Yeosang's heart is beating rapidly in his chest every time he glances in the direction of Jongho. He can not believe how he has ended with having this well-proportioned knight as his personal guidance through his training - especially not when Seonghwa knows of his weakness for the manly gender. This must be fated to go wrong, for by every day he spends in the presence of the other, the desire for letting his guard down only grows taller and more uncontrollable. Yeosang gulps when he ashore foreign places he does not know how to escape from again.

The boy has noticed how Jongho dares not say too much while they implement the daily tasks and following their sparring in the ring he has not been able to look the knight in the eyes, despite his efforts. Yeosang stands on a heap of confusion that, perhaps, reaches deeper than what it should, but after all, the other has been ignoring him all day long.

He can hear the steps entering the empty church, but Yeosang keeps his knees resting at the floor in front of the altar, hands folded around the cross as Pastor Doyun lets him say the creed that he already fluently remembers now. Crooked fingers touch his shoulder gently when he finishes, and Yeosang opens his eyes to glance up at the Pastor, wording him something.

"You have come so long, my child, I believe it is because our Lord must have forgiven you."

Yeosang keeps himself from saying anything - because he knows, he should not. Not when he could be telling this man how wrong he is. God is nowhere forgiving him for anything, that shall be called a lie for how he still wishes for the Templar's knight to touch him again.

But Pastor Doyun does not know any better, and Yeosang lets him carry those beliefs instead of shattering those innocent thoughts of him. The man smiles at him and gestures for him to raise from the floor, "Your session has finished, you can accompany Jongho again. He awaits you," he says softly. The last sentence makes the boy turn around.

And there, sitting on one of the church's benches, Jongho sits, his hands braided delicately in his lap as he looks down at his black leather boots. His dark hair brushes his eyes this day. Yeosang can feel how his insides flutter when the man suddenly looks up at him.

"See you tomorrow, have a nice day, Yeosang," Pastor Doyun salutes before he leaves the sacred place by a different door than the one opened in the great end of the building.

_____

The weather is warm, and he squints his eyes when they step outside the stable. When the sun trickles against his bare skin in a hot lick, Yeosang appreciates his choice of sleeve-short shirt to wear this day. His daring eyes wander over at the knight, who surely has had just the same view. But, as much as his mind seems to drift off again, his horse decides to pull its head downward and Yeosang's arm is dragged with. The boy startles away from his daydream to see how Harmony has buried his muzzle between the tufts of grass on the ground.

"Hey! Not now!" Yeosang exclaims as he pulls at the bridle, heaving Harmony's head upward again. Scolding, he glares at the stallion when he sees how he satisfied chews the grass.

Suddenly he notices how his horse raises his head even more and directs his ears at something before them. A strike of nervosity rolls through the boy, and his head whirls around to see how the knight has already mounted his horse; leaving the place.

Yeosang yells at the other before struggling himself into Harmony's saddle, "Jongho! Wait for me!"

As he pulls himself up, his horse has already run after the others and Yeosang clings to the hard leather equipment with only one foot in a stirrup and a heart that leaves his chest. His sight flicks around while his head comes to conclusions before he has the time to do anything, he will fall off. Then he sees how Jongho swings himself around in the saddle and catches the reins attached to his horse's bridle that makes them pull to a stop. A sudden gasp escapes Yeosang's lips, but only silence follows.

"What are you even trying to do?"

Hesitantly, the boy drags his sight upon the knight, whose face is drawn into a frown, and Yeosang blushes out of embarrassment, his face turning away again as he mumbles, "I do not know.." It annoys him that he keeps divulging debilities, and he bites the inside of his cheek.

The horse bends its long neck to the side and sniffs his clothes, "Come on, get up and let us get moving so we will be home before dinner."

At Jongho's words, he swings the rest of his body up and looks at his guidance counselor yet again. He can feel the weight of the sword hanging by his side. It is not the first time they have taken a trip on horseback; they have done this many times ever since Jongho had taken the lead in his training, but what seems to be new, is the way Jongho says that he hopes they will be back before dinner. At this current time, the sun does not even stand tall above their heads, and Yeosang cannot stop wondering how long this trip is going to be.

"Jongho, where are we going?" Yeosang asks when his cheeks have cooled down from the rush of blood. He lets his horse walk loosely beside Jongho's.

The knight reacts to his name by turning his head only slightly, still without looking at the smaller boy, but in contrast to that, Yeosang is fixed at the knight's exposed arms. Quickly, he swifts away and reach to caress Harmony's fur instead.

"A great distance," Jongho tells him, "Somewhere we have not been before."

He does not ask anything more as he follows the knight who is increasing the gap between them with a trot.

_____

Sweat rolls from his temples despite the wind catching his hair in a wild dance while they gallop at high speed across the wide meadows. Yeosang struggles to move his body with the rapid motions and has settled both his hands buried deep into Harmony's black mane, while he cannot keep himself from gazing down the beautiful valleys. The boy is utterly astonished by seeing how nature behaves when staying wild; how this season's soft colors blend together in the open horizon. No one is around, they are alone here, in this unfree world. And it is as if he can finally breathe out here.

When Yeosang notices how Jongho pulls his horse to a full stop, he remembers how he has been told to do the same, and he leans himself back into the saddle as he tugs at the reins. Harmony pulls back at the pressure he is given by the bridle, but eventually slows down into a dandy trot.

"Good boy," Yeosang praises and gently strokes his horse that has not calmed down from the high pace yet. He looks up to find Jongho searching along an area filled with green, tall grass.

"Have you been here before?" Yeosang asks when he reaches the knight. He can still feel how the thrill from the ride flows in his blood every time his heart takes a new beat.

Harmony tries to reach for the other horse, but the destrier only lays down its ears as it gives him a threatening remark. Yeosang widens his eyes and steers them away before a kick will land upon them. Jongho barely even nods at his query and rides down a slope. The boy looks down at his hands with a sigh but follows either way.

On the other side of the tall grass, he perceives a small stream, trickling down against bundles of small wet stones with only serenity noises. A small gasp leaves his lips at the beguiling sight and his mouth suddenly feels very dry. So, he slides down from his horse, faint dizziness surrounds him when his feet touch the ground again but it quickly subsides. His brown eyes wander around to where he can bind Harmony until he watches how Jongho just lets his horse walk freely around. This is surely not new for him, Yeosang thinks.

"Where can I tie him to?"

The knight turns around to look at Yeosang, his face glinting with pearls of sweat, "Do not worry, he will stay here," he answers shortly and walks toward the little stream of water.

Yeosang bites his cheek and ignores the push his impatient horse gives him, "But I cannot just let him walk around, he will run away!"

He does not hear another answer from the knight and realizes that the other will give him none. Yeosang can feel that same heavyweight against his chest, and he decides to bind the reins loosely to the saddle before letting his horse graze wherever he wants to. His heart paces a bit when he hesitantly walks down beside the other and crouches down. The end of his sword's sheath rustles against the ground.

Jongho's face scintillates from the drops of water he has applied from the fresh stream with his bare hands, and when he notices Yeosang he turns his head to glance at him until he gets up and throws himself in the green grass. The boy focuses on gathering a mass of clear water in his hands to drink from to quench his thirst. But the liquid is warm and not very satisfying.

Quietly, the boy gazes across the land and somehow, he comes to think of his home. He ponders if his father is happy without him if it really was worth getting rid of his only son as his heir. The thought leaves him empty and he is guilty of what his acts brought Wooyoung. Guilt that never will leave him - not until the day he can say that Wooyoung is safe and sound. Yeosang wipes his chin from droplets. Life would be easier if there were not any boundaries to keep you from doing what you wanted. What you desired. Yeosang should not even be thinking this unrealistic. Perhaps Wooyoung is right; Yeosang is in a different world than this.

"May I see your cross again?"

The boy startles at the voice, bending his body around to look at the man asking. Jongho has raised his body up from the ground again, now sitting as he sorts out his bangs of dark hair. Yeosang looks down at his hands that unconsciously have found the grip of his sword to occupy himself with. A finger slips across the blue stone placed in the middle of the cross-guard before he lets go of the weapon and reaches underneath his short-sleeved shirt and pulls at the pendant. In a way, the unforeseen question makes him unsure if he shall let the knight have another look at it. But he forgets his worries and lifts the cross into the sun's rays.

"Sorry, I am not allowed to take it off," Yeosang whispers to him when he feels how the other urges to hold the pendant. Jongho only nods and moves closer, taking the item into his hands and closely examining with his different orbs. Yeosang swallows thickly and looks away from the male. He wanted to take it off.

A thoughtful sigh comes from Jongho's lips when the silence turns uncomfortable and Yeosang widens his eyes in fear of the next thing he is asked.

Jongho's eyes reach his own in a matter of short time, "What can be the reason why such an unfeigned soul ended up at a Knights Templar's bloodshedding fortress?"

Suddenly, Yeosang forgets how to breathe as his mind collapses like thousands of stones while he stares into the other's eyes. San has never asked him distinctive questions the time he was trained by him, and this specific one just hits deep. His reasons are so shameful, that he should not even tell someone he already has kissed. He can feel his head bleed with lies that would be so much more wrong to say when Jongho waits for his answer this patiently. A warm hand touches his own in a hue of colors and he flutters with his eyes. Yeosang must tell him the truth, and he bites his lip hard.

"I... I kissed a m-man...And I was not supposed to do that."

His throat feels tense and the tautness draws memories to flood his sight like a river. But Yeosang does not cry, because he has already done that. His eyes are tightly close as he awaits Jongho's objurgating retort.

"My father despises me for my deeds - so he sent me away instead of dealing with me and my sins," Yeosang continues without any care to this secret anymore, "But Wooyoung, he... he showed me how to not care about others beliefs."

The boy swallows tightly as the pain penetrates his heart like the first time. Despite his spilled secret of sins, he can still feel the knight's hand on his, how it slowly cages it with such fragileness. Yeosang thinks it is because he wants to crush it. But nothing is happening and he opens his eyes to find Jongho's eyes studying his every feature with wondering eyes that makes his galloping heart prance a beat.

"Jongho..?"

"You do remember that night, is that not true?" the knight mumbles while he raises a hand to caress Yeosang's head lightly. His digits linger against the birthmark by his one eye, "You make me so dizzy, would it be wrong to tell you how beautiful you are?"

His words make Yeosang stumble against silence but a rapid hammering heart and he wants to take the risk, "I do not know.." he says before grabbing around the man's arm and kissing him. The light touch of lips is enough to make a shiver run down his spine and Jongho leans closer as he brings his strong arm around the smaller boy's shoulders. It is soft and gentle and the man who holds him does not hurt him but moves his lips with his own like the serene stream flowing by their feet. When he feels Jongho's fingers stroke his hand which lays in his lap, he smiles into the kiss at the comfort and shifts his body to sit even closer to the other, a hand entangling in his dark locks of hair. Jongho's lips feel perfect against his own and the calm rhythm of movements makes his eyes half-closed. He stalls for a moment when he draws the kiss to slow down until their lips barely even touch.

"Please, rest for a bit before we ride back to the fortress," rather than hearing what is said, Yeosang does only hear the soft humming of tune and feels the delicate melanin skin turn him around until he leans against Jongho's firm, warm body. When he falls asleep, he prays that those tingling kisses in his hair will still be there when he wakes again. And there, the strong sun rays are still bathing them in beams of light.

⚔