Swan Song - Taekook

Chapter 9

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Jeongguk POV

By the time sunset rolled around, spinning the sky into beautiful shades of gold and red, we had found enough yarrow and coltsfoot to last us a whole month. Mostly thanks to Taehyung, who had a superb sense of smell, and could jump onto high ledges to collect them. I absolutely refused to climb anything high after the first incident.

Now we were back at the hollow, Taehyung using an axe to cut through pieces of wood for a fire while I sorted the gathered herbs into the shelves of rocks. No matter how many times I insisted he should go back to the Metal Village, Taehyung wasn't budging from my side. I tried one last feeble attempt to make him leave.

"Taehyung," I waited until he looked at me, red eyes glowing in the dusk light. "Are you sure you want to stay? I mean, think of your hyungs at the village. They're probably getting pretty worried and --"

"How many times do I have to tell you Jeongguk?" Taehyung interrupted, tone still cool, but with a twinge of annoyance. "I will not leave. Lupa isn't back yet, and I don't want you staying here alone. Besides, I'll be leaving the Metal Village in a day. Will it kill you to stay in my presence for 24 more hours? After that, I'll be gone from your sight for at least another year." He looked down as he spoke the last sentence, and his expression became sadder, though it was hard to tell in the fast fading light.

No! Don't leave! My wolf cried, making my heart hurt. I don't want you to leave! I distracted myself by examining each herb carefully before putting them in to dry, which worked.

Kind of.

Okay, fine, it didn't work at all. The pain in my heart didn't go away one single bit.

By this time, Taehyung had gotten a fire going, blowing on the wood a few times to get the small flames burning brightly. Making sure that the fire was satisfactory, he placed two trout on the rack, which he had caught on a hunting expedition two hours ago. I also finished storing all the yarrow and coltsfoot and joined him by the fire, shivering in the rapidly cooling night air. Taehyhung looked at me, expression somewhat amused.

"Are you cold?" he asked, seeing me rub my arms for warmth.

"N-no." Taehyung's lips twitched when my teeth chattered, and my cheeks grew warm.

"Here, wait a minute." He sat up from the makeshift log seat, and rummaged around in his bag. Untying the colorful thick blanket which held his bow and arrows, he handed it to me. "Use this to keep out the cold."

"Seriously, I'm not c-cold." I stammered, but the effect was totally ruined when I gave a violent shiver. Taehyung shook his head. "You are cold. Even a blind rabbit could see that. Stop trying to be difficult, and put on the blanket. It'll keep you warm."

Hesitantly, I took the thick wool blanket from his hand, and wrapped it around myself. Instantly, I felt much warmer and comfortable, rubbing the fabric to create friction between my hands. Taehyung smiled. "See, isn't that better?" I nodded.

I watched him cook the trout, letting it stay on its side for a minute, before flipping it over so the other side could cook. After about five minutes, he fished out a plate from his bag and put the cooked trout on it, and handed it to me. "Here's supper pup."

I took a bite and closed my eyes in appreciation. "You should really become a chef," I suggested. "Your cooking is great!" Taehyung snorted. "I'm sure that every single wolf back at my pack would disagree. I once set a stove on fire and Jin and had to put it out by dumping ice cold water on top of it. He wouldn't let me near any fire for a whole month after that."