Chapter Text
There is a forest at the edge of the village.
No one goes into the forest; children play near its borders, but only when an adult is watching to call them back before they go too far. Hyunjin is no exception to this rule, but he is also far too curious for his own good.
He’s five years old and he sneaks away from his mother one afternoon and goes running into the forest. He’s heard the legends, of course, about the wild god who lives there, who takes people if they go too far into his domain, but he doesn’t care. He isn’t sure he believes in the wild god, not when there’s no proof of him being real.
He wanders for a while, ducking under low-hanging branches and crawling through the underbrush. Eventually, he stumbles upon a creek, not too deep, but wide enough that he can’t jump over it. It’s hot outside and he decides that it wouldn’t hurt to splash in the water for a little bit.
No sooner has he stepped one foot in the creek before a low growl rumbles through the air. It’s animalistic, inhuman, and Hyunjin whirls to face the noise expecting to see some sort of beast. Instead, however, the sound is coming from a man.
Perhaps ‘man’ is a bit of a stretch to describe him; crouched like an animal, fangs bared and long, tangled hair hanging in his face, he certainly looks like a beast. He’s perched on a rock outcropping a few yards up the creek, poised and tense, ready to strike. Hyunjin steps back carefully, the same way he slowly backs away when Old Man Choi’s dog comes near him.
The rocks in the creek, however, aren’t all stable and one wrong step is enough to send Hyunjin tumbling, his arms wheeling through the air as he tries to keep his balance. Even at five years old, he knows that falling onto the rocks is a bad thing and he squeezes his eyes closed in terror, waiting for the pain he associates with hitting the ground.
It never comes, though, and when he opens his eyes it becomes apparent that somehow the wild man has crossed nearly the whole distance between them in half a second to catch him. Hyunjin is caught up in his arms, almost nose-to-nose with the strange man.
Hyunjin is trembling all over, shaking in the arms of what he can only assume is the strange god people talk about. He thinks he should be afraid but something tells him not to be; maybe if he was older he would question his instincts more but he’s only five and so he embraces that part of him whole-heartedly.
“Hello,” he says quietly. That seems to startle the man and he sets Hyunjin down before springing onto a rock sticking out of the middle of the creek. He shakes himself dry like a dog, his nakedness permitting him to do so.
Cautiously, Hyunjin takes a step towards him. “Thank you for saving me.” When the man just continues staring at him he steps closer and holds out his hand, the way his mother taught him to. “My name is Hyunjin; what’s yours?”
The man grunts, but that’s the extent of his response, and Hyunjin frowns. “You’re supposed to shake my hand and tell me what your name is. Mother said it’s not polite to ignore someone when they introduce themselves.”
The man just grunts again and Hyunjin sighs, in that put-upon way that children do, and takes two steps forward before grabbing the man’s hand. “Handshake,” he says, going through the motions. “This is a handshake.”
He stares at their joined hands, seemingly fascinated. Slowly, he shakes their hands up and down again. Then he does it faster, and faster. He looks back up at Hyunjin, a large smile breaking out on his face. He looks proud, but also like he wants praise. With the fangs and the black eyes and the dirt smudged all over his face it shouldn’t be cute, but somehow it is.
Hyunjin giggles. He doesn’t understand why everyone said the wild god was dangerous; he just seems confused about how humans should act. “Do you have a name?” he asks. The god just stares at him, head cocked to the side like a puppy. Hyunjin giggles again. “Do you want one?”
Silence. Then, suddenly, a butterfly floats through the air and lands on the god’s head. It’s bright blue, with black spots on its wings. Almost without realizing it, Hyunjin finds himself reaching up towards it.
A clawed hand on his wrist stops him. Slowly, the god lifts his other hand to his head. The butterfly crawls across his hair and onto his finger. He brings his hand down so that it’s right in front of Hyunjin’s eyes, the butterfly still balanced gracefully on his finger.
Hyunjin’s eyes go wide. “Woah,” he breathes. The butterfly is somehow more beautiful up close. “It’s so pretty.”
The god grunts and the butterfly flits off of his finger and lands on Hyunjin’s nose. The butterfly’s wings flap gently, brushing against his face, and Hyunjin giggles. “That tickles!” His smile is wide, beaming, and for how apprehensive he first was when he saw the god, he can’t help but feel completely safe.
A deep rumble comes from the god, almost like a laugh, but more animalistic in nature. He’s smiling happily, perched like a dog on this rock in the middle of a creek. In the next second, he throws his head back and howls, long and wild.
For a moment there’s silence. Hyunjin stares at the god, unsure of what is happening, but trusting that it’s nothing bad. Then, out of the forest around them, emerges a veritable swarm of butterflies. They descend on Hyunjin, who spreads his arms wide, perching on his skin, on his clothes, in his hair. He shrieks with glee, laughing and spinning in place as the butterflies continue to gather.
Eventually, the god howls again and as quickly as they came the butterflies vanish until there is only one left on the tip of Hyunjin’s nose. It flutters its wings and then flies away when the god blows on it. Hyunjin giggles at the puff of air on his face and the god smiles as gently as possible when he has a mouth of fangs.
In the next minute, their bubble of safety is interrupted by someone calling Hyunjin’s name. He snaps his head towards the sound, then hears a splash, and in the next turns back to watch as the man leaps into the other side of the creek bed.
“Wait!” he calls. “Wait!”
The god turns for just a second to stare at Hyunjin, but then someone is crashing through the underbrush to get to Hyunjin and the god disappears into the forest.
“Hyunjin!” His father grabs him, pulling him up into his arms. He hugs him tightly, holding him close to his chest. “Holy shit, Hyunjin. Oh thank god, I was so worried.”
“Daddy!” he pouts. “You scared the man off.”
Any relief on his father’s face vanishes. “What man?” he asks slowly. “Hyunjin, what man?”
“The wild man.”
“Shit.” His father pales, terror in his eyes. “The wild man? You saw the forest god?”
Hyunjin nods happily. “He was really nice! He caught me when I fell and I taught him how to shake hands and - and he called all the butterflies to come play with me.”
“Fuck.”
“That’s not a nice word,” Hyunjin says with a frown. “Daddy, that’s not a very nice word.”
“Listen to me, Hyunjin. I need you to promise me you’ll never go near the forest again.” Hyunjin stares at his father dumbly; he likes the forest and he wants to see the man again and he doesn’t understand why his father seems so upset. “Hyunjin, I need you to promise.”
Hyunjin pouts but nods his head, holding out his hand for a pinky promise. His father sighs in relief and links their fingers. “Alright, let’s go. Your mother is waiting at home.”
Hyunjin looks over his father’s shoulder as he walks away. Hidden in the bushes, camouflaged by the dying afternoon light, he swears he sees a pair of black eyes staring back at him.
—————
Hyunjin is never allowed back near the woods by himself again, no matter how much he reassures his family that the butterfly man was very nice. Eventually, he stops asking to go or trying to get away, but he never stops thinking that he catches glimpses of black eyes staring at him when he looks at the forest.
—————
“What.” Hyunjin’s voice is deadly calm, monotone, flat. “What did you just say.”
His parents exchange nervous glances, his mother smoothing her hands over her skirt. “Well, Jinnie, you see-”
“You know the last few years have been bad, Hyunjin,” his father interjects. “We haven’t been meeting rent payments on the farm and Mr. Kwon has been generous enough to extend our loan but… We’ve run out of time. He said that we could either leave the home or, well…”
“Or you could marry me off?”
His mother winces. “Sohee is a very lovely girl, Hyunjin, I really think you two could-”
“Mother, I’m sure Sohee is very lovely, but I have no intention of marrying her.”
“Please, Hyunjin.” She's begging, reaching out for him, and Hyunjin’s heart breaks a little to see how desperate she is. “Mr. Kwon said that if you married his daughter, we’d be considered family and we could keep the farm. We wouldn’t even have to pay rent. We could pay back our other debts!”
Hyunjin tries to stay strong, tries not to buckle under the weight of his mother’s pleading eyes, but he’s always been willing to do most anything she asks of him. So, rather than continue to protest, he sighs and says, “Okay.”
—————
His wedding day comes and Hyunjin wakes with a heavy weight in his stomach. It’s been a month since his parents first approached him about this and with everyday Hyunjin tries harder to resign himself to the fact that he’s getting married to someone he doesn’t love. He hasn’t been very successful.
As is tradition, he has the entire morning to himself. It’s supposed to be a time for the groom to reflect on his relationship and the love he has for his bride. For Hyunjin, it’s time to think about the fact that he’s selling himself to save his family.
He wanders around for a few hours, just aimless walking through the village. He knows he has an end goal, however, because, for the first time in years, he feels drawn to the forest. He’s always been aware of it, the looming presence of the forest, has been since the time he met the wild god, but something about today is different.
He doesn’t go into the forest, but he sits with his back against one of the trees at its edge. He wants to scream, but if he does his mother will come running and the last thing he needs is to make her feel guiltier about this.
Instead, he just clenches his fists and tries to hold off the hot tears welling up in his eyes. “Goddammit!” he whispers fiercely. “Fucking - goddammit!”
He wipes at his eyes harshly. “I hate this. God, I hate this.”
In the next second, he’s abruptly yanked out of his pity party by a hand landing on his shoulder. He shrieks, and launches himself forward, away from whoever is touching him. Then he turns around to look back at the person and his breath catches in his throat.
“Oh my god,” he murmurs in awe. “It’s you.”
The forest god crouches in front of him, head cocked to the side like a puppy. He looks just as wild as he did thirteen years ago, nails long and jagged and hair matted. He reaches towards Hyunjin and, with really nothing to lose at this point, Hyunjin tentatively crawls forward to meet him. The god links their fingers together, then smiles widely. With his free hand, he reaches for Hyunjin’s and starts to shake it.
Hyunjin can’t help but laugh. The god looks so proud of himself for remembering proper etiquette and it’s quite honestly adorable. “Hi,” Hyunjin says. “It’s been a while.”
The god grunts and drops Hyunjin’s hands to reach out and cradle his face. Hyunjin giggles. He knows he should feel scared but he fears nothing in that moment. All thoughts of his impending wedding are gone.
“I’ve grown up a bit, yeah?” he says. “You’ve stayed the same though. Makes sense, I guess, if you’re really a god.”
There’s a low growl and then the wild man is wiping away the tears that had begun to spill down Hyunjin’s face. He’s frowning, clearly beginning to grow angry, but his touch is gentle.
“Oh, that?” Hyunjin smiles sadly. “I’m afraid you’ve come to talk to me again at a really bad time. See, I’m being forced to get married this afternoon. I really don’t want to, but if I try and run away they’ll chase me down and make me do it anyway.”
Hyunjin doesn’t think the god understands his words, but he seems to understand that Hyunjin is sad and it just makes him angrier.
His fingers wrap around Hyunjin’s wrist and he starts tugging him towards the forest. Hyunjin pulls back, suddenly alarmed. “No, no, I can’t go with you! They’ll think I’ve run away, they’ll hurt my parents.”
The god doesn’t listen, just keeps pulling on his arm and he’s clearly stronger than Hyunjin. Then, in the distance, Hyunjin hears his father calling for him. It’s calm at first, but suddenly grows more panicked and Hyunjin knows his father has seen what’s happening.
“Father! Father, help!”
When Hyunjin cranes his neck back to look behind himself his father and some of the other men in the wedding party are racing towards them.
The god’s grip goes slightly slack and Hyunjin takes advantage of the moment to lunge forward. The hand around his wrist tightens before he can get anywhere though and he falls, slamming his head into the tree.
Everything is fuzzy and his ears are ringing. His vision is slowly going black and the last thing he’s aware of before he passes out is being lifted in the air by a pair of gentle hands.
—————
Hyunjin wakes up and doesn’t realize where he is.
Then it registers that he’s staring at some sort of stone ceiling and he scrambles to sit up. A hand on his chest stops him, and he looks up to find himself staring into the eyes of the forest god.
“What the - what the fuck did you do?” Hyunjin stares at the god with dawning horror on his face. “Where are we?”
He tries to sit up again and just gets pushed back down. Gingerly, his kidnapper reaches out to trace a hand over his hairline. When he pulls his hand away there’s a small spot of blood on it.
Hyunjin’s eyes go wide. “Shit.” His hand shoots up to his head, and he sighs in relief when he only feels a small cut at the edge of his hairline. It’s not bleeding anymore; the blood on the god’s hand must have just not dried yet. His head falls back and he sighs in relief. “Oh thank god.”
Now that he’s established that he’s okay - surprising, really, considering he essentially head-butted a tree - he glares at the god. “I’m going to sit up now,” he says, voice firm. “And you are going to let me because I’m fine.”
He flinches slightly at Hyunjin’s tone and sits back on his haunches like a dog. Hyunjin takes a sort of vindictive pride in how he almost looks scared when he hears his tone.
Carefully, Hyunjin sits up. His head spins a little bit, but nothing too terrible, and he thinks that he’ll be able to walk fine. First though, before he leaves to get back to his village, he has to figure out where he is.
As he looks around, he grudgingly has to admit that he’s almost impressed by where he’s found himself. It’s a cave, that much is obvious, and although it’s dim he can still see the sunlight from the entrance glinting off of what appears to be crystals of some sort. There isn’t much in terms of furnishings, but he’s lying on what appears to be some sort of soft moss. The entrance to the cave is blocked by falling water. If he were here under any other situation, he’d probably love to have a hiding place like this.
The cave is large enough to stand up, so he clambers to his feet, glaring at the god when he tenses and starts growling. Slowly, he pads towards the entrance of the cave. The god follows him, still growling.
There’s a walkway under the waterfall and Hyunjin follows it, finding himself standing in a large clearing. There is a pond at the base of the waterfall, large enough that it has a small beach. Birds chirp as they flit from tree to tree. It’s beautiful, but Hyunjin doesn’t have time for beauty.
When he turns to look at the cliff behind him, he can see several ways to get to the top. It’s probably not smart to climb them when he’s got a fresh head injury, but he figures that his best option is to follow the river that feeds into the waterfall and see if it takes him back towards his village.
He takes one step towards the closest path he can see, only to hear a hiss before he gets tackled to the ground. Luckily, his head lands on soft sand rather than a hard rock, but that doesn’t really matter when there’s a heavy weight sitting on his chest.
The god is perched above him and when Hyunjin tries to push him off he bares his teeth at him. Hyunjin crosses his arms as best he can when there’s a full-grown man sitting on his chest and glares up at him. He tries his best not to think about the fact that the god is naked. “Can you please get off of me?”
The god huffs and bends down to nuzzle his nose into Hyunjin’s neck. It’s similar to the way the cats Hyunjin grew up with would mark their territory and it suddenly hits him that he’s what’s being marked here.
Oh hell no.
With the god distracted by marking him, Hyunjin is able to push him off. They’re close enough to the edge of the water that he falls in, and Hyunjin takes advantage of his momentary floundering to stand and bolt for the path up the cliff. Again, however, he doesn’t get very far before an arm circles his waist and drags him back towards the pond. He kicks out and screams, hoping that someone hears him, but he knows that probably won’t happen. Disregarding the fact that the god has probably brought him somewhere remote, if he was seen getting taken by the wild man of the forest, then he’s probably been given up as dead. No help will come from the village.
Finally, he stops struggling. The god has clung to him the whole time, and once Hyunjin stills he starts to rub his cheek on Hyunjin’s back. He’s making a low rumbling noise; it almost sounds like he’s purring. “Holy fuck, can you stop?” Hyunjin huffs.
The god seemingly understands him, because he stops and tentatively lets him go. Hyunjin breathes a sigh of relief. He doesn’t try and escape again; there’s no way he would be able to run away from a supernatural being.
He turns around to face the god, arms crossed and a scowl on his face. He’s crouched like an animal again, and he cocks his head as he takes in Hyunjin’s expression. Then, suddenly, he throws his head back and howls.
It’s a moment eerily similar to the one from his childhood, and so Hyunjin isn’t very surprised when butterflies seem to appear from everywhere. This time, however, they don’t land on him, but on the god himself. Soon this wild man is covered in butterflies, all of them beautiful, vibrant colors. He looks up at Hyunjin, eyes shining with hope.
“Oh my god.” Hyunjin really can’t believe this. Is the wild man trying to woo him or something? “No. No! Calling some butterflies to you won’t make me forgive you for kidnapping me!”
The god visibly droops, and without him having to make any noise all of the butterflies fly away. Only one remains, a beautiful blue one sitting in the palm of his hand. He holds it up towards Hyunjin, eyes duller but still hopeful.
Hyunjin closes his eyes, trying to maintain his resolve, but when he opens them again he’s still staring at him and oh my god, is he pouting?
With a sigh, Hyunjin crouches so they’re at the same height and holds out his hand. Instantly, the god’s entire demeanor brightens, and he eagerly transfers the butterfly from his palm to Hyunjin’s. He wiggles slightly as he sits back on his haunches again and Hyunjin watches him with dawning realization. He laughs. “You’re just a giant puppy, aren’t you? Holy shit, you are.”
The butterfly flies off, but Hyunjin pays it no mind, still staring at the god who looks to be about three seconds away from tackling him again. “If I’m not getting away, I need to have something to call you,” he says. Realistically (hopefully), he won’t need to use the name for very long and he’ll find a way back to the village. Still, for now, it would be nice. His mind flashes to the butterfly from a moment ago, as well as the one from thirteen years in the past. “Butterfly,” he says. “I think I’ll call you Butterfly.”
—————
Now that he’s accepted that he’s going to be here for a bit, Hyunjin easily lets Butterfly tug him back to the cave. This time, since he’s not just trying to find the way out, he takes a longer look. Other than the pile of moss that served as his bed earlier, there’s nothing there. Butterfly looks at him expectantly, seemingly waiting to see if he approves. Hyunjin smiles thinly at him. “It’s very… bare. Pretty, but I won’t be able to survive with just a bed. And I’ll need to eat.”
He can’t tell if Butterfly is aware of any of what he is saying, as he just drags him over to the moss and pulls him down. The way he moves is weird; it’s an odd mix of all fours versus two feet. It’s almost funny to watch, if Hyunjin is honest.
After making sure that Hyunjin is comfortable on the moss, Butterfly presses a hand to his chest. It’s a pretty universal sign that says “stay here” and Hyunjin is honestly too tired to try and fight him on it. He’s not, however, expecting for Butterfly to turn and leave the cave.
He waits for five minutes, but Butterfly doesn’t come back and so he tentatively stands and leaves the cave. He feels grimy, and there’s still blood on his face, and so he takes his boots off and jumps into the water. Once he’s safely submerged he strips, laying his clothes on a rock so they can dry, although the sun is starting to wane, so he’s not sure how dry they’ll get.
Once he’s satisfied that all the blood is gone from his forehead he ducks his head back down, diving under. Tentatively he opens his eyes; the water is crystal clear and he can see all the way to the bottom. It’s like nothing he’s ever seen before; certainly, none of the ponds and lakes near his village were this clear. He can see fish darting around, scales flashing silver in the sunlight, but they pay him no mind so he does the same for them.
He’s enjoying the peace and tranquility of it all, especially considering what an emotional trial today has been, when there’s suddenly a hand on his shoulder and he’s yanked out of the water.
Butterfly, it seems, didn’t realize that Hyunjin wasn’t dying, because he frantically pats at Hyunjin’s face, trying to see if he’s awake. “Hey, stop. Stop!” Hyunjin pushes him away, treading water to keep himself afloat as he glares at Butterfly. “I’m fine. I’m not drowning, I’m just going for a swim!”
Butterfly cocks his head, then swims forward to cling onto Hyunjin, arms around his neck. “Oh my - what the hell!” Hyunjin flounders for a moment before he manages to stabilize himself again. “What the fuck are you doing?”
Butterfly seemingly ignores him, cuddling closer and nuzzling his face into the juncture between Hyunjin’s neck and his shoulder. It’s fine, for a second, and Hyunjin just sort of resigns himself to everything that’s happening. Then Butterfly wraps his legs around Hyunjin’s waist and Hyunjin freezes because holy shit that’s definitely another dick touching his.
“Butterfly,” he says, voice strained. “Butterfly, please get off me.”
There’s no response; whether that’s because he doesn’t understand or because he’s ignoring Hyunjin is impossible to tell. Considering how he’s happily making a sound that sounds vaguely like a purr, though, Hyunjin doesn’t think he’s going to get out of this situation anytime soon.
Well. If he’s stuck like this at least he could get to shallower waters. Treading water with all this extra weight is already tiring him out and so he does his best to move them closer to the shore. It’s slow going, with Butterfly not doing anything to help, but eventually they make it and Hyunjin breathes a sigh of relief when he feels his feet touch the ground.
For a moment, he considers getting out of the water, but he doesn’t trust that the god will stop clinging to him if he does and he’d rather not have to carry Butterfly’s entire weight without the water as a support. Instead, he goes far enough towards shore that he can sit down. It puts him in an even more awkward position than before. Now, instead of their dicks just occasionally brushing together, Butterfly’s is very much pressed against his stomach while his own rests in the cleft of Butterfly’s ass. He stiffens when he realizes what position they’re in, but Butterfly just yawns and nuzzles into his neck again. It’s then that Hyunjin understands that Butterfly really doesn’t understand the implications of how they’re sitting. To him, it’s just natural to be nude. In the face of such innocence, Hyunjin doesn’t know what to do other than accept that this is something that’s actually happening to him and get comfortable with a naked man in his lap.
He doesn’t know why, maybe for a lack of things to do, but he finds himself playing with Butterfly’s hair. It is, quite frankly, absolutely disgusting. It’s clearly not been brushed in a long, long time. His natural instinct is to clean it, and so he does his best. He doesn’t have a comb, which would be incredibly useful, but he does his best to pull it apart with his fingers. He can’t tell if it actually does much, but it’s the best he can do right now.
Hyunjin loses track of how long they sit there, but it’s long enough that he’s pretty sure Butterfly falls asleep. Eventually the sun starts to go down and Hyunjin takes that as their cue to get out of the water.
“Hey. Hey, Butterfly,” he says, gently shaking at the god’s shoulder. “Butterfly, wake up.”
Slowly the god blinks awake. He looks up at Hyunjin and Hyunjin feels something in him melt at the pure trust in his gaze. No one has ever looked at him like that before, and he thinks that it could easily become something he’s addicted to.
Butterfly makes the purring noise again and rubs his face against Hyunjin’s chest. Hyunjin sighs when Butterfly doesn’t seem to want to do anything besides make himself comfortable to go back to sleep. “Come on, you big dummy,” he says, shoving lightly at Butterfly’s shoulder. “I’m hungry. Let me go look for food.”
At the mention of food, Butterfly seems to wake up. One second he’s sitting, pliant and loose, in Hyunjin’s lap, and in the next he’s scrambling out of the pond. Hyunjin watches him go, watches him make his way to a small clay bowl sitting by the side of the pond. It definitely hadn’t been there before he went swimming and he can’t help but wonder where it came from. Then Butterfly comes back to the pond, resuming his position on Hyunjin’s lap without a second thought. This time he’s not sitting against him, but rather straddling him. He holds up the bowl and Hyunjin sees that it’s fruit.
He looks up at Butterfly with wide eyes. “Is this where you went this afternoon? You went and found me food?”
Butterfly doesn’t reply, just picks up one of the berries in the bowl and holds it to Hyunjin’s lips. Normally, Hyunjin would protest being handfed, but he hasn’t eaten since that morning and, quite frankly, he’s starving. Butterfly gingerly feeds him the berry when he opens his mouth and before Hyunjin can even finish chewing he’s holding up another piece of fruit.
They go through the whole bowl like this. Normally, berries do not a meal make, but something about these berries must be different because by the time they finish the bowl Hyunjin is stuffed. He couldn’t seem to get that across to Butterfly, though, because the god insisted on hand feeding him all of the berries.
When Butterfly leaves again to go put the bowl back on shore, Hyunjin takes that as his cue to stand up. He has a feeling that if he keeps sitting he’ll end up with a lapful of god again and he really just wants to go back into the cave and go to bed.
He wades through the shallows to the rock where he left his clothes, trying not to think about the fact that he can feel Butterfly’s eyes tracking him as he does. He pulls his shirt on, but opts not to put on his pants seeing as he’s just going to get in bed anyway. He thinks he remembers seeing an outcropping that looks somewhat like a shelf in the cave; he’ll just store his pants and his shoes there.
Finally stepping out of the water, he makes his way to the path behind the waterfall. He stops just before he ducks under the water and turns to look at Butterfly. It’s dark enough outside that he can barely see him, but he can see enough to know that the god is just sitting there watching him. “Well?” he says. “Are you coming or not?”
As soon as he finishes speaking, the god springs forward, hurrying to his side and following him into the cave. It’s pitch black inside, and for a moment Hyunjin freezes, unsure of how to navigate the darkness. Then Butterfly growls sharply, and in the next second the whole cave ceiling is illuminated.
Hyunjin stares at the ceiling, fascinated. Seemingly trapped between the crystals and the rock they emerge from are what looks to be hundreds of lightning bugs. They all glow, and as the light passes through the crystals, it gives the cave an almost magical feeling. “Wow,” he says, awestruck. He looks down at Butterfly. “Thank you.”
Butterfly seemingly preens, then makes his way to the bed. Hyunjin deposits his clothes on the shelf he remembers, then follows him. He curls up on the moss, and for a second the chilled air of the cave has him shivering, but then warm arms are wrapping around him and Butterfly cuddles up to his back. In an endearingly awkward mimic of Hyunjin playing with his hair earlier, Butterfly runs a clawed hand gently through Hyunjin’s. He nuzzles his nose into the nape of Hyunjin’s neck, then goes still.
Hyunjin lays there long after Butterfly has fallen asleep. He tries to get some rest, but the events of the past however many hours keep flashing through his head. Did he really get kidnapped the morning of his wedding like some cliche romantic heroine? And by some sort of wild god of all beings?
For a moment he contemplates trying to escape again tomorrow. If Butterfly goes looking for food again, he could probably run off then. But he abandons this train of thought as soon as it comes to him. Earlier he wanted nothing but to get away. But, now that he’s had time to consider it, he doesn’t see the point. If he goes home he’s just going to be forced to get married. He’s going to have to spend the rest of his life miserable, pretending to be happy when he’s not. If he stays here, stays with Butterfly, everyone will just assume he’s died. No one will come looking for him. He can be free.
It’s not a hard decision to make.
Mind made up, he closes his eyes. A gust of wind blows through the cave and he shivers, curling further into the warm body behind him. Butterfly huffs sleepily and tightens his arms around Hyunjin. After that, sleep finds him easily, and he drifts off with barely a second thought.