LOVE BITES -Jeongcheol

12

The cold wind bit through the air as Hansol adjusted the grip on his crossbow, his breath visible in the damp, moonlit forest. Seungkwan walked ahead, flashlight casting long, unsteady beams through the skeletal trees. The night was quiet, unnervingly so, but Hansol wasn't focused on the hunt. Not entirely. His eyes kept drifting toward Seungkwan, toward the set of his shoulders and the determined way he scanned their surroundings.

Seungkwan had a way of being radiant even in moments like this—mud caked on his boots, hair sticking out from under his cap, a faint scowl tugging at the corners of his lips. It wasn't just his appearance. It was his presence, his energy, the way he filled the silence with a kind of warmth Hansol couldn't look away from.

"Do you see anything?" Seungkwan's voice cut through the stillness.

"Not yet," Hansol replied, clearing his throat and forcing himself to focus on the path ahead. The crossbow felt heavier in his hands than usual, and his heartbeat thrummed louder than it should in the stillness.

Seungkwan sighed, his breath clouding in the frosty air. "Figures. These things always make us work for it."

Hansol nodded, but his attention slipped again. He watched the way Seungkwan moved—light on his feet, graceful despite the tension in his stance. Hansol had always been good at fading into the background, watching from afar. He liked to think it was what made him a good hunter, but lately, it felt more like a curse.

Seungkwan held his breath, listening for the rustle of leaves or the snap of twigs. Then, in the blink of an eye, a shadow lunged toward him. A creature, long and twisted, its glowing eyes fixed on Seungkwan as it charged from the underbrush.

"Seungkwan, move!" Hansol shouted, but it was too late—before Seungkwan could react, Hansol had already fired his crossbow. The bolt flew through the air with precision, piercing the creature right in the chest. It let out a shriek and collapsed, dead before it even hit the ground.

Seungkwan stood frozen for a moment, wide-eyed, his heart racing. The creature had been close enough to strike, and Hansol had known exactly when and where to aim without even a second's hesitation.

Seungkwan turned to him, his voice tinged with disbelief. "How did you—how'd you know it was going to attack?"

Hansol lowered his crossbow, watching the creature's body for any last signs of movement. "Because I looked."

Seungkwan let out a sigh of relief, "then look at me like that regularly" he chuckled.

Hansol met his gaze, holding it for a beat longer than usual, the weight of his words settling between them. "I look at you more than you think."

For a moment, Seungkwan didn't say anything. He just stared at Hansol, his expression unreadable. Hansol wanted to say something else, to fill the silence, but the weight of the confession hung in the air between them, fragile and unspoken.

Finally, Seungkwan broke the gaze, exhaling softly. "You're so weird sometimes."

Hansol smiled faintly, his heart still pounding. "Yeah. I know."

Seungkwan didn't look back at Hansol immediately. Instead, he began walking again, his boots crunching on the frost-covered earth, his breath coming out in heavy clouds. But Hansol's eyes stayed on him—he couldn't help it. The way Seungkwan's back straightened, the easy confidence in his stride, the way the moonlight caught the edge of his hair, making him seem almost unreal—it all felt like too much for Hansol to process in one go. He had always admired Seungkwan from afar, but something had shifted tonight, a layer peeled away.