H.O.W.L (EXO FanFic) ✓ //UNDER EDITING//

Chapter Thirty - Seven

Jaehee's Pov

By the time we reached an old cave, the sky had already gotten darker.

After Tao ran off, we looked for him everywhere but to no avail, he left no tracks for us to follow, it was as if he vanished into thin air.

"Let's replenish our strength here. We've been looking too hard, you're probably tired." Said Luhan as he led us to the cave.

Looking for Tao was my top priority but it would be a lie to say I wasn't exhausted.

"I'll go gather some woods to light fire. Stay here," he left in a hurry after saying that.

The perks of being a hybrid was that you won't ever have to feel cold but we needed the fire to light up the place as it was getting darker.

I waited in silence.

Couple of minutes later, Luhan came back and he brought some tree branches with him, he started making a fire after setting everything on the ground.

He sat beside me and sighed as he rested his head on the cave-wall behind us.

I looked to see if he was okay and thought of what I wanted to say but nothing came out of my mouth.

So I decided to stay quiet.

=  =  =

(20 minutes later...)

I blinked my eyes open at the sound of rustling bushes, I hadn't realized I fell asleep right after closing my eyes.

The rustling became even louder as if something or someone was going to jump out any second.

I quickly got off the floor and ready myself to fight off whoever was behind the bushes but to my relieved, the person who stepped out of the bushes was none other than Luhan.

He saw me and smiled, "You're awake. You should have slept more."

"I heard noises..."

"Oh sorry, I was looking for more branches since the fire is going to burn out soon." He threw the branches he found into the fire.

"Luhan, I don't feel easy. Tao is out there all by himself and we have no way of knowing if he's safe or not."

"He's safe."

He answered almost immediately.

The way he said it nonchalantly caught me off guard. I raised my brow in suspicions, "How do you know that?"

"Because I can smell him. He's around somewhere, thankfully nothing has happened to him yet."

Yet? Well that's reassuring. I couldn't just sit around here and wait for something to happen to Tao.

"Luhan, let's-" He cut me off as if he knew what I was going to say, "Let's wait until the sun's up."

"But-"

"I know you want to find him as soon as possible but you're going to have to wait until it's safer. It's best for both of us and also for Tao."

He was right. I didn't want to admit it but he was absolutely right.

If I wanted them both to be safe, it was only right for me to wait.

So I did.

"I'm going to get a shut eye. We'll set out once the sky's clear." Said Luhan as he sat on the floor and leaned his back against the cave, his eyes closed shut after he had comfortably positioned himself.

Once sleep had taken over him, I carefully made my way over to his side, he was sleeping peacefully like a little kid.

It was raining earlier so his hair was a little bit drenched. I reached out my hand and touched the front of his hair and parted them so I could get a better look at his face.

But to my surprised, he suddenly opened his eyes, my hand froze on top of his head, when I realized I was still touching his hair, I quickly pulled my hand back.

"Sorry!" I said as my cheeks flushed.

Afraid that I might make him uncomfortable, I moved myself further away from him but a hand gripped tightly onto my wrist, stopping me from moving.

I turned around and was caught off guard when Luhan wrapped his hands around my arm and rested his head on my shoulder.

"Luhan-ah?"

"Let me stay like this for a while." He closed his eyes and we stayed in this position for a whole hour until I couldn't keep my eyes opened any longer.

Eventually, I fell asleep.

In my dreams, he appeared. The person I hadn't realized I missed so much.

Chanyeol...

=  = =

(Next morning...)

I blinked my eyes open at the blazing sunlight hitting my face. It took me a while to quickly freshened up, when I was no longer half asleep, I noticed Luhan was gone.

Abandoned. Was the first word to popped into my head when I couldn't find Luhan anywhere.

"Luhan-ah!" I began to panicked as I quickly got up on my feet and ran out of the cave. "Luhan!" I felt all kinds of emotions taking over me.

Tears started dripping out of my eyes as I couldn't control them. I called him again but there was no answer, I went further away from the cave while still calling his name.

Too occupied with the thought of Luhan leaving me, I tripped over my own foot and grazed my knee.

"Oww.." I examined the scratched and thankfully it was nothing serious.

Then I heard a voice from behind me, "Lee Jaehee!" He quickly went to my aid.

Relieved washed over me instantly when I saw who it was, I was suddenly overflowing with the tears I tried to hold in.

"Why did you leave me! You shouldn't disappear like that!" I used every bit of strength I had to hit his chest.

I was a little bit angry but I was more upset because I really thought he left me.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I won't leave you again. I promise." His voice was gentle as he laid my head on his chest, his arms wrapped tightly around my frail body, like he was afraid that I might break down.

Nobody has ever held me like that before so emotions that I've never felt before hit me all at once.

I smiled and hugged him tightly, afraid that he might disappear if I let him go.

"I trust you."

We stayed like that for a while.