The Last Day of Summer With You || SVT IMAGINES SERIES

13: Dino - Firefly Meadow

Chan groaned in exhaustion as he continued walking down the dirt road with you on his back.

On the way up the hill, you had tripped over a thick tree branch and sprained your ankle, which was to you, a complete disappointment. You had waited until the last day of summer to take him to a forest meadow to see fireflies only for an unplanned disaster to occur.

"Just a bit more," You said quietly, after hearing Chan's exhausted breaths. Even though you got hurt and felt bad for having Chan carry you, you wanted to desperately see the lightning bugs. You rested your head on his shoulder and said, "I told you that you don't have to carry me all the way over here, I could walk."

Chan, despite being quite obvious about the fact that his energy was getting drained, smiled and chuckled. "It's okay. If that sprain was not enough for you to go back, I'm just going to trust you that there's something beautiful up here," Chan replied, looking ahead. He could see the dirt path slowly fade to just green grass.

It was getting dark and if you had to estimate, you would guess that it was probably around 9 pm. The way up wasn't easy but now that you two have reached a certain point, it was quite easy to tell that the floor was evening out. Trees were surrounding the path and Chan felt a bit skeptical about the place as he looked around.

He didn't know about the fireflies yet.

As you two traveled further away from your car that was parked at the street nearby, deeper into the forest, you could see hints of the destination approaching. You found this place when you were following a rabbit while you were young, and though you've always somewhat hated the look of bugs, whenever you saw fireflies, you'd get reminded that everything ugly in life still had beauty in it.

You wanted to share this special place, that you were sure no one knew of, with the most special person in the world. You wanted to thank Chan for being the kindest, most loving, caring, and helpful boyfriend. Through thick and thin, snowy storms and sunny weather, Chan was always there by your side. Now that another summer with him was about to pass by, you wanted to tell him how special he was.

While he continued to walk, you took out your phone and turned on the flashlight, making sure that it was bright enough to light up the night. Then, in a reassuring voice, you told him, "I have a small surprise for you, do you mind if I cover your eyes?"

"Cover my eyes??" Chan was taken aback by the question but he knew that if he wanted a good surprise, he had to at least follow your conditions but even so, Chan tilted his head doubtingly. "How long will you cover them for?"

You estimated how long it would take for Chan to walk to the firefly heaven, and concluded, "Around 30 seconds? Just keep walking forward, the path onward is flat but the grass is tall."

As your hands went on to cover Chan's eyes, he adjusted his grip and your position on his back with a little jump and continued.

Of course, Chan was terrified. As if walking in a forest during the late evening wasn't scary enough, he had to walk with his eyes covered. Sometimes, he would even become paranoid, thinking that he'd be carrying a ghost or something, so he'd always ask you something and hear your warm responses to chase away the fear.

The meadow was like a clearing in the forest. The grass gradually grew taller and there weren't many trees anymore, only one or two in the middle of the field.

At first, you were afraid that the glowing bugs wouldn't be there, or if there were, there wouldn't be many, since fireflies were primarily present during late spring to early summer. You did know, however, that sometimes fireflies could live on or have twinkling bottoms a bit later in the humid weather. You just had to hope that there were some.

With a soft sigh, you looked down at the meadow.
More disappointment. You should have checked for fireflies the day prior. You felt stupid for not doing so.

There was nothing.

No twinkling bugs, no fairyland.

With a sigh, your hands slipped off of Chan's eyes.

"We're too late. The fireflies are gone."

"Fireflies? What fireflies?" Chan asked. You let yourself down and while hopping on one leg, you took a hold of the tree behind you. The bark was rather smooth rather than rough.

"In the summer, there are fireflies here. I should have taken you here earlier, at the beginning of summer, not at the end..." You looked down, plucking a piece of long grass and fidgeting with it, feeling that everything had been ruined. You continued to mutter, "I wanted to make it special so that you could know that you're special to me."

Chan felt his heart smile. "Well, it's okay, we don't need to see fireflies... I don't like bugs anyway."

He had a joking tone, meant for you to laugh, and he didn't fail at that. You just found yourself chortling at what he said because you knew it was somewhat sincere.

"The fireflies are really beautiful," You commented, looking ahead at the darkness of the forest. "I will make sure to take you here again to see them."

"I'll wait for that then, but you don't need to wait to tell me that you adore me," Chan replied, putting his arm around your shoulders to help you stabilize and comfort you. "I mean, you already make me feel special everyday. Who needs lightning bugs? You're already the sun of my world, I don't need anything else."

You chuckled softly and confessed, "I thought you were gonna say that I was already like a lightning bug, but fortunately, you called me the sun instead."

Chan chuckled and looked forward, where in the distance, he saw the faint blink of a neon yellowish light with a tint of green.

You dropped your head, and commented quietly, "Still, I think we wasted our time coming up here."

There was a silence of words as Chan stared at the firefly, subconsciously reaching his hand out toward it. It flew rhythmically, from left to right, high to low, eventually landing on Chan's hand. You were staring at the ground, still bummed, when you felt a slight tap on your shoulder.

You looked up and were met with a cute little beetle. The bottom of the beetle was glowing and its little light was somehow enough. You and Chan looked at each other, amazed at the little beauty. You both smiled, your eyes reflecting the bug's neon glow, your eyes following it as it flew off into the distance.

"I think the climb was worth it," Chan said, turning to you. He took your hand and gave it a soft kiss. "We got to see a firefly like what you wanted."

"That's not what I wanted, I wanted a whole pack of them. It would have made this meadow light up like a magical land!" You smiled as you complained, knowing that you felt satisfied.

Chan clapped his hands together. "I've never seen a firefly up close but it looked and made this land so magical, it almost felt unreal. Anyway, I'm happy to have come here with you. It felt special."

You smiled, chuckling at your boyfriend's simple but sincere words. You could tell that not one of his words was an exaggeration even if it did seem like it since the sentences were so brazen.

"Thank you," Chan said, brushing his thumb across your hand softly.

You didn't know how to respond. You just felt euphoric at the beautiful moment, making it seem like a hundred fireflies were lighting up the place brilliantly when there was only darkness and the flashlight from your phone as a light source.

You felt thankful to that one lightning bug that was like a blessing.

Noticing the shifting weather, Chan slipped his hand away from your shoulder, walked in front of you, and crouched down. You couldn't see his face but you were sure that he was smiling as he said the next sentence in a gentle voice.

"Climb on, honey, let's head back."