3rd POV

The Sun Reaper and The Smuggler

It was early spring. But not the romantic kind of scenery with blooming fruit trees and fresh green grass. Actually, it might have been during the day but right now it was night. Dark heavy night with cold rain and omnipresent wind that grabbed you by your wet clothes and made you shake down to your bones. He bit his lower lip to hold back a sneeze, he could hear them wheezing around, they sounded like bird and steam pot hybrids. It made him shake all the more.

Eunhyuk was a smuggler, one of the best ones, because he was still alive. But that was only a matter of time, perhaps by sunrise, there will be Eunhyuk no more.

They were closing to him, no matter how tight he tried to hold his jaw, his teeth kept clattering. In his drenched clothes, he was crouched behind a large maple tree. He had abandoned his load of goods long time ago, fighting for his life was the priority now. And with a large dose of luck, he could pick up the hidden bag later. Luck, Eunhyuk didn´t have much of luck and he was sure that the little bit of it that was left after his miraculous escapes, he must have used all up already. The wheezing sound was getting near him and when his eyes locked with those fiery ones of a Spring-heeled Jack, he thought that this kind of death was nothing but pitiful.

Donghae´s name was unknown to the rest of the world, everyone knew him as the Sun Reaper. Just as his name signified, he was of foul mood and darkness. That rainy spring night he was in rage again, to calm down, he rushed out of his mansion and into the cold forest. He hoped the spring shower would be a good distraction and it turned out to be the truth as he came across a few Spring-heeled Jacks looking for somebody. Donghae didn´t particularly want to save the chased person, it was just a dirty smuggler or something, but he didn´t mind taking out his anger on a few Jacks. Hell, he wanted to relieve himself and if ripping a few of those bastards would help, he was all in.

Eunhyuk couldn´t believe his eyes, he has seen this person before, he could even recall that memory, but he didn´t understand why the Sun Reaper came to his aid. Luck, Eunhyuk still had some luck left, thank God. The machinery was breaking down and bones cracking, the red-eyed Spring-heeled Jack was only a pile of rubbish in a split of a moment. There were other Jacks in the forest, but they had natural fear of the likes of the Sun Reaper and kept away. Eunhyuk watched the heaving figure with astonishment, he wasn´t as tall as he remembered him, but he was much more intriguing. Before he could stop himself, he spoke to him.

“I meet you again, just when I thought that I had run out of luck,” Eunhyuk grinned sheepishly.

Donghae didn´t expect the dirty human to talk to him, he was sure the man with short black hair and in soaked clothes was a smuggler. Where did this smuggler take the courage to talk to him? As expected, men in this profession are obnoxious. Fortunately, Donghae didn´t feel like killing poor bony people. He turned around to walk away, he wasn´t mad anymore, so he was starting to feel cold. It was right before sunrise.

“The next time I see you,” Eunhyuk called, “I will make sure to bow properly.”

The Sun Reaper stopped walking for a moment, shook his head and left. Eunhyuk saw him disappearing in the first rays of sunlight and noticed that his hair was dark brown, just like his eyes. He seemed sad and tired, which confused the smuggler. What can a superior being like the Sun Reaper miss in his life? Eunhyuk believed that nothing.

When Donghae returned home, there was nobody to welcome him. Only one of the maids, an ugly small dwarf´s wife, took his wet overcoat. The servants in Donghae´s mansion were all dwarfs, the wives and children of dwarfs that worked in Donghae´s mines. That´s the source of the Sun Reaper´s wealth, coal mines, gold mines, salt mines. Donghae´s family owns half of the Great mountains, yet only one remaining family member enjoys the income. The hallways are empty, as are the numerous bedrooms and guestrooms. It has been ages since a ball was held in the huge ballroom, since there was a garden party around the pond, since there was a welcomed visitor. Only Donghae´s business partners paid him a visit, much to the house owner´s chagrin. Donghae walked to the dress room and started changing from his oily and bloody clothes. He asked for his breakfast to be delivered to the study.

“What do you mean, you left the bag in the forest?!” Eunhyuk´s sister wasn´t pleased at all. The small smuggler´s place was overcrowded with family members.

“Can´t you just give me the porridge? I almost didn´t make it back, okay?” The eldest smuggler in the family, still only a young man, took off his muddy shoes. “Just be thankful I´m back and feed me,” he grumbled under his nose as he was trying for the past half an hour to persuade his sister to let him eat.

“No food for beggars,” his younger brother snorted, earning himself a hit from Eunhyuk.

“I´m no beggar, I´m the one making money here,” the smuggler was already on the verge of exploding.

“Oh really? Where´s the money then?” His mother just came home from ´work´. Eunhyuk grumbled and went to sleep without breakfast.

In the evening, sitting on the crumpled balcony smoking his late father´s pipe, Eunhyuk was wondering if it would be safe tonight to go and bring back the goods he abandoned in the forest this morning. Would Spring-heeled Jacks be still intimidated, or would they rather be on guard? His attention caught a figure walking down the winding road. Expensive shoes clapping on cobblestones, heavy dark coat not bothered by the light wind. Eunhyuk recognized those brown locks and sad eyes.

“Sir!” He called into the empty street when the figure was under his balcony.

Donghae looked up and with amusement watched a scrawny man getting up from his stool, hiding a raffish pipe inside his equally raffish pants and giving him a deep bow. The smuggler´s tousled short hair flailed in the wind and then revealed a smiling face when the man straightened up. Donghae noticed that when washed, the man didn´t look half as bad. And most importantly, wasn´t shy to strike a conversation with the feared Sun Reaper.

“Glad I got to thank you, after all,” Eunhyuk beamed. He couldn´t be happier and he was dying to talk more to the man. “As I might not return home tonight, I would be mad if I couldn´t at least give you a proper thanks.”

“You are going back there?” Donghae was surprised by both, the smuggler´s courage and the fact that he ended up responding to him.

“It can´t be helped, I left my stuff there,” the smuggler shrugged but it was apparent that he wasn´t persuaded. And Donghae shocked himself for the second time.

“I am in no hurry, how about I follow you there?” He offered, and it seemed to excite the smuggler so much, he almost fell over the railing.

“Really? Can we go together? You wouldn´t mind? Give me a second!” And without letting the Sun Reaper answer any of his questions, Eunhyuk disappeared in the house.

Donghae heard some yelling and the sound of things being thrown around. Afterwards, the smuggler barged out of the main door, dressing up in a long black coat. He gave Donghae a big smile and finally introduced himself.

“My name is Eunhyuk, I´m a merchant,” snort, “I´m the head of the family now so I have to feed about nine to eleven mouths. But I´m not married, they are my siblings and their children and a cousin and grandma, let´s say, people that call themselves my relatives just to get a slice of ham or a piece of cheese.” The smuggler laughed heartily and Donghae understood that the family relations of this man were way too complicated to be asked about. He found himself secretly jealous.

“My name is Donghae.”

“I knew it,” Eunhyuk nodded his head, “the Sun Reaper is way too cool of a name to be real. Donghae sounds familiar.” This reaction surprised Donghae, he wasn´t sure if he should feel offended or pleased, he decided to let this remark go.

They walked into the forest just in time for the darkness to envelope them wholly. Eunhyuk in a habit quieted and was watching out for any red eyes and wheezing sounds. Donghae found it interesting, the way this noisy and chaotic fellow became focused and cat-like graceful. He started watching Eunhyuk, he saw him flow through the forest without moving a single leaf, waking a single bird. No wonder, Spring-heeled Jacks were a real threat, mad and cruel. If they found the smuggler, they would tear him apart just like Donghae had teared them the night before. Donghae wondered if he would have the guts to face Jacks without his enormous power. Probably not, the powerless are the strongest. Eunhyuk seemed to be the biggest proof of this theory.

“Hmm,” Eunhyuk hummed contently, a sort of compromise to make a sound in a surrounding where he was used to keep deadly quiet. From under a tree, he dug up a duffle bag that seemed to be heavy on Eunhyuk´s shoulders. Then Donghae began walking again and Eunhyuk silently followed him.

“This is my property, you can let your guard down,” Donghae announced when they came out on a meadow. Eunhyuk raised his head and under the moonlight he found a mansion standing in the distance. Of course, Eunhyuk had wandered on this property countless times, he knew the whole northern side of the Great Mountains like the back of his hand, but he knew better than to be seen.

“I´m being rude, aren´t I?” He couldn´t withstand it anymore and asked. He wasn´t sure about good manners. His father taught him the basics but only for the purpose of buying and selling stuff, he wasn´t used to any other kind of sophisticated communication. The question assured Donghae that the tiny bit taller man by his side was a good person at heart. The right person to be ´invited´.

“Have you had a dinner?” Donghae asked with a small polite smile. “If you haven´t, I would like to invite you to my house.”

“I think I´m supposed to sa