Chapter 6

A Visit to the Market

The sun shined brightly in the sky, illuminating the royal marketplace. Everyone was rushing around, going on with their businesses.

Ryeowook trudged along a cobblestone path, his hood covering his face. He was wearing simple clothes which were a little bit too big on him, courtesy of Donghae who had lent him his friend’s clothes who was supposedly ‘as thin as a stick’. Nobody paid attention to him as he roamed around, looking at the various kinds of things being sold there. Suddenly a hand clamped down on his shoulder, making him tense up.

8~҈~8

Donghae was walking through the market, looking around for something to eat. He browsed through the stalls, searching for something that the young king might not have eaten before. In the time that they had spent together in the market, which was barely 2 hours, he had come to know the teen a little bit better. He still remained an unsolved mystery but now he knew that he wasn’t all that cruel and power thirsty as he and everyone from his village thought.

He smiled to himself at the thought of his village. He missed all of them even though it’s not been all that long since he was appointed as Ryeowook’s bodyguard.

“Donghae? Is that really you?”

Donghae turned around at the sudden voice which he could recognize anywhere, anytime.

“Shindong-hyung! Wow! I never thought I will be able to meet you here of all places.” Donghae said, utterly astonished. “Siwon too!”

“Yeah we too, Hae-ah! So how’s it going? Were you able to meet Kangin? The date of his execution is coming near ya know.” Shindong said, leading him towards a bench. Siwon excused himself to pay for the stuff they had bought before they saw Donghae.

Hearing Shindong’s question Donghae perked up, eager to tell his findings to the village leader. “Shindong hyung! You gotta stop the war! The king isn’t all that bad at all! In fact he is pretty nice and cute! And after hearing what he had to say, I kinda agree with his decision of making us leave our village and keeping Kangin-hyung captive. You kn-” he chirped, holding the older man’s hand.

Hearing what the younger had just uttered, Shindong’s expression turned cold. He swatted away Donghae’s hands, glaring at him.

“Hyung…”

“Shut up, Lee Donghae.”

“Please liste-!”

“I said shut UP! Don’t you dare speak another word!” Shindong yelled, standing up. He glared down at Donghae, grabbing his collar. “How dare you betray your village!? How dare you!?” he sneered down at him, his glaring eyes inches apart from Donghae’s wide-wet ones.

“Hyung! What are you doing to Hae!? Hyung!” Siwon appeared, pushing through the crowd accumulating. “Hyung!”

“Liar…He is a ing LIAR!! You hear me Donghae, YOU ARE A ING LIAR! YOU DAMN TRAITOR!!!”

Donghae fell down on the rough ground, his left cheek getting bruised from the hit Shin Dong had just delivered. Siwon immediately stepped in between them, stopping Shindong in time before he pummeled the other guy.

“Hyung calm down! Hyung!!” Siwon pleaded, nearly crying. He can’t bear to see the members of his village, his family, fighting.

“Calm down!? You want ME TO ING CALM DOWN!?”

“Hyung please listen to me, please hyung let me at least explain!” Donghae begged only to be kicked away. He grunted in pain, clutching his stomach.

“Hyung!” Siwon yelled in shock, trying to drag Shindong away. “Hae-ah! Get away!” he yelled over to Donghae who managed to scramble over to his feet. Siwon applied every last bit of his strength to keep the furious man at bay.

“He is a damned traitor Siwon-ah! He says that we shouldn’t fight against that damned king! He is on their side, he is our enemy!”

Hearing this, Siwon’s grip slackened somewhat on the angry man.

Donghae looked in fright as another fist was aimed at him. But before he was hit, a gloved hand pulled him away and into the crowd. He heard Shin dong yelling something and chasing him and his rescuer with some others. All of them looked ready to beat him to a pulp.

He gulped lightly in fear, rubbing his wet eyes to get rid of the moisture so his vision won’t go all blurry. He finally looked onto his rescuer who was clad in all black, a lean black sheath hanging at his side. He was still pulling him down the lanes, away from their pursuers.

Donghae was still not able to believe how the person whom he considered his savior, his big brother, had called him a traitor. He hadn’t even said anything yet when the older had pounced on him like a feral beast. He couldn’t help but feel betrayed himself.

While he was swimming in his thoughts, his black-clad companion stopped behind a short hooded figure whom Donghae immediately recognized as the young king. But how come the person knew about the king being here? If so, why was he helping them, considering that nearly all the population hated their king to the deepest depths of earth yet he was here, helping them.

Not waiting, Donghae lightly placed his hand on the younger’s shoulder, wanting to gain his attention.

Ryeowook immediately spun around, his guard up. Seeing the familiar face of his bodyguard and presumably new friend, he sighed. But after seeing Donghae’s state, he frowned, his brows furrowing lightly. “What happened to you? Why are you looking so…nervous as if someone is out to kill you?”

Donghae concentrated on leveling his breathing, wanting to tell Ryeowook that they needed to get the hell outta here. Just as he was gonna open his mouth his new companion beat him to it.

“We gotta run the hell outta here, some psychos are gonna kill you guys!”

“That voice…”Ryeowook wondered but before he was able to say anything else, he and Donghae were pulled away by the other man. Without any break, they continued to run through the crowd, people of Oracias high on their tail.

“Damnit!” Donghae cursed lightly under his breath when they were confronted by a dead-end. He punched the wall lightly, wanting to vent out his frustrations. They were already surrounded. “Hyung! Please stop all this!” he begged again, seeing no other way as he didn’t want to hurt them nor wanted them to hurt the young lad.

“Well well well if it isn’t the well reputed king. I never thought I will see you so soon, sadly it isn’t our last meeting but if you want I can easily make it.” Shindong said, a crazed look in his eyes. He unsheathed his sword and pointed it at Ryeowook’s chest.

Ryeowook didn’t back down, instead he just stepped forward.

“Ryeowook-shi, please let me handle this! I created this mess so I should be the one who will deal and end it, please go back!” Donghae pleaded, trying to pull Ryeowook back but to no avail, it was like the kid was cemented to the ground.

“Damn traitor! But I know Hae, it isn’t your fault. Because all of it is just this little ’s doing! He should be punished accordingly!”

“HYUNG!” Donghae yelled when Shindong swung his sword down at the unmoving boy. Without thinking, as if on reflex, Donghae stepped between the sword and Ryeowook. He waited for the pain to cut through his back, to feel the muscles and tissues giving in to the pressure, to feel blood flooding out of the big gash but…it never came. He peeled his eyes open only to realize that the sword was stopped mid-way by none other than their black-clad savior.

He was still holding the sword between his hands, not allowing it to go any nearer to the king and his bodyguard. He swung the sword aside, making Shindong lose his grip on the hilt. The sword fell with a dull clank on the ground, everyone unharmed.

“You have no right to punish his young majesty for the crimes he didn’t even commit. But…If you will still dare to try I can guarantee you that none of your limbs will be left functioning.” The man growled out, remaining rooted to his spot in front of Donghae and Ryeowook.

Shindong glared at him before focusing his eyes on Donghae who flinched under the hate filled gaze, averting his eyes to the ground.

“I never thought you will sink this low Hae. You disgust me.” Shindong spat out. Thinking Shindong was going way too far, Siwon finally stepped forward from the backdrop.

“Hyung, please stop it now. Let’s go back, we are getting late.” Siwon said to him, grabbing his arm. Shindong looked at him before nodding.

Donghae looked on at their disappearing backs, blinking rapidly so as to not let the moisture leak from his eyes. Shindong’s last words were continuously ringing through his ears. Was he really that bad? Maybe he did betray his family in a sense.

“Donghae-ssi? Are you alright?” Ryeowook questioned him, trying to get a good look at his face but the older kept facing away. “Dong-!”

“First let’s get to a safe place. The looks the people are giving us don’t speak good news to me. If we stay here even single second more, I bet they are gonna beat us to a mush.” Their unnamed companion said, gesturing towards the glaring onlookers. He dragged them away with him and towards a secluded alley way.

“But who are you exactly?” Donghae asked their helper, sliding down against a wall.

“Yesung hyung…it’s you,right?” Ryeowook piped up, looking expectantly at the masked man.

The man chuckled before undoing the scarves around his face. “Never knew you will guess it right, Wookie-ah.”

TBC

Finallllyyyy! I was able to complete this!!!! Hope you liked this~!

The next chappie may take some time 'cus the festive season is going on and well...you got the gist right? XD

Anyways, kindly tell me your thoughts~ Will try to update ASAP!!