Ilhoon's eyes widened in surprise and confusion. Why would Hyunsik be back again? That weird feeling started building up again as Ilhoon found himself running towards Hyunsik and hugging him. No, he didn't mind the dirt Hyunsik had on his clothes. No, he didn't mind the fact that he's hugging a guy. No, he didn't mind the fact that he's tearing up due to happiness. Heck his image. It's Hyunsik's return that he minds.

 

Hyunsik only laughed and hugged him back. That kid must have missed him despite the fact that he just left him for only two to three hours. What Hyunsik wasn't sure was - why did that kid miss him in the first place? 

 

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Hyunsik's POV

 

Hyunsik was left alone in the hut. He had decided to end this conflict the scholars had with the corrupted officials as soon as he could. The faster the conflict ends, the better for the innocent civilians. He sighed as he started planning out what he should do when he reached the capital.

 

Suddenly, he heard the villagers shouting and screaming. He opened the door and what greeted him was horrified villagers running in all directions and the fire that was spreading in his direction. Hyunsik immediately knew it was the work of the officials. No scholars would harm the innocent. 

 

"Run! Young man, run!" The village head yelled for Hyunsik to escape.

 

Hyunsik looked at the direction where the village head's voice came from. He realized the village head was trapped under a wooden pillar. Running towards the village head, Hyunsik lifted up the pillar with much difficulty and instructed the village head to come out.

 

"It's no use, young man. I'm old, I can't move anymore because my legs were crushed by the pillars. Run now! Leave me alone and save yourself!" The village head grimaced in pain and gestured Hyunsik to run. 

 

Reluctantly, Hyunsik mustered his strength and threw the wooden pillar aside so that the pillar won't be on the village head. He then bowed deeply at the village head and ran away, not forgetting to turn back occasionally in respect for the village head. It's wrong to just leave him alone there, but Hyunsik knew if he didn't run, in the end both him and the village head would die. Hyunsik hated the officials. How could they do this to the innocent? Yes, they might support the Queen, but that doesn't give them the rights to do such a horrible thing. Besides, the more innocent lives they claim, the more the civilians would turn to support the Queen, isn't it? 

 

Hyunsik ran to a nearby forest. There goes his sleep. He knew it wasn't the time to complain about not having any sleep. It's the innocent lives that matters now, not sleep. But Hyunsik was very tired. There wasn't any village nearby other than the one that had been burnt down. Hyunsik decided to find a decent tree as a support for his back so that he could lean against it for a short rest before the sun rises.

 

After finding a decent tree, he sat down and sighed. Sighing not because he's tired, but because of the desperation to save the innocent civilians that had been wrongfully killed. He looked at the direction of the village, only to find plumes of smoke engulfing it, totally covering the whole village in grey. Hyunsik blamed himself for starting this conflict. If not for his idea to help the Queen, none of these would have happened. No one would die. He began doubting his ability to help the Queen and save the kingdom from the hands of the corrupted.

 

"Who are you?" A voice came from behind. Hyunsik felt a cold blade on his neck. He couldn't move, of course, if not he would be killed. Hyunsik's hand slowly fished out his charm and he closes his eyes, hoping that the charm would work.

 

"Let's just kill him, from his attire, he must be a scholar," another voice said. 

 

Hyunsik's heart was palpitating. No, he can't just die so easily. The village head sacrificed his life for him; there's no way he could just die like this. Even if he was to be killed, he would rather be killed by someone of high authority than just two mere soldiers.

 

 Before the blade pierce through his neck, he vanished out of a sudden.

 

Hyunsik's eyes remained closed for a while until he made sure the two voices didn't appear again. He then slowly opened his eyes and realized he's back in the school compound again. He was sitting against a wall, not far from the lockers. Hyunsik was wondering why he was here again, the same era he went for the first time and could only conclude that this charm could only bring him to this same era. The other questions he had were still left unanswered.

 

Hyunsik then decided to find Ilhoon. He didn't know the exact layout of the school, so he just randomly walked and saw a kid sitting at the garden.

 

"That weirdo... Will you be back again? No right... Why would you come back again anyway..." That kid mumbled to himself. Hyunsik knew Ilhoon was talking about him. Why would that kid talk about him anyway? It seemed like Ilhoon was sad because Hyunsik went back to his own era.

 

"Why wouldn't I be back?" Hyunsik said.

 

"Because you have no reasons to," Ilhoon answered unconsciously.

 

"Who said I have no reasons to come back here?" Hyunsik replied back.

 

Ilhoon dropped his twig. The sight of Ilhoon made Hyunsik smile unconsciously despite the trauma he had went through before coming back to this era. Hyunsik smiled even wider when he saw the confused yet surprised look on Ilhoon's face. That kid must have not expected his return.

 

"I am back now, isn't it?" said Hyunsik.

 

The next thing Hyunsik knew was a pair of arms hugging him tightly with that kid sobbing. Hyunsik was shocked at first, but then he only laughed and hugged him back. That kid must have missed him despite the fact that he just left him for only two to three hours. What Hyunsik wasn't sure was - why did that kid miss him in the first place? They only knew each other for a day or so...

 

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Ilhoon held onto Hyunsik for as long as he could until he realized Hyunsik must have felt uncomfortable then he let go of him. Still sobbing, he managed to ask why Hyunsik came back.

 

"Because I miss you," Hyunsik said with laughter.

 

Ilhoon gave Hyunsik a suspicious look and then wiping off his tears, he told Hyunsik to change his clothes to the uniform. Why would that weirdo miss him anyway? Hilarious. But then Ilhoon realized he missed Hyunsik. Why? How come? 

 

"Are you going to stand there still?" Hyunsik said as he gestured Ilhoon to follow him.

 

Ilhoon grinned and decided to follow after Hyunsik. 

 

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Hyunsik's POV

 

"Because I miss you," Hyunsik said with laughter. 

 

Hyunsik didn't know why he said that, but after saying that sentence, his heart started beating very fast and he didn't know how would Ilhoon feel. It's... So wrong. Why would a guy miss a guy? Especially a guy he just met for a day or so? It's weird. And wrong. Hyunsik thought maybe it's just friendship. Yes, it's definitely friendship and nothing else. In his era, people who liked the same gender would be despised and chased out of the kingdom. 

 

But... That kid in front of him made Hyunsik wonder why he wasn't a female. If Ilhoon was a female, Hyunsik would definitely date him. Unfortunately he wasn't. Hyunsik decided to clear away all these thoughts and get his uniform from Ilhoon's locker. He realized Ilhoon was still standing at the same spot, froze in his tracks.

 

"Are you going to stand there still?" He said as he gestured Ilhoon to follow him.

 

Hyunsik swore he almost melt when he saw Ilhoon grinning at him. It's like the most gorgeous thing he had ever seen in his life, even better than gold and diamonds combined. He cleared his throat and walked quickly towards the lockers, not wanting to turn back to see Ilhoon for fear that he might do something to that gorgeous kid.

 

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"Hyungs, this is Hyunsik, my friend," Ilhoon brought Hyunsik to the soccer field after the latter had changed into his uniform and managed to find his hyungs there. He decided to introduce him to them.

 

"Hello! I'm Eunkwang and this is Minhyuk," Eunkwang said as right hand extended out, wanting to do a handshake with Hyunsik and his left arm around Minhyuk's waist. Hyunsik thought maybe in this era, people were that intimate with one another. Or maybe it's just his era was more conservative.

 

"Hello. Nice to meet you," Hyunsik bowed deeply. He wasn't sure why Eunkwang extended his hand out, but he knew that when meeting someone for the first time, one should bow as a form of respect. 

 

"Err... Yes, hello, nice to meet you," Eunkwang was shocked, but he let go of Minhyuk and both of them bowed. Ilhoon chuckled and whispered to Hyunsik, "Hyung was trying to do a handshake with you. Just extend your right hand out!" 

 

Hyunsik stared at Ilhoon in disbelief, but he decided to follow what Ilhoon said since he knew nothing about the culture in this era. Since when had Ilhoon been wrong anyway? Eunkwang smiled and took Hyunsik's hand and shook it. Minhyuk too. Hyunsik smiled back, but he felt a little uncomfortable. Why do people greet each other like that? By touching their hands and shake it? What's the point? 

 

"Hey guys!" Changsub came running towards them, "Oh, who's this?"

 

"Hello, my name is Hyunsik. Nice to meet you," Hyunsik said and bowed.

 

"Hahaha, hello! I'm Changsub, nice to meet you too!" Changsub bowed back.

 

"Okay hyungs I have to introduce Hyunsik to Peniel and Sungjae, bye!" Ilhoon waved at them, grabbed Hyunsik's wrist and ran off together.

 

"That Hyunsik guy is weird..." Eunkwang said.

 

"I find him cute though," Changsub smiled, "A game of soccer?"

 

"Sure! Let's go!" Minhyuk beamed and ran towards the field.

 

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"Hey Peniel and Sungjae!" Ilhoon waved at them, with the other hand still grabbing Hyunsik's wrist tightly. It was as if he was scared that Hyunsik would go back to his own era again. 

 

Peniel and Sungjae were sitting at a corner of the canteen, both eating from the same plate. Furthermore, they were sharing the same utensils. Hyunsik wondered why the people in this era behave so weirdly. Sharing utensils? Its a very personal thing, so why were two guys sharing the same utensils? In addition, they seemed to not mind the fact that they were actually using the same fork and spoon. Hyunsik couldn't comprehend the minds of the modern people.

 

His thoughts were disrupted when Ilhoon patted his back and introduced him to them. Awkwardly, he did the handshake as instructed by Ilhoon. Something told Hyunsik that Ilhoon's friends were a little strange but he couldn't figure out why. 

 

Sungjae excused himself and told Ilhoon that he wanted to speak to him in private. Ilhoon agreed and told Hyunsik to sit with Peniel and wait for him.

 

"Ilhoon, why did you run out of the classroom this morning? It's not like you to do that," Sungjae expressed his concern.

 

"It's nothing, don't worry," Ilhoon replied.

 

"No, there's definitely something wrong with you. I'm your friend and if there's anything wrong you should tell me so that we can face it together. And it's weird that you suddenly came smiling at us and introduce a friend to us," Sungjae said and looked at Ilhoon with concern. He knew something was wrong with his friend, he knew him for almost five years, definitely he knew his friend better than anyone here in this school.

 

"It's really nothing. When it comes to the appropriate time, I will say it. Don't worry about me," Ilhoon assured Sungjae.

 

"Okay, but if you need someone to help you, I am always there," Sungjae's serious look slowly faded and smiled at Ilhoon. Hopefully his friend knew what he's doing.

 

Ilhoon couldn't possibly say that he met a guy from the era 300 years before this and then said that he had feelings for him to Sungjae. No, he can't, because it's absurd and it would make him sound like some insane idiot. He sighed and return back to Hyunsik together with Sungjae. Maybe when the time comes for him to say it, he would. But not now.

 

Ilhoon looked at Hyunsik siting awkwardly with Peniel and suddenly had an idea. A good one that would be able to make Hyunsik adapt to this era better.

 

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This chapter is on how Hyunsik meet Ilhoon's hyungs and friends. I felt that it's important that I write out how Hyunsik meet them! I realized this fic is gonna be super long... But anyways, hope you enjoy it and have fun reading the future chapters~ :)