Lunar Dream (Sunnew)

Thirty Six

Hyunjae tried hard not to panic as he spotted the reflections of the ten-ish imoogis. Where were they all coming from? 

Younghoon slowly indicated him to move towards the end of the stream. Hyunjae nodded. They couldn't stay hidden here for long, after all, water is the imoogi's forte. The two trod silently under water as they held their breath. Both of them kept glancing up and at the water reflections. They simply couldn't fight that number of enemies. 

"Hey, can't you contact the others from that bond you told us about?" Hyunjae whispered. 

"I don't want to trouble them."

"Well, trouble's gonna come to us." Hyunjae sassed but Younghoon hurried to shut up his mouth. The two of them held their breath as one of the imoogis stopped walking. They crept back to the rocky surface and stuck close to it. Not daring to let out even a squeak. 

Younghoon and Hyunjae felt their heart beat fast as the imoogi walked closer to the stream, towards the bank. He slowly crouched down, inspecting the water. Younghoon's eyes widened and he prepared himself. Hyunjae also prepared his mental state to face the ten imoogis on the surface. 

"Gotcha!" Younghoon and Hyunjae heard a familiar cry and they both looked at each other. 

"Jaemin." they both said. Then, they peeked up to see the three guys from earlier fighting the imoogis. 

"I guess this counts as backup?" Hyunjae said. Younghoon shrugged. 

"Important thing is we don't get in trouble." He said. Hyunjae nodded in agreement. The two climbed on the surface and started helping the others. 

"We saw them coming towards this direction and thought you might need some help!" Taeyong shouted, tackling down two imoogis at once. Hyunjae put a thumbs up at him.

"That was awesome and thanks, by the way." he grinned. Taeyong gave a small tilt of his head. He was about to warn Hyunjae of the incoming imoogi behind him when Hyunjae whipped his sword around, cutting the imoogi's throat. 

Taeyong made an impressed face as Hyunjae proceeded to struck into the imoogi's heart and twisted his sword twice for good measure. 

"That's a bit gruesome, isn't it?" Jeno winced. Hyunjae looked at Jeno and then at Taeyong. The two adults smirked at each other. 

"If you think that's gruesome, you're in for a long ride, kid." Hyunjae said, patting Jeno's shoulders. Then he turned away to fight more imoogis. 

After a while, the imoogis dispersed. Jaemin let out a screech which startled both Hyunjae and Younghoon.

"The sun hasn't set yet!?" He cried out. Jeno chuckled and patted his back, encouragingly. 

"Hey, thanks for helping us. We owe you." Younghoon said. Taeyong nodded.

"It's only a one time thing." He replied and gave a small smile, "Forget it." He pocketed some of the orbs and threw a few to Younghoon.  

The three left again, leaving the two alone at the stream. Hyunjae didn't know if Younghoon sensed it but he felt like there was more to Taeyong's smile.

Juyeon and Hwall looked at each other, then at the other two in defeat.

"I thought it would be fine since Chanhee wasn't here, but..."

"Why are they arguing again?" Juyeon massaged his forehead. Hwall shrugged. The two looked at Youngjae and Sunwoo who were arguing who was to get the bow and arrow.