The scarce flame threatened to flicker out as the scented candle cried thick tears of wax, ending its long wick since being lit late evening. It was a cold and misty night, where the moon was blocked by heavy clouds that were evenly spread, and droplets of vapor formed a barrier between the glass windows and the forest outside. A sign that rain was about to arrive, the sounds of animals were strangely muted, causing an unnatural silence to take place.

Despite the horrid weather, wood was being fed continuously to the fireplace, trying to save the surrounding temperature from dropping any further. The young girl was glad to have her fingers numb after hours at work with the needle and thread. It made the process of sewing quicker without any clumsiness provided she kept her focus at the repeating routine. Occasionally, she rummaged through the kit for an extra pin or scissors, portraying an image of a seamstress or that of a mother.

However, there was also a certain rascal who felt mischievous, and he blew near her right ear to disrupt her concentration. She cringed and curled up with an irritated smile on her face, feeling ticklish all of a sudden.

“Sungyeol-oppa!” She reprimanded sternly.

“Hey, it’s not my fault!” he shrugged his shoulders childishly. “You’re supposed to be in bed at this hour.”

“I know,” she cut the end of the short white thread and tied it into a simple knot.

“Right on time since I’ve just finished putting your shirt together. Plus, our parents are not even home yet.”       

The older boy flipped the clothe back and front to inspect her job. There was hardly a fault in the neat and tidy threadwork. Laying the material on his front, he was sure that the alteration was made to fit him. She closed the sewing box and placed it in the drawer, similar to a child putting away her toys after playing with them.

Lifting her up and swinging her around the kitchen randomly before placing her on the table top, she cut her thoughts about how playful and kiddy he was, going back to her worries and concern.

“I wonder why they’re not back yet.”  

Gulping down a glass of water, she flexed her hands and blocked the yawn from her internal alarm clock, wishing the front door would open to reveal a young but loving couple back from their evening stroll. It was getting too late and the path back into their secluded and isolated home would be unrecognizable if it rained. She could already smell the mixture between soil and moisture, it was normal to be worried.

And lately, she had felt a disturbing sensation in her chest, almost as if her heart was burning at an impossibly high degree of heat that it hurt and knocked her unconscious at first. Sometimes, it froze like ice and sent shots of slow pain to her eyes from her heart, prompting her to look back as if she’d sensed that someone was watching her. Sungyeol couldn’t help but notice her being paranoid, and he couldn’t stop questioning her wellbeing for the whole week.

“Your necklace!”

She glanced down at the gemstone around her hung low around her slender neck and gasped, dropping her glass on the solid floor. The small piece of obsidian was flashing light weakly with a dull color, as if warning her about danger that was coming. After all, the significance of that precious volcanic glass was not only for protection and invigoration, but also for clear vision and to see into the future.   

Just then, the door finally burst open with Sungyeol taking his battle stance protectively in front the girl. His body relaxed when realization about who it was emerging from the entrance hit him. Their parents were hastily locking the door behind them while catching breaths and grabbing their gear from beside the dying fireplace. Fear and sullenness were recorded all over their young faces as they mumbled a private but incoherent discussions, making the younger ones confused and even more afraid than they were already are.

“Mother!”

The middle-aged woman turned her head to their direction, as if their existence was only remembered when they called out with unison voices. A hand reached up to cover as she caught sight of the glowing pendant on her daughter.

“Oh my god, it’s true.”

“What’s true?!? What’s happening mo-“

“Stop asking questions, there’s no time to explain!” Their father put an arm around her trembling shoulders to calm her down. She was losing the grip on her prized weapon, a pair of whips that was rarely shown or used. It felt foreign to see a baker holding something as fatal and violent rather than sourdoughs and flours. 

“Sungyeol, take your sister upstairs. You know what to do.” He ordered clearly.

She was dragged quickly to his dark bedroom upstairs, where only dim lights were refracted from the cloudy sky into the room that smelled like him. He left her standing dumbfounded in the middle of the space, desperately searching for equipments in the drawer she wasn’t allowed to peek into.

Her brother stripped himself of the long white cotton shirt he was wearing, revealing a thin, fair body and started to her top. She blushed furiously, feeling embarrassed that his thumb drove a line down the middle of her body. Her hands landed on his, expression obviously disgusted and disapproving.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

He looked at her longingly for more than a second before remembering his status as her older brother. Grudgingly but not complaining, he shoved his shirt into her hands and knelt down on his knees, lifting her left leg to put it through a thigh belt.

“Wear my shirt.”

She took the order simple enough and started to put her arms through the three-quarter sleeve, trying not to shudder and balance herself as Sungyeol ran his blacksmith hands up her thighs to secure two patterned twin daggers on the belt. His shirt fell loosely around her bosom and hips like an oversized dress, concealing the weapons under the smooth material.

“Let’s go.”

He slung her arms around his neck and carried her bridal style before jumping down the window of two-storey and landing perfectly. His long legs brought them up to speed wind submitted to them, generating no air friction against the two bodies.

“What’s happening, oppa? Why are we running away? What about Mother and Father?”

He turned at a corner and settled her down on the tree stump, caressing her cheeks and taking in air. Curling a strand of messy hair behind her ear, he began to speak softly.

“The Hunter is coming.” He clenched his teeth as the word escaped. “He is always after you since forever. He wants you, to dominate over you and make you his. You must never submit to him, do you understand?”

A nod was all he received.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t accompany you. I need to help our parents hold him off. Until then, you have these two to protect you.” He pressed the metal sheaths against her skin, telling her that she was fully permitted to use the knives.

“Wait here for me until we come back for you okay? And if anything happens, run and don’t look back. And if in circumstances that anything goes wrong…”

He felt an index finger on his lips, preventing him from saying what was probably the inevitable. Gently pushing it away, he knew he would, no; he needed to say it before dying with the biggest regret in his life.

“Just know that…know that I love you. I love you a lot.”

Sungyeol planted his lips on her soft ones, and she almost let the tears of joy run down her face. Her first kiss was given to somebody she known to be gentle and caring. But at the short, heated moment, she witnessed a side of him she had never seen before. A side that was passionate and sweet, as proven when he kissed her with so much tenderness, holding back his addiction and will.

He would pull back, then fight and come back. All for her.

“If only the laws of the world did not restrict us, I would create a paradise just to make you happy. A paradise filled with my love for you, even if you do not necessarily feel the same. ”

He stood up and turned his back towards her after a sad confession, ready to run and a faster pace than before when she buried the obsidian in his fist.

“This…is for your protection. Come back safe, okay?”

He threw her one of his last optimistic smiles before dashing off into darkness..

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Oh my goodness, thirty subscribers in just two chapters! And so many nice comments and compliments ;') I feel so flattered that I think I don't deserve them. I hope I don't disappoint you with this chapter. It's just a scenario with Sungyeol that doesn't involve much heated intensity (which I will compensate with the next chapter). By the way, this story is kind of connected with the next. Find out who's 'the Hunter' by reading on and keep the comments flowing in! I love you guys!

Until then,

blueskydevilz