They walked for an hour at what seemed like an excruciatingly slow pace to Donghae, but he figured that the others were just trying to accommodate him since he wasn’t supposed to be used to this kind of exercise. The way was pretty much flat through the woods. There was no visible path, but they seemed to know exactly where they were going. After an hour Hyukjae broke the silence that had dominated the group the whole way.

“Let’s take a rest.” He said and the others stopped immediately.

Kyuhyun, Yesung, Heechul, and Kangin took a seat on a fallen tree while Donghae took a seat on a rock away from the group. He still felt like he was an intruder instead of a wanted guest. Soon enough Hyukjae sat down next to him.

“Water.” He said, offering his bottle to Donghae who took it and took a swig.

“Thanks.” Donghae muttered and handed the bottle back to Hyukjae.

“You seem like you’re in pretty good shape, do you think you could handle walking for a longer period of time?” Hyukjae asked Donghae quietly. The other four seemed to be having their own conversation and weren’t hearing a thing that passed between the two boys.

“Sure, no problem.” Donghae simply replied, although he had almost laughed at the boys request, but refrained when he remembered that he wasn’t supposed to be his usual self.

“Ok, you just let me know if you need a rest.” Hyukjae said and with an agreeing nod from Donghae he got up and picked up his bag again.

The rest followed his lead and they began walking again. The four guys walked ahead, while Hyukjae and Donghae stayed a little farther back. The four friends were chatting quietly among themselves, while the two strangers stayed silent.

“You don’t talk much do you?” Donghae asked.

“What?”

“You don’t seem to talk much; you’re quiet while your friends are chatty.” Donghae said again, now simply stating his observation.

“Oh, yeah, I guess I don’t.” Hyukjae said before falling silent again.

They walked for a few more minutes in silence, which was now awkward because of Donghae’s previous question, before Donghae decided that he was going to try again.

“Why?” Was all he asked.

“I guess I just really don’t have anything important to say, and I’ve always got a lot on my mind.” Hyukjae answered in a voice that was only audible between the two boys as the other four were farther ahead.

“Oh, you can share if you want.” Donghae offered, not wanting to go back to walking in silence and wanting to open up to the boy that seemed closest to Jonghyun.

“Just business stuff, you wouldn’t understand.” Hyukjae answered and Donghae had no choice but to simply nod and go back to the silence.

It was clear that Hyukjae wasn’t going to talk to him that easily.

“We’ll stop here for the night, set up the tents.” Hyukjae instructed when they had reached a small clearing in the trees.

The night was calm and slightly cold, but the boys didn’t notice in their suits. After a few arguments they finally got the tents up. They were small, only space for three people each, but they would work. Kangin, Heechul, and Yesung crawled in one tent while Kyuhyun stayed with Donghae in the other.

“Aren’t you sleeping?” Donghae asked and poked his head out of the tent to ask Hyukjae who was sitting on a rock playing with some tree bark.

“I’m taking the first watch.” Hyukjae explained and Donghae just went back into the tent.

He lay down next to Kyuhyun. The younger boy was soon asleep but Donghae couldn’t seem to sleep. He was used to not sleeping, staying up for either school work or missions was what usually happened. He had slept well the previous night and knew that he wasn’t going to sleep that night. With a sigh he pushed himself up and crawled out of the tent. If he wasn’t going to sleep he may as well take the watch and let Hyukjae sleep.

“Can’t sleep?” Hyukjae asked as he heard Donghae emerge from the tent.

“Insomnia.” Was all Donghae said and then took a seat next to Hyukjae.

Donghae looked up; they were in a clearing so he could see the sky through the scattered branches of the surrounding trees.

“It makes you feel smaller doesn’t it?” Hyukjae suddenly asked, and Donghae looked next to him to see that the older boy was also looking up at the night sky.

Donghae looked back up and puzzled over this for a minute. He had never really taken the time to look at the stars except when he used them to navigate. Feeling small had never been something he had experienced. As Mr. Lee’s son everyone always gawked at him, expecting him to turn into a spider ninja or something. He always felt like the safety of the world rode on his shoulders. Now as he stared up at the sky, he did feel something different.

“Yeah, I guess. I mean when you think about it, we all see the same sun, moon, and stars. No matter where in the world you are, what language you speak, or what culture you grew up in, there are things that stay the same. We are all human after all.” Donghae said and when he finished he turned to see Hyukjae staring at him.

“What?” Donghae asked feeling uncomfortable with the boys penetrating look.

“That was just, really deep.” Hyukjae said and turned away, his face visibly flushed even under the slight light of the stars.

“Well, thanks, I guess.” Donghae said while staring at the blushing boy.

After they sat for a few more moments Hyukjae spoke again.

“You know, what you said is right. We are all human. That is what bothers me most about this war. We have treated each other like an annoying bug that needs squishing for so long that we forget that South Koreans are just people like you and I. I mean, we even speak the same language. The only thing keeping us separate is our differences in governmental opinions.”

Donghae thought about this for a moment. If Hyukjae only knew that South Koreans were more like him than he thought. He was, after all, sitting next to one right now without even realizing it.

“I’m glad I met you Hyukjae.” Donghae said and put his arm awkwardly around the older boy’s shoulders, giving him a slight squeeze.

“Thanks, I’m…” Hyukjae began and then stopped.

Donghae looked at him puzzled and opened his mouth to speak but Hyukjae quickly covered it with his hand to stop him. Donghae watched as Hyukjae’s eyes wandered around the woods behind him, his eyes and ears searching, seeking for something hidden.

Donghae casually slipped his hand by his ear in order to turn on his sonar, and as soon as he did this he heard it. It was subtle, but it was there.

Breathing.

It wasn’t the breathing of the sleeping boys, but the breathing of someone who was nervous. He moved his eye to turn on his eye screen and the thermo reader. He counted six spots of heat, all spread out throughout the woods in a circle around them. Donghae leaned in close to Hyukjae so that his lips were against his ear.

“We have company.” He whispered in a breath so that he knew the intruders wouldn’t pick up anything but the breath, even if they did have sonar like Donghae. He knew that to them, it would just look like a kiss. He would have blushed at the thought of kissing Hyukjae, but he was already on his feet entering the tent shared by three of the others. He woke them by gently punching their shoulders and then covering their mouths and placing a finger over his lips telling them to be quiet. He went to wake Kyuhyun in the other tent but found that he was already standing outside with Hyukjae.

The six boys stood in a circle, their backs facing out. The five friends looked at each other, and to Donghae it seemed as though they were communicating simply with their eyes. The transaction made Donghae realize just how quiet it was without his friends there. He would be talking to them using their telepathy right now if it was the five of them and not him plus five strangers. The boys soon turned their backs to one another, forming a tight circle and facing the imposing woods. They were waiting; waiting for an attack, waiting for a movement, waiting for anything. Then they got it.

There were six figures moving towards them all at once from every direction. Before they could reach the circled boys the six friends dispersed, each taking one of the intruders. Kangin quickly had his pinned to the ground, while Heechul and Yesung quickly followed. Kyuhyun’s attacker fled into the woods and he had gone after him. Hyukjae was skillfully battling his, blocking kicks and punches before he finally got a good hit straight to the nose in, sending his attacker keeling over, clutching what was now a bleeding nose. Donghae seemed to have the most skilled attacker, as he was avoiding every one of Donghae’s master moves. Finally though he managed to get behind him and pull his attacker into a headlock, bringing him to his knees.

“Well, that was fun.” Kangin said with a grin, still kneeling on his attacker.

“What are you guys doing here?” Hyukjae carefully demanded of his bleeding captive.

“We, we are just hikers passing through.” Hyukjae’s captive said, trying to sell a weak lie.

“Nobody hikes in this weather, what is the real reason? We can hear your southern accent you know.” Heechul taunted his captive. The boy seemed like a girly princess, but he was quite the fighter.

“I got him, he almost got away, but I got him.” Kyuhyun said proudly as he came into the clearing carrying an unconscious prisoner on his back.

“Hyukjae, the accent is fake.” Donghae said suddenly.

The five other boys turned to look at him in disbelief; even the prisoners seemed to gawk. The accent was good, and it would have fooled any Northerner and probably any normal Southerner, but Donghae was trained and he could spot a fake southern accent a mile away.

“How do you know?” Hyukjae asked incredulously.

Donghae was in trouble now. He didn’t have a clue how to explain his sudden knowledge of the accent.

“I just know, trust me.” Donghae said and shot Hyukjae a pleading look, begging for him to not implore any farther.

“We’re sorry but we can’t tell you!” One of the captives said and Hyukjae shot him a furious glare.

“Why not!” Yesung demanded of the captive he was holding.

“Jonghyun sent them.” Hyukjae concludes suddenly and then furiously drops the bleeding man he had been holding and then storms away into the woods.

“What the hell?” Heechul asks before hesitantly dropping the man he was holding too.

The other boys slowly release the men that they were holding as the put together what Hyukjae had just said.

Donghae reluctantly let go of his prisoner. It made sense. Jonghyun would want to test him, make sure he could handle being a part of this world before he entrusted him with his secrets.

Hyukjae came back into the clearing and stood with his arms crossed, face serious. Donghae didn’t think the boy could look this pissed, but he looked like he could rip a tree from its roots in just one swipe at this point.

“Leave. And tell Jonghyun that he can trust me; that I do not need to be babysat and that Kibum here is more than capable of what he wants.” He instructed his prisoners and they stood.

They grabbed the unconscious one and then disappeared into the woods, leaving the others to stand confused as Hyukjae began to pack up the tents.

“What are you doing Hyukie?” Kyuhyun asked bravely. None of the boys wanted to approach the still fuming boy.

“Packing up. We need to keep moving or we may get some more surprises, this time from real South Koreans.” Hyukjae said while he continued his work.

Kangin, Kyuhyun, Yesung, and Heechul began to help Hyukjae pack up their gear while Donghae just watched. He was still trying to analyze what had just happened, what Hyukjae had just said.

Why would Jonghyun need to trust Hyukjae? And why would he need to be babysat? Donghae was touched that Hyukjae thought he was capable of what Jonghyun needed to do.

“Kibum, I know you can’t see well in the dark, but it is a pretty light night and I can lead you again if you want, the way is pretty clear until we reach the mountain which will be around daylight. If we move all night we will reach The Mountain before night falls tomorrow.” Hyukjae said and Donghae simply gave him a nod.

They finished packing up their gear and headed out. The four friends ahead and Hyukjae and Donghae following behind, Hyukjae holding Donghae’s hand again because he thought he couldn’t see in the dark. Donghae felt how tense the older boy was and he gave his hand a tight squeeze.

“Relax Hyukjae, I doubt we will run into any South Koreans tonight.” Donghae tried to calm the boy.

He knew they wouldn’t see any South Koreans on their journey. The government wouldn’t waste their time and money sending troops out this far, and the Lee Company had never seen anything around this area so they wouldn’t send any spies here either. Donghae couldn’t help but get the distinct feeling that they weren’t alone and that they were being watched none the less.

He flicked his sonar and eye screen on just in case. Both remained blank though. There were no heat sources or sounds that he could detect. They were completely alone. Or the ones watching them knew how to avoid Donghae’s detection skills.

“I know; it just makes me furious that he doesn’t trust me enough to train you. You are in our group now anyway; it should be up to us to train you how we like.” Hyukjae said in a low, but clearly annoyed voice.

“Why wouldn’t he trust you?” Donghae couldn’t help but to ask.

“It’s because…never mind, I can’t tell you.” Hyukjae began to admit, but then stopped himself.

“You really are a secretive person Hyukjae.” Donghae said and then silence fell upon them again.

They walked for a few minutes before finally Hyukjae responded.

“I have to be. I live in a world of secrets.”

The words echoed in Donghae’s mind: a world of secrets; a secret company, a secret mission, a secret identity. Now a secret friendship had been formed; a secret and forbidden one sided trust.

A world of secrets it was indeed.

I decided to update again today(two days in a row!) because, well, I got bored :D I think I may start a 2min story today too...if I do I will post a link for whomever would like to check it out :)