Branches rustled and a large shape swung out of the trees a few paces front of them. KyuHyun's arrow was pointed at their faces. "Who's there?"

KiBum managed to stay on his horse who panicked and nearly took off at the sudden intrusion. "It's me! Don't shoot!" he said.

"…KiBum." KyuHyun lowered his bow, dropping the arrow back into his quiver. He sighed at Kevin's yelp, the younger man holding onto KiBum to avoid falling off. "And Kevin. What do you both think you're doing? No…stupid question. Go back, right now."

"What? No," KiBum shook his head. "No, we're going to help. Besides... I don't know the way back."

KyuHyun scowled at them both. "…Fine. But you're going to do exactly as I say, okay? If I tell you to go hide somewhere and wait, you listen, no arguments."

"Of course," KiBum nodded. "We just want to help RyeoWook get better, we'll do what you say."

"Can't help him if you get yourselves killed in the process." KyuHyun turned his horse around to continue. "Come on…if we make good time we'll be back before boss sends out the search party. Your brother is going to have your head."

"Yeah well... maybe when this is over he won't treat me like I'm a kid anymore," KiBum said. "I can do stuff too you know, I don't always have to go hide in the woods to stay out of trouble."

"I didn't say you can't do stuff. I'm just saying if you wanted to prove your point, you shouldn't have picked when RyeoWook's life is at risk." KyuHyun's voice was serious. "You screw up now, all four of us are dead. So I hope you're taking this seriously, and not just because you're pissed at your mother hen of a brother."

"I'm worried about RyeoWook too, don't give me that," KiBum said, scowling over at KyuHyun. "I know this isn't a game and that everyone's kind of at risk right now. When else am I supposed to prove myself? When everyone else is dead because they were too worried about looking after me?"

"There will be other chances to prove yourself, doing things you actually know how to do. From what you've told me so far, stealing isn't one of them." KyuHyun turned back to face the front. "I'm on your side, you know. HyungJoon sheltering you isn't a good thing, not at the rate he does it. But whether I want to help you or not, RyeoWook comes first."

"I know, that's why we're here," KiBum said with a sigh. Even if he did want to prove himself, he hadn't done this for himself, he was doing it to save RyeoWook. "How much further is it to the compound?"

"Another couple hours." KyuHyun fell silent, focusing on leading them in the right direction. Kevin squeezed KiBum's waist lightly, silent reassurance.

The night was more than halfway over by the time they arrived at the small, fortified compound. KyuHyun led them around the side of the compound and away from the guarded gate. Dismounting, he motioned the two of them closer. "The apothecary is a couple streets inside the compound from here. Kevin, you're going to stay here with the horses. No arguing," he said when Kevin opened his mouth to protest. "We need someone to watch the horses, and be ready to go. KiBum, you'll go in with me and be my second pair of eyes."

"Oh... um... okay," KiBum nodded, fumbling in his pocket for his brother's gun. "Just tell me what to do, I can do it."

"I just said: you're my second pair of eyes. You'll make sure the area's clear while I go in and get the medicine." KyuHyun searched through the saddlebags before he pulled out a long coil of rope, unwinding it and making a noose at one end. "That means keeping yourself out of sight, and letting me know when it's safe to come back out. Distraction only if it's needed, I want to get in and out without alerting anyone. Think you can handle that?"

"Yeah, yeah I can handle that," KiBum nodded. "You can count on me, promise."

"Then let's move." KyuHyun had attached a grappling hook to the noosed end of the rope, tugging until he was sure it was secure. Stepping up to the wall, he spun the rope in tight circles before letting go. The hook flew up over the top of the wall, and he tugged on the rope until it was hooked at the top of the wall. "I'll go first, bring the rope with you or we're stuck inside."

"Be careful," Kevin whispered, watching as KyuHyun started to scale the wall. Reaching the top, he rolled himself over and took a quick look around, lying flat on the top of the wall. Motioning to KiBum, he disappeared over the wall.

"Stay out of sight," KiBum said, looking at Kevin with an unreadable expression before following KyuHyun up and over the wall. As easy as KyuHyun had made it look, KiBum was pretty sure climbing a wall was one of the hardest things he'd ever done. Unhooking the rope when he was down, he looked around for KyuHyun as he crouched down.

KyuHyun had already moved on to the corner of the alley they'd dropped down into, peering around the wall. When KiBum joined him, he drew the younger man closer so they could whisper without being overheard. "Follow me to the building, but stay outside. Keep your eyes open for guards." He made his way down the alley, using dumpsters and doorways for cover.

Glancing around nervously, KiBum followed him down the alley. The same dim lighting that kept them from being seen easily made it impossible to tell if he was going to bump right into someone.

Torchlight flickered up ahead, and KyuHyun reached behind him to grab KiBum and pull him back into the shadow of a doorway. He watched silently as two people walked past on the street up ahead, seeing the guns strapped to their waists. Only once the torchlight had faded into darkness again did he continue on, reaching the street corner. He used a small pocket mirror to check around the corner before crossing to the other side of the street.

It was a heart-pounding ten minutes later when KyuHyun finally stopped outside a shabby old building, lips pursed as he looked at the window. "Remember what I said," he whispered to KiBum before breaking the glass, creating a small hole just large enough to reach in and unlock the window. He pushed it open and hoisted himself up into the building.

"Right, just don't take too long," KiBum whispered, hiding himself behind a turned over crate. Keeping HyungJoon's gun at ready, he made a conscious effort to keep his finger off the trigger, not wanting to accidentally shoot his own foot off.

Time ticked on until finally KyuHyun's head popped up on the other side of the window. He pushed himself back out, clenching his jaw as he nicked his fingers on broken glass. "Got it," he whispered, eyes shining as he tucked a wrapped bundle under his jacket. "Let's get out of here."

KiBum let out a long sigh of relief, right after he tried to calm down at being surprised. The sudden movement had made him jump and he nearly clipped KyuHyun in the head. "Just go back the way we came?" he asked, looking back and forth down the alley to make sure they were still clear.

KyuHyun nodded. "Slow and steady." He wiped the blood off his fingers before setting off, crouching low to the ground.

Following after, KiBum kept as quiet as possible as they went down the alley until they reached the wall. He passed the rope back to KyuHyun so he could hook it back up to the top of the wall. He waited for KyuHyun to go up first before following after.

Perched at the top of the wall and just about to drop down on the other side, KyuHyun frowned at KiBum struggling to climb the wall. "Be careful," he whispered, before his eyes snapped to torchlight appearing at the edge of the alley.

"Hey! What're you doing?!"

KyuHyun swore, grabbing the bow strapped to his back. "Climb faster, KiBum!" He pulled out an arrow and took aim, firing before the guards could. He just missed in the dark, one guard swearing as he was grazed.

Eyes widening, KiBum stumbled down the rope, hitting the ground hard as he fell over into the dirt. Before he could get himself righted he heard the sound of shouts going up around them, an alarm being sounded. "KyuHyun, just go!" he said, getting back onto his feet and going for the rope again.

"Not a chance." KyuHyun fired another arrow, hitting his mark this time. He flinched as a bullet flew by him. "Get up here!" He kept the guards closest to them from getting too close to KiBum, firing arrows with deadly precision.

KiBum climbed as fast as he could, yelping and nearly letting go again when bullets starting hitting the wall near him. Getting to the top, he didn't even bother trying to land neatly on the other side, just falling off and landing with a hard thump.

KyuHyun tossed the rope over before following, landing next to KiBum with a curse. "Come on, we have to go," he hauled KiBum to his feet.

"KiBum!" Kevin was hurrying towards them with the horses, eyes wide.

"Talk later, get on the horse." KyuHyun grabbed the reins for JungMin's horse, climbing up.

Nursing a sore arm, KiBum hauled himself up onto his horse, holding out his good hand to help Kevin on. "Hold on tight Kevin, we're going to have to run."

Nodding with wide eyes, Kevin climbed on behind KiBum. He could still here alarms going off on the other side of the wall. KyuHyun kicked his horse into a gallop as Kevin wrapped his arms tightly around KiBum.

KiBum turned his horse around to follow after KyuHyun, letting his horse have his head to try and keep up with the faster mare. A quick glance over his shoulder and his heart jumped in his throat seeing torch lights trailing after them. They were being chased.

KyuHyun had noticed that too, from how he ducked lower to the mare. Their horses hooves thundered down the path through the trees, but he could hear those behind them gaining. They knew these woods better than the three thieves did.

There was no way they were going to keep this pace up for long. The horses had been ridden all night and were going to tire pretty quickly. KiBum jerked a little when the gunfire started, and his heart sank when he realized it was coming from in front of them, and not from behind.

"Get out of the way KyuHyun!" A familiar voice called, JungMin on one of the team horses blew out of the brush in front of them, pistol out and aiming for their pursuers.

"JungMin?" KyuHyun wheeled the horse out of the way, startled.

JungMin wasn't alone, another horse following out of the bushes in a full charge. "Get them back to the camp!" HyungJoon must have grabbed someone else's weapon before leaving, because he fired several shots at those coming after the three youngest.

KyuHyun's lips thinned. "Come on KiBum, keep up!" He kicked the horse back into a full gallop, racing past the two who'd just appeared.

"HyungJoon?" KiBum blinked at seeing his brother, but didn't slow down and kept riding.

"Did we have a better plan for dealing with this, or are we distract then plan?" JungMin asked HyungJoon, wheeling his horse around to face a different direction.

"I didn't have a plan beyond distraction, did you?" HyungJoon asked. "Besides not dying?" He switched directions to charge through the trees, continuing to fire so the pursuers would go after him instead of KyuHyun, KiBum and Kevin.

"Do I ever?" JungMin laughed, keeping up with HyungJoon and weaving the horse through the trees. She didn't respond as reliably as his own horse, and one small misjudgement on the distance between himself and a tree and he was flat on his back. The horse took off, free of her rider after he'd been clipped by a low hanging branch. Disoriented, JungMin struggled to get to his feet, feeling around in the dirt for his weapon he'd dropped.

"JungMin!" HyungJoon wheeled around, returning to JungMin's side. "Get on!"

Bullets hit the trees next to him and HyungJoon ducked down instinctively, firing back. The torchlight quickly surrounded them, and HyungJoon didn't see someone coming up behind him until he was dragged down off his horse.

JungMin didn't even see it coming, his vision still blurry and his legs wobbly. He tried to fight back when he felt hands on his arms that forced him to his knees, but it was useless. They were caught.

"Honest tradesmen huh?" One of the men said, JungMin recognizing the voice from when he and KyuHyun had been to the compound. "I knew that was a lie. Damn thieves just like all the rest. String them both up boys, we'll show them what we think of thieves around here. Someone go catch that damn horse!"

HyungJoon growled in frustration, lashing out from where he was being pinned to the ground. He managed to drag the person holding him down to the ground before hands hauled him away and something hit the side of his head hard. He slumped over, blinking back stars as his arms were wretched behind him and tied up.

He was tossed over the back of someone's horse, shirt catching and tearing a little. HyungJoon was too dizzy to keep fighting after that, shutting his eyes and praying the other three had gotten far enough away. He heard some horses leaving to continue the chase.

JungMin barely remembered the ride to the compound, it was a blur of trees and horse feet until he was being unloaded rather unceremoniously and thrown onto a hard packed dirt floor of a windowless room. He was pretty sure the thump he heard beside him was HyungJoon though it was hard to see once the door was shut and locked. "I think... I'm going to kill KyuHyun when I get back," he muttered, trying to roll onto his side.

HyungJoon's reply was a low groan muffled into the dirt. After a moment of regaining his bearings, he slowly rolled himself off his face and onto his side facing JungMin. "If we get back," he coughed, closing his eyes. His head pounded. "They'd kill us first."

"If?" JungMin snorted. "I've been in worse scrapes than this HyungJoon. I bet we'll be out of here by morning."

"How?" HyungJoon asked. "You're just as tied up as I am. Even if the others come to get us, they're going to have a much harder time getting in than last time we busted you out of a jail cell."

"... Me being in this jail cell is in no way my fault," JungMin said. "This is all KyuHyun's fault. I'm not rotting in some backwater compound or getting myself hung for that snarky . We'll get out of this, whether anyone helps us or not."

HyungJoon opened his eyes, his vision slowly beginning to adjust to the darkness. "..I'm all ears if you have any sort of plan."

"Haven't come up with one yet, but I will," JungMin said, attempting to sit up. "First thing's first though, we need to get these ropes off, they hurt like hell."

Frowning, HyungJoon squirmed a little as he tried to get the ropes off. "They're on pretty good…maybe I could get yours off?"

"Okay, we'll have to try and work together on this," JungMin said, scoot over towards him. "Think you can do that?"

HyungJoon winced as he got himself sitting up, hair falling forward into his face. "Yeah." He squirmed until he was sitting with his back to JungMin's, fingers trying to get a good grip on the ropes around the older man's hands. "This might take a while."

"Let's hope we've got plenty of time then," JungMin said. "Maybe they'll wait till morning to hang us over the side of the walls by our necks."

"Think they'd kill us so quickly?" HyungJoon ground his teeth a little as he worked at JungMin's bindings. "Probably beat us up a little first."

"Probably. We don't have the stuff that was stolen they'll probably try to get it out of us who nicked their stash," JungMin replied. "You ever been tortured before?"

"Probably nothing close to what they'll do to us," HyungJoon mumbled. "I'm not saying a word to them though, you better not either."

JungMin frowned a little at that, glancing over his shoulder. "You really think I'd rat out the others like that?"

"Not normally no, but I bet by the time they're through with us it'll look pretty tempting," HyungJoon replied.

"Just because I may have been a turncoat in the past, doesn't mean I'll turn on Saeng like that," JungMin said. "Or anyone else for that matter. What about you? Would you cut a deal so your brother wouldn't be hurt just to make it stop?"

HyungJoon snorted quietly at that. "Like I could trust them to keep their word and not hurt KiBum. I'm not an idiot."

"But you would if you thought it would work," JungMin said evenly.

"If I thought it would work? If I thought they would leave one person to go free while they did who knows what with the others? Do you really think I'm that much of an idiot?" HyungJoon glanced back at him.

"Just making an observation HyungJoon," JungMin said. "All you care about is KiBum. If it came down to the rest of us and him, you'd choose him."

"You say that like it's such a surprise." HyungJoon turned his head back, continuing to work at the rope that was slowly loosening.

"Shouldn't be a surprise," JungMin said, sighing a little. "Maybe I was just hoping it wouldn't be that way. You spend so much time worrying about him and keeping your secrets. Why did you even bother joining YoungSaeng's crew?"

"Because he wanted to," HyungJoon replied. "That's the only reason. I don't need anyone else, just my brother." The rope slid off JungMin's wrists.

Rubbing at his wrists, JungMin turned around to free HyungJoon. "You're going to die a lonely bitter man HyungJoon. You are exactly what's wrong with this world. Everyone's out for themselves and don't take a second to think about anyone else. You're just like the people in this compound, wouldn't give up medicine to a sick man."

HyungJoon's jaw clenched at the older man's worlds. "If how I am is wrong, then thank the world that made me this way. You have no room to talk about anything, JungMin. You're no better than everyone else. And I don't care what you think of me, my only goal is to make sure my brother stays alive."

"I have no room to talk?" JungMin scowled at the back of HyungJoon's head. "Let's get something straight HyungJoon. I didn't have to come after you on this fool's errand to save your little brother. But I did. I did it because I wanted to make sure all three of them got back safe, and you too."

"And that makes you so much better than everyone else?" HyungJoon looked over his shoulder at JungMin. "I bet that when it comes down to it, you're not so different from the people in this compound either. You'd kill anyone, even a harmless child, if it meant staying alive."

"See, you don't know me at all," JungMin said. "I'm pretty sure I could get out of here nice and quiet all by myself, leave you here. But I'm not going to, because despite what you say or do, I don't want to see you die. You're part of the crew HyungJoon, and being part of something means you think for others and not just for yourself."

"I'll take your word for it," HyungJoon replied, turning his head away again. "Are you just about done?"

"Yeah," JungMin rolled his eyes, pulling the rope away and tossing it to the side. "Come on, let's get out of here." Getting back to his feet, he held out his hand to help HyungJoon up.

"About time." HyungJoon looked up at JungMin, rubbing his sore wrists. He reached up and took the offered hand, standing. "Getting our horses back too, right?"

"Of course, you think I'd let these asses keep our horses?" JungMin chuckled, looking HyungJoon up and down to check for any injuries. His eyes narrowed a little at the tear in HyungJoon's shirt that crossed down over his chest. "...You don't have a mark," he murmured, reaching up a hand to pull the fabric down a little.

The second JungMin's hand touched his shirt HyungJoon jumped away as though burned, breaking all contact. He turned away from JungMin, one hand pulling on his torn shirt to cover up bare skin. "Of course I have a mark, everyone does. Did you hit your head on that branch too hard, you're going to have a hell of a time riding."

JungMin's lips thinned. "I know what I saw," he said quietly, shaking his head a little and turning away. "Let's go, before they come back."

HyungJoon nodded stiffly. "Yeah." He kept the tear in his shirt closed as he went to try the door. "Locked…any ideas?"

"This thing's held together by tape and twine, shouldn't be that hard to get out," JungMin said, investigating the seams of the small shack. One of the boards wasn't nailed very well to a support, loose enough that JungMin could push at it and see outside. "Here, if we can push this board out enough I think we can get through."

The younger man followed him to the corner of the shack, seeing the board in question. "Got it." HyungJoon braced himself against it and pushed hard, opening up space near the bottom. "Good enough to crawl out?"

"I think so, let me make sure the coast is clear," JungMin said, getting down on his stomach and poking his head out of the space underneath the board. The shack butted up against a solid wall, barely enough room for them to walk down, but that meant they wouldn't be seen either. "We're good, I'll go first," he whispered as he slid out, maneuvering to the side so he could get back up to his feet. "I'll hold it, you can come out," he said as he pulled on the outside of the board.

Letting go of the board once JungMin had a solid grip, HyungJoon dropped to his stomach and crawled out into the narrow space on the other side of the wall. "Okay," he coughed against the dirt, gathering his legs back underneath himself and standing. Looking up at the sky, he could see it slowly getting lighter. With luck they'd still have enough darkness to escape by.

"Horses," JungMin said, looking to HyungJoon before slowly picking his way down the wall to the end of the shack. "I don't see any guards. These guys must be real idiots."

"All the better for us," HyungJoon murmured, following behind him. If only they had weapons, but as long as they got their horses back, they could get out of here. "Do you know where you're going?"

"Kind of," JungMin nodded, crouching low to the ground as they went to the end of the shack and looked around. "I didn't get a real good look when I was here earlier, but I'm pretty sure the front door is over that way. The stables were nearby but it's right in the middle of the compound. It'll take a lot of luck for us to get in there, get the horses and get out before we're shot."

"Luck hasn't been on our side." Keeping pace with JungMin, HyungJoon frowned at torchlight disappearing down a side street.

"Of course it has. We're alive aren't we?" JungMin said, glancing at him.

"Don't jinx us," HyungJoon didn't look back at JungMin, refusing to meet the older man's eyes.

"We'll be fine," JungMin replied, looking back out at the street. "Alright, just follow my lead. It's still dark enough they can't see us properly, so let's act casual and get to the stable."

"You mean walk out in plain sight," HyungJoon mumbled, but followed along when JungMin moved out of the shadows between the shack and wall. Straightening and tugging the tear in his shirt closed again, HyungJoon followed behind him while watching for torchlight in the corner of his eyes.

Whether it was blind luck or not, they made it to the stables without trouble. The one time someone had come across them, they'd hardly paid the two any attention, going about their own business. HyungJoon peered into the stable, eyes scanning the rows of horses. "There," he hurried to his horse's side, fingers working at the rope tying the gelding to a post.

"I don't see the team horse," JungMin said, going to one of the stalls and slipping inside. The horse balked a little at the unfamiliar person in her stall but let JungMin lead her out. "The real hard part is going to be getting out those gates without getting killed. You got a match or a lighter on you?"

"They took everything from my pockets, but maybe…" HyungJoon searched through his horse's saddlebags. The people who'd caught them hadn't had the time to search his horse yet, everything was where it should be. HyungJoon pulled out a small box of matches. "Got it. Why?"

"We're going to copy KyuJong's plan for getting us out of the city," JungMin said, unhooking an oil lamp off the wall and holding out his hand for the matches. "Get all the stall doors open while I get the distraction ready. When the horses bolt, we're going to ride out with them and hopefully in the confusion we can get out those gates before they have any idea what's going on."

HyungJoon frowned before passing over the matches. "Okay." He patted his horse's neck before going to open up the stable doors. The lesser-used doors squealed horribly as he pushed them open, HyungJoon clenching his jaw and leaning out to make sure no one was running to see what the noise was. He went from door to door, pushing them all wide open. "Ready."

While HyungJoon had been doing that, JungMin had pushed most of the hay to the back of the stable and as far from the horses as he could get it. As soon as HyungJoon was finished, he lit the lamp, keeping the shade down on it so no light would give them away before throwing the lamp at the back wall. The lamp exploded in a firey mix of oil and glass, the flaming liquid splashing everywhere. It only took seconds before the hay caught fire and the back wall lit up. "Time to go," he said, getting to the horse and climbing on.

Wincing at the sudden wave of heat, HyungJoon ran to his horse and climbed up into the saddle. The gelding pranced nervously, nostrils flaring at the fire. The other horses had started panicking, and it didn't take long for them to realize their stall doors were wide open.

Ducking low to his horse, HyungJoon kicked them into a gallop as the other horses raced out of their stalls and out of the stable. After a quick glance to make sure JungMin was still with him, he followed the horses out onto the streets and in the direction of the front gate. Shouts went up all around them as people spilled out onto the streets only to be driven back by the panicked stampede of horses.

Riding low against his horse's neck, JungMin could see and hear people shouting to bring water and to corral the horses before they got out. From what he could see, even the guards at the gate were running towards the stable. They were already across the square when someone finally noticed them, someone shouting and attempting to fire at them from too far away. Either no one else heard, or were too preoccupied with the fire to care at that point.

As impenetrable as the walls were, the gate was a flimsy sheet metal someone had stolen from a roof at some point and was easy enough to blow through, the lock snapping when JungMin's horse plowed through it.

HyungJoon followed JungMin past the broken gate and out into the forest, urging his horse faster. He heard a few more gunshots go off before they disappeared into the trees.

Listening as they raced away from the place, HyungJoon didn't think they were being followed. Still, he wasn't about to slow down just yet. The sun was slowly rising, the darkness lifting from the forest and making it easier to see where they were going.

"We were in there for a while," HyungJoon said finally, after they'd decided it was safe to slow down a little. "The other three should have gotten back to the camp already."

"Yeah, and then YoungSaeng's going to want to come after us to get us," JungMin said. "We're going to have to take the road back, cause if they bring the caravan there's no way they're going over open field in that thing."

"Okay," HyungJoon nodded. He turned his horse to head towards the road. "We're going to need new guns, are there still extras in the caravan?"

"Yeah, and I'm sure we can get more later," JungMin said. "Saeng's going to pitch a fit though. I'm pretty sure when we get back the only person he isn't going to be mad at about all this is RyeoWook."

"That medicine better help after all that," HyungJoon sighed. "You said you saw KyuHyun leave, but how did KiBum and Kevin get past you?"

"They must have snuck out while I was talking to KyuHyun," JungMin said. "Don't have eyes in the back of my head, had no idea they were even considering going after him."

"That makes two of us," HyungJoon murmured, falling silent as he frowned down at his horse. He was kicking himself for not paying more attention to KiBum the night before, he should have noticed something was up.

"Look, I know you want to protect him, but you can't lock him up in a tower and throw away the key," JungMin said. "He's going to make mistakes, that's part of being human. You're not going to always be there to take care of him."

"I've been taking care of him his whole life, I'm not about to stop now," HyungJoon replied shortly. "If you had a brother you'd understand."

"That's such bull and you know it," JungMin said, kicking his horse forward a little and wheeling around to cut HyungJoon off. "What is it that you two are keeping from us huh?"

HyungJoon pulled on the reins to stop, scowling at JungMin. "We're not keeping anything, and it's not bull. Can we not stay in one place in case they're still looking?"

"You are keeping something from us, and the sooner you tell me what the hell is going on, the sooner we can get going," JungMin said, leaning forward a little in his saddle. "I saw, HyungJoon. You're not infected, you don't have the mark."

The younger man's wide eyes narrowed. "You're still saying that? Everyone's infected, including me!"

"Prove it then," JungMin said, pointing at HyungJoon's torn shirt. "Prove it to me, and show me the mark."

HyungJoon's lips thinned, and he looked away. "I…I shouldn't have to prove anything to you."

Jungmin watched HyungJoon for a moment, eyeing the man's nervous stance. "Listen HyungJoon... whatever it is you and KiBum went through was obviously enough to keep a secret, I get it. I just think that after all this time you'd be able to trust us by now. We should be friends."

For a second HyungJoon looked wide-eyed and unsure, but then he drew himself up and his expression closed off. "I have no reason to trust anyone, and that includes you. If you tell anyone about this, or do anything to hurt my brother, I swear JungMin, I'll kill you," he said lowly.

"If you really think I'd give away that big of a secret, then you really don't know anything about me," JungMin said. "I don't want to hurt you, or your brother. I just want to help."

"You can help by staying away from us." HyungJoon pulled his torn shirt closed again before wheeling his horse to get around JungMin.

"Sometimes in life HyungJoon, you have to ask yourself if keeping yourself closed off is really for the better," JungMin said, not stopping him. "Maybe the rest of us can do a better job of keeping you and KiBum safe than you can alone."

"You think you're the first person who's said that?" HyungJoon's voice cracked as he snapped back at JungMin, his grip on the reins white-knuckled. "I've listened to people I trusted argue about the best way to cut me open! We don't need your help, just leave us alone."

"I think you need our help more than you let on," JungMin said. "I may not be the first person who has said it, but I'm the one who means it. Just like I mean it when I say I'll keep your secret, and by extension, KiBum's."

"I don't believe you." HyungJoon got around the older man's horse, spurring his gelding into going faster without caring if he was going to leave JungMin behind.

"I don't care if you don't believe me!" JungMin called after him, kicking his horse to catch up. "The sooner you realize we're all in this together the better off you'll be."