The next morning, the door was thrown open, and she was woken by half the Sun servants in the palace. They tore her out of bed, into a tub filled with outrageously hot water (and something that carried a very strong scent), cleaned her with harsh enough scrubs to convince her they were trying to erode her skin, then removing her again and dressing her in something very different from her usual apprentice robes.

“Hold your arms up,” the tailor woman said, measuring her waist as she did so. Hesitantly, Dahyun obeyed, standing like a statue as servants worked all around her. Finally they began the measurements, fitting a strange sort of robe, something light and small but deceptively elaborate cinching her waist and made of a much softer, nicer fabric than the bunchy, crumpled, bag-shaped robes the other apprentices had to wear. When she was finally allowed to view her reflection, she’d almost even call it flattering.

“Why do you dress me up just because I’m going to be bringing the sun back?” she asked as she was escorted through the halls, some time after everyone finally agreed that she looked right.

“You know the importance of this. We don’t ask this of you lightly; we might as well give you some ceremony, some importance, in the time it takes to prepare you.”

“I don’t mind,” Dahyun said, and the woman laughed.

“You’d undo all our hard work?”

Dahyun laughed nervously in response. “I suppose not. Sorry-”

A loud shuffle from the room that they’d left drew their attention, and turning back, the woman made a face.

“I’ll just be a moment, Dahyun,” she said, rushing away and leaving Dahyun entirely alone.

Again. She decided not to get lost this time, instead looking around, idle steps taking her to the wall, where she traced the artistic carvings. Every single corridor wall had these markings, paintings of mountains and stars and crescent moons and full moons and constellations and strange, swirled shapes she didn’t recognise. Nothing was the same; how much time went into this place? She could only imagine how long a palace of this size alone would have taken to build, but counting in the art as well, it had to be beyond decades.

“Hey,” came a voice, and she jumped, looking over at a nearby corridor. A man stood there; dressed in simple black, his hair the same colour, but his eyes were a shocking, shining orange among the monochrome. “You need to come with me.”

Cautiously, Dahyun turned back to the door through which the servant lady had left. “What? Why?”

“You need to,” he said, taking a step forwards.

“A-are you with the Sun Clan?”

He nodded, a slight smirk appearing on his face. “I work with Mother Soonkyu.”

Dahyun glanced back one final time. “Alright,” she said, hesitantly moving forwards. He turned in an instant, moving fast – she had to jog to stay behind him.

Her head ached. She had a bad feeling about this, and she wasn’t sure why, but she was so busy trying to keep track of him that he wasn’t sure she could think properly. She only made the effort when she followed him into a filled corridor – well, not filled so much as occupied. She glanced over at the group, around six people all leaving through a doorway. One of them, a man, glanced at the woman beside him, saying something in a quiet voice, and she stopped short when she recognised him, the skirts of her new clothing swaying with the sudden stop. That Moon Clan person – she looked back over, heart beating wildly, at the man who’d led her here, but he was gone. When she looked at the people again, they were too, the door shutting behind them.

She staggered backwards, wincing at the empty room.

Oh, Dahyun, now you’ve done it.

***

“I’m just grateful we’ve got another week before we try this again,” Jiyong grumbled at Taeyang, who’d appeared as they left the Council Room to ask about progress.

This was one of very few times when the Moon Clan got a real chance to speak to the Sun, let alone to meet and formally try to change things. There were trade agreements to be made; small trifles to be better understood; general updates on the other side of the world on which the Moon Clan had no insight.

But the Sun Council wasn’t a council; it was a woman and her entourage. They spoke occasionally, to remind her of something, to give her information, or to argue with the other side about something she’d said. And she wasn’t particularly interested in keeping the Moon Clan up to date. She treated it like…

Well, a bit like she treated Jimin. It was a helpful reminder of how the world saw him. He spent enough time with people who were used to him; the Council had been uneasy around him at first, but after months with no one dying, they decided he had some degree of self-control. They still avoided touching him, though. Handing him something, they’d curl their fingers away, and after patting Heechul on the back for a task he’d done with Jimin, Jiyong had thrown the youngest man a simple smile instead.

Tzuyu was comfortable around him, but Tzuyu was never afraid, never concerned. It was hardly saying anything that he wasn’t an exception to that.

But he supposed he couldn’t blame people for being afraid. It was true. He did kill his own mother. He’d killed countless people, with a single thought in the back of his mind. It was out of his control; that probably didn’t comfort their fears, though.

He sighed quietly, following behind the others. It was his life, and he wouldn’t pretend there was anything new or shocking about it. It didn’t hurt any more now than it had when he was young. In fact, it was considerably better now. He didn’t see the point in dwelling so much on a basic fact of reality.

They made it into another room, one that wouldn’t have stood out at all had he not accidentally spotted something – a girl, crouched by a doorway, oozing distress. Black hair, dressed in a softly tinted gold dress, but her hair was a bit messy, like it had gotten caught after burying her face in her hands.

She looked over, apparently having failed to notice them before, and Jimin stopped moving entirely, caught by those familiar eyes. She looked about as surprised to see him, then she looked away, the faintest hint of colour showing in her cheeks. She was beautiful, and he hated himself for noticing.

“Jimin?”

He looked to the door, where Hyomin watched him confusedly.

“Go on without me,” he said. They couldn’t see the girl from here, covered as she was by the shape of the wall.

For some reason, he didn’t want to tell them about her.

“I’ll catch up.”

With a shrug, and the others glancing over, they moved on. Jimin stood still, the silence heavy, even after the door was closed behind them. Eventually, he turned back to her, and she was unreadable.

Dahyun. He didn’t know why he still remembered her name. Or her face. He moved closer to her, hands in his pockets, and she quietly held the eye contact as he drew closer.

He was a bit surprised when she broke it, shrinking away and cringing.

“What’s wrong?” He asked.

“I-”

She stopped talking quickly, sighing. After a second, she shifted, standing up and looking up at him again, and he realised they were standing rather close. He considered moving away – but he shouldn’t draw attention to it in the first place.

“I’m lost,” she said, defeated.

“Does that happen to you a lot?” He asked with a growing smile. She frowned in response, but he felt like she was a bit amused as well. He hoped so.

“No!” She said, looking away with a pout. “I have a very good sense of direction, actually.”

“I can see that,” his head tilted as he smirked, examining her pretty face.

Dahyun scoffed. “Why are you always like that? You still don’t even know me.”

“You don’t know me either.”

“That’s not the point.”

“Well, who are you to say I’m always like that? I’m not the only one guilty of premature judging.”

She glared at him. “You’re worse than I am.”

He laughed at that, and she responded with just the faintest smile, one which she quickly fought down. But he saw it. “If that’s what lets you sleep at night.”

She sidestepped, and he realised he had her almost trapped in the little space where she’d been hiding. Panic rose in his chest as she kept moving away.

“You’re going?” He asked, a little annoyed at himself for it. “Aren’t you still lost?”

It was a desperate save. Why did he like her company so much?

Well, she responded well to being made fun of. Really well. He couldn’t blame himself.

She looked over at him. “I’d still be lost if I stayed here.”

“Oh, so you’ll wander in case you find your way back?”

“Leave me alone,” she grumbled, looking away.

“Why not just wait for that man who rescued you last time?”

She glared daggers at him upon hearing the word ‘rescue’. “He’s working for the Council right now.”

“The meeting’s over, you know. I was… working for them too.”

She sighed. “He’s busy anyway. I’m stuck here forever.” She folded her arms, looking up at the roof. She was a bit surprised for a second, eyes going starry. He glanced up too – just like every other room, this one was trying to be a work of art. She had low expectations, apparently.

“Why do you keep coming to this side anyway?”

She looked back at him. “I don’t mean to! How stupid do you think I am?”

He opened his mouth, but hesitated before saying anything.

“Don’t answer that,” the bitterness in her voice made Jimin laugh. “Why are you here, anyway? If you’re with the Council, would you really get caught dead talking to someone from the Sun Enclave?”

He shrugged. “Putting the whole theocracy nonsense aside, I’m drawn to damsels in distress.”

She rolled her eyes quickly, but her cheeks became a little red again. “I’m not a damsel in distress.”

“A damsel in annoyance, then,” he said with another laugh, ignoring the temptation to move closer.

She conceded a smirk. “And a theocracy is better than a plutocracy, you know. At least our poor can achieve anything.”

“Oh good, if they pray hard enough they might be allowed to work in the shadow of the High Mother. I’ve always wanted a chance to agree with everything she says.”

“There’s more to it than that,” Dahyun answered seriously. Were they arguing politics now? “No matter what you think, you’re upper class if you work with the Council. You’re all upper class. And that’s not right.”

He was annoyed. I’m not upper class, you know.

But for him to say that, he’d be revealing who he was. The magic essence he carried inside.

The power that made everyone hate him in an instant.

“Fine,” he said, desperate to dodge the topic. “Decent point. You’re pretty clever for some peasant.”

She blinked, apparently expecting an argument. Then she grinned; that blinding one again, the one that crinkled her eyes.

“What’s your name anyway?” She asked suddenly, shifting to curiosity.

“Didn’t you hear my other plutocrat calling it earlier?”

“Jimin?” She asked brightly. She had heard. She just asked anyway. “I’m Dahyun.”

He knew, too. But he smiled for some reason, feeling a little bit warmer.

“Oh, there you are!”

They both looked over at the woman who appeared, dressed much more drably than Dahyun. Why was she dressed so nicely, anyway?

The woman rushed forwards, and Jimin recognised her as a woman who’d been in the council room for some of the meeting, bringing her side some water. She moved an arm over Dahyun’s shoulder’s, dragging her away and glancing back at him for a single moment. Her eyes flared as she turned to the younger, prettier girl.

“Don’t talk to that man ever again, Dahyun.”

His fist clenched instantly, his heart dropping for some reason.

Dahyun looked at the woman, a friendly yet puzzled air around her, one that just made Jimin angrier.

“Why?” She asked, and whatever that woman answered with Jimin didn’t hear, because she slammed the door behind herself.

He stood still a few moments, listening to the pounding of his heart. Of course.

It was just too much to hope that someone wouldn’t hate him.

a/n- okay, I hadn't realised there was a month more than I thought which is good because I got really sick. Sorry. and how obvious is it that these characters are running away from me - I feel like this is so OOC for everyone, I'm sorry D:

anyway, love you guys, love your comments, loving writing this, thank you to all my readers!!