3 Hours.

That's how long Areum and Jackson had been on the scavenger hunt, collecting arbitrary clues that they truthfully didn't really care about.

After the ordeal with the wolf and panther, Areum had stayed silent and her face taunt. She was shaking and looking around the forest nervously so they left as quickly as possible.

She didn't say a word until Jackson started cracking jokes and complaining about the trip in general, making her a smile break out of her face until she was totally loosened up.

He was thanking the heavens that she didn't want to talk about her encounter with the 'wolf''.

It saved him some really awkward lying on his part.

And she was far too distracted with the clues to focus on her near death experience. As much as she wanted to lay down and fall asleep, solving the clues were far better than thinking about the two wild animals that almost killed her.

But now, hours later, when the fear wore off, they had other things on their minds.

For Areum, she was trying not to pass out from the sheer soreness in her legs from walking up and down hills, running across fields and crawling through confined spaces.

For Jackson, he was trying not to get sidetracked by how ing attractive his mate looked when she sweat. He made the air around them chill, to help her cool down, but he was enthralled.  

It would be easy to say that he hated the full moon, but that wouldn't explain the utter fascination he held while talking to her.  

She was cold, mean and blunt.

But she was also calm, soothing, witty and funny.

"So you live with your sister?" Jackson asked while they headed to the last clue. They spent the long walks in between each clue basically playing 20 questions and it surprisingly was easy for the two of them to get to know about each other.

Well, except for Jackson's huge secret.

"Give me food and I will grow but give me water and I will die. What am I?"

Fire.

Areum nodded, "It's always been just us until as far back as I remember."

The two of them were walking towards the fire pit in the center of the campground. Sure, Jackson was a lot easier to talk to when they weren't making out or bantering back and forth but she had no idea why he looked like he barely broke a sweat the whole time.

Little did she know that on full moons, Jackson had so much energy to burn that physical activities were a walk in the park.

 "But now you're living alone?" Unease started creeping up his throat at the thought of the panther's target staying alone in her house, unguarded.

If one of them was willing to approach her on when he was around, then that meant she was more vulnerable to their attacks when he wasn't around. His inner wolf paced around worriedly.

Areum hummed in response, "Yeah, she's in Japan for a year on a transfer program at work."

"What about your parents?"

Areum stiffened and Jackson could see how her body tensed up, "I don't know who they are."

Jackson's eyes widened but Areum looked unaffected except for her clenched jaw.

"I'm sorry." He said quietly.

Areum grinned and bumped her shoulder against his, sending sparks through her body. "Since when do apologize for anything that comes out of your mouth?"

Jackson's face was still serious as Areum climbed up on a stone fence that lined the pathway and walked along the top.

"Be careful." He scolded as she walked along the edge like it was a tight rope.

Areum grinned, with her tongue poked out as she looked down at Jackson. She spread her arms out to keep balance and Jackson immediately reached for her hand and held on to it to make sure she didn't fall.

"You're going to crack your skull open and stain this nice pavement ground with your brains."

Areum snorted, "Well, unlike you, I actually have brains to paint the pavement with. If you cracked your skull I bet nothing would spill out."

This coming from a girl who throws rocks at wild animals.

"You still talk way too much." Jackson shot her a looked and yanked on her hand, making her sway with a scream. He snickered as she caught her balance and continued towards the fire pit that was visible in the distance.   

Areum laughed carelessly and shook her head, "Oh, don't be such a baby."

Jackson felt the ends of his lips quirk up at how happy she looked, "And the only reason I apologized earlier is because I can't imagine what that must be like…to grow up with just your sister."

Areum's smile fell, "It was hard, but Ara made it liveable.  She's my everything. She had to become a mother when she was 16, just so that we could survive but not once did she ever make me feel like I was a burden. Even if she had to balance three jobs as a teenager, she made sure that I had a normal childhood. She always smiled and never looked sad no matter how worn out or tired she was. She's my rock. She's the best sister you could ever have."

"I bet she'd say the same thing about you." He remarked, making her smile at his compliment gratefully.

When Areum reached the end of the stone hedge, she stopped walking and turned to face Jackson who reluctantly stopped as well and looked up at her.

"You are in no rush to win this game, are you?" He asked exasperatedly.

Areum let go of his hand and tugged on the collar of his sweater. "What about your parents?"

A sincere smile painted his lips as he thought about his parents, "They're the best. They normally live in China, but they're staying here in Korea for a few months because of some…family matters, but I love having them around. It's easy to get homesick. Mom and Dad are basically the reason why I am who I am today. I'm their little prince and it's embarrassing, but I wouldn't trade it in for anything. "

"That sounds nice. To be around them, I mean." She said softly.

He raised his eyebrows at her, "You should meet them sometime."

Areum started to cough, taken aback. Her eyes started watering as her chest heaved, "W-what?! Why would I ever need to meet your parents?"

Because you're supposed to basically be family. They're your in-laws.

Jackson shrugged and gently held her hips before lifting her off the edge. She held onto his shoulders for support as he placed her on the ground. "Who knows, maybe you'll pass out from the cold again and I'll have to drag you to my house when my parents decide to drop by."

He kept his hands on her hips and watched her eyes blink up at him and he had to resist the urge to kiss her again. She was always so pretty. He needed to reign that in or else things could get…messy between them.

'Oh who gives a ? Just kiss her, it's not like you're really going to hold yourself back. She is your mate.'

'It's the full moon.'

Jackson hadn't heard his conflicting sides in a while and it was stranger to hear them agree. Even if they were still a bit out of sync, they didn't fight. His head didn't hurt and it always struck him as strange when his mind did that.

"How did you meet your friends?" She asked curiously about the six boys he lived with.

Jackson paused, digesting her question, "Our parents were really close, so we grew up together. They're like my blood brothers. Even if three of us aren't Korean. The seven of us moved a lot between Korea and China when we were younger, until our parents thought we were old enough to be on our own."

"So you chose to stay in Korea?"

Jackson nodded, "It seemed easier for the three of us to learn Korean than it is for the four of them to learn Chinese. Also because the four can't speak Chinese to save their lives, even after living there for a few years."

She tilted her head, "Do you like it here? In Korea?"

Jackson's fingers dug into her sides, "I've been warming up to it, slowly."

"Do you wish you guys chose to live in China?" She asked.

Jackson stared at her carefully, working out his thoughts.

If he lived in China, he probably wouldn't have found her. He wouldn't have kissed her at the party and Mason wouldn't have come to him, telling him he found his mate. He wouldn't have to worry about courting, mating or humans. His life would've been simple and he wouldn't have to deal with chasing some human around.

Not to mention he didn't have to fear dying because of her.

So theoretically, China seemed like it would've been the better choice.

Theoretically.

"No. I don't. I like it here. It's home." He said quietly.

"It's fate." He said suddenly

Areum gulped and felt her heart speed up. She took a sharp breath and kept her arms by her side as she stayed wrapped up in his heat.

"I think it's fate that we ended up coming to Korea. If it was meant to be than it was meant to be." He said calmly.  

She had never felt her heart move that quickly because of a guy before. And it made her feel weirdly good. She felt like smiling and laughing. She had the urge to just follow Jackson around and spend the rest of the trip within his arm's reach.

Her eyes widened when a thought struck her.

Do I like Jackson?

She had never liked a boy this strongly before.  Sure, there were guys that she had thought were cute or hot or handsome, but she had never felt like…this.

Like she just wanted to talk to him all day and just hear him speak.

"Jackson…" She mumbled softly at their close proximity.

He started leaning towards her, without realizing it until his forehead bumped with hers. "Hmm?"

"I--"

"WHAT ARE YOU TWO SLOW POKES DOING?! GET YOUR ASSES IN MOTION! LAST ONE THERE IS A ROTTEN EGG!"

The two of them jumped apart and turned to see Yang racing down the pathway holding Yoomi's hand, who looked as dazed as she did when he switched partners with her.

Jackson quickly grabbed Areum's hand and raced after Yang, causing the girl behind him to snap out her thoughts and laugh loudly as she tried to keep up with the werewolf holding her hand.

-----

"You're kidding?" Yang balked as he sat on the ground with his legs stretched, panting out of breath with his hair plastered to his face.

The rest of the class stared at their teacher in betrayal.

"Nope!" He said cheerily.