Winning the Warrior (Taekook ff)

Chapter 7

The whole thing was turning into a disaster.
The traditional race of the families had been won by the Ulf clan, although Jin had taken part in the race wholeheartedly despite being the only competitor against three. It was a given that the Islanders would be serving the guests, but they had still stuck to tradition for the sake of it. Another ritual was the placing of the Mjolnir, which had made both Jngguk and Taeh turn red. As he thought back to it, Joon was sure that Jngguk had turned red with embarrassment, not anger as Yungi had suggested in his ear. Taeh's red face was easily deciphered as flushed since he had ducked his head as low as possible. The replica of the sacred item had been placed between them on the bench they were seated on and was now out of sight behind the tablecloth but now Joon realised that it only served as a physical barrier between the two grooms, both of whom hadn't touched their cups of bride-ale even once in the past two hours.

"A disaster." Joon muttered and Jin who was sitting next to him gave him an amused look.

"Disaster?"

Joon looked up at the man, who without doubt had ravishing features and whose face was an open book like his cousin. Thinking back to their first conversation, Joon just made a vague gesture towards the field where the warriors and villagers were gathered around the tables piled with food, mead and ale. The high table that the family occupied was set slightly to the side and higher for them to be aware of the surroundings at all time.

"It's been two hours and most of the warriors are drunk. A recipe for disaster."

"Isn't every wedding feast a disaster?" Jin chuckled, "All the ale and food, it goes on for hours and half of the men pass out right there."

Joon nodded donning a pained expression, "But our men need to hold back since we have to leave as soon as this feast is over. Tonight at the latest."

His face fell and Joon turned towards him completely. "He will be well taken care of."

Jin nodded vigorously and Joon had the got the vaguest notion that he was holding back tears.

After a few moments of silence, he again spoke up, "They haven't touched their drinks."

"Quite observant, Jin. But don't worry, it wouldn't make a difference if they were drunk. I rather believe things could get... worse if they were drunk. Then they might actually be...talking."

Jin looked visibly upset at the idea and Joon quickly leaned over to hold onto his arm and started asking about the plant life of the island to distract the man.

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As the night wind whipped around him, Taeh stood at the shore of the island, his home, and made the best attempt to hold back his tears when it was time for him to get aboard the ship. His aunt and Jin stood before him with the villagers and thralls a distance behind them. They all waited for him to say his goodbye but Taeh knew that if he uttered even one word, he would end up sobbing and that was the last thing he wanted the clan he had married into to see. So, he stubbornly kept his mouth shut and let his aunt and Jin mutter words of praise and courage in his ears. He kissed his aunt softly on the forehead and received one from Jin who was dangerously close to letting his tears fall. As Taeh went to step back from his hold, he saw Jin lock eyes with someone behind him and give a curt nod. A look behind him told him that it was Joon. 

"Will you be back soon Taeh?" A tear escaped Bo's eye and he quickly dashed it away with his small hand. Taeh smiled waveringly and nodded. The small boy clung to his legs. "I will wait to have shrimps with you. I vow not to eat shrimps without you! "