special update because Chinese New Year!! except

warning: character death

Xiumin stood in front of a small pond, staring at the koi fish in awe. “An underwater pond,” he said to Luhan, who had walked over to him. “How is that possible?”

“Yixing has his ways,” the Siren replied.

The question had been about the pond but Xiumin wanted to ask about everything too. How was it possible for him to be outside the cage? How was it possible for him to have even been in the cage in the first place?

Luhan chuckled, as if sensing the Xiumin's inner confusion and found it funny. “Everything happens for a reason,” he said. “Do you believe in fate?”

Prince Yixing had led the two to the garden in his palace and Xiumin had been immediately captivated by the pond. He wondered why the fish were content in staying there when they could have the entire ocean. Maybe there was the invisible magic, holding them captive. Trapped for the Siren's entertainment, he thought bitterly. Or maybe some were just happy to stay where they found themselves in. He decided on the latter, needing something less cynical to hold onto.

“Come sit down,” Yixing called.

Luhan took Xiumin's hand and led him to the stone stools where the other Prince was. A platter of desserts was set on the table and under two pairs of smiling eyes, Xiumin shyly took one. The cake crumbled and dissolved in his mouth, leaving a lasting sweetness.

"Red bean paste inside nuomi," Yixing said, motioning at the dessert. Xiumin nodded and as he reached for another, Yixing continued, “Luhan, what is your plan?”

“I don't have a plan,” came the simple answer.

Xiumin gaped at the Prince but Yixing looked at his brother with a much more subdued expression. “I know you. You would never do anything without a plan.”

Luhan smiled sheepishly from behind an egg custard. “I do, but I don't.”

The other Prince sighed. “Just say what it is.”

“Xiumin will help make me Emperor.”

~ ~ ~

The sweetness inside Xiumin's mouth turned into something bitter and the remnants of the cake hardened, clogging up his throat and he couldn't swallow.

“What?” Yixing asked for Xiumin. “How?”

Luhan smiled and pat Xiumin's hand soothingly while still looking at his brother. “I am not yet sure, but that is what will happen in the end, if everything is successful,” he said, shrugging as if it didn't matter. “I apologize for not telling you earlier.” He finally turned to the true focus of the conversation. “I didn't want to tell you until I was sure it would work. I didn't want to give you false hope.”

He was still struggling to swallow, but Xiumin managed to nod weakly. Luhan smiled brightly at him in response and Yixing might have smiled too, but Xiumin didn't notice.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jongdae had turned the radio off, doing nothing to relieve the car of the tense and almost suffocating atmosphere. The road was full of potholes and with each bump, Jongin swore -- sometimes under his breath, sometimes announcing his annoyance to the world.

“ this ,” he muttered after a particularly jarring bump.

“Watch your language,” Jongdae said tiredly. He thought it would was better to be occupied by such trivial matters rather than what they would be doing later, but even he cringed at how annoying he sounded.

“ you,” Jongin replied. “I'll say whatever the I want.”

“So rebellious,” Sehun mumbled. And through the rearview mirror, Jongdae could see anger rising in his brother's eyes.

A clichéd speech about how he knew it was difficult and stressful to kill your cousin was already on the tip of Jongdae's tongue, but it stilled when Jongin suddenly crumpled.

“Isn't it weird how we're all ourselves right now? No aliases, no disguises, no lies?” he asked in a flat voice.

“Because he knows us,” Sehun replied.

"We can totally just pretend to kill him, tell him to go in hiding and be done with it, right?" Jongdae sighed and Sehun didn't answer. “I'm going to kill Kim Himchan,” Jongin said, sounding as if he was on the verge of either breaking into tears or laughter. “It's not Kai killing a random guy who deserved it. It's Kim Jongin killing his cousin. That's so funny.”

~ ~ ~

“Hi, Himchan. Remember me? It's Jongin.”

The unsuspecting boy turned and before recognition could flash past his pretty eyes, Jongin shot him. In movies, the killer always talked too much, giving the victim enough time to find a way out, enough time for the hero to come. But Jongin wanted to be the hero of his own movie, so he always shot first and talked later, but this time, he shot first so he could do it before his conscience ate him up. And he didn't have anything to say afterwards. There was absolutely nothing he could say. So he added two more shots.

Bang, bang.

The gunshots reverberated through the air, too loud in the deserted street. Himchan's eyes drifted down to the blood flowering on his chest and looked back up, fixing on the other boy. “Why-” he asked as he stumbled backwards and fell ungracefully to the ground. He shook his head slowly, not waiting for the answer. “I should've known. I should've known,” he whispered to himself like a mantra.

The gun was still warm in Jongin's hands as the life flickered and faded in his cousin. “Yes, you should've known,” he echoed in a voice devoid of emotion. “You were such an asset to them, such a liability to us.” His words sounded so empty to his ears, but Himchan's weak chuckle was even more empty.

Jongin watched in silence, waiting for his cousin to die. “I'm sorry,” he whispered and Himchan might have nodded -- might have forgiven him, might have understood -- before going still.

And Jongin walked away, not bothering to hide the body because no one cared. If the police saw it, they would brush it off as the usual and negligible gang violence. Not even the media would care because things like this happened like a normal occurrence in this area. It was the sad truth that everyone knew and that he took advantage of.

But Jongin shouldn't have been able to walk away so easily, he shouldn't have been able to walk away untouched and unscathed after killing his family.

But maybe he wasn't truly unaffected because as he walked, he couldn't feel the usual adrenaline after a kill. What was the difference? Himchan deserved to die, didn't he? Just like those countless other victims? Himchan was stupid, careless, falling in love with the wrong guy. Just like all those other victims. But dying for love was stupid. The entire concept of love was stupid. So killing for love was . . .

He shoved the gun back into his pocket and hurried his footsteps.

The more he tried to find a pretext for what he had just done, the more muddled everything became. He felt so weak, so pathetic, so very unlike himself.

It would probably be better not to think.

~ ~ ~

“I'm guessing everything went smoothly?” Jongdae asked when Jongin reentered the car and was given a grunt in reply. He started the car, engine revving too loudly, but not loud enough to drown out the thoughts in Jongin's mind.

“Why did I even have to come?” Sehun suddenly grumbled after five minutes of heavy silence.

“For backup and surveillance,” Jongdae told him as he honked at a random car and merged onto a main road.

“And moral support,” Jongin supplied, feeling generous. Sehun glanced at his friend in surprise and concern at the sudden niceness, but was met with a side profile as Jongin stared forward, unblinking.

“Well, while you were gone,” Jongdae continued, ready to say anything to fill the silence, “some kids came by and stared at the car. I thought they were going to rob us, but they didn't. Thankfully for them.”

“Saying 'kids' like that makes you sound like a grandpa,” Sehun muttered under his breath. Jongdae glanced up in time to see his brother crack a smile.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.”

As the graffiti-covered buildings slowly gave way to sleek highrises, Jongdae asked, “Wanna go to Hyoyeon's bar?”

“No.”

Sehun made a noise of agreement. “And there's no point in going all the time if we can't drink.”

Jongin scoffed, the irony finally not lost on him and Jongdae pursed his lips, wondering what had truly happened.

so umm...100 subbies? where did you all come from and why? I still can't believe it and I love you all. <3 <3 Thank you for supporting this fic~

for those that are curious, the food xiulayhan had are here