In the dead of the night, where the owls are hooting and the temperature is dropping rapidly, two people sits huddled together in the crevice by the side of the cliff. The bigger one of the two is still wide awake as he shifts his position to make space for the other under his charge.

The smaller person is unconscious and turning clammy while the taller man tries to warm him up with his torn outer coat and warmer hands. Grimacing as he breaks out into more cold sweat, the smaller person stirred but does not wake, softly when the bigger man tries to splint his injured leg.

Looking out of the constricted space and into the darkness beyond, the still conscious man took note that he can’t exactly see in the middle of the night. He can hear noises and sounds of people shouting, but they are muffled, indicating that the search party is a still a little off. Rescue is hardly possible at this moment.

Conserving his energy to continue keeping them warm, he quickly covers the exposed part of the other’s feet and leans his head back for some rest.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Flashback

“Don’t blame anyone else but me.” Jejung whispers into Yunho’s ear in Korean and the man’s eyes immediately widens, more intrigued by the fact that he speaks such accurate Korean than concerned about their current position.

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to blame you since we are not going to fall anyway.” Yunho answered. However, shuffling confidently as he takes a step backwards with Jejung pushing him forward, the fugitive surprised him by spinning him around so the latter would fall first, pulling the bigger man down with his weight.

Calculating in his head all along, to give Jejung a nice forceful shove so both of them would fall forward into safety instead of backwards into the depths of abyss, Yunho almost succeeded, had the prince not switched their position. Jejung seems to know what the older man was thinking so there was no way Yunho could counter the move in time.

Cursing when he tumbles forward, the emperor scrambled to hold on but Jejung’s face, stuck so close to his was all he could see as they fell. He could not even see where they are headed and Yunho had frantically reached out in front of him in hopes of catching one of the thick rope-like vines draped all across the steep walls.

“MY GOD!! APPA!! UMMA!! ANYONE UP THERE IN HEAVEN IF YOU CAN HEAR ME IT’S ABOUT TIME FOR YOU HELP ME OUT HERE!!” Yunho was yelling at the top of his lungs while Jejung only squeezed his eyes shut, spinning as they fall, switching positions ever so often with the lack of equilibrium.

Yunho’s cries worked, but not because some almighty up there had heard his deafening prayers. Apparently, the hopelessly soft hearted Jejung could no longer bear to hear any more of Yunho’s cries and pleas for heaven to interfere and immediately drives them to one side of the cliff with all his might, slamming them into the side of the walls in hopes of salvaging the situation with the help of some vines. With the intentions of allowing Yunho to survive, only Jejung could do that in mid-air since all the bigger man could do was flail helplessly.

Everything happened too quickly for Yunho to process and Jejung had unfortunately collided against the solid rocks first, knocking him out completely while the emperor’s hand and one leg managed to end up in a tangled mess as he skids down the side. Yunho somehow held onto Jejung the whole time and the unconscious prince was dangling with the bigger man hugging him from an upside down position.

Heaving a sigh of relief since they has stopped free falling thanks to Jejung’s effort, Yunho realises that he hadn’t just gotten lucky. He had too much confidence in himself, thinking that he could subdue Jejung if needed, and that almost cost him his life. That realisation made him decide briefly that if they were to survive this, he would take the latter more seriously.

Then, as he dangles with the featherweight Jejung still swinging dangerously with his free arm hooked around the slender waist, Yunho started laughing. In fact, he was chortling so hard that his side hurt. That was cue enough for him to stop.

He does not find his mistakes and miscalculations funny at all, but Jejung’s broken resolve to murder him for the final time cracked him up. He could not understand whatever the hell the prince was thinking, but even after taking such drastic measures to try and complete his mission, Jejung had failed against himself once again. Yunho made a note to himself that the prince will make a perfect ally and he intends to make sure that happens.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At the break of dawn the next day…

A boat hits the harbour with a soft thud and the travellers without are roused. This is the only ferry that transports business man from Japan to their neighbouring country and though it will usually be filled with people, this particular one only caters to a single man.

Wrapped up in his hood as he emerges from the sheltered zone of the huge vessel, a bunch of others followed him as he leaps off the side and onto the harbour stealthily. He had only slept a few hours and he is still grouchy so no one spoke, allowing him all the silence he seemingly enjoys.

Pacing around the long wooden pavement of the harbour and entering the crowded marketplace, the man waived around the crowd to the rest stop and took his time to settle down. The man usually travels with only a small group of escorts, and though he is royalty, he does not like to make a fuss, choosing to tone down and remain almost invisible to others.

“Get the horses. We are going to the palace.” Instructing the leader of his escorts to get prepare them for their journey, the man himself stayed behind, observing the crowd coming and leaving.

As the sun starts to rise at last, brightening up the entire place, the visibility increased. The faces of the people passing by are now clearer and the man took his time to find that one familiar one. He knows it’s a long pitch but since when was searching for someone easy, especially when you only have your eyes, legs and a horse if you are lucky.

Sauntering over to avoid the smelly fishery area while he waits for his subordinates to run their errand, the man spots a familiar head of longish brownish hair nearby. Unable to believe his luck since his men had been searching for days, the man moved from his original position to where the person is for a better look

Noting that the person is trying to purchase a boat ticket to where he had just come from, he decided not to startle the latter. Wondering why the boy would want to go back to the country he just absconded from, the hooded being only watched him silently from a distance.

Something about the body language also indicated that the chirpy lad with a usually sunny disposition isn’t feeling the least bit pleased or friendly today, with a horribly gaunt depressed looking face despite appearing all neat and tidy. He looked as though he had been bawling his heart since his usual tadpole shaped eyes are all puffy and red.

The man chuckled to himself dumbly at the thought of the big baby crying. Not bothering to alert the rest of his followers as he makes his way over, the man cannot wait to see the shorter person jump.

Approaching him, the latter happens to turn around and spots him almost immediately. However, instead of a shocked or dramatic mortified face the man got an angry one, staring daggers at him. Surprising, the smaller person started towards him as well, not looking like he is going to run any time soon.

“BASTARD!!!” Screaming at the top of his lungs and causing everyone to stop whatever they are doing, the person’s dolphin like wails sounded genuinely maddened.

The man finally notices that the latter also has a sword in his hands after casting aside the make shift sheath which is only a burlap sack, holding the weapon rather awkwardly. Running towards the bigger man with a look of intense loathing, the latter lashed out with the sword and the man immediately dodges by stepping backwards.

Not giving up, the latter raised the weapon and took a stab at the man. The bigger man immediately retaliates and block off the attack with his katana. The man’s well maintained weapon gleamed under the sunlight as opposed to the ugly worn up one the boy is holding. Everyone present gasps and back away as the brawl officially starts.

“I WILL KILL YOU!!!” Screaming hysterically and lunging at the bigger man, the boy stunned the person with his ‘proactive-ness’.

Taking a step back, the man decides not to employ use of his deadly weapon against the opponent and sheaths his katana, using that to fend off the amateur blows instead. The boy is relentless so he was forced to slug the boy in the jaw with the sheath, disarming him with a quick knuckle to the hand. The man obviously rules over the boy in terms of skills in sword play.

The boy having never fought for real is hell bent on trying until the results are satisfactory. His is just not convinced that the man is this good. The man watches as he picks up his weapon clumsily, eyes still glowing with abhorrence.

Tempted to question the boy for his motive for trying to commit murder in public, the man refused to put down his pride. He always walks away from a fight unscathed and this time will be no different. He quickly made a decision to make the boy tell him what is going on without needing to ask. The work of his ego is remarkable

Socking the persistent fella in the stomach and causing him to bowl over, the man ended their sparring session prematurely. Choosing not to adopt the use of his trusty weapon, which is the first time in history, anyone who fought him before would know that he had never treated his attackers with so much care before, ever.

Spotting his escorts heading his direction, the man signalled for them to move in for the capture as the defeated opponent crouches down to nurse his bruised abdomen. The boy is helpless against them and no matter how hard he thrashes about, they had him subdued in seconds. However, though the boy would usually be screaming for help, he is unexpectedly silent as they carry him out into the open, waiting for the boat.

Sitting beside the boy as two of the escorts hold him pressed down against one of the crates, the man could not tell what is on the young fella’s mind and that is the first. Nevertheless, the smaller person is shaking a little, as if crying yet he looked like he was somewhat pouting angrily. A very cute sight, and so the man thought…

He is direly mistaken.

“THIS IS FOR HYUNGIE YOU MURDERER!!” Leaping up to his feet the moment the escorts’ hands left him to hand the ship owner some of the properties they brought with them, the boy lurched forward and grabbed the now standing man by the waist.

Impelling the hooded man off the side of the wooden platform with all his might, the boy succeeds when the uneven flooring causes the man to trip. Landing in the greenish water below with a loud splash, the escorts did not even have enough time to react or process what had just happened.

Dashing over to the side and stripping off their coat, two of the man’s escorts hurriedly jumped in as well. No delays or contemplation needed.

Sinking quickly aided by the heavy layers of wet garments, the man could not swim upwards no matter what. The impulsive boy is well prepared to sink, not bothering if he would drown as a result. Gripping onto the man’s bicep tightly and dragging him down, the man could not do much except jostle with the boy to free his hands.

The boy is determined to drown him and if that is the last thing he does. This realisation dawned on the man quickly and he is no doubt surprised. But survival comes in at top priority at the moment especially since he wasn’t given any time to catch enough air to stay submerged for too long and especially in such freezing waters.

Reaching downwards to the boy who is hugging onto his thighs now, slipping downwards slowly as his grip starts to weaken, the man knows it is an emergency. Not just for himself, but for his assailant.

Wrenching the thin bicep with all his might, the man held onto the struggling boy’s collar, keeping him at arm’s length before kicking and propelling them both to the surface. However, before they can reach the two escorts as they desperately try to reach downwards, the boy is scratching at the man’s face.

This is cue for something more drastic and the man immediately knocks him unconscious with a fist to the back of his neck.