By Zephyria 
After that, the two of them finished coloring the kites. And just as the once-white kites were filled with color, Man-soo called Ho-eun again in a serious voice.
“By the way, Young Master.”
“Yes, Brother.”
Ho-eun, full of military discipline, answered clearly and firmly. Man-soo looked Ho-eun straight in the eye. Ho-eun also looked back at him clearly. He felt a bit nervous, wondering what he was about to say. Soon, Man-soo’s lips parted as he spoke.
“Do you have any chocolate left?”
“……Excuse me?”
“I feel like eating something sweet.”
At that, Ho-eun’s eyes widened, and then he burst into laughter, his eyes curving softly. A refreshing sound of laughter, one that didn’t quite suit a battlefield, echoed through the air.
“How is it?”
Early morning. Ho-eun, dressed in the military uniform of the Korean Empire, spread his arms. A strange tension lingered on his face. It was because clothes other than hanbok felt utterly foreign to him. It was clothing Tae-muk wore every day, and indeed, every soldier outside wore the same thing, yet it felt as unfamiliar as if he were seeing it for the first time.
“Pretty.”
Tae-muk, who was sitting haphazardly on the floor covered with a straw mat, gave a somewhat half-hearted answer.
“……Shouldn’t I not be pretty?”
Ho-eun asked again with a troubled expression. It wasn’t that he expected to be called cool, given his position, but he thought he might at least hear that it suited him well; to be called pretty was another matter. No matter how weak he might be, he was still a man—to call him pretty, rather than elegant, was too much.
“It can’t be helped.”
But Tae-muk was firm. His face remained expressionless, but his gaze was fixed precisely on Ho-eun. He didn’t even blink.
“…….”
The corners of Ho-eun’s mouth froze awkwardly. What on earth did “it can’t be helped” mean…? He sniffled once for no reason, lowered his head, and fiddled with the buttons on his chest. The gold buttons were engraved with plum blossoms, and their bumpy texture felt strangely pleasant.
As he kept his head down staring at the buttons, the braided hair draped over his shoulder slid forward. The fluttering silk hair tie sparkled so intensely today that it almost hurt his eyes. It was because of the contrast with the pitch-black military uniform.
“Should I change the hair tie to a darker one?”
Ho-eun asked again.
“No. I like it as it is. It’s pretty.”
Tae-muk answered firmly once more.
“…….”
Ho-eun stared blankly at Tae-muk. It felt like he had been giving the same answer for a while now. At this rate, there was no point in asking. No, was it his fault for expecting an objective evaluation from him in the first place? Shaking his head, Ho-eun walked toward Tae-muk and spoke.
“I’ve had this uniform since I left Hanyang, but I never thought to wear it until now.”
When he first left home, he had wanted to wear the uniform, but at some point, that desire vanished. Either way, he was a member of the Crimson Rain Brigade. Even without wearing the uniform and a cloak, he was still part of the Crimson Rain Brigade.
The reason he had suddenly taken out the uniform today was to avoid standing out. A pitch-black uniform was better than shimmering, fluttering silk clothes for hiding in the mountains.
The current encampment of the Crimson Rain Brigade was located halfway up a mountain. Consequently, while their field of vision was wide open, it was equally easy for others to find them from the riverbank, the plains, or from afar.
Therefore, they avoided pitching military tents as much as possible, and if they absolutely had to, they camouflaged the tents by piling branches and wood on top. Furthermore, the horses were gathered at the foot of the mountain, and they moved relying only on moonlight at night without lighting fires.
“Wear whatever you want. You’re pretty in anything.”
Tae-muk answered, patting his own thigh. Naturally, Ho-eun lowered his hips between Tae-muk’s legs. Tae-muk pulled him into an embrace.
“……Please stop calling me pretty.”
Ho-eun muttered sullenly. In response, Tae-muk pressed his cheek against Ho-eun’s and spoke.
“Why? Is this also lacking in dignity? Isn’t it better than ‘cock’?”
“…….”
Ho-eun whipped around to look at Tae-muk at the sudden appearance of the vulgar word. He stared at him silently, then let out a sigh—“Haa…”—and turned his head back.
Ho-eun no longer jumped like a startled squirrel upon hearing words like ‘cock.’ He had now reached a state of resignation. Tae-muk found this quite disappointing, as the sight of him being surprised had been incredibly cute.
Tae-muk hugged Ho-eun’s waist and chest tightly, pressing and lifting his lips against the white nape of his neck. Perhaps it was because he was wearing a military uniform instead of the multi-layered hanbok, but his frame felt smaller than usual, which made him even cuter and more lovely. He was like a roasted chestnut, or a tiny baby potato.
As Tae-muk stubbornly shoved his high bridge of a nose into the collar and rubbed his lips against the skin—
“Don’t… do that.”
Feeling ticklish, Ho-eun shrunk his neck and mumbled.
“I don’t want to. I’m going to.”
However, Tae-muk gave a childishly simple retort and now slid his hand inside Ho-eun’s clothes. Ho-eun let out a groan, suppressing his irritation.
Tae-muk laughed silently at the sight. Right now, Ho-eun was likely thinking things like, ‘Tae-muk is my superior, it is only right to respect and honor him, therefore I must not get angry.’ Since it was so obvious, Tae-muk wanted to tease him even more.
Why was it so enjoyable to torment a proper young master?
Ah, perhaps it was enjoyable because he was a proper young master?
For a long time, Tae-muk played with Ho-eun, kneading and kissing him.
After squirming a few times, Ho-eun soon lost his will to fight and slumped limply in Tae-muk’s arms. Then, deciding ‘whatever,’ he began to play with Tae-muk’s hand as well. He habitually stroked Tae-muk’s thighs, which were as thick and hard as tree trunks.
It was while they were enjoying this sort of leisure in the early morning.
“…….”
At some point, Tae-muk’s chest, which had been breathing leisurely, stiffened. After glancing at the tent entrance for a moment, he carefully set Ho-eun down from his lap and stood up abruptly. He then stood, shielding Ho-eun with his broad back.
“General?”
Ho-eun looked at his back, not understanding what was happening.
“Captain!”
A soldier rushed into Tae-muk’s tent without announcing his presence. It was a rude act. If Tae-muk had been alone, it might have been different, but in a situation where Ho-eun was present, it was something that should never have happened.
However, Tae-muk said nothing and simply stared at the soldier’s mouth, as if sensing some kind of ominous sign. Sure enough.
“A kite has gone up across the river!”
The soldier shouted with a tense face. At those words, Ho-eun sprang up.
Standing at the edge of the encampment, Ho-eun pressed his eye tightly to the telescope. Beyond the Yalu River, where the sharp morning air shimmered, a single black kite floated in the air above the plains. Drifting slowly on the wind, the kite looked almost like a bird at a glance.
It was one of the kites that Man-soo and Ho-eun had colored together yesterday.
“It seems they’ve come close,” Ho-eun said with a tense expression as he lowered the telescope.
That kite had been launched by a soldier monitoring the movements of the Devouring Ghouls from across the river. Black meant that the Devouring Ghouls had appeared.
It seemed that the vanguard of the Devouring Ghouls they had seen on the cliff a few days ago—specifically, about two to three hundred ghouls led by a Fan-shaped Devourer—had appeared. They were likely coming to survey the terrain and ensure safety.
“…….”
Tae-muk narrowed his eyes and looked toward the distant horizon. Fortunately, no ghouls were visible yet. It meant they were at a distance that could only be confirmed by the kite; while time wasn’t abundant, it wasn’t urgent either.
“Proceed as planned,” Tae-muk told the soldiers waiting for orders behind him.
“Yes!”
The soldiers answered concisely, exchanged glances, and then began to sprint down the mountain all at once. Their speed was so great that the entire mountain was covered in a haze of dust. Watching from above, they moved swiftly between the trees, looking like black beasts leaping down. It was quite a spectacle.
The soldiers reached the riverbank in an instant. Over the pits they had been digging day and night for the past few days, they dragged and covered something wide. Made of wood, it looked like a large gate—or rather, a castle gate—and was very heavy and thick. After blocking the giant pits with them, they sprinkled soil and leaves on top.
Everyone moved nimbly and quickly, as if they knew exactly what their task was. Those remaining at the encampment were the same.
“I will help as well,” Ho-eun said, squeezing Tae-muk’s hand before letting go.
“Alright.”
Tae-muk permitted it without much worry. This operation wasn’t that dangerous. Moreover, Ho-eun wouldn’t leave the encampment, and Tae-muk would be right here, so it was fine.
Ho-eun immediately turned around and blended in with the soldiers moving busily.
They had to hide the encampment, and they had to hide themselves. For the creatures might discover them. Ho-eun covered the tents with leaves, removed the flags, and hid miscellaneous items inside the tents.
Tae-muk watched Ho-eun, then turned his gaze toward the edge of the horizon.
Just after noon, the Devouring Ghouls revealed themselves. By then, the Crimson Rain Brigade had already completed all preparations and hidden themselves.
The soldiers entered the pits they had dug in the ground like moles, or hid behind large trees and rocks. Ho-eun was inside a tent the soldiers had carefully prepared for him; it was a low triangular shape that required crawling to enter, with leaves and branches piled on top and a small opening in the front to see outside.
“…….”
Ho-eun observed the Devouring Ghouls through the telescope. The creatures in the distance were drawing closer, stride by stride. And by the time the sunset began to bleed into the sky, they had reached the very edge of the river.