A/N: This chapter is ALL HYYH ♥ ♥ ♥ Enjoy :D

Chapter 13: Warmth & Tokens

The rain had been pouring for about two hours nonstop, and Hwayang and Yeonhwa were both still in the farmhouse. Yeonhwa sat on the huge stack of hay next to Hwayang’s farming supplies, while he was sitting on another stack across from her. The entire time, they sat silently in their drenched clothes, shivering from the coldness coming from the rain that was trying to peek through the farmhouse.

After the little physical contact they had with each other, neither of them spoke a word. Yes, Hwayang apologized for not warning her about lending her his shirt, but he still didn’t say anything afterwards. Yeonhwa could only accept his big upper-layer since she didn’t know what to say him either. They were both speechless and too embarrassed to say anything.

Yeonhwa curiously and looked at Hwayang. He was fortunately wearing another layer of a tan, long sleeve shirt, but it didn’t look that thick to create any warmth. She suddenly felt guilty for the commoner.

“Are you sure you don’t need your shirt?” she asked, breaking the long silence.

Hwayang finally turned at her and realized that she was referring to his shirt on her. “I’m fine,” he assured, shaking his head. “Really. Don’t worry about me.” Then, he looked elsewhere again. Honestly, he was trying to avoid her eyes these past two hours. He couldn’t bring himself to face her after unintentionally holding her in his embrace.

A shivering chill suddenly spiked down his spine making him flunch a bit. He was about to stand and do some stretches to warm himself up, but immediately stopped when he felt a weight next to him. He looked over and found the only person with him in this farmhouse.

“What are you doing?” Hwayang asked, seeing the Princess take his upper-layer off of her.

Yeonhwa showed her small, warm smile. “I don’t want you to catch a cold,” she said in concern.

Before Hwayang could declare anything else, Yeonhwa already shared his upper-layer with him, slightly covering them both over their shoulders. The shirt was big, but not big enough, though. Their eyes locked once again as Yeonhwa put on half of his shirt on him, but they shyly looked away after she was done. Then, the familiar silence lingered.

“I received your letter,” Hwayang said, not enjoying the quietness, as he gazed at the wall.

Yeonhwa didn’t look at him completely, but she turned her head to him slightly. “Did you?” she replied. Of course she knew, but she had to say something in return.

Hwayang replied with a hum. “Your handwriting was pretty. No, scratch that. It is pretty. It really is.”

Yeonhwa bit the smile that wanted to escape from her lips. “Thanks.”

“I also liked your choice of words. It was really amusing.”

“How amusing?”

Hwayang looked at her, and when she sensed him doing so, she also locked eyes with him. “Well, to reply to your letter, I don’t think you’re a crazy person, nor do I tend to think that at all.”

Yeonhwa lightly laughed and looked away as she started to pink.

“And now that you’ve seen my farming field, I won’t need to show you anymore, do I?”

The Princess turned to him again with a lovely grin, making him also smile in return.

“I think you’re suffering from hypothermia,” Yeonhwa joked. “You’re saying lots of weird things.”

The farmboy only laughed at her response.

No words were lingering in the farmhouse anymore. And silence was the only thing that could be heard.

After a while, being the worried person he was, Hwayang looked beside him and took a glimpse at the royal girl. She kept her head, looking at her hands in her lap, afraid that she would really melt under his speechless gaze. His eyes traveled to the big shirt they were both wearing and noticed how most of it was mainly on him. He also noticed how she was keeping a big distance between them, making him even more worried about her.

“Scoot closer,” Hwayang finally spoke.

Yeonhwa eyed him with nervousness. “Pardon?” she asked.

“Do you want to get sick?” When she didn’t say anything to reply to him, he sighed and bravely brought his hand over to wrap around her waist, pulling her close to his side.

Yeonhwa gasped when she felt, what seemed like, his nose brushing on the side of her temple as he gently drew her to him. She blinked many times and looked away, but she herself was frozen. The side of their legs touched each other as they were now side by side close together.

Hwayang didn’t know what overcame him. By the time he realized what he was doing, he already had his hand around her waist, and his face was practically buried in the side of her head. He just wanted to keep her warm. That was all he thought.

It also didn’t help either of them about how close they were. The familiar, shaky feeling was happening again like before.

Trying to lift up the awkward tension, Hwayang said, “I don’t want you to catch a cold.”

Yeonhwa couldn’t help but to laugh a bit at his words that she once said before. He also chuckled warmly at what he just said, letting her feel his hot breath in her ear. Courageously, she brought herself to turn her head and look at him. Their noses touched again, and that made her nervously pull back, but she still stayed close in his embrace.

Just like the other, they both felt nice and warm. They were in each other’s grasps as light as a feather, but it was more than nothing. It felt perfect, and it magically made them feel strong as if they were each other’s strengths.

“Thanks,” Yeonhwa whispered softly.

Hwayang smiled. “Me too,” he responded.

After a few hours passed, the rain finally stopped.

Without knowing it, Hwayang fell asleep in the process, too. He was actually enjoying his slumber until he felt a tug on his sleeve. Since he wasn’t much of a deep sleeper, he woke up immediately to see Yeonhwa standing in front of him while he was completely covered with his upper-layer.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized. “I fell asleep. Are you okay?”

Yeonhwa chuckled softly as him, shaking her head. “I’m alright,” she said. “It stopped raining, though… And I need to go home…”

Hwayang was honestly a little upset and sad when he heard her say that. He suddenly realized how empty he felt when she wasn’t in his embrace anymore either. It didn’t feel nice. It was like a piece of him was missing.

He cleared his throat and sat up. “Oh, okay,” he said, putting on his upper-layer shirt. “Let me walk you home, then.”

Yeonhwa widened her eyes and stopped him as he stood up. “No!” she exclaimed, making Hwayang suspiciously look at her. “I-I mean… It’s okay. I’ll be fine going home by myself.” Actually, she didn’t want him to walk her sixteen feet high, secured, rich palace of a home. If she did, then she was dead.

Hwayang smartly knew what she was doing and that made him chuckled lightly. Again, he found her attempts of lying really cute. So he decided to add a little fun to it. “Well then, we have a problem.” He walked over