It was near midnight when the carriage appeared, seeming to melt out of darkness, manifesting into solid form as it clattered to a stop at the front of the looming castle above it. Strangely enough, not even the guards questioned the almost sudden appearance of the carriage, perhaps they were merely too tired to care. After all, their king worked them hard and the guards couldn’t help but snooze once in a while. Even so, it was troubling, how little attention they paid to the carriage considering the state of their country at the time. Crawling with bandits and murderers, it was highly likely that one of the scoundrels would eventually manage to get into the castle and kill the king, seizing the power for him or herself. But with this development, it was also unlikely that anyone would travel at night for risk of meeting these unkind scoundrels, which is why both of the guards jolted awake and to attention when the door to the carriage opened and someone stepped out, shoes thudding onto the ground with an unfamiliar echo. There, in front of the guards who gaped openly at the figure who dared to travel through the night, stood a man, no, a boy. Tall and willowy, most of what he was wearing and his overall figure was shrouded with the cloak, though the latch of the cloak sparkled in the light of the torches, the glint of solid gold catching the attention of the guards. The boy’s face was youthful, the softness of his face a clear sign of his noble bloodline, though there were faint signs of hardship littered throughout his features. For a moment the male seemed to gaze at the guards, expression flinty before he spoke, tone cutting through the air like a flute, the aura of nobility showing through even the few words that he spoke.

“Aren’t you going to let me in?”

For a moment, the guards were frozen at the manifestation  of such beauty in front of them, but then the boy seemed to release them from whatever spell he was holding them to and they scrambled for the door, opening it hastily before they bowed, allowing him to walk past them.

“Thank you.” The male replied swiftly, catching himself off guard before his lips curled into a dry smile at his obvious mistake, nearly slamming his head against the nearest wall as he spotted a tinge of suspicion in one of the guard’s eyes.

“Do I—perhaps know you?” the guard questioned, eyes now alert as he examined and re-examined the young noble’s face. For a moment the male considered lying, then, noting that lying would perhaps lead to an even rockier meeting with the king, merely responded with a soft

“Perhaps you do. I am Lu Han, more precisely Duke Luhan. But I don’t expect you to know the name. It has been six years after all.”

And that was all Luhan was willing to give up. With one swift move, the boy strode past the two scrambling guards, leaving them to do what they would with his name and position. There were more important things on his mind at this point, and none of them happened to be pleasing ones. Nevertheless, the boy concentrated more on getting his way through the castle that had become strange to him, making his way towards what would be his rooms when he was supposed to arrive—tomorrow. “At least this hasn’t changed.” The boy mumbled to himself, taking a turn down a familiar hallway, pausing for a moment to get his bearings, though he pushed on at the sounds of moans through a door with a purple heraldry on it. In moments he had arrived in front of a door with markings on it that made him smile, pausing for a moment before he pushed his way in without a word. He nearly laughed at the reaction he got, an indecent splutter as the two men seated over a chessboard (which seemed long forgotten), seemed to lurch away from each other, one man slopping wine all over himself as he stared at Luhan with a sense of shock. For a moment there was merely silence, before Luhan closed the door behind him, amused as he asked in a lilting voice.

“Now, now, Yixing, don’t I even get an introduction to your lovely friend here?” he gestured gracefully to the male who hadn’t slopped wine all over himself, lips curling into a small playful smirk as the other male, Yixing, seemed to continue to sputter before he set his wine glass down, standing up as he snapped.

“Now that was plain indecent, not even telling me that you were coming. It’s been six damn years Luhan, I thought you would have at least give me a warning.” For a moment Yixing fell silent, unsure what to say before he added lamely “And this is Yifan. Wu Yifan. Yifan, meet Luhan.” The male, excessively tall with thick eyebrows bowed lightly to Luhan before he eyed Yixing, clearing his throat lightly

“Seems like your friend over there saved you from losing another game of chess to me. It’s getting late, I’m going to head back to my rooms. It was nice meeting you—Luhan, and I’ll see you tomorrow Yixing?”

Yixing merely nodded faintly, watching as Yifan hurried out of the room, staring almost longingly after the other before Luhan’s light laugh brought Yixing’s attention back to him. “So—this Yifan?” Luhan wiggled his eyebrows playfully, heading over to take a seat on the bed. He moved with an easy grace, one that had been mastered after years and years at the court, yet Yixing couldn’t help but notice how jerkily Luhan moved, clearly unfamiliar with being back in the court.

“Let’s not talk about him now.” Yixing merely responded, frowning as he moved to take a seat in his chair again, eyes meeting Luhan’s as he poured the other some wine, handing it over before he asked, expression serious now “What are you doing back here, Lu? It’s been six years.”

“I know.” Luhan sighed heavily and the boy seemed to change, his jaunty manner fading to reveal a tired man in a boy’s body. “I—wasn’t planning on coming back at all. It—was an emergency.”

“Things have finally gotten that bad huh.” Yixing replied dryly, taking a sip of his wine as he stared at his best friend, “Have we finally hit a low point?” All court courtesies were gone now, all that was left were two friends who hadn’t seen each other for years, who needed answers from one another, who shared one and the same burden, though one shared more of the burden than the other.

“I need to talk to the king.” Luhan replied, answering Yixing’s question as he shook his head “That’s why I’m here, I need to fix things. The state—it’s breaking apart.” For a moment Luhan merely looked down at the floor, frowning as he considered the problem before he shook his head, looking up at Yixing, who seemed to be staring him with worry.

“You know—the king is Oh Sehun right? He won’t take change lightly.” Yixing warned, brows furrowing before he added “Especially from you.”

“I know who the king is.” Luhan responded levelly, fingers clenching into a fist as he gritted out “But I need to talk to him, I need to fix things.” There was more than just the state to fix, Yixing realized, Luhan was here for another reason, one the other wished not to disclose. But it would come out eventually, the court was not a place for secrets.

“How?” Yixing set down his wine glass, staring at Luhan in the eye “I’m one of his closest friends and I haven’t even been able to do anything, no one has. One wrong step Luhan—and it’s going to be over, not only for you but for all of us. Sehun isn’t the boy you used to know.”

“I’ll figure it out.” Luhan merely smiled an understanding smile, looking even more tired than he already did as he closed his eyes, letting out a sigh “Somehow, I’ll figure things out and fix everything. I come to the court to take a position of one of nobility around Sehun, I’ll be with him often, I’ll be able to fix things, I promise.” For a moment Luhan was silent, then almost as if to break the mood, he yawned, eyes flickering open as he smiled, expression softening and sweetening “Do you mind if I sleep here for tonight? My rooms won’t be ready till tomorrow. I can sleep on the floor if you want.”

“Take the bed.” Yixing merely replied, taking another sip of his wine before he smiled, eyes warm “It’s nice to see you again Luhan.” The young duke merely nodded, and in moments he as asleep, still clad in his traveling clothes. For a moment Yixing stayed where he was, merely examining the other with a critical eye that only came with years and years at the court. And then he rose, setting down the wine glass as he pursed his lips into a line.

He had a lot to think about.

AN: First chapter is up! Sorry, it's unedited, it's late here, and I'm tired. It's lots of setting up, I'll probably edit it later, I promise <3 Hopefully next chapter will be much better, definitely more on the relationship of Luhan and Sehun.