PRAESUMPTIO-THE THIRD OF WHICH I LOVE THEE-3

Ancient Goryeo, 920 A.D

Before leaving on his duty, Yoochun gave his friend a letter with a dire message. 
 
 
Upon entering his chambers, Changmin held onto the small parchment with sweaty palms. A single red stamp was marked in the middle, in the shape of a ram.
 
Roughly, he pried the soft scarlet ribbon off of the message with shaking hands. 
 
He stared at the empty paper.
 
 Suddenly black inked writing began to show itself- letter by letter.
 
 Hesitantly, he began to read it. Recognizing the hand writing, Changmin’s face became stoic. 
 
 
 
 

My Love,
 
There is danger.
 
The Dark is coming. 
 
But the honor to harvest your soul shall only be mine. Am I selfish? 
 
Therefore I must caution you-
 
I have equipped the scroll with a spell that only you can use
 
…once…
 
I instruct you to heed my warning.
 
It will save you in the Black of Night.
 
Before the clock strikes midnight and the silver emerges in the morrow, 
 
Sleep Eternally My Beauty. 
 
Kisses,
 
Junsu.
 

 
Confusion stirred upon Changmin’s face. This piece of parchment that Junsu wrote to him was full of cryptic messages. 
 
Yet again the grim reaper dared to play games with him. This isn’t the first time he was mocked by that Demonic being. 
 
He let out a shuddering breath as he stared at the parchment long and hard. His eyes nearly watering from rage; he looked around the dark confines of his room.
 
The inked words began to disappear, the parchment now remained blank. 
 
Droplets of sweat began to form at the nape of his neck, as clusters of possible scenarios began to swim through his mind.  
 
He approached his door and made sure that no one was outside to witness his next actions. 
 
Locking all the windows and fastening all the ajar niches within his living space, Changmin went into the deepest caverns of his secret closet. One can never know what ears may be listening in the dark of night or what eyes may be lurking in the shadows.
 
He reached out his arm to grab a black candle that hidden in a black leather sack. 
 
Setting his materials on the table, he brought his lips to the wick and blew, thus lighting the candle. 
 
The fire burned a vivid auburn color in the dark room. 
 
With delicate skill, he brought the blank parchment over the fire. White inked letters in ancient script began to form and rise from the confines of the paper. They danced in the air in front of the Mage’s eyes. The vowels began to sing and glow as they seeped into the pores of his body. 
 
The parchment turned into ashes. The fire burned no longer. 
 
 
Changmin closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh trying to meditate and put his thoughts in order. He heard a sudden knock on his door. 
 
Quickly, he began to hide all of his precious magical items. 
 
Approaching the door, sudden shivers ran down his spine as he began to turn the knob. 
 
To his surprise- it was the King himself clad in his nightly garb.  
 
With no hesitation, Changmin quickly crouched down upon his knees with his palms spread flat on the floor out of respect. He sunk his head low, allowing his long hair to hide his face.
 
“Your majesty…how can I be of service?”  He asked with some hesitation tarnishing the tone of his voice.  
 
The King as a major public figure and warrior had a face that learned how to give away no emotion, a stark difference from his free-spirited son. A ruthless and cunning human being who ruled his Kingdom with an iron fist and a cold heart. 
 
He stood before the Mage, leering over him with a threatening aura at the doorstep. He brought his fingers over his chin and pursed his lips; a habit he usually performs to indicate that he is displeased with something. Standing over the crouching figure of the younger boy gave him a sense of pleasure tingling through his bones; which allowed him to stand in that position for a long while. The waste of time was a method to bring fear to the anticipating captured victims of war. 
 
He gave out a light mocking chuckle and grabbed Changmin roughly by his hair. 
 
The Mage screamed out in pain. But, it wasn’t anything that he wasn’t used to. 
 
He quickly lowered the sound of his own voice as he was dragged across. The King made sure to lock the door, so no servants enter and question what is happening just in case. 
 
The older man approached the crouching figure. 
 
“Get up.” Was all he said, in a menacing tone. 
 
Fear wracking his bones, Changmin got up from the cold hard marble floor. He swallowed the lump at the back of his throat. He kept his head low, avoiding eye contact.
 
The King pushed Changmin harshly against the wall. The impact with his head caused the boy to start bleeding. A stream of blood was already starting to trickle down his temple.
 
He lay on the floor, half leaning against the wall for support. 
 
“H-have I d-done s-som-e-thhing wrong your m-majesty?” Changmin managed to bring the words out of his mouth in a stutter. 
 
The King came closely to the boy’s face- just a few centimeters apart. Changmin could taste the scent of sweet wine from the older man’s mouth. 
 
With a hot whisper into the boy’s ear, the King began to speak.
 
“I told you once, to keep magic away from my son. I warned you twice, to keep him safe. The likes of you, should be extinct. Have I not made myself clear? You are disgusting unnatural and diseased creatures. Every one of you should be eradicated and exterminated from existence. I gave you a pardon. I saved you from slavery because you saved my son’s life. Why is it that I hear he was in the Forest playing with magic?”
 
Changmin did not say a word. Deep inside his emotions were tearing him apart. He knew he is different. Not like the rest of the humans that he lives amongst. Replying to the King would be a waste. Nothing he will ever do will change his status. 
 
When he did not utter a reply, he received a strike to his face.
 
The King grabbed Changmin by the wrists and pulled him harshly off the floor, making him stand upright in front of him; then pushed him back down in a symbolic attempt to humiliate him. 
 
“Do not defile my son with your filth.” He spat. “If you soil him, I will not put shackles around these wrists again, as when you were a child, I will cut them off. You are expendable, which means your only duty is to protect Yeun-Ho, even if you die. His life is above yours. Is that understood?” 
 
Changmin gave him a small nod. 
 
“Good.” 
 
With that warning, the King left the frail figure that lay on the floor. 
 
He did not dare stand on his legs. They wouldn’t hold him. He felt weak, as if all his energy had left his body. Like a small child he wrapped his arms around himself, wondering how it would be if he was born normal. This was one of those nights when he cursed himself for being different. 
 
Droplets of tears fell from the corners of his eyes, pooling around the edges of his face. The blood at the corners of his lips began to dry.
 
 With quivering lips he let out a stifled sob.  
 
Before long, the sun began to rise. The rays of light trickled through the mosaic window of the Mage’s room. He fell asleep on the cold floor that night. Slightly cringing away from the brightness of the sun, the Mage cowered beneath his long hair. He stretched out his long limbs and went to his washroom to put on a brand new set of robes to replace the ones that had now accumulated blood stains. 
 
This was a day to be reckoned with. When the sun sets, a new set of problems will be served upon his plate. 
 
The full moon was almost upon the kingdom of Goryeo. 
 
When this unholy night strikes, all who possess the power to wield the mystical elements accumulate more power.
 
Mother nature gives this as reward to her unique children. This is a wonderful night for all those who are gifted. Unfortunately, not all who are gifted, are benevolent. 
 
There is evil lurking within the walls of the Kingdom, and the benign Mage, Choikang Changmin, can sense this danger. 
 
His duty is to protect the Prince. He must do so. That is his sole objective. 
 
 
 
 
“Yunho? Are you there?” Changmin stood in front of the Prince’s bedroom door. 
 
He worried that the Prince might still be upset with him from the previous day. He loved the boy enough to deem every single woman in the Kingdom unworthy of the Prince. 
 
The girl Jae-Eun was especially not to his liking. She acted unlike a woman should. Always speaking her mind aloud and allowing herself to disrespect him. She should know her place. 
 
Yet, that wasn’t the issue bothering Changmin, it was the fact that he couldn’t sense any sort of life force energy from her. Normally, he could read a person’s mind or feel the presence of their aura, but with her it was different. She is different. Because of that, he couldn’t trust her. How can he explain this to the Prince?
 
Clearing his throat, he decided to barge in whether his charge protested or not, he needed to know if he was ok. 
 
Upon entering the room, he saw the young Prince at his table. His head was cast down in his arms. Only his shoulders were visibly moving. His whole body shaking- Yeun-Ho was crying. 
 
Concerned, Changmin ran to his side. “My Prince, what is wrong? Are you hurt?”
 
Yeun-Ho barely lifted his head. With a muffled voice he cast Changmin away along with a wave of his hand. 
 
“My Prince, tell me what is wrong. Please!” Changmin pleaded with glistening eyes. 
 
Yeun-Ho raised his head. Changmin saw the traces of tears streaking the boy’s cheeks. His eyes were swollen with bags underneath, indicating he was crying for a long time.
 
The Mage tried to embrace the boy, but was only pushed away.
 
“I SAID GO AWAY!” 
 
“Yeun-Ho…”
 
“It’s your fault! It’s all your fault! Jae-Eun left! Are you happy now? She’s gone! Forever! I’m never seeing her even again!” 
 
The Prince accusingly pointed a finger at his mentor, with a look of pain cast in his eyes. 
 
“Yeun- I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Changmin was puzzled. Everything was alright yesterday. Why would she suddenly leave?
 
Yeun-Ho quickly brought out a worn out letter from being read too many times. Clearly it was written not too long ago. 
 
“She left this for me. She’s gone from my life.” He said with bits of melancholy in his voice. 
 
Changmin gripped the piece of paper in his hands. It was clearly from the Princess’s stationary by the watermark at the bottom of the paper, but Changmin’s eyes widened at the prospect that the handwriting did not match hers. He decided not to bring up this idea in front of the Prince. If she’s gone for good, then might as well just stay quiet.
 
 He tried once again to comfort his young charge, but all he got in return was another curt reply. 
 
“Leave. I hate you.” Yunho didn’t even look at him. 
 
With that, hiding the pained expression on his face, the Mage left the Prince’s quarters in silence. 
 
He stood on the other side of the door for a brief moment. He didn’t want the young boy to hate him. He knew this was just another tantrum. It will pass, he will get over her, and they will move on. For now, he has other matters to take care of. 
 
With a swift motion he summoned his staff once again and cast a spell over the Prince’s chambers. The entire perimeter will now be secure and invisible to any evil creatures that will lurk during the full moon and hurt his precious charge.
 
 Just a few hours left in the day until the sun sets and the moon rises. He has to prepare himself for whatever foul conflict might arise in the palace. 
 
The full moon will open the portal to creatures of all natures. Good or evil. 
 
Changmin could feel it deep within his chest- as he saw the grey sky splayed out over his head, even without Junsu’s cryptic warning, something is going to go wrong this night. 
 
 
~_~_~_~__~_~_~_~_~__~_~_~_~_~__~_~_~_~_~__~_~_~_~_~__~_

South Korea, South Jeolla Province- Police Department- Present
 
Clouds, like balls of cotton rolled into the open sky, giving some contrast to the grey background. 
 
A tall figure stood under the sky of an open field. He had a bouquet of roses clutched in one hand and a six pack of soju from Mokpo in the other. 
 
Lightening struck across the grey milieu. Wind began to rise and furtively brought all the leaves up into the air in circular motions. Trees swayed back and forth in rhythmical patterns.
 
With his peripheral vision, the figure scanned the area and stalked through the thick grasses towards his destination. His nostrils breathed in the cool air filled with dew. It calmed him, as he smelled the familiar scent. Not long after, thunder drummed through the silence. 
 
The figure entered a grave yard. Scanning the area, nervously he approached the familiar apple blossom tree. 
 
“Hello old friend.” Smiling sadly, he set the bouquet on the grave stone hidden beneath the tree. He took out two bottles of soju and opened them both. After setting them down, he brought out two small shot glasses from his leather jacket. 
 
“Hyung came to visit. Don’t ever say I don’t come.” The figure spoke to the idle grave stone as if having a conversation.
 
He set down a shot glass and poured soju to the top. 
 
“Aish. You’re so disrespectful. Hyung is pouring you a glass, pay attention.” 
 
Then the figure poured himself a shot of soju.
 
He traced the name written on the worn grave with his long fingers. 
 
“You’re so selfish. How could you leave before hyung?” He wagged a finger at the stone. 
 
Droplets of rain began to drop from the sky. 
 
“Konbae Donghae-yah!” He shouted out loud and drank the shot in one go and cringed at the bitter taste. 
 
“Don’t laugh! You know I’m not a good drinker.” He smiled. 
 
The air stilled momentarily. 
 
“Donghae. You know how difficult it is without you?” 
 
Silence. 
 
“Do you even know who I am? Have you forgotten? It’s me…Yunho.”
 
The wind lifted once again past the tree. The small pinkened petals broke off and like a blizzard clustered together towards Yunho. 
 
He gave a small smile and opened another bottle. 
 
“Fighting.” He whispered. A hint of sadness spread across Yunho’s face. He checked the time on his wrist watch, five forty-five p.m. .
 
The sun began to set. The threatening storm began to unfold itself across the sky. Angry grey clouds gathered together in a massive bundle. 
 
Donghae’s shot glass remained untouched. 
 
Yunho took out a cigarette and popped it in his mouth. 
 
~~~
 
Changmin stretched out his tired limbs. Every single joint in his aching fingers practically felt numb. 
 
Sighing, he decided he can take a small five-minute break. Piles and piles of paperwork and files were stacked on top of his desk. On one side of the room was the pile that he finished sorting, and on the other side, triple the amount of paperwork was waiting for him to get through. 
 
He didn’t understand why his sunbae was making him go through this punishment. It is the twenty-first century. They can use computers now and file everything according to a system and make it more organized and accessible. 
 
Instead, Changmin had to sort through every cold-case file, by hand, and rewrite each name and address with updated information. Three weeks straight he allowed himself to go in and out of his make-believe office and he had himself convinced at this point, that perhaps eventually, Yunho might actually ask him to do real police work, rather than just paper pushing and running out for coffee that would end up a puddle on the floor anyways. 
 
Scrunching his face in frustration, the young man got up from his chair and walked inside his bathroom and slammed the door in a fit of rage. The first thing his eyes caught was a roll of toilet paper. He grabbed it and slumped down to the floor. In anger he began to unravel it until he saw the brown cardboard in the middle. 
 
Laughing at his own silly actions, Changmin calmed down. The odd exercise lifted his spirits and renewed his will. He discarded the pile of unrolled toilet paper into the trash bin and decided to check up on Yunho. 
 
He stood outside of the older man’s office. The lights were still on, indicating perhaps he was still inside. Changmin bit his bottom lip. His legs suddenly felt heavy. Finally, he headed back to his own desk; deciding against facing Yunho’s wrath for today. 
 
As he was about to enter his own domain, a troupe of uniformed men led by Siwon started gathering outside of Yunho’s door. 
 
“Yunho-ssi! There’s another body. Grab your uniform, we’re heading out.” Rushing, Siwon knocked on the glass window of the office door.


Yunho quickly walked out of his office, already covered in a bullet proof vest and fully clad in uniform, barking orders into his walkie-talkie. 
 
Changmin gawked at the scene unfolding in front of him. Anxiety pricked at his skin, so he decided to press for more information. 
 
“What’s going on?” 
 
Yunho didn’t look up at him. Instead he took out his gun and began loading it with bullets.
 
Startled by this, Changmin’s face became filled with worry. “Yunho-ssi?”
 
The older man kept ignoring him. 
 
Siwon walked up to Yunho. “Yunho, we should take him with us.” 
 
Yunho looked up over to Changmin, “Do you know how to hold a gun?”
 
“No…”
 
“Are you trained in combat?”
 
“No…but-”
 
After hearing the answers to his questions, Yunho turned back to face Siwon with dull eyes. 
 
“He can’t even ing protect himself. He’s like a sack of stinking garbage. If we take him along with us, he’s only going to attract attention with his incompetence.” 
 
Siwon huffed in disapproval, “Yunho, he was sent here to become your partner. How else is he going to gather experience?” 
 
“I don’t care for anything you just said right now. I work alone.” Yunho his heel and walked towards his team.
 
Worried about how Yunho’s behavior is affecting Changmin, Siwon glanced back at their hoobae with sympathy in his eyes. 
 
“Changmin-ssi, I’m sorry-” 
 
“No, sir, it’s fine. I understand.” Changmin gave him a kind smile and retreated into his office. 
 
Siwon did not like the behavior Yunho exhibited. 
 
“Listen here,” Siwon grabbed the latter’s arm, “When will you learn proper matters?” 
 
Yunho pushed him away. “Don’t tell me what to do.” 
 
“I know how you feel and exactly why you push away all of your partners, but this nonsense has to stop eventually.” 
 
“You don’t know how I feel. You don’t know me at all. Before you pry any further and make a fool of yourself, I will ask you to stop now.”
 
The two men stared into each other’s eyes with rage.
 
“Yunho, It’s time to move on-” 
 
“One of these days, I will put a bullet in your head Siwon, as well as the idiot with half a brain who keeps sending me these ‘partners’. Don’t meddle in my business church-boy.”
 
After Yunho’s curt reply, Siwon gave a small sigh and backed away. 
 
“I am only trying to bring harmony to the workplace. If this doesn’t stop, I will call him.” 
 
Changmin listened in on the conversation. He tried his best to gather any clues to explain the attributes of his partner’s personality. So far he had nothing. Taking a deep breath into his lungs, he slumped on the bare walls of his office and stared into the far off distance. 

For the next few weeks, despite finishing all the paperwork, somehow Yunho found new ways to torture him. It was clear that the oldest wanted him gone. But, he will not leave without a proper explanation or reason. They are not children to playing such back and forth games. 
 
“I have to confront him.” Changmin mumbled under his breath. Then he shook his head at the idea. “No…bad idea…he might punch me.” 
 
Instead, he decided to organize his office space, one of his nervous habits; cleaning every single nook and cranny that seemed out of order or misplaced. He sat down at his creaky old chair and began to furiously go through all the paperwork to make his sunbae proud. Smiling at the idea that perhaps one of these days he will miraculously receive a pat on the back or a cheerful, “Good Job, Changmin-ah!” It didn’t seem like it would happen anytime soon, but he was eager to show that he wasn’t some young and inexperienced child.  
 
He looked at the time on his watch, it was already six thirty-five a.m. He couldn’t believe how quickly time went by. He ended up spending the night in the office. Glancing up from his papers, he realized how weary his eyes felt. He was so tired and exhausted. 
 
Suddenly, he heard some noises outside of his door. Getting up from his chair, he cautiously approached the door. He opened it just a crack to see what was going on outside. 
 
It was Yunho, standing with his head cast down in front of his office door. Changmin quickly ran to his side to see what was wrong with him.
 
“Are you ok?” He asked with concern. 
 
Yunho looked up at his dongsaeng with half-lidded eyes. 
 
Changmin sensed that there was something wrong with his hyung. His body language was completely off. Usually Yunho would be guarded and kept a strong distance from the younger man, but this time he walked towards the younger man with no regards and pulled him into his private office. 
 
“Y-Yunho-ssi?” 
 
Yunho grabbed Changmin by his wrist and cornered him like a lamb. Scared, the younger male tried to avoid eye contact and inched away from this erratic behavior.
 
“Look at me.” The older man grabbed Changmin’s face and brought it close to his own. 
 
“Y-your hurting me.” The younger replied fearfully and winced as nails dug into his cheeks with an iron grip. 
 
“You brought this on yourself.” Yunho replied and stared intensely at the figure cowering before him, but his eyes weren’t actually seeing.
 
Changmin felt the faint smell of soju lingering on Yunho’s breath. “Yunho-ssi you’re drunk!” He tried to pry Yunho’s hands off of his body.
 
The older man pushed Changmin back harshly against the corner of his desk. The younger cried out in pain. Yunho grabbed him by the collar and brought their lips together. 
 
Changmin widened his eyes and tried to pull away from the kiss in protest. Yunho bit his lips until the younger submitted to his will and opened his mouth to Yunho's intrusive tongue.  
 
Just at that moment another figure barged in through the door, breaking their lip-lock. 
 
“Well, well, well. ual harassment in the work place? Tsk. Yunho-yah, I expected more from you.” 
 
The figure stood there with his hands crossed across his chest and a face wracked with a feigned pained expression, accompanied by a smug and smiling Siwon right behind him. 
 
Yunho, panting and out of breath, furiously looked at the two figures for interrupting him. 
 
“What are you doing here Jaejoong?” He asked coldly. 
 
“Me? So rude.” Jaejoong rolled his eyes then took out a wad of money and handed it to Siwon. “Darling, take out Changmin and buy him some milk and cookies. This idiot with half a brain has to have a talk with our wonderful Senior Inspector.” 
 
At a loss for words, Changmin quickly ran out of the office with Siwon quickly following right after him. 
 
“Yunnie baby, long time no see.” Jaejoong winked at Yunho and walked past him coolly. Without a single hesitation he seated himself in the office chair and brought his booted legs up on top of the wooden desk. 
 
“Why are you here?” Yunho asked him in a controlled voice. 
 
“A little birdie told me some very awful things about you, it reached my ears all the way to the Seoul Central office. Shameful behavior. But, I’m more upset that you don’t even call anymore. Why don’t you ever visit?” Jaejoong . 
 
“I promised your birdie that I will put a bullet through his head, you can leave now.”
 
“Why are you tossing out my partners?” 
 
“…”
 
“Whatever. I’m not here for you anyways. You’re a lost cause. No matter what I have done for you, you still can’t move on from the incident five years ago-”
 
“Leave. Go. Do me that favor once again, like you’ve done so many times before.”
 
Jaejoong’s playful expression turned sour.
 
“You always knew how to ruin a good mood. I didn’t come here for you.”
 
“I didn’t expect you to.”
 
“Anyways, there’s a major case. I’m gathering a team of my best agents. I want you on it.”

“I’m not interested. I already told you I don’t work for the big city anymore. I’m fine being here in the small town-”
 
“Near his grave?” 
 
“Stop.”
 
“I’m your boss. You take orders from me now.” Jaejoong replied with a stern expression. 
 
Siwon barged in through the door once again, but this time with a briefcase and a large paper bag.
 
“Ah! Good Siwon, my package is here! Yunho, take some lessons in manners from Siwon.” Jaejoong excitedly grabbed at the items. Yunho rolled his eyes and tried to contain his fury. 
 
Meanwhile, Changmin stood outside of the office door, clutching a bottle of water in his hands nervously. Sub-consciously he brought his cold fingers to his lips, ignoring the furious drumming of his heartbeat in his ears and tried to put the earlier events out of his mind.