“What?” Kris snapped, stopping abruptly on their way back to the van. The sun had already gone to sleep and the first stars could be spotted twinkling on the light blue of the evening sky. “Why are you staring at me like that, Park Chanyeol?”

The tall one shot him a glare before continuing walking next to Jaelle.

“Very mature of you,” he heard Kris mumble.

“Talks the one who has secret feelings but acts totally the opposite,” Chanyeol replied, leaving Tao and Kris shocked.

“What’s your problem, huh? If you have one, we should settle it like men,” Kris stopped in his tracks and placed the canister on the ground. “Don’t hide behind words like a woman and face me!”

The obvious defiance made Chanyeol stop in his tracks and slowly turn around to face his opponent. For a second, Kris thought he would get punched or at least cussed at. But the boy had better thoughts as he just smirked and placed his arm around Jaelle’s shoulders. “I’m a educated man that thinks violence is troublesome. I have better ways to face you. Ways that will make you wish you never did what you did. Come, Jaelle, I think the others are getting worried,” he then turned to the girl that didn’t seem disturbed by the level of skinship displayed.

But even if Chanyeol had decided to step away and not cause troubles, Tao was still alert, keeping his eyes on the strange expression of Kris. He seemed somehow… different. His eyes were unfocused and his lips twirled upwards in a strange, dreamy smile – like those of longing lovers.

“Not you too, man!” Kris glanced at Tao with a displeased frown digging wrinkled in between his brows. “Why are you looking like that at me? Something on my face? Or what? Why do you stare? He stared at me and he won’t give me a reason. Maybe you have one – What?!”

“Dude… chill,” Tao rolled his eyes at the rising to Drama Queen level guy next to him. “It not that you have anything on your face or that I’m developing a crush – which I know crossed your mind, by the way,” Tao eyed Kris with a know-it-all look, “it’s just that you’re acting weird ever since we left the city.”

“Strange?”

“Yeah, strange,” Tao wiped away his sweat with the back of his hand. “Strange as in having that look on your face.”

“What look?”

“Like you’re in love.”

And as if on cue, Kris stopped in his tracks and turned around swiftly. And there it was again, the look on his face, the longing in his eyes, the heavy sigh escaping his lips. “But I am in love.”

☾ ♅ ☽

“Aren’t you mad?” Chanyeol asked as soon as they were far enough from Tao and Kris.

“Mad? Why would I be mad?” Jaelle played with her bracelet, seeming to be lost in thoughts. “I’ve got no reason to be mad. Do I?”

“Jaelle,” Chanyeol seemed to have an inner fight with himself, “Kris likes you. Kai was right when he pointed it out. He likes you. But right now, I swear he’s acting as if he’s under some sort of spell,” he continued, running his fingers through his hair. “Aren’t you going to say anything?”

“What if he is under a spell? What would you say then?”

An eyebrow immediately shot up in disbelief.

“You saw the giants. Spells exist as well, trust me,” Jaelle looked at him with enigmatic eyes. “And Kris is under a love spell from what I can figure out.”

“You mean, that town was…”

The girl nodded while stretching her arm ahead, leaving the wolf pendant hang under her wrist. “A town full of witches and wizards.”

“And you know this because…?”

“Look, I’m part of the Romani people. We’re bound to know these things,” she pulled her hair up in a ponytail. “And what we saw, was a ritual of getting a life partner, that was the reason why everything was so sparkly and colourful to begin with. And that lady in the shop, she was nicer to you before noticing me, wasn’t she?”

Chanyeol frowned at the darkness ahead and pulled out a pocket sized flashlight. “Now that you mention it, it’s kid of true. And then what? If Kris is really under such a spell, should he feel the sudden urge to return there?”

“Oh, but he will,” Jaelle revealed softly. “Soon enough, he will feel as if Hell broke loose inside his head. And he will beg and throw tantrums, but he won’t leave.”

“Why not?”

“Because even if he’s under a spell, his heart is tied to the group. It’s not that easy to break a tie like the one you guys have, you know?”

The crickets started strumming their songs in the grass.

“Isn’t there a way to break the spell? True love’s kiss maybe?” Chanyeol asked hopeful, realizing that it was better knowing Kris might overreact if someone touches Jaelle than fearing he might jump out of the car because of a stupid spell he wasn’t even sure he should believe in or not.

“You’re joking, right?” Jaelle turned to him with a look on her face that translated that she was kind of doubting his sanity.

“What? If giants and spells are real, why not true love’s kiss?” Chanyeol awkwardly shrugged while kicking away a stone.

“Because that’s fantasy. It exists only in tales.”

“Oh, and spells and giants are real like this flashlight in my hand?”

The girl just shrugged. “They are to me. Look, we’re here,” she then pointed at the shadow that appeared ahead of them.

“What took you guys so long?” Lay appeared with a flashlight and what seemed to be a tin cup.

“Sorry, shopping took longer than expected,” Chanyeol took the can from his hands like a coffee adict he was.  “How’s Kai?”

“Oh, he’s better,” Lay smiled relieved. “He woke up and proved to be still… well, Kai. They’re on the other side of the road where we set the camp for tonight. I hope nothing will come after us though,” he then looked at the starry sky above with a look that proved he was clearly remembering those frightful moments a night before. “Are you alright, Jaelle?”

“I need to sleep,” the girl shrugged and just went inside van where she threw her body on two chairs.

“Houston, we’ve got a problem,” Chanyeol sighed when Lay turned to him with questioning eyes. “Kris fell under the spell of a random chick,” he explained himself after seeing the questioning look on his friend’s face. “Like, literally.”

“Have ate mushrooms or something on the way here?” Lay placed his hand on Chanyeol’s forehead. “You don’t have a fever though… What? You’re serious?!”

But Chanyeol just nodded mysteriously as Tao and Kris joined them.

“Where are the others?” Tao placed down his canister and threw Kris a worried look as he turned around quickly to catch a glimpse of the town they left behind.

“On the other side of the road,” Lay answered, showing them the shadows moving near the ground. “We thought it would be a good place to camp for tonight. Kai needs rest and so do we. Not to mention Jaelle.”

“Jaelle? What’s wrong with Jaelle?” Sehun appeared from behind the van, carrying what seemed to be yet another tin can. “Oh, you’re back,” he then noticed Tao and Kris. “So, what’s wrong with Jaelle.”

Lay shrugged.

“She went inside to take a nap,” Chanyeol pointed at the darkness inside the car. “I don’t think she’s that good, you know,” he continued, eyeing the silent Kris.

“What now? What happened while you were away?” Sehun turned to the four of them with accusing eyes. “I leave her to you and you –”

“It’s me, not them,” Kris spoke with the voice of a sleeping man. “It’s me who fell in love while being away. So what? Is it a mistake to love?! What?”

“What did he drink?” Lay leaned closer to Tao who just shook his head.

“You really are something, you know?” Sehun sighed. “I don’t have time to deal with you, ‘cause I already have Kai to look after. Guys, I say we leave him here tomorrow morning. What? Isn’t here where he wants to be?”

“Jaelle said he’s under some sort of love spell,” Chanyeol spoke right before the fight began. “She also said he won’t leave us because the bond we share runs deeper than that spell. So, I say we find a remedy for this before it becomes permanent.”

“You shouldn’t bother with it,” Jaelle pushed open the door of the van and stepped out, holding her yellow guitar by its neck. “Really now, leave the man love. Now come, it’s time for another lesson of wisdom.”

“But Jaelle,” Chanyeol looked at the others with a troubled look only to find it mirrored on their faces.

The girl stopped in her tracks, fingers tightening around her guitar’s neck. “Don’t bother with it, Park Chanyeol,” her voice came out like the North Wind, sending chills down their spines, “I feel nothing for Wu Yifan.”

☾ ♅ ☽

The camp set on the other side of the road was dark and silent as Kai was laying on the ground, tightly wrapped in two sleeping bags. The fear of being hunted down once again was too great for them to lit a fire, so they preferred the comfort of darkness and the warmth of their sleeping bags.

“How are you feeling?” Jaelle approached Kai and checked his leg with gentle touches.

“Better thanks to Lay and you. Thank you, Ha Yeon,” the boy whispered her real name with a never seen before smile. “Really, really thank you for saving my dumb .”

“No problem,” she patted his shoulder with ghostly white fingers, “that’s what friends do, right? They protect each other.”

“Friends,” he placed his hand above her, making Sehun trip near them in shock. “What? You thought you’d be my only friend for the rest of my life?!” Kai sneered at him.

“I wouldn’t want that. Ever!” Sehun quickly replied with a similar smirk on his lips. “So, what’s for tonight?” He then turned to the girl that had already sat on the grass in the middle of their circle, her guitar resting on her crossed legs.

“The modern twist of ‘Beauty And the Beast’,” she replied while strumming the strings of her guitar. “Back in the early ’20, on the land eaten by poverty of Great Britain,”  Jaelle started her story, eyes closed and finger gently touching the strings of her guitar, “lived a young man. He was a soldier, one of those men who returned from the battlefield in their world forgotten town, hundred of miles away from the capital city. But he was happy – happy with his loneliness, happy with his small, gray stone house build near the sea, happy with him working part-time for almost everybody in the town.

A person like him was a rare gem among stones: he was a devoted optimist, a man who still believed in Heaven and soulmates, one of those dreamers that became extinct as war chewed them all.

‘Kailan, why do you have so many scars on your face?’ The kids in his neighborhood would ask time after time.

‘You mean these lines?’ He’d answer with a smile while pointing at his face. ‘They’re not scars. They’re part of a secret code that tells a story to whichever whats to read it.’

And the kids would just shrug, thinking of him as you think of your 99 years old grandfather that still gives you chocolate candies wheneve