what jongho and wooyoung anticipated was real: the ambush was going to happen. although the two young adults only had a rough plan of how the ambush should be carried out, the king and the rest of the military generals decided it was time.
the park gang had invaded more of their territory and had taken more women and children as their hostage, making it almost inevitable for the throne to take action against it. so the king decided to call the ambush.
jongho, unlike san, was more scared about this ambush than the prince was. the place that the park gang invaded was merely a few miles away from where yeosang's house was, meaning that the park gang was itching closer and closer to the main village. that was where wooyoung and yeosang's family lived, and jongho was scared for yeosang. what if they took yeosang's family and-
"hey," san patted jongho's shoulder, the younger jumping slightly at that, "it's gonna be okay. i told wooyoung about where the park gang is attacking and he said not to worry. wooyoung left a protection charm on all the people he knew in the village and also casted an invisible charm on multiple houses in the village before he left. they'll be okay. plus, wooyoung's magic friends will protect them when the time comes. don't worry, okay?"
jongho nodded. he smiled softly at san and said, "okay. okay. we've got an ambush to carry out. how would you like us, your highness?"
san grinned. together, the two choi's went to the field, where the army was already standing there, weapon in hand and waiting for the prince and the first cousin's orders.
—
hongjoong didn't know how wooyoung managed to pull this off.
one second he was training with hongjoong, the next second, he was pulling hongjoong with him and snuck into the army. wooyoung seemed to have made a couple of new friends in the army, the soldiers standing next to them smiling at wooyoung and asking how his day was.
"what are you fucking doing?" hongjoong whisper-yelled at wooyoung, who just shrugged and starting walking with the army. they weren't marching since san deemed it to be an obvious sign that they were going to ambush the park gang.
"having fun. plus, the area the park gang invaded is really near my home. i gotta protect the people i love." wooyoung replied in the same hushed voice. the two were in the middle of the army, therefore making them almost invisible to anyone that was at the front or at the back of the army would be able to see them.
hongjoong groaned, "i get that. but what does that have to do with me?"
wooyoung looked at hongjoong and smiled softly, "the king never intended this to just be an ambush. one of the guys told me that. he intended for this to be a full-blown war. that would be their battleground. so, they need someone like me to attack and someone like you to heal them."
hongjoong frowned, "still, san told you strictly to-"
"not get involved. i know. but he did say that when war comes, he'll allow me to fight alongside with him. and i'm holding his words against him." wooyoung said with determination in his voice.
hongjoong really admired the kid. wooyoung was not only selfless and kind-hearted, he was also a person with so much love inside him. wooyoung would do absolutely everything to make sure that the people he loves the most were safe from any sort of harm, make sure that no matter what he does, the majority of people would be happy with the outcome. wooyoung was a people-pleaser, and for once in his life, hongjoong just wished he wasn't.
hongjoong didn't say anything after that. he understood where wooyoung was coming from and that lying deep underneath the whole hero though process was just the desire to make sure that san was okay. and hongjoong deeply related to that with how he always wanted to keep seonghwa safe.
they've arrived to the ambush spot and the two sorcerers immediately found a place to hide. they weren't going to blow their cover yet. sure, they'll probably step in somewhere through the ambush, but not now. not when everyone was on high alert and waiting for the prince's command.
"what is your plan of action?" asked hongjoong when they were crouching behind the bush. the soldiers were closing in on the camp the park gang built, their guns raised and some that were further back had their bows raised, ready to shoot.
wooyoung shrugged, "don't have one. but we'll attack whenever we deem needed. just follow your instincts, hongjoong ssi, then you'll be alright."
hongjoong chuckled lightly, swatting the younger's head softly, "just call me hyung."
wooyoung smiled, words about to spill out of his mouth when a gunshot was heard. the two looked up and to their horror, it was one of their soldiers down. one of the park gangers were holding a gun, the gun still smoking with a sinister grin on his face. "gotcha." he uttered.
then, chaos started. the choi kingdom soldiers charged, along with san and jongho and seonghwa, to which hongjoong's eyes widened at. he knew seonghwa was san's personal swordsmen, but he didn't know that seonghwa would be involved in this ambush.
"now do you have a reason to fight, hyung?" wooyoung asked cheekily. hongjoong rolled his eyes, "shut up, you idiot. follow my instincts, you say?"
hongjoong stood up from the bush and wooyoung's eyes widened. well, he was always taught that following your instincts was the best way to defeat an enemy, but he was never told that trusting them this early was good. in fact, he was taught the opposite.
"hyung-"
it was too late. hongjoong already whirled up some kind of acid potion in thin air and with a simple incarnation, shot it to the guy seonghwa was fighting against. seonghwa turned around and spotted the blue hair that belonged to someone he treasured so dearly, "hongjoong?"
wooyoung groaned, "damn it, hyung! now you've blown our cover!"
hongjoong frowned, genuine confusion on his face, "what? i thought you said-"
"yes, but not so soon!" wooyoung complained. he himself stood up as well, hands in position as he willed for the mist to arrive. "c'mon, c'mon..." he muttered to himself.
soon a group of the park gang was surrounded by purple mist. they were confused; of course they were, all they were seeing was their hometown and nothing of the landscapes of the choi kingdom.
san noticed the mist and immediately recognised it. it wouldn't take a genius to know that it was wooyoung. wooyoung explained to him that his mist used to be white, but perhaps because of his love towards san now, it's turning into san's royal colour: purple. "wooyoung, you absolute asshole." san uttered under his breath as he stabbed his sword straight through one of the enemies, the guy groaning out in pain and san pulled it right out of him in an instant.
as soon as san was starting to approach the mist, the mist disappeared and the guys were strangled with vines and leaves and flowers were starting to grow out of it. they were screaming in anguish, hoping for nothing but the plants and pain to go away.
wooyoung let go of them and allowed the plants to continue strangle them until they pass out. wooyoung and san's eyes met, the two lovers immediately stiffen as san's eyes grew hard and wooyoung's eyes grew fearful.
oops.
"jung wooyoung." san scowled. wooyoung cracked a grin and only continued to use his chlorokinesis to strangle different people and knock them over, blacking them out as the choi kingdom soldiers continued to fight their way through.
in the end, there was nothing but passed out and some dead bodies scattered on the ground, the soldiers began to help the hostages out of their tent and out of their bondages, sending them back to their families and making sure that they needed no medical attention before sending them back home.
san pulled wooyoung to a corner and said urgently, "we need to talk."
—
a/n: oooooh cliffhanger 😼
