The comments slowly got quieter and quieter, the pitter-patter of footsteps lost behind them as the world around them change from the city into the more relaxed parts of the world. They entered a spacious area with trees and benches, the frozen pond in the distance noting Winter of where they were. They were at the park where Jisoo had found her, the thought bringing a shiver to her body. Jihae pushed the snow off of one of the benches, taking a seat and putting the basket to his right side.
"It would be unfair to simply go straight home My Lady, you have not been able to come out at all" Jihae quietly said, his body relaxing down as he realised no one else was around. Winters ears flopped down, taking in the scenery as memories plagued her mind. They both sat in silence for a moment, Jihae looking off into the distance while Winter fixed her gaze onto one of the bushes. She closed her eyes for a moment, finding her courage.
"That's where he found me" a timid, small voice spoke and Jihae almost jumped out of his seat from it. He turned his head to look down at Winter who had, unknown to her, moved herself to the edge of her basket to peer at the bush.
"It was a miracle he had; I was so weak I could barely call out for help. I still don't know how I manage to realise he was an animal just from his smell…" Winter continued on, closing her eyes once again to recollect her thoughts. She paused for a moment, opening her eyes to look up at Jihae.
"I am very fortunate; I will forever be in the debt of you all for the kindness I have received" she slowly said, her ears still down. Jihae was surprised and also warmed by her words. Jihae sadly smiled, he was unsure of how fortunate she was but it saved her life, he would not complain.
"I am glad" he breathed, placing a hand near her. Winter noticed the movement and for once she didn't flinch, instead she moved close to it allowing Jihae to place his hand onto her. They fell into silence again; they both had questions for one another but none of them knew where to start.
"How long were you there for?" Jihae asked after a minute, his tone low and careful. Winter sighed aloud, her body slightly tense.
"Since 9pm the day before I think" she responded, glancing away from him for a moment.
"How…" Jihae began but paused when Winter fixed her eyes back on him.
"How did I end up here? The tale is long and… not too pleasant. What about you?" Winter responded. It was now Jihae's turn to look away, shaking his head as if removing his thoughts.
"I cannot say" he said, his tone low. Winter had expected as much, there was something going on between them all.
"It's the human isn't it?" she noted making the silver headed man sharply turn to look at her. His expression said it all.
"I see he is up to his old tricks" Winter speculated, closing her eyes for a moment to try and hide her emotions.
"Who?" Jihae questioned, avoiding the question. At this Winter glanced around, double checking they were truly alone here.
"The wizard… he has summoned you all here. It all makes sense now…" Winter answered him, whispering her thoughts after identifying who she was on about. Jihae kept silent for a moment, unsure how to respond to this situation but he strangely felt relieved, as if the weight on his shoulders had been lifted.
"Is that why you are here?" Jihae asked and Winter froze, debating how she should answer him.
"Yes… and no" she simply answered. Jihae could tell she did not want to speak about it and he respected that. He softly stroked her back making her sigh once more, relaxing down. Winter remembered bits and pieces to why she was here; she knew that she had completed her mission… as to what her mission was she did not remember, it was as if the memory itself was removed.

In the two weeks they had spent with one another they understood each other rather well and created a small friendship that didn't feel forced or one sided. Winter was extremely thankful for this, she wanted… needed someone to turn to, especially since her... incident.
"Y'know it's kind of funny…" Winter mumbled after a moment of silence. Their eyes connected again for a moment but her eyes fell over his face and hair.
"The tales are not true about you…" she stated and Jihae felt himself tensing once again; so she did know about him.
"Yes I know about you, I know bits and pieces about all the rabbits" she truthfully explained with a knowing but uneasy look.
"Your colouring is very unique, none I have ever witnessed before" she confessed, her eyes going soft. Jihae didn't know what to say, he had never heard words like that from someone before. Heejung had noted him on his beauty once but her attention was soon turned onto someone else, the cat.
"It's actually refreshing" she implied with a timid smile, her voice going lower and softer. Jihae smiled at her words but couldn't help but frown… Winter noticed the expression; she knew he wondered how she knew of him and the others. She held in a sigh; when they see her in her other form she would not need to speak the reason, they would know.

They spent the rest of the day there, talking now and again about small, simple things. Winter discovered that Jihae was a hard person to pinpoint; he had no real likes or dislikes. She had questioned about his work but he was brief in replying, noting that it paid well to buy items. She had also braved asking him about Jieun – she already knew about their connection but none of that mattered here in this world.
"I'm to serve him but he is slowly pushing me away, I know not what to do" Jihae honestly replied to her question.
"Perhaps it is not a bad thing" Winter suggested,
"He is getting older and, if my thoughts are correct, he'll have to adapt to this world" she spoke on making Jihae look down at her.
"You seem to know a lot about what will happen to us" Jihae assumed and Winter stiffened, forcing herself to relax down a moment later.
"Yes… but let us not speak of it now. It is getting late; we should probably return home before Heejung starts to worry" Winter said and Jihae sighed, a little sad he did not get the answer as easily as he imagined. He nodded though, standing himself up and brushing himself off before picking the basket up.
"Jihae…" Winter softly breathed making Jihae look down at her.
"Thank you for this time out" she continued making the man smile.
"Any time My Lady" he replied, his voice smooth.
"Please just call me Winter" she requested making the man frown.
"I do not deserve a title, I am not worthy of one" she explained and Jihae was tempted to argue this request but decided against it for now. He was certain there was a reason behind it all but he knew he would not get the answer today. With a polite tilt of his head he agreed, turning his gaze ahead as he started to walk in the direction of home.

They were greeted home by Jisoo and Heejung comfortably sitting on the couch, watching the television ahead of them. Jisoo had a victorious grin on his face when he noticed Jihae but it soon fell as he noticed Winter looking blankly at him.
"I was beginning to worry; it's good to see you home!" Heejung happily said, looking between Jihae and Winter. Jihae replied to her with a wave of his hand, dismissing the thought of worrying but he glanced down when Winter remained silent. The others seemed not to notice Jihae's look towards the rabbit and Winter was thankful, her ears lifting as she innocently looked at Jihae.
"We're going out to the movies in a bit, I don't know what the others have got planned. You don't mind doing dinner tonight do you Jihae?" Heejung went on, glancing at Jisoo with a smile before looking back at the tall, silver haired man.
"Not at all My Lady" Jihae replied and Heejung beamed at this, excitement in her eyes. Winter still had her eyes on Jihae, she felt pained knowing that he would not win this 'game' they all played among themselves. She paused in thought; what exactly had they requested if they won?
"Guess we'll catch you later" Jisoo hurriedly said, dragging her out the door without even turning the television off. Winter looked just as confused as Jihae did; were they waiting for them to come home just to say that and leave?
"It seems we are alone again little one" Jihae murmured, wandering over to the kitchen. He placed the basket onto the floor, wandering to the sink to wash his hands to prepare dinner. Winter scrambled herself out of the basket, wobbling on three legs for several seconds before falling. Jihae heard the light impact and looked down.
"Ugh" she sighed, looking up at the man with a frustrated but amused smile.
"I guess we are" she added, sitting herself up on the floor. She noticed the small smile appear on Jihae's face as he moved to the fridge, looking into it.
"I feel as if I never see the others, as if they are always out" Winter slowly mumbled, her expression concerned. She knew she shouldn't get close to any of them; she would be on her way once she was healed up anyway but she couldn't help but get concerned. She knew it wasn't their usual behaviour to always be out.
"It is our best way to deal with it" Jihae replied a moment later, avoiding her eyes as he grabbed some food, walking to the counter to prepare it. He kept his back to Winter.
"So you're all going to give up on it just like that?" Winter carefully asked hoping her words didn't offend him. Jihae paused for a moment, his shoulders tense but they fell in defeat.
"The others haven't given up hope, they still try but it's hard when Jisoo is with her a lot of the time" Jihae replied. Winter parted her lips to speak but paused, knowing it wasn't right of her to ask if he still chased her down. She wasn't sure why she wanted to know the answer… most probably curiosity.
"Do you want anything special tonight?" Jihae asked after a moment, changing the subject. Winter frowned, not catching onto what he meant but when he tilted his head in the direction of the fridge and looked down at her she knew what he meant.
"Oh" she breathed.
"Uh no… anything is fine thank you" she continued on. Jihae raised an eyebrow at her words.
"There's nothing you want?" he asked and the female rabbit shook her head, her ears low.
"I don't exactly have a favourite kind of food" she told him,
"I learnt to eat what I could find. You tend to forget the taste of things after a while" she truthfully explained and Jihae went quiet, turning back to the food on the counter. Winter wondered if she had been too blunt but she forgot about that thought as Jihae spoke again.
"Do you plan to speak around the others?" he asked and Winter wondered for a moment.
"I'm not sure" she honestly said and Jihae glanced at her once more, his expression asking her why she remained silent.
"I am not much of a speaker" she managed to say. Both knew this was partly true but also partly a lie. Jihae nodded, brushing it off as he returned back to making dinner.

Their conversation was light as they ate together and watched the discovery channel afterwards, the pair of them mostly in their own thoughts. Winter wondered what the next few weeks would bring her. She was slowly recovering, would she be able to leave soon? Would it be as simple as walking out the door? She wished she had the answer to these questions.