The Two Strangers

Kim Sunggyu paced around the vast floor of his luxurious bedchamber, crumpling a piece of parchment in his hand. His steps were furious, as if the man wanted to step right trough the soft Persian mattress and meter thick stone floor. Sunggyu’s narrowed eyes were following the patterns of the fabric he was walking over, but his head snapped up sharply as the heavy wooden door to his room creaked open.

“What took you so long?” Sunggyu yelled with a spike in his voice. Woohyun took in the sight in front of him in a matter of seconds before answering in a relaxed tone: “I was just taking my beauty nap when a guard barged in, of course I couldn’t leave my room looking like that”. It was his job to calm down Sunggyu, whatever the problem was.

“A beauty nap? Sicha, you’re driving me nuts” Sunggyu exhaled, feeling better already now that his other brain lobe was present. “So what’s the fuss about?” Woohyun asked nonchalantly as he stepped down the stairs. Sunggyu’s expression darkened again as he answered, gnashing his teeth: “My cousin is set to come here next week. My aunt just sent a message saying he needed to: ‘spend some time away to learn to be independent’ and to, more importantly, ‘see how I’m doing with my “little playfield”.’

At this point Woohyun bursted out laughing. Sunggyu just stared at him, not at all amused. “Mwoyo?” he asked, folding his hands and gradually getting more and more pissed off again. “It’s just that… You’re running an entire kingdom and this is your biggest problem” Woohyun managed to utter amongst his laughing.

“Well, he’s a frigging fish I tell you, I never know what he’s thinking.” Sunggyu defended.

* * *

It was a beautiful summer morning, so naturally Lee Sungjong was nowhere near his working place, the royal stables. Well, it’s not like he was there on rainy days either because that, he thought, was just too depressing. Sungjong had no trouble finding someone to stand in for him; he was, after all, the pet of the whole castle. The stable manager acted like a spoiling father towards him.

Right now the 19–year-old was lying on a meadow, frowning as a fly kept harassing his nose. With a violent slap of his hands Sungjong killed the poor little thing and smiled brightly. He sat up to take a peek from behind the high wall of hay. Seeing nothing but a deserted highway that on the right led to the castle grounds and on the left continued to the town, Sungjong propped himself up and, without a second thought towards his stable mates, turned left.

* * *

It had been a fine night of drinking, dancing, laughing and drinking a little more (on someone else’s expense of course). Sungjong was sitting on a bar stool (alone for once) feeling delightfully tipsy and hoping someone would come and chat with him.

Without the boy being aware, a man who possessing statue like beauty was glancing at him over his pint. He was enchanted by the effeminate boy, his silky, light brown hair and slender body that was slumped against the disk, the way his wrist flipped and plumb lips curled when he took a sip of water. Myungsoo definitely hadn’t expected to run into someone like him when he slipped inside through the dark green door and into this small but cozy pub.

Suddenly Sungjong turned to see the other man staring at him openly. They smiled at each other, warily but friendly, and that was the encouragement Myungsoo needed to scoot closer into the stool next to Sungjong.

“Hi, I’m Sungjong” Sungjong said and stretched his hand out sluggishly. Myungsoo clasped the offered hand and answered: “Hi, you can call me L”. “Mysterious” Sungjong giggled, admiring the seemingly effortless perfection of his new acquaintance, and at the same time wondering if he possessed some kind of psychic powers with which he had called the other man over.

“They sure don’t have steins as big as this where I come from” Myungsoo continued the conversation a bit clumsily, lifting the mug in his hand. Sungjong sat up and, had he been an animal, his ears would definitely have perked up as well. “Where are you from, then?” he asked, excited about meeting a foreigner. “Not telling” Myungsoo teased, smirking. Sungjong made a face and continued, persistent to learn something about this man: “What are you here for?” “I could tell you but I’d have to kill you” Myungsoo back. The smug smile on his face had ‘I won’ written all over it. “Cheap” Sungjong commented, sticking out his tongue.

* * *

Infinite kingdom was not only famous for its 23-year old king and his even younger advisor, but also for its military commander, 21-year old Lee Howon, or Hoya as everyone called him. Since young he had been interested in many areas, and whatever he put his mind into he excelled in. He was only 15 when he signed up for army. Because of his remarkable battle abilities, almost startling efficiency and leading capabilities he rose in rank at an amazing pace.

When Sunggyu inherited the throne he decided to make Hoya his military commander, knowing he could trust the man with his life. The move had earned them both some powerful enemies inside the court, but Sunggyu always acted like he didn’t give a damn. That was perhaps because Hoya’s most frightening ability wasn’t any of the ones listed above, but his unbeatable sixth sense. It seemed somehow impossible to fool his animal like instincts; General Lee Howon seemed to be able to smell conspiracies in the air, destroying them before they were even put in action.

Hoya had a tiny weak spot in his heart, just big enough for a petite orphan boy named Sungjong.

Hoya found Sungjong from one of his established hiding places, napping under the shadow of a lonely apple tree with his back against the trunk. Hoya took of his purple uniform jacket, way too hot to wear on a day like this and too expensive (and pretty) to sit on grass with. Hoya folded the garment neatly on his lap as he seated himself next to Sungjong, taking a moment to appreciate the scenery. Somehow Sungjong always managed to find the most beautiful places in the world, places that everyone else just passed by. From this little hill, bald of trees save this one and covered with thick grass instead, you could look down and towards west to see the town’s roofs and beyond them the sea, glimmering in sunrays. When Hoya turned his head up towards east he could catch a glimpse of the castle’s highest towers behind the forest.

Hoya poked Sungjong gently, affectionately on his cheek, making his eyelids flutter open and then close again. Hoya poked Sungjong again, this time not very affectionately, on his side, making him squeal in a voice more fitting to a little girl than a full-fledged teenage boy. After recovering from the shock Sungjong turned to punch Hoya’s arm, not really meaning any harm but feeling the need to vent his anger on something. “Hyung! I was sleeping!” Sungjong whined.

“Shouldn’t you be working or something” Hoya asked, rising an eyebrow. “Impossible. I was drinking until 3 am last night” Sungjong said, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand, looking positively exhausted. “That’s not like you” Hoya stated, concerned. “Yeah, well, I ran into someone interesting” Sungjong grinned, ruffling his bed hair.

A spike of jealousy shot trough Hoya, but he ignored it as some kind of a fraternal instinct.

* * *

Dongwoo was not someone to take too much pride in himself, but there was one thing he couldn’t stand, and that very thing was happening right now. “Jang Dongwoo, get your back here” Sunggyu yelled at the top off his lungs, as if he couldn’t possibly bother anyone. Sighing deep, Dongwoo his heels and walked back next to the king size bed which Sunggyu was sitting on, about to get up. “What do you mean you can’t do any more, I want you to fix me, this instant” Sunggyu said in a demanding voice, sounding rather like a child being denied his favorite candy. “I told you this is all I can do. I can keep away the worst symptoms with these shots, cutting of their edge, but if a cure for this disease has been invented, I do not know of it” Dongwoo explained cautiously.

“Then what am I paying you for?!” Sunggyu scowled, slipping on a heavy fur coat to cover his muscular but weak body and the bandage around his elbow. “I am probably the only one in this kingdom that can actually do something for you, at the least this way you can keep your condition hidden” Dongwoo argued.

As Dongwoo walked out of the room Woohyun pushed himself of the wall (where he had been eavesdropping) and wrapped his arm around the shorter man’s shoulders. “It’s hard for him, you know” Woohyun said, smiling reassuringly. Dongwoo shook his head: “He is seriously the only person in the universe to get me so… infuriated”. He was missing the smile that usually lit up his face; a frown was pushing his chin outwards a bit too much and pulling his lips into a tight line.

* * *

Lee Sungyeol was only 20 years of age, but he had seen plenty more on his travels than most people get to see in a lifetime. He felt no shame in begging on his knees, shouting in the middle of the street like a crazy person or tricking people if it meant nice food, a warm cup of coffee and a dry place to sleep in. That was his luxury, he didn’t crave for castles or masquerades, only hoping the road would someday lead him to a place worth staying in. When he arrived into the capital of a land named as naively as Muhanhan Wangguk, Infinite Kingdom, he certainly wasn’t expecting anything much.

Sungyeol grinned so widely that all his teeth (and a good amount of his gums) were showing as he carried his single bag of belongings on his shoulder and marched alongside the food stalls, feeling the thrill of a new town. He looked kind of out of place amongst the conservatively dressed inhabitants with his brightly colored outfit, with dust from several other towns before this one.

He found his place on a smallish plaza, surrounded by pretty stone houses. The opening was crowded with people watching his little magic show after only twenty minutes. Amongst them was a certain Lee Sungjong (skipping work once again), who stayed after the performer bowed and told the crowd he would be performing again tomorrow.

“That was cool” Sungjong laughed and asked, lowering his voice conspiratorially: “How did you do it?” Sungyeol smiled at the boy and answered while getting out a strange, thin but long pipe: “Magic”. “Hoya told me that there’s no such thing” Sungjong pouted. Sungyeol lit up the pipe without even touching its head, causing Sungjong’s eyes to widen in bewilderment. Sungyeol continued, eyes twinkling: “Well, Hoya is an idiot. Of course there is." He paused before smirking: "and I can tell that you have it too”.

“Can you teach me?” Sungjong beamed, happily forgetting everything everyone had said to him about not believing what stranger’s told him. Sungyeol gave him an evaluating look from his quite remarkable height, marking the value of his clothes, whiteness of his teeth and fairness of his skin, not qualities of someone doing hard physical labor, and asked: “Do you have a place for me to stay in?” Sungjong thought about it for a fracture of a moment before nodding excitedly.

‘This is too easy’ Sungyeol thought to himself, asking out loud:”Do you live alone?” “Yeah, right next to the castle, I work at the royal stables. It’s nothing fancy though” Sungjong said, a bit worried. Sungyeol bit the pipe between his teeth to shake the boy’s notably smooth hand: “It’s settled then. I shall take you as my student in exchange for lodging in your house. What’s your name?” “Lee Sungjong” Sungjong answered, earning a comradely slap to his back from Sungyeol. “My name is Lee Sungyeol, we could be long lost cousins” he laughed.

When they walked towards the castle, Sungyeol telling tales of the places he’d seen and some ones he’d only heard of, Sungjong producing an endless stream of questions, the boy forgot all about the mysterious man from yesterday, who’d even promised to pay him a visit soon.