Right when Luhan opened his eyelids, he knew something hadn’t gone as planned. Otherwise, why would he have had two hard things pressed against his back and one of his legs hanging in mid-air while the other one…while he couldn’t feel the other one at all. And what was this weird pain in his head? Difficultly, Luhan sat up the best he could, he blinked and looked around. Oh…that was why his entire body felt numb. He’d slept across Sehun’s legs. A little embarrassedly, Luhan managed to remember he’d drifted into sleep while holding the young man’s hand. And after that, he’d surely fallen over onto Sehun.

                He hadn’t drawn the shutters the previous night, and the two windows of the bedroom were letting in cold sunbeams. Luhan was slightly dizzy. He fidgeted to find a better position, and lied down again to close his eyes. He was at Sehun’s feet like a pet. Luhan knew he was still asleep, and he made no noise, keeping nicely silent. But in his head, a storm was coming.

                Now that he was thinking again about the monster story, it seemed even more unbelievable – maybe was it the nighttime weariness that had clouded his mind previously. No, such monsters couldn’t be real. Or could they? Sehun must have been lying. Or had he not? Luhan truly wished he’d told the truth and that hence, he wasn’t a killer. But after all, how could such a gorgeous boy have murdered fairies? Luhan found himself opening his eyes again to gaze at him. From where he was, he could only see his right arm and everything above his shoulders. Luhan decided to focus on his hand.

                Just like the rest of his body, in fact, Sehun’s hands were pure snow-coloured. The only contrast was created by the dark red thin cuts he had here and there. His fingers were like little delicate white limewood branches, with firm but gentle knots as knuckles and long lines in-between. Luhan could almost see the buds blooming clear white and sweet spring yellow; he wanted to lean closer to him and kiss these beautiful hands. But instead, he got up. Rubbing his clothes with his palm to unfold them, he sighed without helping. Then he briefly Sehun’s cheek with his thumb and walked out of the bedroom.

                He was about to close the door, when a low word caught him just in time. “Luhan – ” Luhan hesitated for a second before pushing the door open and stepping in, but not going very far inside. Sehun was awake and looking at him. Luhan’s heartbeats fastened just with their eye-contact, and all of a sudden, every single rational thought left in him was blown away. “Please come back,” Sehun whispered. Luhan walked to him slowly, pulled by some invisible red string. “Thank for being here,” Sehun said a little timidly. Luhan put one of his knees on the bed and half-sat down. He wrang his fingers between his legs.

                “Are you feeling better?” he asked. Sehun nodded. Luhan looked at him. “I should change your bandage,” he said, brushing the young man’s temple with a finger. The first-aid kit was still on the bedside table, so it was easy to open it and grab clean bandages. The one he removed from Sehun’s head was covered with dark half-dried blood. The wound itself looked pretty bad, but at least it wasn’t infected. “Who did that to you?...” Luhan asked almost unconsciously as he cleaned it.

                “I don’t know. I guess I got kicked,” Sehun answered. Luhan had to focus really hard and concentrate on what he was doing to avoid getting mental images of the villagers beating Sehun up. Once he finished applying the bandage on his temple, he checked on the rest of his face. Sehun was constantly his lip, even more often than usual, since it was cut open. Luhan softly told him not to bite it. The arch of his eyebrows looked slightly better. “This one was a little rock, I believe,” Sehun said. “Funny that it hit me in the face.”

                Not funny at all, Luhan thought. “Here, finished,” he said after a few minutes. Sehun smiled.

                “You still don’t believe me,” he said, very straightforward. Luhan looked down silently. His eyes followed all the outline of Sehun’s body under the bed sheets, and he pretended to be a lot more interested in it than he really was. “You don’t believe me because that whole story is completely crazy. You are wondering whether I’m telling the truth or lying – lying, which would probably mean I killed the fairies, but also dozens of people on top of that. You’d like to believe me but you can’t because you’re scared. Yet something is telling you that you should. You don’t know what it is, though, so you don’t know what to do. Am I right?” Sehun asked with a trace of sadness in his voice.

                “Yes – yes,” Luhan replied. But I really want – I think I believe you,” he added.

                Sehun laughed painfully. “Ha – I don’t think so,” he said.

                “I do,” Luhan said.

                “You should prove it. Prove that you trust me,” Sehun said. Luhan smiled in spite of himself. There, he could recognize Sehun. It was like meeting again someone he’d missed. That boy and his seductive challenges and games. Luhan could already imagine what he was going to ask him. Kiss me. “Kiss me,” Sehun said. Luhan tried really hard to restrain the beam that formed on his face in amusement. He sat closer to Sehun, and slowly leaned towards him. A sudden outburst of audacity flew into his hands, and he rested one of them on Sehun’s thigh. It visibly surprised the young man, since he opened his eyes wide.

                Their lips met gently, and Luhan was careful not to press too hard, even if Sehun’s fingers had already tensed up and were gripping his shirt tightly. But after a few minutes, they relaxed, and soon Luhan could feel the flower buds and petals brush his cheek delicately. He had long since closed his eyes. Warmth, warmth, and more warmth. They only parted when he felt a taste of blood in his mouth and realised Sehun’s lip had opened again. “Sorry,” he whispered, but Sehun shrugged softly, the bleeding wound clean. “Now you know…are you happy?” Luhan asked.

                Sehun chuckled. “Yes I am.”

~

                It quickly became obvious there was a problem. Luhan and Sehun could not go back to the village, or they would surely be driven away more than violently. But without that, they had no food. Luhan could bake bread because he had flour, but apart from that pasta, potatoes and onions, there wasn’t much. That was when Sehun suggested something. “I can hunt. I mean, in the woods. Or fish, also, if we go to the River,” he said. At first, it surprised Luhan, because he didn’t know anybody – except Chanyeol and a couple of his friends – who coud hunt. “I just need a weapon. A bow, or knives, wires to set traps or snares…do you have that?” Sehun asked.

                “Oh, I…” Luhan bit his lower lip, deep in thought. “I don’t have a bow. I have knives, though. And wires are easy to find,” he said. Sehun nodded. With a little smile, Luhan started eating his mashed potatoes again. They were burning hot, and his whole mouth seemed to catch fire. But as always, he only swallowed as quickly as he could, and drank water to wash the pain away. Soon, his stomach was full and he stopped raising his spoon to his lips.

                It was weird. When Sehun had arrived in October, he’d bit by bit got used to eating more; happiness and laughter gives you an appetite. But ever since the dead fairies had been found, he’d started eating less and less food. And there was the stupid result: he’d lost a lot of weight. This was all the more silly given the fact they were deep in winter, and the weather was horribly cold. Luhan knew he had to store up energy, but he couldn’t bring himself to eat more than he already was eating. On the contrary, Sehun was as voracious as he’d always been, and even though Luhan saw he tried to restrain himself as their food supplies weren’t big, he still ate a crazy lot.

                When February came, Luhan accepted and they decided to start hunting for game. Although it wasn’t really a good idea for Luhan to go as well because he would probably scare the animals away, Sehun’s rib still hurt him, and he couldn’t go alone. So one morning, he put on his leather boots, gloves and a beanie, a scarf and a coat, and they went out into the white frozen world. In the end, Sehun had chosen to build a bow by himself with wood, and he’d spent the whole previous week looking for the perfect branch and carving it. Luhan had taken care of the arrows, the best he could. Even if some of them ended up being slightly clumsy and fragile, it was better than nothing and Sehun was happy.

                When they walked across the long rocky path leading to the village, but ignoring it to head to the forest, they looked around cautiously to check nobody was there. And at last, they slipped inside the woods and were into a different and safer universe. Sehun had said they had good chances of finding hares, birds, or beavers if they went closer towards the River. He was walking in a careful, almost feline way, his bow in one hand and an arrow already nocked, but while staying beautifully relaxed. Luhan tried to make as little noise as he could, looking around in order not to step on branches. In his bag, he had wires to set snares in case they were needed.

                Sehun stopped walking all of a sudden, his eyes gazing into the distance. Luhan was about to question him, but he realized the young man was listening. He made no move, and waited. Soon, Sehun was raising his bow, and that was when Luhan noticed what he was aiming at.

                The hare was beautiful. His smooth fur was immaculate white, and he had two dark diamonds for eyes, that were shining humidly. Two long ears, and thin legs, ready to bounce and run away in a snowy lighting. Of course, he sensed the danger, but Sehun was faster. His shot was precise and clean. The arrow met the hare’s eye, and the animal collapsed gently. Luhan was speechless. But Sehun let out a little joyful cry of victory. “Yeah! I was scared I might have lost my touch,” he grinned. Luhan smiled. Sehun was clearly talented.

                A few hours later, they – or rather he – had shot two birds, a small rodent and another hare. Luhan felt slightly useless, but Sehun told him that ‘at least, he was really quiet’. As they walked through the forest, they found themselves reaching the Fountain at a certain moment. Luhan didn’t want to go closer to it. What if they met someone from the village? Hence, they simply walked round it, although it was surely looking gorgeous like it was every winter. But the rest of the forest was great too. It wasn’t long before Sehun lowered his bow for good and grabbed his hand. Luhan closed his eyes for a second.

                When they got back home, it was an hour past lunchtime, but Luhan quickly cooked something – it wasn’t much; the real meal would come for dinner though, when he made a stew out of one of the hares. And indeed, in the evening, he could look proudly at his finished work. All afternoon, the animal had simmered, with vegetables and mixed herbs. Luhan felt particularly glad because he’d done it by himself, to make up for the fact he couldn’t hunt. This consistent stew was so delicious that even after he was full,  he kept eating and eating and eating as if he were going to die. At last, a real dinner! Luhan started laughing merrily, and, unable to conain himself, he ended up clutching his stomach, tears of joy streaming down his cheeks. Sehun was smiling.

                The wine Luhan had poured into their glasses was amazingly good. It made him dizzy. Dancing a few steps, pirouetting in the room happily, he went to Sehun and wrapped his arms around him. “Let’s play Nim,” he said. It had been so long since their last game… Sehun got up and spun him around in the air. Luhan was laughing. The marbles rolled between their fingers and they made assumptions until the moon was high up in the sky. Luhan’s hands were sometimes grabbing the air instead of the small glass spheres because of how clouded with euphoria his mind was. Eventually he gave up trying to focus and snuggled up to Sehun warmly.

                “You need to go to bed, look at yourself,” the young man chuckled.

                “It’s not true, I’m not tired!” Luhan protested, smiling at him. Sehun smirked and got up, carrying him in his arms, climbing the stairs, and he opened the door of the bedroom. He stumbled to the bed with Luhan, and the blond boy slumped down on it with a burst of laughter. Almost right away, he was shut up by a sweet kiss. “Hm – ” Luhan moaned, half in surprise, half because it felt comfortable and warm to be smooched like that. Careful not to press on Sehun’s fading-but-still-painful bruises, he pulled him closer and closer until he couldn’t pull him closer. Luhan’s hands fondled almost every part of Sehun’s body, from his wrist to his arms and his shoulders, his neck to his chest and then his back and his stomach and back to his neck and his sides and his hips; he didn’t even know what he was doing but it felt good.

                The buds on Sehun’s fingertips were brushing his cheek from time to time. Luhan wondered whether metaphors about him crossed Sehun’s mind sometimes. For him, Sehun was like a beautiful elf, between human, animal and vegetal, always surprising him but reassuring him at the same time. He was mysterious, sometimes Luhan didn’t know whether he should have trusted him, but a moment always came eventually when he realized all was fine. Maybe Luhan wasn’t sure about his feelings everyday, but right then, he decided to let it go for a little while.

                The last thing he remembered was that when the wine knocked him out completely, Sehun’s lips were still against his.

~

                Luhan could have been sadder, but he could have been much happier. Being with Sehun was great, but he felt lonely and bored without his friends and his work. On top of that, as days went by, Sehun kept going outside more and more often to try catching the monster. But according to him, it was weirdly fast, and he could never see it. And even if he’d never have admitted it, Luhan still sometimes suspected him of being the one ripping off the fairies’ wings. He trusted him, though. He tried to. And he managed to when Sehun came back looking exhausted and devastated, saying he’d searched for hours fruitlessly; he managed to trust him and to squeeze his hand telling him sincerely that it was okay.

                But there was still something that puzzled him a lot. Sehun was human. How would he catch a monster that was itself able to kill magical creatures? To Luhan’s mind, this was really mysterious. When Sehun was going out, he wouldn’t take his bow with him, nor would he take any weapon or anything. Not even Luhan. Luhan was wondering what he did in the woods to search for the monster. He waited. For really long. Until he couldn’t hold himself back every time anymore, and he just had to ask. They were having dinner, and Sehun had just said he was going out that night. “Can you – please – tell me what you do outside?” Luhan asked. “I don’t even know how you search for it, I mean I’d like to…” he said.

                A smile formed on Sehun’s lips. “I look around, stuff like that,” he answered calmly, taking a bite of carrot.

                “Stuff like that. You’ve not got much to say for yourself tonight,” he muttered.

                “Look, there’s nothing really interesting it it! If you truly want to know, it’s more exasperating than anything else! I keep searching for that monster and I just can’t find it! I can’t! I don’t know where its hidden. It’s extremely frustrating!” Sehun said a little violently. Luhan blushed and looked down silently. “Sorry,” Sehun apologized in a softer tone. Luhan shrugged and forced himself to smile.

                “I’d just like to go with you, at least once,” he said.

                “I see,” Sehun nodded, frowning a little and looking slightly embarrassed. “Well, tonight, you could – ”

                “Hey, hey, hey, stop. I just realized you’re going out by night,” Luhan interrupted.

                “…Yeah?”

                “By night,” Luhan repeated. “It’s – it’s pitch dark outside!”he exclaimed.

                “It’s the full moon?” Sehun said awkwardly.

                “Not every night…” Luhan sighed. Sehun bit his lip. He seemed to be about to admit something, but not quite, as if hesitation had encaging his words. Luhan raised his eyebrows questioningly.

                “Listen, there’s something I haven’t told you,” Sehun said a bit cautiously. Oh, really? Again? Luhan thought. What is it, this time? You set things on fire so that you have light? “I can see in the night,” Sehun said. Oh. That was a little unexpected.

                “What… I – this isn’t possible…” Luhan stammered. Sehun stood up silently and held out his hand to him. Luhan took it, and the young man led him to the hall, where he had him putting on a coat, gloves, and a beanie. When the door opened, Luhan only saw thick darkness that almost seemed solid. As they stepped out, he looked at his house. There was light inside, and the windows upstairs looked like golden ghosts floating in the night air. Sehun took his hand again, and they started walking. It was obvious, it wasn’t the full moon at all. It was a moonless night. Luhan could only see black everywhere. Yet Sehun was walking determinedly, without hesitating or tripping. Luhan could feel the snow under his leather boots, but other than that, he had no idea what was around him.

                However, Sehun quickly brought an answer to his mute questions. “We’re at the edge of the forest,” he said quietly. He rested his palm against the back of Luhan’s hand, and raised it, so that Luhan could for something in the air. Barely two seconds later, he guided him towards a tree trunk. Luhan’s heart skipped a beat. So far, Sehun was pretty convincing. But that didn’t prove much, maybe he just knew very well the path leading to the forest. Luhan kept touching the tree for a few minutes before he realized Sehun had spoken. “So, do you believe me  now? I can see things here around us,” the young man said again. “It’s not the same as in daylights, but it’s fine, really.”

                “Prove me better,” Luhan smiled mischievously.

                Sehun’s index brushed the corner of his lips. “I like that smile”, he whispered. Luhan gigggled when Sehun pulled his hand towards something else, lower. “A rock,” Sehun said. The stone was cold and irregular under Luhan’s finger; he shivered, but pleasantly. More. More. “There’s a branch in the snow,” Sehun said, guiding Luhan to it. “And an owl in that tree,” he added. Luhan heard a muffled sound, then hooting. “I kicked the tree,”Sehun explained with a chuckle. Luhan laughed. “And…oh,” Sehun murmured.

                “What?” Luhan asked.

                “Here…” Luhan could feel Sehun’s hand on his cheek. “Are – ” A warm but delicate breath on his nose. “Your lips.” Sehun’s mouth met his in a soft kiss. Luhan let out a surprised moan, but he quickly relaxed and rested his hands on the young man’s shoulders. Sehun was really tender and slow; Luhan appreciated a lot. He couldn’t see what was surrounding them, but it felt fine.

                But all of a sudden it ended. Abruptly. Sehun’s lips were gone and the rest of his body as well. Luhan frowned a little and he swallowed with difficulty. Where was he?... Usually, when Sehun pulled on little pranks like that, they were quick. And above all, funny. This was not funny at all.

                Luhan had always been afraid of the dark. He hadn’t realized it as he’d been busy reacting to Sehun’s cute game, but without him, he was completely lost right then. He could see absolutely nothing. That gave him the feeling he’d become blind, while his ears were aggressed by the loud sounds of the night. The trees were creaking. The wind was mewling in a high-pitched tone. Luhan was shaking. “Sehun?” he tried to call, but no words left his lips and the only thing he let out was a weak groan. He was alone. Terribly alone.

                Luhan took a frightened step forward. But what for? He didn’t know where he was, here wasn’t anything that could help him. In his chest, his heart was thumping  faster and faster. Luhan raised his hands tentatively and d for something. His fingers only met the cold black air. He was about to call Sehun again, when a quick noise made him start violently. It was like wings flapping or paws tapping rapidly against something hard. Going up, and down again. And the worst part began.

                Luhan was trapped in blind darkness, and it set free one of the most dangerous things in situations involving fears: his imagination. He was picturing a hideous hybrid, an impossible mix between a spider, a human and a wolf, climbing to one of the trees viciously, ready to touch him. The branches were cracking under a surely-heavy weight. Luhan was breathing at an uncontrolled irregular pace, not making a single move. Where was Sehun? Luhan had never wanted him to be there as much as he did right then. He felt to vulnerable – the sense on which he relied the most, his eyesight, was useless there. When silence fell, his heart stopped beating. He held his breath. And it started again. Luhan let out a tiny cry. The sounds became louder, excited, irritated. Hungry.

                The hand met Luhan’s mouth slowly, but he still started so abruptly that his whole body was shaken by the strong shock. He struggled for a split second, but then he heard a whisper. “It’s me. Don’t. Make. A single sound.” It was Sehun. Luhan was amazingly relieved and panicked at the same time. Why shouldn’t he make noise? Why?! Sehun’s hand was pressing hard against his mouth, and his other arm was wrapped around Luhan’s waist tightly. Luhan could feel his soft breath on the back of his neck. He swallowed again. “It’s close. Don’t scream, don’t do anything,” the young man whispered. And Luhan was really scared because in his voice, there was pure fear.

                That was when he realized that it was close meant Sehun could surely see the thing, whatever it was. And for the first time, Luhan was happy he couldn’t see in the dark. He had stopped breathing. However, the tapping and rubbing noises could still be heard, more nervous than ever. Then, a squeak, long and painful, of a branch being pulled down, just above his head. Luhan started crying silently, icy tears rolling down on his cheeks and meeting Sehun’s gloved fingers on their way. Even if he couldn’t see, his space perception and all his other senses could tell him there was something above. But what? He imagined it perched in a tree and hanging just a few centimetres from his head.

                As if he wanted to warn him danger was closer than ever, Sehun pushed his hand harder against his mouth. Absolute silence was needed. Luhan had never been that scared in his entire life. And the most horrible was that he didn’t know what menacing him. He wondered how Sehun managed to stay calm enough to silence him firmly when he could see everything. The paws, or the wings, or whatever they were, seemed to tap a few times just to break the long and heavy silence that had fallen. And they went away incredibly fast. As fast as a monster running away.

                Sehun’s pressure only softened several minutes later, however. Luhan’s heart was about to explode. He was sobbing uncontrollably, without even letting out sounds. Protactive arms wrapped around his body and he closed his eyes, holding on to Sehun hard. “It’s over,” Sehun whispered. “It’s gone, you’re okay now. You’re okay. You were so strong, Luhan. Shh. It’s over,” he said in soothing hushed tones. Fear hadn’t been washed away yet. Luhan was still not in his normal state. He managed to beg the young man to take him back home, and let himself be guided though the unsafe darkness. Sehun walked him by the hand, an arm around his shoulders. They were fast. Barely ten minutes later, Luhan could feel rocks under the snow he was stepping on; they had reached the path.

                When Sehun stopped dead in his tracks, Luhan felt right away his strain. His hand had tensed up on Luhan’s shoulder. “What is – it?” the blond boy began shakily. “Is it…”

                “No, it’s not,” Sehun said. “It’s something else, but it’s not good either,” he added. Luhan felt an extremely unpleasant shiver travel down his spine. They walked to the mysterious thing, and Sehun stopped once again. “Promise me you’ll stay calm, Luhan,” Sehun said with a strange and frightening steadiness in his tone.

                “Why? What is – what is it – I – why?” Luhan panicked.

                “Promise me! Luhan!” Sehun shouted. Luhan nodded hurriedly. “Luhan, there’s a body there,” Sehun said slowly. “I’m going to let go of your hand for a little while, okay?” he went on.

                “Oh no, please…” Luhan begged.

                “I have to. I’m just next to you, don’t worry. Okay, I’m letting go.”

                Suddenly the spaces between Luhan’s fingers were empty. He started letting out panicked little cries, unable to stay calm while Sehun wasn’t physically there. He heard a long rubbing sound, a low grunt, and he tried not to picture in his head what was going on. After an eternity, Sehun’s hand squeezed his again. Luhan screamed but quickly realized he was fine.

                “See? You’re okay,” Sehun said calmly. “Now let’s go back home.”

                As soon as the faint light inside his house could be seen, Luhan’s heart exploded with relief. He walked faster than ever, pulling forwards Sehun, who was panting but keeping up the pace. “My keys! Where are them, I – ”

                “Right pocket of your coat,” Sehun said with difficulty. Luhan’s fingers were trembling so violently he dropped the metallic keys twice. Then the right one entered the lock at last, and he could step in. Sehun followed him, still carrying the thing. It took Luhan some time to calm down. Even though he was now safe sitting on the first step of the stairs and could see what was surrounding him, the horrible feeling of fright was still creeping deep inside. It wasn’t until Sehun called him from the dining-room with a weird tone in his words that he realized for good that it wasn’t truly over.

                “What’s the matter?” he asked feebly, getting up.

                “Breathe and don’t scream,” Sehun said slowly.

                Luhan held his breath instead. “Why – ”

                Despite Sehun’s request, he sill screamed when he saw that what Sehun had put on the table of the kitchen was Jongin’s flayed alive body.

A/N: I'm updating a little slower than before, that's because...school. No other explanations needed.

Did you like this chapter? Sorry about the abrupt ending x)

Please comment, tell me what you think about it, and above all, thank you for reading ♥