Lunar Dream (Sunnew)

Nine

"Just fine? Okay." Hyungseo eyed Sunwoo who was leading his horse to the stable now. Hyungseo couldn't put his finger on the situation but he did know something happened. He immediately went into detective mode and observed the two. 

First of all, Hyunjae wasn't shouting and that is not normal. What's even more suspicious is, he hasn't asked for wine.

Now onto Sunwoo, he wasn't going to check his wine! And he hasn't even noticed Hyungseo had broken one of the bean blocks Sunwoo had sundried! 

"Hyung!" Hyungseo almost yelped when Sunwoo suddenly turned around and walked up to him. Oh, so he noticed?

"You said before, you saw something by the stream?" Sunwoo asked, his voice stuttering a bit. Hyungseo contorted his face at the sudden question and jogged back his memories.

"Ahh, you mean the gumiho?"

"Yes, the......gumiho. What color did you say you saw?" 

"Orange! But why?" Hyungseo asked back, now genuinely confused. 

Hyunjae chuckled all of a sudden which levelled up his confusion even further. Sunwoo was mumbling something along the lines of "Then that's him and that's..." and walked away, gesturing his fingers at nothing.

"Well, then, I'll be off. I got things to prepare at home." Hyunjae heaved up and got on his horse. He bid Hyungseo goodbye and Hyungseo waved back. As Hyunjae galloped away, Hyungseo looked from him and Sunwoo. 

"Something is definitely up." He muttered to himself.

Juyeon took a stroll around his residence. Hyunjae was out on his monthly trip with Sunwoo, though a bit earlier than ususal. But Juyeon figured that's because of Sangyeon's proposal. Hyunjae had told him the night before leaving on his mini trip that he would join Sangyeon.. So that means Juyeon would be joining as well. 

Juyeon released a stream of thoughts as he strolled. Was he ready for whatever would come if he joined his brothers? Was he ready to be responsible? Although he acted mature and was calm in most situations, he had to admit, he was still a kid hiding behind Hyunjae in most social situations. When confronting his Father, Sangyeon would talk in behalf of him. He hated it. He hated that he couldn't stand up for himself yet. 

As Juyeon was lost in his thoughts, he spotted Hwall waiting at the main gate. Juyeon stared at him for a while before walking towards him. Hwall bowed his head when he noticed Juyeon approaching him. Juyeon gave a little nod.

"What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for Young Master Hyunjae."

"I thought he told you not to call him Young Master?"

"Yes, but I don't think it's really appropriate in here." Hwall gave a small glance around and Juyeon nodded in comprehension. 

"But isn't he going to be back by evening? It's still too early to-"

The door creaked open as Hyunjae came in with his horse trailing behind. Hyunjae's eyes brightened up as he spotted his brother and friend waiting for him.

"Oh, I'd expect Hwall to be waiting for me but you, Juyeon? I didn't know you missed me that much." Hyunjae spread out his arms and proceeded to give Juyeon a hug which the latter spun around and dodged.

"Aww, you always deny your love for me." Hyunjae pouted.

"Please, I don't want to strangle you this early." Juyeon cringed at Hyunjae pouting and flapping his eye lashes. Juyeon walked away briskly as Hyunjae attempted to capture him again.

"You're back." Sangyeon's voice drained out the cheerfulness out of Hyunjae right away. Hwall bowed down his head and scooted back. Hyunjae turned around to see Sangyeon in his same old robe and same old stoic expression.

"Yes, I'm back. So when do we leave?" 

"The day after tomorrow. Prepare well." Sangyeon left.

"Where are you going?" Hwall asked. Hyunjae smiled at the younger's curious face. He reminded him of a certain fox he just met last night.

"You'll know later. You should also get ready. You're coming as well." Hyunjae ruffled Hwall's hair as he nodded. 

.

.

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"Hyunjae and Hwall are going away? And they didn't tell us anything!?" Haknyeon mumbled to himself outside the Lee residence's main door. He frowned and walked away. 

Youngjae kept staring at Chanhee as they washed their clothes down the stream. 

"Why aren't you doing your laundry, Youngjae? And I though you hated dirty stuff." Chanhee said, as he beat down his clothes with the laundry bat. 

"Why did you believe them?" Chanhee sighed at Youngjae's question. To be honest, he knew the rest of them were reluctant to believe Hyunjae and Sunwoo as they had prior experiences before with humas. But Chanhee had somehow managed to convince Joonyoung to let them go after casting a harmless protective spell on them. The spell would alert them if the two were in any kind of danger or if they were in danger of being discovered. 

Chanhee had met Hyunjae when he was a kid numerous times. Each time, he would disguise himself as another human so Hyunjae had no idea he was meeting the same person again and again. The first two times were coincidence, but later on, Chanhee became intrigued with the small boy and was entertained by his free demeanor. It was by pure chance that he showed his true form the last time they met at the stream, but Hyunjae didn't need to know that.

"I have my reasons."

"Why do you think I'm asking?"

"Reasons that are hard to drill into your thick skull. Now, shut up and do your laundry."