So this is "employer". Tall, with dark eyes. Dark hair, set mouth, loose muscles. But I immediately sense he has a presence. A presence I had been able to sense from the notes, but with him actually in front of me, it takes it to a whole new level.

I step towards him and swing my bow around to aim in his eye, instead of Xuimin's. I kick Zelo before doing so, and he starts migrating towards Jonghyun. 

His voice, as soon as I hear it again, rings out, deep and strong. "My name is Minho." He gazes at me steadily, not seeming to notice the arrow pointed at his eye.

"And I'm not afraid to kill you, Minho." I keep my voice steady. Minho's head turns towards me as Xuimin folds himself into the back, ready to observe. Zelo inches another couple steps toward the bound Jonghyun.

"Well, Kibum. Not much respect for your employer, is there? Even after I supplied you with money when you were barely able to feed Taemin, much less yourself? No thanks?" 

I clenched my jaw, but forced myself to relax. He knows me. But I can get the upper hand here. I have to. "Thanks. But I did do the work, all the same." 

A trace of a smile graced Minho's lips. "And who gave you the job?" 

"And who locked me in a torture building with no way out for months?" 

"Why, I was preparing you, Kibum. I know life is hard, and I wanted you to be ready. I always wanted you to be ready for the hardships ahead." 

I raised an eyebrow. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Zelo start to work at Jonghyun's bound hands. "Preparing me for what? For realizing that someone else was going for the same target, the same night? Leaping out of a burning building that shouldn't have been awake?"

He didn't skip a beat. "Yes, of course. You should be ready for everything that was thrown at you." 

I fixed my eyes on him, and didn't let go. "Everything you threw at me." 

He paused, then nodded. "Yes, indeed. You may be smarter than I gave you credit for, Kibum, but it really only helps me." Helps him?

"I want you," he continued. "To be my right-hand man. I want you to help me on my rise to the top." Rise to the top? And then it hit me- so obvious, too obvious. He wanted to be king. The top is king, in this world. That's as high as you can get. And he wants to be king. That's why he has the current king tied to char. That's why he killed Jonghyun's father. That's why he trained all these assassins. He wants a power force, behind him, as he tried to kill off the most powerful man in the kingdom. 

And, all of a sudden, I hate him. I hate him so much. So much that I have to struggle to control my voice. "King, yeah?" 

"That is indeed, the top." 

"So you had to kill? You had to kill the king, the heir, and now the new king? You have to kill so many, for what you want?" 

He blinked at me, calm. "I do what I have to do. You should know that, Kibum. You should know that by now." 

I tighten the string of my bow a fraction, an unspoken threat. Minho looks faintly disappointed.

"I did hope you would join me, Kibum. I could reward. You wouldn't have to suffer another day, watching your brother growing thinner by the day." His tone doesn't change, but something in his words turns softer, more understanding. "You have all the food in the world. You could make him happy." I could make Taemin happy. I could make a boy, whose parents disappeared when he was little, who has never known anything but a clear table before dinner and hours of him only family gone, him alone. I could give him a normal life. I could give him the world. 

"You don't have to hurt anyone, Kibum. All you have to do is put down that bow, and walk away with me. That's all. That's all you need to do, and I'll give you enough money to feed your family for five lifetimes." 

But, if I walk away, I'm hurting Jonghyun. I am, basically, killing him. 

I don't want to kill him.  

"No." 

"No?" He arched his thick eyebrows. "You will leave your brother alone for a fatal attempt to save this selfish, rude boy? This boy who has known riches all his life, when he doesn't even deserve them?" Deserve them? Jonghyun, as king, or as prince, by law, deserves what he has. It's what taught, that those who are that high on the social and political and economical ladder, that sons inherit, and deserve the wealth of their ancestors. The wealth that, in Jonghyun's case, is king. 

Why would Jonghyun not deserve to be king? Onew, maybe, but Onew, now that I think about it, was most likely killed by Minho, in an attempt to wipe out a third of the royal family. 

Maybe that he was selfish, but plenty of kings and queens before were selfish. 

Maybe... maybe. Maybe Jonghyun didn't deserve it. Maybe he wasn't truly king. 

Years go, the royal family was told to have a crisis. Something happened with the king and queen, a buzz that I've heard spread trough the town like wildfire. But then, nothing. Something happened, and everything was back to normal. 

But that wouldn't happen. Something happened. What if the king and queen died, and Jonghyun's parents or grandparent just slipped into the slot? What if there's another king, the true king, out there that could help piece the ruined kingdom together. 

What if Jonghyun isn't king? 

I try to sound nonchalant, but it's not working. This is what we base our kingdom on, the royal family. When they are strong, we, as a whole, are strong. When they are weak, we are weak. When they are replaced with fakes, our worlds are thrown into a whirlwind. "Who is king?" 

Minho studied me again, with something like suprise, and respect, in his darkened eyes. "Very good, Kibum. But you know who is king. You know who is the true king, even if you don't. Think." 

Think. 

My parents, they died right after I was born. They died around the time of the strange royal crisis. I didn't know my parents. I have no memories of them. Taemin and I, we've been alone from the start. But that wouldn't happen. There would be some kind of caretaker. There would always be someone. But there isn't. Almost as if... as if someone was trying to wipe us off the face of the earth. 

I my lips. The world spun, but my grip on my bow was too tight to steady myself. No. No. 

Minho must've read something in my gaze. "Yes, Kibum." 

No.

Ugh the problem with just winging a story is that... by the end... it's just a mess. But I hope you guys still liked it? 

PLOT TWIST