Huntsman | Ateez

Chapter One: Precious

Seonghwa traced his finger in the dirt, creating little lines that came together to form the image of a flower. The sun shined down on the earth causing the little ripples in the water of the lake to sparkle. 

Seonghwa leaned back on the soft green grass, resting his arm over his eyes to block out the beautiful sunshine that threatened to blind him. A soft breeze blew through his hair, giving him temporary relief from the uncomfortable heat that made Seonghwa's clothes stick to his body. He let out a sigh.

He brought his hand up to his neck where the smokey topaz pendant lay and rubbed his finger over the smooth stone. He smiled softly as memories of his little brother flooded his mind. That tiny, precious, innocent child (just shy of five years old) that had not a worry in the world. That tiny child that always begged Seonghwa to play with him instead of tending to the buckwheat that needed to be harvested. He remembered when his mother would chase him around, smiling brightly with her arms held out in front of her ready to embrace him with the warmest and most comforting hugs. He remembered how his father would bring home those deliciously sweet pears when he had a little extra money to spend, which wasn't often, but those were some of his happier days. He remembered the arrival of his little girl whose eyes held all of the stars. She was beautiful. She looked just like her mother and Seonghwa couldn't have been happier. He could never get over the idea that he had helped in bringing that beautiful baby girl into the world. He had never been happier.

That was until the day the rebels ripped his whole world away from him. The day they attacked and took his fiance and daughter. He fought. He fought until his fingers were broken and he couldn't stand, but they were gone. Taken. Ripped from his clutches and there was nothing he could do. Nothing. Nothing. 

A scream startled Seonghwa awake. He sat up quickly hearing the frantic shouts of the men and women outside. Through the rice paper of the the sliding door, Seonghwa could see an orange glow and shadows running back and forth holding what seemed to be weapons. Seonghwa jumped to his feet.

"Minhee!" Seonghwa yelled, "Minhee!"

He ran around frantically looking for her. The high pitch wail of a baby caught his attention and immediately he went towards it. He quickly slid open the door, grabbing his 'jingum' that rested against the wall. 

Outside was chaos. Women clutching their babies tight in their arms ran from the billowing smoke and fiery flames that consumed their homes. The sky was dark; the moon covered by dark grey clouds. Ash seemed to fall from the heavens and hot flames lapped up the trunks of old towering trees. 

Men dressed in bright red and gold padded armor lept around, striking anyone who stood in their way with their long spears and swords. A shower of arrows came raining down from a rooftop near Seonghwa and he rolled to avoid being hit.

His eyes darted around, looking for Minhee. His chest tightened as breathing became increasingly difficult. 

Seonghwa's fist made contact with someone's jaw, producing a terrible cracking sound. The man stumbled back and made an attempt to jab his spear at him, but with a swift, graceful turn, the man missed and Seonghwa's sword swung around and punctured the enemies' skin. He drove his sword deeper into the chest of his attacker and twisted it before turning quickly at the sound of someone running up behind him. 

He clashed metal with a man who Seonghwa caught a glimpse of his face of. He was youthful, no older than 20. Dirt smeared his face and his lips dripped with blood. His dark brown hair stuck to his forehead under his heavy metal gold-painted helmet that was dented from previous attacks. 

Seonghwa gritted his teeth as the young boy pressed his sword toward Seonghwa. Seonghwa managed to twist his sword sideways and slide out of the way to avoid being impaled before his sword tore the soft flesh of his attacker. The boy coughed and dropped to his knees, clutching his side where blood trickled out quickly. A tear slid down the boy's face as he turned to look at Seonghwa. 

For a brief moment, Seonghwa felt sympathy towards him. It wasn't his fault. He was probably forced into working for the rebels. Forced to make his blade slick with the blood of the enemy. He was young still and would have had a long life ahead of him it weren't for Seonghwa. 

Seonghwa clenched his jaw and turned away from the boy, suddenly remembering everything going on around him. Minhee.

At that moment, time seemed to slow down. 

Minhee.

 There she stood in a corner, leaning against the wall of a burning house with Areum, their baby girl, wrapped in her arms, screaming wildly and flailing her tiny little arms.

In front of her stood a man about as tall as Seonghwa. He wore an outfit similar to the other enemies, although the back of his armor had a dragon engraved in the thin metal. Blood colored his outfit, darkening the red color the armor was already painted. 

His sword was raised above his head. Seonghwa tried to run at him, but his legs couldn't go fast enough. It felt as though he was underwater, trying desperately to reach out to Minhee and Areum, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't move fast enough. 

The silver blade of his sword caught the moonlight and for a split second, Seonghwa saw himself. 

"Seonghwa!" Minhee screamed out.

"Seonghwa," a voice said aloud. A boot caught Seonghwa's side and he rolled over, clutching the area he had been kicked. He sat up uncomfortably and looked up, seeing his best friend, Wooyoung, looking down at him. He was smirking and his hand was resting on the hilt of the sword that was strapped around his waist. 

"What was that for?" Seonghwa grunted, clambering to his feet, still holding his side. 

"You were sleeping."

"No I wasn't. And even if I were, you couldn't figure out a better way to wake me up?" Seonghwa retorted. Wooyoung shrugged and threw his arms up over his head, stretching, letting out an obnoxious sound as he yawned. Seonghwa smoothed down the fabric of his pants and made an attempt at brushing the dirt and grass off his back. 

"Hungry?" Wooyoung asked. 

Seonghwa shook his head, "Not really."

"Too bad. Let's go," Wooyoung said, grabbing Seonghwa's hand. 

"You were thinking about it again, huh?" Wooyoung said softly, lowering his spoon.

Seonghwa didn't answer and instead let his head hang low, staring down at the orangey-red broth of his jjigae. Wooyoung's eyes drifted from Seonghwa down to the collar of his robe. 

"Hyung..."

Seonghwa's eyes flicked up at Wooyoung's. 

"I swear we will find them and make them pay for what they did. I swear," Wooyoung's eyes were dark and for a brief moment, Seonghwa saw an anger he had never seen before. His expression actually scared Seonghwa and he shifted his gaze down to his lap, choking back the tears that welled up, threatening to spill over. He bit his quivering lip and rested his elbows on the table, pressing his forehead against his hands and squeezing his eyes shut tightly. 

A young female servant dressed in a pink and white jeogori, walked over to their table and carefully poured hot tea into their cups.  Wooyoung pursed his lips and nodded as she picked up his empty wooden bowl, balancing it on her arm as she grabbed the empty wooden pitcher of water that sat on the table. She turned away, glancing at Seonghwa momentarily with a face full of concern. 

When she walked out of sight, Wooyoung looked at Seonghwa, reaching across the table and gently resting his hand on Seonghwa's arm.

"Hey, it's gonna be okay."