Chapter 13.

When the world says, "give up", hope says "try one more time".

“Mom, I brought the newspaper in!”

Hanbyul looked up and smiled widely as her 5-year-old son trotted into the bakery, the paper tucked under his tiny arm.

“Thanks, my little prince,” Hanbyul said as she kneeled down and pinched his nose. He let out a twinkling laugh as he handed over the paper to her.

The bell on the front door jingled as someone walked in and her son turned, his face brightening before he broke off into a run. Hanbyul’s face softened at her son’s happiness.

“Woah! You’re not so little any more, you might knock me over one day if you run full force like that,” Mingyu chuckled but he lifted her son with ease. He gave Hanbyul a lopsided grin.

She rolled his eyes before unfurling the newspaper. “I’m still his favorite,” she said and Mingyu’s grin widened.

“Sounds like you’re jealous. He obviously loves me more,” he joked before turning to the little boy in his arms. “Yunoh, how much do you love your mom?”

Yunoh extended his arms as far as they could go. “This much!”

Hanbyul looked smug until Mingyu asked, “Then how much do you love me?”

Yunoh clutched the front of Mingyu’s shirt before saying, “To the moon and back!”

“That’s cheating!” Hanbyul spluttered. “You taught him to say that!”

“Don’t get snarky just because you’re not Yunoh’s favorite,” Mingyu replied calmly and Hanbyul let out a huff before turning her gaze back to the newspaper.

“I’m his mother. I’m supposed to be the favorite,” she pouted. Her eyes went to the large bold headlines on the front page before sliding down to the picture that accompanied the story.

Mingyu walked over to see what she was so transfixed on and his brows furrowed as he skimmed the story. “The King’s on the front page again? He’s been really active these past 5 years in taking down those slave rings. Now if only he could find a way to make our economy boom again…”

Hanbyul nodded slowly, staring at the picture. Her head always seemed to throb whenever she saw a picture of their King and she didn’t know why. The black and white photo of him standing before a burning human auction house made shivers crawl up her spine and she quickly folded the newspaper.

She didn’t want Yunoh to be exposed to the violence in the world when he was so young. For the past 5 years, the center of her universe had been Yunoh and he’d continue to be so as long as she had a say in that matter.

Hanbyul moved to the front door with a basket in hand before she called out to Mingyu over her shoulder. “I’m going to the market to pick up some ingredients. Stay with Yunoh, will you? And don’t even think of giving him any sweets. Not before dinner.”

“Aww, Hanbyul,” Mingyu groaned at the same time Yunoh whined, “Aww, mom!”

But she shook her head firmly. “If you’re good and eat your vegetables at dinner then I’ll make you your favorite all chocolate chip cinnamon cookies.”

Yunoh’s eyes lit up brightly at that and he nodded vigorously as Hanbyul let out a chuckle.

“I’ll be back.”

And with that she closed the door to the bakery behind her, stepping out onto the pavement in the small village called Cherry, ready to start her day.

Headquarters was cold.

It was quiet and dreary with only the occasional passing agent giving proof that life existed within the grey walls of their base.

The man walked with heavy steps towards the end of the hall. He knew their commander wouldn’t like what he had to say but he also knew not saying anything at all would be worse.

It had been this way for the past 5 years, and how many messengers had died providing the same message?

A shudder ran through his spine as he knocked on the metal door that separated him from the devil himself.

“Come in.”

The man pushed open the doors and bowed to his commander before straightening up.

 “Have you found her yet?”

“Not yet, Commander Heechul. We have our men looking in every village and town for any clue of her whereabouts,” he reported in a stoic voice that gave none of his fears away.

A knife flew out as quickly as the man finished his sentence. The man flinched and shakily lifted a hand to his cheek where a thin line drew blood.

“Can you explain to me what your job is?” Heechul asked coolly, his question posed so calmly it incited further fear in the man.

“It is to find lost merchandise,” the man replied without missing a beat even as he felt his heart racing.

“Then, pray tell,” Heechul started with a snarl. “Why you haven’t been able to find that wench for 5 years.”

The man said nothing and Heechul scoffed. “Next time you give me a useless report I’ll have you permanenlty dismissed just like the rest of your predecessors.”

The underlying threat was not lost on the man and he nodded rigidly.

“Get out,” Heechul commanded. “And send in Taeil, while you go.”

“It’s time to send out the hound dog.”

Jaehyun slumped against a thick tree trunk, burying his head into his hands.

How many false leads had they followed?

How many human auction houses had they closed down?

How many anti-Neo faction camps did they burn through?

He had lost count in the span of the past 5 years. It felt like he was in a limbo where he was starting to lose faith yet he couldn’t let go of any hope that he’d find her one day.

But as the days continued to pass with no progress in searching for Hanbyul’s whereabouts, he felt the weight on his chest grow heavier and heavier.

Every time he heard news of a girl with black hair, red lips and white skin, he lost all common sense and recklessly followed any information that could lead him to Hanbyul.

His heart would stop every time he heard of rumors of a young girl with striking beauty that was captured by the anti-Neo faction and then relief and disappointment would fill him when he realized that it wasn’t her.

“We should take a break.”

Jaehyun lifted his head to see Johnny approaching and he cast his eyes downwards. He knew Johnny didn’t blame him for Hanbyul’s kidnapping but Jaehyun blamed himself. It was all his fault for putting her in danger and the guilt overwhelmed him whenever he looked at Johnny.

Johnny’s lips pressed firmly into a line when Jaehyun averted his gaze. He’d known Jaehyun since they were children and even though he didn’t say it, Johnny knew exactly what he was thinking.

Jaehyun had tunnel visioned onto the single goal of finding Hanbyul following her disappearance and he had been with Jaehyun throughout all of the anti-Neo camp raids, the human auction house teardowns and the false leads. He could see how desperate Jaehyun was and how it killed him every time they didn’t find her.

It was heart wrenching and Johnny knew Hanbyul would be so sad to see how much this was affecting Jaehyun.

“There’s a small village a few days journey away. We’ll start making our way there tomorrow and we can rest up before we head back to the palace,” Johnny reported and Jaehyun merely nodded.

Johnny’s eyes softened and he placed a hand on hand on Jaehyun’s shoulder. He felt Jaehyun stiffen underneath his touch.

“We’ll find her.”

It was the same words Johnny always uttered after every failed search attempt and it was always said with the same c