Kissed by the Moonlight ☆Minwon☆

☆21☆

The small citadel was already packed, even in the early morning, but Wonwoo had something important to do and he didn't have time to waste, not today. He had to go check the kids, make sure they were ready to leave for the mansion that Mingyu had offered and then he needed to stop by the library as he had promised. 

When he arrived in the countryside where his students were staying, all of them went running to him and hugged him. He smiled widely at them, kneeling down to return the hugs. 

"We missed you teacher!"

"How have you been?"

"Teacher, is it true you went to war?"

"You met the king!!"

The kids pestered him with question as he calmy explained all to them, they went inside the little house, and he greeted the other teacher who was watching over them. "Mr. Im, thank you for the help. I had to leave urgently, sorry for the short notice." He said going to shake his hand, which the other accepted.

"You know I love spending time with them, it didn't bother me. We had fun, right kids?"

"Yes, teacher, we even ate sweets and went to bed late." One child said as the others started laughing.

"It was supposed to be a secret, Kev." Mr. Im said pretending to be offended.

When the kids ran off to play, Wonwoo approached the other man. "Changkyun, it really meant a lot to me that you looked after them. I have to thank you properly, tell me if there is something I can do for you."

The teacher patted his shoulder and reassured him. "It was pleasure to stay with them, don't worry about it. Let's just go grab something to drink together later, the palace's ambassador is coming in some hours, we still need to pack something."

Wonwoo then smiled at him, and they followed the kids. "Now kids, get your things done, we need to leave in a bit, come on." He said as he helped some of them to get dressed and carrying some bags. As the hours passed Wonwoo had double-checked everything and now they were just waiting for some news from the palace. 

It was almost night when one of the children called Sunoo stood up and started running towards the now visible carriages that were approaching the maison. Wonwoo stood up as well, smiling at the children and waited for the ambassador near Changkyun. 

From one of the vehicles appeared a beautiful man, his long, blonde hair tucked behind his ears. His smile was so sincere that Wonwoo felt strangely at ease, he thought that the man before him was someone he could trust with the kids. The man was quicky near him, offering his hand politely. 

"I'm Jeonghan, nice to meet you." The man said brightly. "I need to thank your brother for saving my husband, I hope to meet him too, sooner or later."

"I'm Wonwoo, thank you for coming here yourself, it's an honour."  He said shyly.

After the greetings, they settled the kids safely in the carriages and got off the road, Jeonghan next to him playing with some of them. The road was far longer than they expected, and the kids started to drift off to sleep. 

When the moon was high in the sky Jeonghan looked at Wonwoo and spoke "I know something about the reason why you care for them so much." He said stroking a child's hair. "I did my homework."

Wonwoo was serious as he answered. "I know what it feels like to be abandoned, if it had not been for my brothers I would have been dead. These kids are growing up without a parent's love, and I know that mine is not enough, but as long as they are happy than I am."

Jeonghan said carefully. "May I ask what happened when you were young?"

"I don't remember that much, I just know that I have these blurred memories of us and a boy, then the next thing I know is just that we are looking for him and an old woman finds us in the woods taking us in. That is all I remember." Wonwoo said not giving him too many details.

When he looked at Jeonghan, the man seemed to think hardly about something, but then he smiled and said, "I'm glad you had your brothers, at least."

****

To say he was in bad shape was an understatement, Hansol's head was still bleeding, and his vision was unfocused, but he had to find Seungcheol as soon as possible. He couldn't be that far from where they had parted ways, and he was not wrong.

The second he saw Soonyoung sharpening his sword he yelled and in no time, he was being held by the oldest, who was already bombing him with questions, but he had to tell them about what happened. "Jihoon... They took him." Those were the only words he could think of, and suddenly the earth under him shook violently.

"I'll go. Stay here." Soonyoung said running away, following the narrow path from where the youngest had come.

He didn't need anything but Hansol's words, he had to find him, not only because the younger was vulnerable but also because Jihoon had always found him and now it was his turn. He could still feel the bond with Jihoon, so he couldn't be that far away.

It was almost night when he reached the carriage, spying from afar he noticed that Minhyuk village was just across the lake, which made sense to him, knowing that they worshipped the lake. 

The village was not that great, Turgar was a country in ruin after all, but you could say that it wasn't bad either, it was just small or not at all similar to Rodeven. It was not heavily guarded, but he still was alone, circled by Minhyuk and his minions, and he had to act swiftly, taking Jihoon, bringing him to the lake and then going straight to Cheol and Hansol and leave the place right away. 

Soonyoung waited until the last lights of the village disappeared, leaving only the few warriors awake, but his plan was to take Jihoon without causing too much fuss, given that children lived there too, and when the time was right, he started walking towards the gates.