my morning glory; xiumin/luhan (1/2)
Pairing: Xiumin/Luhan
Genre: Fantasy. Magic. Hunter!Minseok. Faun!Luhan.
Rating: PG-13 (for now)
Length: 5.7K words
Warnings: Mentions of alcohol abuse. Past death. Asshole Jongin and Sehun.
Summary: Minseok meets a strange creature in the forest as a child. Eleven years later, he meets it again with a snare attached to its leg.
Notes: Here is the reccomended listening. I tried to write my image of faun!lLuhan as best as possible, but here is the reference I used.
(cover credit)
“He would eventually have to pass through the forest, but he felt no fear. Of course - the forest was inside him, he knew, and it made him who he was.”
― Haruki Murakami, After The Quake
The fog would always start the instant the sun hit the horizon in the town of Exodus. Every man and creature knew that they should grow weary at sundown, for strange things would appear from the dead forest, things that only the most powerful magical creatures and the strongest of huntsman could handle. Despite this, out in the outskirts of town, there was a quaint little cabin with a beautiful garden that held a young boy who would stare at the forest every night from out his window, wondering what lurked between the shadows.
Ever since he turned four, his mother would tell him not to not even think of venturing into the forest; to fear the creatures and spirits that roamed that roamed between the thick fog and the dark trails. His mother would warn him constantly, but Minseok had never been an obedient young man.
“There are beasts in that forest, both human and magical. Don’t even think about going inside.” His mother spat out as she stirred the soup made from the vegetables in their garden. Minseok took a whiff of the strong air around him and grumbled. No money for meat that week, it seemed. Meat was extremely difficult to buy these days since no hunter would dare to wander into the woods, and neither would any edible animal.
He swung his legs under the table, even at twelve years old they were far too short to reach the ground. Just a while until he was big and strong, he assured his chubby self, like his father used to be. He was told that Mr. Kim was humongous, towering over all the other lumbermen. Some would say he even towered the very trees he cut down with just a few swipes of his hand. “What kind of beasts? They can’t be all bad, eomma. I’ve seen rabbits and cats! And the garden elves that help us with our seeds! And the faeries that sell me the cabbages in the market!” He exclaimed enthusiastically, Minseok loved going to the market. Joonmyun, the head market fairy, would always save him the nicest apples he could find, sometimes for free.
Mrs. Kim slammed her hands against the wooden counter, her ring making the sound of the bang much louder than normal. “I’m talking about the sort of beasts that killed your father!” She yelled to no one in particular. Minseok watched as her breathing turned from a thunderous river to a calm stream. Neither of them spoke a word, the cabin was so silent you could hear a feather drop on the floor. The young boy’s senses focused only on the thick tension between them and the pungent smell of cabbage stew that they would have to eat all week.
----
He had escaped from the cabin for the first time when he was fourteen, the day his mother had finally become too burdened with guilt and whiskey. Minseok had left her on the floor, tired of having to come back to the same scene every day after returning from school. The entrance of the forest was already overcast with the thick trees; he knew he was too far away from the town, not even the garden elves were nearby to help. Jongdae, the only garden elve he knew that could not grow out a beard and also the very one who worked in his garden, would tell him that if the trees were tall to humans they were giants to them. Minseok, not much taller than the elve, understood what they meant perfectly.
Jaw clenched and fist kept into a tight, pale curl, he stomped into the forest, making sure to mark the bark of an occasional tree with a deep cut in order to remember his way home. As Minseok looked up at the sky, he could only see the lucky slither of sunlight that managed to get between the leaves and branches of the redwoods and the oak trees. The fog was just as thick as his mother would tell him, but it instead of the rumoured curling smell of blood that so many would warn him about, Minseok smelled flowers.
He followed the source of the smell, trying to catalog all of the ones he saw and could recognize, but his knowledge of flowers proved to be useless. His mother would take away his gardening books in exchange for actual tools. Never an axe, she would tell him, the wound still too deep in her skin compared to Minseok, who was just a baby when the incident had happened.
The path seemed to widen with every step he took, the leaves that fell onto the earth turned from dried and brown to a healthier green. It was so sudden, as if he’d crossed an imaginary line that would separate that dead trees from the ones full of life and color. Perhaps another type of garden elve maintained this part of forest. If they did, it felt as if they carefully tended to every single falling leaf and wildflower. The path combined with the earth, until Minseok found himself in a small circle like oasis. A wide weeping willow at the center, completely healthy and strong and incredibly out of place. Minseok, realizing he was exhausted, dragged himself to rest on the bark of the treet. ‘A short nap,’ he decided. ‘Just a few minutes,’ he told himself, until the world around him felt dark and he could dream and wonder if his father roamed these parts of the forests too.
The moment, however, was short lived. A soft rustle of leaves came from a nearby tree, which then turned into careful soft steps that he could only listen to if he stopped breathing. Minseok silently reached for a nearby stick and jumped on his feet, hearing a gasp and a startled stomping that crushed multiple dried leaves.
"Who goes there?! I'm not afraid of you!" The boy shouted, his voice and his hands shaking with fear. He treated forward, looking as menacing as his fourteen year old face allowed him to.
Deep brown fingertips curled against the bark of the tree in front of him. If he wasn’t focusing, he would swear that they were part of the wood itself, as they camouflaged perfectly with the color around him. He noticed an arm now, with a thin layer of short beige fur that contrasted greatly to the one on its fingertips. The creature allowed itself to sneak a peek at the young boy. Minseok saw curious, big eyes that matched the color of the forest around him, hints of green and brown clashing together against the creature’s pale looking fur and golden hair along with... an antler?
It hid his face again as it made eye contact with Minseok, only showing a bit of its antler that moved as it spoke. “Leave now.” It said with an accented voice that sounded even more childlike than his own. “Go now. This... secret place.”
Minseok took a step closer. “What are you?”
The creature ignored his question, struggling to find words the human could understand. “Leave now, sun down soon. Night is danger. Forest is danger! Go!” It commanded. As it yelled out in a language that Minseok had never heard of, short stalks of poison ivy grew beside his feet, getting closer with every second. Minseok knew better than to mess with magical beings. He ran, faster than he’d ever had in his life, only turning his head to make sure that the trees he passed had marks. He kept running until he could see the setting sun from the window of his house, not once thinking about something else other than the creature’s eyes.
Night came as quickly as his run. Minseok did not listen to his mother yell at him for being late through the door that night, she would grow tired eventually. The muffled screams died down after a few minutes, letting Minseok’s thoughts finally wander off to the events of today. His heavy eyes said otherwise, thought. The young boy was finally forced to let himself sleep, without any time to preserve the memories of today and part of his wondered if it had all been a dream.
When the night hit a point where even the town faeries, giants and the garden elves decided to rest as well, there was not a single clue that hinted on the careful pitter patter of a creature's hooves walking towards the nearby cabin to stare into the window, except a bush of morning glories that grew beneath the glass that would confuse Jongdae to no end, especially since they always grew back whenever he tried to cut them. The next morning, Minseok, also confused, assured him not to worry. According to the book he stole back from his mother, he assured the garden elve that the morning glories can bring them peace and happiness, while its seeds can guard off nightmares.
----
Unlike the morning glories, which were strong and healthy enough to now take up almost an entire wall of the cabin thanks to Jongdae’s green thumb (a literal green thumb. Minseok didn’t understand elve magic very well, but apparently it helped keep the flowers younger with every touch) his mother’s final, weak breath was exhaled on a Tuesday. On the anniversary of his father’s death, ironically enough. As little as he wanted to admit it, her death did not affect him, at least now the house won’t smell of cabbage and alcohol. Minseok assured Joonmyun and the rest of the faeries that they will have their game in time for the beginning of winter. And as if he didn’t have enough problems, Baekhyun, the local squirrel man, kept on complaining about Minseok killing his kind for the rest of the town folk to eat. They already had a treaty, all the squirrel in the forest were his, while all the ones in the town were Baekhyun’s, but that didn’t seem to satisfy the rodent who, once again, went to complain to Master Sorcerer Yifan’s house. Minseok pitied the wizard, he had to deal with leading so many annoying creatures.
Like most humans, he lived in the outskirts of the town and closer to the forest that he used to fear so much. He set his bows and arrows on the table and thought about the new, much more inhabited area. As he grew older, his body turning muscular but not as tall as he’d thought he’d be, the forest grew along at the same pace. Everyone had been astonished to find that the forest animals had returned from their mass migration and that all the dead trees grew from brown to green. It took a long time for every slither of fog to eventually leave, but now one could walk through what was once was such a dark and haunting place as if they were walking through their own backyard.
Trying to give his mother at least some sort of respect after her death, he took up hunting instead of working in lumber like his father. Turns out he had a talented aim, and was one of the few hunters who managed to still catch a decent amount of game during winter.
“You goin’ to the competition next fortnight, right?” Jongin had asked in a particular job they had together. Hunting down orcs and trolls for the giants that passed by to the market was no easy task, especially since they wanted to much of it.
Minseok shrugged. “It does not interest me. I don’t enjoy hunting for sport, I only do it because of necessity.”
Sehun snorted, muttering some sort of vulgar world that Minseok wasn’t interested in hearing. “That’s real dainty of you, Minseok. Come on lad, it’ll just be a few rounds of some rats and stuff. Nothin’ no one wants alive.”
Minseok refused their offer once more, much more interested in getting their job done rather than spending anymore time with other humans. Minseok never got along with his own kind, finding them far too intrusive and rude.
Now, he goes into the forest alone. His mind always wanders back to the creature with the antlers when he notices an old knife mark against bark. Despite dreaming of it almost every night, the image of the antler boy is just a blurry memory when he wakes up. Even Master Sorcerer Yifan did not know about such a being still existing, they were always thought to be myths. Which is ironic coming from a man who leads a town full of magical creatures.
“It must be a dream, Minseok, willows can have that effect on people, especially children,” The wizard told him, his deep black eyes that contrasted with his snow white hair burning into him tauntingly. “The antler men all died in the ancient war, no need to ponder on juvenile fallacies.”
Minseok almost relieved his anger on a nearby oak tree, but fought against the act. It was certainly strange, how even the slightest act of harm against the forest made him so guilty. The marks he made on the trees as a child seemed to taunt him. He remembers waking up one morning and deciding that, apart from making his mother happy, he didn’t want to become a lumberjack anymore, leave that to the other humans who didn’t care about the wildlife. At least hunting was done out of need, and he would always kill the animal as efficiently as possible, despite it being strangely difficult for him to kill the deer and moose.
The sky began to turn into Minseok’s favorite shade of orange as he walked down the familiar road to the weeping willow, where he would often go to as a place to find solitude and peace, away from all the irritating creatures that lived in Exodus.
Just like he did eleven years ago, Minseok rested his heavy head against the bark of the willow tree; every leaf that fell onto the leather and fur of his outfit felt like a comforting kiss. As his body drifted off to a peaceful slumber, the hunter became unaware of the calculated, soft steps that walked towards him, always there to watch him sleep. The creature whispered in an ancient tongue, now far more used to the incantation, walking in a circle and forming morning glories that surrounded the hunters resting body. The creature tsked, if he didn’t do this every time the man fell asleep then he would have bad dreams, and that was not acceptable.
The creature took another step forward, still not finished with the incantation. He ignored the prickling feeling on the tip of his tail, far too focused on the magic, until he took one more step into what could only be described as a blinding pain.
Minseok was awoken by a blood curling scream, along with the frightened sound of distant animals and birds fleeing the scene. He reached for his bow and arrow on instinct, still disoriented from being awoken so suddenly. Ready to aim at any given time, he ran towards the sound of the scream, fearing someone might be in danger. Once he did manage to reach the source of the sound, he had to take a step back.
The creature tried to rip out the metal bars that dug into his leg frantically, whimpering and sobbing with every effort he made. Minseok let his instincts take the best of him. He threw his provision bag to the ground and held the poor creature by his thigh and his knee in order to keep it steady.
“You’re going to have to stay still.” He said, gritting his teeth and forcing himself not to stare. The creature kept sobbing but did not fight back, instead decided to bite his hand to keep himself quiet. In one swift motion, Minseok pressed the release button in the trap, causing all the spikes that had dug into the creature's legs to pull out and reveal multiple punctures, even some incisions, to the creature’s skinny hooves. Minseok, without thinking about it twice, carried the faun man that had followed his dreams for eleven years back to his home.
----
The creature that fainted before Minseok had reached the cabin, thankfully not out of blood loss, but of shock. As he cleaned and covered the antler man’s wounds (The creature had been completely naked, only a patch of fur covering his more private region. The young boy faun he remembered now look roughly his age as well) he considered asking the local healer for help, but this was an unknown creature, and the people of Exodus were never kind to unknown things. He only told Jongdae to pick him up some medical supplies, leaving him and the sleeping faun alone.
He grasped the opportunity to finally get a good look at what the faun looked like. It had long, deer like ears to the side of his head along with a black nose black fingertips. The fur was too thin and skin like to noticed it on his face and arms, while darker fur would cover this collar bones like a necklace, his private regions and the his legs, which turned from human like to completely animalistic, with hooves and all, right after the knee. His antlers were short, far too short for what an adult deer is supposed to have. Minseok assumed he was just a late bloomer. He heard the antler man whisper something in the same unknown tongue he’d heard so many years ago as he slept. The words had caused a flower to grow on the palm of the creature’s hand. A dark pink rose.
At the sight of the flower blooming, Minseok started to look for something. During the years, he had furnished his mother’s old room into a small, makeshift library, where he could read and learn anything he wanted in peace. He looked through his gardening section and took out ‘The Language of Flowers’ along with his copy of ‘All Magical Beings’.
According to the book, dark pink roses symbolized thankfulness. Minseok smiled at the gratitude and wondered if the creature had known exactly what flower to bloom.
“Silvanus, protector of forests.” He started to read to himself, trying to look for anything that might look like the antler man in his bed. Actual fauns were entirely human in the upper part of their body and possessed no magical skills. Not to mention that the only actual faun in town, Chanyeol, did now enjoy roaming the woods at all, instead preferred to play his lyre around the town for money. And unlike a centaur, he possessed two legs and deer like qualities, none of a horse. He continued reading aloud, “Dryad, oak tree nymph. Satyrs... Centaurs.... Flora, goddess of flowers...”
“No. Luhan.” The creature said in his still accented voice from across the room, voice cracking. “My name is Luhan. I am the last of my kind.” He tried to sit up on the bed as he said this, but winced in pain.
“Ah, careful. You musn’t strain yourself for now, possibly for a while.” He said as casually as he could muster. “Here, have some water.”
The creature - Luhan, drank in heavy, desperate gulps, his antlers almost hitting Minseok’s face. “That’s enough for now. I covered your leg as best as I could, but tomorrow I have to do it again. You must stay here for the night. At least until I clear up the forest from those horrible traps.” Minseok assured him, an angry edge to his voice as he distinctly remembered telling the other hunters that he was against setting up the snares.
Luhan stretched his tired limbs for a moment then widened his eyes, registering what was going on. He scrambled to leave the mattress but winced almost instantly at the sudden movement. “I must go back to the forest!” He pleaded. Minseok would have none of it and gently grabbed the injured creature by his shoulders, shushing him back to the mattress.
“You are far too hurt to walk at the moment.” Minseok explained, “And it’s night. I may not be a forest creature, but I’ve been to it enough times to know that it is certainly not safe to wander off incapacitated and alone in the nighttime.”
As he spoke, he searched through his trousers to find a match, realizing that he could now barely see around him. Luhan whispered in his ancient tongue once again and, almost instantly, dozens and dozens of fireflies flew inside from the open window and rested on the ceiling like the night sky, providing a gentle glow. Some even rested upon Luhan’s small antlers, illuminating the faun’s golden hair.
“You... You made all those morning glories appear on my garden, did you not? You can control flowers and animals?” The hunter asked in awe.
Luhan smiled to himself. “My kind can control entire forests. From the leaves that fall to the animals that decide to live in it. Well, now I do it alone....”
“I dream of you every night. I thought you weren’t real.” Minseok shook his head. “You say you are the last of your kind. What happened to the others?”
As Luhan’s expression changed, so did the flowers that rested atop around in head in the form of a crown. Minseok checked his book again, and found that they changed into purple hyacinths. (Purple Hyacinths; sorrow.)
“Those who survived the ancient war moved to the far west. My family had decided to stay, but my father...” His voice trailed off. “He was one of the largest stags I ever knew, yet... he was killed by a lumberman when I was a still a fawn. They joined the herd to the east without anyone knowing, and left me here to take care of the forest. Alone.”
Minseok’s breath caught in his throat. ‘No, it couldn’t have been...’ He thought. “Did your father kill the lumberman?”
“Yes. Why, do you feel sorry for him?” The faun asked with a hint of bitterness in his voice. Minseok shook his head, surprised at himself that he was lying.
The human cleared his throat, desperate to change the topic at hand. He told Luhan to rest, both of them were far too tired to continue the conversation anyway. After explaining what had happened to a frightened Jongdae, Minseok threw his tired self onto the the sofa where he will sleep during Luhan’s stay. This time, morning glories did not appear around his body as he slept. Instead, he woke up the next morning surrounded by ferns. (Maidenhair Fern; a secret bond of love.)
----
He found his bed empty the next morning, completely devoid of any trace of an antlered man ever sleeping on it. Minseok was not surprised, he had always been a fanciful man who’d let his imagination get the best of him. He walked to the kitchen to grab the breakfast and coffee Jongdae always prepared but had barely touched his toast when he heard a pair of hooves clopping against the stone path of the garden.
Minseok ran out and found Luhan, talking to himself in his language and using a makeshift bamboo crutch to support himself.
“Your garden elve has done a very good job, I’m impressed. He even kept the flowers I gave you well kept.” Luhan’s eyes shined as he spoke. Before falling into her addiction, Minseok’s mother had loved caring for flowers and would take her son to the garden even when he still couldn’t walk. Minseok did not understand the attachment himself, but the garden had become part of his home as well as part of his being. An unkempt garden meant an unkept soul.
Minseok rested his hand on the small of Luhan’s back, worried that the faun will fall or hurt his leg even further. “I have so many questions. How... How did you learn our language?”
The faun gestured his hands towards the cabin. “You have a library and I have magic. You have so many books that you barely noticed that I would take one of two at a time.” Minseok could feel Luhan’s tail move enthusiastically, he was obviously proud of himself. “I learned a lot about your people and your customs. By the way, are you uncomfortable that I am not wearing clothes?”
“Most of it is all covered, you may stay nude.” Minseok joked, a gummy smile forming in his face, the kind he hasn’t let himself show in a long time. “Another question. Why did you help me sleep all those nights? Is there anything else that you did for me that I am not aware of?”
The golden hair covered Luhan’s eyes as he looked down and hid his embarrassed expression, the flowers in his crown turning into magenta zinnias.
(Magenta Zinnia; lasting affection.)
“Before my family left me to care for the forest, I was told that I must also protect those who love it. Yet, no one came into the forest. I have nothing to protect and I was far too busy trying to revive it back to health, which was far too difficult at the time for me. I barely knew anything of my magic.” Luhan closed his eyes. “And then you came. You were hurting the trees, I got angry and told you to leave. But, I could see your that you cared for this forest more than you cared for your mother.”
Minseok did not react to the statement, he knew it was true.
“‘All the lovers of the forest shall be blessed and protected’,” Luhan continued. “That is what my mother told me. I blessed you in your sleep and have been doing so ever since.”
The hunter stared at him, blinking in awe. Luhan then explained that just like the forest was part of him, he was part of the forest that had bloomed into its fullest potential as he became more powerful over time. His hooves were created by the strongest of oak, his eyes from the leaves that fell in the fall while his blood came from the river that brought water and fish to the towns people. If he were to die, all the beautiful and living things in the forest would go along with him.
Minseok asked if he was really just a faun and not a deity. Luhan’s ears perked up at the assumption and smiled, sunflowers growing in his crown this time, which were pretty self explanatory.
----
Thanks to Luhan's magic, Minseok managed to cure the faun's legs before they could get infected in only a few days. He was extremely lucky. From what he knew of healing, the snare did not break any major arteries, only created deep scars. He supposed he could call the local healer, Yixing, but he wasn't going to take the risk of letting Master Sorcerer Yifan learn about this. The townspeople had only just become accustomed to the now healthy forest. If they harm Luhan, they would harm the trembling ground beneath their feet.
Minseok has no doubt that the faun's magic can go beyond forming flowers and leaves from his palm. Despite his beautiful doe eyes and his smaller, delicate looking body, he is to be feared.
Yet, of all people, Luhan chose to trust him. A lonely hunter; a human no less. The least respected species of all the beings in Exodus and, despite his skill, one of the least respected hunters in the town. Luhan had noticed this when Minseok came back to the cabin one day with a black eye and no game to sell in the market. Sehun and Jongin had been unlucky and had decided to take their partner’s game for themselves. In an act of revenge, Luhan had made sure to command the animals of the forest to attack or run away from any tall, human hunter with tan skin or with a perpetual angered expression.
The days went on and Minseok had never felt more at peace when he would have to accompany Luhan back to the forest for his daily tasks. It seemed as if the numbing pain in all of the scars in Minseok’s body and mind had left and all he could focus on was the serene view of the gorgeous creature in front of him, counting away the fruits in the strawberry bushes.
He knew it was wrong; relationships between different species were still taboo in their town, despite the fact that the town leader was in a relationship with Joonmyun, the kind water fairy from the market. Despite this, there were times when Luhan would catch the hunter staring at him for far too long. But it was not a coincidence that the flowers in Luhan’s crown would turn to daffodils whenever he turned away, hiding his fluttering tail and perked ears.
(Daffodil; You're the Only One. The Sun is Always Shining When I'm with You)
The numbered days seemed too good to be true, as Minseok came home one day with berries and grass all fit for a faun when he heard no sound of hooves clopping against wood. The faun had left, possibly for his daily tasks alone now that he could walk properly again. Minseok packed the gift in his bag and ran to the entrance of the forest.
“Luhan! I bring gifts!” He yelled out at the antlered man in front of him. The faun had stopped in his tracks but did not look back.
Minseok caught up with him in a heartbeat, panting and grinning like mad. “Where are you going? May I come with you?” The worry in his voice was not hidden.
Luhan hid his face behind his golden hair again, as he always did when he was embarrassed. This time, however, Minseok was not going to accept the creature’s resignation. He took a firm hold on Luhan’s chin and lifted it up, forcing the pair to look into each other’s eyes.
“Let me go, please. I am cured.” The faun said with no emotion in his voice.
The hunter gritted his teeth. “No, Luhan. I am tired of decoding flowers and leaves when I want to know your emotions. Too many people have left me without any sort of explanation at all. Tell me, please.”
Luhan sighed, whispering to himself in his native tongue. “I cannot be with you anymore. I know I told you that I would protect you as you would me, but everytime I am with you I start to forget my duty. The forest is my priority, it’s the reason I was left on this land. I mustn't be distracted, not by you or any other creature in this town. This is my duty, Minseok. You must understand.”
“No, I don’t.” Minseok shook his head. “I promised you I would protect you. You can still care for the forest by my side.”
“I cannot focus with you around! The forest is vast, I can hide and care for it in peace.”
Minseok felt his nails digging into his palm. “I am a huntsman, I can find you.” The tension rose between them in a way that reminded him of his own mother. He wished he had taken his words back the moment they left his tongue.
“Please, do not make such statements. I thought you were better than this, than the others.” Luhan whispered in a shaking voice. Minseok wished he was.
He wished desperately to comfort him, to hold the frightened faun into his arms. Minseok had never wanted to Luhan to be afraid of him. He wasn’t his mother or his father. He wasn’t the hunters who animals as just food. Minseok reached out his hand to take Luhan’s, but the faun stopped himself before he could lean into the desperate touch.
Just then, a distant yell came from afar and, before he knew it, Luhan legs were tied to the ground with a throwing trap that only two other people in the town knew how to use.
“Jongin? What are you doing?” Minseok knelt beside the faun, who was struggling to gain his footing.
Sehun came running from the other side and tackled Minseok to the ground. “Somethin’ we should’ve done a long time ago. Ain’t that right, Jongin?” He snarled into the hunter’s ear and grinning.
“Quite right, Sehun. Our dear Master Sorcerer is goin’ to love this. Best game we’ve ever caught.” The tan hunter started to tie up Luhan’s hands behind his back, the faun yelled out in his native tongue, but was too startled to focus on his magic.
Minseok widened his eyes. “He’s not to eat! Leg go of him, you have no idea what you’re doing!” He struggled under Sehun, but was quickly tied up just as they had done to Luhan. He felt gravel and mud against his mouth and wished it had been the other human’s blood from his fists instead.
“Who said he was for eatin’? No way. An undiscovered creature sleeping with none other than Kim Minseok, the town’s best hunter? What would your papa, the greatest lumberman that ever lived at Exodus, say when he finds out his son is fuckin’ a deer thing?” Jongin smiled at him between each one of his words, each other cutting deep into Minseok’s skin. He wished he was part of the dirt beneath him. He was supposed to protect Luhan, and now the faun was staring at him in horror.
“You never told me your father was a lumberman...” Luhan choked as he stared at Minseok with wide eyes the second before Sehun gagged him.
Jongin carried the faun over his shoulders with ease, taking one cocky last look back at the other hunter. “Come on, mate. Let’s get it to Master Yifan for some rupees.”
They left Minseok on the ground, rocks and dirt cutting into his tear stained cheeks. A striped carnation had fallen out of Luhan’s crown when Jongin carried him away, and now laid mockingly in front of his eyes. He didn’t call out for help but instead glared at it, hoping it would catch in flames. He wished he could burn along with it.
(Striped Carnation; I cannot be with you. I wish I could be with you.)
Chapter Two
Genre: Fantasy. Magic. Hunter!Minseok. Faun!Luhan.
Rating: PG-13 (for now)
Length: 5.7K words
Warnings: Mentions of alcohol abuse. Past death. Asshole Jongin and Sehun.
Summary: Minseok meets a strange creature in the forest as a child. Eleven years later, he meets it again with a snare attached to its leg.
Notes: Here is the reccomended listening. I tried to write my image of faun!lLuhan as best as possible, but here is the reference I used.
(cover credit)
“He would eventually have to pass through the forest, but he felt no fear. Of course - the forest was inside him, he knew, and it made him who he was.”
― Haruki Murakami, After The Quake
The fog would always start the instant the sun hit the horizon in the town of Exodus. Every man and creature knew that they should grow weary at sundown, for strange things would appear from the dead forest, things that only the most powerful magical creatures and the strongest of huntsman could handle. Despite this, out in the outskirts of town, there was a quaint little cabin with a beautiful garden that held a young boy who would stare at the forest every night from out his window, wondering what lurked between the shadows.
Ever since he turned four, his mother would tell him not to not even think of venturing into the forest; to fear the creatures and spirits that roamed that roamed between the thick fog and the dark trails. His mother would warn him constantly, but Minseok had never been an obedient young man.
“There are beasts in that forest, both human and magical. Don’t even think about going inside.” His mother spat out as she stirred the soup made from the vegetables in their garden. Minseok took a whiff of the strong air around him and grumbled. No money for meat that week, it seemed. Meat was extremely difficult to buy these days since no hunter would dare to wander into the woods, and neither would any edible animal.
He swung his legs under the table, even at twelve years old they were far too short to reach the ground. Just a while until he was big and strong, he assured his chubby self, like his father used to be. He was told that Mr. Kim was humongous, towering over all the other lumbermen. Some would say he even towered the very trees he cut down with just a few swipes of his hand. “What kind of beasts? They can’t be all bad, eomma. I’ve seen rabbits and cats! And the garden elves that help us with our seeds! And the faeries that sell me the cabbages in the market!” He exclaimed enthusiastically, Minseok loved going to the market. Joonmyun, the head market fairy, would always save him the nicest apples he could find, sometimes for free.
Mrs. Kim slammed her hands against the wooden counter, her ring making the sound of the bang much louder than normal. “I’m talking about the sort of beasts that killed your father!” She yelled to no one in particular. Minseok watched as her breathing turned from a thunderous river to a calm stream. Neither of them spoke a word, the cabin was so silent you could hear a feather drop on the floor. The young boy’s senses focused only on the thick tension between them and the pungent smell of cabbage stew that they would have to eat all week.
----
He had escaped from the cabin for the first time when he was fourteen, the day his mother had finally become too burdened with guilt and whiskey. Minseok had left her on the floor, tired of having to come back to the same scene every day after returning from school. The entrance of the forest was already overcast with the thick trees; he knew he was too far away from the town, not even the garden elves were nearby to help. Jongdae, the only garden elve he knew that could not grow out a beard and also the very one who worked in his garden, would tell him that if the trees were tall to humans they were giants to them. Minseok, not much taller than the elve, understood what they meant perfectly.
Jaw clenched and fist kept into a tight, pale curl, he stomped into the forest, making sure to mark the bark of an occasional tree with a deep cut in order to remember his way home. As Minseok looked up at the sky, he could only see the lucky slither of sunlight that managed to get between the leaves and branches of the redwoods and the oak trees. The fog was just as thick as his mother would tell him, but it instead of the rumoured curling smell of blood that so many would warn him about, Minseok smelled flowers.
He followed the source of the smell, trying to catalog all of the ones he saw and could recognize, but his knowledge of flowers proved to be useless. His mother would take away his gardening books in exchange for actual tools. Never an axe, she would tell him, the wound still too deep in her skin compared to Minseok, who was just a baby when the incident had happened.
The path seemed to widen with every step he took, the leaves that fell onto the earth turned from dried and brown to a healthier green. It was so sudden, as if he’d crossed an imaginary line that would separate that dead trees from the ones full of life and color. Perhaps another type of garden elve maintained this part of forest. If they did, it felt as if they carefully tended to every single falling leaf and wildflower. The path combined with the earth, until Minseok found himself in a small circle like oasis. A wide weeping willow at the center, completely healthy and strong and incredibly out of place. Minseok, realizing he was exhausted, dragged himself to rest on the bark of the treet. ‘A short nap,’ he decided. ‘Just a few minutes,’ he told himself, until the world around him felt dark and he could dream and wonder if his father roamed these parts of the forests too.
The moment, however, was short lived. A soft rustle of leaves came from a nearby tree, which then turned into careful soft steps that he could only listen to if he stopped breathing. Minseok silently reached for a nearby stick and jumped on his feet, hearing a gasp and a startled stomping that crushed multiple dried leaves.
"Who goes there?! I'm not afraid of you!" The boy shouted, his voice and his hands shaking with fear. He treated forward, looking as menacing as his fourteen year old face allowed him to.
Deep brown fingertips curled against the bark of the tree in front of him. If he wasn’t focusing, he would swear that they were part of the wood itself, as they camouflaged perfectly with the color around him. He noticed an arm now, with a thin layer of short beige fur that contrasted greatly to the one on its fingertips. The creature allowed itself to sneak a peek at the young boy. Minseok saw curious, big eyes that matched the color of the forest around him, hints of green and brown clashing together against the creature’s pale looking fur and golden hair along with... an antler?
It hid his face again as it made eye contact with Minseok, only showing a bit of its antler that moved as it spoke. “Leave now.” It said with an accented voice that sounded even more childlike than his own. “Go now. This... secret place.”
Minseok took a step closer. “What are you?”
The creature ignored his question, struggling to find words the human could understand. “Leave now, sun down soon. Night is danger. Forest is danger! Go!” It commanded. As it yelled out in a language that Minseok had never heard of, short stalks of poison ivy grew beside his feet, getting closer with every second. Minseok knew better than to mess with magical beings. He ran, faster than he’d ever had in his life, only turning his head to make sure that the trees he passed had marks. He kept running until he could see the setting sun from the window of his house, not once thinking about something else other than the creature’s eyes.
Night came as quickly as his run. Minseok did not listen to his mother yell at him for being late through the door that night, she would grow tired eventually. The muffled screams died down after a few minutes, letting Minseok’s thoughts finally wander off to the events of today. His heavy eyes said otherwise, thought. The young boy was finally forced to let himself sleep, without any time to preserve the memories of today and part of his wondered if it had all been a dream.
When the night hit a point where even the town faeries, giants and the garden elves decided to rest as well, there was not a single clue that hinted on the careful pitter patter of a creature's hooves walking towards the nearby cabin to stare into the window, except a bush of morning glories that grew beneath the glass that would confuse Jongdae to no end, especially since they always grew back whenever he tried to cut them. The next morning, Minseok, also confused, assured him not to worry. According to the book he stole back from his mother, he assured the garden elve that the morning glories can bring them peace and happiness, while its seeds can guard off nightmares.
----
Unlike the morning glories, which were strong and healthy enough to now take up almost an entire wall of the cabin thanks to Jongdae’s green thumb (a literal green thumb. Minseok didn’t understand elve magic very well, but apparently it helped keep the flowers younger with every touch) his mother’s final, weak breath was exhaled on a Tuesday. On the anniversary of his father’s death, ironically enough. As little as he wanted to admit it, her death did not affect him, at least now the house won’t smell of cabbage and alcohol. Minseok assured Joonmyun and the rest of the faeries that they will have their game in time for the beginning of winter. And as if he didn’t have enough problems, Baekhyun, the local squirrel man, kept on complaining about Minseok killing his kind for the rest of the town folk to eat. They already had a treaty, all the squirrel in the forest were his, while all the ones in the town were Baekhyun’s, but that didn’t seem to satisfy the rodent who, once again, went to complain to Master Sorcerer Yifan’s house. Minseok pitied the wizard, he had to deal with leading so many annoying creatures.
Like most humans, he lived in the outskirts of the town and closer to the forest that he used to fear so much. He set his bows and arrows on the table and thought about the new, much more inhabited area. As he grew older, his body turning muscular but not as tall as he’d thought he’d be, the forest grew along at the same pace. Everyone had been astonished to find that the forest animals had returned from their mass migration and that all the dead trees grew from brown to green. It took a long time for every slither of fog to eventually leave, but now one could walk through what was once was such a dark and haunting place as if they were walking through their own backyard.
Trying to give his mother at least some sort of respect after her death, he took up hunting instead of working in lumber like his father. Turns out he had a talented aim, and was one of the few hunters who managed to still catch a decent amount of game during winter.
“You goin’ to the competition next fortnight, right?” Jongin had asked in a particular job they had together. Hunting down orcs and trolls for the giants that passed by to the market was no easy task, especially since they wanted to much of it.
Minseok shrugged. “It does not interest me. I don’t enjoy hunting for sport, I only do it because of necessity.”
Sehun snorted, muttering some sort of vulgar world that Minseok wasn’t interested in hearing. “That’s real dainty of you, Minseok. Come on lad, it’ll just be a few rounds of some rats and stuff. Nothin’ no one wants alive.”
Minseok refused their offer once more, much more interested in getting their job done rather than spending anymore time with other humans. Minseok never got along with his own kind, finding them far too intrusive and rude.
Now, he goes into the forest alone. His mind always wanders back to the creature with the antlers when he notices an old knife mark against bark. Despite dreaming of it almost every night, the image of the antler boy is just a blurry memory when he wakes up. Even Master Sorcerer Yifan did not know about such a being still existing, they were always thought to be myths. Which is ironic coming from a man who leads a town full of magical creatures.
“It must be a dream, Minseok, willows can have that effect on people, especially children,” The wizard told him, his deep black eyes that contrasted with his snow white hair burning into him tauntingly. “The antler men all died in the ancient war, no need to ponder on juvenile fallacies.”
Minseok almost relieved his anger on a nearby oak tree, but fought against the act. It was certainly strange, how even the slightest act of harm against the forest made him so guilty. The marks he made on the trees as a child seemed to taunt him. He remembers waking up one morning and deciding that, apart from making his mother happy, he didn’t want to become a lumberjack anymore, leave that to the other humans who didn’t care about the wildlife. At least hunting was done out of need, and he would always kill the animal as efficiently as possible, despite it being strangely difficult for him to kill the deer and moose.
The sky began to turn into Minseok’s favorite shade of orange as he walked down the familiar road to the weeping willow, where he would often go to as a place to find solitude and peace, away from all the irritating creatures that lived in Exodus.
Just like he did eleven years ago, Minseok rested his heavy head against the bark of the willow tree; every leaf that fell onto the leather and fur of his outfit felt like a comforting kiss. As his body drifted off to a peaceful slumber, the hunter became unaware of the calculated, soft steps that walked towards him, always there to watch him sleep. The creature whispered in an ancient tongue, now far more used to the incantation, walking in a circle and forming morning glories that surrounded the hunters resting body. The creature tsked, if he didn’t do this every time the man fell asleep then he would have bad dreams, and that was not acceptable.
The creature took another step forward, still not finished with the incantation. He ignored the prickling feeling on the tip of his tail, far too focused on the magic, until he took one more step into what could only be described as a blinding pain.
Minseok was awoken by a blood curling scream, along with the frightened sound of distant animals and birds fleeing the scene. He reached for his bow and arrow on instinct, still disoriented from being awoken so suddenly. Ready to aim at any given time, he ran towards the sound of the scream, fearing someone might be in danger. Once he did manage to reach the source of the sound, he had to take a step back.
The creature tried to rip out the metal bars that dug into his leg frantically, whimpering and sobbing with every effort he made. Minseok let his instincts take the best of him. He threw his provision bag to the ground and held the poor creature by his thigh and his knee in order to keep it steady.
“You’re going to have to stay still.” He said, gritting his teeth and forcing himself not to stare. The creature kept sobbing but did not fight back, instead decided to bite his hand to keep himself quiet. In one swift motion, Minseok pressed the release button in the trap, causing all the spikes that had dug into the creature's legs to pull out and reveal multiple punctures, even some incisions, to the creature’s skinny hooves. Minseok, without thinking about it twice, carried the faun man that had followed his dreams for eleven years back to his home.
----
The creature that fainted before Minseok had reached the cabin, thankfully not out of blood loss, but of shock. As he cleaned and covered the antler man’s wounds (The creature had been completely naked, only a patch of fur covering his more private region. The young boy faun he remembered now look roughly his age as well) he considered asking the local healer for help, but this was an unknown creature, and the people of Exodus were never kind to unknown things. He only told Jongdae to pick him up some medical supplies, leaving him and the sleeping faun alone.
He grasped the opportunity to finally get a good look at what the faun looked like. It had long, deer like ears to the side of his head along with a black nose black fingertips. The fur was too thin and skin like to noticed it on his face and arms, while darker fur would cover this collar bones like a necklace, his private regions and the his legs, which turned from human like to completely animalistic, with hooves and all, right after the knee. His antlers were short, far too short for what an adult deer is supposed to have. Minseok assumed he was just a late bloomer. He heard the antler man whisper something in the same unknown tongue he’d heard so many years ago as he slept. The words had caused a flower to grow on the palm of the creature’s hand. A dark pink rose.
At the sight of the flower blooming, Minseok started to look for something. During the years, he had furnished his mother’s old room into a small, makeshift library, where he could read and learn anything he wanted in peace. He looked through his gardening section and took out ‘The Language of Flowers’ along with his copy of ‘All Magical Beings’.
According to the book, dark pink roses symbolized thankfulness. Minseok smiled at the gratitude and wondered if the creature had known exactly what flower to bloom.
“Silvanus, protector of forests.” He started to read to himself, trying to look for anything that might look like the antler man in his bed. Actual fauns were entirely human in the upper part of their body and possessed no magical skills. Not to mention that the only actual faun in town, Chanyeol, did now enjoy roaming the woods at all, instead preferred to play his lyre around the town for money. And unlike a centaur, he possessed two legs and deer like qualities, none of a horse. He continued reading aloud, “Dryad, oak tree nymph. Satyrs... Centaurs.... Flora, goddess of flowers...”
“No. Luhan.” The creature said in his still accented voice from across the room, voice cracking. “My name is Luhan. I am the last of my kind.” He tried to sit up on the bed as he said this, but winced in pain.
“Ah, careful. You musn’t strain yourself for now, possibly for a while.” He said as casually as he could muster. “Here, have some water.”
The creature - Luhan, drank in heavy, desperate gulps, his antlers almost hitting Minseok’s face. “That’s enough for now. I covered your leg as best as I could, but tomorrow I have to do it again. You must stay here for the night. At least until I clear up the forest from those horrible traps.” Minseok assured him, an angry edge to his voice as he distinctly remembered telling the other hunters that he was against setting up the snares.
Luhan stretched his tired limbs for a moment then widened his eyes, registering what was going on. He scrambled to leave the mattress but winced almost instantly at the sudden movement. “I must go back to the forest!” He pleaded. Minseok would have none of it and gently grabbed the injured creature by his shoulders, shushing him back to the mattress.
“You are far too hurt to walk at the moment.” Minseok explained, “And it’s night. I may not be a forest creature, but I’ve been to it enough times to know that it is certainly not safe to wander off incapacitated and alone in the nighttime.”
As he spoke, he searched through his trousers to find a match, realizing that he could now barely see around him. Luhan whispered in his ancient tongue once again and, almost instantly, dozens and dozens of fireflies flew inside from the open window and rested on the ceiling like the night sky, providing a gentle glow. Some even rested upon Luhan’s small antlers, illuminating the faun’s golden hair.
“You... You made all those morning glories appear on my garden, did you not? You can control flowers and animals?” The hunter asked in awe.
Luhan smiled to himself. “My kind can control entire forests. From the leaves that fall to the animals that decide to live in it. Well, now I do it alone....”
“I dream of you every night. I thought you weren’t real.” Minseok shook his head. “You say you are the last of your kind. What happened to the others?”
As Luhan’s expression changed, so did the flowers that rested atop around in head in the form of a crown. Minseok checked his book again, and found that they changed into purple hyacinths. (Purple Hyacinths; sorrow.)
“Those who survived the ancient war moved to the far west. My family had decided to stay, but my father...” His voice trailed off. “He was one of the largest stags I ever knew, yet... he was killed by a lumberman when I was a still a fawn. They joined the herd to the east without anyone knowing, and left me here to take care of the forest. Alone.”
Minseok’s breath caught in his throat. ‘No, it couldn’t have been...’ He thought. “Did your father kill the lumberman?”
“Yes. Why, do you feel sorry for him?” The faun asked with a hint of bitterness in his voice. Minseok shook his head, surprised at himself that he was lying.
The human cleared his throat, desperate to change the topic at hand. He told Luhan to rest, both of them were far too tired to continue the conversation anyway. After explaining what had happened to a frightened Jongdae, Minseok threw his tired self onto the the sofa where he will sleep during Luhan’s stay. This time, morning glories did not appear around his body as he slept. Instead, he woke up the next morning surrounded by ferns. (Maidenhair Fern; a secret bond of love.)
----
He found his bed empty the next morning, completely devoid of any trace of an antlered man ever sleeping on it. Minseok was not surprised, he had always been a fanciful man who’d let his imagination get the best of him. He walked to the kitchen to grab the breakfast and coffee Jongdae always prepared but had barely touched his toast when he heard a pair of hooves clopping against the stone path of the garden.
Minseok ran out and found Luhan, talking to himself in his language and using a makeshift bamboo crutch to support himself.
“Your garden elve has done a very good job, I’m impressed. He even kept the flowers I gave you well kept.” Luhan’s eyes shined as he spoke. Before falling into her addiction, Minseok’s mother had loved caring for flowers and would take her son to the garden even when he still couldn’t walk. Minseok did not understand the attachment himself, but the garden had become part of his home as well as part of his being. An unkempt garden meant an unkept soul.
Minseok rested his hand on the small of Luhan’s back, worried that the faun will fall or hurt his leg even further. “I have so many questions. How... How did you learn our language?”
The faun gestured his hands towards the cabin. “You have a library and I have magic. You have so many books that you barely noticed that I would take one of two at a time.” Minseok could feel Luhan’s tail move enthusiastically, he was obviously proud of himself. “I learned a lot about your people and your customs. By the way, are you uncomfortable that I am not wearing clothes?”
“Most of it is all covered, you may stay nude.” Minseok joked, a gummy smile forming in his face, the kind he hasn’t let himself show in a long time. “Another question. Why did you help me sleep all those nights? Is there anything else that you did for me that I am not aware of?”
The golden hair covered Luhan’s eyes as he looked down and hid his embarrassed expression, the flowers in his crown turning into magenta zinnias.
(Magenta Zinnia; lasting affection.)
“Before my family left me to care for the forest, I was told that I must also protect those who love it. Yet, no one came into the forest. I have nothing to protect and I was far too busy trying to revive it back to health, which was far too difficult at the time for me. I barely knew anything of my magic.” Luhan closed his eyes. “And then you came. You were hurting the trees, I got angry and told you to leave. But, I could see your that you cared for this forest more than you cared for your mother.”
Minseok did not react to the statement, he knew it was true.
“‘All the lovers of the forest shall be blessed and protected’,” Luhan continued. “That is what my mother told me. I blessed you in your sleep and have been doing so ever since.”
The hunter stared at him, blinking in awe. Luhan then explained that just like the forest was part of him, he was part of the forest that had bloomed into its fullest potential as he became more powerful over time. His hooves were created by the strongest of oak, his eyes from the leaves that fell in the fall while his blood came from the river that brought water and fish to the towns people. If he were to die, all the beautiful and living things in the forest would go along with him.
Minseok asked if he was really just a faun and not a deity. Luhan’s ears perked up at the assumption and smiled, sunflowers growing in his crown this time, which were pretty self explanatory.
----
Thanks to Luhan's magic, Minseok managed to cure the faun's legs before they could get infected in only a few days. He was extremely lucky. From what he knew of healing, the snare did not break any major arteries, only created deep scars. He supposed he could call the local healer, Yixing, but he wasn't going to take the risk of letting Master Sorcerer Yifan learn about this. The townspeople had only just become accustomed to the now healthy forest. If they harm Luhan, they would harm the trembling ground beneath their feet.
Minseok has no doubt that the faun's magic can go beyond forming flowers and leaves from his palm. Despite his beautiful doe eyes and his smaller, delicate looking body, he is to be feared.
Yet, of all people, Luhan chose to trust him. A lonely hunter; a human no less. The least respected species of all the beings in Exodus and, despite his skill, one of the least respected hunters in the town. Luhan had noticed this when Minseok came back to the cabin one day with a black eye and no game to sell in the market. Sehun and Jongin had been unlucky and had decided to take their partner’s game for themselves. In an act of revenge, Luhan had made sure to command the animals of the forest to attack or run away from any tall, human hunter with tan skin or with a perpetual angered expression.
The days went on and Minseok had never felt more at peace when he would have to accompany Luhan back to the forest for his daily tasks. It seemed as if the numbing pain in all of the scars in Minseok’s body and mind had left and all he could focus on was the serene view of the gorgeous creature in front of him, counting away the fruits in the strawberry bushes.
He knew it was wrong; relationships between different species were still taboo in their town, despite the fact that the town leader was in a relationship with Joonmyun, the kind water fairy from the market. Despite this, there were times when Luhan would catch the hunter staring at him for far too long. But it was not a coincidence that the flowers in Luhan’s crown would turn to daffodils whenever he turned away, hiding his fluttering tail and perked ears.
(Daffodil; You're the Only One. The Sun is Always Shining When I'm with You)
The numbered days seemed too good to be true, as Minseok came home one day with berries and grass all fit for a faun when he heard no sound of hooves clopping against wood. The faun had left, possibly for his daily tasks alone now that he could walk properly again. Minseok packed the gift in his bag and ran to the entrance of the forest.
“Luhan! I bring gifts!” He yelled out at the antlered man in front of him. The faun had stopped in his tracks but did not look back.
Minseok caught up with him in a heartbeat, panting and grinning like mad. “Where are you going? May I come with you?” The worry in his voice was not hidden.
Luhan hid his face behind his golden hair again, as he always did when he was embarrassed. This time, however, Minseok was not going to accept the creature’s resignation. He took a firm hold on Luhan’s chin and lifted it up, forcing the pair to look into each other’s eyes.
“Let me go, please. I am cured.” The faun said with no emotion in his voice.
The hunter gritted his teeth. “No, Luhan. I am tired of decoding flowers and leaves when I want to know your emotions. Too many people have left me without any sort of explanation at all. Tell me, please.”
Luhan sighed, whispering to himself in his native tongue. “I cannot be with you anymore. I know I told you that I would protect you as you would me, but everytime I am with you I start to forget my duty. The forest is my priority, it’s the reason I was left on this land. I mustn't be distracted, not by you or any other creature in this town. This is my duty, Minseok. You must understand.”
“No, I don’t.” Minseok shook his head. “I promised you I would protect you. You can still care for the forest by my side.”
“I cannot focus with you around! The forest is vast, I can hide and care for it in peace.”
Minseok felt his nails digging into his palm. “I am a huntsman, I can find you.” The tension rose between them in a way that reminded him of his own mother. He wished he had taken his words back the moment they left his tongue.
“Please, do not make such statements. I thought you were better than this, than the others.” Luhan whispered in a shaking voice. Minseok wished he was.
He wished desperately to comfort him, to hold the frightened faun into his arms. Minseok had never wanted to Luhan to be afraid of him. He wasn’t his mother or his father. He wasn’t the hunters who animals as just food. Minseok reached out his hand to take Luhan’s, but the faun stopped himself before he could lean into the desperate touch.
Just then, a distant yell came from afar and, before he knew it, Luhan legs were tied to the ground with a throwing trap that only two other people in the town knew how to use.
“Jongin? What are you doing?” Minseok knelt beside the faun, who was struggling to gain his footing.
Sehun came running from the other side and tackled Minseok to the ground. “Somethin’ we should’ve done a long time ago. Ain’t that right, Jongin?” He snarled into the hunter’s ear and grinning.
“Quite right, Sehun. Our dear Master Sorcerer is goin’ to love this. Best game we’ve ever caught.” The tan hunter started to tie up Luhan’s hands behind his back, the faun yelled out in his native tongue, but was too startled to focus on his magic.
Minseok widened his eyes. “He’s not to eat! Leg go of him, you have no idea what you’re doing!” He struggled under Sehun, but was quickly tied up just as they had done to Luhan. He felt gravel and mud against his mouth and wished it had been the other human’s blood from his fists instead.
“Who said he was for eatin’? No way. An undiscovered creature sleeping with none other than Kim Minseok, the town’s best hunter? What would your papa, the greatest lumberman that ever lived at Exodus, say when he finds out his son is fuckin’ a deer thing?” Jongin smiled at him between each one of his words, each other cutting deep into Minseok’s skin. He wished he was part of the dirt beneath him. He was supposed to protect Luhan, and now the faun was staring at him in horror.
“You never told me your father was a lumberman...” Luhan choked as he stared at Minseok with wide eyes the second before Sehun gagged him.
Jongin carried the faun over his shoulders with ease, taking one cocky last look back at the other hunter. “Come on, mate. Let’s get it to Master Yifan for some rupees.”
They left Minseok on the ground, rocks and dirt cutting into his tear stained cheeks. A striped carnation had fallen out of Luhan’s crown when Jongin carried him away, and now laid mockingly in front of his eyes. He didn’t call out for help but instead glared at it, hoping it would catch in flames. He wished he could burn along with it.
(Striped Carnation; I cannot be with you. I wish I could be with you.)
Chapter Two