Lunar Dream (Sunnew)

Thirteen

Hyungseo was extremely scared when he was maintaining eye contact with Sangyeon. As he rode behind Haknyeon, now on their way, he peeked at the front where Sangyeon lead the group. He shuddered, thinking back the intense furious glare just spearing into his mind.  

Sangyeon was somehow convinced, not entirely but had no choice. He let the three tag along with them and have them act as their assistants or whatever. Hyunjae and Juyeon could tell he was not pleased. 

Sangyeon led the road as Hyunjae and Sunwoo rode side by side followed by Haknyeon and Hyungseo in the middle. Hwall and Juyeon rode from behind. 

"So, maybe you can spare us details about the destination?" Sunwoo asked Hyunjae. Hyunjae jiggled his head and shoulders. 

"You'll understand when you get there." Sunwoo frowned at the response.

As they rode, the sunset came slowly. Sangyeon led them to a potential camp site for the night. The boys sighed in relief as they got off from their horses. 

"Finally! My groin is hurting me. I gotta go." Hyungseo said as he massaged his thighs. 

"Wait." Juyeon halted him much to Hyungseo's displeasure. 

Sangyeon had finished tying his horse to the tree and turned around. 

"Well be camping here and continue our journey tomorrow." He spoke in an authoritative tone.

"Umm...yeah, I need to go take care of my emergency right now." Hyungseo put up one hand, another still clutching his stomach. Sangyeon gave him a unapproving look and continued talking which made Hyungseo scowl.

"If you need to go take care of something, you will go in pairs. Hyunjae, stay with that boy, and Juyeon, you stay with Hwall, you two stick together." He said. All of them nodded. Hyungseo was squirming by now. 

"Ok, ok, now can I go?" 

Sangyeon gave him a long stare until he gestured with his head to go. Hyungseo exhaled and didn't forget to grab Haknyeon along with him. 

Hyunjae and Juyeon looked at each other in amusement. They doubt Sangyeon had much interaction with anybody other than those snobs at his academy and the servants within the family. Whoever Sangyeon had interacted with before, gave him full respect. Now, Moon Hyungseo was doing the exact opposite and Hyunjae had to say, he was damn satisfied. 

"You're back!.........Where's Chanhee hyung?" Youngjae said as he greeted Changmin and Younghoon. He looked behind them and searched for his brother. 

"Is he hiding?" He asked, innocently. 

"He...." Changmin trailed off. He bit his lips, looking down at the ground. 

"Hyung?" Youngjae felt weird at the lack of response. 

"What happened?" Joonyoung came beside Youngjae and looked at the two. He looked beside them and noticed there was no Chanhee. 

"We- we lost Chanhee." Younghoon said, looking at Joonyoung directly. Joonyoung licked his lips and closed his eyes for a moment.

"How did it happen?" He asked, unusually calm. 

"We were hunting a deer. Younghoon was on his own. Chanhee scared away the deer and said he was gonna get it somehow. I turned away for a moment and then- and then, he was gone. I didn't even feel anything, or hear anything. I-" 

"And where were you, Younghoon?" Joonyoung interrupted Changmin who was close to tears by now.

"I was hiding behind some tree, waiting to scare Changmin. That's how we two met again. But by then, we had no idea where Chanhee disappeared to." Younghoon explained how they tried  to search the hunting area. Joonyoung listened intently. 

"I'm sorry. It's my fault. I should've been more attentive. I just made fun of his hunting skills. I shouldn't have turned away. Then he wouldn't hav-" Joonyoung shushed Changmin and pulled him into a hug. 

The younger fox was full on sobbing by now. Joonyoung rubbed his back and whispered comforting words. Youngjae was listening quietly throughout the whole conversation. 

"But he's still ok so I can go find him now." He spoke out. Joonyoung and Younghoon turned to him. Youngjae dashed back into his room he shared with Chanhee and started packing up his necessities. Joonyoung let go of Changmin and followed Youngjae inside.

"Youngjae." 

No reply.

"Youngjae. Stop."

"Why? I need to find him. He might be somewhere alone right now and waiting for us." Youngjae replied, not looking at Joonyoung.

"Youngjae. Stop it. We all want to find him but it's too late now to embark again and-"

"What if it becomes too late for Chanhee hyung as well? Then what?" Youngjae finally made eye contact, "I'm not letting Chanhee get lost like that boy before." 

"Boy? What boy?" Joonyoung said, confused. No way,

"Chanhee hyung told me about that boy you lost before. And that's why you're over protective of us. But I'm not blaming you. I'm just saying that if we delay our search, we might lose him further. It might get harder to find him." Youngjae said as he slung his bag over his shoulder. Joonyoung's breath hitched at the sudden mention of the boy.

"I'm not saying we shouldn't start soon. But not now. It's dangerous at this time and moreover, I know Chanhee's not in immense danger at the moment. You and I both know that. Changmin and Younghoon knows that." Joonyoung blocked his path. 

Youngjae knew what Joonyoung was talking about. 

The five foxes had build up a special bond between themselves. They had shared their inner bond and linked each other as brothers. Hence, if one of them was in deathly danger, the rest would get alerted and go towards them. Another thing was that they could communicate telepathically even from far away with the bond. This was why Joonyoung pushed them to make up the bond.

"Youngjae, I know you care for Chanhee, particularly more than we might care for him," Joonyoung added, gauging Youngjae's expression, "But we can't act on impulse." 

Youngjae took a deep breathe in. 

The young pup desperately barked as he clawed the muddy walls of the ditch he fell into. 

"Ow-wow-wow-wow........" His voice became lower as time passed by. The poor pup curled his tail around himself. He had barely ran away from the hunters and now he was injured all over. The pup shivered as the first snow touched the tip of his nose. He sneezed quite loudly.

"Anybody there?" The pup looked up as he heard a noise. He began barking again to catch the attention of whoever came by. He desperately hoped it wasn't the hunters.

"Who- oh." A pink head came into view. The pup now barked happily. The pink head looked at him worried and turned his head back. He disappeared.

The pup became worried again wondering if he had abandoned him and started to cry out loud. He was cold, hungry, and injured. 

"Hey, hey! Stop crying, I'm gonna get you out." The pup's eyes brightened up again as the pink head dropped down a vine. Turns out he had gone to search for something to get the pup up. The pup bit onto the vine and the pink head heaved him up. 

Once the pup was out of the ditch, he immediately ran into a bush nearby to warm up. He was still shivering when a blanket covered him up. He looked up to see the pink head who had saved him. He was smiling down at him.

"Hey, it's alright. You are okay now. My name's Chanhee. I'll protect you."

Youngjae thought back to how he discovered he was not an ordinary fox but a gumiho with the help of Chanhee. He thought back to how Chanhee had nurtured him during his pup years. How he had helped him train his skills and control his power. 

He turned back to face Joonyoung with a determined look.

"So, when do we leave?"

"At dawn."