Elsewhere in the forest, Kevin unburied his face from KiBum's back to look up at the sky. He could see flashes of lightning in the distance over the treetops, accompanied by the rumble of thunder. "How much farther are we going?"

"Far as we can," KiBum said, pulling his coat around him a little tighter and looking at Kevin over his shoulder. "I'm sorry, we shouldn't have left."

"You said this was the only way we can stay together," Kevin looked back at KiBum. He flinched when the next crack of thunder sounded much closer, arms tightening around KiBum's waist. "I don't think we're going to be able to get much farther, not before that storm comes down on us."

"No, it looks like it's going to start raining soon," KiBum said. "We can find somewhere to wait out the rain. This is the only way we can be together, but I guess I should have thought it over better and not just run off at the first opportunity. We didn't even grab any food."

"We can figure something out in the morning," Kevin replied, looking around them at the dark forest. "I mean, we can still hunt for food…" Not that he was very good at it. "And it's only for a day or two until your brother leaves, right?"

"Right, once he realizes I'm gone and not coming back, then he can go and do whatever he wants," KiBum said. "I think I see a fallen tree over there, I think that's the best we're going to do for now."

"Better than a standing tree that's just going to get hit by lightning." Kevin leaned over slightly to see where KiBum was looking. Finally they stopped beside the tree, and he climbed off the horse's back. Just in time; it was beginning to rain lightly. "At least we have our bedrolls, so we'll be sort of warm?"

"Yeah, I'm sure we'll be fine," KiBum said, climbing down. It didn't take long to get the horse bedded down for the night, picketing her nearby. She didn't seem to mind the rain, whickering happily at KiBum when he patted her neck. The tree had fallen in such a way that there was a small space underneath just big enough for KiBum and Kevin to sit up against the broken stump. Getting his bedroll situated, he shivered a little and leaned up against the stump, watching the rain fall. "I wonder if they've even noticed we're gone yet."

"I don't know." Kevin sat down beside him after getting his own bedroll fixed. He made an unhappy noise in his throat and burrowed into KiBum's side when lightning flashed overhead. "They're going to be so mad when we get back. Hopefully they don't continue on without us, it'll be hard to find them."

"Even if they do, we'll be fine," KiBum said. "We'll just go on and do our own thing. Hyung always told me that no matter what you look after yourself first, and if they're not willing to stick around then we'll do just that."

"Aren't you worried though?" Kevin asked quietly.

"A little, but it'll be okay," KiBum said, putting his arm around Kevin's shoulder. "Long as we're together, I'll keep you safe."

"We'll keep each other safe," Kevin nodded. "Just don't get annoyed at me for not knowing much of anything." He wrapped his arms around KiBum in return, watching the sky warily. "Why did it have to thunder though."

"Because that's the kind of luck we have," KiBum said with a sigh. "I don't know much of anything either Kevin, so we'll figure all this out together." Leaning over a little, he brushed his lips over Kevin's temple.

"Yeah…" Despite all his worries right then, Kevin couldn't help but smile softly at the kiss. Turning his head, he looked into KiBum's eyes before leaning in to kiss the older man, eyes closing. As long as he had KiBum, they'd be okay.

KiBum took the kiss as an invitation, deepening it and pulling Kevin a little closer. Truth be told he was scared, but he knew he had to be strong for Kevin's sake. He hoped Kevin trusted him enough to see them both through this. Pulling back a little, he rested his forehead against the younger man's and looked in his eyes. "... Can you keep a secret?" he asked softly.

Opening his eyes, Kevin nodded slowly as he regained his breath. "Yeah, I can keep secrets," he whispered, looking between KiBum's eyes.

Taking Kevin's hands in his own, KiBum pulled back and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before looking up at Kevin again. "The reason why my brother wanted to leave is because JungMin found out... he found out a secret that my brother and I have kept from everyone, or tried to keep from everyone our whole lives." Letting go of one of Kevin's hands, KiBum pushed up on his shirt to show his chest, the skin smooth and pale. "We don't have the virus."

Looking down, Kevin's eyes widened in shock as KiBum's words sunk in and he saw that there was no mark on the other's skin. The space above his heart was free of the spider-like black virus that every single person had been born with since the plague generations ago. There wasn't a scar or anything.

"How…how is that possible?" he whispered, hesitantly brushing his fingers against KiBum's chest above his heart.

"You know how I told you that our dad left us when we were young?" KiBum said, involuntarily wincing when Kevin touched him. "That's... not true. My dad was a scientist, and I don't really remember any of it but Hyung does and he told me the things that he would do to him... he cured us, but he hurt HyungJoon a lot so HyungJoon took me and we left."

Still looking at where the mark should have been, Kevin looked up at KiBum finally. "So…there's a cure? Someone actually has a cure for this? But…if this was when you were little, that was years ago, I never heard anything about a cure."

"Hyung said the house caught fire," KiBum said, looking away and pulling his shirt back down. "That's when we left. He didn't know why there was a fire and I barely remember that happening so I don't know. All I know is we were cured, and anyone that's found out about it has tried to dissect us or something."

Kevin swallowed, looking away too as he thought about that. It was a bigger secret than he could have ever guessed. Of course if anyone ever stumbled upon even the faint chance of a cure, they'd do whatever they needed to in order to obtain it. Even kill two kids. Suddenly so much about the brothers made sense, or at least more sense than it did before. He looked back up at KiBum. "I won't let anyone hurt you, I promise."

"Promise you won't say anything, to anyone?" KiBum asked, looking at Kevin with a pensive look. "I trust you a lot, I trusted you enough to tell you... if you ever break that trust Kevin, I won't ever see you again."

"No…I won't ever break it," Kevin shook his head, taking KiBum's hands. "I promise I won't tell anyone. Thank you…for trusting me. It's a really big secret. I don't want anything to happen to you."

KiBum sniffled a little, unable to help it as he looked down at their hands. "Hyung wanted to leave because JungMin found out. He thinks the whole group is going to turn on us and I'm just so tired of running Kevin. We should go back tomorrow, and I'll tell hyung that no matter what I'm not leaving you."

"Okay…that's what we'll do," Kevin nodded, brow furrowed in worry. "KiBum…I don't think the others will turn on you, but…I don't think HyungJoon's wrong for not wanting them to find out. I mean…the less people who know, the safer it is for you, right? I don't think JungMin hyung will tell anyone either, but maybe we should talk to him, make sure."

"Maybe, I guess," KiBum nodded, holding Kevin's hands tightly. "I don't think the others would turn on us either... HyungJoon thinks everyone's out to kill us but I don't think YoungSaeng or anyone else would. YoungSaeng takes care of us, he wouldn't do anything like that."

"I don't think so…but better safe than sorry, right?" Kevin said quietly, squeezing KiBum's hands. "I know a lot of people would just see that you're cured, and want to be cured too, no matter what. I mean…I'm gonna die too, sooner or later."

"No you're not," KiBum said, shaking his head. "You're not allowed to get sick okay? Never."

Kevin couldn't help but smile at that, even if his lips trembled slightly. "That's not how it works KiBum. At least you don't have to worry about that." He looked down at their hands. "Just promise me you won't leave me to go through it alone. I don't want to be alone when I die."

"I promise," KiBum whispered, pulling Kevin in close and kissing him lightly. "I'm not leaving, long as you don't leave me."

"Never, never leaving you," Kevin whispered against KiBum's lips. He wrapped his arms around KiBum and kissed him back, eyes closing. Thunder rumbled overhead, forgotten.

For as long as KiBum could remember, he'd been so alone. Even with HyungJoon, KiBum had felt isolated. It was sometime later, Kevin curled up warmly in his arms and KiBum ran his hand slowly up and down the man's that he finally felt like he belonged somewhere and with someone.

***************************************

The morning arrived cold and foggy, but the camp was awake bright and early regardless. By the time the sun had pierced through the first layer of fog, HyungJoon and JungMin were back out on the search for the two missing kids. YoungSaeng had made sure their packs were stuffed with supplies including extra clothes and food, with stern instructions to make sure they ate. He also gave them both a whistle, in case they ran into trouble.

As the minutes and hours ticked on without any sign of KiBum and Kevin, HyungJoon slowly stopped responding to anything the other man said. Nothing seemed to matter other than finding his missing brother, all his attention focused on the search. By the time they finally breaked for lunch, he was getting desperate.

"We should split up," he said once they'd stopped, going through his pack for something quick to eat. It was the first thing he'd said in over an hour. "Cover more ground that way."

"And get twice as lost," JungMin said, leaning up against a tree as he chewed on a hard piece of jerky. "We're not splitting up."

"We've got the whistles, the forest is too big for us to cover if we stay together," HyungJoon argued, finding his own food.

"And alert any bandits in the area where we are," JungMin said. "This isn't a discussion HyungJoon, I"m in charge of this rescue operation and we're not splitting up."

"Since when are you in charge?" HyungJoon scowled.

"Since it's my job to keep everyone in the caravan safe," JungMin replied. "If you have a problem with that, you can take it up with YoungSaeng."

Jaw clenching, HyungJoon looked away. "Whatever." He ate his own pieces of jerky, not really paying attention to what he was chewing on as his eyes scanned the forest around them, lapsing back into silence.

JungMin rolled his eyes, finishing off his meal before going to his horse. "Let's move out, I want to finish this portion of the sweep within the hour."

Nodding, HyungJoon straightened and slung his pack back over his shoulder. The ground was muddy after the night's rain, their boots sticking and squelching with each step. The trees dripped water down on them, making for a miserable search. Flinching and looking up as cold water splashed down his neck, HyungJoon frowned as he looked up the tree branches. "…Maybe I could spot them from up there." Or at least get a better view of the area. If Kevin and KiBum were on the move, it would be easier to spot them from higher up.

"Maybe, you sure you can climb up there without falling and breaking your neck?" JungMin asked, making sure the saddle was cinched tightly enough.

"Of course I can…" HyungJoon found what looked like a tall, sturdy enough tree, judging the distance between branches as he placed his pack to the side. Jumping up, he grabbed the lowest branch just within reach and hung there for a moment, gathering the strength to pull himself up. Bracing his feet against the tree's trunk, he climbed up to straddle the branch. "See?" he panted a little, eyeing the ground below before squaring his shoulders and making his way up to the next branch, and then the next.

"Alright, just be careful," JungMin said, watching him climb. "You see anything?"

"Not high enough yet." HyungJoon obviously wasn't the best climber around, but he got himself up as far as he could into the tree before stopping to look around. He listened as he scanned the area, not saying anything for a long minute. "…Nothing but fallen trees," his shoulder slumped.

"Well if they were smart, they would have found a hollowed out stump to sleep in," JungMin said. "Let's go Joon, we'll find them."

"Okay…most of the down trees seem to be just north-east," HyungJoon turned his attention towards getting back down.

The second-last branch was slippery with leaves and rain, and so were HyungJoon's boots. Letting go of the branch he was holding too early, HyungJoon yelped when his feet skidded off the branch and he hit the ground with a thud.

"No more climbing trees," JungMin snorted, going towards where the man had landed and held out his hand. "You okay?"

Dazed, HyungJoon nodded, his skin a few shades paler than it had been before he'd gone up into the tree. "Yeah…it's only my back." He took the offered hand and staggered back to his feet.

"Can you sit on a horse or do you need a minute?" JungMin asked, not letting go of HyungJoon's arm.

"I'm fine, let's go." HyungJoon turned towards his horse, and almost immediately staggered over thin air, nearly ending up on the ground again if it weren't for JungMin's grip.

"Yeah, I can see that," JungMin shook his head. "Why don't you just sit back down for a second before you really injure yourself."

"I said I'm fine." HyungJoon straightened and took a deep breath though, eyes shut. Opening them again, he shook his head. "I'm good, let's move." He started for his horse.

"You are absolutely impossible," JungMin sighed, shaking his head. "If you fall again I'm not helping you up."

"I"m not falling." HyungJoon made it to his horse without landing back in the mud, pulling his pack over his shoulder and climbing into the saddle. "Come on or I'm leaving you behind." Despite his words, there was a shadow of pain across his face.

"Yes sir, boss," JungMin said, climbing onto his horse and falling in line behind HyungJoon. "You know, it's okay to say you're hurt."

"I said I'm fine," HyungJoon repeated tersely. "It was nothing." He nudged his horse to start moving again, heading in the direction of the fallen trees he'd spotted.

"Didn't seem like nothing," JungMin said. "But if you say you're fine, then you're fine." He was quiet for a while, glancing side to side as he looked for KiBum and Kevin. "You don't really talk much HyungJoon, which is okay... but don't you get lonely?"

"I have my brother, why would I be lonely." HyungJoon guided his horse around a few fallen tree branches.

"Well, correct me if I'm wrong, but you and your brother haven't seemed that close lately," JungMin said. "Especially since Kevin came along. Those two are attached at the hip now."

HyungJoon was quiet for a moment, shoulders hunched a little though it could just be because he was in pain. "That's fine. He can talk to other people if he wants…he knows I'm here if he needs me."

"You sure about that?" JungMin countered, looking over at him. "Who really needs who in this relationship?"

The younger man's lips thinned at that. "I've been looking after him since he was seven, don't act like you know more about him than I do."

"And I'm not completely oblivious either," JungMin said. "I'm commenting about you, not him."

"Will you just drop it?" HyungJoon glared at him. "Focus on what we're out here for."

"Right, finding your brother who ran away, which you have no idea why he would do such a thing," JungMin said, shaking his head. "I don't buy that for a second by the way."

"I don't care if you don't buy it. I'm not talking about it with you." HyungJoon made himself sit up straight in the saddle and nudged his horse to go faster.

"That's fine, you don't have to talk about anything," JungMin said, not bothering to keep up. "I'll just ask KiBum when we find him."

"How many times do I have to say it's none of your business?" HyungJoon's voice was angry. "Clearly no one's ever told you 'no' before."

"And how many times do I have to tell you that it's my business when the safety of the group is concerned!" JungMin fired back. "Every time we have to stop and go after your brother on a wild goose chase because he got something in his head and we have to go find him is time and food we don't have to waste!"

"And getting you out of that compound's basement wasn't wasting time and supplies? It was, but I didn't pry into your personal business about why the hell you were down there."

"No, but I would have told you if you had asked," JungMin said. "I'm just trying to help HyungJoon, I'm sorry you don't see it that way. You may not have to answer me, but YoungSaeng is sure as hell going to want an answer from someone about what happened."

HyungJoon's shoulders were hunched defensively again. "He can't know." His voice was quieter, more talking to himself than JungMin.

"Can't know what?" JungMin perked a brow.

Scowling, HyungJoon didn't answer right away, guiding his horse around a few fallen trees. It looked like he was just going to ignore JungMin's question before he finally replied. "...It has to do with our secret, so he can't know."

Sighing a little, JungMin pulled his horse closer to walk in step with HyungJoon. "If you tell me what happened, maybe we can figure something out together to tell YoungSaeng," he said, his voice gentle. "We don't have to tell anyone about your secret."

The younger man looked away. "How do I know I can trust you?"

"Well, you don't," JungMin shrugged. "But trust has to start somewhere, even if it means going on a little bit of faith at first."

There was silence as HyungJoon fought with himself, expression unreadable save for the distress that had occupied it ever since KiBum had ran off. Maybe it was a mark of how desperate he was just then when he finally spoke, words slow like he was thinking about each one before speaking. "Every time someone has found out about us, we've had to run for our lives. Sometimes we were lucky, sometimes we just barely got out alive. I've always kept watch for signs we had to run, and until recently, KiBum's always listened."

JungMin frowned a little at HyungJoon's words and he glanced over at the other man. "... Until recently," he repeated, lips thinning as he put some of the pieces together. "You told KiBum it was time to leave, and he said no. So he ran away?"

HyungJoon nodded, eyes on the trees around them. "He was angry…said he was done following me around. I didn't think this would happen." His voice got quieter and quieter.

JungMin blew out a sigh. "Alright. Well I'm going to give your brother a swift kick in the when we find him. I hope you don't mind."

"If we find him," HyungJoon murmured, gaze lowering.

"There's no 'if' here HyungJoon. We will find him," JungMin said. "I told you we'd find him and we will. He couldn't have got that far and KyuHyun said they didn't take much food with them. Who knows, maybe they're on their way back right now."

"I don't know why he would go back." HyungJoon lifted his gaze off the back of his horse's head, and drew his horse to a stop quickly. "A horse was tied up here," he said, looking down at the imprint of hooves in the soggy ground.

"Any sign of which way they went?" JungMin asked, standing up in his saddle and looking through the trees.

HyungJoon dismounted, taking a closer look at the tracks. Two set of hooves led in different directions, one going back the way they'd came and the other…

"They went this way," HyungJoon followed the second set of tracks that headed off into the bushes.

JungMin followed, keeping his eyes peeled. "I didn't see signs of a fire, they must have been cold."

HyungJoon's fingers curled tighter around his horse's rein. "Hopefully they aren't far," he murmured, careful not to lose the tracks. At some points the tracks passed across stone, and depending on how large the rock was he'd have to circle around it to find where the tracks reappeared.

After nearly an hour of traveling, he had noticed something worrying. "…Is it just me or have these tracks been going in circles," he glanced back at JungMin.

"Not just you, we've seen this tree a couple times," JungMin said.

Looking around, HyungJoon could see tracks off to one side, tracks they'd followed a while ago. "They're lost," he nudged his horse to go faster.

"I should be more surprised at that, but I'm not," JungMin sighed. "We'll probably find them within the hour then."

"I hope." HyungJoon was silent again for a minute before he looked over at JungMin warily. "…What am I supposed to tell YoungSaeng?"

"Besides the truth?" JungMin said, glancing at HyungJoon out of the corner of his eye. "We can tell YoungSaeng that KiBum thought you were trying to get between him and Kevin. Not very far from the truth, and hopefully your brother won't be an even bigger idiot and he'll go along with the story."

"…Okay," HyungJoon nodded, looking away again. He could only hope they'd find his brother soon, and that KiBum was okay.

As JungMin had guessed, they were able to catch up with KiBum and Kevin within the hour. The two were still meandering through the woods without any real idea of where to go. JungMin heard the two before even seeing them, their horse plodding through the underbrush loudly. Seeing movement in the trees up ahead, JungMin pointed it out to HyungJoon. "You got a net? I think we've got our runaways."

Head snapping up, HyungJoon's eyes focused on the moving brush. He kicked his horse into a gallop, coming around the trees. "KiBum!"

Kevin's eyes opened and he lifted his head from KiBum's back, looking over his shoulder at the noise. His eyes widened when HyungJoon appeared out of the bushes with JungMin right behind him, the older brother's eyes wide.

"... Hyung?" KiBum blinked, his hands holding tightly to the reins of his horse. "What are you doing here?"

"Running around the forest looking for your sorry asses," JungMin answered. "Do you have any idea where you're going? You're wandering around in circles."

"We weren't trying to…" Kevin protested. They had been trying to find their way back to the camp, but what was going to happen now that they'd been found?

HyungJoon pulled his horse to a stop in front of theirs, dismounting. His expression was filled with relief. "You're okay, right?" he asked KiBum, stumbling over the words. "You're not hurt?"

"No, I'm not hurt," KiBum said, not able to meet HyungJoon's eyes. "You didn't have to come looking for us, we would have been fine."

"Right, you would have been fine with no food or supplies," JungMin snorted. "I bet you two are hungry? Dismount and we'll have some lunch before heading back. Then we get to talk about how you two are idiots and what we're going to tell YoungSaeng when we get back."

Kevin looked between JungMin and KiBum before he carefully dismounted, stumbling. JungMin was right: they were both cold and hungry, without a fire or any success hunting.

HyungJoon looked at KiBum for a long moment, gaze falling away finally. He pulled his backpack off, opening it and taking out one of the blankets YoungSaeng had given them. "You look frozen." He held it out to KiBum.

KiBum glanced at HyungJoon before slowly dismounting off the horse. ".. Thanks," he said, taking the blanket and pulling it around his shoulders.

"Come over here and sit down, we've got a bit of food," JungMin said, picketing his horse to a tree as well as KiBum's.

Kevin followed JungMin to a relatively dry piece of ground, waiting for KiBum to join them before sitting down next to him. HyungJoon sat down, silently going through his bag for food to pass to them.

"How long have you been looking for us?" Kevin asked, glancing at KiBum.

"Since you left," JungMin said, leaning up against a tree, arms crossed. "Probably would have got to you sooner if you had walked in a straight line."

"We were trying to head back to the caravan," KiBum said, huddling under the blanket.

HyungJoon chewed on his lower lip, holding out what snacks he had to the two of them. "Here." Kevin, closer to him, took the food with a quiet thank you and gave KiBum his half. "…Why would you leave and try to go back?"

KiBum glanced at Kevin beside him, keeping his head down. "We were hungry, that's why we were going back."

Kevin shifted a little closer to KiBum, half for reassurance and half because he was cold. HyungJoon looked between them, brow furrowed for a moment before he looked away. "So if you had food with you, you wouldn't have tried to go back."

KiBum looked at JungMin warily, not sure what to say with the other man around. "... Maybe," he said quietly.

"Here's what I don't understand," JungMin said, looking between the two. "Why would you run away after HyungJoon already told you that he wanted to leave?" he said, his expression level as KiBum's eyes widened and he looked at HyungJoon.

"You told him?" KiBum said. "What happened to keeping secrets?"

HyungJoon's lips thinned, glancing at Kevin before looking back at KiBum. "Finding you was more important."

Kevin looked at KiBum with a frown, wanting to speak up but not sure how much trouble he'd get his boyfriend in if he did.

"You're all idiots you know that?" JungMin said. "You two for keeping secrets and you for going along with the stupidity in the first place," he said, scowling at Kevin a little. "What you don't seem to realize is you're part of something bigger than just yourselves now. We're a family. What do you think was going to happen if you and KiBum had just left without telling anyone HyungJoon? Do you think YoungSaeng would just shrug it off and go on our way?"

"He would have gotten over it," HyungJoon eyed JungMin.

"KiBum didn't want to leave," Kevin spoke up, stuttering a little nervously. "We thought that we could just loop around and come back when, when it wasn't a problem anymore," he quickly changed what he had been about to say.

"You mean when HyungJoon had left," JungMin supplied. "If you think YoungSaeng would have just got over it HyungJoon, then you don't know YoungSaeng at all. Whether you like it or not, he cares about you and KiBum and anyone else he takes in."

It wasn't clear if HyungJoon believed him or not, expression unreadable and eyes on the ground. Kevin looked between them before sighing, chewing on a piece of jerky. "We're sorry for running off," he said quietly, not sure what else to say. It was obvious HyungJoon wasn't going to say anything about their secret then, not when he didn't know Kevin already knew about it.

"I'm not the one you're going to have to apologize to, or the one you're going to have to come up with a story to fool," JungMin said. "HyungJoon and I came up with a good cover that if you two go along with, we can get out of this without too much trouble. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm tired of being on YoungSaeng's bad side."

Nodding in agreement, Kevin glanced at KiBum again. "Okay…we'll follow, what's the cover?" he asked, continuing to eat.

"That you and Kevin left, KiBum, because HyungJoon was trying to keep you two apart," JungMin said. "I don't think that's so far from the truth now is it?"

"No," KiBum said, his voice low. "It's not far at all. I didn't want to leave Kevin behind, you didn't give me a choice HyungJoon."

HyungJoon sat up straighter, wide eyes on his brother. "So you'd leave me behind instead?" he asked, struggling to keep his voice level.

"You don't listen to me! You treat me like a little kid and that's not fair," KiBum argued. "I love Kevin, I want to be with him but you think if I so much as speak to him he's going to turn on me, on us. He's not! I told him HyungJoon. I told him about us and dad and everything!"

"You told him?" HyungJoon stiffened, Kevin wincing and shrinking against KiBum at the brother's tone. "Why? We agreed to never tell anyone about this!"

"No, we didn't agree to anything," KiBum replied, taking Kevin's hand in his own and holding it tightly. "You decided everything for the past fifteen years, never asked me what I wanted! The only reason you even agreed to join YoungSaeng's caravan was so you would have more people to watch me!"

"And is that so wrong? Am I such a horrible person for wanting to keep my little brother alive?" HyungJoon snapped. "I did what I had to do to keep you alive, KiBum, no matter what it was! And you ran away from me!"

"I ran away because you don't care about me!" KiBum said, getting to his feet. "You only care about keeping me alive because that's all you have! You don't have any friends, you don't talk to anyone, least of all me. And now that I've found someone who I love, and I don't need you like I did when I was ten, you don't know what to do with yourself."

HyungJoon flinched back at KiBum's words, expression hurt. "You're wrong. I've always cared about you, my whole life. But you don't even…" He stood up, turning away and pushing his hands through his hair. "You want me gone that badly? Fine. I'll go."

"Sit down HyungJoon, you're not going anywhere," JungMin said. "I don't care what issues the two of you have, but I'm not letting either of you leave this camp. You two have to work this out like family is supposed to."

"... There's nothing to work out," KiBum said. "If he doesn't respect me or my decisions then I don't want to talk to him anymore."

"KiBum, wait," Kevin protested at that, reaching up to take KiBum's hand.

"…Fine," HyungJoon said, not looking back at them and just standing there with hunched shoulders. "Tell me when they're ready to go, JungMin." he went to take care of his horse.

JungMin gave KiBum a level look, not in any way agreeing with the way the younger brother was handling himself. "You two eat enough? I think it's time we head back."

"Yeah," KiBum nodded, shrugging off Kevin's hand and walking away. "Let's go."

Standing up, Kevin looked after KiBum worriedly. He glanced at JungMin before picking up the blanket that had fallen off KiBum's shoulders, wrapping it tightly around his own and tying it so it wouldn't fall off. "It's getting late," he said quietly, looking between the brothers as he untied KiBum's horse from the tree. Now what?

HyungJoon didn't say anything to them, face turned away as he got his horse ready to go. He climbed up into the saddle, moving away from the other two horses.

"Lead us back to the caravan HyungJoon, I'll bring up the rear," JungMin said, ignoring the hostility in the air for the moment. "Don't you even think of wandering off KiBum."

"Wouldn't dream of it," KiBum muttered, climbing onto his horse and holding out his hand to help Kevin up.

Kevin climbed up behind KiBum, wrapping his arms around the other's waist and resting his cheek against his back as they headed out. This was just a mess. He was kicking himself for going along with running away in the first place…JungMin was right, he should have known better.