Chapter 8

The spell Baekhyun had cast gradually wore off, though they were far enough from the palace walls so that it didn’t really matter. The sun was beginning to rise, and Kyungsoo claimed that it would be best that they got away from the city as much as they could. Still, after another half hour, he didn’t seem like he could carry her much longer (and while Hwayoung wouldn’t admit it, what he’d done already was already pretty impressive). She stumbled down the bank of a stream on her own, wincing at her ankle, and two of them followed.

It was beginning to get hotter by then, the sun rising higher and higher. Hwayoung splashed her face with the water from the stream, though it wasn’t nearly as cold as she hoped it would be. In an attempt to make the swelling go down, she dipped her injured ankle into the water to ease it, though it was nearly enough. She needed something colder. Baekhyun had taken a seat on the stone slab next to her, eyes narrowed under the blazing sun.

Kyungsoo had shrugged off his cloak, and while Hwayoung had contemplated it for a couple of moments, she’d come to the ultimate conclusion that it wasn’t worth it. She should’ve concentrated on walking in itself, or else she’d never get anywhere. Carrying both the small pack of belongers and her cloak while trying to walk with a twisted ankle was going to make it even harder for herself.

“It would be best if you got moving again.” Baekhyun spoke up. “After what happened at the gates, they’ll definitely going to have to report to the crown prince and he’ll be sending more people after you. You can always hope for the best, but I’m willing to bet that he’s going to get the best of his soldiers out for this job. They’re not just people you can kill as easily as normal palace guards.”

Kyungsoo pressed his lips together. “I know. I used to train with them.”

Baekhyun didn’t look extremely surprised by that, but he stood up. “There’s a forest near here,” he said. “It’s… probably the best place to go to in terms of supplies and such, and it’ll be easier to lose the crown prince’s soldiers. At least hide until your ankle has fully healed, Hwayoung. You can’t move properly if it’s like that. Besides, that’s a better place to look for other Marked than it is here. There’s… the desert too, beyond that, and then the mountains and then the icelands. I hope you know where to start.”

She’d known such a moment would be coming for a while — Baekhyun had made it extremely clear that he wasn’t going any further with them — but she had hoped it wouldn’t have been so soon. There was something undeniably pleasant about his presence, and she’d grown used to his quiet remarks, walking silently beside them. It felt odd that he was saying he was leaving.

“You’re leaving now,” she managed.

Baekhyun gave her a short nod. “It’ll be a while before they open the gates again, and… I should probably wait to see when I can get in. They’re going to be way more careful this time, and I need to rest up before I can use my power again.”

She thought back of when they just found him. It had been barely a day ago, but he seemed so different from the beat-up, helpless looking boy from before. There was an air of quiet confidence — maybe it wasn’t confidence, exactly, but she couldn’t find another word close enough to describe it — around him from the way he carried himself. Despite the bruises and cuts that were still visible from his face, he felt like another person.

“Are you going to go back to the same place and to doing the same thing, then?” Kyungsoo glanced towards Baekhyun. “I know you’ve made your choice, but is there anything—”

“No,” Baekhyun said firmly. Hwayoung tried to scan his face for a sign of any other emotion, though it remained well guarded. “I’ve made my decision and I’ve kept my word. I’m going back. I’m sorry I can’t help more, but…” He gave them a tentative smile. “Good luck?”

In Hwayoung’s opinion, good luck didn’t really cover it, and whatever plan she’d had before seemed incredibly small and insignificant now that they were standing in such vast fields. Still, small and insignificant was what she was good at. The smallest ripple could turn into a wave big enough to overturn ships. She started off from small and insignificant, and starting again from there wasn’t an impossible feat. So she mirrored Baekhyun’s smile back at him, even though she very much wanted him to say.

“Bye,” she told him, though her voice sounded a bit robotic to her own ears. “Don’t… you really shouldn’t let yourself get beat up like that. Even if you’re trying to hide who you are, fighting back once in a while isn’t going to hurt you, right?”

He pressed his lips into a grim line, and then shrugged off the small bag he’d slung onto his back and handed it to Kyungsoo.

“Bread,” Baekhyun said. “It’s not going to last you two for very long, but it’s at least better than nothing.”

“Thank you.” She could see that Kyungsoo wanted to say something else, but Baekhyun barely gave him a chance before turning and climbing up the dirt bank of the stream. He stood on top, looking down at them for a split second more, before he gave a slight wave and turned back to the direction of the city.

Neither she nor Kyungsoo spoke for a while, and when she finally peered over the bank again, Baekhyun was a fair distance away, figure disappearing into the sun. He’d technically been the second person she’d properly interacted with after getting into the Second Sector (which was sad when she thought about it — she’d been there for two years yet never found any sort of companion), and she couldn’t deny that watching him leave like that did sting.

“We better get moving.” Kyungsoo broke the silence, voice a bit thick. “Do you think you’ll be able to walk at all?”

Hwayoung gave a stiff nod. “I can go slowly. We’re not in the city anyways.”

Kyungsoo got to his feet. “Doesn’t mean we’re safe. You heard what Baekhyun warned us about. My brother is going to send people after us the moment he finds out, and trust me, it’s not going to end well unless we’re far away from here. You can’t fight in that state.”

“We have an advantage as Marked,” she pointed out, but Kyungsoo shook his head at her again.

“They have an advantage because they have numbers. And don’t underestimate their skills, either.”

Hwayoung stared at Kyungsoo for a long time, wanting to argue with something, but he was right. Besides, he’d been living in the palace for all of his life — he knew the crown prince better than she ever would. She redid her shoes, careful to not tie it too tight around her ankle, and then stood up shakily. “Let’s go, then. We should be there before nightfall, even at my pace.”

Kyungsoo didn’t respond, and soon, she was limping across the plains, the air around them blanketed by an awkward silence. She could feel him a couple of paces behind her, though his steps were quiet, to the point of being almost silent. The sun was nearing midday point in the sky when Kyungsoo finally spoke up again, this time suggesting a water break and some food. Hwayoung gladly agr