"Sunwoo-yah! I'm hungry!!!!!"
Sunwoo peeked outside to see Moon Hyungseo with his quiver which he expects is full of painting stuff. It was now dark at night.
"Sure, have a seat. I'll whip up something." Sunwoo grinned at him. Hyungseo gave a thumbs-up and sat down the bench.
Hyungseo was another friend Sunwoo acquired while struggling through his poverty. It's sad to say but both of them found comfort in each other as they were both broke. Hyungseo was a struggling artist who drew paintings for everyone. For a price, of course. Although poor, Hyungseo took pride in his painting abilities. Sunwoo dare say that if not for the bone rank system in the country, Hyungseo would have done pretty well.
"Here you go." Sunwoo placed a table full of food for Hyungseo. Hyungseo clapped in delight.
"You won't believe what I witnessed today." Hyungseo said, gobbling up his food.
"What?"
"Just today, I was walking by the stream near the mountain. You know, trying to conjure up my artistic spirit and such. And I swear, I'm not bluffing! But I saw him!" Hyungseo stared at Sunwoo right in the eye as if daring him to prove him wrong.
"Saw who?" Sunwoo backed up a bit, afraid Hyungseo might spit at him in excitement. Hyungseo's eyes twinkled so innocently.
"A gumiho." Hyungseo whispered and swallowed his meat. Sunwoo blinked a few times then laughed.
"Hyung, gumihos aren't real." He laughed. Hyungseo frowned at that.
"Then are you saying I'm lying?" He glared at Sunwoo who held up both his hands to deny it.
"No, no. But what makes you so sure he's a gumiho?"
Hyungseo chewed on his food for a while and seemed like he was reminiscing the memory.
"He had orange hair."
"Orange?"
"Yep."
"Are you sure it's not just the sunlight blinding you?"
Hyungseo pressed his lips into a thin line.
"I know what I saw." He said and continued eating. Sunwoo shook his head and gave up on the conversation. Gumihos were famous, of course. Sunwoo heard of them since childhood. But there were only rumours of sighting those creatures and any news of them was not good.
"Delivery!"
Sunwoo and Hyungseo whipped their head towards the small gate of Sunwoo's.
"I didn't order anything, Haknyeon hyung." Sunwoo said as Haknyeon sat down beside Hyungseo and snatched his chopsticks.
"I know. I ordered myself to come here." He said, taking a bite, much to the annoyance of Hyungseo.
Sunwoo and Hyungseo stared at him while Haknyeon ignored them.
"By the way, you got no visitors?" He asked, only now looking up. Hyungseo grabbed his bowl and chopsticks back.
"Nope. Not today."
"Then can I crash at your place tonight? I need to go to the Lee residence early tomorrow."
Sunwoo shrugged. He looked up at the night sky. It's cloudy tonight, he thought.
"As if you ever asked for permission to stay at my house before." He scoffed and carried back Hyungseo's finished bowl.
"Hey! I'm trying to be polite!"
"Stop pretending." Hyungseo snickered and waved a good-bye to Sunwoo.
"I'm not pretending. I'm actually nice." Haknyeon grumbled. Sunwoo threw a straw mat at him and ran back into the house before Haknyeon could catch him.
"Young master~~~~ try and catch me!" A young courtesan teased Hyunjae who was blindfolded. Hyunjae grinned and stretched out his hands to sense for the courtesan. He kept flailing his hands around until he got hold of a cloth.
"Aha! Gotcha!" He laughed and proceeded to grab the 'courtesan'.
"Huh?" Hyunjae moved his hands up and down the body he just hugged. When did the girl grow tall and why am I feeling abs? Hyunjae thought.
"Yes, you caught me." A manly voice startled Hyunjae. The man removed his blindfold and Hyunjae sheepishly grinned up at him.
"Oh, hey Juyeon."
"Why are you here again, hyung?" Juyeon sighed.
"Why not? This place likes me and I like it." Hyunjae shrugged, still not letting go of Juyeon.
"Let go of me." Juyeon said.
"Aww, you liked it when I hugged you when you were little." Hyunjae said, faking a little pout.
"That was when I was 10, hyung. I'm not a child anymore."
"You're still a child to me." Hyunjae pinched his cheeks. Juyeon frowned but Hyunjae knew he wasn't really upset.
"Come on. Let's get out of here. This place isn't suitable for children."
"Hyung!"
The two brothers were walking back to their residence. The night was pleasant with a calm breeze. Hyunjae walked while looking at the night sky, hands behind his back.
"Hyung....."
"What is it, Juyeon?"
"Are you....okay?" Juyeon's voice carried clear concern.
"I'm okay. I'm used to it by now." Hyunjae replied, still looking up.
"But...Father was too harsh today, wasn't he? I should try talk-"
"Tonight's a bit cloudy, huh?" Hyunjae cut off Juyeon and stopped walking. Juyeon looked up and nodded.
"Some nights, I would see a million stars. Some nights, I would see just the moon. Some nights are like this, cloudy with not a single thing visible."
Juyeon listened silently as Hyunjae continued.
"I don't mind what Father does to me now. For me, it would be ok whatever depending on the day. Sometimes I would be ok. Sometimes I would feel lonely. Sometimes I would feel angry."
"But hyung, you can't just continue to stay like that. I- I won't allow it." Juyeon said in a small voice. Hyunjae glanced at Juyeon and chuckled. Although the boy was taller and more well-built than Hyunjae, he still seemed like a little child at these times.
"I appreciate your thoughts, thank you very much." Hyunjae patted Juyeon's shoulders, "But it's better you don't get involved. I don't want you to get hurt too."
"Get hurt? Me?" Juyeon got confused.
Hyunjae just shook his head.
"Let's get back now. It's late." He trudged off with Juyeon following behind.
When they got back, Hyunjae separated from Juyeon and walked back to his room. Just before entering,
"I see you still haven't learned your lesson from this morning." A rough voice called out. Hyunjae didn't need to turn and look to know that it's his Father.
"You know me. I'm thick-skinned. And........it's in my blood." Hyunjae looked at his Father directly when he said the last part. Then bowed and went into his room, all the time while maintaining a straight face.
After he shut the door, Hyunjae let out a breath of relief. His hands shook from remembering the events this morning. His Father had called him in to once again blame him for causing troubles at the Red Rose. And just to prove how lucky Hyunjae can get, the two men from this morning at Sunwoo's tavern showed up. Great. So he got punishment.
Hyunjae winced while applying ointment on his back, peering hard at the mirror.
"Yahhh!!!! That hurts!" the boy cried. Hyunjae shushed him with his fingers to which the boy pouted but still shut up.
"So why did you run over those rocks. I warned you they were slippery." Hyunjae said, applying ointment on the boy's legs.
"But I wanted to play..." the boy pouted even more. He looked so cute Hyunjae couldn't resist pinching his cheeks.
"Hyunjae hyung!" Juyeon's voice alerted the boy. Hyunjae quickly finished it up and helped the boy get up.
"Be careful!" Hyunjae checked the handkerchief he had tied around the boy's leg.
"Thanks! I will!" The little pink-haired boy jumped off into the woods.
Hyunjae smiled at the memories. He had hoped to meet the boy again. But now thinking back, because he was young back then 10 years ago, he didn't even notice the strange pink hair. But he had an idea of what the boy was but......they didn't exist, did they?
Chanhee woke up because of an ungodly screech. He groaned into his pillow then shot up, hair sticking in odd ways.
"YAH! JI CHANGMIN! KIM YOUNGHOON!" he yelled out. Chanhee was quite surprised Youngjae didn't wake up from both his scream and Changmin's. Jacob burst through the door with a wooden spoon.
"I swear if anyone of you yells again, I'm gonna kill you. Stop it, you'll wake up the baby." He shushed.
"Your 'baby' is as dead as a log and Changmin started it." Chanhee grumbled as he got down from his bed and made it.
"Whatever. One of you needs to go down the market today. We're out of rice and wine." Jacob said as he left.
"Me and Youngjae will. We need to sell our flowers and herbs too." Chanhee replied.
Chanhee stretched and went outside to freshen himself up. Then came back in to finally wake Youngjae up. That is if he's alive. Sometimes, Chanhee wonders if Youngjae actually dies every night because he sleeps so well. Almost too well.
Chanhee noticed a piece of cloth dangling from the edge of his bed. Recognising the 'piece', he pulled it out and shook it. He looked at the handkerchief thoughtfully. Although humans were overall disgusting and strange, he had to admit. That boy wasn't all that bad.