Hyunsu pressed her palms against the stone wall behind her as she stared at the forest. Her eyes went up the wall, Hoya was already gone. She was alone. Gulping she let her head fall back and thump lightly against the cool boundary of the village. She had made her choice, she couldn't regret it. Clenching her jaw she pushed herself off of the wall then clutched the thick cloth of her dress. She needed to go  before they knew she was missing. It would be better, after all, if her family didn't see her running. It would be better if they didn't knew she chose to abandon them, that she had chosen the Fae. Hyunsu scowled as she started running across the long expanse of tall grass. No, she was wrong. She wasn't their family, they had told her that themselves. Zuko had denounced her as his sister, and Buyoung, the woman she viewed as her mother, did the same. Her flimsy shoes scratched against her feet, agitating them as she bounded through the field, jumping over noticeable holes, and stumbling past the ones she missed. She ignored the throbbing of her leg where she had the wound that still had not healed.

Refusing to indulge herself, Hyunsu kept her eyes ahead of her, she refused to look back at the village. From that simple choice, the strangest feeling encompassed her. Freedom. With each pained step she took she felt as if a weight was being removed from her chest. It felt easier to breathe, suddenly she could smell the sweet scent released from the grass she was tearing apart in her rush. She could smell the sharp earthy scent of the forest head of her, growing stronger with each second. Her steps didn't falter as she crossed the line between the field and the forest. Instead, she ran faster. It was easier for her to dodge the bushes and push herself off of the random outcrops of roots from the trees around her than the field that was left behind her. Was that so wrong?

Instead of going further into her thoughts she slowed and stopped to catch her breath as she found familiar landmarks. She turned around as a faint sound caught her attention. Hyunsu barely had a moment to react before the figure lunged at her and hugged her tightly.

'You're back!' Sungyeol's voice was high pitched as he squeezed her. 'We didn't know- nobody could decide-' instead of finishing a coherent sentence, he continued saying multiple half ones. Despite feeling constricted, and jolts of pain, Hyunsu relaxed in his grip. He had the familiar sweet scent of flowers that he always had as well as the heavy wood scent that they all carried on them. Finally letting go of her, Sungyeol stared at her with a wide smile and obnoxiously bright eyes. 'I said you would come back. I knew you would.' Laughing he hugged her again. Hyunsu couldn't help the smile that broke out on her own face. It was impossible to remember the disappointment of the moments that lead up to where she was, all she could think about was right then. 'Come on, you need to see Sungjong.' Hyunsu didn't miss the way his smile faltered when he said his younger brothers name.

'Sungyeol.' Hyunsu wordlessly clutched the heavy cloth of her dress and raised an eyebrow sheepishly. There was no way she was climbing her way up the tree. Sungyeol mimicked her expression, feeling embarrassed that he hadn't noticed the heavy gown either. He opened his mouth to say something, before looking down and frowning. 'What?'

'Hyunsu.' She winced involuntarily, at his tone (though her mind hassled her, questioning if it was his tone or the name he used). Sungyeol stepped closer to her before kneeling and lifting the skirt of her dress. Instead of screaming and batting him away like she would anyone else, she allowed him to do it. She knew what he was looking at, and that was enough to make her guiltily look away. He stepped away moments later with her blood on his fingers. 'You're still hurt.' His voice was quiet as he looked at his fingers then her leg that was hidden by the dress. His eyebrows scrunched together before he stared at her accusingly. 'That should have been the first thing you said.' His nose scrunched up as he wiped the blood off onto his shirt. 'I'll get you up, just, don't get angry, alright?' Hyunsu instantly stared at him warily as a smile curled at his lips.

'Fine,' she said as she stared at him suspiciously. Grinning Sungyeol threw her over his shoulder. Instantly she in a deep breath, trying to resist yelling at him.

'You know,' he said as he started climbing the tree pretending that he didn't know she was furious. 'This is the way we carried you in the first time. Sunggyu threw you over his shoulder because he couldn't think of how to carry you.' Sungyeol started laughing as Hyunsu pressed her elbows into his back so that she could try and look at his face. Hyunsu yelped as she almost hit her head on a branch that was above her. 'Be careful.' Sungyeol scolded, his voice held no conviction so instead of sounding serious, he sounded amused.

'Who else is out there?' Hyunsu questioned as she looked out towards the forest. She couldn't hear much, but she could faint rustling around them. Someone was agitating the leaves around them, she could tell that much.

'There are always a few of us scouting the area.' Sungyeol said with a proud smile on his face. Even if Hyunsu couldn't see it, that didn't meant that she couldn't feel his pride. He was pleased that she could tell there were Fae around them, before she had left she wouldn't have noticed. But not only had she chosen to come on her own, but she noticed more than when she left.

'That's how you got to me so fast.' Hyunsu mused. She felt affection towards her taller friend as she realised that upon hearing she was coming, he must have rushed to where she was so that he would be the first to greet her.

'Of course!' He chirped as he pulled himself onto the wooden bridge that signaled the first layer of the Fae village. In a swift motion, Hyunsu went from hanging on his shoulder, to being carried in his arms. She felt herself flushing in embarrassment as he started carrying her down the bridge. She didn't miss the small laugh he released when he noticed her expression or the faint look of anger that sparked in his eyes as he undoubtedly thought of the wound the humans had caused.

'I'm fine, I can walk.' Hyunsu tried to urge him to put her down. 'I even climbed up a tree the day after it was wrapped and I was fine.' Sungyeol remained silent but his lips twisted as he tried to keep a smile off of his face. Throughout the silence, she looked around the area and noted that she couldn't see any other Fae wandering around. It was much like it had been the first couple of days she had been in the village. Aside from faint rustling or movement in the corner of her eyes, there was no signs of other life.

'That wasn't very smart.' He finally said as he walked into one of the trees that Hyunsu had not been in before. The area had multiple raised beds lining the circular room. Each one had a table filled with different instruments and objects beside it. Without pausing he laid her down on the bed before poking her dress. 'Do you mind if this gets torn?'

'Not at all.' She reassured him as she looked at the dress she was wearing. Where it had once been completely clean and an off-white shade, now it had dusty marks on it from when she had leaned against, and descended the wall of the village. There were light green stains spotting the dress where some of the juice from the grass she had broken had seeped into the cloth and there were brown dirt stains coating the very bottom from when she had run through the forest. The dress was completely ruined.

'Good.' With a smile on his face, he nodded to her then walked out of the room. Moments later a Nymph walked into the room. She looked familiar, and Hyunsu knew she had talked to her, but she hadn't spent time with every single Fae in the area.

'Yeonjung,' the Nymph said with a welcoming smile. 'Welcome back, sister.' She kissed Hyunsu's forehead then pulled a knife from her belt and started cutting the dress away. 'You must have heard her calling if you came back so quickly.' As the Nymph spoke, Hyunsu focused on her looks, trying to remember her name. The short boyishly cut black hair looked familiar to her, as did the lazily slanted green eyes that were focused on the dirty dress. Within moments the dress had been mostly cut away, and discarded into a small bin that was at the side of the bed, and the Nymph had started unwrapping the blood stained cloth as Hyunsu put on a loose fitting brown shirt that the Nymph gave her. With the removal of the cloth, she was handed a pair of short pants that when she put them on, they ended just above mid-thigh which was barely above her wound.

'Pardon?' Hyunsu's voice shook with uncertainty as the Nymph washed the trail of blood that had run down Hyunsu's leg, as well as the wound itself.

'The All-Mother sang every night you were gone.' The Nymph said as she spread a strange smelling paste that Hyunsu had never seen before onto her wound. 'You must have heard her calls, everything we do is always strengthened by the land around us. And the forest lent her it's support, it felt your disappearance as well.' She lowered her voice, whispering as if she was saying something that was intimate. Hyunsu stared at the Nymph in disbelief, suddenly remembering her name as the Nymph started laughing cheerily. The laugh was memorable and could belong to no Fae but Areum. She hadn't heard anyone else that laughed so fully that the room seemed to grow brighter in lighting. 'Just because you do not believe me, does not mean that it is not true.'

'I didn't hear anyone singing.' Hyunsu pressed again, insisting that she didn't hear it.

'That doesn't mean that you didn't feel it.' Areum patted down the paste before washing her hands in a basin that was situated near the bed. 'Despite what anyone may say to you, you should not get off of the bed until the paste has dried. Only once it starts to crumble away can you get up, is that clear?'

'Yes, thank you, Areum.' Hyunsu bit her lip hoping that she got the name right.

'You're welcome, Yeonjung.' Areum smiled softly before laughing again. 'Don't let them get you up, okay?' She lightly brushed her fingers over Hyunsu's hair, barely ruffling it, before she walked out. Hyunsu shuffled awkwardly on the bed before relaxing into the soft pillow and mattress. Letting out a deep breath, she felt her eyes grow weary as suddenly the events of the day made her tired. Within moments she fell asleep, not hearing anything that was going on around her.

Sungyeol was grinning larger than he had before as he knocked on Sungjong's door. His smile didn't falter when there a lack of response. Not waiting any longer than he had to, he barged into the room. Instantly he could smell the berries that Sungjong no doubt had hidden throughout the room for late-night snacking. The room was dark, the light that came through the windows were obscured by the leaves outside, and the room was filled with different animal dolls that were homemade gifts from friends. The only sign that Sungjong was in the room was the large lump underneath a blanket that was beside his large tan bear doll. 'Sungjong, I think you'll want to get up,' Sungyeol said.

'Go away.' Sungjong sat up as he pulled the blanket off of him. His black hair was messy and scattered, poking in all directions. His skin was pale, making his eyes look darker than usual.

'No.' Without a pause Sungyeol marched forwards and grabbed his brother's arm, tugging him off of his bed. Sungjong's light purple shirt was wrinkled and stiff from him spending all of his time in the room. His pants were cut off at the knee and looked just as wrinkled as his short. His belt was nowhere to be seen, and Sungyeol could see his younger brother's mask underneath a pile of dolls in the corner of the room.

'Yes, believe me, you'll regret not coming.' Sungyeol watched with a grin as his brother's large eyes narrowed suspiciously. Sungjong's square chin jolted to the side as he glared at his older brother.

'I'm not going.' Sungjong crossed his arms with a scowl before turning around to climb back into his bed. Without warning, Sungyeol grabbed his brother by his shoulders and pushed him out of the room before he could fight him.

'Yes, you are.' Instead of continuing the argument with his brother, Sungyeol forced Sungjong along the bridge towards where Yeonjung was being held.

'Fine.' Sungjong pouted as he let his brother continue to drag him along. He didn't have the energy to fight, not with everything that was going on. There were still two more days until his brothers came back, and that didn't even mean that Hyunsu would be coming back with them. Grumbling about the injustice of having older brothers, Sungjong vaguely registered that they were heading to the healing tree but he didn't think much of it. At least one of them went to the tree every single week. As they walked towards the entrance, he could hear Sunggyu, Woohyun, and Dongwoo inside talking to each other.  'Who got hurt?' He questioned with a huff as he walked into the tree.

'The larva.' Dongwoo crossed his arms staring at the wall. He was slumped in a chair near the middle of the room, facing the opposite way Sunggyu and Woohyun were.

Larva?' Sungjong repeated. He slowly looked at the only occupied bed that none of his brother were on. Sunggyu was seated beside the bed, and Woohyun had sat himself on top of the bedside table after putting everything on top onto the bed beside it. He stared in disbelief at the sleeping body on the bed. 'She's back?' His shoulders slumped in relief as he walked towards the bed. Yeonjung was still fast asleep despite all of the noise.

'We don't know why Hoya and L aren't back yet.' Woohyun leaned against the wall before looking at Yeonjung. 'She hasn't woken up yet to say anything.'

'They are travelling with the caravan.' Sunggyu said before he smiled at Sungjong and got up from his sleep. 'It is good to see you again, brother.' He kissed Sungjong's forehead then started adjusting his younger brothers clothes, ignoring the annoyed look he was getting. 'If they left early then the humans might realise that they were not human. It's dangerous.' He continued talking after greeting his brother.

'They're humans,' Dongwoo growled out. His meaning was clear, he didn't think that the humans were smart enough to figure it out.

'Humans, brother, not dokkaebi. They can figure it out.' Sunggyu sighed and sat back down in his seat as Sungyeol sat himself down on the edge of Yeonjung's bed.

'It's still two days until they head back, right?' Sungjong said, hesitating before he sat down on the bed beside Yeonjung's.

'Yes.' Sunggyu nodded and rubbed his eyes ignoring Sungyeol when he started shaking Yeonjung's leg to wake her up.

'Let her sleep.' Woohyun's eyebrows raised as he looked at his brother.

'Let's just ask her.' Sungyeol justified himself, smiling as Yeonjung blinked her eyes open. 'Did you have a nice sleep?' He questioned. In an instant her face flushed and she started scrambling on the bed. Without pause (because he was expecting it to happen) Woohyun threw the blanket on her legs that he had folded on his lap. Shooting him a grateful smile she splayed the blanket on her legs. As she opened , he continued talking, not waiting for her to answer. 'Why did you come back so early?'

'Circumstances,' she said with an unconvincing smile. 'Hoya said they would stay in the village longer, he said it would be better that way.'

'Like you said.' Dongwoo looked at Sunggyu, sighing after he spoke.

'What were the circumstances?' Sunggyu asked.

'There was stuff going on.' Yeonjung bit her lip trying to keep herself from frowning so deeply.

'We don't need to know.' Dongwoo said, looking at her approvingly. He didn't want to hear what she wanted to say and he was pleased that she had refrained from evaluating on the subject. His jaw flexed as he looked at her leg, the spread was almost dry, he hoped that the blanket didn't wipe off any ahead of time. Following that train of thought, he shot Woohyun a small glare. He shouldn't be indulging the girl when it could harm the healing process.

'Fine.' Sunggyu shot a glance over at Dongwoo before releasing a sigh. With a fluid swipe of his arm, he pulled a small bag towards himself before pulling out some food. 'I'm sure you're hungry.' With a small smile he handed her a bowl of berries and shelled nuts. 'Your favourite, right?'

'Yeah,' Yeonjung said with a smile as she took the bowl from him. She sat up and leaned her back against the wall before picking up some berries and chewing on them. The instant the sour tang filled she relaxed. The familiar taste soothed her taste buds more than the food she had with her famil- a scowl flashed across her face as she stopped her thoughts. No, they weren't her family. They were, her lips pressed together as she tried to think of a word she could use instead. Shaking her head, she dropped the issue. She was thankful that although they all noticed her reactions, none of them questioned her. 'It tastes delicious,' she said after she ate one of the acorns. The familiar nutty taste had a sweet tang that was balanced off by a strong spicy flavour.

'I boiled the nuts in water that had berries and other plants in it.' Woohyun beamed, pleased that she liked it. 'It's a special dish we make for traditional events.' Yeonjung hadn't been to a traditional event yet, even though there had been a few throughout the six months she was with them. Dongwoo, Hoya, and L always managed to find a way to make sure she had no idea it was happening. 'The spice is coming from the leaves you don't like. When they are boiled, they don't taste bitter anymore.'

‘We should leave her alone for the next while.’ Dongwoo stood up, not looking at her. ‘Her leg still needs to heal.’

‘It does,’ Sunggyu said in agreement. His lips curled into a small smirk, as if he were hiding a secret from everyone else. ‘We should let her relax.’ He looked at Yeonjung with a smile. ‘Welcome back, Yeonjung.’ As he walked out of the room, the others got up and followed him out, Woohyun smiled at her as he left, Sungyeol said goodbye, and Dongwoo scowled as he left, not sparing a glance at her.

‘Thank you.’ She whispered, clutching the wooden bowl in her hands. Unlike the others, Sungjong got up then sat down beside her.

‘You look tired.’ His voice was low, and sounded awkward to the two of them.

‘So do you.’ Yeonjung’s lips quirked lopsidedly, not sure how to react to the nervous air they had. She nibbled on her lip as she played with the food left in the bowl.

‘I’m sorry.’ Sungjong’s nose scrunched up as he looked at his hands. ‘I shouldn’t have made you go down to the forest floor.’ He played with his fingers, looking like he was ready to bolt out of the room. ‘I got in a lot of trouble.’ Yeonjung was used to people saying that as a way of saying that they had paid their penance, that because they got in trouble they should be forgiving instantly. But the way Sungjong said it, it seemed more like he felt even worse. That he felt the consequences weren’t enough for what he had done, that he didn’t think he should be forgiven yet. He still sounded guilty.

‘It’s okay.’ Yeonjung lightly squashed a berry in between her fingers. ‘It’s a good thing it happened.’ She ignored his confused look. ‘Going back reminded me of everything that I had left.’ Sungjong’s face fell and seemed to darken with regret. It was obvious that he was worried that he had caused her to long for the human world, that she would leave them now, and completely sever herself from the world of the Fae.

‘We’re better than them.’ Sungjong crossed his arms. ‘They’re evil, and not good at all. They’re dangerous and are destroying the world around them.’ He was acting childish, he knew. It was simple jealousy that made him want to insult the humans. Because maybe she would see it, maybe she would agree with him, and maybe, she would stay.

‘They say the same thing about you.’ Yeonjung felt a small smile pull at her lips as an offended look flashed across his face.

‘It’s not the same,’ he said dejectedly. Sungjong had already resigned himself to his own truth, that Yeonjung was leaving again.

‘It’s not.’ She agreed. She shuffled awkwardly on the bed, avoiding looking at him. What could she say to him? Yeonjung didn’t even really know what she felt. Grimacing, she ate another acorn, preferring the loud crunching noises to the silence that was filling the room.

‘Do you like us?’ Sungjong’s voice cracked, showing his discomfort with the situation. Not that either of them needed any more evidence.

 'Of course I do!' Yeonjung scowled and collapsed against the wall. She couldn't believe that she was acting in such a way that he doubted that. There was no possible way that she would dislike Sungjong. Which she just couldn't understand. How could she feel amiable with him when she was so fed-up with her had-been family that she was okay with running away from that like she had. Sighing heavily, Yeonjung played with her fingers. She focused on the faint juice stains that were on her fingers from the berries she ate earlier.

 ‘What’s wrong.’ Sungjong frowned, looking at her with concern.

 ‘I’m just conflicted. But don’t worry about it. I’ll have it figured out soon.’ Yeonjung shot him a hesitant smile before nibbling on her lips. Sungjong scratched his cheek slowly, watching as far too many emotions flashed through her face. He could guess what she was struggling with, but it wasn’t something he knew how to solve. The two fell into silence. Neither had the things they wanted answered, but neither tried to delve deeper either. Instead they remained in each other's presence for support.