Key’s POV

Having the Queen here was a great help! I can finally think of some way to leave now! She can watch over Taemin and I won’t have to feel guilty about leaving him behind unattended. There was no doubt about Minho’s love for his nephew, but he was just bad at taking care of kids! Period!

As I made my way through the palace to join the Queen and Tae for breakfast, I realized that I hadn’t exactly seen Minho since yesterday. Where did he go? Approaching a guard, I decided to inquire about the missing King.

“Excuse me! Have you seen Minho?”

“Ehhh…no I have not, Young Master.” he replied hesitantly. Weird! I’m sure he knows, but why is he hiding?? Aish! Just as I was about to enter the dining area, I saw Soojin hyung, who was also about to enter.

“Hyung!” halting his steps he waited for me to catch up.

“Kibum-ah?” After much convincing, I had got him to call me by my name and not ‘Master’ or any other title.

“Hyung….have you seen Minho? I have been looking for him, but I don’t remember seeing him since yesterday. Is he not in the palace?”

“Ehhh…..he actually left the palace quite early yesterday. I am not sure where he went but he has not returned as of yet.”

“Oh….”

“Well….do not worry, he will be back; he must have been stuck in some work. Now in you go and have some breakfast. Prince Taemin was asking for you.” I could not help but smile, Taemin surely did grow on me. I’ll miss him the most when I leave. I wonder if I can still keep in touch with Jonghyun hyung?

I spent the day in my room, going over my plan. I bailed out on the Queens’s offer of spending time with her and Tae saying they deserved spending some one on one time. I had already written a letter for the Queen, to apologize and explain to her about my leave.

As we sat down for dinner, my mind kept going back to Minho. He was not back yet and apparently, no one knew where he went. This was my chance!

“Kibum-ah!” snapping out of my thoughts, I turned to see the Queen looking at me with a worried gaze.

“Are you alright?”

“Ehhh….yes, I’m fine!”

Well Tae has been trying to get your attention for a while now. When you did not reply, he turned away and is now pouting.” she said with a smile. I turned towards Tae to see him giving me his back, but peering over his shoulders to check on me. I could not help but chuckle, as I called out-

“Well that’s sad! I was planning to personally feed My Prince; but alas I have wronged him again. Your Majesty, I apologize but you would have to feed the Crown Prince…”

“NO! KIDUM FWED TAE!” a little voice interrupts me. The Queen and I could not help but laugh!

“Aish! Pabo-ya! Come here!” I called him over. Helping him sit next to me, I started feeding him. Tae! I’ll miss you so much…..please do not grow up soon! After the dinner, I helped the Queen put Tae to sleep, before bidding her a good night as well.

As the clock inched towards midnight, I started feeling restless. Will I manage to escape? What am I supposed to do once I leave the palace? In my desperation to get out, I did not give it much thought. I just hope I find a solution. How do I take Commega with me? What if they bark? What do I do of Minho? I don’t think he is back, but what if he comes back before I can escape? No! I must escape before he is back! Making my resolve, I quickly ducked out of my room. By now, I was pretty familiar with the layout of the palace, so I knew exactly where to hide so as to not come in the direct line of sight of the patrolling guards. Just when I made it safely to the front of the palace, I saw a shocking sight!

There, struggling against few guards was Minho! He kept pushing at the guards, trying to stand on his own! Was he drunk?! As I looked behind, a gasp left my lips. What happened to that car?! The entire front of it was smashed, windscreen was all webbed! I turned my gaze towards Minho, who, now I’m sure, was completely drunk and could not even stand on his own! Yet he kept struggling against the guards who did not know what to do. They must be scared of hurting him unintentionally. Sighing, I made my way towards them, in time to catch Minho’s drunken slur.

“I.. ca…..command you to unhand me. How dare you touch me….you…..you….I will have your head for daring to touch me….I...I….” Before he could continue his babble, I interrupted him by calling out his name.

“Minho!”

My voice seemed to pull him out of his daze as he turned his piercing gaze on me, and suddenly I felt fear creep over me. Memories of my horrid childhood came back….

*Flashback*

“You dare talk back to me….you….you !” Young Kibum hid in his room, covering his ears with his little hands, as a slap resounded through the pent house apartment. Kibum’s parents were a very famous celebrity couple. His dad was a great actor and his mom, a model turned fashion designer. On screen, they were a perfect model family, but behind doors, his dad was an abuser. He hit his mom and abused her, accusing her of sleeping around. Even though he never raised his hand on Kibum directly, he left him traumatized.

Today was no better; his mother was late from one of her meetings with the new production team for the new movie she was working as a costume designer. His dad wasn’t happy when he came back home to find Kibum playing alone in the living room. He was already drunk, probably with his co-actors and he drank even more when he didn’t see his wife. The moment his wife walked in, he slapped her hard causing her to fall and hurting herself on the table edge. Kibum was told to go back to his room, last sight that met his eyes was of his mother sobbing as she held her head to stop bleeding.

Screaming and yelling had been his companions throughout his early childhood. By the time he hit teenage, all he ever wanted was to leave his home. The moment he enrolled in Fashion College, he moved into dorms. And in dorms, he met Minho.

*Flashback ends*

“Ki…..bum….” suddenly a strong stench of alcohol filled his nose, making him gag. Luckily, he was able to catch a stumbling Minho before he kissed the floor, face first. Groaning, he held him by his waist as he struggled to balance both their weight.

The poor guards did not know what to do, they moved forward to help. But when Minho started flailing his arm to fend them off, they had no option but to step back and let Kibum handle his entire weight. They gave him an apologetic look and waited for him to order them. Sighing, he pulled Minho to stand more on his feet by slinging his arm over his own shoulder.

“It’s ok. I’ll take it from here, you can go back to your post.” he dismissed the guards before turning towards a slumped Minho, “Aish! Pabo-ya!”

It was a struggle dragging Minho, who did not want to support his own weight, back to his room. By the time he reached and dumped Minho on his bed, he was sweating and panting. Catching his breath, he turned to the slumped man and surveyed him from head to toe. When he noticed blood staining his forehead, he began panicking. He had hematophobia, and here he had Minho bleeding from his head! Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he walked to the bed and shook Minho.

“Minho! Minho! Come on sit up for a sec…..I need to check your head. You’re bleeding!” All he got in return was a groan.

“Aish!” he forcibly pulled him into a sitting position, letting him lean his head on his shoulder as he passed his hand over his head to find the source of bleeding. When, at a point he felt wetness on his hand, he pulled it away to see it stained red. Closing his eyes to avoid the sight, he pushed Minho a bit to make him lean on the headrest of the bed.

Now where would the first aid kit be? Deciding to check the bathroom first, he made his way towards the bathroom. Finding the first aid box wasn’t that hard, as it was neatly stowed in the cupboard on the side. Take the box and a clean towel to wipe he made his way back to the room.

Empty! The bed was empty! Letting out a squeal, he dropped the things from his hand and rushed to find Minho. When he made it to the sitting area of the room, he found him standing near a cabinet filled with alcohol. Minho was struggling to open a bottle of Whiskey.

Kibum’s PoV continued.

“Eh Yah! What the hell do you think you’re doing??” I screamed as I made a move to pull the bottle form his hand.

“Gi…give it back!” Minho said as he moved to grab the bottle from my hand. Putting it behind my back, I pushed at his chest.

“That’s enough Minho, you are more than enough drunk! Come, let’s treat your head and then you can sleep.” I said softly, trying to him toward the bed.

“NO! Gi…give me th…that” he made a grab for the bottle but stumbled as he lost his footing

“Minho!”  Putting the bottle back on the counter I kneeled to help him. But he pushed me away while muttering,

“Do not touch me! Leave! Go! Leave like everyone does! Like you did five years ago!” What! Don’t tell me he got drunk because I left him five years ago?!

“Min..ho….” I called out softly. What I didn’t expect was for him to burst out crying.

“Why did he leave? Why did he not fight? Why did they not help him? WHY?” He? Who is he talking about???

He slumped against the counter as he grabbed his chest, crying out’ Why! Why!’ I have never seen him so broken! Someone so charismatic was now sobbing his heart out like a kid! What happened? Where did he go? Why is he crying and more importantly who is HE?

“Minho…” I called out softly as I laid a hand on his shoulder

“What happened? Please talk to me……where did you go…..why are you hurt…..please you’re scaring me!” I don’t know if it was my touch or voice but it seemed to calm him a bit.

Looking at me with teary eyes, he took a breath before speaking-

“Day before yesterday, after bidding you good night, I received call from the orphanage. Sohyun, the kid we met at the orphanage, his condition deteriorated. He was suffering from blood cancer. By the time he was got to the orphanage, it had already gone beyond curing stage. We tried different overseas doctors, but last night all our efforts failed. He…He passed away. He was in so much pain, and I couldn’t do anything for him! NOTHING AT ALL! I FELT SO POWERLESS!!! AHHHH!!!!!” And he screamed his heart out. Oh Minho! I did not know what to do, so I pulled him in my arms, letting his head rest on my shoulder. We sat there till his tears had run out, finding comfort in silence. After a while, when I knew he had calmed down, I pushed him back a bit so I could look him in the eyes.

“You should not blame yourself, you did what you could. Sometimes we cannot win against fate.”

“Fate huh! If it is fate then I curse it! It never played fair with me! Giving me hope and then snatching it away! Who would be next? Jonghyun hyung? Jinki hyung? Taemin?” he was hyperventilating. He has raw pain over his handsome face!

“Don’t say such things! You would not lose them! Trust me, because they will work equally hard to stay in your life.”

“And what about you? Would you work hard to stay in my life too?”

“This…This isn’t about me…”

“Why so? Is it because I already lost you five years ago? You know what, leave, just leave.”

“Mi…Minho….”

“LEAVE KIBUM! Before I do something I will regret later…” He stood shakily, but his coordination was badly affected by all the alcohol in his system. Luckily, I was able to catch him before he fell. When he went to speak, I glared at him saying,

“Not a word! I will help you and you will take it! Stop being stubborn for once!” Then I dragged him back to the bed and helped him sit on it. Grabbing the fallen first aid kit and towel, I made it back to the bed. Taking a deep breath, I made a move to wipe the blood. It’s okay Kibum, just a bit more….you can do it!

“Are you ok?” he suddenly grabbed my hand.

“Ehh…ye…yes….why did you ask?”

“Because you shaking.” that’s when I realized how badly my hand shook. I took a step back, stumbling, but before I could collapse, he caught me and sat me down, before kneeling before me. Somehow he looked a bit more sober than before.

“I…I do not do well at the sight of blood. I have hematophobia…” I told him as I rubbed my arms.

“Go rest.”

“What? No! I’ll clean and help you first!” I said as I tried to stand up, but he pushed me back down as he took the towel from my hand, pressing it on his head.

“I shall do it myself, you go rest.” But before he could move away, I got up and made him sit on the bed, taking the towel from him and dabbing it myself.

“Its…It’s ok let me help. I’m fine now.” I cleaned his wound as best as I could, trying hard not to squirm at the sight. When I had all the blood off, I pulled a cotton swab and dabbed it with some disinfectant.

“This would hurt a bit…” I warned him as I showed him the cotton ball. Nodding, he shut his eyes, probably to steel himself against the pain that would come.

As I dabbed at the gash on his head, I felt him hiss in pain, but he held on. Once I was done cleaning and bandaging the wound, I threw all the used things in dustbin and went to grab a new shirt for him to change into. Handing it to him, I turned my back giving him the privacy. When he notified that he was done, I turned to see him sitting there, looking at me.

“Lie down; due to a heavy amount of alcohol in your system, I cannot give you any painkiller for your head. It would be better if you get it check with your physician tomorrow.” The way he kept staring at me, it was quite unnerving. Clearing my throat a bit I asked again,

“S…so how exactly did you get injured?”

“Crashed against a tree.” he replied in a flat, bored voice

“WHAT! Are you crazy?! No wait, do not answer that. Where did you go from orphanage? Why did you not come home!?”

“I did not want you or anyone to see me in that condition. I went to a bar to drink.”

“Minho that’s just stupid! It’s human to cry and feel pain; you do not need to hide just to cry if you’re in pain. I understand you are King, but Kings are human too. How come they did not stop you from leaving?”

“They tried, but I think I did not listen. I do not remember much.” he said as he held his head.

“Okay Mister, lie down. Sleep will do you good.” I pushed him back so he could lie flat on his back before pulling the comforter over him. As I made to leave he caught my hand.

“Don’t….Don’t leave…..I do not want to be alone tonight” the way he said it with so much pain in his voice that I could not help but settle down next to him on bed.

“Okay I’ll wait till you fall asleep, come on close your eye” I told him in a soft voice, like way you do to comfort kids. When he closed his eyes, I let my hand run through his hair, lulling him to sleep making sure not to hurt him more.

I don’t know how long I sat there, but when I notice it was already wee hours, sun was slightly peeking through the clouds. When I was about to get up to catch some sleep I hear him whisper.

“Kibum, don't leave me, please, I love you!” I was rooted to my spot.

What do I do Minho? Just when I thought I could finally leave, you had to stop me this way! Just when I steel myself in not caring about you, you evoke these feelings in me. Feelings I’m scare of exploring. Is this what fate wants to deal to me? To us? I’m sacred of all these feelings!!!!!