Sungmin wakes up in a room filled with warmth and sunshine. As he adjusts his eyes to the light, suddenly, a face appears before his eyes. He immediately jumps up from his mattress and accidentally bumps his head against the other person.

"Ow! Why did you just jump up all of a sudden!"

"Donghae?"

Sungmin looks around the room. It is his room at the dormitory at Seowangmyeong. He turns to look at Donghae. He is dressed in Seowangmyeong's uniform. Are they still students at the academy? Has everything that happened only been a dream?

"Ya, why are you still sleeping at this time!?"

Donghae turns to nag at him.

"What time is it?"

Sungmin asks while rubbing the part of his head that has just bumped into Donghae's head.

"It's almost time for class!"

Sungmin jumps up again from his mattress.

"What!"

"Yeah! Hurry up!"

Sungmin quickly gets dressed and they both hurry to their class. Their first class for the day is Kim Heechul's wrestling class. If they are late to his class, the teacher will tear them apart. Luckily, Heechul does not seem to notice when they sneak into the class.

On the other side of the class, Sungmin sees Kyuhyun and Hyukjae standing, attentively listening to the lesson. Suddenly, Kyuhyun turns to his side and sees him. As he is about to wave to Kyuhyun and give him a smile, Kyuhyun immediately turns away from him as if he did not see him there.

At the end of the class, Sungmin is about to come to talk to him when Kyuhyun turns to leave the classroom on his own without even looking at him. Behind him, Sungmin is puzzled.

"Ya," Hyukjae slowly walks over to where he is standing, "you are in trouble."

"What?"

"Kyuhyun is mad at you."

"Why?"

"He saw you with Young Lady Jang down at the market the other day. You two were very lovey-dovey like two lovers enjoying a nice date at the market."

"Ya, we're not lovers! I only saw her at the market and she asked if we could go together!"

"She really likes you, huh?" Donghae chimes in.

"No, we're just friendly to each other because our families know each other."

"Then why doesn't she hang out with Kim Hongdae or Park Jungho or Jung Soin? Their families are also close." Donghae smirks at him.

"And I heard the young lady is quite interested in you, she wants his father to ask your father to marry you! Ya, Minnie ah, as soon as you graduate and pass the gwageo, you'll be a married man!"

Hyukjae seems to enjoy pouring fuel into the fire.

"Ya, stop kidding around!"

"I'm not kidding, Minnie ah. I really heard that!"

Sungmin thinks about this for a second. If Hyukjae heard about this, does this mean Kyuhyun also heard about it?

"Ya, you know, yesterday, Kyuhyun drank like ten bottles of soju! I didn't think he'd be able to get up today!"

Sungmin feels bad for a second, but then his mind is suddenly shifted to something else.

"Ya, if he hadn't been spending so much time with those poetry books and calligraphy lessons, I wouldn't have had to hang out alone at the market and meet Young Lady Jang!"

Donghae chuckles at Sungmin's childishness.

"Are you telling me you're jealous of Kyuhyun's poetry books and calligraphy lessons?"

"No, of course not!"

That would be ridiculous, Sungmin thinks to himself.

"Ya, what's wrong with you two!? One jealous of a little young lady, and one jealous of some poetry books and calligraphy lessons!? Just talk to each other!"

Sungmin is about to protest when he feels a hard object smashed at the back of his head. Next to him, Donghae is also smashed in the head. As they turn around, Kim Heechul stands behind them holding a book and looking at them judgementally.

"Hey, you two fools! Did you really think I did not see you sneaking into my class?"

"We're sorry, seonsaengnim!"

"We won't do it again, seonsaengnim!"

Donghae and Sungmin reply at the same time.

"You two'd better not! Now go copy school rules fifty times."

"But, seonsaengnim!"

"No buts! Now go!"

Heechul looks at them with a seriousness that they cannot protest. They immediately follow the teacher's orders.

That afternoon, as they have finished their classes, Donghae receives a letter from home. In the letter, his mother rushes him to pass the gwageo and get a position in the government so he can use his connections to help the family business. At the end of the letter, his mother also informs him of the death of his childhood friend, a servant's son who has lived with them since he was born.

"Sam Il is dead?"

Donghae's hands keep shaking violently after reading the news. The letter is quickly crumpled up in his hands.

Sam Il was only around his age. As he lived in the household with Donghae's family, they often hung out together. When Donghae was younger, he was a sensitive child who often cried at every little thing. Sam Il was the only one who was patient enough to comfort him whenever Donghae cried. They then became best friends, much to Donghae's parents' disapproval. The day he left for Hanyang to start his studies was the day that Donghae cried the most in his life.

As the letter informed him, Sam Il had died of starvation and exhaustion. His mother made a point of saying that the boy was lazy, so he did not deserve to have the precious food that his family had.

"How can this be!? How can this be!?"

Donghae repeats the question in his head thousands of times. His family was one of the most wealthy families in the region. Surely, they had enough food for all the masters and servants. He could not believe the treatment that his family gave his childhood friend. The people whom he had lived with for the first part of his life suddenly feel like strangers to him.

A few days later, Donghae is summoned by Lee Youngwoon to a meeting room on campus. In the room, Lee Youngwoon patiently sips tea from a cup.

"Hello Donghae, how have you been?"

Lee Youngwoon greets him with a warm smile.

"I'm well, thank you, seonsaengnim. How have you been?"

"I'm also good. The reason I have asked you here today, Donghae ah, is to ask you to be part of something important. But first, I have to ask you, what do you want to do after the gwageo?"

After the gwageo?

All these years, nobody ever asked him this question. He came frrom a rich merchant family in the south. They had always assumed that he would pass the gwageo and get a position in the government, or a position back home so they can build their power networks and status.

"Seonsaengnim," he answers with uncertainty, "my father has always wanted me to get a position in the government or back home so I can bring reputation and status to the family."

"Is that what you want, Donghae?"

"I honestly don't know, seonsaengnim."

Lee Youngwoon smiles at him calmly.

"Then you have a lot of thinking to do. I know we all have been raised to bring honour to our families, but your family is one of the most wealthy in your hometown. You have the freedom to think about your purpose in life."

"My purpose in life?"

"Yes, what you want to do with your life. It will be the purpose that drives every decision you make and turns you onto the right path whenever you are at a crossroads. It is the most important thing in a man's life."

"..."

"To help you decide what your purpose is, I want you to come with me to a place. Tomorrow, when you don't have classes, Kyuhyun and Hyukjae will take you there."

The next day, Donghae is accompanied by Kyuhyun and Hyukjae to a place he has never seen before. It takes them half a day on their horses to get there. As they arrive, a whole new world opens before Donghae's eyes.

On the sides of the road, houses built from dry branches and straws surround them. Children and women sit on the roads, eating, playing, chatting, and everything of the kind.

"This is the real slums of Joseon, Donghae ah."

Kyuhyun says to him as they go deeper into the village. From afar, he can see Lee Youngwoon and Sungmin sitting on the side of the street, teaching a few kids to read. As they see them approaching, Sungmin waves to them warmly.

"Let us take a walk, Donghae ah."

Lee Youngwoon says as he signals for Donghae to follow him.

"I have been bringing Sungmin here since he was five years old."

Lee Youngwoon starts talking as they walk around the village.

"I wanted to show him the real face of Joseon, and the people we nobles are meant to protect and serve.

That's why he grew up the person that he is.

So, ask yourself, Donghae ah, who are the people that you want to protect? Sungmin, Kyuhyun, and Hyukjae all have their own purposes. Sungmin wants to change this world for the better and fight for the weak. Kyuhyun wants to avenge his parents' deaths. Hyukjae comes from a butcher family who has been despised and bullied their whole life. 

If you want the same thing as we do, which is to fight for these people, then come work with us."

~~~~~

"Minnie, catch!"

Hyukjae throws him a pile of books he had brought to teach the kids. 

Sungmin subconsciously extends his right hand and winces in pain. He then tries to catch the books with his left hand but fails. The books slip to the ground. As he kneels down to pick up the books, he feels another tall figure standing behind him. 

Kyuhyun looks at his right hand, but Sungmin immediately hides it inside his sleeve.

"What's wrong with your right hand, Sungmin?"

"Nothing's wrong?"

Sungmin gives him the brightest smile.

"Then why did you just try to catch with your left hand?"

"Why can't I?"

"You're not left-handed." Kyuhyun raises an eyebrow, "Let me see your right hand."

Sungmin is about to take a step back from him when Kyuhyun grabs his wrist. Sungmin's hand is all bloody.

"I'm fine. I just hurt it a little when I helped the lady chop her wood."

Kyuhyun frowns at him and drags him to a patio where he tears off a part of his robe and starts bandaging his hand gently. Sungmin suddenly feels warmth and relief at the other's action and he cannot help his smile.

"Does this mean that you're not mad at me?"

Kyuhyun stays silent for a long while. After all, who is he to get mad at the other? What right does he have?

None, is what he suspects.

"Of course not."

Kyuhyun looks into his eyes.

"Good! Then I'm not mad at you either!"

"What are you mad at me for?" Kyuhyun raises an eyebrow.

"For abandoning me to hang out alone these past few weeks!"

"It is our final year, I have to focus on my studies."

"Exactly, it is our final year. And we don't know what's gonna happen to all of us after we graduate and take the gwageo. For all I know, you will pass the gwageo, get a position in the government, meet a nice young lady, and have a few kids in just a few years. So we have to appreciate this time together!"

Kyuhyun looks amused at Sungmin's speculation about his future.

"I'm not getting married anytime soon." He smiles at the other.

"You don't know that!"

"Okay, I'm sorry for abandoning you. From now on, I will buy more pumpkin pies and fried ttok and candied apples for you!"

"Ya! That's not all I do every day!"

They both laugh as Sungmin slightly slaps Kyuhyun's shoulders.

From afar, they can see  Lee Youngwoon and Donghae coming back from their walk. 

As they get ready to get back to Hanyang, Donghae comes to Hyukjae's side to help him.

"Ya, you go rest there! You might drop something or fall on your clumsy if you help me!"

"Ya Hyukkie! I just want to help you."

And Donghae drops their books and luggage while helping Hyukjae carry them.

"Babo, what did I just say!"

Donghae only laughs at the other's annoyance.

"Hyukkie ah, one day, you will miss being annoyed by my clumsiness and neediness every minute of the day!"

"Never!" Hyukjae sticks out his tongue and teases him.

They quickly pick up the messes and get on their horses to leave, laughter never leaving the air.

Sungmin remembers that it was a good day. One of the better days of his life.

In a second, everything suddenly changes before his eyes. Above his head, the moon is buried deep behind dark clouds. A cold wind screams into his face and hair.

"Where's everyone?"

He turns around to find only Donghae standing quietly behind him. Everyone has suddenly disappeared before his eyes. The air has suddenly turned colder, the laughter completely gone. In Donghae's eyes, Sungmin can see a clear sadness.

"Donghae, what's wrong?"

The other only stands looking at him in silence.

"Let's go home, Donghae ah."

"I can't, Minnie."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm dead."

The words pierce through Sungmin's heart like an arrow piercing through a prey. Reality suddenly starts to hit him.

"No..."

"Yes, Minnie ah, you know what happened. You were there."

"No..."

"But this was not a dream," Donghae smiles gently at him, "this is your memory. This day actually happened. This was the day that I decided my purpose in life. On this day, I swore to forever protect my friends and my loved ones. At all costs. And you are one of them, Minnie ah."

"No..."

"And I don't regret any of it."

On Sungmin's face, tears start to fall down his cheeks. But Donghae only gives him another smile before turning away to join the endless darkness surrounding them.

"Wait! Donghae!"

Sungmin runs after him, but as he takes a step forward, an excruciating pain in his legs makes him fall to cold ground.

"Wait for me!"

"No, it is not your time yet. Kyuhyun and Hyukjae are still waiting for you. Take care of Hyukjae for me, will you? a little when he is by himself, so he doesn't feel lonely. Talk to him when he is overwhelmed, so he knows everything will be okay. I owe him a life together, I will make it up to him in another life."

Then, with a smile and a tear on his face, Donghae walks into the blinding light at the end of the darkness. For a second, Sungmin sees his father and Leeteuk standing side by side, discussing another heated topic as they always do. They quickly give him a gentle smile before disappearing into the light. Further away, Heechul and Dongchun are also there, waving to him as they pass by.

"Come back! Everyone! Come back!"

He screams at the top of his lungs. His face is now covered in tears and sweat. He wants to stand up and run as quickly as possible to them, but to no avail. His legs seem to have no strength left.

"Sungmin."

A hand suddenly appears before his eyes. A voice as warm as the summer sun calling out his name.

"Wake up."

Behind him, Kyuhyun extends a hand to help him up.

"I'm here for you."

A tear suddenly drops onto his hand. Another, and another. But Kyuhyun does not ask why. He simply wipes away the tears, and takes him into his own embrace.

"You're safe."

Kyuhyun whispers softly into his ears.

Then, as quickly as when the darkness came, Sungmin is again surrounded by sunshine and light. Next to him, he can hear people talking and whispering.

And he knows he is back to his cold and harsh reality.