“Let’s start from the beginning, shall we?” Jongdae asks as he moves away some piles of papers from the table to the floor. Yixing holds him back from picking up another stack when he waves a hand and all of the papers move from the table to the floor. Jongdae stares blankly at Yixing and sighs. “Thank you Yixing.”

Yixing smiles and hides his hands in the sleeves of his robe. “You’re welcome.”

Jongdae moves a speechless Baekhyun to sit in a chair and grabs the largest scroll. He rolls it across the table and Baekhyun is overwhelmed with all of the characters and pictures on it.
 

“Let's start from the beginning.” Jongdae moves himself to the left side of Baekhyun.
 

“The beginning?” Baekhyun asks as he leans toward the scroll. “Is this supposed to explain something or am I just being stupid again?”
 

Jongdae shrugs a shoulder. “It would be a bit easier for you to understand if it wasn't all in Chinese.” A small glare is directed towards Yixing who is taking the feather out from his sleeve with a sheepish smile.
 

He presses the point into the paper and the inked characters swirl into something comprehensible to Baekhyun. “Sorry. It was easier for me to organize everything in Chinese.” He slips the feather back into his sleeve and steps away to the window.
 

Jongdae gives Yixing a weird look, but turns his attention back to the scroll and Baekhyun.
 

“Alright how good is your history knowledge?” Jongdae smooths out the scroll as Baekhyun leans closer to read the characters. Baekhyun doesn't answer, but keeps reading. Jongdae sighs and pushes Baekhyun away from the scroll. “Not very good I presume. What has Jinki been teaching you?”
 

Baekhyun gives him a cheeky smile and Jongdae pinches his cheek. He ignores his whining to sweep his eyes over the characters. He nods to himself and taps the first image on the scroll.
 

Baekhyun leans close to look at the picture. Confusion taking over his expression when all he sees is a picture of the castle. A large black blob with towers sitting on both sides and a small little empty spot upside down ‘U’ in the middle of the blob that could only represent the large entrance. A very crude drawing of the castle, but it was enough for Baekhyun to identify.
 

“This was where it began. I'm going to hope that you know I'm what I'm talking about. Which you should. Especially since you should have studied some of it,” Jongdae says and takes a quick glance towards a Baekhyun whose mouth was agape. He forcefully pushes Baekhyun's mouth closed. “Don't want any flies in that mouth, now do we?”
 

Baekhyun scrunches up his nose as he listens intently to Jongdae.
 

“Once upon a time, in a castle in a land-OW!” Jongdae shrinks into himself as he avoids Baekhyun's hits to his shoulder. “Okayokayokayokay. I won't do it like that. Geez.”
 

He pats off the imaginary dirt on his shirt and straightens out his coat. Jongdae exhales and his expression turns serious as he looks down at the scroll laid out in front of him.
 

“As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted-”
 

“You deserved it.”
 

“Quiet Yixing. I'm pretty sure you didn't want to be included in this.”
 

Jongdae glares at a grinning Yixing. “Continue. I didn't say I didn't want to listen now did I?”
 

He lets out a long sigh as Jongdae runs his hands down his face. “I'm never going to talk at this rate.”
 

The library is filled with a pregnant silence as Jongdae waits. He slowly nods and grabs Baekhyun's shoulder to bring his attention back to where it should be focused.
 

“It was around twenty, thirty years ago when there were three houses. Right now there is only the Huang house and the Lee house. You know how the succession were to go if something were to happen to you or Chanyeol. Right?”
 

He looks at Baekhyun who immediately nods. “The crown would would go straight to the Huangs.” Jongdae nods, content with his answer.
 

“When there was three houses, there was the Kim family.” Jongdae trails his finger down to a drawing of two stick people. “Kim Minseok and Kim Luhan. Do you have any memory of these two?”
 

Baekhyun looks at ceiling before looking back down at the scroll. “No. Not that I remember.”
 

“That's fine. I didn't expect you to,” Jongdae runs a hand down the scroll to a patch of writing. “According to Yixing here, the marriage between the two was frowned upon. Minseok had married Luhan, whose family has dabbled in magic. Not like that was of much concern. But you know how the nobles get when someone of status marries a commoner.”
 

“Luhan was a commoner?” Baekhyun asks as he reads over the writing.
 

Jongdae nods and leans over slightly to read another patch of writing. “Yes. His family were something akin to gypsies, but traveled to do healing magic to those who needed it.”
 

Baekhyun hums as his eyes trail over a picture of a blob with something that looks like a horse attached to it. He assumes it's supposed to be a caravan of some sort.
 

“It all kinda worked out when Luhan had produced a son. The Kim house supposed to be the backup house if anything happened to the heirs. So a son kinda balanced out the fact that he was commoner. Which I don't see all the commotion about in my opinion. Stupid noblemen…” A cough brings Jongdae’s attention to Yixing who is giving him a look that says ‘Don't-Even-Think-About-It.’
 

Jongdae waves Yixing off who rolls his eyes and Jongdae focuses back to the scroll. He pulls it to the left to center the new information.
 

“So Luhan had a son. With Kim Minseok. Their son's name was Kim Junmyeon.” Jongdae watched Baekhyun's face turn from confusion to even more confusion to sudden realization. Baekhyun grabs onto Jongdae’s coat and tugs on it as he looks from the scroll to Jongdae with an open mouth. He nods and pulls Baekhyun’s hand off of his coat.

“You mean Junmyeon, Jongin and Sehun’s-well Jongin’s dad is the Kim’s son’s son?” Baekhyun waits with wide eyes as Jongdae processes the question.

“Yes? If you are asking if Jongin’s dad, Junmyeon, is the son of Kim Minseok and Luhan, then yes. That is what I mean,” Jongdae drawled out. Baekhyun hums as he cups his chin in thought. “But before you get any further ideas, this is something that I came up with.”

Baekhyun looks up at Jongdae in confusion. “What do you mean?”

Jongdae scratches his chin as he figures out how to explain himself. “You know how there is no longer a Kim house?” Baekhyun nods. “There’s no Kim house because they disappeared.” Jongdae taps a question mark on the scroll before pulling the scroll to the left and stopping it at the end. An image of a small village is sitting in front of them now.

He takes a deep breath as his fingertips run over the dried ink. “Before the army had taken me in, I lived in this small village you see. I was orphaned and only had myself. A boy older than me came up to me. Offering me a ‘better life’ if I had followed him. Being an orphaned street rat, any offer that came to me seemed good. So I followed him.”

“Was he…” Baekhyun stops himself from continuing his question when Jongdae shakes his head at him.

“I don’t think it was Junmyeon. The age difference was too big. But the two people he brought me to were definitely Minseok and Luhan. I only knew their faces from wanted posters I had seen in the village. And in Luhan’s arms,” Jongdae takes a deep breath as he looks down at his hands. “Was a small baby. And I could practically smell the magic permeating from him. Once that smell hit me, oh god. I didn’t know what to do, but I didn’t want to go back to being a stupid street rat.

“I stayed and I got parental love from them. And it kills me to say that I wanted to stay with them. All I had to do was to follow their orders. Their stupid, stupid orders…” Baekhyun stands next to Jongdae as he runs his eyes over the paper. “I got them ingredients for their experiments with magic. You want to know why they abandoned the house? It was because they started dabbling with dark magic. And I helped them with it…”

He drops his hands to the table as he hangs his head. Baekhyun rubs his back in comforting circles. Jongdae takes a shuddering breath before he is able to continue. “I realized it something in that village. It took me a few days, but. Sehun has the exact same smell as that child. And you know what the worst part is? I saw Sehun grow into a two year old before I left. I left fully aware of what magic capabilities he has. His entire being screams magic and his parents knew it. They were going to use Sehun for some sick purpose I can’t even imagine. I think Junmyeon was the same way, but he had to be much much less than what Sehun is capable of. He probably left his parents to prevent them from using him. But he didn’t count on them having another child. Until he took in Sehun. He probably knew what was happening when he saw Sehun in the streets.
 

“He shouldn't have been on the streets like that. I should have-” Jongdae stops himself as a sob threatens to break from his lips. Baekhyun runs his shoulder as he waits for Jongdae to bring himself together.
 

“Enough of that,” Jongdae croaks out. A shaky hand reaches out and grabs one of the smaller scrolls. “This one-This is about Kim Junmyeon in fuller detail.”
 

He spreads it out on top of the larger scroll, only about half as long. Baekhyun leans in to read, but keeps a hand on Jongdae’s shoulder.  He frowns as he stands up straight. “There’s not much…”

“Because he was only four when him and his parents left,” Jongdae explains as he rubs at his eye. “I could only piece together the scarce files on him. Followed after Luhan. Great sense for magic, even at age three. Could conjure up small objects and heal small scratches, everything that an apprentice needed to learn, he learned it at an early age.
 

“But if we were to look at the files on a Wu Junmyeon, their father, there's a big gap.” Jongdae points to an empty spot of the scroll. “There's nothing in Wu Junmyeon past age fourteen. He married Kris when he was sixteen and if we take the timeline Kyungsoo gave us…” He tilts his head back and forth in thought. “Jongin would have been around seven when they took Sehun in so Junmyeon would have been in his mid twenties. Give or take.”
 

Jongdae grumbles something about too much math being not good for his head when Baekhyun reaches over to grab the last scroll. It's small enough for him to just open it in his hands, barely long enough for it to go longer than his shoulder width.
 

Baekhyun's eyes narrow as he reads the large block of text in the middle. “This is-”
 

He is unable to continue when a loud crash sounded behind the pair. Baekhyun immediately drops the scroll when Jongdae pushes past him to where Yixing is struggling to stand, trying to use the fallen chair for leverage.
 

Jongdae brushes away the broken glass of the vase near Yixing as he tiptoes around him to grab his arm. “What happened?” Panic evident in his voice as he wraps Yixing’s arm around his shoulders and holds him close to his body as he walks them over to Baekhyun. Baekhyun scoots the chair he was using closer to Yixing and helps Jongdae settle him in.
 

Yixing holds his head with a pained groan. “What happened? Do you need anything?” Jongdae starts shooting off questions to Yixing whose expression only worsens as he tries to calm Jongdae.
 

Baekhyun bites his lower lip as he places a tentative hand on Jongdae’s bicep. He gently shakes his head when Jongdae looks at him with wide eyes. Jongdae’s face scrunches up in remorse when he catches the pained look on Yixing’s face. A whispered sorry treads through the air as Jongdae kneels closer to Yixing.

Baekhyun makes a move towards Yixing, but notices the fallen scroll on the ground and goes to pick it up. His eyes trace down the characters as he vaguely registers Jongdae fussing over Yixing.

He lowers the scroll to focus his attention on the Chinese man sitting in front of him. “Yixing-”

“Don’t tell me it was the barrier?” Jongdae abruptly stands as his hand goes to the sword hanging from his hip.

Yixing nods as he presses a palm into his eye. “Something-No. Somebody with large quantities of magic came into the city. I just wasn’t prepared. Took me off guard is all.”

“It couldn’t be…” Jongdae’s eyes dart from Yixing to Baekhyun as something clicked in his brain. He slowly moves backwards as his grip on his sword tightens. “Baekhyun. Watch Yixing. I need to make sure…”

Jongdae sprints out of the library as Baekhyun lets go of one end of the scroll to reach out after Jongdae, feet stuttering a few steps before stopping. He looks to the scroll in his hand then to Yixing who is beginning to stand. The scroll falls to the ground once more when Baekhyun rushes to his side.

Yixing gives him a smile of gratitude when Baekhyun pulls his arm over his shoulder. His face hardens when he pats Baekhyun’s chest.

“Come on. Follow Jongdae,” Yixing takes a step and Baekhyun is forced to guide him out of the room.

As they walk down the halls of the castle, multiple guards and soldiers run past them, garbled talk barely making it to Baekhyun’s ears as he focuses on not letting Yixing fall.

They make it to the entrance of the throne room when Yixing separates from him and goes with wobbly legs to push past the two doors into the room. Baekhyun watches with slight awe as the tall doors groans as it slowly opens. However he isn’t left with time to continue watching the opening of the tall doors when he hears a thud and a groan of pain. He runs over to Yixing who is raising himself off of the ground with shaking arms.

He helps him up, only to pushed away as Yixing stumbles into the room. Baekhyun slowly walks after him, eyes darting all over the room, marveling at the marbled steps that lead up to two foreboding chairs lined with gold and velvet and everything expensive jewel and metal Baekhyun could think of. He quickly walks past the raised up chairs with a hand blocking out the intense light coming from above.

“We found him,” a soldier puffs out his chest in overwhelming pride as he presents a kneeling boy behind him. He’s covered in dirt and grime, ebony hair blocking out the emotions of his eyes as another soldier kicks him in the ribs. He doesn’t make a sound, but Baekhyun sees Jongdae lurch forward and stop when a third soldier pokes the boy’s shoulder with the end of his spear.

Yixing’s shoulders visibly shake as he takes a step toward him. Baekhyun walks with hesitant steps when he sees his mother standing in front of the soldiers and the boy. Shoulders thrown back and jaw raised up as she took in the appearance of the boy.

“Send him to the dungeons,” her voice cut through the silence as she turns around without another glance.

“Wait! My queen,” Jongdae steps after her. She turns to throw a sharp glare at Jongdae. Jongdae’s tongue peeks out to wet his suddenly dry lips as he clenches a fist over his chest. “You can’t just throw him into the dungeons. He hasn’t done anything!”

“Being the son of them is enough to warrant his death,” she spits out. She jerks her chin toward the boy with a sneer. “Throwing him into the dungeon is like giving him ice cream.”

“But I was practically like a son to them as well!” Jongdae yells, voice echoing throughout the enlarged room. “Why didn’t you throw me into the dungeon and send me to my death as well?!”

The queen lifts her dress as she takes a few steps forward, her expression unreadable. Baekhyun doesn’t see the woman who had raised him, but rather a distant, cold figure walking towards him.

“You have no magic capabilities whatsoever. It didn’t matter if you helped them or not because you were just a mere servant to them,” she points out. She throws a hand out to point at the kneeling figure. “Him on the other hand, you can practically smell the magic coming from him. How do I not know if he took up any of their abilities?”

“Then we can use that magic power for ourselves, can we not? My queen?” Yixing asks as he steps up next to Jongdae. “It would be more useful for me if we had another enchanter in the castle. Useful for all of us really.”

The queen gives Yixing a hesitant look that morphs into one of judgement. “How do we know that he won’t betray us? Like his fathers had.”

“Well,” Yixing brings his hands together with a wry smile. “I’ll just have to beat it into him, won’t I?”

The queen lets out a ‘hmph’ and turns to walk away. Jongdae looks at Yixing with incredulity, who only gives him a one shouldered shrug. Jongdae goes to run after the disappearing figure of the queen, but is immediately pulled back by Yixing.

She turns around to wave a hand with an amused smile. “I expect good things,” her expression turns dark when she catches sight of the kneeling boy. “But if he goes out of line once, it’s straight to the executioners.”

Baekhyun feels a shiver run down his spine when the door shuts with a resounding slam behind his mother. But is immediately replaced with panic when he sees a familiar set of dark brown eyes boring into the ground.

“Well what are you doing?” Yixing snaps at the soldiers standing around. They all look at each other with wide eyes before turning to Yixing. “He’s under my care, leave!”

They all run out, metal armor clanking after them. Yixing kneels in front of Sehun while Jongdae moves behind Sehun. He takes out a dagger and works on cutting the rope around his wrists while Yixing tilts his chin up with a finger.

Blank eyes stare into Yixing’s until a heart wrenching sob breaks from his lips and hot tears begin falling down his cheeks. Baekhyun feels his heart splitting apart with each step he takes closer to him. Jongdae lets the rope fall from his hands and suddenly the boy is on his hands and knees sobbing.

Yixing slowly stands and signals with a tilt of his head to Jongdae. Jongdae nods and walks around him to where Yixing is. Yixing side eyes Baekhyun and gives a small nod. The two walk off to the side with shared whispers between them.

Baekhyun watches them for a second before going to kneel down in front of him. He gently lays a hand on his head. Marveling at how soft his hair is, despite the dirt that clumps the strands together. His shoulders shake as heavy breathes are being in. A shaky hand plants itself on Baekhyun’s and his head raises.

Even though his face is covered in dirt and tears streaking down his cheeks, Baekhyun could feel his heart swell and pound against the cages of his ribs. His other hand comes up gently wipe away a fallen tear as a sob threatens to break from Baekhyun’s throat.

His jaw shakes as he struggles to find the right words to say, only able to wipe away fresh tears with his thumb and gripping onto his hand as though it was a lifeline.

Something akin to a laugh and a sob comes out of Baekhyun. The boy looks at him in confusion, tears continuing to flow as if a tap had been broken.

Baekhyun in a breath as he forces out a smile. “Hi. Sehun.”

A/N: Last update before school starts :’D I tried to make this long than the others because I am going to slow updates down because….I’m gonna take the ACT in Feb (Well that’s the plan I haven’t exactly registered, but I will this week. So this is kind of a precaution A/N.) Woo….So that means a one month study cram before that happens and I won’t be writing very much. There might be one update within the month since I already started the next chapter, but I don’t know how school will affect how much I write as time goes on. But after Feb 6, things should return to normal. So this story will be put on like a semi-hiatus. It’s only for one month but I expect lots of notifications for when I do come back ;D I’ll see you guys in like a month! Sorry about leaving it on a kinda-cliff-hanger. Welp. Byes~