Sehun breathes out as his grip on the rifle tightens. He can hear his heart pounding in his ears as he watches the animal look around for the noise source. He wants to curse at Jongin for moving in his hiding spot. But he doesn't have the time nor the patience.

He slowly closed his right eye as he lets out a shuddering breath. His finger squeezes the trigger and he is almost thrown back from the recoil of the shot.

He coughs as he waves away the smoke around his face and let's the rifle fall from his hand. A happy cheer that sounds like Jongin confirms his shot and he can only smile.

Sehun lets himself drop onto his bottom and stretches out his legs. He lets out a groan of happiness as his legs finally get to stretch out after kneeling for so long.

“Nice shot! Got them right in the head! Whoa didn't even touch the eye. Nice! Ms. Lee was saying she'll pay extra we got her an eye! Man how do you do that….”

Sehun only hums in response even though Jongin probably can't hear him from this distance. He glances at the rifle next to him and he picks it up. He takes a few shells from the bag hanging from his hip and begins the reloading process.

“Tying it up! Could ya check the traps for any rabbits?!”

Sehun waves the rifle in the air after he’s done for confirmation and stands. He slings the rifle over his shoulder with its leather strap then he begins his trek in the forest.

He checks three different traps they’ve laid out the week before and all he got was nothing. Sehun is heading to the last trap near the river with a heavy heart when he hears laughter.

He vaguely remembers that the river is near the pathway that leads to the village entrance. Though he doesn't remember ever getting a notice about any merchants or anything like that. He's assuming it might be some random travelers and hoping they won't approach him to talk.

Sehun kneels down in the brush as he approaches the trap. He wants to throw something when he sees that the trap hasn't been touched, the untouched branch and string mocking him. He abruptly stands and he hears someone shriek.

He quickly turns to see two men standing in the river, pants and sleeves rolled up as they stood there staring at him. Sehun's hand comes up to rest on his rifle as the three stare at each other.

Sehun makes a move backwards, stopping when he feels a knife against his neck. He quickly shows his hands in a surrender.

“What are you doing here?” the man holding the knife to his neck hissed at him. Sehun doesn't respond and he feels the pressure of the knife against his neck increase.

“Hunting,” he whispers, trying not to move too much to prevent the knife from shredding his neck.  

“Jongdae please,” the other man walks up to them and makes the man, Jongdae, lower the knife. Sehun slowly lowers his hands, but not his guard as he observes the two. Jongdae had curly hair that seemed to poof out from his head while the other had copper colored hair that dripped with water. He brushed the hair back, revealing droopy eyes that sparkled with happiness. His appearance reminds Sehun of a small puppy.

He s his hand forward with a smile, causing Sehun to stare dumbly at his hand. Before realizing he should probably shake his hand, so he does.

“I’m Baekhyun,” he says, making Jongdae look at him in shock for some reason. Sehun merely glances at him in confusion as he nods. “And you are?”

“Sehun,” he mumbles. He lets go of Baekhyun’s hand to readjust the rifle on his shoulder. Jongdae makes a move towards him, but Baekhyun stops him with a hand. Sehun wants to ask what kind of relationship the two had as it didn’t seem to just be friendship. But he doesn’t. “Are you two travelers?”

Baekhyun nods and Jongdae scoffs. “Yes. We were just resting for a little before continued into the village there. You said you were hunting?” Sehun nods. “Ah, that explains the gunshot we heard earlier. Scared us a bit there. Did you get what you wanted?”

“Yeah,” Sehun confirms.

The three stood in a suffocating silence, Sehun not missing the glare he got from Jongdae. Sehun opens his mouth to say something when the silence became too much to bear when he hears a familiar voice shout his name from the depths of the forest.

“SEHUN! WHERE ARE YOU?! I'M NOT CARRYING THIS BACK. WE'VE DISCUSSED THIS. SE-”

A cloud of gunpowder floated through the air as Sehun reloads his gun. Baekhyun and Jongdae were now huddling together from the surprise of Sehun shooting into a tree, their ears ringing as they watch Sehun.

Sehun adjusts the strap to fix the rifle on his back. He turns to the two with an apologetic look on his face. “I apologize for that. I didn't mean to scare you or anything.”

“I-It's fine,” Baekhyun stuttered out. Jongdae made a move toward him, knife secured in a tight grip, but Baekhyun pulls him back with a tug on his elbow.

Sehun nods and bows his head. “Have a nice day.” He turns on his heel to walk away.
 

Jongdae ripped his elbow out of Baekhyun’s grip and was ready to start scolding him when Sehun turns around.

“What?” Jongdae snaps at him. “What do you want now?”

“Um,” Sehun points in the direction of the village. “If you need a place to stay. I’d recommend Park’s Tavern. Their lodgings are quite comfortable and cheap. Don’t go to the Li’s. Their tavern is a bit...odd. Not recommended for humans.”

“Thank you for the warning,” Baekhyun says as he holds back Jongdae. “Have a nice day.”

Sehun bows his head in response and finally turns away to leave for good, following the voice of Jongin who seems to be looking around for a dead animal since he heard a gunshot.

Baekhyun scratches the back of his neck as he watches Sehun disappear into the brush. A smile begins to creep up on him as he thinks about the tall boy. “He was quite handsome. Don’t you think?”

Jongdae scoffs and turns around to go to where their horses where drinking water. “Is that why you gave him your name? My prince, you shouldn’t be throwing your name around like that. We put that charm on you to keep your identity hidden.”

“All it did was change my hair color,” Baekhyun retorts. “He seems harmless. Like he wouldn’t hurt an fly.”

“He said he was hunting. He shot his gun at the godforsaken tree when he got angry! Harmless? Please, that kid is probably going to get a bounty for his head one day,” Jongdae responds and sits down on the dirt to stick his feet back into his boots.

Baekhyun stands next to him, but makes no move to put his boots on. “Sehun,” Baekhyun hums in thought. He looks at his reflection in the clear water and smiles. “Do you think that’s his real name?”

“Probably. Kid doesn’t seem like he has a smart bone in his body,” Jongdae grunts as he stands up. He pets his horse’s neck and makes a kissy face at him. “Prince Baekhyun is a dummy too. He didn’t think about giving the stupid kid a fake name either.”

Baekhyun smacks his head and plops himself onto the ground. He grabs his boots and begins the process of putting them on. “Fine be that way. I’m stupid. He’s stupid. We’re a perfect match. Well that works out perfectly!” He looks up at Jongdae with a blinding smile, which Jongdae makes a disgusted face at.

“I know we went on this journey to find your future spouse, but really? A kid that went hunting in the forest? You want to marry someone like that? I’m sure you could do better. Like Lady Taeyeon in the neighboring province?” Jongdae nudges his side with his foot. “Eh? Eh? Come on. You liked her for some time when you were younger.”

“Liked. Emphasis on the past tense Jongdae,” Baekhyun smiles at the neat bows he tied on his boots. He looks up at Jongdae, squinting as the afternoon sun shone above them. “I was only joking you know. He seems like a good kid. But you know my parents would never accept some commoner.”

Jongdae raises an eyebrow at Baekhyun, but doesn’t say anything. He watches as Baekhyun stands to move to his horse. He feels the itch to say something, but his thoughts are interrupted when he hears Baekhyun’s horse trotting away.

“Hey!” Jongdae threw himself up onto his horse and pulled the reins to rush after Baekhyun. “Do not do that!” he scolds Baekhyun when he catches up to him.

“Oh please. Do you really think I would leave you behind?” Baekhyun moves his horse closer to Jongdae, making Jongdae flinch at the closeness of their horses. “You’re funny Dae.”

They slow their horses down to a relaxed walk. Baekhyun opens one of the satchels hanging from the saddle and pulls out a creme colored cloak. He wraps it around himself and pulls the hood on as they enter the village.

Jongdae, on the other hand, puts on a similar cloak but not the hood. Baekhyun takes in the view of the village life, mouth wide open at the sight of the cobblestone laid out beneath them, the contrasting colors of the wood on the cottages and house, and the hanging lights that connect from one abode to another.

“It’s beautiful,” Baekhyun breathes out. He excitedly turns to Jongdae who gives him a smile. “Can we stay here a bit longer than planned? Please?”

Jongdae mentally counts the days they can spend, but nose scrunching up at the amount of things they have to do. “I don’t think…” he trails off when he sees Baekhyun’s excitement die down and he hangs his head as they make their way through the village. Jongdae grimaces when he makes the decision in his head. “One or two more days. That’s all that I think I can allow.”

“Really?!” Baekhyun’s head shoots up and his hood almost falls off, but he catches it with the hand that wasn’t holding the reins. “Thank you! Oh my gosh thank you Jongdae!”

Jongdae smiles at the happy boy, but internally, he groans as he knows his is going to be kicked when they get back later than planned. He glances up at the burning sun and sighs. “Yixing is going to kick my …”

“Did you say something Dae?” the voice came from below and he sees Baekhyun leading his horse instead of riding. Baekhyun looks at him with wide, innocent eyes and Jongdae really can’t say no to him. More than ten years with him and he thought he would have gotten used to Baekhyun’s innocent charms. He never did. He’s been weak to them and he always will be.

“Nothing. I said nothing,” Jongdae assures him as he slips off of his horse to walk alongside Baekhyun. “Why don’t we find that tavern and then we can-”

He was cut off when a crowd of girls began to shriek and point to where they had entered.

“Oh my goodness,” a lady near them says as her face morphs into disgust. “Is Sehun really going to take credit for Jongin’s work?”

Jongdae’s eyebrows rise at the mention of that boy’s name and he turns around. Baekhyun already a step of him.

From where they entered they see Sehun lugging an animal on his back as he walks next to a tanned skinned boy who was now holding the rifle Sehun had earlier and a burlap sack. The tanned boy seems to have happiness and pride ooze from every pore of his being as he watched Sehun carry the animal into the village.

“I knew Sehun wasn’t a good child, but to take credit for his brother’s work?” a woman clicks her tongue and walks away.

“Ah Jongin shouldn’t be doing this for Sehun. He deserves better,” a teenage girl scoffs at the sight of Sehun and, apparently, Jongin. “Jongin should be courting someone by now, right?” she asks the girl next to her.

The girl nods. “I think he wants to court the Kim’s son. Kyungsoo was it?”

“Ugh that bug eyed boy? You have got to be kidding me,” the two girls walk into a store as they continue their conversation.

Jongdae looks around to see that everyone, or mostly everyone, had stopped to whisper about the two boys that walked passed everyone and into a store where a tall man greets them as they walk inside. The whispering only stopping after a few minutes of their disappearance into the store.
 

“What do you think that was all about?” Baekhyun asks Jongdae as the two settle into their room. “All that whispering about credit taking?” Baekhyun lays back onto the bed, sighing as he practically sinks into the fluffy blankets.

“Beats me,” Jongdae says as he throws their bags on top of the dresser. He sits next to Baekhyun’s prone body and begins the process of untying his boots. “Whatever it is, it’s a village matter. Not ours to deal with.”

“Doesn’t it make you curious though?” Baekhyun rolls onto his stomach and holds his upper body up with his elbows. “Sehun seems pretty harmless and all the village people are talking behind his back.” He stops to think for a second. “I take that back. They were practically saying it to his face.”

“Nothing we can do about that,” Jongdae wiggles his toes as he tosses his boots onto the floor. “We’ll go exploring tomorrow. Too tired from traveling to do anything now,” he groans as he lays back onto the bed.

Baekhyun picks at the blanket and kicks his legs back and forth as if he were swimming. “Dae?” Jongdae hums with his eyes closed. He turns his head towards Baekhyun, eyes still very much closed. “I’m really curious about him. Like reeaaally curious.”

Jongdae nods and yawns. “Okay.”

“I mean it Dae. I’m curious about him,” Baekhyun nudges Jongdae with his shoulder and stares expectantly at the half asleep man.

Baekhyun waits and waits and a snore confirms the state of his body guard. He sighs and glares at the sleeping man.

“The things I have to do myself,” Baekhyun grumbles and slowly slides off the bed in order not to wake Jongdae. He grabs his cloak that laid on the ground and wraps it around him, tying the strings into a small bow. He digs through his bag on the dresser and finds a small corked bottle with a orange colored liquid swirling inside.

He scratches his chin as he evaluates the amount in the bottle and he looks in the mirror. Baekhyun fluffs up some of his bangs and frowns. “I hope this is enough for the rest of the trip…” He places the bottle on the dresser to dig through his bag. He brings out a dropper with an ‘Aha!’ and takes the cork out of the bottle. He takes a small amount of liquid from the bottle with the dropper and lets two drops fall out onto his head.

Baekhyun squirts the rest of the liquid back into the bottle and puts the cork back in. He takes a look in the mirror and smiles as he watches the darker parts of his hair turn to a light copper color. He nods and stuffs everything back into his bag. Baekhyun then turns his attention to Jongdae’s bag and digs through it before taking out a small leather bag with a grin.

He turns to go, but freezes when he feels a hand on his shoulder. “Where do you think you’re going?” a deep voice causes goosebumps to run up Baekhyun’s arms.

Baekhyun lets out a nervous chuckle and slowly turns around. “Out?”

Jongdae glances at the leather bag in his hand and stares deeply into Baekhyun’s eyes. “Out? Without me? With my money?”

A slow nod is all Baekhyun can give him before Jongdae snatches the bag from him and shoves him back onto the bed. Baekhyun’s about to protest when Jongdae moves to grab his boots. His eyes light up and he moves into a kneeling position on the bed.

“You better not make me regret this Byun Baekhyun,” Jongdae sighs.

A/N: I didn’t expect myself to write this chapter so quickly. Ahahah but that’s good for you guys I would assume. I hope you liked this chapter! And now there’s Baekhyun and Jongdae introduced so yay! Cool. Till the next chapter peace out.