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The crowds were noisy as they were bustling in and out of the tent. Taurent protectively put his arm around Rea as Haemi led them to their seat. Surely enough, just trying to get in was tiring. As they sat down, Rea could finally breathe properly. Taurent carefully placed his umbrella to the side and made circular comforting rubs on Rea's back.
"Are you okay? You really don't have much stamina. You should go out more often," Haemi said, another one of his thoughtless exclamations. The careless statement bothered Taurent but he kept his cool. He was not as insane to make a scene in public, he had an image to maintain.
The lights inside the tent dimmed but a yellow light shone over a man with curly moustache and a big hat. The crowds applauded as the man bowed. A drumroll was heard before he began his greetings.
"Ladies and gentlemen," he began, "Welcome to Zoila Circus!"
The sounds of trumpets blowing were deafening to Rea. He covered his ears, but his eyes were wide open to the scene in front of him. Performers in flashy costumes went out one by one introducing themselves with their own shows. Everything went by normally with Haemi clapping after every show and Taurent by his side who was sitting quietly, not amazed by a single performer.
When the performances finished, they followed the crowd to go out. When Taurent opened his umbrella to provide shade for Rea, a man greeted them. It was the same man that hosted the circus, Zoila. He took off his hat and bowed towards Taurent and the latter returned the favor.
"Going back so soon, lad?" Zoila asked.
"Unfortunately, yes," Taurent said. The moustached man cocked an eyebrow as he asked the blonde if he could take some of his time to ask him about something. Taurent tried to refuse, but the host was persistent. He said that he knew Taurent because the word of his talent had been spread far and wide. Thus, he asked if he could discuss new costumes for the performers and of course he would be paid handsomely.
Haemi, whose attention was lost among the crowd, grabbed Rea's wrist and pulled him towards one of the stalls. Rea stumbled on his steps, attempting to grab Taurent's sleeve but failed. They pushed through the crowd to the colorful stalls which put various types of candies and lollipops on display. The vibrant colors managed to capture Rea's interest.
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Haemi took one of the big lollipops and shoved it into Rea's mouth. Rea's eyes glimmered in excitement. The sweetness melted in his mouth. Taurent never let him have one of these. Haemi also had one in his mouth, licking the round hard sugar, beaming as if he had won a lottery.
"Nice isn't it?"
Rea nodded as he kept rolling his tongue on the candy in his mouth. Haemi took hold of his hand and brought him to the next place. Rea could care less about the danger of the situation because he was so happy that he finally got to taste something so sweet.
They now stood in front of a stall with toy guns. Haemi searched inside his pockets for coins, stating that he wanted to play and get some cool presents for Rea. Rea was so thrilled when he heard that statement, and watching Rea's eager face, Haemi couldn't help but become more motivated.
The freckled boy took his position and tried to shoot the bottles half filled with water. The bang sound made Rea's heart jump every time. He never thought Haemi could look so heroic with a gun in his hands, even though it was just a toy. Rea always thought of him as a nonchalant person with no care in the world.
Rea scooted closer, trying to see what was in Haemi's line of sight. Although he was warned not to be too close to the player, Rea's excitement made him forget about it in an instant. Standing right behind Haemi, peeking above his shoulder, Rea was in awe. With 10 bullets, Haemi carefully and accurately toppled 7. Now, only 3 bullets left.
Out of the blue, a running kid bumped to Rea's leg and his balance went off. Rea's face bumped straight into Haemi's shoulder while he was shooting and the force was enough to make a loud sound. Surprised, Haemi staggered backward and accidentally stepped on Rea's shin.
'Clack!'
It was not a sound of broken bones but it was enough to make the two flabbergasted. Blood trickled down Rea's nose but Haemi's attention was fixed to what was underneath Rea's long trousers. Something definitely cracked. Just as he went to check, Rea stopped him.
"Call the master," Rea's voice was small but it was enough for Haemi to hear. Whispers enclosed them and yet, Haemi didn't take any action. His heart raced and it thumped so loudly near his ears, even the voice of the stall man failed to wake him to his senses.
"Haemi," Rea called a little louder, "Call the master, please."
The plea was enough to break Haemi's thought. Noticing how panicked and afraid Rea was, Haemi didn't waste any more time. He put Rea on his back and ran through the crowd in search of the dollmaker. Bumping through people as he frantically searched for the blonde. Haemi saw the light-colored hair among the crowds and knocked into him.
"Sir! Rea was- Rea was-"
The sentence did not finish but Taurent definitely knew, something was up. After all, even he was searching for the pale skinned boy. Spotting the blood that trickled down from Rea's nose to the other's shoulder, Taurent gritted his teeth and carefully took Rea.
Keeping his composure, Taurent uttered under his breath, "I will deal with you later."