Luhan was woken up gently by the wind singing against the wooden shutters and the birds tweeting in the garden. He rolled lazily in his bed, comfortable curled up under the covers, like in a nest of warmth. He was about to allow himself to fall back asleep, when suddenly he remembered everything, and his eyes shot open.

                The stranger. The breathing. The fear.

                Luhan pushed the covers away abruptly and sat up, immediately looking towards the blanket the man had slept on. Which was empty. Luhan frowned. Then he sighed. The stranger had probably left earlier without waking him up. It wasn’t that surprising, actually, but Luhan still felt a little sad. He’d given him a huge amount of food and a place to sleep, but he was left alone with no real thanks.

                He got up, because now that he was fully awake, it was useless to try to sleep any more, and he walked to the window to open the shutters. He first looked up at the sky, then down at his garden. And what he saw left him speechless. The stranger was lying down in the grass, apparently gazing at the clouds. Luhan leaned on the ledge of the window and observed him for a while. There was undoubtedly something fascinating in how the man’s dark hair was teased mischievously by the wind. His chest was moving up and down as he breathed in and out steadily.

                Luhan was about to close the window, when the man looked at him suddenly. Their eyes met and neither of them looked away. The young man smiled. Luhan blushed, embarrassed to have been caught staring, but also because the stranger’s dark pupils were far too deep and piercing. He went on a retreat into his bedroom, slamming the window shut. After quickly getting dressed, he went downstairs and opened the front door to go out into the garden.

                The young man hadn’t budged. Luhan walked in his direction and stood next to him for a few minutes. Now that they were facing each other, he didn’t know what to do. But the man smiled. Luhan couldn’t help but stare at him in wonder. It was a genuine smile, honest and spontaneous. “Thank you for last night. I hadn’t slept so well in months.”

                “What’s your name?” Luhan asked, because it was starting to get really frustrating.

                “Come closer,” the man said, raising his hand to tug at Luhan’s sleeve. Luhan kneeled down next to him, a little puzzled. The man sat up, leaning on his elbow, and whispered in his ear. “I’m Sehun. What about you?”

                Luhan shivered at the sudden closeness and answering took him more than ten seconds. “Luhan,” he said. “Why are you whispering?”

                “Because it makes everything more dramatic. Don’t you think so?” Sehun replied with another smile. Luhan looked at him curiously, surprised by his strange answer. Sehun breathed in deeply. “You’re not from here either, are you?”

                Despite his question being quite vague, Luhan knew right away what he was talking about. He’d always been used to being considered as a stranger. And was the main cause of being considered as a stranger was the thing resting comfortably on top of his head. His hair. His hair, which was blond, whereas all the other villagers were brown or black-haired. He shook his head silently with no further explanations. “Sorry,” Sehun said.

                “It’s nothing,” Luhan said. Silence settled for a while. Noticing Sehun wasn’t really planning to get up soon, Luhan sat down more comfortably in the fresh grass. He looked at the hedges, at the beds that were no longer full of flowers since autumn had settled down firmly long before. When he looked back at Sehun, Sehun had closed his eyes. For a second, Luhan wondered whether he was sleeping. But then the young man spoke, which proved it wasn’t the case.

                “You have fairies here, don’t you?” he asked quietly.

                “Yes, we do,” Luhan answered, a little surprised to see that someone who wasn’t from the village knew about the little creatures. But then he realised he actually knew nobody who wasn’t from the village. He thought about that fact briefly, then put it aside in a corner of his mind. “Do you want to have breakfast?” he asked. Sehun’s smile widened into a cheerful grin and he nodded eagerly. Luhan stood up, and the young man imitated him, then they went back inside.

                It was Sunday, and on Sundays, Luhan ate budwig cream for breakfast. Knowing Sehun was probably very hungry, he prepared a bigger portion for him. Yoghurt, a little oil, buckwheat flour, sesame and sunflower seed, a teaspoonful of honey, and here was the result: a substantial breakfast. Sehun looked at the mixture curiously, but once he started eating, he didn’t stop, and his bowl was empty in a matter of seconds. Luhan was half-disgusted, half-amused. He ate his own budwig more slowly and with at least some manners, before looking at Sehun for a few minutes.

                “If you want to shower, the bathroom’s upstairs,” he said.

                Sehun smiled broadly. “Thank you. Oh, it was delicious, by the way,” he said, pointing at the bowl. Luhan had a little smile. He went to the upper floor with Sehun and gave him a towel before leaving him alone in the bathroom. Feeling like a spy – but reassuring and exonerating himself with the thought of being only checking Sehun wasn’t drowning – Luhan stood behind the door for several minutes, listening to every tiny noise he heard. But except water drops splashing on the tiling, there was nothing. Satisfied, Luhan walked away.

                He didn’t know what to do, until he remembered that he’d been interrupted while writing the previous night. He fetched his diary where he’d put it, and sat down in an armchair to quickly finish his paragraph. However, when he looked up, he almost had a heart attack. Sehun was standing in front of him; a slight layer of water was making his hair shine. But what disturbed Luhan was that the young man only had a towel wrapped around his waist and nothing else. As Luhan was sitting, Sehun’s chest was at his eye-level, and he remained there, petrified by that sight.

                After a little while, his brain started working again, fortunately, and he slowly shifted his gaze from Sehun’s bare skin to his face. Sehun smiled. “Do you have clothes for me? I mean, mine are a little dirty,” he asked, polite enough to look embarrassed. Luhan nodded shakily, even if he was starting to make a scandalized mental list of everything he provided for him. In his cupboard, he looked for items that would fit the young man, as he was indeed taller than him. This took him a minute or two, and he could find underwear, a simple shirt and pants that were slightly oversized, which Sehun took thankfully.

                Luhan saw very well that Sehun was starting to change in front of him, but he blushed and cleared his throat, so the dark-haired man seemed to get it and he went back into the bathroom. “I’m supposed to go to the Fountain, it’s Sunday,” Luhan said to him once he got out. (The clothes fitted Sehun perfectly.)

                “What is the – Fountain?” Sehun asked.

                “It’s a place in the woods, where a lot of fairies live. You could come with me,” Luhan replied. Every Sunday, from morning to night, villagers would go to the Fountain. There was no rule or anything of that sort indicating to go one by one, but groups of people could seldom be seen. Sehun nodded joyfully. Before they left, Luhan went to the bathroom as well. Then they were ready to go, so Sehun and him walked out into the garden; he locked the door, and they set off.

                It would take a little more than half an hour, since Luhan always walked slower when he was with someone else. Strangely, the weather was sunny that day, and quite mild for the season. The first minutes of their journey were spent in uncomfortable silence, only broken by the birds’ sounds and the rustling of the trees and bushes in the wind. Then Sehun started speaking and asking questions. “What are these flowers? Oh, I saw this bug once where I lived. Someone told me they changed colour in the sun. Is that a fairy?!”

                “No, it’s not. I’ll tell you when there are fairies around us,” Luhan replied, amused by the young man’s enthusiasm. A hundred or two metres before they reached the Fountain, they unexpectedly met Baekhyun, who was walking the opposite way.

                “Oh, hello Luhan,” the short man said with a little smile. “Going to the Fountain?” he asked. Luhan nodded. Baekhyun seemed to notice Sehun’s presence. “But who’s this charming person? And you’re going to the Fountain together?”

                “Em…” Luhan said hesitantly.

                “I’m Sehun. Luhan let me sleep in his bedroom for the night,” Sehun answered joyfully. Baekhyun raised an eyebrow and Luhan wanted to facepalm. He didn’t even try to precise they hadn’t slept in the same bed; he knew Baekhyun was going to twist his words anyway. When he repeated them to the whole village. He sighed and tried to start walking again, but Baekhyun held him back.

                “Are you sure you didn’t know him before?” he asked, rudely acting as if Sehun weren’t there.

                Luhan shook his head. “Bye, Baekhyun,” he said. Baekhyun had an imperceptible grimace, but he had to say goodbye too. “Well…that was Baekhyun,” Luhan said to Sehun once the short devil was far enough and couldn’t hear them. “Please,” he added, stopping. “Don’t say to anyone else you’re a stranger, even if it’s obvious. People in the village…they don’t like strangers. And do not say I let you sleep upstairs! You never know what they would imagine,” he sighed.

                “Oh…” Sehun said. “I’m sorry. That’s why Baekhyun looked curious, isn’t it?”

                “Yeah,” Luhan grimaced. Sehun looked truly embarrassed, though. So even if at first he’d wanted to make him leave, he patted his shoulder awkwardly. “Come on, it’s okay. Let’s go,” he said. They kept walking towards the Fountain, that they reached barely a minute later. The Fountain was circular, made of white stone, and was filled with clear glittering sparkling water. “Here, there are fairies,” Luhan said, giggling when Sehun looked around with a frown. It was strange; the young man knew there were fairies in the country, if the way he’d asked him earlier was anything to go by, yet he seemed to know nothing about them.

                “I can’t see them,” Sehun said. Luhan laughed sympathetically and stood next to him to point at something in the air. Sehun followed his gaze. Fairies weren’t easy to spot, unless you knew about them. No bodies to see, no wings. Only a shimmering and vibrating faint light in the air, like a mirage.

                “Here, on that branch,” Luhan whispered. In spite of himself, he beamed. Everything related to fairies made him amazingly happy.

                “Where the air like – moves?” Sehun asked. Luhan nodded, and the young man grinned cheerfully. Actually, there were about twenty fairies watching them at the moment, but showing every single one of them to Sehun would have taken too long. He dipped his hand into his pocket to grab a little purse, and opened it. “What is it?” Sehun looked at it anxiously.

                “Mint leaves and salt,” Luhan said. “Fairies love that.”

                “Are you feeding them with it?”

                “No, just putting it into the water,” the blonde-haired boy replied. He put a few leaves and grains in his hand, and threw them into the Fountain. Instantly, the air started shimmering furiously around where the precious treasure was. Sehun opened his eyes wide, and Luhan giggled again. “Wanna try?”

                Sehun didn’t have to be asked twice; he took some mint and salt as well, then imitated Luhan. The same thing as before happened. The young man gazed at the Fountain admiringly. They stayed there for a little while, before heading back home, because Luhan needed to cook lunch. On the way, Sehun threw him a questioning look. “Why…why did Baekhyun say we were ‘going to the Fountain together’ like that?” he asked. Luhan looked away embarrassedly. He didn’t reply right away, since he took his time to find a way to put it right and to make his answer less suggestive.

                “He said it like that because two people who go the Fountain together usually are a couple,” he said very low after a few minutes. Sehun nodded silently. “But there is no magic spell or any stuff like this that’s going to get us falling in love or – or something!” Luhan laughed awkwardly.

                “Who knows?” Sehun smiled mischievously. Luhan almost choked.

                He cooked pasta for lunch, with dried meat he sliced carefully. Of course, Sehun ate three times as much as him, and Luhan congratulated himself mentally on having prepared a lot of food. But after eating, he wondered when Sehun was planning to leave. His presence wasn’t annoying, but it was strange. Though Luhan didn’t dare to ask. “Could you show me the village this afternoon?” Sehun asked. Luhan narrowed his eyes slightly. Why did he want to see the village? Wasn’t he leaving? Can I stay here for the night? For the night. Then why… “Could you?”

                “Yeah, why not,” Luhan answered mechanically. They waited until the middle of the afternoon, when all the villagers weren’t having lunch anymore, then left Luhan’s house. “We could go and say hi to Kyungsoo,” Luhan smiled.

                “Who’s Kyungsoo?”

                “My friend, the baker.”

                “Ah.”

                They walked along the usual path, that joined the main street – if it could be called that – about half a kilometre further. There weren’t many people outside, but several threw curious looks to Sehun. They headed to Kyungsoo’s house, and Luhan rang the doorbell. The door opened almost right away. “Oh – hi,” Kyungsoo smiled, slightly surprised. Luhan saw him glance at Sehun.

                “Can we come in?” he asked casually. “I’ll explain.”

                “Sure. Baekhyun is here,” Kyungsoo added a bit lower. Luhan had an amused smile. He would’ve bet Kyungsoo already knew about Sehun, thanks to the little devil. The baker led them to his living-room, where Baekhyun was, indeed, sitting.

                “Ah, hello again!” the short male said with a smile. Luhan nodded politely and Sehun did the same.

                “Wait a minute, I’ll fetch cakes,” Kyungsoo said. “Please sit down,” he added. Luhan and Sehun sat down on the sofa silently, and Baekhyun looked at them with a faint smile.

                “The Fountain is lovely, isn’t it?” he asked Sehun.

                “Very lovely,” Sehun answered with an inscrutable smile. Luhan watched Baekhyun and him eye-battle for an eternity, before Kyungsoo came back at last. He was bringing a tray with several pastries on it, that all looked utterly delicious.

                “You shouldn’t have, Kyung,” Luhan smiled. But when he glanced at Sehun, he was almost blinded by the terrifying oh-yes-you-perfectly-should-have-I’m-starving look on his face. He nudged him softly, and the young man seemed to calm down.

                “Help yourself,” the baker said. No need to say Sehun helped himself fairly well. Luhan hoped neither Kyungsoo or Baekhyun noticed anything, even if it was quite hopeless. “So, you’re Sehun, right?” Kyungsoo asked. The young man nodded. “That’s funny…we don’t see people from the – the outside very often,” the baker smiled. Luhan swallowed. He wasn’t used to hearing so much weariness in his friend’s voice.

                “Sehun was…travelling,” Luhan said, even if he knew nothing about it. “He came last night and I let him sleep at home,” he chose his words carefully.

                “We know that, dear,” Baekhyun replied sweetly. Luhan shivered but forced himself to smile. There was a weird tension in the air. He suddenly regretted having come here with Sehun.

                “Well…we’ll leave you now,” he said with tense joyfulness. Kyungsoo and Baekhyun smiled softly. Luhan wanted to shout at the baker for being so easily influenced by the small devil. But he got up without a word and waved before leaving, followed by Sehun. They walked away from Kyungsoo’s house, and Luhan trembled with cold in the streets that suddenly didn’t felt as warm as before. “It was a stupid idea to go there,” he said, mad at himself.

                “It’s my fault, I’m really sorry,” Sehun apologised. Luhan shook his head. Sehun wasn’t to blame. His friends were, though. They’d been incredibly rude.

                “I don’t think we should go anywhere at the moment,” the blonde-haired boys said. “That’s enough for today. I – ”

                “Oh, hello Luhan…” another voice cut him. Luhan’s eyes widened in fright and he turned around slowly, dreading to see who’d just spoken to him. But he knew perfectly who it was. Yifan. Of course. The mayor. “And I assume you’re Sehun,” the tall man added. Sehun nodded silently. Luhan knew he was in a delicate situation. He’d always been deeply scared of Yifan. Everything in him – his height, his constant frown, his eyes – would make him shiver. And right now, the way he was looking – no, glaring at Sehun was even more terrifying.

                “We were just leaving,” Luhan pulled on a fake smile.

                “Ah – I won’t hold you back any longer then,” Yifan laughed softly. “Goodbye Luhan…Sehun,” he added with a small nod. “And good evening.”

                Luhan turned around and walked away as fast as he could without starting to run, not even caring whether Sehun was following him. He could feel Yifan’s eyes burning holes in his back. It was only when they were far enough that he allowed himself to breathe again. “Who…” Sehun began.

                “The mayor. Yifan,” Luhan replied, biting his lip when he noticed his voice was shaking violently.

                “I don’t like him,” Sehun said.

                “Neither do I,” Luhan whispered, surely too low for the other man to hear him.

                It wasn’t even four o’clock when Luhan pushed the door of his house open, but he locked it. He didn’t want to go outside again that day, nor did he want to see anyone. Deeply relieved, he slumped down on an armchair, and Sehun sat down timidly on another one. Several minutes passed in silence, then he managed to calm down at last. He sighed. “Do you want some tea?” he asked.

                “I’d love some, thank you,” Sehun answered. When Luhan got up to fetch tea leaves in a cupboard, he followed him. He looked at the dark leaves curiously. “They’re not the same as at home,” he said.

                “Where’s home?”

                “Far away,” Sehun replied evasively. He smiled. “It tastes good,” he said once a hot cup was in his hands and he was sitting at the table with Luhan. Luhan smiled back. No matter when, tea always managed to soothe him. Especially that one, which was a homemade mix. “Do you wanna play a game?” Sehun asked. “I mean, I suppose we’re not going outside again, so…”

                “Yes, why not,” Luhan replied, curious.

                “It’s called Nim. Do you have marbles, or little items?”

                “Mmh,” Luhan said, and he got up to fetch some in a drawer. They were simple glass marbles, that he never used – and didn’t even remember buying or finding. Sehun took them and placed them on the table. He formed five piles, containing one, two, three, four and five marbles. Fortunately, the wood under them wasn’t perfectly smooth, so they didn’t roll.

                “On turn, you have to choose one pile and take marbles from it. As many as you want, but at least one. The one between the two of us who takes the last marble wins,” Sehun explained. Luhan had a familiar feeling about this game. He was almost certain he’d already played it. But he couldn’t remember when and where. Sehun didn’t leave him much time to think, though. “You can start.”

                Luhan focused and began to play. He first took two marbles from the middle pile. Sehun smiled and took one from the biggest pile. The game went on. They played several times, but Luhan always ended up losing. “There’s a trick,” he said.

                “No,” Sehun laughed. “You have to keep in mind how many marbles there are in each pile, what your options and mine are, and how many marbles there could be in each pile several turns ahead.”

                “There’s a trick,” Luhan maintained childishly.

                Sehun’s eyes turned into two thin crescents of joyful shining darkness. “I’ll show you.” They started another game, and about at the two thirds of it, the young man pointed at the marbles. “You can still win if you make one precise move. It will make me lose,” he said with a mischievous smile. Luhan focused even more, examining all the possibilities. Though all seemed to be the same. Hesitantly, he took the two marbles remaining in the second pile. Sehun raised his hands with a sympathetic smile. “Shame.”

                A few turns later and he was grabbing the last marble.

                Luhan frowned. It was extremely frustrating.  He pouted and rested his chin in his left palm, playing with a marble with the other. Sehun smiled silently. Gently, he covered the blonde-haired boy’s hand with his own, then added the other, which resulted in Luhan’s to be comfortably placed between them. Luhan’s heartbeats fastened. Sehun’s hands were fresh, almost cold, but pleasant. He shivered imperceptibly. Four or five minutes passed in silence. Luhan didn’t even know why Sehun had taken his hand, but one thing was sure: it was on purpose.

                “One day, you’ll win. You’ll see, it’s easy,” Sehun said very low.

                “When is one day?” Luhan asked.

                “It’s when you’ve practiced enough,” the other man replied slyly. Luhan sighed. Sehun was rubbing circles on his knuckles with his thumb. And that’s when Luhan noticed the time the clock was indicating. Seven o’clock.

                “I have to cook dinner!” he exclaimed. He took his hand back. Sehun looked a little disappointed, and Luhan had to say he already missed his little . “I have to…cook – to cook…are you staying?” he asked timidly. Sehun looked down at the table and played with a marble. “Are you staying?”

                “Actually, I wanted to ask you something,” Sehun said. Luhan said no word. “I have nowhere to go…” Sehun paused. Luhan swallowed. This was giving him an unpleasant feeling; he knew he shouldn’t have had this discussion with Sehun. But he still waited for him to say more, watching the small marble roll between his clever fingers. “I could help you in the fields! I can work!” Sehun said. “I know I’m just a stranger, and I don’t want to impose, but… I really have nowhere to go.”

                “Why?” Luhan whispered, stubbornly staring at his feet under the table. The table was made of hazel wood, and apparent grains and knots gave an eerie look to it. The long and thin irregular lines, vegetal rivers of blood, streaked the top beautifully, while the small or bigger circles seemed to be dark eyes permanently open to gaze at you. This wood came from another forest, about ten kilometres from the village, and more particularly from a tree that had been growing in a fairy hall. In short, it was enchanted wood, just like most of the furniture in Luhan’s house.

                “I ran away,” Sehun said. Luhan didn’t even want to know what he meant by that, nor did he want to know where he had run away from. He took a deep breath in. Basically, Sehun was asking him if he could stay and…live with him for some unknown time.

                Luhan wanted to say yes. Even if he didn’t mind being alone, he hated feeling alone, and the young man would fill in this emptiness he sometimes felt inside his chest. He was nice. Funny. Clever. Likely to be a good worker. And there was something else, that couldn’t quite be defined. Luhan wanted to say yes. Even if Sehun was like three mouths to feed. Even if he’d have to buy clothes for him. Even if the young man would have to be taught a lot of things.

                Despite many reasons, Luhan wanted to say yes.

                But the fact was that Sehun was a stranger. Not that it bothered Luhan. Both of them were so alike… The problem would be the villagers. Allowing Sehun to stay meant bringing trouble. Luhan had seen the menacing light in Baekhyun’s eyes. You showed the Fountain to a stranger, his dark pupils had been screaming. It wasn’t something that should have been done. Luhan bit his lower lip. “I…”

                “I know,” Sehun said, looking genuinely sorry. And he took his hand again. Luhan felt two simultaneous and incredibly powerful feelings wash over him. Sudden affection for the young man, whose hands were so soft and gentle, and violent hate towards him for using such a treacherous way to achieve his aim.

                “I don’t…know…” he said weakly. Sehun had a trembling smile. Their eyes met for a second and Luhan’s heart skipped a beat. Without even knowing why, he nodded slowly.

                “Okay. You can stay. But only for the winter,” he added. Sehun gave his hand a thankful squeeze. Luhan sighed. “I’m cooking dinner, now,” he said. Sehun got up.

                “I can prepare food for the fairies,” he said.

                “How do you know…?” Luhan frowned.

                “Oh, I…” Sehun blushed embarrassedly. “I saw that in your diary – I mean, your notebook yesterday,” he answered. Luhan nodded. “So, can I prepare food for them?” Sehun asked.

                Luhan smiled. “If you want to.”

A/N: Second chapter~ ♥

So yeah the stranger was Sehun, I bet you all knew it.

I told you the real story would start now! Hehehe, they're already getting on quite well...I can't believe I'm excited about my own story.

Please, please tell me what you think about it, comment, it makes me so happy...