“We cannot skirt the mountainside all afternoon,” Mark stated as Jinyoung reached another of your fabric markings. “The cart won’t make it up here and the horses may not fit in some parts that a walking human would.”

“They’re alive,” Jinyoung breathed out the most hopeful sentence he ever had in the presence of his friends. Blinking aside his growing emotions, he nodded once. “You’re right. We need to not take the path they have.”

“Argo and his men will be after them as well, we have to be quicker than them,” Jaebum urged and Jinyoung turned back along the track, moving swiftly to where they had left Jackson and their mounts.

The man was now astride his horse and gave them all fair warning with his eyes as not to dispute it. “Where do we go now?”

“They took the mountain path so we go north,” Jinyoung announced, kicking his horse into its fastest gait. It wasn’t as easy for the cart to go at this speed, but thankfully the ground didn’t give it too much trouble. On the hillier parts of the road they slowed down, and every second they took to maintain their supplies only made Jinyoung yearn for you further.

He needed to see you with his own eyes before the sun set today.

Looking to the mountain path as often as he could, Jinyoung wondered how many trackers you had left for them. Did you have enough of your pants left to protect your legs from debris within such a dense forest? Was Youngjae struggling to climb and thus slowing you down? Were you still moving or had you given up inside the forest?

It was strange to be filled with so much hope after years of dismissing the emotion entirely. Your return had softened his mind and led him to hold onto the precious ideas that his heart governed.

It was all he had right now to continue his path forward. If he didn’t have you at the end of this, there would be no point to anything.

Jinyoung still believed in your breathing. You wouldn’t give up either. He could somehow feel it, as if the air you had expelled now reached his face, guiding him towards you.

Travelling around the mountain pass took longer than he hoped for and the sky was losing some of the vast blue that had brightened it. Jinyoung cast his eyes to the heavens with a silent plea, asking for more light to guide their way. He hadn’t prayed this hard in all his life as he was right now. He begged the moon to hold back from arriving too soon. He knew you wouldn’t make the night out here alone without shelter.

“Is that…” Jaebum called as they came around a bend, the man leading the way now. Jinyoung leaned forward and clucked his tongue in gesture for the horse’s legs to lengthen stride, trying to see what his friend already did.

There, in the distance, two people were making an exhausted dash across a clearing. Tears streamed from Jinyoung’s eyes and his vision blurred despite his efforts to blink the emotions away. Relief coursed through him and with a final yah to the magnificent creature that had powered its way across the countryside for him, he tried to reach you even a second sooner.

Upon hearing the horses, you and Youngjae gripped at one another, dropping into the grass in hopes to hide. You bravely stole a look to see who came upon you, your head appearing more easily when you realised Jinyoung was here for you.

It was as if the Gods had heard his prayers and gifted you with renewed energy. Running across the field towards him, Jinyoung asked the horse to halt, leaping from its back and ran the rest of the way to you. Colliding against you, he pulled you as close to his heart, his soul, as he could get you.

He couldn’t tell who was crying harder between you both.

The others caught up and Jaebum was tearfully greeting Youngjae, checking him over for any added injuries. You didn’t move, not once, even when the others started talking fondly, simply remaining buried within Jinyoung’s embrace.

He didn’t stop you; in fact, he had no desire to let go of you either.

However, it wasn’t safe to remain here like this for long.

Mark looked at the map and then to the road ahead. “We’re on our way already.”

“To Nowhere?” you whispered and Jinyoung nodded. “We can make it?”

“We need to find a place to camp tonight.”

“They’ll be looking for us,” Jackson warned with a hiss, reaching for his side.

You finally moved from Jinyoung’s side and over to feel Jackson’s forehead.

“He’s feverish!”

“Whether they find us or not, we have no choice but to rest.”

“Have you ever been sick?