Back at the inn.
Dohyun and Jaeyong both returned to their room, unlike Dohyun's room back at the palace there were no dividers, just two plain beds beside each other. Dohyun looked at them for a while before walking over and getting into one. "Is it too uncomfortable?" Jaeyong asked, sensing the weird expression on Dohyun's face.
Dohyun shook his head saying, "Not at all, something just crossed my mind." Laying down, he said, "We should sleep now, we still have to leave early tomorrow." With that, Jaeyong blew out the last candles and sunk into the bed beside Dohyuns. Despite saying that they would go to sleep, it had become a habit of theirs to chat about random things before actually falling asleep. Dohyun took this as his chance to ask about certain things he noticed a while back.
Still laying on his back looking up towards the ceiling, he spoke, "Hyung, do you happen to know why the people have seemed to let poppies grow everywhere here?" "Yeah", Jaeyong replied, "If I'm correct, they use them for their medicinal purposes. The extracts are used as analgesics and for cramping."
"Ohh…" Dohyun let out, "You seem to know a lot about herbs and medicine, last time too, the medicine you gave to Ae Ran back at Jeonbuk Peak." Jaeyong pulled out the small pouch from inside his robes again, "Yeah, we all carry medicine in case of emergencies. It was also part of our training to know how to treat certain wounds and illnesses." The small pouch bent and scrunched up in his hands as he played with it and handed it to Dohyun.
Even with the dim light, he could still make out what seemed to be small patterns of flowers and birds embroidered on the small pouch. Suddenly curious, Dohyun asked, "Did you make this?" Jaeyong shook his head, "It was my sisters", he let out a small laugh, "She never used to let anyone touch it saying it was her one of a kind masterpiece."
Dohyun moved to rest on his arm facing Jaeyong, "You have a sister?" he asked. Jaeyong slowly breathed out and left only a faint smile on his face. It was dark but Dohyun could still make out his slightly pained expression, "I'm sorry, maybe I shouldn't have asked…"
Jaeyong quickly shook his head and faced him as well, "It's fine, her name was Hae Won, Baek Hae Won. Our parents were gone during the time she fell ill, I got her to a doctor but he only gave me a number. She passed when I was eight, she was nine."
Dohyun suddenly felt that he shouldn't be holding the pouch, it must have been significantly important to him since it was his noonas. He slowly and softly placed it back into the other's hand saying, "It must have been lonely going through that alone." With no parents or people to share the pain with, it must have been suffocatingly devastating for an eight year old.
The small smile never left Jaeyong's face, "It was for a long time, without noona I lost sense of time and what I was doing. I got into a lot of fights. Was a grimy little kid aimlessly, deliriously wandering the streets until a notable noble helped me find my way back."
"This person", Dohyun said, "I guess I owe many thanks to. For helping you." The someone who guided Jaeyong back had to have been a remarkable fellow, perhaps without his help, Dohyun would have never had the chance to meet Jaeyong hyung or the other wonhwa as they are today.
"Alright your highness", Jaeyong playfully said, "It's only fair if you share something as well."
Dohyun smiled, sly… very sly…
He thought for a while, realizing there wasn't anything really worth sharing about his life. He was a prince who was stuck in the palace all day since birth, aside from the times he would sneak out. "To be honest, my life is quite monotonous", he said not wanting to say boring since it would probably sound stuck-up given that he was always provided with riches and treasures that he never really actually cared for.
"But… There was a time when I had lots of fun, although, in the end, because of my selfishness I ended up hurting the people around me. You may have guessed it already, the earlier times I snuck out of the palace."
"What did you do?" Jaeyong asked.
"Well, I did a lot of things. I played kites with the children younger than me, plucked various flowers I couldn't find in the palace, and occasionally bothered this other hyung of mine."
"This other hyung?" Jaeyong repeated, slightly tilting his head but still looking up at the ceiling.
"Yeah, although I forgot his name and what he looked like. He actually saved me from bullies once, it was actually a funny scene to think about now. But in the end I ended up hurting myself and him as well. It was the night before Dano, I knew I shouldn't leave during the night but I really wanted to go and so I went. We were supposed to meet at our usual waiting spot but during my way there, the group of bullies from before ganged up on me and brought me somewhere further away from the crowds.
I had no chance against them and could only comply and walk as they told me. First they took my belongings and verbally bullied me. But then I wasn't expecting for hyung to arrive, I told him to just go and run but the bullies used me to bargain with him. Since they already had bad blood, they wanted their revenge.In the end, hyung took all their beatings on the pretense that they wouldn't touch me, but of course, it was all lies. After they were finished with hyung, he was already in very bad shape. Then when they moved on to me, he became even more enraged and charged towards them. I tried to help but ended up falling into a well. Before I fell I saw one of them hit hyung from behind and that was it.
The next thing I heard was the sounds of guards mumbling, then later on the voices of a doctor and my mother. When I finally came to, they said it had already been a month. After that, I was watched over day and night, people were in my quarters watching me in case I tried to run out again. By the time things had finally gone back to normal it had been at least six months, but that wasn't my problem. Due to being in a coma for a while, I forgot his face and name."
"If only I could have remembered even his name, maybe I could have found him again. I had to apologize, more importantly, there was something I wanted to tell him."
Jaeyong faced him now, "What did you want to say?"
"Oh", Dohyun shook his head, "Since hyung was always alone, I wanted to ask him if he'd go to the beautiful places with me." He shook his head again, "It's just something we talked about."
A while later Jaeyong spoke, "I'm sure he would have wanted to." "You think so?" Dohyun piped up.
"Yeah."
After that, they decided to end the chit-chat and actually sleep. It was a mutual understanding, they just layed in their beds eventually falling asleep.
For the following five days, they traveled high and low resting at rivers and small ponds they passed, camped under the sky during the night since the next area with civilization was further away.
During those five days passed Hajoon's birthday, usually Dohyun would be with them, attending a extravagant banquet in celebration of the prince's birth. Instead, he was taking shelter under the dense number of trees in the forest. Strangely enough, he did not find it as something extremely hard to put up with, the wonhwa were skilled in hunting and thus, every night brought back some sort of meat for them to finish. He was neither lonely nor bored, with the wonhwa, Sam Mee Yon, Sam Seonghwa, Byung Ho and Minhye, there were many things they talked about.
As time passed, the growing sounds of water splashing neared their ears, they later found out they had reached a large waterfall with a stable plunge pool. Mee Yon took her chance to speak saying, "Since we have encountered falling water could we perhaps stop to bathe?"
Since they have not had a chance in days, Dohyun himself also longed to bathe. "Very well, you should go first, we'll wait on the other side in the meantime." With that, the women proceeded to go over to the falls while the men made their way to the other side. It was midday and the sun would be able to fastly dry them, making it the perfect time to cleanse themselves.
As they waited Byung Ho handed out sweet potatoes for them to snack on, since they were boiled the skin easily peeled off but Seonghwa who sat on the outer side of the group seemed to be struggling with removing the skin. "Seonghwa?" Dohyun said, noticing, "Is there something wrong?" Seonghwa shook his head, "No, it's just I've never had this before at the kisaeng house."
Both Minhye and Byung Ho gave him an incredulous look, even a grand prince like Dohyun knew how to peel sweet potatoes, Seonghwa only gazed downwards as he continued to struggle peeling. Byung Ho wanted to scold him for not knowing how to do such a simple task, he was truly a pampered brat at the kisaeng house. But then he remembered what Sam Mee Yon had told him a while back when they were still on the road. "An Byung Ho-ssi, if you're reluctant or do not wish to protect Seonghwa please say so now so that you may change places with Minhye-ssi. Seonghwa acts in feminine ways since he was brought up in a kisaeng house and by women, he doesn't know how to do many things men would excel at, he's also used to being pampered and adorned with feminine things. If this bothers you I suggest you say it now."
Of course he couldn't not do his task and protect Seonghwa, it would be a great affliction to his pride. He wouldn't simply give up his pride for such things, "There is no such need Sam Mee Yon-ssi, thank you for informing me in advance, this will help me to deal with him." Byung Ho said in his usual supercilious tone.
Byung Ho grabbed the sad looking sweet potato from Seonghwa's hand and clicked his tongue, after that he nonchalantly put his already completely peeled one in his hands. "I'll give you mine just this once so watch carefully cuz I ain't gonna show you again got it?" He then began to peel the potato, taking off all of the skin, as told to, Seonghwa watched carefully and uttered, "Thank you."
Byung Ho pretended not to hear and walked over to where Dohyun and Jaeyong were, "Is it that necessary for you to teach him in such a way?" Dohyun said, raising an eyebrow. "What?" Byung Ho said, "He should know that much already."
An incense time later the women finally made it over, they did take quite some time. Sam Mee Yon walked in front with the others following behind her, they all had slightly flushed faces and small smiles on their faces. Whatever it was, no one cared to ask, Mee Yon must have been the reason behind it. Jaeyong though, was a little worried his teammates were slowly being corrupted by unknown means.
This time the men walked over to the other side, the pool of water at the bottom of the falls was shallow enough, just reaching one's stomach. Dohyun was still cautious knowing that he didn't know how to swim; after that incident when he fell into the well, he had never been able to learn how to swim. Even with constant practice, he would sink everytime.
Minhye and Byung Ho were first to strip their robes leaving only their white underpants that hung at their waists before moving into the water. Dohyun and Jaeyong also removed their outer clothing, Dohyuns skin was a glowing shade of white with a pinkish undertone looking like petals of pinkish-white roses; Jaeyongs skin in comparison was paler like white jade, lacking the sense of liveliness. They both had exceptional bodies which Minhye and Byung Ho both rolled their eyes at.
The water was cool enough to refresh their bodies from the hot sun above, looking at the group, someone was missing. To the side stood Seonghwa staring down at the ground, "Seonghwa" Dohyun called out.
"I'll go in once you guys are done." He said without even looking at them.
Dohyun only nodded his head, he might have been uncomfortable bathing with them.
The water glistened in their bodies from the light of the sun, Dohyun couldn't help but occasionally steal glances at Jaeyong. His skin looked so soft and delicate making him wonder if it was from always wearing their dark outfits.
A while later after they finished up, Dohyun walked up to Seonghwa, "Seonghwa, are you sure you'd like to go in alone?" Seonghwa nodded his head, "Yes, please excuse me but I do prefer to bathe alone." "No worries", Dohyun replied.
He glanced towards Byung Ho who nodded his head to him, "Then we'll leave first", Dohyun said as he, Jaeyong, and Minhye took off. "Why are you still here?" Seonghwa asked Byung Ho who was crossing his arms in front of him. "Precautions, you can't just stay here alone. Who knows who might arrive or what might happen. Can't have you drowning while we're gone."
"I know how to swim", Seonghwa said, annoyance lacing his tone. "Go on", Byung Ho said, "I won't watch."
Byung Ho turned around and sat on a large boulder to the side, "Just make sure to make some noise every now and then." He added.
"I said I know how to swim", Seonghwa muttered before stepping into the water.
'What a hassle' Byung Ho thought to himself, rolling his eyes every now and then. 'Being shy when we're all men, what a joke. Although, it's kinda funny.'
Meanwhile, on the other side of the falls. Everyone sat in a large circle, some of the women were eating while everyone else rested for a while. It was surely a good choice to have refreshed themselves here, who knows when they would get the next chance.
Less than an incense time later the other two returned and they continued on their journey. Two days later they arrived at Stone Village during the night. It was clear that this place was a highly religious town, with stone pagodas at the beginning and end of the main street.
Since it was already dark outside, the town was well lit but exceptionally quiet. Not many people wandered the streets nor were children playing outside. Upon entering further into the village they passed a few smaller inns but decided to stop at the largest one to accommodate them all. Like the previous time, Byung Ho talked to the innkeeper and got them their rooms. It was surprisingly quite similar to the one they had in Red Flower Town, the only difference was the vast array of buddhist symbolism everywhere.
On curtains, furniture, and ceramics. Varying imagery of white parasols, lotus flowers, and golden fish. Before they entered their rooms the young innkeeper politely said to them, "My guests, it is past six, as a part of our practices here in Stone Village, we do not allow drinking nor loud talking after this hour."
"There should be no problems", Dohyun smiled as he politely bowed his head in return. This was a village that highly regarded religion and practices, it was only right for them to comply with their rules. For once, they had been surrounded by a peaceful atmosphere; careful not to disturb that peace, they all silently proceeded to their rooms and went straight to bed.
The next morning they were awakened by the faint sound of bells. The people here slept and woke at the same time each day, the sun was yet to rise but after a night of undisturbed sleep, they all felt energized and ready for the day. Dohyun randomly thought this would be a nice place to live once in a while, the calm aura of their surroundings affected their state as well.
Downstairs they were greeted by the innkeeper and other staff who were setting the table for breakfast, "Please be seated my guests, breakfast will be ready in a bit."
They all sat on the wooden floor while waiting for the staff to finish the table. They were provided with green tea and a warm bowl of plain porridge for each person. Since they lived peaceful lives here, the people also practiced refraining from being gluttons and often ate bland food, perhaps that was the only downside. Nevertheless, they thanked them for the food and left soon after.
Dohyun marveled on how the place had such an effect on them, even the chatty Mee Yon refrained from talking for a while after they left, that was until many hours later nearing evening she said, "This is where we must walk by foot."