Episode nine:

After his Yunho's confession, the young boy had asked for the bound book the ruler of the Beopjusa temple had given to his husband through monk Kyuhyun, wanting to know what kind of book it was. From the young adult, the book was a record of different skills of the Sonmudo, the martial art of the Beopjusa temple. And by giving him the bound book, the Head Master Song was telling Yunho to keep practicing.

The book in his hands, the child boy was skeptical at the reading of the title.

Cherry blossom in the winter grey.

However, people tended to be poetic by giving long idioms as titles making the contents look more appealing than it should be. And the young boy should not judge a book by its cover. This idiom could be a metaphor referring about how lenient and powerful the Sonmudo was. But, Jaejoong could not shake away the thought of having in his hands a mere record of poems having as subject floral trees.

And when he set his eyes at the first page, the boy frowned at the writing. The script was not writing in hanja, the Samguk Sagi's language nor in the Yamato's which had many ethnic languages but in a traditional language from the land of Wei.

"What is it?" Yunho asked as he saw the frown marred on his young wife's forehead.

"Are you sure... this book is a record of the Sonmudo's skills?" Jaejoong asked as he showed the bound book to his husband.

Yunho nodded, understanding Jaejoong's question. "To be honest, now that you know I do not know how to read...," he scratched the back of his neck and sighed, "...if you say that the book is about something else, I would believe you."

Jaejoong let out a forlorn sigh as he browsed the book further. "Can you tell me what you know by heart?" He asked suddenly. "One technique. Just one."

The older boy nodded and pressed his lips into thin line, then he took a deep breath. He closed his eyes for a while and narrated a technique he learned by heart.

"Find a place with strong Yang essence, the best a depression. Sit back the south, and face the five hearts upwards. Clear your mind, concentrate on the stomach till when the Yin essence moves. Put your palms together at the stomach, circulating the Ki through the body to the brain. Push the Yang and the Yin below from the brain to the heart, then to the stomach."

"Argh!" Jaejoong shouted angrily as he stood up from his place. Then the boy walked back and forth in front of his husband mumbling a few curse words, loud enough for Yunho to hear them. "Outrageous!" He snapped. "It shall be... find a place with strong Yin, the best a depression. Sit facing the north, and face the five hearts upwards. Clear your mind, concentrate on below neibeul (navel) till when the Yang moves. Put your palms together on the stomach. Circulate the Ki and push the palms forward moving up the Ki through the three principal gates. First gate, the stomach. Second gate, the heart. Third gate, the brain. Point the fingers forward. Run the Ki alongside the arms to the palms." And the boy whined as he stomped his foot on the ground. "That charlatan! If I get a hold of that old fart I am going to kill him with my own hands."

"So... there's no turning back." Yunho breathed out sadly, knowing that what he learned until this day was never right. And the feeling of betrayal could not be dissipated as he realized that people around him had taken advantage of his ignorance.

"There should be a way." Jaejoong said quietly. He sighed and crouched down next to his husband who seemed to be too quiet. "Hey! You don't have to be in a sour mood." He poked Yunho's cheek playfully with the tip of his forefinger. "I promise you. I am going to find a solution to your condition. You believe me, don't you?"

Yunho nodded with a small smile on his lips. Jaejoong pouted at the semblance of smile on his husband's face. The boy leaned against Yunho's side, seeking comfort from the other man as he wrapped his arms around the poor young adult who could only feel as the most miserable person in this cruel world.

"Can this book be valuable?" The older boy asked suddenly as he pressed his cheek on the mop of Jaejoong's soft hair.

"Why?" The pretty child asked as he looked up to his husband.

"We need some finance for our journey to Kimhae." He said quietly. "We still have a flowers festival to be seen."

Jaejoong nodded with a smile. "The book is written in the language from the land of Wei. By the title, it seems to be a record of poems. However... there is something intriguing about those writings. Let me read it and we can sell it after."

"Do as you please."

"Oh!" The pretty boy exclaimed suddenly. "Do you know what a Yin essence and a Yang essence are?" He asked, turning to look at his husband.

"It should be... a definition of who we are. Life... universe..." The ex-apprentice monk stated, not really confident at himself. After all what the Head Master Song had taught him could be all forgery.

"Exactly." The boy beamed with a smile painting on his plush lips. "The Yin and the Yang are a duality that complement one another. The Yin is the obscure side of us. But it doesn't mean something bad. You can interpret the Yin as a force coming from your inside, a force hiding in you that no one can see." Jaejoong said as he pressed his palms under Yunho's stomach. "And the Yang is the bright side of us. A force that nurture our Yin for a better use of it."

"Two opposite forces that can't be apart from each other. And it what makes the balance exists in this world." Yunho added slowly.

"Yes!" The child boy nodded. "Like day and night. The sun and the moon. Fire and water. Heaven and earth. Woman and man." Jaejoong continued with a smile, trying to find a few example for his Yunho to understand this strange duality as the Yin and the Yang were. "And if we are talking about our own essence as a human being, our vital breath, the Yin is our potential energy while the Yang is our kinetic energy. In another words, the Yin is already within us as it's what makes us do our daily routine. Our own strength. Our capability. And the Yang is the strength that makes us exceed our ability. It makes us go on when everything seems to be lost." Then he cupped Yunho's face between his hands. "It makes us find our balance and walk further with hope that one day things will be better. And my Yunho has always lived beyond his expectation. Making everyone wrong in their judgment."

"You're too kind."

"I am not." Jaejoong said, pursing his lips into an adorable moue making Yunho smile then laugh softly.

Yunho took his wife in his arms as he let out a forlorn sigh. "Sometimes, I wonder why I am still here, in this world... I always wanted to know why my parents abandoned me when I was born..." He breathed out slowly. "With time, I feel like my existence was a burden to them... It was the only reason I am alone in this world."

"You are not alone. You have me." Jaejoong corrected.

"...hmm... I have you." The young adult nodded as he smiled sadly at his young wife.

"Stop that!" The child boy said sternly. "Stop this self-pity of you. You're going nowhere by belittle yourself. And I will tell you this. There is no one in this world who shouldn't have been born. Whoever it is, whether you're rich or poor. Sick or healthy. Everyone was born with a blessing that will benefit the world. So, don't be sad. There must be a reason why you were born."

"What reason?"

"Me!" Jaejoong said in a matter-of-fact manner, making his husband laugh at his straightforward and self-centered character. "You're going to find the reason why you are here, in this world. Never look back just walk further with your head high. And I won't be too far. I will be walking next to you, holding your hand. Like you are my Yang to my Yin." The pretty boy added with a smile painting on his beautiful face.

"...hmm..." Yunho nodded. "I won't be sad. Because I will find that reason." He added, returning Jaejoong's smile as he understood what his young wife was trying to tell him. He wasn't an insignificant matter. And like others, he had his place in this world.

"You know, you're the luckiest man in this world."

"Why?"

"Because you have me." The child boy breathed softly as he leaned his chin on his husband's shoulder. And Yunho could only laugh at how confident his young wife was about himself. "And the first step for you to heal your Ki, we have to start from the beginning." Jaejoong stood up and grabbed his Yunho by his wrist. Then, the couple left their room in the beggars' retreat.

"Where are we going?" The young adult asked as he followed his young wife quietly.

"Find that fake monk! He's going to teach you the basic of martial arts."

And the mischievous child took his husband into a journey to the town nearby in search for their companion of fortune. Knowing Changmin, they would be able to find the man in a small inn, eating and drinking with his heart's content. For months, he was living his life to the full.

Jaejoong's intuition never failed as the young couple found the monk eating some rice cake with the King of beggars and the latter's watchdog named Heechul with some tea.

"Oh! Look who's here. Are you two on a date?" Yoochun cooed as he munched onto a morsel of sweet rice cake.

"Stop talking and just choke onto your rice cake." Jaejoong retorted as he rolled up his eyes.

"You!" Heechul stood up from his seat, ready to beat this boy for being insolent toward his Prince with his wooden stick.

"What?" Jaejoong stood defiantly as he was facing the royal guard in disguise. "Don't think because I look like a child of 10 you can bully me." The boy said as he rolled up the long sleeves of his joegori, readying himself to face the effeminate man. "Do you think I don't know some martial arts? I can take over you easily!" He snorted as he stepped a foot toward the other man.

"Jaeha!" Yunho called his wife as he wrapped his arms around the latter's waist, blocking the boy to advance toward the other man who was glaring at Jaejoong. "We aren't here for a fight." He tried to coax his wife.

"I did nothing." The boy pouted.

"You're right. You did nothing. But, don't you think you were a tad bit harsh with your words?" The older boy asked with a smile on his face as he cupped Jaejoong's face between his hands. "And you are better than that, I'm not wrong? Those people are nothing compared to you. So don't stoop low into their level. And you're too pretty to fight with the kind of them."

Yunho's words gained a snort from the King of beggars. The latter didn't know how good this young fellow could be with his words. Better than him. And it irritated Yoochun a lot. With this Yunho lad nearby, he had found a rival. Never go to those brothels with that stupid fellow. He would stand alone watching all those young shouts fly around that guy like bees with honey.

Jaejoong rumbled under his breath, then he glared at that effeminate man for a while and puffed his cheeks annoyingly. "Alright! I am not going to fight for stupid things. And you're right. I am too pretty to lose my time with them."

And Yoochun wagged his index finger slowly as he leaned over the table, making Changmin to lean in turn toward him. "Is it me? Or this fellow is an expert in sweet talking?" He pointed out his forefinger toward Yunho.

"It seems so." Monk Changmin nodded as he took another piece of rice cake between his fingers.

"Hey!" Jaejoong hit the fake monk and the self-claimed King of beggars on the back of their heads, while Yunho could only grimace at the thought of the pain those two men felt at this moment. "What are you doing by whispering behind my back?" The child boy asked as he furrowed his eyes.

"Please! Tell your wife to be more civilized." Heechul grunted as he sat back on his seat, while Yoochun was nursing his head and Changmin was trying to recover from his choke. The poor young lad was suffocating with his sweet rice cake in his mouth with no help from anyone.

"What do you want?" The King of beggars yelled as he was fed up to be the receptacle of this boy's frustration.

"Who shall be civilized?" Jaejoong smirked. "And please! Do not yell in front of an innocent and frail boy like me." The child went to hide behind his husband, peeking from Yunho's shoulder, seemingly the pure image of an innocent child.

"Who's frail? Who's innocent? You are more than an ugly dragon spitting fire from its mouth!" Yoochun shouted as he stood from his seat and put his right foot on the wooden stool, his forearm on his thigh and a finger pointing toward the fake innocent child boy. The ruckus he made had made the people in the small inn looking at them with curiosity.

"I'm not ugly!" The child boy rose his hand, ready to beat the King of beggars but Yunho stopped him in time.

"Jaeha! Stop playing, don't you? You have something to ask from Changmin."

"You're right!" The boy nodded, calming a bit. Then he turned toward the fake monk who had gained his composure and was now savoring his meal of sweet rice cakes, while Yoochun shook his head and took place on his seat again. "Changmin-ah?" Jaejoong called out the monk name sweetly with his palms joined and looking at the latter with his most beautiful smile. At this sight of the adorable young boy, Yoochun choked onto his drink and squirted all the tea he was sipping on the beautiful but puckish boy and the fake monk.

"Yunho-yah!" Jaejoong wailed as he stomped onto his two feet. "That... that monkey of beggar..."

"Alright! Alright!" Yunho said as he wiped the droplets of tea on his wife's face with the hem of his sleeves carefully. "It's nothing. It's just some tea spurting on your beautiful face."

"Not only tea. That monkey's saliva is all over me! I'm going to be sick! I... I am going to die!" The pretty child boy whimpered as he pursed his lips out, making Yunho heaved a sigh and turn to face the King of beggars.

"Really you!" He gritted through his teeth. "Can you be more considerate. Spurting around and mostly all over my wife." Yunho added angrily.

"Hey! It's his fault!"

"Thank for me!" Changmin said sternly as he wiped his face with the help of no one once again.

"Please! Stop playing and say what you want." Heechul tapped the surface table with his right fist. He was losing his patience. "We're not going anywhere if we go along with that spoiled brat."

"My wife is not a brat!" Yunho said back, not really pleased by the name this effeminate man called his young wife.

"But you say nothing about being spoiled." Yoochun and Changmin muttered under their chin, having the same thought.

"W