☆♪☆ 

King of the Stars

~ ☆♪☆ ~

 

My favourite uncle was always Abeoji’s brother.  There’s many pictures of him holding me when I was a baby and playing with me through my childhood, but one day, when I was twelve, he said to me, “Sometimes, stars have to die too.”

About a year later, he passed away.  Abeoji was sad and Appa stayed beside him for every second.  That night, I woke up in the middle of the night and unable to fall asleep again, went into Appa and Abeoji’s room.  Abeoji was still sleeping, but Appa woke up when he heard me coming into the room. 

“Can’t sleep?” he asked as I climbed into bed next to them.  “I’ll tell you a story, so try to go to sleep, okay.”

I nodded and closed my eyes as Appa started his story. 

“Princess, this is the story of the boy who became a king.”

 

☆♪☆

 

Prince Myungsoo followed his brother off the starship, arriving at Nagareboshi from Yoosung, and looked around for a certain someone. 

It was the Star Festival, a festival where the people from Myungsoo’s home planet of Yoosung go and visit to the star next to theirs, Nagareboshi, and celebrate together.  Myungsoo had been coming to Nagareboshi for as long as he can remember, not that he was complaining though.  

“I can’t wait to see Sungyeol and Dongwoo and Woohyun again,” Myungsoo said, bouncing up and down a little bit.  Sunggyu smiled at him and patted him on the head. 

“You’ll see them soon, just act like a prince for a little longer,” Sunggyu said. 

Immediately, Myungsoo straightened up, Sunggyu was always scolding him about being well behaved and to be more king like, though Myungsoo always tried to point out that he wouldn't be king; it would be Sunggyu then Sunggyu's children, never Myungsoo.   

From the other end of platform, a small party of royalty came out to greet Yoosung's royal family.  Myungsoo smiled as he saw his friends, Dongwoo, Woohyun and Sungyeol.  Woohyun waved at them - well mostly Sunggyu - and Sunggyu waved back.   

Myungsoo couldn't keep his excitement down.  “Umma!  Can we go play now?” he asked, tugging at her skirt.

His mother smiled and nodded.  “Just make sure you’re back in time to get ready for diner, okay?”

“Okay!  Thank you!” Myungsoo gave his mother a hug before rushing off to stand by Sungyeol’s side.

“Umma, can I go with him?” Sungyeol asked his mother, looking much more hyper now that Myungsoo was beside him. 

Both of the Queens laughed and gave their permission for their children to go off by themselves.  In a flash, they were gone, running off to have fun in the garden.  

“Guys!  Wait up!” Hoya and Sungjong, the sons of the General of the Yoosung’s army, came rushing up to them. 

“I missed you so much!” Sungjong said happily as he gave Sungyeol and Dongwoo a tight hug. 

Suddenly, their laughter was drowned out by the loud noises of an airplane passing overhead.  They all instinctively looked up to see what it was.  Myungsoo shrank back against Sungyeol as he saw a dozen planes flying across the sky in a V like the birds back at home. 

“What are those doing here?” Sungjong asked, looking slightly scared.  “Those planes aren’t supposed to be out unless it’s dangerous.”

Sungyeol looked down at the ground.  “Umma is scared of something.”

“Of what?” Myungsoo asked, clinging onto Sungyeol tightly, not wanting to see the fright on Sungyeol’s face.  “What is it?”

“We don’t know, Umma is just more scared of something that she has been for a little while,” Dongwoo explained.  “I think there’s something coming our way…”

Sunggyu shifted his weight, feeling uneasy by the appearance of the planes.  “Let’s just forget about it,” he said firmly.  “I’m sure it’s nothing or our moms wouldn’t have let us come out here.”

Everyone nodded and soon they’re running around and screaming again. 

“Let’s play hide and seek,” Sungyeol suggested. 

“NOT IT!” all seven boys yelled at the same time. 

After a round of screaming and rock paper scissors, Hoya became it and Myungsoo giggled joyfully as Sungyeol pulled him into a hiding spot in the bushes on the far side of the garden.  Sungyeol hushed him as they watched Hoya run into the castle to chase down Sungjong, Dongwoo, Woohyun and Sunggyu.  Finally, Sungyeol plopped down happily in the warm grasses, saying, “I missed you, Soo.”

“I missed you too,” Myungsoo said, falling down beside Sungyeol.  “It’s beautiful here, I wish that I could stay here all the time.”

Sungyeol nodded and pointed up at the sky.  “I want to be up there.  Maybe one day, when Sunggyu-hyung and Woohyun-hyung are the Kings, we can go on a journey somewhere up in the stars.”

Warmth filled Myungsoo’s chest at the sound of an adventure with his best friend, but when he looked up at the sky, the beautiful star light heavens turned into flames. 

 

 

“I need to go find hyung,” Myungsoo realized.  “I need to find Sunggyu.”

“Myungsoo!  You can’t!” Sungyeol said, pulling him down again as Myungsoo tried to leave their hiding place. 

Myungsoo stared at Sungyeol with wide and scared eyes.  “But, Sunggyu-hyung…”

“We’ll get captured!”

“So will Sunggyu-hyung!  And Woohyun-hyung too!”

"No!" Sungyeol pulled Myungsoo into his arms to prevent Myungsoo from running away.  "We need to stay here." 

Myungsoo whimpered, but didn't fight Sungyeol until he heard his mother calling, "Myungsoo!  Sungyeol!  where are you?" 

"Umma!" Myungsoo cried out as he wiggled out of their hidding spot, running into his mother's arms.  

"Thank the stars you're okay," she whispered.  "Come on boys, we need to run." 

Myungsoo took his mother's hand as she guided them to where the starship was landed ealier.  "Umma, where is Sunggyu-hyung?" 

"I sent him home, he'll be home by the time you get back.  Don't worry, you'll be safe-" 

Suddenly, she stopped and pulled Myungsoo and Sungyeol into the shadows.  

"Umma, what's-"

She covered his mouth with her hand, whispering, "Don't move, okay?" 

Myungsoo's eyes widened as he saw Yorooian soilders surrounding the ship and their only escape.  

"What are we going to do?" Sungyeol whispered.  

Before she had a chance to say anything, there was a shout of, "Over there!" 

"Run!  Run!" 

His legs were made of jelly as he was pushed away and he forced his legs to keep on running.  Myungsoo could barely see where he was going through the smoke, Sungyeol's hand in his was the only thing he was sure of.  Out of the smoke, a Yorooian soilder appeared, reaching out for the two.  Myungsoo yelped in surprise and alarm, stumbling back, his hand leaving Sungyeol.  He was hauled to his feet and someone was yanking him towards a Yorooian ship.  

“Let him go!”

Myungsoo spotted his mother running across the courtyard, her eyes wide as she watched her youngest son being pulled onto a Yorooian ship.  "Umma!" Myungsoo screamed, renewing his struggles to get away.  "Umma!"

"Myungsoo!" 

That was the last thing Myungsoo heard before his head was slammed against something hard and he slipped into unconsciousness.  

 

 

“Who do you have here?  We aren’t supposed to take any prisoners.”

“The General will like this one, I know it.”

Myungsoo opened his eyes slowly, wondering who was talking.  Usually, he was the only one in his room in the palace.  The maids and servants didn’t come in until he was awake.  As he tried to move, he found his movements restricted and when he tried to scream, there was a gag in his mouth.

Suddenly, someone came into his field of vision.  “Who is this?”

“The Prince of Yoosung.”

Ducking to avoid eye contact, Myungsoo flinched away from the hand that was coming closer to him. 

“It looks like the prince, take him to the General.”

The other man picked Myungsoo up as if he didn’t weigh anything and carried him to a small room barely bigger than a closet, dumping Myungsoo into the dark and closing the door behind him.  

There was an old saying on Yoosung, “If a star explodes in a far away universe, does it stop shining?”

For hours in teh dark, Myungsoo struggled against the bonds until his wrists were rubbed raw and screamed into the gag until his voice was gone.  He only stopped when someone opened the door again and four men entered the room.  Myungsoo’s eyes widened as he recognized the General of the Yooroo Army from the files that his mother was looking over one evening. 

“My oh my, it is the Prince of Yoosung.  What have I done to deserve this prize?”

Myungsoo shot him a look filled with as much anger and hatred as he could muster, but it didn’t do anything.  After all, Myungsoo was only a small twelve year old against the giant general. 

“Welcome to your new home,” the General said with a smirk as he beckoned one of the men forward.  “Do it.”

Myungsoo screamed against the gag again as he saw the man filling up a syringe with a liquid.  “Shhh...” the man whispered, his head in a soothing action, but it only served to make Myungsoo more anxious, tears leaking out of the corners of his eyes.  “It’ll be over soon.”

Crying, Myungsoo stilled as the needle pricked his skin. 

“Just relax, everything will be okay.”

 

☆♪☆

 

Myungsoo was aware of the cold floor underneath him before he could open his eyes.  Coming from a royal family, Myungsoo’s bed was always clean and warm with soft pillows and fluffy mattresses.  His arms hurt from being in an awkward position while he slept, but that was the least of his worries as his stomach growled with hunger, telling him that he had been unconscious for a long time. 

As if on cue, the doors opened and Myungsoo backed away, pressing against the farthest wall as the General walked in with the same man that had drugged him earlier. 

“What do you want?” Myungsoo demanded. 

The General only smirked and leaned forward. “I am going to win this war, and you know how?”

Myungsoo closed his eyes, shrinking away as the General leaned in closer to whisper in his ear, “You.  Your dear mother and brother won’t be able to fight if it’s your head on the line.”

“No, no, no...” Myungsoo felt the panic start to rise.  “No...”

“Soon, you won’t be a prince of any planet.”

Myungsoo pushed away the General with all his strength.  “The people of Yoosung will keep on fighting no matter what,” he said strongly.  “They will keep on fighting even if you kill me.”

“We aren’t killing you.  No, no, no.  Killing you would be too generous.”

Closing his eyes, Myungsoo resigned himself to his fate.  He could do this.  If it was for Sunggyu and his mother, he could do anything. 

A whip struck him and Myungsoo fell down to the ground, screaming with pain. 

Day after day, Myungsoo was put through a different kind of torture.  It varied from burning to whipping to cutting.  Sometimes, it was drugs and Myungsoo hated that the most.  If it was physical pain, at least those times, he out from most of the pain.  The times that he was put on the drugs, he would dream of a day that he was back at home with Sunggyu and his mother, playing in the garden of the stars, but when the drugs left his system, he was left alone in the dark, crying for home. 

Days turned into weeks.  Weeks blured together in a haze of pain and hunger until Myungsoo wasn't sure what was a dream and what was reality. 

 

 

Sunggyu was sitting on the floor cross legged across from him in the small cell when Myungsoo opened his eyes. 

“Hey, Soo.”

“Hyung,” Myungsoo whispered, his voice dry from the lack of water.  Maybe it was the dehydration getting to him, but he mumbled, “I miss you so much.”

“It’s okay, I’m not going to leave you,” Sunggyu promised with a warm smile.  “Come here.”

Myungsoo smiled shakily and crawled forward, but was jerked to a stop by a metal shakle around his ankle that was chained to the wall.  Sunggyu just smiled warmly as Myungsoo tried desperately to yank himself free.  

“Myungsoo, it’s okay.  Don’t worry about it.  It’s okay.”

“Really?  How is it okay?” Myungsoo mumbled, hot tears filling his eyes. 

“It just is.”  Sunggyu’s warm smile seemed to light up the whole cell.  “Remember that song that Umma used to sing to us?”

“Yeah.”

“Didn’t it go like this?” Sunggyu started to hum a song, his warm voice filling the small cell. 

Myungsoo smiled and weakly reached out for Sunggyu, his hand falling down half way between them.  His eyes were unfocused and falling shut as Sunggyu’s warm hand touched his. 

“You’re going to be okay, Soo,” Sunggyu’s voice whispered.  “Just hold on for me just a bit longer.  You can do that, right?”

Nodding, Myungsoo’s eyes fell shut, closing him in the darkness like a black hole where nothing not even gravity could escape, but once more, he hear Sunggyu’s voice say, “I love you, Myungsoo, King of Yoosung.”

 

 

“Myungsoo!”

Myungsoo lifted his head and saw the blurry figure of his mother in front of him.  “No... no...” he mumbled desperately, pushing her away.  “This must be a dream...”

“It’s me, your mother.”

“No.  No.  It’s the drugs, Myungsoo, you’ll wake up soon.  Don’t believe it.  It’s just a dream.”  Myungsoo repeated the mantra over to himself over and over again, rocking back and forth, hoping that he would wake up soon. 

“Myungsoo, it’s you mother, I’m going to take you home.  I promise you that this isn’t a dream.”

“It’s just a dream.  It’s just a dream,” he whispered to himself, curling himself up into a even smaller ball as if he could disappear. 

“Myungsoo, baby.  It’s me.  I'm going to take you home now.”

“No... it’s just a dream.”  Myungsoo promised himself.  “It’s a dream...  Just think of the stars... they’re not going to leave you.  The stars are right there...”

The stars wrapped around him, keeping him safe.  Instinctively, Myungsoo buried into the stars, knowing that the beautiful silver would keep him safe from the monsters.  It wasn’t until a couple of moments later, Myungsoo realized it wasn’t the stars, but his mother’s royal uniform in front of him, pressing his stained body into her body.  Slowly, Myungsoo stopped crying, shaking slightly as he stilled, wondering if it was a dream. 

“Baby, my little baby, are you okay?”

Myungoo looked up at her, his eyes filled with tears as she remained there and for a moment, he let himself hope again.  “Umma…” he cried, his words smeared with blood and exhastion.  “Umma… I want to go home.”

“Shhh, it’s okay, baby, you’re going to be home soon.”

Myungsoo nodded, still crying as she took him in her arms gently, lifting him off the cold hard floor.  “Umma… it all hurts…”

“It’s okay, Myungsoo, I’m taking you home,” she whispered in his ear.  “Umma’s here.  You're safe now.  I'm never going to let anything bad happen to you again.”

Smiling weakly, Myungsoo let himself relax in his mother’s arms.  “Umma… there were so many scary nightmares…”

“I know, I’m so sorry that I didn’t come earlier.”

“Sunggyu-hyung was in a ship that exploded,” Myungsoo mumbled as his mother carried him out of the cell.  “It was like when a star exploded…  my heart exploded too…”

She didn’t respond for a little while, just gently rubbing his back. 

“Umma?”

“I’m here, what happened next?”

If Myungsoo wasn’t in so much pain, he would’ve noticed the hesitation in her voice, but he just continued.  “There was a bright blue green star and Sunggyu was happy there… he looked lonely,”  Myungsoo whispered.  “I want to join him.”

“You’re going to be home soon,” she said softly. “The two of you are going to be together again.”

Myungsoo smiled against her shoulder as they continued their journey through the Yorooian base.  “Umma… I missed you… it hurts…”

“I know, we’re nearly there.”

“Queen Seo!  Over here!”

Barely, Myungsoo managed lifted his head and looked sleepily at the crowd of soldiers waiting for them at the end of the hall. 

“You can pass him over here, Queen.  We’ll take care of him.”

“No, I’ll take him,” his mother said firmly.  “Go take care of the others and make sure they’re all safe.” 

Myungsoo held onto his mother as if she was light in the middle of a black hole as she carried him onto Yoosung ship.  “Umma…"  That word tasted so sweet on his tounge.  "I missed Sunggyu-hyung a lot…”

“I know you do, just sleep for now, okay?” his mother cooed as she placed him down in a bed so much softer than the hard cold floors of the cell. 

Nodding, Myungsoo found his hands curling into his mother’s gown.  He was so close to the stars, he could hold them in his hands...

 

☆♪☆

 

Myungsoo opened his eyes slowly and saw a pair of warm brown eyes looking down at him. 

“He woke up!  Hyung!  Myungsoo-hyung woke up!  Hyung!  Come quickly!”

His eyes snapped shut again as the owner of the eyes screamed loudly. 

“Sungjong-ah, you shouldn’t yell like that,” a new voice reprimanded. 

“But he is awake, I saw him open his eyes again.”

“Soo?  You awake?”

Myungsoo groaned and opened his eyes slowly.  Dongwoo’s face blurred into focus and he smiled as he saw Myungsoo focus on him.  “Hey, little one,” he said softly.  “Feeling okay?”

He nodded, looking around at his surroundings.  He was lying on a bed in the infirmary of one of Yoosung’s ships.  Sungjong and Dongwoo were beside his bed, looking down at him worriedly. 

“Sunggyu-hyung?”

He missed the flicker in Dongwoo’s eyes before Dongwoo starts talking.  “He’s not here right now, just get some sleep before he comes back.  Okay?”    

Too weak and tired to even argue, Myungsoo nodded and closed his eyes again, letting himself drift off again. 

The next time Myungsoo woke up, his mother was right there beside him.  “Hey there,” she whispered lovingly, gently touching his cheek.  “Are you okay?”

Myungsoo smiled, happy that she was there.  “Umma…”

“It’s okay, you’re home,” she promised, brushing his hair out of his eyes.  “Oh, I missed you so much.”

Tears stung Myungsoo’s eyes as he leaned into his mother’s touch.  “I missed you too,” he whispered.  “I thought it was all a dream...”

“It’s not, I promise.  You’re safe.  You’re home with me.”

The next few days were spent floating in and out of consciousness.  Every time that he woke up, someone was waiting for him, Sungjong, Hoya, Dongowo, Sungyeol, his mother.  There was only one person missing.

Sunggyu.

Dread was filling Myungsoo’s stomach with each passing day without seeing Sunggyu, but he couldn’t bring himself to ask his mother about where Sunggyu was.  He knew that it would only end in pain. 

“Myungsoo!  Myungsoo!”

“Hyung!”

Myungsoo ran through the darkness, fighting against the shadowy tendrils that seemed to be grabbing at him, keeping him from getting to Sunggyu. 

“No, no, no, let me go!  Hyung!  Sunggyu-hyung!” Myungsoo screamed as the shadows grabbed at him, pulling him down and down...

“Myungsoo!  Wake up!”

He bolted up right, a scream still stuck in the back of his throat.  His mother was holding him in her arms, hushing him gently as he sobbed into her warm embrace.  “It’s okay, Myungsoo, you’re safe, it’s okay.”

Clinging tightly onto his mother, clinging onto safety, Myungsoo asked in a small voice, “Umma... where’s Sunggyu-hyung?”

Her hands brushed through her hair and her voice was shaking as she replied, “I keep on thanking the stars that you are here, but our Sunggyu... not even the stars will know where Sunggyu is.”

A sob escaped Myungsoo’s throat again.  Closing his eyes against the pain that was drumming with each heartbeat, Myungsoo cried for Sunggyu. 

 

☆♪☆

 

“You’re in charge up here while I’m on the field.”

Myungsoo nodded as he helped his mother strap on her weapons.  “Are you sure that you don’t need any help down there?  I mean... it’s a big planet...”

She smiled and cupped her hands around Myungsoo’s cheeks.  “As soon as it’s all clear, I’ll send for you and we can look for Sunggyu together.”

Blushing as his mother knew exactly what he was trying to say, Myungsoo mumbled.  “Thank you, Umma.”

Kissing his forehead, she said gently, “I’ll be back soon.  I love you.”

Nodding, Myungsoo hugged her tightly.  “Stay safe, Umma.”

Myungsoo accompanied her to the shuttle that would take her down to the planet down below where there were wars raging, then he headed up to the bridge of the ship where Sungyeol, Dongwoo, Hoya and Sungjong were waiting for him. 

“Okay, now that Myungsoo is here, we can start the operation,” Hoya said. 

Myungsoo nodded and looked at the screens in front of him, each of them displaying a different point in the battle field from the ships.  Quickly, his eyes located the ship that his mother was in.  As if she knew that her son was looking at the monitor, she looked up at the camera and nodded once with a little smile.  A smile appeared on his own lips as he turned back to the battle plans.  

“Is everything going as planned?”

Sungyeol nodded, pointing to a point on the map.  “We’re pushing the Yorooians to the west.”

“How long will that take?"

"Shouldn't take much more than a couple of days."

That’s good,” Myungsoo mused.  “Keep on going until we manage to break through.”

“Yes sir,” Sungjong said, turning to call the troops on the field. 

Looking once more at the screens, Myungsoo for a moment admired the beautiful view of the stars and the country below, but as soon as he saw something else in the screens, his stomach dropped in dread. 

“No!  Abort the ships!” Myungsoo yelled.  “Abort the ships!”

“Myungsoo, why—“

Sungjong was cut off as suddenly there was an explosion, large enough to rock the ship that they were on and all of the feeds on the screen went dead.    

It took a moment for Myungsoo to realize what happened and he was unaware of screaming, “Get down there!  Save her!”

“Myungsoo... there’s nothing that we can do.”

Grabbing Sungjong by the collar, Myungsoo shook him, screaming, “She’s your Queen!  You need to save her!”

“She’s gone, Myungsoo.” This time it was Dongwoo who spoke up gently behind him.  “All of our troops down there are gone.”

“No, no, no, no!  We can still save her!” Myungsoo’s vision was swarming with tears and his chest started feeling tight as his breaths came out in short gasps.  “We can still save her!”

He let go of Sungjong, ready to go to his mother, even if that meant flying through space on his own, but he was stopped by Hoya.  “Myungsoo, look at me,” Hoya said firmly.  “We can’t do anything about them.  Now, you need to be our leader.  You can’t be the son of the Queen.  You need to be the leader of Yoosung.”

Shaking his head fiercely, Myungsoo replied, “No, we can go down and get Umma and she can lead us!  She’s down there.  We need to save her.”

He pushed back against Hoya, but someone else was in his way.  “Sungyeol, please, we need to send a search party down and search for...”

There’s something wrong with Sungyeol, Myungsoo knew it as soon as he looked at Sungyeol.  Sungyeol’s eyes were filled with tears and his shoulders were shaking with barely suppressed sobs.  “Myungsoo.  She was like my mother too.  I loved her as much as you did... but...”

A lump worked up Myungsoo’s throat and slowly the tears made their way down his cheeks.  “I c-c-can’t loose her too, Sungyeol... I c-can’t...”

Sungyeol said something that Myungsoo didn't catch, his voice soft and comforting as he eased Myungsoo down into a chair, but Myungsoo didn't really notice, too busy buried in his grief. 

He couldn’t lose his mother.  Not like this, not like how he had lost Sunggyu. 

“I don’t want to do anything without hyung,” Myungsoo whimpered.  “I don’t want to go on without Umma.  I’m alone...”

Just like the stars, he was alone, just one lonely star in the middle of the great big universe. 

 

☆♪☆

 

“With this sword, bring us victory in war and bring peace to our planet.”

This was a day that Myungsoo thought he would never see. 

His coronation day. 

He always assumed that if his mother passed away, it would be Sunggyu who took over the throne.  After all, Sunggyu was always the more mature one.  He was the one with the diplomacy powers while Myungsoo loved to adventure.  Sunggyu was supposed to be the king while Myungsoo was supposed to be the prince forever. 

“With this staff, you carry our history with you to lead to a brighter future.”

Accepting the staff, Myungsoo caught a glimpse of his reflection in the gold.  This wasn’t a face of a king, it was a face of a scared boy. 

He wasn’t a king. 

He would never be a king.

“With this crown, you are our King.”

The crown felt heavy as it was placed on Myungsoo’s head.  Now, Myungsoo knew that he had to turn around to greet the citizens for the first time, but his heart constricted with fear.  Looking over at Sungyeol, he caught his gaze.  Sungyeol gave him an encouraging nod with a small smile on his lips. 

With a deep breath, Myungsoo turned around and looked out at the sea of citizens in front of him.  Everyone was watching him, the people in front of him and the stars in the heavens above, waiting for the new King to speak his first words.  Myungsoo swallowed hard and opened his mouth to speak, but as he looked at the stars, for a moment, he was tempted to run away to the stars and live with Sunggyu, wherever he was now, but for now, Myungsoo had to be a King.

“I... I can’t be like my mother was before me, I can’t be anything like my brother would’ve been, but... I will be your King.”

“Long live the King!”

Myungsoo acknowledged them with a dip of his head.  “I’ll be the King that Yoosung needs for this war.  I’ll bring peace back to Yoosung.”

The people cheered, but Myungsoo’s heart was making another promise. 

I’ll bring hyung home back to Yoosung.  Even if it’s the last thing I do.  I’ll bring you home, hyung. 

 

“Long live the King!  Long live the King of Yoosung!”

 

☆♪☆

 

 

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