The waves cease and the air thickens with the odour of dry wood in humidity. Warmth. A gentle wind slips in and pets his face. Clean. The still care and nurture of a peace presents itself and holds him in her bosom. Safety. Baekhyun opens his eyes to find himself lying on his back, staring at a wooden ceiling. Shadowy and clearly aged but benevolent in a way. He sits up from the bed and looks around the room. Nothing familiar and nothing beautiful, but it's homey, comforting. But all very wooden. The walls, the floor, the tables and chairs. Wood. But where was this place? Dim, still, and temperate. He looks out the window beside the bed to see something that disagrees with the room completely. Green with spots of other colours sporadically placed. Rays from the sun shimmer down and bathe the scene with light and animation. The few flowers growing on the ground dance while several birds and probably a monkey cry at the tree tops. It's a forest.

Baekhyun's confused. The last thing he remembers was walking beside the ocean with his caravan of slaves, on the way to a potential master's home. He vaguely remembers the pain of being trampled on, winces, but it all goes black. Then he looks at his feet. The shackles are... gone! Free... He laughs to himself and brings his feet closer. Feeling his ankles, utterly awed, full of wonder, checking and rechecking to see if it is true. He thinks it may be a dream, but dreams would have spawned him wings by now. Yet nothing grows on his back nor does the chair speak to him after growing eyes and a mouth. It is real. But how?

“Oh, so you're awake I see?” a voice asks from behind him. He turns to see a young man, not too tall and with quiet eyes full of kindness. Features are a little sharp and also rather pale. Carries with him a humble dignity as he walks. Baekhyun could plainly see that this man is the one who accepted him into his household and also the one who tended after him. But his expression turns grim as he faces a new thought.

“Are you, my new master?” he inquires immediately. The man stops in confusion, looks at him questionably, but then gives a small chuckle after realization. He seems to brighten the wooden room when he smiles.

“Oh no, no, no!” he emphasizes while waving his hands. He then places a hand on his chest. “I'm the town apothecary and healer. My name is Lay. Nice to meet you...”

“Baekhyun.” At this his expression lifts again, shines. So it is true. He is free.

“Well it's very nice to meet you Baekhyun. You're a very lucky boy. If it weren't for your friend, you might have never opened your eyes again.” he teased. Baekhyun likes how the man tries to make him feel comfortable. But he's still confused.

“Friend?” He had gotten along with some of the other slaves but they were all so hopeless, so dreary, as if they expected each other to drop dead at any moment. Unwilling to create any emotional attachments that would worsen their sufferings. No one significant enough to be called his friend pops into mind. “Who?”

“He calls himself Kris,” Lay explains. “He says he found you by the beach, bruised and battered into the ground. Tried to take you to a doctor at the fisher's village but was laughed at. He's probably a foreigner since he didn't exactly know that doctors only tend to rich people nowadays. So he took it upon himself to care for you. My neighbour passed by him as she came back from a fishing trip. She's known to be a good judge of character. Saw that he needed help and brought him here. You know it's a long way from the harbour. But when you didn't wake up, Kris carried you all the way here. He even washed you in the spring behind the house. Nice boy.”

“Where is he sir?”

“You don't have to call me sir,” he laughed. “Lay's fine. I'm a practising medicine man but I'm also not that much older than you. Kris is outside. You could meet him now if you'd like.”

His head spins. Outside he finds that the house sits in a glade, surrounded by beautiful and lush greenery. But there are also other houses made of wood like Lay's scattered between the trees, there are ones built with stone, carved into hills, dwelling places in hollowed out trees. There is a road created by uprooted grass. Everywhere else, it seems like vegetation grows uninhibitedly. Above he beholds a manifold of treehouses. Expansive, crossing between massive oaks, connected by bridges, ladders, like a web throughout the forest. There are neighbours with their families, some wildlife roaming the gardens, children playing by a pond. It's an entire community supported by a forest. It flourishes. It lives. The air is healthy and rich, scented with enticing, natural fumes. For a moment Baekhyun wonders whether he is still in Kolore. Because everything is so kind here, so terrific and heartwarming. A completely different world from what he's always known.

“Where... am I?” he asks utterly bewildered. Lay chuckles again.

“Surprised? I though you might.” Lay raises his arm, presenting the village to him. “Welcome to Sooman City; land of the forest people.” Baekhyun's eyes widen from astonishment.

“I-I thought that was just a myth!”

“We've always existed. A society cut off from the outside world. So much so that the war hardly even touched us. While nature provides us sustenance and guardianship, we continue to prosper in secret. I expect you to keep it that way.” Lay continues to smile. “We may look like nice people but we are unforgiving towards tattlers. Dire consequences I warn you.” Baekhyun could only nod. “Good,” he continues and points toward a man a little across the way. Bam. Bam. Bam. Building a shed with his back turned. “That's Kris over there. Since he couldn't pay for your treatment he offered to do some manual labour for me. He's been working for about a week now. Has a good set of hands. Extremely skilled. Cleaning, cooking, and now building. You really ought to thank him.”

“I-I will.” Baekhyun says, still staring at Kris. Lay laughs a little again and Baekhyun thinks that it might be because of the blatant admiration that sparkles in his eyes.

“Well, I'll leave you to it. I'll be in the house if you need me.” With that Lay enters back into the house. Baekhyun is left, unable to take his gaze away from Kris. Even with is back turned towards him, he exudes impeccable charisma. Well built but still lean, with a tall frame that seems to tower over Baekhyun as he approaches the man.

“E-excuse me,” he finally manages to utter, “Are you Kris?” The man turns around and smiles at him and Baekhyun feels like he's been run over by stampeding rhinos. Thump. Thump. His face, his features, his unmatchable beauty seems like something out of a storybook. Commanding and genteel at the same time. An expression that the gods have gladly bestowed upon to an already inherently wonderful character. And those eyes. Clear as the oceans he has always longed for. Baekhyun's admiration simply proliferates. He could feel it in his entire being.

“Yes, that's me,” he says. His voice is deep and cordial, with a slight accent. It only makes him more captivating. “I'm glad you see you finally awake. Nice to meet you...”

“Baekhyun. My name is Baekhyun.”