Chapter 15.

"I'm looking for answers in a world full of questions."

It all happened in the blink of an eye.

Jaehyun didn’t so much as flinch when Johnny pulled out his sword, flanking his back in a protective stance. Mingyu held out his dagger as well, crouched slightly with narrowed eyes trained on Johnny.

Hanbyul took in a sharp breath and her eyes flashed in fear, this time not for herself but for the man that stood in the doorway behind Jaehyun and Johnny.

“Mingyu, please stop,” Hanbyul pleaded, her eyes imploring him to listen and he furrowed his brows. “I…”

I don’t think these people are here to hurt us.

I don’t want you to get hurt because of me.

I want to know why he knows the words engraved on my ring.

I want to ask how these people know me.

She ignored the whirlwind of thoughts invading her mind.

“I think you should leave,” Hanbyul said instead, addressing Jaehyun and Johnny.

Jaehyun felt his heart break at the words and he wanted to argue feebly that he had just found her after 5 long years of searching, that he couldn’t possibly leave.

But he swallowed the words and nodded his head tersely. He could see the wariness lingering in the way her body stood rigid and knew better than to push past her boundaries of comfort. He couldn’t understand why she didn’t remember them but 5 years was a long time and anything could have happened.

He just felt immense relief and gratitude that she was alive and well. That was enough for him.

At least for now.

“We’ll leave,” Jaehyun announced and Johnny didn’t argue, lowering his sword and sheathing it as Mingyu continued to stare at him cautiously. Johnny trusted the King and his decisions explicitly. Then, Jaehyun turned to Hanbyul who felt the full weight of his gaze on her.

“But I’d like to talk to you tomorrow,” Jaehyun offered with a small but genuine smile that reached his eyes and had his dimple sinking into his cheek.

That’s when Mingyu recoiled back as recognition hit him so hard, it left him breathless.

He knew that face.

He had seen it this morning in the papers. In fact, he’d seen it littered across the front page of the newspaper for 5 years, to be exact.

His mind began to spin as he glanced between the King and Hanbyul. In the several years he had been with Hanbyul, she hadn’t gained back even a sliver of her memories and the only token of her past had been the ring she kept on a chain as a necklace so to assume that such a high profile person such as the King had been a big part of her past life was a far-fetched conclusion.

But…

He knew that face.

Not just from the pictures in the newspapers.

He had seen that face grow and mature in the past 5 years, not in the King, but in Yunoh.

He saw the dimple that dipped into Jaehyun’s cheek as he smiled at Hanbyul. He saw the way his eyes curved just the slightest to form crescents and his lips lifted upwards. He saw the soft edges of his face and the tussled brown hair.

And in that moment, he knew that this was Yunoh’s father.

It seemed Hanbyul had also come to the same conclusion from the way her eyes widened and her skin paled. Her heart beat erratically against her chest and she drew in a sharp breath.

Call it instinct or intuition but there wasn’t a sliver of doubt in her mind that he was her son’s father.

Suddenly, all of the headlines made sense—why the King had become so hell bent on taking down the anti-Neo faction, burning through human slave rings like a wildfire. It had been for her. A shuddering breath escaped her at the realization but before she could get out another word, a little boy burst into the bakery.

“Auntie! Please help!” The boy cried out, tears streaming down his cheeks.

Hanbyul broke her eye contact with Jaehyun and immediately dropped to her knees to meet the boy eye level. “What’s wrong, Sungmin? Where’s Yunoh?” She asked, panic creeping into her voice.  

Sungmin took a moment to breathe before he stammered, “We were playing by the river and then Yunoh slipped on a rock and...” Tears threatened to overwhelm him and snot began dripping from his nose. “He slipped into the river but he was able to grab onto a tree branch. I don’t know how long he can hold on. Saehee’s there trying to help but please, auntie, we have to go to him now!”

Hanbyul felt her body move on auto pilot as she stood frantically. “Sungmin, tell me where to go. Where’s the river?”

“There’s only one river on the outskirts of this town,” Jaehyun cut in and her eyes snapped to his. “It’s near where we set up camp. There’s a faster shortcut to it if we cut across the woods, rather than going across the field.”

“Take me there,” Hanbyul said without hesitation, before she turned to Sungmin. “Sungmin, please stay here with Mingyu. We’ll come right back once we have Yunoh, okay?”

Sungmin nodded with a sniffle and Hanbyul turned to Mingyu, who had already put away his dagger and made his way to her side. He gave her a curt nod.

Immense gratitude for the man filled her at that moment and she threw her arms around him, choking back a sob. Jaehyun averted his eyes downwards.

He rubbed her back soothingly and murmured, “It’ll be okay. Yunoh’s a strong kid. We’ll be here when you get back.”

“Thank you, Mingyu,” Hanbyul whispered before wiping away the tears that threatened to fall.

She then turned to Jaehyun with hardened determination.

“Let’s go.”

Jaehyun didn’t say a single word after they departed from the bakery and Hanbyul was too frazzled to try to make any small talk. He led the way with ease, as if he knew the route well, and she followed closely behind.

A few twigs scratched against her porcelain skin but she paid it no mind, her mind solely focused on saving Yunoh. Jaehyun had cast a few concerned glances her way throughout the entire trip but Hanbyul pretended not to notice.

When the sound of rushing water hit Hanbyul’s ears, she broke into a run with Jaehyun easily keeping pace. She broke through the leaves and branches to see Saehee crying as she tried to reach out for Yunoh’s hand.

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