Jungwon and I have been riding off through the woods for about 10 minutes now, which seems like a lot longer when you're almost dangling off a running horse while holding on for dear life. I audibly squeal when the horse takes a sharp turn to avoid running headfirst into a tree- making me squeeze unto Jungwon's waist even tighter. I'd be surprised if he can even breathe at this point.

"You good?" he asks me. Even though I can't see his face, I know there is a teasing grin painting it. "Yep, totally." I reply but mutter a "not" after the horse speeds up and I have to hang on even tighter.

I swear I hear his laugh in the midst of the wind in my ears.

It doesn't take much longer for us to make it back to the wall that was guarded by the cloaked men earlier. The only difference now is that all the men seem to have left. I guess they must have been the ones who went after us while Jungwon tried to create the portal.

"This is the edge gate. There is another gate a little bit ahead after this one, but once you go past that gate, you're in the Wimborne castle's territory. Which is forbidden for outsiders to enter." Jungwon explains while our horse slows down to walking level as we approach the large brick wall.

"So, once we enter this gate, we'll be safe from those psychotic men who chased us through the woods and tried to kill us?" I ask seriously but it seems like it was a moment to laugh for Jungwon.

"Correct. Although.." he starts saying as he dismounts the horse. "The border between our kingdom and the Sorian kingdom was way back at the clearing. It seems like they've been crossing borders for a while since they were able to navigate us so quickly. I'll have to tell my father about this." he explains while pushing the large metal door of the gate to the side, giving the horse enough room to walk through. Jungwon closes the gate and mounts the horse in the space Infront of me as the horse continues to walk towards the next gate.

"Yeah, that seems concerning." I comment about his new discovery.

Up ahead I can finally start to see the next gate. This gate seems a lot fancier, it looks clean and shiny, and its intricate swirl design shines with gold as large purple banners hang on each side of the big doors- a big contrast to the previous moss and vine covered brick gate we passed first.

As we continue to walk closer, I notice the few people standing near the gate- guarding it.

I quickly grab the reins of the horse and pull on them harshly, making the horse come to a stop with a grunt. "What, why did you-"

"Jungwon, didn't you say it's forbidden for outsiders to enter past the next gate? I see some people guarding it up ahead, maybe we should turn around and go back to find Riki and Sunghoon." I say, cutting him off with my panicked rambling.

I expect Jungwon to agree, to quickly turn the horse around and take off past the gate we entered through, but he doesn't. He laughs.

"What? Why are you laughing?" I ask, feeling confused. He doesn't stop laughing so I know I've obviously made the wrong assumption. "What, is it not forbidden? I could've sworn you said it was" I utter while starting to feel my face turn hot in embarrassment.

"No, you're correct. It is forbidden to go past that gate, it acts as an entry straight into the Wimborne castle grounds. But it's only forbidden for outsiders." he states while grabbing the reins of the horse and guiding the creature to continue moving.

I scrunch my eyebrows together in confusion, not understanding what he's trying to imply. "I don't think I understand what you mean. Are you not an outsider?" I ask him. He briefly turns back to look at me with a knowing smile- I guess that's my answer.

We come up to a stop in front of the guards. I watch silently as they all bow down for Jungwon with their swords in front of each of their faces. They all come to their feet and back to the previous positions lining the wall. One of the guards- who has a slightly different helmet and armor type, I assume he's the leader or something- steps up to the large golden doors. The guard opens the gate with his chin high in the sky, not even a single man in silver armor acknowledging my existence as the horse takes us through the gate.

"Wait!" I yell, suddenly remembering that Riki and Sunghoon are still behind those gates. Jungwon and the guards all turn to look at me, all looking startled by my sudden outburst. "There's still people I know out there, important people. Can I wait for them to arrive before we close this gate?" I ask no one in particular, but the head guard clears his throat, so I direct my attention to him.

"I'm sorry ma'am, we are not allowed to leave this gate open longer than necessary. Words from the king himself. I'll have to close it now." he says flatly and my shoulders sag.

"Can I stay here while you close the gate then?" I try again. The guard looks from me to Jungwon, clearly asking for Jungwon to say something.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Minji." Jungwon finally says to me with an apologetic look on his face. I frown.

"If you have something important to do, go on ahead without me. I'd rather wait here for them to arrive. I want to make sure they made it." I reply but lose hope in that statement when Jungwon just frowns at me.

"I don't want to leave you alone." he whispers to me so no one else can hear while eyeing the guards up and down suspiciously.

"Oh." I respond blatantly while shifting my eyes down at my hands, where the yellow hamamelis is pinched between my pointer and thumb finger.

"We'll be moving forward then." Jungwon announces to the guards who simply nod as a response. I watch from behind myself as the head guard closes the gate- now I'm only able to see the glistening gold walls.

I turn back around to face forward, where I'm met with a dirt path leading to what looks like a horse stable. We're out of the woods- which makes me feel relieved.

We slowly make our way to the stable while I continue to pick at the flower between my fingers, feeling a bit bummed out. We reach the inside of the small stable where a few other horse's rest.

Jungwon dismounts the horse first- I can feel his eyes boring into my side profile. I look down to him blankly and he quickly looks away, looking embarrassed at being caught staring at me. I hide a smile and attempt to dismount the large horse myself, but it's actually a lot scarier than it sounds.

"Um, could you please.. help me down?" I ask quietly, but he still seems to hear it. Without hesitation he holds a hand out for me to grab onto for support as I descend my way down the stallion. "Thank you." I say awkwardly as we stare at each other way too close because of the tight space in the small stable. Suddenly the horse beside us knickers, making both Jungwon and I laugh. Jungwon moves around me to take care of the stallion, putting him in his stall carefully.

"By the way.. I didn't mean to sound possessive when I said I didn't want to leave you alone. I just meant that it's not the best idea to leave you alone with people you don't know in an unknown place. You know?" he explains slowly as his ears tint a deep red.

"I understand. Thank you for not letting me stay, then." I reply, trying not to sound snarky about it but I can't help it since I am still feeling a bit bitter about it.

"No, you don't understand." Jungwon says assertively.

"What?"

"You don't understand that you're in a new world, you are not on Earth anymore, Minji. People are different here on Hania, they treat earthlings differently. If anyone with the wrong intentions were to find out you- an earthling, is here.. it could turn for the worse."

I don't mean to, but I involuntarily let out a shiver at his words. I'm not sure if I want to know more, but my mouth runs before my mind. "Treated differently how?" I dare to ask.

Jungwon sighs and takes a seat on a little ledge extruding from the wall. I stand in front of him, playing nervously with my flower.

"You see, there is a very limited amount of earthlings on Hania. We rarely ever see them, they rarely ever show up. That is because only royal blooded hanians have the ability to create portals connecting our two worlds." he explains and I nod along, still trying to grasp that all of this is real life and I'm not just stuck in a fairytale book.

"Wait." My eyes suddenly widen as I catch onto what Jungwon said. "You said only royal blooded, so that means-"

"I'm the prince of Wimborne, Minji."

"You're the what?!"

Jungwon breaks out into boisterous laugh as I stare at him feeling stunned.

"Oh my god." I suddenly exclaim as Jungwon just looks at me with crescent eyes. "I punched the prince in the face with snow- am I going to prison?!" I ask fearfully but it just seems to make Jungwon laugh even harder. "I'm being serious!" I shout in distress while flailing my arms above my head in the air.

"You're not going to prison." Jungwon confirms and I sigh. "But- I'll have to get you back about the 'snow punch.'" Jungwon says while suddenly standing up and walking towards the large open doors of the horse stable.

"Where are you going?" I ask as I follow him blindly outside.

The next thing I know, I'm falling down onto my butt as Jungwon shoves a large pile of snow at my face- making me lose my balance. He begins to laugh while walking over to me while holding out his hand to help me up. Instead- I decline his offer and grab his ankle instead, tripping him as he falls face first into the snow. It's my turn to laugh as I watch the dimpled boy glare up at me from where he's covered in the cold snow.

"Really? What was that for?" he asks me, and I try to stifle my laugh bubbling up my throat.

"Revenge." I simply reply while raising my eyebrows from dramatic effects.

"Well, don't you think I need to get revenge again too now?"

I don't even answer, I just take off running back into the stable as I hear Jungwon's echoing laugh behind me. Jungwon enters the stable soon after me- he just takes a seat on his previous spot while rubbing at his cold face with a frown.

"No revenge?" I ask amused.

"Not now." he responds while gesturing to me to sit beside him- I do. "About what I said about earthlings being treated differently here, they are rare- you are rare. So naturally, everyone treats them as if they were gods to worship." Jungwon explains and I look at him confused.

"Is that so bad?" I ask him.

"It is when being rare means that you're worth a lot of money. Which means more people with bad intentions over good, want you. These Kingdoms treat earthlings like they have the power, but in reality, they're the ones with the higher ranks- they won't hesitate to sell you off if given the right deal. Or sometimes- they steal." he trails off on his last words with a frown.

"Oh." Is all I can say as I feel my heart beating faster in my chest.

Lost in my own thoughts- I don't notice Jungwon who had picked up my fallen flower from the straw and snow-covered ground in front of us.

"So please, stay with me. I will try my best to keep you safe while you are here." he says while handing me my hamamelis flower. I take it gently from his fingers, feeling a warmth in my chest- I've never had someone care for me like this, it feels weird.

"I will."