HOUSE OF TRAITORS [hyunlix]

THREE

Hyunjin almost puked. He has fallen to his knees and put his arms on the ground. He took in a sharp breath smelling the grass that was tickling his forehead. He felt a soft hand caress his back.

"Are you alright, Love?"

Yongbok's deep voice was quiet enough that Jin was probably the only one to hear it. At least he wanted to spare him the embarrassment.

"I want my horse back," Hyunjin said, still not lifting himself off the ground.

He heard the witch, Seonghwa, scoff.

"I'm not transporting horses."

Jin raised his head just to send the man an annoyed look. The pirate just rolled his eyes.

"I will come back here at dawn in three days."

With those words the witch disappeared in a flash of green light.

Hyunjin turned around and flopped on the green grass. He was still breathing heavily, but Bokkie's fingers were going through his hair, so he couldn't complain that much. He looked up at the sky, giving his stomach some time to calm down.

"You're so dramatic, hyung," he heard Innie say. "Get up and let's go home!"

That made him look around. The witch left them on a field from which the small village was visible. His makeshift family was standing around with the little baggage they packed. They were watching their surroundings. The all but dozen of houses were scattered around the nearby hills. The familiar roads led from the grasslands to the homes and their gardens, and a little forest a bit further away.

"Yeah," Hyunjin breathed, "let's go home."

They were walking down the road, the green all around them – a pleasant change from the stones and dirt that surrounded them at the castle. They felt like they could've finally let their guards down, breath the fresh air and relax. That was, until they heard a shrill scream coming at them from the right. The supernatural reflexes allowed them to see a flurry of long, dark hair and a brown dress just before she run into Jeongin.

"Innie!" the girl yelled straight into his ear.

The young man didn't even flinch, though. He put his arms around her, raising her from the ground and responded with equal volume:

"Yeji!"

His cousin let out a happy laugh when he recognized her.

"You've grown so much!"

Hyunjin run to their side, throwing his limbs around them.

"Jinnie!"

"Yeji!"

The giggles of the Hwangs were probably heard on the other side of the kingdom but the three of them didn't care. The last time they saw each other, they were miserable. They would celebrate seeing themselves again and no one could stop them. The friends were watching them with smiles on their faces.

After a moment, the cousins stopped hugging. As Yeji started to introduce herself to the men, Hyunjin grabbed Yongbok's hand. The smaller man looked at him with surprised look on his face.

"What?" Jin asked. "You knew you were going to meet her."

Yongbok smiled shyly.

"Of course, but... It feels so real now."

Hyunjin rubbed his hands comfortingly.

"It is real."

The two boys looked into each other's eyes for a second, just cherishing the fact that they've got so far, to enjoy a moment like that. After all the pain and blood. Before there will be more of it...