SPAWN OF SATAN ✓ [REWRITING]

03: The Navigator

03 :: THE NAVIGATOR

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"Hey, is she awake?" I ask, teetering, waiting for Amber to gain consciousness. It'd been almost an hour since Jungkook found her fainted where she'd been talking to her dad. My best guess was that it was because of something back home but that didn't settle the pitted worry scintillating inside me. 

"Not yet. She's still asleep." Jimin replies, holding a water bottle in his hand, ready for any second she woke up. Midst the worry for my best friend, I'd forgotten about the hollowing intensity that'd been impacting me all night. But now that I was reminded of it again, I glance around pryingly, hoping to catch someone's gaze just so I can calm this tremor inside me - and the constant panic that someone was watching me. 

"El, you feeling alright? You've been on edge all night." Jimin strokes my forearm, watching my expression and I offer him a soft smile. "I'm alright. I'm just worried about Amber." 

Right then, Jungkook walks out, "She's up, she wants a moment alone but she says she's feeling better." He states before walking off, I notice his clenched jaw before he does.

"Are you going to wait out here?" Jimin asks and I nod. "She may need me in a bit." He nods back before handing me the water bottle and strolling off in the same direction as Jungkook. I wait another fifteen minutes, hoping Amber would call me inside so I can check up on her closely. 

But she never does. I wait out there, for almost half an hour before feeling resigned and keeping the water bottle at the entrance and walking towards the camp. "Excuse me, can you assist me with something?" I stop short, jumping slightly before turning around, coming face to face with a towering male, who had an apologetic smile on his lips. 

"Uh yeah of course, what do you need help with?" I stay where I am but he moves closer to a safe distance. He holds my gaze but I give him a once-over, noticing the beads of sweat on his forehead and huge hiking bag on his back. 

"I'm a navigator. Sorry for bothering you at this time," He says, his voice sounding like a breathy rasp, "I was out here on a research project but it's too dark and I lost my only source of light." His jaw tightens as he says that, his veiny hand coming up to sweep the strands off his forehead. That's when I notice his umber eyes. 

"Do you need a torch or..." I provide helplessly, feeling uneasy with the fact that I found a stranger so attractive that I couldn't keep my eyes from blanketing him again and again. 

"That'd be great." I nod before heading over to the closest supply case and start rummaging, well aware oif his still presence behind me. "Are you from around here?" He casually starts the conversation. 

"No, I'm from the city. Just here on a trip with the classmates." I hear his hum of acknowledgment and get up with the torch in my hand. "And you?" I inquire, offering him a kind smile. Out of anything I would've expected to encounter in this bushy terrain, it wasn't a six foot tall divine man with the smile that reached under my skin and caressed it warm. 

"I'm from the outskirts of the city, I don't like the hustle and busy streets. They're suffocating." He mentions and I find myself pondering over the way his wet strands hover over his eyes, his shirt unbuttoned from the top and sleeves rolled up, exposing his veiny arms (a detail that makes me stare a moment longer) he wears a brown vest on top of the button-down, which gives him a more skilled look. Navigator, I remind myself. 

Stranger in the woods, get a grip, I also remind myself.

"Anyway, thank you, for the torch." He smiles gratefully, "I realized I didn't properly acquaint myself yet, I'm Jung Hoseok." 

"Elora Kim. Nice to meet you."

"Elora..." He says as if tasting my name in his mouth. "Have a great trip." He adds cheerfully before clicking the torch and walking away. I watch his figure disappear into the woods before I make my way back to the bonfire. 

"Did she talk to you?" Jungkook asks the minute I walk over, I shake my head realizing I completely forgot about Amber while talking to the navigator guy. Hoseok. 

But what bugged me more was the fact that... the malaise and heaviness that had been bothering me all day, smothering me all day, vanished for the time I talked to the guy, it didn't occur to me till now, that while I spoke to him, I could properly breathe and my mind was cleared. It puzzled me beyond understanding. 

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Jennifer moves to the sound of the beat, finding her alone time rejuvenating especially when everyone was at the bonfire and she had the common tent all to herself. She feels a harsh coldness nip at her neck and stops her moving altogether before slowly glancing back, 

"Holy fucking shit, Jin!" She jumps, keeping a hand firm to her chest. 

"Hi, Jennifer." He walked impassively over to her and she sobers up pretty quick before raising her eyebrows and wearing a mocking smile. 

"Things aren't so unwilling right now that the dead have to make an appearance." She smiles malignantly at him that he reverts with a blank, unmoving stare. "Oh, you're here for your sister." She fakes her intrigue, a finger tapping her chin all the while the wicked glint in her eyes remains. 

"It's not about Amber anymore." His voice, as still and unfeeling as his eyes. As he continues to stare at her, poker-faced.

"Then why aren't you leisurely enjoying the walls of you coffin?" She asks impudence and curiosity mixing up her tone. 

His  lips graze a slight smirk as he looks but this time—his eyes aren't empty, they're vicious and abstruse pits of blackness. Catching her off guard, he rasps, "I'm not the only one making an appearance though. " 

He steps closer to her, she holds his gaze despite the sudden discomfort in her expression, "He's here too. For his queen, And if he finds out you're here, he won't spare you this time." The conceited and knowing look doesn't leave his face as he disappears behind the curtain of the tent. Leaving Jennifer stunned and pale. 

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A/N: (edited) Thank you for reading! Don't forget to vote & comment :)