Tale of TAL: Ch 22

((Because why the fuck not. It's been established I don't own TAL, Kang Im does. WONT STOP ME AND MY SIS FROM KICKING SHIT UP. Warning: we DO spoil shit. Mostly what hasn't been translated yet from the Korean chapters, so there ARE spoilers if you haven't seen the non-translated pages.))

"Nuna?"

Yu Jin was sweating bullets as he stood in his yard, staring at the backs of Min Jun and Noah.

"Hyung?"

They turned to him, smiling. "Congratulations~!" In the same tone. At the same time.

"Eh?"

They even wore the same smile. "You're King now. You can do everything by yourself."

"Wh-What?! No-No! I can't!"

Noah tilted his head. "Of course you can. Now that you're King, you're all grown up."

"Now that you're King, you don't need us." Min Jun had tilted the other way, smiling still.

Yu Jin's heart pounded. "No, you're wrong! I-I don't know how to be King!" He tried to run to them, his legs moving through quicksand and molasses.

"You'll do great, Little King." A tall figure walked by him with ease.

Cho-Yi.

"Young Prince will be fine. He's an adult." Sae Ha went by as well, Mano following after him.

Giggling, and Ara ran by. "The King can do anything~! That's why I loved him!"

"As long as he's King, he can do everything by himself." Ha Na Rin strolled past as Yu Jin tried to yank his legs free.

He fell and hit the ground facefirst, looking up just as black shoes stepped in front of him. "Eun-Yul?"

"Gotta say, Newbie King, it's been fun. Don't hesitate to call me back if you need help." The Butcher said, faceless as he walked on to join the others.

He reached for his boyfriend's foot desperately. "WAIT! I DO NEED HELP!" Baek Jeong just continued strolling.

"Yu Jin-Nim." Ei Mae stood in front of him.

The redhead grabbed fistfuls of the TAL's hanbok, scaling Ei Mae until his legs were free before kneeling in front of the TAL. "Ei-Mae...Ei Mae, everyone....Everyone's gone...What do I do...What...What do I do....?"

"Yu Jin...Yu Jin..."

He flinched.

"AAAAAAUUUUUUUUUGH!"

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Yu Jin bolted up in bed, starling awake Ju Ze and Baek Jeong, the Butcher rubbing his eyes as Yu Jin sat up shaking and gripping his own arms. "Jin?"

A wheezy gasp answered the TAL, Baek Jeong more awake now that he heard his boyfriend's distress.

"Jin?" He sat up as well, hand on Yu Jin's back as he tried to get the redhead's attention. "Oi, Jin. Hey. Look at me."

He almost choked with how iron tight Yu Jin's arms were around his neck without warning, the redhead cowering in his lap as Ju Ze whined and chewed on Jin's pillow. "Hey...Hey. I got you." He soothed, kissing Yu Jin on the head until the Second King turned to look up at him with tear-filled eyes. "Bad dream?"

"Y-You left..." Baek Jeong bristled at that, Yu Jin sniffling.

The Butcher kissed a few of the tears away. "I will never. Leave your side. For any reason less than being dead." He vowed, squeezing Yu Jin tightly and pulling the Second back down under the blankets. "Hell, Jack himself, and Chau Yong could try to pull me away. But you know I'm stubborn."

"Heh." Yu Jin managed a hiccup of a laugh as Eun-Yul continued kissing away his tears until they'd stopped.

The teal-eyed TAL smiled at him, brushing back his bangs. "Try to get back to sleep? I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere." Little hearts were flying about them as Ju Ze observed the two and yawned, reclaiming his spot on Jin's pillow.

In the morning, the house woke up to a day that was overcast and cold yet again. Bellflower and Ju Ze cuddled together at breakfast while Ara and Yu Jin cooked, the other TALs sans Cho-Yi gathered by the new table Mu Young had purchased for them. Ga Ram and Ga Be were excitedly watching as Mano painted up faces on their dolls, Gamun Be staring at a photo taken of him hugging a bashful looking but very willing Noah...While the elder was drunk, obviously. New Year's had been quite a wild time.

"And breakfast is served!" Yu Jin declared as he and Ara carried in the food, the Second insisting on filling everyone's bowls himself before getting his own. He scooted close to Baek Jeong, who simply looped an arm around the redhead before digging into his bowl.

'This is how it needs to be...As long as possible.' Yu Jin thought as he glanced at everyone present. 'They can't leave...I won't let them...'

Ei Mae was watching him, though he wasn't really able to guess the TAL's expression while they ate.

The usual din filled the house once everyone was fully awake, Sae Ha teasing Mano and Gamun Be helping as they ate and chattered. Mu Young called and told Yu Jin that he was going to be busy working with Ignatio and getting paperwork set up for Maru, so they'd have to take a raincheck on visiting. As well, the restaurant had gotten an influx of customers, so Noah, Min Jun, and Cho-Yi wouldn't be available until the day after.

All in all, it looked like he'd be spending the day off from school with his house's occupants in a calm relaxed time.

That is, until Miri-Nae showed up.

"Oppa~! Jin!" She pounced on them both in a hug.

Yu Jin just laughed and hugged her back while his boyfriend rudely sighed. "Miri-Nae~! What brings you by?"

"Oh! Yes!" She had a surprisingly serious face on. "There was a monk drinking soju in front of the bald man's convenience store." Only they called it that, given they'd known 'the bald man' for years since they were little kids. "Well...Honestly, I don't know if he was a monk because his head wasn't bald."

The bald man was likely livid at that.

"He was asking people if they'd seen a man wearing a mask, people wearing hanbok, and whatnot." The TALs present bristled in alarm, Miri-Nae not paying much mind. "He might've just been drunk, but the descriptions sounded like the people at your house." Which she had yet to bring up was now bigger and had far more people in it. "I was wondering if maybe..."

Yu Jin's attention was then stolen by Ei Mae, who was flailing sign language to Yu Jin, something they'd all picked up thanks to Haje.

"Uh, yeah, hey Miri-Nae? Sorry, I want to take a look at that." He told her apologetically.

She only smiled innocently. "Oh yeah. I have to leave right now anyways. I just came to tell you about it."

"Sorry. Let's hang out some other time." He promised, drawing her into a tight hug that she responded to with gusto. "Hey, take care of the house for me, Ara-ssi." The Beu Ne TAL chirped an affirmative as Yu Jin went to join up with Ei Mae and take off, leaving Baek Jeong to escort Miri-Nae home.

Sure enough, as he and Ei Mae peeked around the corner, they spotted a light brunette-haired man drinking leisurely as he sat at one of the tables, a crowd around him. He had a staff, which a bottle hung off the end of, swinging every so often as he shifted about in his seat.

"...What did he do to bring such a crowd?" Yu Jin pondered as he stared at the people watching the drunken man.

Ei Mae had his head atop Yu Jin's. "...It's normal for a crowd to gather around unusual people." He replied as the monk seemed to finish his bottle, searching his pockets for something. He had on a white robe underneath a brown one that was latched shut with a ring, with socks and sandals on his feet despite the cold. His brown locks were stringy and mussed, but in a way that to Yu Jin suggested he wasn't necessarily unkempt, his lock were just unruly, like Noah's.

"Eh...That's true.." Hence why people were drawn to Noah when he advertised for the restaurant. "A drunkard in broad daylight..."

Far more unsavory than his adored Hyung and Nuna.

"So...What about it? Do you know him?" Yu Jin asked as they slid back around the corner.

Ei Mae looked agitated by the thought. "Forget it...But he's definitely a TAL monk."

"He's a TAL too?" Yu Jin was horrified by the thought. "Woah...To think that a drunkard in broad daylight is a TAL. How low are you guys going to sink?"

The mask had a tickmark on it. "Please don't compare us to him. If you follow that logic everyone's an idiot." Although Yu Jin had to bite back a retort about it probably being true, said oddly in a voice like Noah's in his head. He was getting that a lot more often lately, and he had a feeling his sense of humor had changed drastically.

"Before that that...Didn't she say he was looking for somebody?" Yu Jin prompted. "Something about TAL...It seems like he's looking for you guys..."

Ei Mae folded his arms with a heavy sigh. "Seems like it, but...Why would a wanderer like him be looking for us..." So it WAS the Joong TAL; that just figured, didn't it? The house was going to get fuller now. "It's surprising that he even came this far."

"There are too many people right now..." Otherwise he'd go and drag the TAL away from sight like how he'd do to Ei Mae. "I don't even know him, so it's too risky to make an appearance..." But Yu Jin didn't feel right leaving the area when it concerned the TALs, no matter how harmless the guy looked.

He suddenly bristled in shock; without his notice, the monk had appeared behind him.

"Hey~" The monk grinned, holding the bottle that had been hanging off his staff. He smelled not of liquor, however, but of an odd soapy perfume, like deodorant. "I knew I felt a familiar and unordinary presence...My, my. I came to the right place." He clasped his hand down on Yu Jin's shoulder in a way that made him think of Miri-Nae's father, the man he considered an uncle. "Pleased to meet you. Call me Gasun."

Ei Mae suddenly cracked his knuckles. "I'll give you three seconds to take your hands off of him."

"Since you're already stuck in this position, why don't you take me to your party." It wasn't phrased like a question, and Yu Jin noticed that first and foremost as 'Gasun' spoke to Ei Mae...But it wasn't exactly threatening like Mu Young. More it was just stated as fact, like Min Jun's tone of speaking.

The forever masked TAL was examining a bottle. "...Have you ever been hit in the frontal lobe with chamyiseul?"

"How disappointing." Gasun replied as Ei Mae put distance in between them.

Yu Jin simply watched, trying to figure out what felt so off about Gasun. "What are you doing in the middle of the day? You're too obvious to people." Ei Mae asked.

There was definitely a mysterious air about Gasun, but as he and Ei Mae talked, the only impression Yu Jin got was of a harmless yet eccentric old(?) man who was very friendly and polite...And somehow that just bothered him nonstop. It wasn't fake, he could tell, but there was something in the back of his mind...

Suddenly the hand was back on his shoulder. "Now, please lead me. Is there a paradise, a paradise you're leading me to~" Gasun singsonged, to Yu Jin's utter befuddlement.

That was, until Ei Mae brought the bottle down on the monk's head.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

In a luxurious apartment suite, Chau Yong and Hiljo watched as Mir chased after Haje, Jenna hot on their tails with a set of matching cute hanboks that Haje was refusing to wear.

"C'mon Haje! You'll look nice in pink! Mir-Nim already agreed to it!"

His reply was to throw a pillow at them from the couch as he zoomed by, Hiljo barely smothering his grin.

Chau Yong had a wry grin as he sat with his arm on Hiljo's leg, the once-blind man's hand on his back. "Reminds me of the days Lang and Ho were children. Used to drive me up the walls back then too."

"You were the one who said yes to letting me bring them."

He turned his head and smirked. "I don't recall. Might need a reminder." He chuckled as Hiljo rolled him bodily and pinned him in a kiss, fingers grooming his hair lovingly.

Hiljo seemed to have a thing for his hair, Chau Yong noticed; he'd been clinging rather fiercely to it on New Year's, and had taken the liberty of brushing it out the morning after, when they'd been lazing in bed and Chau Yong refused to bother getting up. Of course that had been completely Hiljo's fault.

"HAJE OPEN THIS DOOR!"

The two elders broke their kiss with a shared snort, looking over to where Mir was rattling the door while Jenna scolded her brother.

"...It's a good thing we're on the top floor." Chau Yong's eyebrow was raised in amusement as Mir succeeded in unlocking the door and they charged in, a racket soon raised inside.

About five minutes later Haje was unwillingly paraded about in a pink and grey hanbok, Mir wearing a similar one in dark grey and a light lavender, as Jenna 'pretended' to wed them according to a magazine article that had given her this entire idea to begin with.

Mir's smarmy grin didn't help any, honestly.

The fun was promptly ended as Chau Yong felt Jack calling him, looking over to the four with slight guilt. "Business is business, and it's best to take care of it." Hiljo assured him, giving his mate a deep longing kiss before Chau Yong teleported away.

"Hiljo?" Jenna was concerned at the face her father was making.

He smiled, trying to reassure them. "C'mon. Let's go get something to eat." Mir saluted him and made to drag Haje off to change. "YOU can stay here, musical pervert." Hiljo growled, gripping Mir by the back of the hanbok.