How late was it even? He only recalled waking up at some point after sunrise to find an empty bed - at first he'd tried grasping for Richard, figuring he'd just inched away, or maybe he was already busy getting up, but when he finally opened his eyes and found the window ajar, he grimaced. There was no reason to, neither of them were obligated to stay the night with one another but ... it still felt bad, almost as if he did something wrong and while Yujin generally wasn't someone to get mad, maybe he was - moreso at himself than anyone for not keeping his eyes open and keeping the blonde in place. Whatever, did it really matter? Instead, he forced himself up, gathered his belongings and put some clothes on, before stumbling off to the bathroom - he doubted that nobody had heard them, yet nobody spoke of it and he was glad that he at least got that for himself, even when he spent the next few days inside, cooped up and all the while just ... oddly enough blaming himself for ... what, exactly? He couldn't help it, he didn't know either way, but he was fairly convinced that Richard would have stayed if he just had kept his stupid mouth shut and this was getting him nowhere! It was better to waste his thoughts on possible presents for him and actually getting a servant to relay all of these things to the appropriate people instead of breaking his head over the actual problems that this relationship, obviously and painfully, sported. Wouldn't it be better to just give up on all of it regardless? Not that it mattered, not that anyone cared and even worse, he'd forced himself into this. For fucks sake. What was he so worried about? The day eventually came and he wasn't even sure if he should bother asking if he could leave - Shurens somewhat obvious answer was a distinctive "no", almost spoken with incredible glee and a chuckle, one that Yujin felt even worse about than all of the things he normally found himself struggling with. Sure, Richard had said that he wasn't going to be angry at him and that he wouldn't mind if he broke the promise, yet, he still felt like ... what even?
Was throwing a tantrum enough? Was it good enough to yell at his dad for being an insufferable toddler with too much power? None of that sounded like it would actually get him out of this stupid, frozen castle and maybe Richard was right - maybe this was a frigid hellhole, a barren wasteland filled with nothing but despair and Yujin had just never seen it that way because he was too selfabsorbed to even give it a thought. Was it worth crying over? Not exactly, but it was worth bothering Muhan over, which didn't seem to fall onto deaf ears for once. Yujin still didn't get it - why couldn't his old man just say yes? What he also didn't understand was, when, well, his own dad shoved him out of the castles backdoor and told him to buzz off and not tell anyone. Yujin grumbled regardless - it was early enough for Richard to be back if he only wanted to make it a hourly trip, but once he hounded the village entrance, he found nobody, not even Nayantai, and therefore wandered back to the hut. Was he still mad at Richard? Probably, but it also was his birthday and he had tucked away his present in his sleeve - it was almost embarrassing to wander all the way back to his lovers father and ask for some company, while he was fairly convinced that his own fathers were currently having quite the fight - he ignored it, and instead, he waited for what felt like hours before they left the hut and found no sight of anyone coming or leaving to the entrance, either. "Is he ... fine?", he eventually asked the old wolf that kept staring off into the distance, partially squinting with the one eye he still sported. "Should be, he's just taking ... a bit longer than I'd expected.", he huffed and Yujin suddenly felt like he might as well set foot out of Silesse and start looking for the blonde, just in case he really got hurt, but it was getting too dark for that - and eventually, it was almost pitchblack when he kind of discerned a figure dragging something behind itself back home. The closer it got, the more obvious it was that it was Richard, but it also felt almost as if something was ... "What the fuck?", Yujin sounded and the old man just smiled, up until Richard was all the way up to them. "I said you had to hunt something, not an entire bear! And why are you full of blood already!", Yujin exclaimed, not upset, but actually laughing in disbelief - what on earth! Nayantai was the one that stretched out his hand instead and ruffled through some blonde strands of hair. "You did good ... are you okay?"
Was throwing a tantrum enough? Was it good enough to yell at his dad for being an insufferable toddler with too much power? None of that sounded like it would actually get him out of this stupid, frozen castle and maybe Richard was right - maybe this was a frigid hellhole, a barren wasteland filled with nothing but despair and Yujin had just never seen it that way because he was too selfabsorbed to even give it a thought. Was it worth crying over? Not exactly, but it was worth bothering Muhan over, which didn't seem to fall onto deaf ears for once. Yujin still didn't get it - why couldn't his old man just say yes? What he also didn't understand was, when, well, his own dad shoved him out of the castles backdoor and told him to buzz off and not tell anyone. Yujin grumbled regardless - it was early enough for Richard to be back if he only wanted to make it a hourly trip, but once he hounded the village entrance, he found nobody, not even Nayantai, and therefore wandered back to the hut. Was he still mad at Richard? Probably, but it also was his birthday and he had tucked away his present in his sleeve - it was almost embarrassing to wander all the way back to his lovers father and ask for some company, while he was fairly convinced that his own fathers were currently having quite the fight - he ignored it, and instead, he waited for what felt like hours before they left the hut and found no sight of anyone coming or leaving to the entrance, either. "Is he ... fine?", he eventually asked the old wolf that kept staring off into the distance, partially squinting with the one eye he still sported. "Should be, he's just taking ... a bit longer than I'd expected.", he huffed and Yujin suddenly felt like he might as well set foot out of Silesse and start looking for the blonde, just in case he really got hurt, but it was getting too dark for that - and eventually, it was almost pitchblack when he kind of discerned a figure dragging something behind itself back home. The closer it got, the more obvious it was that it was Richard, but it also felt almost as if something was ... "What the fuck?", Yujin sounded and the old man just smiled, up until Richard was all the way up to them. "I said you had to hunt something, not an entire bear! And why are you full of blood already!", Yujin exclaimed, not upset, but actually laughing in disbelief - what on earth! Nayantai was the one that stretched out his hand instead and ruffled through some blonde strands of hair. "You did good ... are you okay?"
Looking back, it maybe is like the toy carts you rode when you were a kid. But those toy carts could never go beyond the walls of the lawn. We want to follow the rugged concrete road beyond the wall. As we've grown, we've decided to leave behind the toy cart.