Dance into the Fire

~*~

Recovering from shocks is not an easy thing to do

Especially when they were not the pleasant kinds

However soft words spoken by well-meaning friends

Will bring you back to the light

So, follow wherever you will go

~*~

Chapter Eighteen

Staring at lonely figure who sat curled up in the corner of the balcony despite the chilly breeze which was floating through the room, Jongup could only sigh a little as he made his way towards the figure. For the last few days since the incident Himchan had been withdrawn and frightened of any sort of contact. He seemed unable to process much more than the basics and wandered around almost in a sort of haze that was quite frankly horrible to see. Jongup wanted to see his hyung back to his curious self, to showing that beautiful harmony that always seemed to settle around him. Plus, Jongup was beginning to run out of excuses to give to the Dragon so he had to presume that today she would come storming in to deal with the scared young carrier.

However, he did have a plan to try to cheer Himchan up, though it had taken some considerable pleading with the Dragon to get it all arranged. She was a surprisingly understanding woman but there were certain traditions that really needed to be upheld and really Himchan was supposed to attend at least two more large scale events before he was allowed to be called for individual callings but after what had occurred at the picnic it was clear that Himchan would not stand well in those. Plus, there was already several young gentlemen who wished to spend time alone with Himchan and the Dragon was not really able to refuse them though it would have been highly tempting.

Carefully kneeling down next to the other, Jongup took in the tired expression, accompanied by the worried eyes and the almost drawn out skin as Himchan had barely been able to stomach anything the last few days. The beautiful kimono had been returned to Key Umma with a detailed note explaining what had happened and it would at least be used for someone else so that was a relief. “Himchan,” Jongup stated gently, reaching forward to brush his fingers down the side of the others face, “Come, I need to give you a bath.”

Letting out a sigh, Himchan turned his head towards Jongup and nodded feebly allowing himself to take the offered hand and be led into the bathroom. He felt as though he was really just going through the motions and did not registered the blissful warmth or the chocolatey scent which Jongup used. He barely registered getting out of the bath a while later to be wrapped in a warm robe and have his long hair brushed lovingly into a long braid like he had done for his first Bridal Ball. He did notice that he was dressed in a fine but more plain looking hanbok, in a soft mixture of reds and browns that reminded him of autumn and it was only when Jongup was pulling on a red heavy cotton overcoat with black fur edging around his shoulders that the bride registered that something was up.

“Jongup?” he enquired silently, trying his best to recall if there were any grand events coming but finding that he could not recall a single one in the slightest and already fear was overtaking his mind.

The boy however smiled at him lovingly as he finished applying a broach of metallic flowers to Himchan’s front so that the overcoat would stay loose but closed, “You’ve been called upon, Himchan.”

“Called upon?” Himchan frowned before he felt his brain kick into gear, “Wait...what? I’m going on...on a...”

“A date,” Jongup nodded exuberantly. “I know it’s a little early but given what happened the gentleman in question was rather persistent as he wants to ensure that you are safe and happy.”

Himchan shook his head almost immediately, “No, Jongup...no, please.”

“Himchan,” Jongup spoke, placing his hands on the side of the nearly hyperventilating man’s face, “Please trust me. This man will not harm you as he respects you too much for that and you have met him prior to what that vile creature did.”

About to argue that he really could not manage something like this so soon, Himchan squeaked when a polite knock came to his door from a distinctively heavy hand and his worries extended further as his fears overtook his mind making Himchan almost curl up into a ball where he stood. But before he could even manage that there came the sounds of rushing feels and large, warm hands swiftly engulfed his to pull them down from where they had tried to latch onto his hair.

“Himchan,” a deep, guttural voice spoke, “You’re safe. I’m here. I’m not going to let anyone hurt you.”

It took a couple of moments for the voice to register in Himchan’s mind and finally his frantic movements stopped as he looked up. A closed lip smile was directed his way with deep dark eyes that bore straight into his soul in a calming, reassuring way that held a conviction behind them that were unwavering in many different forms. The fine uniform of royal colours had been replaced with a simpler red outfit that matched perfectly with Himchan’s own though with a few extra little pieces of decoration that had possibly come from the family heirlooms that suited the man perfectly to the ground.

The sweeping black hair had been pulled back into a simple know and tied off with a piece of silver and Himchan found that his breath caught in his throat for a completely different reason as he gazed upon the other. “Yongguk?” he managed to whisper out before feeling foolish tears spring to his eyes because he could already feel the warming strength and longed for protection that lingered around the General seeping from every pore.

Himchan did not know if he was pulled into the hug or if he launched himself into it but he found himself in the arms of the larger man who merely allowed him to weep onto his clothes as if such a thing did not matter. Yongguk sighed and gently ran his hand over the crying man’s head, softly shushing the other and slightly rocking them back and forth like his own mother had done when any of her children were upset. “I’ve got you Himchan, I’m sorry I left you, if I had been there he wouldn’t have dared to even think of talking to you,” Yongguk spoke softly, pressing his lips to the others head with a sigh, “If I had known sooner I would have come straight here to you.”

Himchan shook his head and carefully raised his eyes, “You...you didn’t need...”

“Yes I did,” Yongguk said, his fingers trailing down the side of the man’s cheek before accepting a handkerchief from Jongup to gently dab at the others cheeks to remove the water trails. “I should have made sure to be by your side every second of the day because you shouldn’t be crying over any horrible monsters Himchan.”

Once again Himchan shook his head, “But it’s...not...I mean...”

“Never mind, all that,” Yongguk said, not wanting to get into a repeating conversation with the other as it would only lead to more tears and he had promised the Dragon that he would make Himchan be happy once again. “Today we’re not going to think about it in the slightest,” Yongguk continued on, “I’m taking you out and I’ll make sure that you have a splendid time.”

A polite cough came from the doorway where Daehyun was, dressed in his Captain’s uniform and looking very regal indeed.

Yongguk rolled his eyes towards his younger cousin and sighed, “Yes I know you’re accompanying as an Daehyun but it still doesn’t count.”

Daehyun laughed and bowed towards Himchan, “I am only following orders, cousin, I cannot help it if the Dragon insisted on such a matter.”

Grumbling under his breath, Yongguk turned his head away only to find his eyes landing right on Jongup who was standing looking pretty with an expression which was clearly trying to hide the fact that he kept on glancing at Daehyun and wanted nothing more than the other to glance back at him. Which granted the Captain was doing, just not at the right moments for them both to catch one another in the act. Yongguk was suddenly struck by an idea and he grinned happily, “Jongup, why don’t you accompany us as well? With you being Himchan’s handmaid I’m sure the Dragon will be happy to know that there’s two pairs of eyes watching over me to stop any inappropriate behaviour.”

Jongup looked pale and opened his mouth to protest but Himchan beat him too it by offering his hand towards the maid, “I would like that, actually. Please don’t take this the wrong way Yongguk but...Jongup does know me best.”

The General nodded his head, “Then it’s agreed. Come on, if we don’t hurry we shall be late and that will cause a rude talk indeed.”

The quartet waited only as long as was needed for Jongup to fetch his own overcoat and then they were walking through the streets of the Capitol. Himchan had glanced up at the General, wondering why he was not calling for a carriage but the man just smiled lightly at him and smiled gummily, “Where I’m taking you requires no carriages.”

Frowning Himchan fell into an easy step by the General’s side and instead of asking hundreds of pointless questions which would annoy the kind-hearted man who was trying his best to look after him, he instead allowed his eyes to roam. Despite having been in the Capitol for over a month he had barely had a chance to see it and he was amazed by the number of shops, important looking buildings that had a stream of people coming and going from them, and the vast array of statues and decorations that seemed to pop up everywhere. But in comparison to the City of Brides it was clear that there was life here beyond the ceremonies and tea services and everything else that had populated his world as of late.

There were mothers rushing after children, men talking to each other about harvests or money matters, merchants selling their wares, people searching for that one special thing and just a general hubbub that added a layer of background noise to everything that made it oddly comfortable. Himchan found himself recalling the market days back in his home, how everything seemed to gain this wonderful background hum as people moved about to get the things that they needed and imagine what it would be like to buy that one thing they had always wanted.

He could almost catch the sweet smell of the outdoor cafe’s that would be set up, the little vendors who would sell sweet sugar coated treats that always smelt so good but Himchan had never been able to sample before. Though suddenly he blinked as he realised that he could actually smell those sweet treats and he let out a slight gasp as they went around a corner to find a market that was thriving.

There must have been hundreds of stalls, selling everything from silks to food, to toys and jewellery and the smell of food wafted from every last area of it. Himchan blinked and turned to look at Yongguk with an expression that was a mixture of joy and confusion and the other laughed, “This is the famous Capital Grand Market. I thought it would be something that would be more appealing that some little private cafe.”

Himchan faintly smiled and turned his eyes back towards the many stalls, “I’ve never seen a market so big. It must be a hundred miles long.”

Yongguk laughed at the boy’s naivety, “Not that long. Maybe a mile or two each side but there’s plenty to see and it’s always changing. Come on Himchan, let’s explore, together shall we?” The General offered his hand towards the carrier, the first contact he had actively offered since the hug and timidly Himchan accepted the hand before following along with almost a childish quality to his step.

Though within seconds he had come to a stop as he spotted a vendor who was selling Hotteok that smelt completely wonderful. Yongguk turned with a question clearly written on his brow but smiled when he saw what Himchan was looking at and laughed, “Would you like some, Himchan?”

The loud growl of his stomach was as clear enough an answer to that question and Himchan blushed a little as Yongguk laughed before going over to the stall to buy enough for all of them. Daehyun protested a little bit as he had his own money with him but Yongguk gave him a look which silenced his protests and instead he quietly shared half of the Hotteok with Jongup because the hand maid had not been eating out of worry for Himchan.

The treat was delicious and Himchan almost felt a little bad for making Yongguk spend his money that way but as he was eating he caught the General just looking at him with the most serene expression ever and he couldn’t feel anything but joy though he couldn’t explain as to why. Once the treats were finished, Himchan having to save Yongguk’s hanbok from a stain as he had dribbled down the front because he had been staring at the other for far too long, the quartet began to wander through the market and it really was something spectacular to Himchan’s eyes. He had thought that every other stall would be selling practically the same thing but each one was completely unique and he did not know where to turn to next.

There were silks, flowers, hand craved wooden toys, finely tailors hanboks which shone in the midday sun, bottles filled with all manners of different liquids, trinkets the likes of which he had never seen – including a joke box which held a fake bug which had frightened the life out of Jongup who had spent the next ten minutes plastered to Daehyun’s side because he was so scared – and food that was as rich in diversity as it was colour and texture. Yongguk seemed to be obsessed with the idea of getting Himchan to try at least a piece of every last food stall that they passed an in many ways he could simply not refuse the other.

Even when he tried, Yongguk would pull an expression that was something akin to a kicked puppy and Himchan would give in without even the smallest of fights.

Walking behind the happy couple, Daehyun smiled as he gently held onto Jongup’s hand, “If I didn’t know it, I would say your big brother was completely smitten with Himchan.”

“I think the feelings mutual though neither will give a label to it,” Jongup replied back with a smile, “I’m glad that Yongguk has taken such an active interest in Himchan though. By the Gods above he needed it.”

Daehyun nodded as he sidestepped a couple of happily running children, “I can see that. Though I hope they don’t eat much more or we’ll never make it back in one piece.”

As the words left his mouth, Daehyun sighed as Himchan lead Yongguk towards yet another food stall that was selling what appeared to be strange little unopened flower petals that turned out to be an edible pouch with a chocolate filled centre that were simply heavenly. Though Himchan was a little on the tricky side and did not initially tell the city dwellers how to open the treat, which was just to simply undo the wrapping hidden in the bottom of the bud by the flowers and he giggled like a naughty little school child at the sight of three grown men attempting to work out how the treat worked. It transpired that Key had been a fan of them and would always bug his partner to bring them whenever he was pregnant.

Yongguk could understand why, they were sinfully delicious indeed.

Shortly after they were starting to come back to the entrance to the market, having looped fully around and Yongguk cast his eyes towards a tired but happy looking Himchan. The man’s cheeks were flushed from the amount of unplanned exercise and there was a general air of exhaustion around him that would hopefully lead to a very long, peaceful night’s sleep once he got back to the quarters. But the main thing that Yongguk saw as he looked at the tired boy, was that there was a beautiful smile on his face that spoke of joy and the darkness that had lingered from what that vile man had said was lifting. It wasn’t fully gone, Yongguk wasn’t naive enough to believe that it would just disappear after one date but it was starting to go and that was more than enough.

Taking hold of Himchan’s hand, Yongguk felt a little nervous as he leaned in close, “If I can arrange it, can I call on you again tomorrow evening? After I finish all of my boring paper work?”

Raising his head in surprise, as it appeared that the boy was close to nodding off, Himchan blinked towards Yongguk, “You want to see me again?”

“Yes, very much,” Yongguk replied, a familiar gummy smile coming across his features, “Only if you want me to visit you though.”

For a second Himchan pretended to think about it before smiling brightly and nodding, “I think I would like that very much.”

A huge beaming smile crossed Yongguk’s face and without thinking in the slightest, he leaned forward to press his lips to Himchan’s. Immediately he pulled back with an apology ready to go because he just wanted to express how happy he was but found that Himchan was quick to follow back with his own quick, sweet kiss that lasted all of a second before pulling back with a bright red blushing face that he hid quickly as embarrassment washed over him. Yongguk merely chuckled and pulled the young man back into a hug, almost mirroring how they started the day but this time it was for the joyous reason that they shared something which neither one was quite prepared to label as of yet but it made them both feel like they were walking on air.