𝙁𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚, 𝘛𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘣𝘺 𝘛𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳

𝙭𝙫.

Yeonjun and Dawn were in the living room, waiting for the others to come home. The former was sitting on the couch with his eyes closed. He wasn't sleeping. He was just resting his eyes. He also didn't want to get dizzy watching Dawn making a hole in the ground with her pacing.

"Settle down, doll. You're making me dizzy." Yeonjun whined, hoping the girl would sit down, which she reluctantly does so, but her pacing was replaced with anxious feet tapping on the floor.

"Don't worry about them. They could defend themselves." He tried to reassure once again, which made the atmosphere silent momentarily before the tapping of feet appeared again.

He could only sigh in defeat. As much as he wanted to assure Dawn that everyone would be fine, somewhere deep inside him, he couldn't help but be worried, too. This was the first time they faced the enemy without being complete. So he, too, couldn't help but be nervous, but he was better at hiding it.

Unbeknownst to him, Dawn could pick up even the slight change in his emotions. His emotions actually influenced her quite a bit.

It was silent for a moment. The two were busy, deep in their thoughts, until they heard a mild growl. Immediately, Dawn stiffened, looking around, her guard shooting up, but then she heard Yeonjun's low voice. "I'm hungry."

He was embarrassed. He wanted the seat to swallow him whole, seeing her eyes looking at him with mild amusement.

"I'll try to arrange something to eat." She announced as she walked away, leaving Yeonjun in his device. But before Dawn could disappear into the kitchen, a silent but audible thud was heard from the outside.

The two exchanged glances, hoping it was the others, before bolting out of the house.

"Thank goodness! You guys have Dawn worried!" Yeonjun exclaimed as soon as he saw the four. Immediately, he walked closer and checked for any injury they might've acquired, but saw none.

His statement clearly contradicted his action. Dawn sweat-dropped at how fussy the oldest was being to the four. She thought she was watching a mama bear whose four sons run off somewhere to play.

Speaking of the four, she watched them with apprehension. Looking closely, they were tense. They were present, but their mind clearly were not. She could feel their rage, worry, and remorse by extending her magic without being obvious. They weren't acting like their selves.

"Would you guys like some drink?" Dawn asked, stopping Yeonjun from fretting over the four.

Picking up the mindfulness in her voice, Yeonjun took a step back and observed their faces with a serious expression. Something terrible happened with the meeting with the King.

Let me rephrase that, when does meetings with the King become pleasant, anyway?

✦

After Yeonjun and Dawn were caught up on what happened earlier, it was silent for a while. The former was glaring in front of him, occasional curses leaving his mouth while the latter was sipping her tea for an umpteenth time.