Lunar Dream (Sunnew)

Eighteen

"We can figure something out." Sangyeon grinned mysteriously at him and Hyungseo got creeped out.

"I'm glad nothing else extreme happened." Youngjae said as he dabbed Chanhee's face with a wet cloth. Chanhee took away the cloth.

"Oh, yeah. Just got kidnapped and chained up and manhandled by a creepy ass man and got spiked by the chains. Yeah, nothing extreme." Chanhee commented sarcastically making Youngjae frown.

"So, they knew you were a gumiho, then?" Younghoon asked, crossing his arms and looking thoughtful. Chanhee nodded.

Changmin and Joonyoung looked at each other. There was a guild that knew of their existence and furthermore, has weapons to weaken them. That's not good news. 

"By the way, where exactly am I?" Chanhee asked, taking a swig of the water. 

The four looked at each other, wondering where to begin. Youngjae took initiative.

"So, hyung, after you went missing, we......" It took quite a while to tell the whole story. Mostly because a lot happened and also because Youngjae took pride in his story telling skills and made sure not to forget even a tiny detail.

"And now, we are here." Youngjae finally concluded. Chanhee looked at him in disbelief. Then he looked at Joonyoung for confirmation.

"Just what did I get us into?" Chanhee pulled on his hair.

"No, no. Don't do that. It's not because of anyone else so don't go blaming yourself." Joonyoung said, lightly hugging him. Chanhee buried his face in Joonyoung's chest and savored the warmth. 

"Hey, I brought you guys some food!" Haknyeon came in holding a tray of assorted rice cakes. Hyungseo walked in and closed the door behind him. 

"Oh? You're awake!" Hyungseo cried out and rushed towards Chanhee. He beamed at him, hands awkwardly spread out in the air. 

"Hyungseo? Why are you..., oh right." Chanhee got confused for a moment then remembered Youngjae telling him before.

"I was really worried, you know. Are you ok now? Do you need to drink anything? Any medicine?" Hyungseo asked, frantically. Chanhee shook his head.

"I'm alright. I was just weakened for a while. Thank you." Chanhee replied. He thought it was strange how Hyungseo seemed to care so much for a stranger. But then, there was Youngjae, so he couldn't really classify Hyungseo as weird. 

"Actually, we came here to inform you guys something." Haknyeon said as he placed the tray on the table. Everyone's eyes were on him now.

"Sangyeon told us that we can't leave. That includes you guys as well." 

"What? Why?" Youngjae said. He stopped eating his rice cake and looked at Haknyeon.

"There's actually this thing going on and Sangyeon wants you to be a part of it. It's not anything bad!" Haknyeon said, stopping Youngjae before he could cut in.

"I'll explain." Hyungseo said. He gestured for the gumihos to have a seat.

Changmin and Younghoon looked at Joonyoung. Joonyoung gave a nod and they sat down.

"So, as you all know, we got ambushed. That assassin guild is a powerful one. It wouldn't really be a problem if you guys weren't with us. But they had already seen you guys, your true identities. So that marks you on their radar. Sangyeon wants you to stay for your safety." 

"And to use as weapons? I knew it." Younghoo scoffed. Changmin put a hand on Younghoon's lap to calm him down.

Haknyeon and Hyungseo looked at each other. Gosh, why did they choose them to come and break the news?

"It's for your protection. It's not safe to be alone again out there. You saw their manpower." Haknyeon tried to better the situation. 

"We also have something to say." Joonyoung said. Hyungseo and Haknyeon looked at them attentively, hoping that at least he would see their point of view.

"Do you think we've lived our whole lives not getting ambushed or hunted down? Do you actually think we got to live in peace? Just because we stay hiding in the mountains doesn't mean we were safe. We had to move every few decades because humans can't stay to themselves and they just had to know more. And when they do know more, they try to get rid of us."

Hyungseo and Haknyeon didn't know what to say. Hyungseo fidgeted in his seat.

"Furthermore, we have suspicions that they already know about the existence of gumihos. They could somehow weaken me." Chanhee spoke. Chanhee doesn't think Hyungseo and Haknyeon had any bad intentions. 

According to what Youngjae said earlier, Hyunjae was here too. He trusted him.

"Tell whoever is the leader of your group, that we appreciate the concern. But we don't need it."

Hyungseo and Haknyeon stared at each other after they got out from the gumihos' building. 

"Now what?" Haknyeon asked, staring aimlessly.

"I don't know. Let them figure it out themselves." Hyungseo replied. 

A/N: The intro of this book got 100 reads! Thanks for the ones who are still reading. I really do enjoy all of your votes and comments. 

I don't know if anyone noticed, but I'm writing this like how I would want to watch as a drama. So, there are certain scenes I'm not good at writing yet (stay tuned for cringey makeout scenes).