“We move to this place upon reaching,” Wonho points to a white triangle on the map. “It’s the Fey’s territory, we’ll do fine as long as there are no creatures that meant harm against us.”

“Creatures? Like…”

I swear, Maia knows no fear. She ask those questions without hesitation.

“Like Vampires… or Demons that knows about our intention to come back to Delphinium and fight against them.”

I nod to Wonho’s explanation. I’ve never heard of fairies, fey, vampires or even demons. I have no idea why Kihyun and Wonho are so worried about our safety. They even required us to wear these white dresses. It made us look different in a sense that the feeling is not us… but it is me when I look into the mirror with the dress on. And as though he could read minds… Wonho started explaining why those white dresses were required.

“These dresses are covered in magic and we requested help from the fairies we can trust in Delphinium to do it. It’ll be able to cover up the human scent on you but not hundred percent if you come across a strong creature.”

So they wanted us to pretend as fairies and at the very least we would be protected by the fairies and fey species if anything were to happen.

I swallowed the lump in my throat. Being with a wolf for the past few days has given me sufficient courage to face whatever comes next. But I can’t help feeling uncomfortable at the thought of witnessing any one of us in danger. I’m not scared for myself, I think I want to admit that I am scared of losing this man that is currently standing in front of me, with a silly grin on his face.

I’ve never seen him smile like this. I like it. And my mind playback the scene from yesterday night. I really need to get a grip of myself. Kihyun is lighting magic on me and I am enjoying every single bit of it. I could only hope our fate doesn’t end in a bad way.

*

We left without looking back. My life was never good enough to retract and I am very used to the bad. Maia was so excited when Wonho introduced the portal to Delphinium. It looked nothing like what I had imagined.

The portal has got no magical sparks neither does it show anything magical. Wonho also said that portals are found more commonly in the human world now because too many demons and vampires infiltrate the human world as there are no controls over them.

With the dresses Maia and I are wearing, it allow us to move through the portal freely. Otherwise, humans are not able to see, detect or enter them.

I watch as Wonho held Maia’s hands so naturally it sparked something in me. For a second I wonder if I envied Maia and her closeness with Wonho but then the thought was shut off my mind when Kihyun stood beside me and my tummy itches from the closeness.

“You ready?” Kihyun engulfs the whole of my hand with his grip.

My troubled heart seems to rely on him more than my brain wanted. How do I explain this? It’s like you do things your brain tells you to and you feel the emotions your heart says to. But this thing with Kihyun... My heart is a step faster than what the mind says and I end up doing things that surprises even myself.

When Kihyun grabbed onto my hand, what I did was bring my body close to his arm and cling onto him as though I was glue to paper, as though I am a part of him.

I know it sounded insane and I am all the more surprised by my own actions but when Kihyun stops his track to look at me after how I cling onto him before entering the portal, I know my actions have stunned him too.

I avoided eye contact and nodded to myself, I’m ready for this.

With both hands clinging to Kihyun, I readied myself and copied his steps into the portal with my eyes closed.

*

“Ara, it’s okay to relax.”

I hear Kihyun’s chuckle and I opened my eyes the very next moment with my body clinging closer to his arm. I got to admit I’m really scared of what could happen in this world of foreignness and this man is all I’ve got. I don’t see him as a safety barrier, I just don’t want to get separated with him…

“Ara…” He whispers my name but my eyes run around what it could capture.

This place is amazing… it’s too beautiful and so very pure. It’s like the beginning of all things and the originality of one’s heart where no darkness or any bad could infiltrate.

I release my hand from Kihyun’s arm and walk a few steps away from him, taking in whatever my eyes could absorb. I don’t want to miss a second from what I see. I feel the wind, soft and pleasant that glides across the bare skin of my knee. The tall grass engulfs the whole of my feet and it tickles slightly once in a while. I smell lemongrass and a few other floral scent that does nothing but uplift my mood.

I turn to give Kihyun a beam. This place is too magnificent.

“Good to see you loving it.” He smiles and then points to a small cottage not far away. “That’s our house.”

Maia and Wonho have long gone inside the cottage. I believe Maia loves this place as much as I do too.

Kihyun stands behind me and my stomach does the itchiness again. I can feel the heat from him on my back and just a slight turn of my head, his lips will be on my forehead. I keep my head down, focusing on this little pink flower beside my feet. This flower looks like it’s blushing though.

One of Kihyun’s arm wrap itself around my tummy and brought my back to his chest. The back of my head rested on his shoulder due to the sudden pull and I freeze on the spot. He has his gaze on me and a little curve at the corner of his lips.

“You look like that blushing flower.”

His words woke me up and I literally pulled myself away from him. My hands flew to my cheeks to hide the embarrassment and I hear him laugh. “Shall we?” He gives me his hand and signal towards the cottage.

I took his hand and he led the way towards the cottage. I kept my head down all the while and notices a few more blushing pink flower.

These moments with Kihyun simply told me things I would never ever encounter in the past. He gave me things I never dared to dream of and he treated me with so much kindness it is beyond what a human could give to a slave like me.

He is no human, he is something more than that and I know clearly what kind of danger this truth could bring. But he shows benevolent like a human and I admit that my heart goes out to him and I have long gotten used to him always sticking around me.

“Ara! Did you see?”

Maia has gotten so excited and I look out the window just to capture the beautiful scene once again. “Yeah, I did.” I answered.

Everything feels nice. Everything is perfect the way it is now. With Maia, Wonho and that one man that came into my life and brought so much wonders and hope. I just couldn’t imagine how awful it will get when real fight starts and how much pain or danger they would have to go through rescuing their brothers.

Maia walks away with Wonho into their room and perhaps the worry that writes on my face is caught by Kihyun, he comes over by my side and as though in an attempt to stop my worry, he gave me a hug and then very softly against my ear, “Everything will be alright.” He says in a low voice.

My hand find itself on his back and I grab hold onto his shirt, not willing to let go. I realize I’ve gotten so bold with him and I’ve stop hiding how I really feel about Kihyun. I do hope that both Wonho and Kihyun understand that I worry about them more than myself. I would never ever want them to be in any sort of danger.

“And thank you.” He expresses against the lobe of my ear and my grip on his shirt tightens.

The sound from the wind sounded like melody to my ears and the air around us felt like warmers in this chilly spring. His scent has become way more familiar than the first time I met him. I begin seeing things with a lot more positivity and his name stays on my lips wherever and whenever. 

*

I finally completd this chapter. It took me quite some time because I kept changing the plot and I was away in Thailand for holiday. Chapter 10 was horribly done because the info in that chapter was kinda messy. Still wanna thank everyone for reading. I used Howl's Moving Castle in order to let everyone picture the Fey/Fairy world where Ara will be staying. I had fun typing this chapter and I love the scenes where Kihyun and Ara shares intimacy, I hope all of you would love it too. And do let me know if anyone is uncomfortable with me using those images and gif. Thank you.