Troll /n /
» a supernatural being dwelling in a cave, hill, or any isolated places. They vary in appearances and characteristics, ranging from gigantic grotesque forms to almost human-like.

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Grumbling, you trekked across the muddy forest as you searched for the said "nearby lake." Your mom said it was where she must have dropped her wedding ring when she gathered some berries yesterday. Seriously, what was she even doing in that part of the forest? When you were small, she told you to never go in here but now that you're all grown up, she casually tells you to prance around here to fetch something she may or may have not lost.

To be honest, you never liked living here. The house looks so ancient, and it sits at the very edge of the forest; a perfect setting for a horror movie.

"Oh there you are." You mumbled as you spotted the body of water from far away. Oh finally, this very exciting trip has finally come to an end.

You looked around the part where there were a lot of berry plants nearby, but even after minutes, you still haven't found the ring. And because you were nowhere near enthusiastic in this search and retrieve mission, you just shrugged, basically saying, "Meh. It's probably not here."

Since you didn't want to waste all your efforts of walking all the way here, you decided to amuse yourself a bit before heading home again. You sat on a log just beside the water, and watched your reflection stare right back at you.

"Who is that girl I see?" You began to sing. Well, it was kind of funny. Nobody was going to hear you anyway, right?

"Staring straight back at me... Why does my--"

You got cut off when you felt the ground shake. At first, you thought it might have just been your imagination. Or maybe it was just a small earthquake. But then it happened again, but harder this time. You bounced up your seat as if something big stepped on the land.

Then another shake. And another. And another. And it did sound like someone was walking nearer the lake.

Or something.

Shaken--quite literally--you started to run. A loud rumble occured behind you, and when you looked back, horror struck you in the face hard.

A huge grotesque green colored creature, about 20 feet tall or so, stood there angrily as it faced you. It was holding a big mace like object, and the spikes on it looked no joke. You ran faster, even though unsure if you could even outrun this ugly creature. The ground shook once again as it started to run, and with just a few steps, it caught up, and snatched you up with one giant swing. It clutched you a little too tight, probably crushing a rib or two. And just like that, you blacked out.

*****

"Yah, wake up."

You gasped as cold water splashed all over you.

"WHAT THE--" You sat upright, rubbing your eyes off of the water. Your ribs felt a little bruised, but it could easily be ignored. You looked around and realized that you were in a cave with piles of junk scattered here and there. And you realized the same creature earlier was there, and oh, there are four of them, actually.

But what's even more strange, was that there was a human boy sitting on a throne on the farthest back, and it was like the creatures were guarding him. In fact, he looked very comfortable here. He even wore clothes similar to those of the creatures, except that he had a fur vest to cover his upper body. He looked someone straight out from a jungle movie.

"Where are we?"

"A cave." The boy rolled his eyes. You scoffed.

"Oh wow, thanks Mr. Obvious." You stood up and tried to squeeze the excess water from your clothes. You nodded towards the giant ugly things. "What are they?"

"Trolls."

"Seriously?" You could only blink dumbly.

One of the trolls near him made a noise that sounded like whales crying while an elephant is farting nearby. Must be  their troll language. The boy snickered as if he heard something funny. You narrowed your eyes.

"You understand what they're saying?"

"Of course." He looked at you as if you were the dumbest person he ever met. You tried to overlook this one though you could feel your eyebrow twitching.

"How? You're human. And how come you're like their boss around here?"

"FOOOOL!!!" He screamed, making you jump. Like what in the actual hell. Is this guy bipolar? "I am a troll. There are peachskin trolls and leafskin trolls. I am a peachskin, and I own this place."

He tried to look intimidating, but you could sense that he was just forcing it. Somehow, you could feel that something is off. So you just narrowed your eyes.

"Why did you bring me here?"

He paused for a few seconds as if to think of the answer.

"Oh for pete's sake!" He stomped his foot like a kid. He motioned for his "guards" to go away. "Go. Out. Go play fetch or somethung. I'll talk to this woman alone."

They groaned and grunted in response as they walked out, making the ground shake with their every step. As soon as they were gone, the boy hurried to your side as if he wasn't a king.

"Are you crazy?!!! Calling me human in front of them?!!!"

"What???"

He sighed deeply.

"Ok, here's what's happening here genius. I am not a troll. But those giants are real trolls. Trolls don't want humans messing around their territory, so in order for me to live, I made them believe I'm a troll too. And you are live now because I told them you're like me."

He paused to make sure you were taking in the information. You took a deep breath.

"So that leafskin and peachskin thingy..."

"I made that up. There's only one type of troll. The giant ugly ones. A handsome one like myself could never be a troll."

You rolled your eyes. "If you've got enough time to fool them and even make you their leader, then why haven't you escaped?"

"I have nowhere to go." He mumbled.

"What do you mean nowhere to go? The town is just near the edge of the forest. I'm sure you can try to walk to--"

"What I mean is I have no family to come home to." You froze at his words. "Our car crashed down a cliff nearby. I'm the only one who survived. And those trolls..."

He averted his gaze, because maybe he was afraid that you'll see the pain in his eyes. "...those trolls picked me up and took care of me. I'm not even sure if they secretly know I'm human. But even so, they've treated me like one of them. It's been years... so I guess they're my only family now."

You glanced out the cave opening to look at the trolls just hanging around outside. Now that you looked closely, they didn't actually seem that scary. They were joking around each other just like how normal humans would. The only difference is that they're not human.

"And those years were enough for me to learn their language. Surpringly, they understand me though I speak in my language. We get along pretty fine." He beamed in an attempt to lighten up the mood. But you didn't feel very bright.

"How about me? Will I be stuck here as well?" You braced yourself, knowing that there's a 80% chance he'll say yes.

"No." He softly smiled. "I'll tell them to send you back."

"Jinjja???" Your eyes widened. "Aren't they expecting you to get me barbecued for dinner or something?"

He laughed as he rolled his eyes. "No, silly. I told them you're like me, remember? They may be very territorrial, but they still know how to respect others. You didn't do anything bad anyways." He paused as if he remembered something. "Wait, what were you even doing by the lake?"

"I was looking for my mom's wedding ring. She lost it by the lake yesterday, so she sent me back to go look. But I couldn't find it."

"A wedding ring?" He lifted a brow. You nodded. He fiddled with one of the many pockets of the belt bag around his waist. The things around here are probably lost items around the forest.

"Is this what you're talking about?" He lifted one from a pouch full of jewelries. You looked at it closely, and your breath hitched when you saw your parents' names carved on the inside. You squealed in happiness and hugged him.

"Thank you! Oh my gosh thank you! My mom would be so happy. Maybe she'll even bake a pie for me. Or maybe she'll bring me to--"

He cleared his throat to cut you off. Imnediately, you let go of him. His smirk was the first thing you saw.

"If you wanted to hug me, you should've said so the moment you woke up." Your jaw dropped.

"You wish!" You scoffed and rolled your eyes and gave him a sass face. "You smell like you haven't taken a bath for a century! Who would want to hug a frickin hobo like you?!!!"

"Yah! I just took a bath this morning!"

"Where, in the fishpond? Maybe that's why you smell so fishy!"

"You little--" he looked so annoyed that it made you want to annoy him even more.

"I think I should go now, fishface. Thanks for the ring!"

"YAAH YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!!!" he screeched and tried to grab you. Laughing, you sprinted towards the exit while he was just close behind. "TROLLS! DON'T LET HER OUT!!!"

You almost screamed when one troll blocked the exit. You made a quick u-turn, but didn't realize that he was already hot on your heels. He bumped right into you, knocking both of you down with him on top. You were sbreathing heavily from the adrenaline, but when you realized that his face was just so close to yours, it seemed like your breath slowed down a hundred percent. Come to think of it, he's right.

He did smell like he just took a bath this morning. And his skin... his skin was an okay tan. No, actually, it's a sexy tan. His hair had a brownish tint, maybe natural, or maybe washed down by excessive sun and salt water... but it matched his skin perfectly well. All in all... well...

He was cute.

"I'm Chen."

It took you seconds to snap out of it. "Uhh... what?"

He blinked several times. Brows furrowing, he shook his head and lifted himself off you. Then he helped you up.

"Uh, they call me Chen here."

"Oh. Yeah. Right. I'm ______." You forced a small smile. There was an awkward silence, and you could feel four pairs of giant eyes looking at both of you.

"Maybe... Maybe I should go." You awkwardly stepped back. Chen blinked.

"Ah. Yeah. Umm... hey,  guide ______ to the edge of the forest. She has to go back home."

One of the trolls nodded. You glanced back at Chen, slightly feeling reluctant to go. Will he be ok? Maybe he needs someone to talk to?

"It's ok." He smiled assuringly as if he knew what was going on in your mind. You smiled back.

"Thank you..." Finally, you walked out of the cave, staying close to the troll that will guide you. You made sure to maintain a safe distance, just in case he steps wrong and ends up flattening you to death.

"He likes you."

Your head snapped around when a deep voice seemed to speak. Confused, you looked up at the troll. It made troll noises again, as if talking to you. You didn't understand anything.

Sighing, you just shrugged and looked at the path ahead.

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[A/N]: If ever you're getting impatient in waiting for the updates, feel free to read back the Love on Christmas Eve Theme!

D.O and Baekhyun are the only ones remaining (I think...). I'll update soon!

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