The croissant was delicious. In fact, it was so delicious that it was worth dying for. 

The baker, a guy around Johnny’s age who went by the name Taeil, apparently always made desserts for the people in the palace, including the royal family. The young Prince Jisung was known to sneak in the kitchen at midnight for chocolate donuts, but only if they had sprinkles. 

Donghyuck must have had like five croissants, all with different fillings. Taeil and his assistant, a Chinese immigrant who went by Si Cheng, had been making a variety of pastries for the so-called private gala tonight. He didn’t even know that croissants with raspberries existed, and yet here he was eating one. You learn something new every day. 

During their time there, when Si Cheng brought in a cart with supplies, Donghyuck could see two boys hiding between the flour bags but held his tongue. He didn’t exactly agree that you should die for stealing, and he was no snitch. 

Afterwards, Johnny then took him to the hospital wing while pointing out different things on their way there. Johnny even knew at least two secret passageways, one where he goes to take a nap. Donghyuck will have to remember to check them out one day. 

In the hospital wing, Johnny knocked on one of the small doors. “Ten! It’s me, I brought my brother!”

The door opened to reveal the familiar short male. “Hey, how’s it going?” Ten said, closing the door behind him. He was in a doctor’s coat, so this was probably his office. 

“Just showing the fam the ropes, you know,” Johnny explained. “I got him croissants.”

Ten pouted. “You didn’t bring me any.”

“Stealing in the palace is a crime punishable by death, you know,” Johnny quoted Donghyuck from earlier. 

“You think I care about death here? It was Taeil’s pastries, wasn’t it? You think death is going to stop me from his blueberry and cream cheese croissants?”

“Oh, those were really good!” Donghyuck exclaimed. He remembers eating two of those, right when Si Cheng pulled the batch from the oven. He would have grabbed a third but then they made cherry ones.

Ten crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m offended.”

“Anyways, I wanted to see if you were free right now,” Johnny said. “Donghyuck wants to explore the palace and you have more access to certain areas, plus you’ve been here longer.”

Ten shook his head. “I’m sorry, but due to private circumstances-“

“The private gala-“

“Yeah that.” Ten sighed. “I really can’t, you know the rules. What if someone tries to kill the king or something? I have to be there for aid.”

“No one’s going to attempt anything today,” Johnny said. “Well, I’ll come back later and see if you’re still busy.”

“Only if you freaking bring me a croissant.”

***

Two Chinese boys stumbled their way out of the kitchen and hid beneath the staircase.

“This is so cool!” the elder one said. “The palace from the inside looks ten times better than what the magazines show!”

“Okay, Yangyang, you had your view, now can we get out of here?” the younger one asked. “What if we get in trouble?”

“We’re not going to get in trouble, Chen Le, you need to stop worrying,” Yangyang waved him off. “Besides, we’re going to be careful, no one will catch us.” 

They stayed there for a bit, waiting till the coast was clear before they continued to walk down the corridors. There were guards at every corner, and you only had to take one look at them and the rags they called clothing to know that they didn’t belong here in the palace. However, Yangyang, as an avid fan of the royal family, the palace, and everything grand, had claimed that it was necessary for him to come and visit as he may never have the chance again. Chen Le had no choice but to comply with his best friend. 

They moved around a bit, with Yangyang always marveling at everything and ranting about everything. Chen Le had no clue what the latter was saying, but Yangyang was just so happy and energetic that Chen Le didn’t have the heart to tell him that he was zoning out. 

They had been walking for around twenty minutes when Chen Le heard someone clear their throat behind them. Startled, he turned around and was faced with a tall, lanky guy dressed up nicely. 

“Are you guys lost?” the guy asked them. “Is something going on?”

Yangyang turned around to see who Chen Le was looking at and froze, not even blinking. 

“We’re not doing anything in particular, uh…” he reached out to shake Yangyang. “I told you we were dead,” he muttered under his breath so that the guy couldn’t hear them. 

Yangyang remained unresponsive to Chen Le, instead, staring at the new guy with his eyes wide open. “You-you’re-you’re-“ was all he managed to sputter out before he fainted.

“Yangyang!” Chen Le bent down to check on his friend, who was now laying on the ground. 

“Do you want me to take him to the infirmary?” The guy asked him. He bent down and lifted Yangyang’s body to a sitting-up position. He lifted up an eyelid, Yangyang’s pupil not dilating in response. “He’ll be fine.”

“I don’t know why he did that,” Chen Le said. “Wait, do you work here?”

“Uh…..sort of, but I don’t really do anything,” the guy admitted. 

“What a nice job that would be,” Chen Le muttered under his breath. “Where’s the infirmary?”

“Oh, here, I can just-“ the guy lifted up Yangyang and threw him over his shoulder. “I can just carry him there, no worries.”

The two made their way to the infirmary, with the stranger leading the way. He seemed to know this place pretty well, Chen Le thought. Did the guy know that they broke into the palace? He hasn’t asked what they were doing – well, he did, but then Yangyang fainted. 

“So your friend here is… Yangyang, if I remember correctly?” the guy asked him. “Doesn’t sound Korean.”

“That’s cause we’re not,” Chen Le informed him. “We’re Chinese."

“Well, what brings you here to the Kingdom of Korea?” The man lifted up Yangyang higher for him not to fall, while Yangyang still did not wake up.

“Starvation.”

The guy stopped in his tracks. “Really.”

“Yeah, both immigrants,” Chen Le said. “Don’t tell the king I said that, I’ll get thrown in jail.”

“Ah, come on, the king isn’t that bad,” the guy reassured him, even though he knew it was probably true. The China and Korea kingdoms don’t have good relations with each other at the moment. 

“Oh really?” Chen Le always tried not to judge anyone that he’s never met, but it was a little hard to do it on the royal family, considering they were well off. He still had no idea why Yangyang worshipped them so much. Maybe he just liked gossip. “Have you met him?”

“Yeah, although I’m probably biased,” the guy replied. 

“Oh, Yangyang would practically combust if he heard that you’ve met him,” Chen Le added. “Especially Prince Jisung. He would absolutely die if he ever saw him.”

The male stopped in front of a series of double doors, pushing one of them open with his foot to reveal the hospital wing inside. “I would hope he didn’t do that, that sounds unfortunate. Hey, Ten!”

A short man in a doctor’s coat came into view, bowing down when he saw them. “Oh, good afternoon, your-“

“Not now, please.” He walked over to one of the small beds lined up against the walls. “This young fellow fainted, please take care of him.” He turned to look at Chen Le. “This is the royal doctor; he’ll make sure your friend is in good hands.”

He turned to leave, but turned around to look at Chen Le. “I never did catch your name.”

“Oh, it’s Chen Le,” the latter said. “Thanks for everything.”

“No worries, next time, just tell the main guards your name and they’ll let you in. The sprinkled donuts here are really exquisite.” And just like that, the stranger left, closing the door behind him. 

How did the guy know that they broke into the balance? Was it obvious, or did he assume that’s why Yangyang fainted? Chen Le would have to remember to scold his friend when he woke up. 

The doctor – Ten – sat next to the bed where Yangyang was, checking his pulse. “Do you have any idea why he fainted?”

Chen Le was not about to tell someone who worked for the King that Yangyang fainted for fear of getting thrown into jail, so he tried to think of another excuse. “I don’t think he’s eaten.”

“Oh, I’ll just ask Johnny to bring something up,” Ten said, putting the back of his hand on Yangyang’s forehead. “He doesn’t appear to have a fever.”

Just then, Yangyang stirred in his sleep, trying to lift himself up. “Where am, uh…” he slurred, not even opening his eyes. 

“You fainted,” Chen Le nonchalantly replied. “Remember the stranger who saw us?”

As his memories came back, Yangyang shot his eyes wide open in realization. “You mean-“

“Yeah, he carried you and brought you here-“ 

“PRINCE JISUNG BROUGHT ME HERE?!” Yangyang shrieked, before his eyes rolled back and he fainted again, collapsing on the bed. 

***

Donghyuck finally got some alone time.

The palace was way bigger than what he thought. They’ve been walking for hours, with Johnny introducing him to cool people and places. For lunch, they went back to the kitchen, where Taeil’s assistant, Si Cheng, was making some avocado bacon wraps and spared some for them. Donghyuck would gladly take execution if he could have one of these. 

Johnny took some croissants to bring to Ten, so they made their way back to the hospital wing. It wasn’t long until it became a flirting contest between those two, so Donghyuck excused himself and Johnny let him, warning him to be careful. 

Donghyuck walked through the corridors, taking his own time. He would swing his arms back and forth, singing and talking to himself as he admired the vastness of this place. 

He loved big places so much. One of his silly fantasies was to one day strike rich by finding gold and buy an entire forest just so that he can map out its existence. He had even thought of traveling to the other kingdoms, but it was hard to get a position that would allow you to; if you weren’t a noble, you had to be a scholar, and Donghyuck was a very stupid person. 

He reached a part of a palace that was empty, towards the far left. This is when he realized he was lost. 

Now, logically, the smart thing to do was to wait for someone and ask for directions. But, remember, Donghyuck was stupid, so he decided to wait until someone appeared. 

Luckily, it wasn’t even five minutes when someone rounded a corner and froze when they saw him. It looked like a guy his age, Donghyuck realized, although if he remembered correctly, it didn’t look like someone in one of the royal families. Maybe he also worked here. 

Donghyuck decided to call him out. “Hello!! Can you help me?”

The guy was wearing all black clothing, almost looking like a spy in Donghyuck’s opinion. He also had pretty brown eyes and his brown hair was styled. Maybe he was a guard? His outfit wasn’t right, but maybe he was a special one. 

The stranger ran towards him, hopefully able to help him. What Donghyuck noticed, though, was that the guy’s eyes look cold. And mad. Really mad. Was he pissed that Donghyuck was there?

It wasn’t until the stranger threw him against the wall that Donghyuck realized he was being attacked. 

The stranger wrapped his hands around Donghyuck’s neck, tightening them while Donghyuck gasped for air. His vision was getting blurry and it was getting harder to fight back-

The assassin suddenly fell off Donghyuck, collapsing on the floor unconscious. Standing over him was Johnny, holding a frying pan. He must have hit the guy on the head. 

Johnny dropped the frying pan on the ground and rushed to Donghyuck’s side, helping him get up before giving him a hug. “Are you okay?”

“Johnny, I was almost choked to death and you’re doing the same,” Donghyuck managed to sputter out. His brother let him go, mumbling a quick sorry before grabbing his arm. 

“Let’s get you out of here, there’s no time to explain,” Johnny yelled, dragging him as they ran through the hallways when the palace’s emergency sirens started to ring.