𝘓𝘐𝘍𝘌𝘓𝘌𝘚𝘚 𝘞𝘈𝘙//𝘗𝘑𝘔 𝘍𝘍

•Retrospective•

The four girls greeted Venus with a wave of hand and a smile behind their thick scarf. They must've thought of the possibility of temperature drop that's why they dressed warmly. Venus noticed the group was bigger than usual with a few more riders and even had men which was strange since they usually do heavier chores compared to Venus and her friends. Upon noticing Venus' confusion, Eluna approached her on her brown reindeer with an explanation.

"Lucky day, Vee. We're going hunting with the hunters. Gotta learn them tricks, ayy?"

Eluna got to get her head out of that American English textbook of her. Venus chuckled and rolled her eyes at Eluna's funky English but she was quite surprised to know the willingness of these hunters to bring females on one of their hunts. Honestly speaking, Venus was rather scared and nervous unlike her excited girl friends. They were very concentrated on the hunters' instructions and guide while Venus stayed at the back of the group with fiddling fingers on Bear's antlers. She found it difficult to get excited for the hunt and she knew why.

It reminded her of a lot of things. Too many for her emotions to not get overflow. The hunt here was similar to the hunts she went on back in Jeju domain. Hand signs, precautions, cautions, difficult equipment, deadly weapons. It was too similar for her to not gulp and lick her lips as her mind went through all her emotions especially the one that made her heart tugged and eye stung. The pain was still fresh from last night and she figured it wouldn't be healing fast considering how she's going to do something that reminded her of him.

She remembered how they fought madly with the idea of her being involved in the hunt, how they made it up with a very intimating session on their shared bed, how the aftercare was filled with raw emotions and affectionate touches. But that was not the end, she remembered their first hunt and her troublesome lover with his infamous flirty demeanor, the first trail they took in the city that quickly escalated when a scream ripped through the air and brought in a herd of zombies. Oh and that scream belonged to someone Venus saved with much struggle and gave everyone a heart attack especially the man who loves her yet still needed to keep his group safe.

Oh and don't you dare forget the magnificent night they spent together which they both named it Best Late Night Date Ever. Even though they were on a hunt, they both still managed to create beautiful moments and shared much love that could make other bounce on their feet as they rejoice for them. Such vivid memories were kept clean and clear in her head but it kept the pain as well. The pain of not being able to recreate it on this hunt, of not being able to feel the things she felt back then, of not being stared at 24/7 by a pair of alluring orbs. She missed every single details of her previous hunt and it hurts like hell because she had to do it without him this time.

"Got that, Vee?"

A sudden voice snapped Venus out of her sad walk down the memory lane. Venus let out a soft huh when she turned to look at a frowning Eluna. Venus lightly waved her hand when she noticed Eluna's worried and questioning face before nudging Bear to follow the moving group in front of them. Honestly, Venus didn't need any training or briefing on hunts since her lover had done it on every single hunt they went on.

Venus was given a crossbow as the group avoid using big guns that would lure in dangerous predators like the zombies. Though she was equipped with weapons, Venus still found her crossbow heavy and very hard to control but she tried her best which wasn't helping the group as they hunt down an elk. Venus was missing a couple- no, all of her shots to the point where she decided to sit back and watch since she was low on arrows already. Hunting with a crossbow surely wasn't her field but Venus didn't mind staying back and assist those who was in need of help. She acted like a medic just like when she was lowkey taking care of her lover. There she goes again. Him, him, him. Always him. That man have been occupying her head since day one and it brought both sweet nostalgia and bitter taste to the heart.