Joseon 1623,

At the back gate of Gyeongbokgung, four guards drag a cart out of the Royal Palace. There are several back gates to the Palace, but this one is a special one. It is only used to deliver dead bodies out of the Palace and to a burning field. The field is only used for commoners or prisoners from the Palace, as members of the Royal Family will be buried in the Royal Tomb. On the cart, a white sheet covers the body of a tall man as the four guards slowly pull the cart out of the gate.

"Poor bastard." A guard comments on the fact that the man on the cart had died at such a young age while holding such a high rank in the Royal Palace.

"Poor?" Another guard retorts. "He poisoned the Queen and her Head Court Lady out of jealousy. Death by poison is too light a punishment for him. He deserves a much more painful death."

"Come on," the third guard chimes in, "don't be vile. He must have had another reason. After all, he was loved by the King. Who knows what had gotten into him to commit such a crime?"

"There has been such bad luck in the Palace." The first guard speaks up again. "First, Park Bin and Jang Sugui were exposed for their crimes and sent to the Cold Palace. Then, State Councillor Park, Minister Park and Minister Kim were convicted and sent to exile. Just when everyone thought that the storm had passed, Lee Soui poisoned the Queen and her Head Court Lady. He was sentenced to death by poison by the King, and on the same day, Kim Sowon went missing, and still has not been heard from since. In the span of only six months, the Royal Court and Harem were completely changed. Most of the concubines in the Palace are gone, except for only a few junior ranks. Most of the Ministers in the Royal Court are also replaced with newcomers. So much happened this year, do you think the Palace has been cursed?."

"Nonsense!" The second guard quickly dismisses the other, "there's no such thing as a curse. It's all karma. You reap what you sow. And don't let others hear what you just said, they would report it to the Head Eunuch!"

As soon as the guard finishes his sentence, he suddenly feels a cold wind pass right in front of his face. A dark and tall figure appears before his eyes out of thin air. Following him, four other figures slowly approach the four guards. 

"Who are you!? Get out of here!" The first guard raises his voice as soon as he saw the five men.

"Leave," Kyuhyun says bluntly as he leads the four men to approach the guards.

"What!?" The guard is stunned at his bluntness. "Do you know where this is and who we are?"

But Kyuhyun shows no regard for the outspoken guard. His eyes quickly turn to the cart and the body under the white sheet, as if they were the only thing that he cares about at the moment.

"Hey," the first guard seems even more enraged at the disregard for his presence, "answer me!"

As he raises his voice at the five dark figures standing in front of him, the guard momentarily lets go of the cart, causing it to slightly wobble out of balance. As a result, a hand is thrown out from under the sheet, which catches Kyuhyun's attention. For a common person with no knowledge of the person under the sheet, they might not notice it. But for Kyuhyun, it appears as the clearest mark to recognise the other person. A scar on his palm, incurred from the first time that they had met each other years ago. The memory of those few days is still fresh in his mind like it only happened yesterday, but deep down inside, he knows that it was a lifetime ago, and neither of them was the same innocent young boys in the forest twenty years ago. But somehow, he knows that his feelings will forever remain unchanged.

As soon as the guard lets go of the cart, he immediately feels something cold and sharp against his neck. When he looks down, a bright-looking sword is threatening to cut his head off his neck. The guard widens his eyes in horror. In front of him, Kyuhyun tightens his grip on the bright-looking blade. Next to them, the second and third guards are also threatened by two swords put there by a man behind Kyuhyun and, to both of their surprise, the fourth guard.

"What... what are you doing !?"

The third guard turns to the fourth guard, who remains steady with his sword on the other's neck.

"Listen to him," the fourth guard commands solemnly, "get out of here before he wets the ground with your blood and decorates the whole gate with your heads!"

"What!"

The first guard is about to turn around to face the other when he feels the blade start to graze his neck.

"Do not make another move." In front of him, Kyuhyun throws him the most threatening look. "Leave him," he speaks sternly as he turns to the cart with the body under the white sheer, "and get out of here."

As the blade starts to get closer to his skin and flesh, the guard does not dare to make another move. Seeing the situation get in control, Kyuhyun slowly approaches the cart. Unlike with the guards, he uncovers the body with the greatest care. Under the sheet, Sungmin's face slowly appears, pale and lifeless. But for a second, Kyuhyun thinks that he can see a soft smile on the other's face, as if he had only been satisfied with his fate. No trace of sadness or sorrow can be seen on his face.

Kyuhyun slowly caresses the scar on his palm, and moves on to the other's pale and lifeless face. As expected, he can no longer feel the breath on his nose and the warmth on his cheeks. All signs point to the lack of life in the other's body.

Kyuhyun slowly and gently picks up Sungmin's body. Next to him, the first guard is about to yell out a "Hey!", but is very quickly knocked out by one of the men behind him. Immediately after, the second and the third guard are also knocked out by the fourth guard. 

"Don't worry, Master." He calls after Kyuhyun as he is about to walk off with Sungmin's body in his arms. "I will take care of everything here."

But Kyuhyun seems to be unable to pay attention to anything else other than the person he is carrying in his arms. With the greatest care, he gets on his horse nearby and quickly disappears into the darkness of the night. His four men quickly follow in his steps.

"Master, where do we go next?" A man asks cautiously as he catches up with Kyuhyun.

"Back to Bukhansan." 

~~~~~~

The following week is the essential period of time, according to Doctor Shin's plan.

Right after the attacks at Seowangmyeong and Bukhansan, Kyuhyun knew that Sungmin would do something radical to put an end to the current conflict with the Queen. After, this is a person that he has known for more than fifteen years. This is a person that would not leave a five-year-old boy alone in the forest because he believed in his mother's words that no person in need should be left alone. This is a person that would get in a fight in the middle of a street to protect someone who could not protect themselves. This is a person that has sacrificed his entire youth and happiness to enter the Palace to be the eyes and ears for his father's Operation.

So would it be beyond imagination that he would sacrifice his life to protect the people he loved in a time like this?

Kyuhyun just did not know what Sungmin would do to put an end to the current situation, so he put more spies inside different departments of the Palace to help him obtain information from all corners of the Palace.

Then, that day finally came. Sungmin poisoned the Queen and her Head Court Lady, and was sentenced to death by poison by the King. 

Doctor Shin immediately came up with a plan to rescue him from the Palace. He prepared a special poison from different herbs collected on Bukhansan. This poison could be used to stop a man's heart momentarily, making him appear as if he was dead. After the poison is administered, an antidote has to be given to the person within twenty-four hours so that the effect does not become permanent. The antidote has to be taken for one week, and the person has to be closely observed during that period of time. After this period, if the person does not wake up, the effect of the poison could become permanent, and the person will never be able to wake up again.

Inside his small and cozy room in the heart of the mountains, Kyuhyun carefully takes each spoon of the antidote and feeds it to the person still lying quietly on the mattress at the centre of the room. It has been six days since Sungmin took the poison in the Palace, but there have been no signs of his recovered heart rate or breathing. When tonight passes and tomorrow comes, there is a high possibility that Sungmin will never wake up again.

Kyuhyun refuses to let himself think about that possibility even just for a moment. If there is a way with a slight chance that the other will wake up again, he will try it with all his might, even if it means shedding his own blood or breaking his own bones.

The night quickly falls down on the great mountains of Bukhansan. 

When Kyuhyun opens his eyes again, the sun is already shining brightly outside his window. After six consecutive days without any sleep, he had finally given in to what his body needs, and fallen asleep right next to Sungmin. 

The sounds of the songbirds outside his window somehow energises him. He looks down at the mattress. Next to him, Sungmin is still sleeping peacefully.

Kyuhyun slowly reaches out to examine the other's pulse. A knot in his stomach is immediately expanded when once again, he feels no pulse on Sungmin's body.

"Sungmin," he utters lowly as if whispering to himself, "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

So many things he wanted to say, but only the word "sorry" seems to be able to come out of his mouth.

Then, as if something had hit him like the waves hit the shore, or perhaps just to fulfill a lifelong dream of his, Kyuhyun leans forward and gently puts his lips on Sungmin's lips. The other's lips feel cold and lifeless against his lips, but slowly, Kyuhyun takes a deep breath and releases it into his mouth. Another, then another. When fifteen minutes have passed, and he still sees no signs of life in the other.

If he could give all of his breath and his life to Sungmin, he would.

An invisible fear suddenly paralyses Kyuhyun. The only thing he could feel at the moment was the tears starting to stream down his face. He tries his best to move, but it takes him another fifteen minutes to raise his hands to touch the other's face and breathe air into his mouth. He continues to do this diligently for another fifteen minutes, but to no avail. Sungmin seems to have been lost in a faraway dream. Even his tears and his blood would not be able to bring him back.

But Kyuhyun is not ready to give up yet. Slowly, he stands up and heads for the field of bright pink flowers that he had grown in the mountains. In Hanyang, autumn is only nearing, but on these cold and harsh mountains, those flowers seem to blossom even better. He can almost see them bloom in every season of the year. Sungmin also says that these flowers help them relax even on the stormiest nights, so Kyuhyun wants to bring back a bouquet for him. Perhaps the flowers will be able to soothe his soul, and he will finally be able to come back to him.

In the first light of the day, the bright pink blossoms look as lively as sunshine themselves. Kyuhyun touches one flower, its sweet scent immediately puts his mind to rest. He crouches down to take a few more in his hands to make a bouquet. An early morning wind suddenly blows through the field. As if the wind has woken up the rest of the flowers, the sweet scent has become much stronger around Kyuhyun. But among the sweet scent of the flowers, Kyuhyun can feel another familiar scent.

"Kyuhyun."