When Taehyung’s arm was fully healed after multiple sessions of healing, skin was back to normal, golden and smooth, both Chaeyoung and Taehyung cheered. Although it took her that long, she couldn’t contain her own joy seeing the end result. She wondered what she might feel if she was able to heal it in a go. Tears of pure joy would fall.

Taehyung was excited to show one of his plants. He ran outside of his house while pulling her hand. He told her that he could only show it to her now that both his arms were working, since it would need the energy of both to wake it up.

He held out both of his hands in front of him, a bright green glowed around his arms and Chaeyoung watched as the small tree with thousands of leaves began to shake. A blink of her eyes, the tree let out a shriek so loud she covered her ears.

“Easy there!” Taehyung said aloud. “Easy, it’s me!”

The tree grew bigger, the branches shook harder and Taehyung shouted her name. A number of leaves left the branches, sliced through the air like darts thrown in a speed of light. Chaeyoung’s eyes grew wide when one leaf shaped itself as a green blade coming toward her face and she tried to escape the attack, turning her head sharply, only making it easy for another leaf to cut her cheek. Chaeyoung winced, holding her cheek as she quickly ran back into Taehyung’s house.

“That’s my friend! That’s Jimin’s sister, you fool!” Taehyung shouted at the plant once it stopped launching attacks. “You are not supposed to attack your master’s friend!”

Chaeyoung looked at her hand and saw her blood on her fingers. She traced the cut using her fingers, let out a relieved sigh. It didn’t seem to be a deep cut. Taehyung came a second later, kneeling in front of her.

“I am really sorry. It hasn’t been awakened since my arm was injured. That never happened,” Taehyung spoke quickly and gasped with wide eyes when he saw the cut. “Is it bad?”

“No,” she smiled. “Jimin can heal this in a second.”

“All right,” Taehyung sighed. “Well, get back home now and get healed fast. I have put it to sleep again. When I introduced it to Jimin, it didn’t act like that. In fact, it likes Jimin! I don’t know where it learned to play favorites. I think it will take time to get to know you.”

Chaeyoung bid farewell shortly after. In the market, she saw Jungkook on his way home. Her lips curved into a smile that grew bigger. With lighter steps mirroring how light her heart felt when she saw him, she walked toward him and called his name. Jungkook turned, stared at her briefly before his brows furrowed.

“Why do you have that?” he asked, already stopped walking.

Chaeyoung stopped walking too. Eyes settled on him curiously with brows lifted before she moved closer. “What?”

The stutter of his hand echoed hesitation. His hand rose higher, then, and a finger touched her cheek delicately. “You cut yourself here.” He brushed his finger slightly against her skin, a feathery touch and her heart briefly responded with a distracted beat.

Chaeyoung smiled, pulling her head slightly from his touch and began to walk. “A leaf cut me,” she chuckled. “Taehyung’s plant didn’t recognize me, and it probably wanted to protect him from me.”

Jungkook sighed out loud as he matched her steps. Silence accompanied them along the way to his house. He was naturally quiet, but it was too unlike of him to be that quiet. Something she picked up about him was that he was only like that when he wasn’t feeling good about something. She hadn’t been around the Defense Sector for a while. Something must have happened that she didn’t know about. Spending most of her time in the Cultivation Sector, she missed out lots.

“How is it going with your practice so far?” he asked when they were in front of his house.

“Still the same,” she said sadly before looking up at him. “Can I come in?”

“Do you not have practice later?”

“I do, of course. But as you can see, my pendant is not glowing at the moment. I will be there when I am summoned,” she stated, a small smile pulled on her face. “Why do you ask? Do you not like my being here?”

Jungkook’s face softened. “That’s not what I meant.” Smiling, he pushed open the door widely, inviting her in before he lit up the candles with his finger to brighten the dark space.

*

“Where is your grandfather?” she asked.

Jungkook chuckled softly as he placed all the food supply he had just bought onto the table. “He is out to train himself. He wants to stay in shape and brush up all skills. He said he wants to at least defeat one enemy if there is a future attack.”

She displayed a smile, warm and sweet but it all changed in one short moment when her soft frown hung on her face. Her head hung low, her shoulders and chest fell heavily with the sigh she let escape.

Jungkook shifted closer, tilting his head slightly. His hand placed under her chin and he brought it upward. Her eyes looked at him briefly, sighing again before she pulled her head away.

“What’s bothering you?” he asked gently. Deep inside, he had a guess that it might be something related to her ability to heal.

A smile forced onto her face. “Even your grandfather makes himself useful for the village’s safety.” Then, she laughed, bitterly. “While I am here with a progress so small that takes me nowhere. Everyone else climbs a mountain, and I am at the leg of it, walking in the same spot.”

His face fell at her thoughts about herself. “Don’t say that. I think you’re progressing well. You just don’t realize it.”

“You are saying that to make me feel better, aren’t you?” she chuckled.

“I am just being honest with my thoughts.”

She looked at him long, gave a smile so enchanting Jungkook felt his heart twist and turn, restless at each second passed. Then, he remembered how her smile had been way bigger, way more enchanting when she was smiling at whatever it was Taehyung was talking about and he felt it burn behind his chest. His lips pulled a smile so bitter that was so brief he couldn’t help but look away, breaking the eye contact they had.

“How’s your shoulder?” she asked a moment later.

Jungkook took a deep breath, tu