5

Minho woke shortly after the sunrise but not before Taemin, mostly because he was freezing to death without the added body heat of a sleeping partner and the lack of his jacket, which was still wrapped around Taemin’s shoulders. He was huddled by the ashes of the campfire and fiddling with something shiny in his hands.

Minho let out a noisy yawn to let Taemin know he'd awoken and then began to pack up the bedroll nonchalantly. He glanced towards the treeline and hoped that by some miracle Minseok and Frank would burst forth on their horses to meet him, but spied no one. If they planned to stop at this camp, they'd be here by now. Minho held out hope that maybe they pulled an all-nighter to return to the main camp. He didn't want to think of the other possibilities. Once he made it back to the others—If Minseok wasn't there, he'd let himself worry then. There was no point regretting a decision he couldn't change.

"Think you could hold out on jerky and tack?" Minho called to Taemin as he made his way over to Eunbi to stow away the bedroll. "If we are where I think we are, we'll be at the nearest town by sunset, and we can pick up something more hearty there. I'd rather not light a fire when the sun's up. There's all sorts of folks who come poking around when they see smoke. Is that okay with you?"

"Sure. Yeah," Taemin answered half-heartedly. Minho doubted he even knew what he was responding to.

Minho fetched a cloth-wrapped package of provisions from one of Eunbi's saddlebags and walked over to join Taemin at the burnt out fire. He squatted down next to him, set the bundle on the ground, and unraveled it. Then, he passed over a thick slab of venison jerky to Taemin, who began gnawing on it mechanically.

Minho inspected that shiny object in Taemin's hands: It was a pocket watch, the same size and shape as Minho's was, but this one was silver or platinum or something of the like, and intricately engraved to boot. The cover was etched in this strange pattern of interlocking circles and spirals, and a variety of small precious gems were inlaid at seemingly random intervals along the curves. 

"You can't have it," Taemin snapped. He must've noticed Minho eyeing it. "I'll kill you if you try to take it."

"Whoa, calm down. I wasn't planning on it. I was just admiring how pretty it is—that's all. I've got a pocket watch that's pretty special to me, too. Saved my life once, actually. It took a bullet for me—one aimed right at my heart," Minho pointed at his chest where he would have been shot, then pretended he was just scratching an itch when Taemin didn't spare him a speck of attention. "Anyway, I'm not gonna take it. Don't worry. Did you, uh, sleep okay last night? How are your legs?"

"I've slept worse and I've hurt worse. I'm fine. I'll—I'll be fine." Taemin gave Minho a look he couldn't interpret, tucked the watch back inside the small pocket at the front of his trousers, and then added in a mumble, "Thanks or whatever."

"Of course," Minho answered, and then they fell into an uneasy silence. He had plans to tease Taemin for the way he hugged him in his sleep last night, but decided not to bring it up. "Shall we get on the road, then? You should sit up front this time. I don't think your injuries started until you rode behind me."

Taemin stood up and winced slightly, but the new smirk on his face didn't waver. "What? You want me to straddle you again? You know, you could have just asked."

"No straddling. You'll sit facing forwards, just like I did yesterday," Minho let out a heavy sigh and walked towards Eunbi to hide that he was unable to keep a straight face. "You must really be feeling better if you're flirting with me again."

Taemin took offense to that. "Flirting with you? Who said I was flirting with you? Minho, it's really bold of you to make such assumptions. I've only ever had the purest intentions. Assuming I'm making some kind of advances… Wow, just wow."

Minho's heart dropped into his stomach, and he turned around to face his less-than-willing companion. He looked pissed. 

"Taemin, I'm sorry. I thought… Just before, on the horse, you made all those comments and… I—I didn't mean to… This is my mistake. I apologize sincerely."

Taemin held together his serious expression for half a second before he broke apart in cacophonous laughter. Holding his stomach and pointing at Minho, he said, "Of course I'm ing flirting with you! Holy : Look at your face. God, I wish I could take a picture."

"Haha," Minho responded flatly. "Hilarious."

"Wow. I thought you were going to cry there. 'I apologize sincerely,'" he repeated, mocking Minho's words. "That was good. I feel better."

Holding his tongue, Minho returned to Eunbi's side and began tightening up her saddle for riding.

"Hey, is it working?" Taemin called out.

"The saddle? Um, yeah, I guess. Why wouldn't it be?"

Taemin let out an exasperated noise. "Not the saddle! The flirting. Is the flirting working?"

Truthfully, it bothered Minho less than he thought it would, but he didn't feel like encouraging Taemin's nonsense with an answer. Instead, he said gruffly, "Get on the horse."

Taemin let out a huff, and Minho could almost hear his pout. "Boo. You're no fun."

"Sorry to disappoint you. Get on the horse."

Taemin made several varied noises of displeasure that reminded Minho of his niece when she was told it was bedtime. He dragged his feet in the dirt on his way over to Eunbi, slapped his hand in Minho's offered one, and then climbed onto the horse. His face shrunk in a grimace when his thighs pressed against the