Promise- Minsung

Chapter Thirty Four

They stopped at a small pond nearby with tiny fish that would always leap from the waters. Minho breathed in the sweet air as he sat down on one of the stones that lined the banks. "This is nice..."

"No, it's not," Bang Chan huffed as he straightened out his robes.

Minho glanced at him and then grinned. "Whatever you say," he leaned back and closed his eyes, basking in the gentle sunlight.

Chan stared at him before shrugging and plopping down in the grass. "What do you say we go on a week trip to the ocean?" Chan asked, rubbing his forehead. "I miss the ocean..."

Minho glanced over at him, "Sure, why not. Is Yongbok allowed to come?"

"Of course!"

"Alright," Minho sat up and nodded. "We can go next week. We have nothing better to do."

"Since Seungmin and Hyunjin left back for the Lee Kingdom, it's been too quiet," Chan murmured, thinking back to the young men's departure a week before. "We should get away."

"You can go back too, if you'd like," Minho told him. "I wouldn't want to keep you here when you could have your old life back home."

"I think I like it here more, honestly," Bang Chan murmured, staring up at the clouds that passed overhead. "It's not as dramatic, for sure, and there's less things to do, but that is also a good thing as well. You come to appreciate life."

Minho laughed. "You sound like an old uncle now," he picked up one of the stones from the bank and threw it towards the water. "You can also go back to the Han Palace if you want. Young Master Park Sungjin is still there, I hear. And so is Changbin."

"I wouldn't want to leave you here with just Yongbok," Chan told him, tossing a rock in the air and catching it in his palm. "And that palace... there are too many secrets."

"What do you mean?" Minho sat up and stared at his friend.

"I mean... I feel like there is something big that we don't know... something that they are hiding from us..."

Minho scratched his head, looking around for the horses that grazed down the pond side. "I guess that's true... but I have a feeling they haven't told King Han what it is either."

"Maybe you should ask Prince Min-hyung to send a letter to your older brother. I bet he knows."

"You'll find that my Hyungnim is just as secretive as the Han people."

"He wouldn't even tell you?"

"Especially me. All my older siblings think I'm still young and immature and don't know anything."

"But you're old enough to get married?"

"I guess so."

Chan rolled his eyes and stood back up. "Come on, let's get back to the palace before Yongbok eats our heads off. That's not something that I want to happen today."

The two boys stood up from the banks and gathered their horses before they turned back and ran back to the San Palace.

(AN: For those of you who don't know, San (산) means mountain is Korean)

When they arrived they sent their horses to the small stables that were on the property and walked towards the main group area where Yongbok and Min-hyung usually had breakfast waiting for them.

Sure enough, Yongbok and Min-hyung were waiting as usual, but the usual bright atmosphere was dark when they entered the hall and Minho frowned, sitting down next to his older brother. "What is it?"