Luhan ran to the table and leaned over Jongin, checking his pulse, but his hands were shaking too much and he felt nothing. “He’s bleeding, he’s bleeding, oh no – no, no, no!...” he said in complete panic. Sehun grabbed his shoulder and shook it, saying things Luhan didn’t hear. There was way too much red and brown over the unconscious (he didn’t want to think dead) young man’s stomach and chest for the injury to be minor. Luhan didn’t even think about Jongin right then, he just thought there would be a dead man in his house and everything would go wrong. Someone would have been killed, and that time, it wasn’t a fairy.

                Luhan was still screaming meaningless phrases when Sehun abruptly cupped his face and forced him to meet his eyes. “Luhan! You shut up right now! He’s not dead yet, and I’d like to try saving him, so I need calm! Understood? Is that understood? Luhan!” he shouted, looking at him in the eye. Luhan stayed petrified and mute for a long minute, then he managed to nod his head silently, holding back his tears. Sehun was truly scary when he was angry. Moving aside quietly, Luhan watched him lean over Jongin and look at the young man’s pale face. All his blood had rushed towards his stomach and flown out of his body through the deep wound and he was left as white as a sheet.

                Sehun was whispering quick and strange words that Luhan had never heard, his palms resting on Jongin’s chest. Luhan felt dizzy. He leaned on an armchair, closing his eyes for a while. When he opened them, later than planned, he thought he saw smoke escaping from Sehun’s hand. But when he blinked, it was gone. Sehun stepped back. Jongin wasn’t moving. However, maybe it was chance, or maybe there was no more left in his body, but the blood had stopped flowing out of his stomach. Luhan didn’t know what kind of magic Sehun had just performed, but one thing was sure: it was real. Sehun looked tired. “Are we leaving him here?” Luhan asked.

                “Yes, we are. Moving him would only make his state worse anyway. Let’s just bandage him,” Sehun answered. Luhan silently fetched his aid kid and handed it to him. “Thanks,” Sehun said wearily. They cut Jongin’s shirt to free the access to his stomach, and to his wide wound. Luhan had never seen such a thing. His skin had been cut open deeply, but it was above all horribly unclean. The edges of the wound were torn, almost ripped to shreds. Luhan died to ask Sehun whether he knew what had caused it, but the young man was too focused on healing Jongin and looked really exhausted. They washed, cleaned the cut, and applied a tight bandage over it, before deciding there was nothing more they could do at the moment so they should go to bed. “You can go upstairs, I’ll put the bandages back into the cupboard,” Sehun said. Luhan bit his lip and headed towards the stairs.

                But when he stood at the bottom of the black staircase that was going up into the dark, he found himself unable to take a step forwards. He just couldn’t go there alone. “Se – Sehun?” he called weakly. Sehun joined him a few seconds later, throwing him a questioning look. Luhan turned towards the stairs again, looking away. Sehun smiled softly and took his hands then led him upstairs. Luhan was reassured to have his warmth by his side while climbing the steps. Even if his heart had long since stopped thumping crazily, there was still an unpleasant sensation deep inside him. And it became even more obvious when the door at the landing opened into his bedroom, where the usually only quiet darkness was like waiting for him to step in so that it could swallow him whole. He cleared his throat and Sehun gently guided him inside. A bedside lamp was lit up, and a soft light bloomed in the room, reassuring Luhan slightly.

                While he undressed and put on his pyjamas, Sehun turned around modestly, then Luhan did the same for him, pretending to be truly engrossed in making his bed comfortable and the covers perfectly tucked in. He was overflowing with a hundred questions.  But he waited. However, as soon as he lied down on his bed, he knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep by himself. “Sehun…” Sehun understood and he lifted the covers up to allow him to slip into his bed. Luhan got up and tiptoed to the other, feet shy against the cold floor. When he lied down on the mattress, Sehun threw the bed sheets over him, and the blond-haired boy snuggled up to him immediately.

                “Hey, what’s happening to you?” Sehun whispered.

                “I was scared. I’m scared,” Luhan cried quietly. Sehun’s arms tightened around him protectively. “What was that – that thing? Did it kill Jongin? I mean, was he attacked by it?” Luhan pressed, digging his fingers into Sehun’s back. “What was it?!”

                “Ow – it was the monster I told you about…” Sehun winced painfully.

                “Oh. Sorry,” Luhan murmured, releasing his grip on him. So the mysterious creature that had been killing the fairies was real indeed… But if it started attacking humans, it was a whole different game. Who was next? Kyungsoo? Baekhyun? Sehun? Luhan himself? He shivered unpleasantly. And Jongin’s lacerated body was still downstairs, his life slipping out of him slowly. Luhan knew he would have trouble falling asleep, even with Sehun’s heart beating very close. Though, the young man seemed to notice it quickly, and he placed a soft kiss on the top of his head.

                “One day, when I was about eight years old, I went to the river near my village with friends. It was in early spring, so the water was pretty cold. There was one boy who really, really wanted to fish that day. So he took his fishing rod and sat down in the grass. Everyone was sure he wouldn’t get anything but we still stayed with him. At first, nothing happened. But then, something bit all of a sudden. He started to pull, but the thing was really, really heavy! I don’t know whether it was because he was laughing or because it wasn’t just a fish, but my friend ended up falling into the river,” Sehun chuckled. A smile formed on Luhan’s lips. “When we all started mocking him, he pretended not to be cold – ‘it’s really warm’, he said. We knew it wasn’t true but we all dived into the water. No need to say our parents were mad at us when we were sick for a week afterwards.”

                Luhan laughed, picturing in his head a skinny Child Sehun trembling with cold in the water but grinning. “You were all stupid,” he tittered. Sehun hit him playfully. Luhan closed his eyes.  A comfortable vapour was washing over him, making him suddenly tired and above all reassured. “When winter ends, we’ll go to the River, okay?” he asked.

                “Of course. And to the Tree again, to the Fountain every Sunday…” Sehun replied. Luhan nodded silently. He could already feel his mind drifting away into sleep. “We’ll have picnics in the forest, we’ll play Nim outside, we’ll sleep in the open…”

                Luhan didn’t hear the end of his sentence; he’d already fallen into the black hole of sleep.

~

                Luhan was in one of the most pleasant states ever, exactly between sleep and awakening, his mind wandering in any places, but he was still half-conscious. And he could notably feel the feathery petals brushing his forehead like teased by the wind. No – they were wings…or were they lace? It was gentle and fresh. Flashes of colours appeared in Luhan’s mind, floating away next to instantly. Pink, white, light almond green. Kyungsoo had baked a cake for a wedding once, and he’d made all by himself gorgeous delicate and crystalline sugar roses to put on it. It had really made a lasting impression on Luhan.

                Suddenly he was in a brightly lit white room, with curtains undulating in a soft breeze, just like gentle spirits. But he wanted too much to know what was touching him, and he pushed the curtains away, got tangled up in them, almost fell back asleep, but he managed to step out of the room at last, into awakening. Luhan didn’t open his eyes right away – he waited until he was sure the spirits wouldn’t pull him back into the sunny room again, then he slowly opened himself up to the real world. There, no flowers, no wings or any lace, but what he found was even more beautiful.

                Sehun was his forehead tenderly, playing with his hair, pushing it backwards, or tracing little circles on his skin from time to time. Every single one of the words Luhan knew was taken away. A legere smile was crossing the young man’s lips. “Hello,” he said. Luhan covered Sehun’s hand with his own and brought it to his cheek. “Are you feeling better?” Sehun asked. “You’re not scared anymore, are you?”

                The memories Luhan had unconsciously held away from his mind until then rushed back to him, more abruptly than he’d thought they would. “I’m okay, thanks to you,” he replied. “We should check on Jongin…” he added regretfully. Right then, he would have given anything to be to worry about nothing and be able to stay next to Sehun forever. But there was someone badly injured downstairs, and he couldn’t ignore it. Sehun nodded gravely, and both of them got up then walked downstairs. The fire was softly dying in the fireplace, and Luhan made a mental note to add more wood. On the table, Jongin was still lying, skin place and stomach dark red under the bandage. But when Sehun checked his pulse and put his ear against his chest, he confirmed that he was breathing and his heart was beating normally.

                “He lasted the night – it was the most critical part, actually,” Sehun said. Luhan was relieved. But Jongin wasn’t likely to wake up soon, and even if he did, he would not be able to walk to the village. They’d have to build a stretcher or something. Sehun was looking at the badage; it undoubtedly needed to be changed. After doing so, Luhan explained his idea to him.

                “We have to bring him back to his parents today. But he can’t walk so I think we should build a stretcher, shouldn’t we?” he asked. Sehun agreed. But before fetching material, they ate breakfast. That was when Luhan noticed there was next to no flour and sugar left. A trip to the village was really needed, even regardless of Jongin. He just hoped the villagers wouldn’t slaughter Sehun and him before they could even explain they hadn’t half-murdered the man.

                Since the table was already occupied, they ate their porridge by the fireplace, and Luhan quickly drifted into a hypnotic absorption caused by the languid waves of the flames. How would they prove everyone that a monster was on the prowl in the forest and the land while they were all convinced the killer was Sehun? They had no other proofs than their word. In other words, it would be hard. “Luhan. Luhan!”

                Luhan started and blinked. “What?” he gasped.

                “You’ve got porridge on your chin,” Sehun said, clearly holding back an amused smile. Luhan’s cheeks reddened in scarlet embarrassment and he hastily wiped off the sticky mixture with his thumb. “Ah, you’re too fast,” Sehun sighed. “Here,” he whispered, leaning in to press a kiss onto Luhan’s chin. His lips soon moved to Luhan’s, and Luhan closed his eyes, savouring the sweet sensation. He didn’t hear the groan right away, but when he did, it startled him so much he almost dropped his bowl.

                “Stop…cking – …each other’s fa…ha… Each other’s face…off.”

                Luhan let out a cry of surprise. He parted from Sehun quickly and turned around. Jongin was staring at the two of them with tired eyes, looking half-in pain, half-sulking. “Jongin!” Luhan exclaimed, getting up. Sehun followed him silently. “You’re awake…how’re you feeling?” Luhan asked. Jongin smiled in such a tensed was that it looked like a grimace.

                “I could not…have felt any better,” he answered with a whine. Luhan nodded absent-mindedly. It was quite strange… Jongin was really badly hurt, he shouldn’t have woken up that soon. Unless…unless there had actually been smoke coming from Sehun’s hand and this was not no magic. Sehun had apparently…partly healed him? Luhan’s thought were confuse. But those, he didn’t say them aloud.

                “Can you stay here until we’ve built a stretcher for you? We’ll carry you back to the village,” he said. Jongin closed his eyes, silently pointing out he couldn’t move much anyway. Sehun and Luhan were about to walk away when he called them back.

                “Hey… I know you – didn’t kill the fairies,” he moaned. “That thing…” He sighed painfully and closed his eyes again. Luhan exchanged a look with Sehun. At least, they had an ally… It could help. They didn’t have to search for long in the forest to find two long branches. Luhan had brought a saw with him, and they got working. It was tiring, but at least, they had what they needed. With bed sheets stretched bewteen them, it made a solid (albeit not very pretty) stretcher. Luhan woke Jongin up gently to tell him they were going to move him.

                “Are you ready? Tell us if it hurts too much,” he said. Jongin nodded. But he didn’t tell them anything beause he fainted as soon as the two young men lifted him up.

                Their way to the village was painfully slow. Jongin wasn’t really heavy, especially since there was two of them carrying him, but Luhan’s back hurt. Though, he tried to think about the fact said Jongin was suffering much more, and didn’t complain. Instead, he focused on the snow he could feel underneath his soft leather boots. It was that time of the year when the calendar was starting to push winter away, but winter gave everything until the end, as if it didn’t want to leave, which caused the air to be still cold as ice. Luhan met Sehun’s eyes and he received an encouraging smile. He smiled back. They’d almost arrived.

                As soon as they entered the village, Luhan could feel eyes on him. Narrowed eyes glaring warily. But no one came, and maybe everybody even took refuge in their houses, only leaving silence pressing heavily on Sehun and Luhan. “Please…we’ve brought Jongin back…he’s injured, you should come, we’re trying to help you…” Luhan called. He thought it’d been useless, but he heard a voice behind him and he turned around. There, someone he knew very well was standing, looking surprised.

                “Luhan? Sehun?” It was Kyungsoo. “What are you doing here?” Now there was fear in his voice. Luhan opened his mouth to speak, but he was cut by someone else.

                “Yeah, what are you doing here? Trying to kill us now?”

                “They killed Jongin!” a woman’s voice exploded. “They killed him!”

                “Go away!”

                “My son – he’s dead?!” a man, the clothes shopkeeper, exlaimed, horrified.

                “He’s not dead! Everyone shut up! Silence!” Sehun shouted. Even Luhan looked down and bowed his head in intimidation. All the villagers who were there stopped speaking at once. “We’re bringing your injured son back to you after having taken care of him, and this is how you thank us? By calling us murderers? Luhan told you we’d come to help you,” Sehun said loud. Luhan blushed bright red. “Listen to us before aggressing! Please! This is really, really important,” he finished. No sound came to reply to him. He threw Luhan a calm glance. “Where’s the mayor?” he asked.

                “I’m here,” an icy voice answered slowly. Luhan turned around once more. And Yifan was there indeed. Sometimes, Luhan would have flashbacks. And right now, he was having one. He could see himself eight years younger, playing with a dozen of other children near the River. It was a fresh spring day. Kyungsoo was there, Tao as well, Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Minseok, and Yifan. It was that day that the future mayor had found a pearl in the sparkling water, round and shiny. Luhan rememebred him being incredibly proud and attached to it. Too bad that when it had passed from hand to hand, Luhan had dropped it clumsily into the water. Even after looking for it for an eternity, they hadn’t been able to find it.

                After all, it wasn’t that important. But Luhan had been deeply scared of the look of pure hatred Yifan had thrown him. Even the mayor had probably forgotten about it eventually, just like the others, but Luhan hadn’t. And his fear of him hadn’t disappeared either. Instead, it had intensified as years had passed, especially now that Yifan represented authority in the village.

                Luhan realized he’d missed something when all of a sudden, there was a big crowd that had came out of nowhere around Sehun, Jongin and him. He blinked, and tried to come back to reality. Jongin’s mother had kneeled down next to her unconscious son, his forehead. Sehun was speaking. People were listening. Yifan was glaring. “There’s a monster prowling about near the village. It’s probably in the forest right now, but at night it moves and can go anywhere. It’s that thing that killed all the fairies you found. I didn’t. You really should believe what I’m saying, because it has starting attacking humans. And we have the victim here,” Sehun said, pointing at Jongin. Words of protest were heard, along the lines of ‘you’re lying’ and ‘who knows, maybe you killed him’, to which other people replied ‘he’s not dead, idiot’ or ‘but the monster…can it kill us all?’.

                “I’ve been trying to get rid of it ever since I arrived, but unsuccessfully. I don’t know – it’s…hiding so well I can’t catch it,” Sehun sighed.

                “You know what I’m thinking?” someone asked, louder than the others, and silence settled. A dark smile was crossing the man’s lips. Luhan shivered. Baekhyun…really all they needed. “You know what? I think you’re telling lies. You’re the one who killed the fairies and maybe Jongin as well. (“He’s not dead! We healed him!” Luhan wanted to scream. But no words came.) And you are making up this stupid story to attack us all. Luhan believes you because he’s dumb, and a lot of people will do so, too. But I won’t,” Baekhyun declaimed. Luhan was on the verge of tears. Was that really what everyone in the village thought of him? He looked down and just hoped Sehun would say something.

                “That’s your problem, Baekhyun,” the young man said softly. “Stop insulting Luhan. Everyone else, please believe us. You’re in danger! See what happened to Jongin! And we almost got attacked too! Please, please – stay at home, lock your doors, draw the shutters and don’t stay alone at night,” he finished. Luhan felt a wave of pride wash over him. All the villagers were silent, lapping up everything he said. Only Baekhyun and two or three others were muttering things. Jongin’s parents had left with their son, only meeting Luhan’s eyes for a second, too afraid to say thank you. Luhan was about to add a few words to show he wasn’t only a dumb wheathead, but Baekhyun beat him to it.

                “How are we supposed to trust you two? What’s going on between you? You’re plotting together. Look, living in the same house, doing everything together… You two are doing things – ”

                “We’re doing things? Do you know what we’re doing?!” Sehun exclaimed.

                And he cupped Luhan’s face to pull him into a passionate kiss.

                Luhan’s eyes opened wide in surprise and he almost pulled away when he started – and he would have, if Sehun hadn’t held him back gently but firmly. Several people let out gasps and words of surprise, but Luhan couldn’t even hear them, because he’d closed his eyes and drifted far away, so far he’d forgotten about everything that wasn’t Sehun. He’d wrapped his arms around his waist in a tender circle, and held him so close they were surely going to melt into each other. Sehun’s thumbs were rubbing little on his cheekbones. Luhan let himself go completely.

                When Sehun parted from him delicately and the corners of his lips to trace a smile onto them, he exchanged a long, loving look with him. Sehun took his hand, squeezed it and turned back towards the villagers. “Do you know what we’re doing?” he repeated. “Do you know what we’re doing?! We’re in love! We’re in love, for God’s sake! Is it wrong? Are you shocked because we’re both boys? Does it disgust you? Haven’t you learnt to respect other people’s choices and never judge them because of that? Haven’t you?” he said, loud enough for absolutely everyone to hear him. Luhan had never felt so tiny yet so strong by his side. He felt like a child protected and defended by a soldier. Smiling proudly deep inside, he said to himself he was glad to be the one holding Sehun’s hand and not the ones facing him.

                Gathering all his courage, he looked up from the ground and spoke. “It’s true. I swear. All of what Sehun said – I…” He hesitated. “Please be careful. That’s all we have to say.” When he finished his sentence, all eyes were on him. He glanced at Sehun, who gave him a supportive nod.

                The crowd dispersed quickly, like snow melting under the sun, and soon the two of them were left alone in the middle of the village, with the exception of a young girl and a few children. The girl walked up to them timidly and looked at Luhan then at Sehun. “Is it really around us? I mean, the monster,” she said very low.

                “Yes, it is,” Sehun replied. “But if you stay inside of your house at night, it will be okay. We’ll kill it, I promise,” he smiled. The girl grinned and walked away, her steps small and soft in the snow. Sehun laughed as the watched her play with her friends. “Let’s go back home,” he said, interlacing his fingers with Luhan’s. The blond-haired boy nodded, and they got going. Luhan was amazingly relieved they’d been able to speak to the villagers without being shooed away. This was all thanks to Sehun. He was so proud and happy to have him! His daydreaming was interrupted when said Sehun asked him a question mischievously. “You still haven’t wondered how come I could see in the night? Thought it would puzzle you,” the young man chuckled.

                “Oh,” Luhan said. “That’s true. How come, then?” he asked.

                “You don’t sound like you really want to know,” Sehun replied.

                “I do!”

                “Well..I have special powers,” Sehun said slyly, wiggling his fingers like a wizard. Luhan looked at him with an eyebrow risen. “It’s true,” Sehun laughed. “Let me explain. I’ve never seen my parents, since I had to leave my village. But they weren’t very normal, since I’m not either. You know, people in the places I visited afterwards used to say I was a Mistwalker, because I liked to disappear all of a sudden, without making any sounds. Then they called me Smoke because of my scar. Here,” he said, pointing at his hipbone. Luhan opened his mouth in a silent ‘oh’. He remembered the strange scar indeed. “See? I have nicknames because I’m strange, too,” Sehun chuckled.

                “Mistwalker is much cooler than wheathead, though,” Luhan replied with a pout.

                “You’re my wheathead,” the young man mocked playfully.

                “Pff. Here, show me your power and disappear,” Luhan muttered, kicking a little pack of snow.

                “Like this?” he heard Sehun say.

                And when he looked up, Sehun was gone. Nowhere to be seen. It reminded Luhan of the previous night in the forest and he shivered uncomfortably. Where could he be? There were no traces in the snow, no dark hair clashing with the white landscape. “Sehun…” Luhan called. “It’s not funny, I believe you. Wooo Mistwalker. Your point is proven. You can come back,” he said. “Hey.”

                “But I’m here,” Sehun said all of a sudden, causing Luhan to start. He turned around. The young man was smiling innocently. “You just cannot see me,” he chuckled. Luhan frowned and started walking again.

                “You sound proud of your powers,” he muttered.

                “Just enthustastic. I don’t talk about them very often,” Sehun replied.

                “And do you use them more frequen – ” Luhan began. “Wait. If you can disappear and flee like that, how come you let yourself get beaten up by everyone the day they caught you?” he asked. Sehun hadn’t killed the fairies, he hadn’t deserved that either…so why?

                “It’s not that simple,” Sehun said. “You know I told you I always tried to save the fairies when they were attacked. And to do so, I need to give them vital force, so that they don’t die. But what I give them is a part of my own force… Well, that day, I tried to hurry but when I found her, she was almost dead. It was next to hopeless to try, but I gave her more and more vital force, though eventually she slipped away. When everyone arrived, I was so exhausted that I had almost fainted, and it was completely impossible for me to gather enough strength to disappear,” he finished. Luhan was speechless. That was the reason why Sehun had been caught… “I stayed in a weird state for a while afterwards, even when you’d bandaged me and all. That’s why I was a little feeble,” Sehun chuckled.

                “Oh,” Luhan replied mechanically in hushed tones.

                “You know…I’ve always been different, everywhere I’ve been. In my village, everyone shared the same religion, and I became a believer too – besides I really believe in it and respect it – but it’s like they considered I wasn’t totally like them. Which is true; I don’t even know what I am myself,” Sehun added. Luhan was really moved by his words, because he could hear a story almost similar to his own in them. Being alike but different from the others… Part of a group but unspokenly aside… He knew that feeling too well not to recognize it right away. With a comforting smile, he squeezed Sehun’s hand. I feel you, he meant. A pleasant silence settled then. Luhan cleared his throat.

                “Em…about what you said earlier – I mean, after you kissed me…” he said embarrassedly, looking away, hoping the red blush flowering on his cheeks would follow and get lost in the snow.

                A brief laugh left Sehun’s lips. “Ha – yeah. Actually, that’s something else I’ve been facing for quite long now. Some people in my religion say I’m not supposed to be like that. To like boys, that is. But it’s not my fault, I can’t help it! Even if I wanted to change, I wouldn’t be able to! And anyway that’s not a bad thing… They say ‘a man should love a woman’. Okay, but why not another man? Same goes for girls. I think that’s stupid to be so restrictive. Love is, like, love, isn’t it? No matter who you choose. Don’t you think so?”

                Luhan was left speechless for a minute or two. Sehun’s opinion was so beautiful and touching that he didn’t even dare say something. “I…of course…” he said finally. “I mean, anyway, I’m infinitely happier with you than I’d ever be with anyone else, so…” Sehun’s arms wrapped around him barely a split second later and Luhan was lifted up from the ground smoothly with the young man’s laugh resonating clearly in the air. “Wh – what are you doing?” Luhan asked.

                “Carrying you home,” Sehun smiled. Luhan’s feet were swaying in the air at each step the young man would take. He smiled in spite of himself and clung onto him, savouring Sehun’s fresh fragrance.

A/N: I hope you liked this chapter!

Thank you for reading, as always. I really appreciate your feedback and your great support ♥