FELLOWSHIP || Ateez Fanfiction

Chapter Twenty Nine: Brotherly Love

Yunho POV
We walk through the nicer areas of Coel Wajasi. The closer we get to the palace, the bigger and more beautiful become the houses.
I talk with Mingi about what happened between Wooyoung and me earlier.
"Do you think he is angry at me?"
"No, it seems to be a very sensitive topic for him and you know that he is very hot-headed."
"Man, I just shouldn't have asked."
"You were just concerned. I mean it is also pretty concerning. He wakes up almost every night because of nightmares and I even saw him crying to himself in the kitchen once but on the surface he pretends to be fine especially towards Yeosang."
"He is very protective of him. But let's not talk about it anymore. I don't like talking behind people's backs."

We reach the castle. Two soldiers block our way into the castle with their spears. Hongjoong tells the guards why we are here and they let us through. We enter a small corridior. The walls are beautifully decorated with mosaics. On the side stand a few exotic plants in pretty pots. At the end of the corridor is the throne room. It is smaller than other throne rooms we have been. The room is similarly decorated like the corridor. A long carpet lays in the middle which leads to a small space that is separated by curtains that are draped to the side. Behind them is a sofa with lots of pillows and a small table with tea and cookies on them. Looks cozy.

The king is laying on the sofa drinking his tea and reading a book. He doesn't look at us until we are directly in front of his table.
"Oh, good morning. How can I help you?", he asks.
"Good morning! We are here to deliver this letter. It's from general Ba'huen.", Hongjoong states.
"Ba'huen?! Do you belong to the crew of this traitor?"
"No, we are just acquaintances."
"Okay. Let's see what this filthy, ungrateful pirate is writing."
The king carefully reads through the letter.
"This moron! I will see what I can do. Do you need anything else?"
"That's all."
"Okay. Have a nice day. Bye!"
The king goes back to reading his book.

We leave the palace and go back to Bumjoong's house.
"The king is a bit weird, isn't he?", Mingi says.
"He just likes his space but he is actually a good ruler.", Hongjoong explains.
We are back at the house. Bumjoong opens the door for us.
"Ah, perfect timing. Your just on time to hang up the laundry.", he says.
"Really? We just came back.", Hongjoong says.
"It won't take long besides it's also YOUR laundry. We already washed it for you, so don't nag around."
"I didn't say that I won't do it but give me five minutes to sit down and drink some water."
"Okay, do guys also want something?"
We nod. Bumjoong brings us some cool water and we relax on the couch for a few minutes.
"We need to think about how we can sail through the storms next since this is our next goal.", Jongho says.
"Yeah, but let's not think about that today. I think we all could use a short break.", Hongjoong utters. He leans back and closes his eyes.
"Aren't we supposed to do the laundry?", I remind him.
"Just five minutes."
We finish our water. Wooyoung grabs Hongjoong and carries him on his shoulder into the garden.
"What are you doing?!"
"No slacking off, captain!", Wooyoung exclains and sets him off on the ground.

Meanwhile me and Mingi span ropes from one end of the garden to another and tie them to the tall fence.
The others begin putting our clothes and backpacks onto the rope. Mingi and I focus on the blankets. Each of us grabs one end of the blanket and we gently lay it over the rope.
After ten minutes Seonghwa hangs up the last sock and then we are done.
"See it didn't take so long.", Bumjoong says and cockily grins at us from the garden door.
"Should I show you the city?", he asks.
We nod.

Once again we leave the house but this time Bumjoong, Sbosio and Haneul come with us. We walk to the market place where Bumjoong and his best friend tell us about the different things that are sold there and encourage us to try out a lot of the snacks from the food booths. I end up full really quickly, even though I ate only a little bit of everything.
Then Hongjoong's brother brings us to a museum. As someone who works in the field he is able to tell us a lot about the exhibition. So much that my head feels like it is about to explode with all the information that he gives us. Sbosio and him of course don't forget to brag about the things that they found.
"Wow, that's so interesting don't you think?", Mingi says.
"Ehh, kind of but my head is starting to hurt."
"Hehe, I understand. It's not your thing."
I smile at my best friend. It's nice to see him happy and have fun after he has been so anxious the last few months. But I know that it won't stay that way. I wish I could do something to make it go away. I sometimes also feel like everything is my fault. Maybe I should've shielded Jongho so he wouldn't get shot or somehow run faster in that moment. I should have been clearly against exploring the spooky ruins, so that San would have been kidnapped and scared for his life and Wooyoung wouldn't have been injured. Maybe I should've fought harder against the pirates. I really regret not speaking up against going into the ruin though. Because of me Wooyoung has now a permanent scar on his body in addition to the ones in his heart that I probably ripped open again this morning.