The next morning found Soonyoung and Chan curled up against each other in the middle of the bed. They’d been sleeping outside in tents or under bridges on their journey so they had become accustomed to sleeping close together for warmth. The basement was still fairly chilly, so they slept comfortably in this position.

                Soonyoung awoke every day at dawn, and this day was no different. But today it took him a second to remember where they were, he was used to faint sunlight and noise greeting him in the morning so the darkness and silence startled him.

Despite the darkness he could make out the outline of his son next to him, curled into a ball clutching at the blankets tightly. He untangled himself and tucked the blankets gently around Chan’s body and kissed his forehead before scooting out of the bed. He lit the candle on the bedside table and crossed to the wardrobe where he’d left their bags. He changed into his only other daytime outfit and quietly left the basement.

He walked up the stairs and came out into a large room that seemed to serve several purposes. The wall facing the street had large windows that showed the bustling traffic on the sidewalk below. Positioned in front of the windows was a small dining table with two chairs. Next to the door to the basement there was a study-like area, with a desk stacked with papers and a large, full bookshelf. Behind the desk were stairs leading to the next floor. There were shelves along the walls containing everything from mint tins to cooking utensils. Straight across from the basement door there was an open door, with faint humming coming from inside the room.

Soonyoung crossed the room to look inside the open door. It was a kitchen, where Jihoon seemed to be making tea, and he hadn’t yet noticed Soonyoung’s presence. He stepped into the room and tried to greet Jihoon without scaring him.

“Good morning,” he said quietly. Despite his efforts, Jihoon still jumped a bit at the sound.

“Good morning,” Jihoon replied, still looking a bit startled, “how did you sleep last night? Was the room nice enough?”

“I slept nicely, I’m sure Chan did too, he’s still asleep. The room was perfect, much better than sleeping on the streets,” he smiled brightly at Jihoon, “Again, I want to thank you so much for letting me stay here.”

Jihoon glared at him slightly, “Again, it’s alright, stop thanking me before I kick you out,” he joked threateningly. “Do you want tea, I’m making some right now,” he gestured to the pot on the stove, “or breakfast, I could cook you something, I have to make Seungcheol breakfast anyway,” he said the last part mainly to himself, and began to rummage through his cupboards, his conversation seemingly forgotten.

Soonyoung didn’t mind the silence, he was still a bit tired and uncomfortable in the new environment. He carefully sat on top of the counter and watched Jihoon flutter around the kitchen. He figured he should get back to Chan before he woke up so he wouldn’t be afraid and he was about to say as much before Jihoon handed him a cup of tea and beckoned him out of the room, breakfast plans abandoned. He crossed the main room to the table in front of the window. He gestured to the second chair as he sat down. Soonyoung could sense the impending serious conversation and steeled himself for whatever Jihoon threw at him.

“So what happened? I want the full story this time.” Jihoon was all business this morning.

Soonyoung didn’t quite know where to begin, so he took a moment to gather his thoughts before starting. Jihoon was not pleased with his hesitation so he started again.

“I’ll ask you specific questions instead, but I need answers,” he didn’t look angry or annoyed, which Soonyoung was thankful for. “Question one, the one I’ve been wondering the most, where’s Seokmin?”

Soonyoung was dreading talking about this subject the most. The fate of his beloved husband was not something he liked to discuss. Jihoon seemed to recognize the pain on his face because he cut him some slack this time, and didn’t rush him to respond.

“That’s a very good question,” he stared down at the table, tracing the grooves in the wood with his eyes, “one that I don’t have an answer to.” He pursed his lips tightly and felt tears beginning to well up in his eyes, but he wiped them away. “He went to fight because he had to, but he never came home, and he stopped writing to us.” He spoke slowly, and his voice broke often. “I eventually told Chan he was dead, so he didn’t live his life wondering if his father would be home.” Soonyoung himself had given up hope that his husband would return to him. He hadn’t been able to go to the city to inquire about Seokmin, nor had he been able to send a letter to find out if he was missing.

“I was expecting something like that,” Jihoon placed his hand on Soonyoung’s back gently, “I knew he’d never leave you two intentionally.” Jihoon wasn’t the best at being comforting, but Soonyoung appreciated his efforts anyway. “That’s something about war isn’t it, it tears families apart.” Jihoon stared out the window with an unreadable expression on his face.

The question prompted Soonyoung to remember something.

“Jihoon,” he started slowly, unsure of how to progress, “where’s your son, I don’t think he’s old enough to have moved out yet.”

It was Jihoon’s turn to stare down at the table, but he didn’t cry like Soonyoung had, he only sighed and remained quiet.

“He left to fight didn’t he?” Soonyoung didn’t want to push Jihoon too much, but knowing him he’d kept his feelings bottled up the whole time.  Jihoon nodded slowly but didn’t pick his head up.

“Do you know where he is?” Soonyoung kept his questions short and hopefully inoffensive. Jihoon finally looked up at this question.

“He’s in an urn in my bedroom,” he said flatly.

Soonyoung wasn’t expecting that response, the shock showed on his face. But that was another thing about war, you never really expect the bad things to happen to you.

“I’ve had my time to grieve, it’s better now.” He seemed to be talking to himself.

“When did you find out?” Soonyoung spoke very gently, he used the voice he usually reserved for Chan when he was upset. He figured it wouldn’t be the best idea to touch Jihoon- he wasn’t a physical person to begin with- so he had to express his concern with his words and tone.

“A few months ago,” Jihoon didn’t elaborate so Soonyoung continued questioning him.

“How did Seungcheol take it?” he asked softly, gauging Jihoon’s facial expressions to make sure he didn’t cross the line. Jihoon tensed and Soonyoung was about to back off the topic but he was interrupted.

“He didn’t really… react” Jihoon started softly, he sighed and looked out the window for a long moment before continuing. “We got the news, and he just went along with his business.” He was still looking out the window, but seemed entirely lost in thought. “All he does now is work, he’s never home and he doesn’t eat, but if I try to talk to him about it he pretends like there’s nothing going on.”

The silence stretched on for a long while, Soonyoung didn’t know what to say, he wasn’t even sure if there was anything to say. He could offer his condolences but those would seem like empty words to Jihoon.

It might seem strange that they had immediately delved into personal territory, but they had been the best of friends before they got married and life took them in separate directions. It felt natural for them to talk like this despite the years of separation. Soonyoung hadn’t realized how much he’d missed his friend until that moment. He only wished they could have reconnected under better circumstances. With these thoughts in mind, he decided to tell Jihoon everything.

Shifting slightly in his seat, Soonyoung sipped his tea and gathered his thoughts. He breathed in deeply before starting, looking out the window at the rising sun behind the clouds. He noted that the weather had certainly improved overnight.

“When the war started, Seokmin left to fight, you know the story, somebody from each family has to go,” Jihoon nodded as Soonyoung spoke, he seemed lost in his own thoughts, “Chan and I held down the fort at home and for a while we weren’t bothered, we’d figured that the war would end soon enough and that Seokmin would come home… but it didn’t end” Soonyoung finally broke his eyes away from the window, he looked around for a bit before focusing his eyes on the pendulum in the clock on the wall. “We were scared, the fighting was getting closer to the village and Seokmin stopped responding to our letters. When the news spread that we had lost I figured he’d come home, the war was technically over, but he didn’t. But then they told us that we had to give up everything or die, all of our money, our homes, it was that or pay tax to their government.” Jihoon didn’t need to ask who “they” were, “they” were the people they’d been fighting against, they were different from Soonyoung and Jihoon, they looked different. Soonyoung had sympathy for them though, he’d seen plenty of poor children on the streets who belonged to them, their big eyes and pale skin were a stark contrast to what Soonyoung was used to seeing.

Soonyoung remembered those days vividly, he’d frantically packed up the things he and Chan needed and left before they could register them and take over their lives. That was when he told Chan that his father was dead, he didn’t want him to put a struggle leaving the village. He knew they would be safe with Jihoon because he’d married rich, Seungcheol’s inheritance paid the new taxes well. As long as no one found out that he and Chan lived there they’d be safe, but if they did, all four of them would be put to death.

“Now was that so hard?” Jihoon seemed to be attempting to lighten the very heavy mood, but he was still maintaining a serious atmosphere.

“A bit, yes.” Soonyoung smiled graciously at him, he felt a little better now that he’d gotten that off of his chest. The conversation was ended by the sound of a door opening behind them. They turned around to see a head poking shyly out the basement door. When Chan caught his mother’s eye he came out into the room. He had changed and looked awake, as if he’d been up for a while. He wandered across the room slowly, taking in his surroundings. When he reached the table he stood next to his mother awkwardly, but the view from the window quickly caught his attention.

“Good morning baby, did you sleep well?” Soonyoung asked.

Chan turned his attention from the window to his mother.

“Yes I did,” he turned to Jihoon, “Thank you very much, I’m very grateful that you’ve allowed us to stay here.” He bowed and looked at his mother for guidance after he rose.

“It’s alright,” he shook his head in mock exasperation, “between the two of you I’m going to drown in a pool of thanks.”

Soonyoung offered the remainder of his tea to Chan who drank it quickly and crossed to the window. He pressed his face against the glass and peered out at the street. Chan had never been to the city before and was completely fascinated with what was going on, he’d never seen more than six people on a sidewalk at once, everything was foreign to him.

Soonyoung and Jihoon laughed quietly as they watched Chan excitedly looking at the street. Things were peaceful that morning, but peace can only last for so long. It was less than a week from the time Soonyoung and Chan had arrived when a new problem came quite literally knocking at the door, in the form of a man with two teenagers about Chan’s age.

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I'm not really happy with this chapter but it sets up the next part of the story. I promise the next chapter has more characters in it (I bet you can guess which ones) and it will be posted in a week. Thanks for reading!