Vocabulary:
streltsy - a Russian military unit
boyars - Russian noblemen
....Just ignore the Russian part. I'm just using Russian vocab because... it's based off Peter the Great after all.
 

Chapter 8: Disappointment and Danger

“And if I do?”

Baekhyun froze, feeling a bit numb from the shock of Chanyeol’s words. To his surprise, he wasn’t blushing; nor did his face feel hot. He just couldn’t bring his eyes to meet Chanyeol’s. His mind was completely blank, trying to process what Chanyeol was saying. The words repeated over and over in his mind like a broken record, but he still couldn’t think of a proper reply to it.

Ten seconds passed.

Fifteen seconds passed.

Twenty se-

“Oh my god Baekhyun, did you take that seriously?”

Chanyeol’s overly loud and deep voice brought Baekhyun back to his senses. He slowly lifted his head, finally looking Chanyeol in the eyes.

“What?”

“I was just kidding! Did I send you into shock?” Chanyeol asked, his face full off childish mischievousness.

“Yah! Park Chanyeol! You scared me for a second there!” Baekhyun exclaimed, smacking Chanyeol on the arm.

Chanyeol merely laughed and commented for Baekhyun to be gentler or else he’d have two injured arms by the end of the hour. Baekhyun gave him a mild evil-eye before hitting him on the shoulder once more, and announcing that he was done bandaging his arm.

“Thanks, Hyunnie!” Chanyeol gushed, slinging an arm around Baekhyun and giving him a small squeeze. “You’re the best!”

For some stupid reason, Baekhyun felt his face heating up and looked down, shuffling his feet. “Y-yeah.”

“Well, I’m going to go find Jongin now. He said there was something that he was going to tell me,” Chanyeol said cheerfully, giving Baekhyun another hug before heading out the door.

Baekhyun watched the cabin door swing close before feeling a pang of… was it disappointment? Disappointment that Chanyeol hadn’t truly meant the confession? Disappointment that Chanyeol had left him so easily?

“HELL NO!” He shrieked out loud, immediately slapping his cheeks over and over again.

“I do not care at all about Chanyeol’s feelings towards me or anyone else,” he muttered to himself, almost like a chant.

“I do not care at all about Chanyeol’s feelings towards me or anyone else,” he repeated.

“I do not care-“

“Um… Baekhyun-hyung?”

“WHAT?” Baekhyun unintentionally snapped at a startled Sehun who had just walked in onto Baekhyun’s satanic chanting.

“I-I was wondering i-if you were h-hungry and wanted s-something to eat,” he whimpered, thoroughly terrified. He held up a plate of sandwiches and smiled weakly at him.

“Oh. Oh, why, thank you,” Baekhyun said, giving Sehun a smile that was a complete 360 degrees change from the scowl he had on earlier.

“Uh… Right. Well, that’s everything… So… I’ll leave you to your… rituals… now…” Sehun said hesitantly, slowly backing out the door.

Baekhyun, who was munching on a sandwich and not paying attention, looked up and asked, “What?”

“N-nothing. Bye, hyung.”

Baekhyun shrugged to himself as he watched Sehun bolt from the cabin. With a jolt, he realized that he was once again staring at the cabin door, like he had been when Chanyeol had left to find Jongin.

“Oh ,” he cursed. “I do not care at all about Chanyeol’s feelings towards me or anyone else…. I do not care at all about Chanyeol’s feelings towards me or anyone else… I do not- UGH, I DON’T CARE ANYMORE!”

Slamming the empty plate onto a table, he immediately made his way to his bed and plopped down on it, covering his face with the blankets, ready to get some much needed sleep.

---

 

“Yah, Jongin. What do you think you’re doing?”

Kyungsoo glared at his captor, who had successfully locked him in place by placing his arms on both sides of Kyungsoo. Jongin merely smirked.

“I had something to talk to you about, baby,” Jongin said in a low voice, his lips suggestively.

“And that is?” Kyungsoo asked in a bored voice, unfazed by Jongin’s behavior.

Jongin didn’t reply, instead, leaning closer towards the shorter boy, until their foreheads were almost touching, their breaths mingling. Kyungsoo continued to stare at Jongin with that expressionless look, not at all disturbed by how close they were.

After nearly a minute of silence, Jongin pulled back with a small, amused smile.

“Soyeon is getting restless. Word has it that she’s recruiting the streltsy,” he said after placing a decent amount of distance between him and Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo’s eyebrows immediately shot up. “Is it because of Chanyeol’s marriage?”

Jongin nodded, looking thoughtfully at the ground. “Now that her precious little puppet-brother is getting married, it means that he’s finally a man and that he’s eligible for the throne. Everyone knows that Soyeon’s been plotting a coup to steal the crown away from Chanyeol. Now, her time is running out, since the Emperor will probably have Chanyeol reign after he gets married. I guarantee you that she isn’t going to give up the throne without a fight.”  

Kyungsoo was silent for a moment, before asking quietly, “Should I round them up?”

Jongin sighed and looked up at the sky. “You’ll have to.”

Kyungsoo nodded solemnly, then after realizing that Jongin (who was still staring at the sky) probably couldn’t see him, he said, “I’ll get right to it as soon as we’re back.”

Jongin finally shifted his eyes back to Kyungsoo and grinned wide, placing a hand on his shoulders. “Get ready for a harsh bloodbath, my friend. Stay safe, would you?”

He patted Kyungsoo on the head once, before turning around and strolling back to his shared cabin with Tao (who insisted that he didn’t want to sleep with Kris).

“You too,” Kyungsoo said softly, almost too late.

Jongin stopped walking, letting a small smile grace his lips, despite the fact that Kyungsoo couldn’t see it.

“Of course.”

---
 

Chanyeol bit his thumb as he paced around in Jongin and Tao’s cabin, ignoring Jongin’s eyes on him. After Jongin relayed to him what was going on back in the Palace, he had been walking back and forth nonstop, not saying a word.

“How do you know?” He finally asked, stopping right in front of Jongin, who was sitting coolly in a wooden chair.

“They sent me a message,” Jongin replied.

“'They' as in….” Chanyeol raised an eyebrow, asking for confirmation.

Jongin nodded grimly. Chanyeol sighed and dropped into a chair next to Jongin. If the information was from them, it must be 100% accurate.

“. Father is ordering me to go as an envoy out of the country. If she attacks then….”

“I’m pretty sure she will,” Jongin stated. After seeing Chanyeol’s startled look, he immediately added, “We’ll try to hold her off as much as possible. Until you come back, at least.”

Chanyeol groaned in frustration and dropped his head in his hands, his mind subconsciously calculating the number of possible casualties. He always knew this was going to happen someday, but despite all of the preparation, he still felt terribly… unprepared. However, he knew that this was the moment everyone was waiting for. His friends, his brothers, the majority of the boyars. They were all waiting for him to take the throne and, despite the gnawing voice at the back of his head telling him to just give up the power, he was definitely going to. After all, Soyeon did not deserve the throne. Not after what she’d done.

“It’s okay. It’s inevitable anyways,” he said, after he resurfaced, his voice surprisingly calm. “I’ve been waiting for this moment for ages. Now it’s finally to put my hard work to use.”

Jongin glanced over at his older brother, surprised at his tone of voice. He hadn’t heard it in a long time. Neither had he seen Chanyeol wear that sober expression in a long time. He smiled grimly to himself. Looks like Park Chanyeol was finally getting serious.

“Is Kyungsoo contacting them?” Chanyeol asked, voice still holding a tinge of iciness.

“He’s going to as soon as we get home.”

Chanyeol nodded. “Then there’s nothing we can do until we get back.”

Once again, Jongin was slightly taken back by Chanyeol’s sudden authoritative tone. He usually acted like a kid, despite the fact that he was the eldest son of the household. Jongin had to admit that the deadly glint in Chanyeol’s eye was a bit unnerving, but he knew it was for the best. Now, he was certain that Chanyeol wouldn’t become soft-hearted when facing the enemy. That was one thing they couldn’t afford to do. To show mercy.

“Jongin.”

“Yes?”

“Do me a favor and make sure Sehun isn’t involved in this. He’s too inexperienced,” Chanyeol said in a weary voice.

Jongin nodded. “I understand.”

Although coming from different mothers, Chanyeol and Jongin both cared terribly for the maknae of the group. He was thoughtful, innocent, and although sometimes a bit too mischievous, very sweet. And even though he was a mere few months younger than Jongin, he had not gone through the harsh trials of Imperial life like he had. He had close to no contact with the military of his country and was always shielded protectively by his older brothers. They had protected him ever since he was little, and this time was no different. They were going to protect him again.

“I’m thinking about sending him off somewhere with Luhan for vacation. The Palace is too dangerous; it’ll definitely become the battlefield for the deciding fight,” Jongin said.

“That’s a good idea. Send a few people with him as bodyguards,” Chanyeol replied, nodding.

They fell silent again, their thoughts wheeling off in different directions, but connected by that one topic. The upcoming battle.

“Hyung,” Jongin began, turning to face Chanyeol. “Tell me honestly, are you ready?”

“No,” Chanyeol replied with a moment of hesitation. “But,” he also faced Jongin, pulling a small smile onto his face. “I’ll try my best, no matter what. I’m not doing this only for myself, after all. It’s for all of us.”

Jongin returned the smile, unable to stop the small swell of pride he felt for his childish older brother.

“Right. We’re all in this together.”

________________

A/N: LOLOL. Sorry guys. Baekyeol are not going to get together yet. Don't worry, I won't drag out their relationship too long though. They'll get together soon enough, after... a bit more going on. But it seems like our main characters are already slowly realizing their feelings for each other, right? Even though they're like... trying their hardest to deny it.

I apologize if the KaiSoo part was too confusing. With all the explaining and stuff. I kept it a bit vague, but everything will come out clear later. Lol, if you guys know Russian history, you guys should probably know what's going on. :D I find their relationship sorta cute. Isn't it? Like, the last part where they tell each other to stay safe? -squeals-

The Kai and Chanyeol part was completely word vomit >.> I didn't even know what I was writing half the time. I hope you guys are able to understand this, lol! 's going to get hella interesting...

Okay, I've got inspiration right now, so I'll probably update tomorrow too. And hopefully the day after tomorrow. And... after that school starts, and I'll only be able to update on weekends -cry-. I'll try my best to update twice every week ('cause you know, Saturday and Sunday), but no promises. :D

Sorry the chapters are so short right now >.> It's still like... leading on to the real plot. Yeah, I know. Like. WTF? 12 chapters and it's STILL leading? ...Yeah. Seohyun and Soyeon, two of our very important characters, are still not appearing much yet, so :D

Check out my KaiStal three-shot? Tomorrow will be Better I should be writing a spin-off of it on Jessica and Lay soon too. Don't ask about my pairing for them. It just suddenly... popped into my mind LOL.