After trudging through more dirt and enduring swarming flies, he sighed in relief when he was finally on open ground. A few steps away, there was a wide stream littered with clumps of jagged rock.
And on the other side of the stream he found the culprit, the other's back turned to him. The culprit behind the footsteps that lured him here.
Turns out, the culprit looked like a boy his age, a dishevelled raven crown on his head. What was he doing out here?
"Hey! Over here!"
The boy tensed his shoulders, then spun around to meet Hongjoong's gaze opposite of the stream. Hongjoong waved his arm, beaming like the sun.
"Are you okay?" Hongjoong asked, his smile and arm falling when he observed the other boy's features. The boy's mouth was quivering, his eyes dark and tear streaks shining on his cheeks due to the reflection of the rising sun's light on them. Something terrible must have happened.
"Nevermind, you don't look like it. Is it okay if I come to you?"
The boy watched Hongjoong, his eyes widening at the question. He cast his eyes downward, shuffling his feet and wiping away whatever remnants of liquid remained on his face. Hongjoong wanted to approach him and try to comfort the shaken boy, only doing so when the boy nodded.
"What's your name?" asked Hongjoong, walking towards the boy after hopping over the smooth rocks scattered across the stream. He was going to give a reassuring pat on the boy's shoulder, but thought against it.
"Ss...Seonghwa."
"Okay, Seonghwa. I'm Hongjoong," Hongjoong said, looking up at the taller boy, Seonghwa. "What happened? It looks like something bad happened."
Seonghwa gazed downward. He immersed himself by looking at the blades of grass below him. "It's terrible."
"Oh, um, I'm sorry," Hongjoong said, uncertain on how he could comfort the other boy. "Will you tell me what happened? Well, if you're okay with it."
Before Hongjoong could continue, he smelled the faint trace of smoke and his chest tightened at it. Smoke? He did not expect to smell the same choking odour that was common in the kitchen when he helped his mother to light the firewood. He had sputtered coughs then, grimacing at the fumes of the flames. But now it seemed that it was not just a small fire burning on stacks of firewood. It was stronger, though faint, like something huge was burning in a distance.
There was an outbreak of fire somewhere.
Hongjoong's heart raced, and when he craned his neck to look upwards, he spotted a rising black cloud in the sky. He snapped his head toward Seonghwa's direction, whose face was drawn blank, his body shaking and his hands curled into fists.
"Seonghwa!" Hongjoong cried, closing the gap between them and holding the quivering boy's shoulders. "Seonghwa, calm down, please!"
Seonghwa closed his eyes, streams of fresh tears rolling down his face, his breaths ragged. Hongjoong was squeezing Seonghwa's shoulders, then in the spur of a moment, he embraced the boy, letting Seonghwa wet the fabric on his shirt. He didn't know if it would help, but his mother always let him cry on her shoulder whenever he was upset.
"It's alright, Seonghwa. I'm here for you. Breathe."
Hearing Seonghwa's breaths evening out, Hongjoong finally let go of him. His eyes were puffy and red, a trail of mucus dripping slowly from his nose. Without hesitating, Hongjoong wiped it with the long sleeve that draped on his arm, then rubbed the tears that pooled on the other boy's cheeks.
Seonghwa was still, his ears reddening. "Um... Hongjoong-ah, you didn't have to do that."
Prologue
Start from the beginning
