After that talk with Jonghyun, he and I had gone to sleep and later we ate dinner. We were then joined by the twins sleeping in the room with us so that Mi Young could have her room to herself.

It’s been a week since we’ve come to the camp – the darkness around the camp has gotten immensely thicker and it’s gotten a lot colder. Jonghyun has left camp every day from dusk until dawn – or at least when they should be – searching for something. My guess is that he is looking for the other book he feels connected to. While he’s away, we’ve either been stuck in the tent with Mi Young or going through the camp to gather supplies we need for our travel with Mi Young.

During our stay in the camp, we learned that Mi Young and some guy named Baekho will be joining us in our journey – although they aren’t from Miro and they aren’t mages – because Jonghyun drafted them into the group as our guardians. The duo are amazing fighters and even Jonghyun struggled to land blows on them – however, they were only going to be around until the twins learned swords play. The duo was in charge of protecting the twins and Jonghyun was in charge of protecting me – although he’s doing a lousy job at that at the moment, considering that I haven’t seen him for a week. Sure I know he’s there at night, I can feel his warmth around me, preventing the darkness from seeping into my dreams, but still – it’s not the same as seeing him daily, feeling secure in what should be the day time.

I woke up today, expecting it to be like the ones before – the ones where I’d wake up to Jonghyun missing and his side of the bed cold– however, I was pleasantly shocked to see that the mage was lying beside me still, sleeping soundly.  A small smile spread across my face as I looked at his sleeping form that I was seeing for the first time ever – sure, it hasn’t been too long since we met, but it honestly felt like I’ve known him since I was born.

I brushed his black bangs out of his eyes and looked at his handsome face – there were rather dark bags under his eyes from how his search had keep him out late every night. His face was paler than it had been the last time I had seen him and there was a thin layer of sweat covering his skin as he threw his head back and forwards – as if he was in pain or in the middle of a nightmare. I looked at him in concern, placing a hand onto his cheek only to be shocked at how hot his skin was.

Suddenly, all the mage’s movements stopped and his eye lids fluttered open and his eyes met mine. The mage’s lips turned up wards into a small, gentle smile as he shifted closer to me, his arms wrapping even tighter around my waist, his legs intertwining with mine as he then buried his face in the crook of my neck, before settling down again and falling back into his slumber – much to my relief. I hadn’t wanted to wake him up since he looked like he needed the rest. Seeing as how I was stuck in his arms, I decided to close my eyes as well. I took a deep breath and smiled at his scent; he smelled musky, but it mixed with the aroma of smoke and spice – yes, it was an odd combination, but at that time it smelled good, calming.

Hours later, we were woken by none other than Mi Young and the twins - the trio looked at us in excitement - mumbling about how the two of us were so cute cuddling against each other and some other stuff neither of us really paid attention to. I grumbled and snuggled into my pillow even more, shivering slightly as a hand ran up my spine, under my shirt. Blinking wearily, I came to see that my face was just centimeters away from my guardian’s face. Jonghyun looked well rested now and his condition seemed a lot better than it had been a couple of hours earlier, he smiled at me and fixed my bed head as I sat up.

However, the moment was cut short as Jonghyun’s smile faded and his lips pressed into a thin line – his eyes showing his seriousness, “Get your things packed, we’re leaving camp – Mi Young, go fetch Baekho.”

“Neh, JR-ah,” stated Mi Young.

“I know the location of the first book,” stated Jonghyun before turning his attention towards me before turning back towards the twins, “Get ready, we set out in an hour.”

As he stated, an hour later, we were all dressed to face the artic temperatures outside the tent – our bags were hooked on our backs and we were well prepared, our supplies being split between all our bags.

As we stepped out of the tent, Mi Young turned towards another young maiden, “Take care of my home will you?”

The girl smiled widely and nodded, hugging Mi Young good-bye.

Before anything else could be said, Jonghyun started to walk away – an orb forming in his hand as he did so, like out previous journey, he put a protective barrier around the twins and I. However, unlike last time, he made the light very dim, in hopes not to attract the enemy towards the camp.

“Where are we going?” I questioned, pulling my scarf up over my nose and mouth, making it so that only my eyes were visible, “Where is our destination for today?”

Jonghyun stayed silent for a moment, his eyes looking distant as he spoke up, “I hope to make it to the boarder by night fall, we’ll set up camp there for the night and then we’ll set our course for the Asperald Field where we will move from village to village until we find the book.”

“Why go to the villages?” questioned Youngmin, “Won’t that be more dangerous that walking around normally?”

Jonghyun sighed, “Once we pass the border, there is nowhere that’ll be safe.” 

Hope you all enjoyed the chapter - I'm sorry for vanishing for months at a time agian.

Please forgive me! OTL

I hope you don't mind this random filler chapter. ;D