DragonHeart | Minsung

IX

Minho awoke from the sounds of footsteps and voicing passing outside of their room. The walls in the inn were very thin. They could hear everything that was going on in the hall, and the rooms beside theirs. This had made it difficult for both men to fall asleep, and stay asleep.

On top of the noise, Minho had slept on the floor so they wouldn't have to share the small bed. Even though he was used to sleeping on the ground outside, that night he was unable to find the floor comfortable enough to get any good sleep. At least the grass and leaves outside provided some cushioning, unlike the hard wooden floors.

He stood up from his bed on the floor. He walked over to the small window in the room allowed him to see that the sun hadn't fully risen yet, but he could see the slight glow of light along the horizon.

"Can't sleep?" Jisung asked. He had watched him get up, also struggling to sleep.

Minho was startled and jumped, not having expected Jisung to be awake too. He turned around to face the man laying on the bed. "Yeah...you too?"

"Yeah." Jisung said threw a yawn.

Minho nodded and walked back over to his mat on the floor.

"You can sleep on the bed if you want...you might be able to get some more sleep." Jisung offered.

Minho shook his head. "No, it's okay...I won't make you sleep on the floor."

"I didn't say that I was going to sleep on the floor."

Jisung could see a sense of confusion on Minho's face. He scooted over as far as he could towards the wall, and patted the space on the bed beside him. "You can lay up here, by me...I won't bite."

Minho was hesitant. He was confused to why he'd be okay with sharing a bed, considering that they were still basically strangers, and Jisung was a prince.

"Dude, it's fine. Don't overthink it." Jisung said, patting the bed again.

Minho was surprised by how naive Jisung was. They hadn't known each other for long, and he could easily harm the vulnerable man if he wanted to, but he did agreed. Those weren't his intentions. He got up from the floor, bringing his blanket with him.

After Minho had laid down and seemed to be more comfortable, Jisung rolled over on his side with his back facing him. "Okay, try to get some sleep."

"Night." Minho mumbled.

————

When Jisung woke up, the sun had fully risen, making the room brighter from the light shining through the window.

He rolled over to find Minho sound asleep, cheek smooshed against the pillow and mouth hung slightly open. The sight made him smile a bit. He looked like he was sleeping well.

He truly was a good-looking guy, probably one of the most handsome men he'd seen. Jisung gaze traveled from his long eyelashes, down his nose, and to his pink lips and defined chin and jawline. His features almost seemed perfect.

Jisung soon snapped out of it. He felt bad for having to wake him up, but he knew they needed to keep moving.

He reached over to grab Minho's shoulder, and gently shook him. That instigated an agitated groan from the sleepy man.

"We already slept in. You have to get up."

Minho's eyes creaked open and he rolled over so he was no longer facing Jisung. "I know, just give me a minute."

Jisung huffed. He needed to get out of the bed, but he was in the way of that. "I'll roll you off the bed," he threatened, placing his hands on Minho as if he were going to push him.

The older man let out another groan. "Fine." He said and lazily sat up.

Jisung ruffled the other's hair. "There you go, good job." He praised, remembering the morning before and how the tables had turned.

Minho rolled his eyes and moved his hand away. He stood up from the bed slowly, his lower half aching a bit from being in the saddle for so long before. "Okay, let's get ready then."

They both grabbed the clothes that they had washed the night before and began to dress themselves for the day. Both of them turned their backs to each other to avoided looking at the other while they changed.

The two soon packed their things back into their bags and left the room. They gave the room key back to the person at the front desk, and left to get their horses.

They put their tack back on the horses and secured their bags that held their belongings onto them. Once they finished, they both held onto the horse's reins and guided them out of the stables.

While they walked, Jisung reached over to stroke the neck of Minho's horse. "Why haven't you given her a name?" He asked.

Minho shrugged. "I haven't owned her for very long, and she didn't come with one."

Jisung continued to run his hand along her black coat. "Well, she's very pretty. You should think about a nice name."

He nodded. "I'll think about it."

The town wasn't as busy as it had been the day before, but there were still people out selling things. As they walked through the town, a baker selling food caught Jisung's eye.

Minho watched as Jisung's eyes lit up when he saw the different sweets they were selling. "I'm going to go buy something!" He said and handed Minho the reins of his horse. "Hold Bbama for me."

Minho was fine with him buying things, but he grew concerned when he realised that Jisung had not taken the time to conceal his identity. "Just wait a second, you forgot your mask.."

Jisung had already left by the time that he got the sentence out.

He soon came running back with two slices of cheesecake in his hands. He reached out to offer one of the slices to Minho. "Want one?"

"Thanks...but next time remember that you need to cover your face." He scolded him after he took the cake.

Jisung rolled his eyes as took Bbama's reins back. "It'll be fine, you worry too much."

They stopped to eat the cheesecake, and finally mounted their horses to leave the village afterwards.

Jisung had found his map earlier, which he grabbed to look at. When Minho noticed that he had it out, he shook his head and gestured for him to put it away.

"You don't need the map. I'll take us through a shortcut."

Jisung raised an eyebrow at that. "Are you sure? Shouldn't we just stick to what the map says?" He asked.

Minho shook his head. "I've been this way before, we'll be fine, and we'll get there faster."