Ji Hyun had always been physically strong, and Chanyeol obviously had not been expecting her to grab him like that. His eyes were wide and mouth agape. She swore she could see his cheeks pink, despite the darkening sky.

“If you’d allow me, Miss, could I ask something?” His gaze darted from her left to her right eyes, yet never looked away and she nodded her head before frowning.

“Ji Hyun. Not ‘Miss’.” He smiled instead of replying, and it felt like someone had punched the air out of her lungs. He might have seemed cute being shy and all, but that was nothing compared to his smile. I’m going to have to request for him to be my permanent Guard.

“Why did you… hide your eyes?” It was a question that was bound to come, actually. To not scare people, she always had to conceal it as brown. It took effort, but she mastered it in her adolescence. There was nothing wrong with his question, but Chanyeol seemed to feel bad about asking it and she chuckled.

“To fit in, because people are afraid of my eyes.” She let go of his cuffs then, because her arms were getting tired from holding the books and she walked to the desk on the other side of the room.

It was silent for a while, as she organized her things and she was just about to check if Chanyeol had already left when he replied softly.

“Because people are afraid of what they don’t know.”

There was genuine feeling in that statement, and she turned to face the man. He was shifting about, trying to find a comfortable position on the uncomfortable branch and she rolled her eyes. When he looked up, there was a sad smile on his face.

“I know, because…” He seemed to ponder over whether or not to say what he was about to say, and she tilted her head in curiosity. “My body temperature used to be exceptionally high.” The man said that last part softly, embarrassed and she laughed, clapping her hands over .

“No way! Because of your… fire thing?” He nodded, possibly regretting revealing such a detail and she found even that endearing.

Ji Hyun took a step closer, and the man stayed completely still.

“Pull your sleeves up.” Chanyeol usually didn’t take well to commands. When he first became a Guard, he often got into trouble for arguing with the Commander. He was a lot better at controlling himself now. Strangely enough, when it came to her, he tended to not mind.

“Why, Miss?” Despite his question, he followed her words and she smiled.

Perhaps it was because of her height that she always seemed so confident, mature, sure of herself. Or, perhaps, it was the look in her eyes that made her seem that way. Either way, it was something he could never achieve.

Her gaze was always so temptingly wicked, as though she was planning something in her mind but he didn’t mind. He didn’t mind at all.

“You’ve seen my eyes; I’m going to see how high your temperature is.” The girl took a few steps toward him and Chanyeol shifted back. The sudden movement caused the branch to sway, and he gripped the windowsill for balance. Falling off would be extremely embarrassing.

“Come here, Chanyeol.” When he didn’t move, only staring at her, she sighed softly. Contrary to her previous confidence, there was hesitance in her eyes as Ji Hyun pressed her knuckles against the back of his hand that was on the windowsill.

And he remained still, afraid that the tiniest movement would expose him. Afraid, that she would see just how much her actions affected him.

“Your temperature is average, no?” That reminded him of their original conversation, and he closed his eyes. He only had to let her feel the heat for a second, because she could be scalded by it.

And she jerked away, her hand leaving his skin immediately. When he opened his eyes, he knew what sort of expression she would wear—surely one of shock and confusion, perhaps even fear. But there was something else in her expression that others didn’t have. Curiosity. Excitement.

“Do that again!” Her child-like excitement was contagious, and Chanyeol found himself smiling. Moving to sit on the windowsill, he turned the insides of his forearms towards her. In the past, it was difficult to control his temperature. Now, it was as simple as flicking a switch. Of course, allowing the heat to spread over his skin was much easier than controlling it.

There was no hesitance this time, as she placed her palms on his forearms. Her eyes were closed as her hands crept up, ever so slowly. His skin was definitely of a higher temperature, but her touch left a trail of fire. It left his skin tingling, and Chanyeol waited for her to open her eyes.

When she did, her hands moved down to hold his wrists. Her thumb traced slow circles on the inside of his wrists, driving his senses into overload.

“How did you withstand the heat?” The most pressing question was, actually, why he reacted to her this way. The question he instead asked was second in terms of importance, but it was more appropriate.

Her bright eyes went cloudy then, but her thumbs continued drawing circles on his wrists, as though trying to hide something.

“It probably has to something to do with me being a freak.” She shrugged, but her eyes never cleared and he frowned.

“Don’t say that, Miss.” It hurts me to hear that, he added in his mind, surprising himself. She smiled at him, a rueful expression. She stared right into his eyes, and the strangest thing happened.

His skin began heating up without his own accord.

“I can take what’s yours and make it mine,” she explained, never looking up. “A Witch can take it, but can’t use it.” Then, she stared right into his eyes. The glossy green was breathtaking, and he tried to understand what she was telling him.

“I’m a leech, Chanyeol. I’m just a dirty thief. The more I use your ability, the weaker you get.”

Ji Hyun smiled, glad that she’s finally said it. He would find out anyway. It was better if she said it herself. But she wasn’t expecting his reply.

“It’s the same as me using it. Either way, I’ll heal from it.” The way he spoke had gotten less rigid, his gaze soft as he tried to convince her and she laughed softly, shaking her head.

“You won’t be able to, if you die before healing.” Her words were ominous, but Chanyeol only smiled and shook his head.

“With the will to live, you’d be surprised by people’s strength.” He seemed to speak from experience, and Ji Hyun tilted her head to the right.

“I suppose so.” He seemed so certain that she didn’t want to burst his bubble. Because years ago, it was her strength that surprised her. To protect herself, she used somebody else’s power as a shield.

And, soon after, the lady she’d stolen from collapsed.

“It is late, Miss. I have to return to my duties.” He uncrossed his legs, swinging them outside her room. She stood there; just watching as the man opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again. his dry lips, then pursing them and she laughed.

“What is it?” He chuckled softly too, possibly out of embarrassment and she smiled, waiting.

“I’ll see you again, Ji Hyun.”

Before she could react, the man grabbed the branch and jumped off.

I'm so sorry TT^TT the internet connection was horrible (and here I thought it had gotten better).

Chapter 4 is already done, I'm just checking for grammar errors right now.