Born From Kings - Minsung

Chapter Fifteen

Minho pulled into the parking lot before he turned off his motorcycle's engine and waited for his friends to pull up beside him. Hyunjin, Bang Chan, Felix, Changbin and Jisung had all managed to squeeze into Hyunin's car, but they looked realived to get some fresh air.

They found themselves in the middle of a forest, the parking lot leading right to the entrance the palace, which was a tunnel.

"Are you guys ready to go?" Chan asked as he strapped a small backpack around his shoulders. Always watching out for the younger boys, Chan had made sure the bring everything that they might need.

"Let's go!" Changbin called as he lead the way, walking through the tunnel first.

"I'm getting too many Halloween vibes, this is sort of spooky," Hyunjin fell into step with Minho behind Changbin, his eyes darting around nervously.

"It's fine, it's just a tunnel," Minho pointed towards the nearing light on the other side. They now found the palace in front of them, the ticket booth and shop right to their left.

"Come on, I'll buy the tickets," Minho walked over to the booth and looked over the tickets. "How much for tickets without a guide?"

"How many of you are there?" the older woman asked, looking around the group.

"Six."

"Pay here," the lady motioned for the card reader. Minho swiped his card before nodding. "Thank you."

"Enjoy!"

Minho looked back to find that Felix and Hyunjin had taken it upon themselves to look through the gift shop that had everything from mini figures of the palace to horse stuffed animals. 

"Where should we go first?" Chan asked, a map magically appearing in his hands. "Should we go to the barn first, or should we go right to the palace? We can start in the throne room and move down the different hallways and such."

"Let's start with the animals. They're always better," Changbin muttered, crossing his arms. Minho looked him over, dressed in all black and with a constant scowl on his face. Shrugging off Changbin's cold demeanor, Minho led the way to the barn.

"So this obviously isn't the original material," Chan read off the map, making sure the younger boys in the back didn't get lost. "Everything has been restored, but they've tried to maintain as much historical accuracy as possible."

"Are there still horses in the barns?"

"Yes, actually. But you have to pay to ride them," Chan sighed. "Let's not, I don't want to have to call the ambulance for any of you."

"Good idea," Minho laughed. They passed by a few buildings that Chan informed them were soldier's quarters. Then at the very end of the housing for soldiers was the long barn. Minho peered inside. 

Chan was right. There were several horses being housed inside. Minho walked inside the cool barn, looking at the horses as he passed by the different stalls. He stopped in front of the largest of the stalls which happened to be empty. "Why is this one so big?"

"Ah, young man!" Minho turned around as he found a staff member watching their group. "Are you boys here for a school project?"

"Um- something like that," Hyunjin said quickly, not wanting to embarrass Minho and say, 'No, we're actually here because my idiot friend is having nightmares about this place' like he really wanted to. But he was a good friend.

"That stall in particular housed one of the royal family member's horses. We're not completely sure whose horse it actually was, but the lineage was carried on for generations, and many modern day horses in Korea are related to the horse that was living in that stall!"