"Granny, I have to go..." he hesitated, perhaps waiting for a reply, one that he knew wouldn't come, then broke the silence once again "Please watch after your health, I promise to send letters regularly" his soft voice echoed in the room, Cheol grabbed the small wrinkled hand into his own, the old woman laying down squeezed it back slightly.

He could see his younger self, sitting at the side of the bed and chatting mindlessly, he had spent so much time in this room, talking to her, even if she didn't reply, he still knew she was listening attentively to everything he had to say.

he stood up, looking at the attendants standing behind him :"Please let me know if she needs anything,and make sure a physician is near at all times" he added before stepping out of the room, then out of the building.

the refreshing cold air of the morning immidiately calmed him down from his worries, and felt much more liberating and calming than the smell of salves and medical herbs that lingered in the chamber he had just left.

He walked to the entrance of the village to rejoin Hyun,who had told him he'd go ahead to scout the area.

Many of the villagers he met cheered for him and wished him well for his travels, they were still unaware of the fact that he was planning on traveling with the red dragon; of course under the excuse that Cheol was just planning on visiting the country alone , he made sure to thank them before finally stepping out and taking a deep breath.

"Are you alright?" a worried voice asked him and Cheol jumped slightly, startled by suddenly seeing the prince stand before him "Ah yes, absolutely, I'm okay your highness" he said as he unfolded some bandages from his pocket.

"You know this isn't obligatory right? " Hyun added as he placed his katana back in the scabbard that hung at his hips, his hakama, or so Cheol remembered their name being from a book he had read once, looked really unique, an intricate set of belts held the scabbard but they still looked as elegant as they would be on a prince. Quite literally.

"I know and I still want to help, if you'll allow me your highness" Cheol said resolutely as he finished tying the bandages to cover his claw.

Hyun smiled at his tone "Okay, then we can get going, I'm afraid the blue dragon is in danger and we must help them as quickly as possible... you can feel their presence right? I was hoping you'd be able to lead us to them"

The white dragon nodded "Yes ,of course" he spoke again; before closing his eyes, trying to connect with the other dragon' presence, all he could see for a brief moment was a vast black space and suddenly in the middle of that silence, Hyun had apparently understood he was trying to focus, he could see a faint blue line. "We'll go north east".

"Alright, that's great, let's hope we get there quickly" Hyun stated as they began to walk then hummed, before turning his head towards him "oh, and Cheol, don't call me your highness, call me Hyun."

Cheol shook his head immidiately, which made Hyun frown slightly "I couldn't possibly, not only you are my master as you're the red dragon, but you're also the prince,"

"You're quite stubborn, well, fine I just wanted us to be on familiar terms " he said, sounding a bit dejected as they continued to walk.

❁ --------❊--------❁

During the night they decided to camp in the middle of the forest , they set up a tent as the chilly wind picked up and started a small fire to heat up some rice, they both didn't have to talk to understand that they were tired, Cheol hadn't walked this much from the time he had to hold a ceremony in the village.

"My uncle packed me a lot of it" Hyun explained as he handed Cheol a warm bowl of food, then sat down on the grassy ground beside him sighing slightly.

"it mustn't have been easy to get to the village your highness, you didn't have anyone escorting you?" Cheol asked softly as he began to eat, Hyun shook his head, some of his crimson locks fell on his shoulder as he had just tied his hair up in a low ponytail.

he looked so comfortable sitting there and he envied him for it, the hollow trunk he had opted to sit on was already annoying him.

"No, I don't need any, as the crown prince I was- well, I am constantly in danger of being assasinated, so I started training when I was really young to develop reflexes and protect myself, since guards can't always be there y'know?" he urged as he raised a his chopsticks to his mouth.

Cheol nodded in understanding as he looked at him, Hyun certainly didn't look helpless, and he could feel how rough the palms of his fingers were when he handed him the bowl: which was a clear indicator of how much he trained. He could already imagine him swinging his sword to train, but he couldn't help but want to avoid letting him fight. That was what the dragon warriors were for.

"Well, I'll go get some rest, tomorrow morning we'll have to wake up really early." the red haired man said standing up and brushing off the few strands of grass that stuck to his clothes.

"Also, sorry if it's awkward , sharing the tent I mean, I can always sleep out of it if neede-not at all!" Cheol interrupted him frantically "it's fine, you don't have to apologize your highness, I'll be standing guard anyways."

"What? There's no need of that I assure you, we're not in a territory that's really full of bandits or anything, and I scouted this area on my way here." Hyun countered as he used a stick to throw some dirt on the fire, to put it off.

Cheol blinked then nodded "Alright, if you say so..." he stood up-the fatigue hitting him like a wave, then made sure to change himself in clothes that weren't the sweaty ones he was wearing. Hyun seemed to have the same idea as he casually tossed his haori to the side to put on a clean one.

Hyun was far too comfortable around him. Cheol concluded as he turned his head gently to the side, the red haired man was sleeping like he had no care in the world, his lips were parted slightly an arm thrown carelessly above his head.

The rebellious curls Cheol had admired all day, were sitting on his face as he breathed gently and for a moment he looked at him; at first wondering how he could be so comfortable sleeping on the ground like that, when he was probably used to luxurious beds and soft velvety pillows.

And the next he found himself smiling softly at the man's carefree attitude and his relaxed expression.