Timeless Love || Jinx (Manhwa)

Chapter 16: Lessons Learned

'He's making fun of you, you're aware of that?'

This wasn't the time to have these kind of thoughts.

Dan took the arrow in his hands, looking at it as he began to put it in its place, feeling the piercing stare of the lord in his back. He was trying hard to ignore those thoughts, he couldn't be distracted when he was trying to shoot an arrow towards a tree... now that wasn't something he ever thought of saying back in Seoul. Sure, he knew the Korean delegation in the Olympics were world champions in archery, but in full honesty, he never really cared about that kind of stuff: he was always busy, whether it was with his granny, his studies, or work, but as of now he wished he'd at least seen one or two tournaments, perhaps that way he would have a better idea of what was supposed to be done at this moment.

He sighed, putting his hands right where the lord had indicated him previously, a little scared that he was doing it wrong taking into consideration that he was still looking straight at what he was doing. Was he judging him? Maybe he thought of beheading him for doing it wrong after explaining what to do and him not catching up with that. His fingers were positioned the way the lord had instructed him, his hand held the grip of the bow tightly, and his posture was straight whilst his eyes were looking at the bullseye in the tree.

Jaekyung was looking at the scene spectantly, paying close attention to the movements the doctor was doing, and that didn't eased the latter's anxiety at all. Once he figured his hands were in the correct position, he raised his arms, stretching the one with the string all the way to the back as the whispers in his ear telling him "Let go". He took a deep breath, unclenched his fingers, and closed his eyes, not even wanting to see where the arrow ended up.

His eyes being tightly closed woke up his other senses: He could feel the fabric of the era appropriate clothes brushing his skin in ways that his normal clothes never did, he could smell the rotting leaves under the pressure of the incoming winter and the chilly air filling his lungs; he could hear the noises of the forest, just like the tree branches that moved with the air flow or the distant birds in the sky. But he couldn't hear Jaekyung.

Dan opened his eyes, looking over at the tree where the parchment paper was stuck with an arrow imbedded in it, close to the middle. His eyes widened, and immediately turned towards Jaekyung with a bright and genuine smile.

―I did it! Did you see that?!

Jaekyung was looking at him, and nodded. Had he ever seen a smile so bright and a pair of eyes that shined like the clear water from a shallow river? How could someone even look like that? Is it something they eat in the mystery land where Dan is from? The lord smiled, stood up from his rock and nodded again, trying to keep that mental picture as long as he could.

―You did. I mean, I did. I did saw that. You did great, want to try it again? ―The lord mentioned with a smirk, trying to brush off the stumble in his words.

―I don't think I will, you're the good one in this. ―Dan commented in a soft smile, extending the bow at the man, hoping he'll grab it soon.

Jaekyung reached out for the bow, intentionally grazing his fingers with his just to feel them. He looked at the doctor's flushed face, and a warm sensation expanding in his chest was noted by himself.

'He's going to be the death of me', was all the lord could think as he saw the doctor right in front of him.

[...]

The whole afternoon was spent exploring and, although Dan wasn't expected to hunt with the rest of them, Jaekyung made sure to keep him nearby. None of the men in the party were going to refute that command followed by direct actions, and it was probably for the best of him to stay next to an experienced hunter like their lord: if he wandered somewhere else he could be hit by accident and that would be, to the least, disastrous for all.