It had been roughly two months since Jieun and her students had left the Academy. The four scouted several areas, going from town to town, asking questions and finding useless information about the Mythos. They all knew that it was a slow process, but by the time it was the end of the second month, Jieun could tell that her students were getting restless. 

She didn't blame them. It was much easier finding the Mythos of Sleef and there hadn't been any real threats coming their way. They were growing bored of using the same method, and she knew that it wouldn't be long until they retaliated and proposed to try something different.

"I swear, that's the hundredth person to talk to me about whatever they're selling!" Seokmin cried out, coming from the bushes. "All I ask if they know something of a mystical power, and they sell me some useless garbage. I mean, seriously?"

"Better than what I deal with," Yuna muttered. "I asked a kid and he literally gave me a stupid pebble."

"At this rate, we're not going to find a Mythos!" Seokmin exclaimed. He turned to Jieun, who was staring at the flames and poking at the rocks inside. "Jieun! You have a Mythos. Can't you detect the other Mythos or something like that?"

Jieun eyed at him and smiled. "Hm? Oh, well, they have to be in the area for me to catch a signal or something. Besides, I'm not the one who can detect it. It's the Mythos creatures who can."

"Summon them out! Tell them to scout! If we have Junki use his super speed to scout around, we'll find all the Mythos in seconds!" Seokmin pointed out.

"Well, that's true, but I don't want to make Junki overwork himself like that," she said. "He's more suited to be used when we need to escape a dire situation."

"Speaking of Kreo creatures, I haven't seen the iron one," Yuna said. "Is he sealed or anything?"

"Kind of? Um, I'm not really sure how to explain it. It's like he's more sealed than the others, but because he's more sealed, the other's seals are a bit more loose? It's kind of hard to explain," Jieun said.

"Is it hard to explain or is it that you don't want to explain it?" Jungkook asked.

Jieun stared at him. Then, she giggled.

"Ah, I guess this is what happens when we hang around each other for too long, huh? You guys think you know all about me," Jieun said, smirking. "Finding the Mythos is hard work, guys. It's been years since anyone from the Academy found one. We were super lucky."

Jungkook stood up from his seat and pulled out his sword. He placed the blade right next to her neck. She eyed at him, but didn't say anything.

"We already know you have the Mythos of Kreo," Jungkook said. "What if you 'ate' the other Mythos? We just pry you open and take the Mythos of Kreo from you."

A second later, he heard a low growl behind him. He shifted his head a little and saw Hanna glowering down at him with her sapphire eyes. Her claws were only a few centimeters away from stabbing his heart from behind.

Yuna and Seokmin quickly stood up.

"Jungkook!" Yuna shouted. She was about to jump in and help him until Seokmin grabbed her arm, preventing her from diving in. She glared at him until she noticed that Junki was standing in front of the two with his sword on guard position.

Jieun closed her eyes and sighed. "You two. I didn't summon you guys."

"A little bit of fresh air isn't so bad," Junki remarked casually.

"And fresh blood," Hanna added.

"Stand down, you two," Jieun ordered.

"But—"

"Hanna. Down."

Hanna growled. She dropped her hands to her side and Junki did the same. The two walked behind Jieun as if they were her royal guards. Hanna had her eyes open, ready to attack. Junki closed his eyes, remaining composed.

Yuna and Seokmin quickly reached and grabbed Jungkook, pulling him away from Jieun. It had been such a long time since they had seen her with Hanna and Junki. They had almost forgotten that she was quite powerful as long as she had the two creatures with her.

"Let's not be like this, guys. We were getting along so perfectly when we were struggling to find the Mythos. I understand that you are all really frustrated right now because there's no sign of another Mythos, but trust me. The Mythos will appear in front of you if the timing is right," Jieun said.

"That sounds unrealistic," Seokmin said.

"I can't say anything else. Really, I can't," Jieun said, shrugging her shoulders. "It's up to you to believe or not, but you are making a mistake by ignoring me. So let's not be like this, okay?"

There was a moment of hesitation amongst the group. Then, the three relaxed a little, frowning that there was little to no other option. Jieun let out a sigh of relief.

"You guys should sleep," she insisted. "I'll keep watch."

* * *

Leo walked into the mansion. He brushed off some snow that had been clinging onto his shoulders for the past few minutes. He shook his head lightly, letting the snow either melt on his head or drop to the ground. He noticed that all the lights were turned off except the fireplace in the living room. He was about to walk pass until he heard a low voice from the room:

"Come back," Yongguk ordered.

Leo closed his eyes gently, then took two steps back before entering the living room. Yongguk was sitting on a chair—his chair. No one was allowed to sit on it, and if they did, they only sat down when Yongguk was out of the mansion on a mission. One person had accidentally sat in his chair when Yongguk was in his bedroom, and he was killed in matter of minutes. Leo wasn't sure what drew Yongguk to that particular seat, but he never questioned him.

Yongguk swirled the wine in his glass. Suzy was sitting near him, laying down on the luxurious couch. She beamed when she saw Leo and jumped off from the furniture, skipping towards him and throwing him a large hug. 

Leo didn't budge.

Yongguk remained silent for a few minutes. Then, he got up from his seat and turned to Leo, his back facing the warmth of the fire.

"New mission," Yongguk said. He handed the scroll to Leo. Leo took it, removed the seal, then read through its contents. Suzy cutely poked her head over his shoulder, reading the contents of the mission as well. A wide smirk appeared on her face, clearing showing how confident she was about this mission.

Leo rolled up the scroll and handed it back to Yongguk. Yongguk took with with a puzzled face.

"I can't do this mission," Leo told him.

Yongguk's face darkened and the smile was completely wiped off of Suzy's face.

"You can't, or you won't?" Yongguk asked.

Leo didn't say anything. He turned around, raising his cape in the air to make Yongguk take a step back. He walked up the stairs, his steps heavy as it stomped up the steps.

Yongguk kept his gaze on Leo. "He's slipping."

"So I'll do it instead," Suzy said. She tried to take the scroll, but Yongguk jerked away.

"No. You keep a watch on Leo," Yongguk told her. "I already picked someone else to complete this mission if he wasn't up for it."

Suzy pouted, but she didn't bother to go against Yongguk. She flipped her hair and walked up the stairs, following Leo to his room.

Yongguk let out a sigh. He walked around the mansion for a bit until he arrived at a door at the end of the long hall. He knocked on the door, but there was no response. He knocked again, but still no response. Frustrated, Yongguk kicked down the door, forcing it to break and fall down. 

A lovely woman with rich black hair was having a cup of tea near the fireplace in her room. The room was dark and the windows were covered with thick velvet curtains. She was completely absorbed with staring at the flickering flames.

"How rude," she said after a sip. "I don't think I allowed you to come into my room."

"Forget about that. I have a mission for you," Yongguk said.

The woman shifted her gaze away from the fire. "A mission? For me? Why?"

"Leo can't do it," Yongguk said. "So I'm asking you if you're okay with doing it."

"…You don't think Leo can do it?" the woman asked. "Why not? He's proven multiple times that he can shed blood without a tear."

"He's allowing a pest to cling onto him," he said.

"A pest? Oh… You mean an old memory." Sunmi looked away. "Did something happen?"

"He met—I suppose—an old friend," Yongguk said. "Not sure which one, but he seems a little troubled."

"Are you sure? He's never troubled. He has a pretty clear mindset."

"He wouldn't take this mission."

"It could be for another reason," Sunmi pointed out.

"Anyway, he won't do it, so I'm asking if you can take care of this," Yongguk said. He handed her the contents of the scroll. She unraveled it and read it, barely moving her head. "It's a fairly simple task, don't you think, Sunmi?"

"Quite," Sunmi agreed. She slowly nodded before crumbling the paper. She pointed the ball towards the fireplace. "It's not hard. Are you sure you don't want Leo to take it?"

"He won't be able to do it."

"Fine." With a light toss, the crumbled paper flew in the air and landed into the fire, burning into bits of ashes. She got up and started walking out of the room. "I got it. Leave it to me."

* * *

Jungkook woke up in the middle of the night when he heard someone struggling to breathe. He quickly sat up and checked his teammates. Yuna was soundly asleep and Seokmin was snoring off. He turned his head and saw that Jieun was no longer resting. He slowly got up and took out his sword. He followed the sound of Jieun grunting. When he caught sight of her, he hid behind a bush and stared.

"My Creator, please stop," Hanna said. "At this rate, you will grow terribly weak."

Cold sweat trickled down Jieun's skin. She was facing the river and was channeling her energy to suppress the other creatures from coming out when she was in a weakened state. It took an incredible amount of physical and mental energy on her part to soothe the creatures, and the creatures were not making it any easier for her to tame.

"I'm fine," Jieun said, controlling her breath. "I need to do this for the safety of others, right? I'll be fine once I train myself to control this."

"Hanna is right," Junki said. "At the rate you're going, your body will eventually paralyze and lose control of the Mythos of Kreo."

"It's because of that stupid Minho!" Hanna growled. "If he hadn't summoned himself, the other creatures wouldn't be this reckless!"

"The fault is mine. I shouldn't have let him escape to begin with," Jieun said carefully. She gulped and closed her eyes. "They were quiet at the Academy. Why are they making a ruckus now?"

"It's probably because we're far from the other Mythos. They might know that they are powerless when there's another Mythos nearby, especially if the Mythos belongs to a Keeper," Junki explained. 

"I'll do this a little longer. Most of them have calmed down," Jieun said in a shaky voice.

Hanna grimaced when she saw Jieun's suffering expression. Then, she quickly kneeled on both of her legs in front of her and lowered her head.

"My Creator, I humbly request for you to stop! You will not have a lot of energy left after quelling the creatures. Let them calm themselves instead," Hanna pleaded.

Jieun closed her eyes. "Hanna, I can't just hope that they'll quiet down at some point. That's far too dangerous and I won't risk that for my students."

"Those childish brats do not even care about you!" Hanna retorted. She angrily glared at Jieun. "I still do not understand why you are sticking with them. They are asleep! You can leave them now!"

"I can take us somewhere very far," Junki pointed out. He continued to look straight ahead. "Of course, only if you order me to do so."

Jieun giggled weakly and smiled. "Like I said, I can't leave those three alone. They will be punished severely if they lose sight of me. I don't want them to suffer because of my selfish reasons."

Hanna seemed like she wanted to say more, but she locked eyes with Jungkook. She growled under her breath.

"It seems like a pesky child woke up in the middle of the night," Hanna said icily as she got up from the ground.

Jieun turned around and widened her eyes when she saw Jungkook rising from the bushes.

"Jungkook! Go back to sleep. You still have a long night in front of you," she said.

"…You left your position. Yuna and Seokmin could've been attacked in the middle of their sleep," Jungkook said, changing the subject.

Jieun let out a weak laugh. "Oh, I'm pretty confident that you'd be able to repel anyone who tried to come close to the base. Besides, I was having Junki keep watch over you three."

"Really?" Jungkook said, staring at Junki. "With his back facing our direction?"

Jieun laughed uneasily. Then, she patted the empty spot next to her. Jungkook hesitated, but ended up sitting next to her. Seeing how sweaty she was, he pulled out a towel from his bag and handed it to her.

"Here," he said. "Use this. It's clean."

Jieun blinked before she accepted the towel. She began to wipe her sweat before she started to giggle. He frowned at her.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

"Oh, no. Nothing. I just thought this was a sweet little gesture," Jieun said.

Jungkook shifted his gaze to the Kreo creatures. Junki didn't move at all from his spot and continued to stare out at the river. Hanna slowly stood next to Junki, but her eyes were glued to Jungkook.

She definitely hates me, he thought. He looked out at the river. It was hard to see the waters in the dark, but he could make out the moon's white reflection. "Is it hard?"

"What's hard?" she asked.

"Controlling the creatures," he said.

Jieun smiled. "Well, it's not normally hard. It's just a bit of a struggle now because these creatures got excited. I mean, some of these creatures haven't been released in hundreds of years! I don't blame them for yearning for a taste of freedom."

"Is this going to slow us down? If it is, we might as well return to the Academy," Jungkook said.

"Don't worry about that. Dealing with the Kreo creatures is my own problem," Jieun assured him.

She suddenly hitched her breath. Her body shook and stiffened. It looked like she was about to fall on Jungkook. He extended out his hand to catch her, but she stopped midway. Clenching on a patch of grass, she managed to catch herself before she leaned against Jungkook's body. He froze, unsure of what to do. A shade of red rose up on his cheeks as he felt a little dumb. He quickly withdrew his hand, but kept his eyes on Jieun.

Finally, she managed to gasp for air. She continued to sweat profusely and used Jungkook's towel to wipe away the sweat. 

"God damn, Minho…" She cursed under her breath and glared at the waters. "Everyone else is so quiet except for you…!"

"Tell him to come out! Junki and I will beat him up this time," Hanna declared.

"None of you two are compatible with him. You don't stand a chance against him," Jieun pointed out. "He's being quiet now."

She fell on her back and placed her arm over her eyes. She panted for a few minutes, then wiped her sweat again. She looked at Jungkook, who seemed a little concerned for her well-being. She laughed.

"Don't worry about me, okay, Jungkook? Go back to sleep. I have things under control," she said.

"…I'll keep watch," he said. "Why don't you get some rest?"

"Oh, no. You need your rest. You're still quite young—"

"Just rest. I'll keep watch," he repeated. "If you're worried that I'm going to do anything, you have your two creatures keeping their eye on me."

"But—"

"You definitely need rest," Junki said. "If you rest, you will recover and it will be easier to suppress them."

"But Jun—"

"Please rest," Hanna added. Normally, she wouldn't have agreed with Jungkook, but she was more concerned over Jieun's well-being than anything else.

Jieun pursed her lips. "But I'm fi—"

"Rest," Jungkook ordered.

Jieun pouted. "You guys are treating me like a kid."

"You're acting like one," he retorted.

Jieun snickered, then closed her eyes. "Okay, I'll rest for a few minutes while the Kreo creatures are being quiet."

Jungkook didn't say anything else. He stared at the river, listening to the small waves and the wind.

Yuna had been watching them the entire time. She had woken up a while ago when she didn't feel Jungkook's presence near her. She ended up following him, but didn't reveal herself from her hiding spot. Her heart squeezed when she saw Jungkook's tender expression in the moonlight. She knew that Jungkook wasn't the type to lend his items so easily. He had only lent his towel to her and Seokmin… This was the first time where he lent a towel to another person—to another girl.

A sick feeling washed over her. 

Don't worry about it, she told herself. Jungkook's only doing this because Jieun is our target.

But no matter how much she tried to convince herself, the sick feeling wouldn't go away.