“Your honor- listen to me.” 

Jisung turned abruptly around to face Jisung, still holding his sword in his hand. “And pray, do tell me, Nakamoto Yuta, do you want me to listen to you about?”

Hendery, having no idea why Jisung was coming at him with sword in hand, put his hand over his own sword as well. “Yangyang,” he harshly whispered. “Get behind me.”

Yangyang obeyed immediately, standing right behind Hendery, who reach out with his free hand to grab firmly onto Yangyang’s wrist.

“Tell your father the King to forgive me for what I’m about to do,” Yuta mumbled.

Jisung scoffed, rolling his eyes. “And what would that be?”

Yuta grabbed onto Jisung’s shoulders tightly, shaking him until Jisung made eye contact with him. “Now listen here, you ing idiot,” Yuta whispered, now his turn to have a murderous glare on his face. “We may have different opinions on different topics but I am one hundred percent right when I tell you that that was not the Chinese guard and you are not going to ruin the one chance the two kingdoms have of having an amicable friendship with each other and eliminate any threat of war.”

Jisung’s eyes widened at Yuta’s outburst, not even fighting to get out of the older’s grasp. Yuta has never, never, grabbed Jisung against his will, much less yell at him. Despite the amount of respect Jisung had for him, Yuta always reminded him that was always going to be lower than Jisung in terms of position, and he was to obey the other’s every command while protecting his life in the process.

“Yuta,” Jisung said. “Why were they wearing the uniforms of the Chinese guard, then?”

Hendery, who along with Yangyang had been listening to the whole conversation, stared at Jisung in shock. “What Chinese guard are you guys talking about?” 

“Your honor.” Yuta dragged Jisung behind him, hoping the latter would keep his mouth shut. “There was an incident when Jisung was on his walk earlier-“

“Wait a minute.” Yangyang let go of Hendery’s hand, confusing the latter as he took a step forward. “Where’s Chen Le?”

Jisung and Yuta stared at each other, the two of them hesitating. 

“Prince Hendery. There were men wearing uniform of the Chinese guard who attacked us,” Jisung said finally. 

Both Hendery and Yangyang’s eyes widened, but it was Yangyang who immediately started screaming. “WHAT?!”

“I- that’s impossible,” Hendery muttered. “I- those were not my people, I swear-“

“They weren’t.” Yuta put his hand on Jisung’s shoulder again, spinning him around. “Did you not recognize a single face fighting us?”

Jisung frowned. Why was Yuta so adamant about being right? “Why would I waste my time over trivial matters like recognizing their faces when they were attempting to hurt us-“

“WHERE IS CHEN LE?” Yangyang yelled again, interrupting the two of them.”

Jisung pointed at Xiaojun’s house behind them. “He’s asleep in there-“

Not even letting him finish, Yangyang ran away from them, heading towards the house screaming for Chen Le. 

“Is he alright?” Hendery asked. 

“He hit his head and was knocked unconscious,” Jisung explained, wincing at the thought of the memory earlier.

Jisung had been fighting, swearing to himself up and down that Chen Le wouldn’t get injured. One of the men had ran towards Chen Le with a sword, and Jisung barely managed to kick Chen Le away, barely avoiding getting stabbed.

His arm had been grazed slightly, but once the men had been arrested Jisung took in no time bringing Chen Le back here, where Xiaojun and his friends had gotten absolutely hysterical. Chen Le was put in a bed, with a cold compress, and luckily they are keeping an eye on him. 

And Jisung got angry. He got very, very angry. If the Kingdom of China had a problem with him, then they could take it out on him. Not at Chen Le.

Except, Yuta keeps denying that they are the Chinese Guard. 

“Nakamoto Yuta.” Jisung crossed his arms, staring at his guard. “How do you know for sure these aren’t Prince Hendery’s men.”

“Because.” Yuta bowed to Jisung, a closed fist over his heart. He was swearing his loyalty to Jisung. “A few of them were Lee-eun’s men.”

***

“At least it’s just a mild concussion.”

They had put the knocked-out Chen Le in the guest room, Xiaojun holding an ice pack on his head. He was waiting for him to wake up so that he could feed him some soup and juice. 

“Is he going to be okay?” Johnny asked. He was leaning against the doorway, his arms crossed as he watched the scene in front of him. “He’ll be fine?”

“Chen Le didn’t experience any traumatic brain injury so he’ll be okay.” Kun got up from the bed, where he had been sitting next to Xiaojun. “We should probably let his friend know-”

“The royal highness said he was going to personally tell him himself.” Xiaojun raised the blanket up a bit higher, snugging it tightly around Chen Le’s neck. “Did they really attack the Prince here? Of all places?”

First there was the assassination attempt, then it was Mark trying to hurt Donghyuck while under the influence. And now hurting the Prince? In broad daylight? 

Johnny thought of earlier, when he had been confronted by Mark. 

There is someone out there set to destroy anyone with Donghyuck’s blood and if the others like me get controlled again and meet your brother, they might kill him.

Mark was right. They were going to hurt Donghyuck. They were going to hurt his brother. 

And Mark was going to spill everything to Donghyuck. 

Right before the Prince was knocking on the door, Donghyuck dashed into the house and took Mark to hide him in the basement so that the Prince wouldn’t recognize him,  Johnny not even having the time to yell at him. He had been in mid-argument with Mark, the two maintaining deadly eye contact. Donghyuck is defending him way too much. 

They had to get rid of Mark.

***

“I’m going to check if the coast is clear,” Donghyuck said, climbing up the steps. “You stay out. Code word is donuts.”

Mark nodded, staying rooted in his spot where he was standing. “As you wish.”

Setting his hand on the door knob, he got ready to open the door when he heard someone scream for Chen Le, yelling for him before it suddenly got quiet again.

“Dear heavens, who could be screaming right now at this hour,” Donghyuck mumbled before he opened the basement door slightly, poking his head out. 

There wasn’t anyone in the hallway; they were probably all talking somewhere. Or outside. They might have been outside. 

He stepped into the hallway and walked towards the kitchen, where out the window, he could see- woah. 

Prince Jisung of Korea, his bodyguard, and Prince Hendery of China were all in a deep conversation in Xiaojun’s backyard. 

Donghyuck took a few steps backwards before dashing out of the kitchen, running back to the basement and closing the door shut, making sure the deadbolts were all in use.

Mark watched Donghyuck do this all in a hurry, his eyes puzzled. Despite all the capabilities he had, he still was not a mind reader. “What happened?”

“They’re outside arguing or something.” Donghyuck pressed his back on the basement door, a worried look on his face. “They’re going to be around here more often, right? We’re gonna have to work hard to hide you.”

Mark glanced at the room around them before making eye contact with Donghyuck again. “Is that wise?” he then asked. “Truths always end up revealing themselves in the light.”

“Well, too bad, because I’m very good at keeping secrets,” Donghyuck said proudly. “We’re going to keep you hidden, I promise you that.

***

Jaehyun had a feeling the young prince all those years ago was never murdered. 

“HOW?!” Jaemin screamed. “HOW DID HE SURVIVE?!”

Renjun shrugged. “Maybe someone swap the babies out?”

“I always had a feeling that Lee-eun was being the murder of the King’s brother,” Jaehyun muttered under his breath. 

Ten had left earlier, with him and Jaehyun telling as much information as they knew. So now Jaehyun knew that Model M and K... Mark and Kun... were alive, but the question was how to prevent getting them arrested, Lee-eun getting access to control them again, and getting the royal bloodline hurt. 

“But how does Lee-eun even know the baby survive?!” Jaemin continued yelling. “Wait, what did Ten say his name was again-”

“YOU TWO!” Jaehyun pointed at Jaemin and Renjun, his finger alternating between the two individuals. “KEEP! YOUR! MOUTH! SHUT!”

Jaemin made the zipping motion across his lips, while Renjun merely stepped closer to Jaehyun with each word said. 

Jaehyun frowned. “What are you doi-”

He didn’t get to finish his sentence when Renjun went ahead and bit his finger.

Jaehyun screamed, pulling his hand back. “WHAT THE -”

Jaemin stared at Renjun wide-eyed. “Why’d you bite him-”

Taeyong, who had been behind Jaehyun the entire time quietly, suddenly walked towards Renjun, shoving him. “Don’t hurt him-”

“Don’t ing tell me what to do.” Renjun pushed Taeyong back. Everyone knew that Renjun and Taeyong both had the strength to bite Jaehyun’s finger cleanly off, and why out of all things bite him to express his anger… no clue. “You’re not my mother, matter fact we don’t have one-”

“I said,” Taeyong repeated himself. “Don’t hurt him-”

“And what if I will?” Renjun taunted him. “All four of us are going to jail-”

“I need both of you guys to drop this conversation,” Jaehyun said, still wincing at his hurt finger which was now red. “We have other matters to attend to-”

“YOU! DON’T TELL ME TO SHUT UP WHEN THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!” Renjun screamed at him, pushing Taeyong out of his way to get into Jaehyun’s face. “DID YOU REALLY THINK LEE-EUN HAD GOOD INTENTIONS-”

“I SAID DON’T HURT HIM!” Taeyong shoved Renjun so hard, knocking the smaller one onto the ground. “JUST DROP IT-”

“Taeyong.” Jaehyun would have gotten between the two fighting, but knowing both had the capacity to kill caused him to hold back. “Stop.”

Jaemin got on the ground, hugging Renjun from behind. Unlike Jaehyun, he had no regards towards his well being, though he was more concerned with Renjun's feelings at the moment. “Injun, stop.” 

Well. That was a new nickname, but in all honesty, Jaehyun saw it coming way before Renjun was first even . “How is this my fault?!” Jaehyun asked Renjun. 

Renjun balled his fists, tears forming in his eyes. Even though he could have easily gotten up and made Jaehyun unconscious, he knew Taeyong was going to try to stop him. “Don’t you get it? We were created to be ASSASSINS, Jaehyun! None of this ‘for the greater good’ bull-”

“That was not my intention!” Jaehyun yelled. “You know that! I chose this position to help people!” 

And, at least before, it was true. Jaehyun was responsible for, well, almost everything in the Kingdom of Korea. The architecture that protected them from natural disasters. The crops that, with the right genetic engineering, were able to grow in harsh conditions and be less susceptible to disease. Finding cures and treatments for disease. 

At least, that’s what Jaehyun took pride in. Because now, his pride was shattered. 

Renjun was right. Jaehyun suspected so much shady from Lee-eun, how could he possibly suspect that Lee-eun had good intentions? 

“Can you guys stop arguing?” Jaemin grabbed Renjun from underneath his shoulders and helped lift him up, even though Renjun didn’t need it. “Doesn’t matter who thought what, what matters is that we try to stop Lee-eun! We can play the finger blaming game later-“

A banging noise on the door interrupted their conversation, causing all four heads to turn. 

“Is that Jeno?” Jaehyun said, heading towards the door. 

Taeyong followed Jaehyun quietly, sparing one glance at Renjun to make sure the latter wouldn’t follow Jaehyun to bite him again. 

When Jaehyun opened the door, expecting to see Jaemin’s friend, his eyes widened once he realized it was Lee-eun and his guards. 

“Oh, sir, what are you doing sir-“

“No time for pleasantries, Jaehyun.” Lee-eun forced his way in, his men following in after him. “I sure hope you’re not busy, I have a request for you to fulfill.”

Jaehyun felt someone grab his hand. Looking down, he saw as Taeyong, who had reached out to hold it, intertwining their fingers together tightly.

“I’m so sorry, Jung Jaehyun,” Taeyong whispered. 

Lee-eun noticed the interaction between the two, but all he could do was smirk. “Now, Jaehyun, I’ve had some men do research in the town of SM, and I’m going to give you the luxury of choosing which option sounds better.” 

“Option of what,” Jaehyun sneered at him. 

“Easy.” Lee-eun sat down at the table, putting his feet up on the table as his men circled around him. “Who should we get rid of first, the Prince of China or the Prince of Korea?”