Neither of them said a word when Kanuen finished with his bath. They didn’t talk much for the rest of the evening either. Hou Dong just silently brought the basin out of the room, giving it to one of his men so that they could dispose of the water.
He hurriedly pulled Shen Ling to the side while he was at it. "What about the invitations?"
Shen Ling grinned and pulled out what perfectly looked like the letter they had seen in the rich man’s mansion before. "This is the sample. If it’s alright like this, then I’ll craft the rest tonight and find someone to deliver them."
Hou Dong nodded. "I’ll trust in your assessment. If you think it looks alright, then it is. Just make sure it’s delivered to the right people but without anybody finding him before we’re gone."
"Sure." Shen Ling nodded and hurried off to prepare the invitations.
Hou Dong gave another sigh. Well, things on that side were wrapped up and he already had a plan on how to deal with the merchants tomorrow and force them to leave. In that case …
He turned back to the door and furrowed his brows. He didn’t dare to leave Kanuen alone for too long. Not with the condition he was in right now. Thus he went back inside, sitting down next to him while trying to make up his mind if it would be alright to hug him. Kanuen didn’t seem to have had a problem with it before but then again, he had pushed him away when he wanted to take off his clothes. Maybe that was where he had gone too far?
In the end, Hou Dong awkwardly cleared his throat. "Quite a lot happened today. You’re probably tired so … how about going to sleep?"
Kanuen nodded and silently shifted to the inner side of the bed. Hou Dong looked at him and then looked at the bed on the other side of the room. He couldn’t help but wonder what he should do.
Kanuen smiled when he saw his gaze darting about. "What is it? Didn’t I wash the scent off already? So why are you being like this? Didn’t you say before that you would hug me after I smell like myself again?"
Hou Dong turned back to him and gave a smile that was uncharacteristically insecure. "You won’t mind?"
Kanuen shook his head. "I don’t mind. Haven’t you hugged me to sleep for the last few weeks as well? You never seemed to mind then." He stretched out his arms as if inviting Hou Dong. Naturally, the warrior didn’t need anything more than that. Kanuen had already said that he was alright and was even being this direct. If he still didn’t lie down next to him, could he still be called a man?
He lay down next to him, wrapping his arms around the slender waist and letting Kanuen hug his shoulders. "If you are uncomfortable with this, just tell me. I can back off a bit or sleep in the other bed. I don’t mind."
Kanuen gave a small smile. "You don’t mind?"
Hou Dong sighed. "Naturally, I hope I can stay with you but … you being comfortable is more important. So just tell me if something is wrong. I’ll take care of it."
Kanuen nodded but instead shifted even closer to Hou Dong, pressing his cheek up against his chest and closing his eyes. "Nothing is wrong. Actually, everything is alright now. This is how it should be." He let go of Hou Dong’s neck only to hold onto the lapel of the robe, clinging to him as a drowning man might hold onto driftwood.
Yes, right now, Hou Dong was the only thing keeping him afloat from these memories. In his arms, he felt secure. He definitely didn’t want him to leave or even back off. No, he wanted him to stay right here. The closer they were, the better. That way, he wouldn’t have to live through this ordeal again in his memories. No, in this man’s arms, he might actually have some sweet dreams tonight.
The next morning, Kanuen woke up slightly disoriented. He hadn’t had sweet dreams but he hadn’t suffered from nightmares either. Instead, it seemed as if it had been a dreamless night. He couldn’t help but wonder if everything happening yesterday might not have been a bad dream after all. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?
He raised his gaze to Hou Dong’s face and smiled to himself. Well, even if they weren’t, at the very least, Hou Dong was still there. He hadn’t abandoned him. That was already very good. He had worried if maybe what those men had said before was true. Maybe broken goods weren’t liked by anybody. Maybe Hou Dong would also feel disgusted when thinking about how he had almost been taken by two other men. Maybe he would leave him here and not care about his fate anymore. But it seemed he had thought too much. Hou Dong wasn’t that kind of man. No, he wasn’t like that at all.
Kanuen snuggled up closer to the man next to him, his lips still curved in a sweet smile.
Hou Dong looked at him with tired eyes. While this person had unexpectedly slept rather well, he hadn’t been able to sleep at all. He just couldn’t help but go over what had happened before, thinking of all the things he could have done differently to make sure that nothing would have happened to Kanuen.
After a night of that, he felt even worse. Honestly, he had said so many things about the country of Kai and the people living here but when he thought about it he was just as much of a scum as the men living here.
How had he even thought of a plan like letting Kanuen be sold off and then saving him to get back at these merchants? Why hadn’t he thought of what this meant for Kanuen before? Why hadn’t he wondered if it was dangerous if things went wrong? Why hadn’t he taken any of that into consideration?
If he had, then things would have played out differently. But now, he had gone through with it. He had thought of the plan that was most beneficial to his men and just trusted in the fact that he would be able to make things work without any problems. He had been way too optimistic, way too careless. And Kanuen had been the one to pay for that.
"I’m sorry." Hou Dong brushed through Kanuen’s hair, gently rubbing his head. "I’ve let you down. I should have protected you better."
Kanuen looked up, his lips and eyes curving up. "You didn’t. You were there to save me and you are here now that I’ve woken up. What did you do wrong? There’s nothing like that. I’m happy you’re with me. Without you … No, I don’t even want to imagine."
Seeing that sweet smile made Hou Dong feel even worse. He had done something wrong and this person still managed to smile at him like this. He didn’t deserve him at all. Well, he was still happy that Kanuen didn’t mind too much. If he did … He wouldn’t know what to do.
After the few weeks they had spent together, he was sure that he didn’t want to leave his side anymore. He wanted them to be together. If Kanuen wouldn’t have wanted to even see him anymore, then he would have been lost. "Well, let’s get up then, shall we? We still have to get you into the appropriate clothes and see if it isn’t too obvious."
Kanuen nodded and sat up, watching as Hou Dong went over to the table where he had already put two sets of clothes yesterday. He hadn’t paid too much attention before but now he saw that it was the same set of clothes just in different sizes. He wondered where Hou Dong had managed to get this so fast. Hadn’t they only come to the town yesterday? But now he was already this well-prepared.
"Here, this one’s for you." Hou Dong handed over the clothes that were meant for Kanuen and then stepped back. "Uh … I … I’ll wait in front of the door." He motioned behind him and then rushed out, not even giving Kanuen the time to respond.
The youth looked after him, blinking his eyes. "Ah? But … you really don’t have to." He only mumbled these words and didn’t go to tell Hou Dong so. Since he was already outside, there was no need to say anything. He merely changed his clothes and then went to the door, opening it and showing himself to Hou Dong. "How is it?"
Hou Dong smiled. "You look like you’d be able to ride through the desert like this."
Kanuen laughed. "You can count yourself lucky that I was riding with you for such a long time. If it had been before I might not have been able to do it. You know I’ve never ridden a horse before."
Hou Dong raised his brows. Seriously? He had never thought of that. Well, it seemed it really was good that they had already spent this much time on horseback. Otherwise, his plan would’ve fallen through because of such a detail. After all, while a slightly smaller person in his team might not be noticed, if two people had to ride on the same horse, that would definitely draw attention. They might be able to explain it away but the merchants would pay more attention if they saw and who knew if that wouldn’t give away that this person was Kanuen? Ah, even with that, he had been too careless. It was a wonder that everything had gone more or less alright until now. That certainly wasn’t thanks to him.
Hou Dong sighed and patted Kanuen’s shoulder. "Alright, I still have to change my clothes. Why don’t you go down already and eat? The others should already be there anyway. If you’re together from the beginning, then it’s less likely for people to notice."
Kanuen looked at him, wondering whether he should say something or not. In the end, he just gave a nod and walked to the staircase, taking a last look at Hou Dong before he went down, joining the others.
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