Promise- Minsung

Chapter Fifty Four

The king had sent them to bed without further discussion. He had said that they needed rest so that they could properly figure out what to do next.

Minho hadn't even had the chance to introduce his brother to his daughter, which he had been waiting years to do. He wasn't even sure his brother had seen the small child clinging to his leg. Hei-ran didn't even know them, and now she thought they were just Minho's bosses or something like that.

"Come on," Minho reached down for Hei-ran and picked her up off the ground. He was back in his old room, his things still hanging around the place. "Let's go to bed," he tucked her into his bed that he had been sleeping in his entire life with a nod. "Sleep well, Hei-ran."

"Daddy... where are you going?" she looked up as he was about to go over to his desk.

"I'll join you in a little while. Just try to go to bed, okay?" Minho sat down at his old desk quietly.

"Okay," Hei-ran murmured before she tucked herself under the soft blanket and closed her eyes.

Minho pulled a load of papers from under the desk and flicked through them, nearly laughing out loud as he did so.

He had been so stupid when he was younger, dreaming of staying by himself forever with just Yongbok and Cho, riding the summer winds until the day he died.

What a life that would have been. So unrealistic though. Minho looked over at Hei-ran, his pride and joy. No, without her, he would be nothing now. He would stand for nothing. The thought of a safe world for her to live in drove him to keep going.

But still, that life he had once longer for was clear in his writings. And still, perhaps Minho found himself longing for it.

But he had other things to do. He looked through the rest of the papers and found ones from his sister in the midst of the random drawings that were scattered everywhere.

His sister... Minho blinked. He hadn't seen his sister in forever.

He sat back at his desk and thought about the old days. Before he was tangled up in this odd mess that didn't even make sense in his own head. He really... really just wanted to go home. Not this home, but back with Jisung.

Really desperately he found himself longing to return back to the few days that he and Jisung had slept side-by-side with their children, safe and happy.

He found his heart cracking just thinking about him.

And he had left him all alone.

Minho shook his head, guilt crashing over him. Was that even something that was forgivable?

He didn't know.

~oOo~

Jisung lay back on his bed, staring up at the ceiling.

Yeong sleeping next to him gave him an anchor from dream and reality.

But he wasn't sure what he was living through right now.

He had thought... something bad had definitely happened to his husband. He was dead, or hurt, or kidnapped. For sure.

And yet there he had been, riding free like he had when they were younger at the Han Palace. He had seemed so different when Jisung had seen him, his mask being whisked away in the wind. Their eyes meet. That seemed like something out of a dream.

He wasn't sure of anything anymore. If Minho had been that free, wouldn't he have come back?

There had to be a reason that he had stayed away?