- Genre: Fluff, Fantasy, AU
- Word Count: 1,969
- Pairing: Reader x Soonyoung
- World: Seventeen
If you’re an anime fan, or even not, I’m sure you’ve at least HEARD of Studio Ghibli, which is the very best movie company EVER. This fic takes inspiration heavily from Howl’s Moving Castle, a gift for prettywordsyouleft ! If you squint, you can see a bit of comedy.
!! Quick PSA: This fic is as trash as the photoshop job above. kthxbye
The world of magic was a strange one, to be sure. It wasn’t believed to be real, but magic existed everywhere, you just had to open your eyes. As a child, you grew up reading books about witches and wizards, stories shrouded in magic and fantasy. You loved it, but like most people, you grew out of it as you aged, believing such things to be nothing more than a product of one’s imagination. Still, a small part of you longed to be taken away from the mundane life you led.
You looked out the window with a sigh, sitting back in your chair. The sky was dark gray, as it had been for the past week, yet no rain has fallen since they appeared. It was strange and the meteorologists had no idea what was causing it. Before you looked away, your eyes caught something in the sky. Squinting, you rolled your chair closer to the glass.
At first glance, it looked like a bird, it’s feathers dark against the gray sky, but it was far too large to be any bird you had ever seen before. You watched as it glided through the air, missing balls of light being shot at it. From where you couldn’t see.
“Y/N? What’s wrong?” Gemma, your coworker, looked at you curiously.
You turned to her, grabbing her arm. “There’s something strange in the sky!”
“Yeah, they’re called clouds.” She giggled.
“I’m serious!” You pouted, tugging on her arm once more. She relented, allowing you to bring her over. Your eyes scanned the sky, looking for the dark mass of feathers but it was nowhere in sight. “It’s gone…”
“I think it’s time you cash in on those vacation days, girl.” Gemma patted your shoulder, rushing back to her desk when the phone rang. “Thanks for calling Howl Industries! My name is Gemma, how may I assist you today?”
You frowned, eyes jumping around frantically. Had you imagined it? The phone rang and you sighed, returning to your desk. Maybe Gemma was right.
As you stepped out of the elevator, you stretched your arms above your head, groaning as your bones popped. Sitting in a chair for near twelve hours a day was hell on your back and shoulders, but the pay made it worth it. Howl Industries is one of the world’s largest companies, dealing in children’s books, healing crystals, and various other business ventures. You’ve been working for the company for almost three years now, going from struggling to pay your bills to now having extra to do what you wanted with.
It was around ten-thirty and the sun had long since set. The moon was smothered by the thick clouds, making the night seem darker. Not even the street lights could lift the darkness. The cool Autumn air whipped around you, sending a shiver down your spine as you pulled your coat tighter around your body. You couldn’t wait to get home and relax with a nice hot cup of cocoa.
A faint white glow caught the corner of your eye and you paused. It was coming from inside the park, completely devoid of human life. You chewed on your bottom lip as alarm bells went off in your mind. By all accounts, walking into a deserted park alone, late at night on a cold windy night, was a horrible idea, but there was something stopping you from walking away. You couldn’t explain it, but you felt as if you had to enter the park and investigate that glow. Cursing your curiosity, you slowly approached it, looking around for any signs that this was a trap.
Swallowing down your nerves, you slowly parted the bushes, finding an unconscious man lying on the ground. His hair was a faded brown, his skin like porcelain. His body was thin and glowed a pale white. He was the most gorgeous man you had ever laid eyes on.
You kneeled down to get a better look at him but startled when a cold liquid seeped through your pants. Curiously, you placed your hand down to inspect it; it was blood.
Your stomach twisted at the site of the red liquid staining your skin. ‘Oh, god. What if he’s dead?!’ You swallowed down your nerves, lifting a shaking hand towards his neck. Before you could make contact, his eyes shot open and his hand gripped your wrist tightly.
You squeaked in surprise, gaining his attention. His warm brown eyes bore into your own and it felt as if he was looking straight to your soul. It felt intrusive like he could tell everything about you with one look. You tried to remain calm, knowing that if you panicked it would only make things worse. “Y-You’re hurt… I’ll call you an ambulance, j-just let go, okay?”
His fingers tightened around your wrist, his eyes never leaving yours. His breathing was shallow, you noticed. “No ambulance. Please…”
“Oi… Oi!” You called out to him as his eyes slid closed but to no avail. He had lost consciousness once more, hand slowly falling from your wrist. You didn’t know what to do. He was obviously hurt pretty bad judging from the amount of blood on the ground, but he sounded so desperate that you didn’t call an ambulance. That left you with two options.
Though you had mostly grown out of the fantasy genre as an adult, your love for books and reading never dwindled. You had read so many stories where the main character found a mysterious man or woman that was unconscious, hurt, or running away from trouble. You remember laughing at them for being dumb enough to bring a stranger into their home, claiming that you would never be stupid enough to make that decision.
So why were you hesitating now?
You didn’t believe yourself to be a saint by no means, but you weren’t cruel, either, and leaving this man here to bleed out was not something you could forgive yourself for. With a frustrated groan, you made your decision, thanking the heavens that your parents had forced you to be active as a child. Those skills that you had never thought would come in handy were now helping you to lift the man onto your back. He was heavy, being a full grown man, but either you were stronger than you thought or he was lighter than the average man. Even so, you hunched a bit as you walked and you knew that if you didn’t get home soon, you would probably collapse under the weight.
You struggled to get your keys out of your bag without dropping him, but with the help of the brick wall, you finally succeeded after ten minutes of fumbling around like a fool. You kicked the door shut with a huff, your body screaming as you took large steps to the couch, nearly dropping the man. Once he was safe, you collapse to the ground with a groan, your back feeling like it wanted to break in half.
“Meow~”
You tilted your head back, locking eyes with your cat. You could only imagine what she was thinking as she watched you. Rolling onto your stomach, you reached up to scratch her head only to pause when you remembered the blood.
“Shit, his wound!” You jumped to your feet, searching the kitchen cabinets for the first aid kit before rushing back to the couch. His white shirt was covered in blood in various spots, but the majority of it was focused on his right side. Silently apologizing for the invasion of privacy, you lifted his shirt to check the wound.
You blinked dumbly when you found nothing marring his beautiful skin. It took a minute to sink in and you felt your blood turn cold. ‘Is that someone else’s blood? Did I just bring a murderer home?! That would explain why he didn’t want an ambulance!’
A soft groan passed his pink lips, eyes fluttering open.
You knew it was stupid, but your body froze up. If you didn’t move, maybe he wouldn’t see you…
He turned his head, brown eyes boring into your own. His hand reached up, resting on your cheek. “You saved me…”
“I, umm…” Technically you did nothing but nearly break your back.
“Thank you,” he smiled and you felt your heart skip a beat.
“Gorgeous,” you muttered under your breath, but he heard it, letting out a melodic laugh. Your cheeks burned when you realized you had thought out loud.
He pushed himself up into a sitting position, smiling at you. “My name is Soonyoung. And yours?”
We’re you really going to give your name to a strange man that may or may not be a murderer? Yes, yes you were. “Y/N… my name is Y/N.”
“What a beautiful name.” He commented, his lips curled into a gentle smile. “Thank you again for saving me. You have my eternal gratitude.”
“I… really didn’t do anything.” You rubbed the back of your head, glancing at his bloodstained shirt. He followed your gaze, his hand raising the cloth as he smiled.
“Don’t worry, I’ve finished healing.”
“Say what now?”
“I’ve finished healing,” he repeated, tilting his head to the side. “It took a bit longer than normal, nearly thirty minutes!”
“Normal people don’t heal from that kind of wound in thirty minutes…”
He looked at you in surprise. “Really? Humans are quite strange.”
“Huma – Are you not human?!”
“Of course not, I’m a wizard!” He grinned, proudly.
Your mouth fell open. “This isn’t Harry Potter, man!”
“Harry… Potter? What is that?”
You stated at him blankly for a moment before turning around, rubbing circles into your temple. “This isn’t real, it’s just a dream brought on by your overactive imagination.”
Soonyoung frowned, tilting his head again. “Do you not believe me?”
“Magic isn’t real.”
“How dare you!” He jumped to his feet, hurt swirling in his brown eyes. “It is very real and I can prove it.”
“Yeah? And how are you gonna do tha- OH MY GOD.” When you turned around, you found the boy now covered dark feathers, a deep silky blue. His fingers were now claws, and the only part of his body that wasn’t made of fur and feathers was his face. He stood tall, his head nearly reaching the ceiling. Wings were tucked into his body, shaking lightly. Feathers were now strewn across your living room.
“I don’t… I can’t… WHAT.”
He giggled at your reaction, sticking his tongue out. “I told you, didn’t I? Magic is real. Now, come with me!” He held his hand out and you only stared at it blankly. Your mind was running a mile a minute, but at the same time it was somehow working at only a fourth of its normal capacity. Impatient, he reached forward, picking you off the ground and into his arms. Before you could say a word, he rushed outside and took flight. You cried out, your arms nearly choking him as your fingers clutched at his feathers.
His laugh reached your ears over the whipping of the cool night air. “It’s okay, I won’t drop you. Promise!”
Swallowing your nerves, you slowly peeled your eyes open. They quickly grew wide when you realized how high up you were. The city below was a blur of lights as he flew over, the clouds swirling around his body. When you spotted Howl Industries, you realized that Soonyoung had been the strange creature you witnessed. You remembered the lights chasing him.
Your eyes examined his face, thoughtfully. ‘One of those lights must have injured him…’
Sensing your stare, he glanced down at you with a beautiful smile, which you slowly returned. You had the feeling that Soonyoung would quickly become a very important part of your life.
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