Who’s there?!

The moss and bark that covered the forest floor broke your fall to a degree, but you didn’t even register the pain that shot from your coccyx to your skull. Your breath tightened sharply and your eyes slammed shut in wait for the inevitable.

You waited… and you waited… What seemed like entire minutes passed before you realised that you weren’t in any danger and that your breath had levelled out because you hadn’t moved for so long. Maybe it wasn’t a person after all… It was probably just a tree and in your panic you’d seen it as something else. I’m not dead or dying – thank god – I should keep going.

And then you opened your eyes and the plan went right to the ground.
You were so surprised you couldn’t even scream.

Barely centimetres from your own, were a pair of curious, almond shaped eyes that sat beneath a thick canopy of tussled black hair.

“You’re Song Mihyun.” You couldn’t nod or confirm what he said, but you didn’t need to because he continued in the same mysterious dream-like voice. His head tilted softly to the side and you were swept with the sensation that he was staring far deeper than just into your eyes. “But where are Jongin and Kyungsoo?”

He stepped back, looking at you with the same curious expression that seemed to ooze superiority and confidence. It didn’t do much to aid your already nervous disposition.

“Who are you?” Your tone was sharp and serious, though your brave front was betrayed by the quiver of your voice. He frowned, before holding his hand out to you.

“I asked first, but whatever.” When you didn’t accept his offer, he his hand at you once more. Getting the idea that he, in fact, was not going to hurt you, you took it and allowed him to help you back up to a standing position. “I’m Zitao, but Tao’s fine.”

You nodded both your thanks and acknowledgement at him. You didn’t need to introduce yourself which left you at something of a frayed end to the conversation. Unsure of what else you could do, you made to start past him, pushing branches out of your way as you went.

“Not so fast.”  His arm flew out, like a snake in the grass, blockading your path. A grunt stumbled from your throat as the solid tree-trunk of his forearm collided without stomach, knocking the wind out of you with unanticipated force.

“Hey, I warned you.” He hastily added when you glared at him, panting slightly as the dewy forest air flooded back into your lungs. If you weren’t so mad at him, you’d have noticed the vulnerability beneath his confident front.

“You never answered me.” He continued, brow raised as his eyes narrow in your direction. There’s a bite of impatience stinging in the undertones of his conversational voice that you can’t ignore. Still, you don’t exactly feel like proffering any information to this stranger who stood far taller than you, a mop of black hair sat proudly on his head like a bird’s next atop a particularly sturdy tree. You appraise his narrow face, desperately trying to figure out what it was his distinctive facial features reminded you of, before replying.

“Curiosity killed the cat.” The words were out of your mouth before you even realised what you had said. That’s it! Catlike, that’s how he looks… Wild and yet tame.
His reply is in the form of a light amused snort and roll of his heavily shadowed eyes.

You huffed, noting that his arm was still blocking your progression. “Look, this isn’t a joke. I really need to get moving and you should too because it’s probably going to get very dangerous very quickly.”
You were a little shocked by your own assertiveness, especially in the face of a stranger, but didn’t let it show. Neither did Zitao, which frustrated you to no end… Why doesn’t he understand?!

“We’ve got all the time in the world, I promise you.” His choice of words unsettled you a little but you took a deep breath and held your gaze level with his without wavering. His face softened slightly when your hands balled into tight, determined fists but his arm remained immovable.
“Does the danger have something to do with Jongin and Kyungsoo? Is that where they went?” He asked, voice altogether more careful and understanding though you can still hear the condescension that laces his dulcet tones.

You nodded slowly, reluctant to share what little information you had. You’d learnt quickly back home that information was often better for trading than currency, but the moment someone else was in on your secret? Well, the price went right down.

“Do you know where they went?”

You shook your head, silent.

His chest heaved as a sigh violently tore through his open lips. You watched curiously as he withdrew the arm that prevented you from advancing and ran it through his hair and over his face. You were certain you heard him mumble under his breath but didn’t ask, deeming it too forward and really quite rude. Rather immobilised by the defeatist behaviour, you found yourself speaking before you could stop yourself.

“Jongin left us without telling us where he went.” You began cautiously, tiptoeing around the distress that was evident in the man’s cumbersome movements. Unusually ungraceful for a cat, you thought.

His head rose with a sharp flick, eyes meeting yours with a wide, please-tell-me-more, expression. Not quite sure why you were following the demands of his eye contact, you moved onto Kyungsoo’s whereabouts.

“…he shook me awake and he looked, I don’t know, petrified.” You explained to Zitao who was all ears. “He made me promise to do as he said, so obviously I did, and then he told me to run. So I did.”

You paused for thought because now that you looked back, addled by the sleep and panic, the memories hadn’t recorded themselves right and the sequence was awkward and probably wrong. White noise seemed to fill in the gaps, but the more you thought, the more that flooded back to you.

“Why?” Zitao demanded, though his voice was soft with curiosity. Naturally, you complied, sensing that his alliance lay with the two individuals from whom you had found yourself separated.

“Crawlers. Hundreds, I don’t know maybe thousands, of them were coming for us. When I looked back, I…” You had been surprised and yet the cause of the shock seemed to have slipped from your head. “There was a huge cliff between us. There was no way to back around it so I just ran.” You concluded, confident that your information was correct.

Zitao surveyed you through lidded eyes, remaining quiet. His slender finger tapped against his curved, pouting as he considered the information. Uncomfortable with the way he looked at you, your lips fidgeted and tried to beat through the awkward air.

“Like I said, I should keep moving. It’s not safe for either of us to be here.” Another thought struck you and you found the words spilling out of your lips before the realisation hit you. “There’s someone looking for me in here and-“

Zitao’s eyebrows danced about his forehead suggestively as the comprehension dawned on you.

“Oh.” It was feeble but it was all you could muster. For some reason, you weren’t entirely surprised and, despite your better judgement, you trusted him somewhat already. He knew you and he knew both Kyungsoo and Jongin, and besides that he looked like them. There was a similar spark in his eyes, not to mention his clothes… and they way he made you feel. Undeniably safe.

“Yeah ‘oh’.” He smirked and before you could ask him where he was taking you, he headed off in the direction you had wanted to go in the first place. Pausing he looked over his shoulder at you and called out.

“Come on Song Mihyun. We have all the time in the world, but not for much longer.” 

AN: Sorry this chapter is so short and so little happens. I haven't updated in a while and felt I owed you something~ Please bare with me ^^ The next chapter will be better, I promise! Thanks for reading <3