Soo Man had accomplished his goals and he had accomplished them easily. Not really a challenge, he thought, these two men.

“The wedding needs to happen. For your parents, your country, and for you.” Soo Man had left the room long enough for Luhan and Minseok to get dressed and then he was right back, ready to start the discussion.

Minseok was flushed, mortified. He and Luhan had dressed in near silence, quickly, both trying to understand the implications of Soo Man finding them and in bed together.

“I know.” Minseok responded quietly. He did not meet Soo Man’s gaze, instead he looked towards the wall behind him.

Luhan wanted to cry. It was a perfect mixture of betrayal on both his part and Minseok’s. Luhan had not told Minseok what he had found out, about how he had attacked him long ago, but he still felt completely broken at the fact that Minseok appeared ready to do whatever Soo Man told him to do – their relationship be damned.

“Of course you know - you have known all along that you must live the life of a future King. I believe in you, which is why I will not tell your Father about this. Supposing of course you both promise me that the wedding will take place as planned.”

Before Minseok responded Luhan spat out a question of his own:

“What if we don’t promise?”

Soo Man shook his head sadly, showing mock sympathy.

“Princess Nauen will be disgraced. In fact, she has a secret of her own as well.” He was not about to mention that he had pushed her into that secret, that scandalous night spent away with the M1 gang, courtesy of a kidnapping, “Not to mention the two of you – do you have any idea what kind of scandal it would cause if news were released of your relationship? The Prince Luhan and Prince Minseok involved in a homoual relationship?” Soo Man paused for effect, “I am willing to help all three of you through it, so that you make the best decisions for yourselves and for your families.”

Luhan really, really wanted to hit him. But if he did there was zero chance that Soo Man would not let Minseok know how he got that ugly scar. The terror of Minseok hating him was enough to stop Luhan from striking the royal advisor. God damnit, Luhan thought, Soo Man had all of them by the balls (so to speak).

Minseok wasn’t sure he had the will to answer Soo Man. He knew he did not have the will to look at Luhan.

“Please don’t tell my parents” He asked softly, “The wedding will take place, that I promise you.”

Luhan’s anger boiled. He was angry at Minseok and Soo Man, and the palace, and the entire god damn Korean royal family. God, he needed a drink.

“Good boy, I knew you would make the right decision.” Soo Man beamed at Minseok’s words. These boys were really too easy to manipulate. It almost took the fun out of it.

***

“Why did we have to take a picture?” Nauen was confused. After spending a night wide awake, in a room full of what she thought were most likely gangsters, she was asked to take a picture with Taemin. He smiled and pulled her close, and she obliged in surprise. Afterwards he had led her outside, directing her towards his motorcycle.

“Because I want to remember your face.” Taemin smiled.

Nauen had started to find his wide smile rather dangerous. She should have been put off, after all he -had technically kidnapped her. For some reason though, she felt herself attracted to him.

“Ohh, well. Why are we going back now” She stuttered.

“Why? Do you want to stay?” He asked her, handing her one of the motorcycle helmets. He raised an eyebrow in mock invitation.

Nauen turned bright red.

“Um, no, no that is not what I meant. I just don’t understand why you took me for one night….or why. Who put you up to this?”

“Princess, I don’t know either. Get used to it. Time to take you home.” Heechul had received the order only minutes before. Take a souvenir photo, email it back, and then take the Princess back to the palace. He was simply following orders.

Nauen stopped her questioning and hopped on the back of his bike. Her life in China had been so simple and controlled. How she missed it. In only a short time in Korea she had snuck out, found herself kidnapped, and heard something she shouldn’t have. How she missed her simple life.

***

Sehun found that he had a knack for being quiet. It was quite the novelty, since he had a lot of trouble not talking (or staying still for that matter). But after some practice and a very good reason for silence, he had gotten used to the idea. It had been rather beneficial for him, considering what he had uncovered in his short time as a less noisy individual.

First it was M1 acting as Soo Man’s guards – that was what got him started on this path. They wouldn’t tell him a thing so he decided to find out for himself. That is when he got the idea to see what Soo Man was up to. It turned out the royal advisor was up to a whole lot.

Funny thing is that no one seemed to pay any mind to Sehun lurking about where he shouldn’t be, probably because no one really paid him much mind at all. He was the youngest Prince, a trouble maker, and not really worth the time of day. It was a perfect set of attributes to keep him flying under the radar. In fact, the only person that seemed to care was Jong Dae (and that was because Jong Dae was alarmed that Sehun hadn’t caused any trouble in the last few days).

Sehun smiled as he went over his notes. He took pretty good notes, he reflected. His next stop would be the palace physician. He made his way to the offices of the man that had treated the royal family for the last thirty years.

The court physician was an old man, possessing impeccable credentials he had seen all of them through any health issues that cropped up. Sehun was rather ignorant about the man himself, because he was just another servant (just a higher paid one). But this time he needed his help.

The Doctor was shocked to see the youngest Prince drop by unannounced. So shocked he dropped the book he was reading. He quickly corrected his behavior and bowed in greeting.

“Doc? How are you?” Sehun smiled, trying to be charming and not at all suspicious.

“Ah, good your highness. What brings you here?”

“I have a question – for school. An assignment. But I am a little lost. Do you think you could perhaps help me?”

The Doctor was not particularly close on a personal level with the royal family but he had heard enough about the youngest Prince to know he was not that diligent in his studies.

“What type of help do you need?”

Sehun pulled a piece of paper from his pocket.

“It is a drug. I want to know why someone would use it.”

The doctor took the slip of paper.

“For school?” He raised an eyebrow. The drug was a very powerful one.

“Yes. Biology to be exact. It was my assignment, and well I am just not a good study. I thought you could give me the cliff notes version.”

“It is a drug used in veterinary medicine, for euthanasia. It is not for human consumption.”

“What if it was given to a human?”

“Well, if I recall it has quite the effect on the human brain. Memory loss, seizures, vomiting, confusion to be exact.”

Sehun nodded. It was exactly what he had been looking for.

“Thanks Doc. I think that is what I needed to know.”

The physician watched the youngest prince saunter from his office. A weird one, that youngest boy. He scratched his head and then went back to his book.

***

Days turned into a week, then two weeks. Before long it was only days until the royal wedding. And Luhan was miserable, more miserable he thought than he had been in China. Instead of the focused hatred he felt in the past, he was engulfed in feelings of regret and self-loathing. Minseok didn’t make it any better.

Soo Man’s plan had worked wonders. Minseok had assumed a mask of propriety and silence. He saw Luhan but he never once spoke of what had happened between them. He saw Nauen, and he smiled and talked about the wedding. Luhan felt like each day he woke up was worse than the last.

Chanyeol had noticed his mood and had asked about it, Luhan simply shut him out. He was not going to say it “Seems I tried to kill Minseok way back when. I found out about it but I didn’t tell Minseok, mainly so I could sleep with him. Too bad we got caught…so yeah” If he even thought about his actions they made him sick. He really was no good.

His cousin Nauen had a secret, at least according to Soo Man. Luhan never asked her about it because the last thing he wanted to talk about was secrets. He was sick of secrets. Instead he supported her as best he could, at official events he was beside her. Which meant he was a person away from Minseok. It felt like he was miles away the way Minseok treated him.

Depression was not the right word for what he felt. Hatred, self-hatred. That felt right, but not even descriptive enough. No, to really describe it you had to understand how much he wanted to erase his life and everything in it. That was the truth.

***

Minseok should be used to indifference, to emotional immunity. It had been his life. But then Luhan had come back and they had spent the night – that one glorious night – together. Now his emotionless expression was intensely painful to show. But it was the only thing he could do given the circumstance. For his family, for himself, for Nauen, for Luhan. If he had given into his feelings he would be long gone with Luhan, leaving a lot of people in pain. He wouldn’t do that, he couldn’t do that, so instead he went through the motions expected of him.

It was only days until the wedding. His calendar had become busier with official events and wedding matters. It was a relief, therefore, that he had the next hour to himself. It was already dark, night had fallen. He was happy about it because this one hour of freedom came after dinner and before a meeting with his advisors. He had one hour alone at a time when it was likely no one would bother him.

“Minseok”

His dreams of one hour alone were shattered as Jong Dae walked into his study.

“Jong Dae” He said it without life in his voice.

“Wow, tired?” Jong Dae plunked down in one of the overstuffed leather chairs, “Bet you can’t wait for this wedding to be over with so you can get some sleep.”

Minseok nodded. He wanted all of it over with.

“So, um, sorry to bother you but Luhan wants to see you. Chanyeol dropped by and gave me the message”

Luhan wanted to see him? They had avoided a serious discussion since that morning Soo Man had found them. Sure, they had been in each other’s company a lot in the last few weeks, but they had ignored what had transpired between them. So, was it time to talk about it?

“Okay, I’ll go see him.” Minseok would hear him out, but what he would say was another matter. A small part of him wanted a conversation about that night and its consequences. But a larger part of him wanted it to go away, to bury it for the welfare of everyone involved.

Jong Dae smiled, missing the apprehension in Minseok's response. He hoped the plan he had concocted with Chanyeol would work.

***

Luhan was shocked to find Minseok at his room, asking to see him. He was even more shocked when Minseok told him that he was there because Luhan had requested it.

“But I didn’t….Chanyeol!” He shouted for his secretary but there was no response.

“Did those two plot this?” Minseok had been well aware of how close Jong Dae had become with his Chinese counterparts. He would not put it past him to plan something like this, with good intentions of course.

“Yeah. Well….” Luhan sat on his bed. He wasn’t sure what to do at that point.

“Those .” Minseok muttered. Then it was all awkward silence as neither man spoke nor moved.

“I guess I will be going then” Minseok broke the silence and headed for the door.

“Is that it? Is that all?” Luhan hadn’t invited him there, but he still felt hurt that it was as simple as that.

“Yeah, Luhan. I got to go.”

“Did it mean anything to you?” Luhan knew he shouldn’t have asked it but the words escaped his lips.

Minseok did not bother turning around. If he had Luhan would have seen the lie painted all over his face. It had meant everything to him. It had wretched his soul, it had made him feel things that he had never thought possible. He had resigned himself to think that their night together would be the best moment of his life, and that he would live with it as a memory. He had to, because if he didn’t a lot of people would be hurt.

“Not really. I am the future King of Korea, I can’t care too much about things like that.” It hurt him to speak the words.

Luhan thought a knife had plunged into his chest. He didn’t say anything else, he just let him go.