Chapter 6

The Village in the Forest

Yifan came to Junmyeon’s house the next day, carrying his parcel in his hands.

 

He thought it was probably tiring that Junmyeon kept having to host him, so it would be a good idea to invite Junmyeon to his own home. Maybe ask one of the maids to cook something for him, show him the artifacts that his father, Chief Xuheng had collected.

 

Yifan has some of artifacts of his own. There were these slim boxes with pictures and words on it, and the inside would reveal shiny circles, all reflective on one side. Yifan had no idea what there were, probably stuff from the past before everything collapsed, but it would be cool to show Junmyeon.

 

There were also little packages that contained their own shiny circles, but they came with photo books of people on the cover. Apparently it contained music, which Yifan had no idea how. Must be magic.

 

He knocked on the door again, which was opened by Seungcheol this time. He doesn’t know how Seungcheol reacted to the “marriage” news.

 

Yifan had to figure out a way to get Junmyeon out of it, but yet also out of other arranged marriages. Yifan has always been against them, not liking how others weren’t allowed to love who they wanted. Why could the alphas pick and not omegas? It had to be mutual.

 

“Come in, oh, son-in-law of mine,” Seungcheol said, ushering Yifan inside. “Don’t you want to meet your fiancé?”

 

Was Seungcheol being sarcastic? Maybe he really was mad. Yifan hoped that he could explain the situation to him.

 

“Sir I’m really sorry-“ Yifan tried to say, before Seungcheol closed the door behind him. 

 

“Don’t worry about it, I think people were spying outside,” Seungcheol said. “Jeonghan told me what happened.”

 

Yifan still eyed him suspiciously but let it slide for now, okay with murder at this point. 

 

Seungcheol led him towards the living room, where Junmyeon and Jeonghan were peeling apples, who appeared to be in conversation. 

 

“Junmyeon, aren’t you going to kiss your fiancé hello?” Seungcheol teases, causing Junmyeon to blush and Jeonghan to raise an eye at him.

 

“Seungcheol, you know that’s not funny,” Jeonghan reminded his useless husband. “Hello, Yifan, How was your day today?” 

 

Yifan inches slowly towards the sofa, almost as if asking permission to sit there. “Pretty good, I hung out with my friends. How was you guys’ day?” he asked, shifting his focus to a quiet Junmyeon, who silently continued to peel apples. 

 

My day was awful.” Jeonghan said. “Seungcheol, tell him what you did.”

 

Seungcheol grabbed a chair from the kitchen and brought it towards the living room, ignoring Jeonghan’s question. “Yifan, let me give you a word of advice.”

 

“Choi Seungcheol.”

 

Choi? Why did he call him Choi? The family’s surname was Kim, Yifan tried to recall from what his father told him. 

 

Seungcheol sighed. “I drank his hibiscus tea again.”

 

Junmyeon tried to stifle a giggle but failed as Yifan could still hear traces of it. It was a cute giggle, he noticed. Really endearing.

 

“And was this not to replace the one you drank last time?” Jeonghan questioned his husband. 

 

“I’ll make some more, my love, I can’t help that it was delicious,” Seungcheol said. “Miss your fruit tarts by the way.”

 

“You never even liked them,” Jeonghan whispered under his breath, crossing his arms. 

 

“And I never got to try them,” Junmyeon said. “You only make my mouth water everytime you say that.”

 

The lightbulb in Yifan’s head went off. “This is actually for you, uh, Junmyeon, an-and for your parents,” he said, extending the parcel towards them. 

 

“Oh.” Junmyeon’s face turned pink as he reached out to grab the parcel, his tiny fingers curling around the parchment that was used to wrap it. “Thank you.”

 

“Is this the dowry?” Seungcheol joked, inching back on his chair when he saw Jeonghan give him the look again. 

 

Junmyeon carefully peeled away the sticky substance holding the parchment together and unwrapped it. It was-

 

“WHAT THE ARE THOSE KIWIS?!?!” Jeonghan leaped off the couch and stood in front of Junmyeon, bending down to look at the parcel more closely. “THEY ARE!!”

 

“Holy , really?” Seungcheol said, getting off his chair to go to where they were standing. “And those-“

 

Junmyeon lifted up a small bamboo container that had different compartments, each filled with a different type of berry. “The red ones without the leaves, they’re raspberries, right?” He said, pointing at them.

 

“MY FRUIT TARTS!!” Jeonghan shrieked. “Junmyeon, please marry Yifan, the sooner the better!!” 

 

Seungcheol pouted. “I thought you said no wedding jokes,” he muttered. 

 

“Some of the officials came back from their trip yesterday, and I was able to sneak away some fruit,” Yifan explained. “Those are the ones needed for the fruit tarts, yes?”

 

“Yes, yes, oh my god, Seungcheol, get the dehydrated wheat crackers, I’ll start the filling.” Jeonghan ran towards the kitchen and started pulling ingredients out little makeshift fridge. “We got the cream cheese, milk, the one lime…”

 

“You don’t understand, he hasn’t made them over sixteen years,” Seungcheol explained to a startled Yifan, who was staring at Jeonghan who started grabbing this and that. “He still knows it by heart.”

 

Junmyeon met Jeonghan in the kitchen, where he delicately set the parcel on the countertop, almost as if it were glass. “There’s no secret ingredient that you don’t want to tell me, right?”

 

Jeonghan had grabbed his mixing bowl and was pouring all the wet ingredients first. “Nope! Exactly as I’ve told you all these years.” He took out the whisk and handed it to Junmyeon. “I’ve been waiting to teach you this all these years…”

 

***

 

“Hakyeon, look.” Taehyung pointed at figure walking slowly, about thirty feet from them. “There he is, the creepy guy.”

 

“Who, the one with the black hair?” Hakyeon grabbed another potato slice from the basket. They sure loved potatoes, it was their favorite snack. “The alpha, isn’t he, uh, Ju..Jung, I don’t know, I’m stupid. LEO!!” He shouted for Taekwoon, who refused to go by his real name. “CAN YOU COME HERE A SEC??”

 

Taekwoon came back with a blanket from the house, set it on Hakyeon’s shoulders. “What’s wrong?”

 

Taekwoon wasn’t really a talkative person, form what Taehyung could tell, so when Hakyeon would tell him of conversations he’s had with his boyfriend, Taehyung found it hard to believe that Taekwoon can talk for an hour, much less argue with Hakyeon over the best way to cook an egg. 

 

Of course, he never said any of this outloud. It was just a judgement, it wasn’t true. Hakyeon always gushes about how funny Taekwoon was, how nice he was, and Taehyung refused to ruin that bubble for his friend. Just because Taekwoon looked scary didn’t mean he was.

 

And he was a cool guy, too. For an alpha, he was pretty good at bamboo weaving, even enjoyed it; he said it always let him calm down or de stress himself. He always did the weaving for Hakyeon or Taehyung, who at domestic chores. No wonder their parents hated them. 

 

At least Taehyung could cook a bit. However, his parents always said it wouldn’t be enough for his future alpha.

 

“Do you see that alpha, with the black hair and jacket?” Hakyeon asked Taekwoon.

 

“Who, Jungkook?” Taekwoon answered. “He’s chill, what about him?”

 

“He’s chill?” Taehyung asked his best friend’s boyfriend. “He’s been giving me creepy looks for the past few weeks.”

 

Taekwoon made an oh face, looking away.

 

“You know something, don’t you?” Hakyeon got up and stood on his tip toes, trying to reach Taekwoon’s height. “Tell me.”

 

Taekwoon sighed, knowing he had no way out of this one. Once Hakyeon had a suspicion, it was hard to disprove it. “I’ve heard him talk to other alphas about how he…well…”

 

“What, what’s wrong with him?” Taehyung asked, grabbing another potato slice, taking a bite.

 

“Uh… well, I guess you can say he has a slight…” Taekwoon started moving his hands, trying to explain himself. “Uh, I don’t know.”

 

“Leo, you can tell us anything,” Hakyeon reminded him. 

 

“You know I don’t care for gossip, but since he mentioned Taehyung and he’s your friend,” Taekwoon continued. “Jungkook....he has a slight thing for Taehyung, like, uh-”

 

“He likes him,” Hakyeon concluded. 

 

Taekwoon put his hands down on his side, sighing. “I guess.”

 

“He-he what?” Taekhyung stared at him, wide-eyed, not believing what his best friend’s boyfriend just said. “That’s not...that’s not possible.”

 

“It’s why he’s always staring at you,” Taekwoon explained. “It’s not out of malice.”

 

“Oooooooooh, Taehyung has a secret admirer~~” Hakyeon started singing. “He liiiiiiiikes you~”

 

“Hakyeon, he is literally right in front of the street!” Taehyung half-shouted, not wanting to give Jungkook a chance to hear him. Everyone heard Shownu’s screams the other day, and since he was holding hands with Kihyun today, well, they're assuming the two are together now. Wait till the elders found out. 

 

“Well, you have to prepare yourself for when he asks you out,” Hakyeon reminded him. “What are you going to do?”

 

“I’m not dating Jungkook!” Taehyung hushed him. “I don’t even know him!"

 

“Not to jump in your...discussion,” Taekwoon added. “But I think he might, well, I don’t know what his plans are but he might be the type of person who…”

 

“Who what, Leo?” Hakyeon asked him.

 

“...Um, is it, take it slow?” Taekwoon asked. “I don’t know much, sorry I’m not of use-”

 

“No, Leo, you’re doing great.” Hakyeon grabbed his boyfriend’s arm and led him to sit down. “Here, have a potato slice.”
 

*** 

 

This was really awkward for Jisung. 

 

He’s been trying to bring himself to go to the boy’s house (Chen Le, is he could remember correctly) but all he could think about was how he accidentally beat up this sleeping kid and the shame would stop him from visiting. However, it’s already been a while, so now here he was, standing in front of the guy’s house. 

 

It was a really small place. Chen Le lived where the immigrant Chinese live. What made it weird, though, is that he had some Korean friends. A lot of the Chinese kept to themselves. 

 

He really wanted to bring some food, but meals were scarce in his house, so he decided to bring him a bag of cherries. Those were pretty rare, but Jisung had been saving up his coins and used them to buy it from the officials, who came back with more imports. 

 

Jisung has never tried a cherry in life, but maybe Chen Le liked them. Who knows.

 

He knocked on the door, waiting for a response. 

 

An alpha came to the door, a middle aged one. Probably Chen Le’s dad. “Hello? Who are you?” he asked Jisung in accented Korean.

 

“Um, hello sir, I’m uh…” he didn’t like the father’s glare. “I’m Park Jisung, the oldest alpha from the-”

 

“Oh, how old are you?” the man asked him. 

 

“....Sixteen?” Jisung answered. What was with all the questions, anyways?

 

“Oh, you’re here to court Chen Le, right?” the father exclaimed."

 

“Uhhhhhh-” What was that about? Was it because of the town meeting that occurred recently?

 

“Sweetie, someone’s here to court Chen Le!” He screamed behind him to whoever was in the house.”

 

“Um, sir-” Jisung tried to interrupt him, but it was no use. 

 

“Someone for Chen Le??” A female in the house screamed back, then started shouting in some rapid Chinese.

 

“You can wait inside,” the man told Jisung. 

 

Jisung had no choice but to go inside, looking around. It was a really cramped space, he realized. There were a lot of kids playing around, probably Chen Le’s younger siblings. 

 

“Sorry about the mess, the kids love to play around,” the man said. “Make yourself at home.”

 

Jisung nodded, giving him a smile. He was getting creeped out. All he came here was to apologize profusely to Chen Le, say he would apologize for the rest of his life, and give him the cherries. That was the plan. 

 

He needed to figure a way out of this.

 

“Uh, can I go to your washroom?” Jisung asked.

 

The man gave him directions, and Jisung hurried off, locking himself in the washroom. 

 

There was a small bucket of water, so he dipped his hands in them to splash his face. What was he doing here? Did they really think he was trying to court their son? Did a lot of people come to do that?

 

He heard a lot of voices outside the washroom, so he hurried out, and there in a small, also cramped room, he saw Chen Le, rubbing his face as a female omega scolded him. 

 

“You are not going to ruin this,” the woman, who Jisung assumed to be Chen Le’s mother, told Chen Le. “You are going to go out there, act like a good omega, and hopefully develop a relationship with that man.”

 

“Mom, I don’t know any alphas, I-” Chen Le got another slap on his face from his mother. 

 

“Chen Le, don’t mess this up,” she reminded him. “Omegas don’t get to choose.”

 

Jisung walked away slowly, not wanting them to see him. 

 

So they were those types of parents. The ones that saw omegas lower in class than alphas, who thought that omegas should do everything an alpha told him to do. 

 

Those were the worst types of parents, Jisung thought to himself. Like… why would they think that. Omegas don’t choose to be omegas, yet they just get their rights stripped away like that? What could they possibly have done?

 

It was stupid, anyways. Omegas were the minority, here, couldn’t they pick whichever mate they wanted? There was an abundance of alphas, anyways, they had a lot of options. Jisung? Not so much. He already knew he would be single for life. 

 

Well, until now....

 

Chen Le’s parents would probably treat Chen Le worse if they thought a possible alpha turned the omega down. Who knows how many times that has happened. 

 

He walked back to the living room which was already cleaned up, surprisingly. The kids were all sitting on the floor, whispering to each other quietly.

 

“Jisung, would you like something to drink?” the father asked him. 

 

Jisung was about to reject the offer when the mother came in, holding onto Chen Le’s arms. 

 

“Here’s Chen Le!” She exclaimed. “Chen Le, say hi to Jisung!”

 

Chen Le’s eyes went wide when he recognized Jisung, the guy who accidentally hurt him with the stick.

 

“He’s here to court you,” his father explained. “Right, Jisung?”

 

Jisung caught himself saying yes.

***

Mark Tuan was in Jinyoung’s house, pulling ingredients out of the cabinets to make the grapefruit and mango cake. 

 

“Thank you so much for helping me,” Jinyoung said while Mark pulled out a small satchel with flour. “I don’t really know how to bake a cake.”

 

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it,” Mark said. “Where are your mixing bowls?” 

 

“Oh, here.” Jinyoung opened a cabinet door and pulled out a wooden bowl. “Sorry.”

 

“No, it’s okay,” Mark said. “Take it that you don’t have any baking experience?”

 

Jinyoung shook his head. “None, really. I know I am an omega, but,” he shrugged his shoulders while looking down at the floor. “I’m not good at baking or cooking.”

 

“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with being an omega and not knowing how to do those things,” Mark reassured him. “We shouldn’t know everything.”

 

Jinyoung nodded, opening one of the drawers and started pulling out random utensils. “You’re so cool,” he muttered under his breath.

 

Mark raised an eye. “Excuse me, what?”

 

“Oh, nothing, nothing!” Jinyoung waved his hands at Mark. “I just thought you were a cool person, you know?”

 

Mark frowned at him. “Since when? I’m an outcast.”

 

Jinyoung was taken outback. “What? No you’re not, a lot of people look up to you.” 

 

Mark squinted at him. Where was all this praise coming from? Was it because of the cake? “What do you mean?”

 

Jinyoung shrugged. “Well, I guess… a lot of omegas see you as the spokesmen for us. I don’t know. We’re just….”

 

“...scared,” Mark finished for him. 

 

Jinyoung nodded. “Yeah. I guess. Omegas get hate for everything, and they just see us as, well-”

 

“ objects?” 

 

“Yeah, see what I mean?” Jinyoung said. “You’re not afraid to say anything, you speak your mind, and I-I can’t.”

 

Mark picked up the flour and started pouring it in the bowl. “You just got to show them that you don’t give a .”

 

Jinyoung stared at the flour being poured the bowl, rubbing his arms up and down. “It's hard, since, well... you can’t notice, can you?”

 

Reaching for the eggs, Mark started cracking them to put in the bowl. He already accepted the idea that Jinyoung was going keep talked. Plus, Jinyoung admitted that he wasn’t good at baking. “Notice what?” he asked. 

 

Jinyoung clutched his right wrist, digging his fingernails into the skin. “Me.”

 

Mark shrugged, confused. “Is there something I should notice? I get the feeling that you're asking me out.”

 

“What? No no no, that’s not-no,” Jinyoung wrapped his arms around his chest. “You know I love Jaebum,” he whispered, not looking at Mark. “Actually, because of it…”

 

“Jinyoung, if you think I’m going to snitch you or something, don’t worry, do I look like the type of person to snitch to the elders?” Mark set down the eggs and focused on Jinyoung now, getting worried. “Clearly you want to tell me something.” 

 

“Well, I-I-” Jinyoung’s face was turning red. “Jaebum could sense me…” he muttered under his breath. 

 

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

 

“He-he noticed my smell was different, he- Mark, I’m…” it was hard for Jinyoung to force the words out of his mouth. Knowing Mark, he wouldn’t be the type to judge him, but…. “I’m expecting.”

 

Mark’s eyes widen. “Expecting? As in-in a baby?”

 

Jinyoung’s face went red. “Yeah,” he said, his voice cracking. His eyes were started to get shiny. “I’m… pregnant.”

 

Jinyoung bursted into tears, hands reaching to cover his face. Immediately, Mark walked up to him and gave him a hug, patting Jinyoung’s back while the latter continued to cry. 

 

This was bad news. Premarital was frowned upon in the community, and in the most extreme cases, you could get publicly beaten as a punishment. Jinyoung was being courted but he was not mated. This was not good. 

 

Everything he had been blabbing about made sense. Once they reach a certain amount of months, you can sense that the omega was pregnant. Of course, they would soon start being noticeable, but still. There was no way to hide it. 

 

This was bad news for Jinyoung. 

 

***

 

Lucky (or unlucky) for Jinyoung, he was not the only one expecting in the village. 

 

Because when Jaehyun came back from his bath in the river, that’s when he noticed Taeyong’s smell was off. 

 

Jaehyun tried to think. Did Taeyong ate mint again? Those always made his scent go ballistic for some reason. Maybe something in the woods rubbed off him? Maybe-

 

Wait a ing second. 

 

It had been over two years since Taeyong last carried a child, but this was the exact same smell he had when he was expecting Gongchan and Gunwoo, the twins. Plus, they just had…

 

The heat .

 

Oh my gosh. 

 

Jaehyun was going to be… a dad!!

 

Oh wait. He had other children, too. 

 

Well was going to be a dad to a new person!! A new, precious little thing, made because of him and Taeyong! His five children were going to have a sibling! This was amazing!!

 

The only thing that worried him was that, since Taeyong has already gone through multiple pregnancies, he knew that the other always got exhausted, often experiencing pain and a whole list of symptoms. 

 

It made sense that Taeyong got pregnant. He was really young, barely starting his twenties, but he still remain fertile, despite the past four pregnancies with five children. It didn’t help that the people in the village were so ing rude to his omega husband.

 

Honestly, they claim about the new population being low but then argue on Taeyong having a lot of children? What was their problem? And why should they give a damn in the first place? It was because of their stupid rules that Jaehyun and Taeyong married young in the first place. Not that Jaehyun regretted it, of course. 

 

Taeyong was wrapped around with the soft blankets on the bed, eyes shooting open when he sensed Jaehyun walking into the room. “I missed you,” he muttered. 

 

Jaehyun climbed onto the bed and wrapped his arms around Taeyong, planting a soft kiss on his neck. “I missed you, too.” 

 

Taeyong snuggled closer to Jaehyun. “Cozy.”

 

Jaehyun planted another kiss. “Taeyong, guess what, I got good news.”

 

“Oh?” Taeyong turned around and wrapped his hands around Jaehyun. “What is it?”

 

Jaehyun lowered his hand onto Taeyong’s stomach. “There’s someone here.”

 

Taeyong’s eyes went wide, knowing that line. Jaehyun always used it to reference someone who was pregnant. “What? Really? But-but just last night-”

 

“I know.” Jaehyun gave him a quick, soft kiss on his lips. “I love you, you know?”

 

Jaehyun did not expect for Taeyong to start to cry. “You’re-you’re happy? You’re not mad?” Taeyong said, tears falling down his eyes. 

 

“Wait, why would I be mad?” Jaehyun asked. When has he ever been mad of Taeyong expecting?

 

“Cause you know what the village calls me, you know how I can never help you with work, how-I’m just a burden to you,” Taeyong explained, pulling the blanket over his head to not look at Jaehyun.

 

“First off, the village.” Jaehyun pulled down the blanket while Taeyong kept sniffling. “Two, taking care of our children is work, too, Taeyong, you honestly do a lot. I feel bad because I don’t help you.”

 

Taeyong wiped his eyes. “Really?”

 

“Do you remember what I said during our wedding?” Jaehyun reminded him. 

 

Taeyong sniffled. “How you want to have 20 children with me?”

 

Jaehyun smiled. “Yeah, you know how I don’t mind if it becomes a reality,” he said. “Do you want the baby?”

 

Taeyong looked down at Jaehyun’s chest. “Are you sure you don’t mind?” he whispered.

 

“Course not, it’s proof that I love you,” Jaehyun said. “You should never be ashamed of your children or pregnancies, Taeyong, if someone says something, tell me so that I can punch them.”

 

Taeyong giggled. “Don’t do that, I don’t want you to get in trouble.”

 

Jaehyun hummed. “You know what we can do?"

 

“What?”

 

“A repeat of last night,” Jaehyun whispered into Taeyong’s ear, giving him a kiss on the lips until the latter returned it, the two soon wrapping their arms around each other. 

 

***



 

***18 years ago***



 

“Where’s Seungcheol?” Jeonghan asked a sweaty Junhui, who just came out of practice. “I haven’t seen him all day.”

 

Junhui frowned. “Shouldn’t you know? Aren’t you the one who reported him?”

 

Now it was Jeonghan’s turn to frown. “Report? Report him for what?"

 

“He got fired for being disrespectful to the princess,” Junhui explained, grabbing a towel to wipe himself off. 

 

You think I-Junhui, did you really assume I would fire someone for-when was he being rude to me? Who do you take me as?” Jeonghan scolded him.

 

“Hey, it’s what I was told,” Junhui defended himself.

 

“So your first thought was to think of me negatively?” Jeonghan said. “What a friend you are.”

 

Jeonghan stormed off, ignoring Junhui’s pleas of wait!. He couldn’t believe it. Was everyone’s first thought think he was a ty person?

 

What was Seungcheol fired for, anyways? Rejecting the fruit tart? Was that a crime now? Everyone had their own taste. Honestly, the high standards everyone had for him was getting real old. 

 

Jeonghan found the guards walking nearby, noticing how Seungcheol was not in the group anymore. That was a pain in the gut. 

 

He marched up to Siwon, ignoring the hellos and bows coming from the guards. It was all fake, anyways. No one cared for him. Not even his father or stepmother. 

 

Moments like these where he wished his mother was still alive. 

 

“Your highness, what brings you here?” Sir Siwon asked Jeonghan. 

 

Jeonghan stood in front of him, arms crossed. “Where’s Choi Seungcheol?”

 

Siwon gave Jeonghan a look. “He’s no longer working with us, your high-”

 

“Please don’t call me that,” Jeonghan interrupted him. “Did you fire a worker of mine because of rejecting a fruit tart?”

 

“He hurt your feelings, you-Jeonghan,” Siwon explained. “Under palace rules-”

 

“ the palaces rules,” Jeonghan said, earning a surprised look from the other guards. Omegas never cursed, much less those in royal positions. “You can’t fire people for having a harmless different view. He has a family he has to take care for-”

 

“He does not have a family, I can assure you,” Siwon reminded him. “He is alone.”

 

“Even so! He has to maintain himself!” Jeonghan exclaimed. “I want him rehired again, if he chooses to accept, considering you guys were unfair. You have until tonight to give him the message.”

 

Jeonghan walked away, ignoring the shouts from the other guards. They wanted to treat him like royalty? Fine. They had to listen to him like one.
 

***


“My chances with him are ruined,” Jeonghan sulked, stirring his milkshake with his straw. “He’s going to hate me now.”

 

“That’s not true, I’m sure he will appreciate you giving him his job back,” Minghao comforted him. “If not, I can clear up with him the misunderstanding, don’t worry.”

 

Jeonghan sniffled. “You’d do that for me?”

 

MInghao squinted his eyes at Jeonghan. “Jeonghan, what part of best friends do you not understand?”

 

“I’m sure you’re going to ask me to help you later.”

 

“No I wasn’t-stop laughing at me!!”

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ephemeral24
2376 streak #1
Chapter 23: LING TIME NO SEE AUTHORNIM!
damn, Jeonghan is too kind for the world... despite the plans Seungcheol devised and how effective the execution was, he still forgave the other... not also that, Jeonghan also willingly gave up his royal status, he didn't really like nobles lol, to risk a life with Seungcheol... and like his story of making something out of his mother's old dress instead of just lamenting how ruined it it... reading abt their story just made me admire Jeonghan more tbh
ephemeral24
2376 streak #2
Chapter 22: WELCOME BACK!!!
for real i had to go back to previous chapters to even remember the meeting Ten and Johnny were supposedly from? HAHAHAHAH i was like, WHAT MEETING? had to go back 4 chapters HAHA

Zitao finally caught sneaking out and Luhan caught covering for him too HAHAHAHA

anyway, if you ask me, everyone should just run away from the village tbh... no more controlling families, no more skewed hierarchical system... FREEDOM!
ephemeral24
2376 streak #3
Chapter 21: should i repeat the first part of my comment in yoir other update? HAHAHA

anyway! now this is much more confusing, i wondered where they all were... so the first part is the kidnapped ones OUTSIDE the village, the part with Baek crying is INSIDE the village, and Yifan and Jun are also OUTSIDE the village if i remember correctly... are Taeyong and Jaehyun still in or have they ran away already?

anyway, the of Jeonghan and Seungcheol's story abt to happen! by this point, with all the info we're presented with, it's not looking good yet so I'm really curious how Jeonghan still married him
rainbowaffles
#4
❤️❤️❤️
ephemeral24
2376 streak #5
Chapter 20: THEY KISSED??? HOLY COW!!! I DIDN'T EXPECT THAT!
but the situation was calling for some sort of comfort, it was all so hectic for them, only then did they get the chance to pause and think things thru... i love it :)
MinBonggae
#6
Well written story. 👏
ephemeral24
2376 streak #7
Chapter 19: lol Jun hasn't fully discovered yet, but he finally knows of Seungcheol's bit of being a jerk to Jeonghan... lol, but the scarf story is kinda telling me that even if Seungcheol destroyed it to embarrass Jeonghan, he repaired it and got Jeonghan's heart again? if I'm right, cute!

all these pairs making moves on each other tho... go do it! don't let those bastards dictate what you do!!!
ephemeral24
2376 streak #8
Chapter 18: is it just me, or is this chapter really longer than others? anyway!!! olay, first, Jun and Yifan! they found Minghao!!! congrats!

next, Scoups, Jeonghan and Jihoon looks like they're off to escape safely now! the person who found them seems more like a friend than a foe...

as for the others still in the village! can't help but think that something big is going to happen, idk how they'll revolt or something, but something is definitely going to happen... btw how did Kun know where Jaehyun was???
ephemeral24
2376 streak #9
Chapter 17: welcome back to this story as well authornim!
so much is going on idk what's going to happen anymore! HAHA
ephemeral24
2376 streak #10
Chapter 16: an update!!! thank you!

HAHA i love how Vernon and Seungkwan are being so suspicious and safe! Jun and Yifan, even if i know they're good people, well the younger two don't! and they're doing it right, calling Soonyoung over would be the best decision, and he'd be the one to make sense of everything!

so, where are Jinyoung and Jaebum??? don't tell me the council got to them already? so the plan is abt to be aborted? and the rest of them are gonna turn this into a rescue mission instead? why is the council capturing so many people??? and Jaehyun is still missing! but at least Taeyong is with someone Jaehyun trusts!!! and hopefully, will hell them find Jae!!!

anyway, they found Jihoon!!! i do hope they get to escape to where Jun and Yifan are...