It had been almost a week since he had fled the castle, but there was still no sign of Ryeowook and Kyuhyun was growing restless. The villagers were growing uneasy too, and Heechul was becoming increasingly harder to handle, flying off the handle at the slightest provocation.

Every day Kyuhyun would go to the Seer, asking him of Ryeowook's whereabouts, but he would only receive a sad shake of the head in reply. Kyuhyun sighed as he wrung out a shirt over the riverbed. Apparently he twisted the garment a little too tight, because Sungmin’s wife, Saeun, whapped him over the head with a towel and scowled.

“Hey! Not too tight, you hear?”

Kyuhyun winced, but did loosen his grip on the shirt. “Sorry Saeun-ssi.” He mumbled. Saeun sighed and hit him again with the towel. Kyuhyun let out a loud screech of surprise and turned to stare at her incredulously.

Saeun sighed and inclined her head to the king. “My apologies, but you should really call me noona.”

The king pursed his lips and hung his now slightly-less soaking wet shirt on the clothesline. “I don’t think that would be very polite; we’ve only known each other for a few days.” The older woman scoffed and took back his shirt, tutting at his handiwork.

“Yes, but to the soldiers, you’ve been here since a few days after their last visit, which was last year.” She said as she squeezed out the excess water from the clothing. “If we go by that, then you’ve been staying with us since then, so if you don’t call me noona, it’ll look suspicious, no?”

Saeun handed back the now significantly drier shirt for Kyuhyun to hang up on the line again, which he took with a red face and a sheepish smile. “And, if I may speak my mind,” She asked, and Kyuhyun quickly gave her a nod. “You calling all of us with more familiar terms would be crucial to not only your survival, but to the survival to all of us living in Ileun.”

When Kyuhyun only stared at her with a very confused look, she put down her wash and sighed, brushing her bangs out of her eyes. “My king, should the soldiers come and you don’t use familiar terms with us, they’ll know something’s up.” Saeun turned to Kyuhyun and he was startled to see tears threatening to fall. “While we may be able to get you out safely, there is no guarantee that we’ll get everyone out of harm’s way.”

"Your safety is of the utmost importance, but I can't help but be selfish and think of the children!" Stubborn tears began rolling down her cheeks and Kyuhyun just stood paralyzed in front of her. "I'm sorry, I was out of line." Saeun let out a small sniffle and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

Still a bit startled, Kyuhyun gingerly reached out a hand and placed it on her shoulder. “I didn’t realize, I was being selfish.” Saeun looked up at him with her big brown eyes and he immediately wondered how Sungmin ever won any arguments with her. “I’m sorry...noona.”

Immediately, Saeun’s lips curled up into a watery grin and she reached up to ruffle Kyuhyun’s hair. “Apology accepted!” Her eyes flickered back to the river and she let out a cry, running back to the basket of laundry. “Ah! We still have so much more to wash! Kyuhyun, quick, start scrubbing!”

“Noona, wasn’t I on drying duty?”

“Your drying privileges have been revoked! If I let you dry, everyone would be wearing sopping wet clothes!”

Kyuhyun let out a hearty laugh that was joined by Saeun's lighter one and a more masculine chuckle. Strong arms wrapped around Saeun's middle and lifted her up, spinning her around playfully. Saeun laughed and when the man put her down, she spun around and kissed Sungmin full on the lips.

Sungmin tenderly nuzzled her neck, drawing out a shaky laugh from the female. The older man set his wife down and pulled her close to his side, turning to face the king. "Sorry to interrupt your washing session, but I need to steal your assistant away for a while."

Saeun pouted. "Aw, but he was doing so well!"

"Sorry noona," Kyuhyun tried not to seem too excited to leave the river. "Duty calls!"

As the two men walked off, Saeun screeched, "You both better come back and help! These clothes won't wash themselves!" Sungmin laughed and waved to his wife over his shoulder. "Lee Sungmin! As soon as you're done!"

"All right!" Sungmin shouted. He turned to face the sidewalk with a dopey grin on his face. "Isn't she the best?" Kyuhyun smiled and nodded at the newlywed couple, thinking back to the early years of his own marriage.

Sungmin grinned back, but quickly donned a serious expression. "We have to go see Leeteuk, he sounded worried."Kyuhyun pressed his lips together and curtly nodded, walking a little faster than before.

As they passed the village square, Sungmin grabbed Kyuhyun's sleeve and hurriedly covered his face with his hood. Kyuhyun turned to him indignantly, but Sungmin's frightened eyes made him stop him his tracks. His gaze flickered to the square, where he saw a large crowd gathering. ", are those soldiers?"

Kyuhyun's eyes widened when he recognized the man at the head of the group. "That's Byunghun!" He hissed. "Has he forgotten his allegiance so quickly?" Byunghun, instead of wearing the crest of the Cho family, was now displaying the image of the Nam family. Sungmin gritted his teeth and began to lead him away, but Kyuhyun firmly planted his feet into the ground, refusing to move. "Sungmin, let me go, I want to know what kind of bull this bastard will spew out of his traitorous mouth!"

Sungmin scowled and pulled harder on his sleeve. "I can see Shindong-hyung in the crowd, he'll tell us everything, but we have to see Leeteuk now!"

Kyuhyun scowled but turned from the anger causing sight in front of him. "Fine, but as soon as you're done, we're coming right back here." Sungmin rolled his eyes and all but shoved the younger man away from the crowd, only to be pushed back by a wild-eyed and hooded Leeteuk. "Hyung, what are you doing, we were on our way to meet you!" Sungmin hissed.

"Change of plans," Leeteuk growled. "As much as I love him, I don't think Donghee'll be able to relay the message clearly."

"Who?"

"Shindong."

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