"Wait! Don't eat it!"

Baekhyun looked up from his whale meat dish, raising his brows irritably. Oh dear Han Eunbyul, couldn't you see how much he wanted to gobble the dish down? It's begging to be eaten, literally. How can anyone say no to the mere smell of it?

"Why?" Baekhyun asked Byul, frowning.

Byul ignored him and looked over to the court lady who brought the dish in. "Has this been tested by the silver needle? For poison?" she asked urgently. Baekhyun blinked, not quite following her train of thoughts.

"Yes. It was tested in the Imperial Kitchen." the court lady looked annoyed at the question. In fact, a small part of Baekhyun was annoyed as well. Damn Han Eunbyul, couldn't she see he was dying to try this magnificent dish?

Instead, Byul looked over at him earnestly. "Ddong-ha, don't eat it." her voice trembled, unlike the usual confident Han Eunbyul Baekhyun knew. "I think....I think I smelt almonds and apples in there. I think it might be cyanide." she blurted.

There were murmurings in the room but Baekhyun didn't find it surprising. Seriously. Cyanide? Who the hell would put cyanide in it?

"Are you sure, dear?" the Queen asked Byul. "That's pretty serious. It might mean someone's trying to poison Baekhyun."

Baekhyun saw Byul her lips. "I think so."

"Hah! You think!" Dahae frowned. "All our soups are fine and why would Jeonha's be otherwise?" she asked. "It all came from the same pot and don't forget how it's already been tested by the silver needle. I bet you just want to eat it for yourself!"

"No, I really..." Byul struggled for words.

Baekhyun sighed. He thought the drama was a little too much to handle and his stomach was growling. He didn't think Byul would want the dish for herself, but he didn't really believe that someone would try to poison him either. And it's been tested by the silver needle, right?

Feeling generous, Baekhyun held out a spoon. He offered some soup to Byul, not minding how Dahae was throwing him offended looks. He thought since this was such a rare delicacy, he should share it with Byul.

He watched her drink it, wondering how it tasted. He watched as her face tightened and paled within a milisecond. He watched as her body wavered for a second and finally collasped on the ground.

His heart tightened.

He stared at Byul's unconscious body in front of him, gulping nervously for air. First, it was disbelief, shock, stunned.

Then the pain hit so suddenly, Baekhyun was almost thrown off his seat. He flew over to Byul and clutched her hand, his mouth moving and screaming without his knowledge. People told him afterwards that he was screaming her name. He had no idea.

All he knew was that at that moment, he really felt like drinking that darn soup and joining her as well.

"How is she?" Chanyeol asked urgently between pants. He had heard the news that Byul was poisoned and had rushed all the way from his residence, not bothering to take a horse because the nearest paths to Baekhyun's quarters were ones on foot.

He didn't want to believe what he heard, but had to face it. His beloved Byul, poisoned. He didn't want to think what might happen if...

He shuddered. No. Don't think about it before it happened.

Baekhyun was trembling, his face white. It was the first time Chanyeol had seen his hyung so utterly disturbed and thrown off balance. "I don't know. The Imperial Physician is still checking her."

Baekhyun his lips, feeling numb all over. He felt as if he was five again, and he was waiting outside his grandfather's room as his grandfather battled his illness. Lost, scared, frightened.

He had carried Byul to his quarters himself, wanting to shorten the distance the Physican had to travel in hope of getting help to Byul in time. He made the maids give her one of the best spare rooms in his quarters, putting her in it and waiting impatiently for the physician to arrive.

So little time had passed between her drinking the darned whale meat soup till now, but he felt like it had been an eternity. Was it even possible to worry so much as this?

The other EXO-K princes rushed to the scene and they all looked very shaken. "Is it true? Byul noona is poisoned?" Sehun whispered, scared.

Baekhyun nodded regretfully, like it was all his fault. "What happened?" Suho asked, biting his lips hard. "What did she eat? Why was she poisoned? How?"

Baekhyun sighed. "She was with us during lunch." he murmured, his voice cracking. "The Court Ladies brought the Whale meat dish and I let her smell it. Then when I wanted to drink it, Han Eunbyul stopped me. She asked the court ladies if it was tested with the silver needle and she said she smelled almonds and apples in it."

D.O.'s eyes widened. "Almonds and apples?" he squeaked. "Isn't that cyanide?"

Baekhyun nodded. "We didn't believe her since it was already tested with the silver needle.  And by that time Abeoji, Omonim and Dahae had already begun eating their share and they were alright. It didn't seem possible that mine was spiked." he gulped. "Then Dahae taunted Han Eunbyul," he squeezed his eyes shut regretfully. "And I even offered Han Eunbyul some."

All of them quietened down. "You offered her the soup?" Chanyeol asked in a dead-panned voice. "You were the one who fed that darned thing to her?"

Baekhyun let out a dragged breath. "I didn't know it was poisoned and at that time it seemed ridiculous!" he defended. "Even Omonim seemed doubtful about it. And then Dahae challenged Han Eunbyul to drink it and she did. And the next moment..." he whispered. "She was down."

"It's all your fault, hyung!" Chanyeol growled dangerously. "If only you were more sensitive and you didn't go along with the flow-"

"Chanyeol." Suho said sharply. "Baekhyun-gun would never let Byul eat the dish if he knew what it contained. He said so himself, he didn't know it was poisoned. It's not his fault."

Chanyeol harrumphed. "Yeah. He didn't know. But he's so thick headed all the time and who knows if he just got affected by what Dahae said, like he usually was?" he asked. "If he could just take care of himself like any other man out there, Byul wouldn't have to take the bait for him so many times!"

"ENOUGH!" Suho commanded, his elder position showing through. He frowned at Chanyeol, clearly disappointed. "You're not making since, Chanyeol. You know this is not Baekhyun's fault and you're just venting your frustrations on your hyung."

He looked at D.O. "Bring Chanyeol to walk outside for a bit. He needs to cool down."

D.O. nodded and dragged Chanyeol away despite his hyung's protests. Baekhyun sank on the chair and buried his face in his palms. "Yeol's right. It's my fault. If only I was more alert like Han Eunbyul was..." he choked.

"It's not your fault, hyung." Kai muttered. "It's no one's fault except for the person who tried to poison you. What's important now is that Byul noona's alright."

Baekhyun nodded, sniffling. But there was a part of him that still felt it was his fault, and he knew no matter what any one said, he'd still feel that way.