Jooyoung pulled her hand quickly from his grip. His eyes were shot open, shocked. He then turned to look at her who was giving him a petrified look. No, he thought to himself. Of all the looks she gave to him, he most disliked the shaky look she was giving him right now. It reminded him the same gaze she held after knowing that he wasn’t any human.

She was staring at him as if he was some kind of a monster. He is not a monster. He won’t be a monster, even under her command.

“Did I scare you?” he broke the eye contact and landed his gaze on the grass. He was afraid if she answered ‘yes’ to his question, because that was the last thing he wanted to hear from her.

Jooyoung still held her scared look at him, she watched as he refused to look at her in the eyes after the question. What did he mean by he was addicted for her warmth? He shouldn’t be addicted anything of her. He should know his border. He shouldn’t cross the line that had been set between the two of them.

She softened as she took a deep breath. “No. I… I just don’t understand. I don’t understand what you’re trying to say.” An instant guilt began to flood in, did it show so much? She couldn’t help it if she naturally looked as a coward at time, it was normal for her to react negatively of the unknown.

He didn’t response instantly but he knew she was waiting for him to speak as he could see from the corner of his eyes, she was watching him, almost not blinking at all.

A slight grimace flashed on his face as he averted his eyes on the surface of the calm lake. “It’s hard. I don’t understand too. Why? Why must He do this to me… to you,” he paused as he made a small nod. “This might sound crazy but I pray. I pray a lot for Him to be lenient to me. To at least give me a reason… I don’t need much. Just give me a reason… The reason why He let you to come in my life.”

She took a deep breath as she unconsciously tilted her head, giving him a sympathy look. No words came up in her head as she followed his gaze on the lake, thinking if she was actually sleeping and this is a dream but the cold touch on her hand confirmed her that she was on the right world.

“You can feel it, right?” he questioned while his hand still holding her hand. She searched his dark black orbs, clearly showing him how confuse she was with his action and question.

“You can feel the icy cold from my touch and when you’re touching me,” he added, making it clear. She nodded to his statement. Yes, she still could feel the freezing cold of his hand. She never forgot how colder he felt when she got on his back.

“The same thing goes to me,” he paused while observing her dark brown orb. “But instead of feeling cold as me… I feel warmth from you.”

There was a hint of astonishment in her eyes as he squeezed her hand gently. She then broke the eye contact and pulled her hand away from his. Before he could feeling depress all over again, he saw she was rubbing her palm together. As their eyes met again, Jooyoung flashed a grin and showed both her palm that turned red after shuffling it together.

She then quickly took both his hand in her hands and conducted the heat from the friction she made.

Hongbin could feel her warmth and couldn’t help but to form a smile on his face. She was watching his face the entire time and he was oblivious from his surrounding as he enjoyed the warm feeling.

“Do you like it?” she asked. She loved how his face turned from grim to bright when the warmth reached him but she couldn’t hold his hands long. Her palms felt as if something was repetitively stabbing on them, like she was holding on a big chunk of ice.

Hearing that, he then pulled his hands away from hers. She looked at him in puzzlement, “Why? Did I say something wrong?”

He shook his head he he sighed inaudibly, “I wish I can you give the same thing, you’re just hurting your hands. I don’t have warmth to offer, I can’t protect you from the coldness of the weather, from me… I’m just a burden.”

She just stared at him without words. He is a moody kid, to begin with. He could be smiling at one time and at one time, he could be turning around, sulking like a little kid.

A random question suddenly popped in her mind. Ignoring the ugly attitude he just showed, she suddenly got up, catching his attention instantly. She brushed off the dust and dirt on her skirt and held both her hands towards him.

“Come, I want to know something!” she chimed, suddenly excited.

He shot her a judging look but stood up without her help. She let it slide and walked quickly to the lake, with Hongbin only watching her from behind. The sense of Déjà vu rushed into him but he just glued on the ground, waiting her order.

As soon as he could see her reflection on the surface of the water lake, she then turned to behind her to see he was staring blankly at her. She gestured with her hand, asking for him to come closer. Taking the hint, he then made a slow walk towards her and when he finally stood beside her, a loud gasp could be heard from her.

“You have your own reflection!” Jooyoung pointed her finger on his reflection at the water surface. “I thought you won’t have one,” she stared at his reflection in amazement. “That’s amazing!” she added.

He could see his reflection wavered on the water surface. If he couldn’t see himself, then how did he know he had the same ‘mark’ with the others? He hated the mark that indicates he belongs to the restless soul’s community and as a result, he covered it with his bang, covering one of his eyes in the process.

“Right,” she suddenly pulled him to the reality. “You’re not vampire, vampires don’t have soul so that’s why they can’t have a reflection,” she laughed. “You’re a soul itself!”

Her laugh stopped immediately as she caught his eyes. He didn’t look like he loved what he just heard. Pulling a bitter smile, she then lightly pat on his shoulder, “I’m joking. Why so serious?”

He hated it when someone reminded him what he is. He thought it was rude.

Acting a yawn and purposely made the yawning sound audible, she knew Hongbin caught her hint. “You want to go home now?” he asked, genuinely concern. He suddenly felt guilty because she had to hear the uninteresting story of his life.

She nodded, acting sleepy. “I might end up sleeping in the middle of the road,” she sighed as she weakly shut her eyes. She was making excuses so that Hongbin would offer her a ride on his back.

“I’ll carry you home,” he said, exactly like what she wanted.

“No, thank you. I’m afraid I’ll get insomnia after the sudden teleportation,” she was getting good with her lies, praying that he would bite her bait.

“I won’t! I’ll carry you the snail-speed way! Your favourite!” he was getting panicked all of sudden. She almost snickered in disbelief but held it in.

“Let me sleep here,” she then made a scene as she began to lay on the grass but Hongbin quickly got her up, and put her on his back.

“Walk!” she almost shouted making him froze while adjusting her on his back. The warmth seeped into him and he took a deep breath, the warmth was driving him crazy.

“I will, don’t worry. Stay still or I’m gonna drop you in the water,” he warned, earning a smile on Jooyoung lips. Her eyes were wide awake behind him. She was acting sleepy so that she got to be on his back, to be able to give the warmth he craved for. Besides, what is friend for? She wanted to give back everything he had done to her.

If warmth was the only thing she could offer, she could give it.

---

Jaehwan purposely stop meeting Jooyoung. He knew that she would be coming back for him, looking for him. He was very confidence but it had been few days passed after the sudden interrogation and explosion.

He was getting anxious of not seeing her. After the ghost claim, she had been clingy on him and he had been meeting her every day since then. He was the only friend she had in the village and doing this to her was cruel.

“She’ll be lonely,” he thought.

“What if she gets sick?”

Realisation just hit him hard on the back of his head as he stood up. “That’s why she can’t meet me and I don’t see her! Or what if the ghost comes back to haunt her? And she is so scared to death that she refuses to leave home?” he mumbled to himself, hating himself for only realising it by now.

He then brisk walk to his bicycle and made sure to visit the convenience store first to buy something for her. He couldn’t forgive himself if one of the thoughts he had was true. He could even offer himself as a slave to her.

Arriving at the convenience store, he left his bicycle and when he was about to enter it, his eyes suddenly caught Jooyoung’s face. Jooyoung was too distracted to notice his appearance. A curve of smile instantly formed on his face as he approached her, happy to see that she was healthy and walking.

“Jooyoung!” he called cheerfully.

She turned to meet eyes with Jaehwan. A small smile developed on her face as she lifted the things she brought in her hand. “Oh, Hi Jaehwan!” she answered nonchalantly.

The smile on his face disappeared in a second; he didn’t like what he was watching. She looked like she was forcing to look calm. Was she still mad of what happened?

“Are you okay? You don’t look like you’re okay,” he asked as he tailed her to the alley, forgetting his bicycle.

“I’m fine,” she answered without looking at him. “What’s up?” she added.

Her questions made him anxious even more, he then sped up and walked beside her. “You’re still mad of what happened…?” he asked carefully, not wanting to open a big fire. He could sense that she was showing the calm before storm. Anyhow, he had ready to get thunder-struck.

She stopped on her track as she turned to face him. “No,” she replied. For some reason, she looked irritated and Jaehwan wanted to slap himself for bringing this side of her out. He knew it, he deserved it.

“You look like you do…”

She sighed and forced out chuckles. “If you keep doing this, of course I will get irritated at the end. Just go straight to the point, Jaehwan. Don’t beat around bushes. What do you want?”

“Are you still mad…?” he questioned, preparing to get beat.

“No, I’m not. I’m fine. I don’t even remember what happened,” she arched her eyebrows, hoping he liked her answers.

“You’re fine? Not sick or hurt anywhere?” he posed another question.

She nodded eagerly, “I’m good! I’m healthy as a bull, I’m well fed! What else do you need to know? Grandma? She’s fine as well!”

He made a small nod, “That’s good to hear…”

She gave him a look for a moment before she nodded as well and starting to walk away from him, leaving him without farewell.

And that was the last time he met her. He rarely sees her now and even if they happened to see each other, they would only exchange looks. She stopped coming to him completely and he felt so wrong about it, like it shouldn’t be ending this way.

There must be something that kept Jooyoung away from him and he wanted to find it out.

---

Jooyoung didn’t realise she had been spending more time with Hongbin. They were even meeting at daylight and the lake would be their favourite place when the night comes.

One night, as usual, both of them would be at the lakes. Jooyoung was lying on the grass, staring vacantly at the star-spotted sky. He watched her face but she seemed to be unaware of his gaze. Hongbin realised that she had been spending more of her time with him than Jaehwan. He somehow felt bad about it but at the same time, he liked the way how it is now –having most of her attention.

“Am I doing the right thing?” she broke the silence of the night while her eyes fixed on the sky. She had been thinking something while staring blankly at the sky; she wasn’t actually looking at the stars.

“What is it…?” he asked, sensing bad vibe from her question.

“Doing this. With you... I am ignoring Jaehwan completely, as if we’ve never known each other,” her eyes then averted towards him, startling him. Did she just hear his thoughts?

He opened his mouth, wanting to give his thoughts but she was faster.

“Don’t you ever think of finding the light?” she rested her head on her arms, facing him who was sitting beside her. “I’m not really into this afterlife stuff… But I believe that you would see the light that will guide you after you…” her voice trailed off. He saw the consciousness in her eyes.

He sighed out a disbelief chuckle. He was pretty hurt hearing that from her lips. He felt unwanted all of sudden.

“Do you think I’ve been slacking off and think that I’m a lazy bastard that doesn’t want to find the light?” he scoffed, breaking the eye contact. His reply made Jooyoung to get up instantly, “That’s not what I mean.”

“Then? I never ask you to be with me. You can go back to your friend if you think you’re doing the wrong thing, I don’t care anymore,” he got up and vanished in a blink of an eye, leaving Jooyoung staring at the last place he stood.

Taking a deep breath, she wiped her eyes where the tears began to form, gradually blurring her vision. Putting her knees in front of her, she began to hug it as she cried silently alone, in front of the lake. That was not what she meant.

Seeing Hongbin that still hanging around the village told her one thing;

He is lost and restless.

He should quickly find the light and took the path a soul should so that he can achieve the peacefulness.

The tears couldn’t stop pouring from her eyes and she buried her face on her knees, struggling to stop the tears. She realised that she shouldn’t spend a long time with him because it will led her to feel attach to him, and she didn’t want that feeling to stop him from going. It is a forbidden feeling.

Suddenly, she felt something cold wrapping around her. “I’m sorry,” she heard a familiar deep voice. She lifted her head up to see Hongbin in front of her. She could see the concern spread on his face. “I-I shouldn’t leave you alone,” he stuttered, almost crying but he didn’t have tears to begin with.

“I-I’m so scared,” he then looked small in her eyes.

She looked at him apologetically as she got up on her knees and pulled him in her embrace, “Don’t be... I’m here. We’ll be in this together. I’ll help you.”

He froze in her embrace and shut his eyes as the heat seeped into his cold skin. “We’ll be in this together,” she repeated as she caressed his hair.

“Shin Jooyoung?” another familiar voice approached her. It didn’t belong to Hongbin or her… There were only two of them at the lake that night…

She turned to the voice to see a shock Jaehwan. “What are you doing here?” he asked. He looked as if he just met a ghost, his face turned white as paper.

Hongbin wasn’t aware of Jaehwan’s presence but as soon he felt Jooyoung shifted above him, he moved away from her and suddenly sensed a threat very close to him. He was jaw dropped to see Jaehwan standing very close to both of them. Jooyoung must look like a crazy girl, embracing the empty air.

She turned her head to see at Hongbin but he suddenly vanished from her sight. Dropping her arms, she quickly got up, trying to explain her action and her whereabouts to him.

“I-I-I… How-How do you find me?” she stuttered, her heart had been hammering its way out from her chest. She felt she might pass out in any second, the tension was so intense. She didn’t know how to react to him. She was caught completely off-guard.

“I’m asking you. What are you doing here at this time? What even… What are you doing here?” he gave her an incredulous look. “You’re sick?”

She stared at him, feeling dizzy all of sudden.

Right.

She was sick.

That was when she felt her lung was cut out from oxygen and her knees felt weak, her vision darkened and the last thing she heard was Jaehwan shouting her name and everything turned pitch black.

---

“Am I dead?” she asked. She then looked beside her to see no one. Turning to her left, she still didn’t see anybody else beside her. Looking back in front, her eyes caught the luminous light. The luminous light danced in front of her as if calling her to come closer.

She was staring at it too long, and the longer she stared, the more absorbed she was into it.

Unconsciously, she made a small and slow step towards the light, she also could hear someone was calling her name but before her even able to go into the light someone had been pulling her back, pulling her into her sense.

“I told you to stay away from him!” screamed an old lady towards her. She closed her ears to the ear-bleeding scream and fell down on her heel, crying.

No matter how hard she pressed her palms on her ears, she still could hear the piercing scream. “Stop!” she yelled back.

“Jooyoung,” she heard someone was calling her and opened her eyes to Jaehwan’s face. “You’re okay?” he brought his hand toward her face and wiped the tears on her temple. She had been crying in her sleep.

Her eyes then darted to her surrounding, hoping that she would be in her room but nothing in the room looked familiar. She then realised there was a wet towel rested on her forehead, causing her to get up on her elbows but Jaehwan pushed her back to the bed.

“You’re still sick, lay down.”

“Where am I?” she questioned as her eyes searched for a clock.

“You’re in a safe place, don’t worry,” he tried to calm her down but he knew, she wouldn’t stay still until she got the answer she wanted.

“How long have I been here?” she shot him a glare. “What am I doing here?!”

Jaehwan took a deep breathe; hate to break it on her. He took a deep breath while wearing a calm look, “You’re in my room.”

“What?!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N; Subscribe, upvote, and comment! ^o^

@Kitty16 Thank you for loving this fic. I know, I can’t help but to get immerse as well when writing this. I even acted some of the situation to get the feel /cover face/ I have the ending plan out already so no worry! I’m going to finish this fic but please forgive me if I doing the update a little late because I sometime lost the momentum. /sigh/ Anyhow. Enjoy! ^-^

@Dendri The chapter is coming out hoho ^o^