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The darkness of the forest was absolute. There was nothing but a world of scarcely recognizable shadows following a weak, dying flame coming from the torch that Kai was carrying ahead of him during his haste. Normally, he would've taken his a proper attire to venture the woods, yet he was late already so he let his shoes to ruin and he only took the time to cover his royal red and gold garments with a long, black hood that covered well enough his head and matched his trousers.
He tried to be mindful of his step, however, he almost stumbled over a big root sticking out of the ground regardless of his effort. The brunet cursed the same way he was taught he shouldn't since he was a toddler. It was moments like these when Kai wished that he'd had the time to collect one of his inventions before venturing into the woods to light better the way, or at the very least, an oil lantern. If it wasn't for the fact that he knew by heart where he was heading, he would probably take at least two hours to find the right path.
Kai was barely minutes away from his destination when he heard the howling of what he fervently hoped was a trained, hunting dog, but knew in his brilliant mind that it was most likely a hungry wolf. If fate hated him, though, and it usually does, then it would be a hungry magical creature.
Denying himself the submission to the sudden fear that traveled through his veins, he kept the same rhythm as before, knowing that if he fell, the wolf would get a vantage that he couldn't afford; therefore he kept his eyes on the soil surrounding his steps, searching for any unwelcomed pieces of nature that seemed determined to make him trip. Just because he was an omega it didn't mean that he was a skittish chicken like most.
His bravado fell a considerable amount when he heard once again another terrible howl remarkably closer than the first one.
"Great, a pack of hungry wolves and I'm alone in the middle of the stupid forest." He whispered while starting to trot, his poor sight was proving to be insignificant against the urge to get away from the hungry noises. He tried to hurry his step when he heard a third followed by a forth howl, but this part of the forest was well known for its thickness so it was making him unable to openly break into a sprint. "At least they're not damned magical creatures. Thank the gods for the small miracles."
When Kai heard that the distant howls had become approaching paws and deafening barking, he questioned himself if this crazy quest was worth dying painfully courtesy of the claws and fangs of savage animals. However, just as quickly as the inquiry popped in his mind, his resolution grew in response; he decided that there couldn't be a better reason for dying.
He was almost there, anyhow; Kai could already distinguish the marks of the almost invisible path of bindweed just ahead of him. The moment his feet brushed the hidden lane, he didn't waste a breath to run along the now visible pathway with all his might. He knew by heart to take the left turn towards the small cottage that will surely meet him at the other end. The brunette's dark hood fell from his head with the increased speed, revealing his young and handsome features to the darkness; his curly hair and gleaming blue eyes, accompanied with rosy cheeks and moderately sharp jaws.
"Get away from me!" Kai yelled uselessly at the hungry growls that couldn't be fooled by a hidden passageway now that they had his scent to pursue him.
Unjustly, he only counted with two advantages against the beasts: the memorized and familiar lane, and greater motivation than just a possible satisfied stomach.
Even if that was the case, the fast step of the animals was too much to match for a simple human, even when Kai knew that some of them were doomed to fall in any of the traps that surrounded the pathway.
With the scare alone, Kai thought all of the beasts deserved the painful death by the spikes-trap that he himself had helped to assemble.
A loud creak of wood lashing out, the first trap went off just a few meters away from Kai, accompanied by a pitiful wail from one of the unlucky creatures. The closeness of the sound had the brunette scared enough to finally surrender to his survival instinct and call for the only person who perhaps could hear him this far into the woods.
"Soobin!" he yelled while trying to go even faster; trying to defy all the laws of science he had gathered after his numerous experiments. However, before a miracle could happen, the wolves responded first at the rise of his voice with a chorus of barking, making it impossible for Kai to hear if someone had heard his scream. "Soobin!" He tried louder after almost stumbling.
Another trap went off in the distance.
It was faint, but the miracle came. Not in the way that Kai grew wings to fly away from certain death, but in the form of a human response above the wolves' barking. "Kai! Kai, where are you!?"
Kai just hoped that the panicked yell was real and not just a product of an overactive imagination granting him a final wish, because the intention was good, but it was still plain cruel to give false hope like that.
When Kai made to respond, a terrified scream that he would deny even after death left his mouth as a wolf finally caught up to him, tackling him to the ground face first. The beast, hunting predator that it was, didn't waste any precious time and went straight for the omega's jugular.
Nothing but Kai's good reflexes saved him as he rolled the moment he made contact with the ground and lashed out to the wolf's snout with his torch, eliciting an angry and wounded bark from the animal as the blow landed directly on its eye.
The injured animal recovered fast and with all the rage that only an animal could possess, it made to attack the brunette again. It was an unexpected turn of events when instead of Kai having his throat bitten out, he got to hear a chocked wail instead.
Realizing he had closed his eyes at some point, Kai quickly opened them again just to find the same animal that was about to kill him laying beside him dead and spilling blood in great enough amounts that the brunet had some of it over his face and clothes. It was nearly decapitated by what looked like an iron shield with the royal family's crest displayed proudly in the middle. The panther that symbolized the power and protection that the royal family bestowed over all of their kingdom surrounded by the glorious red and gold was enough for Kai to sigh in relief. He would recognize the weapon anywhere.
"Soobin…" he tried to yell in surprise at what the presence of the shield represented without daring to take his eyes away from it. However, Kai knew that it probably sounded more like a relieved sob that his alpha had arrived at last and was there for him. The brunet's pride could take a downfall for all that he cared at the moment; he would have time to regret his damsel in distress attitude when he was alive and safe between his savior's arms.
Kai didn't have much time to reproach himself his weakness when a strong hand gripped his upper arm not-too-gently and pushed him to his feet in haste as if he weighed nothing. "Kai! Keep running towards the cabin! I'll cover you! Now!"
It took stealing a quick glance at the barely visible shack and then back at the sight of the death wolf to reassure his mind and body that it was real; that he wasn't imagining the shield and that Soobin was really there. Just then he snapped out of his scared, conflicted trance and regained the strength of his resolution and, by extension, of his legs.
Being obedient for once, Kai resumed his sprint without looking back at Soobin. Behind his harmless appearance, his alpha was damn strong, so he could easily keep at bay the beasts with the help of the traps that they had built and designed together.
He bolted for the door of the cottage the moment it was within reach, opening it with a smash. He waited a few seconds of Soobin being involved in a heated fight with one of the wolves before the blue-haired got himself free and ran to enter behind Kai. Just then did the brunet slammed it back shut.
"That was close." Kai tried to make light of the situation the moment he was able to use the oxygen for more than just panting loudly while trying to remove all the splatters of blood on his face with his sleeve. His heart was still beating a mile per hour; he even felt a little faint but he wouldn't admit that even under torture. Besides, the spell protecting the cottage was more than enough to fend off the whole wolf-pack and then some.
The answer he received was rather fast for Kai to process fully as he suddenly found himself against the door, pinned by a gorgeous, tall, perfect, blue-haired man and with a tongue in his mouth, stealing all the air he worked so hard to get back to his lungs. Not that Kai was complaining.
The moment Soobin let him go, Kai was capable of appreciating more of the alpha’s features. His lover had a kind and beautiful face with a strong, powerful jaw and a button nose that perfectly matched his frowning lips. With all the commotion, Kai wasn't capable of acknowledging his alpha's attire, and even if it was over now, he was too close and too mesmerized by the glowing amber eyes staring back at his for him to care.
"For the love of god, what were you thinking?!" Soobin started the scolding of a life time that Kai had predicted the minute he'd decided to go into the woods in the middle of the night. The omega figured that now it would probably be even worse considering the 'almost greeting the god of death' situation. "How can you be so absolutely reckless?! You almost got me a heart attack! I actually felt my heart stopping in my chest for a moment over there! Are you out of your mind!? Do you even think before you do this kind of stunts!? Are you trying to kill me?! Are you trying to kill yourself?! What would I do if something happened to you?! What were you-?!"
"I wished to see you," Kai cut through his million questions summoning his most endearing face in the hopes that it would quell his beloved's anger even just a little. "I just truly wanted to see you and we had agreed to meet today, so I came. Didn't you wish to see me as well?"
Kai knew that his gorgeous alpha was aware of what he was attempting, but the reproachful glare turned into an 'I'm not fooled by your tactics' scowl, so he counted it as a victory.
"You're well aware that I don't think about anything else but you and when will I have you in my arms again, Kai," Soobin clarified holding him a little more tightly, but never losing eye contact. "But if I remember correctly, we agreed to meet an hour before dawn, when the danger of the woods is at its minimal."
"Well, I-"
"But you decided, with all your brashness, I'm sure, to come to the hidden cottage in the middle of the night as if you were asking for the nocturnal predators to eat you!" Yes. The glare was back.
"Soobin, I couldn't get here in time because Hoseok threw a last-minute formal banquet in honor of our new guest and all. They wouldn't allow me to retire early because, apparently, I have to be paraded all night for them to be happy with me." The bitterness of his voice was enough to soften the clear red eyes of his mate. Soobin knew how awful it was for Kai when he was treated like a prize that would go to the higher bidder. It just provoked the taller man to demand his distressed lover's lips again, but this time it was a tender and comforting kiss.
Their relationship was as complicated as it could be, with Kai being royalty, always surrounded with fake and superficial people that only wanted to take "their" share of the infamous Huening power and fortune, and Soobin being just a stable boy that happened to know enough of fighting and combat techniques to be the current champion of the annual low-class' warrior tournament, not having enough prestige to even participate in the ones that Kai was forced to attend to.
Kai was an omega; educated in all arts, but excelling in all. Soobin barely knew how to read and write, and that was because Kai taught him so he could try to read the same books he did while they were apart and thinking about the other. Not that Soobin was stupid, far from it; Kai considered him one of the most intelligent people he knew, maybe not cultured, but intelligent like naught. It was the fact that Soobin had been left alone the moment his mother died when he had been barely ten years old, that he'd had to fend for himself.
One rich beyond measure, the other forced to work for the day. But that was what made Soobin different, no matter how poor he was, he was ambitious enough to not just think in living through the day; Soobin was a planner, always trying to be better, to try harder to be useful to the people he loved. And Kai was one of those people.
Such different beings found each other not long after Soobin started working in the stables. They started to seek each other's company since Soobin, skinny as he had been back then, had saved the young noble from an uncontrolled horse accident and ever since they'd gotten closer and closer and in no time they fell in love with each other. It's cliche but Kai couldn't ask for a better love story.
"You shouldn't endanger yourself like that because of wanting to see me, Kai." Soobin explained gently now. Kai lulled by the voice of his love, "I wouldn't forgive myself if something happened to you because of me. Because of anyone."
"It's been a week since we've met with each other properly, I wasn't willing to wait any longer," Kai insisted stubbornly. "Besides, nothing happened."
"I almost lost you," Soobin whispered while pressing him close enough for him to bury his nose in his omega's neck, squeezing as hard as he dared. "If I had been even a second late, you would've been…"
"Hey," Kai whispered soothingly, petting his hair lovingly. "Nothing happened. You didn't lose me; you saved me, Soobin. As hard as it is for me to accept it," a strangled chuckled against his neck tickled Kai a little, so he smiled in response, "This won't happen again." The scoff made it clear how Kai's last few words weren't believed the moment they left the noble's lips. "Fine; I'll try to make this happen as little as I'm able."
"You better;" Soobin demanded knowing that asking for it to never happen again was just plain unrealistic, "you give me this kind of frights at least once a month."
"I will," Kai agreed easily. This whole wolves experience hadn't been easy for him either; his heart was still beating a little off rhythm. "Soobin, love, you won't lose me. As far as I don't lose you, of course; you can't expect this to be just me pinning after you while-"
Suddenly, Soobin was looking directly at his eyes, his expression as serious as it gets. Without blinking, he stated without a doubt in his voice; "I'm yours as I'm able to be. And maybe not now, but I will one day be able to give you the world you deserve."
Moved by his alpha's words, Kai just thought it fair to reciprocate with all the honesty that he could muster, even when it was so hard for him to talk about feelings, but this was Soobin, and he deserved more than just the world. "Soobin, you are all I care about; you are my world and you have already given it to me. I couldn't possibly ask for more."
No further conversation could be said after those weird, romantic moments between them when they bared their hearts out and just made the other aware with simple, but at the same time complicated, words what they meant for each other. They left behind the sarcasm and playful banter and they just made sure that the other was as happy as they were feeling.
Soon, they were touching like it was the first time. Exploring, adoring, respecting each other's bodies. Soobin was searching, patient, controlling the rhythm despite Kai's insistence to be faster, rougher. Soobin wouldn't have any of that and kept it slow as they become one. Reassuring himself that the sounds coming from his beloved meant that he was still alive, that he heard Kai's calls just in time; that they could be together in their veiled cottage, dreaming of the day when they would finally be allowed to be together without hiding or sneaking around so they could steal just a brief touch. A look.
It came to the moment when not even Soobin could keep the pace slow, and he angled himself to hit the spot inside his love that made him lose his composure more and more with every contact.
It wasn't long before they laid satisfied between the sheets of the small bed in the cottage. They knew it was meant for just a person, but they never did anything to change it, since they didn't need more space. Kai was more on top of Soobin than in the bed, anyway and that's how they preferred it.
"Who is this new guest in your castle?" Soobin asked after a long silence filled with caresses and sounds of contentment from both of them. Soobin rubbed circles on Kai's back while the omega did the same to the blue-haired's chest. "Who's so important that Lord Hoseok would hold a banquet for?"
"He's a duke, his name is Sir Jungha, and I have a bad feeling about him." Kai said with the bitterness back in his voice. "I really don't like him."
"And why's that?" Soobin asked warily, he knew it was hard for Kai to like the other nobles; it was almost unheard of when he said something nice about them. So far, he'd only liked King Jeon and Lady Hwang's company. "Did you talk to him?"
"Talked to him?" Kai chorused with a scoff, "He wouldn't stop asking me to dance with him, even when he's a dreadful dancer. Well, just not my kind of dancer. With that being expressed, please guess what I thought about his conversations; he's nothing but a big-mouth-alpha, he truly doesn't know when to shut his bloody trap!"
"He… asked you to dance repeatedly?" Soobin asked with a new voice. Kai tried to connect it with a previous moment in their relationship when he'd heard it, and after just a second, he recalled the tone as the one that rarely showed his visage but in special occasions; Soobin was jealous.
"All night," he confessed for the sake of having a little fun at his lover's expense. "He wouldn't take no for an answer."
Kai thought better the situation when a low growl vibrated under him. He hadn't ever felt this much jealousy from Soobin before, not with this much… passion, if the arm squeezing him to the strong chest bellow him was any indication.
"Soobin, nothing happened." He reassured quickly before Soobin could tighten his hold even more. "We just danced and talked until I got murderous thoughts. And then some more."
"I don't like him," Soobin said in a controlled tone, but at least he wasn't squeezing anymore.
"Neither do I, you know that." Kai tried looking at the red eyes above him, but he found that he was completely immobile by brute force alone. When nothing changed in a few seconds, Kai tried to lighten the mood, "Never knew you were this jealous. I'm truly shocked."
"Of course I'm jealous," Soobin groaned while putting his free arm over his eyes to hide his face. "I´m an alpha, I want to reap apart every single person who looks at you in a lusty way all the time. Not to mention what I want to do to whoever touches you in general. And let me tell you, that's all the time I see you surrounded by people, or just with something that moves, really."
"What can I say? I'm a pretty one, omega or not." Kai half-joked because they both knew how true that was. "But you never lead me to believe you were that possessive."
"Then again, alpha." he repeated this time pointing at himself to emphasize. "I'm possessive by nature; I get all crazy when I'm around you. I can control it when there's a lot of people, because I know they wouldn't try something funny, but you're making this difficult by telling me you were dancing with another man after we just had an amazing time."
"I could put my clothes back on if you want to," Kai teased, making an attempt to free himself as if going to search for his clothes that were nowhere to be seen in the surrounding area.
"No." his alpha ordered firmly. Soobin pulled him up towards the headboard until their lips were aligned. Sky red eyes met deep ocean red; both pairs of eyes dancing with mirth. "I know of a better way for you to make it up to me." The blue-haired said suggestively.
"Oh is that right?" Kai asked, playing along. "I wonder what could it be..."
Soobin kissed him possessively as if trying to make a point. Point taken, Kai thought happily.
"Mm, already?" Kai asked teasingly, lovingly. "You certainly recover fast."
"Just like you, it would seem," Soobin smiled smugly looking at the responding member between Kai's legs.
"How could I not when I have this gorgeous alpha under me?" and before Kai could say anything more, Soobin flipped them so Kai was back being pressed against the mattress. "Or over me… My kind of man. Efficient."
"Your only man," Soobin stressed, apparently still in his jealous phase.
"My only everything." Kai agreed easily.
It seemed that Kai was going to get some fast, rough sex after all.
It could have been hellhounds after him for all Kai cared, it will always be worth it.
The morning in the cottage was like all the others when they had the luxury to rise next to each other.
They woke up with the first light of the sun; Kai would kiss Soobin for as long as he was allowed because someone had to be the responsible lover and Kai was surely not going to be that. The alpha would say that it was already late and that they should get up. Then, they would slowly leave the comfort of their cheap bed, the only other witness of their activities the night before, and dress while throwing as many caresses at each other as they could, hidden behind playful pretensions of helping the other to get dressed faster. Even if in the end it would have the opposite effect.
Afterwards, they would remain in the doorway that leads to the outside world, the one that forbids their relationship, and they would act like they were kissing goodbye a loved one as if they would welcome back to each other later in the same day when the sun hid behind the mountains.
They would be disrupted by a sound in the forest, usually a singing bird, and be reminded that they should keep going, Soobin always being the first to put his foot outside The Circle. The walk back would be bearable, amazing even, because they would hold hands on their way towards the castle while talking about what had happened over the time they last saw the other freely like this. Their own way to mock themselves with such a domestic scene, wanting so bad to at least pretend that they could be together even beyond these woods.
All of that, only to start letting go of each other as the forest came to its edge and the castle was visible at a safe distance. The imposing view would be the horrid announcement that they ought to part ways.
A kiss. One lingering touch.
Soobin would go to the stable to work, while Kai would sneak in climbing up the creeper that led to his luxurious room inside of the castle; he would climb the three floors and then he would take a quick bath to be presentable and in time for breakfast. After that, it would be lessons all day.
Kai's favorite lesson would be, even before mathematics and physics, horse riding. Being the only one they could spend together out under the bright sun.