Chapter 7

Hwayoung was pretty sure none of the three of them actually rested properly.

Despite the fact that Baekhyun had technically agreed to help them, she could still see him eyeing Kyungsoo and her nervously. Kyungsoo himself had two people to watch out for — he hadn’t even let his guard down the least bit around her — and he sat cautiously in the corner of the room he said he’d take. She told him to get some shut-eye or at least some form of rest, but when she looked over at him, he didn’t look the least bit sleepy (or maybe he did — he just refused to sleep). Baekhyun had glanced at her ankle once and offered her the bed, but he looked pretty awful himself and Hwayoung refused it.

Still, he was also wide-awake as he sat unmoving on the bed, white hair gradually beginning to dry as it stuck straight out. Hwayoung remained in her chair, sneaking subtle glances in both Baekhyun and Kyungsoo’s directions. Neither of them looked like they would be at ease any time soon, and the tension was enough for her to stay on edge also.

She wasn’t sure how long it was that they sat in absolute silence. The throbbing in her swollen ankle had lessened when she’d taken off her shoes, though it was an angry red when she looked at it. It would be a miracle if she could even walk at a decent pace the next day.

At some point, Baekhyun flopped back onto his bed, though his body looked way too stiff to be asleep. Kyungsoo had rested his in his arms, face hidden, though Hwayoung was pretty sure that he wasn’t sleeping either.

It had been over two days since she’d gotten proper rest (which was bad, but it could’ve been worse — she’d gone days without sleep, and though it was an absolute nightmare to deal with, she’d gotten through). Being with Kyungsoo prevented that, and while she didn’t want to admit it, she was more than wary of the prince and he would’ve proved a pretty big threat to her if he’d been against her. There was no way she could trust him at this point in time (if she could ever), but she had to admit he was useful.

“Do Kyungsoo,” Baekhyun called, unmoving on his bed.

Kyungsoo didn’t lift his head either. “What?” he asked in a muffled voice.

“Are you planning on becoming king once you overthrow your brother?”

Hwayoung kept her gaze on him. He lifted his head slowly, though Baekhyun still had his back to him, turned facing the wall. He didn’t show any signs of moving.

Kyungsoo pressed his lips together. “That’s not the reason I want him dead.”

“I didn’t say it was.” Baekhyun was the one to sit up now. His hair now hung down, almost long enough to cover his eyes. “I asked if you’re planning on becoming king once he’s dead.”

They stared at each other for a long time (leaving Hwayoung to wonder if they still remembered that she was in the room), and finally, when she thought that the pressure was actually going to break something, Kyungsoo spoke up.

“I don’t know,” he said calmly. “I don’t practically care about being a king.”

“You’ll be the only heir if dies though, won’t you? Even if you’re an illegitimate child—”  Kyungsoo’s jaw tightened at that, “—that won’t matter if your brother dies. The king himself is too sick to do anything, and no one has seen the queen—“

“Don’t speak of my mother,” Kyungsoo snapped before Baekhyun could continue. “She has nothing to do with this all.”

The white haired boy was silence for a moment, and then he turned to look at Hwayoung. She wasn’t sure if he was ignoring Kyungsoo or actually heeding his warning. “What about you? I’d like to know your reason for why you’re doing this.”

My reason? Hwayoung stared at the ground in front of her. She could remember everything as vividly as it was the day before — the Blood Fever, the fright and confusion from her parents when both her and Sehun had come out of it with blue eyes and a strange power. Soldiers killing families after families because the royal family was scared of their power that they hadn’t even willingly acquired. The entire town had been slaughtered in the process. They’d managed to escape, but they’d been hunted down by so many people that her brother had ultimately gotten killed too.

My reason?

“I just don’t think he deserves to live after all he’s done,” she replied. “He’s caused so many miseries and he’s murdered so many innocent people — I don’t think someone like him should continue doing what he’s doing because he’s afraid of other people’s powers. How many Marked would’ve tried to go after the royal family simply because they wanted them dead if he hadn’t made a move first? Even now, the Marked who are even taking initiative for revenge are really few. The crown prince isn’t even killing for reason at this point — he just wants to get rid of all of us. So it’s either he goes, or thousands of innocent people.”

Baekhyun stared at her for a while more. “You’ve been doing this for years, haven’t you?” he asked. “I remember hearing about you a two or three years back.”

“I’ve been in the Second Sector for around two years,” she replied. “Give or take a couple of months. I don’t keep track of days much anymore.”

“Have you ever been in the First Sector?” he looked genuinely curious.

“I was going to, but our dear prince here had already tried—”

“When will you get over it?” Kyungsoo demanded. “You probably would’ve failed the assassination attempt even more than I did.”

“Well, we never know now because you ruined it! I’m pretty sure a lot of angry townsfolk want to give you a piece of their mind for cancelling the Lunar Festival because of what you did. And there’s no such thing as failing an assassination attempt more. You either fail or you succeed.”

Kyungsoo looked like he also wanted to give her a piece of his mind, but settled with grumbling, “Get over it,” under his breath.  

Hwayoung glared at him. “As I was saying,” she said, turning to look back at Baekhyun, “I was planning to go in actually two nights ago, but that didn’t go like I expected.”

“It’s probably best you didn’t try. I was there around three days ago, and the amount of security they have is no joke. I’m pretty sure it would’ve been even more tight around the crown prince if he’d planned on appearing, and there’s no way anyone could even get close to him.”

“I can fly,” she replied. “It would’ve given me some kind of advantage, and if it were timed right, I could’ve killed him.”

Baekhyun looked like he was going through everything she said, and then finally, jerked his head in Kyungsoo’s direction. “I think what you’re planning to do right now is a much better plan than either of you killing him separately.” A faint smile flitted across his lips. “If you ever manage to get along, that is.”

“She can’t even get over it,” Kyungsoo grumbled.

“You’re the one who can’t seem to drop it,” she snapped back at him.  

Baekhyun glanced at the two of them, looking somewhat amused, though he didn’t say anything in response and the rest of the day was spent in silence again.

***

Hwayoung fell asleep sometime near dusk, sprained ankle stretched in front of her. As much as she didn’t want to, exhaustion overtook her in the end and she drifted off. It didn’t seem like a long time, but when Kyungsoo shook her awake, he told her it was already past midnight. It wasn’t hard to tell that he hadn’t slept at all with one look at his face.

She blinked blearily at him, trying to shake off the exhaustion. Her ankle still felt painful and swollen when she pressed onto it, though it didn’t seem as bad as it was in the beginning.  Gingerly, she slipped her foot back into her shoe, wincing and rolling her ankle carefully. Baekhyun was leaning against the wall near the door, arms folded in front of his chest, face impassive as he watched them. Hwayoung checked her cloak (she’d taken it off and spread it on the ground to dry, and though it still felt damp to the touch, it was much better than before) for all her weapons then shrugged it on.

Putting as little weight possible onto her injured ankle, she limped after Baekhyun and Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo gave her a dubious once-over, like doubting her ability to walk (which wasn’t exactly wrong, but Hwayoung would’ve rather dealt with the pain of her ankle than received another piggyback ride from him).

They slipped out the door quietly with Baekhyun in the lead. He kept at a moderate pace, often glancing back at her as if making sure she wasn’t behind, and after a while, the streets became familiar to her once again and she began recognizing the area better.

“Are we going to the walls through the buildings?” she asked Baekhyun. He was the person who stood out the most in the three of them — the unnatural white of his hair gleamed in the moonlight — there was no hiding it whatsoever. He hadn’t dyed in black when they left.

“No.” He paused to glance around the corner before continuing. “There’s too many people there that would recognize me and they’ll see my hair.”

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