The Requirement

Jungkook knew something was very wrong the moment Mingyu pulled him to hide beneath a tree when he barely stepped foot into the garden. Mingyu knew his temperament, and he would never do something if it meant angering Jungkook. But then Shinhwa was standing there, and a forced smile on her beautiful face as she spoke to a stranger whose back was to them. Jungkook opened his mouth to ask why, but Mingyu clamped a hand over his lips, glaring at him and shaking his head profusely. Taehyung appeared from behind the house, and he nodded at Mingyu, before walking over to where Shinhwa stood.

"Sanggung, I believe a servant is asking for your presence in the house," Taehyung's face was deceptive, cold, as he inclined his head a little at the stranger. The man laughed, placing a hand on Shinhwa's waist. Jungkook could see how the girl shivered from the contact, and he bit back the outburst of anger. Mingyu gritted his teeth, watching as Taehyung smiled like a fox.

"Is a small matter in the kitchens more important than I?" The man asked, his voice surprisingly deep. Taehyung narrowed his eyes when Shinhwa drew back from his touch, Jungkook drawing back when Mingyu shushed him again. Jungkook felt like he should interfere, but the Shinhwa could hold her own, and with Taehyung backing her up, he knew she could escape unscathed.

"Perhaps not, but is your private business important or your evening meal?" Taehyung challenged, his hair shifting as the sword on his back glinted in the light. Shinhwa shook her head almost imperceptively, eyeing the bush where Jungkook and Mingyu hid, like she was telling them to run.

Mingyu grasped Jungkook's hand tightly, as Taehyung inched towards them just slightly, his hand resting on the hidden dagger in his belt. Taehyung was a walking storage of weapons, and he was ready to fight at any moment. His body was drawn taut, readying to spring into action, and Shinhwa tensed when Taehyung lunged, a palm landing squarely on the man's wrist, and he yelped, releasing Shinhwa. She immediately made a run for it, and Mingyu pulled Jungkook to his feet, running for the door to the house.

"How dare you?" Jungkook and Mingyu watched from the shelter of the house as Taehyung stared down the other man. "I will make sure mother knows of this insult."

Taehyung sneered, "Tell mother, Yugyeom, by all means. You know mother loves me best."

"Fiend," The man, Yugyeom, snarled as he stalked off, his hanbok floating in the light breeze as Taehyung smiled secretively, motioning at them, Mingyu grinning widely back at him as Yugyeom vanished into the gardens. Shinhwa sighed, walking back to where Jungkook and Mingyu were hiding.

'You should not have come back, Lady," Shinhwa bowed apologetically. 'Jungkook shook his head, still trying to get his head around everything. "Isn't that guy Taehyung's little brother?" Taehyung chuckled, glancing back at the dense copse of bushes where Yugyeom had forcefully pushed himself into, the leaves lopsided and scattered everywhere. "Yes, but I would not exactly word it as you did."

Jungkook rolled his eyes, exasperated. "He's just a man, like both of you, and I can hold myself pretty well so why am I hiding, exactly?"

"Because appearances are deceiving, Jiyeon," Mingyu tapped his fingers together, fidgeting. "He is not what you see, but there is something deeper, a darkness that grows as time passes." Jungkook noticed that Mingyu had that hidden sadness in his eyes, like it was a secret he had kept for a long time and not let anyone know. He knew that feeling.

"What he means to say is that you have to stay away from my brother," Taehyung glanced at Mingyu, patting his shoulder consolingly. Mingyu smiled, but it was forced. Jungkook got the point now. All of them wanted him to stay far, far away. Taehyung met his eyes, burning with an intensity, like he was warning Jungkook.

But it didn't stop Jungkook from being curious.

Shinhwa sat beside Mingyu, the young prince making eyes at Taehyung from across the table, Taehyung frowned when Jiyeon sighed, her long hair, unbound, tumbling down her shoulders shifting as she moved restlessly. All of them had been working together to steer Yugyeom away from her and to keep her occupied, but then Jiyeon was active, and she demanded to know things she was not meant to know.

"Jiyeon," Mingyu snapped his fingers in front of Jiyeon's wandering eyes, the girl startling and coming back to life. "Is there something wrong?"

"I want to ride," Jiyeon looked longingly out of the window, the moon shining outside in a shade of pearly white. The sky was practically cloudless, and yet Jiyeon had those clouds in her eyes, in her voice, as Shinhwa reached out to take her hand, rubbing soothing circles over her small palm, calloused after days of holding reins and steering her steed. Jiyeon slumped, Taehyung shaking his head at her.

"It is not that we cannot, it is that we do not have a choice," Taehyung said, touching her shoulder. Mingyu propped his head on his elbow, studying Jiyeon as she blinked, her eyes suddenly watery and gleaming with something that looked suspiciously like tears. "Are you alright?"

Jiyeon laughed nervously, blinking rapidly and brushing the saline away. "No, it's nothing, just a little emotional."

"Lady, what is it?" Shinhwa asked, concern painted all over her face. "You can trust us, all of us." Jiyeon laughed at that, her expression sad, and Mingyu thought he saw something like contempt flash across her beautiful features, but it was gone so fast, he dismissed it. Why would Jiyeon feel something like that?

"It's not that I don't want to," Jiyeon scoffed. "It's just that I can't. I don't know how, when-"

Jiyeon cut off sharply when the doors to their small private room were thrown open, revealing Yugyeom standing there, a sneer on his face and a group of soldiers standing in a neat row behind him, thei