Seora woke up to find herself snuggled at his side, her head resting on his arm and her lips and nose pressed against his bare chest. Chanyeol was still sound asleep, his face facing the hay thatched roof and breathing at a slow and peaceful pace.

A part of exhaustion from the day before still haunting inside her, she decided to stay lying beside him for a bit longer.

Her arm which was hugging him was placed right across his abdomen, and suddenly remembering that her palm was placed right on his wound, she took it off at once fearing it would hurt and wake him up.

There were stains of blood on her palm, probably dried away hours ago. She raised her head and looked at the undressed wound, and thankfully it wasn’t bleeding, and was not at a bad condition as she thought it would be.

With a sigh, she rested her head back on his arm.

Chanyeol was nowhere near waking up. His broad chest heaving up and down at a slow rhythm, he slept, still his arm securely hugging her around and holding her closer to his side.

Being in love feels great. But it feels thousand times greater when that person actually loves you back.

She smiled to herself and closed her eyes, not to sleep but snuggle closer and feel more of him if that was possible.

“Taking advantage of sleeping men, aren’t we?”

Seora shot her eyes open and looked up at him.

He was finally awake and smirking at her, still his eyes and voice heavy with sleep.

That was when she realized that her fingers had been unconsciously tracing the lines of his abs while she was lying in his hold with her eyes closed. Redding all over the face, she retreated her hand and bit her lip.

Betraying the sleepiness in his voice, his hands moved faster, taking her completely onto himself. The sneaky hands moved under his oversized robe which she was still wearing, to push the fabric half aside and hug her around the waist. “I really want to go back to our place... this is not our own home you know.” He sighed groggily. “Let’s go as soon as we come up with a proper plan.”

She lowered her head and nuzzled against the base of his neck, earning a low groan from the male. “Let’s get recovered properly first. Then you can start working on other things.”

“Let’s go meet Yingyun today with Sehun. So we can sort out—Yah Lady Shin what are you doing?”

Her lips were playfully brushing against his neck. Exactly over the only place Chanyeol felt ticklish.

She placed a kiss on the comparably rough skin. A chuckle escaped his lips along with a sigh. “What do I do with you seriously...”

Reaching up her messed hair, his fingers started her head, raking through the midnight black tresses softly. “Let’s head outside now. You didn’t even have dinner last night... you must be hungry.”

Seora raise her head at once. “I’m not hungry! Not at all!” she shook her head, eyes widen.

“Ah... Shin Seora seriously you are...”

She was pulled into a kiss, a soft kiss as his smiling lips met her surprised ones.

But kisses weren’t going to end soft and fluffy for them from now on. Chests pressed on one another... fingers tangling in each other’s raven locks... murmuring sweet nothings when they grew short of breath... not just stopping at each other’s swollen lips and forgetting the worlds outside once again...

It took them more than a while to exit their room.

* * * * * * * *

“Hyung please. Don’t force me to do what I don’t want to do.”

Chanyeol pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh. “Sehun, you didn’t use to be immature like this you know? So what’s this childishness now?”

The younger didn’t budge at all. “You can go see her if you want. Why would you need me?”

“Because she lived with you for a while! I mean... you know her the best and it’s better to have you around when we talk out things with the girl.”

“But I don’t want to.”

“Sehun-ah please let’s go, hmm?” seora came and sat beside the poker faced young man. “We understand that you’re hurt because of her... but in the end, I’m alive like this thanks to her... isnt that the truth?”

He swallowed the faint lump he felt in his throat.

“Let’s give her a chance to correct her wrongdoings Sehun. If she’s staying away from her uncle, I’m sure that means we’ll be able to get her help.”

In the end, Sehun was leading the General and his wife to the inn he had been frequenting recently.

As usual, the girl was taken aback by seeing the familiar tall figure entering the inn, but she was completely shocked by the taller figure that followed him, hand in hand with the lady she had helped escape on a certain night.

“Yingyun...” Seora was the first to walk up to the shocked girl, and talk to her while gently taking her hand. “Have you been well Yingyun?” she smiled caringly.

* * *

“What happened after we left that night Yingyun? What made you run away and live in hiding like this?”

Seora asked, after Chanyeol got the girl excused for a moment from her work. “Is it okay for you to talk here? Or do you want to go somewhere else?” Chanyeol started questioning her as well.

The Chinese girl shook her head. “It’s alright my lord. The rush hours are over. And there won’t be many customers until dinner time again.” She answered, hesitantly meeting the General’s eyes and turning her head down again. Seora reached across the table, and took her hand again. “You don’t have to be afraid Yingyun... We’re not here just for ourselves. We want to help you too.”

Only one person was remaining silent the entire time.

Sehun did have many questions, but the pain still left in him and his ego were holding back everything he wanted to ask.

Why isn’t Chanyeol hyung asking what’s wrong with her ankles? Hyung be more considerate will you?

And why did she run away from Shao Xuan?

Did she get harassed by anyone?

“I...” Ying paused for a moment. “I ran away from my uncle.”

“And why is that?” Chanyeol leaned on the table with his elbows.

The girl took a deep breath before continuing.

“They took me back to him after I helped the lady to escape... and those men revealed uncle about everything I did.

To be honest, his trust in me was already tainted before that, and he was furious after this incident. His sole intention was to take revenge on you my lord, and your lady, but since I prevented it, he was driven insane with rage.”

She heaved a sigh before continuing. “I was locked up in a store room in his camp near the country border, and he said he’ll keep me there until he catch and destroy you all in front of my eyes before he kill me too.”

“Kill you??? His own niece? Did Shao Xuan say that?” Seora asked in disbelief.

“He’s not the person I thought him to be my lady.”

Chanyeol nodded thoughtfully. “As expected from that barbarian. And what about that limp? Ankle cuffs I assume.”

Ying pursed her lips. “Not actual cuffs my lord... it was a rope. It was tied too tight that it cut into my skin...but it’s quite healed thanks to Jungsoo’s treatment.”

Her voice trailed off at the heavy sigh heard from the one and only silent person of the four.

She stared at Sehun, who still didn’t straighten his slumped shoulders or raise his head to meet her eyes.

Chanyeol took a glance at his friend and turned to Ying again. “So how did you escape?”

“There was one person who helped me... I thought he was a nasty jerk all the time... but he actually cared for me, and helped me get out of there.”

The last sentence made Sehun’s eyebrows narrow, even though his head still was bent down.

Someone who cared? A man?

Lost in his puzzled thoughts, he didn’t notice her eyes fill with tears and voice break while talking. “Taekwoon said... Jung Taekwoon said that...”

Jung Taekwoon? That twerp?

His wild assumptions came to an end right at her next words.

“He said that Shao Xuan killed my parents.”

Sehun’s head shot up and met her teary eyes in utter disbelief. “Wait... your parents... isn’t your father his own brother?” Chanyeol asked. “Does that mean he killed his own brother and his wife?”

“And my brother... he’s the same age as Taekwoon... and Taekwoon said my uncle didn’t plan to kill my brother and me but ended up taking his life too because he saw my parents being killed...”

A sob hitched her voice. “That demon killed my mama and baba because of his greed for their wealth and possessions... and that’s how he had started all his trading... with my parent’s fortunes...”

“Oh my god...” Seora muttered, gently caressing the girl’s hand.

“And I lived almost two decades of my life, treating such a demon like my own father... and hating people of Joseon because he said they killed my parents.” She sobbed. “And he made me do all those evil deeds in the name of revenge.”

Chanyeol released a strained sigh. “Now is it safe for you to stay here? I bet he’s searching for you everywhere.”

Ying shook her head. “If he searches for me, he’ll engage Taekwoon to it, because he’s uncle’s closest disciple. But Taekwoon said he’ll make sure I won’t get caught, so I should live quietly in a rural area.”

“This story turned up to a total new aspect... well Yingyun we’re really sorry about your parents. And I hope we’ll be able to do justice to them as well, for that we’ll have to come up with a proper plan.” Chanyeol stated.

“I’ll help.”

Ying was way more eager than they expected her to be. “I’ll help in every aspect I can and will give you every single information I know about him. I just want him to suffer for all he did up to the date.”

“We will. We definitely will catch him.” Chanyeol assured. “But let’s wait a little longer, until we’re ready t