“Out. I need to find Sora and make sure she isn’t hurt… I need to know she is safe.” He had gotten up from the couch, much to the cat’s and the witches’ dismay, and was putting back his jacket on as he was ready to walk out.

“She is.” Even with Armina’s soft voice, there wasn’t anything to hold the boy down. “Well, I still want to see her.”

“You step out of this house and you return to be a vulnerable target for your brother. Be patient Cheondung.” She was still trying to calm him down, but it was clear that he was losing it; he couldn’t hold it in.

“I can’t be patient! It’s been three days already!”

“I know that, but you are still too weak to go out!”

“I don’t care! I’m still going to find her… She needs me.” He had breathed out, feeling completely powerless and defeated from being so far away from the person he promised himself to protect; his worries struck such a deep cord, he could feel himself crack.

“Not as much as you think.”

The pain turned into annoyance and frustration as he kept staring at the witch. “Just shut up. I never even asked you for your help.” He took a few steps towards her, making her do the same by stepping backwards. “I’m not the one that sent Fela to help you. She did that on her own.”

He glanced at the cat that was still resting on the couch behind him before turning back to look at Armina. “You could’ve at least stopped her. She is still just a stupid cat after all. Your cat.”

She still kept her cool. Crossing her arms over her chest, she slightly tilted her head to the side while gazing back at Cheondung with a questioning look on her face. “Why are you so harsh on the little one? She just saved you from having your bones crushed by your brother.”

“Because you’re pissing me off!”

“Am I really the one to make you mad or is it because your brother is still out there since you were pretty much unsuccessful into defeating him?”

“It’s because Sora isn’t with me… I really need to see her. I don’t care if you tell me she is safe or not. I want to go.” He was back in having pain in his eyes, letting the anger dissipate instantly.

“Then go. But, before you do, you’ll need something for the road-”

“I don’t need to go out, I just want the cat to do whatever it is she did to bring me here.”

“You don’t need her. Just come with me, I’ll fix that for you.”

She had woken up from another sleepless night.

Her mind was clogged up with hefty dreams, making the slumber impossible for peace.

She had beads of sweat pouring down her skin, her body hot and heavy from the constant anxious feeling that roamed inside the pit of her stomach; she was uncomfortable in her own skin and had a pounding inside her head, making it difficult to have her eyes fully open.

Tears covered her vision, her limbs were shaking; this was the third time it was happening.

She couldn’t comprehend what was going on or why she was dreaming such gruesome and gore things, but most of all, she was confused by the sadness in Seungho’s eyes. The disappointment, that tainted his features as he stared at her; she knew she did something wrong, but being in another world, she didn’t know what.

It confused her so much, a headache grew.

She looked to the side and found Caleb peacefully sleeping. A small smile seeped through her lips before she carefully slid out of her bed.

She made her way to the bathroom across the hall and stripped off her clothes; looking at herself in the mirror, she looked at the scars that decorated her skin. Cuts turned pink and bruises became yellow, on the verge of disappearing. Her bones ached and her body was weak; she still needed to lean on something solid to hold herself up.

The sleepless night were making it worse.

She the water from the tub and stepped inside, letting the warmth hit her skin and hoped it would do her some good.

Her muscles were slowly unclenching, but the knots were still present in her back making her hiss while pressing them with strength. She ended up giving up and turned off the water before stepping out and grabbed a towel.

She ran her fingers through her hair, pulling them back and breathed out from the steam that covered the small white tiled room.

Walking out, she found Caleb sitting right in front of the door with his ears perked up. She chuckled at the sight and simply ruffled his head as she made her way around him and walked back into her bedroom.

She was in front of her closet, trying to pick out some clothes despite how old they were. She was rotating her shoulders backward in hopes to erase the ache that crept up her back. She stretched her arm out, reaching out for the bundle of nerves right in between her shoulder blades and started gently rubbing it.

“Stupid knots…”

“Here… Let me help you with that.”

The voice was enough to tell her that Cheondung was there, inches away from her back. She felt his hands gently on her shoulders, making her sigh in relaxation.

His front faintly pressed up against her back, he tossed her hair from her left shoulder towards her right. He leaned in closer and pressed his lips against the crook of her neck; goose bumps traveled across her body. She closed her eyes and let her head slowly fall back. She leaned against him while still feeling his hands working up to ease her physical pain.

“You’re back…” There were soft whispers as they finally communicated after being separated for three long days. “Mhmm.”

“I thought he killed you… I thought that-”

“I’m here. I’m alive.”

She turned around to face him. Her head tilted up, she was looking at him with tears suddenly striking at the corners. He quickly wiped them away and kissed her lips tenderly. She, then, wrapped her arms around him, hugging him closely; he still felt the faint tremors of her limbs against his own body.

“How did you find me?”

“Don’t worry about that. I’m here now…”

She weakly nodded her head as she pulled herself away from his embrace. Before she had the chance to distance herself any further, he cupped her cheeks and kissed her with more profoundness. “I missed you…”

She let him be as he showered her with the softest of kisses, slowly calming her down; she was feeling at ease with his lips against her skin, from her lips to her cheek to her nose and neck, down her collarbone and back up to her head and lips again, left and right side.

He lifted her up in his arms as he made his way towards her bed and laid her down across the mattress before climbing up and hovering above her.

Their locked lips left her breathless, succumbing under the awakening lust that she felt for him.

The wolf was just as quickly out of the way, feeling uncomfortable about what was about to happen.

Sora held onto the boy, her arms wrapped around him while his fingers trailed up and down her thighs, as her body was still attached to the wet towel. His face nestled in her neck, he breathed in the sweet aroma of her skin; hunger grew inside him.

Her eyes were closed, loving the sensation that he brought with his caresses, until now.

“I’m so in love with you, it’s driving me crazy.” Though his lips were against her skin, his words muffled and his voice in a lustful tone, she clearly heard what he had said.

Her body froze as she open her eyes wide.

Her heart stopped beating and her lungs were empty from air.

“S-stop. Ch-Cheondung, stop i-it.”

She quickly pushed him off and got herself out of bed while tightly clutching onto the towel. She could barely breathe as pain emanated all around her heart, squeezing it tightly.

“What’s wrong?”

“Y-you. You are wrong.”

“I don’t understand…”

“You don’t love me. You can’t be in love with me! It’s impossible!”

He was startled by the sudden outburst displayed in front of him. He got up on his two feet and walked towards her until she shoved him away, wanting to keep a good distance between them. “How can you lie to me like that?”

“Why would you think I would lie about something like that?”

“B-Because you are! I know you are! How the hell can you fall in love with a stranger? That doesn’t make any sense!”

“I’m not lying!”

“Yes, you are damn it! You are ing lying to me! You are the worst for playing me like that.”

Anger was boiling within his core.

“F-for playing you?! You are the one using me! You want to , let’s ! But don’t say that I’m lying to you because I’m not.” He sighed, letting go of his anger as it became faint desperation. “I am in love with you… I do love you.”

“But… But I don’t…”

He felt like someone stabbed him right in the guts, tearing him apart from the inside out. He tried to push the feeling away, trying to convince her that she felt the same. “Of course you do. I know you do.”

“I don’t feel the same way.” She was more stern about it, sensing that he wasn’t going to let this go that easily.

“You have to stop denying it. Why do you even care about me then?”

“Caring about someone doesn’t mean that you are in love with them. They are two separate things. Two different emotions.”

He scoffed, partly in disbelief, partly in exhaustion. “It’s because of that ex-boyfriend of yours, isn’t it? You gotta move on, damn it. He’s never coming back.” He was irritated about her stubbornness, which only made her yell back, pissed off.

“STOP IT! You have no right to say this to me!”

“Somebody’s got to! You’ve been hung up on a dead person! For sake, just move on! You said you would but you keep hanging onto him. He’s not even holding onto you anymore.”

“Why are you saying this to me? Why are you being so mean to me?” Her voice cracked, clearly hurt.

Seeing this, he calmed down; he felt his heart tightened a little bit, knowing that he was to blame for giving her such pain about something he did. “Because you need to wake up… You need to realize that somebody is willing to take care of you, to love you and to help you.”

“And you think you’re that ‘somebody’?”

“I know I am. I’m sorry if I’m hurting you by saying these things, but it’s true. You have to let the past be the past. You have to move on… You care about me but I know you feel something more, something deeper-”

“I don’t.”

“You do, and you’re blocking it.” He took several steps towards her, eliminating the distance that was in between their bodies. He reached out for her hand but she quickly pushed it out of the way. “I’m not blocking anything. Just stop with that ing nonsense-”

He grabbed her instantly and shut her up with a kiss, ceasing more hurtful words to come out of .

She was taken aback, yet she couldn’t help but to slowly sink into the feeling that grew from the touch.

He held her closely against his chest, slowly walking backwards until her back softly touched the closet door behind her. she pressed her hands against him, pushing him off but he just as quickly held her hand and lifted them up above her head.

“Stop denying it. Please… I know you feel the same.”

“I-I d-don’t-”

“Just shut up and let me kiss you.” He cupped her cheeks as she nodded her head absentmindedly; the moment their lips touched, she drowned within the pool of heat that existed since they first met.

She tightly held onto the towel, feeling it loosening up around her, though her mind was distracted from the heavy caress he was giving her; quiet moans rolled down her busy tongue, as lust grew in between her legs leaving her weak in the knees and hungry in her limbs.

He quickly ripped off the towel away from her body and dropped it on the floor while his eyes took in the sight in front of him.

The speeded up minutes landed her with him on his knees until she found herself with her back across the bed with the boy on top of her. Friction came from their moving bodies as their skin brushed up against each other, producing heavy warmth that clashed with droplets of sweats sticking up all over them, from skin to sheets.

She reached ecstasy over and over again as his body moved continuously in and out of her, grazing her limbs with his lips and his fingertips while pushing both bodies deeper onto one another, until no space existed.

Pleasure overrode any other anxious emotions that she has been feeling lately.

Her mind was fogged from anything but the lechery that crept up her skin, the sensation of muscled arms embracing her fragile body for safety and protection, and from anything else that could possibly bring her back to the reality that surrounded them.