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Changbin was sad. Everyone who knew him knew that fact. Yet nobody really tried to fix it. No one asked him what was wrong. Nobody tried to be his friend and make him smile. Not even his family. They loved him but they didn’t know what to do anymore.Everyday Changbin would get up the at the latest possible time, get dressed, brush his teeth, skip the hefty breakfast that his mother always makes just in case Changbin would actually want to eat, and walk to school. After school, he would take a not so shortcut through the preserve that was in between the school and Changbin’s neighborhood.He always sat by one of the clearings he found and just…existed there. He watched the water ripple as the turtles and fish moved around, he felt the cool breeze brush his cheeks and hair, and he tried his best to feel relaxed. He’s not exactly sure why he’s so sad. His family gave him everything he could ever need. He was never truly bullied. Maybe it’s because he always felt invisible. He felt like he was a waste of a human. Nobody pays attention to him because no one really cares about him. He just wants a true friend. Someone to share hobbies with. Someone to talk to him like they’re excited to hear what he has to say. He wants to be able to have something or someone to look forward to seeing. Is that too much to ask for?This Friday was like any other Friday. He aced his test, he turned in his essay, and he’s pretty sure he can graduate early. But none of that made him feel as happy as it should have. Like usual, after school, he walked through the lacrosse field and through the trees. Getting to the clearing was like second nature to him. He could get there with his eyes closed. Stepping over every fallen branch, avoiding the big rocks, and zig zagging through the sloped grounds so he wouldn’t fall.In less than 15 minutes, he made it to the clearing. It felt like it was extra quiet. There was barely any wind and the usual falling leaves were few to none. Changbin didn’t mind and just sat down, using his backpack as a pillow. He took a deep breath and began his staring contest with the trees above him. He didn’t usually think about anything. Most times, he falls asleep and wakes up when he hears a deer walk by or a rabbit rustling through the leaves on the ground. But this time, before he could fall asleep, he heard footsteps. For sure they were footsteps. Changbin sat up and looked around. There were many trees but not enough that he couldn’t look through them. The footsteps were close but he couldn’t see anybody or anything around him. Just as he was about to lay back down, he heard a crunch of leaves next to him. He whipped around and found himself facing a boy. This boy was on his hands and knees and awkwardly close to Changbin. He had a big beige hoodie on, blue jeans, no shoes, and a navy blue beanie on that nearly matched Changbin’s. His black hair peaked through it and laid across his forehead, his eyes looked curious, and his cheeks were pink. Before this boy could get any closer, Changbin flinched, lifting a hand up like he was trying to protect himself but instead it made the other boy flinch.“Oh!” The boy let out a surprised noise and sat back on his heels. How did Changbin not hear him or feel him get that close to him so quick? As a plethora of question ran through Changbin’s head, the boy began smiling and waving at him.“Hi!” He said. Changbin took this boy in. He wasn’t really a boy. He could’ve been Changbin’s age. He also noticed how sharp his canines were. Maybe that’s just how his teeth are. Still, Changbin didn’t respond.“I’ve seen you here before. You always sleep.” The boy put both of his hands on his knees and kept staring at Changbin’s eyes with a small smile on his face. Changbin was becoming more and more uncomfortable at his unwavering stare. His eyes were a dark brown but they were glimmering. Still, he didn’t know what to say. Was he dreaming? Did he actually just fall asleep? But this felt too real.“I’m Hyunjin. What’s your name?” The boy kept going, not at all put off by Changbin’s silence or confusion. This ‘Hyunjin’ guy in fact seemed more interested, tilting his head to the side.“…Changbin.” It felt weird for him to talk. His throat almost wanted to reject it. But Hyunjin heard him and he began grinning.“Chaaangbiiin.” He repeated with a huge grin in a cute way. Changbin swore he noticed his blush get darker on his cheeks and if he was more used to showing emotions, he probably would be blushing too. But then out of nowhere, Hyunjin’s grin fell and something in Changbin’s chest twisted uncomfortably.“Changbin, you’re very sad.” How did he know that?“What…?” And then something happened that confused Changbin even more. Hyunjin’s eyes started watering like he was going to cry.“How come you’re so sad, Changbin?” And oh no, Changbin must be losing it. How can this boy be so sure that he’s sad and cry over it? Changbin stood up, picked up his bag, and began walking away.“Hey, where are you going?” Hyunjin stood up and ran the few feet that Changbin managed to get between them in 5 seconds.“Stop following me.” Changbin turned to tell him that and that’s when he noticed just how much taller the other was than him. He wasn’t giant. In fact, he was probably normal sized. Changbin is just a little shorter than most guys his age. Still, Changbin turned away and continued walking.“Do you come here often? I usually go to the water on the other side. That’s where my home is near. It’s a lot greener over there. We almost never get any red or yellow leaves. You know, the healthier the soil, the greener the plants are. We have more bushes too. My favorite bush grows these strawberries that are just perfect. My mom had to tell me to stop eating them because I nearly ate 4 bushes full of strawberries. How about next time I take you there? I promise it’ll make you feel better. This water is not a safe one. It’s dark.” And Changbin didn’t know what he meant. He didn’t understand half of what he said. Not only was he weird, but he was talkative. Of course, the moment Changbin wishes for someone to talk to, he gets someone who doesn’t stop talking.“Hey, we’re reaching the edge.” Hyunjin said like he felt scared. Changbin just kept walking until the road and houses could be seen through the trees. That’s when Hyunjin stopped. Changbin didn’t know why he felt compelled to stop too and look back at Hyunjin who stood with his feet pressed tightly together and his hand intertwined with each other in front of him. He looked nervous. His eyebrows were scrunched up, his blush was bright on his face, and a pout was visible on his lips.“Changbin, are you sure you want to go out there?” Hyunjin asked him. Changbin really didn’t understand and he really needed to get home and sleep properly.“I’m going to go, Hyunjin. Don’t follow me.” With that Changbin turned around and the crunching of the leaves he was stepping on and the now harsh wind deterred him from hearing Hyunjin saying, ‘I can’t.’   For the rest of the weekend, Changbin couldn’t help but think about Hyunjin. He was so weird and talkative and….emotional? Observant? How did he know that Changbin was sad? Could he tell from his face? His aura or whatever?It was Sunday afternoon when curiosity got too great for Changbin. His homework was already done and there were only so many times he could beat every single game he owned. So, he got dressed in a black beanie, a black hoodie and a jean jacket over it, black skinny jeans that had rips on the knees, and his black boots. He would tell himself as many times as needed that he wasn’t going to the preserve to see if he would bump into Hyunjin as he walked towards the preserve to see if he would bump into Hyunjin. He remembered how said boy said there was another clearing on the other side. Changbin didn’t know where the ‘other side’ was but he began walking down a path he wasn’t used to to see if he could find this clearing. As he walked carefully, he kept thinking back to those 20 or so minutes he spent with Hyunjin. There was something about him that intrigued Changbin. Even though Changbin knew he was acting unapproachable, Hyunjin continued to talk to him and smile at him like he didn’t mind that…or like he saw straight through him. And again he wondered, how could he know that he was sad?Soon, Changbin would admit that he was lost. It would’ve sent a panic within him if he didn’t know that this preserve would eventually end and he would then figure out how to get home. But then he noticed something that he didn’t notice 3 minutes ago. His steps were pretty quiet. He could see the rich soil beneath his feet and the greenest grass he’s ever seen, no red or yellow leaves to crunch as he stepped on them. He could smell something sweet and natural before he could see it. It was those strawberry bushes that Hyunjin was talking about. He stopped walking when he noticed a huge lump on the ground. It was like a mini hill but there were several of them maybe 20 or 30 feet away from him. He hid behind a tree when someone walked around one. This person had blonde hair, it almost looked orange. His fringe swept across his forehead, almost like Hyunjin’s did except this one didn’t have a beanie. From where he was standing, Changbin saw something sticking out of his hair from both sides of his head. He must have been wearing some kind of earphones. The boy kneeled down on the side of this small hill, put down a bucket then walk back around the hill. What was he doing? Changbin slowly walked closer and hid behind a tree that was closer just in time for this boy to come back this time holding several pots of flowers and plants in his arms. His tongue stuck out a little as he struggled to set them down without dropping them and once he succeeded, Changbin heard him let out a little ‘yay!’ before running back around the hill. Changbin repeated his actions of moving to a much closer tree in time for the boy to come back with even more pots and gently putting them on the ground a little further away from the first pile and then proceeded to kneels down on the ground and sit back on his heels. This boy also wasn’t wearing shoes. Why don’t these people wear shoes? Changbin watched as the boy picked up some gardening tools from his bucket and proceeded to make a hole on the ground big enough to transfer the flowers and plants to the ground lining the hill.He was confused. Why was he doing that? It’s just a hill. Changbin took this time to look around. He saw a hill that didn’t actually look like a hill but more like…a home. It had a wooden door and windows…more like openings to let light and air in. He couldn’t see much other than that and the amount of greenery surrounding it. This is where Hyunjin lived? In this…forest…village? He turned to look back at the flower boy only to see that he wasn’t there anymore and the gardening tool was abandoned on the ground. Changbin furrowed his eyebrows but took this as a chance to get out of there and try to retrace his steps. But when he turned around, he came face to face with the flower boy.“Hi!” He said loudly with a grin when Changbin turned around which only prompted for Changbin to yell in surprise.“Oh! I’m sorry.” He reached out to hold onto Changbin’s arm to steady him but Changbin yanked him arm away as soon as he felt his touch.“I’ve never seen you around here. Are you visiting? I heard the Light Moon Tribe were visiting soon. But…” the boy looked around then back at Changbin. “Where’s the rest of your tribe?” He asked with a small smile. Just like Hyunjin, this boy looked straight into Changbin’s eyes with the same amount of glimmer in them except this boy’s eyes were a little more golden than Hyunjin’s.But wait…Light Moon Tribe? Changbin wasn’t a part of any tribe.“Uh…” Before the boy could ask him something else, another voice stepped in.“Felix!” The boy looked somewhere behind Changbin and his eyes lit up even more, as if Changbin didn’t think that was possible.“Oh, hey, Hyunjin!” Changbin whipped around and saw Hyunjin jogging up to them with a cute smile on his face.“Oh, you met Felix, Changbin!” He said when he reached them. Changbin noticed that Hyunjin wasn’t wearing a beanie this time but he wore the same hoodie and white jeans this time. Again, no shoes. Do they not believe in shoes?“You know each other?” Felix asked curiously.“Yeah, he’s the sad boy I was talking about.” Changbin’s eyes widened at Hyunjin’s choice of words.“Aw, really? Well, come on, Changbin. Help me plant these flowers. That always makes me feel better.” Felix grinned and took his hand as he led him to where he abandoned the flowers. Felix sat down which only forced Changbin to sit down too. Hyunjin sat down next to him as well.“I got lilies and daisies and I was going to get roses but they wouldn’t look good with the others. Ooh, and I got a few violets. I forgot to get those. I’ll be back.” With that, Felix got up and ran around the hill again that Changbin concluded was his home.“So what brings you around here, Changbin?” Hyunjin asked him with a smile. Do they ever stop smiling?“Do you really live here?” Changbin asked instead.“Oh, yes! My home is two doors over. I recently painted our door bright green. You can’t miss it! Would you like to come over after we plant these flowers?” This was normal to Hyunjin but it was nearly absurd to Changbin. How can they live here? Full time, it looks like? Are they part of a tribe like Felix thought Changbin was a part of? Is that why they don’t wear shoes…? Are shoes not allowed in this tribe?“I don’t get it.” Changbin said but before Hyunjin could respond, Felix came jogging up with 5 pots of violets.“These are all the violets I could get since it was getting late. I’ll get some more soon.” Hyunjin helped him set them down.“That’s okay. I need to go soon, too. I want more lilies for my room.” Hyunjin said and then they both began planting the flowers at a rapid pace.“Hey, Changbin. I know gardening isn’t one of Light Moon’s specialties, but do you wanna help?” Felix asked him.“Ahh, you’re from Light Moon? No wonder I haven’t seen you before! Come, I’ll teach you.” Hyunjin got up to sit closer to Changbin. He took one of the gardening tools and proceeded to teach Changbin how make a hole and how to transfer the flowers from the pot to the ground. Changbin couldn’t really find it in himself to correct them or ask them who in the hell was the Light Moon Tribe and just listened and followed. They both cheered and congratulated Changbin when he finished planting his first flower by himself.“This yellow flower will be named after you. I’ll call him Binnie.” Felix said and somewhere in Changbin’s chest felt warm.  Come Monday, Changbin thought back to the day before when he had to leave as it got darker. He promised them that he would be back the next day and they asked him if he could stay until night time so that they can show him how the village looks like at night. They said the bioluminescent plants light up the place and the fireflies are everywhere. Hyunjin also reminded him that he wanted to show him his home. Changbin agreed and left with a small wave of his own as Hyunjin and Felix waved and grinned widely. They really were odd but Changbin couldn’t help but look forward to seeing them again.So after school was over, Changbin began walking in the direction of the village. This was also a new path, starting from the school instead of his neighborhood so he found himself lost again. It looked like the village was closer to his house than to the school. But soon, he found a hill similar to Felix’s except it was just one and it looked old and unkempt. Like no one has really been living there. Changbin didn’t feel safe being around it so he kept walking, every now and then looking back to make sure nothing came out of there. As he kept walking, he began to notice the evergreen. He was nearby. He picked up his pace and before he knew it, he saw the first hill then the others and then the water. He hadn’t seen it yesterday. He kept walking until he could find the bright green door. As he searched, he began to feel uncomfortable as he passed by a bunch of other people he hadn’t seen before. There were kids and adults and seniors and he noticed something about all of them…their ears. An elderly man who had little to no hair had long, pointed ears. So did this young toddler who was still growing out their hair. So did this lady who had her hair in a ponytail. They all smiled at him but kept their distance. None of them had shoes either. Should Changbin take his shoes off? Would that make him fit in more? He eventually found the bright green door but before he found Hyunjin or Felix, he hid behind a tree and took off his shoes and socks and stuffed them in his bag. He felt awkward touching soil with his bare feet. He cringed at the thought of how dirty they would get but decided to get over it because if Hyunjin and Felix and the rest of this village could do it, so could he. He passed by Felix’s house that now had all the flowers they planted yesterday around it, passed by the hill with a red door, and then stood in front of the hill with the bright green door. This was Hyunjin’s place. Hyunjin asked him to knock on his door when he came by and that Hyunjin would let him in. So that’s what he did.He thought maybe he knocked too softly but then the door opened to reveal a little girl. Her hair was in a ponytail and her pointed ears were on full display. Changbin was glad he was wearing a beanie.“Hello.” The girl said with a small smile. She looked shy…she also looked 5 years old.“Changbin!” He looked up to see Hyunjin standing at what could be a door-less doorway to a room below. “You made it! Come in. Mina, let him in.” Mina moved out of the way and Changbin cautiously walked in. The hill looked a lot bigger on the inside than on the outside considering he had to take some steps down to get to the actual living space. These homes are technically underground. Changbin was utterly in awe. There were a bunch of candles and bioluminescent plants around the place to light it up and it surprisingly didn’t make Changbin feel claustrophobic.“This is Mina, my sister.” Mina giggled and hid behind Hyunjin. Changbin couldn’t help but smile a little. He did have a soft spot for kids. Happy kids that is. “Hi, Mina.”“Hi.” She smiled and then ran towards one of the door-less rooms.“Okay, so I don’t know how you have your homes in your village, but this is mine. We usually spend our time out here when our parents are home but mom’s out scavenging and dad is a healer so he’s working. Mina is doing homework in her room and then this is my room. Look.” Hyunjin excitedly took Changbin’s hand and led him to the room that he came out of. It had fire lanterns hung on every wall and his bed was made entirely out of branches, sticks, and leaves. He had a bunch of blankets over the leaves to make it softer and then the blanket that he uses to cover up is folded and neatly placed at the end of the bed. What Changbin noticed was that there were no pillows. A bunch of flowers were placed in different parts of his room. Along the walls were pockets to look like shelves that held even more flowers. All of Hyunjin’s clothes were folded and placed in one corner of the room on top of sticks to separate it from the bare ground and then in the other corner were books. A lot of books.“I made my own bed. It took me a few tries but this one was only my 5th one. It hasn’t fallen apart yet and it’s the most comfortable one I’ve made so I’m pretty proud of it.” Hyunjin sat at he sat down in the middle of it, crossing his legs. Changbin wanted to cringe at how dirty his feet were but he realized this was a different world than he was used to, so he had to accept it. The walls were made of hardened mud and Hyunjin talked about what he used to paint them blue.“I like the color blue and since the fire gives off a redish, orange light, it gives it a nice balance, you know?” Hyunjin said as he smiled and looked around his room. He really liked his room. Changbin couldn’t relate, but he liked his room too.“I like your room.” Hyunjin grinned and shrugged once.“Thank you. Maybe one day, I can see yours.” Changbin remembered that Hyunjin thinks he’s one of them. He can see the tips of his ears poking through his long hair.“Yeah. Did you really read all of these?”“Oh, yeah! Mom risks her life getting these books from the mortal world, so it’s only fair that I read them all at least 3 times. This one is my favorite!” He began to explain the plot of one of the books but Changbin wasn’t listening. The mortal world was his world. So not only was Hyunjin some kind of elf, but he was immortal? Were elves immortal?“Anyways, enough about that. Are you hungry? I think we have some rabbit leftover from last night. Ooh! Do you want to stay over? We’re having deer!” Changbin’s eyes widened slightly but he quickly took hold of his facial expressions.“I probably shouldn’t. Mom’s making…chicken.” Hyunjin gasped.“Wooooow! I heard that Light Moon was a rich tribe but you guys have chicken!”“Y-yeah…you’ve never had chicken?” Hyunjin shook his head no.“I’ve never even smelled one. Well, I don’t blame you for wanting to eat at home. Chicken trumps rabbit or even deer any day!” Hyunjin stood up from where he had crouched down near his books. “Well, let’s go see what Felix is doing.” Felix’s house wasn’t that much different than Hyunjin’s except that there were only 2 bedrooms since Felix was a single child. His bed were two blankets sewn together and stuffed with many leaves and moss and put in the corner of the room. His clothes were also folded on the floor and he also had books. He had a few toys in there which really was just a deflated basketball, a baseball bat, and a tambourine. “My mom’s a scavenger, like you, right, Changbin? She goes through these huge blue squares and finds a bunch of stuff and she brings back what she thinks I would like. She brought me these colorful sticks the other day.” Felix walked out of his room and into the main living space. Changbin tried to ignore the fact that Felix thinks he was a scavenger. Why did he think that? Changbin and Hyunjin followed him and Felix motioned for them to come over as he sat down in what looked like a coffee table made out of sticks, leaves, and hardened mud. He lifted a small container from under the table and set it on top and took out what Changbin knew to be unsharpened colored pencils. “Oh, those are colored pencils.” Felix and Hyunjin looked confused. “You have to sharpen them and then you can color or draw with them.“What?” “Really?” They both looked at the red pencil that was in Felix’s hand as he twisted it around and looked at it from all angles.“Here,” Changbin finally took off his backpack and went through it to find a sharpener and some paper. He motioned for Felix to give him the pencil which Felix confusingly complied. Then they stared in awe as Changbin sharpened it. He let the shavings fall on the paper and then when it was sharpened enough, he wiped the shavings to the side and proceeded to draw a simple heart. “See?”“Wow!” They both droned out.“How did you do that?”“How did you know that?”“Where’d you get that thing?”“I told you Light Moon was a rich tribe!” Hyunjin told Felix.“Where’d you get these?” Felix touched the college ruled paper that Changbin drew on. Changbin just shrugged and gave the pencil to Felix who held it awkwardly. He held it in his fist, his thumb facing down and his arm twisted uncomfortably. “No, you hold it like this.” Changbin tried to teach him how to hold it and after a few minutes, he understood and shakily copied Changbin’s drawing of a heart.“Ooh!! Look, Hyunjin! I did it!” Changbin watched as Hyunjin tried to do it. He held the pencil in his left hand then his right, then his left before finally settling on trying to use his right hand and also drew a heart. It was slightly better than Felix’s but it was still a bit misshapen. Either way, Hyunjin was grinning from ear to ear.“This is cool! What about the other ones?” Felix took out 7 other pencils and Changbin proceeded to sharpen all of them. He took out some more paper and the two began drawing hearts over and over with different colors. “What even is this?” Felix finally asked, pointing to the first heart Changbin made.“It’s a heart.” They looked amazed.“That’s how it looks like?”“I mean, no, not really. It’s like a symbol. It’s not meant to look realistic.”“Ahhh….” They nodded.“Can you teach us some other symbols?” Hyunjin asked. Changbin tried to think of another one and then ended up drawing a smiley face in a circle.“What does that look like to you?” The boys took a while to think of an answer.“Is that like…” Hyunjin stopped and then looked at Felix to see if maybe he had an answer. Felix traced over the drawing with his finger and then shrugged.“It’s a smiley face.” Changbin told them.“A smiling face?” Felix looked closer at it.“A smiley face.” He emphasized ‘smiley’. “See? These are the eyes, and this is the smile, and this is the face.” He traced the drawing with his finger.“But where’s the nose?” Felix started the questions.“And the ears?”“Are they bald?”“Do they not have eyebrows?”“Their eyes are kind of weird, aren’t they?” Changbin sighed. They’re not really grasping the whole symbol not meant to be realistic part of this.Changbin barely noticed when nighttime rolled by. It was only when Hyunjin said that they should go wash up that they went outside and Changbin saw all the plants and fireflies.“Wow…” He softly let out.“Oh right! You haven’t seen our village at night! It’s really pretty, huh?” Hyunjin smiled as all three of them looked around.When Hyunjin said that they should wash up, Changbin didn’t realize that that meant to strip and get into the water where the entire village was currently in as well. This is how they bathe. Collectively. And naked. At this point, Changbin couldn’t take his hat off, couldn’t get his hair wet to the point where it revealed his very normal, very mortal ears. Just as Felix began stripping, Changbin mentioned that he needed to go home.“Yeah, we uh, we usually eat at sundown so I’m actually late.”“Oh, I’m sorry! I guess we lost track of time.” Changbin shrugged.“It’s okay. Um, I’ll see you guys later.” “Okay!” Hyunjin grinned and then did something he hadn’t done yet. Lean over to hug Changbin. He was taller and broader and Changbin found that he fit nicely in Hyunjin’s arms. Felix also leaned over to hug him and although Changbin was closer to his height, Felix was still a bit taller. His chin fit nicely in Felix’s shoulder.“Come back soon, okay?” Changbin nodded and turned around to walk away. It wasn’t until he got home that he realized he left his backpack. He tried to think about what he left in there and if he needed to go back early in the morning to get it on his way to school or not. When he remembered that the assignment that he finished in school was in his backpack and due the next day so yes, he was going to have to go back. He sighed and rubbed his face. What if he bumps into Felix’s parents? What if they realize that he’s not like them? Changbin found himself turning into a pile of anxiety at the thought of having to knock on Felix’s door at 6 in the morning just to retrieve his bag and leave. Then Changbin considered not turning in his assignment. He could afford it. He had perfect grades. But that idea brought even more anxiety upon him. Well, it’s only 8pm. Maybe he can go right now really quick and-“Changbin! Dinner is ready!” Well, maybe not.  Changbin regretted every life choice he has ever made that led him to going through the awfully wet preserve at 6 in the morning. He hated the squishiness of the soil, he hated the wet sound of the leaves on the ground, and he even thought that the evergreen village could ever change his mind about how gross the preserve is in the morning except it did. The bioluminescent plants were still glowing and Changbin wondered if anyone had every come across this place. There are no clear trails but someone must have been curious and wandered off or gotten lost and found themselves here.Either way, Changbin got to Felix’s house much faster than he had hoped and hesitated outside of the door. It was absolutely quiet. Nobody was in sight. Should he really disturb them? Would he even answer the door? Changbin sighed and began pacing back and forth in front of the door. He contemplated every possible outcome and found that none of them were really pleasing. In the heaviness of his thoughts, he failed to notice someone walking up to him, all drowsy and squinty eyed, all blushed cheeks and chapped lips, carrying Changbin’s bag to him. As Changbin turned around to continue his pacing he bumped into said someone. Changbin quickly put a hand over his mouth so he wouldn’t scream too loud but then let out a sigh of relief when he realized it was just Hyunjin. The beautiful sleepy Hyunjin who still had a smile on his face as he held up Changbin’s bag.“I figured you would come back for it but not this early in the morning.” Changbin gratefully took back his bag but not without feeling an extra amount of guilt.“How did you know I was here?”“I dunno,” Hyunjin shrugged and rubbed at his eyes. “Just kinda…felt it. Felt you.” Hyunjin gave him another sleepy smile. Changbin tried to make himself believe that he himself wasn’t blushing.“Anyways, if you wanna come by later, you know when everyone’s awake, I want to show you this cool house Felix and I built a few years ago with 2 of our friends. It’s our secret hideout. We haven’t been there in a while but we thought it’d be a cool place for us to hang out and maybe get to know each other more. You know since I heard your tribe is leaving in 3 days.” Hyunjin pouted at the end. Huh? Tribe? Leaving? 3 days? Right…Hyunjin still doesn’t know that Changbin is ‘mortal’. He had to make the most of those 3 days so he accepted Hyunjin’s invitation before continuing his way through the preserve. He had plenty of time to think about what the hell he was going to do after those 3 days? Could he really not go see him…them anymore? He finally found something and someone to look forward to seeing every day and now he’s reminded that they’re not meant to be friends. Maybe Changbin shouldn’t come back to make the pain of having to never see them again a little less painful. But come after school, he couldn’t resist going back. He passed by the same suspicious hill on his way to the village. He couldn’t help but notice that it actually looked nicer. The overgrown grass and leaves on and around the hill looked trimmed and a single flower was planted next to the door-less entryway. Yeah, someone was definitely here. Maybe this is the house that Hyunjin was talking about. That’s why it looks better now. Before Changbin could fully walk past it, someone walked out. He had light blonde hair and chubby cheeks. He was pouting and talking about how the inside smells uninviting and how dare they invite someone in there for the first time with it smelling like that. Changbin guesses he was talking about him. A few seconds later someone else walked out with a hold over his nose to block the smell. This guy had short brown hair and was taller than the first guy.“Let’s just do a spell then.”“But it’ll smell like a spell for an hour.”“I’m sure it would smell better than this.”“Ugh, fine! Do it, then.” The second grinned and as he turned to go back into the hill, he spotted Changbin who thought that if he was frozen, they wouldn’t see him. But he did.“Oh!” Then the blonde guy looked at him and then they were all frozen.“Uh….” The blonde guy said and then grinned.“Hi! Are you Changbin?” So, yes, these must be the 2 friends Hyunjin was talking about. Changbin nodded to answer their question.“Well, hello! Hyunjin and Felix are at the village waiting for you and they were going to lead you here but looks like you found it first.” The blonde said all while walking closer to him. The other guy stayed behind and appeared to be doing the spell first before he spoke to Changbin.“I’m Jisung. And that’s Seungmin. Uh, I guess you heard our dilemma. It kinda smells very stale in there. We haven’t been here in a while so we came here ahead of time to try and make sure it looks nice for when you visit but, it’s far enough from the village that it’s unaffected by our land so it looks awful.” Changbin didn’t know what to respond. He almost didn’t want to respond but he wanted to make a good impression on them.“T-that’s fine. I don’t mind.”“Oh, no, no. But we do. I mean the Light Moon Tribe only visits our village every few decades and we’re known for our evergreen and our farming and flowers and our skills with the earth and then we present to you this…dying hill.”“Honest, though Jisung, I really don’t mind. I promise.” Jisung pouted but nodded anyways.“So, I did the spell…and it still stinks…” Seungmin said, finally walking up to them.“Aww!” Jisung pouted. “I wasted my last water lily for this uninhabitable soil.” “I told you not to plant it.”“Well, I had to plant something! It can’t just be barren.”“Whatever. I kinda don’t wanna be here.” Seungmin looked back at the hill. Changbin wasn’t going to say it out loud, but he kinda didn’t want to be there either. So they all silently agreed to just walk back to the village. As they began walking, Jisung and Seungmin easily got into a conversation considering they obviously have been friends long enough. But then Jisung asked Changbin a question that he struggled to come up with an answer to.“So, Changbin. You’re a scavenger?” Changbin was so caught off guard by the question that he nearly tripped over a stick on the ground.“Oh, um…w-why do you ask?”“Because you’re wearing shoes. My older brother’s a scavenger and he has these boots that look like yours, and he also wears those beanies so that he can blend in with the mortals when he goes out and gets things for our village.” “Oh.”“Yeah, sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you. I know how my brother gets when I say he looks like a mortal. I should make myself clearer next time.” …is he insinuating that appearing like a mortal…is a bad thing? Do they hate mortals?“So since you’re wearing those boots and you have that bag on, that means you were just out scavenging right?” Seungmin asked excitedly.“Ooh! Can you show us what you got?! I never get first pick when my brother scavenges.”“Jisung doesn’t mean that he’s going to pick from your stuff though, right?” Seungmin not so subtly hit Jisung’s side with his elbow and Jisung toned his curiosity down.“Oh, right.” Changbin doesn’t have anything interesting in his bag though. But then he remembered how excited Hyunjin and Felix got over colored pencils and college ruled paper.“Maybe when we get to Hyunjin and Felix.”“Oh, yeah. That’d be more fair, huh?” Changbin nodded.It didn’t take them long to get to the village and to Felix’s house where him and Hyunjin were waiting nervously outside. As soon as Hyunjin spotted Changbin, however, he grinned and began running towards him.“Binnie!” Changbin’s stopped walking to prepare for Hyunjin’s arrival, but also to catch his breath at how beautiful Hyunjin looked running towards him with a grin. He didn’t even feel annoyed at the nickname. And when Hyunjin got to him, Changbin gladly accepted Hyunjin’s hug.“Oh, you really are good friends, huh?” Somewhere in the background, Changbin heard Seungmin say.“Hey, I want a hug, too! Hyunjin stop hogging Changbin!” Hyunjin playfully pushed Felix away to keep Changbin all to himself and honestly, Changbin never felt so wholesome.“Binniiiieeee,” Felix pouted and finally Changbin gently pushed Hyunjin off him who back away with a laugh and the second Changbin was free, he was brought into Felix’s arms.“We missed you! It took you a long time to get here. Did something happen?”“Oh, wait. You found Seungmin and Jisung.” Hyunjin finally noticed the other two.“Yeah, we found him on his way back from scavenging. He said he was going to show us what he got!” Jisung said excitedly and great. Now everyone’s excited to see Changbin’s school stuff and half eaten sandwich.“Oh! Really! That’s why it took you so long to come back and why you were up so early. Well come on, show us!” Hyunjin took his hand and brought him to Felix’s house.“Ooh, by the way guys, he’s the one who told us what these are and how to use them.” Felix said, pointing to the colored pencils that are all over the table. It looked like they were using them before the 3 of them got there.“Wow! Do you have more cool stuff like these?” Seungmin asked him.“Do you have more of these so that we can have them, too?” Jisung said.“I told you, Jisung, we’re not going to take his stuff.” Seungmin scolded him.“I was just asking.” Jisung pouted.“Um, I don’t have ones like these but I have some that you can draw with and then erase it to start over.” A pencil. Changbin was showing them a mechanical pencil.“What?!?” They all leaned forward in curiosity as Changbin looked through his bag for a mechanical pencil. A purple one. Then he took out a sheet of paper and drew a star.“See, I didn’t like how that turned out so now I’m just going to,” Changbin flipped the pencil over to use the eraser, “erase it. And start over.” He redrew the star and even though it didn’t turn out much better than the first one he drew, the other 3 didn’t know that and so he just observed them in their state of awe.“That’s even better than this things! You can’t erase these right?” Felix said, holding up a green colored pencil.“I mean, not much. You’ll still see it because it stains the paper. Same with these pencils. If you draw too hard and then try to erase it, you’ll still see a little bit of it.” Changbin felt like he was teaching a class of kindergarteners with how amazed they were at the concept of pencils.“Can I try?”“I wanna try!”“You have the colored pencils!”“But I can’t erase them!”“Binnie, can I try?” Hyunjin leaned closer to Changbin from across the table while the other 3 fought over who got to try it first. Changbin of course couldn’t say no to him and so gave him on the pencils. Seungmin noticed but just stayed silent as Hyunjin tried his best to redraw that star that Changbin drew. He didn’t do it right. The point didn’t really align and they were all different shapes but when Hyunjin carefully flipped the pencil over to erase it, the huge grin on his face and his excited clapping warmed Changbin’s heart.“But how do we sharpen these?” Felix asked then took the pencil from Hyunjin’s hand to try to shove it in the sharpener that Changbin gave them.“Oh, these specific pencils don’t need to be sharpened. If it start to like, run out, just pressed down on the eraser like this and more comes out.” Again, another round of ‘whooooaaaaa’.“These are so cool.” Jisung said, finally getting a chance to hold it.“How do you know how these work, Changbin?” Seungmin asked. “Um…we…we experiment with the things we get…um, back at our village…and yeah.” They all seemed to accept his answer then they all turned to Jisung when they heard a small little snap.“Oh…..” Jisung looked a bit guilty as he held a long piece of lead in his fingers and the pencil in the other.“Aw, Jisung, you broke it!” Seungmin whined.“That was the only one!” Felix followed. Jisung had pressed down on the eraser several times, enough for one of the two pieces of lead in the pencil to come out really far, then he tried to draw with it only for the long, thin piece of lead to break off.“He didn’t break it. Well, he kinda did but, look.” Changbin took the pencil and the lead and then showed them how to put it back in. Again, 4 more ‘whooaaaa’s.“Don’t let it come out too long cause the lead will break.”“Ah, okay. I know now. Sorry.” He smiled sheepishly.“Hey, Changbin, you wanna take your shoes off now. They can’t be too comfortable, huh?” Seungmin asked him, looking at his boots.“Oh, right. I’ll just, take them off.” As Changbin untied the laces, they stared at him doing so which made him feel uneasy. He feels like at any moment their going to realize that the only reason he knows all these things is because he’s a mortal. “Don’t your ears get sore or hot after wearing those hats all the time?” Felix questioned him next. Changbin only managed to take off one shoe. He slowly put the shoe down. Is it time to run now? They’re catching on, aren’t they?“You’re always wearing that hat?” Seungmin asked him.“I tried wearing my brother’s hat once and my ears got sore after 3 minutes. I have no idea how scavengers can handle that for hours on end.”“Get comfortable, Changbin.” Seungmin said, stealing the pencil from Jisung to use it on the paper. Changbin didn’t know what to do. Hyunjin noticed but he didn’t know why. Changbin looked down at his shoe and began putting it back on. He really shouldn’t have come back today. The 4 of them stared at him as he tied his shoe back up and zipped his bag up.“I need to go. Keep the pencil.” No one said anything as Changbin walked out the door and gently closed it. He got far away enough, in fact he wasn’t even in the village anymore. The ground was damp and the dead leaves were everywhere and crunchy when he heard fast footsteps approaching him. Changbin didn’t turn around instead just put the hood of his jacket over his head and over his beanie.“Changbinnie,” a small voice called after him. He knew it was Hyunjin…and he sounded sad. Changbin couldn’t just ignore him no matter how badly he wished he could. So he turned to face him, and Changbin’s heart cracked a little at how sad and uncertain Hyunjin looked.“W-where are you going?” Changbin didn’t know how to lie anymore. So he just shrugged. Then they just stood those 15 feet away from each other with Changbin ready to run in the other direction and Hyunjin trying to figure out what to say to convince Changbin to stay.“I’m…sorry if we made you uncomfortable. We just wanted you to feel comfortable. I know… well I mean I don’t know but from what my mom says, she’s scared every single time she goes out there and how ready she is to just clean herself when she gets back so like…I just want to make sure that you destress after scavenging, too, you know…I’m not really sure what we did to upset you but…please come back. I really like you…we really like you and you leave in 3 days now…” Hyunjin didn’t know what else to say after that.“Yeah,…3 days…don’t you think it’s better if we just…stop now?”“Stop what?” “This. I don’t know. If I leave in 3 days, we probably won’t see each other again…so let’s just…not meet anymore.”“What do you mean we’ll never see each other again? How are you so sure?” Hyunjin stepped a little closer but Changbin took that many steps.“Hyunjin, just go back, okay. Don’t worry about me. I have to go.” He turned around and began walking towards the exit.“Where are you going, though? Please. I want to see you again before you go back. It’ll be another 5 decades before you come visit again.” 50 years…Changbin can’t wait pretend for 50 years that he’s one of them and part of the Light Moon tribe just to see him again…in 50 years.Changbin shook his head and figured that once he reaches the ‘mortal world’, Hyunjin will finally listen and go back. What he didn’t expect was for Hyunjin to swallow down his fear and try to follow after him. Changbin managed to cross the road when he turned back to see if Hyunjin did actually leave only to see him standing at the edge of the preserve contemplating. Changbin could hear his thoughts from there.“Hyunjin, just go back home.”“Why are you coming back here? Didn’t you already scavenge? The sun’s going down. You should go home, too.” Except Changbin is. Because he isn’t one of them.“Hyunjin, I’ll be fine. Please just go home.”“I won’t go without you.” Hyunjin began stepping into the road, but he’s not used to the mortal world. He’s probably never seen a car. Like the one that was coming straight for him and honking their horn while desperately trying to brake on time but Hyunjin didn’t notice until he was in the middle of the road and looking like a deer in headlights.“Hyunjin, move!” Changbin had to save him. He couldn’t let his very first time out in the mortal world, even just 6 feet in, be the cause of his death. So maybe it was stupid, maybe it was heroic, but Changbin pushed him out of the way only to be flung several feet away when the car slammed against his side. And after the car honking and trying to brake to not hit anyone failed, the car kept going. Fleeing the scene. That was the last thing Changbin saw before he blacked out.  Changbin didn’t know it, but while he was knocked out, Hyunjin desperately clung to him before picking him up and running back into the woods. He ran passed the 3 other boys, passed his own house, passed the water, and to his dad in the healing center.“Dad!” Hyunjin yelled through his tears. He struggled to carry Changbin with his backpack still on him and run all the way here at the same time. Changbin was falling out of his arms but Hyunjin still tried to carry him properly with his tired arms.“Dad, he won’t wake up!” At the time, his father was busy with a little girl who fell off a low tree and scraped her knee and chin but let someone take over and helped Hyunjin put Changbin on one of the few mortal world mattresses that they scavenged. Him and 2 other healers began trying to figure out why Changbin wasn’t waking up. They took off his backpack and began taking off his jackets and shirt.“Where was he?”“He…um we were just…at the edge,” his father gave him a stern look but had to keep professional. Now wasn’t the time to scold his son, he had to figure out why this kid looked dead. “And…this huge…thing just came towards me but, he pushed me out of the way and…it hit him and he fell and wouldn’t wake up.”“Hyunjin!” His 3 other friends called after him as they finally caught up with him in the healing center, just in time for the other healers to reveal Changbin’s bruising torso. They all gasped, everyone in the room. They’ve never seen such bruising like this. Never even encountered a car let alone what that was and how much power it has and how deadly it could be to be hit by one. They didn’t know that Changbin was dying from a punctured lung and internal bleeding. It was at the moment that they decided to strip him completely to see what other damage he had. The hat came off first, and that’s when they all finally noticed it. Changbin wasn’t one of them. He was a mortal.“Hyunjin, why were you two together?” Hyunjin was in so much shock, he couldn’t respond.“Hyunjin! He is not one of us!”“Dad, I…”“You’re lucky he’s the one who got hit. You weren’t supposed to be out there! If it wasn’t for this…mutt, none of this would’ve happened.”“Don’t call him that!”“Do not stand up for him! He deserves to die. Now get him out of this village.” Hyunjin was angry at his dad. If he wasn’t going to save him…he’ll find someone who will.“Not you, Hyunjin. Hyunjin, do not touch him!” Hyunjin ignored his father and struggled to carry Changbin again with his dad and the other 2 healers trying to stop him.“I need to save him! Let me go!” Felix, Seungmin, and Jisung barely had to think twice. Changbin was nice to them and they finally understood why he was acting weird. Mortals weren’t bad people. Changbin deserved a chance to live. So, they helped Hyunjin get away. They each held back the healers as Hyunjin picked Changbin back up and began running again. He knew who to go to. He wasn’t much acquainted with them but he was desperate. He ran to the other side of the village where he knew the powerful beings lived. Usually they’re healers, but he came for one of the sons. A 21 year old still learning magic but he was the most powerful out of all the younger ones. He was Hyunjin’s last chance. The only one he could trust.He messily knocked on their door and luckily it was him who answered. “Chan! Please help! Please,” he whimpered and fell to his knees still holding Changbin. Chan quickly helped carry him.“Okay, okay, uhhh, we can’t do this here. Come. Follow me.” Chan took Changbin from Hyunjin and although, Hyunjin panicked a little at having said boy be taken away from him when he was at his most vulnerable, he knew Chan was only trying to help. So he got back up on his wobbly feet and forced them to keep running, following Chan. Chan brought them to another water, a little ways away from the village. It was dark here, no bioluminescent plants, no fireflies to light up the area. It was a new moon and it was pitch black. But their eyes worked well in the dark. He watched as Chan gently set Changbin down so half his body was on the water and the other was on the bank.“Something hit him?” Chan asked though it was more of a statement. Chan could tell from the bruising around his torso that this kid had broken ribs and internal bleeding. He noticed his breathing was sounding wheezy. It would be difficult. Chan had only practiced on dying animals and only recently has he been successful but two times.“Yeah. It almost hit me but…he saved me. Chan, can you help him? Please tell me you can.” Hyunjin knew it was useless, but he still tried to wipe the tears from his face even though new ones kept coming out.“Hyunjin, I want you to know, I’ve only done this a few times. And with animals.” He spoke as he gathered a few ingredients from around the area. Mud, twine, certain plants that he brought to his nose to sniff to see if they were the right ones. He made a paste of it using the water and rubbed it all over Changbin’s torso.“If this doesn’t work, I’m truly sorry.” Hyunjin already knew that. And he wasn’t planning on holding it against Chan. But he had to try. Chan’s hands glowed a white blue light as he hovered them above Changbin. He muttered a few words and then opened his eyes which also began glowing. Hyunjin eventually had to close his eyes as the same glowing light began coming out of Changbin’s opened mouth. A few seconds later, Hyunjin felt a strong gust of wind blow around them and then through his eyelids, he could see everything go dark again. Hyunjin slowly opened his eyes and saw Chan just staring at Changbin.“Hyunjin…usually when I’d do this to the animals…they’d jump back up and run away…” the rest didn’t have to be said. Changbin still had his eyes closed, he still wasn’t moving. Hyunjin closed his eyes again and sobbed quietly. All was silent apart from that, Chan even shed a few tears himself. He didn’t know the guy, he barely even knew Hyunjin. He didn’t fail to notice Changbin’s ears and the fact that he was a mortal but seeing how much this guy meant to Hyunjin, he knew he wasn’t a bad being. Chan regretfully began cupping water into his hands to begin washing off the mud paste on the boy’s torso. But as he washed it away, clear skin appeared. Where it once was black and blue, it was soflty tan and pink. Chan stared, confused. Was he healing? “Um…Hyunjin?” Hyunjin sniffed grossly and wiped his face before looking at Chan and following his gaze.“Wasn’t he…is he healing?”“I…I don’t know. I guess. His skin looks normal but…he’s not awake.”“Is he breathing?” Hyunjin leaned forward and paid attention to his chest and sure enough, albeit slow, it was moving up and down. They both sighed in relief.“Maybe it takes longer for non-animals.” Hyunjin pointed. Chan agreed.“We should keep an eye on him.” Hyunjin positioned Changbin in a more comfortable position away from the water. He stripped off his own sweater and put it under Changbin’s head as a pillow and then laid next to him on his side to make sure that his chest still went up and down. He took note that he wasn’t wheezing anymore. Chan had left a few minutes earlier to grab some things for Changbin in case he woke up. Hyunjin really hoped he did. After a few silent minutes, Changbin began breathing a bit faster and harder. Hyunjin picked up on it quickly and sat up in a panic. What does he do? Chan wasn’t here. Is this normal? Changbin kept breathing weird until finally, he stopped. Completely. Hyunjin stared at his chest, waiting for it to raise and fall but it didn’t. He wasn’t moving. He wasn’t breathing.“No. No, no no nonononono. Changbin!” Hyunjin shook his shoulders and just like that Changbin sat down breathing in so deeply, he hurt his throat and began coughing.“Oh!” Hyunjin moved over to the water and cupped his hands and carefully but quickly brought it to Changbin for him to drink. Changbin didn’t hesitate in doing so. Hyunjin brought him some more water a few more times and then wiped his wet hands around the edges of Changbin’s face. He cupped his face and brought it to look at him. Changbin’s eyes were watery from coughing and he looked deeply confused.“Where….where am I?” Hyunjin was just…so happy to see him. He remembered when he was younger how he would ask his parents why they would always kiss when they would see each other and they said it was because they were happy to see each other after being apart all day. So Hyunjin thought that was appropriate. He leaned in and kissed Changbin on the lips. Changbin was frozen and Hyunjin didn’t know that you were supposed to move your lips or pucker them so they were just awkwardly pressed together. Still when Hyunjin pulled away, he grinned at Changbin with tears falling down his cheeks.“You’re okay! I thought I lost you. You stopped breathing for a few seconds.”“W-what? What happened?”“You don’t remember?” Hyunjin frowned.“I mean…all I remember is trying to get you to go home.”“Oh…well, you were hit by this big, fast thing and your stomach started turning all dark blue,” Changbin looked down at his stomach and upon seeing that it wasn’t blue anymore, he also realized that he was shirtless so he wrapped his arms around himself as Hyunjin kept talking. “So I took you to my dad and he took off your beanie and he saw your ears.” Hyunjin touched his rounded ears in fascination and Changbin felt a little panic rise in him. Yeah, forget the part where he was hit by something so hard that his whole stomach started bruising and he didn’t even remember anything. All he cared about was that now, Hyunjin knew he was a mortal.“Why didn’t you tell me?”“I-i…..I was scared…I was afraid you’d hate me because I wasn’t one of you guys.”“I should’ve known, when we would have dinners with the other tribe, I could never find you. I never asked you about that because you’re a really big tribe and I get how hard it would’ve been to find each other but…wow. You’re a mortal.” Hyunjin kept touching his ears.“Yeah, and you are…an elf?” Hyunjin nodded and grinned.“Yep.” He said proudly. They both turned when they heard a twig snap and Chan began walking towards them. He looked shocked to see Changbin awake and sitting up.“It worked?!” He jogged the rest of the way towards them.“Yeah! For a moment he began breathing really fast and then he stopped breathing completely. So I shook him a little and then he woke up.”“I stopped breathing?!” Changbin was having trouble grasping everything.“Yeah, but you’re okay now! All thanks to Chan!” Chan waved it off.“Oh, it was nothing.” He smiled bashfully but truly he was ecstatic that it worked and Changbin was alive and lucid.“This was his first time healing a whole person. We thought it didn’t work because when he would do it with animals, they would immediately wake up but you didn’t.”“Whoa…” Changbin really could barely grasp anything they were telling him. “Wait…didn’t you say you took me to your dad?”“Oh…yeah…” Hyunjin mood plummeted a bit.“Did…did something happen?”“When he saw your ears, he refused to help you and said to let you die. But I couldn’t let that happen. Seungmin, Felix, and Jisung helped hold them back while I brought you to Chan.”“I’m sorry, Hyunjin.” Changbin sighed. This time it was him who looked down.“What for?”“I ruined your relationship with your father.”“Honestly, I’m grateful. I never thought he could be that unforgiving. What kind of healer says things like ‘let him die’? I could never forgive him for this.” Hyunjin has never felt such anger. He was usually pretty soft and mellow but knowing that Changbin was fully capable of healing, he can’t stand the thought of having to face his father after this.“Still. He’s your family. I’m just someone who lied to you about who he is.”“I mean technically you didn’t lie. You just didn’t correct me.”“Which is basically lying.”“Whatever, Changbinnie. I’m just glad you’re okay. You are okay, right? Nothing hurts?”“Yeah, I’m fine. I haven’t tried standing up yet though.”“I’ll help you. Let’s take this slow.” Chan said, standing up and leaving the clothes he brought on a nearby rock. Hyunjin and Chan then gently grabbed one of Changbin’s arms and slowly supported him until he stood up.“A little wobbly, maybe a little sore, but I think I’ll be fine.”“Chan, seriously, I can’t thank you enough.” Chan again waved it off.“No need, really. It was literally will it work or not. We just had to try.” Chan smiled at him and then made sure that he was stable enough to let go while he reached for the clothes.“Maybe you want to change out of those.” Changbin nodded and grabbed the clothes.“Right, thank you again, Chan.” Chan just took the shirt he brought and helped put it on him while Hyunjin stayed behind Changbin and helped keep him steady even though they both knew Changbin was fine to stand on his own. Then came the hoodie. Chan brought a pair of soft flowy pants. They weren’t sweats and they weren’t jeans. They had a bohemian pattern to it and it was definitely not Changbin’s style but they looked comfortable and Changbin decided comfort stumped aesthetics at the moment. He fought his shyness as he took off his jeans and replaced them with the flowy pants. The other two didn’t bat an eye because it wasn’t an abnormal thing. Elves didn’t really see other elves as anything other than just that. Them two had no exceptions when it came to Changbin.“We should probably let the others know you’re okay. They must be worried.”“Oh, yeah. Would they be in trouble for helping you escape?”“I hope not. Was anything different when you went back, Chan?”“I mean we’re pretty far from the main area so I wouldn’t know. We always get the news pretty late.” He shrugged.“Is it okay if you stay with Changbin while I get the other 3?”“Sure, but wouldn’t your dad stop you if he sees you?”“Oh, right.”“I’ll get them.”“Do you remember how they look like?”“Well, I know how Seungmin looks like. We train together from time to time. If I find him, I should be able to find the others with him.”“Perfect. Okay. Thank you, Channie.”“No problem. Come on. You must be starving, huh, Changbin? Want me to bring you back some food?”“Well, not really. I’m pretty sure I was just hit by a car, stopped breathing, and was brought back to life so I’m good for now.”“What’s a car?” They both asked at the same time.“That thing that hit me.” Changbin said more to Hyunjin but they both just nodded.“Still, I’ll bring back something for all of us. I’ll be back.” They both nodded and then Chan jogged away. Hyunjin then looked back at Changbin and smiled. In a flash of 2 seconds, Hyunjin squealed in delight and wrapped his arms around Changbin’s shoulders and pressed his lips to Changbin’s. Again, he was taken aback but he didn’t mind it. He decided he might as well teach Hyunjin how to do it properly so he pulled away just enough so that they were still close but Hyunjin could still look at his whole face. Hyunjin looked at him a little confused.“Do this.” Changbin puckered his lips and Hyunjin copied him. Changbin had to laugh. He looked so cute.“Whyyyy?” Hyunjin pouted.“That’s how your lips are supposed to be if you’re going to kiss me.”“Oh.” Hyunjin blushed.“It’s okay. But, um, Hyunjin, have you ever kissed anyone before?”“No.”“Okay, well, usually if you kiss someone on the lips, you would only kiss that person on the lips and not anyone else.”“Really?” Hyunjin’s eyes sparkled with interest.“Yeah. I mean technically you can but it would hurt my feelings.”“How come?”“Well, the person you kiss on the lips is usually like…your lover or something like that.” Hyunjin’s eyes sparkled even more.“You’re my lover?!” He grinned.“I-if you want me to be.”“I do.” “Then I’ll be your lover.”“So then that would mean that you can only kiss me and only I can kiss you?”“Yes.”“Hmm.” He said cutely. “What about on the cheeks?”“You can kiss my cheeks and you can kiss other people on the cheek but not on their lips.”“Right. Just your lips.” Changbin blushed then for some reason.“Yeah. Unless we’re not lovers anymore.” “Why would we not be lovers? You’re really nice and I like you. Do you like me?” Hyunjin smiled at him innocently.“Of course I do, or else I wouldn’t have let you kiss me. Kisses are usually a special thing. Like for me, I get really happy and my tummy kinda tickles.”“You’re ticklish?” Hyunjin giggled. He wasn’t really understanding but Changbin figured he would eventually.“Yeah,” he just laughed it off. “Um, can we kiss again? Like properly this time.”“Yeah. It’s a special thing, huh?” Hyunjin said.“Yeah, it is.” Changbin leaned in this time and kissed him properly. Hyunjin caught on quick. They pecked each other on the lips a few times, keeping their lips together for a few seconds before they separated when they heard Jisung’s voice coming closer.“That felt special.” Hyunjin whispered to him. Changbin smiled and Hyunjin pulled him in to hug him, resting his face on Changbin’s neck. Changbin in turn, wrapped his arms around Hyunjin’s waist. He could get used to doing all of that.“Changbin!!” Of course, Jisung yelled as soon as he saw them and when Changbin and Hyunjin separated, Jisung tackled him with a hug. Changbin groaned as he fell down on the floor.“Jisung!!! He was just injured and you’re hurting him even more!” Hyunjin scolded and went to push him off of Changbin.“Oh! I’m so sorry, Changbin. I just got excited.”“It’s okay. Honestly. That didn’t even hurt. Honestly. I feel fine.” He really did, which he found weird but still. As Jisung and Changbin both sat up, Changbin leaned back over to give him a hug.“Nice to see you, too, Jisung-ah.” Jisung smiled at that and then helped him stand up after he did so himself.“Glad to see that you’re okay, buddy.” Felix was next to give him a hug. “Thank you, Felix.” Changbin was beginning to feel overwhelmed because one of their kind was about to let him die just because of his ears basically and yet here are a group of 5 people telling him how glad they were that he was okay. When it was Seungmin’s turn to give him a hug, Changbin’s eyes began watering. Hyunjin was the first to notice.“You’re crying! Why would you hurt him again like that?” Hyunjin shoved Jisung. Seungmin pulled away and saw a single tear fall down Changbin’s cheek.“No, no. It’s not that I’m hurt, I’m just…there’s so many emotions going through me right now. Like I’m thankful that you guys helped me and that you’re happy that I’m okay, and then I’m sad that I caused all of this, and your dad’s mad at you, and,” Changbin began crying a little more and Hyunjin wrapped him in his arms once more.“Don’t cry, Binnie. It’s all worth it. Please, don’t cry.” One by one, the boys joined in on the hug and soon a group hug was on display. Changbin decided to laugh it off. He was alive. He was well. He can go home and see his parents. He had to tell them how grateful he was for them. They deserved better than how Changbin has been treating them. “Thank you, guys. I truly appreciate you all.” He said as they separated. Well, Hyunjin didn’t really let him go but Changbin turned in his arms so his shoulder was against Hyunjin’s chest so he could face everyone.“We appreciate you, Binnie.” Felix smiled at him. He wasn’t sure how different things would be from now on. He knows he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he doesn’t see them again, especially Hyunjin. He would sneak around as much as he could if it meant he could kiss Hyunjin at least once a day until the day he dies if he has to.  When Changbin got home, his parents greeted him but didn’t ask him any questions. He didn’t know how long he was gone, but his parents stopped asking him questions a long time ago. But Changbin didn’t want that anymore. He knows his mother was dying to ask him if something happened. He knew his father had to physically leave the room so he wouldn’t ask too many questions. He didn’t want that invisible wall separating them anymore.“Um, I have this friend. We kind of lost track of time and I fell asleep at his place. I’m sorry for not telling you.” He said. His mother froze. Changbin never spoke that much to her let along apologized for not telling her where he’s been.“O-oh, it’s okay, sweetie.” She didn’t know what else to do. Changbin gave her a small smile and then walked towards the stairs but he stopped and turned around.“Do you remember when I would help you with dinner when I was younger?” His mother was already looking at him.“Yes, of course I do. You barely reached the counter even with the stool.” She smiled a little at the memory.“Yeah. Well, I’m taller now so, maybe I can help you a bit more?” She looked like she was about to cry.“If,” she cleared her throat when it cracked a little. “If you want to.”“I do. Just, um, tell me when you’re about to start.” She nodded and he nodded then he began going up the stairs. He smiled to himself as he did so. He didn’t feel as sad as he did just a few weeks ago. Things will be okay after today.  It’s become a routine. Every morning and every afternoon, Hyunjin and Changbin would meet at the first water that they met at. Often times than not, Hyunjin was already there. Changbin would bring things from the mortal world to show him. Hyunjin was never not impressed.They always saved some time to just kiss and hold each other. Sometimes, Felix, Seungmin, and Jisung would join them. Changbin didn’t mind. He truly missed them. Every once in a while Chan would also come by. He jokes that it was solely to check up on his science experiment that is Changbin but truly, he just missed the shorter guy.Changbin wished that things turned out a bit differently but at the same time, if everything went the way Changbin thought it would, he would’ve never seen Hyunjin again. He had to go along with the story that he was with that tribe that was going to leave. He never would’ve kissed Hyunjin (or taught him how to kiss or how to make out. That was a fun one.). And although there are some problems that Changbin’s not sure how to surpass, he decided to just live in the now. Hyunjin and Changbin were happy together and they plan on being happy together until the day Changbin dies.