Jake examined the tattoo on his wrist, looking closely to make sure he was seeing things correctly.

“What are you looking at?” Asked Yeonjun as he walked over and leaned on the table Jake was sitting at.

“I think my tattoo is colored in,” responded Jake as he showed Yeonjun. “But what does black mean?” He asked.

“It means either you've met your soulmate and they haven't realized it yet, you've met them and they rejected you, or they're dead,” responded Yeonjun as he blinked in surprise. “I don't sense anything wrong with you, so it's not the rejection or death part,” he mused, looking thoughtful.

“Huh,” hummed Jake before he turned to where Jeonggeun was sitting and reading something on his phone. “Jeonggeun did your tattoo get colored in?” He asked, causing Jeonggeun to look up and at Jake.

“No,” lied Jeonggeun as he shook his head. “I didn't see anything new with mine anyway,” he added.

Yeonjun looked skeptical, but shook his head at Jeonggeun before moving away from the table. “Alright, I need to head out for a few days,” he explained. “Ivan had some business to attend to so I must get around to doing that,” he added.

“Be careful,” mumbled Jake as he turned to Yeonjun.

“I'll be fine,” sighed Yeonjun. “But yeah, I'll be careful," he added.

~

“Who else did you say lived at the house?” Asked Jeonggeun as he and Jake sat in the cafeteria eating lunch.

“Other than Yeonjun?” Asked Jake. “Seoho does, and Allen,” he explained. “Though Soobin has a room, if he wants it,” he added. “It used to be Beomgyu's room but well,” he explained, shaking his head.

“Is that why no one took the last room?” Asked Jeonggeun.

“For the moment,” responded Jake as he nodded his head.

“Interesting,” hummed Jeonggeun.

~

Jake looked down at his tablet when it pinged, seeing a message from the main guard group chat. “Ah,” he hummed, typing up a reply before pressing send. He leaned back in his chair and let the tablet sit on the table.

“Who is it?” Asked Jeonggeun as he looked up from the book he was reading.

“Seoho's coming home,” responded Jake before he got up and grabbed his phone and tablet before leaving the room. “I'm going to make lunch,” he called before footsteps faded away.

Jeonggeun took a minute to finish reading the chapter he was on before closing the book and getting up. He left the book on his bed before grabbing his phone and leaving the room to head downstairs.

Jake was preparing fried rice in the kitchen when Jeonggeun entered the kitchen, Jeonggeun deciding to sit at the kitchen island and watch Jake prepare the food.

“Who is Seoho again?” Asked Jeonggeun as he watched Jake cook.

“He's under Jahan, from what I understand,” responded Jake as he concentrated on the vegetables as he cut them. “I was also introduced to him and the others through Seoho,” he added. “So it was nice to already know someone within the kingdoms and get initiated into the guard,” he explained.

“Didn't you know people in the guard already?” Asked Jeonggeun.

“I know Yeonjun and Soobin, yes but I knew them before becoming part of the guard,” explained Jake. “Same with Beomgyu, when he was alive anyway,” he added as an afterthought. He turned and went to grab a wok before going to the stove to turn it on. He poured oil into it before letting it sit for a few minutes.

“I see,” hummed Jeonggeun as Jake started frying up the fried rice.

“Any other questions you have?” Asked Jake as he kept an eye on the food.

“Not at the moment, no,” responded Jeonggeun as he looked away from Jake to stare at something at the wall.

~

Seoho got back as soon as lunch was done, and Jake left him a bowl while he and Jeonggeun ate at the kitchen island.

“Welcome back,” greeted Jake as Seoho entered the kitchen.

“Thank you,” replied Seoho as he nodded, going to grab a plate of food before going to sit beside Jake.

“How was the time spent with Jahan?” Asked Jake.

“It went alright,” replied Seoho as he nodded in confirmation. “I'm just happy to be home for a little bit,” he explained.

“Yeah, that's understandable,” remarked Jake as he nodded his head. “It's good to see you back though, Yeonjun headed out a few days ago,” he added.

“What, you want to spar again?” Asked Seoho as he looked at Jake.

“It's something to do,” retorted Jake as he shrugged. “Besides, I want to be able to try and beat Jay in a spar some day,” he added.

“Keeping at your sparring currently does help,” agreed Seoho. “But I'd be wary of overdoing it of course,” he added.

“Yeah,” mumbled Jake as he let out a soft sigh. “I've been bad at overdoing things,” he grumbled to himself.

Jeonggeun listened in silence as the two before him talked about things he could barely understand. When Jake was at home in Korea it seemed he just fell into the habit of speaking Korean when the others were home. That was fine with Jeonggeun due to him wanting to learn the language a bit more so he didn't have to struggle as much.

He also wanted to know if they were talking badly about him, but Jeonggeun wouldn't admit that to anyone. He would rather take it to the grave.

~

Jeonggeun stared at the menu behind the barista, almost struggling to read it as he tried to remember which words meant what.

“You don't speak Korean do you?” Asked the barista in front of him, startling Jeonggeun out of his thoughts as he looked stupidly at the barista who spoke English.

“I don't know that much,” Jeonggeun finally replied with a sigh. “But I'm learning,” he added, shrugging as he shook his head.

“One coffee then?” Asked the barista.

“Sure,” replied Jeonggeun as he went to pay for it. “Thanks, Minyoung?” He asked, making sure he read the name correctly.

Minyoung nodded, handing Jeonggeun back his card before passing the cup down to the person making drinks. “It'll be ready in a bit,” he added.

Jeonggeun went to wait on his coffee, fumbling with his phone as he got a message. He took a look at it, reading through the message before stuffing his phone back in his pants pocket with a huff.