Chaeyoung watched as Junhoe threw playful smiles at a group of young female Healers walking past them. The females spared her no glance, only fixing their eyes on Junhoe and Chaeyoung scrunched her nose when they giggled shyly when he greeted them.

She had initially refused to go for another day to spend with Junhoe upon his family's request. If it hadn't been for her father's wrath that would only put her mother into distress, she wouldn't step out of her house when Junhoe came.

"It is hard, of course. But you'll learn to love him." Her mother's words floated in her mind.

She felt not an ounce of jealousy when Junhoe flirted with other women even when she was just beside him, even when almost everyone knew that they would be united as husband and wife. But with how he was acting, Chaeyoung didn't think she'd be able to like him. Even a tiny bit of love would be impossible to grow within her. And how could she surrender herself to someone she had no feelings for?

Chaeyoung didn't have to ask to know. Nevertheless, she did. "If our families didn't have this plan for us to be united for any reason at all, honestly, would you actually want to be united to me?"

His mouth formed a little smirk. "Marriage isn't for me, Chaeyoung. Even if it is, you're the last woman I'd want to get tied to."

It was supposed to be upsetting to hear that. But she didn't get upset. The corners of her lips lifted in a small smile briefly. She was glad to hear that, but it wasn't too gratifying to know that especially when the reality at the moment was that he had agreed to take her as his wife.

"Is it too late to withdraw from this planned unison?" she asked softly, eyes staring far away. "I can't imagine sharing my life with you. And you... you don't even want to get married. There is no point."

Junhoe stopped walking and when Chaeyoung glanced at him, frown hung heavily on his countenance. "Withdrawing from it isn't as easy as you think," he said lowly and began to walk again.

"You don't know that." Chaeyoung gripped his arm. "We'll only know if we try."

"It is not easy," he repeated, a little aggravated as he pulled his arm off her hold.

"Come with me," she said. "I'll talk to my father. I'll talk to your parents. If what we want is mutual, I am sure –"

Junhoe chuckled darkly. "You can try if you want. But you'll only fail, trust me."

When Chaeyoung arrived home, every one of her family members was present. Her brother had just come home after a full day spent healing ill elders of different sectors while both her parents had just spent hours with the Koos. Her father was drinking when she confronted him.

"I beg you, Father. Please cancel this unison between Junhoe and me." Her father gave her a brief look, an uninterested look. She chewed her lip hard. "He doesn't want this marriage, and neither do I. There is no way we can live together. I do not love him, Father. I can't love him. And it is impossible to learn to love him."

Her father's eyes finally settled on her for a longer period. He was unreadable. She didn't know what he seemed to think at that moment. A moment later, his mouth formed a small smirk. The next moment, he scoffed. "How is love important?"

Her chest tightened. What sort of question was that? Shouldn't two people be united for love? Her fingers curled, fists clenched tightly till her knuckles turned white.

"Listen, Chaeyoung," her father said after taking a sip of his drink. "For a Healer with a reputation as terrible as yours, love isn't something you should put forward. It should be at the far end of your mind. If possible, it should be erased." He looked straight into her eyes when he said, "You must remember one thing. Duty comes first."

Duty, her mind scoffed. "How do you expect me to be together with someone like him?" she burst. "He's been with tons of women and even when he knows that I am to be betrothed to him, that I am to be his wife, he still does that."

By the time she said that, her voice raised, and she could feel that she'd tear up anytime soon. Her father's expression had darkened with anger. His fingers around the glass tight.

"Do not raise your voice at me." His deep voice dropped lower.

"Is that the only way I can carry my duty as a Healer to contribute to the village? How preposterous!"

A second after she yelled the last word, water splashed sharply at her face. Her eyes tightly shut, lips trembling, and she gnawed at her bottom lip, forcing herself not to cry. She heard Jimin's voice screaming 'Father' and she felt her mother's arms around her.

"The next time you raise your voice at me, it'll be my hand that you'll feel on your face."

Chaeyoung pushed her mother's arms away. She pushed her brother's hand on her shoulder. She muted her ears to their voices calling her name as she ran out the door. The tears that she felt in her eyes were gone. They solidified, frozen. Like a glass, they layered her eyes. Inside of her was nothing but a snowstorm.

The pond. She wouldn't want to be anywhere else but the pond. If she couldn't get the peace she wanted and needed, she'd perhaps do something terrible. Only the pond could provide her with the peace and comfort she'd truly need.

She ran faster, ignoring the eyes of everyone watching her, the mouths of everyone speaking loudly around her. She ran and ran until she entered the woods. Her pace was quick until her eyes settled on a figure about to enter the pond.

Immediately, the storm inside of her slowed down even though only a little. Her already cold heart froze when she saw Jungkook stripped bare and even from a distance, she could see the invisible flames around him. She hadn't expected to see him there, especially not after the time he left the pond when he realized that she was present.

At the moment of observing him, her mind opened up a memory of what his grandfather had said to her.

"Wait until he finds peace. Only then your words will get a clear path to get to him."

"When he wants it, he will find it."

It was that place. Just like her, he looked for his peace at the pond. Chaeyoung let a sigh escape. She wanted to talk to him, to have him warm her up, she longed for those. But it didn't really seem like a time she wanted to delve into what had caused them to drift away from one another. She wanted the peace that the pond never failed to provide to wash all the awful things that had exhausted her mind.

And she wished to obtain the peace without anyone around her. Including him.

But it was a waste of her energy, a waste of her time to turn back around and if she went back home without having herself calmed down from the terrible storm inside of her, she'd probably unleash her father's biggest wrath. She wouldn't mind it if she was the only one involved. If her mother and brother were involved, if they were to receive punishment for what she did, she wouldn't forgive herself.

Worry began to build in her mind. Her father could possibly punish them right at that moment. She should go back. Her mind commanded her to turn away from the pond. Yet, her feet only brought her forward until she stood close to the pond, all the time her eyes on Jungkook inside the water.

He told her to leave him. He told her that he didn't want to talk about anything regarding her unison to a man that was not him. She should go. But she wouldn't.

She wasn't there to talk about it. She wasn't there to force him to listen to her. She was there for herself.

She needed to calm herself down. She needed peace before she broke.

If it had been any other day, she wouldn't have made it close to the pond where she could see Jungkook's bare body clearly under the water despite the night sky. The light from the moon was too bright, the water was too clear. If it had been any other time, she wouldn't even be able to push the silk off her shoulder.

Though, when she witnessed Jungkook's eyes running up her body until their eyes locked and the water in the pond boiled, her stomach knotted in a strange way. And when she was finally in the water, strangely, the water calmed down. It was soothingly warm. Its warmth reminded her of the only warmth she ever longed for.

She kept her distance from him. She wanted to look away, yet her eyes could only look into his and she knew he felt the same way. It was totally obvious that he wanted to avoid staring into her eyes. The silence around them was as thick as the fog that had earlier floated around them.

The storm inside of her died and at that moment, the need to talk to him stirred inside of her. When she opened her mouth to speak, he stole that chance from her.

"You're not supposed to be here...with me...like this." He turned his head away and Chaeyoung's heart tugged painfully at that. "People will see –"

"Let them," she cut him off and his head whipped toward her, eyes hard and body stilled.

Jungkook's jaw clenched when he said, "People will talk."

"Let them." Her voice flat. Bit by bit, she pushed herself forward in the water. Toward him.

His forehead creased with a frown so heavy. She saw him swallowed hard, like the next thing he was about to say was something too painful for him to even think about. Chaeyoung waded closer.

"You are to be with some –"

"Don't," she stopped him, putting a finger over his lips. It was something painful to think about, even to her, especially to her. She didn't want to think about it. She wished to erase that memory. She wished she could turn back the time and never agreed to the deal. She wished for her past self to be wiser. Shaking her head, she said, "Don't mention of him."

A beat of silence. Then, Jungkook removed her finger from his lips and there was hesitance as he let her hand go and backed away from her slightly. "Chaeyoung," he sighed. "You are to marry another Healer. We can't be seen like this."

"I do not care," replied her. She was surprised at the firmness, the sureness of her voice.

Jungkook's frown grew heavier. "Do you not have the slightest worry for what people will say of you?" he asked. There was a slight presence of ire in his voice.

She realized that her tears earlier hadn't actually gone. They only froze in her eyes. "I don't care!" she burst and the tears fell rapidly. "I can no longer care about any of that."

"But I care!" he snapped. "Do you know how irritating it is to hear them speak terribly of you?"

Her eyes refilled the tears and once again they rushed down her cheeks. "They will still talk, no matter what. No matter what I do, nothing will ever satisfy them. Nothing will seal their mouths shut." Breathing heavily, she spoke her mind. "I want you to know that I am not letting this happen. I will stop the marriage before it can happen. I can't be with him. I don't ever want to."

She didn't know how to do that. But she would put efforts to stop it.

Jungkook was engulfed in silence, motionless as he did nothing but stare at her. Chaeyoung moved forward again, closer until they were only a breath apart and her hands flat on his chest.

She looked into his eyes, studied the expression of his face. She saw doubts and hesitance. He didn't need to say it. She knew what those actually meant and why his mind had them.

"I know it's hard for you to trust me. But I did not lie when I told you I care about you." She sneaked one hand to his nape and gently, her thumb stroked his warm skin. "Only you."

Jungkook breathed heavily that she could feel his warm breath against her skin. He asked through gritted teeth. "I told you that we should forget each other, didn't I?"

She chewed her lip, nodded her head. "You did. Still, it doesn't mean I have to do as told." Undoubtedly, she would fail if she tried. How could she not? He made a home in her mind and heart. "Perhaps, it is simple for you. It would be an easy process," she said with a shaky voice, "but it isn't for me."

"It is already tough enough for me to tell you to do so," he grumbled.

"If it isn't easy, then why do you insist?" she asked.

"That's what we're supposed to do. With everything that's been happening at the moment, that's what we should do."

Her eyes hid none of the disappointment she felt. Scanning his face, Chaeyoung could sense that he tried to hide a lot of things. She wanted him to say them just how he would have said it, and not replace them with what he never really meant.

Yet Jungkook didn't seem as though he would go that path.

Taking a deep breath, Chaeyoung lightly nodded her head and let her hands slid off his body. Perhaps, she needed to take her leave. Perhaps, he was right.

In that moment of listening to her own heart breaking, Chaeyoung felt his hand holding her waist firmly when she turned away from him. Something about the way he held it made her think of only the word 'stay'. She didn't protest when he tugged her closer before she could shift away.

Before she could glance up at him again, he closed the distance, bare skin flushed against each other. His warm mouth was on hers and her eyes fluttered closed at the contact.

Chaeyoung sighed softly into Jungkook's mouth when his warm hands slid gently from her waist to her thighs. He pulled them up, placed each on either side of his waist. Chaeyoung tightened her legs around him, desperately pressing herself and arching into him at the feel of his burning skin against hers. She wouldn't know that he'd spun them around in the water if she hadn't felt the wall of nature's rough texture on her back as he pushed her against it.

Jungkook's mouth disappeared from hers, dropping to her jaw and her neck, sending fire to run up her spine, intensifying the throb she felt at south. Jungkook's hands went absent from her body after his lips did and her eyes opened slowly. His hands were holding the edge of the pond as his fiery eyes looked deep into her eyes.

No words spoken out loud, but in the intensity of his gaze, she could see a reminder or a warning. There is no turning back, his eyes seemed to say.

Her gaze turned hazy as it dropped to his lips. I don't wish to turn back. She leaned forward and her lips pressed softly against his, relaying her decision through it as she crossed her wrists behind his neck. Jungkook's hands rushed back to hold her right after propelling them away from the edge into the center of the clean water.

Under the eye of the night sky, Jungkook's every touch sent heat melting her entire being, convincing her that she was almost one with the water. The pain caused by everything else faded just like that. Any other thoughts seemed to vanish if not hidden in an unknown place in her mind that she wished not to find later when the night ended.

Every other voice in Chaeyoung's head muted. All she could hear were the sound of the water sloshing, harmonizing with their unsteady breaths like music, and her name slipping through his lips like a word of a wonderful song.