"My best arrow."

I'd asked Jungkook if he had any arrow molds yesterday so I could make my own. It's not that I'd thought that the ones that he had were inferior, it was just that I'd determined the ones I made fit better with my new bow.

Undoubtedly, I'd been obsessed with the bow ever since Jungkook had given it to me. I'd literally shined the wood until it glowed, and had worked on making an arrow until dawn last night.

Leah smiles when she sees how excited I am over the one that I'd finished. It was a sleek, silver painted arrow— to match the ethereal shade of the bow— and I'd spent hours carving it into a sleek shape so it would break wind better.

When I was done, I could safely say it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever made in my entire life.

"Can I see it?" Leah asks politely, and I nod in quick assent. I'm overly excited to try it out, and even more excited than I got to show someone the result of my tireless work.

Still sporting a huge smile on my face, I lead Leah out into the massive garden Jungkook owns in the back of his Palace. There's a huge tree out there, it's branches completely bare of leaves because of the winter. That way, it wouldn't get stuck in the wood when I shoot— it'd just bounce off.

Aiming the hickory bow, I revel in the hard body of the arrow as I draw the string all the way back. In the corner of my eye, I see Leah's eyes follow the polished tip as I aim it sky high into the air.

Then I shoot.

The arrow slices through the air like a knife as it disappears from my sight in less than a second. It's so fast that I can't help but giggle in ecstasy. My design had worked.

But I'd celebrated too early.

Leah taps me on the shoulder quickly, her expression drawn in concern. "Uh, Lyr— did you plan for that to happen, or....."

I look up, following her worried gaze. What's wrong—

Oh.

The arrow was too strong, too powerful. Not to mention it's unimaginable speeds— and altogether, it led to destructive power when it hit.

Apparently too strong, because now the my gold medal masterpiece is stuck in the trunk of the topmost part of tree, buried deep into the wood.

"Oh no." I look up at the arrow, and then down back to the ground. Then instantly, I grab onto the lowest branch, dead set on retrieving it. I wasn't about to let hours of work go to waste— that was what cowards did.

"Wait, Lyr! You can't be serious— that's way too high for you to climb! Do you think any of us can bear to be less than a hundred yards near Master Jungkook if he loses you?"

"Don't worry," I call back as I swing myself up to the next level of branches. "I won't kill myself. Probably." The last part of that sentence I Mutter under my breath— no point in making Leah worry. I was going to do this, and not even Jungkook would be able to stop me.

When I reach the middle part of the tree, which was about a solid twenty five feet off the ground, Leah calls out to me in such a shaky voice I would reach out and comfort her.

If I wasn't thirty feet off the ground, of course.

Is the air getting thinner? I must be dreaming.

The rough texture of the tree is cold against my touch as I pull myself closer to the trunk, which is getting thinner and thinner as I go higher up into the air. With my ever step, I can practically feel Leah's storm of worry grow even bigger.

Don't worry— I've got this in the bag.

I can see the jutting tip of the arrow now, and the sense of exhilaration grows as I get near it. Don't look down. Never look down when you're this high up.

To my dismay, the branches are getting thinner and thinner until I'm basically standing on a twig. Most of my body is latched onto the trunk— which is swaying frighteningly from the wind up here.

Quickly, I grab for the arrow and my hands tighten around the smooth end, pulling until it's free from the wood. A smile tugging at my lips, I brush the wood shavings off of the still-sharp tip with one hand.

Now I just need to head back down, which should be a smooth—

The moment I look down is the moment I realize exactly how I'm close to killing myself. Leah is a small black dot against the ground, and the grass seems to be miles away from me. Clutching the arrow tightly to my chest, my breathing starts to grow rougher with fright.

I'm stuck. I can't move.

When I look down to the branch that I'd climbed up to get here, a sob breaks from my lips. It's so far away and it looks so thin— how did I manage to ever stand there?

A particularly strong gust makes the thin trunk sway violently, and I hang onto the wood for dear life, my eyes shut into tight slits of terror. I'm
going to die. I'm actually going to die.

It was so cold up here. It was colder than the temperature my corpse was going to be soon, and a chill goes down my spine as I hug the tree tighter to my body. But I don't want to die.

I want to live.

"Lyr!"

A sudden deep voice breaks my fear spell, and I look down to the familiar sound. I hadn't realized how glad I am to hear that voice— to see the person who owns it.

"Look at me."

Jungkook is a few branches below me— he can't come up anymore because the branches would undoubtedly break if his weight rested on it. For me, I'd managed because of my smaller height and lesser weight, but him—

Not so much.

I look at his calm, composed face with my entire body trembling in fear, feeling like a complete idiot. My face scrunches in humiliation and panic mixed together. I should've never gone up here.

"Look at me, Lyr."

He repeats, voice more firm this time. So I take a deep breath and stare at him straight into his pale blue eyes. The color seems to change every time I look at it— last time, I remember that it was a stormy, beautiful dark hue.

And now it's bluer than the skies and the seas combined.

"Good girl," he tells me. "Now you need to jump."

The panic and fear that Jungkook's eyes had managed to calm comes roaring back up again the moment he says the word jump.

"No!" I yell out, extra louder because I'm afraid the wind will sweep my voice away. "Are you crazy? I'll fall—"

"Shh." He puts an authoritative finger over his lips, and I immediately fall silent. There's that magic he works again. "I won't let you fall, Lyr. I promise. You just need to trust me and jump."

Against my will, my eyes move on its own as it slowly shifts over to look at the ground and all the blank space in between—

"Lyr." His voice is commanding as my eyes quickly shift back to him. "Don't look away from my eyes."

Clutching the trunk more firmly, I nod slightly, afraid that even the smallest motion I make will crack this thin twig in half. "Okay."

"Perfect. Now jump."

The distance between me and him is strictly diagonal— making this even more worse than it already was. And I was at least nine feet minimum from him.

"I can't, Jungkook. I'm sorry—"

My voice gets cut off abruptly as another violent gust rocks the tree back and forth, the sway stronger than the last. A small, scared sound comes out of my lips as I hug the tree even tighter.

Jungkook's expression remains calm, but when he speaks, I detect a note of urgency in his voice.

"You need to trust me, Lyr."

I don't want to die.

I want to live.

My entire body shaking like a leaf and possible tears in my eyes, I squeak softly, never breaking eye contact with Jungkook.

"Okay."

Slowly, my arms unravel from the tree until I'm balancing most of my weight on the branch instead of the trunk.

Then I jump.