Panic rolls through Jongin. He’s injured. His crown prince is injured somewhere, and Jongin’s not there to protect him. He needs to hurry.

The cove connects one side of the river to another, so Jongin emerges on the far bank and looks back across the river to his horse. He whistles for her to come, but she whinnies, stepping her hooves in place.

Frustrated, Jongin darts back through the cove to return to her side. She can’t fit through the short entrance, so through the river she’ll have to go. He removes his travel satchel that’s still attached to her saddle to keep it dry. In fact…

He re-enters the cove and removes his own change of clothes from the satchel to make space for the royal hanbok. Carefully, he packs the bloodied garment in his bag and leaves behind his own in its place. In the event any enemies come searching for Kyungsoo, they’ll find only commoner clothes here.

Knowing he’ll need to get wet, Jongin tosses the satchel onto the far bank and strips down to just his sokgoui before crossing back over and grabbing the horse’s reins firmly in his hand. “Come on, girl,” he coaxes, leading her into the water to swim across. She resists at first, clearly not wanting to enter the river, but eventually relents.

She swims reluctantly, Jongin tugging and leading her along as he swims to the other bank, the weight on his arm triggering a memory from a few months past…

~Flashback~

He was accompanying Prince Kyungsoo and his attendants as they walked through the palace gardens, shoes stepping through the light dust of snow on the ground. Jongin trailed several steps behind the crown prince, not minding the brisk air of late winter. Kyungsoo enjoyed leisurely strolls whenever it meant he could avoid indoor engagements with the palace officials whom he almost uniformly despised.

As they crossed a bridge over the pond, the prince suddenly spoke. “Oh, the cherry tree has blossomed early.”

Pleasantly surprised, he took a step toward the tree to get a better look, not remembering he where he was. Kyungsoo’s shin hit the low railing of the bridge, and in the blink of an eye, he was stumbling forward.

Jongin rushed over and reached out to catch him, managing to snag Kyungsoo’s belt and stall his fall long enough to wrap an arm around the prince’s waist, but the momentum carried them both over the side of the bridge and splashing into the cold waters below.

Jongin pulled them up to the surface immediately. “Your Highness! Are you okay?” he asked, treading water while holding Kyungsoo afloat with a strong arm around his middle, tugging him closer.

He didn’t get a direct response, but Kyungsoo looked at him with an indecipherable gaze, and then gave a simple nod. Their faces much too close for Jongin’s comfort, his eyes snagged on the prince’s plush lower lip, and Jongin jolted himself into action before wayward thoughts could consume him. “Hold on to me,” he suggested, starting to swim sidestroke.

Kyungsoo’s arms laced around his back, and Jongin headed for the nearest edge of the pond, where the crown prince’s gaggle of attendants swarmed, all in a panic.

“I’m sorry, Highness,” Jongin heaved out between heavy breaths as he swam. “I should’ve caught you before you fell.” They were clutched tightly together as Jongin moved through the frigid waters, their bodies surging forward and lulling back in rhythm with his sidestroke. With their close proximity, he could feel Kyungsoo’s warm breath on his cheek and Kyungsoo’s body tremble in his arms. “It’s so cold. You must be so uncomfortable,” he said apologetically.

“No,” Kyungsoo said softly. “I’m okay. It’s… refreshing.”

Jongin chuckled at the ridiculousness of that claim. He tried to tuck Kyungsoo ever closer to keep him warm, but the more snugly he held the prince, the more he seemed to tremble in his arms, their legs accidentally tangling a few times with Jongin’s scissor kicks.

When they reached the side, Jongin helped him onto the shore and got a quiet, “Thank you,” just before the attendants rushed their prince and quickly took him away for a steam bath and a check-up by the palace physician.

Physician… The crown prince needs to see a physician as soon as possible for his wounds but also--

Jongin stumbles out of the river and falls onto his knees, gasping in shock as realization hits him. His medicine. Kyungsoo hasn’t been able to take his nightly medicine for his heart arrhythmia.

Jongin scrambles to get dressed and get on the move again. His horse can cover ground quickly now in the simple, grassy foothills on this side of the river. He uses it to his full advantage, galloping in long sweeping pathways alongside the river and gradually further out, searching desperately for any signs of Kyungsoo.

A patch of blood on the vivid green grass catches his attention. Luckily, there is no continuous trail, suggesting the prince likely stumbled here rather than his wound was bleeding so freely that it couldn’t be contained... Jongin bites his lip and focuses through watery eyes to determine the trajectory of Kyungsoo’s path from the cove to the bloodied grass. He turns his horse to continue on the same line away from the river.

Finally, as he crests one of the hills, he can see two nearby towns, still several kilometers away. One is further north, the other straight ahead. Considering Kyungsoo is injured, J