For the Prisoner

27. Love is a Gamble

After Wooyoung had parted from Kol, Pol, Rol, Tol, and Zol after a lot of bickering and cheeky verbal pranks towards Seonghwa's group, they could pass the bridge without hindrances. The lutin waved at the cheerful bunch for a while as the others trudged ahead of him towards the Wool Mountains, too fond to ditch Wooyoung with his people.

By the time his friends were out of sight and left with the promise to deliver greetings to Wooyoung's family at home, the lutin sped back to join the others on his short legs. His glee glowed in his cheeks and his merry mood even had him carry Perie on his shoulder. His fear that she would eat his hat and pick at the eggs on his head gradually improved. Her growing wingspan engulfed his shoulders, taking over almost half of his narrow frame.

"Your friends are an amusing bunch," Yeosang smiled when the lutin caught up. He panted on the slope of the hill as Seonghwa strolled next to Hongjoong with an indulgent smile on his lips. They led the other four, recreating the old path across the snowy cliffs. Yunho and Mingi had disappeared up the road to find them a place to rest during the night. The cunning witch planned to melt some of the deceptive ice and check on the monstrous energy he picked up in the underground caves. Yunho had commented they wouldn't want to meet another beast while camping for the night and thus had accompanied Mingi for safety and to show him the route they had taken the first time.

Seonghwa gladly let them go with the promise to regroup later. He was torn about whether Yunho distracting Mingi's vicious tendencies was a good thing or a bad one. San was still heartbroken over the other adventurer, and Yunho's intrigue with the witch couldn't end well. Compared to his other victims, Mingi wasn't easily charmed; his cunning might backfire and turn Yunho into a puppet of his will. Or a toad, if they were to ask San.

Seonghwa supposed, no matter the outcome, Yunho's flirtations took Mingi's greedy eyes off him and the others. Yunho could handle himself, especially where sexual attraction was involved.

While Yeosang interviewed Wooyoung about life as a lutin and Wooyoung told more lies than Seonghwa had cursed Hongjoong in the past, Jongho and San idly hiked along. The crusader donned his snow-white cloak against the cold and its brilliant shine reflected who he had once been.

A mindless hand rubbed Seonghwa's chest. He felt the heat of Hongjoong's eyes on the gesture before he opened his mouth to speak.

"It's hurting again?"

"Barely," Seonghwa muttered, quiet so the others wouldn't exchange their sunny mood for more woes. "It's a reflex."

When Hongjoong reached out a clawed hand, Seonghwa dropped his palm to allow it closer. A rare hesitancy carried with the gargoyle's movement.

When his knuckles brushed Seonghwa's chest, the priest shuddered despite the layers of clothes separating them. He irrationally wished to feel Hongjoong's touch against his skin, to be ignited by the passion and the life the gargoyle carried. As Seonghwa died once more, he numbed; cast in death's frigid embrace like a coffin of ice.

Whenever Hongjoong's heat was near, the priest was tempted to turn around and release himself from its melting grip.

The gargoyle nodded once he had assured himself that Seonghwa didn't diminish his pain. From his peripherals, the priest caught how Jongho purposefully slowed his step, leaving a private distance between the duo and the rest of the chattering group.

"I... I'm nervous. I don't think the church there can help me. If God is the one to save me, He would have done it long ago," Seonghwa confessed what lingered in all of their minds, like the scion of a poisonous plant. His hand clutched at his cross, begging for it to answer him. Just a hint whether it was worth spending his energy believing would soothe his agitated mind.