Walking in the Darkness || Yeosang (A Treasure Tale)

Kidnapped

Yeosang's head pulsated with pain as he carefully opened his eyes.

The faint sound of someone laughing reached his ears and for a split second before taking in his surroundings, Yeosang thought he might still be back at the party after all.

But as he looked around, the rest of the evening came back. His uncomfortable encounter with the naval officers, fleeing from the party on Yuma, hitting a branch and falling off, passing out somewhere in the forest.

It seemed he had been rescued.

He lay on a sleeping mat spread across a cool wooden floor. It looked like someone's house, but the room was mostly bare and there were no windows. The laughter presumably came from an adjoining room beyond the sliding door where light leaked through the bottom.

Yeosang lifted a hand to his aching head and flinched when it made contact with what must surely be a massive bruise.

A small round mirror was mounted on the wall opposite his bed, so Yeosang shakily got to his feet and inspected it himself. The skin was a startling purple blended in with pinker skin that hadn't been hurt as badly.

Yeosang swallowed dryly and scanned the rest of the room. He wasn't sure where he was and even if he did know, he wasn't sure how to treat his own injury.

At home, if even so much as a pesky hangnail brought Yeosang discomfort, someone was there to remove it in an instant.

The longer he stood there, the more his back and legs started to ache and so he lowered himself back to the bed mat. Walking around after being thrown from a horse was probably not the best idea.

"Where's Yuma?" Yeosang suddenly whispered to himself. His beloved steed had simply kept going, urged on to dangerous speeds by his rider. Wherever Yuma was, Yeosang hoped he wasn't hurt as well.

Apparently, his small noise had garnered some attention. The whispering voices on the other side of the door had stopped, and now someone was coming in.

The stranger didn't look like Yeosang expected him to. He was expecting some kind old woodsman or maybe one of the women from town who frequented these woods.

This man was tall and tanned with a muscular build and a glint in his singular eye that did not remind Yeosang of a kind woodsman in the slightest.

"Already up and about are we?" The stranger tutted at him in a gruff voice, arms folded across his chest.

Yeosang was too busy staring at the eyepatch to answer until the man moved closer to him.

"Um... yes, I was just—" Yeosang's voice died on him and his mind emptied itself of anything he might say in response.

"I see this has captured your attention," the man chuckled, pointing to his eyepatch. "Bet you're interested how I got it."

Yeosang didn't deny it, nodding hesitantly.

"It was given to me by none other than the malicious, venomous, greedy monster of a man that goes by the name of Admiral Kim."

Yeosang sucked in a gasp.

"Yes, I believe you know him," the stranger said, the aloofness in his tone turning to a sneer of anger. "Considering that it was your father who led him to me!"

The truth suddenly dawned on Yeosang.

This wasn't a rescue, this was a kidnapping.

The man lurking outside in the night, the one who threw the rock— this must be him. He had found Yeosang in the woods, and he had taken him here.