Everybody had to wake up before the sun in the camp. Taemin did not show how tired and sleepy he was, because he had just earned their captain's trust and accolade, and he could not destroy this with little things like these.

While the sun was not that shiny they were riding their horses with the most important things they could bring with themselves from the camp. There was a chariot in the middle of the line, what was led by a soldier. Choi Minho was the one who led the line of the soldiers, and there was Councillor Daemok next to him on his small horse.

This was the moment why Taemin had left his home. The moment came what was so dangerous to his father and his brother. The fight with the Japanese army.

"I heard the new Japanese leader is even crueler than his father was. A real monster." Kibum shuddered on his horse's back.

"He's still a child as I heard. Why would he be so horrible?" Jonghyun asked. He did not really want to believe those stories about the young Japanese monster.

"He's not that young. He could be in our age or... or in Taehoon's age."

"Well..." he looked at Taemin, who was buried in his thoughts. "If I didn't know how old Taehoon is, I'd just say he isn't even eighteen."

"Yes..." Kibum thought about it. "He has an innocent and smooth face."

Taemin did not hear anything from the conversation. He just looked ahead, his eyes on the captain. Memories of the previous night came into his mind, when they were in the lake. Minho was worried about him, and Taemin did not deserve it. He lied to the man, he lied to everybody. It made him sad, but there was something else what just made the remorse stronger. Did his heart beat more heavily because the captain almost found out his arm was healthy, or did the tiny touch on his hand made him feel this way?

"Oh, I know this look. My parents always look at each other like this. Who is the one you're thinking about, Lee Taehoon?" Kibum led his horse next to Taemin, and blinked at the boy with a half-smile.

"What?"

"Jinki said there is no girl who's waiting for you at home. And you're not that young to avoid girls, Taehoon. Believe me. I'm sure beautiful girls are only waiting for you at your door, am I right?"

"Jonghyun" gulped Taemin. He had to be very careful during the talk, but he needed some advices.

"Yes?" he asked back after a little break, looking at Kibum, like he would know what would happen next.

"What did you feel, when you met Yubi?"

"I knew there was someone in your mind." Kibum smiled, like he knew every secret in the world.

"Yubi is the most beautiful girl I've every seen, so it's not a surprise I fell in love with her immediately." Jonghyun made it a little bit too dramatic, and Kibum rolled his eyes. "But of course I'm not that superficial. When I started to talk to her and I got to know her more my feelings became stronger."

"Did your heart beat faster when she touched you?"

Taemin's question was followed by silence, what the other soldiers' voices, the horses' hooves' sounds, and the birds' singing disturbed.

"Oh, our little Taehoon is in love!" Kibum shouted, like a proud mother.

"No, I'm not!" Taemin protested and he wanted to cover the other man's mouth with his hand, but they were on their horses.

But Kibum spoke so loudly even those could hear him who were in the beginning of the line. Choi Minho did not pay attention to the councillor's voice just for a moment, and carefully looked back over his shoulder. He saw as Kibum was laughing, Jonghyun was waiting for an explanation, and Taemin wanted to disappear from the earth. Actually the last one only happened when Taemin's gaze met Minho's eyes.

"Seeing the colour of your face I guess Kibum's right." Jonghyun placed himself more comfortably in the saddle, and now he was next to Taemin with his horse.

"But who could be that?" Kibum looked around in the crowd of the soldiers, and lifted his hand to cover the sun.

"What are you doing?" Jonghyun laughed at the younger's behavior.

"There is no choice here, but there are two options." Kibum counted them with his fingers. "A brave girl broke the rules and joined the army as a man. Just think about it" he gave them time ", how cool would it be?"

"A woman in the army? Well, this..." Jonghyun wanted to say he had never heard such nonsense, but he suddenly changed his mind. "Go on."

"So if that happened Taehoon found it out and fell in love with this girl, hm?"

"I like this one. What's the other option?"

"Maybe it's a little bit more possible... Taehoon fell in love with a real soldier. Isn't it romantic? Our little Taehoon fell in love!" He could say it so loudly again, this time not just the captain but the councillor heard it too. 

"Well... I think the first one is more believable." The elder said, making Kibum disappointed.

"So, do you think it's more likely that someone is here illegally, than Taehoon loves a man?" Kibum added quietly.

"Taehoon should answer this. So?"

He felt both of the men's gazes on himself, and it made him blush. He did not know what he should say to avoid this situation, but he suspected it was impossible. 

"Hey, Jinki!" Jonghyun called him, when he noticed the elder was behind them, he just did not join the conversation. "Do you know who's the one Taehoon talked about?"

As he remembered he did not say that much to Jinki in that night, when they were talking about relationships and women, so Taemin did not have to worry. At least he thought. 

"How would I know? And if he told me anything, how would I know it was the truth?"

Cold ran down on Taemin's spine as he heard the man's words. He wanted to turn back to see Jinki's face, but he already led his horse away and went ahead to the other soldiers.

"Pff... grumpy old man." Jonghyun rolled his eyes. "But, Kibum... this theory about the girl, who joined the army... it sounds really interesting."

*

He did not know what happened to Jinki. They stopped in the next day so the horses could take a rest, because they were not used to this much walk during the soldiers' training. Councillor Daemok got two soldiers who made his tent, because he said he wouldn't sleep under the sky. The captain did not say anything, because the councillor was the king's man, and if it was not about the army, he did not really care what the old man wanted to do.

Taemin was tired and exhausted, too, just like the other soldiers, but he was one of the men who offered he would bring some water in buckets. Some of the soldiers did it before him, but they were more tired than Taemin, so he thought he would finish their work. They told him where he could find the river, and he walked in that way with a bucket in his hand.

Cold wind moved the leaves on the trees and bushes, but the soldiers' voices calmed Taemin down from the little camp. Their captain told them to always have a sword with them just in case. The boy leaned down at the river bank, but as he heard noises he dropped the bucket and turned around.

He did not see anyone in the dusk. The wind continued to move the leaves, so Taemin told himself it was only the forest and he was too tired, so maybe he imagined some noises.

Wonho put his hand on his mouth, and hoped the boy wouldn't hear his breaths. He carefully turned back and watched the Korean soldier through the leaves. They had to find the Korean army just to make sure they were on their way. But Takuya gave a special task to the elder, too.

Hearing more noises Taemin did not care about anything, because he knew it was just the wind, but when he turned around he almost dropped the bucket. He wanted to put his left hand to his heart, but he knew he could not do that. 

"Jinki! I didn't know you were here. Are you here for water, too?" he looked down at the man's hands, but they were empty. "Where are the buckets?"

The answer did not come. He never saw Jinki this serious and strict before. When the training had begun their captain made faces like this, but Jinki never did it. Taemin saw him when Jinki was happy or when he was worried, but it was something new.

"Is... is something wrong?" he remembered what the man had said, when he was talking to Jonghyun and Kibum.

If he told me anything, how would I know it was the truth?

Did he hurt him with something? But they barely talked to each other since... since he had climbed the column. Jinki did not go to him, not even once, during the tasks in that day, and he did not look for his company when they were eating. It was strange to him, because after he climbed the column Jinki was the one who helped him.

"Jinki?" Taemin came back from the memories, when the man was already in front of him, and they were so close to each other he dropped the bucket because of the fear.

It fell with a loud noise, and all of the water what was in it spilled and covered the ground.

Taemin felt the tree behind his back, and he hit his head too, but he did not care about it. Jinki pressed him to the tree by his right shoulder, and started to remove the clothes from his left one. Taemin knew it was a mistake when he got rid of his armor, but he did not know he would need it now. 

"Jinki!"

He did not understand anything. He had no idea what Jinki was thinking about, but when the man's gaze stopped on the white bandage what covered Taemin's skin, he slowly looked into the boy's eyes. Taemin was breathing faster, and he already knew what would be the next step. But he was not fast enough, and Jinki's fingers found the end of the bandage, and he started to remove it from the boy's arm. He took it down until Taemin's elbow, but it was enough to see the perfectly healthy skin.

A deep sigh escaped from Jinki's mouth, but Taemin did not know he was relieved or it was another emotion. Jinki let him go, and took a step back.

"Who are you? Because after this you can't say Lee Taehoon's name."

"I..." he started to talk, but suddenly stopped and looked around.

He was afraid the other soldiers could be nearby, but he did not see anyone, and the voices were quietly and distant.

"I can explain it."

"Really?"

He wished Jinki would talk more quietly, because soon he heard bushes' swishes again, and the voice he heard after that made his heart skip a beat, and Taemin showed his back to the men.

"Lee Jinki! Lee Taehoon! What are you doing?"

After he heard the name Lee Taehoon Jinki looked at the boy, who was wrapping the bandage back on his arm. Taemin knew he blushed, but he wished he was not, and he could only hope their captain did not hear or see anything.

"He just helped me with my bandage." Taemin gabbled, and in the end his voice shook.

Jinki's lips parted, like he wanted to say something, but he changed his mind, and looked down at the bucket. The two younger watched him in silence, as Jinki filled the bucket with water. When he finished it he straightened up, bowed to Choi Minho, and left, not even looking at Taemin. 

The black haired boy followed him with his gaze until the man disappeared in the way of the camp. He was so shocked, he almost forgot he was not alone, and he only realized it, when Minho cleared his throat.

"Trouble always finds you, what do you think, Tae?"

"Maybe... maybe I should avoid everybody" he shrugged his shoulders, sniffing, and quickly wiped his tears off from his face.

When he walked by the captain, Minho grabbed his right arm, making him stay. He felt as every inch of Taemin was shaking, and the boy looked at the ground, so the elder could not see his tears.

"Maybe you should adjust your clothes first."

"Oh." Taemin noticed his chest was still visible after Jinki pulled his upper clothes off from his left shoulder.

He wanted to reach for it to adjust his clothes, but he quickly realized he could use only one hand. Minho watched him a little bit, then turned Taemin to him. The elder wanted to touch the bandage first, but Taemin pulled away. Minho understood and just adjusted his upper clothes.

"I know you're soldiers, but I can't stand violence in the camp."

"I know." Taemin nodded, and it was the first time he looked up at the captain, who was watching him. "But... but it's not what happened."

"Then why are you crying?"

"What?"

Minho wiped a tear drop off with his thumb. The tear was mixed with dust, what was on Taemin's face because of the long walk. The captain took a cloth out from his pocket, and leaned down to the river, so he could dip it into the cold water. Taemin watched him in silence. He was breathing through his parted lips, because he was afraid his snivel would make things worse.

"You're like a child." Minho noted, when he came back with a half-smile on his face.

The words left Taemin's mouth without thinking.

"I'm not a child."

Yes, he was. He was a sixteen years old child, who sould not have been in the army.

"I know."

He could get Taemin's attention with it. When the wet, cold cloth touched his face to wash the dust and the tears off Taemin shuddered, but he did not move from Minho.

"A child wouldn't survive things like you. Now go and take a rest. We'll leave after a few hours."

"Why are you so kind to me? And... and don't say that because I'm like your sister."

Minho laughed at the memory, but as he saw the other was not in a good mood, and he wanted to change it. He patted Taemin's right shoulder, and gave him the cloth.

"You're a good person, Lee Taehoon... Tae" he corrected himself, then turned around and went back to the camp.

"Good person." Taemin repeated, when Minho could not hear him, and wrapped the cloth around his left wrist. "I wish you were right."

When he arrived back to the camp the moon was already on the dark sky. There were only a few places where he could see fire, because they did not want to draw the attention to themselves, and everybody had to sleep soon to get some energy during the few hours.

Taemin wanted to go to Jonghyun and Kibum, who were lying next to each other, and if he heard it right Kibum was laughing at something the elder told him. He did not want to disturb them, so he looked for another place, when he saw that Jinki was sitting next to a tree, and he was pulling out the grass from the ground. 

"Can we talk?"

Jinki almost said some sarcastic comments, but he quickly swallowed them and led his attention back to the grass. Taemin took it as a yes, so he carefully sat down next to the man.

"Who are you? And how do you know Lee Taehoon?"

He looked around again to see if they were safe, but they were not with the others, and almost all of the soldiers were sleeping. There was no light in the tent of the councilor, and he did not see Minho either.

"How did you find out?"

He thought Jinki would want him to answer first, but it did not happen. The man let the grass go from his fingers, and wiped his hands on his clothes.

"I was the first who saw you on the column. Do you remember? I was the one who shouted your name first."

Taemin tried to remember well, and when he could do that he nodded.

"I saw you, when you used both of your hands. First I thought I was still sleeping and it was a dream, but the others started to leave their tents, and... and I had to do something. If they saw you, the Captain and the Councilor would know about you."

"Why did you do that? Why did you help me?"

"Because I was curious. Actually, I still am" he admitted quietly, and turned his head aside to look at the boy. "I'm curious who are you and why did you tell us you're Lee Taehoon?"

He had no idea where he should start or he could trust Lee Jinki. Although the man did not tell anybody about his secret, so he hoped it wouldn't change. Anyway, it was more and more difficult not to talk about his feelings or thoughts. These were the things what could take him into trouble.

"Lee Taehoon... he is my brother."

Jinki was not surprised. He nodded and waited for the other details. Taemin had to collect his thoughts, so this way his words would seem logical.

"I didn't want my father or my brother to come into the war, and I..."

"Oh my God..." it left Jinki's mouth as he looked at Taemin. 

He remembered the conversation between the four of them, when they were talking about each others' families. Kibum said some interesting things about Taehoon's little brother.

"How... how old are you?"

"Six... sixteen." Taemin gulped and his dry lips.

"Are you crazy?"

He was talking louder than before, so he looked around, but he did not see anyone. Jinki turned back to the boy, and continued more quietly.

"Do you know what it is about? It's not a game."

"I know, and I knew it back then too, but I didn't have a choice. My father and my brother were not in the condition to fight, but they were too proud to admit it. This... this is why I ran away and..."

"Don't they know you're here?"

Taemin saw the shock and the worry in Jinki's eyes. He shook his head, and pulled his knees to his stomach.

"I mean... I didn't tell them, but I guess they know by now. My brother's armor, his clothes and the paper roll are with me. But they didn't come after me, so..."

"Of course they didn't. Don't you still understand? It would have been really bad for you. You broke the King's rule. Do you know what's going to happen to you when the Captain or the Councillor will know about this?"

"But... but no one will know. As the war ends I'll go home, and no one will know who I am. Except you, of course."

"And what if you can't go home? Did you think about that? The war is not like the ones people tell children stories about."

He knew everything about wars; his brother and his father told him everything.

"If... if something happens to me in the war, then... then it doesn't matter anymore, right?"

Jinki sighed and ran his fingers through his brown hair, nervously. He had no idea what he should do after this. He was an adult, a father, and he knew exactly what Taemin's family could feel.

"Nothing will happen."

"Hm?" he looked at the man next to him, curiously.

"Just... just stay with me. I told you, remember? Your brother saved me, and I owe him. He's not here, so this is the only way."

"What do you mean?"

"I won't tell anybody who you are... or who you are not. And I promise I will take you back to your family after the war. Alright?" he showed his little finger up. 

Jinki always did it if it was about his daughter, and because she was not with him now he felt at least he had to take care of this boy. Taemin slowly touched the other's finger with his own, and accepted the promise.

"And now... I think you should tell me your real name. What do you think?"

"My name..." It was a long time ago, when he could say his own name out loud, it almost felt strange. "My name is Lee Taemin."

*

He could see almost everything from the mountain. Takuya tilted his head, while he put his finger on the sword. He heard the steps from behind, but he did not turn around. He did not have to be afraid. 

"So, is there something interesting?"

Wonho stopped next to the younger, on the edge of the cliff. He needed some time to calm his breath down, because he ran to the camp to find Takuya.

"Do you know what's the Captain's weakness?"

"He already lost his father, shouldn't we..."

"Shin."

"Yes?"

"I gave you a task because I trust you" he stepped behind the boy with an easy move. "Why are you like this?"

He put one of his hands on the boy's hips, while the sword was still in the other. Shiver ran through Wonho's back, when he felt Takuya's breath on his neck, and he closed his eyes.

"You know I only have to move a little bit to push you off? No one would survive it, if you ask me."

"You're crazy." Shin whispered between two breaths.

"Thank you." Takuya laughed and threw the sword on the ground.

He turned the boy around with a sudden movement, so they could look into each others' eyes.

"There is... there is a soldier." Shin told him finally, when his heel did not touch the ground.

"It's not that interesting information. I know there are soldiers in the Korean army. Tell me something new."

"This... This soldier is important to the Captain."

"Hm... it sounds better. Why is he important?"

"I... I don't know." Wonho told him honestly, when Takuya took a step closer to him.

Wonho lost his balance, but Takuya's long arms wrapped around him, and pulled the boy back. Shin was shaking in the hug. He almost fell from the cliff.

"What do you mean he is important to him? Maybe... is he his brother? Are they friends? Or... are they lovers?"

"I just... I just saw as he helped him, when he knew he was in trouble. He was..." Wonho wanted to find the perfect word. "He was so nice to him."

"I knew you're the perfect man for this task. Come on, it's late, and you should sleep." Takuya let him go, and interlaced their fingers.

The tall man picked the sword up from the ground, and smiled at the other, while they were walking to their tent. 

 

 

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Hi everyone!ˇˇ

First, I want to thank you the readings and the comments! <3

And there is something important what I share in every fanfiction of mine, so as you know university is here again, and I don't have that much free time like during the summer >< BUT I will try to write it as often as I can, just as my other stories. 

I hope you liked this chapter and I hope I can bring the next one soon! ^^

Have a nice weekend! <3 

Sorry for any mistakes, I will fix them! :3