"So, you mean they are leaving somewhere without telling us anything?" Haknyeon nodded at Hyungseo.
They were sitting at a teashop, having a cup of tea. Hyungseo rubbed his chin as he lifted his cup to his lips. Haknyeon crumbled up his forehead at Hyungseo's pretentious figure but grinned right away when he looked at him.
"I have a feeling Sunwoo knows as well. He and Hyunjae came back unusually calm. They would've been bragging about how many bamboo trees they cut down or who won whom but they were just 'this'." Hyungseo made a zipping motion on his mouth. Haknyeon frowned.
"Then, they are keeping a secret away from only us? That kinda upsets me." He took a bite out of the cookie served.
"Maybe it's just a short trip so they didn't bother telling?"
"No, it sounds like a reallllly long trip. The one you take when you don't know if you're gonna take weeks or months."
"Not gonna lie, it does sting a bit. I thought we had established a solid friendship between us. I guess they still don't trust us enough. We did only know each other for a few years, so I guess that factors in too?" Hyungseo said, trying to comfort Haknyeon.
"Oh, hyungs!" Haknyeon and Hyungseo whipped their head towards Hwall who beamed at them. He was carrying a bulgy sack of medicine. Hyungseo grimaced as Hwall plopped it on the chair beside him. The medicinal herbs had a very strong stench. Hwall wiped off the sweat on his forehead.
Haknyeon didn't really look at Hwall, afraid he would get exposed. Hyungseo did talk to the younger but Hwall seems to be worried at the lack of words from Haknyeon.
"Are you okay?" Hwall asked Haknyeon. Haknyeon just hummed. Hwall puckered up his lips and put his elbows onto the table, leaning in.
"Then why aren't you talking with me? Hwallie feel sad. Hwall wants Haknyeon to talk with him" Hwall started tilting his head and talking in a cutesy voice.
Haknyeon almost, almost cracked a smile. If not for feeling betrayed for not telling them about them leaving, that is. Haknyeon felt even worse so he just got up and tried to leave.
"Hyung! What's wrong?" Hwall grabbed his hands to stop him. Haknyeon didn't turn back and Hwall got really worried at that point. Hyungseo just stared at the scene in front of him as he took a sip of his tea.
Haknyeon let out a breath and shook off Hwall's hands and stomped away, not letting back a glance. Hwall was left standing, confused and a bit hurt. He thought Haknyeon as one of his closest friends he could confide his matters in. He glanced at Hyungseo who just shrugged.
"Must be his man period."
Sunwoo had a lot on his mind. He dumped down the hay for his horse and just stood there, hands on his hips, thinking. Lots had happened the past few days and Sunwoo wasn't sure if he enjoyed it.
He had an encounter with not only one but five spiritual beings and somehow managed to make an enemy out of two.
He got lost in thought after picturing Chanhee's ethereal gumiho form before his own horse whacked him in the face with his tail. Sunwoo gave a glare at the oblivious animal and moved into the kitchen.
He grabbed a random spoon and started stirring the soup. Another thing was what Hyunjae had told him so seriously. Sunwoo was worried about him. Although Hyunjae might seem aloft and free most of the time, he knew it was all a façade to keep away unwanted attention. He couldn't let Hyunjae go just because he told him so.
He had to do something, somehow.
"Younghoon hyung! Where are you? Chanhee hyung wants to go hunting." Youngjae looked around for any signs of Younghoon, "Just where the heck is he?".
He had already looked in the rooms, the storage, the kitchen, the cave, almost everywhere. He walked outside the clearing and around the forest. He kept wandering around until he heard a small rustle. He caught a glimpse of white hair and he smiled brightly as he walked towards Younghoon.
Then he halted when he heard him talking.
"Ssh, come on, I know you love it. Here." Younghoon said. Youngjae creased his eyebrows. What were Changmin and Younghoon talking about so secretly?
"But still,......... we are outside. We shouldn't..." Changmin replied.
"It's ok. Just take it like a nice boy, here you go."
"But-mmphff!"
"Isn't it nice? Gosh, it's so hot."
"Yeah...mmm, it's so big..."
"I know, right? Aww yes!"
Youngjae's eyes widened as noises emitted from his two brothers. What the heck are they doing!? I'm too innocent for this, he thought and ran away silently with both his hands covering his mouth.
He didn't look where he was running and bumped into Chanhee who was carrying a pail of water. The water splashed all over them.
"Ah, seriously Sohn Youngjae!" Chanhee yelled. Youngjae spit out sorry, the audio from before still imprinted in his brain. Chanhee noticed something weird and tapped his shoulders.
"Hey, you okay?"
"Huh!? Yeah! Of course! I'm peachy! Great!" Youngjae jumped up and dusted his butt aggressively. Chanhee shot him a look, then spotted Changmin and Younghoon coming out of the forest.
"Oh, hey Younghoon! I was looking for you."
"Oh? Why?" Younghoon asked.
"To go hunting. We need to stock up our supplies." Younghoon nodded, then looked weirdly at Youngjae who turned his back to him.
"Youngjae? You wanna come with us?" Youngjae shook his head a bit too aggressively which made the three foxes confused. Youngjae loved going hunting. It was one of his favorite activities.
"I thought you loved it." Changmin said as he put his hands on Youngjae's shoulders to turn him around. Youngjae jumped out of his hold and into Chanhee's chest.
"Oof! Seriously, what's with you and bumping into me today?" Chanhee said as he rubbed the place Youngjae had accidentally head-bumped.
Youngjae muttered out a sorry and scurried into his room. The three foxes looked at Youngjae's state.
"You guys did something, didn't you?" Chanhee put his hands on his hips as he looked at the two with an accusing look.
"No! What could we have done!? We were just having some hot buns." Changmin replied.
"Hot buns? I want some too."
"Sorry, that's the reason we ate it out there. We didn't have any to share. But it was really delicious and so hot! I almost burned my tongue on it." Changmin said, sticking out his tongue to show the burn.
"Come on then, let's go hunting." Chanhee grumbled, laying off the matter for the moment.
"So, this is it." Hyunjae said as he threw some bread crumbs at the fish in the pond. Juyeon stayed silent beside him. Today was their last night in the capital. The three brothers would leave the next morning.
Hyunjae and Hwall had went to Sunwoo's tavern as usual that day. He had talked as usual though he didn't see Haknyeon. He was kind of sad. He wanted to say goodbye to him, indirectly, of course. And Hyungseo had been a bit strange as well. He hadn't bantered with him as usual but Hyunjae didn't think much of it. Sunwoo was taking it well, he didn't show any sign of missing him or anything. To be honest, that kinda hurt Hyunjae.
"We'll be fine, right?" Juyeon voiced out his worries. Hyunjae threw the last of the bread crumbs, then dusted off his hands. He turned to Juyeon who had a solemn expression. He smiled at him and squeezed his shoulders.
"We are going to be great. So, don't you worry about a thing." Hyunjae said, giving him an encouraging look.
"You should rest up early. We have a busy day ahead." Hwall said, coming from behind. Juyeon and Hyunjae nodded.
Hyunjae was left alone as the other two went off to sleep. That day, Sangyeon had emphasized the importance of Hwarang again.
Truth to be told, he still had no idea why Sangyeon would call him and Juyeon on this kind of mission. But Hyunjae appreciated it deep inside. If this Hwarang thing was anywhere as near effective and important as Sangyeon had described to them, then he was proud to be part of it.
At least, for once, he would not feel useless in life.