to hurriedly fly close to him, as all pixies do with their mortals, and he moves to fast, so I have to fly faster, too. Grabbing onto him is useless. He jerks around everywhere, so it’s easier and safer to fly. It’s really tiring, but I’ve grown up with him, and I’ve become used to it. Whenever he takes breaks for water I fly back to my tulips and recharge there. He would joke around with me, asking me if I’m tired yet… “Only three more hours to go, Seobie!”

His friends saw the flowers on the bench where Doojoon would leave his equipment.

“Flowers? You gotta girl, Joon?”

“Since when!?”

Doojoon laughed and said, “Focus on the game!”

I wanted to tell them they weren’t for a girl.

The flowers are for me.

Sometimes, Doojoon’s moves can be a little repetitive and predictable. I helped him with that! For the past mornings, me and Doojoon have been training on the field. He would train with his buddies first, then we would have our alone time.

 

I have studied Doojoon, and his opponents, so I know a few things about soccer. The first time I beat him to a goal, he was so surprised! “You’re pretty good, Seob! You’ve actually managed to get around me.”

“Well, Doojoon... I am able to predict your next moves. I’ve been studying you for... forever, and so it is easy for me to know how to dodge you,” I told him, “The big national game is coming. Your rival, Lee Minho, knows you well. He will be studying you and predicting your moves, just like I did, except I’m not a goalie like him. Do things Minho would not expect from you, that none of them would expect.”

This approaching match will be the final in the whole nation: The best in the east division against the best in the west. Doojoon and his team would be crowned national champions if they won; I know it will make him so, so happy. I want him to win badly. So me and Doojoon trained and trained until he successfully made as many goals as I could count. After that we went home. We had a tasty stir fry to eat. We ate a lot. Doojoon fed me in my human form, “You can probably eat more of it this way.”

We had gourmet strawberry crepes for desserts. Lots of glaze, lots of powdery sugar. It was pretty, but it was really messy. The berries were so sweet. Doojoon gave me one of his strawberries since he had lots. He held it to my mouth, holding it with his fingers. Our eyes interlocked, and there was something in those brown eyes that forced my heart to get tender. Softer. And warm. He smiled at me.

I received the strawberry with my lips. I some glaze from his fingers.

Doojoon off the rest.

Doojoon and I practice almost every day now. It can be tiring for me, too. Doojoon is sure to see that he has extra tulips for me.

 

The big game is six days away. His birthday is the day after.

I am nervous. He has been able to tell that, too.

I have not told Doojoon about the twenty-five year pixie rotation. He thinks I will be with him forever… The day he turns twenty-five is the day that I will vanish and return to the Great Garden to be assigned my next mortal if…

…if Doojoon doesn’t love me. I need to know how he feels about me, because what I feel for him is deeper than I can comprehend. He has treated me so well, and he has been so nice and kind to me. That does not mean that he loves me. Love is deeper than that, I think. I am sure that it is; that’s how I feel. It goes deeper.

There are many things that I love about him.

I love how every week he will get fresh flowers for me. I love when he halves his meals and snacks with me, and he always gives me the larger pieces. I love it when all the lights are off, and he and I are about to sleep, and Doojoon lies in bed, looking in my direction. Smiling. Smiling while my light lights up his whole face. I love that the last thing he’s looking at before he goes to sleep is me.

Maybe he thinks of me in his dreams.

I hope they are nice dreams.

I have nice dreams about Doojoon all the time.

(Later)

“You were quiet tonight, Seobie,” Doojoon said, revisiting some mental observations he’d gathered from the earlier hours of the day.

“Yeah,” the human-sized pixie answered.

“You didn’t eat a lot either.”

“Yeah.”

Doojoon leaned closer to Seobie.

“Nothing bad has happened, has it? You’re not sick, are you? Can pixies even get sick…?”

“Yes. Pixies may get sick, but I feel good. I am not sick.”

“Then what’s wrong? You’re makin’ me worried.”

“…I am?”

“Anytime I don’t eat as much as I do, something’s usually the matter, and you’re just like me in the eating aspect, so it definitely means the same. Doojoon wants to know what’s been happening in that head of yours.”

You do? Do you honestly want to know, Doojoon? Do you honestly care?

“…Do you like me?” Seobie asked breathlessly, but Doojoon heard. The latter grinned.

“Yeah. I like you, Seobie.”

Seobie softly lit up… literally.

“Really?”

“Yeah. You’re likable. You’re a likable person. Nice. Caring. Gentle. There are many things about you that I like. Plus you’re my friend.”

“………Your ‘friend’?”

“Yep. My good friend.”

He only thinks of me as… a friend.

“Doojoon?”

“Mm?”

“Would you be sad if… if I left you?”

Doojoon didn’t understand that question. He sat up straight and connected eyes with the boy.

“Are you going somewhere? Are you leaving?”

“I… I might be--”

“--But I thought you were my pixie? I thought you were to never leave my side. That’s what you said,” Doojoon was looking very serious, “Why? Why might you be leaving? Do you not like it here anymore? Did I do something wrong? Was I mean to you?”

“No, no Doojoon. It’s not that.”

“Then why might you be leaving!? I don’t want you to leave, Seobie. I need you here.”

And I need you.

 

Doojoon and Yoseob finished some evening training together. Doojoon’s getting better and better at predicting Seobie’s moves. That would help him, of course, for the match up tomorrow. Doojoon had a final water break on the little bleachers, Seobie twirled a tulip between his fingers, drawing and sharing the energy with it…

“You did really good today, Doojoon.”

“Why of course. I’m the best there is,” the man boasted with a chuckle, “Yeeeah. I’m ready for tomorrow. Minnie’s not gonna stand a chance.”

“Sometimes I help you be the best, too,” Seobie mentioned.

“Hm?”

“Whenever you have soccer matches, I give you boosts so you can win.”

“Boosts?”

“Yes.”

“You’ve been giving me… boosts?”

“Yes.”

“All this time?”

“Yeeeeesssss. So you will win.”

Doojoon looked to the dirt, and he looked there for a very long time before murmuring, “…………I’ve been cheating.”

“Huh?”

“I’ve been cheating all along… I’ve been given power. I’m a fraud. I’m not the greatest soccer player in Seoul. In anywhere.”

Seobie was confused. “What are you talking about, Doojoon? You are the greatest--”

“--Yeah, because you’ve been secretly helping me out in all of my matches!”

Seobie flinched at little at his mortal’s raised voice…

“But I did it… so that you could win… and be happy.”

“You win by being fair, Seobie! I was not fair at all! Hell, now what does this make me? Does this really mean I truthfully… ? Am I even a good soccer player? Have I ever won a game on my own throughout my entire career?! Or has it just been you winning these games for me all along?!”

“D-Doojoon… You don’t win games with magic… You win them with your heart--”

“--But you just told me you helped me win by giving me your magical… steroids! That makes me a joke!”

Seobie bowed his head. Doojoon started gathering his belongings.

“I don’t want you on the field with me during the game tomorrow.”

Seobie quickly stood on his feet, “But I am supposed to always be by your side--!”

“--I don’t care about your pixie oath. Just stay away. Stay away from me.”

Doojoon remained upset the whole night. Seobie remained in his pixie form the whole night.

Instead of looking at Seobie on the nightstand, Doojoon had his back turned against him.

Seobie cried a bit in the little beanbag.

 

The game is in an hour. I haven’t transformed into my human form at all today. I usually do it at breakfast. Doojoon doesn’t want to talk to me. He trained by himself today. I kept out of his way, not hovering as close as I usually do. I don’t want him to get angry.

I am in the locker room with him and his team. The coach is going over strategies and plans. Doojoon is listening and concentrating hard. He hasn’t looked at me -- or in my direction -- one time. He must hate me for what I’ve done. I thought I was helping him… I only helped with my magic so he could he happy when he wins. But I see why he would get mad. I made him question himself… and his abilities. What if that affects his performance in the game? What if he loses?

He will be mad at me forever…

………This is okay. At twelve tonight, I will be out of his life forever. He will not have to worry about me ever again.

The big game went on that very afternoon. As every broadcaster accurately predicted, it was a pugnacious, electrifying match between players Yoon Doojoon and Lee Minho. Several yellow cards were pulled.

It just goes to show that Doojoon wanted that trophy. He wanted to win this game. He had to prove himself to himself that he was the great soccer player -- magic or no magic -- that he has always been called. That he was the Yoon Doojoon that won consecutive rounds, the one who made unheard-of goals during overtime. The only Yoon Doojoon to manage to win for his team when things looked grim.

He lived up to that standard that day.

Ninety-three long minutes have passed. It’s deep into overtime. Doojoon is tenaciously approaching the goal… to goalie Lee Minho.

Seobie was floating high in the rowdy stands, eyes watching. Heart pounding.

“Go left, Joonie. Go to the left side. Don’t go right. Go left,” he was muttering, terrified and so anxious.

Doojoon was sprinting for the right side of the goal, cheered on by all of his fans. He smirked, getting into position on the right side of Minho, as he had always done so many years before.

“Joon!” called his training friend, and teammate, Minhyuk. Doojoon turned his head. Minhyuk kicked the ball; it went airborne. Doojoon, with the most precise timing, leaped into the air, kicking the ball………

…

…it made it into the net. Roars and shouts and cheers were heard far from the sight of the stadium. Minho sunk in defeat, but Doojoon? Doojoon fell to his knees, a triumphant scream bellowing from his large lungs. His teammates crowded him and clamored him with praises, then they picked him from the shredded grass and hoisted him onto their shoulders to parade him around.

Seobie cheered and clapped!

Doojoon was happy, so Seobie was happy.

…Seobie returned home. The “stay away” policy was probably still in effect. In his itty pixie form, he flew to the house he’d shared with his mortal, laying on the bed beside Doojoon’s spot. It was the spot he’d wished night after night, that he could occupy. Right next to him. Snug. Embracing.

A tear dripped from Seobie’s eye.

His time was done. Hours from now, he would be going back to the Great Garden and given a new mortal to oversee, for another twenty-five years. No more tulips every week. No more training, rolling around in grass with each other. No eating together for being fed strawberries with Yoon Doojoon. Ever.

Come what will, but there is something that will remain concrete: Seobie will never forget the memory of Doojoon. He will never stop loving him.

Seobie fell asleep.

...

“...Ehy, Seob,” Doojoon poked the sleeping boy, joining him on his bed, “Hey, wake up...!”

Sluggish, Seobie brought his body up, half conscious, “Mmmm...”

“Yo. You okay?”

Seobie, rubbing his eyes, nodded. Doojoon moved nearer, “Okay. Er, so... we won the game!”

“Yes, you did. Congratulations. I’m happy for you.”

“Thanks. We went out and partied. A lot. That was fun... I didn’t see you...”

Seobie’s sleepy eyes did not look at Doojoon. The latter created that visual tie with the lifting of Seobie’s head.

“Hey... I’m... I’m sorry about... yellin’ at you back there. I know you meant well. I’m fortunate enough to have someone who cares a lot for me. There aren’t people like that around every day. Um, here,” and like a magician would pull a rabbit out of his hat, a small bouquet of tulips appeared from the thin air behind Doojoon’s back, “Gotcha more of these. I know it’s not much, but I can’t create sparkly letters or nothin’ like that. It’s really the best I can do.”

Seobie was definitely awakened by the sight of the bright, white flowers. He accepted them in his hands, grinning so broad.

“Ohhhhh... Thank you, Doojoon. And it’s okay. They are just enough.”

“Luckily noona’s shop was still open. It was so late.”

Seobie’s every nerve buckled. A light tremble shook his being.

“What time is it, Doojoon?”

“Arooooooound... one. One in the morning.”

Seobie dropped his flowers.

It was past twelve.

“What?” questioned Doojoon.

...Seobie realized he couldn’t feel the pull of the tulips. His wings weren’t there on his back. He couldn’t summon his white sparkles with his fingertips. And he was human sized. Not a mystical vein remained in his body. When he went to bed, he was a little pixie. Now he was... a mortal. That could only mean one thing.

Seobie hugged Doojoon tightly, so happy he could cry ponds. Doojoon was startled, “Seob?”

“You love me...”

“Huh?”

They looked to one another.

“There is one thing that I forgot to tell you about pixies. Pixies are with their mortal in the mortal realm for twenty-five years at a time. On their twenty-fifth birthday, pixies are assigned a new mortal to look after. You and I were able to see each other, remember? So from there, those pixies are given a choice to stay with their mortal, or to return to the Great Garden. The only way that we may stay, is if we truly, deeply love our mortal... and our mortal equally loves us back. The love that exists must be pure, and... I love you, Yoon Doojoon, and me still being here means that you must love me, too.”

Doojoon blinked... “For real?”

“Yes. See, I don’t have powers anymore. Or my wings. The tulips are just tulips. I’m mortal now, just like you.”

“Ahh... so that’s what you meant that one night about leaving. You said you might, but you didn’t... because...”

“...Because I didn’t know if you loved me. But now I know.”

“...........Well, gee. I guess you got me.”

“So you do love me.”

Doojoon scratched his head... was he blushing?

“Yeah, if that’s what they call it,” he turned to the other seriously, with a handsome smirk for him, “but... I do feel for you, Seobie. I wish I could’ve told you that first before, you know, the whole pixie rule thing gave it away.”

“I think I like finding it out this way,” Seobie rattled with joy and hugged Doojoon’s neck again, “Oh. And one more thing,” his lips pecked Doojoon’s cheek, “Happy birthday.”

“Thanks,” they swapped smiles when they pulled apart, Doojoon holding Seobie’s face and gazing acutely into the latter’s round eyes, “It definitely is a happy one. I’m glad I didn’t lose you.”

“Love me and you won’t,” Seobie said.

And so the lives of Doojoon and Seobie began. There were more practicing sessions, more food sharing, and more harassing press. Since Seobie was now a mortal, he could be seen by the people around him. The press wanted to know everything about him, and what his relationship was to the great football champ. He didn’t mind the attention so as long as Doojoon was there to rescue him. Their young love blossomed as the days, months and years passed on, growing more beautiful with each romantic gesture. They shared things and feelings and emotions that they’d never shared in the earlier days. Seobie didn’t know such a perfect, perfect thing could exist. But it does. It’s name is Love, and Love’s name is Yoon Doojoon, and Yoon Doojoon expressed his love for the former pixie by keeping up with something that became a weekly habit...

Bringing home cream tulips.