(A/N: Hey! Finally updated Chapter 2. Yay! *celebrates despite of the sound of crickets were played* So I wrote this in narrating with Jin’s POV but using the Author’s so you might see a lot of ‘the girl’ in it. ^^” Happy reading!)  

 

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Slish slosh slish slosh, went the footsteps that landed on the snow. Silent and eerie, where no one should wander with such recklessness, however, there was a young man roaming in the woods, unknown of the dangers in the location. Holding an axe on his back, it was evident that he was finding some spruces to chop for increasing warmth supplies, since it was running low.

   The young man’s name was Kim Seokjin, but many called him by his nickname, Jin. Although his appearance seemed to gleam with strength and bravery, he wasn’t what others think of him as. He was the youngest in his family. Even though he often gets pampered, he is second in-charge of the house so he does most chores.

   I should’ve stayed at home instead. Finding more wood is such a huge drag.., Jin puffed to himself, kicking innocent lumps of snow, which somehow was one of the reasons for his frown. As time passed by, boredom had taken over him and the sky had darkened from bright reddish-orange to calm purplish-blue. He figured he could wander a little longer for some fun, despite being 22 years of age.

   After a lot of turns and changes of directions, he finally found something that wasn’t as dreary as his surroundings was. Just as he walked closer, it turned out that it wasn’t something, but a girl, helpless and weak. Jin froze, eyes as big as Christmas ornaments, and hurried to her in panic. In order to calm himself, he took deep breathes, ignorant of how cold the air was, while trying to clear the grey clouds out of his mind. He then held her limp arm gently as if it was made of brittle glass and checked her pulse by pressing his two fingers lightly on her wrist. Anxiety made his heart to throb faster and skip a beat when there wasn’t a single reaction from the pulse area. Unfortunately, her pulse miraculously went normal before he could even freak the hell out of himself.

   Without hesitation, he let go of his axe, now finding it useful to be left behind, to carry the vulnerable maiden on his back. Though he assumed her body was as light as a hummingbird’s feather, but, man, she was as heavy as a pile of rocks.

   Don’t complain or you’ll be the reason why she died, you idiot! His conscience roared while his normal self shook his head thoroughly, getting the whines and complaints off his inner shelves and hurried to his home, who knows death might befall on her at any moment.

   All of a sudden, the wind became stronger and the falling snow thickened little by little, signaling that there was an upcoming snowstorm. Jin grumbled, wishing this couldn’t have happened if he had stayed back in the warm, cozy cabin, not in some rush to save a girl, but then again, the girl could have died if he didn’t have found her lying there. He showed a tint of sympathy when he thought how the girl had been through this whole time before she fainted. With those thoughts, he felt determined and revved up to object Death’s invitation for her soul, hence he dashed away.

   With luck by his side, he arrived just a few moments before the snowstorm began to conquer the land. Still carrying the motionless woman, he walked into an unused room to lay her down carefully on the soft bed; he was told that the room would only be used in case of an emergency. Taking the first glimpse of her pale face and then her body, for medical purposes only; Jin was neither a cheeky guy nor the type who likes to play with every girl’s heart, but more of a decent person, despite of his blur-ness, he dashed to get the first aid kit.

   Just when he turned around to face the girl once again after pulling the bandages out from the kit, he stiffened for few seconds that seemed like hours. He mentally banged his head on the walls countless times for not thinking twice about treating her wounds, but because it was an emergency, means that he could take her clothes off, right..? Wrong! Jin was torn between the three options he had thought of; just treat the wounds that were visible, take her clothes off and bandage her or ignore her until someone comes home. Before he could even tear his hair off his scalp and go hardcore crazy, his mother, Jaehee, appeared just in time.

   “Umma!”

   “Goodness! What is the matter, young man?”

   “I’ll explain later, I need to show you something!”

   Jin pulled her into the room. Jaehee gasped in horror before she quickly approached to the lady.

   “Dear me.., how could a person handle such damage?”

   “I found her in the woods, she is somehow alive, but her breathing isn’t as stable,” he informed,     “Her skin is icy cold and bruises, cuts and probably fractured bones are present in most areas.”

   “Hand me the kit, I’ll take care of this. You stay out until I’m done.” She instructed strictly before Jin did what he was told and the door was locked; his parents were professional doctors in a well-known hospital before Seulong, his older brother, took over when they retired.

   “Oh, my.. This might take a while.” Jaehee sighed in her thoughts.

   Meanwhile, Jin changed, from thick layers of shirts and jackets to a comfy black-and-white sweater and a pair of khaki trousers, to sit by the fire with a cup of warm coffee as he recalled the incident, letting a look of sympathy appear on his face.

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   As time ticked away and the sun had long set, the decent young man, that everyone saw, had transformed into a snoring mess, which looked like something the cat brought in, at the same time, the string of thread from the final stitch was cut at last, Jaehee wiped the bead of sweat off her forehead, heaving a sigh of relief.

   Once she changed the treated girl’s ragged, blood-stained clothing to a set of fresh ones, she stepped out of the room to tell her son of the lady’s condition, but there he was, snoring soundly while looking like a cat that had just finished a kitty fight and went for a nap… upside down. Although she was annoyed by his sleeping habits, she tried to wake him up in many ways, yet he was a really heavy sleeper! Not long after that, an idea popped out in her head, making her grin cheekily. She then grabbed a glass of lukewarm water and ‘accidentally’ spilled the water onto Jin’s face, putting his moment of peace to an end.

   Shocked by the sudden attack, his eyes shot open and wiped his face with his hand, his hair soaked wet, before frowning at the culprit.

   “Umma, how many times should I tell you? Please don’t splash water on me when I’m sleeping!”

   “I have something to tell you, but well, I guess your oh-so-attractive self is so much important that you don’t want to know.”

Jin went silent and pouted,”You know that’s not true.”

   His mother gave a look of sarcasm as he widened his eyes a bit from the remembrance of the girl. He asked so much about how her condition was, but Jaehee interrupted him and gestured him to enter the room with her.

   As they stepped into the silent room, the girl remained still as if she was made of hard stone, yet alive and breathing. Jin slowly tiptoed to sit near her, trying to have a close up on her face. In a state of slight worry, Jaehee whispered to him not to look at her too close, who knows the girl would wake up sooner and be frightened by him, but he didn’t listen and looked closer, just a few inches between them.

Without him knowing, the girl slowly woke up, her sight still fuzzy, as she saw someone in front of her. After a few blinks, she realized that Jin was staring at her.

   “Aaaaah!!” she exclaimed loudly as she backed away and braced herself, eyes closed.

   “H-hey, calm down! You’ll get yourself hurt.” He stammered, slightly panicked, but she stayed still, having no trust to the harmless man. Then there came Jaehee, who walked closer to her.

   “Don’t worry, we won’t do any harm,” She spoke calmly, as the frightened lady slowly settled down, “Now, tell us what’s your name and what happened before this.”

   “M-my name is Shin Hyemi.” She introduced herself and informed them of her life.

   After a while, both Jin and Jaehee felt sorry for her as she bit her lip to avoid any crying, thinking to herself that it’s time for her to be mature and strong, now that it made herself feel bad for seeing them take care of her like this. A hand from each landed on her shoulders tenderly, declaring that they would always be by her side. Although a sigh was heaved, Hyemi gave in to their aid.

   “I’ll get you something to eat.” Jaehee kindly said to her before she left the two alone. The atmosphere turned awkward as the silence lengthened for a few moments, only to be broken by Jin, “Just to let you know, I’m Seokjin, but you can call me Jin, and the lady you saw a while ago is my mother, Jaehee. I’m sorry for not introducing ourselves earlier.”

   Before a minute passed, they began to grow more comfortable of each other and kept chatting. Somehow, Jin felt like no one had talked to him with such calmness and warmth, except for his relatives, of course. Jaehee smiled at the sight of her son finally talking to someone other than family, not that she was spying on them or anything.

   Then, Hyemi’s grin gradually vanished as she was aware that someone would be keeping an eye on her in the shadows.

   “Promise me something,” she spoke solemnly, “When I recover, don’t leave me behind. I don’t think it’s safe to be alone.”

   “I promise I’ll keep you safe no matter what happens.” Jin gave her a reassuring smile. Despite being still worried, she nodded lightly on his response.

 

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(A/N: Sorry for the late update! School has been occupying my time so I hope you’ll understand. > < )