Leeteuk and Hyukjae led him through the corridors of the mansion in silence. Hyukjae held his hand and Leeteuk kept glancing back over his shoulder, as if they both were afraid Ryeowook would disappear anytime they didn’t pay the utmost attention to him. Kangin and the male who had been close to Hyukjae had stayed back in order to give the brothers some privacy. Leeteuk stopped and opened one of the doors for Ryeowook and Hyukjae to enter.

“This can be your room. If you want to stay, that is...” Leeteuk trailed off, hesitation suddenly evident in his voice; the thought of losing Ryeowook again now right after having gotten him back was too scary for him to actually consider but he didn’t know what his brother’s plans were.

“I’d love to, if you want me here,” Ryeowook answered shyly. He had not expected to find anything and to suddenly have a family who welcomed him with open arms was so much more than he could have ever dreamt of, so he wasn’t going to decline that for anything in the world.

“We’d tie you down to keep you here if you tried to leave,” Hyukjae joked with a wide gummy smile that warmed Ryeowook’s heart. He took a moment to look around the room that would now be his. It was rather large, especially compared to Onew’s study where he had lived before. There was a large bed and an empty bookcase, some shelves on the walls and a desk, all with intricate tree carvings decorating them.

“This is beautiful,” he praised as he let his hand run over the carvings of the bookcase. The tree was a dark red and the carvings showed a plant Ryeowook didn’t recognise. The leaves were almost heart shaped and the branches were thin and curly, giving the impression of extreme fragility.

“Kangin made them. He is an excellent craftsman,” Leeteuk informed with a wide smile, pride sneaking into his voice. Ryeowook nodded in understanding before sitting down on the bed. It was surprisingly soft and he took a minute to enjoy the comfortable feeling.

“Is he your... mate?” he asked, not knowing what terms were used here. He let his hand run over the bedspread, feeling the soft fibres against his hand. He looked up at Leeteuk in time to see him and Hyukjae exchange glances.

“Do you... have you heard about blood singers?” Hyukjae asked hesitantly, eyeing Ryeowook from under his hair. Ryeowook took a second to think but the name didn’t ring any bells at all and so he shook his head.

“You can say he is my mate. He is also my blood singer,” Leeteuk stated, looking serious. “It’s an ancient bond that is very hard to explain. I hope you can wait to get a proper explanation until you meet Lay, our wiseman. He will be able to explain everything so it’s easier to understand. The connection between two blood singers is extremely complicated and I’m afraid we would just confuse you if we tried to explain it.”

Ryeowook nodded slowly. He had felt a special bond between Leeteuk and Kangin, something he had never experienced before in King Rubion’s kingdom, something that went beyond a simple bond between mates. Not only had it been between those two, it had also been between Kris and Tao, and Hyukjae and the dark haired male. The idea of getting to know this bond intrigued him in a lot of ways, as the energy between each couple had been particularly strong.

“Is there some place I can take a bath?” Ryeowook asked when he looked down at his hands and suddenly realised how dirty he was from his journey. It wouldn’t have mattered if he had found nothing but ruins but now that this was to be his home, he would like to wash up a bit before meeting more of the people who would now be his extended family.

“Of course. You must be all sweaty from your trip,” Hyukjae assumed and gestured to the door they had come from. Ryeowook nodded and followed his two brothers down the hall and through another door. The mansion had a lot of halls and rooms and Ryeowook wondered fleetingly how they had managed to build it after the fire, since it looked as if it had been build many years before he was even born. They reached another hallway with windows on both sides and went through the door in the other end, leading them to a large room, much like the room with the plants, the podium and the throne like chairs, except for the fact that there was a huge pool in the middle of the floor filled with water. He could see ripples on the surface of the water, as if there was a stream going through the pool, making the water flow, rather than just being still like the pool he had seen in King Rubion’s castle. There were build-in shelves around the walls where towels, sponges and soap were organised.

“This is our bathhouse. The pool is filled with water from the hot springs surrounding the area and, as you can see, new water is constantly led into it while old water is led out. There should be anything you need on the shelves.” Leeteuk informed with a smile. “You can put your clothes on one of the chairs. If you want some fresh clothes we can find something for you.”

“I’d like that,” Ryeowook responded and gave a smile in return. He was truly impressed by the entire system of the pool and he couldn’t wait to dive in. His head was summing and he hoped that a little time alone would help him sort out some of the many thoughts that were whirling in his mind though he doubted it would really help anything. It felt as if every time he received an answer to one question, three more popped into mind and craved answers as well.

“Will you be fine on your own?” Leeteuk asked with a worried frown, as if he feared Ryeowook might bolt and run as soon as he turned his back to him. Ryeowook smiled and nodded, feeling awkward just standing there. He didn’t know how to send his brothers off; he’d only just met them and it would probably seem odd to hug them just because he was going to bathe. Hyukjae saved him from the awkwardness, though, by stepping forward and drawing him into a hug, quickly followed by Leeteuk.

“Welcome home,” Hyukjae muttered, almost nuzzling his face against Ryeowook’s cheek. Ryeowook giggled nervously, hugging back until they pulled away and walked out of the door they had come from, leaving Ryeowook alone.

“You scared him!” Leeteuk hissed as soon as they were some distance away from the bath house to make sure Ryeowook couldn’t hear them. His mind was clouded with a clammy fear; they had already lost so much. To gain Ryeowook back was more than they could have ever wished for, and the pure joy was soon turned to intense fear of losing him again.

“I did not! If anyone did, it was Kris!” Hyukjae argued back indignantly, more optimistic than any of his brothers and therefore more focussed on the fact that Ryeowook was back, rather than the fact that they could now lose him again. Leeteuk sighed.

“Kris... has his reasons. You know that. He’ll come around soon,” Leeteuk mused sadly and wrapped an arm around his stomach protectively.

“I hope so,” Hyukjae scoffed as they entered the throne room again, finding everyone where they’d left them, the air full of buzzing talk and questions everyone wanted answers to. “Sungmin, could you find some clothes for Ryeowook and bring them to the bathhouse? Don’t scare him!”

Sungmin grinned widely and bowed his head in agreement before leaving the same way Leeteuk and Hyukjae had just entered the hall. Leeteuk went straight to Kangin’s waiting arms and hugged the other male tightly without a word.

Ryeowook submerged himself in the warm water with closed eyes and let out a content sigh. He allowed himself to just relax in the water for a while, both to let the dirt soak so it would be easier to remove, but also to give himself a few minutes to just relax and zone out before dealing with all his thoughts and questions. He had never tried something like this before; where he came from, baths were taken in a small tub, unless you were King Rubion and had access to the small pool in the castle, and in the winter you had to heat up several kettles of water before it was full and the water was a temperature that didn’t make you freeze to ice. He had, of course, learned to swim in one of the lakes Onew frequented because of the vegetation in the area, but despite the older man’s love for the natural swimming pool, Ryeowook had never really loved it after he realised that the hum he heard when