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Chapter Text

Banryu wasn’t bad at duelling. He was definitely above average, which was to be expected since he’d had some of the best teachers and in addition very high expectations set for him by his father and stepfather. The problem was, as always, Kim Sooho – his opponent.

Not only was Sooho taller, with longer limbs and therefore longer reach, he was also the more experienced fighter. Because even if it was because of his temper that he often ended up fighting a lot, during duels he would be nothing but focused and cool-headed – after all, he’d spent quite a lot of time honing his skills and he really loved it.

Banryu on the other hand had done what was required of him. He did not love sword-fighting for its own sake, but used it as a tool to win. It was rare that he won against Sooho of course, but it had happened. Mostly, it would be when he managed to distract the other before-hand and make him too angry to concentrate (but he could never manage that once the duel had already started). Occationally, when they were fighting in the forest, he could trip Sooho over a fallen branch or throw dirt in his eyes.

Sooho knew most of his tricks now, however, and there was no time to rile him up this time. They had just been called up and had bowed to the Queen and the officials, then they turned to face each other.

There was a tension in the air, not just between them but around them as well; the crowd was completely silent. They bowed to each other, then drew their swords.

Tossing their sheaths behind them, they began to circle.

Neither of them were eager to attack this time, though Banryu wasn’t sure why Sooho held back. It could be because he didn’t want to hurt, and possibly kill, a fellow Hwarang uselessly. Or because he and Banryu were closer now. Of course they had always been close, in a way, it was only now that they were beginning to realise how well they knew each other and that they weren’t so different after all.

Banryu knew he should attack first, to gain what little advantage he could, but he hesitated. Even as he started to feel the tension becoming unbearable, sweat forming already from the blazing sun and the pressure from those gazes at the top of the stairs. He was already gripping his sword too tightly and forced himself to relax his grip. But he resented this; resented being treated like the Queen’s dog, forced to fight or be put down at her whim. And he resented his stepfather who let it happen, only to save his own pride. His only heir might die, but obviously he’d deserve it for being too weak, Banryu thought bitterly.

As he and Sooho continued to circle, they felt the crowd getting restless and realised they couldn’t delay any longer.

Rushing forward at the same time, their swords clashing together deafeningly, they started the duel in earnest. Locking gazes again, Banryu’s desperate and Sooho’s calm but worried, they separated briefly before Banryu attacked again.

Sooho stayed on the defensive, clearly reluctant, while Banryu pressed forward. Neither wanted to do this, they had never hated each other enough to want the other dead and now…

There was nothing to be done about it, though, and Banryu needed to win. He had to at least incapacitate Sooho. After that he wasn’t sure, would they really expect them to kill each other?  

That didn’t matter at the moment, Banryu berated himself for losing concentration. He’d missed his chance and now Sooho was attacking. They traded blows again, then Banryu left himself open. He knew of the mistake as it happened, knew it was too late to cover, but didn’t feel it until after they spun around each other and he faced Sooho who held his bloodied sword in front of him.

Sooho’s expression was conflicted; determination mingled with concern. He looked like he wanted to put his sword down, at the same time he knew he couldn’t. Banry’s eyes held his, urging him to continue – he could still do this, or that’s what he tried to convince himself. Sooho looked slightly uncertain, but he moved forward to meet Banryu yet again.

Banryu was noticeably weaker now, though, his reactions slower and he knew he could not last long. Sooho must know this too, because he was holding back, Banryu felt it.

At one point he knew Sooho could have ended it, but he pushed Banryu away instead and waited for him to recover.

They continued to fight again and Banryu wished something would happen, knew that something had to happen, because they couldn’t continue like this forever.

“HALT!”

Immediately, both of them stepped back, their bodies obeying the order on their own after their Hwarang-training.

Exchanging confused glances, they turned to face the stairs and the people sitting at the top of them. Banryu looked down again, not wanting to see his stepfather’s expression (he already knew what he would see; poorly disguised disappointment and fake-concern). Breathing hard and dripping sweat not only from exertion and heat, he clutched his side where Sooho’s blade had cut him. It was not terribly deep, Sooho had held back, but it hurt now that he wasn’t focused on the fight.

Before he looked down he caught Sooho glancing at him, but he didn’t look back, feeling too ashamed to have been beaten, this time in front of everyone. Although he would never admit it out loud, but would say there had been no winner since the duel hadn’t been concluded. That is, if they lived long enough to talk about it, it was possible the duel had been stopped because they had held back and that they would both be executed for not following orders.

Clenching his jaw and trying not to think about it, Banryu waited as the people at the top of the stairs discussed something amongst themselves. Finally, they were asked to step back. Instead, Sunwoo would be duelling one of his stepfather’s men.

Even if Banryu told himself it didn’t matter what happened to the half-breed, he worried what would happen to the rest of them if he lost – or when. It wasn’t likely that he would win, his stepfather’s guard was extremely competent and even though Sunwoo was a good fighter – Banryu did have first-hand experience of this – duelling with swords to simulate a battle was decidedly different from brawling.

Apparently Sooho shared his thoughts somewhat, as he tried to take Sunwoo’s place. Banryu looked away, feeling strangely betrayed as he wondered what had earned Sunwoo Sooho’s loyalty. Grinding his teeth, he tried to concentrate on the duel that had just started, even if he really just wanted to sit down and close his eyes and be anywhere but here.

Sunwoo did well enough at first, but in the end it was clear that it was not enough and that the guard was too skilled an opponent for him. He was soon lying helplessly on the ground, the guard about to deal the final blow – but then the Queen interfered, stopping him at the last second. The guard turned around to face her.

But then Sunwoo rose again.

He took a great leap, over the guards head and landed on his feet and they resumed the duel. This time it only lasted a few seconds. It took a moment for Banryu and everyone else to realise it, but then they saw the guard’s hair fall into his face – his topknot had been cut off.

Cheers erupted among the Hwarang, even some of the people at the top of the stairs joined in. Banryu looked up at his stepfather. He wore a slightly disappointed expression, but Banryu could also see the calculating look in his eyes as he leaned back. No doubt he saw this as confirmation that Sunwoo was the King.

Banryu didn’t know what to think about that, and honestly at the moment he didn’t really care, he was just relieved that they were allowed to go after that.

Sunwoo’s sister was there to see to the injured, but Banryu didn’t go to her, his wound was not bad enough that he would ask her for help. Instead he went back to their room alone.

Chapter Text

Banryu closed the door behind him, sighing in relief when he saw that their room was empty. He doubted anyone would be coming back here soon so, not wanting to climb up to his own bed, he sat down on Sooho’s. As he sat down the fabric of his clothing rubbed over the wound in his side causing him to breathe out sharply through clenched teeth. He looked down and saw fresh blood flowing through the fingers of the hand he had pressed against his side. Grimacing, he reached up to carefully pull off the clothing from his upper body, trying not to get blood on Sooho’s sheets. Damned if he’d wash that bastards sheets as well, it was bad enough that he had to wash his own. 

He’d just started awkwardly bandaging the wound when the door opened. Badly startled, he lost his hold on the bandage which came undone and slipped down. Cursing under his breath, Banryu looked up to see who it was.

The words died on his tongue as his eyes met Sooho’s, somehow he hadn’t been expecting him and suddenly felt self-conscious. Perhaps because he was sitting on Sooho’s bed, he knew the other would not be happy with that. But it wasn’t the fact that Sooho would be mad at him for sitting on his bed that bothered him. Sooho eyed him up and down, eyes lingering on Banryu’s bare torso and the wound on his side. Unconsciously, Banryu brought his hands up to cover himself and the wound.

“What are you doing here?!” He exclaimed abruptly, at the same time as Sooho said, “Why are you sitting on my bed?”

They glared at each other, then Sooho turned away saying, “If you get blood on my sheets you’ll have to wash them.”

“It’s your fault I’m bleeding, so if anything happens it should be your responsibility,” Banryu said stubbornly. Sooho ignored him and went to his bag and began to look through it. Since the conversation seemed to be over and Sooho was no longer staring at him, Banryu went back to attempting to tie the bandage.

It didn’t go any better this time, the bandage ended up being too loose and slipping down. Grumbling in frustration, Banryu unwound the bandage to re-do it. Then Sooho rose and seemed about to finally leave, to Banryu’s relief. However, he stopped at the door and stood there for a while. Banryu didn’t look up, but he felt Sooho looking at him and it made him fumble even more.

“Oh for God’s sake just let me do it!”

“What?”

Dumbfounded, Banryu looked up to see Sooho coming toward him and realised what he meant. As Sooho sat down next to him, uncomfortably close, Banryu snarled at him, “I can do it myself!”

Not fazed by this, Sooho just replied sarcastically, “I can see that.” And nodded at the bandages which were slipping down again.

“Have you even washed it?”

Banryu pressed his lips together and said hotly, “If you didn’t keep disturbing me it would go better.”

“So you haven’t. Then wait there.”

Sooho went back to his bag and rifled through it, while Banryu sat on the bed, staring in disbelief. When Sooho approached him again he was holding a small opaque bottle and a piece of cloth.

“What’s that?” Banryu asked suspiciously, edging away from Sooho when he sat down on the bed. Sooho raised his eyebrows increadulously.

“It’s alcohol, for cleaning wounds. Now let me see.” He said impatiently and Banryu reluctantly lowered the hand he had covered the wound with.

Sooho leaned forward and started to unwind the bandage. Then he unstopped the bottle and poured a little alcohol onto the cloth and started cleaning the area around the wound. Banryu drew in a sharp breath when he pressed a little too hard and, instead of giving him his typical teasing grin, Sooho simply worked more gently. It was so uncharacteristic of Sooho to be gentle with him, that Banryu glared at him suspiciously - even if Sooho couldn’t see it.

It was only then that the absurdity of the situation struck Banryu, and he had to stop himself from fidgetin, suddenly feeling very awkward. Sooho didn’t seem to have noticed anything, he was concentrating on his work, a small from on his brow. As Banryu was watching him work with growing tension, he suddenly looked up and Banryu quickly looked away.

“Hey, it looks a little red around the edges – it might be infected. Perhaps you should go see miss Ah-ro.” Sooho said.

“I don’t want to.”

“Fine, don’t blame me if you die from an infection then and remember to clean it often.”

Banryu didn’t answer at first, conflicting feelings made him indecisive. On the one hand he wanted Sooho to care about him, on the other hand Sooho was his rival for a reason – their personalities and political affiliations clashed too often. He also couldn’t be sure what Sooho’s motives or feelings behind these actions were.

“Why do you care?” he asked finally, his tone harsh because he found it oddly difficult to speak.

He wasn’t looking at Sooho, so he didn’t see him frowning slightly in concern before he replied lightly, “Because if you die your stepfather is going to blame me, my father and, ultimately, the Queen. So it’s actually just in service to the Queen that I’m doing this. Oh and since you are one of her Hwarang I’m sure she wouldn’t want to lose you uselessly.”

Of course Kim Sooho wouldn’t miss a chance to goad him about that, Banryu clenched his hands, then stood up abruptly.

“Give me the bandages.” He said, holding out his hand but not bothering to look at Sooho, who was looking confused at his reaction.

“Don’t be like that,” Sooho scoffed. “Now sit down so I can finish.”

Banryu just pressed his lips together and turned around to grab the bandages that lay on the bed. Sooho was quicker, however, and had already grabbed the bandages and were holding them out of reach.

“Either you let me do it, or you go visit miss Ah-ro.” Sooho said, in that annoying tone he always used when he knew there was nothing Banryu could retaliate with.

So Banryu didn’t. Instead, he made a grab at the bandages Sooho held.

It did not go as planned.

When Banryu leaned forward and reached out, Sooho leaned back. Banryu stretched, then gasped from the pain that flared up in his side and lost his balance, falling on top of Sooho.

“Uhg, what are you doing?” He asked in annoyance, his voice slightly muffled against Sooho’s chest.

“I should ask the same of you!” Sooho answered, his voice oddly strained. For a few seconds neither of them moved, then Banryu started to shift and Sooho pushed him off.

Sitting up, Banryu glared at Sooho, who glared back.

“I’m not doing this to be nice, you know.” Sooho said. “I just feel like I owe you and I don’t like that, so let’s just get this over with.”

The last part was rushed and he wasn’t looking at Banryu anymore.  Banryu also looked away, and didn’t notice how red Sooho’s ears were.

“Fine.” He said curtly.

Sooho looked at him and opened his mouth, then he shut it again and simply picked up the bandages and started binding the wound. Occasionally he would look up at Banryu, who stubbornly kept looking forward and grinding his teeth. He told himself he was feeling uncomfortable accepting a favour from his rival, because this was definitely more than Sooho had to do to be “even” with him. He definitely wasn’t tensing up every time Sooho put his arms around him because it made his heart flutter, or because the mere touch of his warm hands against his skin sent shivers through his whole body.

Banryu shut his eyes tightly, trying to ignore the feeling – this was a mistake, however, as the lack of sight only made him more aware of Sooho’s touch. He hastily opened his eyes, breath catching in his throat.

Sooho looked up at him in askance, “Did it hurt?”

The unusual gentleness in his tone was almost more difficult to bear and Banryu swallowed, trying to push down the surge of emotion that threatened to overflow into tears. He shook his head quickly and Sooho looked down again, tying the bandage together neatly.

Not realising it was already done, Banryu started badly when Sooho clapped him on the shoulder and rose. Wide-eyed, he looked up at Sooho as he turned to face him.

“So it’ll need to be changed every day – think you can manage that without me playing nursemaid?” Sooho said in his usual teasing tone.

Banryu sputtered, his face turning red, “I didn’t ask you to do it! I could have done it myself!”

“And that was going so well… Let’s be honest, you’d probably have bled to death if I hadn’t so graciously helped you.”

“Then let’s fight and I’ll give you a matching wound so you can do this on yourself if you’re so good!”

“You couldn’t even do that if you weren’t injured,” Sooho replied derisively, “I have no wish to win so easily.” With that he turned and walked out of the room before Banryu had a chance to retaliate. Banryu bared his teeth and made a rude gesture at the door.

Muttering irately, he bent to pick up his clothes and started dressing. When he finished he looked over at Sooho’s bed and saw that he had left the bottle of alcohol there. Banryu picked it up thoughtfully. Now that he thought about it, why had Sooho come here in the first place? They had been freed from lessons and other duties for the rest of the day, but Sooho had come back to their room. He seemed to have been looking for something, but Banryu hadn’t seen him take anything from his pack, nor had he come in with anything.

Shrugging, he placed the bottle back on the bed and left.

Sooho walked across the yard, lost in thought. He didn’t notice his friends waving at him as he walked past, nor did he notice where he was going.

He was thinking about Banryu’s unguarded, almost vulnerable expression as Sooho wrapped the bandage around his body. How smooth and warm his skin had been and the slight tremble he had felt when his hands brushed over exposed skin…

Abruptly he stopped, shaking his head as if to dispel that image, Sooho muttered to himself, “What is wrong with me, thinking about him in that way?”

Still shaking his head, he decided to head to the training grounds.

Chapter Text

A few days later Sooho, Banryu, Jidwi and Sunwoo were preparing to leave Silla.

They had all volunteered, more or less willingly, to escort the princess Sookmyung on her diplomatic mission to Baekye – along with a few other guards and a wagonload of gifts for the crown-prince of Baekye. It was an incredibly dangerous mission; if they did not succeed, Baekye would go to war against Silla and everyone going on the mission were likely to die.

Sooho was going because of Sunwoo – he needed to protect the future king. Meanwhile Sunwoo was going because the princess had brought his sister along. Why Jidwi was going was a mystery to Sooho, but it probably had something to do with Sunwoo. He’d have to watch him.

Then there was Banryu.

Sooho had not seen him much since the day of their duel – he had a feeling Banryu had been avoiding him – so he had been very surprised when Banryu had volunteered to join them. Even if Banryu had been slightly more interested in the Hwarang lately, it seemed unlikely he’d volunteered out of loyalty to the King and definitely not out of loyalty to the Queen or Princess.

Perhaps he had done it simply because Sooho had, that had often been reason enough for both of them in the past, neither wanted to miss any major events that the other was part of. Sooho found himself hoping this was the reason.

At last they were setting off, Sunwoo and Jidwi riding up front and Sooho and Banryu taking up the rear. They were all feeling tense and no one spoke during the ride.

As it drew close to nightfall they spotted their first stop; a rather run-down house where couriers and traders would stop on the way to Baekye or other places.

They dismounted, stretching their legs, and unpacked their belongings but leaving the gifts for the Crown Prince in the cart. When they were done everyone drifted away in different directions.

 Sooho watched pensively as Banryu turned around the corner of the house, then followed him.

He found him standing on the rocky bank of a river not far from the house. The sun was setting behind the trees, leaving behind it a pale lilac sky and clouds edged with gold.

Stepping up beside Banryu he glanced over at him, but Banryu didn’t seem to notice; he was looking at the scenery before them with a slightly glassy expression.

Before he could stop himself, Sooho asked, “What are you thinking of?”

Banryu started, blinking several times before turning his head to look at Sooho.

“I… it’s nothing.” He said, then turned around abruptly and started walking away.

Sooho stood still for a moment in indecision, then hurried after Banryu and grabbed his arm. “Banryu wait.”

Banryu stopped and looked back at him, but didn’t say anything. Sooho hesitated, but as Banryu was about to pull away he said hurriedly, “Look, just know that whatever has happened between us in the past, I think that we are on the same side now.”

Raising an incredulous eyebrow, Banryu silently watched him as he struggled to put his thoughts into words.

It was more difficult than he had thought, even if he had sometimes taunted Banryu about them being on the same team now he’d never said it sincerely. And that was without adding in the other feelings that had been growing inside him. No, better ignore that.

Having gathered his thoughts, he gripped Banryu’s arm tighter and looked him in the eye. “I don’t want it to be like before, so please, don’t do anything stupid.”

Banryu blinked, for a moment he had an almost anguished expression, but that passed quickly as he raised his chin arrogantly. “You should worry more about yourself on that account.”

Then he shook himself loose from Sooho’s hold and walked away quickly. Sooho watched him go in consternation.

“What an idiot…” He muttered to himself. “Fine, I’ll keep you out of trouble myself then, whether you want it or not.”

Banryu rounded the corner of the house, then slowed down. Looking around, he saw that he was alone, so he leant against the old house and pinched the bridge of his nose. He’d been so close to just tell Sooho everything; about the letter, the past mission and his failure to complete it.

But he hadn’t, because he knew that Sooho would never forgive him for it, newfound friendship or not. Oh he wished he could just throw the damned letter in the river and just try to be a part of something, instead of sneaking around behind their backs.

Exhaling, he looked up at the sky and blinked back the tears that were always so close to fall these days. Then he suddenly heard a sound, or sounds. It was the sound of feet on dry leaves, many of them, and the jangle of metal.

Bandits!

Looking around, he determined that the sound came from the courtyard where they’d left their carts. He hesitated a while, his first thought was to look for Sooho, then shook his head wondering when he’d become so dependent on the other.

Going alone, he peered around the side of the house and saw Sunwoo and Jidwi facing a large group of people. It was dark now, but they had torches and Banryu saw they were a very rag-tag looking group with no armour of any kind and only simple farming tools for weapons. Still there were a lot of them, even if they seemed scared of just the two Hwarang standing in front of them they could definitely overwhelm them if they attacked together.

As Banryu stood hesitantly, still out of sight, Sooho suddenly came up from behind him and exclaimed, “Bandits!” Then he drew his sword and rushed over to Jidwi and Sunwoo. Startled, Banryu soon followed after him, drawing his sword as well and taking his place beside the others. Somehow, this gave him a sense of calm, despite the almost certain prospect of battle ahead.

However there was now an argument going on. Jidwi was standing with his back to the bandits, facing Sooho and arguing against attacking them.

“They are only simple peasants, they don’t even have proper weapons!”

“So we should just let them take everything? We have a mission and there will certainly be a war if we fail!” Sooho yelled at him, furious. Although Banryu had been sent to sabotage the mission himself, he found himself siding with Sooho.

“They are our people.” Jidwi said with a quiet conviction. It didn’t faze Sooho, though, who started forward, but now Sunwoo stepped up and took his arm.

“Wait.”

Sooho looked back as if he might argue, but then it was already too late, the peasants were dispersing and when they rushed to the cart they saw that it was empty. Starting after the peasants he was once again stopped by Jidwi.

“Let them go, they’ll have sold everything by the time we catch up.”

“So we just give up?!” Sooho yelled, Jidwi didn’t answer but it was clear he wasn’t going to change his mind. Levelling him a look of disgust, Sooho stalked away.

Looking between the two of them, Banryu was unsure of what to feel in this situation. On the one hand it shouldn’t matter to him that the gifts were gone, he wasn’t there to see that the mission was successful, but on the other hand it frustrated him because he had secretly hoped that it would succeed despite the task he’d been given.

Sunwoo was now looking meaningfully at Jidwi, so Banryu decided to retreat as he wasn’t sure what was going on between the two of them but knew he didn’t want to get caught up in it.

Following in Sooho’s footsteps he almost ran into the other when he rounded the corner. Sooho had stopped, hands clenched tightly at his sides and was staring forward. Then he suddenly let out a scream, turning to punch the soft old wood of the wall next to him, sending splinters flying. Banryu flinched, but soon retained his composure.

“How can you be so calm?!” Sooho demanded when he looked back at Banryu.

“There’s no point in worrying now – there’s nothing we can do about the situation.”

Sooho snorted humourlessly, looking away, “I guess, but it’s still frustrating.”

Yes, it was. Banryu thought, surprising himself. But it was true, he was disappointed, because if they had gotten to Baekye without problems and the Princess had managed to talk to the Crown Prince, then the letter might not have mattered. As it was, that letter would simply be the deathblow to an already doomed mission and his step-father would have the Kingdom handed to him.

He hadn’t noticed Sooho watching him until the other touched his shoulder gently. “Come on, let’s get some sleep.”

Before he had time to react Sooho had walked away, while he stood there staring at the other’s retreating back in shock, unused as he was to Sooho being gentle it had also stirred some very uncomfortable feelings that he’d been trying to supress for some time. But he soon hurried after Sooho, not wanting him to notice his reaction.

As they entered the house he had caught up with Sooho, but was pushed aside suddenly. Stumbling, he glared at Sooho who had already stretched out on one of the blankets, laughing at him. He should have known that something was amiss. Then he recognised the pattern on the edge of the blanket and growled, “That’s my blanket.”

“Oh, really?” Sooho said, unconcerned even when Banryu came to stand over him, then he smiled in an infuriating way. “I guess it’s mine now, since this is the only one left.”

“So you forgot to unpack yours and now the bandits have it – why should I have to suffer for your carelessness?”

Sooho snorted. “Ah how terrible it must be for you indeed, I doubt you’ve been cold for even one night in your whole life!”

“As if you have.” Banryu crossed his arms and glared at him. “Now get off, or I will-”

The world suddenly turned upside down and Banryu found himself lying on his back, a dull pain in his back and head from where he had hit the floor.

Sooho was sitting up slightly and was laughing – then Banryu was on top of him grabbing him by the collar to shake him. But looking at Sooho’s face which was now far too close for comfort he froze, feeling his cheeks warm when Sooho met his gaze. The surprised look he’d had melted into one that was almost dazed.

Recovering first, Sooho grinned, “Well, aren't you going to take it? Or would you rather share?”

Banryu quickly rolled off Sooho, turning his back to him.

“Forget it.” He said, deciding it would be far easier to sleep without a blanket than spend one more moment face to face with Sooho. He curled up on his side, trying to keep warm. Behind him Sooho was quiet, then he heard him moving around a bit before settling down to sleep.

Shivering, Banryu thought that he might be able to steal the blanket from Sooho when he'd fallen asleep. His hip and shoulder hurt from being pressed into the hard floor so he rolled onto his back.

Turning his head slightly to the side he could see Sooho also lying on his back. His eyes were closed, but he was frowning slightly so Banryu wasn't sure if he was asleep. Then Sooho turned towards him and he quickly closed his eyes.

He almost flinched when he felt an arm stretching across him, then a warm blanket. Sooho’s arm lingered a moment before he drew back. Banryu opened his eyes and looked at Sooho who quickly turned his back, saying, “It’ll be warmer this way.”

What kind of explanation was that? Thought Banryu, but didn’t say anything since Sooho was right after all. He briefly wondered if he’d be able to sleep like this, however, because every time his shoulder touched Sooho’s back a shock seemed to go through it.

After a while tiredness won and he drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Text

The next day they rode in tense silence, not only because of the night before, but also because they were passing the border to Baekye where there were more bandits and other desperate people who might attack them.

They rode more quickly now, having lost most of their baggage which had slowed them down before. It was an eventless journey and they made good time to their next campsite – not a house this time, there were few in this area and they had nothing to trade for the use of a room, even for the Princess.

When they arrived at the river the other guards went to set up the tents, while the Hwarang gathered.

“We have no food or wood,” Sunwoo said, “Sooho, Banryu you go look for wood-”

“Don’t order me.” Banryu said, annoyed that Sunwoo once again was taking the lead.

“Oh just come here!” Sooho said, grabbing his arm and towing him away.

After a while Banryu shook himself loose from Sooho, but continued following him anyway. It wasn’t like he had anything better to do and he’d rather not stay with Sunwoo and Jidwi – at least that’s what he told himself.

Sooho was already gathering large fallen branches and was just bending down to pick up another, even if his arms were already full. Banryu sighed loudly.

“Here, let me take that.”

“What?” Sooho looked up in confusion.

Banryu gestured at him to give him some of the branches. Sooho looked at him weirdly; Banryu had never offered to help him before. Banryu just looked at him, it wasn’t as if he had started this and he was not about to give Sooho an advantage – because that was all it was about – so Sooho handed him a couple of branches.

Banryu walked ahead as Sooho bent to pick up the last branch, balancing the long branches awkwardly on his shoulders. He didn’t particularly mind it since it wasn’t heavy, but he couldn’t help thinking Sooho might be laughing at him now.

Still, he continued without pausing or looking back until they reached the river. When he tried to step between the rocks across the water one of the branches started to fall forward, disrupting his balance. Tumbling down between the rocks and fallen branches he gained a few bruises on the way, however the worst part was that he was now completely drenched and Sooho was yelling at him.

“Are you an idiot?! How could you fall down there?”

As if falling hadn’t been humiliating enough of course Sooho had to taunt him about it. He had definitely not changed.

“So you want to fight?!” Banryu snapped and Sooho immediately dropped everything to jump down to him.

“Let’s go!” He said with a grin, then pushed Banryu into the water again.

Quickly getting up again, Banryu closed in on Sooho determined to pull him down this time. They wrestled for a bit, but Sooho soon had the advantage again. However, Banryu didn’t let him go when he fell and managed to drag him down with him.

They both emerged from the water soon after, Sooho coughing and leaning against a rock. Banryu climbed up on the rock, then reached down a hand to Sooho who grabbed his hand and climbed up after him.

After that they simply dropped down in exhaustion, lying side by side on the sun-warmed rock, pools of water forming around them from their wet clothes and hair.

Banryu suddenly sat up and pulled out something from under his shirt. A letter. He smiled, brushed it off a bit then tucked it under his shirt again. But not before Sooho saw the purple string tying it together. Sooyeon always did that.

Trying to sound unaffected he said, “My sister seems to care a lot for you.”

Banryu hesitated, then said simply, “Sooyeon has been a good friend to me.”

“A friend?” Sooho asked incredulously.

“Yes, are you not familiar with the concept?”

Sooho ignored the jibe. “So you’re saying you’re not trying to seduce her?”

“That’s what you would do, I suppose, if you were me?” Banryu replied and this time some of the old animosity bled into his tone.

“She’s my sister!” Sooho exclaimed.

Banryu didn’t say anything for a while and Sooho frowned. He must have been right about this, there was no way there wasn’t anything more between those two. Why else would Sooyeon keep defending Banryu and send him letters and go to see him off and…

Why did he care so much about it anyway? He knew now that Banryu wasn’t such a bad person, in fact he could be a good match for Sooyeon. But he knew their families wouldn’t agree. That worried him, yes, but that wasn’t the only reason he felt so strongly against it.

Looking at Banryu, lying beside him with his long dark hair forming a pool around his head, cheeks still flushed from their fight before, he knew he could never let him be with Sooyeon.

Banryu sighed softly, then said, “I suppose I understand that you’d be protective of your sister, but there really isn’t anything like that between us.” He continued in a slightly more serious tone, “However, as I said, Sooyeon has been a good friend to me and she deserves something in return. I may not be the best, but I am one of the few friends she has, so for her sake I hope you will not do something about this.”

Sooho looked in surprise at Banryu, who wasn’t looking at him, but still seemed determined. He shook his head, trying to clear it. Why was this so difficult?

“It’s just that…” He started, then cleared his throat when he heard how weak and uncertain his own voice sounded. “We have become closer lately… And I don’t want anything to come between us. If others started thinking that there’s something between the two of you it won’t end well.”

Banryu started, then turned his head to look at him. “Does that mean you care about me too?”

Before he could stop himself he nodded, then said hurriedly, “Don’t let that get to your head!”

Banryu didn’t say anything, so Sooho laid back and closed his eyes, trying to pretend that he wasn’t incredibly embarrassed.

Looking at Sooho lying there so peacefully beside him, Banryu suddenly felt an intense longing. He wanted to stay like this, beside the person he had known for so long but also not known at all until recently.

Before he could stop himself he reached out and brushed a lock of soft brown hair from Sooho’s face. Sooho’s eyes flew open and Banryu froze, hand still hovering slightly above Sooho’s cheek.

Their eyes met and Banryu stopped breathing. Then Sooho reached up and put his hand on Banryu’s cheek. He smiled.

Blinking, Banryu couldn’t make himself react. Had Sooho really said that? He didn’t have time to think any more of it because Sooho’s hand had slipped behind his head into his hair. He didn’t push, but Banryu still leaned down until his face was right in front of Sooho’s.

Wide-eyed, he looked at Sooho who had seemed so calm, but now that they were so close Banryu felt Sooho’s breath quicken. Thinking they’d already gone this far there was little point in going back, Banryu leaned down the last bit and felt Sooho’s lips meet his own.

It didn’t last long, but to Banryu it felt like his whole world had changed, everything suddenly seemed insignificant compared to this feeling.

When they parted, Sooho took his hands from his face and moved them to his shoulders and hugged him close. Banryu laid on Sooho’s chest and listened to his breathing, it was calmer now and Banryu couldn’t help smiling.

**********

It was fully dark now and the small fires they’d made was barely enough to see each other by. Sunwoo and Jidwi sat together in silence, their recent conversation had left them with a lot to think about.

Then Jidwi straightened, looking around. “Sooho and Banryu still aren’t back.”

Sunwoo didn’t react at first, then looked around as well. “It’s a bit odd that they’d be gone this long.” He admitted.

“Should we look for them?”

Just after Jidwi said this however, two people appeared at the edge of the forest. As Sooho and Banryu came closer Jidwi saw that their clothes were slightly wet and their hair was tousled. Sooho dumped a small pile of wood next to the fire.

“Where were you? And is that really all you managed to find? We had to start this ourselves because you took so long.”

Throwing an annoyed look at Jidwi, Sooho said simply, “There was an accident.”

Banryu looked away and didn’t say anything, but followed Sooho when he went to take the first watch. Jidwi looked after them thoughtfully. Something had definitely happened, though it didn’t seem like one of their usual fights.

Before he could consider it further, Sunwoo tossed him a blanket. “Let’s sleep, it’ll be our turn next.”