To love and to Hate

5: Not worth it

The Amulet Mountains were in the Northern regions of the country, and Jisung had forgotten how cold it could get so far North. From a night in a cozy inn, to a few nights camped out in the woods, Minho and Jisung slowly made their way to their second and primary job. A train took them another day closer, and once they disembarked, it was clear that they had some interesting nights ahead of them.

The mountains were in view, and they glowed white in the distance as Minho and Jisung trekked closer and closer to them. Neither of them were feeling very confident about traversing mountain snow, but it was that or losing their place in Goldenspire for good. Jisung just hoped he wouldn't burn his fire out just to keep himself warm.

At the foot of the mountain road, the two mages decided to tackle the mountain first thing in the morning, and they set up camp despite the sun still shining low in the distance.

As they ate their respective meals over a small fire, Jisung could feel Minho staring at him, and he ignored the water mage for as long as he could. It didn't take long for him to lose patience.

"What?"

Minho lightly scoffed. "You don't say a word to me for days and the first thing you do is snap at me?"

Jisung fought the need to roll his eyes. "You've been staring at me obnoxiously for the past hour. Staring is rude, I'm fed up with you. Does that clear things up?"

"You really are just a block of salt," Minho muttered, but there was a glint of amusement in his mismatched gaze. "I was just thinking, and we need to clear something up before we head up the mountain tomorrow."

"And what would that be?" Jisung asked as he finished the bread he was nibbling on.

Minho set his emptied bowl of stew down and leaned back against the log he was propped against as he met Jisung's eyes fully. "We'll be camping out for at least two nights. Do you realize that we will freeze to death if we don't... conserve heat?" His eyes trailed down the fire mage as he spoke.

It only took a moment for Jisung to understand what he meant, and his eyes widened slightly. "Oh no, I am not cuddling up with you. I would rather die."

"Oh, you would die, darling, that's the problem." Minho appeared to be much too amused by this whole situation. "Do you think Chan did this on purpose? Instead of screwing with each other's lives he wants us to just screw each other?"

Jisung swallowed wrong and he choked slightly. He coughed an embarrassing amount as the skin around his neck and cheeks heated a million degrees. When he finally calmed down, he glared at the water mage. "Really Minho? You're disgusting and immature."

"Says the one that's blushing like mad. I know you hate me, but I know I could show you a good time."

"Pervert."

"Prude."

Jisung sighed, rubbing his fingers into his temples while he mentally prayed to gain at least an ounce of patience. "Okay, so what do we do?"

Minho shrugged. "If we huddle together in one tent under our small pile of blankets, we should be able to survive a few nights before we reach town."

"Sharing a small hay shed with you was bad enough, I don't want to find myself even closer to you." Jisung's brow suddenly furrowed. "Wait, one tent? We didn't bring any."

"Like I said," Minho explained, reaching behind the log he was using, "I've been thinking about this, so I prepared." He dropped a beige bundle on the ground beside the fire and gestured to it like a child showing off a cool rock. "See? I bought this yesterday. Pretty handy, wouldn't you say?"