*

Key started to push Jonghyun away. “Just leave me!” he almost screamed. The other didn’t get it at all, he was confused beyond anything, but judging his instincts he knew it would be wise to just leave for now.

The hunter quickly grabbed his belongings and left a crying Key behind. He didn’t like it, but he knew he couldn’t provide any form of comfort to the other in this state. The whole situation was very strange and complicated, he couldn’t stop the train of thoughts that went through his head. There was an overwhelming feeling of insecurity. The hunter walked back to his village, it was light this time around, he didn’t even really pay attention to his way back, so if a predator had attacked him there, he wouldn’t even have noticed until it was too late.

He walked to his mother’s house without even thinking about it, he was sure that she could help in a way. Jonghyun opened the door and found his mother in the small kitchen. She looked up from her work and gave a weak, but encouraging smile.

                “It didn’t go too well?” the woman wanted to hear her son’s story and gestured for him to sit down. Jonghyun just did that and let out a deep sigh, he didn’t know whether he was ready for this yet, but the male also realized that he had to vent his thoughts one way or another.

                 “I don’t know what’s wrong mom…He has this sadness in his eyes and when I confessed to him, he told me that it couldn’t be and later on he went sick…and in his sleep he would just snuggle up to me and while half awake he would just look and go back to sleep….”he was rambling so his mother just grabbed his hands to stop it.

The male took a few deep breaths. “We were doing fine this morning actually, it was very calm, but when I blurted out that I had fallen in love with him, something snapped and I had to leave.”

 His mother sighed and had to think really hard, she suddenly knew, but didn’t think that that could be it.
                “You know Jonghyun, in some stories, mythical beings can’t accept those feelings of love because it’s viewed as wrong by their own community, even though that isn’t the opinion we have, maybe you confused Key just as much as you are by him.” She tried to reason.

Jonghyun let the words his mother said sink in for a moment. He had to take a deep breath before he would speak again.
                “I never really considered that…I’m sure he feels the same, but he can’t express it.” The hunter was quite sure of that and waited for his mother to speak again.

The woman sighed and just offered her son a weak smile. “Honey, I do think you hurt his feelings. You’re very straight forward...not that there is anything wrong with that but you know” She pointed out and hoped Jonghyun would think about his actions.

                “That’s it…your sweet bread.” He exclaimed and looked only to see his mother look at him with a startled expression on her face.
                “My bread?! What does that have to do with me hinting that you should apologize!” she lost it right there, but to Jonghyun it all made sense.
                “Yes mom, I know you wanted me to go and say sorry to Key, but he’s too stubborn to just listen to me. I need something to calm him down first so he will listen to me, your bread can do that.” He thought he had just made up a master plan. His mother just shook her head, she did think it was cute for her son to react that way, but on the other hand, it was also very childish. She decided to just give in since her son seemed to be so determined to win Key over.

                “Well you will have to go get some supplies, so don’t be lazy and get off your bum to get groceries. “She scolded and walked back to the kitchen. The hunter just walked out of the house to pick up some of the ingredients.

The day passed and Jonghyun helped his mother making the sweet bread, they made a bigger batch than ever before. Since it was so sweet, it could be preserved fairly long since the sugars made it last longer without the danger of it rotting.

At the end of the day the male thanked his mother with a kiss on the cheek and walked to his own house to sleep with a bag full of bread on his back. He changed his clothes and went to sleep. Jonghyun wanted it to be morning already, he would go back to Key, offer the bread and apologize.

The following morning, Jonghyun was awake before the crack of dawn and got dressed. He was wearing something tighter this time, he usually wore some loose fitting clothes, because they were comfortable. Though this time he was happy to wear something with a better fit. He packed a small bag as an extra with a warm blanket in it, so if Key were cold he could at least use that.

Jonghyun noticed that it was significantly colder than it had been the day before, winter was taking over fast. He hoped Key was still alright despite the cold. The hunter made haste in his steps towards the willow. He was amazed at how fast he actually was there. He noticed that the shutters were still closed. He only looked up at that point in time and didn’t see the other sitting at the base of the tree.

Key looked up and met with Jonghyun’s surprised graze. The hunter just smiled and acted natural though he was very nervous on the inside.  His body moved on its own and grabbed a piece of bread for Key to take.
The maiden actually accepted it and began eating.  He looked paler than he had the day before. Jonghyun put his bag down and kneeled in front of Key.
                “Key…” he started, but the other didn’t seem to be that interested. The hunter grew somewhat desperate. “Please listen to me, I’m sorry I was so inconsiderate of your feelings the other day, I didn’t mean to hurt or startle you. I assume that love is a difficult subject so…I’m sorry for that.” The man said truthfully.

The maiden looked up and offered Jonghyun a weak smile. “Thank you Jjong, can we not talk about it for now? Can we go on a walk?” Key asked and Jonghyun just nodded at that. He liked going on walks. He brought his bag into the tree house and put it away. Key was already waiting for him down by the lake so they could go for a walk. The hunter knew that Key wasn’t easily cold, but decided to just take an extra garment for the maiden as he wasn’t sure whether the other was still sick.
 

Key thanked Jonghyun for the extra coat when he returned to the maiden’s side. He was well aware that he couldn’t talk about love, but he could find out new interesting things about the maiden himself on the stroll. He offered the other a weak smile and it was returned.

                “Come on Jjong let’s go.” They walked for quite a long time, going where ever their feet would take them.  Lost in their conversation they talked about anything and everything. Key was very hesitant when it came to his past and his culture, so Jonghyun figured that he had to wait for a bit more. They weren’t as awkward with each other anymore, which was very pleasant to know.

Key needed a break and the older of the two just smiled and sat down on a fallen tree. He knew he had wanted to hug the maiden, but he had to remain calm and not touch him yet, it could only make things awkward again.

                “Key?” The maiden looked up and nodded slightly as if giving Jonghyun permission to continue to speak. “What is your hometown like?” he was very interested, but knew that it could be painful for the other as well. Key did look a bit hurt, never the less the maiden still started to talk about what his home was like.

                “I guess the village is really small, I know yours is a normal size one, but mine is a bit small compared to that, there are only a few families living there currently, though I’m not even sure about that anymore. I haven’t been there since I started to live in the willow, so….” Jonghyun nodded and continued the conversation.
                “What about your parents, do you have siblings?”

Key reluctantly shook his head. “No I don’t have any siblings, to be honest, it’s for the better…” Jonghyun had wanted to protest against that, but he wasn’t quite prepared for what Key said next. “My parents rather had a baby girl…so they didn’t quite like me.” The hunter was flabbergasted. He wanted to hug Key and say that it didn’t matter and that he loved him regardless of his gender, but he couldn’t, as much as he wanted it, they weren’t at that level yet.

                “I’m sorry to hear that…” the hunter offered, though the maiden only shook his head. “It’s ok, I don’t live with them anymore and I’ll never see them again so that’s on right?” Jonghyun had a hard time replying to that, but before he even could, Key stood up already. The maiden grabbed the hunter’s hand and pulled him from the fallen tree. “You lead the way now Jjong.”

                Jonghyun still had many questions lingering, but he knew that it wasn’t the time for that. He led the way on their walk, not really knowing which direction he went in. He let his feet wander. Key was still holding Jonghyun’s hand, the male noticed and was quite happy, it was one of the reasons why he just wandered around, and he didn’t want it to end.

Suddenly his mark started to hurt, he had to let go of Key’s hand for a while and grabbed his wrist. The maiden was quite alarmed and looked over at the other.
                “Does it hurt badly?” the younger questioned and Jonghyun could only nod. Key grabbed the other’s wrist and started to rub the mark to soothe the pain a bit. The hunter whined for a moment, but after that the pain started to go away slowly. The male looked around and noticed a bridge that stood over a brook. The water streaming underneath it was calming, but shallow, that raised the question why there would be a bridge. Jonghyun’s interest was sparked and he moved closer, completely forgetting the maiden for a brief moment.
 

As he walked closer he seemed to forget more things, the mark didn’t hurt, and he didn’t know he was in the forest anymore. Suddenly everything came back as he was tackled. Key had knocked him over and sat on top of him, heavily panting.
                “Don’t go near it!” the male plead and almost cried. “Promise it!” he demanded. Jonghyun was startled by that, but quickly nodded his head. Key sighed and got off him. It only made the human more curious to what the bridge actually was. There was an undying curiosity that resided inside his body. The only way to satisfy it was to know, there was only one person near who knew the answer.
 

                “What is the bridge for Key?” he didn’t want to avoid the subject at all and decided it was for the best to be straight forward. The maiden still seemed to be at the verge of tears, he didn’t shake his head this time around.

                “If you cross it you die and I’ll never see you again.” He whispered softly and hugged Jonghyun so hard that it resembled a death grip.  Jonghyun was startled and it took him a few moments before he realized that he was actually being hugged by Key’s initiative for the very first time since they met.

Tears were streaming down Jonghyun’s face, he didn’t quite understand, but a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. The male hugged the other back tightly, never wanting to let go of Key.
He kissed Key’s temple and hoped for the best. The maiden looked the other in the eye.

 “I know what you want to hear and I know your feelings and can’t say to you what you want to hear, sorry.”

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A/N TT-TT does this count as a loveconfession from Key? I wouldn't know how I would put it into words. It saddens me that there's only 2/3 chapters left to this story and of course I'm (secretly) planning a new story, it's starting to get some shape, but it will never be as close to my heart as this story is to me.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter ^^

Comments are love~! <3

<3<3<3