The sky outside was dim when I woke up, almost as if it’ll rain. I was in a cave, and all around me came the sound of dripping water. Pat, pat, pat. I tried to sit up and immediately felt the pain all over my body. I groaned silently but I was cursing in my head. I squinted, making my eyes adjust to the light. That’s when something fell on my lap. Leaves, from my forehead. I raised my arms and noticed that they too were covered in leaves. There were even some on my legs down to my feet. A black coat lay by my side and I immediately knew whom it belongs to.

                “You’re up,” a voice said and I looked up just in time to see him walk in front of me.

                “Sehun,” I croaked out. My voice sounded so hoarse, it’s horrible to hear.

                “How’re you feeling?” he asked while sitting next to me. He surveyed my face and added, “You look dead.”

                “Don’t even start,” I groaned, pinching my eyebrows. “What happened? I don’t remember anything. The details are fuzzy…I remember we jumped off the cliff but…” I stopped when I accidentally tried to move my body which earned me a searing pain on my ribs.

                “We did,” he confirmed. “We were about to hit the ice and then you suddenly glowed red. Your wings were back and it enveloped us. The ice cracked apparently, I didn’t feel any of it. We fell into cold water but you were out by then. I swam us back to land and took you here in this cave. That’s really all there is. No one was able to follow us.”

                “Well, I don’t think they would be so stupid to jump what…a hundred meter fall?” I said sarcastically. Sehun smirked at me.

                “It saved your pathetic life anyway,” he said with an air of pride.

                “Yeah and I guess you just want to have a heroic death by ‘saving’ me,” I frowned at him.

                “It’s done, okay?” he said. “You should just be happy and thank me.”

                “It’s not okay and I should thank you but no, I don’t think I will,” I said, waving him off.

                “Tsss…but when it comes to Luhan, you are so good and kind and perfect,” he said, taking out the leaves on my arm. “I bet he would have told you to jump off the cliff and not protest.”

                Somehow, I felt guilty with what he said, because to be honest, I would have really just listen to Luhan. That’s because Luhan doesn’t really prank me, unlike Sehun who is so unpredictable. So, I decided to shrug it off and change the subject. “The others. Where are they?”

                “No idea,” he said, still picking out the leaves. “I’ve been waiting for them but no one’s showing up. I don’t want to start traveling with you still unconscious. Who knows what will happen. Plus, D.O. would probably not be able to contact us because again, you are out there cold. Probably soon…”

                “Wait,” I said, confused. “How long has it been since the fall?”

                “Three days,” he simply answered me.

                “What?? 3 days???” I gasped. I didn’t have any idea I have been sleeping for that long and I don’t feel in any way better. In actuality, I’d like to go back to sleep again for I feel like I haven’t really had any real rest.

                “Yep,” he affirmed. “You’re hurt everywhere, it’s only expected. There are two long gashes on your back from where the wings came out. I think it will leave a mark.”

                I groaned at this information. I don’t really like having scars on my body.

                I didn’t try to feel them because it might hurt.

                “You should be happy it’s only three days,” Sehun said. “It’s probably because you already activated some of Seijira’s powers. The last time you were out, back in school, it was six days.”

                “Well yeah,” I said, remembering something. “So now everyone in Seijira knew something bad happened to us.”

                “They should already have their duires back,” he said and then he put out his hand and turned the leaves to ice. “See?”

                “Were you the one who put those leaves on me?” I asked, suddenly distracted.

                “No,” he said seriously and looked me in the eye. “The cave just suddenly decided to spurt out leaves and they fell on the right places.”

                “Ha.Ha. Very funny.”

                “Obviously, I did,” he rolled his eyes at me. If I was only feeling well, I’d probably head bang him.

                “Well, I didn’t know you know herbal medicine,” I said tonelessly. “Or are you trying to poison me?”

                “The second option sounds so nice, but no,” he said. “I don’t want to dirty my hands on you.”

                “So?”

                “I learned it from times of camping,” Sehun explained. “My parents taught me.”

                “Camping?” I furrowed my eyebrows. “But I thought you and Luhan have been in Seijira since forever.”

                “Yeah, and Luhan’s been going out of school since forever and in case you don’t remember…” Sehun said. “My family is friends with the headmaster and Luhan is my best buddy.”

                “Wow,” I said sarcastically. “Thank you for reminding me how unfair this world can get.”

                “Anytime,” he smirked. Oh how much I want to wipe that smirk off. If he was not only good-looking…aishhhhh.

                “Can you not melt ice?” I inquired.

                “Are you always this random?” he returned. “You jump from one topic to the next. Are you that curious about me?”

                “Just answer my freaking question.”

                “And are you always this impatient?” he asked and continued. “And yes, I could melt ice.”

                “Then why didn’t you just melt the ice right there and then instead of having me think you’ll crack your spinal cord?” I asked, ignoring his first statement. I have no idea why I’m asking all these questions, but I’m just curious with his actions. Sehun is someone who is very hard to comprehend.

                “Because my duire is weak, thanks to you, and we’re on midair, it’s very hard to control,” Sehun said as if mocking me. “Plus, I can’t just melt all the ice there. It’s not like I just snap my finger and do the whole thing. We’ll flood the forest if I do so.”

                “Oh okay, so our Sehunnie actually care about nature,” I teased, smiling. “How sweet. And you’re actually concerned for my well-being to treat me.”

                “NO,” he said, eyes wide.

                “Yes!”

                “ no,” he said and then threw me a banana. “I was worried that if this keeps up I will not be able to eat properly!”

                “What?” I asked, confused, but started peeling the banana. It was only then that I noticed how hungry I am.

                “I don’t cook!” he said. “I can hunt, but I don’t cook. You know I don’t—“

                “…like fire, oh yeah,” I said. “Out of all the things you could be afraid of, it has to be fire.”

                “Mind your own faults,” he snapped and I laughed.

                Just then, it really started raining. It went from mild warm to cold yet again. Of course, there was snow outside, with this rain, all of it will melt and that will make the cold more prominent. I was just thinking about that, and wondering where the others are and if they are okay, when I felt Sehun sliding his coat on my back.

                “What are you doing?” I asked him.

                “Captain Obvious,” he said, rolling his eyes yet again. “It’s going to get cold soon.”

                I looked at him. Like really looked at him, this time. He was not joking. His gesture was actually nice but I was worried. I noticed that he has a small gash at the side of his face. He was only wearing a thin black long sleeves and his pants are ripped at some places. I couldn’t see the skin in his arm, but there are some dark spots on his hand, probably from punching a lot of spirits away. I don’t have any idea how they exactly fought them since I was too worried with the dragon then, and Luhan and Kris.

                “You’ll get cold,” I said.

                “Nah,” he replied. “I’m an ice duirean, Mi Yeon.”

                The way he pronounced my name sounds so weird that I actually got nervous. I mean, he never really called me by the name unless he is trying to insult me. Oh Sehun, you are absolutely mercurial. You’re like a code I can’t decipher. It’s just nice that he’s the one who I am with right now. It makes me feel closer to him eventhough I think he somehow hates me, remembering the scene we had in his room back in Seijira Academy.

                “There must be a limit to your cold resistance,” I said, kinda worried.

                ‘Trust me,” he said. “This is nothing.”

                So I stopped pestering him. I finished the rest of my banana in silence as he munched his bread fruit. I’m glad he gave me the banana coz I don’t really like the other one. The silence was dragging, if I was completely honest, and the rain, though it’s getting stronger, is not helping at all.

                “I wish we have our things,” he spoke suddenly.

                I turned to him, dumbfounded at first but quickly recovered. Oh yeah, the reason we are acting like poor, lost kids is because 1. We really are lost and 2. Our things are all buried at the core of the earth. Kai had not had any time to fetch them because we were ambushed by the enemy. Kai…I let out a deep sigh. Thinking about them just makes me more worried. If only I have my necklace, I could have fed the two of us and we could change to more comfortable clothes. However, right now, we have absolutely nothing but our frail bodies weighing us down. Well, I’m weighing him down for that matter.

                “Yeah…” I said, rather meekly.

                “Can…” he said, then took a deep breath. I looked at him curiously, wondering what he could be thinking. “Can we not be awkward?”

                So he’s feeling it too, the weird atmosphere. Sehun averted his gaze to look straight. He put his other hand on the back of his neck, rubbing it as if he’s uncomfortable with the words he uttered himself. I smiled a little, because the action reminded me of Luhan. They really are friends.

                In the end, I let out a soft chuckle.

                “What?” he asked, a bit annoyed.

                “I don’t know Oh Sehun,” I said. “We’re not friends but are we even on good terms? The last time I checked, we annoy the living daylight out of each other.”

                Sehun shrugged. “Why do you even ask? Girls are just too complicated. Let’s just act like we’re okay with each other’s presence until we met the others.”

                “I’m not acting though,” I frowned. “But can you? I know you hate me.”

                Sehun looked at me this time, probably wondering if I mean what I just said. He looked perplexed at first, but as the time goes, his eyes turned sadder as he tore his gaze away.

                Did I ever say Sehun is so confusing? He changed emotions faster than the yellow traffic light turning to red and most of the times, he’s just blank, cold as ice. Even now, it was only a flicker of sadness I saw, like he’s remembering something, and then he’s back to being the ice prince.

                Someone needs to whack him out of his own world.

                “I don’t hate you,” he muttered softly.

                “Then why?” I asked, and I knew he got what I meant. Why does he always snap at me, annoy me and even push me to my limits?

                “You just remind me too much of someone…”

                “Who?” I said almost breathlessly. Somehow, it felt significant, a key to opening up Sehun.

                But of course, he locks it as soon as he brought it up.

                “You should go back to sleep, you’re not fully recovered yet,” he said, standing up. “I couldn’t protect the both of us if my duire is weak so just do your part of the bargain.”

                “But…”

                “It’s only drizzle now,” he said. I looked outside and found out he was right. I didn’t even notice when that happened. “I’m going to look for leaves and food.”

                “Mind you, I’m not letting you get any rest after this day. We need to work.”

                Tsss… Bossy Sehun. But I didn’t argue with him this time, now that I know that he doesn’t hate me. That information actually lifted a block out of my heart. It just makes you feel somehow, alright. I lied back on the rough ground with his coat still around me. I pulled it tighter, getting wary of the cold, as I watch him walk out of the cave before I closed my eyes.

……………………………………………

                “So slow, as always,” he commented as he turned his head back to look at me.

                He asked me yesterday not to be awkward. He said he doesn’t hate me. So this is his solution of not being awkward then: to point out to my face everything I do. I guess we’re back to square one.

                “I’m trying, okay?” I said, glaring at him. “If YOU could just slow down a bit…”

                “Why should I be the one adjusting?” he asked rhetorically. “At this point, the wolves will feast on us and it’ll be your fault.”

                “The wolves will feast on you, while I fly away,” I muttered to myself.

                “As if Seijira will just let you use him by will!” he said.

                “ARE YOU A HUMAN CAT OR WHAT?” I shouted incredulously. I’m sure I let that out only for my ears to hear. Still, what he said is true. I don’t think I can just call Seijira at this condition. And to be honest, no matter how much he annoys me, I won’t leave him alone.

                ‘Whatever,” he dismissed me. “Just walk faster.”

                I puffed out my cheeks. It’s not like I was trying to be slow on purpose as we made our way down the mountain. It’s just that, I sprained my ankle before, in that boulder and though it seemed like it completely healed, I was still wary. I’m just not used to the idea that my wounds are healing in a faster rate. If I was normal, it’ll probably take a week. Besides, what if I sprained my ankle again? I’m just being careful. Can’t he see that I was trying my best not to weigh him down?

                Just then, I tripped on a rock and landed on my . Great. This is his fault for messing up my thoughts. Tsss.

                “Owww…” I said, rubbing my behind.

                In a second, Sehun was in front of me, watching me like he wanted to laugh so bad. Gd, why can’t I be the one with the ice duire?

                “Go on…laugh,” I snapped at him. “I know you want to.”

                “I would…” he said as if thinking about it real hard. “But I’m a gentleman. “

                Just as I scoffed, he crouched down in front of me so I was facing his back. Before I could even ask what the hell he is doing, he turned his head and grabbed both of my arms, fixed them on his neck and carried me up.

                “Ya! Yaaaaa~~~~~~~!!!” I shouted. “Put me down!!!”

                He ignored me so I kicked his side.

                “I can walk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

                “Shut up,” he said. “Do you think I enjoy carrying you?”

                “Did I even ask you to carry me???” I answered back with as much venom. “I have two legs, I can—“

                “I carried you because I want to exercise!” he said. “It’s not like there’s a gym here in the mountains! So I thought, ‘Oh, I’ll just carry Mi Yeon because she weighed like two sacks of rice.”

                I really think that that was a pure excuse but all thoughts of going easy on him was shattered when he said I weigh like a sack of rice…wait no, two sacks of rice! My head was letting out smokes from all sides.

                I hit the side of his head and pulled out my arm on his neck to throttle him.

                “Yaaaaaaaaa!”

                “I.AM.NOT.FAT!”

                “Don’t lie to yourself!”

                “GO.DIE.OH.SE.HUN.!!!!!”

                We were bickering like kids all the way down, making the birds fly out of their nests and the land animals scuttle noisily away. Sehun kept on insisting how much of a pig I am when I grappled hard on his locks and he stumbled. I thought he would get his balance right away, but that was not the case. Instead, we came tumbling down through hard ground and dried leaves since the snow is lessening as we go. Still, everything seriously hurts. It didn’t help that my back received the final end in a bed of jagged rocks. It hurts like bull. It really is. I’ve found just last night tha