Ardent
You Save Everyone, but Who Saves You?
She had met Hoseok in the forest.
It wasn't supposed to happen, seeing as she lived outside of the town and he still lived within it. Their coincidental meeting was technically against the law as citizens were not supposed to venture beyond the township borders. But as he'd told her, somebody had to go into the forest to collect more delphinium. It just so happened that on that particular day he'd been the one to do it and had wandered too far towards her land.
Lilith had met people from the town before. It wasn't that uncommon for the citizens to attempt to explore the outside world. They often thought they could run away and live a different life from the one provided to them inside the township borders. However, they usually concluded that the forest was dangerous enough to warrant retreating back to the world they already were familiar with. Hoseok was different; aside from wandering out far enough to touch the edges of her land, he knew his way around the forest well. She supposed that he and his friends could leave the town any time they wanted, though she never asked him why they hadn't. That wasn't a stranger's business after all, and talking a few times did not really make them comrades.
Regardless, it didn't shock her at all when Hoseok eventually told her he was finalizing his plans to leave. There had been a recent incident involving a few of his friends, and it had pushed him far enough over the edge that he had committed to leaving the town for good. Lilith didn't press him for any details, but she offered her home as a place for them to rest at. She had never encountered his friends before and they lived in a world where trusting anyone at all could mean the end of your life. But despite this, Lilith felt that she could trust any person that Hoseok trusted. And through his words, she could tell he held his friends in the highest regards.
In the weeks leading up to when Hoseok and his friends planned to leave, he visited the forest almost every day under the excuse of gathering more delphinium. He was actually checking their escape routes to make sure there was no way they could be surprised. Everyone including Lilith had tried to warn him that leaving the town so often would set off unnecessary alarms with the government, but he insisted anyway. He argued that the forest was also the only place they knew of where delphinium grew, and they would need to have enough of it in stock when they left for good.
The sun finally sunk on the horizon the night they planned to leave. Lilith had been awake since sunrise, her whole body tense with anxiety. Hoseok had told her the punishment that would await them if they were caught, with some of his friends' being worse off than the others. From what she had been told, she'd figured out that a few of his friends had family in the very government they were trying to escape from. Others had simply broken some of the most important laws of the town. Hoseok himself appeared to have been a law-abiding citizen; it was as if he genuinely just wanted to help his friends get out of their bad situations. But she had never asked him about it directly.
When it began, Lilith heard rather than saw their escape. Though miles away from the heart of their town, she could still hear the roar of fire and the pained screams of people inside the buildings as they burned to the ground. If she hadn't grown up outside the town, if she had been taught to feel the artificial emotions they were taught, she might've felt something for them. There was probably quite a few innocent townspeople that would end up being collateral damage in order to make the escape possible. As it was, she could only think of Hoseok's safety.
It felt like hours that she stood at the edge of her land and waited for the group to emerge from the forest. It might have been years, she wasn't very sure. A whole lifetime could've gone by until she saw Hoseok's soot covered face come staggering through the trees.
He barely made it three more steps before his knees gave way and he fell to the ground, Lilith taking off towards him at a run. She was vaguely aware of his friends coming out of the forest behind him, asking if he was alright, but she had tunnel vision. All she wanted and needed to know was that Hoseok was alright.
When she reached him, she crashed down onto her knees and cupped his face in her hands, examining him for any visible signs of injuries. He caught his breath as quietly as he could, his eyes following her as she looked him over thoroughly. When she was finally satisfied, she let her eyes rest on his.
"You're okay?" she asked him. He stared back blankly for a moment, but then seemed to remember something as his face crumpled and hot tears began to slide down his cheeks. Lilith felt her heart tighten with pain as she pulled his forehead against hers, her thumbs brushing away every tear as they came down.
"Hoseok, I'm here," she told him softly, repeating it over and over. But his tears didn't slow down and his shoulders only shook harder as he balled up the fabric of her shirt in his fists. She knew then that something bad must've happened to one of his friends and she looked up to count them, standing at the edge of the forest with guarded eyes.
Five. One of them was missing.
"Oh, Hoseok," she murmured, reaching up with one hand to touch his hair. It was so soft, she noted, despite the ash that fell down onto his shoulder.
"I couldn't save him," he whispered finally, pulling his face away just enough to look at her with the saddest eyes she'd ever seen. "He was the whole reason for all of this, and I just let him die." His eyes went unfocused then, and Lilith tightened her grip on the hair at the back of his neck in fear. "Minhyuk is never going to forgive me for this."
"Hoseok!" she shouted, and he jerked slightly in her grip as he looked up at her with wide eyes. "I know you care deeply for your friends, that all of this was more for them than it was for you. But something bad happened. You tried your best, you can't carry that weight forever. You've been trying to save everyone this whole time. But who's going to be the one that saves you?"
Hoseok blinked, then a fresh wave of cries came over him as he let his head drop against her shoulder.
It wasn't supposed to happen, seeing as she lived outside of the town and he still lived within it. Their coincidental meeting was technically against the law as citizens were not supposed to venture beyond the township borders. But as he'd told her, somebody had to go into the forest to collect more delphinium. It just so happened that on that particular day he'd been the one to do it and had wandered too far towards her land.
Lilith had met people from the town before. It wasn't that uncommon for the citizens to attempt to explore the outside world. They often thought they could run away and live a different life from the one provided to them inside the township borders. However, they usually concluded that the forest was dangerous enough to warrant retreating back to the world they already were familiar with. Hoseok was different; aside from wandering out far enough to touch the edges of her land, he knew his way around the forest well. She supposed that he and his friends could leave the town any time they wanted, though she never asked him why they hadn't. That wasn't a stranger's business after all, and talking a few times did not really make them comrades.
Regardless, it didn't shock her at all when Hoseok eventually told her he was finalizing his plans to leave. There had been a recent incident involving a few of his friends, and it had pushed him far enough over the edge that he had committed to leaving the town for good. Lilith didn't press him for any details, but she offered her home as a place for them to rest at. She had never encountered his friends before and they lived in a world where trusting anyone at all could mean the end of your life. But despite this, Lilith felt that she could trust any person that Hoseok trusted. And through his words, she could tell he held his friends in the highest regards.
In the weeks leading up to when Hoseok and his friends planned to leave, he visited the forest almost every day under the excuse of gathering more delphinium. He was actually checking their escape routes to make sure there was no way they could be surprised. Everyone including Lilith had tried to warn him that leaving the town so often would set off unnecessary alarms with the government, but he insisted anyway. He argued that the forest was also the only place they knew of where delphinium grew, and they would need to have enough of it in stock when they left for good.
The sun finally sunk on the horizon the night they planned to leave. Lilith had been awake since sunrise, her whole body tense with anxiety. Hoseok had told her the punishment that would await them if they were caught, with some of his friends' being worse off than the others. From what she had been told, she'd figured out that a few of his friends had family in the very government they were trying to escape from. Others had simply broken some of the most important laws of the town. Hoseok himself appeared to have been a law-abiding citizen; it was as if he genuinely just wanted to help his friends get out of their bad situations. But she had never asked him about it directly.
When it began, Lilith heard rather than saw their escape. Though miles away from the heart of their town, she could still hear the roar of fire and the pained screams of people inside the buildings as they burned to the ground. If she hadn't grown up outside the town, if she had been taught to feel the artificial emotions they were taught, she might've felt something for them. There was probably quite a few innocent townspeople that would end up being collateral damage in order to make the escape possible. As it was, she could only think of Hoseok's safety.
It felt like hours that she stood at the edge of her land and waited for the group to emerge from the forest. It might have been years, she wasn't very sure. A whole lifetime could've gone by until she saw Hoseok's soot covered face come staggering through the trees.
He barely made it three more steps before his knees gave way and he fell to the ground, Lilith taking off towards him at a run. She was vaguely aware of his friends coming out of the forest behind him, asking if he was alright, but she had tunnel vision. All she wanted and needed to know was that Hoseok was alright.
When she reached him, she crashed down onto her knees and cupped his face in her hands, examining him for any visible signs of injuries. He caught his breath as quietly as he could, his eyes following her as she looked him over thoroughly. When she was finally satisfied, she let her eyes rest on his.
"You're okay?" she asked him. He stared back blankly for a moment, but then seemed to remember something as his face crumpled and hot tears began to slide down his cheeks. Lilith felt her heart tighten with pain as she pulled his forehead against hers, her thumbs brushing away every tear as they came down.
"Hoseok, I'm here," she told him softly, repeating it over and over. But his tears didn't slow down and his shoulders only shook harder as he balled up the fabric of her shirt in his fists. She knew then that something bad must've happened to one of his friends and she looked up to count them, standing at the edge of the forest with guarded eyes.
Five. One of them was missing.
"Oh, Hoseok," she murmured, reaching up with one hand to touch his hair. It was so soft, she noted, despite the ash that fell down onto his shoulder.
"I couldn't save him," he whispered finally, pulling his face away just enough to look at her with the saddest eyes she'd ever seen. "He was the whole reason for all of this, and I just let him die." His eyes went unfocused then, and Lilith tightened her grip on the hair at the back of his neck in fear. "Minhyuk is never going to forgive me for this."
"Hoseok!" she shouted, and he jerked slightly in her grip as he looked up at her with wide eyes. "I know you care deeply for your friends, that all of this was more for them than it was for you. But something bad happened. You tried your best, you can't carry that weight forever. You've been trying to save everyone this whole time. But who's going to be the one that saves you?"
Hoseok blinked, then a fresh wave of cries came over him as he let his head drop against her shoulder.