Distant Daylight || Yunho (A Treasure Tale)

New Strategy

"I hope you boys have somewhere to stay the weekend in Panhang," a voice broke into Yunho's sleep, and he startled from his position slumped against Gunho to face the cart driver.

Oh, right. They had finally made it out.

"Why do you say that, sir?" He asked respectfully, pulling some hay out of his hair when it poked him as he went to rub his tired eyes. Gambling in the tavern all week when he should be in bed had worn him out.

"Because this cart stops there and returns to So-ai. So unless you want to be right back where you started, you'll need to get off when we arrive in the morning," the driver explained, turning around for a moment to make sure he'd been heard.

"But..." Yunho tried to argue, suddenly faced with the fact that he hadn't made any arrangements and would once again be thinking on his feet. "But we're trying to get to the archipelago, doesn't this cart go to Kon?"

"No, young man, it does not. For that, you'll have to hire a carriage that travels south," the driver answered with finality, unable to be persuaded on the matter.

Yunho hadn't been on a carriage since the day he left for the orphanage, and he knew even if they could afford one, no self-respecting driver would take on a pair of street rats.

So he invited himself into the front seat and tried a different angle. The sun was already rising and he didn't have much time.

"Sir, do you have parents?"

The man gave him a quizzical glance before returning his gaze to the road. "No," he admitted after a moment. "Not since they were claimed by the mountain."

Not entirely sure what that meant, Yunho continued on anyway, "From one orphan to another, what sort of place is Panhang? Somewhere a couple of poor homeless children could survive and earn enough for the carriage you speak of?"

When the man eyed him knowingly for a moment, Yunho sat up straighter and did his best to look completely innocent. It was Gunho's skill, but unfortunately he was still asleep in the back.

"The business of the city consists mostly of fishing and finance," the driver finally said in a gruff voice. "There are a few wealthy families, but they keep to themselves and won't be frequently seen in town, not when they can send servants instead. You'll not be able to steal money off them."

Yunho widened his eyes and feigned a gasp, acting shocked that the driver would mention such a thing when he and Gunho clearly only secured their funds through reputable and entirely legal means.

"And there's already some competition between beggars," the man continued, unfazed. "It's a bigger town than So-ai. Any luck you had there will not guarantee you survival here. Not with winter blowing in."

Yunho couldn't help but pout as the distant rooftops finally came into view. He had never been outside his hometown in all his ten years of life, and the unfamiliar world on the horizon was intimidating.

He would need a new strategy, both here and wherever the road took them next.

But it was no matter; he didn't fear what was to come. Jeong Yunho loved a good challenge.

___

"We picked the worst time to jump ship."

Yunho crossed his arms to trap some body heat and sighed in response to yet another complaint from shivering Gunho.

"We didn't exactly have a choice," he reminded him, turning yet another street corner as they explored Panhang, looking for anything and everything that could be of use to them. "Can't go back now."