NARRATOR'S POV

Much to the surprise of Sooyeon & Daehyun, Suho offered to give them a ride back into the village. Sooyeon blinked in contemplation, and then a grin lit up her face (which ultimately dazzled a certain dusty-haired male). She figured if she could fall asleep riding a horse, riding a wolf would be interesting. Daehyun's lips unknowingly curled into a smile - for a reason he could not fathom - and he poorly masked it by faking a cough.

Kai noticed Daehyun's behaviour and smirked. He watched Daehyun with slightly envious eyes. The werewolf figured he should seize the chance to further piss the former off, so he stepped forward and offered to be Sooyeon's transport.

 As expected, Daehyun's eyes hardened upon hearing Kai's offer, much to the latter's bemusement. Sooyeon, on the other hand smiled amiably at him.

"Why not?"

Daehyun nearly choked on his own spit. Is she flirting with him?

Kai grinned wolfishly (no pun intended) at her and for the first time, he willingly transformed into his wolf form. He sighed inwardly, experiencing a sense of freedom and liberty after embracing his wolf side. He greatly owed Sooyeon for encouraging him to do so. It was partly why he found himself feeling quite attracted to her, but he was well aware that someone else had captured her attention – whether she knew it or not.

Chanyeol politely offered Daehyun a ride and the latter clambered on him with as much grace and charm he could achieve (which was quite adequate, mind you). Chanyeol stumbled slightly, grumbling unintelligibly under his breath. At this, Kyungsoo smirked and Sehun let out an uncharacteristic cross between a grunt and a cough, covering his grin with his hand.

Daehyun blinked dumbly at them and Suho filled him in, “He said you were heavy.”

Since Suho said it with pure innocence, Daehyun could not find the heart to feel offended by the pack’s sniggers. Frankly, he was immune to a lot of insensitive comments thrown around by the people there. Being stuck in a fantasy land could do that to you.

Sooyeon couldn’t help but think of the time Daehyun helpfully implied that she was fat, and a smirk adorned her lips in a childish smugness only she could pull off.

Her smirk widened when Daehyun replied, “Duly noted,” and rolled his eyes.

She adjusted herself on Kai’s back. “Well then, it was nice to meet you all. Shall we go, then?”

She looked at Daehyun who nodded, and then back to the old lady who was observing them quietly.

She sent a small smile in Sooyeon’s direction, and the latter smiled back.

With that, they departed to the village.

----

“That Kai guy seems to like you,” Daehyun remarked offhandedly, and Sooyeon looked at him with mild surprise.

They had been walking to find an inn after Chanyeol and Kai had brought them to the village. Kai had disappeared and then reappeared the next second fully-clothed, smiling charmingly and more confidently at her. His awkward grin was nowhere to be found, which made Sooyeon pleasantly surprised. She was happy to see that he seemed happier with himself.

And then out of nowhere, he bent down and kissed the back of her hand like any prince would.

Sooyeon had blushed ten shades darker than her hair.

She chuckled and folded her arms across her chest in mock arrogance. “Are you perhaps… jealous, Jung Daehyun?”

Ah, it felt good to mock him again.

If she expected Daehyun to be a blubbering mess, she was wrong. He smiled suavely at her and cocked an eyebrow in her direction.

“Just teasing, princess. Finally someone likes you, eh?”

She would have felt offended, but instead she snorted and shot back with her own sarcastic reply.

“I’m wondering why girls like you, for that matter.”

“You tell me, Sooyeon.”

He was grinning obnoxiously at her and her cheeks flamed for some unknown reason. His grin stretched wider at her reaction and he unconsciously patted her head, trailing his hand from her head to the side of her face. He tucked her hair behind her ears and let his hand linger against her cheek for a moment.

As if he’d only realised what he was doing, he retracted his hand and coolly ran it through his hair nonchalantly, while Sooyeon coughed (rather unladylike-ly, but I digress) awkwardly.

Just as Sooyeon was about to speak, a cloud of smoke billowed in front of them and with a sparkle or two, Key was standing in front of them, wand and all.

“It’s good to see that the two of you are still alive.”

----

The two were currently residing in an inn that Key had graciously paid for, considering the two were flat