Blue Autumns
Title: Blue Autumns (part one)
Characters: Kyuhyun, Ryeowook, Yesung, Donghae
Summary: Only when the cool autumn breeze blows and the withering leaves are fluttering about can I meet him. That mysterious boy… The one I love.
Couples: Kyuhyun/Ryeowook hinted! Yesung/Ryeowook
Genre: Fantasy/Romance/Angst
Rated: PG
A/N: Inspired by/Based off of Kon no Ki Konoha. It's also in two parts because LJ hates me... T_T
A short distance away from a small village rose a single mountain. It was nothing extraordinary like Mount Everest nor was it so tiny that it was barely noticeable. This mountain was just your average- looking mountain, like the ones that could probably be found on a nice postcard. However within this unassuming mountain was something hidden, something very special.
Hiking up this mountain was 8-year old Ryeowook and his father, visiting it when the trees were ready to shed their leaves. It was something that they did every year, climbing up the mountain and admiring the beauty of the changing seasons. To Ryeowook, it was like every other time he had visited the mountain. But soon that day was going to become anything but ordinary. Tugging on his father’s sleeve, Ryeowook looked up with pleading eyes.
“Appa, can I go explore?” He asked with the biggest smile he could muster and with a hearty chuckle his father nodded.
“Yes Wookie, but don’t go too far okay?”
“Okay, thank you Appa!” Happily walking through the trees, Ryeowook was quietly humming to himself when a peculiar leaf twirled down from the sky. Gently picking it up, he soon realized that the leaf was a deep and rich blue, like a sapphire. Huh, that’s weird. Leaves don’t come in blue last time I checked, Ryeowook thought to himself. Raising his head towards the sky, he tried to figure out where the strange blue leaf had come from. He didn’t have to look far.
Right in front of him was a purely sapphire blue tree, from root to the very tips of the leaves, it was entirely blue. Surprised, Ryeowook lightly knocked on the bark.
“Wow, is this thing real?” Continuing to smack it, a faint voice was heard from behind the tree.
“Yah, that hurts.” Shocked, Ryeowook quickly turned around to see a young boy around 17 years old. Hints of blue were intertwined in his shaggy auburn hair and his piercing blue eyes stared intently at Ryeowook. Walking up closer to this strange boy, Ryeowook tilted his head in curiosity.
“Who are-” “Go hide.” Immediately Ryeowook’s words were cut short by the sudden outburst of the blue-eyed boy and now Ryeowook was even more confused.
“Hide? Why?” “Just do it.” Was his only reply and Ryeowook puffed his cheeks out in frustration, but quickly complied to the stranger’s wish and hid behind some nearby bushes. Right after Ryeowook had hid himself, rustling came from the bushes opposite of where Ryeowook was. After a few more seconds of the bushes shaking, out came an old looking man. Warts were all over his face and his ears had a slight point to them. His skin was as brown as the nearby tree bark and wrinkles permanently etched his rough skin. Not only that, but his nose was definitely longer and much skinner than an average person’s. Sniffing the air, he slowly hobbled towards the blue-eyed boy.
“I smell a human child.” Turning to the blue-eyed boy, the old man looked at him suspiciously. “Kyuhyun-ah, if you’re hiding it, give it to me now.” However Kyuhyun scoffed him off.
“There aren’t any humans here, old man. I believe your nose needs a smell check. That, or you’ve gone really senile.” Sighing, the old man turns around as he heads back towards the bushes. “You really need to be treating your elders with much more respect.” He replies.
“Whatever old man, but why aren’t you leaving yet?” Kyuhyun snorted back. And as the old man disappears into the leaves he faintly answers. “Because I will probably regret it if I die now… I’m waiting another year Kyuhyun.” Finally as the old man leaves, Kyuhyun dares to look back at where Ryeowook was once hiding. Tilting his head very calmly, he could see Ryeowook running towards some trees and sense of pain flash through Kyuhyun’s eyes.
<>
Huffing and puffing, Ryeowook finally found his father and rapidly pulled on his sleeve. “Appa, Appa, it’s horrible. I found a blue tree! Next to it was this blue-eyed boy and a really brown, old-looking man…” His voice trailed as he turned back and stared at the path where he came from, where that blue-eyed boy was. With another warm chuckle, his father remarked, “Silly Wookie, what are you talking about? Trees aren’t blue.”
“It’s true Appa! I have proof!” Rummaging through his pocket, Ryeowook searched for the leaf he had found early. However as he pulling the tiny blue leaf out, it all of sudden crumpled to dust in Ryeowook’s hand as it blew away in the wind. Positioning his hat better, his father laughed some more.
“Oh Ryeowook, you have a very creative imagination.” Grabbing his backpack, he slowly began the trek down the hill. “Come on, let’s go home.” Gazing at the path once more, Ryeowook soon followed his father.
“But Appa, I’m not lying!” And tomorrow he’ll prove him wrong, or at least that was what Ryeowook thought.
The following day after school, Ryeowook took the walk up the mountain by himself because he’s been up on the mountain so many times before. However there was only one thought in his head, to look for that mysterious blue-eyed boy. Scuffing the leaves around, Ryeowook was in search of those beautiful yet mysterious sapphire blue leaves and once he did find the leaves, he’ll find the boy… well that’s if he could actually find the blue leaves. After an hour or two of searching in the spot where he discovered the first blue leave, Ryeowook found nothing.How odd, I haven’t been able to find any, thought Ryeowook as he continued with his search. However he didn’t pay attention to the transforming sky as it quickly went from day to night and the road back home vanished from sight.
Now realizing that he was lost, Ryeowook curled up tightly in a ball, waiting for the daylight to return in the morning. Subconsciously, tears of fear trickled down his cheek as he was now absolutely terrified. Minutes passed before he could hear the crackling of leaves. Lifting his head up, Ryeowook’s eyes bugged out as he once again encountered the blue-eyed boy. As they had a quiet staring contest, the blue-eyed boy finally broke the silence.
“You’re lost?” Wordlessly nodding, Ryeowook brought his legs closer to his chest. With his indifferent stare, the blue-eyed boy motioned Ryeowook to follow him.
“Well, if you are, then you just in luck. I know the way out.” A bright smiled stretched across Ryeowook’s face as he happily followed the blue-eyed boy down the darkened path. Fifteen minutes passed in complete silence as they made it down the mountain. Pointing straight, the blue-eyed boy spoke again.
“Continue straight and you’ll reach the town.” In the distance Ryeowook could hear his father calling out for him, clearly worried about his lost son. Bowing greatly towards him, Ryeowook thanked him for helping out and was about to give him a hug. And just as he did, Ryeowook went right through him. Shocked, Ryeowook looked up at the blue-eyed boy.
“A-are you a ghost?” The blue-eyed boy continued to stare impassively at him. “What if I am?” Stepping closer to him Ryeowook replied.
“I’m not afraid of ghosts.” He stated affirmatively. After a long awkward pause, Ryeowook was about give up waiting for his answer. And as he was about to run towards his father the blue-eyed boy finally responded.
“My name’s Kyuhyun and I’m a kodama, a tree spirit in short, so I live in the tree. Most of the year I’m sleeping in this tree, however only when the leaves are ready to fall, can I come out.” Ryeowook turned and looked at Kyuhyun baffled.
“Kyuhyun? Kodama?” But Kyuhyun didn’t answer his questions. Instead, Ryeowook’s father’s voice cut through the air, although more desperate this time. Whipping his head towards the direction of his father’s voice, Ryeowook started to run.
“Shoot, my father must be really worried.” Looking back at Kyuhyun, Ryeowook waved. “Oh I forgot to mention my name, I’m Ryeowook! So Kyuhyun, I’ll see you tomorrow right?” And without waiting for a reply, Ryeowook disappeared down the walkway. Stunned at first, Kyuhyun however managed to let a slight smile as he vanished from the bend.
But the next day Ryeowook was unable to see Kyuhyun. Not the following day or the day after. Instead, fall turned into winter, and winter turned into spring which melted into a sweltering summer, until finally the leaves descended from the branches down to the cool earth once more.
Standing under the blue tree, Ryeowook stared up at it. “Hey I looked up what a Kodama was!” He said excitedly, punching the sapphire blue tree in the process. But Kyuhyun didn’t appear. No Kodoma. A pout quickly formed on his face as Ryeowook proceeded to smack the tree some more.
“Yah, why aren’t you coming out? Shouldn’t you be awake by now?” Punching the tree repeatedly, Ryeowook suddenly saw a blue leaf twirling towards the ground, joining all of the other normal leaves. An annoyed voice followed.
“Aish, that really hurts you know…” Up on a branch, there stood Kyuhyun with that same unchanging face. Jumping down, Ryeowook ran up to meet him.
“But Kyuhyun-ah, why does it affect you? I punched the tree. I didn’t punch you.”
“Shouldn’t you know this? You said so yourself that you looked it up.”Kyuhyun remarked. Looking at Kyuhyun with puppy eyes, Ryeowook stomped his feet cutely.
“Yeah… but I didn’t understand it.” Kyuhyun sighed.
“Alright, basically I possess the tree’s spirit. Therefore if you smack the tree, I feel it as well.” Smirking evilly, Ryeowook swiftly began to tickle the tree. Immediately Kyuhyun’s impassive face dissolved into one of laughter as he bent over giggling.
“Yah stop that!” Kyuhyun managed to say in-between laughs. However a giant smirked stretched across Ryeowook’s face as he continued to tickle the tree.
“So you can smile! That’s good, smile more often!” Ryeowook exclaimed with a big grin of his own. Unknowingly, heat rushed up towards Kyuhyun’s face. After that, time went far too quickly. And although Ryeowook spent all of his free time on the mountain with Kyuhyun, it seemed to be not enough as snow started to fall towards the ground again and that mean Kyuhyun had to go back to sleep. Looking up at Kyuhyun, Ryeowook smiled as the last batch leaves finally twirled down from the trees.
“I’ll see you again next year Kyuhyun!” And with a brief smile, Kyuhyun waved, fading back into the tree. One last blue leaf fell into Ryeowook’s hands as it disintegrated with contact. Climbing back down the mountain, Ryeowook couldn’t wait for the next fall season to begin. And so, many more autumns like that followed and before either of them knew it, Ryeowook turned 17.
Lying on the grass outside in his backyard, the summer heat was beating down on Ryeowook’s body as he and his best friend were enjoying the freedom of no school. Soon he started to stare aimlessly at the sky, tuning out his best friend Donghae in the process. Waving his hand in front of the spacing out Ryeowook, Donghae called out for him again.
“Wookie… YAH WOOKIE!” Snapping out of his dazed stupor, he gazed back at an irritated Donghae.
“Sorry Donghae, what were you talking about again?” Ryeowook replied sheepishly as he brought his back off the ground. Donghae just rolled his eyes.
“The summer festival Ryeowook, THE SUMMER FESTIVAL!” Donghae practically yelled as he flailed his arms around. Ryeowook let out an amused chuckle.
“Geez, I said that I was sorry Donghae! But what about the summer festival?”
“You seriously need to stop spacing out Wookie.” Pulling him in closer, Donghae continued. “Anyway, I was talking about how we should go to the summer festival today with Eunhyuk and his friend Yesung! It’s Friday and it’s almost the end of summer so we should spend it to the fullest! And besides Wookie, I think Yesung likes you.” Ryeowook immediately flushed.
“W-what?” Leaning back on the grass Donghae smiled.
“Well, it’s just a thought. He said that he wouldn’t go to the festival if you weren’t, so I had my hunches.” Ryeowook sighed as he turned his head and felt the warm grass against his cheek. Hm, maybe that’s why he’s avoiding me… However Ryeowook’s train of thought abruptly stopped as Donghae turned towards him.
“So, you’re going?” Quietly Ryeowook nodded as he began staring out at the mountain and let out a small sigh. Hurry up and change seasons already, I want the leaves to fall... I want to see him.
Nighttime quickly came as the sky became darker. Rushing down the street, Ryeowook could see Donghae, Eunhyuk, and Yesung waiting for him. Donghae was frantically moving his arms about, signaling for Ryeowook to come over.
“Wookie, where have you been? You’re 30 minutes late!” Smiling weakly, Ryeowook scratched his head in embarrassment.
“Yeah, sorry about that Donghae, my mom’s sick so I had to do the cooking for her.” Suddenly Yesung let out a sweet smile.
“That’s nice of you Ryeowook.” A blush crept onto his cheeks as Ryeowook immediately tried to hide it and the four of them went down towards the festival. However guilt racked Ryeowook’s mind. I’m sorry Yesung-ah… but my heart already belongs to someone else.
<>
Much to Ryeowook’s excitement, the leaves were starting to fall as he took the trek back up the mountain, like every autumn season. Huffing and puffing, Ryeowook finally got to the top as a familiar voice rings out to him.
“Seems like your strength is decline as you’re getting older huh Ryeowook?” Gazing up, Ryeowook smiled as he could se Kyuhyun perched on one of the blue tree’s branches. Advancing forward, he now stood at the base of the tree.
“Good morning Kyuhyun.” Ryeowook said with a giant grin on his face. Kyuhyun smiled back.
“Good morning to you too Ryeowook, so are you going climb up here or what?”
“Yah, it takes time for me to climb up there you know. I can’t just teleport up there.” Ryeowook replied with fake annoyance. Pulling himself up, he sat there next to Kyuhyun as they admired the sun rising above the horizon. Staring at Ryeowook intently, Kyuhyun noticed the difference in Ryeowook’s appearance since the last time he saw him.
“Your hair is shorter now…” Kyuhyun commented as he continued to stare at Ryeowook. Touching his hair, Ryeowook smirked.
“So what? Does it make me look more like an adult?”
“No, it makes you even more childish.” Kyuhyun replied bluntly.
“YAH!” Ryeowook exclaimed, puffing out his cheeks.
“See? You’re still like a child.” Deflating his cheeks, Ryeowook turned and gazed at Kyuhyun. Even after all those years meeting with each other, Kyuhyun has stayed the same. He was still the same blue-eyed boy that Ryeowook remembered all those years ago. But he knew that Kyuhyun was aging too. A tree's life span is longer than a human's so naturally, a Kodoma's life is much longer also. But in a sense, Kyuhyun is going into adulthood as well. Leaning back a little, Ryeowook shifted his gaze towards the rising sun as he let out a sigh.
"Whatever Kyuhyun, but from here on out I'll becoming an adult so you better be treating me like one!" Ryeowook stated. As he continued his long and random ramble, Kyuhyun suddenly interrupts.
"I want to touch..." Startled, Ryeowook faces Kyuhyun.
"Touch what...?" Ryeowook questioned. Kyuhyun quickly becomes a light shade of pink as he adverts his stare.
"I-I want to touch you." His cheeks turned bright red, now trying to hide his face. "I'm always thinking about it... to be able to hold you in my arms. What would you feel like?"
Ryeowook's cheeks were now identical to Kyuhyun's as he blushed like crazy. However, an idea immediately sparked in Ryeowook's head as he turned towards the sapphire blue tree. Opening his arms wide, he hugged the tree with all of his might. Puzzled, Kyuhyun gives Ryeowook a weird look.
"What are you doing Ryeowook?" Kyuhyun asked. Ryeowook's blush deepens.
"I'm giving you a hug Kyuhyun... I'm touching you. Is it transmitting?" Wrapping his arms around the tree even tighter, Ryeowook didn't notice the dark pink blush appearing on Kyuhyun's face as he replied.
"Yes I can feel it." And the two of them sat in silence for the next few minutes, both deeply flushed. However some bushes began to shake in the distance, disrupting such a peaceful moment. Standing up on the branch, Kyuhyun glared intently.
"Ryeowook, go hide."
"Eh? But Kyuhyun, even if you tell me... I can't exactly hide at the moment." Ryeowook explained as he slid closer to the trunk of the tree. But within seconds, the same old brown man Ryeowook saw years ago returned, making eye contact with Kyuhyun. As he turned his gaze away from Kyuhyun's, he immediately stared at Ryeowook and his eyes widened as a demented smile stretched across his face.
"Oh, a human child! It's a human! Kyuhyun give it to me! If I eat it, then my tree can live another year." The old man wheezed, his arms stretched out, trying to grab Ryeowook. It sent chills down his spine. Extending his arm out in front of Ryeowook, Kyuhyun stared menacingly at the old man.
"Go to hell. You should just go and accept your tree's lifespan. I'm not giving you Ryeowook just so you can fulfill your selfish desires." Kyuhyun's dull blue eyes suddenly flashed a blinding blue light. "Because he's mine." And once Kyuhyun spat those words out, the old man slowly started to disintegrate away, transforming into dried up leaves that blew away in the wind. Shocked, Ryeowook looked at Kyuhyun with a scared face.
"W-where did he go Kyuhyun?"
"He left."
"Left...?" Staring at the ground below, Kyuhyun started to explain.
"You see Ryeowook, although we have the same lifespan as our tree, every autumn we must make a decision. Will I stay here until next autumn, or should I go back to being a human and return to soil?" Staring at Kyuhyun, Ryeowook soon had surprised look on his face.
"H-human? You were human?"
"Yes." Kyuhyun replied. "Many years ago there was a great war between nations. Once it was over, all of us fell into great poverty. Eventually, people started to abandon their children on this very mountain as they fought for their own survival, not caring for their own kind, their own blood. But thankfully the people of the mountain took pity on us and let us live in the trees. That's how I became a Kodoma. I was one of those children that was abandoned." After his long rant, there was a long pause as Ryeowook continued to stare at Kyuhyun, unsure of what to do in this situation. Kyuhyun, however, kept on talking.
"I have already lived for so many decades and most of my friends have left. To be truthful, the day when I first met you was the day I was planning on leaving. But when you said in that cheerful voice of yours, I'll see you tomorrow, I knew instantly that I would regret it if I died back then. So every autumn I hesitate, waiting to see if you would come... and you always did, Wookie." A smile appeared on Ryeowook's face as they stared at each other lovingly. They no longer were admiring the beautiful scenery around them, but instead each other's faces.
Part Two- Final