Moving from China to Korea was one thing. Moving into an apartment all on his own was another thing completely. There would be no more mom and dad to make him food and make sure he got up and dressed for the day. No other people to talk to or be around. It would just be himself and whatever else he had in the apartment. Of course there were always the perks of living alone. No rules, other than the common sense ones and whatever the apartment building had. No nagging adults telling him to clean his room or help up around the house. He could even walk around if he wanted to. It was him starting a new life completely on his own and away from home.

He chose an apartment building in the heart of Seoul. It was only minutes away from COEX and many other shopping centers. The building was new and modern, no falling ceiling tiles or peeling walls. Luhan was placed on the seventh floor. It was just high enough so he could see the city but not too high that it would make him feel sick looking out the window. The room wasn’t too big, but it didn’t need to be. It was a one roomed home that had just enough space to live comfortably. There was a kitchenette, tv, bathroom, shower, everything that he needed, really.

Luhan hadn’t bought furniture beforehand, probably not the best idea but he would have had no where to put it. Once he got his clothes and food from grocery shopping put away, he decided that he desperately needed furniture or else he would be sleeping on the floor for the night. He smiles happily and pulls out his phone, knowing he needs help with picking out just the right furniture.

“Baekhyun? Are you busy right now?”

He can hear the other groan on the other side of the phone. Luhan puffs his cheeks out and huffs, fingers tapping against the counter.

“No, what is it?”

“Will you come furniture shopping with me? I didn’t buy any yet so it’s really empty in here.”

Baekhyun laughs and Luhan walks over to the door, wiggling out of his slippers. “How can you get an apartment and not any furniture, Lu? It’s not like you just signed the lease today. You’ve had it for over a month.”

“And just where would I have put the furniture, Baek? It’s not like I have anywhere to put it. I was staying at a hotel.” Luhan sighs and pulls his sneakers on. “I can’t really store a bunch of furniture in there.”

“Alright, alright. I’ll shop with you. Only because I need some new pillows anyways.”

Luhan grins and stands up, flattening down his shirt. “Meet you in front of COEX in five?”

Baekhyun groans as Luhan shuts the door to his apartment. “More like meet you on the elevator in two.”

“You know you don’t have to call me to talk anymore,” Baekhyun says as he leans back against the elevator wall. “I live a floor down.”

“Give me a break, Baek. It’s my first day.”

Baekhyun was one of Luhan’s good friends. He met him during his years at university. Baekhyun was in the same grade and studying the same major so Luhan clung to him. The other was the whole reason he got the apartment that he did. If it wasn’t for Baekhyun telling him there was an open room, he would still be living in a tiny hotel.

“Hey now, that doesn’t mean you can come knocking on my door at weird hours of the night either.”

Luhan laughs and rolls his eyes as they walk out of the elevator. “I can’t make any promises. What if I get scared tonight? It’s my first night alone and I’ll hear all the weird noises of the building.”

“Maybe you should get a dog. I was like that when I first moved in but once I got precious Mocha,” Baekhyun coos and wiggles his fingers in the air. “It really helped.”

“You think I should get a pet? Ah, I’m not sure. They don’t ever seem to like me.”

Luhan scrunches his nose up at the thought of buying a cat or dog. They weren’t ever too fond of him. He remembers the painful scratches and loud barks he had to deal with when he used to visit his cousins back in China. Not to mention he thinks he might be allergic to cats. Whenever he’s with one his nose starts to itch an awful lot.

“What about a hamster or something? They’re pretty friendly,” Baekhyun says as they cross the road. “And it’s not like they make much mess either. They stay in their own little cages and do their thing.”

“I don’t know, Baek. I feel like I’d forget it was even there and forget to feed it.”

Baekhyun decides to go on about proper pet care and the different kinds of pets for at least another hour. Luhan has to interject every now and then when he comes across a piece of furniture that he likes. Baekhyun only nods and asks if he’s willing to let it get torn up by a pet. Since when did Baekhyun get so obsessed with pets, he thinks, rolling his eyes. The other has only had his dog for a good two months and now that suddenly made him an expert on all things animal.

The shopping trip wasn’t as successful as Luhan had hoped it would be. He ends up buying a bed that’s low to the ground and has a nice wood frame. It’s modern and sleek which fits in well with the apartment. The sheets he picked out are a delicate blue with white underneath. Baekhyun complained that it was too wintery and that he should get a nice green color to compliment the spring. Luhan only sighs and mumbles that his favorite color is blue and that it’s his apartment. He snags a matching dresser and nightstand that are big enough for his things but small enough to fit properly in the room. He didn’t manage to find a table to go by his kitchen but he did find a coffee table that will substitute until he finds a proper one. As for decor, some lovely blue and green paintings and a few cute stuffed animals to go on his bed. Nothing too elaborate yet, just enough to make it feel like a home.

Baekhyun helps him put the furniture together when it arrives a few hours later. Luhan had tried to do it himself but ended up hitting his thumb with the hammer and now it was wrapped up and he was holding an ice pack to it. He wasn’t exactly the best with tools or putting things together. But after a good two hours of hammering things and getting the decor put up, thanks to Baekhyun, the apartment looks more pleasant and Luhan’s actually excited to sleep in it tonight.

He decides to order dinner from a nearby Chinese shop. Mostly because while he has a bunch of food, he’s yet to get any kitchen supplies. But he also hasn’t had Chinese food in a few weeks and he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t craving some. So Luhan orders himself some dumplings and a big sweet tea, mouth watering at the thought of juicy dumplings between his lips. It was the perfect meal to have on his first night living alone.

The food comes fifteen minutes later and Luhan doesn’t bother to put any in a container for tomorrow. He sets the bag on the coffee table, turns on the tv, and grabs one of his many fluffy pillows to sit on before he opens the container and pops a hot dumpling in his mouth. It’s almost too hot and he has to fan at his mouth, small whimpers slipping between his lips. It’s soft and oh so good. He wiggles and claps his hands, quickly popping another one in his mouth. It definitely filled the bit of emptiness he was feeling already.

Luhan’s first night doesn’t go as well as he had planned it. There’s many creaks in that he hears throughout his room. He tells himself that it’s just the building or maybe the air conditioning. At one point he hears laughing in the hallway and loud footsteps. He only whines and covers himself in his blanket. It’s a lot different than living in a hotel that was pretty much soundproof.

At around three in the morning he finds himself shuffling down the hall in his slippers and blanket wrapped tightly around him. He stops several times on the way to the elevator, shaking his head and telling himself that he’s just being stupid and that he should go back to his own apartment. But then he hears a noise from behind him and squeals, feet carrying him to the elevator faster than before.

“Baekhyun! Baekhyun…” Luhan whines and stops his feet outside his friend’s apartment. He knows he’ll get about waking him up in the middle of the night but he definitely wasn’t going back upstairs. The hallway was way too scary. He gasps when the door opens and stumbles back a bit to make sure he doesn’t get hit by it.

“Luhan?” Baekhyun groans and rubs his neck. “What’s the matter?”

Luhan frowns and tilts his head down, suddenly feeling embarrassed that he couldn’t spend a single night alone. “I’m lonely.”

Baekhyun rolls his eyes and pushes his hair back. “Luhan, you’re what? Twenty four? You can do this. You survived living alone in the hotel. You can’t be scared of your own home.” Baekhyun pats Luhan’s cheek, giving him a smile. “Go back to bed, alright?”

With a pout and a nod, Luhan shuffles his way upstairs, feeling even more embarrassed at his actions. Baekhyun was right, he was a young adult and he can live alone. He puffs his chest out and nods as he opens his door and shuffles back to his bed. When he curls up on the fluffy sheets, he thinks that maybe Baekhyun is right. A pet would definitely keep the loneliness away.

Luhan’s eyes light up as he walks into the pet store. While pets don’t seem to like him that much, he definitely thinks they’re adorable. His eyes land on the kitten section and he feels his heart flutter because there’s so many cute ones. Maybe his allergy was just nothing.

“Ah, how cute!” He leans down and meets his eyes with a light gray kitten who’s playing with a ball. He waves and smiles, watching as it kicks against the cloth ball between it’s hands. It’s definitely cute and would fit right in with him. But then he sneezes. And then again, and again. Luhan bites his lip and sighs because maybe he is allergic to cats.

The dog section is less successful. He was hoping to find a small puppy, one that wouldn’t grow too big or strong. Unfortunately there weren’t any small breeds available and the woman told him that all the dogs he’s staring at will grow to be pretty big and powerful. Luhan wanted a small dog that he could carry around in his arms and snuggle with. He didn’t want to worry about being dragged along the sidewalk when they went for walks or a really loud, deep bark that would keep the neighbors up.

Birds were out of the question because of the noise and the fact that Luhan knows he wouldn’t be able to cuddle it or anything. That meant all hamsters and small rodents were out too. And absolutely no lizards or reptiles. He thought about a bunny but there were none in the spot that said bunnies so once again, that was out. It definitely wasn’t the best trip.     

Feeling defeated, Luhan sighs and makes his way out of the store. He had other errands to run, which included getting more decor for his home along with kitchen supplies so he could actual cook. So he decides to try the pet shop maybe in a month or so when new animals are up for adoption.

Luhan spends a good part of the morning picking out pots and pans for his kitchenette. He didn’t have a full stove or proper storage so he could only get the necessities. He waddles out of the store with two pans, two pots, a spatula, some tongs, and his own cooking chopsticks. He had picked out a small set of knives for cooking and some for eating but it was really only the needed things. It took a lot of control not to go overboard on things he might need. Along with the kitchen supplies he managed to get a small fuzzy rug to go in front of his bed and another throw blanket.

For lunch he stops in the cafe where Baekhyun works. It’s warm and smells of coffee and sweets, which makes Luhan’s tummy rumble even more than before.

“Hey, how’d your pet searching go,” he asks as Luhan sets the bags down at his feet when he reaches the counter.

Luhan sighs and pushes his hair back. “Bad. I’m definitely allergic to cats and there weren’t any small dogs. I thought about a bunny but there weren’t any there,” he hums and at his lips. “Can I have a chai tea and panini, though?”

Baekhyun presses his finger against the screen and nods. “Well, honestly, you have to let the pet come to you. I found Mocha because when I was playing with the dogs at the pet shop, he came over and peed on my leg. That’s six, by the way.”

“Peed on your leg? You’re telling me I have to just sit around and wait for an animal to pee on my leg?” He rolls his eyes and fishes out his money, handing it to Baekhyun. “That’s disgusting and will probably take months. I need something soon because I really am lonely.”

“Hey! You know what,” Baekhyun says as he hands Luhan back his change. “You should check out the fairy shop. There’s one right down the street.”

“Fairies?” Luhan shakes his head and shoves the money in his pocket. “Aren’t they really expensive? They’re a lot of care too. I don’t know. And I heard they’re really big trouble makers.”

“Just think about it, okay? They can make really great pets.” Baekhyun his lips and laughs softly. “Now go wait for your food, you’re keeping the line up.”

Luhan turns his head to look behind him and he laughs awkwardly at the long line. He bows his head and shuffles over to where the food comes, keeping the bags between his legs.

Fairies weren’t anything that ever crossed his mind before. They were quite expensive, almost as much as a months rent or perhaps even more. They were known for causing trouble and that’s why many of them got returned or died wherever they were. Luhan’s heard about children getting hold of fairies and throwing them against walls or trapping them. Sometimes even making them their own personal doll for their dollhouses. Luhan guesses they have a reason to be so troublesome and mean when that’s all they’ve been treated like.

He sighs and takes the last sips of his tea, his lips to get a bit that was on the corner of his mouth. Maybe a fairy wouldn’t be so bad. They were like small humans that could fly and even if it wouldn’t be fuzzy and cuddly like a cat or dog, it’d be something. He nods his head and decides that if he finds the right one, he’ll buy it.

The fairy shop is a lot different than the pet shop. There’s no cute meows or barks that can be heard. It’s quiet and a little eerie. It isn’t dark or mysterious like he’s read about in his fantasy books. There’s no creepy old guy or lady working the counter. Instead it’s bright and there’s a fountain in the middle of the shop. Luhan can see a young woman writing on a pad of paper at the counter, hair tied up in a tight bun and glasses falling off her nose. She smiles at him and sets her paper to the side.

“Hi there! Is there anything I can help you with?”

Luhan rubs his arm, setting down his bags on his feet. “Uh, yeah. I want to adopt a fairy.”

“Great! Um,” she smiles as an older man and small girl emerge from the rows of shelves with several items in their arms. “Why don’t you look around and pick out one you like. I’ll be with you as soon as I help them check out.”

The fairy cages are much different than the cages that kittens and dogs are kept in. They’re kept in glass boxes, large ones that are at least two feet tall and wide. There aren’t many boxes. Luhan counts about ten that line the back wall. It makes sense since fairies aren’t really high demand because of how expensive they are. He watches as one fairy steps into a bowl of water, fluttering her wings and letting her feet kick around the water. She’s tiny, probably able to sit on Luhan’s hand. It was an interesting sight to see.

He thinks about getting a fairy with blue or white wings. Blue is his favorite color and seeing how beautiful the wings are, he would love to have a fairy with blue wings. But as he scans the rest of the boxes, he doesn’t see any shimmering blue or white wings.

“What kind of fairy where you looking for?”

Luhan jumps and grips the bags between his legs as the woman from the counter comes up besides him. He clears his throat and at his lips. “Uh, I’m not really sure. I don’t know much about fairies.”

She smiles and shakes her head, “No worries. Let me tell you a bit about them. So there’s girl fairies, boy fairies, and then ones with no gender. Now like humans, they can have different traits according to their gender. Most of the boy fairies are stronger and a bit stand offish. They tend to cause more trouble than the girl ones. Girls are gentler and are more open to help with cleaning and other things. And the non gender fairies tend to be in the middle somewhere.  But of course, each fairy is different.”

Luhan nods slowly, blinking as one of the fairies rustles a few leaves that are in the corner of the box. “I guess.. I want a boy fairy. I’m not really good with girls.” He laughs awkwardly and scrunches his nose up.

“Alright, the boy fairies are the ones that have a blue dot next to their information sheet. When you pick one out, I’ll let you know about how to care for him and have you sign some papers.”

There’s only three boy fairies, Luhan finds out. One that has green wings and looks a little too small is the one he comes by first. He’s young and Luhan wonders if he was born in the shop. He thinks that he could sit in the palm of his hand. It was way too small for Luhan and he would probably accidently step on it or sit on it. The next fairy is a bit bigger with yellow wings. He has a scar on his stomach and when Luhan reads his information sheet, he sees that he’s been returned after a cat tried to eat him. He shudders and shakes his head. He didn’t want a fairy that had a previous home, it would take a lot for it to trust him.

Finally, he comes across one of the bigger fairies in the shop. It was bigger than the size of Luhan’s hand, maybe as big as half a foot. When the fairy stands up, Luhan can see that his head is rather close to the top of the glass. He has shimmering pink wings that have swirls and it looks like something out of a movie. His hair is a dark brown, bangs pushed up to the side and Luhan can see the ends wiggling as his wings move behind him.

Luhan quickly looks at the information sheet for anything wrong with the fairy. He finds out that the fairy is seventeen. He’s not sure if years are different in the fairy world but the boy looks a bit older than seventeen. The fairy has blue eyes and brown hair. He’s just under eleven inches tall, one of the tallest fairies in the shop. He has no previous owner and Luhan smiles as he reads that he was found in the forest not too long ago. Luhan whispers the fairy’s name as he reads it on the paper.

“Sehun..”

“Is this the one you want?” The woman smiles and points at Sehun’s box.

Luhan nods quickly. “Yes please.”

“Alright. Let me help you get the things for him and then we’ll get him out and in a box for you to take home.”

Luhan quickly finds out that fairies require a lot. He has to get wing cleaner, medicine, special clothes and food. He picks out a few small pairs of underwear and a sweater or two because he learns that fairies get cold easily. The woman recommends a small fairy house where Sehun can rest and wash up in. Luhan scrunches his nose up because he definitely has too much to carry. But if he’s going to commit to buying a fairy, he wants to make sure he has everything to make it comfortable. He wasn’t going to be one of those mean owners.

The woman rings everything up and has Luhan sign a few papers to confirm the adoption. She shoves a rather large pamphlet about fairy care in one of his bags and smiles brightly at him. Luhan forces a smile because he’s just spent over two thousand bucks for little Sehun. He only hopes he can make him happy.

“Sehun’s a little shy so it might take a few days for him to come around,” the woman says as she grabs a smaller glass box. It doesn’t have anything in it and looks rather uncomfortable. Luhan frowns a bit at the thought of Sehun being shoved in that thing. “He’s pretty quiet too. Well behaved and doesn’t have a problem with hygiene.”

Luhan watches as she opens the box that Sehun’s in. Her hand reaches in and Sehun shuffles against the back wall. Luhan leans down and looks at Sehun. He wonders if he looks scary to him. He’s so small and Luhan’s so big. He wiggles his fingers a bit at Sehun. Luhan furrows his brows as Sehun gets picked up. He wiggles in the woman’s hand and crosses his arms as he’s set in the smaller box. Luhan thinks he oddly resembles Tinkerbell from Peter Pan with the way he crosses his arms and looks grumpy.

“Okay! Sehun is all yours! If you have any questions, give us a call and we’ll help you out.” The woman smiles as she hands the small box over to Luhan. He only bows and struggles with his bags as he makes his way out of the store.

Sehun is quiet the whole walk back to the apartment. He sits against the glass with his legs stretched out and his arms crossed over his chest. Luhan can see him watching him in the corner of his eyes but every time Luhan tilts his head to look down at Sehun, he quickly averts his eyes. Luhan really can’t believe he bought a fairy. He wants to call Baekhyun and let him know but he doesn’t get off work until after dinner. So it would just be Luhan and Sehun until then.

The fairy doesn’t move from his spot when Luhan sets the glass box on the kitchen counter. He groans and drops the bags on the floor, wiggling his hands shortly after. He decides to put the kitchen things away later and focus on setting Sehun’s things up around the home.

He sets the fairy house on the dresser, moving it in the middle and twisting it a bit at an angle. It’s about a foot tall and he hopes that Sehun will be comfortable in it. Next comes Sehun’s bed. It’s just a small little mattress that’s about the size of a washcloth. He lays it down in the fairy house, making sure it doesn’t curl up against the walls at all. He had grabbed a blue blanket to lay on top, one that looked almost identical to his own.

The woman had recommended a few toys for Sehun. She had mentioned that he doesn’t play much but it could just be because he’s shy. So Luhan picked up a swing and a few small balls that look much like cat toys. The swing is set on the coffee table and he scatters the balls around the apartment. As for food, the woman gave him a bag of dried fruits and nuts. Luhan smiles and grabs out the small blue bowls he had gotten and pours the food into one of them. The other bowl got fresh cold water.

“Okay.. Sehun. I hope this is good for you,” Luhan says as he walks over to where Sehun was laying in the glass box. “I’ve never had a pet before and definitely not a fairy. Uh.. so I guess I’ll let you out now?”

Luhan’s fingers tremble a bit as he opens the container at the top. Sehun doesn’t budge and Luhan tilts his head, unsure if he should tip the container or not. He decides to set the container on the table and put away the kitchen things.

Every now and then Luhan looks over to see if Sehun’s come out of the box. Each time he looks at him though, he’s still in the same position, wings opening and closing slowly. Luhan only sighs and continues to wash the pots and pans.

Dinner comes around and Sehun still hasn’t come out of the box. He’s his stomach and has his arm under his head and is sleeping quietly. Luhan thinks about picking him up and setting him in the fairy bed but decides against it. Sehun already seems to not like him and he didn’t want to do anything to make him dislike him even more. He lets Sehun sleep while he prepares dinner.

Right as he’s almost done, the doorbell rings and he hears Baekhyun’s voice. It’s loud and he can hear him laughing and talking with someone. Luhan turns down the stove some to make sure his noodles don’t boil over and shuffles over to the door.

“Hey! Hope you don’t mind that I brought Chanyeol over.”

“No but-” Luhan is pushed to the side as Chanyeol and Baekhyun walk inside and push their shoes off. They’re too loud and Chanyeol’s deep voice is booming through the room. Luhan whines and hurries over to them. He grabs both of them by their arms and tugs them back. “Be quiet,” Luhan whispers as he points to the glass box on the coffee table.

“Woah! You got a fairy! I thought they were super expensive.” Chanyeol’s voice is still loud as he tries to whisper but thankfully Sehun still sleeps soundly.

Luhan shakes his head and goes back to the kitchen, turning off the stove. “They are and I’d rather not have to return him because you two make him hate me even more.”

Baekhyun shuffles over to the box, his head tilting down so it’s level with Sehun. “He already hates you? I knew you were bad with pets but how can something this cute hate someone as cute as you?”

“I don’t know. He hasn’t come out yet and he doesn’t even look at me.”

The other two stay quiet as Luhan finishes his food. He sighs and splits the food into three, only having enough to barely fill up his bowl because of it. Baekhyun and Chanyeol were two of his good friends but they seemed to always wipe out his food whenever they come over. He decides to shake it off because Baekhyun promises that he’ll make him dinner tomorrow.

Sehun still doesn’t wake from his sleep when Luhan moves him onto the ground. He turns a bit on his side but Luhan can see that he’s still deep asleep. He figures the stress must have gotten to him. Luhan decides to set a few pieces of fruit in the box incase he got hungry because it was obvious he wasn’t coming out of the glass box any time soon.

Baekhyun and Chanyeol stay until around nine. They finish all the food and even order a pizza because their hunger comes back. Luhan almost forgets about Sehun and lets his friends distract him. They laugh and hit at each other’s shoulders. Baekhyun decides to put on a scary movie and it has Luhan quivering behind his pillow. He watches as Baekhyun hides behind Chanyeol and screeches whenever something pops out of no where.

The two promise to invite Luhan over for dinner tomorrow and they wish him luck with Sehun. And speaking of Sehun, he’s back to sitting against the glass with his arms over his chest. Luhan sighs when he sits back down in front of the box. He lifts it up and sees Sehun’s eyes widen a bit and his heels push against the bottom of the box, scared that he might tip over. Luhan decides to put him back on the table and read through the pamphlet the woman gave him at the store.

Fairies are a lot like humans, he learns. They eat, sleep, breathe the same. They can wash themselves and are pretty independent creatures. Luhan lays back on his bed and hums softly to himself as he flips through the pages. He learns that they can even talk, and no, they don’t have high pitched annoying voices like everyone shows in the movies. He tilts his head to peek at Sehun. He laughs and wonders what kind of voice he has and if he will ever get to hear it.

Luhan falls asleep when he’s near the end of the pamphlet, the page where it talks about injuries. He lets the pamphlet drop on the floor and he hears a small squeal that wakes him up. He rubs his eyes and looks down at the pamphlet on the floor, wondering if by chance it hit Sehun. But Sehun isn’t on the floor nor is he in the glass box. Luhan sits up and looks around, wondering where he could have gone to. His eyes catch a light pink glow coming from the fairy house on the dresser. Luhan rubs his eyes and sighs, laying back down in the bed.

Maybe getting a pet was a bad idea. He didn’t buy Sehun for him to ignore him and be scared of him. He bought him to keep him company and have something to look forward to when he comes home from running errands. It does feel a bit less lonely though and the soft pink glow lighting up the corner of the room helps him back to sleep.