A/N

I know I said that I would work over the chapters - But I have to admit that writing has not been going well for me these days and I don't want to leave those hanging who are reading the story for the first time. So I will just post the existing chapters without doing much to them. I am sorry to everyone who was looking forward to alterations but I barely bring myself to reading it over - let alone add parts.

Sorry sorry - but yeah, if you already read the story on Ao3 - no need to read this version, It is literally copy paste XD

Minho pov

The rainfall was a lot heavier than Minho had expected it to be, and upon hearing the rumbling sound of thunder, he couldn’t be more thankful to have a proper place to sleep. Chances that he would have reached the next settlement even if Mars hadn’t injured his ankle would have been low and sleeping outside in this weather would have most definitely left its traces.

The pouring rain on the tent’s outer fabric had him in and out of sleep but the comfort of the soft animal fur was keeping him safe and comfortably warm in a way he hadn’t been in a while, allowing for a few hours of comfortable sleep when the thunderstorm had finally passed.

Minho stirred awake when a warm hand gently petted his hair, making him turn around in his make-shift bed, the thought of having to leave the comfort of it making his insides crawl.

“Minho. It is morning. I don’t have much time.” Upon hearing Taemin’s soft voice, Minho hesitantly opened his eyes, eyelids sticking together ever so slightly, making him rub them with the back of his hand.

Right. He wasn’t home.

“mhh?” He hummed, for the first time having to look up at the small man he had met the day before. He was standing in the flickering light of an oil lamp, looking breathtakingly beautiful.

“We will hunt today. I will bring you to the tent of my friends. One will take care of you.” Taemin said and Minho blinked a few times before he was propping himself up on his elbows, brushing his messy hair out of his face.

Taemin was wearing the hood of a cloak over his head and there was an additional leather strap across his chest, Minho noticed, before setting his eyes back on the small man’s face.

“Now?”

“Now. I wait outside.” The short man said with clarity, turning around, leaving the tent with the same confident steps he had carried himself with the day before.

That was unmistakably a quiver on his back, filled with arrows, Minho could make out, making him wonder if the members of this clan were proficient archers.

Still drunken from sleep, Minho put on his shoes in a daze, noticing that they were damp – he had left them on the ground, rain soaking through them. A big mistake. His whole body shivered from the feeling of wet shoes and the sudden cold air on his arms made him reach for his coat immediately.

Unlike Taemin, he wasn’t able to stand upright in the tent, so he exited through the flap in the front, head held low, still freezing from leaving the comfort of his bed.

“How did you sleep?” Taemin asked, clearly in a hurry as he immediately started walking when Minho came out of the tent.

“I rested very comfortably thanks to you.” Minho said, his mind clearing from the fresh air of the commencing day

“The rainfall was a lot heavier than I would have expected and I wanted to thank you again for letting me stay in that tent. It would have been anything but comfortable to sleep outside last night. I don’t know how I can ever repay your kindness. For taking care of Mars too.” Minho said to break the silence that had established around them.

Taemin turned his head, though not halting in his tracks, a soft glimmer in his gaze that wasn’t coming from the flame in his hand.

“I don’t need anything. You will teach. That is enough.” He just said, the gentle look in his eyes disappearing just as fast as it had appeared, getting replaced by a cold stare.

As they were making their way through the slowly waking camp, Minho couldn’t help but feel sad about the fact that he wouldn’t be spending his day with Taemin.

Was it weird that he wanted to know more about him? Was it weird that he wanted to spend time with him?

“Kibum!” Taemin suddenly shouted and Minho wondered if the other clan members would mind the early disturbance – after all, the sun was just about to rise. It didn’t seem to matter, because Taemin shouted the name twice more until a head appeared from the tent.

“You are early.” A grumpy, but objectively gorgeous man said, turning to Minho. “You must be Minho.”

It wasn’t a question, but Minho nodded anyway, unsure how else to greet the stranger. His hair was just as black and long as Taemin’s though it seemed proportionally shorter due to his height. He wasn’t as tall as Minho was, but still easily towered over Taemin, who was now peeking into the tent, leaving Minho in the stranger’s care.

“Nice to meet you. I am assuming your name is Kibum?” Minho said, withstanding the strong, mustering gaze that scanned him from head to toe.

“It is. Call me Kibum-ti. I am the clan teacher.

“Bragging with the title, love?” a new voice said, belonging to another man who emerged from Kibum’s tent.

Minho’s eyes widened upon setting his eyes on the latter, noticing that he was wearing the same gear as Taemin was, but packed a lot more muscle than him; he was taller too.

“He needs to know how to properly call me.” Kibum replied with squinted eyes, pointing at the other male. “That’s Jonghyun. Jonghyun- ka to be exact.

Minho observed how Jonghyun playfully squeezed the side of Kibum’s upper thigh with a smile before nodding in his direction.

“Nice to meet you. I have heard of you, but I didn’t expect you to be this good looking.” Jonghyun said, earning himself an elbow in the side from Kibum who rolled his eyes.

“Taemin-ka take Jonghyun with you, will you?” the teacher said, shoving the muscular man in Taemin’s direction.

“Of course.” The small man said, taking a hold of Jonghyun’s quilt, pulling him along.

“Wait!” Minho said and Taemin turned around again, eyebrows furrowed. “When will you be back?”

“We don’t know.” Taemin said, his gaze softening a little. “Kibum will take care of you. Do as he says.”

With those words, the two of them disappeared behind the next tent, leaving Minho alone with Kibum who mustered him curiously.

“He’s pretty, isn’t he?”

“Huh?” Minho exclaimed, turning around to find the teacher’s lips pulling into a small smirk.

“Taemin. He’s pretty.”

“I… I guess?” he replied, though pretty wasn’t the word Minho would have used to describe him. Entrancing, intimidating, fascinating, yes. Pretty? He wasn’t sure.

Kibum brushed his left braid over his shoulder. “I see how you look at him. Many do. He’s off limits though. Don’t get too deep into it.”

“Off limits? What do you mean?” Minho said, his interest peaked.

“Not my place to tell. But just take my advice and stay away from him as long as you are here.”

Minho’s eyebrows furrowed. It wasn’t that he was disappointed, he had expected nothing of this fleeting encounter, but he could feel something inside of him twist a little upon hearing Kibum’s words.

“I will.” He said and the teacher nodded, content with his reply.

“Did he give you breakfast already?”

“No, I haven’t eaten yet. He just woke me up and then brought me here to make acquaintance with you. Taemin said that he would entrust me to you and hence I should assist you with whatever you might need my help with.” Minho said, a little at a loss and Kibum gestured for him to wait where he was

“I’ll just put something on. Wait here.”

Kibum returned about a minute later, wearing a cloak similar to the one Taemin and Jonghyun had worn, and he must have noticed Minho’s confused look because he explained: “We wear these against the rain. It should rain more today.”

“Ah. I see.”

The sky was indeed still grey, darker patches moving towards them with the wind and Minho momentarily worried about where he would find shelter tonight before realising that he already had a place to stay.

They made their way to one of the tarpaulin-covered community areas where a few people were already preparing breakfast, all of them very openly staring at them when they walked into their midst.

“We don’t usually have guests. You will probably have to tolerate the stares for the time you are here.” Kibum repeated what Taemin had said the day before, as he grabbed two wooden bowls, filling them with a few spoonfuls of a white paste before walking over to an uncountable number of earthen jars. With calculated hands, he opened some of them, taking out a few pieces of dried meat, mushed berries, and something that looked like dried up leaves.

Fascinated by what he was seeing, Minho just stared at Kibum filling up their bowls, forgetting to ask if he could help. The way this clan was storing their food was so unlike anything he had seen on his travels before. The earthen jars way smaller than the ones he knew, but a lot more numerous instead and they seemed to be cubic rather than round which raised the question of how they made them.

There were several wooden constructions that held some of the jars while others were stored on the floor – did they need a different environment?

“This is what we eat for breakfast.” Kibum interrupted his thoughts. “We call the white paste Yao, it is made from curdled goat milk, and we add different things, depending on what we have at hand to give it more substance.” Kibum explained shortly, putting the spoons into each of their bowls while Minho was mustering their breakfast with deep interest.

“Thank you. That sounds delicious.”

Upon trying it though, Minho wouldn’t particularly describe it as delicious. It was edible for sure, but the combinations of flavours were something he had never eaten before, and it surely wasn’t as easy to get used to as yesterday’s porridge.

Careful not to show his scepticism on his face, he ate it standing up like everyone else was.

“May I ask another question?” Minho asked and Kibum nodded.

“You can ask me whatever you want to know about.”

“Oh… thank you. Uhm… so, do you not sit down to eat? Where I come from most people tend to dine while seated.” Minho asked curiously and Kibum shook his head, answering with a full mouth:

“We do. But we are