Forbidden forest • Yoonmin •

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Yoongi was an undergrad student in his fourth year aged 22. He studied music and performing arts, but things weren't going so well for him. All the passion and inspiration was gone from the first 2 years and he barely passed his third one. It was the summer holidays before the start of his last year and his parents suddenly decided to send him abroad to Russia to clear his mind. Yoongi originally thought that he would have fun browsing around a big city like Moscow or St. Petersburg. However, his parents had other plans.

Apparently, his mother's mother's sister married a Russian man and they both lived in the suburbs of Moscow, basically in wilderness (which Yoongi called it). And now he was going to spend three months away from civilisation.
"Being away from the internet and the destructive mindset it leaves you in will do you good" as his mother called it.
He didn't resist too much though. He was a fully grown adult and could easily refuse and go somewhere by himself, but he respected his parents nonetheless and wanted to make them happy. Plus, even with all the cons, it was a free vacation. And plus, he could actually get something out of it... probably.

His great aunt was a lively old woman who greeted him together with her husband as if Yoongi was their own grandson. He warmed up to them after some time, and enjoyed their company. They always made sure that he was well fed, yet still somehow remained very slim. He would help his grandparents (they all agreed just calling each other that) and Yoongi was actually temporarily distracted from the worries of university.

One day mid June Yoongi was asked to go to the forest and collect wild strawberries. They gave him a large jar and hastily sent him out of the house. The blue-haired boy glanced at his intimidatingly large jar, and sighed. This meant that he had a lot of berries to collect. He grumbled but followed along. Putting on his heavy-soled shoes, a basic T-shirt and jeans, a hat and was on his way.

It was already two in the afternoon and he left at twelve. Yoongi was exhausted. His grandmother was right, there was a ton of wild strawberries everywhere. At first he couldn't find any. He then learned that the secret was to check under the leaves, and behold - the juicy ruby berries glistened in their full glory. After a long time of crouching, collecting and trying not to squash the teeny berries, his body was aching. When he decided that an almost full jar of them was more than enough, he looked around and realized that he was lost. We was so busy picking berries and moving from one to another, he didn't recognize his surroundings anymore.

"Well, fuck." Was Yoongi's reaction. He lost his cool and panicked. The forest was huge! Not to mention that there were other forests connecting with this one, so if he chose a random one direction to go in, he could very well be walking for days and become even more lost. He had his cell phone but there was no signal. What else did he expect?
He was basically screwed. Trying to remember tips and anything that could help him, he realised he should have been paying more attention when his grandparents were warning him. He cursed his laziness.

He looked up but closed his eyes immediately as he was blinded by the sun. Then something in his brain clicked and he realised. His folks gave him a room on the second floor of the house (which was more like a tiny attic but he did not complain) and it was located on the east side. How did he know? It's because as early as six in the morning he would wake up due to sun blinding his eyes, which annoyed the hell out of Yoongi. And since it was afternoon, the sun was beginning to set West. Therefore, he should head in the opposite direction in which the sun was setting. Boom.

Smirking to himself and calling himself a genius, Yoongi walked in the opposite direction of the sun setting, swatting branches that were in his way. He was beginning to recognise some of the flora and actually admired it. Trees: tall and short, with leaves, needles or unripe nuts. Along with the bushes, saplings and grass the forest was a beautiful mixture of all green shades imaginable. With branches blocking the sky, it felt as if it was a different realm. Maybe not, but there was definitely something magical about this place. The soft, calm atmosphere blanketed him and relaxed his mind.

He walked past a cluster of wild bilberries. Yet another branch was blocking his way so he pushed it away like he did with the others. But this time he heard a small thud and saw a.. shimmer?
"Shit did I just kill a bird?" Yoongi ran behind the bush to, in fact, see a small creature lying on the ground. He stepped closer to have a better view and froze. This was definitely not a bird.

In front of him rested a tiny wonder with a human body and a mix of dragonfly and butterfly wings. Yoongi thought he might have hallucinating and rubbed his eyes. Maybe all the sun got to his head, but who was he kidding - the canopy layer of the trees was blocking all the sunlight. After multiple eye rubs the creature still did not disappear. For some unknown reason Yoongi decided to approach it instead of running away. He got really close to it and had a good look at its features.
The creature had a beautiful face with gorgeous blonde hair, partially covering its forehead. It also had slightly rounded cheeks and rosy plump lips.. Yoongi couldn't spot a single flaw in the face. If only he knew the colour of the eyes..

The creature wore earthy-toned clothing consisting of tight brown-gray pants, a green elbow length loose shirt and was strapped by belts and straps holding a few items. Brown boots completed the look. And the wings.. the other thing apart from the size that indicated that it wasn't human. They were light, iridescent with a slight shimmer and an intricate swirly design. Yoongi was mesmerized. He could stare at it for hours on end.. when suddenly, the creature fluttered his eyes open.

Yoongi then saw how it widened it's tiny eyes in surprise and stared at him, and he finally knew the colour. It was a deep nut brown colour, beautiful just like the creature itself. They stared at each other for what seemed like forever, taking in each others presence. Then it gasped, stood up, and fluttered away swiftly behind some tall trees. Yoongi looked up slowly even though he couldn't possibly see it up there. His eyes lingered on the canopy for a few seconds and then he stood up too. Almost forgetting his jar of wild strawberries, he sighed and made his way in the direction of his house, thinking about what he just he saw.