41 Years Later

A man sat on a log in front of a roaring fire. He looked fit and strong, but grey sprouts were starting to shoot through his jet black hair, and elderly wisdom twinkled in his deep brown eyes. Children, no older than 9 years of age, circled the man, all completely focused on the voice that moved the man's mouth, gentle and allknowing.

"... and that, children, is just the beginning of the story of our kings. And it'll be the end for us tonight, because the sun is setting and we all need to go home." Sure enough, the sun was dipping below the horizon, so it looked like a slice of fiery mango. A chorus of "awwwww"s sounded, but the old man simply chuckled and bounced the little girl, almost five years old, on his knee. 

"But what about King Kibum? And King Jonghyun?" The little boy pipped up, his voice high and squeaky. 

The old man looked around quickly as if he was about to tell a secret. "I'll tell you what, Hansol. How about you all go home tonight and ask your parents if you can come here tomorrow, same time, and I'll answer all your questions. Deal?"

The little boy puckered out his lips as if he was making a serious decision. "Promise?" 

Thd wrinkles around the man's eyes crinkled and he leaned down to the little boy, holding out a hooked pinkie. "Promise."

The boy grinned and hooked his own pinkie around the man's. "Okay." 

***

It had been 41 years since Minho had been killed. 

And a busy 41 years for the kings, the man thought, as his footsteps were lost amoung others as they rushed about their business, before it got too dark. The man glanced at the sky, and quickened his feet through the city. He wanted to get home quickly. 

But the walk is long, and all too soon, his mind started wandering, back those years. Key, with Jonghyun at his side, had began to reinvent the city and the kingdom, both of which had been crumbling down at the edges.

Key began to organize the army, the fighting units that were sprawled around the world, the disowned assassins. He, along with Xuimin, had gathered all of them together, sending out messagers and messages, calling back the others that were spread across the globe. But a huge surprise came when Xuimin went west himself, knowing a few and where they were located, only to unveil a whole new branch of assassins under Minho's control. The unit had been acting only on Minho's occasional orders, and was headed by a redhead by the name of Mark. Xuimin and Mark, after a long discussion on the whereabouts of their employer in the last few months and how he was dead and gone, had somehow managed to ship another fifty assassins up to the castle. 

There, Key had worked with the help of Xuimin, Mark, and T.K to figure out what to do with these assassins. They organized them into groups according to where they were before and where they had been born. It was decided that Key would be the head of all of them, and would stay in the city, since of course he had to stay anyway. The assassins would become spies, leaders of branches of the army, everything that the four could think of that would need the abilities Minho had drilled into all of them. But since barely any of the assassins were older than 20 and had no training, the hundred or so assassins were hidden in the castle for a month, and during that time, were taught the ways of spies, messagers, generals, and more. They were taught the basics in a couple languages, they were taught the best way to get information out of people quickly, and quietly. They were taught how to get people to follow them. They were taught how to think in the middle of a battlefield. 

At the end of the non-optional course, the four then studied every single assassin, watching how they fought, how they thought, in the middle of a simulated situation, if they worked well with others. Then, they choose a specific job, for each, carefully.

They all knew the price of blood that wold be on their hands if something went horribly wrong.

Mark, who had no family attachments, agreed to stay in the city, and, three months after Xuimin had found him, Key gave him control of secret service forces of the kingdom. Mark wasn't known to the general population, but to all who knew him, they always said he was strong, he was loyal, he was steady, and that was exactly the person the kings needed to have on their side. 

Xuimin was named head of the army a week later, and after a year of adjusting and muttering about how Key really shouldn't have chosen him, he slipped into the role and has since handled the job with an expert hand.

T.K refused any sort of promoting that Key offered him, and chose to act as a spokesman and a messager for the kingdom. Key refused to let him do the work completely alone, so he picked out an assassin by the name of Kangjun and told the two to work together or else. The two had grown inseparable. 

Key, meanwhile, headed the general fighting forces from the castle, as well as his job of being kingly. He had become incredibly well-liked amoung the people, and no one seemed to question where he came from, or who he was. 

Jonghyun's first job of being king was gaining the people's trust back. All they had seen was a spoiled brat, and Jonghyun was determined to change that. He began building schools, employing the jobless, distributing food to people who didn't have as much as he did. He began negotiating trades with other kingdom's nearby, and the wealth of the kingdom soared in the next few decades, while the people in poverty dropped to nearly none. 

So Jonghyun became more of a public face of the kings, while Key was working more underground. But when the two kings were together, it was said that that was when both of them were at their best, and that was when both of them shined even brighter. 

***

The man snapped himself out of his thoughts just as he came to the door. Twisting the knob, he tiptoed inside, knowing what he would find inside. Yup. There he was, sprawled out over the couch, snoring, the moonlight streaming through the window painting white light on his forehead. The man laughed under his breath, and leaned over, kissing the man on the couch on the cheek. 

"'Night," he whispered. 

The other man let out a snore. 

The man laughed again, and walked over to the window to close the curtains. As he did, he cold see the castle. Perched on that hill, outlined by moonlight. Beautiful, peaceful. Key could be screeching up there, and no one down here, at the edge of the city closest to the castle, would know.

That was the place where he had worked as a mechanic for Mark, the place where he would see Key and Jonghyun every day, and see just how happy they were, and still are. The place where he had met Jongup, the place he had fallen in love with him. 

The man smiled, softly. Life was good. And if he went back, all those years, he wouldn't have made a different choice. 

Zelo, with one last look at the moon, closed the curtains with a snap, and went to bed.

Omigod what did I do to deserve you guys 101 subbies you guys I love you and you are amazing and let me shower you with cake and chocolate because I sat there for I think ten minutes when I saw 100 subs and just grinned like an idiot because I loves you guys so much. 

And oh ma god I just like love Mark and Jackson right now on my god they are literally the most adorable thing ever (after Bambam, because Bambam is the cutest person in the world and there is no competition like seriously) 

One chappie left and I