On the way back, I thought of all the possible ways Jongin could have gone. Would he go back to the pond where the bears lurked? Or perhaps he trudged back to the village and asked for Wu Yifan's help in finding me.

All I knew for sure was that I needed to find him soon. With his speed, he could be miles away in just a few hours. Where in the world would I go if I didn't find him? I couldn't stay with this couple for the rest of my life nor could I survive in the woods. I wouldn't even know which way to walk.

"Oh, looks like we have a guest." Joonmyun noted when he looked at the array of shoes on his porch. He wiped his boots along the welcome mat and stepped in. "Come on in."

I rose my hands up and shook my head. I didn't want to abuse their generosity. "I shouldn't disturb you guys when you have guests over. I'll be on my way." I took a step back but Joonmyun grabbed my arm.

"No no, it's no bother."

I couldn't say no when I felt the warmth of the kitchen hit me in the face. The smell of more food made my stomach growl and I almost didn't notice the figure sitting on the chair.

Almost.

If Joonmyun and Sookyung weren't there, I would've launched myself at the dark-haired boy.

"Oh, you two are back," Sookyung wiped her hands on her apron as she approached us. "Look who I—"

"Jong—!"

Jongin pushed his seat back and came straight for me without a sound. His arms opened at the last second to envelop me. He held me tightly against his body and I relished the warmth as I slowly closed my arms around his waist. I heard Jongin breathing heavily and whispering some incoherent words but I was just glad to see him again. It was only when I heard Joonmyun clear his throat that I pulled back.

"So is this the brother?" he asked.

I nodded and saw Sookyung smiling. "It must be good to finally see your kin again." Her usually big eyes got a lot smaller when she smiled, indicating she was expressing genuine happiness for us. "I found him wandering around our cottage and he had told me he was looking for his sister."

I looked over at Jongin with a bright smile, delighted that we had told the same lie, but the smile faded when I saw his complexion. He was staring at the ground and, though this time he wasn't sickly pale or feverish red, he didn't look like the Jongin I knew.

I was beyond happy to see him but not in this state.

"We'll leave you two to catch up. Breakfast is at the table." Sookyung took off her apron and grabbed a basket from beside the table. "I need to head off to the market."

As Jongin and I sat down, Joonmyun told us he was going to be reading in his room and it'd be okay to call him if we needed anything. An awkward silence filled the kitchen when the couple left.

"They're nice, aren't they?" I began while cutting a little bit of the pancake. "They've offered us food and a place to stay."

Jongin merely nodded and stared at his plate. It was odd seeing him with a bunch of untouched food sitting right in front of him. Usually, he would've wolfed down the entire thing already.

"Could we stay here for a night? They've got extra beds."

He only nodded again as a response.

I put down my utensils. It seemed like a bad time to be eating. "Or...I could go ask Joonmyun if we could leave now. I don't think he would mind."

After a long moment of hesitation, I got an answer out of him. "No." Jongin finally looked up. "Eat. We'll take a rest here and then leave tomorrow."

I watched him poke his food. What was bothering him anyway? "Is everything okay?"

The corners of his lips turned up as he ate a little morsel of his pancakes but the smile didn't reach his eyes. "Yeah, everything's fine. Don't worry about me. Eat."

I wanted to ask him how he expected me not to worry. He was the one that looked like he'd seen a ghost. All I wanted to do was help him and make him smile again. But he looked like he'd rather have some time alone.

-

"You two are leaving already?" Sookyung's voice rang from the door. I stood up straight after fixing my shoe and slung the bag over my cloaked back.

I nodded as Sookyung approached us. "We don't want to cause too much trouble."

"But I was just going to put on supper." She held up her big basket of vegetables and spices. No wonder she was gone the entire day.

Jongin came out of the door then. "No, we shouldn't—"

"Honey, did you get the ingredients for the cocoa?" Joonmyun interrupted from inside the house.

Jongin and I were pushed to the side as Sookyung rushed past us. "Yes, dear!" She turned back to us after taking off her shoes. "I went out to buy some cocoa today just for you two. Have you ever had any before?"

I looked over to Jongin who was practically salivating on the spot. I've only ever had chocolate once in my life and that was years ago when my uncle had come back from one of his long trips. I remembered it being sickeningly sweet and a tad bitter but it was also a delicacy. It would be good to let Jongin try a bit.

But I knew he wanted to put his responsibilities first so I answered for him. "That'd be great, actually. Let's stay for a bit, Jongin."

He didn't say no and soon we were seated at the dining table, patiently waiting for the drink. From the corner of my eye, I could see Jongin's leg tapping anxiously. It was good that I didn't particularly like the taste of chocolate; I could give my share to him. That'll cheer him up.

"Here, you two. Two fresh mugs of hot chocolate." Sookyung placed the steaming drinks in front of us and I saw Jongin's eyes instantly light up. I couldn't help but smile as I watched him carefully blow on the drink to cool it down.

Joonmyun came into the living room and sat down in front of me. "Where's my share?"

Before I could even open my mouth, Sookyung had come back from the kitchen with another mug in her hand. "Right here." She kissed her husband's cheek before heading back to the kitchen. "I'll start dinner now."

I wondered if I could ever be a good of a wife as Sookyung. She knew how to do everything around the house from cooking to cleaning to entertaining guests. I, on the other hand, usually had servants to do that for me.

"So where are you two headed exactly?" Joonmyun nudged his mug to the side to cool down by itself.

I glanced over at Jongin but he was too busy looking down at his drink. "We're heading up north."

"North?" Joonmyun rested his elbow on the table. "To the plains? What for?"

I racked my brain to try and remember what Jongin had told the prince earlier. "We're going to visit a healer. My brother hasn't been feeling well these days."

"I see. But all the way north? Isn't there anybody else who can help you around here?"

I shrugged. "We've tried but they all told us to visit the doctor up north."

"I hope you get there soon. Old Man Winter is about to hit us and I think this year's going to be pretty harsh."

"We've braved through tough winters before." I tried to look honest but I still had to take a peek over at Jongin.

Luckily, he caught that I was struggling and backed me up. "Nothing me and my sis can't handle." He barely took his eyes off his cup.

"Best of luck to the both of you." Joonmyun raised his cup and the three of us clinked our mugs together. While I took a tiny sip, Jongin downed half of his drink in a simple gulp.

I almost sputtered my drink out when I saw the look of amazement in his eyes. He looked like he had discovered gold. I made a small mental reminder to send a letter to my uncle after I get back to the castle. It'd be a nice gesture to thank Jongin with some chocolates.

"I see you like it," Joonmyun chuckled. Even he couldn't miss the delight on Jongin's face.

"Y-yeah," Jongin replied nervously. I could tell he was trying to keep his manners intact and not dump the whole thing down his throat.

"Good, because there's a lot left!" Sookyung called from the kitchen.

I didn't know I could want to stay here so much. The couple was so welcoming and seeing Jongin all happy made my heart soar. In the time that I've spent with him, he was always so focused on his job and I rarely ever saw him take a step back to appreciate the little things. He didn't join the party at the inn, he didn't smell the flowers like the prince did, and he certainly did not savour every morsel of food in his mouth. But now he was just taking his time and enjoying his drink.

I put my cocoa down and told myself to save it for him. I didn't mind since my taste buds were already overwhelmed by the sweetness.

"You'll be on your way, then?" Joonmyun asked as Jongin tilted his cup all the way back to get the last drip of his hot chocolate.

Before I could answer, he pointed at my own cup. "Hey, you gonna drink that?"

I nearly rolled my eyes at how predictable he was but shook my head instead. "No, you can have it." I pushed it over to him and watched him down the thing in a second. I realized I had been staring far too intently at the way his Adam's apple bobbed. I ripped my eyes away. When he was done, he stood up to take our mugs to the kitchen.

"I'll you two out." Joonmyun pulled out his chair and led me to the dark hallway to the front door. "I hope you two find the healer—"

Just as I was slipping the bag on my shoulders, I heard a crash in the kitchen. I fixed the end of my shoe before heading over with Joonmyun behind me.

"What happened... Jongin!" I ran over to where he laid on the ground, face down. He was knocked out cold.

 "Oh my!" Sookyung ran over and touched Jongin's cheeks. "Honey, help me get him to a bed."

Joonmyun came and easily carried Jongin's body to a room while I looked to Sookyung for some answers. "What happened?"

Sookyung rubbed her forehead. "I don't know. He put his things in the sink and then he just fell to the ground."

My palms were starting to get sweaty as I thought of what could possibly be wrong with Jongin. He said he was going to heal quickly but then this happened. Why couldn't he just stay asleep if he was so sick? Did he have to be so stubborn as to keep traveling?

"He seems to be sound asleep." Joonmyun reappeared in the kitchen and put his hands in his pockets. "That was a fright. No wonder you two are going to that healer."

Sookyung grabbed a rag and a bucket of water. "I'll go check on him." She scurried off while I stood in my spot, not knowing what to do.

I never knew what to do in these situations. I was never one to think on my feet. But if Jongin would've just told me that he hadn't been feeling well, then I might've been able to make some plan or get some medicine.

The only good thing was that we were in good company. At least he'd be taken care of here.

 

---

 

hey guys, i really wanna show you guys this gif bc wow this gif

i haven't been feeling well these past couple of days (dw, i just need more cute boys in my life) but after staring at this gif for a good ten minutes, i felt a lot better (: i hope you guys are all having a spectacular week!