Sungmin feels like he has slept through a whole decade of upheavals and chaos.

First, there were loud footsteps rushing through the forest and people screaming and falling to the ground.

Then, everything went dark and every sound faded into dead silence.

Then, there was more shouting, but this time, it sounded more like people arguing and giving commands. After a while, the arguments and commands are replaced by a female voice as soft as a songbird and a younger male voice. Then everything went silent again.

The next time Sungmin opens his eyes, he is standing on a hill that overlooks all of Hanyang. Nearby, a field of bright pink flowers is in its blooming season. Every petal is bathing in sunlight, full of energy. Sungmin can clearly smell the sweet scent coming from the flowers, just like on his sleepless nights at Seowangmyeong, he would always find a bouquet of these flowers sitting next to his mattress.

- Sungmin.

A warm and familiar voice calls out for him. This voice, he had heard a thousand times before. But this time, something was different.

Sungmin turns around to look at the person who had just called him. 

- Kyuhyun.

Kyuhyun stands there, no less than two feet from him.

Sungmin carefully studies Kyuhyun's face. He does not look like the last time that they saw each other on the lonely bridge in the Palace. This time, there is no trace of sadness or pain in Kyuhyun's eyes. Only hope. And excitement at what he is about to say to Sungmin.

Then everything comes crashing down on Sungmin like waves in the ocean. Every memory. Every pain. Every sorrow.

This had happened before.

This is only a memory pushed to the back of Sungmin's mind. Of that day, Kyuhyun and Sungmin, on this hill together. The day that Sungmin announced to Kyuhyun that he was going to Palace.

Sungmin closes his eyes in anticipation of the painful words that had come out of his mouth. But to his surprise, Sungmin does not say a word.

- Sungmin.

Sungmin opens his eyes again to see Kyuhyun still standing there, his eyes full of hope and happiness, his smile brighter than the bright pink flowers that he is holding in his hand.

Without saying anything, Kyuhyun gives him the bouquet of flowers. And Sungmin takes it into his embrace without hesitation, without a question. He smiles back at Kyuhyun, the biggest smile that he has ever given anyone.

And that moment feels like it could last forever. That even if the world around them stops spinning, they would not give the tiniest care.

But once again, everything in front of Sungmin starts fading. Bright pink flowers. Sunshine. Hope. And Kyuhyun.

Until Sungmin wakes up for real this time.

Around Sungmin, a plain white colour fills the room that he is currently lying in.

Sungmin tries to sit up on his mattress, but instantly feels a pain throughout his body. Then, everything starts coming back to him. The attack in Yangjae forest. The poison in the fog. The leader of the gang. Being stabbed in his back and shoulder and chest. And a dark and tall figure that came in time to interfere in the attack.

Sungmin looks around the room one more time. He does not recognise the room that he is staying in. It does not look like the structure of the Palace as well as Seowangmyeong, which is the only two places that Sungmin could think of that could save him from such dangerous gangs of bandits. 

Outside the door to his room, Sungmin could make out the figures of two large men, standing perfectly still on both sides of the door. Sungmin makes a guess that they are guarding the place, either to not let anyone in, or to not let Sungmin out.

It takes Sungmin a while to realise that except for the sound of his and the two guards' breathing, he cannot hear any other sound, as if the place is completely isolated from the outside world. Every now and then, Sungmin can hear the sounds of a rooster crowing somewhere and of birds chirping from outside his window. But other than those sounds, Sungmin cannot catch any other signs that there are actual humans living here.

Sungmin is about to get out of his mattress to study the room more carefully when he hears footsteps approaching his door, then a voice as soft as a songbird greeting the two guards.

'So there are people living in this place.'

Sungmin thinks to himself, then lies back down on his mattress and pulls the covers up to his neck.

The door to Sungmin's room is gently opened, and he slightly opens one eye to take a look at the two figures entering his room.

One is a young girl with a slim build and delicate features. Another is a younger boy, only around 7 or 8 years old. Neither of them shows the slightest of ill intent towards Sungmin, so he lets them approach him.

- Do ah, put the vase on the table next to the mattress, okay?

The young girl says to the boy in her lowest volume possible, to which the boy only whispers back a "Yes, nu-i¹".

- And did you make sure that the medicine is prepared as Doctor Shin instructed?

- Yes, nu-i. I watched the servants prepare it myself.

- Good. Master is really specific about it.

The girl smiles softly at the boy, then turns towards Sungmin. He immediately keeps his eyes shut.

But the girl only puts her hand on Sungmin's forehead for about three seconds.

- No fever today. He's getting better.

- Yes, nu-i.

The girl goes on to fix Sungmin's mattress and blanket. Then, when she is done, they stand up to leave the room.

Sungmin opens his eyes again when their footsteps are gone and the room falls back to its dead silence again. To his surprise, the vase that the boy had carefully put on the table contains a bouquet of the bright pink flowers that he had seen a thousand times before. Their sweet scent spreads throughout the room, and for a moment, Sungmin feels his wounds do not hurt anymore. Could this be only a coincidence that the girl had brought these flowers to his room?

Who are this young girl and the boy that seems inseparable from her? Based on what he calls her, Sungmin guesses that they could be sisters and brothers, but they could easily be cousins or neighbours. But more importantly, who is this Master that they referred to? Why is he so meticulous about Sungmin's medicine? And what is this place?

A thousand possibilities keep running amok in Sungmin's head, and there is no clear answer. But one thing is clear. He has to find an opportunity to get out of here. From what his father and teachers have taught him, no good can come out of getting involved with a gang like this. He does not know what their intentions are. Even worse, Sungmin could bring further trouble for them.

"When in doubt, to take a step back is to be wise", his teacher, superstar of the whole Kingdom Kim Heechul, has passed down his wisdom. He could leave and watch them from afar. The important thing is to keep in control, rather than to stay in others' control.

So Sungmin gets up to leave despite his wounds starting to bleed again.

Sungmin approaches the windows. Right outside the room, a mountain stands tall. Now Sungmin understands why it is so quiet around his room. It seems to be located right at the foot of a mountain, surrounded by green trees and what seems to be a field of flowers in a far distance.

Sungmin carefully climbs on a rock outside the window, then when he gets as far away as possible so that the guards cannot hear him, he jumps on the empty space nearby.

Now he has to find a path to go which will not get in the guards' sight. He chooses to go through the forest, as it is the only way he will not get caught by the guards.

The forest is quite small, but it is filled with incredibly tall bamboo trees. This, coupled with the light fog on the mountains, makes the forest look like a scene that he always imagines only exists in heaven.

The walk through the forest takes only about half an hour, but to Sungmin's surprise, the scene that opens before his eyes is not trees and mountains, but is what seems to be a small commune. As a reflex, Sungmin quickly jumps on the rooftop of the nearby house and observes everything from there. These houses are obviously for cattle, as Sungmin can clearly hear the sounds of cows mooing right below. Then, the voice of a middle-aged woman nagging at someone.

- Yah, you did it wrong again! How many times do I have to tell you? From top to bottom!

- Yes, ahjuma.

The voice of a young boy. 

Next to the houses, Sungmin can see a large vegetable garden, with more than thirty different types of vegetables and herbs.

Sungmin gently moves to another house. This one looks more like a building than a house. In its yard, about twenty young children are practising martial arts. Among the children, Sungmin is surprised to find that there are both girls and boys, practising martial arts together.

'What is this place?', the question pops up in Sungmin's mind again.

As the children go on to practise their moves, Sungmin realises that these moves look familiar to him. He rummages through his mind, and finally remembers where he had seen these moves before. It was the same moves that his four strange servants had used in Yangjae forest. At the time, he could not tell what school the servants were from, as he did not recognise the moves that they had used. Could it be that they are from this place?

Sungmin decides to move on with his assessment of the place, and quietly leaves the roof and jumps on another.

The rest of the houses look no more than ordinary, until he gets to the tallest building in the commune.

The building is two stories high. Around it, there are smaller buildings, but not less solemn-looking. Tall walls run around the buildings, with guards standing watch every five feet. 

Avoiding the guards has become something of a habit for Sungmin. He takes advantage of their change of shift and jumps over the walls in less than a second. The tall building is in no doubt their headquarter, and Sungmin has to see for himself what kind of place this is, and who the Master is.

As he approaches the tall building, Sungmin can vaguely smell a familiar scent of chestnut wine. But only in one second, the scent is already gone, so Sungmin disregards the scent and chalks it up to his imagination.

Sungmin jumps on the roof of the building on the right of the main building. From there, he can climb inside the building through its balcony.

Or at least that is what he plans to do. 

As soon as he reaches the railings in the balcony, his wounds are affected by the sudden movements and the pain travels throughout his body. For a second, he could not keep hold of the railings and starts falling from the second floor. 

Sungmin closes his eyes and thinks for sure he is gonna hit the rough ground beneath, when he falls into something much softer and warmer.

The scent of chestnut wine has suddenly become stronger.

Sungmin opens his eyes. In front of him, memory of the field of bright pink flowers on a hill starts coming back. Along with it, sunshine, hope, and Kyuhyun.

*********

1. Nu-i: an old honorific to address an older female (now people use noona)