[ClarenceYoo_EXO]

Maybe stealing the tangerines was a wrong choice, Kyungsoo thought. But then, his true goal was just to steal- just a little from the fine food that might have came from the people's money. Nobody deserves to eat it, not even Kyungsoo. If he did, he will be like them. He was thinking about giving it to a child or an old man or a woman when he goes out later to the village to check on the people.

People. Kyungsoo felt a certain kind of sadness upon the mention of people. Kyungsoo once had to travel to a far province to check on the provincial captains and town heads, and he had seen a lot, met a lot, and befriended a lot. He saw how poor almost everyone was, but then, the camaraderie is never affected by the hungry stomachs and tired bodies of the people.
He has been blind, the general thought. He has been so busy to defend the emperor and his palace from the enemies, but now he realized that the real enemy was the emperor, not the camps they have attacked, nor the cities they have burned into ashes and the slaves they brought in.
A general has to serve his people and defend them from any harm. What kind of general was he?

I am one of them, he thought bitterly. He had sat and ate from the table where the first and finest harvests were served, which might have been stolen from the starving farmers. He remembered the ajhussi in his family home- he had always been kind to Kyungsoo, helping him climb the persimmon tree, together with the ajhussi's sons. He also taught the little Kyungsoo how to fly kites when the summer wind is strong, his sons making him kites of various sizes. All he needed to do was bring colored Japanese paper and strings, since the farmer's sons can't afford to buy such things. Now, Kyungsoo felt guilty for not wondering why they can't afford such simple things.

He sat in front of the boy, turning the tangerine in his hand and examining it.

"How long have you been in the palace?" He asks out of the blue. "I've been here since I was a child and I have never met you."

Silence took over. He looked up at the boy this time, waiting for an answer, but then, the other kept his head low.

"Is it an order?.."

The dancer has a soft and quiet voice, reminding Kyungsoo of wind chimes crafted in China, which would tinkle softly against the window of his room, in his house in Goyang, the night wind caressing the silver tubes and making melodies together with the stars. The general crossed his arms and kept on staring before answering.

"No."

After that, silence was once again present, and the general figured out that he would receive no answer.

"Fine, then. Just eat the tangerines. You won't die from eating those. It's an order." He says flatly, arms still crossed.
"I still have to worry about the said punishment I should give to you."