You knew that Jongdae showing up was never anything good. By now, you almost expected Baekhyun to be over constantly, but Jongdae always meant trouble. You raised an eyebrow as you opened the door, suspicions already growing at the way his smile widened. “Chanyeol isn’t here, Jongdae. Sorry.” Even though it might not be polite, you continued to stand in the doorway, not exactly welcoming him into the house.

Jongdae’s smile grew and you debated for a moment on simply closing the door in his face. “That’s okay, I actually wanted to talk to you about something.” He motioned into the house behind you. “Is it okay to come in? It’s a bit cold out here and I don’t think your parents want to share the heat with the entire neighborhood, after all.” His smile might seem innocent and friendly to any onlooker, but you had long since learned that Jongdae was neither of those things.

Sadly, he had a valid point. Winter had set in, and the ground was covered in a layer of snow. And while your parents made sure to show up for all the right society events, including a fundraiser gala to build a new homeless shelter in one of the more dangerous parts of the city, you also knew that one of your father’s unofficial duties was taking care of the daily running of several businesses in that part of town, none of which were particularly hospitable to those same homeless. Rumors of the homeless being murdered for simply trying to sleep on the curbs by the wrong doors were whispered all over the city, but those too were silenced quickly and without a trace.

Reluctantly you moved to let him inside, closing the door behind him and moving to walk into one of the libraries that you knew your brother would meet with the others on more official business. You heard Jongdae’s laugh from behind you, and you allowed a small frown to cross your face while you were faced away from him where he couldn’t see the expression. You weren’t exactly afraid of any of your father or brother’s associates, but you knew better than to let anything show that you were less than fond of them. Especially Jongdae.

You moved to sit in one of the chairs that you knew Baekhyun favored, if for nothing but the fact that he had joked with Chanyeol about feeling like a king on his throne. You knew that technically Baekhyun was considered the little prince of the small group that your brother found himself tangled up in, but he honestly seemed more like an overgrown child playing pretend at times while more than happy to take off the costume and go back to being like everyone else. He was also the least ambitious supposed prince that you knew. While most of the others seemed to be almost tripping over each other to amass as much power and influence as possible, Baekhyun seemed to almost want to escape from it.

Jongdae however was the force behind him keeping anyone from being able to discredit Baekhyun’s position.

You watched as Jongdae casually moved to hang his coat on the rack by the door, not outwardly acknowledging the slight rudeness of you not asking for it when he came inside. Instead he seemed to have an almost amused smile on his face as he moved to sit on one of the couches beside the chair you were in. He settled onto the couch, as if he were completely welcomed and comfortable, continuing to smile at you.

“Chaeyoung, you’ve heard about the tiny trio being up to something, haven’t you? You are on the public arts committee with that girl who married the mayor’s son, right?” The smile on Jongdae’s face slowly turned even more plotting, and you simply nodded. “I hear they’re on the guest list for the auction next week as well.”

You raised an eyebrow. You knew that your brother’s senior family was holding an arts auction as a fundraiser for some charity, but you also knew that was really just a way to draw the public’s attention away from a few of the larger projects that they were up to behind the scenes. Another of the big three families had been causing trouble with some of the shipments, and you had overheard comments about striking back.

“If the auction is to be a giant society event, it’s an unavoidable downside. But what does this have to do with me? I’m not involved with the auction, or much of the business in general.” You knew your role in the family was to simply make connections with others and to find people who could be beneficial and then introduce them to one of the others in the family. The only reason you would be attending the auction was because of your seat on the arts council, and the public expectations as such.

Jongdae’s smile grew more secretive, and you knew that the real reason for his visit would come up soon enough. You also knew that this smile meant there was something that he was keeping to himself. “I have a proposition for you.”

The words made you pause for a moment, blinking at him. “What sort of proposition?” You felt your heart start to speed up slightly. While you didn’t think he would actually do anything outright dangerous to you, for fear of your brother’s retaliation and the ever accompanying support of it from Baekhyun, you also weren’t dumb enough to believe he would also not hesitate to have something less than favorable for you if you disagreed.

Shrugging with a slight quirk of his eyebrows, Jongdae’s smile shifted to an almost smug grin. “I have someone you should meet. Well, make better acquaintance with, I should say.”

“What do you mean by that, Jongdae? We both know my role in things. And you should know by now the feigned innocent doesn’t work with me. So what exactly are you suggesting?” You crossed your arms over your chest, raising your eyebrow slightly.

Jongdae laughed before nodding. “You’re right. Anyone who thinks that you’re a soft wallflower, is definitely wrong. The demureness is clearly a facade.” He tilted his head slightly, the more plotting grin slipping back onto his face again. “I wonder if you’re even more cunning than your brother.”

While your brother outwardly seemed to be just as carefree and almost oblivious towards the power game going on in secret between the families as Baekhyun, you knew better. He had a quick shrewdness inherited from your father. Chanyeol simply chose to only bother with things when they threatened Baekhyun or you. And when he did choose to make a move, it was always disastrous for the focus of his attacks.

You waved for Jongdae to continue and he chuckled again before nodding. “I discovered a rather interesting development to have come up with a certain little princess and a member of the tiny trio.”

You raised an eyebrow, managing to keep from gasping at the news. It had been a bit of a big deal when Kyuhyun’s younger sister had gotten engaged to Sehun, who wasn’t any form of hierarchy in the overall family. While Sehun was the favored of Junmyeon, the main prince for your brother’s branch of the family, to marry the little princess from the larger and older branch gave him quite a bit more sway over politics within the family, especially as he wasn’t one of the so-called princes. If what Jongdae was hinting at was true, then that could potentially topple both Kyuhyun and Junmyeon. Kyuhyun would be labelled a traitor, as his sister had gotten involved with one of the enemy families. Unless Junmyeon rejected Sehun and forced him out, then he would be seen as weak, as he would have lost to an enemy family.

“What does that have to do with me? What are you suggesting that I do?” Obviously, Jongdae was going to attempt to use this situation for the gain of his branch of the family, so you knew he had already come up with at least one, but more likely several, plots to quickly take advantage of the situation.

The more scheming grin made its way to Jongdae’s face again, and you were careful to force your face into a blank expression. “You can’t be naive enough to think you wouldn’t be a piece to an alliance. Baekhyun isn’t ambitious enough to have thought of you, and Chanyeol is too protective to even think of using you for anything, and Minseok doesn’t bother caring about much of anything outside of his current problems and situation. I have no such qualms or reservations, as I’m sure you know.” Jongdae’s expression dropped to the almost sinister grin. While he claimed he didn’t want any of the power for himself, Jongdae was anything but complacent.

You shifted in your seat, mentally berating yourself for the slight tell as you saw Jongdae’s grin grow. “So you’re telling me to attempt seducing someone who obviously has some amount of power. I don’t have to remind you that I’m not really any true power connection, Baekhyun is the prince, not Chanyeol.”

Jongdae shook his head, interrupting your rebuttal. “Everyone knows that Baekhyun is overly attached and close with your brother. So for all purposes, you’re as good as one of the other so-called princesses. And with who I have in mind, it won’t matter because his status will more than make up for that insignificant detail.” He waved offhandedly before turning back to the serious demeanor. “Now, all I need to do is work a little magic and I’ll prove your brother wrong.”

You frowned, turning your head slightly. “What do you mean prove my brother wrong?”

Jongdae laughed with a shrug. “He insisted that you weren’t the type to be able to seduce someone else. I think that with a little help from me, you would be able to have an entire room tripping over themselves for a smile from you.” He gave you a playful wink before raising an eyebrow. “So, what do you think? Care to test his theory?”