Jisung walked through the doors of the huge throne room, Yuta standing right besides him along with his other men.

They have arrived quickly back to Neo City, with one of the assassins… “Mark” being thrown into the prison, his execution to be scheduled later. 

Jisung’s guards have attempted to pry him for information, but all Mark would yell was that Donghyuck was in danger. When asked about who Donghyuck was, he refused to elaborate. 

They had more questions than answers of who was attempting to hurt the royal family, but Jisung had to relay the information to his father immediately.

The King sat in the throne room, his own guards surrounding him. Security in the palace had doubled since the last assassination attempt, and it wasn’t going to loosen up anytime soon.

“My son,” King Park said, gesturing for Jisung to come forward. “You have come in one piece.”

“Father.” Jisung got down on one knee, bowing his head slightly while Yuta also followed suit. “I come as a bearer of bad news-“

The doors burst open again, this time, the royal advisor Lee-eun coming through with his men. “Dears heavens, Prince Jisung, we are so gracious that you are here safe!”

Yuta scowled, muttering a string of curses under his breath that luckily only Jisung managed to hear.

“I am thankful for my men protecting me,” Jisung replied, keeping his voice neutral. “I was about to tell my father about the incident-“

“Your honor.” Lee-eun stood in front of King Park, bowing down. “I know who’s behind the attacks, it’s the Chinese-“

“Wait, what?!” Jisung interrupted Lee-eun, inciting the others in the room to start whispering and murmuring to each other. “How do you know that?”

“There were witnesses that claim that you have been attacked,” Lee-eun continued. Then, turning his attention to the King, he said, “The town is near the border, which is no doubt where King Huang must have had some of his men hidden-“

“It was not the Kingdom of China’s doing,” Yuta spoke up. “Your royal highness. It’s our own people’s.”

“Our own people- they had the uniform of the Chinese guard!” Lee-eun argued. “And the micro-aggressions the King had been sending our way, and those people and assassins aren’t in the database! What else do you supposed it could be-“

“I recognized some of them to have formerly worked with you,” Yuta said. Jisung could hear how Yuta was holding himself back from cussing out Lee-eun.

“Well, it’s no surprise, I had to fire some because they were incompetent! No doubt they would betray us and join the other side-“

Two of the King’s guards pointed their swords between Yuta and Lee-eun, who had gotten closer during their argument and by habit, were reaching for their own swords. 

“I want my people to investigate whether it was King Huang’s doing,” King Park said. “Get ready to draft a statement of war-“

“It is NOT the Chinese Kingdom’s doing!!” Jisung yelled over everyone. “Why won’t you listen to me-“

“Your honor, they are protecting them due to their Chinese lovers,” Lee-eun continued. “They come from a skewed standpoint. A bit bias, if you must.”

Yuta’s face darkened. As the swords were preventing him from getting closer to Lee-eun, all he could do was scowl. “Excuse me?”

“Why, rumor has it you’ve been with some bakery boy,” Lee-eun continued. “And, your honor, it seems like your son has grown up! He has been seen courting with one of the Chinese peasants-“

“I am NOT courting Chen Le!”

Everyone turned to look at Jisung, who had blurted that out without a second thought. He had never courted or shown interest in anyone, so this was news to all of them.

“So the grapevine was ripe, then,” Lee-eun stated. 

“Father.” Jisung ran up closer to his father, getting down on both knees. “It is not the Chinese. I can prove it to you. I am not doing this to be biased, I am doing this because I want the right culprits caught and punished and for our family to be safe.”

King Park raised his hand, silencing everyone in the room. 

He didn’t speak for a minute or so, leaving everyone to hold their breaths. “My advisor,” he said. “Find out those who had betrayed you and bring them in to me, dead or alive.”

Lee-eun bowed down. “Yes, your honor.”

“Father,” Jisung pleaded again. He had never begged to the King like this before, always obeying orders without an issue. “Please. I saw those who attacked me.”

King Park stared at his son. “I’ll do the declaration of war 24 hours from now. If you have evidence, I suggest you bring it to me before then.”

——

Yuta stormed through the kitchen, Jisung scrambling to follow his footsteps after they had been dismissed from the King. 

Alone in the kitchen was Taeil, along with his assistant Si Cheng. Some of the nobles visiting ordered desserts, so they were promptly making the order. 

Si Cheng’s eyes widened when he saw the bodyguard. “You’ve arrived-“

“You need to leave.” Yuta grabbed Si Cheng’s wrist and pulled him away the counter, Si Cheng protesting. “You need to head back to China-“

“WHAT?!” Si Cheng shrieked. He attempted to remove himself from Yuta’s grasp but ultimately failed. “WHY?!”

“W-why are you sending him away?” Taeil asked, the batter in front of him long forgotten. “He didn’t do anything-“

Jisung took out the long sword he had on his side and set it on the counter, the kitchen filled with the clashing sounds as he ran his fingers through his hair.

“I have been given 24 hours to prove that the people behind the attacks aren’t China before we declare war,” Jisung said quietly.

Taeil eyes also got wide with shock. “WAR?!” 

Si Cheng stared at Yuta, his face filled with fear. “Do you think they’ll do something to us?”

Yuta sighed. “I don’t know,” he said finally. “I need you gone-“

“Are you sure they’ll let him go through?” Taeil asked. “Or worse, if they declare war, seeing as he just came from here, what if they think he’s a spy-“ 

“Are you seriously trying to freak me out?!” Si Cheng yelled at him. 

“I’m just pointing out the facts here!” Taeil continued. “Anyways, what are you guys planning to do?”

“I’ll have some of the men draft a plan,” Yuta explained. “We’ll need as many witnesses as possible and try to capture-“

“Mark,” Jisung stammered out. 

Si Cheng frowned. “Who the hell is Mark?”

Taeil shrugged. “I don’t know, beats me-“

“Mark?!” Yuta shrieked. “You cannot be serious!”

“He’s the biggest lead we HAVE!” Jisung explained. 

“Are you forgetting that he didn’t dare give us any information on the way here?” Yuta reminded him. 

“Who is Mark?!” Taeil repeated again. “Are we missing something?”

Jisung grabbed the sword that he had taken out, focusing on the inscriptions written on it.

“He said something about protecting Donghyuck,” Jisung explained. “If we guarantee immunity to whoever Donghyuck is, maybe we’ll get him to talk.”

Yuta thought that was a bad idea, but they were on a time crunch, and he unfortunately couldn’t come up with something better. “We have to see him before he gets executed.”

***

Xiaojun washed dishes silently, already missing the chatter. 

He had gotten so used to living alone, so used to hearing the wind blow at night, the way his every footstep echoed throughout the house, that when he first met Kun, it threw him into a loop. He still hadn’t even adjusted when the other five started staying in his house, bumping up the total to seven. 

It was interesting, though. There was always something going on. 

Although now, it has gotten very quiet. Johnny had turned in Mark to the authorities, and Donghyuck locked himself in the room. Yangyang was watching Chen Le who had been knocked out, and Kun was nowhere to be found. 

Johnny sat alone at the kitchen table, scooping up over and over caramel sauce that he had made and poured into a little bowl. 

“When do you plan on talking to him?” Xiaojun asked abruptly. It was throwing him off the way Johnny was acting. 

Johnny didn’t respond, continuing to play with the caramel sauce. 

Xiaojun shook his head, soaping up the last plate in the sink. The last thing he wanted was for Johnny to explode on him or something alike. Johnny always kept his cool, but… Xiaojun didn’t want to risk it. 

“I thought he handled it well,” Johnny said to himself, finally dropping the caramel spoon back into the bowl before crossing his arms. “I thought I knew.”

“Well, he had gotten close to Mark, so you can’t blame him-”

“Not Mark,” Johnny interrupted him. “My parents.”

Xiaojun turned off the sink, holding the clean plate in his hand. 

“Well,” he said slowly. “People handle grief differently. Maybe he was just good at hiding it.”

“I didn’t know he was hiding it,” Johnny explained. “I thought… I thought he just grew up.” 

Xiaojun put the plate on the drying rack, drying his hands with the towel he kept hanging on the stove. “Well, he was a kid, you know,” Xiaojun explained, thinking about his own family. “He was going through all the emotions. Did he change in any way?”

Johnny thought of how loud and bubbly Donghyuck used to be. The constant chatter and bickering the two would share. Donghyuck would perform aegyo with him, would go out often with him in public.

“I did try to be there for him,” Johnny said quietly. “But I guess I didn’t.” 

He thought of Mark, who’s presence had brought out more of the reserved side of Donghyuck than anything Johnny ever did. 

Oh god, that was it. He was jealous of the superhuman. He was jealous of some dude who tried to kill his brother, yet still managed to be the closest person by Donghyuck’s side than anyone else has ever been in just a short amount of time. 

He pushed his chair away from the table, startling Xiaojun. “I need to go talk to him."

“Tell him I can make him something,” Xiaojun said, watching Johnny head towards the hallway. “He’s probably hungry, poor thing.”

Xiaojun opened the bag of flour on the counter, contemplating on whether he should make more bread. Kun had been gone for a while, and he liked buttery garlic bread. 

“I need to stop thinking about him,” Xiaojun muttered, pushing the flour back into his place. “Warm bread sounds good though-”

He heard doors slamming, kicking him out of his trance. Was Johnny slamming doors open? Don’t tell him they got into another argument-

“MY DOORS ARE OLD!” Xiaojun yelled, leaving the kitchen to head towards the hallway, where he heard Johnny cussing out loud. 

“!!! GOD ING DAMMIT!” he continued yelling, running both of his hands through his hair.

“What are you screaming for?” Xiaojun yelled at him, crossing his arms over his chest. “You need to calm down-"
“He’s gone.” Johnny went back to the room and grabbed his jacket on the desk, putting it on as he headed out. 

“I- gone?” Xiaojun asked. “What do you mean gone?”

“HE’S GONE!” Johnny stormed past Xiaojun, grabbing his bag on the coffee table and slinging it on. “I’M GOING AFTER HIM!”

*** 

“I really like this curry soup,” Jungwoo said, taking another spoonful. “But I think I put too much salt.” 

Lucas shook his head. “Nah. I think it’s pretty good.

The two were sitting at the barn, where Lucas had been staying for the past few days. Jungwoo came by everyday after doing his chores and errands to keep Lucas company, bringing him food and stuff to entertain himself with. Jungwoo also brought him a sword and some daggers in case Lucas needed to protect himself in the middle of the night. There’s been a problem with intruders lately, and Jungwoo wanted to keep him safe. 

They continued eating their food, Lucas finishing first. “This honestly was really good,” Lucas said again. “I wished I could help you out.” 

“It’s okay, maybe I can tell my mom about you,” Jungwoo said. “Though it’ll have to be later, considering what’s going on right now. I feel bad about you staying here.”

A mere two hours ago, Prince Hendery had been attacked by someone claiming to want to kill him. Right now he’s in stable condition, but considering the attack was not that far from Weishen, the town was in a bit of chaos.

“I’m sure everything will be fine.” Lucas stretched out his legs, humming to himself. He still wondered if it was one of them who did it. 

“I sure hope so,” Jungwoo said. “Are you sure this soup isn’t salty? It’s making me really thirsty.”

“Here, I got it.” Lucas reached for the pitcher of water, getting ready to serve himself more water when he froze. 

Jungwoo stared at him, confused as to why Lucas stopped. He wasn’t getting cardiac arrest or something of the sort, right? “Lucas?”

Lucas had a cold expression on his face, dropping the pitcher of water in his hands as he made eye contact with Jungwoo. 

“My name is Yukhei and I have been assigned to kill Prince Jisung.” 

***

“Model L has been located,” Jaehyun said quietly, working on the computer. “He had been given commands.” 

For the past two hours, Jaehyun has been working on extending the range, obtaining Yukhei's coordinates. It was a tedious process, one that he simply did not want to do, but Lee-eun had threatened to throw him, Jaemin and Jeno into prison for treason, and thus Jaehyun did his best. 

Lee-eun had left the room momentarily. Prince Jisung had arrived to the palace and was to greet the King. And thus, Jaehyun was stuck in front of the computer, with Lee-eun’s men all pointing their swords at them.

Jaemin stood by his side, waiting for any of Jaehyun’s orders. He had been doing his best to help Jaehyun by all means necessary, though it left him concerned for the future. 

“I hope they fail,” Jaemin whispered, making sure only Jaehyun could hear him. 

Jaehyun sighed. Through the monitors, they didn’t get to see the aftermath of Renjun shooting Hendery with the arrow., so they had no clue on his condition. Renjun had attacked as many guards as he could before running. 

Taeyong, in his controlled state, was walking through the city hidden, looking for Prince Jisung. Once he gets word the prince is in the palace, no doubt he was going to come in any second and start something. 

At that moment, Lee-eun came through the door again, clapping his hands together. “GOOD NEWS! Model M is incarcerated! I’m sure you can make another control panel for him in the meantime while we wait for results.”

Jaehyun glared at him, both hands clenched into fists. “Haven’t I done enough for you today?”

“The King also has no idea about Prince Hendery’s little incident,” Lee-eun continued gleefully. “And Prince Jisung is here, so that should make things easier, shouldn’t it?”

“Get the boards,” Jaehyun said quietly to Jaemin.

“I- are you sure?” Jaemin whispered to him. 

“HURRY UP!” Lee-eun yelled, snapping his fingers. “I don’t have all day!"

Jaemin got up from his seat to get what Jaehyun asked, the latter staring at the monitors again. 

Meanwhile, Lee-eun was walking around the room, his eyes roaming around. He was debating whether or not he should get rid of Jaehyun once he became king himself, or keep him here locked as a prisoner.

There was a whiteboard, with the name Donghyuck written on it, notes doodles underneath. On one of the lines Lee-eun recognized the name Johnny Seo, one of the workers here in the palace.

“What is all this?” Lee-eun said, pointing at the board.

Jaehyun turned around, ready to scowl at him, but once he saw the whiteboard he froze.

Jaemin started biting his nails as well. He didn’t hide his fear quite as well as Jaehyun. 

“I asked you what this was-“

“It’s nothing,” Jaehyun said quickly. “We were talking about some of my colleagues.”

“Hmm….” Lee-eun read the board again, his eyes catching onto the last line.

Also adopted 16 years ago right after royal assassination incident?

“Don’t tell me you think… the missing prince survived?”

“NO!” Jaehyun yelled. “That is nothing important, sir, we were playing a little game-“

Lee-eun went tsk-tsk to Jaehyun, wagging his finger. “Well, seeing as we already have some of your people after Prince Jisung and Prince Hendery, once we fix up Model M, send him after this Donghyuck.”

***

Donghyuck and Kun walked silently across the road, waiting to find a ride that could take them back to Neo City. 

“Jung Jaehyun,” Donghyuck said quietly, repeating the name as if it were a mantra. “Jung Jaehyun. We have to find him.”

Mark had given him that name at point. If anyone knew who Mark was and could help them, it was the Jung Jaehyun guy.

Kun had find Donghyuck escaping the house alone, and after numerous attempts of telling him to go back inside and inform his brother, at last Kun just decided to follow him. The teen shouldn’t be alone anyways, someone had to keep an eye on him.

He only regretted not telling Xiaojun about it, but hopefully he’ll forgive him for this one thing. Along other things. 

He was kind of curious as to how this royal scientist would react once seeing him again, but Kun had no clue. Hopefully nothing too tragic. Mark spoke of no ill intent towards the latter.

Hopefully they could save Mark.