Promise- Minsung

Chapter Fifty Six

Master Sang-hyuk, Changbin, and the Lee King had all approved of the plan that Minho had sent them in the afternoon. They were ready the next morning to pull off whatever they had to in order to get the Han King out of the palace with them and come back alive.

This was one of the first real missions that Minho was able to go on. Yet he found himself in a state of eerie calm. He sat up at early dawn in the back training area, sitting a round grey stone that overlooked the stream as well as the young men and women who also got up early to train.

Changbin got up about an hour after him and looked out the window, the first thing he saw was of course Minho.

He got dressed and went down to sit under the rock Minho was perched on. "What are you doing up so early?" he asked as he sat down and started to peel an apple with a knife. "You should rest more."

"I didn't want to wake Hei-ran, so I came down here," Minho said simply as he closed his eyes and breathed in the fresh air. "We have to bring her with us, so I thought that it'd be better to let her sleep as long as she could.

"Are we really going through with that plan though?" Changbin asked. "If that's the case, then you'll have your mask on until we get back?"

"That's right," Minho nodded. "And we'll need Hei-ran to be in on the act as well. I made sure to talk it over with her last night, but there's no guarantee that she won't break."

"She's only three," Changbin shrugged. "What more can we expect? It's like a game for her."

"Yes," Minho let out a long sigh. "She hardly even remembers Jisung, just a wisp of a face in her memory. I didn't realize that when we're kids, we hardly remember."

"Do you remember your parents?" Changbin suddenly asked, looking up.

"No," Minho stared off into the distance. "The palace burned when I was only a few months old. Both Jisung and I lost our parents just a few months into life... isn't that sad?"

"Yes, it is," Changbin agreed as he stood up and chucked a piece of apple at Minho, who caught it in one hand. "Eat this and let's get going. We've got a long day ahead of us."

They walked back into the mountain where the Lee King and Master Sang-hyuk were already waiting for them. Minho hurried back to his room and woke Hei-ran up from her sleep, telling her it was time to get going.

She was up after she heard that and changed into her soft, silk robes of pink and red and white, like roses.

Everyone gathered together in the stables in the cave. "You must not fail," Master Sang-hyuk stared at Minho with a piercing gaze. "We lose everything if you can not get him here."

"I understand," Minho agreed before bowing to Master Sang-hyuk and walking down to his horse, who was bucking her head as he approached.

"Are you ready for another nice long ride?" he asked, patting her neck. "Come on, Danbi. Let's go get the king.... again."

"Where are we going this time, Daddy?" Hei-ran asked as Minho set her in the saddle, in front of where he would be riding, finding that would be the safest spot, considering the Black Masks were still at large.

"We're going to go see your other dad, remember?" Minho huffed as he pulled himself up into the saddle behind her. "You remember what we practiced yesterday?"

"Oh right! You're pretending to be my servant, right?" Hei-ran smirked back at her father. "Can I speak down to you then, Daddy?"

"I guess so," Minho sighed as he kicked Danbi off after Changbin on his own horse. Unfortunately, with the plan Minho had made, they had to sort of throw Changbin under the bus.