You could feel the tremble within the arm across your neck, his gaze penetrating to your soul.

How you had craved to see these eyes for years. They had always carried a hardness within them even when they were young, having seen too much of this cruel world. You could tell they had since witnessed far more than you ever wished to know about, even if you were curious now.

Just how was he alive?

The darkness within his eyes swirled and you gasped a little, acknowledging the fear and remorse now showing. Why was he scared of you? Before you could examine him further, the man stepped back, shaking his head softly. “You don’t know me.”

“Jinyoung,” you managed to say just louder than a whisper and watched the shiver run its course throughout him. It gave you the courage you needed to say it louder, repeating his name until he turned and looked at you again.

He had been a scared little boy back then when you had first met him too.

He laughed hollowly. “You never change.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Why did you spare me?” he questioned with a bitter tone, shaking his head as if he was trying to remove memories with the notion. “You should have told the authorities there was one of the Forsaken within your community sooner.”

“Why, so you could be an actual ghost to me right now like I thought you were?” you concluded and the man merely shrugged his shoulders. You stepped closer to him, reaching up for his neck. There laid a faint scar, your index finger tracing it slowly. It was as if your touch turned him to stone, and as you looked up into his frozen expression, you checked to see if his nostrils were flaring in and out with his breath. You sighed.

“Why did I spare you?” you murmured, thinking back to a time in which you had often thought over.

Your steps were hastened, your skirt held up with one hand as you gripped at the hand of another, dragging Jinyoung behind you. He followed you sluggishly and you yanked on him harder, wondering how he could be so slow at a time like this.

“Jinyoung!” you hissed, tugging on him. His eyes fell to your action, smiling softly at your hand in his. You groaned at his lack of urgency and ducked down another alleyway between the houses, knowing an adult couldn’t fit down such a gap. Moving until you were at the back of it and out of sight, you breathed heavily, peering around Jinyoung for signs of the soldiers.

“You should have let me be caught,” he murmured and you gaped at the boy beside you, completely calm unlike you. His eyes bore into yours. “Protecting me is dangerous.”

“You’re my friend and I’ll do as I please,” you told him firmly, blinking with the sudden burst of light filling his entire face. Even with his big ears and short hair, Jinyoung was boyishly handsome when he smiled like this. He radiated a light unlike any you had seen from a mere smile. It reached into his eyes, softening them from their usual hardness. You couldn’t help but smile back.

“You like being my friend?” you asked softly and Jinyoung nodded.

“I’m yours.”

“Hey! That makes you sound like a possession. I don’t own you.”

“Yes you do,” he replied, pulling your still linked hands up to show you. His grip tightened on your hand. “You took me as your own and gave me a name.”

“You silly boy,” you chided despite the swell in your chest. You liked that he was your friend. No one else knew of him yet as you had been hiding him for the past month in the barn out the back of your family farm. Jinyoung had easily become the most important person in your life. You knew if you didn’t look after him, he would be forgotten about once again.

You couldn’t let the authorities take away someone so special.

“You’re cute when you’re worried,” he told you bashfully, ducking his head away from your startled expression.

“And you’re trouble, Jinyoung. One day you’re going to leave my heart aching, I just know it.”

You clutched at your chest, the ache you often felt towards his departure from your world now conflicted with his reappearance. He had changed so much, adapted to a harsh way of living that you couldn’t fathom. Your shock was wearing off; overwhelmed by everything that had occurred to you during this nightmare.

He had saved you and yet he had killed all that you knew. It wasn’t the first time you would lose the ones you cherished because of Jinyoung, though this time it was by his own sinful hands. You stared at his limbs, wondering just how much blood he had washed away from them over the years.

You were momentarily disgusted and took a step back. “You’re right, I don’t know you now.”

Jinyoung watched you silently, his brain calculating something to say. Instead, he was cut off by the bell in the corner of the room chiming. He sighed and nodded. “Stay here; I might be gone for some time.”

“What makes you think I will listen to you?”

“Because if you leave this room, the others in this camp are trained to kill strangers immediately on sight.” He examined your expression for a moment and then shrugged his shoulders. “Then a