JH POV

Ji Hyo groans in pain as she holds onto Jong Kook. She uses one hand to stab the sword into the ground to hold her from falling off. Jong Kook grunts as he tries to hold on tight to Ji Hyo.

Seeing the water below Jong Kook, Ji Hyo knew what she had to do.

Seeing the determination in his eyes, Ji Hyo wondered to herself as he assassins laugh behind her, mocking him.

“You trust me, right?” Ji Hyo asked. The words he told me.

Jong Kook stares at her in utter confusion.

“Then trust me to the very end, ok?”

“Trust me and live,” Ji Hyo nods, “Understand?”

“What?” Jong Kook didn’t know why she was talking like this. “Pull me up and we’ll fight them together.”

Together…

But Ji Hyo smiles with water in her eyes and loosens her grip. “I love you.” Her voice crack as she spoke those three words. Ji Hyo lets go of his hand as their fingertips slips pass each other.

Seeing the confused look on his face, she smiled and never left his face.

I love you. Probably the last words you’ll hear from me.

Ji Hyo sees his body fall into the river as he flow away.

The assassin’s face turned sour.

Ji Hyo helped herself up and faces them. She grabs Jong Kook’s sword on the ground with all her strength.

With this, I give you back my life. The life you saved.

Her hands held on tightly to the sword.

The man and his assassins moved in, ready to fight her. Ji Hyo closed her eyes, then open them with the most deadly look. The man and her fought, twirling around the cliff, slashing each other.

Suddenly an assassin pulls out 2 swords, double-edged and darted at her. Ji Hyo, unaware, blocks the attack but the sword was too heavy for her as she crouch down to one knee, holding off the attack.

The assassin pressed down the sword with his own, making Ji Hyo lose strength as the sword slowly moves against her shoulders, cutting her. The sword slowly cuts on her right shoulder, making blood seep out. The assassin manages to push hard enough that his own sword grazes against her skin.

Ji Hyo groans as the burning sensation flushed through her body. She push back as she grabs a dagger from underneath to stab the man. She was able to gain her strength and quickly slash the man’s throat as she got back up.

We no longer owe each other anything.

The other man grinned, using his hand to halt the others.

Ji Hyo, confused to why they stopped attacking held her stance.

“Capture her. We could use her as bait.” He ordered.

Ji Hyo backs up as the assassins take out ropes to capture her. Ji Hyo holds tightly onto the sword as she holds her shoulder, trying to stop the blood. She stepped back, reaching the cliff now.

She cursed under her breath. I can’t swim. She looked down but tells herself to be brave. Let’s see if I’ll live or die without you.

It’s all or nothing.

Ji Hyo puts the sword behind her and drops it into the water before turning around, right before they capture her. She jumps off the cliff into the river.

Just as she jumped, arrows were shot at the assassins. Yoo came just in time as Ji Hyo jumped down. He saw her jump and rushed in and fought with the assassins, outnumbering them. As he ran to the cliff, Ji Hyo had already disappeared under the water.

“Ji Hyo!” he yelled her name.

***

Jong Kook tried to push against the force as he was pushed around the river. The water finally calmed as he reach the small shore. Jong Kook could feel his feet on the ground as he falls down. He weakly drags himself onto the leveled ground, crawling.

He tries to catch his breath.

Ji Hyo.

He gets up frantically, trying to find her.

“Ji Hyo!” He screams, “Song Ji Hyo!”

But he was all alone.

Song Ji Hyo. Why did you…? Jong Kook looks at his right hand, the one that held onto hers before falling off the cliff.

Why did you save me?

“Song Ji Hyo!” he looked around and called for her. She’s all alone. Who knows what could have happened to her now. Jong Kook didn’t know what to do as he keeps calling for her, running around the river.

Then he saw her.

Ji Hyo’s lifeless body flowing to the shallow part of the river. He ran towards her through the water that came to his knees. Jong Kook reaches her body and grabs her, carrying her over his shoulder with all his might.

They got back to shore as he puts her down. He pats her face, “Ji Hyo.” He tries to shake her but there, he sees that she was injured, her right shoulder was cut, slashed, grazed by a sword cut. He put his finger by her nose.

She wasn’t breathing which caused him to panic. He quickly checks her pulse on her neck. Her heart was still beating.

Jong Kook quickly gives her CPR, pushing her chest for the water to come out. Just as he leans down to give her air, he hesitated. It was different from before. Different from when he first help her breathe underwater when he first saved her.

He shook his head and decided to lean forward, placing his lips on hers, pinching her nose as he blew air into .

He repeated it a few times, holding his breath, crossing his heart. The droplets of water from his hair dripped down his face as he desperately tries to save her.

Ji Hyo finally coughed out water. She turned her head sideways and coughed out more water as she catches her breath, breathing heavily.

Jong Kook then sat back as he tries to regain his strength, sighing in relief.

Ji Hyo slowly open her eyes drowsily. Her vision blurred. She slowly gets up as she heard another breathing. She turns around sees him.

Kim Jong Kook.

***

They sat in the cave as Jong Kook built a fire. Ji Hyo sat by herself, leaning on the wall. Ji Hyo groans to herself as the wound was aching her, she squeezes her shoulder tightly.

Her vision spin and she felt like knocking out.

Jong Kook notices her unusual breathing and turns around to check her. Her face was utterly pale, she was shivering. She was squeezing her wound as blood slowly smudges on her hand.

He went over to her and stops before reaching towards her.

“Can I see?” he asked.

Ji Hyo opened her eyes and glared at him. “No.” Her words sharply cut him.

“You shouldn’t have to squeeze it if it’s just a regular wound.” He tried to talk to her.

“No.” she turned away. “I don’t need your help.”

He looks at her still bleeding wound. If the wound was little the bleeding would have stopped now but she was still bleeding.

He stands up and Ji Hyo bents over, vomiting blood. He quickly turns back to her. Ji Hyo felt dizzy, her entire body was shivering.

Jong Kook quickly grabs the cloth from her shoulder, removing it to reveal the wound.

He immediately realize why she kept bleeding. “You’ve been poisoned.” He quickly covers her shoulder, which Ji Hyo quickly covers herself away from him.

He ran out to find herbs for her.

Ji Hyo opens her shoulder to look carefully at the wound. She should have known, she was poisoned when the assassin grazed her with his sword when he pushed down against Jong Kook’s sword that had already cut her.

Somehow, Jong Kook returned sooner than she had expected. He quickly munch the herb and put it on a cloth.

She rejects his aid right away. “I can tend the wound by myself.”

“We have to clean it now or else it will become infected.” He hurries her.

“I said I will do it myself!”

“Let me help you.” He demanded.

“I am a woman.”

“I’m just helping you, I’m not having with you.”

Ji Hyo refuses to let him touch her. “You’re dirty, you make me feel so dirty.” She whispers in the most despicable way.

Jong Kook stops and realizes why she has been so upset.

She’s not his wife, she is the minster’s daughter. Also, he yelled at her this early morning and now he’s trying to treat her wound? What a hypocrite.

Ji Hyo turns around and tends her own wound, refusing Jong Kook as he turned around, and out of the cave.

“I love you.” Now that he remembers it, why did she say that to him? She can’t possibly really be in love with him right?

But he heard wolves howling nearby, the growling. He took a step back as he sees two glowing eyes, then four and then six. They all jump at Jong Kook.

Ji Hyo had just finished bandaging herself when she sees Jong Kook crash inside the cave with 2 wolves surrounding him. One on top of him while the other biting at his arm.

Ji Hyo jumps in and grab the dagger from her waist and stabs the wolf on top of Jong Kook. The wolf turns around to bite her, which leaves Jong Kook dealing with the wolf on top of him.

He pushed the wolf over and tries to stop it from biting him. Jong Kook twisted the wolf’s neck and turn to Ji Hyo, grabbing it by the throat backward. Ji Hyo gets up as she sees Jong Kook squeeze the neck of the wolf then positioning his hand to break its neck.

Ji Hyo gets up and ran up to aid Jong Kook as she sees the scratches on his arms. Ji Hyo takes off the robe and covers his arm that bleed.

Jong Kook looks up as realizes something. “Where’s the other one?”

“You killed it.” Ji Hyo busied herself to clean his wounds.

“There were three of them.”

Ji Hyo paused as she looks back at Jong Kook. They heard another growl, slowly turn to look for it. The wolf jumps behind Ji Hyo and Jong Kook notices quickly, covers Ji Hyo and pulls the wolf around and they tumbled, causing the fire to go out with little sparks left. The wind blew and the fire lights up again and Ji Hyo’s eyes widen.

Jong Kook had gotten the dagger and vigorously stabbed the wolf over and over again as it stopped moving but he didn’t stop.

Ji Hyo made her way to Jong Kook as she sees him stab it over and over again.

“Jong Kook,” she called his name in a mere whisper.

He stops and turns to look at her. For the first time, Ji Hyo could sense the fear in his eyes. He seems terrified as she could see the tears in his eyes as the blood splatter on his face.

Ji Hyo stepped forward and her hand reached for his hand and the dagger. His grip was tight, his face was stern.

“It’s dead.” Ji Hyo said. “Its over.” she nodded. She lightly pulls the dagger out of his hand. She moves one hand to hold his face as she stares deep into his eyes. “The wolf is gone. Everything is alright. You are safe.”

Those words made him lose his stern expression as she sees his body trembling as he looks back down at the dead wolf that he slaughtered.

He gets off the wolf and backed away from the wolf and Ji Hyo. Ji Hyo saw the fear, the frustration. She sat still looking at him as he rubbed his face and ruffled his hair, taking deep breaths.

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Sorry if you saw that chapter 15 was already up. I id the chapter because I was still editing the draft. But here it is. I hope you're not disappointed. Again, thakn you so much for the comments, subscribers, and upvotes. I really enjoy your company :)