He had nothing but worry filling his head. Rather than worrying about himself, his concern grew only for her despite her decision to care none of what people would say of her. He couldn't help but to say it to her again and Chaeyoung only gazed at him for a long moment, long enough to leave him confused.

"Do you have any idea who my future husband is?"

Jungkook had done his best to shut out any stories of her marriage to the fine Healer whose identity was still unknown to him. He refused to let the man's identity visit his mind. Whoever that man might be, he didn't think it should concern him. He didn't want to know.

"Junhoe," she muttered, pressing her face into his bare chest as she sighed heavily. "Koo Junhoe."

His brows knitted, fingers on her arm tightening slightly. He recalled seeing the man with a woman from the Defense Sector, intimate like how lovers would. And shortly after that day, he remembered witnessing the same man with a Healer, intimacy shown almost similar to when he saw Junhoe with the first woman. Jungkook remembered listening to the man's name whispered around, the story of him and his history of wild adventures with different women of different sectors.

That was the man who was chosen to marry Chaeyoung? That was the man who was chosen to take Chaeyoung into his care? How was he going to care for Chaeyoung when he owned no love in his heart? How was he going to make her feel like she was the only woman in his life if loyalty didn't exist within him?

"Sacrificing this way..." she softly said, fingers fidgeting with his on his stomach. "It seems so wrong."

Jungkook nodded lightly, his chin softly tickled by her blond hair. "It is."

She spoke no more after that. Her fingers had stopped playing with his. She seemed to have fallen asleep on his chest. Jungkook's arm that was draped around her gently pressed her closer to his side, pulling his thin shirt that barely blanket them upward, enough to cover her body up until her shoulder though the chill of the night wasn't something that he needed to be concerned of in case of her.

During that tranquil moment, Jungkook's words to her marched into his mind. It really was something they should do in the situation they were in, but was it even doable? Even without her persistence to stop him from avoiding her, he knew he hadn't the power to do so.

It would be the hardest thing to do anyhow, Jungkook thought in his head in the quiet night with her breathing calmly within his embrace.

Chaeyoung's fingers on his body slightly twitched and she shifted. When he looked down at her, she lifted her head and her eyes were holding him in a delicate gaze. She merely stared at him, bemused and questioning. He blinked, realizing that she hadn't actually been sleeping.

"What is?" Chaeyoung softly asked.

He inhaled sharply. He had spoken it out loud rather than in his head. Jungkook caught the few of her tresses falling, pushed them away from her face and he moved, turning while holding her until she was on her back, her head supported by his arm.

"Forgetting you," he cradled her face, "is just impossible to do."

*

Chaeyoung's eyelids flew open when Jungkook jerked, his breaths ragged. She immediately sat up and gently held his arm but the panting only got worst. He was sweating so much she could see beads scattered on his skins very clearly. His head shook from left to right, brows drawn together and forehead furrowing deeper.

The groan that left his mouth mirrored pain. He let out a grunt and his veins popped out on his neck and forehead.

"Jungkook." She tried to shake him. He was having a nightmare. "Jungkook, wake up!"

She put on her dress in a rush, placed each of her hands on either side of his face, patting him gently in an attempt to wake him up. He shuddered and she saw his fists clenched. "Stop –" Jungkook panted. "St –stop."

Chaeyoung immediately grabbed his hands, clasping them as tightly as she could, all the while whispering in his ear to wake him up from whatever it was that was troubling him in his sleep. His hands relaxed moments later, yet the nightmare seemed to be alive as ever. Jungkook gritted his teeth and exhaled sharply, as if he was suppressing a terrible agony.

She didn't even know what she was supposed to do. When Jimin had a nightmare, their mother simply shook his body and he would be free from it, waking up at that instant. It didn't work on Jungkook, though.

Her hands then let his go. She shifted on the ground, moving toward his head and carefully, placed it onto her lap as she wiped the sweats on his forehead. Her concern over him only swell with time when he only trembled further, groaning even louder and in that panicked moment, Chaeyoung held his head with the most care when the song played in her mind.

His heavy breathings slowed, the tremble of his body gradually stopped but his forehead still creased. Using her thumbs, Chaeyoung gently stroked the creases until they were fully gone.

Jungkook slept peacefully right after and Chaeyoung stared at him for a longer moment. For some reason, her eyes shifted to his shoulder, then, to his stomach. Her heart slightly tugged as she gazed over those areas. All the time, she tried to heal the wounds visible to her eyes. Never did she think that even when the marks were eventually invisible on his skin, the wounds in his memory were never erased through healing. They could never be erased.

That couldn't be the first time he had that nightmare. Perhaps, ever since he got his injuries the nightmare began assaulting his mind. She wondered if the nightmare attacked him in every sleep. Chaeyoung sighed, caressing his face and lightly stroking his hair. He didn't deserve to experience such awful thing in his life.

His tranquil state didn't last long. A few hours later, the nightmare visited him again and his head began to shake vigorously on her lap, as though he was trying to avoid something coming for him.

"Ssh..." she tried to comfort his unconscious self, rubbing her thumbs softly against his forehead. When his body still shook, his breaths became ragged and his grunts only grew louder, Chaeyoung decided to let the song fill her mind again. And just like before, he began to calm down.

For the whole night, she stayed awake, monitoring him. Four times, he had the nightmare. She wished she could step into his mind just like how she was able to be in her mind when she needed to heal. If she could just be in his mind momentarily to fight off anything that was causing him to be so restless, she'd willingly take any risk that would come with it.

When morning finally arrived, Jungkook's eyes opened lazily and when their eyes met, he pulled up a smile that she couldn't help but return it. He reached for her hand that was holding his face and clasped it. He stared at her long and brows finally furrowed next.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

She was exhausted. Not for the lost hours of sleep, but it was that healing process that drained her out. The healing song played in her mind for a total of four times. A total of four times of healing. Each time, she lost so much of her energy. Each time she'd wonder how other Healers were able to heal without losing too much energy.

Chaeyoung let her smile stay on her face. "I am. Of course I am all right."

He looked like he was trying to study her face. Though still looking unconvinced, Jungkook nodded gently. "Have you been awake for long?" he asked. "Why are you... why am I sleeping on your lap?"

She chuckled softly at that. "I used your arm all night. It is only fair if I let you rest your head on my lap since my arms aren't as strong as yours." She noticed a hint of smile playing on his face. "After all, isn't my lap way more comfortable than the ground?"

The corners of his eyes wrinkled as his smile grew wider and wider. "It is. Too comfortable, in fact."

Just right after he put on his shirt and boots, the gemstone on his ring glowed red and she heard him sigh out loud. Chaeyoung scrambled up to her feet, then, stepped toward him. Not knowing what exactly she wanted to do, Chaeyoung placed her hand over his heart. A prayer silently whirred in her heart, wishing for his safety inside and out.

When she glanced up at him, he was already staring at her with eyebrows raised. She caught his little smile, the corner of his lips curved slightly upward. Jungkook's hand sneaked to behind her head, gently pulling her and the skin of her forehead met with his lips. His lips lingered there for a while, and despite the growing concern inside of her after what she witnessed, Chaeyoung found herself smiling at the sweet gesture, her heart filled with his warmth.

For a brief moment, she selfishly hoped for it to linger even longer, but the red glow of his ring brightened even more. Tardiness wasn't tolerable, especially to Newcomers. If he let it be, if he disobeyed the call, his finger would be injured just like the other day.

"Be careful," she muttered softly after he rushed away, disappearing into the woods, "always."

*

"What if there is another way?"

A dark chuckle answered the question. When he averted his attention back to the pair of blue eyes belong to the man before him, he sealed his lips shut at the grim look sent his way. The wrinkles formed on the man's face deepened. His lips formed a thin line.

He knew that look so well. A look meant to tell him that the question was stupid. It was, indeed, since he'd asked that question for so many times.

"There is no other way. If you would rather get killed than living your life in total freedom, do as you please."

A hand gently squeezed his shoulder. That same hand, always making him feel like home, now felt so distant and strange. He turned to look at his mother. She offered him a small smile and the look on her face wasn't of the usual loving look. It was of a warning. Do not fight your father.

Memories, though brief yet impactful, swirled in his brain. A face with different emotions. He thought of the worried look on that face. Disturbed, uneasy and pained. A voice filled with disappointment yet hopeful crept into his mind.

Do you want to do this?

Junhoe sucked in his breath sharply, shoulders fell heavily as he exhaled. His answer to Chaeyoung loud in his mind.

No. No. No! His mind was screaming.

Then, the voice in his head became soft and weak.

But I have to.