Hi! ^.^

Thanks to my wonderful manager who decided to be merciful and grant me an off day for my late night yesterday, I can produce a double update!!

All is good when your TGIF becomes a TGIthursday. >.<

Yunjae will major this two chapters, but minor Yoosu will be present for one. Apologises for that!

Do stay and read!

Also, thank you for all your kind comments and also the subscriptions. I am a happy female because of you all. >////<

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In the dead of night…

Wrapped in shades of ebony, in the middle of a slowing Cimmerian meander, a ‘floater’ is almost visible under the dim gleams of moonlight dancing on the surface. With much effort, a single man hangs onto a partially afloat broken tree trunk as he sails along with the previously fast flowing meander, headed to the sea.

His hundred kilometers per hour 'river cruise' is in the lag thanks to the storm blowing over, but his problems are yet to blow over. In front of him, is a lifeless person, bounded to him with his torn cape, between them, a hungry wailing baby.

“URRRGGGHHH!!!” A loud cry broke the silence that came with the darkness that obscures the skies. “YES!!! YES!!! FINALLY!!@#$%*!!!” A victorious gabble followed shortly.

As soon as the lifesaving trunk enters and lodges itself in a narrower passage of slippery moldy stones and tangled tree roots, the man concentrated all of his body strength into the pair of thick muscular arms, as he hauls both two dead weights as well as his, up to the soggy banks nearby, all by himself. Aside from the baby’s squalling and his own grunting, the other man in front of him remained still as death, silent.

“Thank the gods!! AIGOOOO!!” The man crumpled onto the soppy ground together with the rest of the two as he lay there, catching his breath after the struggle to get back on solid land. The air surrounding them is chilly, and the storm they experience together had brought the temperature down by quite a fair bit. Even the water is bitterly cold, but he is numbed.

Soaked to the skin and dripping water from every single strain of hair, the man scrambled further up the verdant banks as he carrys the two humans, each in one hand. The soil is still overly damp and mushy, so he can barely walk properly as he heads into the dense overgrowth nearby.

Hoping the trees will be good enough to shield them from the frosty wind; the tall man finally settles down and strips to his inner garments, dumping the armour onto the shorter tree beside him to dry. Gathering as many twigs and branches he can find, the man worked efficiently to stack them into a pretty pile and started a fire with the most caveman of methods. Friction.

“Jaejoong sshi!” Jaejoong sshi!” the man then kneels down to tend to the other, lying in a huge puddle of water on the wet grass, face as white as sheet as his breath appears almost inexistent.

Grazing his fingers along the said man’s nose, the tall man waited for confirmation of a weak exhalation. Bending forward and plastering an ear to the unconscious man’s chest, the other smiled upon feeling a faint inhalation. Looking over the other’s still body, the relieved man immediately recognizes the long slit at the side of the unconscious man’s arm. The wound is still pumping blood as it joins the pool beneath the body.

Cursing to himself, the tall man quickly tied a tourniquet around the now open laceration and staunched the bleeding with inhuman strength. Jaejoong’s newly changed bandage had fallen off in the struggle to stay afloat, and the profuse bleeding had gone unnoticed since he is submerged. The lack of hemostatic function within the waters had caused him quite a fair amount of blood. Also, the man is already ill with inflammatory reactions from earlier, so, unable to hold out, his body caved.

Placing the healer beside the pathetic fire, the other unwrap the infant and dabbed the tiny body dry before wrapping him in a warm embrace. The baby is crying incessantly, and that is the red light indicating that someone needs to be fed, and soon.

Instead of allowing himself to rest, the alert man stood tall and did a quick surveillance of the area. Taking note of the geographical outline of his current location, the man grinned upon realising the road back to civilization isn’t as far as he had expected and dreaded. He regained all lost ability to make an accurate judgment of how far or long they have travelled, after exiting the freezing water he was dipped in for nearly half a day.

Wringing dry all the extra pieces of clothes on his back, the man would not undress Jaejoong no matter what, cautious about underestimating of his own abstinence threshold. Wrapping his own still damp cape around the man, hoping to maximize the warmth, he secured the dead weight into a comfortable piggyback and wrapped the baby around his tummy. Not leaving any top for himself by the time he is done donating his clothes to the two weaker links, the man decided to just discard his armour altogether and begin on the journey home.

Creating a torch with a thick branch he had as surplus earlier, the man brought along a single long bough to be used as a weapon for self protection as well as support. Trudging along, the man wasted no time in heading back to the direction of the healer’s boat, tracking opposite to the flow of the river, the man braved the unknown in the lightless forest.

A tough man by build and nature, the walk did not daunt him. However, since Jaejoong is like the weighty shell on his back, the man travelled at the speed of a turtle. Willing his overused feet to catch up with his own expectations, the man wanted to be reunited with humanity soon, since he knows Jaejoong needs help as well. The baby is also deafening him, making a din from the lack of food and causing him an episode of headache every time the tiny creature raises his pitch.

“Shhhh! We won’t want to wake your Jaejoong ajumoni now, would we?” The man cooed at the baby as he clacked his tongue and whistled a folk song to the infant. “Uncle Yunho will get you something to drink once to return to civilization… so don’t cry. Hush now.” The man continued tenderly.

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POV from Yunho

A lesson learnt! Never play by the river! NEVER!

The water might seem so tranquil and stagnant, but they will wash you right down to the sea the moment you step in at the wrong time. Drowning is the worst way to die. Especially when you can actually swim!

I know I sound like a douche bag saying this, but it’s true that I am their savior. I almost died because of them! You have to give it to me… for hanging on all the way down the rapids and ferrying them back home in this merciless night. I am just surprised that I managed to maintain my physics even though I haven’t been training much these past few months. I can hold out for sure, the problem is this two with me.

What is really surprising though, is Jaejoong. He is one hell of a stubborn cat. Even though he might die, he would not hang on to me, even after I initiated contact. He can’t even swim… but he chose to dive in after the baby. I can tell he has a really kind heart. His exterior is just as beautiful as his interior. I already knew that.

He could have left the baby to die… since he supposedly hates the baby so much… but your guess is as good as mine. He is one hell of a strange guy.

From what I gathered during the brief conversation we were having while fighting it out, I can safely assume that he holds a grudge, especially towards me and Yoochun in particular. I think it has got to do with the fact that we destroyed their homes, possibly slaughtered their loved ones and took everything they owned overnight.

I keep wondering about what we might have done... going through the possibilities. Did we kill someone he loves? Did we hurt someone close to him before?

Whatever it is, we are still alive, I have him ‘holding’ me in an ‘affectionate embrace’… not exactly consensually, but I will just indulge myself a little longer. I plan to engage him in a heart to heart talk when he wakes. Our sour relation is too one sided and I plan to find the root cause, turn the situation around and allow ‘us’ to flourish… if you get what I mean.

The more mysterious he is, the more I want to know about him.

I have never met someone who can intrigue me to such an extent! He was one that held my gaze since the very first time our eyes met. I knew. I can never decide if I ever liked anyone enough to be bothered with them… but he is the first. I am interested in this person! I need to know more… to feed my curiosity and also my desire to know him on a personal level.

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Reaching the outskirts of the fort after a long arduous journey on foot, the advisor saw that he cannot bring Jaejoong in, since the man is a wanted person.

Scouting out a bare spot in the nearby thickets, and deciding that the place is safe to hide a man, the advisor deposited the healer gently beside a tree and marked the plant with a piece of stone, before ‘snowing’ leaves on the healer’s limp body. Then, straightening out what used to bind Jaejoong to his back, the advisor wrapped the unconscious person up with his cape as well, choosing to brave the cold, half , holding the still crying baby is a fatherly embrace.

With his own stomach growling, Yunho remembered that the baby needs to be fed badly.

“Shhhh!! Uncle Yunho will come back for your Jaejoong ajumoni later. Your Chun appa will kill him so I can’t bring him back with us.” Yunho planted a kiss on the infant’s soft skull and was about to make his way back to the fort when a few shadow came up from behind, surrounding them.

“SIR?!! IS THAT YOU!?! God am I relieved to see you again!!!” Yunho’s assistant, who was searching for the man, is the first to recognise the startled advisor. Grabbing the lone man over the mouth, the edgy advisor lean in to whisper orders into the excited assistant’s ears.

“SHHH. Take the baby. Go back. No one must…” Yunho’s voice trailed off when a torch is shined into his face from beside him.

“Sir! We were so worried about your prolonged absence!! You must be freezing! Let’s get you back to the fort.” To Yunho’s horror, while he was in the process of shutting his assistant up, a familiar figure entered the picture, followed by a few more soldiers. Smiling at Yunho, the person did not take long to spot Jaejoong, even though Yunho was desperately trying to obstruct his vision.

“Omo! Sir! Is this the kidnapper?! You found him?!” The person, general of the fort, the king’s faithful general, is awed to see that Yunho had presumably captured the kidnapper. Every of Yoochun soldier knows by now, Jaejoong’s face. The advisor cannot deny anything.

Yunho’s mind was whirling as he gaped stupidly, unable to come up with any excuse to salvage the situation. Willing himself to say something, Yunho failed, since he teeth were fighting too hard against one another after taking on a sudden gust of chilly wind. “GUARDS!! Take the fugitive!!” The advisor can feel his head spinning as the general sends a few of his followers over to take Jaejoong away.

Then, the smiling general turned to extend an arm to the visibly shivering advisor and offered him a horse. “Sir. I will have them care for the baby. Don’t worry.”

“I… No need. I need.” Yunho stuttered, pinching himself on his thigh. However, the advisor could not continue no matter how hard he tries. Defeated by his own body’s reaction to the sudden loss of warmth from skin contact with the feverish Jaejoong, the man got onto the horse and followed closely behind the ‘kidnapper’s’ captors.

“Get the heater up!! Give sir Yunho a warm change of clothes too!!” The excited assistant ordered the servants, the moment they entered through the gates. Yunho is already stiff after the icy bath and using the cold breeze to dry himself off. Teeth chattering, the man could only witness the guards drag the unconscious Jaejoong off to the holding area roughly.

“Be gentler…” Yunho almost shouted at them, but managed to suppress it into a low growl.

Regretting his own carelessness under his breath, the man shuffled off to the hot bathe as fast as his numb feet can carry him, needing to loosen up his tight, aching muscles. “Hot water! Hurry!”

Not happy with the freezing temperature causing him a brain block, the usually meticulous and quick witted man is disappointed at himself for causing such a blunder, which will inadvertently bring harm to Jaejoong. Quickly sinking into the balmy bath water, Yunho tries to soak off the chills while he explores his options, how he can save the healer.

Knowing that Jaejoong must be feeling cold as well, the man’s heart throbbed painfully. Hitting the water surface angrily, the man rubbed himself down in a split second and exited. “Get the thickest blanket you can find together with a bucket of hot water, and then follow me.” Yunho ordered the servants while tying his sash clusimily, fumbling with knotting them.

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POV from Yunho

How could I overlook the fact that Jaejoong will be in such close proximity to danger even though we are nowhere near the fort?!

I should have left him further away!! Silly Yunho!!

He will most definitely prefer that I leave him by the river to die. For sure. He is SO going to hate me for this.

I admit it. The great Yunho can be really obtuse at times too.

Anyhow, the way they were pulling him is so uncalled for. I can’t allow them do anymore damage! He is sick… and he needs help!

TBC

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