Winning the Warrior (Taekook ff)

Chapter 6

The room had gone quiet after Taeh called out Jngguk's name. Jin stood with a slight smile, his head inclined as he looked over the boy standing opposite to Taeh. Yungi, Hobi, Joon and Jimn had narrowed their eyes at Jngguk's back, waiting for a reaction.
Taeh himself had vaguely realised that there were two other men in the room probably Yungi and Hobi, that he had heard much about from Jimn. He looked at the boy who had stood up abruptly when Jin had pushed him in. He had seen the boy's arm raise as if to catch him, but it had fallen with the same speed too. So, he had smiled and said the first thing that came to his mind, that was 'Jngguk' which had come out more as a question than a greeting that he had intended. Taeh would have noticed that he received no reply if he wasn't so riveted by the raw beauty of the man standing before him. His hair was long and framed his face, which was sharp angles and cheekbones, a well-defined jaw, paired with the most expressive eyes he had seen. At that moment the eyes were sharp, taking him in, his lips parted a little and a small frown that wrinkled his brows. Taeh cleared his throat and thought what to say because the silence was getting on his nerves. He hadn't yet come up with anything to say when Jngguk turned and, in a voice high and sharp like ice, said, "Are you all waiting for the day to pass? We are late."

Taeh felt his jaw drop at the smooth voice, the sharp tone and the obvious annoyance that laced it. Then Jngguk was striding past him, towards the door and opening it. His family's thralls, who had not left for the feast area, had gathered in the corridor and now shrunk back against the walls. In another moment Jngguk was out of their sight. Taeh turned to look back at the others in the room, his gaze flickering from one man to the next who all held various degrees of exasperated and disappointed expressions.

Joon stepped forward and extended his hand to pat him on the back, "We are not late. But we should leave now." Then in a lower voice he added, "Ignore the brat."
Joon moved behind him to greet Jin and the others crowded Taeh. Taeh felt his face break into a smile as Yungi and Hobi were introduced to him, and Hobi continued to gush over him and how pretty he was just like Jimn ahd told them. Taeh gave a look to Jimn who just wiggled his eyebrows making him laugh.

"Taeh, we should really leave now. We have to go all the way up to the Hof too."
  Jin fussed over him again as more introductions were made. They walked out the door and the members of the Ulf clan were surprised to find how close Taeh was to the servants of the house. He was hugged by the women and bumped by the men, who shouted prayers to the Gods for him. By the time they reached the front door, Joon was sure that they were late now, if they hadn't been before. Another surprise waited for them at entrance when they found Jngguk standing just at the edge of the stairs with Bo raised on his hip and talking animatedly.

The boy struggled to get out of his grip as soon as he saw Jin and Taeh.

"Jin! Taeh! I asked father if I could go up with you and he said yes!"

Jin shook his head, "And how long did you pester him for that?"

Bo grinned, "Too long! I don't know how long it was!"

Taeh also smiled and bent to hug the boy, "Thankyou for staying with me today Bo. You're the best warrior among my men."

"I know I am!" The boy yelled making them all laugh. "Jgguk says that I can become a strong warrior like him soon! I just need to practice, and he promised to teach me too!"

Taehyung smiled at the mispronunciation of Jngguk's name and looked up at the other to find him already a distance away, his gaze set on the trail they had to walk up to the Hof.

Joon and Jin both noticed how Taeh was smiling but his expression was forced. They quickly began to usher them all on. The path wasn't steep, and they all walked almost in a cluster except for Jngguk who walked ahead of them. By the time they had crossed half the path, they were laughing hysterically at the anecdotes Jimn and Hobi were telling him and Jin from their childhood. Joon kept throwing glances at Jngguk who seems unbothered by what was happening behind him. He caught Jin's gaze several times and gave back what he hoped was a reassuring smile. Soon Jin started walking beside him and leaned towards him to converse.