Chapter Text
Kyungsoo had been dreading the weather all week, it’s been raining nonstop, and the bakery for obvious reasons has had fewer customers than usual. Which at first was okay because that meant less work to do but after days his father keeps bothering him about the ball and how he should get married soon, his life and time passing way too fast for him to stay in the bakery forever with him.
Don't think wrong, his father loves him very much, he supposes, but he doesn't want to get married to someone just because it's time for him to do so, to form a family of his own.
There's not even a right time to marry and have children, Kyungsoo is sure of that, but maybe he indeed is a little bit lonely. After all, he's thirty and his love life has been nothing but all failed.
His father has owned the small but popular bakery for over thirty-five years, the annual ball is always a great business opportunity for them, with how many tourists and nearby villagers come to dance and maybe roam around the attractions of the city, they manage to get new clients and bigger orders every time.
But the ball more than a festivity is a reminder of the tales they conquered, the chase they won, the land they claimed. A mockery.
Every town has its legends, its myths that nourish people’s fears. Most of them are irrational, coming from ignorance making hatred the conclusion. Prejudice inciting often the making of misjudged monsters.
That’s how the myth of Kai was born, from the abhorrence his parents felt when they first saw him, from the fright the people used to look at him, from the terror and disgust the mere mention of his name provoked, all that and more created the evil creature everyone fears.
A curse made the creature, but solitude made the beast.
People say it’s an ugly creature, a child of the night. Deadly, with a terrifying body made for hunting.
They say that it feeds from any type of soul, that’s how merciless the creature is, that’s why its heart is as heavy as its sins, as the souls it has taken.
That’s how the little town has lived, within lies, creating shadows, avoiding curses. Celebrating abuse.
Making the ball their reminder, keeping alive the memory of how they chased the creature away. How they're safe now, how the myth is now all bark and no bite as fearsome as it sounds.
Kyungsoo wonders if myths are the worst this town has.
"Son, did you take out the trash? I've taken the new flour sacks to the storage, but we might need to order two more for what I counted” His father was the one that usually took care of the storage, at least the heavy one, Kyungsoo was better at picking the fresh fruits for the tarts or choosing the best combination of nuts and spices, his sense of smell and taste was privileged.
A privilege, or as some may say a gift, not due to his blindness but as something he has carried since he was a kid. With the years and with his disease progressing, he found his sense of smell and taste developing even further.
Maybe he doesn't like strong-flavored foods, but at least he can tolerate some types of coffee and chocolate.
Making desserts for him is more of a job than anything, he believes there's more he can do, his passions lie somewhere else, it's just the town that doesn't want to give him a chance.
‘’Yeah, I’ll call the supplier tomorrow, but the mangoes and strawberries need a little more to be ready, should I order some too?’’ As he’s the one that keeps the best track of their orchard, he’s sure at least for a week or two, but the fruits they have for the tarts and cakes for the week will not suffice.
‘’That’s fine, add peaches too’’ Kyungsoo heard his father walking away. He’s already feeling the headache tomorrow’s work in the rain will bring.
The next week the weather was in Kyungsoo's favor, so he decided to go to the market and see what fruits or meat he could buy to experiment more, or at least do something else than being around the stoves, ovens, and smell of yeast for a while. Fresh air is always welcome for him.
"Soo!"
That was the unmistakable voice of Junmyeon, sweet caring Junmyeon who's probably late for his shift at the observatory.
"Hi, Jun. Aren't you late?" For Kyungsoo's fortune and for being Junmyeon's best friend since childhood, the knowledge of the other's schedule doesn't feel creepy.
His friend is lucky to work in the Cerro Quiroga their famous observatory and Kyungsoo’s favorite place in the world.
"Maintenance day for the telescope, we can check in late today" Junmyeon shrugged, those things happen even when the observatory it's not open to the public. ‘’If you’re looking for Mrs. Kang, he already opened his market’’.
There is the expectation of keeping the routine, ‘’Yeah, I wanted to buy some fresh stuff’’ He sighed.
Junmyeon noticed, as he always does, how his friend was not genuinely smiling anymore so a very not unusual idea came to him.
‘’What if you come to the observatory?’’ He knew he was doing the right thing when Kyungsoo didn’t smile immediately but his face could not hide his interest, ‘’Anyway, the worst could be you getting lost into the forest and you could collect some pinions’’
Kyungsoo felt disappointed. "You think I only want to go because of pinions?" He raised a brow, questioning his friend’s judgment.
"What? No, of course not" Junmyeon answered a little in panic, he was good at confrontation but never when it came to Kyungsoo.
"Well, then we can have a sleepover in the observatory," Kyungsoo said with excitement.
"Kyungsoo but you won't even se-" His friend stopped mid-sentence, it hurt a little to hear how poorly he thought of his capacities.
"I know I'm blind Junmyeon, but still my project might be useful, just have a little faith in my research" Now, Kyungsoo was pushing it. He knew it was not entirely objective to let him into the observatory this way, and that Junmyeon could get in trouble, but at least he could try.
He loves the place and if his destiny was not to be a baker, he surely would have ended up working in the observatory or doing something related to it. But fate is a wicked being that only helps the already lucky ones.
Junmyeon sighed ‘’Okay, but don’t get away from my sight, the forest has been weird lately’’. More than a warning he said it with a little confusion.
‘’What do you mean?’’ All his life the forest has been a little too weird and off-limits for most people in town, so Junmyeon being worried should mean something big.
‘’Well, something has been killing a few animals, but that’s a given of the woods. The weird part is trees have been falling but you know logging it's illegal here and we should have seen anyone getting into the forest with their trucks or tools". Junmyeon explained anxiously, Kyungsoo felt his friend was hiding something else, but he will not pry… yet.
After a little more convincing and Kyungsoo was set to join Junmyeon. They drove into the forest and to the mountains where the observatory was. The journey was no longer but Kyungsoo noticed they took a different route, Junmyeon explained that they discovered the strange logging of trees because of some of them falling near the usual pathway to the observatory.
When they arrived Kyungsoo was already feeling better, the smell of trees was extra delicious that day, he could smell the pines and wet soil. The fresh air felt amazing on his lungs and even with the sun burning up in the sky the unworried breeze was perfect for his body.
Kyungsoo and Junmyeon got into the observatory and immediately a jolly voice received them.
‘’Kyungsoo? To what we owe this honor?" It was Dr. Martinez, the director of the observatory and a good friend of theirs. She was a very committed woman to his job, so much that refuses to give up the place to someone else, even when she only has left a year or two for his retirement.
"Have I miss something important?’’ Kyungsoo liked Dr. Martinez, he admired her determination of not letting go of his projects and to hold until the very last. He wishes he could be like her, free to pursue whatever passion he has.
‘’Besides big foot making impossible to come here on time, nothing big. Still working on the new source of gravitational waves’’ The doctor got close to tap on Kyungsoo’s shoulder, her always way to greet him, ‘’But I’m afraid our talk on binary neutron-star fusion has to wait, we have a meeting right now that I guess Junmyeon forgot about’’.
‘’Fuck! I thought it was tomorrow’’ Kyungsoo heard Junmyeon curse beside him.
‘’It’s okay, meanwhile, I could collect the pinion pine nuts we talked about’’ Kyungsoo guessed it hurt nobody to wait for a few hours, he knew from experience that the meetings even when Junmyeon assured him will last an hour or half, they still last two or more, so he might as well collect those damn pines.
‘’Are you sure?’’ Junmyeon asked, Kyungsoo just nodded at him. ‘’Okay, call me if something happens or you need anything’’.
Kyungsoo grabbed his cane and his backpack to collect the pinions nuts.
Out of the observatory, Kyungsoo felt the chilly breeze again, maybe a little hiking would not be bad at all. He knew the usual path to the nearest portion of the forest where he knew it was clear for him to collect the nuts, so it sure won’t be a problem if he walks a little bit further than usual.
Once he was in the woods, he was careful and made sure to step loudly enough to warn any animal near him.
Crack crack crack
Kyungsoo heard something walking near him, the creak of the sticks was too close and he thought it must be some big animal or a person. ‘’Is anyone there?’’
Crunch. He heard the same heavy thing walk closer to him.
And then silence.
Without warning Kyungsoo felt a hot breath on his nape, finally sensing it was human. A presence that felt bigger than him was behind and he didn’t dare to move, not even an inch.
‘’Lo-look I don’t have money with me right now if that’s what you’re looking f-for’’ He felt the person walking around him. The presence felt hotter near him like he emanated heat on its own.
The person still didn’t say a word.
Kyungsoo tried to move slowly his cane, trying to locate the path to go back and escape from the raider. He could not make it too far without being caught, but maybe he could get close enough to the observatory so they could hear his screams.
The thief must have sensed his little movement and Kyungsoo felt how it got far from him.
Suddenly, Kyungsoo heard what sound like a large bird taking off, the rustle of leaves sounded like it was bigger than any bird he has ever encountered, and the air stream it caused was too powerful to belong to any bird of the forest.
Something was weird and Kyungsoo was terrified for his life.
The leaves of the near tree started to rustle loudly. Kyungsoo felt someone or more like something was making the ruckus with the trees. He decided it was his chance to escape.
He started to redirect himself with his cane and was ready to storm out the hell from there when the trees stopped making noise.
Kyungsoo stayed still for a second and then the presence was again in front of him, he heard how it jumped from the trees to stand in front of him. Kyungsoo now felt the thing in front of him could not be any normal type of human.
The person took his hand and it felt weird. He could not help but start screaming.
‘’Ahhh! Please let me go, I didn’t do anything wrong I don’t have money, please let me go!’’ He was hysterical screaming; he fell to the floor trying to implore for his life.
The creature in front of him dropped something into the floor, it was either heavy or it was several items at the time. Kyungsoo thought that was it. He was going to be killed at that moment.
Then Kyungsoo felt something rather… unexpected roll towards him. A pinecone.
What? are they going to kill me with cones?
A hand grabbed his hand again. This time out of fear he didn’t try to escape, the person put on his hand another pinecone.
The hand felt strange, with too much texture. Not in all the hands but just some parts that rubbed into his. Kyungsoo could also feel the nails of the person, too long and thick.
‘’Here’’ A voice distracted him. It was a man’s voice, a beautiful one. It sounded rich, deep, like the voice you expect to hear on a documental, sweet as honey and deep as the unexplored ocean.
Kyungsoo needs to remind himself of the situation he is in.
When Kyungsoo started to touch around him he felt lots of pinecones, he could not count all of them but at least fifty were in front of him.
‘’Did you just take these down for me?’’ Kyungsoo must be stupid to want to start a conversation with his robber or whatever the person is, but he was flabbergasted at the gesture.
‘’You were searching for them’’ The man said, but Kyungsoo doesn’t recall him collecting the pinecones or saying aloud what he was doing in the woods.
He just got here.
‘’How do you know that?’’ The brief peace Kyungsoo felt from the stranger’s gesture was gone, his brain was screaming at him that he should run as far and fast as possible.
‘’I heard you’’ Nonchalantly he answered, Kyungsoo does not trust him.
Was the man stalking him?
‘’Then you must know my name, what’s yours?’’ If he could get anything from the robber that could be useful surely his name was no it, but who is ever smart in situations of life or death?
‘’I do, Kyungsoo is what you’re called, but you don’t want to know mine’’ The man put more pinecones close.
‘’That’s for me to decide’’ Kyungsoo said with a fake rush of encouragement, he was in danger, and he was demanding something so childish.
‘’Kai. You call me Kai’’ The man calmly said.
Kyungsoo burst in a laugh, at least he knew his robber had a great sense of humor. ‘’Did your mother hate you enough to name you like that?’’ He kept laughing.
‘’She did’’ The man said, and, in his voice, confusion could be heard, as if he didn’t understand why Kyungsoo could not believe him.
‘’Yeah yeah, I’ll believe your name is Kai’’ Kyungsoo got up, feeling a little less in danger, ‘’Well, Mr. Kai if you don’t have any more business with me, I will proceed to go back’’.
Kyungsoo didn’t wait for the robber to answer, with the help of his cane he tried to locate himself, but he didn’t count that the pinecones will not be in his favor.
Accidentally he stepped on one, the next thing he knew he was falling. So, he did the only reasonable thing to do, he tried to grab into anything near him which happened to be the Kai guy.
The man instinctively embraced Kyungsoo to him trying to cushion his fall, but he didn’t expect the force the stumbling caused to make them both fall.
It happened fast, and no one saw it coming but Kyungsoo ended up over the man.
Embarrassed by the situation Kyungsoo started to apologize ‘’I’m so sorry!’’ He moved his hand without noticing it to the side of the man, and the embarrassment was replaced by terror.
Kyungsoo started to feel the texture under his palm. It felt leathery, hot, and it moved, like a bat’s wing. He then started to feel the arms of the guy and remembered why he screamed in the first place; it was covered in scales. The texture of the hand was covering the arm too and Kyungsoo was not imagining it, it felt like scales, the whole arm emanating more heat.
He felt a shiver all over his body. Kyungsoo aimed to feel the face of the person? creature? Whatever the man was. He started to touch the chest looking for the way to the other’s face, when he found the neck, he felt another shiver running on his back, it had some scales.
He found the face.
Kyungsoo was not even sure why the man was letting him touch him, maybe he wanted to make sure Kyungsoo knew who or what it was, maybe he indeed was Kai. That sole thought frighted him. He decided he didn’t want to find out, so he put his hands back to his chest, not wanting to touch the man anymore.
But Kai had other plans.
‘’Are you afraid of me now?’’ With something akin to hurt in his voice, the man said, ‘’Touch me. I let you go after that’’.
Kai then took Kyungsoo’s hands again, guiding them to his face.
Kyungsoo was trembling and tears were pooling in his eyes. He began to touch his face, he had some scales on his face, the creature had a sharp jaw and plump lips, his nose was small and flat, then he felt them.
A pair of menacing horns, big, strong, with the tip a little curved.
Kyungsoo let his tears fall.
The man or rather the Kai raised his hands and wiped his tears, carefully, almost with endearment. ‘’I’m not going to hurt you, little one’’.
‘’Then why are you doing this?’’ Kyungsoo was still trembling in fear, whatever it was Kai or not the situation didn’t seem promising.
‘’I just wanted to help you collect your cones’’ Kai put his hands away from Kyungsoo’s face. Almost as he knew how terrified he was of him. ‘’You can go’’.
Kyungsoo didn’t understand why the creature was behaving that way, but he did know his legs were not functioning well at the moment. ‘’I don’t think I’m ready to walk’’ He replied to the creature carefully, almost in a whisper.
‘’You are very beautiful even when you cry’’. Kai said, still under him, but without touching him.
‘’Thanks? I guess it’s good to know I’m too pretty for you to eat my soul’’ Apparently Kyungsoo was not the smartest in situations of danger.
Kai let a high-pitched laugh, Kyungsoo could feel his chest trembling in glee under him.
‘’I don’t eat souls, pretty’’ This time Kyungsoo heard the teasing very clearly. Why the fuck was he flirting with a cursed myth?
‘’It is indeed to my liking to know your vegetarian habits, Sir. Kai’’ Kyungsoo heard the high pitch laugh again, it was very contrasting to the way Kai talk, very carefree. Very right to hear.
‘’I never said I don’t eat meat, Mrs. Kyungsoo’’ This time Kyungsoo felt shivers for every wrong reason. He hoped the warmth he felt on his stomach was once again from the fear because otherwise, he could not explain, no, he won’t be willing to explain what the luscious tone Kai was using made him feel.
Hoping to hide the blush he knew he had, Kyungsoo started to get up.
Kai got up with him and before Kyungsoo loses more of his sanity he decided it was time to go back.
‘’I have to go, my friend must be looking for me’’ Kyungsoo felt a hand again over his, this time it was Kai giving him his cane.
‘’Let me guide you so you get there fast’’ Kyungsoo wanted to say it was okay, he was capable enough to get out of the woods on his own, but for some reason, he didn’t want that to be his goodbye to the monster.
‘’Okay’’.
Kai guided him the closest he could get into the pathway to the observatory, a warm hand always covering Kyungsoo’s, gently.
Then Kai let go, they were the closest Kai could get, Kyungsoo could even hear Junmyeon’s voice screaming for him.
‘’We’re here, pretty’’ Kyungsoo was already mourning the feeling of the other’s hand, even with the scales.
‘’Will I see you again?’’ Kyungsoo rushed to ask.
‘’Eager I see’’ Kyungsoo hope he was not blushing too hard, again.
‘’It’s not every day that Kai, the legend itself helps you to collect cones’’ He was playing with the strand of his cane, ‘’I was just asking’’.
Kai felt hope in the way the human was pouting while asking him if he could see him again. He knew Kyungsoo was different, the way he saw the same lost and lonely feeling projecting in his eyes, the same he has seen in the mirror every day.
Not because he was blind, but he had a look that says I could be more and give more. Kai understood that. He was happy to shoot his chance with the pretty human. Maybe a friend for once.
‘’I’ll always be one call away from you’’ Kai got closer to Kyungsoo.
Kyungsoo felt the same warm hand that held him caressing his face, gently, always with too much care. Any longer and Kyungsoo for sure would feel the almost unnoticeable tremble in Kai’s hands, from the fear of hurting Kyungsoo.
What Kai didn’t know is that he didn’t need to be afraid.
Just like that Kai stepped away from Kyungsoo’s space, Kyungsoo heard and felt the same power of wings taking off.
With a smile, he walked closer to the observatory, Junmyeon’s screams felt even closer.
‘’Kyungsoo! Where the hell have you been? I’ve been searching for you!’’ The voice of his friend was full of worry.
‘’I was making someone company’’ Kyungsoo could not see, but he was sure his friend was looking funnily at him.
Kyungsoo could not wait for his next visit to the woods. Maybe it all was a dream, a delusion, but he was ready to find out what other wonders the forest had for him. How many more curses were alive, because he was for sure Kai doesn’t eat souls or hearts, he steals them.