Soo man had heard Prince Sehun’s words loud and clear; which is why he ignored them and went back to his speech.  If he had acknowledged the Prince's unacceptable outburst there would be bigger issues.

Minseok shot his younger brother a look of annoyance and went back to paying attention to Soo Man’s spiel. He loved his little brother, but he sometimes wondered exactly how he managed to not end up being disowned by the entire family.

The welcoming ceremony ended and the Princes went their separate ways, their individual teams of staff members busy settling them into their respective quarters. Minseok went towards Daejojeon Hall, the Crown Prince’s residence within Changdeokgung Palace.

He was expected- no, ordered - to live here for the next month. Minseok could not claim he was broken up about the direction. Gyeongbokgung Palace had turned into a madhouse with the wedding preparations and he was happy to be removed from it. What he was less confident about was having Luhan staying in the palace with him. After their “appointment” in the courtyard they had not spoken. Luhan seemed to hold onto his frustrated anger, not speaking a word to him even though the two had seen each other during dinner the night prior.

If he could only remember, then the entire mess of a situation would be easier. Until he did, or Luhan did, the truth of their lives would push them further into the tangled mess of emotions. The open wound they shared was too deep to heal simply.

***

“I am not going to even ask how you know them, but if you ever do that again…” Joon Myun’s face was contorted into that look, - the look that made his younger brother want nothing more than to run away.

“I don’t know them, I swear” Sehun held his hands up in mock defense. “Soo Man said they are part of the security team.”

Joon Myun knew bull when he heard it, and Sehun was full of it. As soon as Joon Myun found a moment to pull his brother into a room alone, he had. He was just a little miffed at his dongsaeng’s behavior.

“So you just decided to yell out a swear word in the middle of a packed courtyard IN FRONT OF THE PUBLIC for no reason?”

“Sorry Hyung. Sorry. I won’t do it again.” Aegyo wouldn’t help him out of the situation. If Minseok grew annoyed at Sehun’s lack of propriety, Joon Myun got downright angry about it. He grabbed the back of Sehun’s neck and pinched.

“Ah, ah, AH! I won’t do it again” Even though Sehun was taller than Joon Myun he never succeeded in dodging the dreaded Hyung neck pinch. His shoulders shot up and he moved his head down, reacting to the sudden pressure on the back of his neck.

“Aish. You….argh. Just don’t do it again!” Joon Myun let his little brother go.

Sehun rubbed the back of his neck and muttered more promises. Once he had sated Joon Myun’s temper, he found himself alone. It was time to find out what exactly M1 was doing there, because they sure as hell were not Soo Man’s new security team. He was certain of that.

***

“Chanyeol!”

Luhan called for his secretary, who came promptly hurrying into the room.

“Was there someone here before I arrived?”

Chaneyol looked around.

“No,why?”

“Um, nothing” 

Chanyeol gave him a curious glance as he left. Once the door was shut Luhan pulled out the small book he had found on the desk. It was a journal of some sort, and it had been left there in a way that begged to be found. That is why he had summoned Chanyeol. Someone had been in the room and wanted him to find this, but he was not sure who or why.

He flipped open the pages. The handwriting was neat and tidy. He read a few passages, but they seemed to be meaningless. A day filled with chores or something like that, and then a ramble about gardening. Luhan found no identifying mark to tell him who the journal belonged to. As he read, however, it was apparent that whoever had written it meant nothing to him.

As he was flipping through the book a picture fell out, dropping to the floor. Luhan bent over to pick it up.

He froze once he saw the photo. Lying on the floor staring up at him was an image of himself and of Minseok. It was an old photo, from probably ten years ago.

It hit him in a flash as he stared at the picture. He remembered something.

***

Princess Nauen had done her part by seeing her cousin, fiancé, and his brothers off to Changdeokgung Palace. She stood behind her soon to be mother-in-law and bid them farewell. Afterwards she went back to her lessons, her mind feeling free with the realization Sehun wouldn’t be by to bother her.

After her lessons, she went with Eun Ji for a stroll. Eun Ji had something she wanted to discuss with the Princess. It seemed someone had presented the fiery servant with a bouquet of flowers.

“I don’t know who he was. He practically shoved them at me and ran away before I had a chance to see his face! I am so pissed, what kind of weirdo does that!” Eun Ji was waving her hands in the big, attitude filled gestures she was known for.

 “I wonder who he is?!” Nauen clapped her hands in excitement. If her own life was not filled with romance, at least she could be happy for her servant.

“I don’t know, but if I find him I am going to slap him. What kind of Man practically knocks a girl over with flowers and runs away?! Freaking coward.”

“Unnie, it sounds romantic! What if he is just shy?”

“Crazy is more like it.” Eun Ji muttered.

As the duo strolled, further criticisms were hurled towards Eun Ji’s number one fan. Because it was just too easy. Nauen giggled a lot at Eun Ji’s words, and Eun Ji elaborated more and more what she would do when she got her hands on the guy that so rudely presented her with roses. They went on like that until they spotted a group moving towards the main hall.

Nauen strained her neck to see who it was. There were around a dozen of them, servants and palace officials. One of them happened to catch her eye. She saw Soo Man at the head of the group, most definitely, but her eyes focused on the man walking behind him. He looked alarmingly like the boy she had met the other night, the one with the red scarf.

“Eun Ji- can you find out who that is. The one behind Soo Man.” Nauen whispered to her servant.

“Why?” Eun Ji raised her eyebrow at her mistress. It was not a usual occurrence for the Princess to ask her to identify someone.

“No reason. I just thought I saw him somewhere before.” Nauen played it off with a smile. Deep down inside she hoped that Eun Ji would take the request seriously. Besides, she had a scarf to return.

***

Minseok was surprised when Luhan burst into his office.

“Look” He threw a photo onto Minseok’s desk.

The study in Changdeokgung Palace was small as far as royal offices came, but it was more modern than those at the other royal residences. Oversized leather chairs faced a large, ornately carved desk. The place was warm and masculine, all dark toned wood and leather-bound books. Minseok had found his way here almost immediately after arriving, he was behind in his work. His catchup efforts, however, had just been thwarted.

Minseok, startled by the intrusion, looked from Luhan to the picture back to Luhan. Minseok noticed that his gaze was intense.

“What –“He picked up the picture. It was a photo of the two of them together. They were probably 14 at the time. They were smiling, arms around each other’s shoulders, standing in front of one of the pagodas that were scattered around the royal gardens.

“Do you remember that place?” Luhan pointed a finger at the picture.

Minseok thought hard. There were dozens of such structures in the five main palaces. He could not be sure which pagoda they were standing in front of. There was no easily identifiable characteristics about the place.

“Um, which palace was this taken at?”

Luhan ignored the question “I remembered something.”

Minseok’s eyes lit up “What?”

Luhan took a deep breath.

“It was just a flash, but it was something. It was at night” Luhan closed his eyes, recalling what he had seen, “And we were there- at that pagoda…”

He was struggling to remember. It was a vivid picture that raced across his thoughts. They were alone and they were in the pagoda. Why? Why had they come there? He focused, the pagoda, the pagoda.

Minseok watched his old friend. He felt a mixture of sympathy and heartache as he noticed Luhan’s frustration building. Luhan as an adult was very like Luhan as a teenager- he was painfully obvious when it came to his feelings. Minseok’s heart was heavy as he watched Luhan shut his eyes tightly in an attempt to drown everything out, to shut out the real world and recall the memories that were locked.

Minseok walked around the desk to stand in front of the other man, not able to stand away and watch anymore.   He reached out and grabbed Luhan’s hand.

“Don’t force it, Lu.” Minseok squeezed Luhan’s hand ever so slightly. He wanted to give him a sign of what he could not say – that it was okay. If he didn’t remember it was okay.  Hell, he couldn’t remember either.

Luhan looked down to their intertwined hands.  

“At least it is a start.” They stood like that for a few seconds before Luhan muttered, “You can’t remember either Min.”

The pet name had an effect on Minseok’s breathing.

Neither man moved, both of them stood, staring at where their hands touched. Anyone that looked upon the scene would have felt the tension between them, palpable and heavy and confused.

“Are we talking now?” Minseok asked softly.

“Yeah” Luhan’s anger had played a large part in his silence towards Minseok. After the frustrating attempts at recalling the day before he felt drained. He felt like he hadn’t wanted to deal with it.

“Lu – I..” As Minseok began to speak he moved his arm slightly. It was just enough for the scar that s around his wrist to become visible.

Luhan had never seen it and the sight of it shocked him. Luhan reached out and touched it, moving his finger over the ridge of tissue that spoke of a nine year old injury. His caress immediately stopped Minseok from saying whatever it was he was going to say.

God, the scar was deep.

 “You don’t remember doing this…” Luhan said quietly, the feeling of the scar had shocked him. He had been told Minseok had attempted suicide, but it was a different feeling to see the damage it had done. It was a wide and ugly scar, it is a wonder that his hand was not severed with the cut.

“No…I don’t” Minseok looked away, but made no attempt to withdraw his wrist from Luhan’s grasp.

Much later Luhan would regret what happened next, if only for the simple brashness of his actions. At the time he didn’t think about it, he just did it. He raised Minseok’s wrist to his lips and planted a kiss on the scar. A soft and serious and lingering kiss. A kiss that he wished could heal the visible, and invisible, wounds that they shared.