The Fifth Successor and His Kids

***LEI***

I walked in the hallway on a slow pace as I headed to the room where Seven was sleeping in. The house, or rather the mansion, we were in was quite a maze not to mention dangerous so I had to be very mindful on where I go. As to where I was, I was currently in the residence of Shadow Garden's fifth successor disciple, Lee Ryu Jin.

I stepped inside the room and saw an unfamiliar face. Surprisingly, he resembled Seven a lot.

"Oh, are you here to check on seventh uncle?" I only nodded in response.

He was checking on Seven who hadn't woken up ever since we arrived in Pyongyang the previous night. I realized he was a doctor, especially with the stethoscope on his neck.

"Uhm, I'm Zhang Lei."

The man, who looked to be a few years younger than me, retracted his stethoscope from Seven's chest and accepted my handshake with a bow. He was wearing a silver-blue suit and his black hair was impeccably tidy.

"Let me introduce myself formally." he offered his hands in a martial-artist-kind-of-way. "My name is Lee Ryu Won, I am a medical intern at Pyongyang Military Hospital as well as the disciple of Shadow Garden's fifth successor disciple. He is also my father."

"Oh. That was quite the introduction. Then I am-"

"Zhang Lei, member if South Korean boy group Guardians and also part of the Zhang Clan, right?"

"Uh, yeah."

He sat down again and checked Seven's pulse.

"Third aunt is too much." I heard him mumble.

"What do you mean?"

"She casted a spell on seventh uncle and he won't be waking up until he reaches Japan."

"Oh."

Xue-jie obviously had a reason for casting the spell and if I was right; it was to stop Seven from charging back to Shadow Garden. Although it was still a little unclear why the Sect suddenly attacked them (but I do have a clue), it wasn't exactly safe to go back.

"Xue-jie seems to care for Seven a lot." I commented.

"Of course she does. Seventh uncle is her grandson."

"What?"

Third aunt is the Master's lover. Seventh uncle's mother is their daughter. Now that I realize it, doesn't this mean third aunt is like my grandmother or something?" he shook his head and shrugged. "Anyway, third aunt obviously did this because seventh uncle cannot do teleportation formations."

"Tough love. Hey, since Seven won't be waking up anytime soon, would you like to join jus in the living room? My brother and our friends are trying to decipher the scroll we retrieved in Nimbus Forest."

"Sure. Just let me finish hooking up seventh uncle's IV."

A few minutes later, we left the room and we walked down the hallway. I brought him to the room where the rest of my companions were gathered. Although it only looked like he was the one leading because he was the one who knew the place better. Once we got there, I was very surprised to see our host drinking coffee with them.

"Good morning supreme leader."

"Hey dad." Greeted Ryu Won – or should I call him Doctor Lee at this point?

"Good morning Lei, Ryu Won. Wait… Ryu Won? Shouldn't you be at the hospital? What are you doing here?"

His son only gave him a flustered smile and looked away. Our host, the supreme leader of North Korea, Lee Ryu Jin, started scolding him.

I was very surprised when I found out that Seven's fifth older brother was the most powerful man in North Korea. I also couldn't believe I would be able to spend a day and a night in his mansion, much less step inside Pyongyang. Color me shocked. But unlike the news outside, Lee Ryu Jin was actually a very friendly man.

"Seventh brother's friends are also my friends, so you are welcome." he said when I met him that morning. "But I don't think it would be a good PR for both our sides if people found out, right?"

We could only agree to what he said. I was pulled out of my thoughts when Chen approached me.

"Hey, have seen Coby on your way here?"

"Coby?" I scanned the room and noticed that the tallest member of our small group was nowhere to be found. "Where is Coby? Last time I saw him was this morning during breakfast."

"Me too. Maybe he got lost after going to the bathroom?"

I just shrugged my shoulders and joined my friends.

"Hey Lei-hyung." Calvin greeted. "Any plans how to get to Japan and find the Tsuchimikado Clan with this particular crest?"

For a moment I froze. The name sounded very familiar, like it was at the tip of my tongue, but somehow I couldn't put my hand on it.

"To Japan?" asked our host. "I can charter a boat for you if you like. The fastest would be a three-day travel from here to Nagoya. I will call someone to prepare bullet train tickets for you to Kyoto."

"Kyoto? Why Kyoto?" asked Leo.

"You can start your search there. It used to be the imperial capital of Japan and there are many big clans that still live there. I also know of a famous traditional and powerful clan there called the Tsuchimikado Clan."

"Father, do you think we can give them a letter of introduction or something? They won't be easy to meet." Dr. Lee suggested.

"Ryu Won, son, our country's not exactly friends with a lot of other countries, Japan being one of them. Would a clan directly under the Japanese Imperial Family open up to us?"

"Hn. Makes sense."

My companions and I were silent. It seemed like we hit a dead end.

"Although," Calvin inserted. "A family under the protection of the Maiden of the Stars sure is something."

According to the scroll we retrieved, which entailed a small detail of how we were looking for a way to get into contact with the Tsuchimikado Clan; twelve years ago, the Maiden of the Stars, Stele, reclaimed the other half of the codex and fled to the Land of the Rising Sun, Japan. She gave it to a family under her protection, the Tsuchimikado Clan.

And that was the only clue we had.

While we were brainstorming in the living room, we suddenly heard a squeal from the hallway, well two of them actually and the other sounded more like a low pitch scream which belonged to someone we knew very well.

"Lei-aniki!" yelled Coby and hid behind me.

Following him was a teenage girl jumping about and squealing. She was wearing a maroon school blazer with a grey skirt.

"Lei-aniki! Help me! This girl suddenly came out of nowhere and jumped at me!" he was so scared that he switched to his native tongue, Japanese.

The girl suddenly froze once she settled her gaze on us. I noticed Dr. Lee cover his ears and our host sigh in disbelief.

"OH MY GOSH! HALF OF GUARDIANS ARE IN MY HOUSE!" she started making her way to us but Dr. Lee held her back and covered her mouth.

"Uhm, I'm very sorry about this. Yah! Lee Hae Jin, shut it! Dad will be angry!"

I saw her eyes dart to the older man who was calmly sipping his cup of coffee across us. She suddenly went silent.

"This is my younger sister, Lee Hae Jin. She's a big fan of your group and… she's supposed to be in UK. What are you doing here sis?"

Lee Hae Jin took off her brother's hand that was on her mouth. "Well, you told me that Uncle Shin Woo is here. I was hoping to see him so I immediately came over! I never thought I'd see half of Guardians here! Eh? Why are they here? Where are the others?"

"Hae Jin." our host called. "Who told you they're here?"

"Ryu Won-oppa!"

Sir Lee Ryu Jin cleared his throat. "Excuse me and my son for a bit."

He dragged his son out of the room to who knows where. Lee Hae Jin on the other hand sat across us and poured herself a coffee as well."

"You a fan of theirs?" asked Chen to the teenager.

"Yep. Wait, who are you?"

"Zhang Chen. Lei's brother."

"I see."

"Guys!" exclaimed Coby. "Have you forgotten the fact that she might be a sasaeng[1]?"

"Oh don't worry Coby-oppa. I was just really shocked and excited when I suddenly saw you in the hallway. I'm usually very level-headed."

"Really?"

"About what Dr. Lee said, what did he mean you were supposed to be in UK?" I asked.

"I attend a boarding school there. It's somewhere in the countryside though."

"How did you-"

"Get here? I used a teleportation array of course. Although, it took quite a lot of energy from me, but I'll recover. You are aware of this side of the world right? Uncle Shin Woo already told me."

We only nodded our heads to the girl that resembled Artemis' willfulness.

"Little Miss," called Chen.

"Call me Hae Jin."

"Right. Uh, Hae Jin you're their fan?"

"Yep! I was in UK when seventh uncle told me you guys were debuting. And when you did, I instantly became one of your Gfollowers. You do know North Korea doesn't really indulge foreign culture and our form of entertainment is mostly traditional dances, so you guys totally became my ray of light."

"You and Seven had been in contact all this time?"

"Of course! I'm his little sister after all."

Her gaze suddenly landed on the open scroll laid on the table. She took it and studied it. "Hmm? It's one of the old records. Japan? Tsuchimikado Clan? A cherry blossom flower for a crest?"

We were all astonished of how Hae Jin was able to read it, but then again, she was in inner disciple of Shadow garden.

"Tsuchimikado huh. Sounds familiar."

"Did you just say Tsuchimikado?" Coby perked up. "And a cherry blossom flower crest?"

I suddenly realized something. And I wasn't the only one.

""AAH! COBY!""

"What? What?"

"Your real name is Tsuchimikado Kazuki!" Leo exclaimed.

I felt like smacking myself silly for realizing it late.

"Did you come from Kyoto?" he nodded. "Oh my gosh! Our ticket to talk to the clan has been here all along!"

The door opened and Sir Lee Ryu Jin entered. We noticed Dr. Lee's absence and Hae Jin asked about it.

"I sent him back to the hospital. The idiot only snuck out. You should return as well Hae Jin."

"I'll do it later father."

He only shook his head in disbelief. "Anyway, boys! The boat will be ready tonight so you'll have to wait. My contact will meet you at Nagoya Port. And as I said, from there, you will take the bullet train to Kyoto. I'm afraid you're on your way after that."

"Don't worry sir. You have already done a lot for us." I replied. "We have already found a way to get into contact with the Tsuchimikado's."

"That's good. Then feel free to lounge around while you wait. You can leave after dinner."