The room was quiet except for the random crackling sound coming from the fireplace. The heat from the fire warmed the room. At the side of the room was a man. His eyes were closed as he leaned his forehead against the cold window. 

Pit-pat, pit-pat. He could hear the raindrops that hit the window pane. The tranquil sound helped him calm his mind a little, but there were still many thoughts running through his mind. He was afraid. He was worried that she would blame him, or even hate him for not coming to her sooner. Because if he did, none of that would have happened.

She would not be hurt, both physically and mentally. And her brother would not have died.

A gentle hand rested on his right shoulder. “Kyungsoo, stop blaming yourself.”

The man finally moved from the window. He had been standing there for the past 10 minutes. Looking at his best friend, he tried to give her a smile, but failed miserably. “She was in pain, Sujeong.” Kyungsoo explained.

Sujeong shook his head. How is this even his fault? Sometimes, Sujeong felt her friend was taking too much burden on his shoulders.

“But you did not hurt her. She was not in pain because of you.”

“I know that.” Kyungsoo sighed as he ran his hand through his hair in frustration. He does not know why he was feeling like this. When he saw his little canary injured and bleeding, he felt scared. He was afraid that he would lose her like that. “But I promised her, and I broke that promise.”

Sujeong stared at her King. He was not looking at her. His gaze was on the floor and Sujeong could see the guilt in his eyes. She was his best friend, and she knew him the best. Kyungsoo was sometimes too kind for his own good. Walking away so that she would not end up in a quarrel with him, she headed to the kitchen to fix something for the injured girl.

Kyungsoo watched Sujeong walked away before heading back to the room where his little canary was.

Yoo Jiae was lying on the bed, unconscious. Pulling up a chair beside the bed, he sat down. It had been more than a day since the incident happened, and she was still asleep. Taking her left hand, he squeezed it lightly. Long, red marks that looked like they were caused by a whip were evident wherever her skin showed. There was a bandage on her left arm and another around her waist. Sujeong had been quick to fix Jiae’s injuries and with a little medicine and some stiches, she stopped bleeding.

Kyungsoo had been by Jiae’s side ever since they found this abandoned hut. He hardly slept and kept his eyes on her, as if she would disappear. It had been three days since he last saw his little canary in the forest. And three days was all it took for her to be in her current state. Kyungsoo never wanted to see anyone like this, especially not Jiae. It was obvious the injuries on her body was forced on her. With her skills, she would be able to escape any situation easily.

Kyungsoo did not know when he had fallen asleep, but he woke up when he felt something moving in his hair. Or rather, someone’s fingers. Opening his eyes, he saw her torso, before trailing his eyes upwards to meet her sad gaze. There were dried and fresh tear marks on her face and her eyes were glassy with tears in them.

Jiae had woken up a few minutes ago and the first thing she noticed was Kyungsoo. He was on her left. Sitting on the chair beside her bed, he had his front body rested on the soft mattress. His head was next to their interlaced hands. Jiae never mentioned this to him, but she enjoyed the feeling of him holding her hand. It was big and warm, and he made her feel safe.

Jiae tried to sit up when she felt her left hip burning. Slowly sitting up, she rested her back against the headboard of the bed. Shifting her attention back to her man in white, she gently ran her fingers through his hair, wanting to know if his brown locks were as soft as it looks.

Then she remembered why he was here, or rather why she was not in the association with Jiwoo.

Jiwoo..

Tears silently rolled down as she recalled what happened. His pain, her agony, and Kyungsoo. She was too tired to even brawl her eyes out. But she could not stop the tears from flowing.

Kyungsoo’s heart clenched when he saw her crying. Jiae’s smile was one of the most beautiful things he ever laid eyes on. And he always wanted her to smile. Crying was the last thing he wanted to see her do.

Kyungsoo reached out with his right hand to wipe away her tears while his left one squeezed hers in assurance. He did not want to let go of her hand, not when she was in so much pain.

“I’m sorry,” He started but she shook her head. It was not his fault. “I should have figured out something was wrong. I should have reached you earlier.”

“What happened, happened.” She softly said. Kyungsoo expected her to disappointed in him, or even upset. But she never blamed him. If anything, she looked like she was apologetic for dragging him into her problems.

Kyungsoo kept quiet after that. He did not want her to be in more pain than she already was. The duo stared at each other in silence for a few minutes. They did not move, except for their eyes. It was like they were hypnotized, getting lost in each other’s eyes. It was not something romantic. Their interaction was more of an assurance of trust and promises. Jiae’s trust in him never wavered, and his promise to keep her safe was still there.

Jiae was the first one to break the eye contact. Her gaze went down to their hands that were still together. She had thought she would go berserk, but she felt surprisingly calm. She was still sad, but not as angry as before. Maybe it was because she had avenged Jiwoo. Maybe it was because she was too tired to do so. But Jiae wanted to believe it was because Kyungsoo was holding onto her, as if he was her life buoy that was preventing her from drowning.

“Soo,” She spoke and Kyungsoo hitched a breath when he heard the nickname she gave him. It was the wrong time of him to think like this, but he actually found it y and adorable at the same time. No one has ever called him that. She had called him by that nickname once in their dream, but it felt different in real life.

“Yes, my little canary?” He finally spoke.

“This may sound weird but,” She hesitated and shifted her gaze away from him. Kyungsoo gently cup her cheek and moved her head towards him.

“There is nothing you cannot tell me, Jiae. I will always be here to listen to what you have to say.”

Jiae bit her bottom lip. She knew it would be asking too much from him, considering they were not at an intimate level, but she could not deny his ability to calm her. It made her feel at tranquil.  “Can you sit beside me for just a little while?” She whispered.

Kyungsoo wasted no time in getting on the bed. Jiae shifted a little to her right so that he would have more space. Getting into the same position as her, he sat comfortably against the headboard. Jiae gently leaned against his right shoulder. Kyungsoo enveloped his hands around hers and she immediately felt better, but the pain was still there. Fresh tears flowed down once more as she shut her eyes tightly.

Kyungsoo could hear her sniffles and rubbed soothing circles on the back of her hand. This was the closest they had physically been and he could even smell the floral shampoo scent from her hair.

He was surprised when she had requested for him to be in the same bed as her, but figured it was only because she was hurting. Their relationship was unexplainable. It was not like they were in love with each other. They knew each other too soon to be in love. Yet, the way they felt like they knew each other since a long time ago, and the way they touched each other were all too natural. It was like their bodies needed each other, but their heart had not realised that yet.

Whatever the case was, Kyungsoo did not mind it one bit. In fact, he was loving the heat coming from her body, and her sweet floral scent that was not too strong. It reminded him of the flowers in their dream.

Sujeong finished cooking lunch when she saw Kyungsoo walking towards her. She noticed he had changed into another shirt and raised an eyebrow. Kyungsoo rolled his eyes when he realised what his best friend was thinking. He had changed his shirt because the previous one was soaked with Jiae’s tears.

Ignoring her, he went to grab a cup of warm water for Jiae.

Jiae had fallen asleep soon after Kyungsoo joined her on the bed. She was so tired she had cried herself to sleep. Kyungsoo slowly her hand while she slept for the next half an hour. When she woke up, she wanted to take a shower and Kyungsoo went out of the room.

“Is she alright?” Sujeong asked him. She knew Jiae was awake as Kyungsoo looked less tired and less guilty. Her King nodded at her question. “Great. Lunch is done. Do you think she can get up? Or do you want to bring it to her room?”

Before Kyungsoo could answered, he felt a tug from the back of his shirt. Jiae stood there glancing at him, before shifting her gaze to Sujeong and back at him again. He had not even heard her footsteps.

“Are you sure you should be up? Do you want to go back and rest?”

Jiae shook her head. “It’s okay. It doesn’t hurt anymore.” She referred to her wound. Nothing could possibly hurt more than the pain in my heart.

The other two people in the room knew that she was lying but did not say anything. Sujeong walked past Kyungsoo and stood in front of Jiae. She took Jiae’s hands in hers and the latter did not push away. Taking it as a good sign, Sujeong gave her a bright smile. “I made lunch. Do you want to eat?” Jiae did not reply her. All she did was to stare. “You need to eat to have the energy to recover.” Sujeong continue, her smile never leaving her face.

Jiae was not hungry at all. The last thing she wanted to do was to eat. The thought of putting food in actually made her feel like throwing up instead. But she could not resist the smile on Sujeong’s face and the effort she put in to make a meal for them.

Jiae finally nodded and Sujeong clapped her hand in glee. Sujeong led Jiae to the dinning table and asked her to sit down while she served the food. “Come and help.” Sujeong gently punched Kyungsoo’s arm when she walked past him. He was smiling at them, glad that they were getting along. Placing the cup of warm water in front of Jiae, he went to help his best friend.

The trio ate their lunch as Sujeong tried to make small talks. She found out Jiae was the youngest, as Kyungsoo, Sehun and her were 21 years old. Jiae was no longer simply just someone Kyungsoo wanted to bring along with them. She was now someone he needed to bring along, considering she was one of the pieces the sorceress mentioned. Sujeong knew what it was like to lose a family. She wanted to help Jiae get through this.

Jiae quietly ate her food and only replied when Sujeong asked her something. Glancing at Sujeong, she noticed that Sujeong had hazel coloured hair. The wavy, brown locks ended around her waist. She was really pretty with eyes that turned to crescents when she smiled. And she was a great cook as well. Jiae had thought the smell of food would turn her off, but Sujeong had cooked porridge. It was light with a tint of saltiness that suited Jiae’s current taste buds.

Jiae could feel that Sujeong was trying to cheer her up and to make her feel less out of place. And Jiae was grateful for that.

“Where are we now?” Jiae asked a question for the first time. Kyungsoo, who was sitting on her right, spoke.

“We are in Regan.” Jiae nodded at his answer. “Sehun is on his way to the Yellow Empire. We needed to bury your brother before his body decompose badly.”

Tears welled up in her eyes at the mention of Jiwoo. Sujeong saw Jiae’s unshed tears and reached out across the table to pat Jiae’s hand.

“We are heading there once you feel better.” She told Jiae.

“We are going to bury him beside the house I managed to get for you. You will love it there.” Kyungsoo told her. Jiae nodded before thanking them. Kyungsoo had kept his promise. He got them a house in the Yellow Empire. He took Jiwoo out of the association when she told him too. She was touched by their actions.

After lunch, Jiae had went back to the room to rest while Kyungsoo and Sujeong washed the dishes.

“Have you told her yet?” Sujeong asked her best friend.

Kyungsoo knew what she was referring to and shook his head. “I will, but not right now. She had too much to handle.”

“I hope she joins us. She will be a real asset.” Sujeong wiped her hands with a dry towel. They had seen Jiae’s skills and knew what she could do. That would mean there would be one more person to protect Kyungsoo if she decided to join them.

Kyungsoo could not help but to wish that she would follow them too. He wanted her to live peacefully from now on. But nobody knows when the association would track her down if they ever decide to do so. At least he could protect her if she was by his side.

He would have to reveal everything to her soon and ask her to join them. And he hoped that she would say yes.

Author's Note

I love it when Kyungsoo and Jiae are in the same scene :3