She doesn't need to be told twice. With a soft goodbye and a touch to his cheek, she turns on her heel and runs in the opposite direction from the clearing as fast as her legs can carry her. Adrenaline shoots through her body as shouts and curses echo from somewhere behind her and she panics with how much time Sanghyuk will be able to buy her, urging her to move faster. Her lungs burn and she pants for breath and desperately swallows gulp after gulp of oxygen and keeps sprinting, her body screaming in protest.

The deafening sound of hoofbeats reach her ears and she gasps with raw fear. She crashes through a path of thorned branches, hissing in pain as they tear at the skin on her arms as she shields herself. Desperate and knowing she could never outrun men on horseback, she throws herself into the underbrush, just as the huntsmen pull off the path mere feet in front of her. The three of them struggle to catch their breath from the hard ride, windswept hair in disarray.

"I can't believe you let her get away from you, Sanghyuk. What do I have to do, leash you so you don't ruin everything?!" comes the growled voice of Wonshik. He's absolutely seething, lip curled into a snarl, raking a hand through his hair in frustration. He looks at his little brother with such eyes that she actually fears for Sanghyuk's life and she feels a cold sweat break over the back of her neck at this foreign hostility and murderous glare to Wonshik, who had showed her such kindness only hours ago.

Sanghyuk, however, seems unfazed. He glares right back in challenge, expression hard as stone with a set jaw.

"I already told you. She's quick and clever. She got away before I could kill her," he spits and the word makes her heart jump despite the fact she knows he's trying to deceive his brother for her sake. Wonshik just scoffs and breaks eye contact to look off into the trees.

"Then it should be just like hunting a fox, Sanghyuk," Hongbin hisses with just as much venom in his voice. He studies the younger man with a hard stare, disappointment and disgust swirling in his unrelenting gaze. He shakes his head and urges his horse back into a walk, brushing dangerously close to Sanghyuk.

"but then again, you'd never know what that's even like, would you?" Hongbin breathes with a low snarl, his handsome face contorted with scorn, "there's a reason we always leave you at home when we go on hunts,"

Hongbin breaks from the group at a gallop.

"You only slow us down,"

Wonshik clicks his tongue at Dal and bolts after him without so much as a glance to his younger brother. Sanghyuk looks absolutely crestfallen, shoulders drooped and eyes dark and empty. Like he's just been kicked in the stomach and she considers calling out to him to tell him thank you one last time before he's off at a breakneck speed, anger and hurt getting the best of his actions. Her heart hammers against her ribs hard enough to bruise and she strains to hear the hoofbeats fading in the distance with held breath.

She doesn't move, not for what seems like hours, lying low in the grasses in the pitch dark and ignoring the buzz of insects around her. She finally gets to her feet when the ache in her legs becomes too much and the moon is high in the sky. An eerie hush falls over the forest, panic gripping as as she studies her unfamiliar surroundings.

The ground seems to tip towards her vision as she struggles to calm down and dashes through the trees before she can even catch her breath, hysteria plaguing her conscience. She runs blindly as the overwhelming urge to break free of these suffocating woods floods her every fiber. Her face is streaked with dirt and wet tears, breath coming in choked sobs as her path gets more and more twisted and foreign, the moon seeming to mock her with its freedom in the sky above.

Her knees finally buckle and she collapses onto the ground. Exhausted and terrified, she let's her tears flow freely, her weary body trembling with her cries. Her teeth chatter from the cold and her stomach feels like a pit of wriggling worms as it growls in protest, but she's too desolate to notice such things.

It's once a young man with dusky gold skin and hair the color of sand steps into the clearing that she realizes her current state. A crown woven of vibrant wildflowers and grasses adorns his head. He walks with flowing steps, his movements mimicking water itself and flowers bloom in his wake, petals fanning out with droplets of dew that glisten in the moonlight.

He's dressed simply in a white tunic and trousers. A warm breeze passes through the trees with a soft sigh, perfumed with the faint and delicate smell of roses along with it. She breathes in deeply and immediately feels some of her anxiety melt away as the draft disappears as suddenly as it had arrived and he kneels in front of her.

"Why are you crying, dear?"

The voice is like honey, though it sounds different than one normally would. Like it's echoing off of the trees and surrounding her, wrapping around her all in the same instant, even though he's here right in front of her.

He's beautiful up close. Flawless features set into an achingly handsome and kind face, lips tugging up into a thin smile. His eyes are a warm fawn that seem to flicker like embers, hair tousled in a way that catches the starlight in a glowing halo.

"Are you an angel?" she rasps in all seriousness and searches his face in awe. The man laughs and it's the most pleasant sound she's ever heard. She wants to hear it again.

"No, darling," he chuckles, "but I am a Spirit. I act as a guardian of these woods,"

Huntsmen who had tried to kill her and now otherworldly beings manifesting out of thin air. She feels her eyes widen. What a day.

He brushes his fingertips against her chin, gently tilting her head back and her breath catches in .

"Your aura led me to you. The energy you're giving off is so raw and anxious," he studies her closely, his tone soft and laced with concern, "whatever is the matter? Is everything alright?"

She opens to try and speak but no words come to her. Instead, she stays frozen in place, his fingers still caressing her and tears squeeze out of the corners of her eyes. He wipes them away with a slight frown.

"Don't cry, my darling," he coos. Once the tears come, it's impossible to stop them, however, and her body shakes with violent tremors.

"The Queen sent men after me for my life, s-she wants me dead. I don't know why. I don't know where I am, I...I-I don't know how to get home."

She struggles to breathe, quick gasps making her vision swim in front of her. A look of heartache flickers across the Spirit's features and he touches her on the forehead, cradling his other hand to her jaw. Immediately, she feels warmth and a sense of calmness bloom from his fingertips.

"Breathe. You're safe now,"

She does as instructed and feels her panic subside, his soothing voice continuing to ease her fluttering mind and heart. Seeing that his magic has done its job, a gentle smile fleets his lips.

"I know very well who you are. Do not be afraid. I will send someone to look after and protect you, and you will be safe. You have my word."

She finds herself nodding slowly, almost in a sedated-like state.

"Who are you?" she murmurs. He purses his lips and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear with a loving touch.

"Think of me as a protector. I am Hakyeon,"

The scent of roses fills her nose once again and her mind starts to cloud with fatigue. A sound of amusement comes from the Spirit.

"You're exhausted, my dear," he muses and touches his lips to the crown of her head. Her eyelids flutter before they finally droop as she's lulled further and further from the conscious world as the breeze of flowers swirls around her.

"Sleep," Hakyeon's voice sounds from far away, foggy and distant, "all will be well when you awake,"