Chapter Text
Wonwoo couldn't hide from anyone how he acted every time he approached Vernon. It has always been easy for him to pretend and play in the theater, impersonating with different characters. He freely changed his emotions to suit people's requirements, but he only showed his true side to Jihoon. He was the one who could tell if Wonwoo was bothering anything.
And this time it was the same. Inadvertently, when he was not busy with his duties, he would come to the clinic and wait, guarding like a security dog.
They didn't keep an eye on Vernon and found him in a bad shape. He went to the other extreme.
After visiting Soonyoung, he found out, he felt like he was fighting for him. Hoshi, perhaps unknowingly, was showing too much interest in Vernon. Wonwoo was jealous, he wanted to touch Vernon's skin, he wanted him by his side, and each time the obsession grew as he thought about him longer.
"Sheesh, Wonu! For God's sake! Confess it to him!" Jihoon punched him on the shoulder "then you will cry, when is it too late?"
"Have you noticed that there are no same-sex couples anywhere?"
Jihoon clung to the bays, considering his friend an idiot.
"Admit it, that's not even the point. Nah, how can you not be so brave, try at least to pick him up for a subtle touch, for gifts, nice words"
Jihoon was irritated by Wonwoo's attitude, choosing silence rather than putting all his cards on the table. Jihoon adhered to the principle of trying, even if the odds were zero, even if it were Wonwoo. Ever since they met by accident, Wonwoo has been distant, not very talkative, and most of the time they spent together he pretended he didn't exist.
A few years later, they found no one else to open up to. Jihoon got the honor and they started arguing about every bullshit every day.
But he never, ever expected Wonwoo to feel anything else. The first crush he noticed right away. Wonwoo couldn't look away from the door to the prince's room, which looked funny, but Jihoon was not amused. Wonwoo will have huge problems to get the favor of a quite similar Vernon. And he won't do it until someone takes it from him.
He want to help him. At that rate, he would be alone for the rest of his life, and maybe he would end up like a strange man at the end of the village. Everyone avoided him that he started practicing survival in his forest. It was just fun. The man was younger than him, an ordinary kid, and knew almost all survival techniques, becoming the strangest person in the village.
By having him call himself Dino. Jihoon sometimes joked that Dino was old enough to really become a dinosaur.
He was a freak, but he was not an enemy. Jihoon would occasionally go to him asking for ingredients he had collected - most of the crystal material came from him. He had an equally strange way of harvesting minerals.
Or he was carving out of wood. His handicrafts were amazing, but he never sold them. They were more valuable to him than money.
But that was the only person who might notice anything unusual. He left Wonwoo to visit a loner. At first he was surprised by the changes that had taken place. An extra room arrived in his hut, and through the window he noticed that he had built himself a workshop.
At the back of the house was a small backyard with home-made spices and fruit that he couldn't get hold of that grew wild. He did not take them from animals, especially deers, which began to appear en masse in these areas.
Dino left the building as he spotted him. Jihoon interrupted his work, as evidenced by sawdust and shavings on his clothes.
"Sorry to interrupt you. You may not have heard what happened recently, but let me explain it to you calmly"
Dino invited him inside. They sat down on a handcrafted sofa with a rounded backrest to the neck. Jihoon explained to him the problems they are struggling with. He did well because Dino had no idea the king was dead.
But it was not a shock for him, because he was only born in the country and drew the resources on his own. He wasn't dependent on the market, he avoided meat - twenty eggs were better than five skinny hens, warm clothes than a dead flock of sheep. People discriminated against him as if they had no reasons anymore, and they got bored of complaining about his secluded apartment.
"In fact, someone did come here," he noted after a moment of staring at the window, "he was picking flowers and some greens, but they have no properties. I have personally checked everything that grows here"
"There is something for sure, remind yourself"
He didn't think Dino was lying, but Jihoon couldn't leave Vernon's health only to Joshua. Dino knew more, they would have hired him in botany or medicine without any problems.
"When I lead you, will you stop groaning?" He asked more rhetorically, as he gave Jihoon no time to respond and started to leave. He took with him the hung cloak he wore to be less visible among the trees with camouflage khaki color. Jihoon followed him, looking under his feet so as not to trip over the scattered figures and logs.
He was fast in the woods, and Jihoon almost lost him. He was like a predator, hiding for his prey, but Dino was not a wolf or a big cat or any other animal. Jihoon would describe him more as a graceful deer.
He looked like he was dancing, not walking.
"It's here, do you see anything?"
Nothing grew but weeds. Jihoon plucked a few stalks and looked at them as if they would enlighten him with an answer.
"Although..." he said softly under his breath, tearing the plant with the root and twisting it in his fingers "it's not a weed, I don't even know when it grew here"
"You think it's psychoactive?"
"And do the boars shit in the woods?"
Jihoon had never been so happy to pick up a plant in a linen basket, for which Dino went back to the cabin. They collected samples to bring Joshua.
Dino was not a common sight in the city, so it caused quite a sensation, especially since he went to the medic. A few villagers stood in front of the door, putting their ear down and eavesdropping.
"What are you doing here? Move aside "Wonwoo stood behind them, surprising everyone. This group was more curious than troublesome, thankfully Wonwoo. They let him in, mingling with the crowd in the streets, as long as no punishment was imposed on them.
Wonwoo was not an ally of the people.
He stepped in at just the right moment as Joshua placed the plant on the glass. He wrote the last information down on paper, had them read it and delivered it to Vernon. He should know about it.
And the most important thing is that a certain Kang Hyemun should not find out about it.
"Vernon is right about people," Jihoon whispered, folding the page and tucking it under his clothes.
Dino detached himself from them outside the palace, waiting at the door for more information. He couldn't stand in view, so he hid in the stables. Horses were always smart to him. As he entered, like a stranger to them, they made no sound to alert people. Only a gray-haired young horse with his mane braided, nudged him with its mouth and chewed on his clothes.
On one of the booths he read a name he knew. Owner Seungkwan.
"Lee Chan?"