Mochou walked a couple meters away from Yichen through the forest. For reasons difficult to explain he was uncomfortable getting any closer to him.
Yichen didn't seem to mind. He slowly walked along with him chatting all the way.
"Last year I went to the coast. They had these large salt fields that were covered in beautiful white salt. It looked like a field of snow without the teeth-chattering cold." Yichen said. It was one of the many stories he'd told Mochou as they walked.
"He's kinda sweet the way he keeps talking. I wonder if he's nervous?" Mochou wondered.
"Mochou, have you ever wanted to travel?" Yichen asked.
"Traveling sounds fun but I'm more concerned with what my next meal will be right now." Mochou said.
Yichen looked over at Mochou next to him. Mochou looked thin and weak. At best he was tall enough to reach Yichen's shoulder. Anyone who looked at him would think he was pitiful, but Yichen was attracted to his eyes. Mochou's eyes were beautiful and full of life. There was nothing pitiful about him in Yichen's opinion.
"I won't let you starve." Yichen promised.
"That's sweet but I'm not your responsibility." Mochou said with a light chuckle.Hearing him laugh even a little brightened Yichen's day.
"You could be." Yichen wanted to say what he really thought. but things weren't that simple. He told himself to be patient and remaining silent. His response was only a simple smiled for now.
"I can't rush things. Not until I can guarantee I won't hurt him from acting rash." Yichen thought.
Feeling awkward Mochou sprinted away. Without saying a word he knelt down and set up another trap. While he did that Yichen walked around the area and picked up a few medicinal herbs. Some were for digestion and immune boosters. He also added the ginseng he dug up for Mochou the day before.
He then walked over to Mochou who was almost done setting up a noose trap that could be used to catch a rabbit.
"I found these medicinal herbs. You should use them. They will help improve your health." Yichen said as he offered the herbs to him.
"What are they for and how should I use them?" Mochou asked. He knew a good amount about medicinal herbs from survival training, like the ginseng and honeysuckle but not the other three.
"This is called dang Shen, boil the root as a tea it will help boost your immune system and digestion. This one is bai zhu it works best when combined with other herbs to help the body process and absorb the benefits from the medicine." Yichen explained. He then pointed to the ginseng Mochou recognized.
"This is ginseng. It is important to drink it as a tea when you are feverish. This third one is called Jin yin hua, it will help your body fight against illness and boost your recovery." Yichen explained as he pointed to the ginseng and honeysuckle flower.
Mochou knew Yichen's description of the honeysuckle and ginseng was accurate. Therefore he had no reason to doubt that the other three were also true.
"Do I just need to boil them into a tea?" Mochou asked thankful for the herbs.
"You do but you shouldn't mix these two together in the same tea. It's best to drink these two in the morning. This one when you eat, and this one at night before bed. You can add the bai zhu to each tea to help your body absorb the benefits." Yichen patiently explained.
"That will be a little difficult." Mochou admitted.
"Why?" Yichen asked surprised. It wasn't difficult to make tea.
"I only have the one pot at home. I can't make tea and cook a meal at the same time." Mochou explained.
"I'll bring you a medicine pot you can use to make the tea."
"I can't pay for it." Mochou said. He was still determined not to take charity.
"Then let's make a trade. When we head back you can check your traps and if you caught any rabbits or birds I'll take one as payment for the pot." Yichen suggested.
"One rabbit is not worth the cost of a pot." Mochou retorted.
"Consider it a rental fee then. Until you can afford to buy one." Yichen said. He was determined to get Mochou to accept the pot. He wanted to help and he felt it was important to get Mochou to start taking some medicinal herbs.
"He's too thin and I'm worried about his fever from yesterday." Yichen mused.
Mochou started to waver. He really could use another pot. If he had one he wouldn't have to take another cold bath at night.
"Okay, but only if I find a rabbit or bird." Mochou said after weighing the pros and cons.
"In that case I hope we find one as soon as possible." Yichen said. His sharp canine showing while he smiled.
Mochou looked at him and felt his heart thump. A light blush appearing on his cheeks.
"Let's go." Mochou said feeling shy.
"Mmm... It's getting late. We'll need to hurry back. The forest is dangerous at night." Yichen agreed. He held out his hand to help Mochou up but Mochou ignored it and stood on his own.
Yichen wasn't offended. He simply followed behind Mochou as they headed out of the forest.
...
While they walked Mochou checked on his traps. To his delight he managed to catch three rabbits and two quails.
"Amazing! Even though the time isn't the best for catching them I still managed to get so many! Is it because this world is less advanced the animal populations are still healthy, maybe even abundant?" Mochou mused as he reset the trap.
"These traps you've made are interesting. I've never seen any like them before." Yichen noted as he admired the results. He was familiar with local hunters and how they hunted. The traps they made were useful but not very reliable. More often than not they failed to work and the prey would escape or be killed by the trap.
"They aren't difficult to make." Mochou humbly replied.
"That only makes them more impressive. Simplicity is the hardest to achieve with success." Yichen said causing Mochou to blush again.
"I'll take the little quail in exchange for the pot." Yichen said.
"They don't have much meat. I'll give you one of the rabbits." Mochou countered.
"I prefer the quail. Keep the rabbits for yourself to eat or sell in a few days." Yichen restated.
Mochou couldn't understand why he preferred the smaller quail. Yichen however had a good reason to make sure Mochou kept the more valuable rabbits than the small little quail.
"He needs to eat more." He thought as he glanced at Mochou's thin waist.
With that decided they continued walking forward until they reached the edge of the forest by Mochou's little hut.
"I live over there. I don't have much but if you wait I can make some tea." Mochou offered.
Yichen wanted to accept. However he couldn't. It was inappropriate for a man to enter a GER's home even if invited without a male family member present. In fact him following along and spending the day with Mochou was already cause for rumours. It was difficult for Yichen to pass up the chance to get to know Mochou more.
"Sorry, I can't join you for tea." Yichen said.
"Oh? Okay." Mochou answered back feeling disappointed.
"I'll go get the pot and come back soon. Wait for me?" Yichen then added.
Mochou's mood visibly brightened from his words.
"Okay. See you soon." Mochou said. He then headed home while Yichen went the other way back to the village. As he walked he was careful not to make it obvious to anyone who might be nearby what direction he had come from.
...
"Yichen, did you go out for another stroll through the forest? My little Hyung Li said he saw you leaving early this afternoon." A woman said as she passed Yichen in the village.
"Yes, the forest is full of wonderful herbs and is interesting to explore." Yichen answered in return.
"Indeed it is but be careful and try not to stray to far west. Bears have been known to live in that part of the forest." The woman warned.
"And a monster." The little four year old boy snickered by her side.
"Shush." The woman rebuked.
Yichen frowned at the boy's words. He may not have been in the village long but he knew how cruel people could be from his travels.
"It's too soon to let any of these gossipy villagers know about me and Mochou." He thought while pretending not to hear the boy.
"I'm in a bit of a hurry. I hope you have a good day." Yichen said as he waved to the woman and left.
When he got home he didn't even bother to say hi to his mother. He went straight for the kitchen and grabbed the best pot they had.
"What are you doing with my pot?" She asked when she saw Yichen trying to leave.
"I need it." Was all Yichen said before running away.
"His steps were fast but he was also careful not to look to suspicious as he entered the forest. It would have been faster to go directly to Mochou's hut through the field, but harder to keep his destination secret.
After taking many twists and turns in the forest he finally returned to Mochou's little hut. As he approached he could smell a slightly sweet smell.
"What is he cooking?" Yichen wondered. When he reached the gate he stopped. If he entered it wouldn't be good, but he couldn't resist the smell or the desire to spend more time with Mochou.
Looking around the area to make sure no one was around Yichen pushed open the creaky gate. It wasn't locked but even if it was it wouldn't make a difference considering the height of the fence was only waist high.
"Yichen is that you?" Mochou called out from inside.
Hearing Mochou call his name made Yichen's smile broaden.
"It's me. Can I come in?" Yichen called back. At that moment Mochou poked his head out of the little hut.
"That was quick." Mochou said he then noticed the pot in Yichen's hands.
"Weren't you supposed to bring a little pot for tea? That pot is too large." Mochou commented.
"Yes, well... It's more useful than a little one. I figured you could boil more water with something this size and set it aside to drink. It's important to boil drinking water. It will help diminish stomachaches." Yichen explained.
"Thank you, but one quail..."
"It's a rental fee. Once you sell some rabbits at the morning market in town you'll be able to afford your own pot. Besides no uses it at home. It's old and just sitting in the corner of the kitchen collecting dust." Yichen added.
Mochou looked at the pot. From his perspective it was a good pot and looked almost new.
"Is Yichen's family so rich they consider this unusable?" He wondered as he took the pot from Yichen.
"Thank you. I made some Oleaster and honeysuckle tea. It's a bit sweet but would you like to have a cup before you go?" Mochou offered.
Although Yichen refused the first time he offered Mochou didn't feel right not thanking him for his help in some way. He didn't have enough food or time to cook a meal for him but a cup of tea would be useful.
"I'd love some." Yichen said. Mochou invited him inside but Yichen was reluctant to enter.
"Is something wrong?" Mochou asked when he noticed his hesitation.
"So innocent!!!" Yichen thought with a light blush. Then seconds later his thoughts turned dark.
"Does Mochou not have a sense of danger. How could he invite a strange man into his home? This can't go on. I'll need to help keep him safe." Yichen thought.
"It's inappropriate for me to enter a GER's home." Yichen said.
"That's right! I'm a GER which is basically like a woman living in ancient society. What was I thinking. But he agreed to the tea. Should I bring the cup out here for him to drink in the yard? But the yard is so dirty. I'll should have cleaned it." Mochou thought in a panic.
"Mochou?" Yichen called out when he saw the panic in Mochou's face.
"I'll bring you a cup now." Mochou said before disappearing inside.
"He really is very innocent." Yichen mused. He was glad Mochou didn't get angry at his refusal but also concerned.
Mochou placed the new pot on the table and grabbed the cracked tea cup. He only had the one so he poured some tea in the cup for Yichen and some in a little bowl for himself.
"I need to replace my dishes soon as well." He thought a little embarrassed by the state of his property.
Despite the embarrassment he brought the tea out for Yichen to drink.
Yichen accepted it with a kind smile. He slowly blew on it before finally taking a sip.
"It's very sweet and delicious. Thank you." He said to the impatiently waiting Mochou.
"Sorry, it's sweet. I made it more to my liking." Mochou admitted. It wasn't that he had a sweet tooth per se but that he wanted to add variety to the food he was eating.
"Don't apologize. To be honest I love sweet things. I'm always getting in trouble for buying little candies in town." Yichen honestly admitted.
"I see. Then I'll make it for you again sometime." Mochou said as he took another sip of his tea.
"I look forward to it." Yichen replied with a bright smile.
...
After they finished drinking some tea, Mochou placed the little quail he owed Yichen in a cage he weaved out of reeds and gave it to him.
"Are you sure you don't want a rabbit?" Mochou asked again.
"I'm positive. Thank you for the quail. I'll meet you in the forest tomorrow morning to check on the traps. If you don't mind the company." Yichen said before walking through the gate.
"Okay. See you tomorrow." Mochou answered back with a smile.
Seeing Mochou's smile Yichen was struck. His feet planted firmly on the ground despite having to leave.
"Yichen, goodbye." Mochou added before once again disappearing inside the little hut. Yichen lingered a little longer before finally regaining his senses and leaving.
...