For some reason, the first thought that came to her mind was about that young man. After all, in her subconscious mind, she remembered that warmth she felt after she lost her senses and all she could link it to was Talon.
"Where is he?" She looked at Chin-Hwa seriously.
The latter frowned visibly as he found himself in a tough position. On the one hand, Talon had told him to carry Hyun-Jae and escape, leaving him alone against a giant army of monsters. He knew that if Hyun-Jae had been conscious at that moment, she would've never let him do such a reckless thing.
Now that she was awake, telling her the truth was bound to make her extremely angry.
"Chin-Hwa, where is he?" She pressured even further as her voice grew even more urgent. She had a bad hunch about the silence her childhood friend had.
"He…" Rubbing his temples, the cold prince sighed. "When you were knocked out, he was able to pull you out of danger before I could reach you. Then, he handed you over to me and told me to leave along with the rest of the survivors…" He replied as he averted his eyes.
Then, he waited for Hyun-Jae's reply. But, it never came. Instead, before he could react, she was already on her foot as she left the area.
"President?" Chin-Hwa's eyes widened as he quickly stood up too. "Wait a second! It's dangerous!"
Running after her, he looked at Go Young-Soon and gave him a signal to take control of the place for now.
Meanwhile, Hyun-Jae completely ignored her childhood friend's cries as she ran back as fast as her injured body could move.
'Talon…' Her mind was only filled with thoughts of him. 'I need to hurry!'
When she heard that he had saved her life again, her heart skipped a beat as she realized that the warm feeling she felt a while ago wasn't a hallucination. It was indeed him, after all.
'You better be ok!' She clenched her teeth. She was very worried since she knew how ridiculously big that army of monsters was.
'Why did you decide to remain behind?! That's suicide, Talon! Why?!' She asked herself as she moved around the corner. 'Talon… Talon…'
She said his name in her head as she prayed that the moment she took that turn, she would see him standing there, as he always does. She prayed that he would turn around and smile at her.
Seeing him smiling at her as he always did. Without realizing it, she found her heart beating faster and faster. Her fear grew with each passing moment and so was her desire to see him. It didn't matter if it was a dangerous situation or not.
As she took the turn, her eyes fell on the area where the battle ensued. The smell of blood and death assaulted her nose and made her frown. But, then, she halted in her steps as she saw the giant crater in the ground.
"Wha…"
It didn't take long for Chin-Hwa to reach her. "Wait, please, presid-" Then he froze in his place too, in shock.
The two stared at the vast hole with jaw-gaping bewilderment.
"What happened here?" The cold prince murmured with a dark expression. "That bright light…"
"Bright light?" Hyun-Jae looked at him.
"A few minutes ago… A bright light appeared out of nowhere in this area. It was as if a bomb had fallen here. I don't know what happened."
"A bomb…" Just hearing that word made Hyun-Jae shudder.
'This isn't good… This isn't good…' Looking around her in a hurry, she couldn't see Talon at all. 'Where is he?'
"Talon! Where are you?!"
Moving toward the hole, she looked around her. There wasn't a single trace left of any monster, let alone Talon and that truly terrified her.
"Can you hear me?! Please answer!" She called for him again and again.
The area was reeking of the scent of death. Every single detail Hyun-Jae could see told her that there was not a single living being in that place. Whatever occurred here had wiped out everything.
'No…' Just realizing the severity of the situation made her face pale even more.
Sliding down the hole, she moved through it, looking for any traces of Talon. But, there was nothing there.
"President…"
The entire time, Chin-Hwa followed her with a frown on his face. He could feel Hyun-Jae's aura fluctuating with each passing second.
'Where is that bastard?!' He clenched his teeth in frustration as he looked around. 'He better not have died!'
A few minutes of silence passed as they scoured the entire area before ending up inside the forest.
"Maybe he ran inside the forest?" Chin-Hwa said as he tried to alleviate some of the tension.
But, Hyun-Jae didn't answer him and continued moving forward as fast as she could. Her focus was solely on finding him.
'Don't do this to me, Talon. You can't… You can't do that…' Her body shook in the cold, rainy weather. Her hair was messed up and her body was bloodied, tattered, and exhausted to the limit.
But, the feeling of fear she was experiencing at that moment was by far the worst thing she went through.
Dark thoughts assaulted her head and she couldn't get rid of them. A myriad of feelings filled her mind like bees. Feelings that she couldn't understand as they were completely new to her.
'Why is my heart beating this fast? Why does it hurt so much just thinking that I won't see him?' She asked herself and yet couldn't find an answer.
Many would've known what they were feeling, but for Hyun-Jae who lived her life far away from experiencing them, she was as clueless as a child.
But, that didn't mean that she didn't realize that Talon had already taken a very special place in her heart. He had taken over her mind ever since they met and she couldn't take him off her head.
His quirky personality, his humor, his unexpected actions in most situations. She found all of that captivating to no extent.
Soon, before realizing it, he had become something she looked forward to every single day. In such a dark world, he was the only beautiful light that could shine on her day. Next to him, she didn't have to worry about her responsibilities or what she had to do for the future. She simply could be herself without worrying.
"That's the research center." Chin-Hwa pushed a tree branch to the side and looked at the building in front of him.
Hyun-Jae stared at the building as she secretly gulped a mouthful of saliva. This was the last place Talon could possibly be at. If he isn't there… Then…
Quickly, Hyun-Jae shook her head as she stepped forward.
"We should be careful. We don't know if there are any monsters left. They could've run away for all we kn-"
"Oh, you two are already here."
As Chin-Hwa was about to finish his sentence, a voice cut him off. Immediately, the two turned around as they looked at the door to the building. There, stood Talon, carrying three people on his shoulder.
Putting them down, he dusted his hands. "I had to deal with the matter so I couldn't go back quickly."
Chin-Hwa: "..."
Hyun-Jae: "..."
"What?" He tilted his head in confusion. "Is there something on my face?"
The two stared at him as if they were seeing a ghost. It took a few seconds for one of them to react.
Hyun-Jae started walking up the stairs toward him in a slow manner. When she reached him, she stood silent for a moment.
Talon stared at her for a moment before he was suddenly pushed back. Hyun-Jae wrapped her arms around his neck as she hugged him tightly, pressing her body on him.
"Woah…" The young man instinctively touched her back so that he didn't fall. He felt Hyun-Jae use all her strength to hug him.
'Now this is a little unexpected…'
"Cough, I don't think this is the best place to do thi-"
"Please… Don't ever leave me…" Hyun-Jae whispered with a wavering voice.
Hearing those words, all of Talon's thoughts halted completely.
"Hyun-Jae?"
"Please…" She repeated again in a faint voice. "I can't… I tried to think of it… I can't imagine that future… It's too much… I can't lose another one… Please…"
'She's shaking.' Talon frowned when he felt her hands move. He had never seen Hyun-Jae this emotional before. Her usually cold and aloof personality was nowhere to be seen and it made his heart skip a beat.
'She was really worried about me.' Feeling a little guilty, his arms wrapped around her as he pulled her in.
"I won't go anywhere. I promise." He whispered in her ear in a soft tone.
Feeling his arms around her and his voice telling her that everything was ok, Hyun-Jae's heart finally felt at ease.
A//N: Don't forget to support the book if you enjoyed reading 😀