Luhan had planned everything. As it was Monday, his biological clock woke him up at exactly seven o’clock, while Sehun was still sleeping soundly. He got up discreetly and put on some clothes before walking to him and crouching down. “Sehun. Wake up,” he said, grabbing the young man’s shoulder and shaking him. Sehun groaned in his sleep and muttered incoherent words, but when his eyes opened, they weren’t glazed by lethargy or sleepiness. “It’s the morning. Did you sleep well?”

                Sehun smiled and stretched, pushing the bed sheets away. Luhan noticed he’d slept shirtless and he looked at something else. “Perfect, thank you,” Sehun replied. He got to his feet and grabbed the shirt Luhan had lent him then put it on. Luhan nodded towards the door, and they went downstairs together. In his head, he was going over all he had to tell Sehun. Once they sat down with steaming cups of tea in the kitchen, he began.

                “We’re working today,” he said, and Sehun nodded determinedly. “When we leave the fields, if Baekhyun, Tao and Minseok are okay with bringing the vegetables to Yixing, I’ll go to the village to buy food and clothes for you,” he added. Since Sehun had arrived – and he ate quite a lot – the cereal bread was about to disappear. “Then I’ll fetch a few other things and I’ll go back home afterwards.”

                “What about me?” Sehun asked.

                “You will go back home straight after work. You’re not going to the village yet,” Luhan answered. The corners of Sehun’s lips dropped. He looked down at his tea silently. Luhan sighed and a couple of minutes passed.

                “What will I do here for two or three hours until you come back?” Sehun asked.

                “I’m sorry, I…” Luhan replied. During the time when he couldn’t sleep the previous night, he had elaborated a detailed schedule, but he hadn’t thought Sehun might do anything else than accept. “I know this is boring… Look, you could go around in the forest though. There are beautiful places to see. You – you could go to a fairy hall, to…to the Tree, or to the River…”

                “I don’t want to go without you. I mean, it’s no fun alone…” Sehun said. Luhan looked at him, at his downcast dark eyes. Sehun was making everything complicated.

                Luhan smiled a little. “We’ll go another day,” he said softly. The young man seemed to cheer up slightly and he nodded. Luhan, reassured, got up to wash the dishes. While he bustled in front of the sink, Sehun remained on his chair. When he left it, he walked to Luhan to give him his empty cup. Even with the burning water that he used for the dishes on his hands, Luhan could feel the freshness of Sehun’s when their fingers brushed on the cup. He tensed up imperceptibly, and the young man took back his hand.

                “I can do the dishes if you want me to,” Sehun said.

                “No, thanks,” Luhan smiled, glad things hadn’t got awkward this time. He started washing Sehun’s cup. He had expected him to go upstairs to the bathroom, but the young man stood by his side silently until he was finished. Luhan didn’t know why he’d done that, but even if he told himself it was surely with good attentions, it was a little annoying because now both of them would have to go to the bathroom at the same time if they wanted to be on time at work. He smiled nonetheless, and climbed the stairs with Sehun.

                Once, a woman in the village had told him that putting a smile on his lips, even forced, could make him happy and bring a genuine one. This was advice he tried to act on as often as he could, especially when he was with someone else. The sounds Sehun made while brushing his teeth with a toothbrush Luhan had found in a drawer, never used, were loud, but at least, they allowed Luhan not to drift too far away into his thoughts. Because he was starting to realize he was actually living with someone now. This wasn’t for one night or for one meal, but for weeks, months, seasons maybe. Even though he was already strangely used to Sehun, being with him permanently would perhaps be a little difficult.

                They were off to the fields together a while later. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t seem very sunny that day. In fact, the top of the trees couldn’t even be seen, hidden behind thick curtains of mist. The air was humid, and Luhan had the feeling he could’ve grabbed water drops just by stretching out his hand and closing his fingers around them. A soft wind was blowing. Sehun shivered. “When we arrive, don’t say anything about yourself, and above all, do not mention you’re staying at home. Tao shouldn’t mistrust you, even if I think Baekhyun’s already told him everything. But indeed, Baekhyun must not know you’re staying yet. Okay?” Luhan said. “Look, I know this isn’t very pleasant, but… I don’t want to run risks.”

                “I understand,” Sehun laughed. “Baekhyun doesn’t like me, so…”

                “Oh, he does,” Luhan tried to pretend.

                “No, he doesn’t,” Sehun smiled.

                “Okay, maybe,” Luhan said very low.

                When they reached the fields, the sun was a little upper in the sky, which caused the temperature to be less chilly. Luhan spotted Baekhyun and Tao from a distance, and he said to himself Minseok must have been around too. And indeed, the chubby-cheeked man was leaning against a tree at the edge of the woods. When he saw Luhan, he stood up, a joyful beam on his lips, and skipped towards Sehun and him. “Hello!” he said happily.

                “Hi, Minseok,” Luhan replied. “Look, this is Sehun, he’s going to help us in the fields and at work in general for a while. Okay?”

                “Hi,” Minseok said to Sehun. This was one of the advantages of him being so innocent: he didn’t mind Sehun being a stranger. Sehun grinned and said hello to the small man. It wasn’t long before Baekhyun and Tao came to them.

                “Oh, you brought Sehun?” Baekhyun asked, only looking at Luhan.

                The blond-haired boy nodded. “He’s going to work with us,” he answered.

                “Hello,” Tao said quietly, without really meeting Sehun’s eyes. Sehun nodded.

                It was really one of the last weeks in the fields. Soon it would be winter, and they would just be busy with livestock. But Luhan still showed Sehun how to pick the vegetables, notably pumpkins and courgettes. He saw very well that the young man was trying to be friendly, but other than Minseok, nobody reacted much. Tao, as usual, was focusing on his work carefully, while Baekhyun only chose to ignore Sehun and scoffed discreetly when he put vegetables in the wrong crate.

                At around one p.m., their stomachs started to growl, and by mutual agreement, everyone decided to have a lunch break. Luhan had brought sandwiches for Sehun and himself. The two of them went on a walk around while eating, and soon ended up in the forest. Sehun was looking around silently, humming a soft tune from time to time, while Luhan was deep in thought. Baekhyun was clearly acting rudely in the fields, but he was smart, and he had to have noticed Sehun was still there after two nights, which could only mean he was staying for quite longer. Anyway it was useless to claim the contrary. Luhan just hoped he wouldn’t invent crazy things about both of them. People might talk.

                He was pulled out of his thoughts by Sehun, who had grabbed his forearm and was shaking it repeatedly. If the look on his face was anything to go by, he’d already called him several times. Luhan blinked and shook his head quickly. “What – what’s the matter?”

                Sehun was smiling. “I think there are fairies in the tree over there,” he said softly. Luhan looked up and around for a few seconds before he spotted the familiar rippling of the air. He nodded his head silently and beamed at Sehun. “I’m starting to spot them more easily,” the young man chuckled. Luhan imitated him, and nodded towards a stump. It was quite large, and gradually wider circles of sap formed a hypnotic pattern on it.

                “Wanna sit down for a while?” Luhan asked. Sehun accepted, and the two of them settled comfortably on the stump. Luhan waited a minute or two before asking what he’d been dying to ask. He turned towards Sehun and looked at him in the eye. (He was pleasantly struck by how close to the colour of cocoa Sehun’s irises were.) “When I mentioned you were travelling, it wasn’t true. Why did you…run away?” he let out timidly. A thin smile formed on the dark-haired man’s lips and he played with dead leaves with the tip of his right shoe.

                “People didn’t really like me,” he answered vaguely.

                “Oh,” Luhan had to say. He could hear in the way Sehun’s voice had lowered at the end of his sentence that he didn’t want to talk any more about that. It was putting their conversation to an end. They got up almost simultaneously, and started walking back towards the fields. Even if the young man was still smiling quite often and showed no signs of anger or anything of that sort, Luhan could feel he had switched off slightly. He regretted having asked him questions.

                When they finished working, he stammered clumsy apologies to him while Baekhyun, Tao and Minseok got into the van to bring the vegetables to Yixing. But Sehun only laughed and shrugged. Even more taken aback, Luhan wondered what was going on in that harmonious-faced head of his. He waited for a while, until Baekhyun, Tao and Minseok were long since gone, then, as planned, headed to the village, sending Sehun back home with the keys. He’d realised there was only one bunch of keys, so he would have to make a duplicate soon. Still, he hurriedly walked along the main road to the village, his bag in his hand.

                He started with the bakery, but didn’t go in the back-shop this time. Even if it hadn’t directly been Kyungsoo’s fault, Luhan was still slightly mad at him. Looking at the dozens of cakes and pastries he never bought, he listened to all the noises around him. And then he heard them. The voices. “I heard it from Naeun. Baekhyun told her he’d seen him. Apparently, he’s tall and dark-haired, but his skin is weird. Naeun also said Baekhyun had seen Luhan and him doing things.” Luhan recognized the voice as the butcher’s wife’s. He kept his head down, cheeks burning with shame in anger. “Honestly, let a stranger (the woman emphasized that word, making it disgustingly heavy) sleep at home…”

                “People say we should be careful. You know, Seongmin said he’d already heard his name, Sehun, or something. It would seem that he’s a criminal,” a man replied. Luhan’s heart skipped a beat. As he listened, even with his eyes stuck to the floor of the bakery, he could recognize Jongdae the bartender’s voice. Hah. For once, he wasn’t drunk. But of course, it was to spread rumours. “A minute ago, Baekhyun told me Sehun was working with them now.”

                “He can’t be serious!”

                “He is, really,” Jongdae replied. “I’d say the Sehun is staying here for a while…”

                “Luhan is crazy!” a second woman said.

                Luhan wanted to hide.

                “But remember, Baekhyun said they were doing things together…” the butcher’s wife pointed out insidiously. “Oh, hi Luhan,” she said barely ten seconds later, turning towards the blond-haired boy. Luhan was almost sure she knew he’d been there before but she had still acted as if he hadn’t. He looked up, his face scarlet with shame, and looked at the three villagers, hurt. Fortunately, the queue moved on, and he could leave the bakery at last, heart pounding in his chest. He remained in the street until the cold humid air refreshed him reassured, acting like a sedative, then he slowly went to the clothes shop.

                He’d checked what size the clothes he’d lent Sehun were earlier to buy some more. He was relieved to see there was nobody else there besides the shopkeeper, so he could take his time and choose at a calm pace. Although he’s planned to buy random clothes, he found himself looking at the colours, the different fabrics, the shapes. Probably wishing Sehun would like them. When he went to the cashdesk to pay, he was carrying about ten shirts (most of them linen ones and white) and half a dozen pairs of pants, winter stuff such as a beanie and gloves, as well as underwear. (For these, he hadn’t really chosen and had only grabbed the first normal ones he’d spotted, because it was embarrassing thinking they would cover Sehun’s…things.)

                The shopkeeper didn’t seem to know anything about Sehun though, as she didn’t eye him suspiciously. A little cheered up, Luhan left, and he quickly bought food in another little store before heading back home. It started raining gently when he was halfway. Luhan looked up at the sky, and the dark dust-coloured clouds only showed him that thousands of raindrops would be crashing down soon. He sped up, walking as fast as he could and protecting his purchases from getting wet the best he could. But barely a minute later, his steps weren’t meeting the ground in the usual dry rocky sounds but in muffled muddy splashes.

                Luhan started to run, almost eyes closed in hopeless attempt not getting blinded by the rain. When he reached his garden, he was soaking wet. He briefly thought about Sehun who must have got back home, warm and dry, long before. He knocked on the door twice to signal him he was there, then opened it, since it wasn’t locked. With much relief, he stepped, and was happily in the warmth of living room. Trying not to wet his floor too much, he looked around for Sehun. “Sehun?” he called. And he spotted him, lying across an armchair, and apparently dozing. After taking off his jacket, Luhan went to him. “Sehun,” he repeated, patting his shoulder lightly. The young man opened his eyes and blinked several times. “I’m back. I bought clothes for you,” Luhan said. He didn’t know why, but he kept his voice low. Maybe because Sehun was still in fetal position and looked strangely peaceful.

                “Thank you,” Sehun replied. “This is so kind of you…”

                “It’s a shame you couldn’t try them on, but they should fit you. I hope you’ll like them,” Luhan said with a smile. Sehun laughed softly and got up. He stretched with a yawn, and grinned. “You weren’t bored?” Luhan asked him. “I mean, did you find something to do? Did you go anywhere?”

                “I went a little around in the forest, over there,” Sehun pointed at the opposite direction from the fields. “It’s really beautiful. But I was home before it started raining, fortunately…”

                “Yeah, well, I was not – ” Luhan began, but he sneezed in the middle of his sentence. He sniffled miserably, and shook his head.

                “You should change, otherwise you’ll catch a cold,” Sehun pointed out. Luhan nodded. He started heading to his bedroom, when he had an idea. He usually didn’t start making fires before November, but it was already so cold… And Sehun would have something to do, this way.

                “Could you…could you fetch some wood in the shelter? It’s in the garden,” he said. In a small wooden shed. The young man nodded his head eagerly, and after smiling, he went out into the rainy outside world, while Luhan climbed the stairs tiredly. He could hear the heavy raindrops drumming on the roof of his house. Sehun had been right. Almost all the fabric of the clothes he was wearing was dripping wet and even if he was now inside, by the time they dried, he’d have caught a cold. Luhan opened his cupboard and took some new clothes before putting them on.

                When he went back downstairs, Sehun was closing the door and sweeping his feet, wood in his arms. He’d put more next to the fireplace. “Thanks for that,” Luhan smiled, helping him carry the logs. They started a little fire, which began to glow warmly in golden brown lights. Happily, they brought two armchairs next to the fireplace and sat down comfortably. The fireplace was a solid and simple structure made of smooth grey stones, and its flue, in the centre of the house, could heat up the whole of it. On the mantelpiece, Luhan sometimes put flowers, especially in spring and summer; there was also a clock, that always stayed there.

                Curled up in a ball and hugging his knees, Luhan smiled. “It’s nice,” Sehun said.

                “Isn’t it?” Luhan giggled.

                “Do you wanna play?” Sehun asked. Luhan wondered what he was talking about, but then he remembered the Nim game. He nodded enthusiastically, looking forward to trying to beat him. Sehun got up to fetch the marbles, and formed the piles on the coffee table in front of them. Luhan made the first move. But once again, he lost the game. A little disappointed, he challenged Sehun to another one, and another one. Every time, the young man found a way to be the one bragging the last marble.

                “Again…” Luhan pleaded. “I keep losing!”

                “I don’t want you to figure out how to beat me too soon,” Sehun chuckled. “But after all, I’ve played this for years…”

                “I have the feeling I’ve played it too…maybe once or twice, but I can’t remember when or where,” Luhan shook his head.

                Sehun smiled. “Anyway, that’s all for tonight. If we play it too much, you’ll be bored.”

                Luhan tittered and got up to cook dinner.

~

                Days, then weeks passed. Luhan had been right to start fires early, as the weather became truly icy. Now that there wasn’t much to do in the fields, Baekhyun, Tao, Minseok, Sehun and him had started to work with Junmyeon and the livestock. Junmyeon raised cows and goats. He was a quiet, discreet, self-effacing, full, boring, uninteresting person, to Luhan’s mind. Not particularly mean and actually rather pleasant, but uninteresting. However, Luhan had never seen him gossiping.

                Working with cows wasn’t really fun or fascinating, but Sehun said nothing about it. He was an excellent worker, always enthusiastic. Luhan liked watching him, amusedly, carry heavy bottles of milk, a smile on his lips and his dark-haired head protected by a warm beanie.

                He had to admit living with someone was infinitely better than alone. Actually, he didn’t want to go back to the start or even imagine what would happen if Sehun left. He didn’t feel scared anymore when there was a storm at night, he didn’t have to be deafened by silence anymore when he had dinner, he didn’t walk along the bumpy paths by himself anymore. It was great. Also, little by little, the Nim game they played almost every night became what was making Luhan look forward to getting back home. It was really addictive, and quite amusing and challenging. And above all, during the time they played, Luhan could spend some quiet time with Sehun.

                It would have been a lie to pretend he didn’t like the way the young man’s skin would glow under the soft light emitted by the crackling fire. As much as it would have been a lie to pretend Sehun’s voice wouldn’t make him thrill sometimes. Or that his heart wouldn’t skip beats whenever their fingers brushed while grabbing the marbles. It would have been a lie to pretend he knew exactly what Sehun was to him.

~

                It happened during a cold evening, when everything was freezing outside while inside the house, the fire produced enough warm for all the rooms. After the market, Luhan and Sehun had been to work for a while, but there wasn’t much to do and they’d gone back home a little earlier than usual. That night, they spent it playing cards, stories games and Nim. Luhan had opened a bottle of honey liquor, sweet and soft, and the alcohol was making him slightly dizzy. Sehun’s armchair was close to his.

                Luhan was gazing at the marbles. Maybe was it the beverage that modified the way he thought, but suddenly, he came to conclusions about the game. To avoid losing, he had to prevent Sehun from leaving him with only two piles with one marble in each. Once he’d understood this and other precise things, Luhan focused. He didn’t win the following game, but in the next one, he was so careful and attentive that about three turns before the end, he knew what would make him win.

                Heart beating fast in amazed anticipation, he made a move. A thin smile formed on Sehun’s lips. Luhan watched him play. He took some marbles again. Which left Sehun with only two marbles, each in two different piles. After smiling mischievously, he took one slowly. Luhan stared at the last marble. Then he took it swiftly, and opened his eyes wide. He looked up at Sehun. The young man was grinning. Luhan started laughing brightly. Still amazed, he got up and bounced joyfully on his feet.

                “I won! I can’t believe it!” he exclaimed. Sehun said something he didn’t catch.

                Perhaps it was the alcohol, perhaps the joy, perhaps both.

                Anyway, Luhan wasn’t quite thinking straight.

                Because when Sehun opened his arms to give him a friendly hug, he kissed him full on the lips.

                Sehun gripped the armrest in surprise, but released it soon after to wrap his arms around Luhan’s waist and bring him closer. Luhan joined Sehun on his armchair, straddling him comfortably. There was a taste of honey alcohol in Sehun’s mouth. Luhan had closed his eyes. Their kiss was slow, deep, intense. Sehun’s hand travelled up his back then rested on his neck for a while, before his fingers played with Luhan’s blond hair. It was really gentle, and Luhan found himself letting out little mewls of delight. He clenched Sehun’s shirt with his fingers for several minutes before he realised what he was doing and he pulled away abruptly.

                In Sehun’s eyes, he had expected disgust and anger, but all he saw was happiness and delighted surprise. “I – I’m sorry…” Luhan stammered miserably. Sehun brushed the hair off his forehead with his palm.

                “Don’t be sorry,” he said very low. Luhan felt a shiver run down his spine. He was starting to like Sehun much more than he should have liked a stranger who had been living with him for only one month. But when the young man smiled so joyfully at him, he gave in and buried his face in the crook of his neck, nuzzling his skin and breathing in the soft perfume held in it. Sehun chuckled quietly and tightened his arms around him.

                “I think I like you a lot,” Luhan whispered.

                “I like you too, very much,” Sehun said. His sweet words brought a smile onto Luhan’s lips.

                “I’m going to – to cook dinner,” he said timidly, starting to stand up. Though Sehun held him back.

                “Stay, just for a minute,” he asked. Luhan complied and closed his eyes. He knew he’d have lots of reasons to worry and feel guilty later until he couldn’t sleep at night, but for the moment, he allowed himself to only feel happy and safe in Sehun’s arms.

A/N: hehehehehehEHEHEHEHEHEHEHHEHEHE

This is only the start, the real story is coming soon. I promise!

Do you really like this story? I have a lot of subscribers but I don't get a lot of comments...it makes me feel like you've subscribed because of Harmony, but you don't really like Fairy Hall and you don't read it, but you don't dare unsubsribe. Am I paranoid?

Anyway thank you all for reading if you do, and I love you! ♥