It was already getting quite dark, and Junho was thankful for it. At least Chansung wouldn't see him very clearly, standing on the bank of the pond, drying himself off, before putting on his clothes. And it made him less tempted to look out to the small lake, where Chansung was contentedly floating around. Completely .

Trying to occupy his mind with other thoughts, Junho got the tent, and managed to find a reasonable spot. It wasn’t perfect, but at least it looked dry. With the help of the moon and a flashlight, he managed to put up the tent, which was even smaller than he expected. Of course it might have been easier to ask for Chansung's help, but still Junho was glad for the break from being shy. Besides, he was better at doing things by himself.

Once everything was ready, Junho looked through their shopping bags for food, coming up with some convenient store kimbab. It was barely a proper meal, but better than nothing. It seemed like Chansung had gotten enough of swimming, because he soon walked out of the pond. Blushing deeply, Junho looked away, making sure not to look in his direction. Accidentally though, he happened to steal a couple of glances, each one making him unnecessarily shy.

"H-Here, you can have the rest," Junho said, handing him the kimbab-roll. Quickly he added: "I-I'm going to sleep."

Without looking directly at him, Junho fled into the tent, but didn’t miss that though Chansung had put on some pants, he was still shirtless.

Heart beating unusually hard, Junho tried to get comfortable, even though they didn't have any mattresses or pillows. Before long, Chansung came in too, and lay down behind him. Bringing with him a blanket, Chansung snuggled up to him, spooning him.

"Ehm, I don't think you need to be this close." Junho muttered up awkwardly.

"I don't have to, but it's better this way."

Not sure how to answer that, Junho stayed quiet, until Chansung suddenly exclaimed, "Oh I forgot," and with that he pulled off the blanket and started to pull down Junho's pants.

"What Do You Think You're Doing?!?" Junho almost yelled in panic.

"I just wanted to check if the cloaking spell is still intact, after the lake. Otherwise they will find us."

"Oh," Junho replied embarrassed, heart racing violently. But this was actually a good reason. ing his pants, he pleaded: "D-Don't pull them down all the way, OK?" because he couldn't bear the thought of his behind being completely exposed, with the two of them alone in a tiny tent.

"OK," Chansung answered briefly, then fetched a pen and the flashlight. Carefully pulling his pants down only a little, Junho felt his hand on his hip, and then a pen gently drawing on him.

"There. It only washed off a little, it should be fine now." Chansung said, lightly over the area.

Embarrassed at being touched there, Junho quickly pulled up his pants, and soon Chansung was right behind him again, blanket on top of both of them.

Feeling hot and awkward, Junho wondered whether to tell him to move further away. But actually, he didn't completely hate having him here. He was warm, and Junho could feel the outlines of his chest against his back the way he pressed...

"What are you thinking about?" Chansung suddenly asked.

"Ehm," Feeling embarrassed, Junho wasn't sure how to answer, "I-I was hoping that the lake will heal you."

"Mhm, I hope so too," moving even closer, Chansung put his arm around him, and buried his nose up to Junho's neck, breathing in deeply.

The closeness, the hot breath on Junho's neck, it was all too much, and he wasn't sure how to respond. But before he was able to move away, Chansung's breath was slow and even against his skin.

After their insane adventures, Chansung needed his sleep, especially for the injury to heal, so Junho didn't want to risk waking him so he tried not to move.

Of course, it was a bit too intimate, being so close with someone he only just met, barely even knew, and it made his ears bright hot, and the rest of his body too. But with everything that had happened, this day had felt like twenty, so Chansung didn't really feel like a stranger anymore, not completely. Besides, it could get cold during the night, so staying close was logical. And Chansung definitely was warm, every place they touched made Junho so hot, his skin tingly, on edge.

But eventually, the tiredness won over everything else. This day had been too intense, too overwhelming, so finally relaxing felt good. There was unexpected comfort in the hug and the warmth. For so long, Junho had been alone. Not only these past days, but for a long time his grandfather had been fluctuating in and out of reality, most days not even recognizing his grandson. To take care of him, Junho had to isolate himself from everyone, and only now he realized how alone he had been. So there was comfort in the intimacy, the company soothing, and before long, he fell into deep sleep.

***

The air was stuffy, and it was so hot. Drowsily, Junho opened up his eyes, staring up at the ceiling of the tent. It took him a moment to remember where he was, and another one to realize that he was alone in the tent. Dazed, he stumbled out, gratefully breathing in the fresh air. While getting used to the brightness of the sun, Junho looked around. Once Chansung noticed him, he stood up in the middle of the lake and happily waved to him. Awkwardly, Junho waved back, it made him shy, thinking Chansung was out there. But still, he couldn’t look away, not right away. Half out of the water, Chansung's chest was so white, and his big wings sparkled in the sunlight, so extraordinarily beautiful.

Watching him made Junho feel weird, his face too hot. So he looked away, trying to find other things to occupy his mind. Actually, they didn't have a lot of food left, Junho realized, sitting on the grass going through their backpack, coming up with nothing except a couple of squished sandwiches. Yesterday they hadn't really thought everything through, just randomly bought whatever they could get their hands on.

With a quick glance at Chansung, it was obvious how happy he was swimming around in the lake. Although the wound was already healing, it had been terrible, so probably they needed to stay another night. Maybe, Junho could go and get more supplies, but he wasn't sure he would find the lake again, and he didn't have any money. So probably it would be better if they went together, Chansung was a lot healthier now, so it would be fine to take a little walk down to the town.

Deep in his thought, Junho didn't notice that Chansung had already come back.

"Good morning."

Startled, Junho looked up, but then immediately looked down again blushing, when he saw Chansung standing there completely , drops of water glistening on his body.

"M-Morning" Junho stuttered up shyly. The amount of ness in this trip was getting out of hand. "G-Get dressed, and then you can eat the last sandwich."

After putting on his pants, Chansung sat down on a nearby rock, with the sandwich in his hand.

"How is your wound?" Junho asked worriedly.

"A lot better," he answered with his mouth full.

Fighting the urge to go check for himself, Junho decided to take his word for it.

"What are you thinking?"

"Uhm..." Not really sure how to answer, Junho eventually said: "We are pretty low on food, so I was wondering..."

Suddenly, Chansung became wide alert, and looked to the side, like he had noticed something. Out of the blue, he then quickly blurted out:

"We need to go."

"What? Where?"

Ignoring him completely, Chansung shoved the rest of the sandwich into his mouth, and started packing their stuff.

Getting caught up in his urgency, Junho started to put down the tent.

"What about your wound, don't you need more time to heal?"

Looking at him like he had completely forgotten he was even injured, Chansung took their big water bottles, emptied what was left, and filled all three of them with water from the lake, explaining briefly: "We can apply this on my wound later."

Within minutes everything was ready, and Chansung started to walk ahead. 

"Wait, why are we going? Is someone after us?" This was all too confusing and Junho had no idea what was going on.

Quickly, Chansung turned around, looked him in the eyes, and replied:

 "I can hear him." 

Without further explanation, he grabbed Junho's wrist, dragging him along, almost running through the forest.