“What the hell is this Minho?!” the General shouted and Kibum flinched at the sound even though the words were not directed at him.

Minho laughed darkly. Kibum has never seen Minho act this way. It was unlike Minho to find humor in these kind of situations even if it was meant sarcastically only. What exactly happened for him to be acting this way?

“You really want to know, uncle? I’ll tell you. I snapped Minwoo’s neck. I meant to do more but he got lucky. Too bad I didn’t break any important vessels. He survived, I heard…” Minho spoke of his vicious acts like it was something ordinary. Kibum didn’t know whether to celebrate for his revenge being exacted or to worry why Minho was taking all of this so lightly.

Kibum decided that he was more worried for Minho than he cared about his vendetta. It’s the look on Minho’s face that told Kibum that there was something really wrong with him.

“Minho have you lost your mind?! Do you know what the punishment is for turning against your own-“

“YES, I KNOW! KILL ME IF YOU MUST! Isn’t that what you’ve wanted from the very first day you took me in?!” Minho asked, his fists clenched on his sides.

The General was taken aback by the sudden outburst that he was dumbfounded. He looked at Minho in confusion.

“I know what you did! Minwoo told me everything without sparing a single detail…” Minho whispered into his uncle’s ear. Kibum heard this only because he had been close enough to but he was sure that no one else heard it.

“What are you talking about Minho?” Kibum asked, getting a vague idea in his head about what Minho was implying. Jonghyun father glanced between the general and Minho, lost as he was not given an opportunity to partake in the conversation. If what Minho was saying is true, Kibum doesn’t know how he would restrain himself from killing the white man in front of him.

“If you hate me so much, why don’t you just kill me? Why do you go around hurting the people I love? My own flesh and blood doing this to me…” Minho said, ignoring Kibum.

Kibum’s head snapped in the General’s direction and he saw red with fury.

“You did this?! You sent-“ Kibum was cut off from saying more by Minho pulling him into his side forcefully.

“Don’t, Kibum. We still need the army…” Minho whispered into Kibum’s ear before returning his glare to his uncle.

“Minho, I do not know what you’re talking about but get your facts right before you start pushing the blame onto someone,” the General said, threatening. Kibum’s hand gripped the back of Minho’s shirt with every intention to push himself off from Minho’s hold and spring onto the white man.

“Would someone care to explain what is going on here?” Jonghyun’s father questioned. Kibum saw Tae Jun looking on just as curiously but he knew when to keep himself out of the conversation, which was the reason he hasn’t asked anything yet.

“Uncle- No, General, do you still remember what these villagers did to those Japanese men when they had tried to harm one of their own? Do you realize that that could be your fate as well if I were to tell them this?” Minho said in a cold, silent voice that was scary for even Kibum to listen to.

“You have the guts to threaten me, boy? Did you forget your place?” the General said, seething with fury as he took another step closer. Kibum put himself in the way between the General and Minho. If this man was planning to get to Minho, he was going to have go through Kibum first.

“Alright! Enough of this! Kibum, tell me what’s going on here?” Jonghyun’s father demanded, coming closer to place a hand on Kibum’s arm and pull him aside. Kibum wouldn’t budge, his eyes meeting the General’s directly.

The General was incapable of doing anything now, what with the presence of Jonghyun’s father and the villagers. People were already becoming wary of the silent battle going on between the three of them. While the army men all had the rifles that they could (and would) use to protect their General, the villagers compensated with brute force and determination.

But above all, Kibum had the reassurance that the General wouldn’t try something as stupid as a mass massacre of an entire village. This was because being the power-crazed man he is, the General would surely not risk losing his title and his glory by murder the people he was supposed to protect and for handing over the land that they were supposed to reclaim to the Japanese.

“You are impressive, boy. All this chaos and because of who? You. You corrupted my nephew. You pushed your village into this war. You did everything and yet, you have the guts to still be going against me…” the General said.  

“I hope you burn in Hell. For treating your own nephew like trash. For taking innocent lives. For everything you’ve done!” Kibum spat spitefully, out of everyone else’s earshot. He finally allowed Jonghyun’s father to pull him aside. He took hold of Minho’s hand, lacing their fingers just to cause more anger in the white man.

“General, if I don’t receive an explanation for what is happening here now, I will take matters into my hands,” Jonghyun’s father commanded, motioning for several men to come closer just for protection.

The General looked at Jonghyun’s father begrudgingly before turning to face the both of them, Kibum now in Minho’s possessive embrace. This was Minho’s way of showing the man that Kibum was precious to him no matter what the man had to say about it.

“I’m leaving,” he said, turning in the direction of where his jeep was parked. Before he could get out of earshot, Minho had to add the one last sentence that Kibum knew he had been dying to say for a long time now.

“My father would have been very ashamed for having a brother like you…”

The General paused in his stance, not facing Minho or anyone else, for that matter. He seemed to have been caught off guard by Minho’s mention of his father. But it only lasted a few seconds before the man was making his way to his jeep again.

Minutes after the jeep was gone, Kibum remained in Minho’s embrace, looking at the forlorn look in his eyes that seemed to be trained to the ground now. Jonghyun’s father gave up after the first three times his questions went unanswered, leaving the two of them be although Kibum did notice his curious glances at Minho’s arm around Kibum’s waist. Tae Jun went back to leading his troop in their tasks, understanding that the matters of Minho’s family were not for him to know.

The truth is, Tae Jun already knew everything. He knows everything from Minho and Kibum’s sinful relationship to the General being on bad terms with Kibum for this reason and many others. However, Kibum assumed that he didn’t know about the deeds his own troop members carried out under the General’s order because he wouldn’t have come to the General about Minho’s actions then. Tae Jun simply pretended to not know anything because it was none of his business and Kibum had to give the man credit for that much.

Minho released Kibum from his hold when he noticed people glancing their way curiously. He simply gave Kibum a blank look before he went back to his work, shoveling harder and faster than he was before. And as Kibum watched the other try to drown his broken heart by exerting so much energy, he couldn’t help but find it very sinisterly amusing, how they were both at the same position now having each lost a loved one although the reasons they lost them couldn’t be more different.

How oddly amusing was this coincidence, Kibum thought to himself darkly.

“Kibum-ah, I don’t think it’s a wise idea for you to be doing that…” Jonghyun said from where he was sitting on his bed across the room. Jinki had just fallen asleep on the bed not a few minutes ago and Jonghyun was tucking him in carefully so that he did not wake him.

Kibum immediately stopped trying to pick on the bandage around his left hand. He had only been curious of how his fingers looked like now, with three of his nails gone. He hadn’t had the chance to see it since it has been wrapped in the bandage all this time. But what Kibum couldn’t see, he more than made up for by feeling the sensitive skin rubbing against the bandage all the time.

It was simply unbearable but Kibum kept his pain to himself. He did not want to bother others with his problems when everyone was going through their own crisis at the moment.

Just as Kibum moved his eyes to settle on the dark sky outside, he heard the door open and close quietly.

“Sorry, hyung. Can I come in for a while?” he heard Minho ask Jonghyun.

“Of course. Jinki hyung sleeps like a bear. He wouldn’t wake up,” Jonghyun replied. Then, he heard footsteps shuffling towards where Kibum was seated on the windowsill.

Kibum expected Minho to say something and so he waited. He waited and waited, his eyes no longer on the stars in the sky and back on his bandage. Why wasn’t Minho talking? What was he thinking?

“Stop it, love,” Minho said, taking Kibum’s right hand that was picking on the bandage again and letting the hand rest on his side. Kibum turned to look at the other for the first time that night.

Minho looked so… sad. And alone. He looked exactly like how Kibum thought he would look like if he was to catch himself in a mirror.

Kibum brought his knees closer to his chest in an effort to make space for Minho to sit on the other end of the windowsill. He went back to gazing out the window thoughtlessly, feeling Minho’s eyes on his face the whole time. It should have been unsettling to be stared at. Somehow, Kibum found it rather comforting instead.

Why did things have to be this way in his life? What did he ever do to deserve such punishment? He only wanted to love and to be loved. Was that too much to ask for? His parents, his grandmother and now, Minho, they all suffered (or in Minho’s case-still suffering) on Kibum’s account. Everything they did, every sacrifice they made, it was all for him to be well. They shouldn’t have done that because then, Kibum wouldn’t be feeling so abandoned and alone now.

Maybe he was being punished for never being any use to the people he loved. Maybe he was being punished for always being the one that used other people for his own protection even if he didn’t mean to. Maybe Kibum deserved this punishment.

“Kibum, look up there. Just above the crescent moon. What do you see?” Minho said and Kibum was distracted from his thoughts for a moment. He looked up at where Minho was telling him to and saw a bright star just a bit north of the moon. It was probably just a star that came into sight from the changing seasons. Just a natural phenomenon and nothing to fuss over.

Then, why was Kibum crying? Why was he allowing the tears that he had held back so well all this while to escape their confinement?

“Halmeoni’s watching over you, Kibum. She never truly left you. No one you love will ever truly leave you…” Minho said, his words soothing Kibum like a warm blanket protecting him from the coldness. Kibum leaned into the warmth when he felt Minho’s thumb swipe away the tear tracks below his eyes. He turned to face the other and saw Minho shedding his own precious tears for Kibum. For an undeserving Kibum.

“I… I miss her, Minho… It hurts so much… It’s my fault that she’s gone… I couldn’t protect her. It w-was never your fault, Minho…” Kibum said, letting the words flow from his mouth without restraining them anymore. He didn’t have the strength to hold back anymore.

“It was neither of our faults, Kibum… Fate, cruel, vicious fate, is to be blamed… But we’ve got to stay strong, Kibum. It is the only way we can emerge victorious in whatever game this is that fate is playing with us…” Minho said, cupping Kibum’s face and forcing him to look him in the eyes. The assertiveness in Minho’s eyes as he said that only made Kibum cry harder.

Kibum allowed Minho to pull him onto his lap. He curled up into Minho’s chest as the wrapped his arms around Kibum protectively and rocked him back and forth in his embrace. Kibum felt the occasional wetness touch the top of his head and that was the only indication that Minho was crying along with him. That was when Kibum began to let out the wails he had kept locked up inside him, knowing that his strong lover was breaking down just because of him.

“Cry, love. I won’t tell you to stop. Let it all out and know that I’m here to catch your every tear,” Minho said, pushing Kibum closer into his chest so that his heartbreaking wails were muffled up by his own body. Kibum forgot about every apprehension he ever had and grieved in the only way he know how to.

Somewhere between the crying, Jonghyun decided to give them privacy and he had left the room with a sleepy Jinki in tow. Kibum only realized this when he loosened his grip on Minho’s shirt , no more tears left to cry.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Minho,” Kibum said, placing apologetic kisses all over Minho’s face. He tasted the saltiness of the dried tears on his cheeks and he kissed it all away.

“My love has only taken so much from you and failed to give you back anything. Yet, here you are, apologizing to me…” Minho said, chuckling darkly.

Kibum kissed Minho on his lips fervently.

“I love you so, so much, Minho. Please don’t take that away from me too. I need you because you have given me so much…” Kibum said against Minho’s lips, feeling Minho’s fingers curl tightly into the material of shirt on Kibum’s waist.

“I don’t know what I did in my past life to deserve to say this, but I love you too Kibum. More than any man has ever loved his woman in this world,” Minho said with conviction. Kibum had to smile at that, albeit small, at Minho’s competitive nature in even this.

Kibum fell asleep in Minho’s arms that night, watching a certain star twinkling brightly in the sky as though to keep them company.

A couple of days later, Kibum noticed that things have not worsened. It was as if they had hit the lowest slump and things could simply not get any worse. They fell into a mindless routine of digging the gorge (which was almost done now at all the key areas), strategizing and just waiting for the war to come. Just yesterday, the news that Japanese kempetais were sighted outside Suwon, reminding all of them of their impending battle. But other than that, everything has been moving in the village without much of a problem.

It should have been a warning to Kibum that something else was to happen. After all, with his bad luck, it was only normal that he would receive one blow after another every time he was recovering.

Jinki came to him the night before, looking depressed and devoid of that signature smile on his face. He had hugged Kibum out of nowhere and apologized for everything he has ever done to Kibum. Kibum simply thought that the other was repenting his mistakes before he lost the chance to when the war began. Everyone seemed to be doing that so he did not assume too much when Jinki apologized.

However, Jinki’s next words were to raise Kibum’s suspicions once again.

“You know that I would never do anything to hurt Jonghyun or the rest of you, right? You of all people should know that…”

Kibum had simply blinked, trying to decipher the meaning behind those words.

“I… I love Jonghyun… I always have with all my heart and if there comes a time that I’m not able to be there for him, I know that I can trust you with taking care of him. I just wanted to make sure you understood how much I love him and make sure that he never ever doubts that…”Jinki said, not letting Kibum go from his tight, clinging embrace. Kibum forced himself out of the hold to look the man in the eyes.

“What are you talking about, hyung?” Kibum asked, his every hunch telling him that there was something wrong despite Jinki’s denial.

“I just wanted to apologize, that’s all…” Jinki said, leaving Kibum baffled and making him wonder about so many things.

Well, Kibum was to receive the answers for his questions early morning the next day.

Kibum stirred awake when he heard the banging of the door to the next room. He slipped out of Minho’s embrace and got off the bed. Kibum rushed out of his room with a sense of urgency at the sound. He found Songdam noona pounding on Jonghyun’s door to get him to open the door when he came into the corridor.

“What happened, noona?” Kibum asked, approaching her. She looked worried and scared as she continued to pound on the door.

“I don’t know. I heard him thrashing up his room and when I came to check, he wouldn’t let me in. JONGHYUN-AH! PLEASE OPEN THE DOOR!” she bellowed once again when she finished explaining.

“Let me try…” Kibum said, calming the woman beside him by holding her wrists to stop her pounding.

“Hyung, will you let me in? What’s wrong?”

Silence. Kibum saw Minho come out from his room, curious of what was happening. Kibum simply shrugged, not knowing himself.

“Hyung, please… Talk to me…” Kibum tried again. He heard muffled footsteps making their way to the door and the clicking of the door unlocking. Jonghyun peeked between the crack of the door, only showing his face.

His tear-ridden, puffed face.

“Jonghyun-ah, you scared the hell out of me! What is going-“

“Kibum, I only want you to enter…” Jonghyun said, cutting his sister off. He waited expectantly for Kibum to enter. Kibum cast both Songdam noona and Minho uncertain glances and followed his best friend into his room. Jonghyun locked the door behind him.

The first thing Kibum noticed as soon as he set foot in the room was the mess. His usually neatly arranged books were strewn all over the floor. A vase Jonghyun kept on one of his shelves was in a thousand pieces. The bed was so messed up, all the pillows lying beside the bed instead of on the bed.

Jonghyun had really gone on a rampage in here.

The next thing Kibum noticed was the comforter wrapped around Jonghyun. Kibum was almost certain that he was underneath it and this let him know what must have happened last night. This was definitely about Jinki.

“What happened, hyung? Did he hurt you?” Kibum asked, getting angrier at the sight of his best friend’s wrecked condition.

“He’s a traitor, Kibum. I fell in love with a traitor…” Jonghyun said simply, confirming every suspicion Kibum has ever had for the ex-military man all this time.

(A/N) Chapter 33!!! I realize that this is short but I'll make up for it soon guys, I promise!! I just had to update this before I go away on a holiday for a week where I'd have no access to my computer. So i hope you guys can be patient until I get back... I'm kind of in a hurry now (not done packing when my flight's tomorrow... OTL) so I must leave you guys at this... All i want to say is thank you so much for your support and for upvoting me because it makesme happy to see all the love you guys are giving me... I may be a bit late on the comment replies but I'll get to it soon I promise!!!

Thank you for reading and commenting!!!! Have a great day ahead!!! <3