One; Merry Go Round {listen}

It was quite hard being the eldest of three. It was even harder when both your younger siblings were beautiful and successful.

Kyungsoo was a hatter by trade, just like his father had been, and his mother, before his mother decided to travel and see the hat fashions around the world. His father had passed not long ago from a sickness that came about from years of using questionable chemicals on hats, before they had been regulated and such.

Kyungsoo had two younger brothers; Sehun and Baekhyun. Sehun often went traveling with their mother until he got a job as a guard at the castle. Baekhyun owned a bakery though, not far from the Do family hat shop, where Kyungsoo was really the only Do left working there, even if his mother owned it. Baekhyun was a sweet and kind boy, absolutely adorable and beautiful in everyone's eyes. Kyungsoo was a little jealous, because Sehun was beautiful too, and maybe he was just unlucky. But he loved his brothers all the same, and took care of them all the same.

"Kyungsoo! Take the day off why don't you, you've been working all day," one of the elder women called out to him, peeking into his room where Kyungsoo was working.

"Oh no, it's okay. I'll just finish this hat and go visit Baekhyun," he replied with a small, introverted smile, bowing his head a little bit.

"Alright. But really, Kyungsoo. You're young. You should be enjoying yourself," the ahjumma scolded gently before exiting, low heels clicking against the hall's wood floor.

Kyungsoo set down the hat he'd been working on, a deep red the color of wine, adorned with richly colored silk flowers and a wide rim, and looked out the window directly facing him from his work bench. It was a beautiful day out, and if he looked down, he could see people smiling and talking as they walked over the cobblestone streets, enjoying themselves and the weather.

Giving in, Kyungsoo placed the wine hat on a stand for the flowers to dry on, then went downstairs, then out onto the stone street to go to Baekhyun's bakery. It had been a week since he'd last seen his brother, so he wanted to check up on him.

Kyungsoo was dressed quite plainly, a loose blue shirt and trousers paired with worn out brown boots. He didn't mind dressing plain, because he thought of himself as plain. Even though his family had enough money so that he could go buy himself more extravagent clothing, he opted out of doing so. He wouldn't feel right wearing beautiful clothes if he couldn't hold a candle to them. Plain was good. Plain was safe.

Kyungsoo had been walking down an alley, a shortcut, when two soldiers stepped in his path. Tall, lean, wearing friendly smiles. Kyungsoo became cautious, slowing his steps as he approached before trying to speed up. Unfortunately, one of the males gently took his shoulder, preventing him from passing. "Hey, I found a cute little mouse."

"Excuse me, I need to get through," Kyungsoo almost squeaked, eyes casting down to his worn shoes.

"Aw come on, don't be like that," he other soldier cooed, leaning forward slightly towards Kyungsoo. "Why don't you hang around, little mouse?"

"Yeah. We were just about to go for tea," the first said, grinning.

"No, please, I really must get going." The smallest didn't know what to do. He'd never been in this position before.

"It's your mustache," the second soldier laughed at the first, punching his shoulder. "Always scares 'em off. Come on, little mouse, we don't bite too hard."

Kyungsoo tensed up then. Not because of the persistent soldiers, but because he felt someone behind him. Their presence seemed light, like the air itself. But there was something about him that made Kyungsoo's senses prickle like they were on fire.

"There you are. I've been looking everywhere for you," the presence's voice said in a low honey tenor, their arm winding around Kyungsoo's narrow shoulders. "I'm sorry gentleman, but we must get going."

And then the airy presence was leading him past the soldiers, further down the alley. Kyungsoo look