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Thank goodness that’s over with. As the train shuddered to a start, Jandi sagged into her seat, pressing her cheek against the cool glass of the window. Jeongmin, after another half hour of puffing his chest and carting them from cage to cage in the kennels, had sent them off to the train station with a cheerful goodbye, well wishes for the upcoming primaries, and an of four very expensive looking cars followed by a veritable flock of flashing cameras.

Privately, Jandi thought he’d looked happy to see them go.

He probably was. Now that we’ve taken all the publicity with us, he can go back to terrorizing his wife and children in peace. She frowned. Leaving Raina behind didn’t sit well with her, even though Jandi knew she had no other option. She was hardly in a position of power to organize some elaborate escape, and Raina would never leave her children behind even if there was an opportunity to run. Not to mention, Raina had proven herself a capable woman who was more aware, if anything, of the political climate than Jandi - surely the Railway wouldn’t leave one of its own vulnerable to whatever Raina thought was coming? Right?

Even in her own head, it sounded flimsy.

I just hope I’ll get to see her again. The grey-green pallor of the Namgu city walls blurred by outside, barely visible through a smudge on the outside of the glass. Jandi pressed her thumb into her palm and took a deep breath.

“Where are we going next?” she asked, tearing her eyes away from the window to focus on Kyungsoo, who was staring intently at a speech he needed to memorize. He didn’t look up.

“Yosei. It’s a couple hours away, right between Namgu and the Capital.”

Holding her breath, Jandi waited for more details. Kyungsoo returned to memorizing his speech, brow furrowed, and took a sip of his water. Sitting back, she frowned.

“I thought you said earlier we’d be going to the Golden River cities first, because of the economic crisis. You said that’s why we’re delaying the visit to Geumdo.”

“I’m afraid that’s not quite what I meant.” Kyungsoo set his papers down, smoothing a hand over his face. “The primaries are in three days, and I need to be back in the Capital for that. We’d only get to stay half a day if we stopped by the Golden River first, just accounting for travel time. We’ll head to the river cities and Geumdo after the primaries.”

“Oh.” Picking up her own glass and holding it, Jandi watched the water in the glass shiver along to the train’s movement, a droplet jumping out of the glass and sliding back down along the outside. “But… what if…” She hesitated. Should I say it?

Glancing up, Kyungsoo sighed. “What if I don’t get through the primaries? Is that what you’re asking?”

After a moment of consideration, Jandi nodded.

“Well,” he said, quirking an eyebrow, “all the arrangements have been made for the remainder of the tour, and we’ve notified your family in Geumdo that we’ll be staying with them. To my understanding, it would be a huge inconvenience and disappointment if we were to cancel. So I suppose I’ll just have to make it through the primaries no matter what, won’t I?”

Still staring at her trembling water, Jandi allowed herself a tiny, dry laugh. “Well, yes. I suppose so.”

He watched her for a moment longer - she could feel his gaze burning - before turning back to his papers. Jandi swallowed, feeling close up, and took another sip of her water.

The television was buzzing in the corner, tuned to some state-controlled news program as usual, and Jandi turned her attention to it, unwilling to return to staring out the window. I miss my radio, she thought, frowning as a commercial for mandarin oranges played, featuring a family of stocky, grinning farmers plucking plastic oranges from an orchard of fake trees. I never quite knew what anything meant with the radio, but even that was better than this.

“You’ll let me know if you have any more nightmares, won’t you?” Kyungsoo asked, startling Jandi out of glaring at the television. She stared at him, mouth half-open.

“W-why?”

He cleared his throat, shifting in the seat. “Well - call me superstitious if you will, but dreams as vivid as the one you had last night… They don’t happen for no reason.”

Huh. Jandi raised an eyebrow, emboldened by Kyungsoo’s uncharacteristic show of vulnerability. “Are you sure you aren’t just projecting your own feelings onto my nightmare?”

Kyungsoo breathed in sharply, shooting her a look. She was starting to get used to receiving these glances that were just so Kyungsoo, Jandi realized with a pang, glances that were part annoyed, part amused, part worried, and part something she still couldn’t understand. Something she was terrified she might never understand. The Kyungsoo factor.

“I’m not,” Kyungsoo said. His brow furrowed, mouth set in a grim line. “At least, I don’t think I am.”

“Fine.” Jandi forced a smile and stared at her feet, watching the yellow lamplight glint off her silk shoes. “Sure. I’ll make sure to let you know next time I wake up drenched in my own sweat.”

“Hey.” Putting his papers down and leaning in, Kyungsoo lowered his head to catch her eye, concerned expression a stark contrast to the half-scowl he’d sported earlier. “I didn’t mean to make it sound like I only care because I’m superstitious. I’m worried about you too, Jandi. Nightmares that leave you so disturbed are nothing to just brush off.”

Jandi forced herself to ignore the warmth in her stomach and her cheeks. Silly, affection-deprived fool. “And I appreciate that.” She glanced up, taking in the rare openness of her husband’s face. “But honestly, I’m more concerned about that… bird outside our window than a silly old nightmare.”

The brooding grimace returned in a flash. “Yes, about that. I’m not so sure it was a bird after all.”

“What?”

Kyungsoo hesitated. “In retrospect, it’s quite a bit more likely it was one of Jeongmin’s servants outside our window, not a bird.”

“But why?” Head reeling, Jandi gaped at him. “It was sheer coincidence I was even awake at that time of night. What’s the point of sending a spy when everyone’s asleep? Unless… unless they were trying to get into our room? But why bother with the window?”

Hesitating, Kyungsoo avoided her gaze, staring resolutely at the floor as a pink flush crept up his neck. “I… I suspect Jeongmin was made curious by the gossip about our marriage being fake and wanted to know if we were… truly husband and wife.”

It took several seconds for Jandi to process that, and it wasn’t until Kyungsoo pulled at his shirt collar, loosening it just a hint, that she understood what he was implying. Immediately, she flushed.

“That’s - what a ert! He has no business doing that to anyone, married or not!”

Eyes bugging out, Kyungsoo exploded into a coughing fit. “Well, I don’t think he was doing it for fun,” he clarified in a rush, desperately tugging at his collar again. “Perhaps he thought he could use whatever he found against me as leverage, especially with the primaries coming up.”

Dread filled her stomach. “And can he?”

“Doubt it.” Apparently recovered from his fit, Kyungsoo retrieved his glass and took a long sip. “He’d have brought it up by now. Jeongmin’s not very discreet with these types of things, thankfully. I think you scared whichever lackey of his it was off before they could see much of anything.”

Jandi bit her lip. Perhaps Jeongmin hadn’t found anything to use against them, but still, this wasn’t good. Kyungsoo couldn’t afford a scandal rig