Chapter 17: After a Decade

Baekhyun raised his head, the movement graceful and his eyes fierce. Soyeon grinned widely, almost as if she already knew the answer. Without waiting for him to talk, she stretched out a hand, taking the vial from her servant again.

“I refuse.”

Soyeon’s eyes flashed to Baekhyun, shock momentarily filling her pupils, before she slapped on her stoic mask again.

“You’re willing to let my brother die?” She asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Don’t call him your brother. You have no right,” Baekhyun gritted out.

She laughed, the noise short and harsh, containing not an ounce of humor. “Then, you’re letting your best friend die?”

“He will not die.”

Twirling the vial between her fingers, Soyeon smirked and said, “My troops outnumber yours three to one. Don’t be ridiculous.”

“If I die, Chanyeol will not have anyone else. If I die in your hands, you would’ve taken everyone important from Chanyeol. I will not allow you to have the satisfaction.”

“He will die either way. Do you want to see him lying on the floor, bloody, with a knife buried deep in his stomach, looking at you with betrayal and distrust? You, his best friend of all people, have chosen your own life over his.”

“No,” Baekhyun disagreed. “I have chosen his happiness over his life. And he will survive; I will make sure he does. We will both survive, along with Jongin, Sehun, and everyone else. But…”

He trailed his eyes over her figure. “You will not.”

She narrowed her eyes, losing the sweet demeanor. “Byun Baekhyun, do not forget that I have you tied up. You can die any second.”

As if on cue, one of the guards surged forward, drawing his dagger. Baekhyun, having anticipated the move, twisted the chair at the last second. The blade sliced neatly through the bonds holding him, the ropes falling harmlessly onto the ground. He stood up menacingly, rubbing his wrists in a casual manner, but anyone could feel the deadly aura emitting from him. No one dared move. The guard, mere feet away from him, did not raise his dagger again.

Finally, he looked up again, his hands dropping to his side. With a swift kick, he disarmed the guard, letting the knife drop with a clang. Silence hung in the air for a second before complete chaos broke out. Baekhyun fought the guards with ease, every move carefully calculated, meant to wound but not kill. Yet even with his skilled moves, he knew he wouldn’t last long. Her men attacked without an end, coming at him wave after wave. He knew he couldn’t handle them all by himself.

Then, as he glanced up towards Soyeon, he saw his chance. She was standing with her arms crossed and eyes sharp, completely unguarded. It would take only a few seconds to grab the dagger from one of the soldiers and have the blade pressed against her neck. Baekhyun took a deep breath and extended his arm.

He grazed one of the guards, having him turn sharply, withdrawing his dagger. Baekhyun grinned inwardly, his hand sneaking up to grab the guard’s wrist and successfully twisting it into an impossible angle. He released the dagger with an unmanly shriek. Baekhyun caught it neatly and knocked the guard out with the edge of the handle. He bent down to grab the other dagger and armed with the both of them, he managed to fend off the next onslaught of soldiers.

Before anyone could notice, he was standing behind Soyeon, one arm pressed against her chest, blade point facing outward, and the other holding the second dagger dangerously close to . He felt her body tense as he began pulling her back towards the wall, his eyes warning the soldiers to stay back.

“Don’t come near,” Soyeon said, trying to hide the trembling of her voice. Baekhyun was amazed by how calm she seemed to be, despite the fact that with one flick of his wrist, she’d be dead.

“Baekhuyn, let’s talk this out,” she said, breathing deeply. “What do you want?”

“I want you to stop this coup. It’s futile, you will lose anyways,” Baekhyun said, his voice even.

“Why are you doing so much for Chanyeol? I can spare your life, Baekhyun,” Soyeon began. “I can spare your life, and when I become Empress, I can give you all the money and land you want. Your position will be even higher than now. I can even make you Emperor.”

Baekhyun laughed, making the cool blade slide against her neck. Her breath hitched, and her hands balled into fists.

“I don’t want any of that,” he said icily, all previous humor gone. “If you think you can tempt me with money and power, you are dreadfully wrong.”

“Why?” She asked. “Why are you giving up money and power, two things all mankind wants, for Chanyeol, my good-for-nothing brother, to become the Emperor?”

“I said to not call him your brother!” Baekhyun snapped, pressing the dagger even closer, almost breaking skin.

Soyeon did not flinch and simply let out a breathy chuckle.

“Why? Are you in love with him?”

She asked the question as if she knew the answer, boldly twisting her head back to look Baekhyun in the eyes. He could only stare back blankly, letting his mind slowly process the words. His grip loosened on her as he continued gazing at her, not speaking, lost in his own thoughts.

“I—”

Soyeon twisted out of Baekhyun’s grasp, aiming a kick at his stomach. He doubled over in pain, narrowly missing the blade of her sword that she had just withdrawn. He quickly straightened up, wincing at the sting gnawing at his midriff and faced her.

“Well, are you?” She asked, still breathless with exhilaration. Her hair had fallen loose from her single Dutch braid, wisps framing her face and falling into her slightly crazed eyes.

“I—” Baekhyun stopped again, frowning at the patterns on the floor. He felt the answer on the tip of his tongue, ready to roll off, but he was hesitant. He was hesitant, and he was scared. He knew that answering this question may lead to a new, different direction in life. One that was completely unfamiliar to him. Yet, the feeling to finally admit it, to finally say it out loud was so strong, so compelling. The reply was pounding in his chest, in his mind, in every cell of his body, threatening to burst out.

Finally, he drew in another breath, feeling a sweet calmness that reminded him somewhat of the spring wind settle over him. A small smile graced his lips as he raised his eyes to Soyeon’s.

“Yes. Yes, I’m in love with Park Chanyeol.”

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A/N: Before I start the note, please click this and support me and my friend by viewing/liking. We really want to win the OST album for our friend, 'cause she just loves it so, so much xD. Thank you all!

Oh my god guys, I'm so sorry! School has gotten soooo busy I couldn't update ;____; I was really busy last week since I had a choir concert and stayed at school until 8 and 11 p.m on both Friday and Saturday. Then, I had class and study sessions with my friends on Sunday. And then I had a TON of homework and ended up sleeping at 3:44 in the morning on Sunday and failed my test the next day. This week seems so long ;___;

But anyways, I'm back with a new chapter that's terribly short and boring and I didn't add screaming Baekhyun. I guess he's coming up in the next, next chapter....or next... chapter... depending on how I decide to plan out the storyline, because there's going to be this one special chapter. (run-on sentence lol). BUT AT LEAST HE KNOWS NOW. HE KNOWS HIS FEELINGS OMGAWD. Well, with my writing speed right now, I reckon this fic will have over 50 chapters omfg.

Uh. What else was I going to say? OH. I'm writing this one dark TaoRis fanfic that I'll hopefully post either tomorrow or the 30th cuz it's for a contest AND I BETTER HURRY MY UP. Yeah. And then this KaiSoo fanfic that I started in history class LOL. And this other one I started in Chem class ( what is with me and writing in school omg). And then this OTHER one I started in English class. OMG. LOL. Yeah, all three of those are KaiSoo, except the last one is going to be dramatic as fk.

Umm... I wanna thank all my subscribers, omgod. I'm sorry if I didn't thank you individually or accidentally msged you twice ;___; AFF confuses me these days. BUT THANK YOU ALL. I LOVE YOU ALL. LIKE A LOT.

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