The Truth Hurts [exo]

3

My shoulders ached and my entire body was sore. The ground was cold and the thin material covering me didn't help to keep out the slight morning breeze. My eyes cracked open and I was greeted by the sun rising over the tops of the trees. The crick in my neck made me wince as I sat up and tried to figure out where I was.

I remembered a lot of running. My muscles were probably going to hurt for a good week from that sudden sprint. Then I remembered Jongin climbing that rocky escarpment.

So that was how I ended up here.

I was inside the cave with a brown cloak over me and his black velvet jacket as my pillow. I looked down and saw that the letter was still safely tucked behind the ribbons of my tattered dress. I would definitely have to get a new one soon.

I rubbed my eyes and turned to the sides of the cave. There were strips of meat hanging on the walls to be dried and I saw a pouch sitting underneath the string of hanging flesh. Beside the pouch were weapons laid out on a piece of cloth. They all looked like swords and daggers to me but I knew each one of them had their own unique names.

I turned to my other side and found Jongin sitting against the wall of the cave, asleep. Was he my saviour or my captor? As long as I was with him, I'd be safe but I'd always be on the run. If he wasn't here though, I'd probably be dead.

I studied his face as the autumn sun rose a bit higher. He looked young, definitely around my age, but at the same time, he looked older. He must've been through a lot already considering he was one of my father's spies. But asleep, he looked peaceful and, dare I say, cute.

He couldn't be bad, right?

Bad guys are ogres and gargoyles with twisted faces. Jongin was just a young man. His hair was slightly messy from the wind and, with one arm slung over his knee, he looked like he'd just come back from a winning fight. I'll admit he was quite handsome.

I was caught unaware as a slow smile appeared on his lips. His eyes lifted to look at me as he said, "Morning."

"G-good morning to you, too," I stammered. It was as if he had heard me praising him.

He stood up to stretch and I noticed that his faded tunic didn't do a good job of hiding his defined arms. How had he scaled the rock wall with me on his back?

"I take it you had a good night's sleep?" He walked past me to inspect his weapons and I saw that his hands were bandaged up.

I couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not so I couldn't find a reply to his question. "Is there any way out of here other than jumping off that cliff?" I asked as I pointed to the mouth of the cave where there was a small platform.

"There's a tunnel to slide out of at the back of the cave. That thing's impossible to climb though."

"Then how am I supposed to get up here without your help?"

Jongin shrugged. "I guess you're not going to. Besides, we're getting out of here as soon as possible. We're still too close to the castle."

"Are we going down to the village?" My eyes suddenly lit up at the thought. Maybe I'd finally be able to experience freedom.

"We're going to the village and then we have to keep going. It's too dangerous to stay in one place for too long."

My heart sank. "Are we going to be on the run for the rest of our lives?" I asked dejectedly.

He gave me a glance before pocketing one of his daggers. "Until your father sends out a message to return, we're going to keep running."

I watched as he dug around in his pack for something. "You're kidding me, right?"