The light slowly subsided and in its place fluttered three fairies, each of them only six inches tall with menacing glares on their faces. 

Minho tried to glare back at them with just as much menace but they fluttered forward and he bowed his head as a guardian of the forest should. 

"Hyunjin and Minho. You have decided to leave your posts as guardians. If you don't return immediately, you both will be punished according to the fairy council. Do you have anything to say in your defense?" The pink fairy in the middle announced, a tinge of excitement in her tone as she fluttered closer to Minho. 

Minho said nothing while Hyunjin got out of bed, quickly donned his feather vest and bowed to the fairies respectfully. 

"We're very sorry for not honoring our titles as guardians, great fairy council. We will return back to the forest, on a few conditions," Hyunjin paused as the fairies raised their eyebrows at him curiously. 

"We will be allowed time off from our positions as guardians and we won't be obligated to watch over the forest during winter." 

The purple fairy on the left snapped his fingers and a rulebook appeared in his hand. He flipped through it for a few seconds as Hyunjin and Minho held their breaths hopefully. 

After he'd finished looking through the book he shut it and snapped his fingers again, making it disappear just as quickly as it had appeared. 

"Your conditions aren't acceptable according to the fairy rulebook. It specifically states that guardians of the forest must remain faithful and watch over the forest regardless of year or season," He explained. 

"I'm sorry but you must return to your rightful place amongst our creations." 

Minho growled and shook his head before walking up to the fairy council fearlessly. 

"No. I demand that you give us our freedom. I've been trapped in that dreadful forest for all of my life and now I finally have the ability to explore and see what lies beyond the trees." 

The fairies stared at him disdainfully and raised their hands to administer a punishment befitting his crime of escaping, but Minho only sighed and bowed his head. 

"I don't care about any consequences that may befall me. Just let me be free and take Hyunjin back with you, he doesn't deserve to be punished along with me. I was the one who encouraged him to leave the forest." 

The fairies smiled at his obedience and were just about to grant him his wish before Hyunjin's eyes widened and he leaped forward to shield Minho, protectively spreading his arms out like a pair of wings in front of the defeated lynx. 

"I demand that you stop and hear me out!" He insisted, Minho's own bravery sparking off onto him as he stood before the judging fairies.

The fairies looked at each other in exasperation and signaled for Hyunjin to continue by crossing their arms over their chest. 

"I do not wish to return to the forest with you. I have tasted the sweet nectar of freedom and I aspire to live it out, alongside the one who showed me that there is a whole world that we do not see unless we break our boundaries and discover for ourselves how different things are beyond the forest."

When Minho heard this he looked up and saw Hyunjin peering over his shoulder, giving him a smile that hinted at something deeper below the surface of his exterior. 

Minho felt his heart beat faster and he took a step towards Hyunjin. Slowly running his hand along the length of one of Hyunjin's arms and then grabbing his hand, clasping it warmly with his own. 

After their sudden epiphany, Hyunjin and Minho turned and stared defiantly at the fairies. Their spirits rekindled and burning brighter than ever now that they had found a strength they'd never known before. 

The green fairy who'd fluttered quietly beside the other fairy council members moved towards them and uncrossed her arms. 

"Have you both come to a final decision?"

They both nodded in agreement and Minho opened his mouth to speak. 

"We relinquish our statuses as guardians of the forest. You may punish us both as you see fit. Our only wish is that you don't subject any other creature to take on guardianship without first knowing how the rest of their life will be spent." 

The fairies nodded and called back their fairy rulebook to add these instructions underneath the guardian section. 

The fairies may have been harsh but they were respectful of the decision Hyunjin and Minho had made, they also knew better than to argue with a fated pair.

After they'd finished, the fairies waved their hands and in a bright flash of light they were gone. 

Hyunjin and Minho looked at each other and then embraced tightly, both very grateful that the fairies had decided to leave them alone and let them go free. 

But when they pulled away from each other, they gasped in shock. 

Hyunjin no longer had blonde hair that shone like the rays of the sun and Minho no longer had bright green eyes that sparkled like emeralds. 

Instead Hyunjin had long, black hair like that of a normal crow and Minho had soft brown eyes like those of a rabbit, or a prey animal he used to hunt back in the forest.

The fairies had given them their freedom, but it came at a high price. 

They could no longer change into their true forms and were fated to be stuck as humans for the rest of their lives. 

Minho smiled softly and shook his head as Hyunjin caught sight of his hair and began to tear up. 

"You know, maybe it wasn't a solitary life I was looking for. Maybe you were the part of my life that I was missing." He murmured, gently stroking Hyunjin's cheek and pushing a few strands of jet black hair behind his ear. 

Hyunjin looked into Minho's eyes and smiled that charming smile of his, even as a tear rolled down his cheek. 

"I already knew you would be the one I'd spend the rest of my life with the first time I saw you."

Then they slowly moved in closer towards one another and engaged in a gentle kiss as soft as the newly fallen snow and as warm as spring. 

Even without their true forms they knew they had something even stronger than magical abilities. 

.•° ✿ °•..•° ✿ °•..•° ✿ °•..•° ✿ °•..•° ✿ °•..•° ✿ °•.

They lived out the rest of their younger years by traveling all over the world and exploring what they never would've been able to see as guardians. 

Then as they got older, they settled down in a cottage that they'd built themselves and watched as the other people around them hurried and rushed as they sat calm and collected. 

Hyunjin and Minho even made necklaces with corresponding colors to their true forms just so they wouldn't forget from where they came. 

When the final days came, they passed peacefully together and the fairies honored their deaths by making tombstones in the forest and telling their story to younger guardians who would carry on the legacy they never could've fulfilled.