"I don't have a map, Luhan!!" Baekhyun shrieked.

 

The chirping birds and bubbling creek answered him happily.

 

Baekhyun cussed silently and went up to the spring. He dipped his finger inside, and the water was pleasantly warm. Soon, he found himself on his knees, splashing his face and drinking the fresh clean mountain water. Well, it's just water, but it had a sweet tangy taste to it, like it was naturally flavoured with the scent of fruits and flowers and whatever that grew in the forest.

 

 

Baekhyun dug into his bag and pulled out the water bottle Luhan packed for him. He emptied the contents of the so-called "fresh mineral water" and filled it up with the real deal.

 

 

 

With his tongue still tingling with the taste of the delicious water, Baekhyun continued along the path, hoping it would at least lead him to some civilisation. With a pang, he realised that one year ago, Yifan had probably been in a similar situation as him. 

 

Except that he was in a place that existed a thousand years ago, way way before his last known ancestor was born.

 

 

If he was successful in the Balhae report, he would definitely reap himself an A. The prospect of it got him excited, and Baekhyun started to skip down the soil track.

 

 

Then a sudden thought brought him to a halt in his tracks.

 

 

Yeah, Luhan told him to get the Prince. But he's a freaking Prince, for heaven's sake. Aren't Princes supposed to be locked up and under high security and watched by huge armoured guards wielding spears and pitchforks?

 

Baekhyun shuddered. He didn't fancy being beheaded or speared for trying to kidnap the Crown Prince to the 21st century.

 

 

 

---

 

 

Baekhyun slowed his pace as the palace came into view. It was bigger than he expected it to be, tall and majestic. The walls were a dark red, the roof made of emerald-green tiles and rimmed with slate grey. It looked exactly like the textbook suggested, and Baekhyun suppressed the urge to laugh.

 

The Balhae Royal Family were rich, he mused, as the great expanse of land came into his vision. The courtyard was so large, they could build several more palaces in that area itself. And there were many guards patrolling the area, like he predicted. As well as many more hovering near the entrance gates.

 

Baekhyun glanced down at his outfit, and was glad to discover that he was dressed like a high-ranking noble. Then he remembered his slightly dirty bottom from sitting on the soil earlier, and blushed. Well, hopefully they don't notice it...

 

 

"What brings you here, young sir?"

 

The guard was pleasantly polite, and he was really tall. Baekhyun stared at his perfectly shined shoes, all the way up his armoured garb, and to his face... 

 

...and did a double take.

 

 

The Yifan-lookalike was still gazing down at him kindly. Baekhyun took a deep breath and squared his shoulders.

 

"Greetings, umm, I am Byun Baekhyun and I am a noble from..." Oh freak, from where?! "From... Khitan."

 

Immediately the look on the guard's face shifted. "Khitans?" He murmured, and quickly nodded. "Please enter, young sir."

 

Baekhyun wanted to gape at his unbelievable luck. The fact that Khitan was just the neighbouring country... There must be something up with Khitan that got the head guard all submissive. But instead, he bowed once respectfully and made his way into the palace.

 

 

After a while of walking about aimlessly in the courtyard, Baekhyun made a sudden 180 degree turn and he was face to face with another sheepish looking guard.

 

"You're following me?" He gasped. This guard was trailing him around as he paraded the ground trying to look purposeful but not even having a clue of where he was going?!

 

The guard seemed a little weirded out by his use of words. Baekhyun vaguely remembered that contractions like "you're" didn't exist in Old Korean.

 

"I am very much sorry, young sir. Head Guard has informed me to keep you company during your pleasurable stay here at the Royal Palace, young sir."

 

 

"Oh, okay..." Baekhyun trailed off. Somehow he needed to shake off this guard and get to the Crown Prince's chamber. That gave him a brainwave.

 

"Say, could you tell me where is Dae Jong Kim?"

 

 

---

 

 

If looks could kill, Baekhyun would have his head dangling proudly on top of the prison towers by now.

 

He mentally kicked himself a million times for shooting his mouth off yet again, because the odd purple shade of rage that blossomed on the guard's face was nothing short of terrifying.

 

The guard loomed down on him, forgetting about formalities as he grasped the edge of Baekhyun's hanbok front.

 

"Are you seeking death here, young sir?" He bellowed. "How dare you address our Royal Highness in this manner!"

 

Baekhyun swallowed and tried to look cocky, but just ended up looking pitiful.

 

"I'm sorry, umm..."

 

"AND IT IS FORBIDDEN to address our Royal Highness by his Real Name!!!!"

 

"P-pardon me?"

 

The guard lowered his voice and grabbed Baekhyun's arm, steering him roughly to a more isolated corner.

 

"Do you not know about the Shiwei King's threat on Balhae? They are threatening to overtake Balhae!! We are now trying to rope in allies, especially you, the Khitans. But even so, mind you, no one is allowed to call the Royal Highness by his Real Name. This is to protect his identity."

 

Shiwei happened to be a neighbouring country too. Baekhyun mentally heaved a sigh of relief for choosing Khitan and not Shiwei, or he would have probably been burned at a stake by now. "Then what do you call him?"

 

"Kim Jong Dae-goon." 

 

Kim Jong Dae? Jongdae? Baekhyun was collapsing with laughter inside because what the?! What ridiculous Prince-y name is that?!

 

"I see..."

 

The guard snorted incredulously. "How can you not know this, young sir? You are a noble from Khitan and you do not know of this?" His eyes narrowed. "Are you a scammer, young sir?"

 

Baekhyun's eyebrows shot up. "Of course not!! I'm not a scammer." He cast a furtive glance about the Palace grounds. "What's your name?"

 

"You speak oddly, young sir," the guard commented stiffly. The corners of his mouth twitched slightly. "But I shall indulge you because you are the Respected Guest. My name is Huang Zitao."

 

 

Zitao was 100% guard material, with broad square shoulders, muscular arms, a good six feet tall and a menacing resting face that could easily scare away intruders. He was really young though, not possibly more than twenty. Baekhyun nodded and smiled, extending out his hand.

 

"Let's be friends. You be my friend, I show you something special. How's that?"

 

Zitao blinked at his outstretched hand and awkwardly tapped it once. Oh, people in this era don't shake hands, Baekhyun thought amusedly.

 

"I am not allowed to associate myself with any of the Respected Guests on a personal level." He bowed solemnly. "My deepest apologies-"

 

"Oh come on!!" Baekhyun laughed and grabbed his iron-clad arm, and pulled him along to the back garden. Zitao gasped in shock. Baekhyun sneaked a glance at his face, and while he looked impossibly frantic and uncomfortable, there was this tinge of wildness in his eyes. Something he probably had to painfully hold back when he came to work in the Palace.

 

By the time they arrived at the garden, Zitao wasn't frowning anymore. 

 

"You are a special one, young sir," he breathed, unable to hide the smile on his face. "How may I help you?"

 

Baekhyun grinned. "If you tell me where the Crown Prince is, I'll give you a present."

 

The smile on Zitao's face faltered. "Young sir, but..."

 

"Please? We're friends, remember?" Baekhyun tried his sassy wink. Zitao remained stoic-faced, unaffected by his flirtatious actions.

 

"The Crown Prince does not want to meet anybody, young sir." He replied stiffly.

 

"W-why? How do you know?" Baekhyun was stumped. 

 

"He never does. He throws tantrums in front of guests- wait, why am I telling you this?" Zitao bit on his lip.

 

"It's okay, Zitao, just bring me to him!!"

 

Zitao hesitated. "Young sir..."

 

Baekhyun took hold of his gloved hand, clearly desperate. "Pleaseeeee...." Zitao flinched away from the touch and furrowed his brow.

 

People of Year 908 have such weak resolve, Baekhyun mused to himself. He reached into his bag and pulled out a packet of bread that Luhan had packed for him.

 

"Kimchi ppang!! You can have it." He tossed the bread into Zitao's hands, and he caught it clumsily. His jaw fell open at the strange object in front of him.

 

"Now in exchange, can I go meet the Crown Prince? Please?"

 

 

In the end, Baekhyun won.

 

 

---

 

 

Zitao took him into a building heavily guarded by tall fierce guards that could have gotten Baekhyun to pee in his pants with just one glare. But they didn't even spare him a glance, as Zitao hustled him in, chewing on the bread and proclaiming between mouthfuls that it was truly the most delicious thing he had ever tasted.

 

 

They passed several Palace maids, who, like Luhan predicted, sneaked lingering glances at him and giggled. Girls never really do change over the years, don't they. Baekhyun smirked, and he waved discreetly at them.

 

Zitao led him to a long corridor, and gestured to the door at the end. "That is where our Royal Highness resides. Would you like me to you in, young sir?"

 

Baekhyun waved him away. "Nah, it's okay, I'll be fine by myself, thanks."

 

Zitao blinked at him, clearly trying to understand his heavily modernised Korean accent. Baekhyun chuckled and pushed him back gently.

 

"I will be fine by myself, Zitao-sshi." He enunciated every vowel slowly, and Zitao nodded with a closed-lip smile, retreating back to the previous room.

 

 

Baekhyun started down the corridor, suddenly feeling butterflies of anxiety dance in his stomach. I shouldn't be so jumpy, it's just some bratty bad-tempered teenager who bosses people around and probably he'd probably look like those Princes in the historical texts, slit-eyed and plump-cheeked with monotonous voices and extremely reserved, moody and gloomy and...

 

"I am not marrying Sooyoung, no, no, NO!!"

 

A voice from behind the door startled Baekhyun, and he stopped in front of the door, waiting. There was silence for a short silence, before Baekhyun heard the sound of a book being thrown across the room.

 

"I do not like her! This is not fair!!" The speaker's voice was high-pitched and young, with beautifully controlled intonations. 

 

Another voice was heard, lower and more mellow. "I am afraid you do not have a choice, my Prince."

 

 

"She is so obnoxious! She blows her nose into her hand! She steps on the blooming daffodils and kills them! She throws stones at the baby ducks in the pond!"

 

"But, my Prince, that was when she was a young child. She is seventeen now, and very much more well-behaved."

 

"I do not care! I am not marrying Sooyoung, she is so nasty..."

 

Baekhyun raised his fist to knock on the door when there was a lull in the conversation. He waited for a few seconds, before the door was slowly slid open.

 

 

"Who is this?" The mellow-voiced young man with a round, chubby face peered out. He seemed to be in his mid-twenties, dressed in a simple, drab traditional gown, the kind Baekhyun had seen some of the servants wearing. But what really caught his eye was the twinkle in his eyes, one sparkled and radiated warmth, and made Baekhyun feel very much at ease with him.

 

"I am Byun Baekhyun, and I am here to speak with the Crown Prince." Not speak, kidnap.

 

The young man nodded once. "My name is Kim Minseok, and I am the Crown Prince's personal caretaker. I will leave you two alone, but if there is anything you need my assistance in, I will be in the neighbouring room."

 

Minseok bowed solemnly and stepped aside, holding the door open. Baekhyun was slightly taken aback because he didn't know it was possible for a Prince to have such a young caretaker. Weren't they supposed to be elderly and greying and wise?

 

This Minseok seems rather wise-looking though, Baekhyun thought as he grinned at Minseok and turned to look into the room in front of him. From his perspective, he couldn't see anyone yet. So he steeled himself and walked in, the door sliding shut behind him.

 

 

The room was spacious and elaborately furnished, with heavy oriental rugs and curtains and porcelain decorating the interior. There was a set of rolled up mats on the floor which Baekhyun presumed to be the Prince's bed. 

 

His eyes roved over the room, and came to settle on the lean figure on a wooden carved bench. He was kneeling on it, elbows propped against the windowsill and staring sullenly out at the pretty garden scenery outside.

 

 

Baekhyun decided that formalities could wait. He took a deep breath and walked straight over to the boy on the bench. He grabbed the boy's arm roughly.

 

"Hey look, sorry for being so sudden and all, but I'm going to kidnap y...-"

 

 

The words died in his tongue as the boy turned his head to look at him. 

 

All at once Baekhyun's tongue shrivelled up in his mouth and his throat turned terribly parched. He felt his muscles stiffen like a corpse, and queer shivers ran up and down his body.

 

 

It was a known fact that Baekhyun wasn't straight. That Baekhyun like girls, sure he did, but he liked boys too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A/N: Shiwei and Khitan are neighbouring empires of Balhae. 

"Goon" is a name suffix for Prince.

 

Sorry, I really don't know how Old Korean is like but I'm just guessing. Anyway, it's just Zitao having trouble understanding modern korean slang.

 

When I'm referring to modern korean, I'll use contractions (can't, won't) and short forms. In old korean, I won't :)

 

And the kimchi ppang!! Just HAD to add it in haha

Baekhyun sass is showing!! He's clueless about how to act so he just goes with the flow. And Zitao is physically strong but he's actually just a pushover xD

 

Hope you liked it!!