Immortal Desire || SanHwa / Seonghwa x San

11. Suspicious

"You better tell me where you've been all this time, don't you think we deserve an answer?" Mingi and Seonghwa were both walking down the street in whatever direction Seonghwa led them.

"It doesn't matter Min. I never found what I was looking for, so what difference does it make?"

"Alot! Alot of difference okay?! I'm worried about you. And this whole thing with San doesn't sit right with me. Everything was telling us he's your soul but Jongho is the one??"

Mingi was unleashing alot of pent up frustrations upon Seonghwa, and rightfully so. Everyone was confused.

"Will you at least let me help you Seonghwa? Let me help you find whatever it is you're looking for."

"I don't want to drag you into this."

"I'm dragging myself into this. As if I'll give you the credit of my demise if it be so." Mingi grumbled. He wasn't even aware of their surroundings until they stopped out front of a very familiar door on the outskirts of the city.

"Wait...why are we here?" Mingi asked as they stood still.

Seonghwa sighed.

"Yeosang, he was the one that sent me to find..., he had the lead, but it was a dead end."

Mingi wanted to roll his eyes at Seonghwa's vagueness.

Two knocks on the door had the familiar face of Hongjoong opening the door. He looked grim upon seeing Seonghwa, until he caught sight of Mingi standing behind.

"Ummm..."

"Mingi wants to help. But I'm not telling him what we're looking for." Seongwa explained, but not without throwing a glare towards his brother.

Hongjoong looked distrustful, but led them both in the house nonetheless.

Yeosang and Hongjoong had been living together for the last 18 years. They had a fairly decent place, with colourful decorations of fabrics and design splayed across every wall.

Hongjoong had taken the job as the Royal Tailor, making clothes for anyone in the palace that were willing to pay, making them well off.

Yeosang had taken to travelling, as well as growing his own garden of food. As somewhat of a tribute to Wooyoung, he had also taken to donating any food and clothing they had spare to the poor and homeless.

Hongjoong led them to a spare room where Yeosang was, sitting cross legged on the ground with what looked like blueprints across his lap and sprawled around him.

He barely glanced up as he spoke.

"Joong, I was right! They don't match up! There's a door here-" he stopped talking as soon as he looked up to see both Seonghwa and Mingi standing in the room.

"Mingi volunteered as tribute. He doesn't know anything though." Hongjoong explained blandly.

"Great! The more the better. At least this time. Look!" Nothing dulled Yeosangs excitement.

Both Yeosang and Hongjoong had aged nicely. Yeosangs now blonde hair had grown out long over his neck and eyes, while Hongjoong's black hair was being held back in a short pony tail with braids along the sides.

They were quite the power duo these days.

Yeosang pulled two blueprints onto the table in the middle of the room. One looked very old and worn, while the other looked brand new.

"This is a blueprint from almost 200 years ago of the palace. I found it in the library, albeit in the one section I wasn't allowed to be in BUT-"

He was quick to line up the papers side by side, avoiding the...questionable legality of these documents.

"This one King Jimin gave to me upon request. And look, on the old blueprint there's a door leading to a stairway and what looks like a dungeon...maybe a prison? But on the newer blueprints there is no door! Seonghwa you HAVE to go down there! You might find-" Yeosang stopped himself, glancing at Mingi momentarily.

"You mind find what we're looking for."

Mingi noted the evasiveness of the topic, and didn't say anything.

"How are we supposed to get that far into the palace. I don't think Jimin will just let us roam down a secret passageway for the funsies." Seonghwa's eyebrows we're narrowed down.

"You're gonna ask Jongho to take you." Yeosang stated.

Well, it felt like more of a command.

"Uh...about that..." Mingi scratched the nape of his neck.

"About what?" Hongjoong asked, looking at Mingi questionably.

"Uhh...so this kid was born the night Wooyoung died and has been suffering his entire life by what we thought was Seonghwa's soul and now he's with Jongho because apparently? He's Jongho's soul instead of Seonghwa's and so Jongho is kiiiiinda preoccupied at the moment." The word vomit had everyone in the room stare at him dumbly.

They all just blinked silently at him.

"I'm sorry, who?" Yeosang asked, straightening up and crossing his arms over his chest.

"Some guy named San... Yunho met him some months ago, but we've known of him for a while, since he's been coming to the castle gates by our house since he was a kid."

Mingi felt like he was being left out. They all had some kind of knowing look about them, as if a burning question inside Mingi's head was answered in all of theirs.

"Well, if not Jongho then you need to find someone or some way to get down there. I have a hunch and I think im right." There was a determination in Yeosang that wasn't to be argued with.

Mingi exhaled deeply.

"Is no one going to tell me what we're looking for or what's down that dungeon?"

The silence was Mingi's answer.