" he'll come back though, right? "

。。。

"lee donghyuck. you decided to finally come back home i see." donghyuck's body turned a one eighty to meet gazes with the head councilor.

a sigh of relief passed his lips, as he ran up to the councilor, opening his arms for a hug. the councilor accepted the young fairy's hug, patting his back in a calming way. donghyuck was glad to see a friendly face when he got back, it gave him comfort. especially after seeing the horrors of the dungeons.

letting go of the hug, he smiled brightly at the councilor, not noticing some differences within the fairy's features. like how his usual chestnut brown eyes were now a deep forest green and how he seemed quite thinner than before.

"i...i don't be here for long though. i just need to regain some strength to get back that's all, since, y'know, i kinda broke a law." he now stood awkwardly in front of the superior.

after the small heartfelt moment, donghyuck realized he was only here temporarily before he goes back to the human world. he was surprised he wasn't caught by the district's ruler, which made him really lucky.

maybe his story won't be ending so soon. maybe the world is giving him another chance.

"that's all fine young one, but since you'll be leaving quite soon, why don't we have some tea before you go, hm?" the councilor suggested, his smile holding a different meaning than what was seen from the outside.

"of course, i don't mind that. maybe this could be like a farewell."

"oh yes indeed, it certainly will be a farewell."

on the inside, the councilor, no, the ruler of the belladonna district, chuckled darkly. the fairy thought of donghyuck as a form of entertainment, a form of revenge. and this, was what he called sweet sweet revenge.

-☀️-

yukhei woke up to a swarm of quiet chatter. his vision was blurry for a moment until it adjusted, and the scene in front of him made him believe that he was actually going insane.

"he's awake!"

"holy shit, lucas, do you feel any better?"

"where the hell were you?"

yukhei groaned in discomfort, as his head started to spin with the incoming questions.

"guys, quiet down." that voice. that voice that yukhei had only dreamed of hearing again. this can't be real. it felt too good to be real.

"j-jungwoo?" once he laid eyes on said male, his heart started to race. "is that really you?"

jungwoo couldn't help but break into a bright smile, tears of joy leaving his tear ducts, "yes. it's really me lucas."

the elder was holding onto yukhei's hand tightly, afraid that if he let go, the younger would disappear again.

"lucas is back!" cheered chenle, doing a little happy dance with jisung.

"luwoo is back too!"

while everyone was cheering for the great news, one person was looking around the room for any traces of donghyuck. ever since mark had found yukhei laying on the floor of donghyuck's room, the said male was no where to be seen.

it worried mark of course, and his nerves were really getting the best of him.

"guys, don't you think it's odd that donghyuck isn't here?" mark piped up, cutting the small reunion up.

the room went silent, as they too realized the fairy with the sunny smile wasn't there with them. yukhei almost immediately knew exactly why the younger wasn't there with them. after recollecting his memories from the night before, he put two and two together.

him and donghyuck had switched spots.

jungwoo glance at yukhei for an answer and the latter's face showed it all. "lucas, you know something. don't you?"

"i-i..." yukhei hesitated for a moment until he started to talk again, "donghyuck...he...he switched spots with me. as in he's in the fairy world and i am here."

"what?! but how--? he said he couldn't find a way--oh..." everything was slowly connecting in mark's mind.

last night, donghyuck was acting a bit off but he pushed it aside. and now he wished he could've taken that as a sign.

"wait what? i'm confused. if he switched spots with you, then would he be able to come back though?" jaemin asked, feeling worried for his friend. he might've known donghyuck for a small amount of time, but he couldn't help but think they have been friends since forever.

"he would, and knowing him, he is easy to trick. i'm just worried that something might happen to him when he's on his own. since everyone heard news about him losing his wings for a human, i doubt anyone wants to see him."

"he'll come back though, right?" mark asked hopefully.

"that's not a guarantee sadly. but, there is a way for all of us to get to the fairy world and meet up with donghyuck." a sigh of relief echoed throughout the room. "mark, would you have any idea where he would keep his fairy dust?"

mark just nodded in response and made his way towards donghyuck's drawers. opening them and then pulling out a small leafy pouch.

"good. that can accelerate my healing process and then we can get going. let's just hope we can get there in time."

"woah, i really feel like we're going on a journey to save the world or something." chenle mused out loud.

"shush chenle, this is a serious matter right now."

"just admit that you thought about that too ji."

the youngest of the group just rolled his eyes, while the others could only think about how entirely whipped they were for each other.

-🦁-

i'm gonna admit that i fell asleep while in the middle of writing this, like on my laptop keyboard. which resulted in a good 500 words that were actually just keyboard smash.

also, sorry if this seems messily put together, i just wanted to release another chapter so badly, oOF—