II

Seojoon

 

The sky's getting darker and darker, rain poured down and a man tried to survive in the middle of the forest. Clutching on his bleeding waist, Seojoon walked weakly while leaning his back against the tree once in a time. The last thing he remember was when the soldiers tried to kill him but too bad,they missed. Seojoon took the chance to ran away but one of the soldiers managed to shot an arrow right into his waist. He ran, and ran, until the soldiers stopped chasing him all of sudden. He was relieved, but also confused at the same time. It has been hours of walking and his wound had gotten worse. He ripped some of his clothes then put it in between his teeth. Then, he slowly pulled out the bloody arrow out of his waist while biting the cloth and grunting in pain. His face was pale and wet due to the rain, also due to his sweats and tears.

After a moment of struggle, he let out a shaky breath, he pressed his wound as hard as he can to stop it from bleeding. Seojoon felt really weak he barely had any energy to walk, "D-dam-n."

In the middle of the darkness, Seojoon sat under a big tree, resting his back against the trunk, his wound won't stop bleeding and his body trembled, So this is how I'll die. Pathethic. He thought. 

Just then, a dim of light appeared from the other side of the forest. Seojoon blinked weakly and used all of his last energy to called for help, hoping that whoever or whatever it is, he will be rescued.

"H..h-elp-"

Seojoon's eyelids started to feel heavy as the light got closer little by little. He tried to reach his hand out but he failed, his hand fell to his side, of course, he barely had any energy to blink.

"Do you think he's still alive?" 

Seojoon could heard someone's voice faintly, he nodded his head a little hoping that they or he or she could see it. Yes, I am still alive.

Seojoon heard those people walked few more steps before he could see two men appeared while holding a lantern, they looked like a mess with some dirts on their face, wet clothes, wet hair. The younger one had a basketful of herbs on his back while the older one was holding a lantern, "Abeoji, look, he's hurt!"

The older man squated down to take a look at Seojoon's wound, "H-hel-p," said Seojoon again weakly.

"We need to help him. Sunwoo, you hold this," said the older man, the younger man called Sunwoo did what his father just said. He took the lantern so that his father could carry Seojoon on his back. "But abeoji, what if he's a bad guy?" protested Sunwoo, but still help Seojoon to get on his father's back.

"I don't think he's a bad guy, Sunwoo. Besides, even if he is, he didn't do anything to us. Therefore, he's just a stranger and we can't let him die like this."

Proud, Sunwoo flashed a wide grin, wiping his wet face before he took some steps forward, "You know what, I've always wondered where did I get this handsome genes. You're one lucky old man to have a son like me, huh." He playfully winked at his father, "You look really cool, Abeoji. Come on! We have a life to save, hurry!" Sunwoo lead their way back to the town.

Seojoon might look dead at that moment but he had listened what they have said along the journey back to the town, and he felt grateful, "T..Thank-k-"

"Stop talking, young man. Get some rest, we'll fix that wound. Stay with me, we're almost there," said the older man in his husky yet fatherly voice.

 

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Warmth started to fill Seojoon's cold body and slowly he could feel every parts of his body again. Through his half-lidded eyes, he could see the lights shined through the wooden window. He flinched a little as he tried to speak, his throat hurts really bad it felt like he just swallowed a rock. He pressed his palm against his wound, still hurt but much better than before.

"Yesss, abeoji. Heeeeish you talk too muc-" The door slid open revealing the tall man behind it which happened to be Sunwoo, "Oh, you're awake! Abeoji, come! He's awake! He's awake! I SAID HE'S AWAK-" Sunwoo zipped his mouth shut after his father smacked his head, a playful smach though, "I'm not deaf, brat."

Seojoon watched the older man sat on the edge of the bed next to him and checked on his wound. He then took some medical herbs, crushed them, and covered Seojoon's wound with it.

"W..ho a-re y..ou?"

Instead of answering Seojoon's question, the older man turned his head to his son, "Sunwoo, get some water." Sunwoo nodded and headed out. "I'm Kim Ahn Ji, also known as the doctor in this town. I don't know who are you or where did you come from but you're lucky we found you, or else you might be dead by now," He chukled just at the same time when Sunwoo came back with some fresh water, he helped Seojoon to sat down and gulped the water to it last bit.

"Must be very thirsty, huh. Fresh water taken by Sunwoo. You're welcome." Sunwoo gave Seojoon a playful face, earning another smack on his stomach from Lord Kim. Lord Kim known as one of the noblemen around the town, he likes to help people by treating their wounds or simply by giving free herbs to cure other people's sickness, especially poor people.

Lord Kim then wrapped a thin cloth around Seojoon's waist to make sure the herbs stay in the right place, "Can you walk? Let's head outside and eat. The weather's good today and you need some fresh air." He then got up and walked out while humming lightly.

Bright and cheerful Sunwoo reached his hand out, "I'm Sunwoo, you are?"

"..Seojoon, Park Seojoon." he answered, shaking hands with the taller guy.

"Nice to meet you, friend." He laughed shamelessly and both of them headed outside. When Sunwoo mentioned friend, Seojoon's eyes rounded in fear, thinking about what's the worst thing that could happened to Joongi and Yoon Ha, his head spinned and his heart ached. "You alright?" Sunwoo lowered his gaze and Seojoon nodded, "Y-Yeah, I'm fine-"

Both Seojoon and Sunwoo joined Lord Kim, they sat around a traditional table with their legs crossed underneath. There were lots of delicious and healthy food on the table such as beans, tofu soup, boiled chicken with ginger soup, and many more. 

"Wow, you never cook anything like this even when I'm sick. How could you, abeoji? How could yo- Sorry, forgive me." Sunwoo lowered his head to avoid any eye contact with his father as he keep on stirring his already well mixed soup.

"Eat a lot. You haven't eat anything properly for four days," said Lord Kim as he put a big chunk of chicken meat on Seojoon's bowl, another one for his son, Sunwoo.

"F-our days?" asked Seojoon. "Yes, you've lost consciouness for four days." added Sunwoo, "At first we thought you won't make it," he said again then took a big bite of his chicken, "HOT!"

Lord Kim stared at his son in disbelief, followed by a husky chuckle, "Luckily we can stop the bleeding as soon as we arrived, you've lost too much blood."

"How did you get that wound though? Did you fight?" Seojoon simply shook his head at Sunwoo's question, "No, some people tried to kill me."

"Why?" asked Sunwoo again, leaning closer to Seojoon, his eyes sparkled in curiousity, "Did you do something bad? AHAAAA, I knew it! I knew you're a bad gu-"

SMACK.

Sunwoo's face was only this far from this bowl after his father slapped the back of his head, he just earned another smack from his father, for the third time, still early in the morning. Lord Kim gave Seojoon an regretful face afterwards.

Seojoon smiled weakly, "No worries. And no, I didn't do anything. They tried to kill me and I have no idea why."

Lord Kim hummed while taking a long isip of his chrysanthemum tea. A moment of silence, Seojoon then took his first bite of his boiled chicken and he swear he never tasted anything tastier than that. Probably becuase he'd been starving for four days. In less than twenty minutes, he had emptied the whole table, together with Sunwoo, of course.

While enjoying the good weather, some people suddenly came while riding their horses. Judging by their looks, Seojoon could tell that they're part of the politicians. The guy with his blue hanbok climbed off his horse and walked closer to their direction. He gave Seojoon a questioning look but it changed as soon as he saw Lord Kim.

"Forgive me for my impoliteness, Lord Kim. I'm here to inform you that there are a bunch of intruders sneaked into this town last night. I would appreciate it if you could give us some information if you notice something fishy around the town," He lowered his head after he finished his words to saluted Lord Kim, "And you are..? I don't think I've seen you before, sir." His sudden question made Seojoon froze in his place.

Seojoon got his lips sealed, got no idea what to say. Judging by what that guy just said, he could be counted as one of the intruders and they actually had the right to catch him.

"This is my son's best friend, he just came from China four days ago. He'll be staying at my place." said Lord Kim all of sudden, "Now that you know who he is, don't give him any trouble."

Seojoon and Sunwoo stared at each other back and forth while grinning awkwardly. Funny how they just met four days ago and on the fourth day they've became a best friend. "Ah, forgive me, Lord Kim. I shall get going then," The man said before he bid a goodbye and left along with his guards.

Seojoon thanked Lord Kim for his help from the bottom of his heart, "Thank you, I really appreciate your help, you save my life. But I need to go home now, I need to find my friends." He put his palm on his wound as it began to ache again.

"Stay. For now. You heard what they said. In this case, they won't let people go through the frontier easily without any identity." Lord Kim walked to the other table where he got his herbs scattered on it, he took some of them, sniffed it, then put it back on the table, "Besides, with your wound, you won't be able to walk more than two hours."

Sunwoo, still craving for more foods, had gone to the kitchen to get more chicken. Two minutes later, he came back and began to nom on it while nodding in agreement to what Lord Kim just said, "Yeah, you should stay until you're fully recovered, then you can go home. But anyway, where did you come from though?"

"Goryeo," answered Seojoon, Sunwoo's eyes rounded in an instant, "And you came here by feet?! With that wound?!" He wow-ed repeatedly then took another big bite of his chicken, "That's crazy!"

Now that Sunwoo mentioned it, Seojoon noticed that he wasn't in Goryeo. As he looked around, everything looks different and strange to him, "What is this place- I mean, where am I?"

Lord Kim came back from his room with a package of medical herbs, he gave it to Seojoon and told him to take a bath after he soaked the herbs into the water, it could help him to get his energy back, that's what Lord Kim said.

With a mouthful of chicken, Sunwoo said, "Silla. You're in Silla, my friend."

 

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P.S. The next chappie will be about Joongi.