*

Jonghyun kissed Key, he had to admit that the other’s lips were so much softer than he had expected them to be. The kiss was short and the hunter was the first to pull away and open his eyes. He looked at the maiden and got startled.

Key was sniffing with tears running over his cheeks. Jonghyun panicked and didn’t know what to do.
                “Calm down Key….I’m sorry” he tried quickly and wiped the tears away. He wasn’t sure whether the tears were from surprise, shock or disgust. The maiden didn’t seem to be in pain, so he ruled that out, but he didn’t seem to respond either.

                “Key, please talk to me” he said sounding very sad and concerned. The other just shook his head and tried to get away, but Jonghyun didn’t allow that to happen. “Key…please?” He tried again.

                “No, this is wrong, you can’t love me…” Key continued to mumble some incomprehensive words and syllables. Jonghyun didn’t understand, but didn’t let go of the other. He didn’t understand why he wouldn’t be able to love Key, there was nothing wrong with the feeling from his side. The male was confused by the other’s words.

                “But why Key? I didn’t kiss you to make you sad, I didn’t confess to you to see you cry…” He felt guilty, he was showing his feelings, but he knew that there was a rejection coming up.

                “But I can’t be with you…” Key still didn’t give a solid answer. Jonghyun just looked Key in the eyes, sadness pooling in his own, he was desperate. “I can’t be with you” he kept repeating, it started to sound like a mantra.

The hunter didn’t quite like the other repeating the sentence over and over again. He kissed Key again and sure enough the words stopped coming from his mouth. Jonghyun didn’t spot even a hint of disgust in the other’s eyes. That was a good sign to the male, Key didn’t hate it as far as he knew.

                “W-w-what…” Key held his hands in front of his eyes and hiccupped every now and then. Jonghyun assumed this wasn’t a good time to talk about everything so he let himself fall back with Key on top of him. “Just sleep Key, we’ll talk later.”

The sobbing continued for a good while, it stopped once Key finally managed to fall asleep.  Jonghyun was disturbed, but he didn’t want to give up yet.  There was still hope, so he would hold on to that.

It was much later when Jonghyun actually woke up. He looked around and noticed that the little light there had been, was now gone, the fire had ran out. He just hoped that Key was still asleep. He could still feel Key laying on him and his breathing was still steady. This came as a relief to the hunter. He didn’t want to wake the other up. The male rolled over to his side so Key softly rolled along, landing on his side as well. This gave Jonghyun the opportunity to get out of the embrace they had been sleeping in. Key seemed to stir in his sleep a bit, but not enough to wake up.

Jonghyun got up and yawned, his neck was stiff and he needed to stretch for a bit so his muscles would relax again. The male figured that Key wouldn’t be in a good mood when he would wake up, so he went to the kitchen and sliced up the sweet bread. He hadn’t noticed that he was that hungry, so he took a bite as well.  With the bread slice still in his mouth, he walked back to Key’s side and sat down again. There was no fruit left in the kitchen and Key wasn’t well enough to go out, so Jonghyun knew he would have to go find some as soon as the maiden was awake.

It didn’t take long for the other to open his eyes. He didn’t seem to be too happy though. Key sat up slowly and rubbed his eyes, they were all puffy and red from crying. Jonghyun moved closer and had wanted to cup the other’s cheek, but his hands were slapped away before he knew it.  The maiden didn’t spare the human a glace and kept looking straight to the floor.

Jonghyun sighed, he didn’t know what he had done wrong, but he wasn’t in the mood to argue, mostly because Key wasn’t in any condition to act spoiled. The male sighed and just forced Key to look at him.

                “Key, I’m sorry if I hurt you, but you have to eat now” he said softly and offered to feed the other some food. He was surprised when the maiden opened his mouth and let himself be fed by Jonghyun.  The younger male did try to turn away again, this time Jonghyun let him since he was eating.

The silence between them was very uncomfortable for Jonghyun. He didn’t like the fact that they couldn’t have a normal conversation. Key seemed quite fine though, he really liked the sweet bread, so he wasn’t complaining. Once the maiden was done eating the bread that was offered to him, he decided to speak up.

                “You’re persistent” he commented and looked around and noticed that it was dark just like Jonghyun had.

                “Is that a bad thing?”

The maiden shook his head. The mood wasn’t too good between the two so the older decided not to push his luck.
                “Well, since you’ve eaten, why don’t we just go back to sleep?” Jonghyun suggested. Key had to think for a moment, but decided to agree.
                “But I will not sleep on the floor again, my back hurts” he said and stood up with a pout on his face. He led Jonghyun to his bed. Which was nothing more than a big stack of animal skins, even though it wasn’t as comfortable as a normal bed, it was undoubtedly better than sleeping on the bare floor. What intrigued the hunter most, was the fact that Key’s words were very contradicting to his actions, his words would push Jonghyun away, but his actions made Jonghyun want to make a move. It was very complicated that was for sure.

Key still had the blanket wrapped around him as he moved over to his bed, he went in first and pulled the other along. It was quite cold so the both of them realized it would be much more convenient to sleep together. The maiden made himself comfortable and faced the wall, turning his back on Jonghyun.

The hunter had enough and just acted the way he wanted, he wanted to show his affection towards Key. He tugged the blanket, the other would let go a bit, so he could get underneath it as well. He wrapped his arms around Key’s waist. Jonghyun was amazed at how well their bodies fit together, it was as if they were made for each other in a way. For a moment he was in heaven, but the heavens seemed to come crashing down as soon as he hear Key quiver. It felt as if ten tons of weight were added to his shoulders, trying to crush his heart in a way.

Jonghyun knew there was nothing he could do but wait, Key didn’t pull away at least, so all he could do was make the other as comfortable as possible. The maiden didn’t reject him, it was more as if he was having an internal conflict, mostly with himself, it bothered Jonghyun a bit, since it should have been a happy confession and a happy ever after. He realized at that moment that happy endings didn’t come easily and most certainly not without a struggle.

It was only once Key’s quivering and soft sobs died down that Jonghyun could fall asleep himself. He woke up again in the middle of the night, Key was burning up again and mumbling things in his sleep that the male couldn’t even start to understand. He noticed how little he knew about the maiden and how little the said man actually shared about himself. It was then that Jonghyun set that as a goal, to learn more about Key.

He pulled away the blanket a bit so the cold winter air could cool the maiden’s body. The night was rather smooth after Key’s body had cooled down a bit. Early in the morning Jonghyun was the first to open his eyes, only to find Key burying his face in his chest. To the hunter it was beyond adorable and a goofy grin lingered on his lips. He knew his mother had once told him that there were no limits when sleeping, meaning that Key was most likely attracted to Jonghyun even if it was just subconsciously, otherwise the two of them wouldn’t have been sleeping that way.

Jonghyun decided to just enjoy the sight for a few more minutes. He noticed new little things; Key breathed lightly, his face would twitch a bit when his hands were touched and while dreaming, he had very honest expressions on his face, expressions Jonghyun didn’t get to see often. It made him curious, he wanted to know more, about Key’s family, about everything there was to know regarding the other. He would ask the maiden this time, he would make sure his spirits were lifted and that he would make the other smile, that he vowed to himself.

Key opened one eye slowly, inspecting what was happening for a moment, he wasn’t completely awake yet, so he nuzzled back into Jonghyun’s warmth, as if it lay within his nature to do so. Jonghyun was very happy to notice that Key relaxed right away. He let the other sleep for another good while, he was too busy admiring him to even think about waking the maiden up.

When Key finally decided to wake up, he yawned and stretched, to Jonghyun that just emphasized his feline features. Jonghyun just found it cute and gave the other some space before greeting him.

                “Good morning” he sounded cheerful and smiled brightly. Key still had a bit of a blush from the fever over his face, but he didn’t return the smile and looked away. Jonghyun couldn’t quite judge whether it was the embarrassment or not wanting to look him in the eyes, it was just a bit awkward.

                “Do you want to eat something Key?” he questioned and the maiden just nodded in response, he still didn’t look at the other. “Well what would you like then?” at that question Key did look up to meet Jonghyun’s graze, his eyes were full of anticipation.

                “Sweet bread….there’s still some left right?” He sounded very hopeful and desperate at the same time. Jonghyun just chuckled, he couldn’t believe how addicting the bread was to Key, it amazed him, while fruits were very sweet as it were, the bread was made with honey. It clicked in his mind, the maiden must have had a soft spot for the nectar.

The hunter nodded in response and Key just seemed to get giddy from it. “I want that then” he stated clearly. Jonghyun got up and got the last loaf they had, he was sure Key would be sad once it was all gone. Jonghyun had to remind himself that he needed to bring along more the next time.

The male handed the bread to the other, who eagerly ate it all, leaving Jonghyun with just a few slices. The maiden his lips as he had finished eating. “Is there more?” he asked cheekily. Jonghyun shook his head as a negative.

                “Next time ok? I’ll ask my mom to make some more. By the way, I’ll be going out to get some fruit later” he pointed out, but Key shook his head.

                “Fruit season is over already you know” the maiden commented, making the other think for a moment. Jonghyun honestly didn’t know too much about fruit at all.

                “So what do you usually eat then?” He questioned the maiden, Jonghyun was used to living in a village, they would have food all year round because they knew how to cultivate most of the land.

Key looked away. “I sleep, you’re keeping me awake you know” Jonghyun couldn’t decide whether that was a lie or that the maiden really did hibernate. The man decided to not question that.

                “Well Key, since I keep you awake, I will have to take care of you right?” He tried to start a nice conversation but the other would have nothing of it.

                “Why would you have to take care of me? That’s ridiculous, I can take care of myself just fine!” Key wasn’t a very dependent person so he did feel insulted a bit.

                “I didn’t mean it that way….” Key huffed a bit and turned away. “I mean….Key, I know you can take care of yourself and all, but since you usually sleep during winter and I am keeping you awake, wouldn’t it be the least I could do…no wait, let me rephrase that for you, it IS the least I could do for you.”

The maiden just rolled his eyes and shook his head slightly. “The least huh? You don’t owe me anything, you don’t have to do anything for me, I don’t want anything from you” he said, his voice laced with venom that stung in Jonghyun’s heart.

                “But I love you…” Jonghyun quickly covered his mouth, knowing how sensitive the other was, but the damage had been done already.

Key faced Jonghyun with a strange expression on his face, he seemed to be both angry and incredibly sad at the same time.

                “That’s it! GET OUT!” 

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A/N; And so the drama begins...My feels.... I really do think that the fluff is ONLY from Jonghyun's side (and Key's unconcious side) I hope it's not getting too fluffy TT.TT (I'm also really starting to feel that this is the beginning of the end TT^TT))
I didn't want to hold back updating this story since I feel that the speed of updating matches the speed of the chapters for some very odd reason
as for the questions asked in the comments, don't worry they will all be answered in the next few chapters and if some questions remain after that I will be happy to answer~!
 

Oh and 31 subscribers <3 you guys rock my world! *hugs everyone*

Comments are love <3

Until next time

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