Yong-Sun

The next day.

As always, Liam woke up first.

The soft bed threw him off before recalling that he was in civilization—a city.

He rubbed his eyes and pushed himself off the bed, starting with light stretches and exercises. He didn't notice it at first, but he saw the boy sleeping on the couch after some time. So he went closer and examined him.

He didn't touch him, but he felt his body. He gave off a strange feeling, and he wanted to know what it was. But this wasn't the right time for something like this. There were too many watchful eyes around. And yes, he was aware of the Noblewoman's actions. But as she stayed far away, it didn't bother him that much.

He turned his back and continued with the exercises. He finished up an hour later. He was sitting down and starting to gather energy. He suspected that the lady and the boy might feel something but continued with his routine.

Two hours later, he stopped.

The boy had woken. Liam opened his eyes; he knew but had to confirm it with his own eyes. The boy was kneeling and bowing to him.

"Boy, what are you doing?"

"Sir freed me from slavery, and I am eternally masters servant."

"You are too young to talk about eternity, nor am I a master, and I did not buy you because of that!" Liam contradicted him and made the boy believe he had a real reason to buy him. Other than using him as a tool for stealing.

"Sir is kind with his words," he said respectfully, not moving from that position.

"Stop that, and get up. Show me a place where we can eat something good." Liam had to distract the boy, or he would demean himself some more.

"Yes sir, right away," he sprang up but didn't drop the 'sir.'

"It's annoying. Stop that," Liam rolled his eyes and sighed.

"..." the boy didn't say anything. He still led the way, asking questions about what he liked most. The boy only confirmed that he wanted to eat anything and everything. When he asked about drinks, the answer was the same.

"I like new things, things that I haven't tested yet, and I haven't eaten anything other than dried or barbequed Purple Runner meat," he stated after the boy didn't stop nagging.

Following them from afar was the same lady from the inn as yesterday. She had seen all the commotion he was making in this place. But she still hadn't seen his face. Which was something she didn't think would be hard.

But in the bathhouse, the rooms were too steamy, and she didn't dare enter the men's side of the hot springs. Not once did he take the hood off outside of it. On the one occasion she could have peeked, the boy entered the room, and the sun rose. She had no choice but to return to her room or sleep where she fell. And when she went to check in the morning, he was already up and exercising. Still, the hood never left his head. With all the strange things he did. After that, he sat down and didn't move a freaking muscle. The man seemed odd to her, and she became more curious about him. Who was he?

She didn't recall anyone prominent in society being called by that name.

Could that be derived from some other name? And that was just a nickname? She didn't know and couldn't understand. What was he?

That day or night before sunrise, she witnessed something crazy. She didn't even know what that was, just that the man she had been curious about was something she had never seen before. All though she had heard legends of them. These were just a few of them, but they were legends—stories made for kids. But now, she was witnessing one of those stories.

She had been addicted to those stories since she was a small child. She even considered that was possible, but she had never seen it happen. There was no authentic witness account or any proof that they existed.

And now she was seeing people fly away. There were over a dozen of his opponents, but he seemed to be able to deal with them efficiently. She didn't care much about these people, but she cared about the man who looked like he could fulfill her lifelong dream. She wasn't someone who pursued power for the sake of it. She would pursue it as a path to freedom.

It was strange that she had wanted to come here two weeks ago, but now she understands that fate had brought her here.

* * *

The day had passed nicely.

The boy had shown him some great places where he had tasted many new things. The boy even showed him some secret spots that he had found. Those places had marvelous city views over the landscape beyond the wall.

The boy's favorite one was where he could watch the sunset over the forest and the lonely snowy mountain that occupied the region.

"I can't call you 'boy' any longer? What do you want your name to be?" he was frustrated; many kids were around.

"Sir can pick whatever he likes," he said rather meekly.

"I told you to stop that. I'm not that much older than you," Liam remarked.

"What does sir mean?"

Liam pulled the hood back a little and showed the boy his face.

"Sir..." he looked to have become speechless.

"I'm seventeen. How old are you?"

"I don't know," he answered hesitantly.

"How about we do this? Yesterday was your seventh birthday. What do you think?" his voice firm.

"I-I like it." he stuttered.

"So, what should we name you?" Liam said as he pondered on the earthen names. He wasn't very familiar with the names they used here. "How about Dorobo?"

"I don't know. Does it have a meaning?"

"Yes," Liam snickered, "It means thief," he watched the boy's face as it turned bright red in embarrassment.

"I-I didn't want to do it. I didn't like it. But, they forced me," Liam ruffled the kid's hair.

"Doesn't matter anymore. You are not with them anymore."

"If sir doesn't mind, what was sir going to with me?" he looked at Liam wide-eyed.

"Hmm, I wasn't sure at first but judging from today, I will teach you everything I know before I leave," he said brightly.

"Then can I be first, or does sir have any other kids?"

"I do not but let me think ..." he paused to think over the names he remembered and the ones he had liked a lot, but none seemed to fit the boy either. He wasn't just the first but something more. He couldn't figure out what it was, but a name popped up, and it looked like it would fit him just fine, if not perfectly.

"How about ..." he paused for a dramatic effect, but it happened. The sun's last ray hit them at that moment like it had meant to be, as Liam said the name. "Yong-Sun."

A shiver ran across Liam and the boy, who beamed with happiness.