The chalk scraped the board, making a really unpleasant sound to which Yebin was already accustomed. However, the same could not be said for her students, who all groaned in dissatisfaction at the screech that was produced. She was finishing a comparative table between two philosophers from the ancient Greece so that her students could copy it and at least leave with all the class information a little bit more fresh on their minds.

Yet, in spite of doing this, Yebin wasn’t actually a history teacher like one would think. She was an archeologist – a very well-renowned one at that – that had decided to settle down a bit. It was difficult at first, her need to travel and unearth antiquities kept creeping up on her like some kind of drug abstinence.

But she managed, eventually, to overcome it. Her girl was worth it.

Kim Minkyung.

Oh, Yebin remembered how she remained unrelenting in her pursue and to this day she doesn’t remember being that adamant to get together with her former partners. She had been after Minkyung ever since she met her in college and she had been starstruck by her beauty. She didn’t see her that much at first since they were studying different careers – Minkyung was trying to become an historian – but as time went on, they started to share even more and more classes.

It was after a long time that she finally gathered her courage to ask her out. Something that, to her surprised, ended up with them becoming a couple shortly after.

She had everything she could ever want. Both of them shared the same passion for traveling, which made it easier for Yebin to work as an archeologist without having to leave Minkyung for long periods of time.

But like every good thing, it had to end eventually.

Yebin had travelled to Nepal, driven forward by the stories of mystery told about the weird caverns found in mount Everest. Some caves had been found about five hundred meters above the ground level, but stories told of more caves even closer to the top of the mountain. Yebin was ecstatic to get to the bottom of that.

However, tragedy did not wait for an invitation to make itself present.

Product of her carelessness – and what’s worse, a stupid rookie mistake – Yebin paid no mind to the local forecast, which resulted in her being in the middle of escalating the mountain as a storm broke out, ensuing in an avalanche that not only did almost kill her, but left her wandering for three days straight in the snow.

Her partner, Eunwoo, had warned the authorities, who started to register the mountain and its surroundings, looking for Yebin. They found her on the third day, with a broken arm and almost no food rations left.

But that was far from the worst part. Minkyung was waiting for her when Eunwoo and her arrived at Korea, ready to break Yebin’s healthy arm if needed to reprimand her. The girl was seriously fuming mad.

In the end they had a fight – a huge fight – and Minkyung did not speak to Yebin for almost a week. That made the younger girl feel particularly miserable, so she promised to herself, and later to Minkyung, to never brave the dangers of nature by herself, so as to not worry Minkyung more than she had already.

So she decided to settle down for a bit. It’s not like she did not miss going around the globe looking for ancient artifacts, she really did miss it, but she valued Minkyung more than anything else, so when her girlfriend decided that she would be staying in Korea to become a full-fledged teacher Yebin didn’t hesitate a second and did the same thing.

Two years later she ended up proposing to her.

She looked down at her right hand, beholding the sight of the ring on it.

She was happy, really happy.

And she would surprise her even more with the honeymoon she had prepared for them.

“So…”- She started talking, turning around to face her students – “Who can tell me the difference between the philosophies of Socrates and Aristotle?”

Some students looked down, avoiding eye contact, others feigned being occupied with their textbooks and only a handful of them raised their hands, although without much enthusiasm.

Why were these kids studying history if they were going to act this way?

She picked one out of the three who raised their hands.

“Sungyeon, go ahead”

“Umm… For starters, I think Socrates was more focused on the understanding of things and the phenomenon of critical thinking and the unravel of the truth”- The girl took a second to organize her ideas before answering – “Aristotle on the other hand was more keen on categorizing knowledge, giving it an order and stating certainties…”

She looked at Yebin, waiting for approval, and Yebin gave her a thumbs up.

“Well done, we’ll start filling the comparative table with that and then we’ll follow up with…”- The ring of an alarm interrupted Yebin to signal the end of the period, and students did not wait for Yebin’s permission to gather their things and walk towards the door. - “Or I guess not… Well, be sure to finish it by yourselves!”

Most of them did not even answer and only a few gave her a subtle nod and a soft “goodbye” before exiting the room.

Three people remained in the end.

“Are you really going to be away for the rest of the semester?”- Kyla, one of her favorite students, asked as she got closer along with Sungyeon.

“Yes I am”- Yebin was busy packing her things, she didn’t have any more classes so she was ready to leave the school for today - “I’m going to travel abroad with my wife”

“Oh my god that’s so romantic, I want to be treated like that too!”- Sungyeon chimed in the conversation, her eyes gleaming as she dreamily sighed, probably imagining what would be to her a perfect, romantic vacation.

“Well, romantic means expensive most of the time and this sure isn’t an exception”- Yebin almost flinches as she remembers how she had to spend more than half her life savings but she quickly contained herself. Doing it for Minkyung was worth every penny - “I’m sure you’ll find someone eventually Sungyeon”

“For how long?”- Kyla questioned since Sungyeon didn’t seem to be snapping out of her fantasies any time soon.

“A couple of weeks, nothing much”- Yebin answered with a smile - “I’ve got a friend of mine to cover for the few lessons I’ll be gone”

“And where are you taking her, teach?”- Sungyeon was back, now clinging on Kyla as she awaited the answer.

“Umm… It’s a secret”- She didn’t want to reveal it; she knew those two were going to mock her.

“You aren’t planning on taking her to one of those excavations sites you always talk about, are you?”- Damnit, Kyla sure was sharp.

“N-No! Why would you think that?”

-------------------------------------------------------------

“So, are you planning on telling me where we’ll be going?”- Minkyung finally turned off her phone, putting it on the nightstand beside her before turning to Yebin.

“Umm… Yes, I suppose now it’s the perfect time”- Yebin had been building up courage ever since she bought the plane tickets. Being a high-maintenance kind of girl, Yebin knew for a fact that Minkyung wasn’t too, let’s say, amicable with deserts - “I’m taking to Cairo, Egypt.”

“Egypt? Out of all places?”- Minkyung raised an eyebrow at her from her side of the bed and Yebin instantly knew that she was going to have to beg - “You know I hate the sand with burning passion”

“Awww, come on! Come on! It’ll be fun!”- Yebin shook the bed covers, putting up the kind of childish behavior she knew Minkyung found endearing - “Sand isn’t that bad”

“Fun for you, you’ll probably run away to some digging site or something”- But Minkyung seemed to not be affected by it in the slightest as she huffed in annoyance – “Should have taken a page from Nayoung’s book, she took Jieqiong to Paris for their honeymoon, that’s some romantic right there”

“Paris? Nah, that’s cliché and totally not cool at all”- Yebin couldn’t honestly get why people hyped up cities like Paris so badly, it was just a normal city with a huge monument, that’s all. Nothing really fun or intrepid to do.

“It was Eunwoo, right?”- Yebin’s breath hitched at the mention of her colleague.

“N-No…”- Her voice faltered for a moment, enough to let Minkyung know the truth.

“Yes it was, you can’t lie to me”- Yebin cursed under her breath, this was not going like she had planned, yet Minkyung suddenly laughed - “Ugh, what am I going to do with you? What is it this time? You don’t usually seem this excited to go unless it’s a really big thing”

“Nothing… I don’t know what you are talking about”

“Yebin…”

“Fine, fine, they found something inside one of the Giza’s pyramids…”- She surrendered under Minkyung’s gaze, telling her half the reason as of why she had chosen Egypt as their destination - “But I’ll promise I just want to take a look! It’s not like I’ll be there all the time! Cairo is a really good city to spend a holiday in!”

“Hmmm… Last time you told me that you disappeared for two days straight before returning to the hotel, remember?”

She sure does… She’ll never forget how moody Minkyung became after that.

“It won’t be like that this time! Pretty please?”- Yebin decided it was time to use her secret weapon. She started nuzzling against Minkyung’s neck, purring a little as she did, which never failed to melt down her wife.

“Ugh… Fine, just because you spent a lot on it…”- This, effectively, seemed to bring down Minkyung’s defenses.

“Yay! You are the best! I’m so glad to have you”- Yebin abandoned the slight nuzzling and jumped straight towards Minkyung, engulfing her in a full-fledged hug as she rubbed their cheeks together.

“God, you are such a clingy child”- Minkyung laughed, returning the embrace.

“I love you I love you I love you”- Yebin repeated as she started tickling Minkyung, prompting the older girl to break out in laughter uncontrollably.

She kept attacking her wife for a few more seconds, delighting herself in hearing her laugh. It was like a drug she couldn’t just get enough of, her wife happiness, which sounded almost poetic to her.

“Cut it out, you are tickling me too hard!”- Minkyung yelled once she regained her breath, slapping one of her hands away, and Yebin decided to finally stop.

“Fine, okay”- Yebin pursed her lips, pouting at Minkyung - “I’ll go get something to eat before I go to sleep… huh?”

However, Minkyung had grabbed Yebin’s hand before she could get up completely, something was wrong, her wife’s eyes were half lidded and she was biting her lower lip.

Was it her or did the room get hot all of a sudden?

“I think you are hungry… for something else… So I’ll reward you… For being this good to me…”- Minkyung’s sudden sultry voice drove Yebin to the edge of insanity for a second, making every single hair on her body stand on end, yet she didn’t have time to know what she was feeling. For Minkyung pounced at her like a tiger would to its prey.

-------------------------------------------------------------

“This way please”

They had arrived at the hotel after a fifteen-hour flight and, truthfully, Yebin didn’t know how she managed to pay such a great hotel. At first al she could do was stand there, mouth agape looking at the ornamented halls and the immense lobby as the hotel staff urged her to follow him as he carried her entire baggage on a luggage cart.

Minkyung seemed to be surprised, and pleased, as well, seeing as she couldn’t really hide the random burst of giggles every time they went past the small statues that embellished the hall. Yebin was sure that she’d have to listen to her wife’s ramblings about the different sculpting styles and to whom they belonged after the reached their room.

But she didn’t mind, she loved everytime Minkyung’s eyes sparked with curiosity for each different sculpture, a curiosity that clearly revealed passion for the career she had decided to follow. Yebin hoped Minkyung would never lose that passion, it was what made Minkyung so unique to her, it was what had smitten her in the first place.

“Here we are, this will be your room.”- They boy turned around and, after a little reverence, left the couple alone - “Now, if you’ll excuse me…”

Minkyung didn’t lose too much time before she moved closer to the nearest sculpture, admiring the bronze cat as if she was hypnotized by it.

“I thought you were more of a dog person, huh?”- Yebin came from behind, back-hugging Minkyung as she took a closer look at the small statue.

“You know more about sculptures than I do, what is this?”- Minkyung asked, softly picking it up before turning it around, admiring it.

“A cat”- Yebin answered simply.

“I know that dummy, I meant as in, what really is this?”- Minkyung chuckled, asking once more.

“Just a cat”

“Why did I even agree when you asked me out?”

“Damn, that was harsh, even for me”- Yebin separated from Minkyung, dramatically putting one hand over her chest, feigning indignation. She changed back soon enough, pinching one of her wife’s cheeks - “You know you love me”

“Regrettably…”- Minkyung could just roll her eyes at Yebin’s antics - “But seriously though, what did cats mean here in Egypt?”

“They were mostly representations of grace and elegance, nothing much more intricate than that”- Yebin made an effort to remember her ancient history classes - “Although they had like three or four goddesses that had the head of a cat…”

Minkyung let out a whistle, still holding the cat statue in her hands.

“The pharaoh’s cats were also killed and mummified after his death too”- Yebin added, causing Minkyung- who was quite impressionable by the thought of blood – to leave the statue back in its pedestal.

“Well… that seriously ruined the moment I was having, thanks Yebs”- Minkyung huffed, unhappy.

“You are welcome sweetie”- Yebin gave her wife a peck on the cheeks before turning around and walking towards their room - “I’m going to start moving the baggage inside our room”

“Do you want any help with that?”- Yebin was already picking up their things.

“Nah, just stay here and keep watching the paintings, once I’m done we’ll go out to have dinner”- Yebin turned around and winked at her before entering the room with one baggage in each hand.

“Alright”- Minkyung didn’t argue, after all she’d rather stay there looking at all the beautiful paintings than exhaust herself carrying their heavy bags - “Don’t take too long, lest I start missing you already”

“Wouldn’t dream of it, babe”

Yebin disappeared inside their room and Minkyung, already bored of the bronze cat, moved on to something else. She started walking further into the hall, moving away a little from their lodging. There were a few more statues, few of them similar to that cat and others that represented sitting or standing men.

Yet what caught her attention was not one of those sculptures. It was the huge painting of a girl dressed in traditional Egyptian robes. The lady was sitting down on a piece of rock, surrounded by white pillars, and on her left arm a falcon was posing gracefully, its blue wings extended in all its might. Both of them exuding an air of dignity and bravery.

The lady’s neck was covered by some kind of gold necklace that had gemstones incrusted in it, while her wrists and hair were adorned by gold bracelets and beads. Strangely, on her head was something that Minkyung could only describe as some kind of fountain or basket. Moreover, a piece of blue cloth – exactly the same color as the falcon’s wings – travelled from her shoulders down to her elbows before turning completely into wings of her own.

But that was not what creeped Minkyung the most, the painting was beautiful on itself but there was a little detail that made Minkyung want to look away, even if she couldn’t for some strange reason.

The woman, the lady sitting in that piece of rock with the falcon flawlessly perched in her hand… It was bizarrely similar to her.

From her eyes down to and chin. The woman inside the painting seemed scarily identical to her.

“Such a beautiful woman, isn’t she?”- A voice with a heavy accent broke Minkyung out of her inertia, startling her a little.

“Oh... Umm… Yeah, she is”- She found herself beside a toned, olive-skinned man. She was probably too engrossed with the painting to notice him getting near.

“Her name is Nephthys, an Egyptian goddess”- The man started explaining without taking his eyes off the portrait.

“May I ask as of why she has wings?”- Minkyung, being the social butterfly she was, took the chance to satisfy her curiosity.

“The protector of the dead, goddess of death, nighttime and lamentations”- The man’s answer sounded kind of eerie to her - “Pharaohs obtained strength for the journey to the afterlife through her intervention”

“Cool…”- Neither of them mentioned how she and the lady in the portrait seemed really alike - “I’m Minkyung by the way, Kim Minkyung”

“My name is Set”- Set offered his hand to Minkyung for a handshake, which Minkyung gave gladly - “And I would like to give you a little… welcoming present.”

On Set’s other hand was something small, it was the statue of a bird with the head of a man. Minkyung was sure she had seen this somewhere else, maybe in one of her lessons when she took ancient history with Yebin, but she had mostly slept through them so no useful information really came to mind.

Yet the statue had something particular about it, it was entirely painted in black.

“What is this exactly?”- She didn’t want to sound ungrateful, but the little statue had something unnerving to it. A feeling that Minkyung could not shake off.

“The answer… you will find it within you soon enough”- Minkyung raised her head, making eye contact with Set as he uttered this words and she felt the man’s hand on hers. The atmosphere suddenly turning awkward.

“Yo’ boy, hands off my girl”- To her dismay – or not- Yebin's voice suddenly boomed through the hallway, making both Minkyung and Set rotate their heads to watch newcomer approach - “Is this bothering you, babe?”

“Yebin!”- Minkyung chided the girl’s behavior as Yebin protectively grabbed her by the waist, pulling her closer - “Please do not mind her, she is only joking”

“Like hell I am”- Yebin snapped back, her eyes still focused on Set.

“Cut it out!”

“Do not worry about it, I was just about to leave”- To Minkyung’s surprise, Set chuckled, not looking even remotely offended by Yebin’s lack of respect - “It was a pleasure meeting you, miss Minkyung”

Having said that, he made a little reverence to both of them before turning around and marching away.

“Who was he?”- Once he was gone, Yebin asked Minkyung in a whisper.

“Just a random guy I was talking too”- She answered curtly, glaring at Yebin - “Can you not do that kind of bull again”

“He was totally checking you out!”- Yebin raised her hands, defending herself, before she succumbed to Minkyung’s stare - “Fine, I’ll control myself next time…”

“Do you have any idea of what this is?”- Changing the topic, Minkyung showed the statue to Yebin, hoping to get some answers out of her wife - “It’s color is bothering me a little”

“That? It’s the statue of the Ba, which represents a person’s soul”- Yebin’s eyebrows furrowed as she saw the little figure - “But that’s weird, black is an odd color to paint something like this, especially if it’s a gift, that guy surely had no idea what this meant, he must have been trying to scam money off of you… Luckily, I came along”

“Wait, what does the color black mean?”- Minkyung asked out of curiosity.

“Well, it has a few meanings, like fertility for example, but mostly…”

“Mostly what?”

“Black was associated with the afterlife, with death”

-------------------------------------------------------------

“Whoa”- Minkyung looked up, gazing at the stars, astonished.

“I told you”- Yebin was currently clinging to the taller girl’s right arm, enjoying the view of the city as they walked back to the hotel - “Even with all the streetlights, Cairo’s night sky is beautiful”

After Yebin finished carrying her bags they started planning on where to go for dinner. Luckily, Yebin was already well acquaintance with the whole area, having been to Egypt more than a couple of times before. She didn’t skimp on food and treated Minkyung to one of the classiest restaurants of the area.

Even when she paid the bill, she said it once more to herself, if her wife was happy then every single penny was worth it. However, it wasn’t the expensive catering or the restaurant’s view that made both of them happy.

It was moments like this, when they could enjoy each other’s company without a care in the world, delighting themselves in the starry night sky above them as the enjoyed the leisurely stroll back to the hotel.

“It’s really beautiful”- Minkyung simply couldn’t stop looking.

“Not as beautiful as you”

“Oh my god, stop being so cheesy”- Minkyung giggled, earning a laugh from Yebin too as the smaller girl held her arm even tighter.

“Not a chance sweetheart”

“I’m really thankful you brought me here… seriously”- Minkyung said, looking back at the sky.

“And this is only the first day! Wait to see what I have in store for the next six”- Yebin gave her the biggest smile she could muster. She really had a lot of things to do in this city, so she was sure Minkyung wouldn’t spend even a single minute bored.

“It gets better than this?”- Minkyung asked her wife, interested and unbelieving.

“I’ll make you fall in love with this city, believe me”- Yebin’s smile would have gotten even bigger if it were possible. - “Just like I did”

“You fell in love with this city?”- Their eyes met for a moment.

“I fell in love with you”- And Yebin closed the gap between them, earnestly kissing Minkyung while the night sky watched over them, the stars twinkling almost cheerfully above their heads.

It didn’t last as long as they would have liked nonetheless.

“Excuse me ladies, PDA is forbidden by law here”- A voice startled Yebin, causing her to unwillingly push Minkyung away - “I’m gonna have to fine you two”

A hearty laugh erupted after she did so.

“Oh for s’ sake Eunwoo you didn’t have to do that”- Yebin was actually upset at her work partner, even though it was her the one that actually called her to meet.

“And not take that huge chance to screw you over? Nah sis”- Eunwoo winked at her, furthering amplifying Yebin’s grumpiness - “What’s up Minky? Lovely as ever I see”

“Yo’…”- Yebin started, but Minkyung cut her off almost immediately.

“I’m fine, it’s been some time since we saw each other, right?”

“A couple of years, ever since Yebs decided to settle down with you”- Eunwoo directed, again, a sly smile towards Yebin.

“So I assume this meeting is ‘totally’ coincidental, right Yebin?”- Crap, Minkyung was already on to something, this was bad for her.

“Oh… yeah, yeah, that’s right, didn’t expect to see you here Eunwoo! Heh…”- She tried to play it cool, yet…

“What? Coincidental? Didn’t you call me to meet with you two at this hour?”- Yebin was consternated, either Eunwoo was far more stupid than she remembered or she was actually enjoying making Yebin suffer.

“Shut up you moron! She wasn’t supposed to know that!”

“Yebin…”- She could feel Minkyung’s glare on her back, causing her to gulp down saliva. - “You could have just told me, are you going to the pyramid?”

“Yes, Yebin said she wanted me to show her the chamber”- Eunwoo answered for her.

“A chamber?”

“Yeah, remember I told you they had found something inside one of the pyramids? Well, they discovered a new chamber and, so far, no one has studied it fully”- Yebin, now a little calmer now that Minkyung had stopped glaring at her, continued the explanation.

“Right next to the pharaoh Menkakure’s resting chamber”- Eunwoo finished, adjusting the specs she was currently wearing. - “I’m really risking my bringing you there, Yebs”

“I know, I know, and I’m grateful Nunu”- She really was, this could cost her friend’s job after all - “The trip to Giza is only fifteen minutes, let’s get going, shall we?”

-------------------------------------------------------------

“Aren’t you coming in?”- Yebin asked Minkyung, who started lagging behind them.

“Sure, let me just finish my cigarette, I’ll catch up”- Minkyung turned around, taking another puff of her cigarette as she looked upwards once more, appreciating the stars again.

“Don’t get lost, follow the line!”- Yebin let out a soft shout.

“Sure, sweetie”

Yebin turned around and resumed following Eunwoo, it took them five minutes at most to reach the path towards the pharaoh’s sarcophagus. Even though it was the smallest of the trio, the pyramid of pharaoh Menkakure was still large and complex enough to get lost easily, and Yebin couldn’t shake off the feeling of dread after leaving Minkyung behind. She hoped the girl would be able to find her way without trouble.

Once they were about to reach the pharaoh’s resting place, Eunwoo took an unexpected turn. After another minute of walking, they reached a simple-looking chamber whose only decoration was a fountain in the middle of it, currently filled up with sand to the brim.

“This is the first part of the chamber”- Eunwoo clarified, probably after spotting Yebin’s displeased expression.

“Thank god, coming here just for a fountain full of sand wasn’t exactly that worthwhile”- The archeologist rolled her eyes, she really expected something more out of all of it.

“Here, take a look at this”- Eunwoo said giddily as she pushed what appeared to be a random rock in the wall. Seconds after the sound of a *click* filled the air, and half the wall started to move.

“Holy , what’s in there?”- There was now a wide gap that could be crossed, the interiors of the following room were filled with darkness so Yebin couldn’t actually see what was inside.

“Come and see for yourself”- Eunwoo said, turning on her flashlight as she crossed the opening, letting darkness engulf her.

“Damn, this place… amazing”- Yebin didn’t hesitate a second before going in behind her friend, the place was filled with different statues and obviously valuable objects made from things like gold, silver or bronze. There were not only little statues, but ornamented weapons and pots, this was like heaven to Yebin, to the point that she wasn’t actually able to think coherently. - “It has so many… damn”

“Told you”- Even with the precarious light that came from the flashlight, Yebin could see her partner smirking.

“!”- A loud noise startled Yebin, making her almost drop the fragile looking gem she had on her hands. The door had closed again, leaving the flashlight as the only source of light.

“Ha! Did it scare you?”- Eunwoo giggled, apparently finding the situation amusing, before she reassured Yebin - “The door closes on its own after some time, but don’t worry, I just have to push the same rock and we’ll be out”

“What do you think this was for?”- Yebin asked, her characteristic passion and curiosity clearly showing – “The chamber, I mean”

“I don’t know, I have my theories but it doesn’t seem like the regular, run-off-the-mill kind of burial chamber…”- Eunwoo said, taking a look at the hieroglyphs in the walls.

-------------------------------------------------------------

“Yebin?”- Minkyung asked, this time a little louder - “Where the hell did this girl go?”

She had been following the instructions on the wall and now she was in front of what was supposed to be the pharaoh’s coffin room. There were no more indications, that was it, end of the line.

She had taken a look inside the coffin room but no one was there, the only other place was actually to her right, a long hall that wasn’t actually marked. She decided to risk it and started walking.

What could go wrong? Even if that wasn’t the correct direction then she would just backtrack towards the coffin room. She didn’t have to walk that much either, arriving a minute later to a chamber whose only decoration was a fountain in the very middle.

It was weird though, the fountain was overflowing with water, was that even possible?

“Oh… Pretty”- It was a neat decoration nonetheless, and Minkyung found herself admiring it.

“Welcome, miss Minkyung”- Until a heavily-accented voice broke her out of her daze.

“Oh, damn, you startled me, Set was it?”- This guy surely had his ways to creep up on people, and it was making Minkyung uncomfortable already.

“Indeed, what brings you here on such a night?”- Set nodded, showing her his pearly white teeth.

“I…”- Minkyung held her tongue before answering, if she said that she had come with Eunwoo then the girl’s job would be at stake, so she came up with the best excuse she could in such a short window of time - “I got lost… hehe”

“There is no need to lie miss, I’m sure miss Eunwoo brought you here”- Minkyung breathed in relief, Set knew her friend apparently.

“You know Eunwoo?”- She asked, just to be sure.

“I’m her… associate”

“But then why didn’t Yebin recognize you?”- Yebin wouldn’t have lashed out at him if she knew he was her friend’s associate.

“Because our association is, let’s just say, recent”- Set clarified and it made perfect sense in Minkyung’s head.

“Oh… that makes sense”

“You must be really thirsty right now, I’m sure”- Set quickly changed the topic, elegantly pointing at the fountain beside him - “How about taking a sip from this fountain?”

“No, I’m fine, really…”- Why would she, really? She wasn’t thirty at all and drinking from an old fountain could be dangerous…

Yet there was something in that water that made it seem… delicious.

Minkyung felt a soft pressure on her head, but she didn’t think much about it, probably a result from the lack of sleep during the plane trip.

“Do not be discouraged by my presence miss, drink to your hearts content”- Set insisted once more, but Minkyung wasn’t really that thirsty, maybe just a little, but not enough to want to drink.

The pressure increased, causing Minkyung to frown in discomfort, she’d take an aspirin once they returned home.

“I’m not really thirsty, it’s alright”- Maybe a drink wouldn’t be so bad right now…

“But you are…”- Set plainly said.

Indeed, she was, a weird sense of need was starting to consume her the longer she looked at the flowing water.

“I am…?”- She asked, more to herself than to Set - “Well… I guess taking a little wouldn’t hurt, right?”

She got closer slowly at first, until she couldn’t take it anymore and her steps started to get wider, trying to reach the fountain as fast as she could.

“Not at all miss”- Set said, a quiet laughter escaping his lip - “That’s it, drink”

And so Minkyung did, she took one sip, and the another one, and another one…

Before she knew it, she was violently bringing the water to , her brain felt like it was about to explode from the sudden and irrational desire to satiate her thirst. She drank more and more without even stopping to breath. She felt her lungs asking for air but she couldn’t be bothered, not when such precious water was threatening to slip from her fingers if she took her head out of the fountain.

She drank without stopping, without temperance.

She just wanted to drink, that was the only thought on her mind…

-------------------------------------------------------------

“What was that?”- A abrupt noise distracted both Eunwoo and Yebin from what they were doing. It sounded almost like something heavy falling to the ground.

“It came from the other chamber”- Eunwoo answered as she looked for the rock that would activate the mechanism.

The door opened after a few seconds of wait, Yebin was the first one to get out.

“Let’s go”

Both of them entered the room with the fountain and only one of them screamed at the top of her lungs.

“OH MY ING GOD”- Yebin practically threw herself to the ground, where Minkyung laid with her face full of sand, apparently unconscious - “Minkyung! Minkyung! Are you alright?!”

“What the hell happened?”- Eunwoo asked, although it was obvious that she wouldn’t get an answer

“I don’t know!”- Yebin was desperate – “Oh my god… Oh my god… Minky, baby, answer me!”

“What the hell just happened…”- Eunwoo was still baffled at the whole situation, why was Minkyung’s face like that?

“I told you I don’t ing know Eunwoo!”- Yebin snapped before turning her attention towards her wife once more - “Oh my lord, please, call an ambulance!”

“Eunwoo! she is not ing breathing!”

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First chapter done, 2 or 3 more on their way.

Really tried my hand at fluff a little bit in every scene except for the last one. I think I did good :D

Nothing else to say, only that the updates on this one might intercalate with the ones for “Primordial claw” since I’m way too hyped with that story to put it on hold. Maybe not, I have yet to see, depends mostly if I think I have enough plot to move that story forward.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter!