Hyunsu woke up in a panic, shooting up off the bed she was on. ‘Where am I?’ She looked around the room slowly, gulping at the unfamiliar surroundings, the room smelt different from home instead of herbs and smoke it smelt of books and trees, a lot like how Sooki smelt. The room was round, the whole place was wood almost as if the room was carved into a tree, it was also immaculate. There were books neatly stacked in a bookcase, as well as some strange plants that reminded her of herbs that were growing on the window ledge. Hyunsu could feel the cold chill of panic set in when she looked out the window, all she could see was trees.

 ‘What happened?’ Hyunsu backed away the window, before looking at the door. ‘Are they leaving me to die?’ She looked at the door, her eyes widening in confusion, there was no knob. How could they open a door without a knob? Was this some kind of fancy prison? Hyunsu jumped back in surprise when the door suddenly opened. She glanced around the room and grabbed a book as a weapon, her eyebrows furrowed seeing weird scribbles on it before she dismissed it, instead watching as a male walked in.

 The Fae was wearing a green sleevless shirt and black pants. The shirt had what looked like a heavy black belt and there was a black mask hanging on it, a similar design to the Fae who had saved her from the bear. He crossed his arms over his chest, the muscles in his biceps tensing intimidatingly as he glared at her, his thick lips were set into a scowl. She felt tied between marveling at how beautiful he was and screaming from fear. She fell between the two into a fearful curiosity. His cheekbones were high set like walls between his long nose. His shaggy dark brown hair was carelessly swept to the side, giving it a messy look. She felt as if a spell had been cast on her as she looked into his narrowed brown eyes, while she was rendered immobile by his strange Fae magic she could almost hear the loud thumping of her heart as it pounded faster.

 ‘I can’t believe I have to deal with this…...brat.’ He walked towards her slowly as she stepped back, aiming the book at his head. She had no idea what he said, even if she could understand Nymphean she didn’t know if she would be able comprehend him.

 ‘Let me go or I’ll throw this at you! I mean it.’ She hissed, her voice soft and non threatening, she imagined it was a result of the spell he had cast, not realising that it was simply her own human hormones that controlled her not his magic.

 His eyes narrowed, before he tsked rolling his eyes. He hated the sound of the human language, so rough and barbaric. It was giving him a headache to hear the late starter shriek it.

 Hyunsu frowned, her grip loosening as she continued staring at his eyes, feeling an unshakable urging that she knew those eyes, they looked familiar. The only way they could be would be familiar was if, her mind immediately leapt to the night before when she witnessed the Fae in the torchlight, ‘you’re the guy that hurt Kwan!’ She tightened her hold on the book aiming to throw it at him again, the spell broken from the memories of Kwans broken body.

  He scoffed and grabbed the book from her hand, easily ripping it out of her grasp. He placed it onto the desk carefully, grabbing her hand when she tried to hit him. ‘You can’t just throw books around you uneducated larva!’ He hissed confusing the oblivious human girl even more.

 ‘I don’t understand!’ Hyunsu tried pulling her hand out of his grip, wincing in pain as he tightened his hold. He sighed exasperated before pushing her onto the bed.

 ‘Dongwoo,’ he pointed to himself before crossing his arms, watching as she stared at him blankly, he was ready to throw her off the platform. Dongwoo didn’t like being with idiots, but at least they spoke the same tongue, this girl was another story. He scoffed and rolled his eyes, glaring at the clueless girl in front of him.

 ‘Is that your name?’ She frowned, looking away from his angry eyes. ‘It’s not my fault I’m a human.’ She jumped in surprise when he started growling.

 ‘Human! Of course, are you using that as an excuse? Poor me I was raised by humans? Or are you wanting to go back to that hellhole, to rot in their dead morales and ignorant ways!’ Dongwoo started ranting in Nymphean, leaving Hyunsu wide eyed and mystified. The only thing she caught was human, and she was sure he wasn’t complimenting them.

‘Okay, touchy subject.’ She watched him look at the window before grabbing her wrist, pulling her out of the room. ‘Hey! Stop it!’ Dongwoo closed his eyes resisting the urge to sap shut, he really couldn’t stand her voice it grated on him more than the shrill speech of the Dokkaebi. Dongwoo watched unamused as Hyunsu tried pulling away from him, shrieking when she almost fell off of the platform. She looked down it, going pale as she stepped back bumping into him, she couldn’t even see the ground just branches, leaves, and vines. ‘Where am I?’

  He ignored her, instead jumping up, grabbing a branch and pulling himself onto it, before staring at her expectantly. fell open as she stared at him in disbelief.

 ‘You can’t be expecting that I’ll do that,’ she spoke weakly almost shivering from his annoyed glare. ‘No,’ she waved her hands in the air, ‘I won’t, can’t!’ He stared at her blankly before gesturing for her to get onto the branch. ‘Okay, fine, I’ll try,’ seeing no other choice she went onto her tip toes as she tried to reach the branch, her fingers didn’t even scrape the bottom. She could hear a quiet scoff before she glared up at him.

 For Dongwoo grabbing a branch was the easiest thing there was, their whole colony was situated in the trees. Climbing was one of the first things a child was taught. He watched as she stuck her tongue out in concentration, jumping up and barely grabbing the branch before her hand slipped off.

 She jumped in surprise when he dropped down beside her, ‘you are like a baby! Even a child can grab a branch!’ She froze when he suddenly slung her over his shoulder.

 ‘Put me down! Put me down!’ She shrieked when he jumped up, swinging himself onto the main bridge. She grunted when he dropped her down onto the bridge roughly. ‘Aish, really,’ she glared at him as she pushed herself up off of the bridge.

 ‘Thank you,’’ he muttered before scoffing at the blank look he received. ‘Thank. You.’ Dongwoo spoke slower and mimed the bowing he had seen humans do, his mouth pulling into a scowl at the dark look he got back.

 ‘You’re not seriously saying I should say thank you!’ She clicked her tongue and scowled at him as he scowled back. Without warning he planted his hand on her head and made her bow.

 ‘Say thank you, larva, thank. You.’ He enunciated the words again, as clearly as he could.

‘No! I won’t!’ She crossed her arms her stubbornness leaving as soon as she saw the dark stare he was sending her.

 He growled and he grabbed her pendant waving it around, ‘you are a disgrace! You don’t have manners, and you sympathize with those mongrels, don’t you!?’ He snapped at her before he dropped it and forced her head down again.

 Hyunsu stuttered out a repetition of what he was saying, her thanks sounding garbled and fearful. Dongwoo nodded slowly but his displeased expression told her clearly that she did not make him happy, nor did she pronounce it correctly. He walked by her leaving her behind with a scowl and a bitter taste in .

 Hyunsu trailed behind him quietly as she silently berated herself,she couldn’t believe that she just mouthed off to a Fae. She paused and looked at the pendant remembering what Sooki told her, as long as she wore it she would be safe. No matter how much he hated her, he wouldn’t kill her, or so she hoped. Hyunsu ignored those morbid thoughts and decided instead to stare at his back with narrowed eyes, ‘how long am I expected to be here? Aren’t they going to toss me out soon? Just because I’m protected that doesn’t mean they would keep me here.’

The Fae looked over his shoulders giving her an exasperated look ‘you’re moving like a slug, do I have to drag you?’ She huffed and kept her eyes to the ground as she caught up to him assuming that his cutting tone was an insult to her speed. He roughly grabbed her arm and pulled her beside him, ‘you think I want you walking behind me? I can’t trust a late starter like you.’

 ‘What did I do now?’ She followed beside him, falling open as she looked out at the forest. It was like a whole village was situated in the trees, there were bridges below and above her along with multiple platforms and thick smooth branches. She looked up to the top of the trees exhaling in delight at the beauty of the sunlight streaming through the large leaves, casting the area with a faint green glow.

 Dongwoo halted in his tracks, preparing to yell at her again until he saw the wonder in her wide eyes. ‘Beautiful,’ he spoke the word he thought matched her thoughts, pointing up at the trees, before looking at her, pointing to his heart then their surroundings.

 ‘Love?’ She tilted her head confused, watching as he pointed to his eyes, heart then surroundings saying the word again. ‘Beautiful?’ She repeated the words he said slowly.

 He sighed and frowned at her before speaking again, ‘beau-ti-ful.’ She spoke again miming the way his mouth moved as best she could.

 He nodded then continued walking, ignoring her. Without notice he jumped off of the bridge onto a platform and walked into the carving in the wall, leaving her behind. Hyunsu looked around before walking to the edge of the bridge, eying the large gap. ‘This is impossible, does he think I’m a Nymph? I mean really, do I look superhuman?’ She looked over the edge, shivering at the distance to the ground before looking at the platform.

 She shrieked when someone suddenly picked her up in his arms before running and leaping into the air. She flung her arms around their neck in panic, squeezing her eyes closed. She breathed out a sigh of relief, slowly opening her eyes when she felt the thump of the person hitting the platform.

 Hyunsu was instantly met with the staggered laughter of the Fae as he let go of her, she was tied between yelling at him and thanking him for helping her get over. She instead thought back to what the grouchy one had taught her and tried to say it, hoping he taught her the proper word she spoke it slowly. He clapped his gloved hands together, as his teardrop like eyes squinted from his smile.

 ‘You’re already learning? Dongwoo is already teaching you right? I was worried he would have left you for the wild animals or something by now.’ He nodded and spoke quickly in Nymphean leading Hyunsu into thinking he was celebrating the use of a simple word. Or maybe the fact that she wasn’t about to scream at him, she didn’t know and wouldn’t be able to tell. He pointed to himself suddenly and spoke, ‘Sungyeol.’ This much she was sure of, he was introducing himself, and that was at least a little bit of a reassurance, she didn’t understand much else of what was happening. She would have expected the Fae to have killed a human like her, pendant or not.

 ‘Sungyeol?’ Hyunsu tilted her head and nodded before pointing to herself, ‘Hyunsu.’

 ‘Hyunsu?’ He smiled revealing his perfect white teeth. He bowed and took her hand, kissing the backside of her hand, ‘I am pleased to meet you.’

 ‘So you’ve met the larva already?’

  Sungyeol laughed and pinched her cheek, ‘larva? How could you call such a cute late starter like this a larva?’ Hyunsu frowned and slapped his hand away before rubbing her cheek.

 ‘What was that for?’ She huffed and looked at him funny, nobody pinched each others cheeks, was this some strange form of punishment? Hyunsu was convinced she did something wrong.

 ‘Ah,’ Sungyeol pointed at Hyunsu suddenly, shocking her, ‘Hyunsu,’ he pointed to his brother, ‘Dongwoo.’ Dongwoo scowled and his heel before entering the tree. Sungyeol blinked and watched him before snickering and walking into the tree.

 Hyunsu straightened her dress and looked into the tree   falling agape at the large room inside. Inside of the room were multiple tables but the only table that had people, already had seven people sitting there. ‘Hyunsu!’ She froze watching as Sungyeol waved to her from the table, beckoning her over. Walking slowly towards the table she froze in her tracks, it was like looking at seven gods. The Nymphs have always been more attractive than humans, she recognised their attractiveness when she first saw them, but with the seven of them together it was like an overload of her senses. Even with their masks on and their bodies covered they exuded a type of charisma that was hard to ignore.

 ‘Hyunsu,’ one of the more excited ones got up and ran towards her, his eyes were opened wide and shining with excitement as he grabbed her arm and dragged her to the table. He pushed her down onto the cushion beside him then sat down and pointed to himself, drawing her attention to him, as she had already gathered he was far more attractive than any human she had encountered in the village. His jaw was defined, encompassing his feminine features perfectly. His black feather like hair was short, but his bangs were longer, lightly brushed up off his forehead. ‘Sungjong!’ Despite looking feminine with his softly shaped face his smile was almost sinister with the way it lifted and his piercing obsidian eyes were sparked with arrogance and strength. He was most definitely a Fae and she feared what he might be able to do to prove it.

 ‘Sungjong?’ She repeated, feeling uncomfortable by her observations.

 He nodded, smiling at her before he pointed to the other happy looking one, ‘Woohyun.’ Woohyun was dressed in all black, it took her a moment to recognize the thin vest he had on. Once she did she came to the realisation he was the one that was sticking the knife in her face the first time they met. Since his mask was removed she was able to see his sharp jaw and his bright smile. While Sungjongs large slanted eyes were the most attractive part, Woohyun’s smile was what captivated her, it was bright and alluring, almost as if he was promising the world. Woohyun’s dark hair was neatly brushed to the side, looking similar to what the scholars looked like in the books Sooki read. Next Sungjong pointed to the stoic one at the head of the table.

 ‘Sunggyu,’ the quiet one introduced himself, his small eyes were watching her carefully, as if he wasn’t quite sure what to make of her. His eyes were far smaller than the eyes of the other Fae but were by no means impossible to look in. Hyunsu could see the swirling colour of his brown orbs that flowed within itself making it seem like an impossible myrid of emotion was being contained. Like the first two he was abnormally attractive, but his looks were not so much the defining feature as the inexplicable way she felt drawn to him.

 ‘Next is Hoya,’ she gulped at the hateful glare he was sending her, he was certainly matching what she thought a Fae would act like. Like the flower that shared his namesake he was like a sculpture with a sharp chiseled jaw and thick eyebrows that rested above dark thoughtful brown eyes. ‘L.’ He then pointed to the other angry looking one, his face was just as hard as Hoya’s but unlike the first the corners of his lips were partially upturned, as if he was sharing a scornful joke about her. She gulped, feeling a shiver go down her spine at his harsh glare, although he was frightfully intimidating he exuded a powerful enticing aura.

 ‘I don’t want to be near this thing,’ Hoya stood up ready to leave before Sunggyu forcefully pulled him back down, showing his dominance as the leader of the group.

 ‘I call it a larva,’ Dongwoo spoke up, causing Hoya to smirk, breaking his blank facade. Hyunsu watched their interactions with narrowed eyes, she was confident they were insulting her, after all what could cause such a menacing person to smirk?

 ‘Stop insulting her, it’s not her fault she was kidnapped. So stop projecting your hatred for humans onto her.’ Sunggyu crossed his arms before staring at Hyunsu blankly.

 ‘Did I do something?’ Hyunsu stared at the group wide eyed flinching when Sungyeol suddenly started pinching her cheek.

 ‘Look at this face! Larva aren’t like this!’ He cooed oblivious to Hyunsu’s growing belief that it was in fact a punishment.

 ‘Larva are more attractive,’ L piped up joining the conversation. ‘Can a Nymph be that ugly?’

 ‘She’s a late start,’ Sungjong scolded. ‘She’s pretty for having human like features though. Not even a single point,’ he pinched the top of her ear, causing her to yelp and rub it.

 ‘Why do you guys keep pinching me! What am I doing wrong!’ She crossed her arms, glaring at the newest perpetrator.

 ‘Leave her alone,’ Woohyun scanned the table before standing up, ‘the Clan Mother will wish to see the late starter later on today. We must be prepared and have her proper, that includes language and dress. Dongwoo, you will need to take her to some Nymphs to prepare her.’ Hyunsu watched as Dongwoo smiled for the first time, she almost wished he hadn’t from how chilling it was.

 ‘I’ll make sure she gets to where she needs to go,’ he reassured Woohyun as he looked at the Fae proclaimed late starter. ‘Larva!’ Hyunsu jolted already associating herself with the insulting name.

 ‘I’ll take her,’ Sunggyu stood up brushing off his tight black pants. Hyunsu stared at him wide eyed her mind temporarily blanking, the Fae style was extremely different from her villages. Where in her village it was more simple belts, loose pants and tunics the Fae had more tight fitting clothing. Which really made sense, with the amount of tree climbing they did loose clothing would get caught on everything a lot easier. Of course all it did for her was send her gaze straight to his form. She gulped and looked away focusing her gaze on the ground as her cheeks flushed, it would certainly need getting used to, she had never really seen a mans legs before, it was obvious they would look like legs of course but nothing could be seen under their clothing.

 ‘Yah!’ Hyunsu jumped looking at the dark eyed male that was actually growling at her. ‘Get up!’ She frowned at him, and looked back at the small eyed one with nice legs.

 ‘Hoya, leave her alone,’ Sunggyu held out his hand to her, offering for her to take it. She stared at his long slender fingers wondering why exactly he was extending his hand to her before she became distracted, admiring the lack of callouses on on his smooth hands. Hyunsu looked down at her own hands, her nose wrinkling as she looked at the callouses that adorned them, like grass in a field there was no part of her hand that was free of them. ‘Hyunsu?’

  Immediately she looked up at him, feeling her heart jump at the way her name rolled off his tongue. His lips broke into the first smile she had seen on his face as his eyes shone with amusement, he had already caught on that the human society was not hands on. He grabbed her hand, shocking her as he lightly pulled her off the ground and towards the platform. Hyunsu’s mouth fell agape as she stared at his hand clasping hers, she couldn’t fathom why he was touching her, couldn’t he just have nodded his head to the door? That is what anyone else would have done.

 ‘Good luck with the larva!’ Hoya called after them, Hyunsu knew Hoya was insulting her and Sunggyu assumed she could hear the heavy derogatory tone in the other man's voice took it upon himself to squeeze her hand in a sign of comfort, sending the girls mind reeling as to what exactly it means when someone squeezes another hand. As soon as Hyunsu’s feet touched the darker brown wood that signaled the start of the platform her gaze moved once again to the terrifying gap.

 ‘Hyunsu,’ Sunggyu spoke soothingly, his voice calming her fear, until she looked again down the branches, still she could not see the ground. ‘You’re not going to fall,’ he took her hand in his again, tugging her closer to the edge.

 ‘I’m not going to make it, I would not survive such a fall,’ she started pulling at the stray strings on her dress, she tugged at a string, feeling a small release when it came apart from her dress, letting go of the brown string she watched it flying free in the faint breeze. She watched as Sunggyu easily leapt across the gap before suddenly she felt two hands press into her backside, pushing her right off the edge. opened in a silent scream of horror as she plummeted down towards the thick branches. She could feel her heart beat thumping in her chest roughly, almost as if it was fighting to get out. Without warning Sunggyu appeared below her, barely moving as he caught her. He looked up towards the platform, glaring at the perpetrator. L just smirked down at his elder brother before turning and walking into the tree.

 ‘You’re alright,’ Sunggyu started dropping her arms to let her down but Hyunsu wrapped her arms around his neck, clinging to him as she buried her head into his chest breathing deeply as she tried to calm her racing heart, it hurt her chest that her heart was pounding so much. She squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to forget the overwhelming terror. ‘You are okay, you’re safe. Aish, L you must have been raised by Dokkaebi,’ he scowled as he walked along the branch to a bridge that was at the same height as it. He jumped across, hypervigilant of the tightening of the terrified late starters hold. He could hear the pounding of her chest and her deep breathes were loud and uncomfortable for him.

 Hyunsu slowly opened her eyes, feeling a wave of exhaustion flood through her leaving her body heavy and stiff as she hesitantly looked out to the trees. Shuddering she looked back at Sunggyu’s shirt before her eyes trailed up to look at him. Despite having to catch her he carried her easily, he wasn’t impatient with her and his face didn’t look bitter at all. If anything she would describe his look as serene, as if nothing that had just happened had fazed him at all. 'We're almost there, then you can calm down,' he smiled at her his words instilling her with a sense of confidence, despite not understanding a single word he said

 'Where are you taking me?' Hyunsu watched as he walked onto a small path that sprouted from the bridge reminding her of the leaves that grow off of a tree's branches. He showed no response, deciding to remain quiet rather than encourage her speaking her foul language. 'Can you let me down?' He blinked and looked down at her watching as she nodded to the ground. 'Down?' Nodding in understanding Sunggyu let Hyunsu stand on the path.

 'Down,' he spoke the same word in Nymphean, catching her attention. He pointed to the ground before repeating the word, 'down.'

 'D-down,' she repeated him as best she could, watching as he nodded his head in approval before he continued walking, his steps mesmerized her with how natural they looked. Looking down at her own feet as she followed him she became aware of how rough and barbaric her own motions looked compare to his.

 'Sunggyu! Is this the late starter?' Hyunsu's thoughts pulled to a stop as she heard the melodious voice of a female Fae from behind her.

 'Minhee.....' Sunggyu sighed heavily, pivoting on his heel so he could face the Nymph.

 'Why are you taking her that way? Our place is the other way,' Hyunsu turned around to look at the new person, only to have her face drained of colour. Right in front of her was the most beautiful Nymph she had ever seen. The Nymph had bright green eyes that fit perfectly into her face, looking like the main jewels on a crown. Her nose was delicate and small, the bottom of it was shaped like a button, adding a cute air to her sophisticated look. And her hair was soft looking, her brown hair was tied in a bun, her bangs hung in ringlets around her face, emphasizing her narrow jaw line. Her outfit was just as form fitting as the ones the males were wearing, with an identical black mask hanging off her belt.

 'Because I'm not letting her be corrupted by you and your sister,' Hyunsu did not need to see Sunggyu walk up beside her to know he was there. His presence was tangible beside her, filling her with a warmth like the sun, comforting and calm.

 'Corrupted? You're assuming we will actually like her?' Hyunsu could feel the terse undertone beneath the womans words. Holding her tongue Hyunsu looked out at the trees, once again marveling in it's foreign beauty. She had never actually seen trees such as those before, so she decided to focus all her attention on them as the two spoke. While they argued about who was right she was admiring the way the bark was erected in lumps running up the tree. Looking closer she could see little bugs scurrying up and down the tree eager to get where they could.

 'No, I'm assuming you'll make her bitter to her own kind,' Sunggyu sighed, glancing over at the late starter, his eyes dropped tiredly, making his pupils barely visible to any watcher. He heard Minhee's scoff at the childlike awe that was making the late starters eyes so bright.

 'Has she never seen bugs before? Is it really that shocking?'

 'Do not forget your place, sister,' Suggyu glared at her, his impatience growing with every second wasted on the younger Fae. 'You were once like her, and after being suppressed by the humans for so long I would think you would be encouraging her fascination with our world.' Hyunsu glanced back at them before looking back at the tree, watching as a creature started slithering it's way up the base. It had no legs just a head and what seemed to be a long tail, it's whole body looked scaled and vaguely resembled the dragons she saw on the tapestry at her village.

 'Then let me understand her, let my sister and I prepare her for the audience with the Clan Mother,' Hyunsu's mouth opened into a small o as she watched a forked tongue poke out of it's mouth as it stopped to stare at her with small beady eyes. She reached out her hand towards it and watched as it lifted it's head, the head bobbing in the air as it stared at her, inching towards her outstretched hand.

 'No, it is not happening, I will take her to see the All mother, she will take care of her.' Hyunsu watched as it suddenly moved it's head, wrapping itself around her arm. She shakily lifted her other hand, the scales on it's head. Instantly she felt the cool firm rifts of the scales beneath her fingers as it hissed at her, it's red tongue poking again. Sunggyu looked towards Hyunsu hearing the sound before his eyes widened and he silently choked in disbelief.

 'What?' Minhee followed his gaze before she threw her head back in loud laughter. Hyunsu watched as it's body tensed, wrapping tighter around her arm before it opened it's mouth hissing louder, revealing two large ivory fangs. 'I guess the problem is solved, if she dies today there won't be any debate as to who prepares her.' Sunggyu glared at the amused Nymph before he stepped closer to Hyunsu, stopping as the snake drew in closer to Hyunsu, it's grip starting to turn Hyunsu's arm white.

 'Are you afraid of it?' Hyunsu blinked at looked at it, wondering why they looked so tense, she had never seen such a creature before and honestly she thought it was kind of cute. She looked at her arm marveling at it's strength, it didn't hurt all too bad but it was changing the colour of her skin.

 'Hyunsu, put the snake down,' Hyunsu recognized only two words of that sentence, her name and down. She looked over at the strange creature then back at Sunggyu, she couldn't understand why he wanted to put it down, it was just surprised at the other Fae's loud voice. Reluctantly she crouched to the ground and put her hand on the ground, waiting for the snake to get off. Instead it continued swaying it's head in the air, seemingly aware of Hyunsu's reluctance to set it free.

 'But it's cute,' she smiled and lightly the snake's head looking up when she heard Sunggyu's strangled cry.

 'Hyunsu,' he closed his eyes and breathed deeply, questioning as to why he was presented with such burdens, before he opened them again. 'Please put the snake down.'

 'But it doesn't want to go down,' she spoke the last word in Nymphean as she stood, smiling at the reptile that stared back at her blankly.

 'Alright, the girl has a death wish,' Minhee nodded her head slowly before grinning, 'she clearly was meant to meet us.' Minhee walked towards Hyunsu and grabbed her free hand, pulling her in the opposite direction Sunggyu was leading her,  not caring if she caused the late starter to be bit. Sunggyu went to reach out to her, pulling back his hand when the snake stared at him. He sighed resigned before following them, there really was nothing he could do now. He could very well just take the bite but he didn't want to have to deal with the swelling, headaches, nausea, or slurring that came with it, it just simply wasn't worth it. After all if the late starter was unable to realise that a snake was poisonous he wondered just how long it would take to teach her any common sense at all.

 'What is it?' Hyunsu looked back at Sunggyu while she nodded at the snake.

 'Snake,' he stared at the creature before sighing and pulling a knife out of his belt.

 'Snake,' she chirped, learning the word faster than any of the other ones previously. As soon as the snake's gaze left his he lunged forwards and sliced the head right off the snake sending blood splattering onto Hyunsu's dress. Within moments she paled and her lips jutted out into a pout as her eyes started to burn, joined with the natural shine that came with tears. 'Why did you kill it!?' She watched as it's body limply fell off her arm, landing with a splat in the crimson pool that was created by the decapitated head.

 'Let's go,' Sunggyu stepped over the snake's body, grabbing her hand as he pulled her away, ignorant to the pooling tears.

 'You killed it!'

 'Oh dear,' Minhee smiled watching as Sunggyu looked back at the girl, stiffening when he saw her holding back tears. Sunggyu had never had really had to deal with real crying before, he had experienced Sungjong's tears many times as the Nix always tried to manipulate them with tears, but never had he ever encountered real tears caused by real distress. In fact it was far too real for him, sending a pleading look to the female behind him, he deflated seeing the excited smirk plastered on her face, she would be no help. If anything she would make it worse.

 'What?' Sunggyu frowned at her watching as her lip trembled as she tried to control herself. she tried telling herself it was just a snake, she tried telling herself it wasn't a human and that she shouldn't be feeling this upset. She had after all dealt with many dead animals, her brother was a hunter. But to her it felt like it was the only thing that understood her, it felt like it was sympathising with her and telling her she was going to be okay. She shouldn't have been surprised that just like they had taken her away from her home, they had also taken away her one source of comfort.

 'How could you?' Hyunsu crossed her arms and glared at him.

 'Let's go,' Sunggyu went to take her arm to lead her again but she pulled away, her trembling lips pursing together into an angry frown.

 'I'm not going anywhere with you!' Minhee watched as Sunggyu stared at her looking extremely befuddled, he had no idea how to respond. Hyunsu was unaware in his discomfort, she was much too absorbed in her own troubles, her own mind still focused on the crimson pool that held the separated unit of what was the snake.

 'I guess she is coming with me,' Minhee smirked at Sunggyu the pride of her conquest over him was visible from the quirk of her eyebrow right down to the superior pose of her frame. Sunggyu breathed in, his nose flaring as he tried to ignore the amount of disrespect he was receiving from both Nymphs, he almost wished that he had allowed Dongwoo to take her so he wouldn't have to deal with the nonsense of it all. Though at the same time Dongwoo would have left her for dead, or even enticed the snake into biting her.

  'Come along, late starter,' Minhee smiled at Hyunsu, waving towards the path she planned to take her originally. Hyunsu looked at Sunggyu with an accusing gaze before she rubbed her eyes with her palms, relieving her face of all traces of the previous tears before she walked over to Minhee, choosing her over the Fae to her right.

 'She's got absolutely no common sense,' Sunggyu scoffed, ignoring the annoyance that was bubbling within him. Despite supporting the late starter, and even saving her life she turned from him and choose one of the least trustworthy Fae he knows. Hyunsu glanced behind her, hearing his weighted speech, rolling her eyes at him she willing continued following Minhee along the path, stopping when it ran out, the end bordered by a large tree.

 Minhee jumped onto the tree, latching onto the bark as she started climbing down towards the ground. Hyunsu stared, her eyes wide in shock before she looked down the direction Minhee was climbing, there was absolutely no way she could see the ground from their height. 'We aren't climbing all the way to the ground, are we?' She looked back at Sunggyu, not having forgotten his acts against her, but she knew he was at least more reliable than the athletic Nymph that was content to slowly climb down to the bottom.

 'What?' Still hurt from her previous actions he glared at her, watching as she looked back at Minhee. Hyunsu watched in fascinated horror as Minhee pressed herself against the tree before vaulting herself off and onto a vine, clutching onto it Minhee slid down, disappearing in the foliage the further she got. Sunggyu blinked, staring at her as she inched towards him, staring at the edge with apprehension. Unable to hold in his amusement he smiled and shook his head and crouched, surprising Hyunsu.

 'What are you doing?' He ignored her question and pulled her onto his back, she barely had time to grab onto him before he ran and jumped at the vine Minhee had climbed down to. Hyunsu shrieked as her feet dangled in the air, limply hitting the back of his legs as he slid down the vine. Sunggyu let go of the vine with one hand, terrifying her as he grabbed her foot and moved it so it was around his waist. Hyunsu followed his lead with her other foot, her dress riding up as she pressed herself against his back to avoid the leaves that were whipping into her face as they slid down into the foliage. Hyunsu squeezed her eyes shut out of fear as she listening to the erie squeaking sound of his gloves against the vine.

 With a thump Sunggyu's feet hit the ground, shakily Hyunsu let go of him. She rubbed her arms as she looked up into the trees. She couldn't see the village from here, it was completely hidden from view. Gulping Hyunsu slowly looked around at their surroundings, being on the bottom of the forest was far more scary than the village; the sun was almost completely blotted out by the leaves only faint glimmers of sunlight made it through casting random hints of gold on the dark ferns that littered the ground. She jumped as a creature scurried across the ground, it looked like a moving lump of brown fur. Leaning down towards it she stared at it wide eyed, shrieking in shock when it stopped and hissed at her, opening it's mouth to reveal sharp teeth.

 'Fine with a snake scared of a gerbil,' Sunggyu shook his head, feeling a growing interest in the late starter. Sunggyu was honestly quite neutral about her, he felt an obligation to help her because she was a Nymph but that was about it, it simply was and thus he would deal with her as he had to. But he was finding himself more and more fascinated with her, she was quite strange. He watched as she stepped back from the gerbil as it approached her. Sunggyu decided to take care of it for her so he walked towards it, quickly the creature him, and started running towards him. He could hear Hyunsu's frantic gibberish, warning him against the creature, ignoring her he sped up and kicked the gerbil, watching as it flew into the air and landed in a bush quite a ways away.

 'See?' He motioned to the bush the gerbil landed in, 'harmless.' Sunggyu watched fall open in shock before she opened and closed , speechless. He was expecting an explosive reaction like what she had to the snake but she merely, tilted her head, narrowing her eyes as she absorbed what happened. Next thing he knew she nodded slowly before walking by him so she could follow after Minhee who was waiting further down the unidentifiable path. Sunggyu smiled and followed after her his mind whirring with possibilities of how she would act in other situations, his curiosity with her wouldn't be sated until he knew just how this strange foreign mind worked.