"A vampire's blood got magnificent healing ability!"

Minhyung scrunched up his nose in utter disbelief at what the old man who was in the middle of the plaza was telling the crowd. On his right stood Yeongho who was intently listening tot the tales of the old man, nodding along at every information given away as if he was trying to process everything. While on his left, was Yuta who was simply enjoying the story from the capital, smiling widely at every change of expression from the story teller's face. 

"It was rumored that a night walker's blood would be able to heal the crown prince's illness so the king was on the quest of finding a vampire to heal his son." 

Gasps and whispers erupted from the crowd because the old man dared bring up the royal family in his stories. No one dared gossip about the royal family so everybody in present was shocked. 

Aside from the young stable boy, that is. Minhyung looked up at Yeongho questioningly when he felt the heavy tension lingering in the air. The older's smile dropped and his gaze was replaced with a blank one, looking at the old man. Minhyung's eyes darted immediately towards Yuta however, when he all of a sudden gripped on his wrist tightly, mumbling a small 'let's get out of here,' before glancing at the same aged friend who nodded at him. The crowd in the plaza started lessening as the listeners started leaving one by one, until only a few were left to listen.

Soon, the two started dragging the ever confused stable boy away from the scene for their safety. They were told never to lurk in the capital for too long if they wanted to be away from trouble. 

Minhyung let the hyungs drag him further from the scene however, he spared the narrating old man one last glance, confused as to why were people reacted the way they did. He immediately shifted his attention to the front, however, when he saw the old man staring straight at him, unfazed. 

That was weird, he thought. 

The only time Minhyung allowed his curiosity get the best of him was when they were already out of the capital and in the woods, traveling back to the stables. 

"What's wrong with the people present there earlier?" he asked nobody in particular as he was leading the way, the older guys trailing behind him. 

When nobody dared answer, he turned around. 

At this, both guys who had their eyes fixed on the ground looked up at the youngest, obviously unaware of his earlier question. They stopped on their tracks to look at Minhyung questioningly. The youngest sighed. 

"I said," he started, waving his hands in the air, on both side of his body. "What's wrong with people earlier?" He shrugged when nobody speak. "okay, fine. I'm dropping the topic." He ended, turning back to the front to start walking again. 

He was sulking quietly. But of course he wouldn't show them that or they wouldn't believe that he's already a grown up man now. 

At the back, Yuta wiggled his brows at Yeongho and the guy bit his lips to stop his self from laughing out loud. 

It was fun playing with Minhyung, especially when he can't mask his curiosity of a young boy very well. 

Just like this time. 

Minhyung almost landed face first on the ground when Yeongho all of a sudden lunged forward, snaking his arms around the youngest's  shoulders. On the back, Yuta was laughing boisterously, the other guy following after him which earned a huge frown from the youngest if the three. 

Minhyung tried to break free from the oldest's grip only to be hugged tighter. "Aw, come on, Minhyung-ie. We're just playing with you." 

At the background, Yuta's sniffles from laughing too much can still be heard and it just added up to the youngest's annoyance. 

"Yeah, he keeps on insisting that he's already a grown man and yet he's still clueless about everything," Yuta chirped, wiping a single tear that escaped his eyes from crying too much. 

Yeongho and Minhyung looked behind them at the other guy who was still laughing a little. 

Minhyung frowned. "I am," insisting that he was a grown man now. "I'm turning twenty-one on a few days time." 

"hey, you can't even handle your liquor very well." Yeongho teased, earning a 'tsk' sound from the former and the hyungs laughed once more. 

"and can't contain his curiosity at all!" Yuta added in fits of laughter and Minhyung scowled at the ground when the other hyung laughed along, agreeing at Yuta's statement.

He's had enough. Breaking free from the older's grip, the youngest of the three climbed up a boulder on their side, glaring at them. "Speaking of curiosity!" he hollered, catching the two's attention. 

Yeongho raised one brow in question while the other just smirked at the young man on top of the boulder. "What happened back there? What's wrong with everybody?!" 

Yuta let out a long sigh before answering him, looking up the sky covered by the huge rainforest trees. "It's like this, Minhyungie. Spreading rumors about the royal family is punishable by death and if you happen to participate in those, you'll get slashed too." He explained slowly,