ELVEN | K.TH

29

RINEI

"Rinei!"

I don't even know what happens.

Someone crashes into my side. And I'm knocked down to the Forest floor, completely stunned as he pulls me to his chest. My face is buried into his shoulder, and I feel something shake Taehyung's body on top of me.

Oh.

Oh my gosh.

Tae.

I groan softly. I'm trapped underneath him, and I make a choked noise again, calling for him. He doesn't answer.

But I can feel him trembling.

Was it a branch? Something had fallen.

Taehyung. Answer me.

I'm about to groan again when he suddenly lifts himself from my body. For a still second, he stares down at me. And when our eyes meet, an agonized sound escapes his lips.

They glow, with unspilled tears.

His tears take me aback.

Tae. Why are you...

"Are you okay?" He whispers softly, nuzzling his face into the crook of my shoulder. His hands are wrapped tightly around my upper arms, and his voice trembles still.

"Are you alright? Tell me, please."

"Did I get to you in time? You're not hurt, are you? You're alright."

He sounds terrified. I'm not hurt at all, but he sounds so afraid, and his face is losing color even now. His dark hair falls disheveled over his eyes.

"You're okay."

In the slanted moonlight, pale tears run down his cheeks. It traces a path down his jaw, and he hangs his head forward, hands only tightening around my shoulders.

Oh.

He was remembering what had happened.

And I realize just how much he had blamed himself that day, seven years ago.

When it was not his fault at all.

Taehyung.

I reach up to wipe his tears. And I can't believe it, how he really thinks it's his fault that he couldn't save me that day. He'd just been a young elf, who could've chosen to kill me as easily as he'd helped me.

But he hadn't.

He'd pulled me out from under the tree, taken care of my mangled body. He'd erased the memories full of pain and trauma.

Then he'd given me a voice, a voice of silence but a voice nonetheless.

You know, I sign quietly. You're too kind for your own good.