❝I'm a dark fairy, not an evil fairy. there's a very clear difference.❞
maybe there's a proper explanation as to how Jeno's new classmate has managed to make everyone fall for his good looks and mysterious personality upon first sight...
a noren fan...
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A wristwatch. It passed by his sight faintly, but it was there.
Wait, that wasn't right. It passed by his sight vividly, and Jeno was sure it was there. It was his memory of it that was faint, continuously fading into the back of his mind until...
Wristwatch. How long had it been since he had entered the fairy realm?
Next to him, Renjun slept soundly. The fairy slept as though he hadn't gotten any rest in ages, and Jeno almost didn't have the heart to wake him up, but they really did need to get back for school. He took an extra few seconds to admire Renjun's beautiful sleeping features before gently shaking him awake.
"Renjun," he whispered, "we have to go."
Renjun hummed softly, not bothering to open his eyes.
Jeno shook him a little harder. "Renjun."
"What?" the fairy asked still in a seemingly sleepy state.
"We have to go," he said, slightly firmer this time.
Renjun sat up, looking into Jeno's eyes sleepily. "Are you sure you want to go back Jeno? There will be so much work you have to complete and responsibilities you have to fulfill. Wouldn't it be easier just to stay?"
Jeno sighed, leaning back onto the cushion that he had slept on. That would be true. His mind raced back to the events of the evening. For one, the food was heavenly, as well as all of the beautifully relaxing music, and the dancing. There was a lot of dancing.
And then it was Renjun's enchanting voice singing a melody next to him, soft hands moving to lace with Jeno's own, a soft tug on Jeno's shirt, bringing them to a garden where there was no one else but the two of them, Renjun moving increasingly closer and...
What had happened after that? Jeno wracked all corners of his brain trying to remember, but it was as if the memory had been cut off. Even the parts he could remember were faint.
Oh, how he wished he could stay here forever but he had school, and family, and friends, and he had to get back to them.
Jeno pulled out his phone, opening it to check the time, only to find that his phone was acting up. Both the digits of the time and the date on the screen were messed up. One minute it showed 7:07, then it was 8:24, then it was 1:17, and then it was flashing nonsensical numbers. The same happened for the date.
Jeno shook his head. He had to get back.
"Renjun, please. We need to go," he said, tugging slightly on Renjun's side.
"Fine," Renjun said finally. With a wave of his hand, Jeno saw a flash of blue fairy dust and before he knew it, he was no longer surrounded by the enchantingness of the fairy realm. All gold, silver, and vibrant colours were replaced by... forest green. He was standing at the base of the willow tree.
He looked around, Renjun was nowhere to be seen. With a sigh, Jeno pushed past the floor-length leaves of the willow tree.
He was met with snow.
Jeno bent down to feel it as if to make sure what he was seeing was actually there. The snowflakes melted upon meeting with the warmth of his hand.
It wasn't much snow, only a thin layer, but it still blanketed the tops of the trees and forest floor. The first snowfall wasn't supposed to be until another week from now in late-November. Confused, Jeno pulled out his phone, only to be met with the time being 1:27 PM on November 23rd.
That was impossible. Yesterday was November 14th.
He unlocked his phone to 76 missed calls and 182 messages from both his parents, Donghyuck, Jaemin, and a few of his other friends.
In a sudden moment of panic, Jeno rushed from the base of the willow tree leaves to the pathway of the trail, running as fast as he could to the school. The front doors of the school were unlocked, and Jeno pulled them open without hesitation.
Visitors were normally obligated to sign in at the office. Jeno didn't bother and immediately rushed to the boy's locker room on the first floor. Hands shaking, he found Donghyuck's contact and immediately called the latter's phone, praying that he would pick up.
Thankfully, he did.
"Jeno?" Donghyuck's voice rang over the phone speaker.
"Yes! Yes, it's me Hyuck!" Jeno responded, feeling nothing but grateful to hear his friend's voice.
Donghyuck made an unintelligible sound and paused several seconds before saying, "Where are you?"
"I'm in the boy's locker room of the school–"
"Stay there, we're coming," the other replied. Jeno heard the sound of something being knocked over (a chair?), as well as the faint sound of Donghyuck, saying "sorry sir, emergency!" over the speaker. "You have a lot of explaining to do, Lee Jeno," Donghyuck said, and then hung up the call.
Jeno stared at his phone, slightly dumbfounded. He let himself collapse onto one of the locker room benches and just stared at a locker for the next minute or so until the unmistakable voices of Donghyuck and Jaemin wrung out from behind the door.
The door flung open and Jeno didn't have any time to prepare himself for what Donghyuck was going to say.
"Where the fuck have you been?! We thought you were dead Jeno! They sent out search parties for you and you had all of us worried sick! And your parents, they haven't left the house even once since you had gone missing. Jaemin and I had to bring food to them to make sure they didn't starve! You didn't answer any of your calls or texts, we were worried sick Jeno! You better have a good explanation," Donghyuck scolded, crossing his arms over his chest.
Jeno looked in Jaemin's direction. The latter had also crossed his arms over his chest, somewhat mimicking Donghyuck's stance. It was... intimidating.
"How long has it been?" Jeno asked, hesitantly.
Donghyuck looked slightly shocked at the question as if that was the last thing he expected Jeno to ask. "What do you mean? I thought you would–" he cut himself off, shaking his head and moving to sit across from Jeno on the benches. "It's been over a week, Jeno."
Despite already having suspected this from the date on his phone, his jaw still dropped. He didn't look at either of his friends, even when Jaemin moved to sit next to Donghyuck on the bench across from him.
"Where have you been?" Jaemin asked.
"I was in–" the words cut off. He couldn't say them no matter how hard he tried. Instead, he just said, "I don't know," feeling slightly upset with himself for giving such a stupidly vague answer.
If either of his friends were curious about his strange answer, they didn't ask any further questions. Jeno did nothing but look down at the floor of the locker room.
Donghyuck sighed. "Let's get you home. Your parents need to know that you're safe," he said, offering a hand to help Jeno up. Jeno took it, and allowed Jaemin to wrap his arm around his shoulder.
His legs felt weak anyway, and his mind felt like it was only half there, as if his strength had been drained.
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wow, that chapter got much longer then i had planned
