Prince Hendery set an unconscious Yangyang down on the porch, taking off his jacket (why do nobles want to be extra and wear a jacket in the heat?? Chen Le had no clue) and setting it under Yangyang’s as a sort of makeshift pillow. 

Chen Le watching the whole ordeal, trying to think. If he had a gold piece every time Yangyang fainted in front of royalty, he would have two gold pieces. Not a lot, but weird considering how it happened twice, first with Prince Jisung and now with Prince Hendery. 

Hopefully this wasn’t going to be a habit. 

Hendery reached out to grab Yangyang’s hair but pulled back, stepping backwards. “I hope you friend gets better,” he told Chen Le, bowing. “He must have had quite a shock from falling.”

“He falls all the time, I wouldn’t be worried,” Chen Le said. “But thanks for rescuing him, Yangyang can be a bit… clumsy, I supposed,” he trailed off.

Hendery continued staring at Yangyang until sigh, glancing at the sky above. “Must be hot back in the main city,” he said to himself. “You guys are Chinese, do you guys want a ride back to the Kingdom? I’m on my way back after having met the royal family here.”

Chen Le shook his head. “We don’t live in China, we live here,” he said, “Thanks for the offer, but we’re fine."

“Chinese living in the Kingdom of Korea, that’s odd,” Hendery mumbled. “Why do you guys live out here? Family? A lover?”

“Orphans,” Chen Le flat out said. “In China we were kicked out of the orphanages.”

Hendery’s eyes widened. “That- that’s not true, the King- my father gives them money to make sure each child is taken care of.”

Chen Le shrugged. “It was a long time ago, and people always lie.”

“I- that can’t be possible,” Hendery started muttering to himself. 

Chen Le sat down next to a fainted Yangyang, who was starting to stir in his sleep. “We live in the Kingdom of Korea now, so don’t think too much about it.”

Hendery shook his head, still talking to himself when a realization struck him.

He turned to look at Chen Le, pointing at him. “You’re the one who trespassed the palance,” he said, proving himself to be correct when Chen Le’s eyes widened. “Yes, you and your friend here, Prince Jisung told me.”

“That little- I mean tall- I mean, uh, your highness, why did he mention that in passing?” Chen Le asked, forcing himself to speak more formally. Last thing he needed was for nobles like him to continue thinking stereotypes of peasants being uneducated, even though Chen Le and Yangyang never even finished elementary. 

“Surely you’ve heard of the incident regarding the Korean royal family?” Hendery explained. “The assassination attempt on them, they’re trying to find the culprits and-”

“Let me guess, they think we’re suspects?!” Chen Le screamed at him, not caring if he was a prince or not. Why should that matter to him anyway? “Tell this Jisung that we have nothing to do with it, Yangyang just wanted to see the goddamn castle that you rich people always hide yourselves into, and leave us alone.”

Chen Le shook Yangyang’s shoulders, trying to awaken him from his slumber. “Yangyang, get up, we have to do the crops soon-”

“I don’t mean any harm,” Hendery said, trying to explain himself. “That’s just how I heard of you and your friends name-”

“I’m even surprised he remembered it,” Chen Le said, finally hearing a groan from Yangyang. “Wake up, I told you not to climb that tree and you didn’t listen to me.”

Yangyang opened his eyes, yawning, eyes opening for a brief second only to close them again when the sunlight hit his face. “My back is broken.”

“Quite exaggerating, Prince Hendery caught you-”

Yangyang fully opened his eyes, not caring about the sun anymore. “Did you say Hendery?!-”

“Yangyang, please don’t faint, I’m begging you- aaaaaand he faint.”
 

***

“I am sensing a lot of people nearby,” Mark said, ignoring the glares of that Johnny fellow sending to him. He had gotten quite used to them by now, knowing Johnny wasn’t capable of harming him. “There’s people outside this house-”

“It’s nosy neighbors, I’m sure,” Xiaojun said, not sparing him a glance as he was trying to pry off a small metal filament off the control panel. “They like to bother me.”

Donghyuck sat at the kitchen table doing nothing, watching the whole process. Xiaojun wanted to take apart the metal and see how the whole process was made, since the ability of being able to control someone’s brain with pieces of metal practically required magic. And from what he understood, Mark  had been built in a lab from scratch, not having any biological parents. Mark delved into some science jargon that Xiaojun, being the smart person he was, was able to understand, but Donghyuck tuned out ten seconds in. 

(Also, there was no way he was calling him Model M or Minhyung, he had gotten quite attached to the name Mark  if he was honest.)

“How’d you meet Kun?” Johnny asked, taking advantage of the fact that Kun was too busy doing something in the basement. “I’m going to assume you guys are a thing.”

“We’re not,” Xiaojun said, though Donghyuck noticed he broke into a small smile, his face turning a light shade of pink. “I’ve only known him for a month, anyways.”

“Well, you guys act like you’ve known each other forever,” Johnny continued, trying to pry more information from Xiaojun. Xiaojun had been a really quiet person back when they used to study together, so the fact that he managed to befriend Kun, a serious guy who barely ever speaks, was beyond his understanding. “Really odd.”

“I just found him outside one day and he had no place to go,” Xiaojun explained, remembering how he had found Kun outside in the dark, tired to the verge of collapsing. “So I offered him a place to stay.”

“Don’t worry, Xiaojun, Johnny just lacks compassion,” Donghyuck said jokingly, only to get smacked at the back of his head by his older brother. “What was that for?!”

“Since I clearly lack compassion, you’re not getting any from me,” Johnny said. “Rude. After all I’ve done for you.”

Donghyuck rolled his eyes, figuring Johnny was still mad since he ate all his cheese. Speaking of cheese… “Says the guy who can’t even make me a grilled cheese-”

“I got goat cheese from the market,” Xiaojun said, using his screwdriver to remove a screw. There was a compartment that seemed to be hiding a chip. Why it would be hidden, he didn’t know. “Some sourdough, too, you should be able to make a grilled cheese later-”

“Xiaojun, don’t spoil him!” Johnny yelled at him. “He never listens to me anyways!”

Xiaojun glared at him. “It’s just a sandwich, Johnny-”

“You guys are boring, I’m going to take Mark outside with me,” Donghyuck said, getting out of his chair. He grabbed Mark’s arm, surprising the latter who had been quiet this entire time, “Tell me when you discover something cool-”

“Now where do you think you’re going?” Johnny yelled at him, watching Donghyuck pull Mark along and take him away. “DONGHYUCK-”

“Let him live, you’re overprotective sometimes,” Xiaojun muttered. “Besides, he made a friend, that’s better than me… trying to take apart these damn screws!!!”

‘Mark is a murderer-”

“Johnny, if you don’t shut up, I swear to god, I will shove this screwdriver down your throat,” Xiaojun threatened him. “Now pass me the damn lockpick or I swear Mark won’t be the only murdered in this house.”
 

***

“Where are you taking me?” Mark asked, confused as to why Donghyuck would want to take him to wherever it was where he was going. “Are we doing something?”

Donghyuck shook his head. “Nah, I’m bored and I want to explore, you can help defend any bad guys who try to kill me.”

Mark frowned. “People trying to kill you is a common occurrence?”

“Nah, Johnny likes to worry about what-if scenarios, he’s kind of weird if I’m honest,” Donghyuck explained, pointing to a forest nearby the house. “What if we go there-”

“That doesn’t sound safe,” Mark said, remembering all of Jaehyun’s advice in his head. 

Donghyuck pouted. “You sound like an old person,” he said, dragging Mark to where the forest was. “You’re so strong, I bet you can climb that tall tree over there with- holy, that’s an apple tree!”

Mark craned his neck to see the top of the tree that Donghyuck was looking at, which was indeed an apple tree. “Do you want me to get an apple for you?”

“Oh, tons! I love apples and all the apple desserts!” Donghyuck exclaimed, clapping his hands. “You’ll really get me an apple?”

Mark cracked his wrists, trying to prep his muscles. “I’ll get you an apple,” he reassured the strange human being with hazel eyes known as Donghyuck. 

***

When Jaehyun made dinner for them, a simple meal of rice and beef, it was awfully quiet during the meal. 

It had been like that for the past few hours, with Renjun not bothering to be near Jaehyun, Jaemin too worried after him, and Taeyong sitting awfully still, not wanting to cause any commotion. 

Now, though, during meal time, Jaehyun forced everyone to eat at the table, and the silence was unnerving.

Even Jaemin, who was normally talkative, was being quiet. When it was just him and Jaemin in the past, his assistant alway managed to chatter a lot during meals, always having something to say, whether something cool that happened to him or asking a question about Jaehyun’s project. Now, however… nothing. 

He watched Jaemin grab another forkful of rice. At least he was eating, compared to the other two. Renjun took a bite every three minutes and Taeyong just pushed the food around in his plate. 

Jaehyun unnecessarily cleared his throat, turning everyone’s attention towards him. “I made a blueprint of what I need to build in order to find Minhyung and Yukhei,” he said, “I made a list of what needs to be done tomorrow and I hope you guys can help me with it.”

“Sure thing, sir,” Jaemin said, taking a sip of his water. “I’ll run any necessary errands you have in mind.”

“Yeah, thanks about that,” Jaehyun said, nodding. As an assistant, Jaemin never slacked off in his work, which Jaehyun had always been thankful for. “It won’t be too much, I wouldn’t want to exhaust you.”

Jaemin nodded as well, picking up his half-full plate. “I should be heading home soon, my mother is waiting for me.”

“You’re leaving already?” Renjun asked, the first words Jaehyun has heard from the latter that evening.

“Yeah, my mother still needs help with some stuff,” Jaemin explained. “I’ll see you tomorrow, don’t worry!”

Renjun nodded, staring back at his plate. “I’m also done eating,” he mumbled, getting up as well. “I’m really tired.”

Jaemin and Renjun left the table, Renjun to the back room and Jaemin out the main door, leaving Jaehyun alone with Taeyong. 

Taeyong, in question, was still pushing around his food, having only taken less than three bites when Jaehyun spoke up. 

“Look, I’m really sorry about last time,” Jaehyun said. “I’ve just… I’ve just been in a lot of stress and I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”

Taeyong nodded. “I understand, I stepped out of line-”

“No, what you did is fine, I get it,” Jaehyun interrupted him. “I know we’re in a big mess right now but I promise that we can get out of it, I’m sure. It’s just going to take a while.”

“That’s good to hear,” Taeyong mumbled. “I just hope you don’t get hurt."

Jaehyun laughed. “I’m not going to get hurt, don’t be worried about me,” he said. “We have to make sure you guys are safe first.”

***

He forgot how many days he’s been running now. 

Has it been a few days? Maybe a week? He didn’t know, he just had to keep running. 

He’s been able to steal some food here and there, some containers of water, but he’s sure he’s out of danger by now. He had the feeling people would recognize him, so he stole a black hoodie and some clothing from some peasants and wore them to conceal his identity. 

No one must ever know who he is.