King of the East (BaekChen)

One Plus One Equals Three: The BaekChenLay Chronicles

pairing: BaekChen
length: 4580 words

“General Oh, what is the current status of our troops at the western border?”

“There are no significant changes from the previous report, Your Majesty. Just as before, Captain Wu is successfully defending the river and keeping the invaders from crossing into our territory,” the tall general reported, his narrowed eyes scanning over the reports he had received that morning from a young messenger boy. “However, he is requesting more troops in order to launch a full-scale attack to completely drive them out. He fears that waiting to retaliate instead of going on the offensive first will spell disaster for us.”

“No,” was the firm response, a hard edge to the usually gentle voice of the land’s sovereign. “I refuse to shed unnecessary blood. I will not have my soldiers lose their lives if we can avoid it. The peace treaty is our best option and we must hold out until it is signed.”

“I understand, sire. But you must keep in mind that we also cannot prolong this standstill for much longer,” General Oh softly said. “The invaders’ numbers are growing larger by the day and we have no clue as to what they are planning. Battle is inevitable and my humble opinion is that it would be best if we strike while we still have the upper hand.”

The king sighed, long and deep, knowing that the general had a point, even though he was loath to acknowledge the harsh reality of the situation. “Since you and Captain Wu are both in agreement, I will consider his request. For now, we will wait until the peace negotiations have concluded. With any luck, the treaty will be signed by the end of the week and we can prevent an all-out war from happening.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Thank you, General Oh. You are dismissed.”

With that, the general bowed deeply to the king and left the throne room.

It was silent for several moments before a meek voice asked, “Are you alright, Your Majesty?”

The king exhaled loudly again, rubbing his forehead in exasperation with his right hand while using his left to motion for his chamberlain to step forward from the shadows. “You may drop the formalities, Baekhyun. No one else is here and I would like to speak to you as a friend right now, not as your king.”

“Yes, Jongdae,” the chamberlain quietly answered, slowly raising his head to look directly at the king. There were noticeable dark circles under Jongdae’s eyes and the monarch looked much older than he actually was, to Baekhyun’s concern. “Would you like to retire to your chambers now? You have no appointments left today. General Oh was your last one.”

“That would be nice. I’m exhausted.” Jongdae slowly stood up from his seat, feeling stiff from sitting in the throne for several hours straight, and Baekhyun quickly rushed forward to help him up. “And I shall ask for refreshments to be brought up to my room, so we can dine and chat at the same time.”

“I shall notify the kitchens immediately,” Baekhyun said, already turning to locate a pageboy who could relay the king’s request. “Is there anything in particular you would like to eat?”

Jongdae shook his head. “Anything is fine. Whatever is convenient for them to make quickly.”

Within minutes, a pageboy was on his way to the kitchens while Baekhyun led the tired king to his private quarters in the east wing of the castle.

--

Jongdae deeply sighed as his advisors filed out of the throne room, one by one.

Peace negotiations weren’t going well. These old-fashioned geezers were too stubborn, too set in their archaic ways to understand that the kingdom would have to give a little in order to reap the long-term benefits of a stable relationship with the neighbors they were currently warring with. They were too short-sighted to see that what would be considered a necessary loss at the moment would prove to be an overall win later on. And the other side was just as stubborn, so this inability from both sides to come to an agreed-upon compromise was continually delaying the crucial signing of the peace treaty that Jongdae had spent countless nights meticulously drafting, to his frustration.

“Sire…”

“They’ve all left, Baekhyun,” the king gently reminded him, a small smile adorning his chiseled face.

“Jongdae,” he duly amended, cautiously making direct eye contact with the sovereign, “how much longer do you think you can push these peace negotiations until? At this rate, I do not think the western border will hold for much longer…”

The king gritted his teeth, knowing that Baekhyun was right but not wanting to admit that he was on the path to failure. Because that was what these meetings were becoming: failed attempts from an incompetent king to protect his people from danger. Failed attempts from an incompetent king to exert his power and influence, in the face of both his advisors and visiting ambassadors.

It was a shameful position to be in and Jongdae had never wished more than now to be rid of his birthright. The crown meant nothing to him if he could not bring about the changes that he knew would help the land prosper in a peaceful manner. It was a title he had not asked for and if it weren’t for the hundreds of thousands of people who relied on him for safety and guidance, Jongdae would have abdicated the throne long ago. All of the riches in the world were not worth a flimsy title that had no real power behind it, especially not when his advisors were a bunch of corrupt old men who were only looking out for themselves.

Several years prior, Baekhyun had asked the king why he refused to replace them with his own trusted men. Jongdae had wanted to back then and he still wished he could do it now. But he knew that they could easily stage a coup against him and the kingdom would immediately fall into ruins. By keeping them in their positions, he could at least maintain the illusion that he was on their side and prevent any uprisings from happening, although he greatly loathed how this limited his own agenda. But it was a necessary evil and Jongdae forced himself to deal with the consequences of his cowardly choice—because, in the end, it truly was cowardly, no matter how hard he tried to pass it off as noble.

“Jongdae?”

He immediately snapped out of his reverie when the chamberlain softly called his name. “I apologize, Baekhyun. My mind is bustling with distractions at the moment.”

“There’s no need to make an apology, Jongdae. I imagine you must be under a significant amount of stress right now,” Baekhyun said, smiling in understanding.

The king sighed heavily again as he rested his elbows on his thighs and cupped his face while staring off into the distance. “I—I honestly do not know how much longer it will take to reach a peaceful agreement, but time is not on our side. I fear that no compromise will ever be made and all of this will have been for naught.” Jongdae then buried his face in his hands, exhaling noisily in aggravation. “It wasn’t supposed to turn out like this,” he mumbled through his fingers.

Baekhyun laid a comforting hand on the king’s tightened back and soothingly rubbed circles to help Jongdae loosen up. “I believe in you, Jongdae. If anyone can hurdle over this obstacle, that person is you.”

“I appreciate the sentiment, Baekhyun, but—”

“These aren’t empty words,” the chamberlain firmly cut in, knowing what Jongdae was about to say. “I truly believe in your ability to lead us to a peaceful victory. I know you can do this.”

There was a slight pause before Jongdae quietly answered, “Thank you,” as he lifted up his head to look at Baekhyun, who wore an earnest expression on his youthful face.

At least he had one person on his side, through thick and thin, no matter the circumstances.

And that was all he really needed right now.

--

“Your Majesty, there is no choice but for us to retaliate with as many forces as possible,” General Oh stated, schooling his expression into a neutral one under the king’s fierce stare. “Captain Wu’s troops will be wiped out if we do not dispatch any back-up soon. The more men we send, the better our chances are of winning. Our numbers should exceed the invaders’ forces if we act now.”

“What changed?” the king demanded to know, his knuckles turning white from how tightly his hands were clenching the arms of his throne chair.

“They have started to aggressively ambush any patrols we send and drown our soldiers in the river, Your Majesty,” General Oh reported. There was a sharp intake of breath from the king upon hearing this news, but he quickly motioned for the general to continue speaking. “Their numbers have also grown exponentially and we believe that this is why they are attacking more frequently. They have the manpower to pull off a more large-scale, unpredictable offense and Captain Wu fears that our current defensive strategy will crumble very soon if the invaders’ forces continue expanding at this rate.”

“How many… How many have we lost so far?” the king fearfully asked, bracing himself for the answer.

“Fifty and counting, Your Majesty,” the general quietly replied, his head bowed in remembrance of his fallen brethren.

The king’s expression turned stone-cold. Fifty-plus lives had been lost because of him. Dozens of families would never see their fathers, their sons, their brothers ever again. There were still hundreds of his men out there, risking their lives to keep their kingdom safe.

Jongdae didn’t want to engage in any more battles. He didn’t want the body count to increase any more.

But, at this point, it was clear that staying still would only bring about more death. At the very least, going on the offensive would bring about results instead of meaningless deaths.

General Oh and Captain Wu were right. It was time to fight.

“Send a messenger to Captain Wu immediately,” the king ordered. “Tell him that we are sending as many troops as we can to him without further ado.”

The general saluted his monarch while answering, “Yes, Your Majesty. I will arrange that straight away.”

“Tomorrow, I will give you further instructions on how we are launching our attack. But for now, I would like to retire to my quarters. I have much to think about today.” The king gestured for his chamberlain to step forward as he stood up from the throne chair.

General Oh deeply bowed before saying, “Of course, Your Majesty. Please rest well. I will await your summons tomorrow.”

“Thank you, General Oh. You are dismissed.”

With that, the general was gone and Baekhyun helped lead the king out of the throne room.

Once they were secluded in Jongdae’s chambers, the king suddenly grabbed Baekhyun’s hands and forced the surprised chamberlain to make direct eye contact with him. His gaze was dark and solemn, irises shining brightly, and his grip tightened around Baekhyun’s thin fingers as several seconds ticked by in complete silence.

“J-jongdae?” the chamberlain finally whispered, unsure of what was happening right now.

It took several more seconds for the king to respond with, “Baekhyun, I hate to ask this of you, but I need you to do me a favor.”

“Of course,” Baekhyun answered without a moment of hesitation. “You know I would do anything for you.”

Jongdae shook his head. “No, this favor that I am about to ask you for is huge. This will change your entire life and—” His voice broke momentarily. “—and I wish there were an alternative, because I truly do not want to hurt you,” he finished in a barely audible whisper.

“What—what is it?”

There was another pregnant pause before Jongdae carefully said, “I have decided to lead our kingdom’s army into battle. Once I finalize the details with General Oh, I will leave to join Captain Wu on the field.”

“What?!” Baekhyun cried, unable to contain the outburst, even though he knew the heavens would smite him for such rude behavior in the king’s presence. He also instantly removed his hands from the Jongdae’s grasp, recoiling from his shocking announcement. “Jongdae, you can’t! You are the king! You must stay here!”

“I have to,” Jongdae firmly answered.

“Captain Wu and General Oh are capable enough to lead the soldiers themselves!” the chamberlain retorted. “They will be fine on their own!”

“This isn’t a matter of them being fine without me! I am this land’s king! One of my duties is to act as the Commander of the royal army and I will not shirk this duty in order to shelter myself here while my men sacrifice themselves on the battlefield!”

“But, as this land’s king, your life is worth more than any individual soldier’s!” Baekhyun continued arguing. “Your life is worth more than the entire army’s! Without you, the rest of the kingdom will be lost! You can’t risk your life when you matter so much to so many people!”

Both males also heard the chamberlain’s unspoken words: You can’t risk your life when you matter so much to me.

Jongdae didn’t want to, but he knew he would never forgive himself if he let so many young boys and men go out into battle with no guarantee of returning home to their families while he sat in his castle, safe and sound. He refused to take advantage of his privileged status like that. He hadn’t become king because he was special; it had all been luck, an obligation passed down to him the moment he had been born into this dreadful world.

As much as it pained him to do so, Jongdae staunchly stood by his choice. “I will ride out with our troops in two days’ time,” he said, causing Baekhyun to scowl. “General Oh will depart tomorrow so that Captain Wu is not alone for long. And while I am gone, you will be in charge of all of the castle’s affairs.”

“…Yes, Your Majesty.”

Jongdae heaved another sigh when he saw how upset Baekhyun was. And he knew he was only going to make it worse in a few seconds. “I… I have more to ask of you, Baekhyun.”

The chamberlain grudgingly nodded.

“If… If anything should happen to me while on the battlefield… If I am unable to return, then I want you to take my place.”

At this, Baekhyun completely froze. “No… No…” He frantically shook his head. “Jongdae, what are you saying?!”

“War is unpredictable and because I am taking such a large risk to ensure our victory, I need to cover every base. And that includes appointing someone to take over the throne if I die in battle.” Jongdae smiled sadly. “You are the only one that I trust to carry out my vision and be a just king for my people.”

“No! I can’t do it! I won’t do it!” the chamberlain cried.

“By the decree of the current king with no heir, you will be my successor, Byun Baekhyun,” the king commanded in the authoritative voice that he rarely used, only for urgent occasions like this one.

With that, the chamberlain fell silent, but tears began to stream down his pale face. Baekhyun turned around so that the king would not be able to see him cry and Jongdae let him. The two men stood, unmoving, for several minutes. It was the most uncomfortable that both of them had ever felt in each other’s presence, the gravity of Jongdae’s proclamation weighing heavily on their shoulders.

Once his tears had finally dried up, Baekkhyun turned back to face the king and looked at him squarely in the eyes. “You have to promise me that you will come back. Otherwise, I will follow you into battle and you will have to appoint someone else as your successor.”

They both knew that Baekhyun, who had no combat experience whatsoever, would not survive even one second on the battlefield.

And they both knew that Jongdae would have no choice but to agree, because he would never risk Baekhyun’s life like that.

“I promise I will return home,” the king said, reaching forward to take Baekhyun’s hands into his own again. “Even if I have to wade through a sea of dead bodies to come back, I will.”

Baekhyun pulled him into a tight embrace and they held each other, desperately wishing that this moment in time could last for eternity. “Please don’t break your promise,” the chamberlain whispered.

“…I won’t.”

--

Jongdae wore a solemn expression as Baekhyun reluctantly dressed the king in his battle armor.

It was early morning, just after sunrise, but the castle was already bustling with activity outside of the royal chambers. Servants, soldiers, pageboys, squires, maids, cooks, stable boys, messengers, and advisors were all scrambling to prepare for the king’s coming departure.

This would be the first time that the monarch would be away from the castle for an undetermined length of time. The longest that he had been absent was when he had traveled to the East Sea for a much-needed two-week respite from his royal duties. He had placed Chancellor Zhang in charge of the castle’s affairs while he and Baekhyun had vacationed without a care in the world.

Jongdae’s favorite memory was when they had gone horseback-riding along the beach.

It had been completely empty, save for the two males and their stallions. The clear blue ocean had gently lapped at the soft white sand and the sun had slowly dipped down behind the water, causing the sky to bleed in a spectrum of reds and purples.

The king remembered feeling as free as a bird as he had spread his arms out like wings while his horse briskly trotted along the shoreline. The sunrays had been warm against his face and the cool breeze had gently blown through his messy dark hair. There had been no politics to play, no matters to worry about, and no image to uphold as the most important person in the kingdom.

That day, he had just been Kim Jongdae, ruler of none but himself.

And he had remembered looking back at Baekhyun, who had been diligently riding behind him while lost in his own thoughts. Jongdae remembered how serenely Baekhyun had smiled as he watched the beautiful sunset, which they never had time to witness back at the castle since they were usually busy working indoors from dawn until dusk. It was such a pretty picture that he wished he could have somehow captured in that moment and he recalled making a mental note to ask the castle painter to recreate that moment on a giant canvas he could display in his chambers.

To his regret, it had never happened. Castle life had overtaken both of them upon the conclusion of their holiday and there had never been a chance for them to schedule in some time for such a grandiose painting. Now, Jongdae wished that he had made more of an effort to cherish these precious moments, to spend more quality time with the people he cared about, since no one knew what the outcome of this war would be. If he hadn’t taken this valuable time for granted, perhaps he would be able to leave Baekhyun with more than an empty promise and a responsibility that the chamberlain did not want.

“There,” Baekhyun breathed out as he finished adjusting Jongdae’s navy blue cape.

The king looked as regal as ever in his silver armor, embellished with golden accents on the plate. Taken from his family’s coat of arms, there was a symbol of a lightning bolt across a sun engraved in the center. Jongdae lightly touched it, hoping that it would give him some form of comfort. It didn’t, but he tried to stay optimistic in light of the situation anyway.

He was going to lead his men into war. Most of them were not going to survive. He might not survive.

But this was the sacrifice he was prepared to make for his people. For they always came first. If he could fulfill his duty as their sovereign, Jongdae would die a hundred times over.

He just wished that it didn’t have to come at the price of Baekhyun’s suffering.

--

“Chamberlain Byun! Chamberlain Byun! I have an urgent message from Captain Wu and General Oh!” a young messenger cried as he suddenly burst into Baekhyun’s quarters, startling the older male who was currently reviewing a long list of the castle’s inventory. “They are requesting an audience with you in the throne room immediately! We must make haste!”

Baekhyun was too shocked by the sudden summons to even notice that he had just been ordered by a mere messenger boy as the chamberlain dropped the parchment and followed the teenager to the throne room. When they arrived, both the captain and the general were huddled against each other, their once pristine uniforms now covered in streaky dirt and ugly gashes. They were murmuring in low voices to each other, so deep in conversation that they didn’t hear Baekhyun and the messenger arrive in the throne room.

It wasn’t until the teenage boy announced the chamberlain’s arrival that the two men abruptly turned around and looked at Baekhyun with ghostly-white faces.

But Baekhyun didn’t notice how deathly pale they were. He didn’t notice the bloody cuts on their faces and hands.

All he saw was the king’s crown that was nestled in between General Oh’s large hands. All he saw was Jongdae’s crown that should have been nestled atop his head.

But it wasn’t.

“Chamberlain Byun…” the general started, his voice uncharacteristically hoarse.

“Why—why do y-you have that?” Baekhyun stuttered, his right pointer finger shakily aimed at the golden jeweled crown. “Why is that not in the king’s possession? Where is he? Where is he?!” His usually soft voice suddenly rose to an ear-splitting screech as his arm began to shake more widely, his knees growing weak with apprehension.

“His Majesty…is no more…” Captain Wu weakly announced, bowing his head. Both General Oh and the messenger boy followed suit while Baekhyun stood frozen, gaping at the tall captain.

It took a moment for the chamberlain to recover his voice and when he did, Baekhyun darkly commanded, “Tell me everything that happened. Do not leave out a single detail.”

Both General Oh and Captain Wu pointedly looked at each other, as if silently debating who would be the one to retell what had transpired on the battlefield. However, feeling Baekhyun’s gaze boring into him, General Oh decided to take the bullet and fulfill his duty as the senior officer.

With every sentence that came out of the general’s mouth, of how Jongdae had come up with strategies for every possible outcome, of how Jongdae had bravely led his soldiers into the fray, of how the enemy forces had been ready to retaliate with everything they had, Baekhyun could feel his stomach twist into a knot while the blood drained even further from his already paper-white face.

General Oh, as per the chamberlain’s request, provided every last detail of what had transpired on the battlefield and the messenger boy standing next to Baekhyun looked ready to hurl. Baekhyun himself was beginning to feel nauseated, but he forced himself to bear through it and continue listening since he had brought this upon himself.

“Although both sides suffered many casualties, we were clearly at a disadvantage with more than two-thirds of our men lost. Every trap we set was sprung by the enemy and we were running out of resources. His Majesty tried to call for a temporary truce in order to negotiate something, but his attempts were all rebuffed. They made examples out of our captured soldiers, beheading or castrating them in front of us. It was a nightmare.” General Oh shuddered.

“His Majesty would have never allowed that to happen under his watch,” Baekhyun gritted out, his hands balling up into fists at his sides.

“His Majesty’s hands were tied. They were too powerful. They could have easily wiped us all out. The only reason we managed to retreat with the remainder of our forces was because…” General Oh paused as he cautiously looked at the chamberlain, whose gaze narrowed suspiciously.

“What happened?”

General Oh gulped loudly, his hands wringing nervously behind his back, before he said, “His Majesty came up with a last-minute plan to distract the bulk of the enemy forces by attacking them from the east, where they weren’t as protected. Captain Wu and I were ordered to rescue any surviving captives, and then lead our men back to the main city as quickly as we could. We were successful, but…His Majesty’s squadron was nearly obliterated. Only three soldiers survived and they were the ones to bring back this.” The general held up the golden crown.

“So you listened to him?! You let him go out there, knowing that he was volunteering himself for a suicide mission?!”

“He—he gave us an order, Chamberlain Byun,” Captain Wu quietly explained. “We do not disobey direct orders.”

All of the fight left Baekhyun’s body upon hearing those words. The captain was right. No one disobeyed the king. Not even him.

The chamberlain collapsed to the ground, not caring that his knees were probably going to bruise later from the impact of hitting the marble floor. Because that pain was absolutely nothing compared to the current feeling of his heart being carved in half.

--

When he returned to his chambers that night, all that Baekhyun could do was scream into his white feather pillow to muffle the agonizing sounds that were being ripped from his now broken soul.

--

“Baekhyun… I am…so sorry… I could not…keep…my promise…” Jongdae haggardly whispered, coughing up bright red blood every few moments. His crown was askew, just barely hanging on, and he felt his vision blur as the harsh, guttural noises of the battleground faded into background static. “But…I trust you…and I know…you will do…what is best…for our people…” His strength was being rapidly sapped away and his body was wracked with blood-boiling pain.

But he held on as best as he could, desperately hoping for a miracle even though he knew one would not come.

He did not deserve a miracle. Not after sentencing so many to their deaths. His hands, his soul, his entire being were all stained with the blood of thousands.

No, he was not worthy of being saved.

Not when he had failed.

As his breaths became shallower and shallower, Jongdae weakly reached for the gloomy gray sky while picturing the brightest smile that he had ever seen in his life. “I wish… I wish it had…been different…for us… Then…perhaps…I would not have…so many…regrets…”

And then everything went black.

--

“Henceforth, Byun Baekhyun, you are our lord and sovereign. Our humble lives exist to serve you, Your Majesty. Long live the king! Long live the king!”

Long live the king.

--

Long live the king.

The crown sparkled on his head, the sharp edges of the perfectly cut jewels shining under the sunlight.

--

He silently lay in bed, wondering what that meant.

Long live the king.

♈♈♈

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luv_kero
[1+1=3] THANK YOU to the person who advertised this collection!! <3 It came as a complete surprise and I'm so grateful that someone cared enough to promote this, so THANK YOU and I hope everyone enjoys the random scenarios that pop into my head, hehe ^^

Comments

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Djatasma
#1
Chapter 161: One Wednesday night soon I'm going to go get McDonald's and play Genshin. Even though my HuTao is mad weak 🥲
Djatasma
#2
Chapter 160: A late but Blessed Belated Baek Day. 🩵
Djatasma
#3
Chapter 158: Happy 11th EXOversary!
Djatasma
#4
Chapter 155: 🥰🥰
ReadRealize #5
Chapter 154: Hope that we get to see ot9 soon.
zaikenhuo
#6
Chapter 148: Baekhyun doing shots with Yixing, Baekxing just living the moment, regrets be damned ❤
ReadRealize #7
Chapter 151: Happy birthdae!
Djatasma
#8
Chapter 151: Blessed Dae Day!
Djatasma
#9
Chapter 149: 😭
zaikenhuo
#10
Chapter 144: Love it how this baekxing is the total opposite of the last one i've read, i'll just never have enough of domestic clingy boyfriends baekxing au ❤