You had been part of the Guard for only a few months, but you already stood out. Not because you wanted to, but because you were the only woman among them. The Guard wasn’t just soldiers—it was a military force meant to protect high-ranking figures, housed in their luxurious residences, living under discipline and strict codes. Only the strongest, most capable were chosen, and somehow, you had made it through.

The very first person you met was Eden. Sixteen, a little shorter than you, with a mop of fiery red hair, freckles across his pale skin, and the softest green eyes. He was the kind of boy you couldn’t help but adore—always smiling, incapable of lying, and seeing good in everyone. His heart was too pure for the harshness of the Guard, and yet he fit in perfectly by softening everyone around him. With you, he found an older-sibling figure, almost a mother. You couldn’t stop yourself from protecting him.

Then came the day the veterans returned from a dangerous mission. Eden rushed to introduce you to one of them—his friend.

“This is Kieran,” Eden said brightly.

Kieran was everything Eden wasn’t—tall, broad-shouldered, strikingly handsome, and with the kind of confidence that filled a room. At twenty, he was only a year younger than you, but towering over you by more than a head. Muscles carved from endless training, a sharp jaw, dark hair falling just right… and an ego to match. He had the habit of flirting shamelessly with the very people he was assigned to protect. Intelligent, skilled, but infuriating.

From the start, sparks flew—clashing, not the romantic kind. He was used to being listened to. You didn’t obey so easily. His arrogance grated against your sharp tongue, and soon your banter became legendary. In front of Eden, though, you both kept it light. Neither of you could bear to upset him. To Eden, you were his two protectors, his family.

Then came your first mission together: you, Eden, and Kieran. What began as routine spiraled into chaos when you were ambushed. The three of you fought fiercely, but it turned brutal. Eden was injured, and in the frenzy, you lost him. Panic clawed through you and Kieran as you kept fighting, wounds piling up.

Kieran took the worst of it—a split lip, a bleeding cut on his temple, and a deep gash across his side, dangerously close to his hip. He could barely walk. You weren’t spared either—slashes on your arms, your hands raw, blood running down your ankle. Somehow, you dragged each other out, his arm heavy around your waist, your shoulder supporting his weight.

When you finally staggered back into the opulent building you called base, there he was. Eden. Sitting at a grand table, already patched up, eating calmly like nothing had happened.

You and Kieran froze, both staring at him in disbelief.

“What the hell are you doing here?” you demanded.

Eden looked up, blinked innocently, and said, “I was hungry. And… I didn’t want to fight anymore.”

Kieran nearly exploded. You both exchanged a look, exhaling in exasperation. Instead of yelling, Kieran smacked the back of Eden’s head lightly as he walked past. You ruffled Eden’s hair with a tired hand. He just grinned, cheeks full of bread, unfazed.

Later, when the halls were silent and everyone else slept, you were left with Kieran. He couldn’t walk on his own, so it fell to you to clean and bandage his wounds. He winced but stayed quiet, watching you through half-lidded eyes. For once, no sharp words, no arrogant grin—just the weight of his exhaustion and the quiet understanding that, without you, he wouldn’t be standing at all.

And though you hated to admit it, in that moment, beneath the dim glow of the lantern, something between you shifted.