Almost Killing the Prince | Minsung ✓

-XXV-

The prince had been traveling for a few days. He wasn't in any rush. He was more like wandering around the forest, the plains, by the river.

He would sometimes even get off Soonie, leading her down the river or tie her to a nearby tree, crouching by the water after he did. He didn't hunt. Instead, he made a fishing pole out of some twine and a long enough stick he stripped from a branch. Then he would fish- for God knows how long.

By the time night fell, he would set up a fire- cook the fish and talk to Soonie.

He wouldn't speak loud though, it seemed quieter than the river when he did. And Soonie seemed to understand him- to some degree as she would nod or grunt or nicker at him from her spot by the fire.

And then he would fall asleep near her- before waking up in the morning and continuing in the direction he was going.

Minho didn't have a destination- right now all he had was a direction. He was a ghost- a wandering soul that was left behind by the heavens. And he proved it too. With how quiet he was, with his minimal effort and his far-off gaze.

Jisung wondered if this was normal for the Baekje prince.

If this was what he was like when he was first exiled- as a child and wandering about. If this was what he first did after Sunmi died- before the thought of revenge made him hunt Hyunjin.

Did this control his life then?

What went through his mind? What were the thoughts of Lee Minho- both back then and now? Was he really mourning? Or was he just in thought- thinking of what's coming?

Either way, it was a very human side of Minho- It was a new identity- no- it was the real him. He wasn't an identity- he wasn't a fighter. Maybe this was what he meant when he told Jisung he wasn't anyone but Lee Minho. Not a bandit, not a king, not a farmer or a fisherman.

He was someone who cared- someone who's hurt, who had a lot of thoughts. Quiet- the Minho Chan described when he was still a young prince living in Baekje.

The real Lee Minho.

Jisung realized that the wilderness toughened him like that- hiding his emotions and such to keep anyone else from hurting him. Jisung considered that the only person who's seen such a soft side of him was Soonie and Sunmi- one dead and the other a... horse.

But watching him, it stirred something in Jisung- a feeling he couldn't describe at the moment. It was new and felt real to him. At first, he thought it was just some random thought, something to help him stick to his mission and protect Minho as requested by Yongbok. Though as he kept watch from meters away- watched for any attack, kept his distance from the bandit- just watching the older progress from day to day, walking and fishing- Jisung dwelt in it longer. Dwell in this thought: maybe protecting Minho was his calling.

"I thought I made it clear not to follow me."

They were already half a week from the village- nearly out of Silla but not quite.

Jisung must've dozed off as he was watching Minho fish in the nearby river. See, Minho stayed by the river all day and- Jisung shouldn't blame it on the weather this time- he lost sleep on a couple of days, searching ahead for any trouble Minho might stumble upon and riding back to the said man's camp before he woke up.

So he leaned against a tree to catch some sort of sleep, quite close to the older. He tied up his horse ways away to keep from Minho spotting her, but the prince still saw him. Maybe he heard the horse neigh or maybe he saw Jisung's foot sticking out- either way, he found the younger.