“We’re going on a what?”

Kyungsoo’s smile was a bit wary and guarded, probably because of her reaction. “Riding a peluda. That way it’ll be easier and faster for us to reach Sagiv.”

“And what, pray tell, is a peluda?”

Iola sent a prayer to any God out there that might be listening that this so-called peluda was not going to be some monstrous beasts, though her common sense told her it would be impossible for the Guardians to allow her even near anything that might endanger her, considering they’ve been stressing over and over again of her importance to them. But hey, you never know in this world! What may count as dangerous for her could be something trivial for them.

A loud voice cut into the conversation. “You don’t know what a peluda is?”

“No Chanyeol, I don’t. I wouldn’t ask if I do, now would I?”

Minseok’s eyes lighted in curiosity. “Then what do you use for transportation in your world if you don’t have peludas?”

“Well, we have cars. It’s a machine with wheels that has engine to make it work and ran on gasoline….” She trailed off seeing the looks of confusion among her listeners and just sighed. “Never mind. Let’s just say that we have other ways to take us places.”

“Well….if you say so,” Baekhyun said, still looking confused. “Oh, look, there’s Joonmyun and Wufan with the peludas!”

Iola braced her heart before turning around and immediately sighing with relief at the sight that greeted her. The peludas were somewhat normal compared to other animals she’d seen in this world. They looked a lot like horses, though almost twice the size, with long, stuck up donkey ears and eyes so round and big it covered almost half of its face.

“Come on, Iola, let’s see them!”

Tao grabbed her wrist and pulled her forward excitedly to where the peludas were mounted. He showed her how to pet the animals, giving her some strange-looking vegetables to feed them. The peludas neighed in soft whines before nuzzling their noses to her hand, warm and soft and Iola giggled as one peluda her hand, asking for more food.

“Hey, why is there only twelve peludas?”     

Sehun counted the animals again quickly. “Baekhyun’s right, there’s only twelve. Don’t we need another one for Iola?”

Joonmyun shook his head despondently. “They don’t have any more peludas to spare. We’ve tried every stable, every farm in the whole town, but no luck.”

“You guys can use the peludas, I can just fly up ahead of you,” Wufan stated.

“But the distance to Sagiv is two days away from here,” Jongdae protested. “Won’t it tire you too much?”

“We don’t have any choice, and I’d prefer if we’d go straight away while the day is still early.”

“Um…guys,” Iola quickly interrupted. “It doesn’t matter even if we don’t have sufficient peludas. You couldn’t give me one of those anyway since I don’t know how to ride them.”

“They’re easy enough to handle, Iola!” Jongin demonstrated as he hopped on a nearby peluda. “See, you just have to sit straight and control the reins.”

Iola still looked on doubtfully. Sure, the basic was just like riding a horse, but she’d never ridden a horse either back in her world. “Yeah, I don’t know. I’m still not sure about it.”

“Well, if you don’t want to ride by yourself then the solution is easy enough.” There was something in Luhan’s eyes that made Iola wary. “You just have to share a ride with someone else.”

Before Iola could react he had dragged her towards where Yixing was standing by a chestnut peluda. “Here then, you can ride with Yixing.”

Iola spluttered while Yixing just blinked in confusion. “W-what? W-why should I ride with him?”

Luhan’s big doe eyes shined, deceptively innocent, but Iola wasn’t fooled by it. “You said you’ve never ridden one of these before, right? Yixing’s a careful rider, so you’ll be safe riding with him.”

Iola wanted to strangle Luhan but he must be a mind reader besides a telekinetic, since he quickly stepped away and clapped his hands. “Alright, problem solved. Let’s get going right away then!”

The others didn’t seem like they really understand what just happened, but with Luhan’s urging they mounted the animals without complaints. Iola and Yixing just stared at each other awkwardly, before he coughed and gestured to the animal.

“Well, shall we?”

He laced his fingers together and bent down, directing Iola to put a foot in his hands. Taking a deep breath, she stepped into Yixing’s cupped hands and tried to pull herself up. She made it half onto the saddle and scrambled to hook her leg on the other side. Suddenly warm hands encircled her waist and gave her a light shove until she was fully seated on top of the peluda. Iola held her breath, the touch burned even through her tunic.

Yixing carefully placed her feet into the stirrup. Once he was certain that Iola was secure, he swung himself up onto the animal behind her, reaching around her for the reins.

Iola meanwhile, had just noticed that the peluda, big even from the ground, appeared to be even taller than expected from up here. Looking down at the ground made her certain that she was about to fall at any moment and she shut her eyes tightly, tensing up.

“Iola?” Yixing’s concerned voice broke through the sudden fear. “Are you feeling alright?”

“It’s high,” she murmured weakly.

There was a pause. “Don’t worry,” Yixing said. “You’re not going to fall. I won’t let you.”

She let out a deep breath, opening her eyes and staring straight ahead rather than down at the ground. It didn’t really make it any better. When Yixing finally nudged the peluda into a slow trot, she yelped, automatically grabbing at his wrists to anchor herself.

“I’m afraid we’ll have to go faster than this,” Yixing said, a hint of amusement coloring his words. “You don’t have to be so scared. I’m not going to let you fall off.”

Iola can feel Yixing’s heat behind her back. She nodded, not daring to speak, subtly taking her hands off him and put some space between them.

They began to move out, amidst the townspeople who had come to see them off. The Guardians smiled and waved at the crowd, promising to come back again. Before long they had strutted out of the town; Joonmyun taking the lead with Wufan guarding their rear as Yixing led his peluda at the center of the group.

Iola supposed riding a peluda was almost the same as riding a horse with all the rolling motion it entailed. She could understand why the men wanted to ride these animals, though; peludas are much swifter and faster than a horse could ever be. It was only then she realized the small wings on each peluda’s legs, which must’ve accounted for its speed.

After more than two hours of riding her back began to ache, though, and she was getting sleepy. The men rode fast, hardly any conversation was spoken. The land they’ve been passing was hardly exciting to look at too; vast, plain, rocky grassland dotted with stray, huge boulders here and there and some wild bushes and shrubs. Once or twice they passed several villages, all of them smaller than the town they started off from, with only a few houses and several farming fields. They didn’t stop at any of them, preferring to ride their animals at full speed.

The lack of interesting sights and the constant waving motion began to lull Iola into a sleepy state, if only her body wasn’t so tensed up. She had kept her seat straight up, not daring to move even an inch, painfully obvious of the man behind her.

Ever since she realized she like Yixing more than she ought to, she couldn’t help but feel a bit awkward and self-conscious around him, not knowing how to act or what to do.

In one hand, she was still lost in a world that were not hers and she still wished to go home. But if she does, then she would never meet Yixing again and she wasn’t sure how she feels about that. Besides the fact that she wouldn’t know how to communicate with him once she gets home, she doesn’t really believe in a long-distance relationship. Heck, that was the exact reason why she broke up with her last boyfriend when he got offered a scholarship abroad!

Then again she was getting ahead of herself. The fact remained that she didn’t know how he feels about her. Sure, Yixing was nice and kind and caring, but Iola knew that’s just the way the man is. Sometimes she would caught him looking at her with a soft gaze, something undecipherable in his eyes that made her heart beat faster and her stomach all funny and twisted. But then it was gone and she wondered if she was just raising her hope up.

Suddenly a hand wrapped around her waist, effectively cutting her musing  and she squeaked as it pulled her back.

Yixing rested his chin on her shoulder. “You will get sore sitting like that. Lean back; try to feel the peluda’s motion and roll with it.”

Iola quivered at the feel of Yixing’s breath in her ear and could only nod again. Hesitantly she leaned even more, resting her back more comfortably against his chest. He still had one arm across her stomach, holding her still until she had rested her weight on him.

“Why don’t you try leading him?” He moved his arm away and Iola had to bite back a sigh at the loss of touch. “Here, you should grab the reins.”

“Yixing, I’m not sure about this…” Iola muttered as she tightened her grip on the ropes.

“Don’t worry, I’ll teach you.” Yixing’s own warm, calloused hands closed down on hers. “Don’t hold on too tight or it’ll hurt him. But not too loose either that you lose control.”

Iola tried to ignore the fact that she was practically surrounded by Yixing; his arms around her, his chest on her back, his hot breath ghosting over her ear and tried to concentrate on holding the rein like he taught her.

She felt the animal’s motion underneath her and tried to move the reins a bit, testing her control. The hum in her head had dulled into a muffled whisper before but the moment her hand gathered the reins, feeli