By hiikyoung 

They were exhausted. It’d been nearly a day since Sookyung and ChunHee had escaped from Junhyung’s kingdom. They were amazed that they were not being pursued. By now Sookyung figured a well-organized manhunt would have found them. It was suspicious, but they had more pressing things to worry about. Not only were they told to kill their comrades, but if they didn’t they would die themselves of poison. Also, Junhyung had one of the stones. That would have to be addressed too.

                But right now they were simply exhausted. The fear that Junghyung would ambush them at any moment and the poison slowly taking its effect kept them both moving, but at a consistently slower pace. To be honest, Sookyung didn’t know if they make it. They had less than four days now…

                “Quick, hide!” ChunHee suddenly whispered. Sounds of horses approaching forced them to hurry into the safety of the trees. Quietly, they waited and watched as a contingent of horses and men on foot appeared. To their dismay they stopped near them. One of the men on horseback immediately jumped down and inspected something on the ground. ChunHee felt like kicking herself. A small piece of her clothing had gotten caught and was left behind.

                “Anyone there?” The man who jumped off called and immediately they recognized the voice. When he turned and looked in their direction relief flooded them. It was Hoya.

                “Hoya!” ChunHee stumbled out of the trees. Before she could collapse in exhaustion he quickly caught her, surprised. Sookyung came out next and another familiar young man came out to help her: Woohyun.

                “Are you okay? Are you hurt?” Woohyun asked her while helping onto his horse, “Where are the others? The annoying one?”

                When Sookyung merely shook her head, the tire preventing her from voicing her thoughts, Hoya turned to the rest of the men and shouted for them to go back to Key’s kingdom. While Woohyun led Sookyung’s horse, Hoya helped ChunHee into his and then jumped up to ride behind her, keeping her from falling out of the saddle.

                “We escaped…” she said quietly, feeling fatigue overtake her, “…poison…”

                “Shh, its okay. I’ve got you. Just rest, we’ll talk about once we’re back at the palace,” Hoya kept a secure arm around her as they rode, watching her nod off to sleep.

                Back in Key’s palace a group of the people from the other world were actively practicing in the courtyard. When Key said he would train them, he meant in combat. While most kingdoms thought of his as being colorful and artful, they didn’t realize they were also deceptively skilled in combat. Hence why no one ever invaded them and succeeded. The results of the assassins from the previous night was proof of this. Key had arranged for most of the girls and boys from the other world to be trained in archery for some, and hand to hand combat for others. Some clearly took to it more easily than others…but at least even the ones not excelling would have some defense training.

                The only four not present were Hoya and Woohyun (who already knew enough and were part of the search parties looking for the remaining girls), Kikwang (who insisted he didn’t need any more training), and Dongwoo (he knew enough and was more or less preoccupied with thoughts of the other girls). Sungjong, while a skilled guide, did choose to learn something of swordplay however with JR.

                “Another miss!” Sora called down from her perch on top of a statue’s shoulder. She’d climbed up there after having her turn and feeling like her arm was going to fall off. Archery wasn’t as easy as some people would have you believe. At least from here she had the perfect vantage point of seeing the others trials and errors.

                “Damn!” Himchan cursed, looking like he was going to break the bow in his hand in half, “I haven’t hit it once since we started!”

                “That’s because you’re just letting go,” Kyunglim laughed, bringing her bow up and pulling the draw back. The arrow flew and hit one of the dummies that had been set up for them. She huffed irritably since she just barely hit one of the arms, “I haven’t done this in so long.”

                “You’re doing better than me…” Himchan grumbled.

                “I’m giving it a try now!” Sungyeol pushed past Himchan and raised the bow.

                “Maybe we should wait for Hoya to come back and show us…” Mi-cha tried to warn him. Their trainer had left them a while ago when he found out one of his children were sick. The plan was to wait for Hoya to return since he was particularly skilled in this area but a few of the others insisted they’s keep trying, “Seriously, Yeollie…”

                “Nonsense! I can do it…YEOUCH!” He suddenly shrieked when he released the bow string too soon and his arm wasn’t prepared. The string snapped against the underside of his left forearm and he dropped the bow, clutching it in pain. Mi-cha tried to calm him down but he was hissing and whining a little at the pain while the others around him laughed at his misfortune.

                Sora couldn’t help her laughter despite her constant worry for their missing friends. Little moments like these helped keep their sanity. An annoyed huff drew her attention and she looked down to see Myungsoo leaning against the statue below her. He held a sword in one hand and wore simple training armor.

                “You give up already?” She smirked, noticing a sizeable bruise on his arm.

                “I could ask you the same,” he looked up at her and raised an eyebrow, “why are you up there anyhow?”

                “I like high places. The breeze is nice up here,” She turned her gaze to the others who were sparring against each other not too far away. She watched as Taemin fell to the ground and his attacker was…Min Hyun? That made her laugh again.

                “Don’t take her lightly. She’s the one who gave me the bruise,” he muttered, continuing to lean on the statue idly. Sora looked back down at him in wonder. Ever since the attacks Myungsoo had been speaking to her quite often and seemed to be around more so than what she’d become accustomed to. He looked back up at her.

                “What are you staring at?”

                “Nothing. Jerk.” And it was back to normal.

                “Don’t look now. Your friend’s favorite person is coming,” he inclined his head towards Kikwang who was approaching them with Dongwoo in tow. They each carried trays of drinks and foods, presumably for the trainees. Sora watched as they separated, Dongwoo going to the ones sparring while Kikwang  went towards the archers. She wondered if she should do something since he set the food aside and quietly crept up behind Kyunglim who was readying another shot.

                “Yeobo!” Kikwang suddenly chirped behind her and Kyunglim eeped, spinning around and holding her bow in front of her like a shield.

                “Yah! You’re not allowed to call me that!” She took a step back, ignoring the pout he was giving her.

                “Then what should I call my future wife?” He seemingly asked in all seriousness.

                “Wife…?!” She looked ready to shout something at him but he took her hand and gently set a small, colorful bag in it, “W-what…?”

                “I heard you like sweets, so I brought you some candy from the town. It’s really good,” he smiled at her warmly. For once Kyunglim looked pleased and seemed ready to thank him, her eyes lighting up, but then he continued, “I ate one on my way here. Would you like a taste?” He leaned very close to her and she stammered something before falling backwards over her own feet, her face bright red.

                “Aish!” Sora quikcly climbed down and rushed over to them, “Yah! You stop right there!” Myungsoo shook his head, smiling slightly at Sora’s protectiveness. He caught himself and shook it off, returning back to the others.

                Dongwoo ignored the angry shouts behind him, figuring the flirt was at it again, and joined Taemin who was sitting on the ground, rubbing his side. Before them were Min Hyun and Sungjong, standing ready to face off against each other.

                “She’s really good at this. For a girl she hits hard,” Taemin laughed while shaking his head, still rubbing his side, “those for us?”

                “Yeah,” Dongwoo responded, though he really wasn’t paying attention. His thoughts were elsewhere…namely with Minah.

                “I’m sure they’ll be fine. We’ll rescue them soon,” Taemin tried to comfort the other boy, though Dongwoo knew he was saying it just as much for his own benefit. Taemin was just as worried over Deul Lae, though unlike Dongwoo he was better at hiding it. His restless sleep gave him away. They sat in silence, watching Min Hyun and Sungjong go at it. Dongwoo winced when she landed a particularly hard blow on him and knocked him back a few steps.

                “Ouch…”

                Sungjong didn’t know how it happened, but within moments they’d lost their swords and Min Hyun had her arms around his waist, effectively tackling him to the ground. With a triumphant cry, she raised her arms in the air, laughing. However, this was soon gone as she realized what position she’d landed herself in: currently, she was straddling Sungjong’s waist while he was flat on his back on the ground. He simple smiled up at her, laughing despite the pain in his back.

                “Wow. You know, the girls back in my village would never do this!”

                “Even Mina…?” Min Hyun said quietly, feeling the heat raising in her face.

                “Especially her. She’s such a girly girl,” his laughter died however when Min Hyun scrambled off him and walked away, keeping her head down in embarrassment. She didn’t know this girl personally…but part of her was really starting to hate her…

                “Did…did I say something wrong?” He looked to the others who merely shook their heads in disbelief. JR snorted, rolling his eyes. This guy really was a child.

                Their practice was suddenly interrupted by shouts and the sounds of horses approaching. Within moments Hoya, Woohyun, and the rest of their search party arrived. To their shock they also had Sookyung and ChunHee with them. Himchan was running past the others first upon seeing Sookyung. The girl carefully got off the horse, ignoring Woohyun’s attempt at helping her down, and almost immediately collapsed into Himchan’s arms. Panicked, Himchan kept asking in rapid fire what happened to which Woohyun couldn’t provide an adequate answer. Healers were already rushing out and soon Emperor Key was joining them, his advisors following close after them.

                Hoya meanwhile carefully helped ChunHee down. Even when she was on her feet his arm didn’t leave her waist, though she didn’t seem to notice. Becoming lucid for a moment she looked about them and was relieved to see them among the others and that they looked unhurt.

                “What happened?” Key asked the two guards, “Nevermind. Get them into the infirmary and we’ll discuss it there.”

                It was nearly two hours before they managed to get the full story from the tired girls. The emperor looked furious at the revelation of what Junhyung was doing and immediately set about having more guards posted around the palace.

                “So how do we get rid of the poison?” Himchan demanded, his hand never leaving Sookyung’s even though she tried in vain to separate them (not that she really minded too much…).

                “We do not know. It is a secret of their kingdom. Only Emperor Junhyung’s inner circle know the formula and cure…” The healer trailed off.

                “I know it,” Kikwang’s voice suddenly said from the back of the room. Heads spun to stare at him in surprise and he sighed, “I was born there…he wasn’t always so bad, I don’t know what happened…” he frowned at the looks he was receiving from the others, “and it doesn’t matter how I know just that I do, okay? There’s a flower on the east mountain that can cure the poison. I know where it grows and it’ll only take me a day to get it.”

                “But sir if the poison has already set in you may not make it in time…”

                “So we’ll go with him,” Sookyung said quietly. When Himchan tried to protest she shot him a silent look and he stopped.

                “If that’s the case then I’m coming too,” Hoya announced. Dongwoo quickly joined in as well with Woohyun also offering his services.

                “It’s settled then,” Key said above the voices of protest from the others, “while you go find the antidote I will continue the search for the other girls or whereabout on the remaining stones. The rest of you, please continue to train and be ready. Things are going to get very difficult from here on in…”

                The preparations for the excursion to the mountain were almost done. JR sat down by MinHi’s bed, watching her sleep quietly. The color had returned to her face finally, but she was still in considerable pain. Key’s healer had done wonders but she insisted that someone be with MinHi at all times just in case there was a relapse. While the others made ready to set out and find the cure for the poison, JR had volunteered to watch her for a while. They didn’t need him since Kikwang would be the guide and he didn’t really need any additional training.

                She really was pretty...just like Hyemi. She looked so much like his childhood friend, especially around the eyes. But MinHi wasn’t Hyemi…and that made JR so angry sometimes. Just looking at her made him feel uneasy…though with time it was lessening. She mumbled something in her sleep, her brow creasing with tension. Gently he placed his hand over it to smooth it out and MinHi sighed, relaxing.

                “Stupid girl…” he muttered, though there was a trace of a smile on his face.

                Meanwhile…

                Junhyung smirked at his henchmen, looking to each of the girls who stood at attention at his side. So the other two got away eh? No matter. He had plans.

                “What do you think about a reunion with your friends?” He asked the three girls. When they made no response he snapped his fingers at Yoseob who quickly left and returned with a black lacquered box. Opening it, he presented it to the girls. Inside were three ornate daggers. Each girl took one and looked to Junhyung, awaiting his next command. Idly toying with the stone in his hand, he smirked.

                “You may need those to play with your friends. Dongwoon, Hyunseung, Yoseob…take them to Key’s kingdom and drop them off. Let’s see what we can stir up…”

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