Under a Dark Moon [Oneus AU]

New Beginnings

Youngjo straightened his back and wiped the sweat from his brow with his shirt sleeve.

It had been a long, tiresome journey back to Bahlee, but they were finally home. After all that they had been through, they were finally back where they belonged, and where they wanted to be.

A loud clatter inside drew Youngjo's attention to the house. He could hear a soft whine following it, and he knew that sound belonged to Luella.

"Go on," Gunhak encouraged him from behind the carriage. "I'll keep unloading everything, hyung. Go see if our new guest is alright."

Youngjo nodded his head gratefully, then headed up the porch. He slid open the front doors, then ventured back to the room they had designated to Luella.

When he opened the door, he saw her sitting on the floor, surrounded by piles of her belongings spilling out of trunks and bags, tears welling in her tired eyes.

She looked so much like a defeated child as she sat there like that, her hands thrown into her lap in frustration.

"What's wrong?"

"I can't find mother's shawl. I've looked everywhere, and I still cannot find it. What if I've left it behind?" She whined desperately.

He could see that she was clearly on the brink of a breakdown, so he gently approached to kneel down in front of her. Youngjo took a moment to search through the large trunk to her right in silence.

Buried at the bottom of it, beneath books and nightgowns, Youngjo found the shawl she was looking for. He carefully pulled it free of the mess inside the trunk, then held it out to her.

"It's here. I made sure of it."

Luella accepted it into her shaky little hands, then brought it to her chest. Youngjo was surprised to see her expression remain the same, as if finding it brought her no relief.

That's when he realized it must be something else that was upsetting her.

"Do you regret coming here already?" He tried to tease her, showing off a sharp, toothy smirk. "It's only your first day."

"That's... not it," she hummed, distracted almost as soon as the crisis was over. Luella seemed far away, even though she was right next to him. He wondered what could be wrong.

"Do you want me to send Keonhee in to help you decorate your new room?"

"No. I'll sort it out on my own. Thank you for finding my shawl."

She finally brought her gaze up to meet his for the first time since he came into the room. Luella offered a half-hearted, rather forced smile, then turned to begin emptying her bags and trunks again.

Youngjo slowly rose to his feet, watching her empty everything around her mindlessly for a moment before heading back out of the door. She was clearly preoccupied, so he had no reason to be there.

Seeing her like that only made him worry. It was bad enough that Seoho had that same distant look in his eyes, but now Luella was constantly distracted, too.

As he made his way back to the carriage to continue helping, he began to wonder if something might have happened between them. There was a noticable tension, and they were both practically out of their heads for the moment.

He grew more curious by the second, and he ultimately decided to ask Luella about it once she was settled in a little more.

It wasn't that he was jealous, not at that point. He was more worried than than anything else now. For the both of them.