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Mark admires the way the sunrise casts a pure yellow hue between the leaves of the trees above him as he walks through the forest. He’s no stranger to the vast expanse of woods behind his house, which has become a kind of safe haven for him ever since his childish sense of adventure led him inside when he was young. Mark has spent many evenings lazily wandering in the underbrush, using the crunch of leaves in autumn or the smell of freshly bloomed flowers in spring as a distraction, if only a fleeting one. He can’t help it—the sway of the leaves as the wind rustles through them and the sound of birds chirping overhead has a special kind of calming effect on him.
Despite growing up in these woods just as much as he has his childhood home, he can’t recall ever venturing into the trees as early as he does today. Mark had woken up abruptly from a dream he couldn’t quite remember just as the first rays of light were peeking over the horizon, and the lingering unease from whatever had plagued his sleeping mind prompted him to get dressed and quietly slip out the back door towards the tree line. He’s thankful he remembered to grab a light jacket on his way out, pulling the sleeves down as a cool morning breeze winds through the branches overhead and ruffles his hair. Taking in the sights of the familiar landscape bathed in a new light and atmosphere, Mark’s feet absentmindedly lead him down the same route he always follows.
Suddenly, from somewhere in the trees to his left, he hears an unfamiliar and very out-of-place noise.
It sounds almost like a voice.
Curiosity getting the better of him, Mark boldly veers off the beaten path to find the source, pushing through untamed bushes and limbs.
He doesn’t realize exactly how far he’s trekked until he can feel his heart hammering against his ribcage and his legs aching with exhaustion. To his dismay, he hasn’t heard the voice-like noise again, nor has he seen anything that could’ve been the cause of it. By now, the sun has made considerable headway in its ascent in the sky, but Mark feels more tired than ever, the exertion and lack of sleep making him unbearably heavy. Resolving to just rest for a moment, he finds a clear spot and sits down, leaning against the trunk of a large tree. It’s a more comfortable position than he expects, and soon sleep threatens to overtake him. Powerless against the weight of his eyelids, Mark doesn’t put up much of a fight, slowly letting himself slip into unconsciousness.
o 0 o
Mark’s first thought is that he’s still dreaming when he wakes up and immediately comes face-to-face with a surprised-looking boy crouching in front of him. The fact that the sunlight seems to be filtering through the trees to shine directly on the boy doesn’t really help Mark’s reality check. He swears he can see flecks of gold glittering in the boy’s warm brown eyes and tan skin. Mark looks away from the boy’s curious gaze to see that the other is wearing loose, simple clothes in neutral colors, but his feet are bare and brushed with dirt.
Returning his attention to the boy’s head, Mark concludes that he must be dreaming, because his eyes come to rest on a pair of antlers extending from under shiny, light brown hair. They resemble those of a stag, though slightly daintier, and are decorated sparsely with small flowers. Mark feels his breath hitch as he takes in the ethereal beauty of the boy who seems to glow in the sun’s rays.
Finally, the boy in front of him speaks in a soft, honey-toned voice. “What are you doing out here?”
Still not quite believing this isn’t a dream, Mark replies shakily. “I–I heard a noise that sounded like a voice and followed it, but I sat down because I got tired, and I guess I fell asleep…” he trails off.
“I didn’t think humans normally came out here this early,” the boy muses, more to himself than Mark.
“I usually don’t,” Mark responds plainly. “I just happened to wake up earlier today.”
Seemingly pleased that his knowledge wasn’t incorrect, the boy smiles, and Mark is pretty sure the sun shining down on them gets slightly brighter.
“My name’s Haechan, what’s yours?” the boy—Haechan—suddenly asks, looking at Mark expectantly.
“M–Mark,” he manages to choke out, still feeling a bit nervous around the stranger.
Haechan’s lips curl into a small smirk. “Nice to meet you, M–Mark,” he says teasingly.
Something about the casual banter allows Mark to relax for the first time since he woke up. And even though the boy might be a figment of his imagination, there’s no way he’s going to let that slide.
“You know what I meant,” he groans, leaning forward and lightly hitting Haechan on the arm in annoyance.
The boy chuckles in response, looking entirely too proud of himself. “Cute,” Mark finds himself thinking, but he pushes the thought away.
Instead, he focuses on how Haechan slowly shifts his position so that he’s sitting cross-legged on the ground in front of Mark, mimicking his position, their knees barely touching.
“Why’d you come in here in the first place?” Haechan asks.
“I like to come out here sometimes and just walk around—it helps me take my mind off things,” Mark explains truthfully. “It’s soothing, in a way.”
“I know what you mean, but I didn’t realize humans felt the same.”
“Most don’t, but I’ve always felt a… connection to this forest for some reason.”
He’s never mentioned this to anyone else before, but something about the way Haechan is looking at him makes Mark want to share it.
“Interesting…” the boy trails off, looking away from Mark for the first time since he sat down.
Suddenly, Haechan’s gaze snaps back to meet Mark’s. “Do you wanna hang out with me for a while? I could even let you see my camp. I’m sure the rest of my group won’t mind.”
As much as Mark’s brain logically tells him it’s not smart to follow a strange boy with antlers back to his camp—whatever that implies—he can’t help but entertain the idea. He’s still not entirely convinced this isn’t some type of dream or hallucination, anyway, and maybe spending some time with Haechan would give Mark the chance to inquire as to what exactly he is.
Finally, against all better judgement, Mark agrees.
“Alright then, let’s go,” Haechan says, moving to stand up while doing a pretty bad job of concealing a grin.
Haechan offers a hand to Mark and the latter takes it, immediately stunned by the incredible warmth of the boy’s palm on his own. In his confusion, Mark forgets to actually do much of the work in pulling himself up, but Haechan manages to effortlessly haul him to his feet. Mark can only blink in surprise before Haechan is leading him through the trees, their hands still locked together. The boy seems to glide through the woods, gracefully dodging branches and barely making a sound as he steps over fallen leaves and twigs. Mark tries his best to keep up as he resolutely ignores the racing of his heartbeat and the feeling of Haechan’s warmth radiating through him from where the two are connected.
It’s not much longer before they break into a clearing, Haechan pausing to unlink their hands. Mark’s eyes land on three small huts in the distance, just barely visible from blending into the trees. He sees the edge of a lake to the left side of the clearing, as well as a small area resembling a garden, with trees and bushes unlike the others in the forest. Mark lets out an involuntary gasp as he finally spots a group of figures—five, to be exact—in front of the huts. Three of them are sitting closely around a campfire while two are slightly off to the side, facing away from the trio. Even from a distance, Mark can see that all of them have antlers similar to Haechan’s.
Said boy tugs on Mark’s arm, pulling him towards the group of three. As they get closer, the trio turns to them. Their eyes widen and they stand up hurriedly when they spot Mark trailing behind their friend. Looking at the three boys now sizing him up, Mark probably would’ve turned to run if not for Haechan’s grip on him.
“Hey guys, I’m back,” Haechan greets the others casually. He slows to a stop in front of them, still not letting go of Mark.
“Why did you bring a human here?” asks a boy with light pink hair and antlers decorated more liberally with flowers than Haechan’s.
“I found him asleep against a tree and wanted to make sure he wasn’t dead, but he woke up and saw me,” he answers, finally releasing Mark’s arm. “He’s pretty cool, though—his name’s Mark.”
Haechan turns to Mark. “Mark, this is Jaemin, Jeno, and Renjun,” he says, pointing in turn to the boy with pink hair and then to the dark brown and silver-haired boys next to him.
The one called Jeno gives Mark a small smile, his dark brown locks being rustled by a breeze that Mark can’t feel. His antlers are slightly more weathered than the other boys’ and not adorned with anything.
Looking around for a moment, Haechan finally points to where two other boys are sitting, seemingly playing with something between them. “Over there, the blonde kid is Chenle and the blue-haired one is Jisung.”
Suddenly, a warm hand on his shoulder pushes Mark to sit on the ground. Haechan settles beside him while the other three arrange themselves so the five of them form a small circle. Mark looks to find Jaemin on his other side, not-so-subtly studying him.
The previously quiet, silver-haired boy named Renjun speaks up upon noticing him. “You know it’s rude to stare, Jaemin.”
Mark doesn’t bring up the fact that they were all staring at him when he first arrived.
Jaemin ignores the other, continuing to scrutinize Mark, his arms crossed in front of his chest. Mark gets up the courage to hesitantly make eye contact with the pink-haired boy.
“He’s cute,” Jaemin says after a moment, lips forming a smile. “For a human.”
Mark hurriedly averts his eyes and tries to hide his blush, caught off-guard by the comment.
He misses the death glare that Haechan gives Jaemin.
o 0 o
The group makes small talk for a while, but soon the conversation turns to them curiously asking Mark about his life as a human. It’s not hard to get comfortable with the boys as they banter among themselves, asking Mark increasingly strange questions. Not that he really minds, though.
Relaxing into the discussion, Mark doesn’t think before changing the topic. “I’m telling you guys all about me, but what about you? What’s up with the antlers?”
For a moment, Mark thinks he made a mistake—was too crass—but they take the question in stride.
“We’re a subset of Fae with magical powers and all that,” Jaemin responds casually. “I don’t think you humans have a name for us or anything.”
“There’s actually more of us in our wider group, but we’re divided into subgroups scattered around this area,” Jeno chimes in.
“Your subgroup is just the six of you?” Mark asks, and all four of them nod.
“We’re the youngest subgroup,” Renjun adds.
Jaemin speaks up as Mark sees the boy turn to face him in his peripheral vision. “Do you wanna hear the story of how our kind came to be?”
“It’s a pretty cute story,” Haechan interjects.
Not bothering to hide his curiosity, Mark quickly agrees.
“A long, long time ago,” Jaemin begins dramatically, and Mark watches Renjun roll his eyes. “A powerful Fae stumbled across two humans in the forest. She discovered that the two humans were a couple, and that they hid in the woods to avoid others who disapproved of their relationship and wanted to separate them.
“The Fae saw how deeply in love the couple was and took pity on the two humans. To allow them to escape persecution and survive in the woods together, she gave each of them different magical abilities centered around nature, as well as antlers, because they would be concealed by magic to appear as normal deer to humans. So, the couple was able to live happily together in the forest and the rest is history.”
Jeno chimes in, saying, “It’s rumored that the Fae gave the same powers to more than just those two humans, but we only really know of that couple for sure, because their tale has been passed down for generations.”
“Some believe that the Fae still continue to give the powers to deserving humans, even today,” Haechan finishes quietly.
“Wow, that’s amazing,” Mark says after a moment. “But… you said they looked like deer to humans, so does that still apply to you all? And if so, why can I see you for what you are?”
“Yeah, we’re normally disguised as deer, too. And we can use or remove the magical barrier when we want to—I just allowed you to see the real me when we met.” Haechan answers smoothly.
“Why did you do that?” Mark asks.
Haechan seems troubled by the question, looking away from Mark before answering. “I uh—you just didn’t look like a threat, I guess.”
Something about the boy’s response feels off, but Mark decides not to push it any further. He looks over to see the other three eyeing Haechan, probably also skeptical about his reason.
Jaemin is the first to break the silence that settles over the group. “Anyway, Mark, tell us more about living as a human!”
The five of them easily fall back into conversation. Eventually, the other two boys that were sitting off to the side join the circle, and Mark continues talking with the group, sharing stories and learning more about the six magical boys.
o 0 o
It’s almost too easy how Mark ends up spending the rest of the day at the boys’ camp. They show him around their little clearing in the woods and even feed him dinner—fruits and vegetables they grow themselves. He doesn’t think about how long he’s been away from home until he notices Renjun emitting a soft glow of light and subsequently realizes that it’s almost dark outside. Even then, he isn’t in much hurry to return.
“You’re glowing,” Mark points out, looking at Renjun and delaying his inevitable goodbye.
“I do that when it’s dark,” the silver-haired boy replies. “It’s just part of my moon magic.”
Mark must look as confused as he feels, because Jaemin speaks up. “I told you our magic abilities were based on nature, didn’t I? Well, Renjun’s is based on the moon.”
“Is that really considered nature, though?”
“Of course it is!” Haechan interjects, clearly offended, though Mark isn’t sure why.
“Okay, okay… what’s yours, then?” Mark questions.
Haechan sits up straighter, looking awfully proud. “The sun.”
At that, a lot of things begin to make more sense to Mark. From the boy’s unusual warmth, to the effects he noticed when they first met, Haechan clearly embodies the sun’s energy well.
“I see. So do you guys, like, complement each other in some way?” he asks, looking between Haechan and Renjun.
Renjun hurriedly answers. “No, it doesn’t really work like that.”
“Oh,” Mark responds before reluctantly standing up. “Well, I guess I should get going—the sun’s almost set.”
“I’ll walk you back,” Haechan offers, pulling himself off the ground beside Mark.
Mark says his goodbyes to the small group, the magical boys telling him to come visit again soon. Before long, it’s just him and Haechan walking the path leading out of the woods.
After a while, Mark begins to recognize the area again, so he knows they’re getting close to his house.
“We’re almost at the point where the forest stops,” he says, pausing and turning to Haechan.
“I guess this is where I have to let you go, huh?” Haechan chuckles, but Mark can tell he’s just as disappointed about saying goodbye as Mark is.
“It was nice,” Mark smiles, absentmindedly reaching under his jacket sleeve to fidget with the bracelet on his left wrist.
The motion causes Haechan to look down, his eyes widening suddenly.
He points to Mark’s bracelet. “W–where did you get that?”
“Oh, this?” Mark holds his wrist up, showing the faded, yellow woven bracelet. “I actually found it in these woods when I was younger. I’m not sure where it—“
In a flash, Haechan pulls something out of his pocket and holds it up.
It’s an identical copy of Mark’s bracelet.
Haechan’s voice wavers as he explains, “There’s an old story about a Fae making two bracelets and losing one, only for their soulmate to find it. Because of that, some of us that believe in soulmates—or want to—will make two bracelets and hide one in hopes of our soulmate finding it.”
Mark just looks at him, stunned, before Haechan continues. “So, I did it. I was young, and I wanted to believe in soulmates—so I made these bracelets and hid one in the woods, hoping to find mine.”
There’s a moment of silence between them as the sun gets lower and lower in the sky.
Mark doesn’t know what comes over him, but he suddenly blurts out, “Well, I guess you found me.”
Haechan’s eyes get impossibly wider. “You… want to be my soulmate?” the boy almost whispers.
The genuine disbelief in his voice tugs at Mark’s heart. If Mark is honest with himself, spending time with Haechan has been strangely natural, considering the circumstances. He’s never really believed in the idea of soulmates, but thinking about how great his day was and looking into Haechan’s sparkling eyes reflecting the last of the golden sunset, he thinks that this magical boy with antlers might be the closest thing to it.
“I wouldn’t mind it,” he replies honestly.
Slowly, Haechan holds his bracelet out. Mark looks at it questioningly.
“Help me put mine on, then?”
Mark carefully ties the bracelet around Haechan’s wrist before looking back at the boy. Now, the sun is fully set, shadows taking shape among the trees.
Haechan smiles softly. “You should probably get home now.”
“I’ll come see you first thing tomorrow,” Mark breathes, already anticipating their next meeting.
“I’ll be waiting,” Haechan says, and Mark steps closer, wrapping his arms around the boy and feeling his warmth.
The two of them embrace for a moment before Mark has to pull away.
“See you tomorrow,” Mark calls, finally turning to leave. “Soulmate.”
Haechan smiles brightly, waving at Mark until he’s out of the woods.
Mark trudges through the backyard towards his house, eager to go to sleep so he can wake up and see his sunshine boy again.