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      Such a night had caused ChanYeol to become more worried about KyungSoo. The smaller male no longer talked as much as he did before and he most certainly had no reaction to the beagle, who played jokes on him. It was as if he was locked in his own thoughts and became unable to control the constant self-blame. The reason why they're gone, is because of you. The reason they died is because you weren't fast enough to save them. As such thoughts poisoned him, flashbacks of the exact day ran through his vision. The screams of others echoed in his ears and he cupped them while he bent his head towards his knees. In that car ride, ChanYeol experienced a new side of KyungSoo, a scared and fearful side to the squishy man he once knew. Upon arriving at their destination, ChanYeol slipped a mask onto his friend and one for himself.

      "Where are we?"

      ChanYeol linked an arm around KyungSoo's shoulders, "Let's just go in."

      With only one blink of his eyes, KyungSoo had suddenly stepped into a dark and secluded room. There were barely any lights and the stench of herbal essences burned his lungs. He searched for the hands of ChanYeol and once found, he didn't let go. He was scared of this place, it was strange and uncomfortable. While ChanYeol calmly sat down into a chair, KyungSoo scrunched up in his own and looked around them. No soul in sight, just the two of them.

      "ChanYeol, what are we doing here?"

      "Just trust me."

      With a tight squeeze from ChanYeol's trusty hands, KyungSoo relaxed into his chair and waited patiently for what was to come. Before he could even begin to count sheep, the shuffling sound of feet came towards them. As fear crawled through his skin, KyungSoo wanted to look away but he was curious as to what it was that ChanYeol trusted. Out of the shadows came an old woman, nearly in her hundreds, and she was dressed in black attire. As for her hair—A mess. Still confused, KyungSoo bowed to the woman and exchanged looks with ChanYeol.

      "Who am I?" The lady croaked, "Who are you?"

      KyungSoo watched as she shakily brought a chair to sit in front of him. Her breath wreaked of alcohol and her skin looked as if it were rotting. Though he thought her to be disgusting, KyungSoo noticed that her eyes shined—Reflecting the galaxy itself. His gaze was fixated on her eyes and once she caught him staring, the old woman snickered;

      "My eyes are all seeing... I saw who you once were."

      "Who I was?"

      The lady gently curved ChanYeol's arm into a ninety-degree angle and pointed at the base of the plump forearm, "You see here? He was tied up for committing a crime."

      "A... A crime?" KyungSoo traced the line of his friend's forearm. He had never noticed before, "What are you talking about?"

      "Why don't you see for yourself?"

      "ChanYeol, this lady is crazy," He angrily rose from his sitting position, "Let's go-"

      "KyungSoo," ChanYeol held onto his hand, "Is it okay if we stay? I want to know why those bad things happened to us."

      KyungSoo bit his bottom lip and was reluctant but when he looked into the eyes of his desperate friend, he slowly sat back down, "What do you mean... see for yourself?"

      The lady giggled and forcefully closed their eyes, "At any moment, you can say "Erratum," and you will return to your past life. The only way to come back to the present is that you must fix your wrong doings."

      "How will we know-"

      The old lady shushed him with her dry hands, "Sleep well..."

      With those words, KyungSoo felt as though he had been thrown into an ocean with rocks tied to his feet. Breathing became difficult and so did running. He reached out to any direction but found no way out. Just when his hope began to die out, an arm dove through the darkness and offered him help. Though he didn't know where it would lead, KyungSoo tried his best to lock his hand with the bodiless figure. He reached and reached but he still remained in the same place. His beating heart slowed and his vision blurred but through the moment of life and death, the small man heard his name in the distance, telling him to wake up. The voiced sounded familiar. That low-tone, yelling. The slur of words. KyungSoo closed his eyes tightly and rushed forward to grab the hand that still floated above him;

      "I'm not dying here!"

      When KyungSoo opened his eyes, the skies in his vision were bluer and had more clouds. The sound of snow blowing in the air and the rustling of the dead leaves left nostalgic feelings in him. It was all too real. He slowly moved his hands to feel the strangeness of the earth beneath him. It had more soil and character than anywhere he had ever been—More life. Suddenly, a worried expression appeared and disturbed his moment of peace, making him remember the reason they were there;

      "ChanYeol, where are we?"

      The man helped him to his feet and dusted the snow off of his old-fashioned clothing, "Somewhere.. about two hundred years ago."

      "Two hundred?" KyungSoo ran his hands through his golden traditional clothing, "Who am I supposed to be?"

      ChanYeol looked at how neatly the silk of KyungSoo's clothing had been placed onto his shoulders and then looked back at his dirty, blue fighting clothes, "A Prince? No, maybe a King?"

      As he continued to feel the strange clothing, something scratched against his forearm. He winced from the sudden pain and reached down into the large pocket of his sleeve and pulled out what looked to be a letter;

      "Do KyungSoo. You were a King... a King who was loved by all. ChanYeol was your protector and along side you, he fought."

      The letter was written in incomplete sentences but it went straight to the point. ChanYeol scanned the open land and saw a carriage in the distance. There, servants waited for their return and rested their cold, tired legs. It was unbelievable at first, but now that they were here, KyungSoo knew that it could be tied to the death of their beloved members. Quickly, he walked over to their carriage and received deep bows from his servants.

      "Where are we headed?"

      One servant lifted his head, "Your father asked for your company."

      "Is my father not living in my palace?"

      The servant exchanged a confused look with the others, "Your Highness, when you were sixteen, you conquered a whole country with ChanYeol by your side."

      "It was the neighboring country, don't you remember?" Another servant joined in to explain, "You told your father that you would care for the country in your own way.. and so, you left."

      KyungSoo brought a hand to his chin and then entered the carriage, "Let's quickly go."

      ChanYeol didn't know what his plans were but it was best to follow him for he was the King. On the short journey to meet the ruler of a neighboring country, ChanYeol's hands constantly fiddled with the sword on his hip. Every touch made his heart beat and the smell of blood seeped out from its sheath. After he swallowed the fear of what kind of man he was, ChanYeol quickened his pace and joined the servants at the front. They carried gift boxes for the King's Father and the smell of liquor trailed behind every step. We must be having a feast, ChanYeol thought to himself as he walked back to the carriage.

      "What are you doing?"

      "I don't know... there is something we have to fix to return," KyungSoo flipped the silk covering of a window, "We will return, safely."

      Through the last hour of their trip, ChanYeol enjoyed the scenery that they passed by. Bright, white snow covered the tall grass that seemed to dance in the wind and the mountainous horizon made him feel alive. He found that it was easier to breath in a non-polluted environment. When the sun started to set, he could clearly see the transitions of fuchsia to the orange color of the burning sun and the clouds that disappeared with it.

      ChanYeol's eyes widened with the shocking height of the stone walls that were protecting its people. They had to be about thirty feet in the air and the door itself was massive. He watched as they creaked until they were opened all the way for the entrance of the King's Son, KyungSoo. The people of this country seemed happy as they threw confetti-like strands into the snow covered earth. They chanted his name and some even cried, saying, "Our Lord is back!"

      After the little parade, they finally arrived at the gates of the palace. It wasn't just closed off by a stone wall but it also had black barred fences that traced the inner entrance just behind the thick wall. Everything was new to ChanYeol but he had quickly familiarized himself with the timezone. Once they entered the gates, KyungSoo's carriage was gently placed on the neatly-swept, concrete grounds and two servants ran forward to bow down in front of a party of councilmen.

      "Son of our great King Do and brother to the heir, SeungWoo. King to the country of EXO, his highness, Do KyungSoo has arrived."

      After the loud greeting from the two servants, the King and his Queen came from behind a huge building with his servants at his side. His smile stretched far and wide as he was happy to see that his son had come for a visit. KyungSoo politely stepped out from his carriage and bowed to his "two-hundred year old father." Though he was the one in the past, his face had the same wrinkles his present dad had. The same two eyes, the same smile and the same voice. It wasn't hard acting like he acknowledged him as a real father. He then turned to his mother and bowed greatly for she, too, resembled his real mother with her soft smile that was lovingly beautiful.

      With a light pat on his shoulder, King Do had teary eyes, "After seven years, I'm finally seeing my son again."

      "I'm glad you are doing well," he smiled once for the older man, "Where is SeungWoo Hyung?"

      "He told me to tell you," his put a hand over his mouth and whispered, "Meet me at our usual place."

      "Usual?"

      "He said that you'd surely remember where that was," King Do laughed, making the creases in his eyes more defined, "Take ChanYeol with you and go."

      KyungSoo turned to look at his Mother, "But we-"

      "The three of us will talk later," he smiled to his son, "Now get going."

      Upon locking eyes with KyungSoo, ChanYeol followed closely behind as they walked around the huge palace. There were thousands of sliding doors and about five hundred buildings, so where could the "usual" spot be? KyungSoo stopped in his tracks and thought of his own brother. If the two-hundred year old SeungWoo was anything like the present one, their meeting place would be somewhere peaceful—Somewhere only the two of them could be themselves. With the snap of his fingers, KyungSoo stopped a servant that passed by;

      "Where is the lily pond?"

      ChanYeol was confused, yet again, about what KyungSoo was doing but all he could do was follow him. He was practically his personal body guard and companion. As they neared the lily pond, the smell of sweet petals trailed through their nostrils and filled their lungs. The trickling sound of water could be heard from about ten feet away and there was a small bridge that connected one side of the pond to the other. Snow covered every inch of the space around the lily pond and made it hard for him to see but KyungSoo didn't have to try and look for his brother, he had already spotted him on that burgundy bridge as he threw some crumbs of his bread to the fish that lived in the pond. His brown hair was the same, except for its long length, and his standing posture resembled his real brother.

      KyungSoo ran towards his brother with open arms, "SeungWoo Hyung!"

      He laughed at the younger boy's sudden show of affection and tapped his hand lightly on KyungSoo's back, "I've been waiting patiently for your return, and here you are."

      KyungSoo's lips curved into a heart shape as his adoration for his brother showed, "How have you been? Did anything new happen?"

      "Well, his highness tried to make me accept a few arranged marriages but I refused them all."

      "Why?"

      "KyungSoo, you know me, I don't need someone by my side." He bent down to dip a finger into the cool lily pond, "This tranquility is all that I need."

      "What about the throne?"

      SeungWoo sighed, "Of course I am waiting for that but father decided to wait for you to return. He said that you needed to be at my side because we are brothers."

      "Well, I'm here now!"

      "Father told me that tomorrow is the day I'll become the ruler of this country... but I'm not confident."

      KyungSoo looked at his Hyung with confusion for the brother he had in the present never said he wasn't confident in anything. This was the only difference, "Why not?"

      SeungWoo laughed lightly out of embarrassment, "I'm older than you.. but I can't seem to take on the burden of a whole country. You're very brave for leaving on your own and conquering such a large land."

      "Hyung can do that, too. You just need to try," KyungSoo tried to comfort the man, "Do SeungWoo, the best King the people of this country has ever had. You'll see."

      "Thank you," As he noticed ChanYeol, who was awkwardly stood next to a crooked tree, SeungWoo nodded towards his direction, "Call your companion here."

      "ChanYeol-ah," KyungSoo waved, "Come here."

      With no hesitation, ChanYeol swiftly walked towards the two and bowed respectfully to the man who looked just like KyungSoo's real brother.

      SeungWoo gave him a good look from head to toe and then patted him on the shoulder, "Thank you for taking care of my little brother all these years.  I know he's a handful but I hope that it doesn't tire you too much."

      ChanYeol kept his gaze with the burgundy bridge, "Not at all, your highness."

      "Just call me Hyung," he gave ChanYeol a warm smile, "I don't like all the honorifics I receive from being the heir to the throne."

      "Ne, H-Hyung."

      "Let's go in and wash up."

      The two men followed after SeungWoo and arrived at the bathing area. He wanted them to have a bath before they were presented to the council and he knew that they had a rough time while they traveled from the country of EXO. There, male servants stripped the three men of their clothing and each received a rather small cloth to wash their bodies with. ChanYeol and KyungSoo stood there awkwardly while SeungWoo comfortably dipped into the hot spring. The cold air of Winter kissed their skin and made them shiver violently. It was the first time any of the two had seen each other and it was definitely weird. KyungSoo rushed in after his brother so his body could be warmed up by the steam from the hot bath, leaving ChanYeol to stand alone.

      "Come in," SeungWoo splashed at the water, "You need to wash up before you meet the council men."

      Without a fight, ChanYeol doused himself into the lavish feeling of the bath. It had a soft, milky texture, as if they had put herbs into the water. Whatever it was, it made ChanYeol feel really relaxed. As he scrubbed his body with the cloth, he noticed that he had scars in many different areas of his body. Are these from fighting? ChanYeol rubbed them curiously, I must have gotten really injured. SeungWoo, too, had  noticed the scars on the man's muscular body and felt bad that such a young man had been fighting all his life. Sighing deeply, he let his body soak while he looked up at the dark skies.

      "KyungSoo-yah, do you know that when a King dies, his soul is sent to be a star? There, he watches over his people."

      He looked up towards the constellations in the starry night and smiled, "That means that I'll be up there one day."

      "KyungSoo?"

      "Ne, Hyung?"

      "Thank you... for telling me that I will become a great King—"

      SeungWoo's smile was the last thing KyungSoo saw before he and ChanYeol were quickly transported back to the present. It tore at his heart that they left without a goodbye. He wanted to say more to SeungWoo and ask him many, many more quiestions. He wanted to know about his brother's past life but he couldn't even do that. KyungSoo's eyes slowly opened and the dark, stench-filled room no longer existed. He was back at the dorm with the other nine members of EXO. With the sad realization of what just happened, a lonely smile stretched across his face as tears began to well up in his eyes. There, he brought an arm to shield his pain,

      Just a dream...

      So, this chapter is really up to you guys. Is it a dream? Or is it not? It will all be revealed in the next chapter! Also, please don't laugh too much at "The Country of EXO," I really didn't know what else to name it lol. I really wasn't going to post this up at all or even start writing Erratum but I received so many subbies and views even though I only posted the Entry Chapter. I wanted to thank you all somehow! Also, this is just a heads up that the next chapter probably won't be posted until February! I hope you all stay with me till the ending!

      감사 ♥