The Bandits of Sawtooth Mountain

6. Loss

Seonghwa awoke somewhen around noon the next day and Yeosang came over in the flesh to Hongjoong's office to tell him. Hongjoong gladly took on that opportunity to step out a bit, having stayed in and worked through old records and logs all day long. With his back aching he had followed Yeosang over to the inn, nodding at Jongho who was busy again already with dancing and singing the people's worries away.

Them all pretending he was a woman still was nearly even more ridiculous than Mingi the tumbleweed.

Yunho was just leaving Hongjoong's room with tired eyes and wild hair as the two scaled the stairs, greeting them with a sluggish smile.

"How is he?", Hongjoong cut right to the chase, receiving a snort.

"Naked. Send someone out to find Wooyoung already, who knows where San took him this time."

Indeed Wooyoung had not come to work today. But it was his free day either way so Hongjoong did not bother searching for him. He had also not known of him going missing though.

"I will. Come on, I'll get you a drink. You look like death." Yeosang patted Yunho's shoulder before leading him away, easily stringing him into some smalltalk. Hongjoong was left to deal with Seonghwa.

After taking his hat down and knocking politely Hongjoong was welcomed in already, finding Seonghwa sitting up in his bed with Hongjoong's clean sheets wrapped around his frame. They had slipped down over one tanned shoulder of his, contrasting beautifully with the skin and showing off a slender collarbone and elegantly curved shoulder.

Hongjoong cursed Wooyoung's voice in his head teasing him.

"Mister Park, I see you are awake. How do you feel?" Hongjoong put down his hat on his desk, coming closer to sit down on the end of his bed to watch Seonghwa attentively. He saw a faint blush dusting the other's cheeks, his still drying hair freshly cleaned from blood.

"I got a bit of a headache but apart from that I'm just embarassed about the whole situation." He bit his lip, distracting Hongjoong for a second.

"We already sent someone out to get you some clothes. Did the others tell you about Mary already? I'm sorry for your loss." Hongjoong was sincere. He still mourned the girl, already having visited her grave and offered his condolences to her friends and family. San had left some pretty flowers he had found somewhere on her tombstone too.

"Loss? I heard, but Mary was not- When did you arrive?"

Hongjoong settled down more comfortably, resting his hands on his lap.

"We arrived here and went to the inn first. While Yeosang was telling us you were still missing we already heard Mary scream. By the time we arrived the attacker had fled, probably because Wooyoung was so loud. It did warn him but it also saved your life."

Seonghwa gave a disbelieving chuckle, shaking his head gently.

"No, no, that's all wrong. I was the first person unconscious. The bandits did this? You must be wrong. Because Mary was one of them."

Hongjoong blanked, staring at Seonghwa dumbly for a long minute. However, when the man's face did not change, he recollected his words, double checking their meaning in his head.

At the end he still had to make sure he heard right.

"Mary? As in pretty angel Mary? She took take of you these past few days did you forget already?" Hongjoong just mumbled carefully, not getting warm with that ridiculous idea. This was nothing to joke about.

However, Seonghwa's eyes stayed sincere. He kept them firmly fixed on Hongjoong and they looked way too serious for a guy who was sitting in nothing except some white sheet wrapped around his frame.