By Zephyria 
29
While Ho-eun was gazing at him blankly, Gil-sang appeared.
“Young Master, how are you feeling? Can you ride a horse?”
“Uh……”
Ho-eun couldn’t answer easily. He hesitated for a moment, fiddling with his silk Hair Tie, then shook his head.
“I don’t think I can do it alone……”
“Oh, then shall we rest a bit longer before leaving?”
“No. I’ll ask the General.”
Ho-eun emphasized the word ‘General’ clearly.
“……”
Gil-sang looked at Ho-eun with a bewildered expression. He seemed to be wondering what was wrong with him. Ho-eun gave him an awkward smile and then looked back at Tae-muk. As he did, he swallowed hard. He smoothed his neatly tied hair again. Then, he approached him with a quiet gait, like a cat.
“Um…… General.”
At Ho-eun’s soft call, Tae-muk looked down at him. The all-night battle had left droplets of blood dotted on one cheek and around his eyes.
That appearance suited Tae-muk so well. His jet-black hair falling over his eyes and his angular jaw were incredibly masculine. Ho-eun paused for a moment, then brought his hands together demurely at his abdomen and bowed deeply.
“Um, I’m sorry for the trouble I caused yesterday. I will take better care of myself in the future to avoid causing any harm.”
“……”
“I heard there was a battle last night. Are you, are you hurt anywhere……?”
“……”
Tae-muk didn’t answer. He simply looked down at Ho-eun with a cool gaze. His eyes were so heavy that Ho-eun felt as if his body was being pressed down. Indeed, the ground, saturated with blood and as thick as mud, was swallowing Ho-eun’s feet.
However, Ho-eun didn’t sink down but took a step, or rather, half a step closer to Tae-muk. His shoes made a squelching sound as he lifted them from the mud.
“Um, Ho, perhaps……, perhaps…….”
Ho-eun’s lips trembled. He had prepared words, but they wouldn’t come out easily. He had never had to ask or request anything from anyone before. But at that moment, one corner of Tae-muk’s lips quirked up crookedly.
“What if I am hurt?”
“Pardon?”
“Are you going to lick it better here?”
“……”
Ho-eun froze with his mouth open. How could he say such irreverent things out in the open where there wasn’t even a tent…… Ho-eun’s gaze, which had been fixed solely on Tae-muk, creaked sideways. Sure enough, the soldier who had been looking at the map with Tae-muk cleared his throat loudly and stepped back.
“……”
Ho-eun’s face slowly turned red. He couldn’t tell if the heat rising in his body was from the fever or from shame.
Or perhaps it was from anger.
If Tae-muk was going to be so unreasonable, then he had no choice but to do the same. Thinking that far, Ho-eun took a deep breath. Then, with a face that had become quite cool, he looked directly at Tae-muk and said clearly.
“Give me a ride.”
“On what?”
“On you.”
“Where to?”
“On the General’s horse.”
“……”
Ho-eun had never seen such an expression on Tae-muk’s face before. It wasn’t anger, nor was it annoyance, but bewilderment. But Ho-eun’s bizarre behavior didn’t stop there.
“I’m still sick. Very sick.”
It wasn’t a lie. His forehead was still hot. It wasn’t like yesterday, when his vision was spinning, and he could ride a horse alone, but he still had a fever.
Ho-eun took another step toward Tae-muk.
“If I collapse again on the way, you’ll have to stop. The Devouring Ghoul has already delayed us, and we can’t afford to be any later.”
“So.”
“Give me a ride. On the General’s horse.”
Ho-eun raised both arms towards Tae-muk as if in surrender.
“……”
Tae-muk didn’t answer for a long time. He looked at Ho-eun with a face that was more than just awkward, and then asked, wrinkling one cheek.
“……Are you crazy?”
It was a reasonable deduction. Yesterday’s Ho-eun, who wouldn’t ride his horse no matter what, was so different from today’s Ho-eun. There was no other way to describe it but crazy. But Ho-eun didn’t get angry; instead, he nodded in affirmation.
“When the fever is severe, one’s mind can wander. But the strongest General in the world wouldn’t know that.”
“……”
Tae-muk was speechless. It was pointless to ask a crazy person if they were crazy. At that moment, Ho-eun spread his fingers wide. He also lifted his heels slightly.
Hurry. Quickly. Give me a ride. Give me a ride.
He looked as if he was throwing a tantrum. Tae-muk was just staring at Ho-eun’s pale yet red fingertips spread out in the air. As that strange standoff continued, the soldiers a few steps away began to throw out a word or two, just like yesterday.
“General, aren’t we leaving?”
“Are you planning to have lunch here before we go?”
“Shall we set up the tent again?”
“……”
At the loaded words, Tae-muk glared back. The soldiers’ eyes darted in all directions. They were all covered in Devouring Ghoul blood, but their eyes were full of mischief. Tae-muk swept back his bangs in annoyance and glared at Ho-eun.
“Why would I put you on my-.”
But for once, Ho-eun interrupted Tae-muk.
“Because I’m the Captain’s Bondmate. Who else would take me if not the Captain?”
“……”
Tae-muk froze with his mouth slightly open. It wasn’t that there weren’t those in the unit who argued with him, but Ho-eun’s stubbornness was on a different level. The spirit was different, and the look in his eyes was different. It was unnecessarily firm and upright.
“Ha……”
Tae-muk looked up at the sky with an expression that said, ‘I can’t abandon this, I can’t kill this, what should I do?’ Just then.
“General.”
Ho-eun called out to Tae-muk again. Tae-muk’s eyebrows furrowed at the ticklishly soft voice. He gritted his teeth and grabbed one of Ho-eun’s arms, pulling him up. The light body landed heavily in front of Tae-muk. The hem of the Military tunic made of fine silk fluttered and scattered.
“……”
Ho-eun shrank back in surprise. But after catching his breath a few times, he began to settle in, stretching out his folded legs. He looked like a brazen cat who had sprawled out on a bed and was saying, ‘This is my spot now.’
Tae-muk chuckled. After looking at Ho-eun for a moment, he clicked his tongue and turned back, saying.
“We’re leaving.”
“Yes, sir!”
“We’re going, we’re going.”
“We’ll stay back a bit, so don’t worry about us, Captain.”
The soldiers replied with voices tinged with laughter. Instead of scolding them, Tae-muk gripped the reins tightly. ‘They’re still my men, I can’t just tear their jaws off like a Devouring Ghoul,’ he thought.
“……”
Ho-eun swallowed hard as the horse began to move. He had managed to get on Tae-muk’s horse as planned, but now he didn’t know what to do.
Cling, cling, cling…….
Even after repeating Chilbok’s words, nothing came to mind. Should he just hug him? But his body wouldn’t move. Yesterday, he wasn’t in his right mind because of the fever, so he didn’t feel any shame, but now he was too clear-headed.
Ah, if only he were really terribly sick……. Just as he was thinking that, the horse, crossing through the dense forest, leaped over a fallen tree. Ho-eun, who had only been looking at Tae-muk’s chest, was caught off guard and completely swept up in the rough jolting.
“Ugh……”
Ho-eun’s buttocks lifted up, and he slammed his face into Tae-muk’s chest. He tried to get up quickly, but it wasn’t easy. His hand slipped as he grabbed the horse’s back, and he couldn’t grab Tae-muk, and his body kept shaking…….
After fidgeting, wriggling, and squirming, Ho-eun soon became exhausted. He buried his cheek in the broad chest and apologized, looking up at Tae-muk.
“So, sorry. I was a little surprised……”
“……”
Tae-muk didn’t answer. As always, he just stared ahead with an expressionless face. Ho-eun lowered his gaze dejectedly, then suddenly looked up at him again.
“……”
Tae-muk’s expression was, was somehow different. He couldn’t say for sure what was different, but it was definitely different. He knew Tae-muk’s face well because nine out of ten times, it was expressionless.
At that moment, Ho-eun once again recalled Chilbok’s words.
‘No God of War can refuse their Bondmate clinging to them.’
That’s right, he had to cling!
Ho-eun stealthily put his arms around Tae-muk’s waist. It was the first time. It was the first time he had touched Tae-muk’s body first. But Tae-muk frowned sharply.
“Let go.”
“I’m, I’m scared I’ll fall. I don’t have much experience riding horses……”
Ho-eun stammered. That wasn’t a complete lie either. He was really scared that Tae-muk would throw him off. He hugged his waist even tighter to keep him from pushing him away.
But.
“……”
Tae-muk didn’t say anything, didn’t react at all. His face was still full of annoyance, but he didn’t grab Ho-eun’s hair and slam him to the ground, or crush the wrist that was hugging his waist.
“……”
The corners of Ho-eun’s lips quietly lifted. The ‘cling-on operation’ was really working. It was amazing and joyful.
He wriggled his body, moving closer to Tae-muk. Soon, their chests were touching. Tae-muk’s sigh scattered over the top of his head, but he still brazenly curled up in his arms.
Today, Tae-muk’s scent was more strongly of blood than his usual scent. There was also the scent of cold wind and the wool of his uniform. But it wasn’t unpleasant or offensive. It just felt like Tae-muk’s scent. He even felt honored, thinking it was the scent of a hero saving the country and its people.
Ho-eun buried one side of his face in Tae-muk’s chest and watched the trees whizzing by. The trees, fully embracing autumn, were silently turning red.