The Citadel of Bingyeon (Ice Smoke)

Episode 13: Rest

The glass shards of the third star, humming as if singing victory in the palm of my hand, gradually drew in their light and fell silent. At the same time, deep inside the far wall of the giant dome room, an ancient stone mechanism that had been manually overridden began to open with a heavy screech, sliding apart. With a heavy metallic thud, the unlocked secret passage plainly revealed the visual of a definite escape route leading straight out of the maze.

But just before I could take even a single step toward that horizon, everything around me started spinning wildly on its own.
The price of channeling heaven’s void magic three times in a row without even a single line of error came as a brutally raw, extreme drain on my power. Because I was still clumsy at controlling the balance and intensity of the newly awakened strength, every last drop of energy in my body had been cleanly exhausted. My vision instantly blurred and collapsed into pitch-black darkness, and I fell as if crashing mercilessly onto the cold stone ground.

"Seoha!"

Before my head could even hit the hard floor, two arms so terrifyingly fast it raised goosebumps caught my blind fall in midair in one swift motion. Chan-yeon-oppa threw himself forward to support me on pure protective instinct, and with effortless, solid strength he lifted the weight of my body into his broad chest.

"Maybe the countdown timer for the door closing has started!"

Hyunjin shouted loudly. His overflowing puppy-like energy blazed together tightly with the dangerous adrenaline, and he urgently overrode and released one thick smoke screen after another with frantic gestures to completely hide our trail.

Without even a single second of hesitation, Chan-yeon-oppa held me tightly against his chest and began sprinting at full speed toward the opening gap. His unwavering, gentle hands carried a stubborn loyalty that said he would never let me go, and Jiseok and Hyunjin stayed close on his heels and broke through the tunnel before the heavy stone gate slammed shut behind us without mercy and trapped us inside.

Only after what felt like an eternity did the darkness all around me slowly begin to lift.

When my eyelids trembled and I finally managed to blink, my head felt as heavy as lead, and waves of dull vertigo shook my mind to pieces. The maze’s stone walls that had been suffocating me were completely gone. Instead, I was tucked warmly beneath a thick burial-like pile of travel cloaks layered over me by the others in a tiny, hidden cave surrounded by earthen walls, where a small brazier gave off a soft golden-orange glow as it danced. The warmth filling my skin was not only from the hearth’s heat.

It was because Chan-yeon-oppa was holding me up, hugging me so tightly and so carefully that it was almost shockingly precious.

The commander was lying right beside me on the temporary bed. His large hand was clasped firmly and stubbornly around my waist, impossible to separate, and because he held me so tightly against his chest, I could feel the steady pulse of his heartbeat flowing into my back. As he slept deeply, his face looked endlessly soft and shy, as if he had set down the strict military duty of a commander entirely. His delicate silver cochlear implant device caught the firelight and flashed sharply. Even in deep sleep, there wasn’t the slightest gap in the hand supporting my waist, and that stubborn embrace was like a solid anchor that perfectly isolated and protected me.

"Oh... you're finally awake."

A soft, warm voice drifted in quietly from the edge of the brazier.

Jiseok quietly walked into my line of sight, and the very moment he confirmed that I had fully regained consciousness, his signature proud, huge smile bloomed brilliantly across his face. He and Hyunjin had been staying up all night, never even closing their eyes for a single second since we escaped the fortress, checking the layout of the cave perimeter while safely covering us. Jiseok smoothly knelt down and sat lightly on the floor right beside my pillow, and in his eyes as he looked up at me was an affection so deep and precious it softened his gaze irresistibly.

He kept speaking in a quiet, low tone so as not to disturb the commander’s sleep cycle beside him. Jiseok reached down and gently took my hand. His palm was still incredibly warm against mine, settling and calming my pulse, and our fingers locked together tightly once again. With quiet, unhurried precision, he traced a pretty heart right in the center of my palm as if to reassure me, and that gentle touch quietly eased and arranged the dizziness circling through my head.

"You really threw us all into complete panic, Seoha."

Hyunjin muttered in an utterly exhausted, urgent, faint whisper as he hurried over from near the brazier. In his hand he carried a steaming ceramic mug. His simple travel cloak was stained all over with black soot from tending the fire all night, and the cheeks that had been tightly drawn from worry overnight were already flooding red with a deep, shy blush the moment he looked at me. As he knelt down onto the floor right beside Jiseok, he stared up at me with that distinctly puppy-like, impatient, lively look in his eyes.

"Your magic made every system in your body black out at once. Honestly, it’s completely unfair how much huge, incredible heavenly power you’re carrying around inside that tiny body."

"Hyung, stop babbling so much and hurry up and hand over the medicinal broth."

Jiseok gave a quiet little laugh, and with a gentle pulse of warmth in his grip, squeezed my hand tighter.

"Right, right!"

Hyunjin nodded quickly and lifted the mug up with an extremely careful, tender touch. He leaned his upper body closer toward the bed mattress, and his breath brushed softly against my skin. Hyunjin carefully guided the rim of the cup to the edge of my lips, and the tips of his fingers lightly grazed mine as they passed.

"This is a recovery tonic carefully simmered from the deep roots of the nearby snow mountains. The taste will be absolutely, terribly dry and bitter, but it’s a guaranteed override potion that will perfectly reset every muscle and magical balance in your body."

I slowly and carefully swallowed a sip of the bitter tonic, wincing slightly, and that cute reaction made the two young lords let out a soft, relieved laugh almost at once.
As soon as the warm liquid slid down my throat, a clear warmth instantly surged through my veins like a waterfall, firmly and smoothly knitting back together every weary, screaming muscle and supporting it. But because of the tonic’s powerful sedative effect, my eyelids immediately began to sink heavily once more.

"That’s right, good. While the medicine takes effect, just relax and rest a little longer."

Jiseok whispered softly. His fingers were still locked with mine, impossible to separate, and he lowered his head to place a gentle, lingering kiss on the back of my finger joints.

Hyunjin reached out and slowly traced and retied the edges of the cloaks draped over my shoulders, and in the look he gave me, a deep affection steeped in preciousness and an absolute story of protection shone clearly.

"We’ll stay up all night right beside you and cover you perfectly, so don’t worry. We’ll lock this perimeter down and protect you so thoroughly that no one will be able to break through and lay a hand on you."

With Jiseok’s hot grip tightly holding my hand, Hyunjin’s kind care steadfastly guarding the brazier, and Chan-yeon-oppa’s enormous strength supporting me from behind as he held me perfectly close in the sound of his heartbeat, all the confusion that had been tightening my chest soon disappeared completely. In the middle of our secret camp, hidden away with every shadow in every direction neatly blocked out, I felt the fullest safety I had ever known in all my warmth, and I quietly sank once more into the deep, peaceful sleep of a sanctuary.