The reversed waterfall hung suspended between heaven and earth, like an endlessly rushing Milky Way forcibly frozen in midair by divine power.
Countless shattered droplets hovered and spun around Hawk, who stood beneath the reversed waterfall.
It was as if they were submitting to Hawk.
Scared. Truly scared.
Perhaps it had just realized its voice had been too loud, because the waterfall no longer dared make a sound.
All was silent.
Only the "Hawk" that came from behind him made Hawk, bare-chested with his chest rising and falling slightly, shudder all over.
Hawk instinctively turned around.
Before his eyes—
He saw Gwen emerging from the nearby forest in a windbreaker. Though her blonde hair was disheveled and her face was covered in sweat, her blue eyes were filled with delight as she looked at him.
"Gwen?"
Hawk froze on the spot.
He could hardly believe it.
Well, damn.
No matter how he thought about it, he had never expected the first person to find him here to be Gwen rather than Quantico's military.
But...
How was that possible?
Hawk was a little thrown off.
And at that moment, it was as though frozen time began moving again.
Rumble!
The reversed waterfall resumed its flow at that moment. However, the sound of the falling water was much quieter than before.
It seemed even the waterfall feared that making too much noise would bring disaster upon itself.
After all, Hawk really could make it flow backward.
At the same time.
The moment Gwen saw Hawk standing beneath the waterfall, she began running.
Even she did not understand why she was running when she had already found him.
But she just wanted to run.
In the blink of an eye, Gwen had leaped into the pool beneath the waterfall and waded over to Hawk.
The next second.
She threw her arms around him.
Hawk instinctively pulled Gwen into his embrace, using his back to shield her from the waterfall's impact.
Just then.
He came to his senses. With a whoosh, his figure vanished from the pool, and when he appeared again, he was holding Gwen on the shore beside the waterfall pool.
Rolling white steam surged from Hawk and Gwen, who had just been drenched by the waterfall.
In the blink of an eye.
Under the surge of Hawk's powerful vitality, Hawk and Gwen, who had been soaking wet a moment ago, were completely dry.
After doing that, Hawk lowered his eyes to Gwen, who was clinging tightly to him.
He opened his mouth, originally wanting to ask how Gwen had found him when even Quantico's military could not.
But...
Seeing Gwen in his arms with her eyes closed, even letting out faint snores, Hawk opened his mouth, thought for a moment, then said nothing. He simply sat down where he was and settled Gwen in his lap.
He did not speak. He merely looked down at the sleeping Gwen, at the messy blonde hair around her face. After raising his right hand, it paused slightly in midair before moving again to straighten her disheveled hair.
About half an hour later.
Gwen slowly opened her eyes. Having slept so soundly, she thought she had woken up in bed and instinctively stretched.
The next second.
She saw Hawk looking down at her.
Their eyes met.
Gwen blinked instinctively.
Hawk smiled faintly.
"Hello."
"Holy shit!"
With a startled cry, Gwen sprang out of Hawk's arms. A rosy flush visibly spread across her fair face.
Hawk rose to his feet as well.
The moment he stood, his limbs made a series of satisfying stretching sounds, having remained still for so long out of fear of waking Gwen.
Gwen withdrew her gaze from her inspection of the surroundings and focused it once more on Hawk, who stood before her wearing only a pair of shorts.
Hawk's body resembled a sculpture from Ancient Greece, while the pair of sword-like brows above his azure eyes radiated an uninhibited air.
Those sword brows were still the same sword brows.
The difference was that if Hawk's brows before had been like blades sheathed in their scabbards, then now they were like freely gleaming swords, honed and drawn from their sheaths.
Gwen stared at him, entranced.
The next second.
She came back to herself. Looking at Hawk, as if she had remembered something, she curved her lips into a beautiful smile.
"Library, reading, huh?"
"..."
Hawk raised a brow, catching the faint resentment hidden beneath Gwen's teasing. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Sorry."
Gwen smiled.
If Hawk had heard the trace of resentment in her teasing, then Gwen had also heard something else in his apology.
For example, Hawk had apologized to her before.
But she could tell that Hawk's apologies had merely been apologies for apology's sake.
But this one?
The corners of Gwen's lips lifted slightly as she held out her small hand toward Hawk.
Hawk was slightly stunned.
Gwen said, "Give me your phone. Why didn't you answer my calls?"
Hawk came to his senses, walked to the side, picked up the phone resting atop his folded T-shirt, and handed it to Gwen. "I've been here for over twenty days. It ran out of battery a long time ago."
Gwen froze slightly at that and took the phone.
Sure enough.
The phone would not turn on.
But...
Gwen blinked, seeming to think of something. Holding Hawk's phone in one hand, she took out her own phone with the other and opened the link from the earlier text message.
The link had expired.
Gwen stared blankly at the link on the screen, which had existed moments ago but was now invalid.
At that moment, Hawk finally asked the question he had wanted to ask all along.
"By the way, Gwen, how did you know I was here?"
"..."
Gwen came back to her senses, slipped her phone into her pocket without changing her expression, then handed Hawk's phone back to him with a faint smile. "My dad is a police chief, Hawk. As long as I want to, I can find you no matter where you are."
Hawk blinked.
That...
He would have to be insane to believe it.
But seeing Gwen's fair cheeks flush once more after saying that, Hawk thought for a moment, then put on an understanding expression and nodded.
Forget it.
If he had been extremely curious about how Gwen found him when he first saw her, then he was no longer curious at all now.
Yeah.
He had stopped being curious while Gwen was asleep in his arms just now.
Maybe it really was as Gwen said.
She was the police chief's daughter. As long as she wanted to, she could find him wherever he was.
That was what Gwen said.
Hawk chose to believe that explanation.
Before you continue