I forgot to mention that the sorcerer who is in the king's office when Jaehwan is called in (in chapter 26) is the same one that reported being suspicious of Hakyeon. At that point he'd successfully made the teleportation potion and that was why it was suddenly go time.

Chapter 29 – The Wait Ends

Yeongsik can’t wipe the grin off his face, he’s finally going to get revenge on Hakyeon. In front of him stands Suhee holding a small vial with a milky brown potion inside it.

“That’s it?” Yeongsik asks, a little awed.

“This is the only teleportation potion we have. It’s all that was successfully made before Hakyeon ran off.”

“You couldn’t make more?”

Suhee tries not to scowl at the sorcerer and fails. “No. Because Hakyeon took the Anyethi.”

Yeongsik frowns. He doesn’t remember Hakyeon ever mentioning having an Anyethi. His mind flashes to the few times he’d visited the sorcerer and it takes him a moment to remember the black cat that always ran away when he arrived.

“Ah,” Yeongsik mutters, suddenly realising. “That bastard.”

The Anyethi had been right there this whole time! He could have taken it! Frankly he could have given it to the king and gotten a huge reward. 

“How does the potion work?” he demands, holding his hand out.

Suhee unstoppers the vial and hands it over. “We’ve only tested it once and all that sorcerer said was that he ‘just knew what to do’ after drinking it.”

Helpful, Yeongsik thinks sarcastically.

“Just do as you were told,” Suhee states. “Get rid of Cha Hakyeon and if possible bring the Anyethi back.”

Yeongsik bows a tiny bit in understanding and then downs the potion, thinking hard about Hakyeon’s house and hoping he ends up there.

Hongbin groans as he wakes up, still tired because he’d stayed up late practicing the spell Hakyeon had taught him last night. He’d picked it up fairly quickly because it combined the elements of a lot of the spells he’d learned already, but it used a huge amount of deliberate magic. Hongbin would only be able to use it once a day with his levels but frankly he doesn’t know when he’d ever have the opportunity to use it.

Pulling himself out of bed Hongbin gets ready for the day. Since beginning Hongbin’s training Hakyeon has always been out of bed before seven in the morning. At first Hongbin had still been overly cautious about walking in the hallways but he’d gotten used to it, these days he’d stroll straight to the kitchen without a thought anywhere in the direction of the spell that would land him in Hakyeon’s room.

What he finds on the kitchen bench is completely unexpected. It was a note from Hakyeon.

Hongbinnie

Leo and I are going to the palace, please feed Sanghyukkie while we’re gone so he doesn’t start causing trouble. Also make sure you practice your spells. Just because I’m not there doesn’t mean you get a day off.

H.

The apprentice frowns at the note.

“What?” he mutters, flipping the page over to make sure he didn’t miss anything.

A weird sort of panic has begun to rise up in Hongbin’s chest. Hakyeon and Leo had gone to the palace? Without him? Wasn’t Leo a cat right now? How long ago was the note written? Why the hell didn’t Hakyeon take him?

“Hongbin?”

Hongbin reels around to face a confused looking Sanghyuk. Maybe it’s because he knows what Sanghyuk has gone through and doesn’t want him to ever have any sort of hardship again, but he forces a smile.

“What’s up?” he asks.

“Hakyeon and Leo aren’t in their room.”

“They had to go out for a little,” Hongbin replies.

Well, it’s not a lie, Hongbin mutters to himself. He motions for Sanghyuk to sit at the counter. “Are you hungry?”

The teen nods and sits down. “Yeah.”

“Right, um,” the apprentice flounders for something to feed the teen and ends up placing a loaf of bread and some toppings on the bench. “Make yourself a sandwich, I have to go out for a minute.”

“Why?” Sanghyuk asks, frowning but still reaching for the food.

“Just do. I’ll tell you later.”

Has Sanghyuk ever been left alone before? Hongbin wonders. What if he destroys something?

Sanghyuk knows nearly everything that was going on, after all Hakyeon hadn’t sheltered him as well as spoiled him, but Hongbin can’t help but feel the teen will insist on getting involved if he knows it’s all going down right now.

Should I lock him in one room so he doesn’t get himself in trouble?

Hongbin eyes the Anyegi – who has already begun to make a loaded sandwich – and shakes the thought away. He’d just destroy the entire room to get out.

“I’m going now,” Hongbin says.

“Okay. Make sure you’re acting less weird when you come back,” Sanghyuk mutters. Once Hongbin is out of the room he adds, “You’re probably just going to see Ravi now that mum and dad aren’t around to supervise.”

The apprentice spends nearly a whole minute standing by the front door, envisioning all the bad things that could happen to Sanghyuk while he was gone. It’s the thought of all the bad things that would be happening to him if he wasn’t here, safe at Hakyeon’ house, that push Hongbin out the door.

Wishing that he could teleport like Leo, or that he had a teleportation potion, or that Leo was here – any of those would work, really, he’s not fussy – Hongbin begins to run down the forest path towards town and towards Ravi because he didn’t know what else to do.

Yeongsik slowly opens one eye and curses the moment he sees where he is.

“Well,” he grumbles, “at least I’m in the right forest.”

The sorcerer pulls out a navigation spell he’d prepared earlier and casts it. It begins to draw him through the forest and he hopes it doesn’t take too long.

“Ravi!” Hongbin yells between gasps for air, pounding on the shop door.

It had taken him half an hour to run here and in that time he’d had two major trains of thought. The first was about Hakyeon and Leo and the general situation, but it would give way to the second thought which was that he’d gotten really unfit since Leo had started teleporting him around everywhere.

“Ravi!” he yells again.

Just as his fist is about to make contact with the door it’s wrenched open by a sleepy looking Ravi. The potion maker becomes a lot more alert when he registers Hongbin’s panic.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, pulling Hongbin into the shop because people on the street are staring and getting scared.

Hongbin lets himself be led through the store and upstairs, still panting when Ravi pushes him down onto the couch. Ravi then joins him with a concerned expression, placing a hand on the younger man’s shoulder.

“Hongbin?”

Hongbin forces himself to breathe properly because at this point he’s not sure if he’s panting because of the run or because of the panic. The moment Hongbin can talk he starts explaining what was going on and outlining all the things that can go wrong and stating all the worries he didn’t even know he had until now. By the time he was done he’d worked himself up again.

“Hey,” Ravi murmurs, trying to calm the younger man. “They’ll be fine.”

“But Leo went too! As a cat!”

“Leo will do fine,” Ravi says, slinging an arm around the apprentice’s shoulders in comfort. “He can fight too. Even when he’s in his cat form.”

Hongbin suddenly remembers months ago when he’d first arrived at Hakyeon’s house. Hakyeon had said that Leo had once beaten him in a fight. He’d asked about it a number of times but both refused to answer.

“But… But – I… Why didn’t they take me?!” the young sorcerer demands, trying to stand up so he can start pacing.

Ravi groans and locks Hongbin up in an embrace, burying his face in his shoulder. “So you don’t get hurt. I’d rather you be here too.”

For a second Hongbin seems to be placated. For a second.

“Then why did Hakyeon even train me then?!”

“I’m sure it was for a good reason,” Ravi tells him. “Now, how about we head back to Hakyeon’s house so Sanghyuk doesn’t have to be alone?”

Hongbin grudgingly admits that’s probably a good idea.

Please remember that Sanghyukkie was locked in a cage for most of his childhood and teenage years, he doesn’t know about taking care of himself. Also Hakyeon spoils him. Damnit Hakyeon.

Poor, confused Binnie. He went through some intense, incredibly hard training only to be left behind. *shakes head and tuts*

This chapter is actually in two parts, the second will be chapter 31.