Chapter 2: Early Shopping Trips


Azure eyes watched as a delicately laid icy lace was gently laid out on the red and white iced marble red velvet cake was finally placed where it was to be. The three tiered cake was finally finished. Taking a step back the strawberry haired male took off his hair net and sighed happily as he looked at the delicate white rose icing flowers that were connected by the icing lace that he'd just finished. "Finally." He sighed. Yun, you've outdone yourself. He thought as he gently pushed the cart into the walk-in refrigarator. Stepping back out he closed it and began to clean the kitchen. As soon as he was done he heard the front door to the bakery open and close, the bell on the door hitting glass making the tiny gold bells ring. Walking out he wasn't very surprised to see his half brother Ik-su standing there with his study books on religion with him. Sighing lightly he poured him a cup of coffee and pulled out a small piece of cake from the display case and sat it down in front of him.

"What religion are you studying this time?" He asked him.

Dirty blonde short cropped hair appeared as the blue stocking hat was pulled off of his head as Ik-su sat down at the bakery's counter. "The ancient religion on the four blood dragons of old." He stated as he took the cup of coffee in his still gloved hands.

"Is that the old tale of the dragon king, Hiryuu who supposedly created our nation of Kouka?" Yun asked, his cheeks flushed when he saw his elder brothers eyes light up with unspoken praise.

"Yes!" He said excitedly. "I've always been curious about these old stories and fables. No one knows what's truth or what's just folklore about the first ruler of our nation." He took a bite from the cake and moaned. "So good Yun!" He praised him. "I miss your cooking."

"Tssch." Yun ignored him.

"Oh don't be that way." Ik-Su began only to hear the door open and close behind him.

"Yona." Yun acknowledged the crimson haired woman as she walked into the shop. "What'd Hak and Su-won say?"

Yona's eyes lit up with excitement. "They said they'd come!" She beamed with joy.

Ik-su sighed as he watched the sweet young girl interact with his half brother. When Yun had been born he'd already had been thirteen and barely even acknowledged his father's second wife, then when both his father and Yun's mother died when he was sixteen, he'd been forced to take care of his toddler brother. It was around this time that he'd noticed Yun didn't like to be around many people; so he had sold off their parents home and moved outside Kuuto to the country side. He continued his studies at home while Yun grew up away from the noise of the city, this allowed them to create a bond that hadn't been there before. Then Yun met Yona and Hak one day when the two had gotten themselves lost in the woods. The three hadn't hit it off very well, but Yona had continued to come over and visit him and his brother until it had become routine and then before they'd realized it she'd become an intricate part of their lives where he couldn't imagine not having her there for them. She was like a little sister and the catalyst that helped Yun be able to make friends.

"Ik-su!" Yona's yell brought the young man out of his musings.

"Huh?" He asked as he looked at her.

"Your knee is bleeding!" She yelled as quickly ran behind the counter to get some paper towels and something to bandage his leg with.

"I'm surprised you even make it to your classes sometimes." Yun mumbled with an exasperated sigh as he refilled his coffee before taking the bandages from Yona.

Yona finished cleaning the wound as Yun took over bandaging it. The two of them had become experts in taking care of his wounds over the years. Ik-su chuckled at Yun's comment. "You'd be surprised." He said in a sing-along voice. "Some days I go all day without falling down." Yona giggled as Yun gave his brother another one of his death glares while Ik-su finished off his cake.


Hak's red and yellow stripes scarf hung loosely around his neck as he stuffed his gloveless fingers into his pockets all the while glaring at Su-won who had snagged his black fingerless gloves after having lost his cream colored ones that matched his jacket, scarf and earmuffs. He grumbled under his breath at old man winters frost bite as the two of them entered the mall in Fuuga. It had been an hour drive to come out this way, but it was better than driving all the way to Saika where he had a chance of running into Kang Tae-jun. The nut was already the most annoying person in Kouka and he was already going to see one nut this week, he didn't need to make it two. He stopped outside a jewelry store looking at the display case when he'd seen the lockets. It made him remember that time him and Yona had gone hiking and ended up lost. He had done it to cheer her up after her mother's death when she'd gotten sick. Lae-lune had been a kind, gentle and beautiful lady who had suddenly gotten sick with a mysterious illness. It had taken he life within a month, doctors hadn't been able to help her much except for giving her something for the pain. After she'd died, Yona had gone through a deep depression that had lasted a few years. During their trip through the woods that had ended with them meeting and befriending a Yun and his half brother, Yona had lost her mother's oval shaped locket, she'd cried for weeks after loosing it. Leaning down he looked at a smaller version of the same locket, only it was gold with a blue/green and white mother of pearl on the front and a thin delicate chain.

When he looked up he saw an employee standing there, she had brown hair and chocolate brown eyes with gold flecks in them. She was pretty, but not his type. "How can I help you?" Her voice was flirtatious and made Hak frown slightly.

"How much is that locket?" He pointed to the one he was looking at. She mumbled out the number causing Hak's throat to tighten when he felt a hand land on his shoulder. Looking towards the person he was surprised to see his adoptive brothers standing there.

"Hak!" The elder of the two greeted him, a blonde woman stood next to him along with a raven haired woman who had her arm threaded through his own.

"Tae-woo." He greeted the raven haired male before turning to look towards the blonde male who had another raven haired girl standing next to him. "Han-dae." He shook both men's hands. "Who are these ladies?"

The girls laughed nervously. "This one on my girlfriend An Lili and her cousins Tetora," he pointed to the blonde woman. "and Ayura." He pointed to the girl next to Han-dae. "What are you doing here?" He asked his eyes meeting his brother's.

"I was invited to Yona's secret santa party." He stated. "Was thinking of getting this for my gift towards my-"

"Ah." Tae-woo laughed lightly as he held up his hand. "We got roped into this party too." He smiled. "Already got our gifts." He chuckled. "Let me guess, you got Yona."

"Tch." Hak rolled his eyes at him causing both brothers to laugh.

"How long have you been in love with her?" Tae-woo was teasing Hak and Hak wasn't liking the teasing tone either.

"I'm going to ignore that." He grumbled before turning back to the sales lady. "Can I get that on a monthly payment?" He inquired.

The woman's eyes lit up. "You sure can honey." She said as she picked up the necklace on displace and began to put it in a box. "Do you want me to wrap it for you?"

"No." He said sternly causing her to raise an eyebrow at him. "Sorry. No." He said softly with an apologetic look as he ran his fingers through his hair.

"No problem." She said as she began to help him fill out the forms for his monthly payments.

Picking up the box he placed it in his coat pocket along with the receipt slip. "So," he began as he turned back to his brothers. "is the old man here?"


Su-won had left Hak to roam around on his own, in doing so he found himself slightly lost in the sea of people. He looked at the name on his secret santa paper that he'd taken out of Yona's box. Why couldn't I have gotten Yona? He asked himself, not for the first time either. Sighing loudly he found himself in a perfume store and quickly left. The smells had been overwhelming. He did a U-turn when he saw Victoria Secret and made a beeline for a candy store. Girls like candies. He thought as he looked around at the different types of candies. Finding a box of chocolate truffles and buying them he quickly made his way back to where he'd last seen Hak only to get sidetracked because of a tea store. Upon entering he saw one of the professors from school flirting with the cashier lady.

"Professor Geun-tae?" He said in a questioning tone.

The older man jumped slightly and then laughed as he spotted the young man. "Su-won! How's my favorite student?" He asked.

"You only calling me that because you were best friends with my father sir." He said as he shook the man's hand.

"Not true!" Geun-tae defended himself. He then looked back at the blonde woman. "He's actually smarter than his old man." He whispered to her causing her to giggle. "Su-won, I'd like you to meet my fiancée Yun-ho."

Su-won blinked in surprise. "You're the owner of Yun-ho Tea franchise." He said in surprise.

The young woman smiled. "Yes. I am." She giggled at his look of surprise and shock. "I know, I look very young." She smiled as she looked at the man she loved. "I think that's what caught his attention."

"Yun-ho!" He cried out causing her to laugh lightly at his dismayed look.

"I love your teas." He admitted. "They're sweet like honey but have a flowery scent about them." The woman's face flushed in surprise that he paid attention to such detail. "You wouldn't happen to have any of you honey jasmine left, would you? I have been looking for it in the stores across Kuuto, but have come up empty."

"I certainly do." She replied as she pulled out a jar from behind the counter. "It's one of my favorites myself." She said with a smile.

"I'll take two jars. One small and one medium." He said with his own smile and prepared to pay as she placed the tea in the two separate jars.

Afterwards he quickly said his good-byes and left hoping to find Hak quickly. It didn't take long to find his best friend who was surrounded by his adoptive brothers and was currently in an argument with his adoptive grandfather Mundok. The one eyed army veteran was yelling in explenatives towards his supposed grandson causing passerbyers to stare as they walked passed the crazy old guy.

"Mr. Mundok." He greeted the older man who paused in his yelling at his grandson, who looked at Su-won thankfully. "Merry Christmas sir." He smiled at the older man.

"What's there to be merry about?" He asked.

Su-won knew this routine very well. Ever since the accident that too Hak's parents lives on Christmas Eve when he was a young boy both Hak and this older man held the same views on the holiday, what's there to be merry about was about the only question that would undoubtedably lead to another bout of arguments; though they were always very interesting. Opening his mouth to answer he never got to speak when Hak spoke up. "Yona's having a party this weekend, did she invite you old man?"

Mundok snorted. "I don't do parties." He looked down as he felt Tae-yeon suddenly tug his arm.

"Yona invited you grandpa." He said innocently. "That's why we're here." Mundok's cheeks became slightly red. "You said we're here to get Gigan something."

Hak and Tae-woo both began to howl with laughter. Old lady Gigan was an ex-marine and sea captain. She was also Jae-ha's biological grandmother, which was why the green haired man always knew how to get under Hak's skin. She and Mundok had an ongoing feud that usually ended with one or both getting dead drunk because of the other. It use to be funny, now it just worried people.

"Let's go boy." The older man grunted as he tugged the nine year old's arm.

Hak wipe a tear from his eye as he looked at his roommate. "You ready?" He asked gaining a nod. "See you at the party." He waved good-bye to his brothers before turning back towards the mall entrance.

"Was that Tetora with your brothers?" Su-won asked Hak causing the raven haired man to smirk before nodding. "She looks good. I mean, she always has, but she looked nice today." His cheeks flushed in embarrassment.

Hak smirked knowing his friend's crush on the blonde haired woman. "You know she likes kendo, right?" He asked.

"I do." Su-won sighed. "She's strong and beautiful."

"And a nerd." Hak chuckled. "Hear she's got a huge thing for magna." Hak smirked as he thought of a way to tease Su-won. "I think the rumor is she likes harem magna books."

Su-won's face flushed completely red. He knew it was a tease when he saw Hak's teasing grin. "Hak!" He cried out as his best friend burst out laughing as he started up the car to head home.


M-Angel: So some people are doing their shopping while others are doing other things. Next chapter will have our lovely dragons in it. ^_^