If you remember me,                                                                                                                                                                    

then I don't care if everyone else forgets.

-Haruki Murakami

The snow was thick. Myungsoo dreaded the fact that the new hut he found was rather close to a lively town, much bigger than the village. But he had no choice. And to grow a new garden, he needed fresh seeds and a new set of gardening equipments. But, even after he got all those materials, it had been impossible to get anything growing in the subzero temperature and he was forced to come to the noisy town rather every now and then for supply.

He did not like his new cottage that much either. The floor was marble instead of wooden. And, although it was somewhat more spacious than his old one, it simply lacked a certain feel of familiarity.

Lee Howon, another wizard who happened to live in the town, owned a successful shop selling fruits and vegetables. Myungsoo frequently visited the greengrocer but rarely bought anything at all. He was just looking for a safe environment and not really interested in the carrots and pumpkins and grapefruits Howon, affectionately called Hoya by many, had always boasted.

One freezing evening, the wizard heard soft, barely audible knocks on his door. Probably it was the fact that more people are living in the nearby town that made him less suspicious about it. He turned the silvery knob and a snow-covered, slightly smaller figure slumped almost instantly to him.

He pushed back and locked the door to prevent the blizzard from coming. Whoever the stranger was, he was desperately in dire need of shelter. Then a pair of shaking, thin hands grabbed him by the collar and pulled him closer. That was when he recognized his midnight visitor. But how could he?

“Why,” the chocolate-haired boy asked. He sounded as frail as ever. But there was no mistake that it was him.“Why did you run away?”

“But weren’t going to report me to the church,” he asked. “Sungjong?”

“I... I couldn’t,” Sungjong stated weakly. “What charm did you use on me? Nullify it.”

“But I never cast—”  he stopped himself, realizing that it was not completely true.

But the stranger did not hear it anyway. Sungjong lost consciousness on his arms. It looks like the docile-looking hunter had gone through a lot to track him. Although the simple idea of Sungjong desperately looking for him delighted him, he was aware that he did bewitch the hunter after all.

L carried the sleeping lad and laid him very carefully on his bed, covering him up to the chest with a soft, big blanket. Sungjong was even thinner than he was when they first met. The warlock made a mental note to prepare a nutritious breakfast in the morning.

The older lad strip Sungjong of his weapon, a pair of throw knives, a rather broad dagger and a bow with about a dozen of arrows. Each of them apparently had their sharp edges smeared with poison, Myungsoo could tell from a very faint tint of unpleasant odor he detected.

Sungjong was pretty well-equipped, yet he did not even throw a knife at him the night he discovered Myungsoo’s identity. The thought somehow plastered a small smile on Myungsoo’s face.

He caressed the younger one tenderly as if he could crumble with the slightest poke. As much as it made him chuckle, it relieved him, the way Sungjong fell right into his embrace and went asleep as if the hunter did not consider him, a wizard, a threat at all.

“Sleep tight,”

A/N: Yep another very short one. At least this one hits 500 word count lol. And on the other note, I'm glad splitting it to two chapters gives me an excuse for me to quote Murakami-sensei twice rofl.